I love deals.

I'm just getting un-jetlagged from a phenomenal two-week adventure in Italy and Greece. But instead of boring you with stories of tortellini and feta, I'm going to tell you about an awesome deal I got this week, thanks to this blog. You are not going to believe it. I bought ten boxes of Kellogg's cereal last night. They were on sale for $1.80 each. But I had five "buy two boxes, save $1" coupons. And it was double coupon day. So, after $10 in coupon savings, each box only cost eighty cents. And then I sent the UPC codes from all ten boxes in to Kellogg's, and they are going to send me a $10 gas card. Is that not the best deal ever? Total out of pocket: $8.44 (includes the price of the stamp). Total coming back to me, in the form of a gas card: $10. Total boxes of cereal in our pantry: 10. Good thing Karl is a big cereal eater!

Team Struckmeyer International

Gosh, it has been quiet over here at Team Struckmeyer! With good reason...


We are wrapping up ten joyous days of gelato, museums, trains, and general Italian loveliness. I am typing this on the hotel lobby computer as we check out. More to come!

Ten on Ten: March

Good morning, Wisconsin :: Mailing a baby gift to my cousin :: Random lantern outside of the library :: I didn't realize until I got to work that I was wearing matching hat and mittens. A happy surprise, I suppose :: On my desk :: On the bus going downtown (is it creepy that I took a picture of random girl? I just loved her legwarmers and little yellow shoes) :: One day longer, one day stronger :: Story of the last four weeks :: Rally with the Democratic Reps :: Stolen from facebook, a theater marquee downtown

Hats Off to... a stranger

Earlier this week, I joined up with a group of knitters on Ravelry for a special project. We wanted to show Wisconsin's hardworking Representatives and Senators how much we appreciate them. We also wanted to thank those who have publicly opposed the Budget Repair Bill. So... each Senator and Representative who has opposed the bill will be receiving a handknit hat!



I was assigned to Rep. Leon Young. He's from Milwaukee. I don't know him. But I know he will have a warm head! Here's a sneak peek at the hat... taken at 6:45 am, in the pre-work frenzy:

I secretly love this.

Yesterday, spring was in the air. Birds were chirping, and snow was melting like you wouldn't believe.


But the night brought this, which I found this morning:

It's not too cold, and I love the way the fluffy white snow covers all of the sludge and mud from yesterday's melting episode. My boots and parka are thrilled to have another chance at center stage, too.

Library MOE

That's MOE as in Maintenance of Effort.

Currently, public libraries in Wisconsin are able to continue to provide valuable services because of a legal requirement called Maintenance of Effort. In a nutshell, this means that in any given year, a library's funding must equal at least the average of its funding for the prior three years.

Scott Walker's recently unveiled budget will lift the Maintenance of Effort requirement. I don't have to tell you what this means for libraries. Enjoy them while you can... and maybe think about giving the governor a call to let him know what you think about this part of the state budget.