A Year of Make Do and Mend

Well, I'm a proud step-mama. My eldest step-son and his wife are both graduating with their PhDs next May! Keep in mind that these "kids" are 2 and 3 years younger than I, but that means we actually get along really well because we all grew up with the same stuff and we have very similar interests, which is super cool.
What does this have to do with "Make Do and Mend"? Well, my little smarty-pants darlings are having their graduation party at Disney World! Woohooo! My guys and I are so excited! However, this does mean a year of living frugally and going after the best price and foregoing things I'd normally get without thinking about it too much.
To be honest, we don't need anything. We have enough clothes and toys and movies for now. The boys are growing, of course, so they'll get stuff as needed, but I will be scouring the sale racks for school clothes. There never seem to be many boys things at the thrift stores. Maybe because they're harder on their clothes, or perhaps because they don't have as many clothes to begin with - I have no idea, but I sure have a hard time finding stuff for them at the thrift stores.
Besides, I have so many projects I could be making to wear. Sadly, last year I put on some weight and I don't fit most of my patterns. Part of me thinks I should just make the stuff anyway and sell it. Another part of me wants to lose the weight, while yet another part of me figures I could probably modify the patterns to fit my current size. The sum of these parts gets overwhelmed and freaks out and does nothing, but since I have some motivation, e.g. Disney World, I may actually get a move on to do these things. I know, I know. You've heard that before. We'll see how that goes.
By the way, I now have blue hair. I'm not sure I like it. It's a pretty color, and I've always wanted to do something out of the reds/pinks, but it seems so dark. I'm not a dark person. I put it over my natural hair color as well as the part I already had pink and bleach blond. The bleached area is the prettiest part of it. The rest looks sort of green and sad. Maybe I'll like it more once I get a trim. The pretty part is the color of the Caribbean, so I don't mind that. It kinda makes me want to go SCUBA diving, though. I haven't been in over 2 years and I really want to get back in the ocean.
Oh, no!
Speaking of hair and getting it trimmed, I'll have to go back to Fantastic Sam's for my haircuts if I'm living frugally. Sad sauce! I finally found a stylist I really like, but she costs $45, $50 with the tip. Dang it. I may have to consider her a necessity. I really like her work on my hair.
I also have a website for my massage therapy student business, www.catalystbodyworkbytracie.com. Be sure to go visit it. I'll be adding some updates shortly, since I'll be learning a new technique in Shiatsu after this week, I'm really excited about it. It has more of the karate chop type massage that you normally think of when someone mentions eastern massage modalities. Even though my thumbs have gotten stronger over the past 6 weeks, they do get tired when I have a lot of clients. Or when my clients wear jeans. That hurts like crazy the next day!
Well, I've gotten off topic quite a lot in this entry. Don't worry, I've taken my medication. I just have a lot on my mind.  Like coupon clipping and getting groceries while avoiding WalMart, keeping the bills down and reminding the boys that we can't buy a bunch of toys if we want to afford Disney World. All while keeping up with my studies and the household (thankfully, my mom is coming up this summer during my school days to help out around the house. I really couldn't do this without her). First World problems that I'm grateful to have, really.
So, where shall I start on this Make Do and Mend year? Well, my little flowerpots, I think I'll start with the Sunday supplements and clip the coupons and look for deals. Though I'd like to know why there are never any coupons for the stuff I actually use...?