WE got a bit of rain yesterday. Between three and five inches of rain. How much rain is that? Enough to wash out and puncture the natural gas supply line that supplies our town and one other, which means...no natural gas.
No hot water. No gas for the stove. No showers. No washing dishes. No cooking. At the earliest, this will be resolved tonight, although I'm seriously doubting that it will happen that soon.
Now, no showers I can live with. We can heat enough water in the micro for sponge baths and even hair washing, if need be.
No washing dishes I can also live with. We can scrape them very well, and again heat enough water in the micro to give them a good scalding to make sure we don't attract any vermin or other assorted ickies.
No cooking. That is an issue. See, we've planned for a power outage. In the winter, you can shovel out a snowy area and set up the grill and you're good to go. Generally, even when it snows, the humidity is still relatively low. The wetness doesn't sink into everything until it begins to melt, and even then it's not the pervading humidity that comes with a good monsoonal rain, which is what we're having now. When it snows, you get mud. You don't get mud because your house has turned into an environment suitable for growing rare orchids.
In Southern Colorado in the Spring, and in August, we get what's called Monsoonal flow. This means we will have three or four days where everything is just drenched. We spend that time bleaching everything, because the wetness just sinks in to everything. I have known people who left a window in their car cracked during this time and opened it afterwards to find a patch of mushrooms growing in their back seat.
That means the grill is wet. The charcoal, stored inside, is damp. WE do have a small portable propane grill, but this raises the issue of where to use it. We don't have an area outside protected from the rain. It doesn't have a cover like most grills, so I can't use it in the rain.
So, breakfast today will be....umm, not sure. PBJ is a possibility, but we will have to go to the store first as I don't have enough bread for that. We are hitting the store at their opening time to stock up on paper plates and silverware. I have some, but not as much as I should have, planning as I have for an extended power outage and not a gas outage.
Lunch will be something out of a can that I can microwave or sandwiches.
Dinner is a mystery at this point. Last night we did TV dinners that I had saved for a fire night. We did have two calls (including the gas line rupture, that we were stood down from), but I was in the middle of cooking dinner after they had calmed down when I noticed the flame on the stove was really little. I called the county dispatch center, because when we were first toned out, I assumed the line, due to its location, was a transport line, not a supply line. I should have realized that it was a supply line, because we were told that witnesses reported a strong smell of gas, and the fake smell that is added to natural gas is not added to gas in transport lines, only supply lines. The dispatcher then notified me that there were plans in the works to shut down gas to the town of Aguilar.
So, dinner...who knows, we'll figure it out. After all, I'm a prepper. Even though I prepped for the wrong event LOL. Corn dogs and pot pies anyone?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wow...
Has it really been over a month since I've posted?
Well, as you may have guessed, things have been rather busy here.
Larry took his EMT-B National Registry test yesterday. We find out his results on Friday.
My work is going about the same-plus I'm writing more again (although obviously not here). I did finally finish the department's web site (http://www.spbcfpd.org), and then I helped our new grantwriter put together two AFG grant applications.
And the kids-ah, life is good. Aimee is finishing up her Junior year. She got a 25 on her ACT (I still scored higher than her!), Saren is playing with the high school band, Nikki just had a great field trip to the zoo where she petted a snake, Roan is registered for preschool and Aria's verbal skills are improving every day.
OK, off to check the work email!
Well, as you may have guessed, things have been rather busy here.
Larry took his EMT-B National Registry test yesterday. We find out his results on Friday.
My work is going about the same-plus I'm writing more again (although obviously not here). I did finally finish the department's web site (http://www.spbcfpd.org), and then I helped our new grantwriter put together two AFG grant applications.
And the kids-ah, life is good. Aimee is finishing up her Junior year. She got a 25 on her ACT (I still scored higher than her!), Saren is playing with the high school band, Nikki just had a great field trip to the zoo where she petted a snake, Roan is registered for preschool and Aria's verbal skills are improving every day.
OK, off to check the work email!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sunday afternoon with friends
A few weeks back we got a new firefighter. She's a really sweet girl (I shouldn't call her a girl, she's only 5 years younger than me) and has all kinds of firefighting experience.
She's a substitute teacher, so I took her over to the school and introduced her around there; hopefully she'll get some work from that. She's been at the station quite a bit learning the trucks and doing her S130/190 recertification. She invited us over to have a cook out with her and her fiance yesterday.
We had an awesome time over hamburgers, hot dogs and BBQ chicken. Found out they read like we do, so we have someone new to trade books with. Told them all about the used book store in Walsenburg. Might be able to turn her into a shopping buddy, too. I would like that, I think Larry gets tired of driving me around everywhere. But someone else who shops like I do would understand! I know she coupons, so we're probably good to go.
The kids had a blast running around in their fenced yard. Aimee and Saren had a wrestling match-I think Larry is relieved that Saren is finally big enough to give Aimee a run for her money-since she's big enough and Larry is old enough that he's usually hurting after they have a go at each other-although they both sleep really well!
She's a substitute teacher, so I took her over to the school and introduced her around there; hopefully she'll get some work from that. She's been at the station quite a bit learning the trucks and doing her S130/190 recertification. She invited us over to have a cook out with her and her fiance yesterday.
We had an awesome time over hamburgers, hot dogs and BBQ chicken. Found out they read like we do, so we have someone new to trade books with. Told them all about the used book store in Walsenburg. Might be able to turn her into a shopping buddy, too. I would like that, I think Larry gets tired of driving me around everywhere. But someone else who shops like I do would understand! I know she coupons, so we're probably good to go.
The kids had a blast running around in their fenced yard. Aimee and Saren had a wrestling match-I think Larry is relieved that Saren is finally big enough to give Aimee a run for her money-since she's big enough and Larry is old enough that he's usually hurting after they have a go at each other-although they both sleep really well!
Get a Free Easter Ham
Unilever is offering a rebate on the price of your Easter Ham or Turkey when you buy $40 worth or unilever products.
Participating Unilever products are:
Amora
Axe*
Becel
Bertolli*
Blue Band
Blue Bonnet
Breyers*
Cif
Close Up
Comfort
Country Crock
Degree*
Domestos
Dove*
Flora
Heartbrand
Hellmann's
I can't believe it's not butter
Knorr
Lever 2000
Lifebuoy
Lipton*
Lux
Omo
Pond's
Qtips*
Radiant
Ragu
Rama
Rexona
Signal
Skippy
Slim·Fast
Snuggle
Suave*
Sunlight
Sunsilk
Sure
Surf
Thermasilk
Vaseline
Wishbone
Wisk
* indicate that I KNOW coupons are out there for those products, there may be others.
The forms were in Sunday coupon inserts on 4/5 or 3/31. If you didn't get one, The Coupon Clippers has one available on their site. Go to Forms, then scroll down, and you'll see the unilever rebate.
If these are items you need, this month would be a good time to buy them (purchases can be made between 4/1 and 4/30). Some of these brands are also included in Safeway's Living Well Promo that starts 4/15, so if you purchase them at that time, you'll also get a $10.00 Catalina for your next purchase. Rolling that Catalina to future purchases of the same products will further reduce your cost, lowering your overall bill and still qualifying you for the free ham. So far I have $15.90 towards a free ham, although I only spent $11.60 actual cash (based on sale price, after coupons).
Participating Unilever products are:
Amora
Axe*
Becel
Bertolli*
Blue Band
Blue Bonnet
Breyers*
Cif
Close Up
Comfort
Country Crock
Degree*
Domestos
Dove*
Flora
Heartbrand
Hellmann's
I can't believe it's not butter
Knorr
Lever 2000
Lifebuoy
Lipton*
Lux
Omo
Pond's
Qtips*
Radiant
Ragu
Rama
Rexona
Signal
Skippy
Slim·Fast
Snuggle
Suave*
Sunlight
Sunsilk
Sure
Surf
Thermasilk
Vaseline
Wishbone
Wisk
* indicate that I KNOW coupons are out there for those products, there may be others.
The forms were in Sunday coupon inserts on 4/5 or 3/31. If you didn't get one, The Coupon Clippers has one available on their site. Go to Forms, then scroll down, and you'll see the unilever rebate.
If these are items you need, this month would be a good time to buy them (purchases can be made between 4/1 and 4/30). Some of these brands are also included in Safeway's Living Well Promo that starts 4/15, so if you purchase them at that time, you'll also get a $10.00 Catalina for your next purchase. Rolling that Catalina to future purchases of the same products will further reduce your cost, lowering your overall bill and still qualifying you for the free ham. So far I have $15.90 towards a free ham, although I only spent $11.60 actual cash (based on sale price, after coupons).
This Week's Shopping 4/3/09
This week I did three different stores:
Our local in town market, Ringo’s. The usually have some great sales. Their regular prices are considerably higher than the stores in Trinidad, but with their sales, and the convenience of them being local, they are great for when you run out of bread. They also have amazing customer service.
Safeway. Our store in Trinidad is coupon friendly. I do, however, often have to get rainchecks on sale items.
Walmart. Blech, but necessary. It is my goal to reduce my Walmart trips to one a month or less once the littles are out of diapers.
Prices noted are shelf prices. Items in Italics were on sale (shelf price, not sale price, reflected). Items on which I used coupons have * next to them.
Ringos
48 cans (four flats) veggies (3x carrots, 1x peas)$51.36
Safeway
*Chex Snack Mix $3.19
*2x Pop Secret Popcorn $6.78
2x Safeway Chocolate Chips $5.98
*4x Reynolds Wrap 75 ft. $19.96
*4x Milk $9.96
*Dannon Activia with Fiber $2.99
*10x Yoplait Yogurt $8.90
*2x Lysol Disinfecting Wipes $7.98
*3x Suave Shampoo $6.87
*5x Suave Conditioner $11.45 (with many of us having long hair, we use far more conditioner than shampoo)
*4x Tyson chicken $31.96
Walmart
*2x Triscuit Crackers $4.00
*2x Artisan Crackers $4.00
*Gogurt $$2.62
*Gogurt $2.62
Frozen Berries $2.94
2x Grated Sharp Cheddar, 16 oz (I think) $3.56
*String Cheese 10 pack $3.38
Taquitos $5.88
*Rold Gold Pretzels $2.50
*Celestial Seasonings Tea $2.36
2x Great Value Pie Crust $4.24
Great Value Sour Cream $1.53
*3x Reese’s Easter Candy $8.88
*3x Pillsbury Grands Biscuits $5.04
Country Kitchen Syrup $1.98
*Celestial Seasonings Tea $2.36
*2x Hormel Chili $3.00
Canned Tomatoes $1.18
Brisket $18.42
3 pack Wipes $4.96
Organizer for Saren $5.44
2x Canned Tomatoes $2.36
2x Great Value Ranch Style Beans $1.34
10 Pr. Socks for Aria $5.00
Boxers $6.50
Birthday Present $6.88
*Q-Tips $2.38
Some Misc Item I can’t determine from the receipt $1.00
*Face Scrub $3.54
*Neosporin $4.76
*Disposable Razors for Aimee to take to work at Scout Camp $4.74
*Bengay $4.27
*Visine Allergy Care $3.98
Equate Children’s Tylenol $1.94
Equate Pepto Bismol $2.96
*20 ct Excedrin Migraine $3.12
Canned Tomatoes $1.18
White Cloud Pull Ups $12.84
Great Value Dishwasher Detergent $2.27
*Spray N Wash $2.64
*2x Sparkle Paper Towels $6.24
*24 Roll Angel Soft TP $6.68
2x Whole Wheat Bread $4.36
Before Tax, Shelf Total $349.25
Sale Savings $75.83
Coupon Savings $34.50
Total Savings $110.33
Total Out of Pocket $238.92
Lesson Learned: Even with coupons, some store brands are still cheaper. It is, however, a good idea to still hold on to coupons you can get in your paper or for free for items you need often, but buy the store brand of (diapers and pull ups, for us). Our store is often out of the store brand for diapers, so we end up having to buy the higher priced brands. Coupons help us save there, even if we wouldn’t normally buy that brand without a coupon, or even with a coupon.
I do find myself buying more items that I normally would have made from scratch (biscuits, chicken nuggets, etc), but with working, time is more valuable-I'd rather be spending it tickling giggly girls or kissing baby belly or reading Aimee's writing or having a philosophical discussion with Saren than cooking in my tiny kitchen that makes spending family time together in there difficult. Yet another one of those choices we have to make.
Our local in town market, Ringo’s. The usually have some great sales. Their regular prices are considerably higher than the stores in Trinidad, but with their sales, and the convenience of them being local, they are great for when you run out of bread. They also have amazing customer service.
Safeway. Our store in Trinidad is coupon friendly. I do, however, often have to get rainchecks on sale items.
Walmart. Blech, but necessary. It is my goal to reduce my Walmart trips to one a month or less once the littles are out of diapers.
Prices noted are shelf prices. Items in Italics were on sale (shelf price, not sale price, reflected). Items on which I used coupons have * next to them.
Ringos
48 cans (four flats) veggies (3x carrots, 1x peas)$51.36
Safeway
*Chex Snack Mix $3.19
*2x Pop Secret Popcorn $6.78
2x Safeway Chocolate Chips $5.98
*4x Reynolds Wrap 75 ft. $19.96
*4x Milk $9.96
*Dannon Activia with Fiber $2.99
*10x Yoplait Yogurt $8.90
*2x Lysol Disinfecting Wipes $7.98
*3x Suave Shampoo $6.87
*5x Suave Conditioner $11.45 (with many of us having long hair, we use far more conditioner than shampoo)
*4x Tyson chicken $31.96
Walmart
*2x Triscuit Crackers $4.00
*2x Artisan Crackers $4.00
*Gogurt $$2.62
*Gogurt $2.62
Frozen Berries $2.94
2x Grated Sharp Cheddar, 16 oz (I think) $3.56
*String Cheese 10 pack $3.38
Taquitos $5.88
*Rold Gold Pretzels $2.50
*Celestial Seasonings Tea $2.36
2x Great Value Pie Crust $4.24
Great Value Sour Cream $1.53
*3x Reese’s Easter Candy $8.88
*3x Pillsbury Grands Biscuits $5.04
Country Kitchen Syrup $1.98
*Celestial Seasonings Tea $2.36
*2x Hormel Chili $3.00
Canned Tomatoes $1.18
Brisket $18.42
3 pack Wipes $4.96
Organizer for Saren $5.44
2x Canned Tomatoes $2.36
2x Great Value Ranch Style Beans $1.34
10 Pr. Socks for Aria $5.00
Boxers $6.50
Birthday Present $6.88
*Q-Tips $2.38
Some Misc Item I can’t determine from the receipt $1.00
*Face Scrub $3.54
*Neosporin $4.76
*Disposable Razors for Aimee to take to work at Scout Camp $4.74
*Bengay $4.27
*Visine Allergy Care $3.98
Equate Children’s Tylenol $1.94
Equate Pepto Bismol $2.96
*20 ct Excedrin Migraine $3.12
Canned Tomatoes $1.18
White Cloud Pull Ups $12.84
Great Value Dishwasher Detergent $2.27
*Spray N Wash $2.64
*2x Sparkle Paper Towels $6.24
*24 Roll Angel Soft TP $6.68
2x Whole Wheat Bread $4.36
Before Tax, Shelf Total $349.25
Sale Savings $75.83
Coupon Savings $34.50
Total Savings $110.33
Total Out of Pocket $238.92
Lesson Learned: Even with coupons, some store brands are still cheaper. It is, however, a good idea to still hold on to coupons you can get in your paper or for free for items you need often, but buy the store brand of (diapers and pull ups, for us). Our store is often out of the store brand for diapers, so we end up having to buy the higher priced brands. Coupons help us save there, even if we wouldn’t normally buy that brand without a coupon, or even with a coupon.
I do find myself buying more items that I normally would have made from scratch (biscuits, chicken nuggets, etc), but with working, time is more valuable-I'd rather be spending it tickling giggly girls or kissing baby belly or reading Aimee's writing or having a philosophical discussion with Saren than cooking in my tiny kitchen that makes spending family time together in there difficult. Yet another one of those choices we have to make.
The power of 15 minutes
Well, I must say, after the first full day of cleaning under the Flylady method, that I am truly amazed by the power of FLYlady’s fifteen minute segments. From my previous post, you can see that I have about 3 hours of time scheduled. Of course, it took me much longer to get all of that done. Interruptions from littles, fixing lunch, quiet time during nap time, etc, all took away from that schedule. Of course, starting earlier would have alleviated a lot of that. Having Larry home would also have alleviated a lot of that, as he would have helped in whatever capacity I asked him to, whether it was taking a fifteen minute segment or helping with the littles. It’s a special blessing having a husband who is generally as eager to help me as I am to help him. It makes it a joy that he realizes the hard work involved in keeping a home, and that he makes an effort to help with it. Not that I expect him to. And not that he does as much when he’s working, but he still helps as he’s able.
I’m digressing again. I know you’re shocked.
Anyway, this week’s zone was the living room. I actually ran out of things to do in there. Not that it’s perfectly clean, but that the remaining tasks that are more than just routine maintenance need to have time where the littles are outside or otherwise distracted. Maybe save those for evenings after bedtime. Well, checking on flylady.net I see that I got my zones messed up, but that’s OK. I can live with that. I have a shiny living room!
Next week will be the kitchen, which I am really looking forward to. I have been working on decluttering a lot in there lately, and on organizing, with using my shopping money better, I need to utilize my space better. So hopefully, with this week’s zone work, I will be able to finish that up.
I actually took several grocery bags of donations and clothes sharing stuff out to the van, instead of letting it sit, waiting to go in the van. We DO have some stuff sitting, but only because we needed space in the van.
Now, I did NOT get everything done. But it was the first day. I did get about 75% of the day’s goal done. It will take practice, and better use of my time and resources. But that’s OK. FLYlady is, after all, about Finally Loving Yourself. Not about loving yourself above all, but about loving yourself enough to say “It’s OK that my home isn’t perfect, because it’s better than it was. I got something done!” And I actually got a LOT of somethings done!
I’m digressing again. I know you’re shocked.
Anyway, this week’s zone was the living room. I actually ran out of things to do in there. Not that it’s perfectly clean, but that the remaining tasks that are more than just routine maintenance need to have time where the littles are outside or otherwise distracted. Maybe save those for evenings after bedtime. Well, checking on flylady.net I see that I got my zones messed up, but that’s OK. I can live with that. I have a shiny living room!
Next week will be the kitchen, which I am really looking forward to. I have been working on decluttering a lot in there lately, and on organizing, with using my shopping money better, I need to utilize my space better. So hopefully, with this week’s zone work, I will be able to finish that up.
I actually took several grocery bags of donations and clothes sharing stuff out to the van, instead of letting it sit, waiting to go in the van. We DO have some stuff sitting, but only because we needed space in the van.
Now, I did NOT get everything done. But it was the first day. I did get about 75% of the day’s goal done. It will take practice, and better use of my time and resources. But that’s OK. FLYlady is, after all, about Finally Loving Yourself. Not about loving yourself above all, but about loving yourself enough to say “It’s OK that my home isn’t perfect, because it’s better than it was. I got something done!” And I actually got a LOT of somethings done!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
It feels earlier than it is...
...but that's what happens when you have a middle of the night med call.
I guess I need to organize my giveaway earlier in the week and get it ready to be posted for Friday.
Have a post I wrote about how the big cleaning day FLYlady's way went, I will post that after all our stuff today.
Doing church at home.
Then going to friend's house for late lunch on the grill in the snow! Hopefully most of the snow will be melted by then so we can play outside.
Then home to get ready for school in the morning.
I guess I need to organize my giveaway earlier in the week and get it ready to be posted for Friday.
Have a post I wrote about how the big cleaning day FLYlady's way went, I will post that after all our stuff today.
Doing church at home.
Then going to friend's house for late lunch on the grill in the snow! Hopefully most of the snow will be melted by then so we can play outside.
Then home to get ready for school in the morning.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Wake up, wake up, everybody everywhere
Well I did not post my giveaway yesterday. I will do so today after we get done FLYing.
I finally got a daily routine put together, and then the cleaning day routine. FLYlady talks about changing your routine when you work. So the basic idea of what I have put together is this:
AM Routine
Get up, shower, get dressed to shoes (OK, I still don't do the shoes, but, I reiterate, big clunky boots, bitty baby toes and fingers, don't go well together)
15 minutes 1 room (Kitchen, living room or my bedroom)
15 minutes zone room
5 minutes putting out a hot zone
PM routine
15 minutes 1 room (Kitchen, living room or my bedroom)
15 minutes 1 room (Kitchen, living room, or my bedroom)
15 minutes folding laundry
5 minutes putting out a hot zone
Shiny Sink
Cleaning Day Routine
27 Fling Boogie in Zone Area
15 minutes in Kitchen
15 minutes in Dining Room
15 minute break
15 minutes zone room
15 minutes living room
15 minutes folding laundry
15 minutes break
15 minutes zone room
15 minutes pantry or closets or bathroom
15 minutes bedroom
I will use the daily emails where FLYlady gives zone tasks to help guide me in those areas, but I'm also still in the decluttering stage, which FLYlady says can take months, depending on how cluttered your home is.
I put together a similar list for the kids, and today is the first day we will work on that. I did give Nikki the bathroom as her morning zone, so she does swish and swipe. I will also be implementing the monthly habits that FLYlady discusses, so this month's habit is making your bed, so once I get the morning routine down, I will be adding that one in.
I finally got a daily routine put together, and then the cleaning day routine. FLYlady talks about changing your routine when you work. So the basic idea of what I have put together is this:
AM Routine
Get up, shower, get dressed to shoes (OK, I still don't do the shoes, but, I reiterate, big clunky boots, bitty baby toes and fingers, don't go well together)
15 minutes 1 room (Kitchen, living room or my bedroom)
15 minutes zone room
5 minutes putting out a hot zone
PM routine
15 minutes 1 room (Kitchen, living room or my bedroom)
15 minutes 1 room (Kitchen, living room, or my bedroom)
15 minutes folding laundry
5 minutes putting out a hot zone
Shiny Sink
Cleaning Day Routine
27 Fling Boogie in Zone Area
15 minutes in Kitchen
15 minutes in Dining Room
15 minute break
15 minutes zone room
15 minutes living room
15 minutes folding laundry
15 minutes break
15 minutes zone room
15 minutes pantry or closets or bathroom
15 minutes bedroom
I will use the daily emails where FLYlady gives zone tasks to help guide me in those areas, but I'm also still in the decluttering stage, which FLYlady says can take months, depending on how cluttered your home is.
I put together a similar list for the kids, and today is the first day we will work on that. I did give Nikki the bathroom as her morning zone, so she does swish and swipe. I will also be implementing the monthly habits that FLYlady discusses, so this month's habit is making your bed, so once I get the morning routine down, I will be adding that one in.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Grocery Shopping Day
I am about to head out to Walmart and Safeway with my rather long shopping list-still in budget, though.
Not getting any cereal today, except for the life that is in the Safeway Super coupon. I don't like serving them cereal, but after a rough night sometimes that's the easiest option. And we have a lot right now due to all the great deals.
Aimee's going to babysit the littles, which will make shopping go much faster. Saren will go with us, because we pick up his glasses today. I'm doing two transactions at Safeway so it will be good to not have the littles with us. It also means I can put my coupon binder/list in the front of the cart, making it much easier to check other deals and see what I can modify in my list if I find something that doesn't fit into my $25 misc. budget. Safeway doesn't have a lot of great deals this week, although the shampoo I use is on sale, and I have coupons, so we will get quite a bit of that. Plus, since I'm still working on stocking up with coupons, there is a lot of stuff I need. If I was fully stocked, I would only buy the good sale items and stuff like milk, and bank the rest of my grocery money for a week with better deals.
OK, off to go shopping.
Not getting any cereal today, except for the life that is in the Safeway Super coupon. I don't like serving them cereal, but after a rough night sometimes that's the easiest option. And we have a lot right now due to all the great deals.
Aimee's going to babysit the littles, which will make shopping go much faster. Saren will go with us, because we pick up his glasses today. I'm doing two transactions at Safeway so it will be good to not have the littles with us. It also means I can put my coupon binder/list in the front of the cart, making it much easier to check other deals and see what I can modify in my list if I find something that doesn't fit into my $25 misc. budget. Safeway doesn't have a lot of great deals this week, although the shampoo I use is on sale, and I have coupons, so we will get quite a bit of that. Plus, since I'm still working on stocking up with coupons, there is a lot of stuff I need. If I was fully stocked, I would only buy the good sale items and stuff like milk, and bank the rest of my grocery money for a week with better deals.
OK, off to go shopping.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wrestling...
If you've read further down than the first page or so, you know that I'm struggling about working. I truly believe that a mother's place is in the home. If God hadn't meant for us to RAISE the children, he wouldn't have designed it so that we HAVE the children.
When the opportunity came up for me to take over the administrative assistant position at the Fire Department, I went back and forth with it. Larry was working, but we still NEEDED the money. Not to buy "things," but to live. To buy food. Clothing. Essentials. We were paying the bills, barely, but rapidly working through our stockpile of food.
I prayed about it. I talked to Larry about it. I agonized over the decision, and finally took the job. And still I agonized about it. And felt guilt. A very wise commenter to this blog pointed out that I wasn't working for things, I was working for need, and maybe the job being put in front of me was God's provision.
I'm a big believer in God's provision. I have this "just enough" theory. See, when Larry went to school and we were living on student loans, life was OK. Not great, but OK. But then two weeks went by without him finding a job after school. The class had been told that a lot of them would be hired by our local company. He had top grades in his class, was local, has good references, and we figured (assumed, oh, I see the error), that he was a shoo in for the job. But the company hired NO ONE. It took him five weeks to find a job. And, of course, another few weeks to get paid.
I used the last of our potatoes to fix dinner on the Thursday night before he got paid. We had just enough. God made sure we had just enough. God provided just enough. God provides.
So that comment about this job being God's way of providing eased some of my feelings about working (although none of my guilt at leaving the littles in daycare). I started October 1. Larry got laid off at his job in mid December. If I hadn't have been working, we'd have been homeless.
But still I wrestle with it. I guess, maybe, I'm not seeing much of God's provision right now. I know it's there, if I look for it, but I'm getting frustrated. Larry is getting depressed because he hasn't been called back to work-and he hasn't found another job. He's hopeful of getting one after his EMT class is finished, but by the time he takes his national registry test, we're looking at another three months before he would be hired, if he even is. And I hate to see him depressed. I know that the root of his depression is his need to be the provider for our family. He needs to be that guy. The guy that takes care of his family, not the guy dependent on his wife to put food on the table. It hurts him inside to be dependent on my income. And to see him hurting, hurts me.
And I don't know how to help. I don't know how to show him that my faith in him hasn't wavered. I have faith that he will find a job. I have faith that he is still the provider that he always was. But it's hard to have faith that God's provision will continue. I feel like we've done something wrong. Well, I know we've done wrong things, because we can never attain perfection, but I do wonder why we are going through this. I'm not sure how free will plays into this-which is the answer I get when I ask people more knowledgeable than I questions like "Why do babies get cancer?" That free will plays into that-that we as a people are paying the price for the free will decisions we made earlier in life. I try to tell Larry, and show him, that I have faith in him, but I'm not sure that my affirmations are helping him. And I don't know what else to do.
He has his good days and his bad days. I want him to have all good days, but again, I don't know how to help. If I tell him too often, it will cease to have meaning, or, even worse, he will interpret it as harping-like the invisible "but". As in "I know you'll find a job soon, babe (to which he adds "but..." whatever negativity he's swimming in, in his head)" I don't infer a but. I don't feel a but. I hope I don't infer a but. But I'm pretty sure he hears the but, when all I want to do is build him up.
So I'm frustrated, and wanting him to be confident and assured, but it's like he's in a downward spiral right now. He won't be confident until he finds a job, but in a county where unemployment has quadrupled since late November, that's hard to do, and that's nothing to do with him. When you have 300 people applying for one position, well, odds certainly aren't in your favor.
Anyway, the man is home, safely, from the weather, and I think I'm going to drag him to bed. Guess I'll wrestle more tomorrow-cause this really isn't where I was going when I started writing this post.
When the opportunity came up for me to take over the administrative assistant position at the Fire Department, I went back and forth with it. Larry was working, but we still NEEDED the money. Not to buy "things," but to live. To buy food. Clothing. Essentials. We were paying the bills, barely, but rapidly working through our stockpile of food.
I prayed about it. I talked to Larry about it. I agonized over the decision, and finally took the job. And still I agonized about it. And felt guilt. A very wise commenter to this blog pointed out that I wasn't working for things, I was working for need, and maybe the job being put in front of me was God's provision.
I'm a big believer in God's provision. I have this "just enough" theory. See, when Larry went to school and we were living on student loans, life was OK. Not great, but OK. But then two weeks went by without him finding a job after school. The class had been told that a lot of them would be hired by our local company. He had top grades in his class, was local, has good references, and we figured (assumed, oh, I see the error), that he was a shoo in for the job. But the company hired NO ONE. It took him five weeks to find a job. And, of course, another few weeks to get paid.
I used the last of our potatoes to fix dinner on the Thursday night before he got paid. We had just enough. God made sure we had just enough. God provided just enough. God provides.
So that comment about this job being God's way of providing eased some of my feelings about working (although none of my guilt at leaving the littles in daycare). I started October 1. Larry got laid off at his job in mid December. If I hadn't have been working, we'd have been homeless.
But still I wrestle with it. I guess, maybe, I'm not seeing much of God's provision right now. I know it's there, if I look for it, but I'm getting frustrated. Larry is getting depressed because he hasn't been called back to work-and he hasn't found another job. He's hopeful of getting one after his EMT class is finished, but by the time he takes his national registry test, we're looking at another three months before he would be hired, if he even is. And I hate to see him depressed. I know that the root of his depression is his need to be the provider for our family. He needs to be that guy. The guy that takes care of his family, not the guy dependent on his wife to put food on the table. It hurts him inside to be dependent on my income. And to see him hurting, hurts me.
And I don't know how to help. I don't know how to show him that my faith in him hasn't wavered. I have faith that he will find a job. I have faith that he is still the provider that he always was. But it's hard to have faith that God's provision will continue. I feel like we've done something wrong. Well, I know we've done wrong things, because we can never attain perfection, but I do wonder why we are going through this. I'm not sure how free will plays into this-which is the answer I get when I ask people more knowledgeable than I questions like "Why do babies get cancer?" That free will plays into that-that we as a people are paying the price for the free will decisions we made earlier in life. I try to tell Larry, and show him, that I have faith in him, but I'm not sure that my affirmations are helping him. And I don't know what else to do.
He has his good days and his bad days. I want him to have all good days, but again, I don't know how to help. If I tell him too often, it will cease to have meaning, or, even worse, he will interpret it as harping-like the invisible "but". As in "I know you'll find a job soon, babe (to which he adds "but..." whatever negativity he's swimming in, in his head)" I don't infer a but. I don't feel a but. I hope I don't infer a but. But I'm pretty sure he hears the but, when all I want to do is build him up.
So I'm frustrated, and wanting him to be confident and assured, but it's like he's in a downward spiral right now. He won't be confident until he finds a job, but in a county where unemployment has quadrupled since late November, that's hard to do, and that's nothing to do with him. When you have 300 people applying for one position, well, odds certainly aren't in your favor.
Anyway, the man is home, safely, from the weather, and I think I'm going to drag him to bed. Guess I'll wrestle more tomorrow-cause this really isn't where I was going when I started writing this post.
A great ebayer...
So I buy coupons. OK, I don't actually buy coupons. I pay for the time to clip, sort and mail the coupons. So I buy a coupon broker's time, and get the coupons for free. I don't have good newspapers around here, so my ability to get the coupons free in the weekly inserts in the Sunday paper is pretty small, so I'm thankful for the coupon sellers that charge me for their time and effort. It gives me the opportunity to save more money for my family's grocery budget.
Anyway, in the last few weeks, I have bought a lot of coupons on ebay. I guess I should say ordering coupons, since I'm not buying the Q's, but the time of the broker. Again.
Anyway, one of the folks I ordered coupons from, I got two batches, and they arrived sometime in the last couple of days. One of them was in a different envelope, having been rewrapped by the post office. Seems the envelope ripped in shipping and they plopped it in another envelope and sent it on it's way. It was a pretty significant rip. The thing is, this ebay seller took the five seconds to wrap the coupons in a separate piece of paper. Only one other seller did that. But this seller, because she took the time to wrap it, averted the loss of my coupons. That little act, I'm sure, prevented my coupons from being strewn all over the place when the envelope got ripped. I really appreciate effort like that, so I wanted to share it with you all.
Here's her link.
Anyway, in the last few weeks, I have bought a lot of coupons on ebay. I guess I should say ordering coupons, since I'm not buying the Q's, but the time of the broker. Again.
Anyway, one of the folks I ordered coupons from, I got two batches, and they arrived sometime in the last couple of days. One of them was in a different envelope, having been rewrapped by the post office. Seems the envelope ripped in shipping and they plopped it in another envelope and sent it on it's way. It was a pretty significant rip. The thing is, this ebay seller took the five seconds to wrap the coupons in a separate piece of paper. Only one other seller did that. But this seller, because she took the time to wrap it, averted the loss of my coupons. That little act, I'm sure, prevented my coupons from being strewn all over the place when the envelope got ripped. I really appreciate effort like that, so I wanted to share it with you all.
Here's her link.
Bad weather, absent DH and recipe reviews
We have more snow. We're not supposed to get much snow but it's blowing so visibility is about 100 feet, according to one of our firefighters who just reported in on his way out to check on his horses.
Larry has class tonight so he might be stuck in Trinidad until tomorrow. I haven't slept in bed completely alone in, umm, years. Literally years. At least not all night. I've spent some partial nights when Larry was on a call, before I was a dispatcher, but not a full night since Larry first started at the post office and had to go up to Colorado Springs for training. That was before Aria was born.
So, last night we tried the Island Sausage. We didn't really like it. Not that it was bad. It had an interesting blend of flavors, and the meat itself was good, but the sauce was overwhelmingly sweet. Maybe doing something like that as an appetizer, where you put the meat on toothpicks, would be OK, or adding something to the sauce (green and red peppers and onions come to mind). It was the kind of dish I'd order at a restaurant to try it out, but I wouldn't order it again.
Tonight I kind of concocted a recipe. I had on the menu "beef casserole." So I went through my beef casserole recipes and started with a recipe, that I won't post because I have no idea where I got it, called "jail food." I varied it right from the start, using a pound of ground beef, a sliced onion, a family sized can of cream of mushroom soup, a regular sized can of cream of celery soup, 2 packets of au jus mix, 3ish pounds of potatoes, and about a pound of carrots. I browned the meat with salt and pepper, the onion, a pinch of basil, a generous pinch of italian seasoning, and about a tablespoon of fresh minced garlic. Drained it, then mixed with the soups and the au jus mix and the small soup can of water. Poured half of that mixture into into a 9x13 casserole, put the potatoes on top of that, then salted and peppered those, then put the carrots on, then poured the rest of the soup mixture on. Baked at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. It wasn't bad, but I would omit the italian seasoning and basil next time.
So, tomorrow, we're going to have something tried and true. Maybe chicken and dumplings, since we've had such cold weather. I had chicken and rice planned, but with all of my menu rearranging, I ended up doing that on Monday. But dumplings sounds good-and I'd have to work really hard to mess that up!!
Larry has class tonight so he might be stuck in Trinidad until tomorrow. I haven't slept in bed completely alone in, umm, years. Literally years. At least not all night. I've spent some partial nights when Larry was on a call, before I was a dispatcher, but not a full night since Larry first started at the post office and had to go up to Colorado Springs for training. That was before Aria was born.
So, last night we tried the Island Sausage. We didn't really like it. Not that it was bad. It had an interesting blend of flavors, and the meat itself was good, but the sauce was overwhelmingly sweet. Maybe doing something like that as an appetizer, where you put the meat on toothpicks, would be OK, or adding something to the sauce (green and red peppers and onions come to mind). It was the kind of dish I'd order at a restaurant to try it out, but I wouldn't order it again.
Tonight I kind of concocted a recipe. I had on the menu "beef casserole." So I went through my beef casserole recipes and started with a recipe, that I won't post because I have no idea where I got it, called "jail food." I varied it right from the start, using a pound of ground beef, a sliced onion, a family sized can of cream of mushroom soup, a regular sized can of cream of celery soup, 2 packets of au jus mix, 3ish pounds of potatoes, and about a pound of carrots. I browned the meat with salt and pepper, the onion, a pinch of basil, a generous pinch of italian seasoning, and about a tablespoon of fresh minced garlic. Drained it, then mixed with the soups and the au jus mix and the small soup can of water. Poured half of that mixture into into a 9x13 casserole, put the potatoes on top of that, then salted and peppered those, then put the carrots on, then poured the rest of the soup mixture on. Baked at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. It wasn't bad, but I would omit the italian seasoning and basil next time.
So, tomorrow, we're going to have something tried and true. Maybe chicken and dumplings, since we've had such cold weather. I had chicken and rice planned, but with all of my menu rearranging, I ended up doing that on Monday. But dumplings sounds good-and I'd have to work really hard to mess that up!!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Favorite Site of The Week: BeCentsAble
I found this site through a link at The New Frugal Mom.
BeCentsAble lists sales and coupon matchups from all kinds of different stores, and it's national! I'm really pleased to have found this site!
BeCentsAble lists sales and coupon matchups from all kinds of different stores, and it's national! I'm really pleased to have found this site!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Coupon Code for Personalized Children's books
I See Me is running a promo through April 13, to get $5.00 off any $40.00 0rder. Here's the info:
Click Here for $5 off on orders that are over $40! Use code FSR615 at checkout.
Click Here for $5 off on orders that are over $40! Use code FSR615 at checkout.
Change in Menu Plans for Tuesday
Since my menu plans for the past week were messed up by weather and other "stuff", I'm changing Tuesday's plan to this recipe, originally found on The New Frugal Mom blog. Works really well with the polish sausage I scored on rollback and with coupons over the weekend.
I won't have to buy anything additional except ketchup, which I needed anyway.
I won't have to buy anything additional except ketchup, which I needed anyway.
Aria and baths
Aria hates baths. I mean, screaming fit hates them. Oh, she'll get in easily enough, but if there's a loud noise while she's in there, or she splashes herself, or the dog walks through a doorway three rooms away, she screams. It's always a battle.
Consequently, bathing her is one of my least favorite things to do, and I don't do it as often as I should. Last night I decided to bathe her and Roan together. Again, something I don't normally do, because Roan likes to really play in the tub, which usually means Aria gets splashed. But it was already creeping up on bedtime so I was in a hurry. The play part went well, actually. The washing part went it's usual way, which is not so good, but it could have been worse. I stayed relatively dry.
Since I had cleaned out the bathroom cabinet, and found the baby lotion, we did lotion after their baths. And Aria LOVED it. Whether it was the massage element, or the feeling of the lotion, or the bonding with mom, I don't know, but she LOVED it. So now I have a bribe. "After your bath, we can do lotion."
I'm a bad mommy.
Consequently, bathing her is one of my least favorite things to do, and I don't do it as often as I should. Last night I decided to bathe her and Roan together. Again, something I don't normally do, because Roan likes to really play in the tub, which usually means Aria gets splashed. But it was already creeping up on bedtime so I was in a hurry. The play part went well, actually. The washing part went it's usual way, which is not so good, but it could have been worse. I stayed relatively dry.
Since I had cleaned out the bathroom cabinet, and found the baby lotion, we did lotion after their baths. And Aria LOVED it. Whether it was the massage element, or the feeling of the lotion, or the bonding with mom, I don't know, but she LOVED it. So now I have a bribe. "After your bath, we can do lotion."
I'm a bad mommy.
Product Review: Coupon Binder
OK, I ordered this coupon binder off of ebay, from this seller.
I walked to the Post Office in the snow on Saturday, because it was still too sloppy to get out in the van. I also knew I should have some coupons, so I really wanted to get that mail so we could go shopping at some point during the weekend.
I opened my coupons first. Went through and picked out the ones I can't use, for whatever reason. Some are items we don't use, some are too close to expiring (I'll use one or two before they expire, but not the rest), etc. So I had the coupons sorted before I even opened the binder.
I cannot tell you how pleased I was with this binder. It's sturdy, and has a LOT of pockets, so you can carry the included calculator and coupon cutter and pen. It has accordion files attached to the inside, so you can file inserts, ads, lists, etc. The three ring portion actually comes out of the binder. Not sure how that would benefit someone, but it probably will. I just haven't figured it out yet!
The binder is loaded with baseball card pages, which some people may find a little small. However, because there are 9 per page, there are 180 openings. Being able to have that many coupons in that few pages, means there's no problem closing the binder even when it's fully loaded, as mine was (and will be, I have more coupons coming).
The lovely lady who sold it even offered to customize the dividers for me. It having been so long since I couponed, I told her to use her standard categories. So the dividers are:
(Italics indicate additional add ons to that divider that I made, for specific categories that I wanted)
Dairy, Cold Items, Boxed Meals and Sides
Canned/Condiments, Breakfast, Portable Foods, Beverages
Snacks
Frozen, Baking, Salad Stuff, Misc Food
Pet Care/Baby Items
Pharmacy
Personal Care/Beauty
Household Products
So when we went shopping, I took the binder. You don't want to be without your coupons while shopping, in case you find some unannounced deals, clearance items, etc. If I had had a free baby seat, it would have fit perfectly in there. Since both of the baby seats were taken and I didn't want a third cart, I balanced it on the bag pile (when I go out I have the baby bag and the dispatch bag). That worked really well. I could flip through the binder quickly and determine if I had a coupon that matched an item I wanted.
With the calculator, I could quickly determine which deals were better. For example, I think I had six or so different types of deodorant coupons. I could quickly determine which products would be cheapest with the coupons I had.
My favorite part is that the binder zips closed. So if I drop it, I'm not playing 300 coupon pick up. I have had that happen in the past when using a regular notebook.
Here are some binder pics so you can see what I'm talking about.
I highly recommend this binder!
I walked to the Post Office in the snow on Saturday, because it was still too sloppy to get out in the van. I also knew I should have some coupons, so I really wanted to get that mail so we could go shopping at some point during the weekend.
I opened my coupons first. Went through and picked out the ones I can't use, for whatever reason. Some are items we don't use, some are too close to expiring (I'll use one or two before they expire, but not the rest), etc. So I had the coupons sorted before I even opened the binder.
I cannot tell you how pleased I was with this binder. It's sturdy, and has a LOT of pockets, so you can carry the included calculator and coupon cutter and pen. It has accordion files attached to the inside, so you can file inserts, ads, lists, etc. The three ring portion actually comes out of the binder. Not sure how that would benefit someone, but it probably will. I just haven't figured it out yet!
The binder is loaded with baseball card pages, which some people may find a little small. However, because there are 9 per page, there are 180 openings. Being able to have that many coupons in that few pages, means there's no problem closing the binder even when it's fully loaded, as mine was (and will be, I have more coupons coming).
The lovely lady who sold it even offered to customize the dividers for me. It having been so long since I couponed, I told her to use her standard categories. So the dividers are:
(Italics indicate additional add ons to that divider that I made, for specific categories that I wanted)
Dairy, Cold Items, Boxed Meals and Sides
Canned/Condiments, Breakfast, Portable Foods, Beverages
Snacks
Frozen, Baking, Salad Stuff, Misc Food
Pet Care/Baby Items
Pharmacy
Personal Care/Beauty
Household Products
So when we went shopping, I took the binder. You don't want to be without your coupons while shopping, in case you find some unannounced deals, clearance items, etc. If I had had a free baby seat, it would have fit perfectly in there. Since both of the baby seats were taken and I didn't want a third cart, I balanced it on the bag pile (when I go out I have the baby bag and the dispatch bag). That worked really well. I could flip through the binder quickly and determine if I had a coupon that matched an item I wanted.
With the calculator, I could quickly determine which deals were better. For example, I think I had six or so different types of deodorant coupons. I could quickly determine which products would be cheapest with the coupons I had.
My favorite part is that the binder zips closed. So if I drop it, I'm not playing 300 coupon pick up. I have had that happen in the past when using a regular notebook.
Here are some binder pics so you can see what I'm talking about.
I highly recommend this binder!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Large Families
Those of you that have truly large families will laugh at the size of my large family. We have five children. Those of you that read me know this. In "society", I guess is how to put it, we have a large family. We get those looks that you're familiar with if you have a large family. I can only imagine how many more we would get if/when we have more children.
Living in a primarily Catholic community, though, I probably get less of those looks than a lot of large families. We get a lot of little old ladies telling us what a blessing our children are (to which we heartily agree, and give thanks!), and more, mostly women, commenting on what lovingly full hands we must have. I do love those comments. Lovingly full is good.
We do get some negatives. We took Aimee in for her school physical a few years back, and we decided to try a new doc. Ours had taken another position at a private company. Anyway, most families here go to a doc in Pueblo that we're really not comfortable with. They have the "assembly line" approach to doctor's visits. Come in, spend five minutes with an anonymous doc cause they have so many that you never see the same one twice, even if you request a specific one, and then say something quick about growth rates and eating habits, and then lecture for the remaining 2.5 minutes about vaccinations.
So, anyway, we go through the phone book. It's a school physical, really can't be screwed up, and we were in the market for a new doc. So we find a clinic in Walsenburg who's name has something to do with FAMILY. I can't remember the whole name. But family was in there. That tells me they have experience with kidlets and welcome them as patients. So we go. We ALL go. Jessica took us, so add Jamie to the mix. We go in and there are only elderly patients in the waiting room. Not that I have anything against elderly patients, or elderly people, for that matter, but not much FAMILY at the FAMILY doc.
We check in, and go find seats. The kids immediately beeline for the toys, which are mostly broken happy meal rejects. Well, OK, small town, lots of medicaid/medicare, I can understand that. Since my kids don't get happy meals often, even the rejects are new toys for them, so they eagerly play with them, and, being kids, make noise as they play. Cheerful, playing noise. FAMILY noise. Not banshee screeching or war cries or other assorted non-family noises.
We find out the doc is running late. Way late. Now, we scheduled an early appointment so we would have the kids out the door before the wanting lunch and getting tired crabbies set in. You've been there. Kids are hungry and starting to get tired, so their attention span drops to about 3.4 seconds. Had the doc been on time, we'd have been safely home before that happened.
By the time Aimee even got called back for the preliminary stuff, the crabbies are starting to rear their ugly heads. We still haven't progressed to banshee screeching or war cries, but probably another half an hour, at most, is what we would be granted, before we did get to the beginnings of that point. So, being the smart mommies that we are, Jessica and I decided to take the kids out to the van to wait. In the van are snacks, which will at least ward off the hungry crabbies, and no one to bother with the getting tired crabbies. I mean, this is a normal childhood behavior, right? Judging from the children I ran into when I worked the late shift at King Soopers back a bazillion years ago, most children get the tired crabbies. Anyway, I digress (me? noooooooo!). But why does it annoy people so bad when kids get tired and crabby? After all, it wasn't our fault that the doc was late.
Anyway, as we're picking up the happy meal reject toys and gathering our stuff to head out to the van, the receptionist says "Can you please keep your kids quieter?" I say "We're heading out to the van now." She then tells me to take the kids (including a toddler boy and an almost toddler girl) to play in the front yard of the library right behind them. The unfenced yard of the library that fronts the business loop of the highway with a speed limit of 40. That's where I want my kids to play, yup.
Umm...where, exactly, did the doctor's office lose the focus on "family" that is in their very name. If they don't want kids in their office, they should stop billing themselves as a family doctor. Yes, children are loud and sometimes distracting, despite our best efforts. We are training them to be adults, but as anyone knows, training goes roughly in the early days. At the point at which they surpassed normal kid noises, I removed them from the situation.
Am I out of line to think that a family business of any type, should expect that families will consist of young children who will act like, well, young children? It's one thing if my kids are pulling stuff off the shelf at Safeway. It's another altogether if they are making car noises while sitting in the toy car shopping cart.
Let's put it like this: I wouldn't take my kids into an antique store. I wouldn't take my kids into a restaurant that requires reservations. And while I do consider the grocery store to be a family type business, I wouldn't let them pull things off the shelf or scream like banshees. Of course, if I'm there when they're tired, that's on me. I should schedule my day better, so they can be out of there to, well, act like tired children act. But if I do take my kids to the store, and the check out line is an hour long, and the kids are fussing by the time we get to the cashier, well, I've made that effort, and the business needs to understand that. And most businesses that cater to families do.
All children are a blessing. And training is an ongoing task. It requires repetition, and children, being, well, children, will test their boundaries, requiring further training.
Anyway, my intent was not to rant. It was simply to discuss the inequalities that larger families have. That most of the time, aside from a look or a comment that probably wasn't really intended to hurt, that I don't really have to deal with. I was going to talk about the difficulty in our daily walk with God. See, I heard this pastor on the radio today, talking about how people don't struggle to walk with God. They just screw up, then ask for forgiveness again. And that's not how it works. You have to work at it. Now, the walk itself is work. I've talked about my own struggles with submission. Boy, it's hard. And yeah, I do screw up. I'm not perfect. No one is. But I do consciously make the effort to submit to God's will. I mean, in that area, I really have no choice. God's will, will win every time, one way or the other. But one can choose to not be judgemental, or to not gossip, etc. Rather than being so and then asking forgiveness, one has to make the conscious choice to not do it. And trusting God with your fertility is one of those things. One has to make a conscious choice to let God be in charge.
I'll tell you why that scares most people. Kids are expensive. But very rarely do I hear families saying "I can't afford this." Most of the time what I hear are stories of God's provision. I posted a long time ago about "Just enough." And often that's how it works. No, you probably won't be living in a huge house with enough bathrooms and plenty of room and always have the newest bestest this or that. But you will have "just enough." If you only put that faith and trust in God.
K, I'm done now, and so are the dishes, so I'm heading to bed.
Living in a primarily Catholic community, though, I probably get less of those looks than a lot of large families. We get a lot of little old ladies telling us what a blessing our children are (to which we heartily agree, and give thanks!), and more, mostly women, commenting on what lovingly full hands we must have. I do love those comments. Lovingly full is good.
We do get some negatives. We took Aimee in for her school physical a few years back, and we decided to try a new doc. Ours had taken another position at a private company. Anyway, most families here go to a doc in Pueblo that we're really not comfortable with. They have the "assembly line" approach to doctor's visits. Come in, spend five minutes with an anonymous doc cause they have so many that you never see the same one twice, even if you request a specific one, and then say something quick about growth rates and eating habits, and then lecture for the remaining 2.5 minutes about vaccinations.
So, anyway, we go through the phone book. It's a school physical, really can't be screwed up, and we were in the market for a new doc. So we find a clinic in Walsenburg who's name has something to do with FAMILY. I can't remember the whole name. But family was in there. That tells me they have experience with kidlets and welcome them as patients. So we go. We ALL go. Jessica took us, so add Jamie to the mix. We go in and there are only elderly patients in the waiting room. Not that I have anything against elderly patients, or elderly people, for that matter, but not much FAMILY at the FAMILY doc.
We check in, and go find seats. The kids immediately beeline for the toys, which are mostly broken happy meal rejects. Well, OK, small town, lots of medicaid/medicare, I can understand that. Since my kids don't get happy meals often, even the rejects are new toys for them, so they eagerly play with them, and, being kids, make noise as they play. Cheerful, playing noise. FAMILY noise. Not banshee screeching or war cries or other assorted non-family noises.
We find out the doc is running late. Way late. Now, we scheduled an early appointment so we would have the kids out the door before the wanting lunch and getting tired crabbies set in. You've been there. Kids are hungry and starting to get tired, so their attention span drops to about 3.4 seconds. Had the doc been on time, we'd have been safely home before that happened.
By the time Aimee even got called back for the preliminary stuff, the crabbies are starting to rear their ugly heads. We still haven't progressed to banshee screeching or war cries, but probably another half an hour, at most, is what we would be granted, before we did get to the beginnings of that point. So, being the smart mommies that we are, Jessica and I decided to take the kids out to the van to wait. In the van are snacks, which will at least ward off the hungry crabbies, and no one to bother with the getting tired crabbies. I mean, this is a normal childhood behavior, right? Judging from the children I ran into when I worked the late shift at King Soopers back a bazillion years ago, most children get the tired crabbies. Anyway, I digress (me? noooooooo!). But why does it annoy people so bad when kids get tired and crabby? After all, it wasn't our fault that the doc was late.
Anyway, as we're picking up the happy meal reject toys and gathering our stuff to head out to the van, the receptionist says "Can you please keep your kids quieter?" I say "We're heading out to the van now." She then tells me to take the kids (including a toddler boy and an almost toddler girl) to play in the front yard of the library right behind them. The unfenced yard of the library that fronts the business loop of the highway with a speed limit of 40. That's where I want my kids to play, yup.
Umm...where, exactly, did the doctor's office lose the focus on "family" that is in their very name. If they don't want kids in their office, they should stop billing themselves as a family doctor. Yes, children are loud and sometimes distracting, despite our best efforts. We are training them to be adults, but as anyone knows, training goes roughly in the early days. At the point at which they surpassed normal kid noises, I removed them from the situation.
Am I out of line to think that a family business of any type, should expect that families will consist of young children who will act like, well, young children? It's one thing if my kids are pulling stuff off the shelf at Safeway. It's another altogether if they are making car noises while sitting in the toy car shopping cart.
Let's put it like this: I wouldn't take my kids into an antique store. I wouldn't take my kids into a restaurant that requires reservations. And while I do consider the grocery store to be a family type business, I wouldn't let them pull things off the shelf or scream like banshees. Of course, if I'm there when they're tired, that's on me. I should schedule my day better, so they can be out of there to, well, act like tired children act. But if I do take my kids to the store, and the check out line is an hour long, and the kids are fussing by the time we get to the cashier, well, I've made that effort, and the business needs to understand that. And most businesses that cater to families do.
All children are a blessing. And training is an ongoing task. It requires repetition, and children, being, well, children, will test their boundaries, requiring further training.
Anyway, my intent was not to rant. It was simply to discuss the inequalities that larger families have. That most of the time, aside from a look or a comment that probably wasn't really intended to hurt, that I don't really have to deal with. I was going to talk about the difficulty in our daily walk with God. See, I heard this pastor on the radio today, talking about how people don't struggle to walk with God. They just screw up, then ask for forgiveness again. And that's not how it works. You have to work at it. Now, the walk itself is work. I've talked about my own struggles with submission. Boy, it's hard. And yeah, I do screw up. I'm not perfect. No one is. But I do consciously make the effort to submit to God's will. I mean, in that area, I really have no choice. God's will, will win every time, one way or the other. But one can choose to not be judgemental, or to not gossip, etc. Rather than being so and then asking forgiveness, one has to make the conscious choice to not do it. And trusting God with your fertility is one of those things. One has to make a conscious choice to let God be in charge.
I'll tell you why that scares most people. Kids are expensive. But very rarely do I hear families saying "I can't afford this." Most of the time what I hear are stories of God's provision. I posted a long time ago about "Just enough." And often that's how it works. No, you probably won't be living in a huge house with enough bathrooms and plenty of room and always have the newest bestest this or that. But you will have "just enough." If you only put that faith and trust in God.
K, I'm done now, and so are the dishes, so I'm heading to bed.
The hard choices
Found this over on inashoe.com
Sometimes, the choices we face in life are harder than we can even imagine.
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2009/03/woot.html
Sometimes, the choices we face in life are harder than we can even imagine.
http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/2009/03/woot.html
Bug Out Bags
OK, with spring coming, and fire season already here, very early, I went ahead and redid the bug out box. For those of you that don't want to read all the way back, my bug out box is based on a bug out bag, also called a 72 hour kit. Unfortunately, I had to dig into it a few times during the recent financial hard times, and now restocking is a priority.
Last night, as we unpacked groceries, we just dumped the aquapods I bought into the box, and then today worked on restocking it. I added several aquapods and some Capri Suns and some snacks to a car bag, that I've been wanting to do for awhile. This bag will always be in the car. Normally, if something happens, we won't be stranded on the road for too long. We both have cell phones, and the fire radios. So the car bag for every day doesn't have to be huge. If we take a bigger trip, or will be up in the mountains, we will pack more emergency essentials. Remember, running to the store for a gallon of milk is an hour trip for us. We aren't surrounded by convenience stores and Walmarts. Again, we wouldn't be stranded for long, but sometimes stuff happens. So here's the car bag:
Here are some pics of the organized box, with all five backpacks in play. The clothes aren't in the backpacks yet, but they are in a basket on my bed ready to be loaded. We don't have everything in there. Here's why: With five children, I can't pack everything. I do, however, have a list of "stuff to grab" that I will also be updating this week. The hard truth is, if we have to walk out of here, for any distance, we're pretty screwed. However, all of this stuff loads into the van with minimal effort, with room for the computers. With this, we can safely evac in the van to just about anywhere. We have multiple places to go if we need to evac. With the computers, if we lose the house, we can start over completely, if we had to.
In this pic you can see the medicine bag, some of the food, and the extra large ziploc of paper stuff-tp, trash bags, pads, etc. You'll notice the food isn't the healthiest. There's a tin of cookies and some pudding in there. For bug out purposes, you want calorie dense, not nutrient dense, and you want foods everyone will eat with minimal complaint. You want to keep the kids full when they are hungry. The evacuation situation will be stressful enough for them (and for you). If they are happily full of food they like, they will complain less, be less stressed, and cause less stress for you. If they are sugar high, the walking (if you are walking) will cure that, and if you're driving, stop frequently at rest stops (you'll want to do that anyway, as adrenaline wears off) and let them run around, then crash when they get back in the car.
In the backpack with the stars, you see a bag of pretzels and some linens. These are misc old linens which I packed for bandages and triangle slings.
Two more backpacks, ready for clothes. You want to keep each backpack balanced and light. Even a short walk with a badly packed backpack can hurt someone.
Pic of the box with the big paper goods bag taken out. You can see water, gatorade, shelf stable milk (which I will eventually take out and replace with soy milk, takes up less space) and the bowl for doggie water. Don't forget to pack for your pet. We have two gallon storage bags with dog food, and the leash is on the back door, on the "stuff to grab" list. I planned a gallon per day for her, too. She may not need that much, but she might, especially if she gets stressed.
One last pic, showing more food, a guide book to medicinal herbs, and the wind up radio/flashlight that I got off ebay. Not only is this a bug out box, but an extended power outage box. It gets stored in the safe closet in case of tornado (not likely but not impossible) or some other long term power outage. If we do need to camp on an evac, we'll have light. We can light a fire, and do have matches and such, but I'm hesitant to light a campfire with the kidlets. I will if I have to, but I'd rather not have to. But if we are evacing and need to stop, we can find a campsite instead of a hotel, saving a lot of cash-which will be needed if the evac lasts awhile or if we lose the house.
At some point I will post a list of what I have, what I want, and what is on the "stuff to grab" list.
Oh, since I'm taking the computers if we can drive, no loss of family photos. If you have a lot of photos, take the time to scan them to a CD and you only have to grab the CD if you ever have to evac. Better yet, do one seasonally and send to gramma or someone else to hold for you, so you don't even have to worry about it. You won't lose those precious photos that way.
If you have questions, feel free to post them in the comments section, and I'll answer them best I can!
Last night, as we unpacked groceries, we just dumped the aquapods I bought into the box, and then today worked on restocking it. I added several aquapods and some Capri Suns and some snacks to a car bag, that I've been wanting to do for awhile. This bag will always be in the car. Normally, if something happens, we won't be stranded on the road for too long. We both have cell phones, and the fire radios. So the car bag for every day doesn't have to be huge. If we take a bigger trip, or will be up in the mountains, we will pack more emergency essentials. Remember, running to the store for a gallon of milk is an hour trip for us. We aren't surrounded by convenience stores and Walmarts. Again, we wouldn't be stranded for long, but sometimes stuff happens. So here's the car bag:
Here are some pics of the organized box, with all five backpacks in play. The clothes aren't in the backpacks yet, but they are in a basket on my bed ready to be loaded. We don't have everything in there. Here's why: With five children, I can't pack everything. I do, however, have a list of "stuff to grab" that I will also be updating this week. The hard truth is, if we have to walk out of here, for any distance, we're pretty screwed. However, all of this stuff loads into the van with minimal effort, with room for the computers. With this, we can safely evac in the van to just about anywhere. We have multiple places to go if we need to evac. With the computers, if we lose the house, we can start over completely, if we had to.
In this pic you can see the medicine bag, some of the food, and the extra large ziploc of paper stuff-tp, trash bags, pads, etc. You'll notice the food isn't the healthiest. There's a tin of cookies and some pudding in there. For bug out purposes, you want calorie dense, not nutrient dense, and you want foods everyone will eat with minimal complaint. You want to keep the kids full when they are hungry. The evacuation situation will be stressful enough for them (and for you). If they are happily full of food they like, they will complain less, be less stressed, and cause less stress for you. If they are sugar high, the walking (if you are walking) will cure that, and if you're driving, stop frequently at rest stops (you'll want to do that anyway, as adrenaline wears off) and let them run around, then crash when they get back in the car.
In the backpack with the stars, you see a bag of pretzels and some linens. These are misc old linens which I packed for bandages and triangle slings.
Two more backpacks, ready for clothes. You want to keep each backpack balanced and light. Even a short walk with a badly packed backpack can hurt someone.
Pic of the box with the big paper goods bag taken out. You can see water, gatorade, shelf stable milk (which I will eventually take out and replace with soy milk, takes up less space) and the bowl for doggie water. Don't forget to pack for your pet. We have two gallon storage bags with dog food, and the leash is on the back door, on the "stuff to grab" list. I planned a gallon per day for her, too. She may not need that much, but she might, especially if she gets stressed.
One last pic, showing more food, a guide book to medicinal herbs, and the wind up radio/flashlight that I got off ebay. Not only is this a bug out box, but an extended power outage box. It gets stored in the safe closet in case of tornado (not likely but not impossible) or some other long term power outage. If we do need to camp on an evac, we'll have light. We can light a fire, and do have matches and such, but I'm hesitant to light a campfire with the kidlets. I will if I have to, but I'd rather not have to. But if we are evacing and need to stop, we can find a campsite instead of a hotel, saving a lot of cash-which will be needed if the evac lasts awhile or if we lose the house.
At some point I will post a list of what I have, what I want, and what is on the "stuff to grab" list.
Oh, since I'm taking the computers if we can drive, no loss of family photos. If you have a lot of photos, take the time to scan them to a CD and you only have to grab the CD if you ever have to evac. Better yet, do one seasonally and send to gramma or someone else to hold for you, so you don't even have to worry about it. You won't lose those precious photos that way.
If you have questions, feel free to post them in the comments section, and I'll answer them best I can!
Sneak Peek at new Safeway Ad
One of the ladies over at slickdeals posted a link to the 4/1 Safeway ad. I can't find the original post, but here is a link.
Giveaway results
We only had one comment to the giveaway thread, but lots more traffic. So for next week's giveaway, I'm going to combine a lot of the coupons into a single super coupon lot. So one person is going to win a whole lot of coupons! I went through mine and pulled out several that I won't use before they expire, and added those. Not that the coupons expire soon, but that I won't be able to buy enough, in the increments that I have, to use them all. So no cute pics of the kids picking names out of the hat until next week!
Using your resources well
Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win one of four envelopes filled with fifty coupons each!
Being frugal means using your resources in the most effective way possible. In other words, waste as little as possible. We had some leftover hamburger buns, so today for breakfast I made hamburger bun French toast. We served them with powdered sugar since we’re running low on syrup, and bananas. I had to cook them on a lower heat because the bread is thicker, but they worked very well.
Being frugal means using your resources in the most effective way possible. In other words, waste as little as possible. We had some leftover hamburger buns, so today for breakfast I made hamburger bun French toast. We served them with powdered sugar since we’re running low on syrup, and bananas. I had to cook them on a lower heat because the bread is thicker, but they worked very well.
This Week's Shopping
Don’t forget to enter to win one of four, fifty count envelopes of coupons! Contest runs through Sunday evening!
So it’s almost 11. The dishwasher is running, and the sink is shiny. The kitchen is a disaster area, but life isn’t perfect!
Part of the disaster is the result of my latest shopping run, my first big run with coupons. I used a lot of coupons today, but got a lot of stuff-plus, we got $.60 off per gallon of gas when we filled the van, thanks to Safeway’s fuel rewards program. So we paid $1.39 per gallon for gas. I don’t remember when we last paid that small of an amount. So, we’ll start with that, even though we did that at the end. Over $13.00 of free gas.
To start, we went to Walmart. We needed diapers and wipes, and I wanted to check prices on Safeway’s Mix and Match deal before I went and spent the money there. Sure enough, on everything I checked, the Safeway sale price was better, and not even comparable with coupons. In the past, Walmart has often beat Safeway’s sale prices, but that doesn’t seem to be the case as much anymore. I think part of that has to do with there only being those two stores to shop at. I’ve seen larger price increases overall at Walmart than Safeway.
Here’s what we did at Walmart
6x Beef Smoked Sausage, rollback to 2/$5.00 (had coupons)
1x Smoked Ham Lunchmeat
2x Refrigerated Cookie Dough (had coupons)
1x String Cheese (had coupon)
2x Gogurt (had coupon, herein noted as “Q” cause I’m feeling lazy)
2x Margarine Quarters, for cooking. Higher than normal, cause they were out of storebrand, no Q
5 lbs Hamburger Meat
1x Spreadable Margarine
1x Huge jar minced garlic from produce area. This is the best garlic. I freeze most of it for later so it doesn’t go bad
1x Omega 3 Granola Bars for Larry (Q)
2x Kraft Mac and Cheese
2x Easter Candy (Q)
Various types of necessary clothing type articles of the under type variety for the boys
3x Deodorants, on clearance (Q)
11x Cereal (Q)
2X Rold Gold Pretzels (Q)
2.6 lbs bananas, cause Roan asked
20 lbs potatoes
1x 3 pack wipes
1x Giant box of diapers
$16.95 in coupons later, we got out of there after spending $134.61
Then we went to Safeway, where something went horribly awry. Ok, not so horrible. Certainly not horrible on the horror movie your neighbor is a freak with razors on his fingers who shows up in your dreams awry, but awry just the same.
So I’m going to break it down here and see if I can figure it out.
$.75 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
4x Lipton Green Tea Citrus
22x Rice A Roni, various flavors (Coupons made them $.50 each)
7x Gatorade, various flavors
33 items. Planned to buy 20 RAR, not sure how the two more in there. Bought one extra Gatorade, knowing it would be $1.25. So those 3 items were $1.25 instead of $.75
$1.50 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
4x Arrowhead Aquapod (Coupons made them $1.00 each)
8x Capri Sun
8x Irish Spring 3 packs (Coupons made them $1.25, I think)
9x Suave Naturals Body Wash (bought 10, but forgot Safeway had B3G1F deal) (Coupons made them $1.00 each)
29 items, planned (and put in cart) 30, forgetting about Safeway deal cost me $5.00 Mix and Match there ($8.25 over at this point, value of missed Mix and Match, overage on $.75 deals, and coupons missed and overaged amounts)
$2.00 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
2x Skippy Honey Roasted Peanut Butter
2x Lysol Cleaner (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
4x Crest Toothpaste (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
7x Glade Candle (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
4x Ball Park Franks (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
19 items. First, got one too many glade candles, and two of the bp franks I got were in the $2.50 price point. So I missed another $5.00 Mix and Match, plus $.50 on the candle because I didn’t have a coupon for #7, so now I’m over $14.00.
$2.50 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
1x Honey Bunches of Oats Strawberry
3x Promise Active Shots (Coupon made these $1.00 each)
2x Suave Aloe Lotion (Coupon made these $2.00 each, I think)
2x Deodorant (not sure what brand, but had a coupon, so probably $2.00 each)
4x Dove Deodorant (Coupon made these $2.00 each)
2x Ball Park Franks (Supposed to be in the $2.00 price point, coupons made these $2.50)
13 items. Had the 2 extra ball parks, not sure where the other extra came from, but they were out of a lot of these price point items or had only specific types marked and didn’t have enough to get what I needed, so I was off here, but no loss of money.
Also picked up
2x Low Sodium Tomatoes (on sale, plus coupons)
4x Gallon milk (cheapest price around, at $2.49)
3x 3 lb ground beef on clearance
2 steaks on clearance
Total savings at Safeway $188.77, 58%, so we paid $146.24 there. Our total was $280.85. We got $486.57 worth of stuff. So, with a $125 budget for food, $25 misc food (unannounced sales, meat on clearance, etc), and $100 for household needs (we had to raise that one from $75), I went over by $30.85. The safeway trip only explains $14.00 of it, so I’m not sure where the rest of it is, but I’m not going to obsess over it, I’m just going to be more careful next time. I had it figured that we went over by $50 when I figured it earlier, but $30 is much more reasonable. I still need to work on that, but we will for next week.
Considering that none of our stores double coupons, there’s a severe lack of competition, and that I don’t have any nifty discounts on my card, I think saving over $200 is pretty darn good! That’s a lot of money saved! And that much more food stocked for rough times. Plus the free gas. Can't forget the free gas!
By the way, I highly suggest that if you want to be serious about saving money while shopping, you need to check out slickdeals.net. The forums there are a wealth (literally) of information, especially the wiki. Each store has a forum. I studied the Safeway forum for several days before this trip. The folks there are pros!
Tomorrow I’ll detail how my purchases helped stock my bug out box. Tomorrow I have to re-organize that thing!
Off to bed!
So it’s almost 11. The dishwasher is running, and the sink is shiny. The kitchen is a disaster area, but life isn’t perfect!
Part of the disaster is the result of my latest shopping run, my first big run with coupons. I used a lot of coupons today, but got a lot of stuff-plus, we got $.60 off per gallon of gas when we filled the van, thanks to Safeway’s fuel rewards program. So we paid $1.39 per gallon for gas. I don’t remember when we last paid that small of an amount. So, we’ll start with that, even though we did that at the end. Over $13.00 of free gas.
To start, we went to Walmart. We needed diapers and wipes, and I wanted to check prices on Safeway’s Mix and Match deal before I went and spent the money there. Sure enough, on everything I checked, the Safeway sale price was better, and not even comparable with coupons. In the past, Walmart has often beat Safeway’s sale prices, but that doesn’t seem to be the case as much anymore. I think part of that has to do with there only being those two stores to shop at. I’ve seen larger price increases overall at Walmart than Safeway.
Here’s what we did at Walmart
6x Beef Smoked Sausage, rollback to 2/$5.00 (had coupons)
1x Smoked Ham Lunchmeat
2x Refrigerated Cookie Dough (had coupons)
1x String Cheese (had coupon)
2x Gogurt (had coupon, herein noted as “Q” cause I’m feeling lazy)
2x Margarine Quarters, for cooking. Higher than normal, cause they were out of storebrand, no Q
5 lbs Hamburger Meat
1x Spreadable Margarine
1x Huge jar minced garlic from produce area. This is the best garlic. I freeze most of it for later so it doesn’t go bad
1x Omega 3 Granola Bars for Larry (Q)
2x Kraft Mac and Cheese
2x Easter Candy (Q)
Various types of necessary clothing type articles of the under type variety for the boys
3x Deodorants, on clearance (Q)
11x Cereal (Q)
2X Rold Gold Pretzels (Q)
2.6 lbs bananas, cause Roan asked
20 lbs potatoes
1x 3 pack wipes
1x Giant box of diapers
$16.95 in coupons later, we got out of there after spending $134.61
Then we went to Safeway, where something went horribly awry. Ok, not so horrible. Certainly not horrible on the horror movie your neighbor is a freak with razors on his fingers who shows up in your dreams awry, but awry just the same.
So I’m going to break it down here and see if I can figure it out.
$.75 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
4x Lipton Green Tea Citrus
22x Rice A Roni, various flavors (Coupons made them $.50 each)
7x Gatorade, various flavors
33 items. Planned to buy 20 RAR, not sure how the two more in there. Bought one extra Gatorade, knowing it would be $1.25. So those 3 items were $1.25 instead of $.75
$1.50 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
4x Arrowhead Aquapod (Coupons made them $1.00 each)
8x Capri Sun
8x Irish Spring 3 packs (Coupons made them $1.25, I think)
9x Suave Naturals Body Wash (bought 10, but forgot Safeway had B3G1F deal) (Coupons made them $1.00 each)
29 items, planned (and put in cart) 30, forgetting about Safeway deal cost me $5.00 Mix and Match there ($8.25 over at this point, value of missed Mix and Match, overage on $.75 deals, and coupons missed and overaged amounts)
$2.00 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
2x Skippy Honey Roasted Peanut Butter
2x Lysol Cleaner (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
4x Crest Toothpaste (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
7x Glade Candle (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
4x Ball Park Franks (Coupons made them $1.50, I think)
19 items. First, got one too many glade candles, and two of the bp franks I got were in the $2.50 price point. So I missed another $5.00 Mix and Match, plus $.50 on the candle because I didn’t have a coupon for #7, so now I’m over $14.00.
$2.50 when you buy 10 mix and match price point
1x Honey Bunches of Oats Strawberry
3x Promise Active Shots (Coupon made these $1.00 each)
2x Suave Aloe Lotion (Coupon made these $2.00 each, I think)
2x Deodorant (not sure what brand, but had a coupon, so probably $2.00 each)
4x Dove Deodorant (Coupon made these $2.00 each)
2x Ball Park Franks (Supposed to be in the $2.00 price point, coupons made these $2.50)
13 items. Had the 2 extra ball parks, not sure where the other extra came from, but they were out of a lot of these price point items or had only specific types marked and didn’t have enough to get what I needed, so I was off here, but no loss of money.
Also picked up
2x Low Sodium Tomatoes (on sale, plus coupons)
4x Gallon milk (cheapest price around, at $2.49)
3x 3 lb ground beef on clearance
2 steaks on clearance
Total savings at Safeway $188.77, 58%, so we paid $146.24 there. Our total was $280.85. We got $486.57 worth of stuff. So, with a $125 budget for food, $25 misc food (unannounced sales, meat on clearance, etc), and $100 for household needs (we had to raise that one from $75), I went over by $30.85. The safeway trip only explains $14.00 of it, so I’m not sure where the rest of it is, but I’m not going to obsess over it, I’m just going to be more careful next time. I had it figured that we went over by $50 when I figured it earlier, but $30 is much more reasonable. I still need to work on that, but we will for next week.
Considering that none of our stores double coupons, there’s a severe lack of competition, and that I don’t have any nifty discounts on my card, I think saving over $200 is pretty darn good! That’s a lot of money saved! And that much more food stocked for rough times. Plus the free gas. Can't forget the free gas!
By the way, I highly suggest that if you want to be serious about saving money while shopping, you need to check out slickdeals.net. The forums there are a wealth (literally) of information, especially the wiki. Each store has a forum. I studied the Safeway forum for several days before this trip. The folks there are pros!
Tomorrow I’ll detail how my purchases helped stock my bug out box. Tomorrow I have to re-organize that thing!
Off to bed!
Friday, March 27, 2009
New Feature on MTW: Friday Giveaway!!
Every Friday I'm going to do a drawing for a giveaway. Some may be big, some may be small, but it will be a great giveaway either way.
Results of each giveaway will be posted on Monday.
Here's this week's giveaway:
I'm getting big into couponing, and if you want to join me, I will get you started!
I have FOUR envelopes of 50 coupons each I will send out. These coupons are for a mix of grocery and HBA, all expire April 18 or later.
Here's how you enter:
Comment, and link to this post.
Each comment to this post gets one entry (limit of 3 comments per day).
First 10 comments to this post get two entries per comment (limit of 1 double entry per person).
Mention in your post that you've linked this entry from your own blog, and you'll get another entry once I check your link(limit of one link per day).
On Sunday, at approximately 8:00 pm Mountain time, I will have one of the kids draw four slips from all the entries, and those lucky people will get their coupons in the mail a few days later. So your comments and links must be up by Sunday at 8!
As I go through my coupons, I may end up with more envelopes. If so, more people will win!
Coupons are good. Free coupons are better. Remember coupons are money. Ok, coupons have no actual dollar value, but they are money off your grocery bill.
Good luck!
Results of each giveaway will be posted on Monday.
Here's this week's giveaway:
I'm getting big into couponing, and if you want to join me, I will get you started!
I have FOUR envelopes of 50 coupons each I will send out. These coupons are for a mix of grocery and HBA, all expire April 18 or later.
Here's how you enter:
Comment, and link to this post.
Each comment to this post gets one entry (limit of 3 comments per day).
First 10 comments to this post get two entries per comment (limit of 1 double entry per person).
Mention in your post that you've linked this entry from your own blog, and you'll get another entry once I check your link(limit of one link per day).
On Sunday, at approximately 8:00 pm Mountain time, I will have one of the kids draw four slips from all the entries, and those lucky people will get their coupons in the mail a few days later. So your comments and links must be up by Sunday at 8!
As I go through my coupons, I may end up with more envelopes. If so, more people will win!
Coupons are good. Free coupons are better. Remember coupons are money. Ok, coupons have no actual dollar value, but they are money off your grocery bill.
Good luck!
Quarterly Dinner Menu
OK, here it is, the quarterly dinner menu.
We have a few more convenience foods than I would like in here, but sometimes you have to do that when you work. I hate that. I'm hoping to move away from that as I get more in the habit of double cooking and processing things the night I make them.
Quick meals that are purchased on the March budget
Brisket for sandwiches, served with fries
Chicken sandwiches and tater tots
Lasagna
Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese
Quick meals on April budget
Chili Mac
Spaghetti x2
Cook 5 lbs hamburger meat
Hamburger Helper x2 (3 boxes per)
Taco Salad x2
Quick meals on May Budget
Chili Cheese Dogs and Fries
Grill 5 lbs hamburgers
Brisket for Fajitas x2
Chicken Sandwiches, tater tots
Hamburger Helper
Quick meals on June Budget
Cook 5 lbs hamburger meat
Hamburger Helper x2
Grill 5 lbs hamburgers x2
Goulash Mix x2 (everything but the pasta)
Sloppy Joes
The more of the scratch quick meals I get in the freezer, the less convenience foods I will have to rely on when we get a call at dinner time.
Mar 16 Goulash, corn, bread
Mar 17 Breakfast
Mar 18 Chicken and Rice
Mar 19 Chuckwagon Stew
Mar 20 Leftover Night
Mar 21 Chicken Casserole
Mar 22 Beef Roast
Mar 23 Beans
Mar 24 Chicken Pot Pie
Mar 25 Beef Stroganoff
Mar 26 Annual pizza night (tax refund)
Mar 27 Chili Mac
Mar 28 Corned beef sandwiches
Mar 29 Lasagna
Mar 30 Rotisserie Chicken (have to go to Pueblo for the day)
Mar 31 Hamburger Helper
Apr 1 Beef Casserole
Apr 2 Chicken and Rice
Apr 3 Tuna Gravy
Apr 4 Pork Chops
Apr 5 Sour Cream Chicken
Apr 6 Beef Pot Pie
Apr 7 BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Apr 8 Chicken Casserole
Apr 9 Brisket
Apr 10 BLT's
Apr 11 Anonymous Chicken Meal (That means I didn't get anything planned)
Apr 12 Ham
Apr 13 Beef Casserole
Apr 14 Roast Chicken
Apr 15 Mexican Lasagna
Apr 16 Ham and Fried Potatoes
Apr 17 Hot Dogs
Apr 18 Pork Roast Sandwiches
Apr 19 Salisbury Steak
Apr 20 Chicken and Rice
Apr 21 Beef Pot Pie
Apr 22 Beans
Apr 23 Fried Chicken
Apr 24 Hamburgers on Grill
Apr 25 Spam Sandwiches (Hush, I have a houseful of rednecks!)
Apr 26 Turkey
Apr 27 Beef Casserole
Apr 28 Ham Steak
Apr 29 Turkey Sandwiches
Apr 30 Beef Casserole
May 1 Polish Sausage and Potatoes
May 2 Chicken on Grill
May 3 Smothered Steak
May 4 Ham Casserole
May 5 Chicken and Gravy over Biscuits
May 6 Steak and Eggs
May 7 Ribs
May 8 Turkey and Stuffing Casserole
May 9 Cheeseburgers on Grill
May 10 Ham
May 11 Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Ham, broccoli and cheese)
May 12 Roast Chicken
May 13 Groulash
May 14 Beans
May 15 Marinated Chicken Breasts on Grill
May 16 Pork Roast
May 17 Swiss Steak
May 18 Chicken Pot Pie
May 19 Spaghetti
May 20 Hot ham and swiss sandwiches
May 21 Chicken and Rice
May 22 Steaks on Grill (Probably just round steak, but still)
May 23 Sausage and Cheese Biscuits
May 24 Teriyaki Chicken
May 25 Taco Salad
May 26 Pork Chops
May 27 Chicken Sandwiches and Tater Tots
May 28 Brisket
May 29 Breakfast
May 30 BBQ Chicken on Grill
May 31 Pork Roast
June 1 Chuckwagon Stew
June 2 Roast Chicken
June 3 Pork Stroganoff
June 4 Beef Casserole
June 5 Chicken Sandwiches, Tater Tots
June 6 Brats on Grill
June 7 Meatloaf
June 8 Chicken Alfredo
June 9 BBQ Beef Sandwiches
June 10 BLT's
June 11 Roast Chicken
June 12 Cheeseburgers on Grill
June 13 Beans
June 14 Sour Cream Chicken
June 15 Chicken Fried Steak
June 16 Polish Sausage and potatoes
June 17 Chicken and Rice
June 18 Beef Casserole
June 19 Italian BMT's (or as close as we can come to what Subway has)
June 20 BBQ Chicken on Grill
June 21 Salisbury Steak
June 22 Chicken and Gravy over Biscuits
June 23 Calzones
June 24 Beef Pot Pie
June 25 Pork Chops
June 26 Chicken Fajitas
June 27 Beef Casserole
June 28 Teriyaki Chicken
June 29 Goulash
June 30 Pork Roast
Each dinner is served with two veggies (often the combined veggie portions are larger than the entree portion), not counting potatoes. We also supplement protein servings with beans or deviled eggs, and add bread often. This way we can reduce the amount of meat we serve, both for the purposes of being frugal, but to help keep our cholesterol lower. Since we are on such a tight budget, we often aren't able to buy the leanest cuts of meat, but we do what we can to trim the fat and reduce cholesterol intake. My DH is not a happy camper if we don't have meat with dinner, but it doesn't seem to matter how much meat. So I can take a cup of chicken and put it in a casserole, and he's happy. I just supplement the protein and we're good.
To make sure that we use frozen food before it gets icky, at the end of each quarter I go through my freezer and plan first from what is left in there, so that I am assured it is getting used (I just have to make sure I rotate). Then as I buy on sale I replace what's been used, but nothing, in theory, ends up getting lost in the bottom of the freezer.
We have a few more convenience foods than I would like in here, but sometimes you have to do that when you work. I hate that. I'm hoping to move away from that as I get more in the habit of double cooking and processing things the night I make them.
Quick meals that are purchased on the March budget
Brisket for sandwiches, served with fries
Chicken sandwiches and tater tots
Lasagna
Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese
Quick meals on April budget
Chili Mac
Spaghetti x2
Cook 5 lbs hamburger meat
Hamburger Helper x2 (3 boxes per)
Taco Salad x2
Quick meals on May Budget
Chili Cheese Dogs and Fries
Grill 5 lbs hamburgers
Brisket for Fajitas x2
Chicken Sandwiches, tater tots
Hamburger Helper
Quick meals on June Budget
Cook 5 lbs hamburger meat
Hamburger Helper x2
Grill 5 lbs hamburgers x2
Goulash Mix x2 (everything but the pasta)
Sloppy Joes
The more of the scratch quick meals I get in the freezer, the less convenience foods I will have to rely on when we get a call at dinner time.
Mar 16 Goulash, corn, bread
Mar 17 Breakfast
Mar 18 Chicken and Rice
Mar 19 Chuckwagon Stew
Mar 20 Leftover Night
Mar 21 Chicken Casserole
Mar 22 Beef Roast
Mar 23 Beans
Mar 24 Chicken Pot Pie
Mar 25 Beef Stroganoff
Mar 26 Annual pizza night (tax refund)
Mar 27 Chili Mac
Mar 28 Corned beef sandwiches
Mar 29 Lasagna
Mar 30 Rotisserie Chicken (have to go to Pueblo for the day)
Mar 31 Hamburger Helper
Apr 1 Beef Casserole
Apr 2 Chicken and Rice
Apr 3 Tuna Gravy
Apr 4 Pork Chops
Apr 5 Sour Cream Chicken
Apr 6 Beef Pot Pie
Apr 7 BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Apr 8 Chicken Casserole
Apr 9 Brisket
Apr 10 BLT's
Apr 11 Anonymous Chicken Meal (That means I didn't get anything planned)
Apr 12 Ham
Apr 13 Beef Casserole
Apr 14 Roast Chicken
Apr 15 Mexican Lasagna
Apr 16 Ham and Fried Potatoes
Apr 17 Hot Dogs
Apr 18 Pork Roast Sandwiches
Apr 19 Salisbury Steak
Apr 20 Chicken and Rice
Apr 21 Beef Pot Pie
Apr 22 Beans
Apr 23 Fried Chicken
Apr 24 Hamburgers on Grill
Apr 25 Spam Sandwiches (Hush, I have a houseful of rednecks!)
Apr 26 Turkey
Apr 27 Beef Casserole
Apr 28 Ham Steak
Apr 29 Turkey Sandwiches
Apr 30 Beef Casserole
May 1 Polish Sausage and Potatoes
May 2 Chicken on Grill
May 3 Smothered Steak
May 4 Ham Casserole
May 5 Chicken and Gravy over Biscuits
May 6 Steak and Eggs
May 7 Ribs
May 8 Turkey and Stuffing Casserole
May 9 Cheeseburgers on Grill
May 10 Ham
May 11 Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Ham, broccoli and cheese)
May 12 Roast Chicken
May 13 Groulash
May 14 Beans
May 15 Marinated Chicken Breasts on Grill
May 16 Pork Roast
May 17 Swiss Steak
May 18 Chicken Pot Pie
May 19 Spaghetti
May 20 Hot ham and swiss sandwiches
May 21 Chicken and Rice
May 22 Steaks on Grill (Probably just round steak, but still)
May 23 Sausage and Cheese Biscuits
May 24 Teriyaki Chicken
May 25 Taco Salad
May 26 Pork Chops
May 27 Chicken Sandwiches and Tater Tots
May 28 Brisket
May 29 Breakfast
May 30 BBQ Chicken on Grill
May 31 Pork Roast
June 1 Chuckwagon Stew
June 2 Roast Chicken
June 3 Pork Stroganoff
June 4 Beef Casserole
June 5 Chicken Sandwiches, Tater Tots
June 6 Brats on Grill
June 7 Meatloaf
June 8 Chicken Alfredo
June 9 BBQ Beef Sandwiches
June 10 BLT's
June 11 Roast Chicken
June 12 Cheeseburgers on Grill
June 13 Beans
June 14 Sour Cream Chicken
June 15 Chicken Fried Steak
June 16 Polish Sausage and potatoes
June 17 Chicken and Rice
June 18 Beef Casserole
June 19 Italian BMT's (or as close as we can come to what Subway has)
June 20 BBQ Chicken on Grill
June 21 Salisbury Steak
June 22 Chicken and Gravy over Biscuits
June 23 Calzones
June 24 Beef Pot Pie
June 25 Pork Chops
June 26 Chicken Fajitas
June 27 Beef Casserole
June 28 Teriyaki Chicken
June 29 Goulash
June 30 Pork Roast
Each dinner is served with two veggies (often the combined veggie portions are larger than the entree portion), not counting potatoes. We also supplement protein servings with beans or deviled eggs, and add bread often. This way we can reduce the amount of meat we serve, both for the purposes of being frugal, but to help keep our cholesterol lower. Since we are on such a tight budget, we often aren't able to buy the leanest cuts of meat, but we do what we can to trim the fat and reduce cholesterol intake. My DH is not a happy camper if we don't have meat with dinner, but it doesn't seem to matter how much meat. So I can take a cup of chicken and put it in a casserole, and he's happy. I just supplement the protein and we're good.
To make sure that we use frozen food before it gets icky, at the end of each quarter I go through my freezer and plan first from what is left in there, so that I am assured it is getting used (I just have to make sure I rotate). Then as I buy on sale I replace what's been used, but nothing, in theory, ends up getting lost in the bottom of the freezer.
Quarterly Lunch Menu
Instead of doing a quarterly lunch menu, I am just reposting the rotating lunch menu, because I have changed it. With me working now, the kids spend a number of days in daycare and it seemed silly to post all of those days.
The lunch menu is often replaced with leftovers. For example, today was PBJ and fruit, so that's what the littles had. The rest of us had a variety of leftovers, thanks to the new microwave that means we can much more efficiently use leftovers.
Macaroni and Tomato Sauce
Hot Dogs, Mac N Cheese
Sloppy Joes
PBJ, Fruit
Bean Burritos
Ham and Cheese Wraps
Beans and Hot Dogs
Chili Mac
Quesadillas with meat
Spaghetti
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sauce
Stuffed Hot Dogs
Turkey, bacon and cheese wraps
English Muffin Pizza
The lunch menu is often replaced with leftovers. For example, today was PBJ and fruit, so that's what the littles had. The rest of us had a variety of leftovers, thanks to the new microwave that means we can much more efficiently use leftovers.
Macaroni and Tomato Sauce
Hot Dogs, Mac N Cheese
Sloppy Joes
PBJ, Fruit
Bean Burritos
Ham and Cheese Wraps
Beans and Hot Dogs
Chili Mac
Quesadillas with meat
Spaghetti
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sauce
Stuffed Hot Dogs
Turkey, bacon and cheese wraps
English Muffin Pizza
Quarterly Breakfast Menu
Here is the quarterly breakfast menu. As you can see, the menu rotates. All breakfasts are superceded by a good deal on fresh fruit. Usually we'll have that with granola, or toast.
Several of the recipes for these are located here, on my recipe index.
Mar 16 Pancakes
Mar 17 English Muffins, Fruit
Mar 18 Pumpkin Bread
Mar 19 Granola Cereal
Mar 20 Muffins
Mar 21 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
Mar 22 Bagels, Fruit
Mar 23 Yogurt and Granola
Mar 24 Malt O Meal
Mar 25 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
Mar 26 English Muffin Bread
Mar 27 French Toast
Mar 28 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
Mar 29 Dutch Babies
Mar 30 Oatmeal
Mar 31 Peanut Butter Bread
April 1 Fruit Salad, Granola
April 2 Cheese Quesadillas
April 3 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
April 4 Banana Bread
April 5 Berry Parfait
April 6 Choclate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
April 7 Breakfast Bars (Home made)
April 8 Pancakes
April 9 English Muffins, Fruit
April 10 Pumpkin Bread
April 11 Granola Cereal
April 12 Muffins
April 13 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
April 14 Bagels, Fruit
April 15 Yogurt and Granola
April 16 Malt O Meal
April 17 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
April 18 English Muffin Bread
April 19 French Toast
April 20 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
April 21 Dutch Babies
April 22 Oatmeal
April 23 Peanut Butter Bread
April 24 Fruit Salad, Granola
April 25 Cheese Quesadillas
April 26 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
April 27 Banana Bread
April 28 Berry Parfait
April 29 Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
April 30 Home made Breakfast Bars
May 1 Pancakes
May 2 English Muffins, Fruit
May 3 Pumpkin Bread
May 4 Granola Cereal
May 5 Muffins
May 6 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
May 7 Bagels, Fruit
May 8 Yogurt and Granola
May 9 Malt O Meal
May 10 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
May 11 English Muffin Bread
May 12 French Toast
May 13 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
May 14 Dutch Babies
May 15 Oatmeal
May 16 Peanut Butter Bread
May 17 Fruit Salad, Granola
May 18 Peanut Butter Bread
May 19 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
May 20 Banana Bread
May 21 Berry Parfait
May 22 Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
May 23 Breakfast Bars
May 24 Pancakes
May 25 English Muffins, Fruit
May 26 Pumpkin Bread
May 27 Granola Bread
May 28 Muffins
May 29 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
May 30 Bagels, Fruit
May 31 Yogurt and Granola
June 1 Malt O Meal
June 2 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
June 3 English Muffin Bread
June 4 French Toast
June 5 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
June 6 Dutch Babies
June 7 Oatmeal
June 8 Peanut Butter Bread
June 9 Fruit Salad, Granola
June 10 Cheese Quesadillas
June 11 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
June 12 Banana Bread
June 13 Berry Parfait
June 14 Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
June 15 Breakfast Bars
June 16 Pancakes
June 17 English Muffins, Fruit
June 18 Pumpkin Bread
June 19 Granola Cereal
June 20 Muffins
June 21 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
June 22 Bagels, Fruit
June 23 Yogurt and Granola
June 24 Malt O Meal
June 25 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
June 26 English Muffin Bread
June 27 French Toast
June 28 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
June 29 Dutch Babies
June 30 Oatmeal
Several of the recipes for these are located here, on my recipe index.
Mar 16 Pancakes
Mar 17 English Muffins, Fruit
Mar 18 Pumpkin Bread
Mar 19 Granola Cereal
Mar 20 Muffins
Mar 21 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
Mar 22 Bagels, Fruit
Mar 23 Yogurt and Granola
Mar 24 Malt O Meal
Mar 25 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
Mar 26 English Muffin Bread
Mar 27 French Toast
Mar 28 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
Mar 29 Dutch Babies
Mar 30 Oatmeal
Mar 31 Peanut Butter Bread
April 1 Fruit Salad, Granola
April 2 Cheese Quesadillas
April 3 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
April 4 Banana Bread
April 5 Berry Parfait
April 6 Choclate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
April 7 Breakfast Bars (Home made)
April 8 Pancakes
April 9 English Muffins, Fruit
April 10 Pumpkin Bread
April 11 Granola Cereal
April 12 Muffins
April 13 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
April 14 Bagels, Fruit
April 15 Yogurt and Granola
April 16 Malt O Meal
April 17 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
April 18 English Muffin Bread
April 19 French Toast
April 20 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
April 21 Dutch Babies
April 22 Oatmeal
April 23 Peanut Butter Bread
April 24 Fruit Salad, Granola
April 25 Cheese Quesadillas
April 26 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
April 27 Banana Bread
April 28 Berry Parfait
April 29 Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
April 30 Home made Breakfast Bars
May 1 Pancakes
May 2 English Muffins, Fruit
May 3 Pumpkin Bread
May 4 Granola Cereal
May 5 Muffins
May 6 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
May 7 Bagels, Fruit
May 8 Yogurt and Granola
May 9 Malt O Meal
May 10 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
May 11 English Muffin Bread
May 12 French Toast
May 13 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
May 14 Dutch Babies
May 15 Oatmeal
May 16 Peanut Butter Bread
May 17 Fruit Salad, Granola
May 18 Peanut Butter Bread
May 19 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
May 20 Banana Bread
May 21 Berry Parfait
May 22 Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
May 23 Breakfast Bars
May 24 Pancakes
May 25 English Muffins, Fruit
May 26 Pumpkin Bread
May 27 Granola Bread
May 28 Muffins
May 29 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
May 30 Bagels, Fruit
May 31 Yogurt and Granola
June 1 Malt O Meal
June 2 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
June 3 English Muffin Bread
June 4 French Toast
June 5 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
June 6 Dutch Babies
June 7 Oatmeal
June 8 Peanut Butter Bread
June 9 Fruit Salad, Granola
June 10 Cheese Quesadillas
June 11 Sausage and Biscuit Sandwiches
June 12 Banana Bread
June 13 Berry Parfait
June 14 Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Porridge
June 15 Breakfast Bars
June 16 Pancakes
June 17 English Muffins, Fruit
June 18 Pumpkin Bread
June 19 Granola Cereal
June 20 Muffins
June 21 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
June 22 Bagels, Fruit
June 23 Yogurt and Granola
June 24 Malt O Meal
June 25 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
June 26 English Muffin Bread
June 27 French Toast
June 28 Ham and Biscuit Sandwiches
June 29 Dutch Babies
June 30 Oatmeal
18 inches of snow
And it finally stopped falling...
...at least for now.
And we weren't as busy as I was afraid we would be. We had prepped the station to receive stranded travelers, and we had none. We ended up with one call, and that was before it got too bad. We kept hoping they would close the highway, and, to my knowledge, they didn't, but it seems that people smartly stayed off the roads.
All of our prep for the town council meeting went nowhere. They cancelled the meeting. I'm not sure when they will reschedule it for. We will call on Monday to find out.
We should have a lot of people calling for burn permits in the next few days, so it's a good thing that I can't make it to the class I was supposed to take this weekend. I will have to reschedule that, but since I didn't have to book a hotel room or anything it's not going to effect anything that I couldn't take it. I already spoke with the coordinator to let her know that I might not be able to get there.
I'm not sure what I'm doing for dinner tonight. What I had planned was not what I'm going to do, because I had planned on leaving tomorrow and was wanting something fairly quick so I could get everything together and spend time with the kids before I had to be gone all weekend. Plus I had planned for Larry to have his other ride along with Trinidad Ambulance, but since we can't get out of the house other than on foot, he didn't go to his ride along.
After taking Kayla outside. I had to do a tighter shot cause she walked into the frame to do...well...what dogs do when they are outside.
...at least for now.
And we weren't as busy as I was afraid we would be. We had prepped the station to receive stranded travelers, and we had none. We ended up with one call, and that was before it got too bad. We kept hoping they would close the highway, and, to my knowledge, they didn't, but it seems that people smartly stayed off the roads.
All of our prep for the town council meeting went nowhere. They cancelled the meeting. I'm not sure when they will reschedule it for. We will call on Monday to find out.
We should have a lot of people calling for burn permits in the next few days, so it's a good thing that I can't make it to the class I was supposed to take this weekend. I will have to reschedule that, but since I didn't have to book a hotel room or anything it's not going to effect anything that I couldn't take it. I already spoke with the coordinator to let her know that I might not be able to get there.
I'm not sure what I'm doing for dinner tonight. What I had planned was not what I'm going to do, because I had planned on leaving tomorrow and was wanting something fairly quick so I could get everything together and spend time with the kids before I had to be gone all weekend. Plus I had planned for Larry to have his other ride along with Trinidad Ambulance, but since we can't get out of the house other than on foot, he didn't go to his ride along.
After taking Kayla outside. I had to do a tighter shot cause she walked into the frame to do...well...what dogs do when they are outside.
Recipe: Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
My recipe for whole wheat apple raisin bread
1/4 c Apple sauce
1 1/8 c Whole wheat flour
½ c. raisins
1 1/8 c Bread flour
1/2 ts Cinnamon
1 tb Dry milk
2/3 c Water
1 ts Salt
1 ts Dry yeast
1 tb Butter
Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select whole wheat.
I set the timer on this so that it’s ready about 15 minutes before I want to serve it. I then remove it from the pan and let cool for a few minutes, then slice and butter.
1/4 c Apple sauce
1 1/8 c Whole wheat flour
½ c. raisins
1 1/8 c Bread flour
1/2 ts Cinnamon
1 tb Dry milk
2/3 c Water
1 ts Salt
1 ts Dry yeast
1 tb Butter
Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select whole wheat.
I set the timer on this so that it’s ready about 15 minutes before I want to serve it. I then remove it from the pan and let cool for a few minutes, then slice and butter.
Recipe: Stuffed Hot Dogs
My recipe for Stuffed Hot Dogs
2 packages hot dogs
Sandwich Cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Slice hot dogs almost all the way through, length wise. Fold cheese lengthwise, twice, so that you have four thin strips of cheese. Place two strips into each hot dog. Put on cookie sheet, bake until cheese is melted.
2 packages hot dogs
Sandwich Cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Slice hot dogs almost all the way through, length wise. Fold cheese lengthwise, twice, so that you have four thin strips of cheese. Place two strips into each hot dog. Put on cookie sheet, bake until cheese is melted.
Recipe: Sour Cream Chicken
My recipe for Sour Cream Chicken
4-5 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Seasoned Salt
16 oz container sour cream
Bread Crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts in half, place in pan. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Spoon sour cream over each half breast. Cover sour cream completely with bread crumbs. Bake in 350 degree oven 30-40 minutes, until breasts are done.
4-5 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Seasoned Salt
16 oz container sour cream
Bread Crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts in half, place in pan. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Spoon sour cream over each half breast. Cover sour cream completely with bread crumbs. Bake in 350 degree oven 30-40 minutes, until breasts are done.
Recipe: Pumpkin Bread
My recipe for pumpkin bread
3 1/2 c Unbleached flour; sifted
1 1/2 c Light brown sugar; packed
1 1/2 c Sugar; granulated
2 ts Baking soda
1 1/2 ts Salt
1 ts Cinnamon; ground
1/2 ts Nutmeg; ground
4 Eggs; lg
1 c Vegetable oil
2/3 c Water
2 c Pumpkin; mashed, canned
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and grease 3 medium (8 1/2 X 4 1/2) loaf pans, sprinkling a little brown sugar in each. Combine all the dry
ingredients in a large bowl and fashion a well in the center.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add the vegetable oil, water, and pumpkin. Pour into well in center of dry ingredients. Beat thoroughly until well mixed. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pans before turning onto wire racks to cool.
Freezes very well wrapped in aluminum foil. To serve from frozen, thaw overnight, and heat in 350 degree oven until warm.
3 1/2 c Unbleached flour; sifted
1 1/2 c Light brown sugar; packed
1 1/2 c Sugar; granulated
2 ts Baking soda
1 1/2 ts Salt
1 ts Cinnamon; ground
1/2 ts Nutmeg; ground
4 Eggs; lg
1 c Vegetable oil
2/3 c Water
2 c Pumpkin; mashed, canned
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and grease 3 medium (8 1/2 X 4 1/2) loaf pans, sprinkling a little brown sugar in each. Combine all the dry
ingredients in a large bowl and fashion a well in the center.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add the vegetable oil, water, and pumpkin. Pour into well in center of dry ingredients. Beat thoroughly until well mixed. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pans before turning onto wire racks to cool.
Freezes very well wrapped in aluminum foil. To serve from frozen, thaw overnight, and heat in 350 degree oven until warm.
Recipe: Mexican Lasagna
My recipe for Mexican Lasagna
2 lbs hamburger meat
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 green chile, minced
1 red pepper, minced
½ green pepper, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
2 c. water
4 c. refried beans (home made or canned)
Tortillas
Cheese
Brown hamburger meat with salt and pepper to taste, drain and return to pan. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, green chile, red and green peppers, chili powder and water, and simmer until almost all the water has evaporated.
In crockpot, layer meat, tortillas, beans and cheese until crockpot is full. Cook on low for two hours.
2 lbs hamburger meat
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 green chile, minced
1 red pepper, minced
½ green pepper, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
2 c. water
4 c. refried beans (home made or canned)
Tortillas
Cheese
Brown hamburger meat with salt and pepper to taste, drain and return to pan. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, green chile, red and green peppers, chili powder and water, and simmer until almost all the water has evaporated.
In crockpot, layer meat, tortillas, beans and cheese until crockpot is full. Cook on low for two hours.
Macaroni and Tomato Sauce
My recipe for macaroni and tomato sauce
16 oz macaroni
32 oz tomato sauce
2 TBSP butter
Salt and pepper
Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Return to pan, add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and stir through until butter is melted. Add tomato sauce.
16 oz macaroni
32 oz tomato sauce
2 TBSP butter
Salt and pepper
Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Return to pan, add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and stir through until butter is melted. Add tomato sauce.
Recipe: Goulash
My recipe for goulash
1 lb hamburger meat
½ of an onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
16 oz elbow macaroni
32 oz tomato sauce
2 cans ranch style beans
2 cans whole kernel corn.
Put water on to boil to cook macaroni. As that is heating, brown hamburger meat, seasoning with onion, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain hamburger meat, return to pan. Add tomato sauce, corn and ranch beans, heat through. When macaroni is done, drain, then mix into hamburger mixture.
1 lb hamburger meat
½ of an onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
16 oz elbow macaroni
32 oz tomato sauce
2 cans ranch style beans
2 cans whole kernel corn.
Put water on to boil to cook macaroni. As that is heating, brown hamburger meat, seasoning with onion, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain hamburger meat, return to pan. Add tomato sauce, corn and ranch beans, heat through. When macaroni is done, drain, then mix into hamburger mixture.
Recipe: English Muffin Bread
My recipe for English Muffin Bread
1 c. milk
¼ c. water
3 c. flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select light crust.
1 c. milk
¼ c. water
3 c. flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select light crust.
Recipe: Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
My recipe for Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
1 c. water
1/3 c sugar
¾ TBSP active dry yeast
¾ tsp salt
1/8 c. vegetable oil
3 c. flour
2 TBSP cinnamon
Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select light crust.
I set the timer on this so that it’s ready about 15 minutes before I want to serve it. I then remove it from the pan and let cool for a few minutes, then slice and butter.
1 c. water
1/3 c sugar
¾ TBSP active dry yeast
¾ tsp salt
1/8 c. vegetable oil
3 c. flour
2 TBSP cinnamon
Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select light crust.
I set the timer on this so that it’s ready about 15 minutes before I want to serve it. I then remove it from the pan and let cool for a few minutes, then slice and butter.
Recipe: Chuckwagon Stew
My recipe for Chuckwagon Stew
1 lb hamburger
3 lbs potatoes, diced
½ c. pearl barley or other whole grain that simmers well
½ chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups water
Milk
Cornstarch
Brown hamburger with salt and pepper to taste, onion and garlic, drain. In large pot, combine hamburger, potatoes and water. Bring to a boil, add barley, simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Mix milk and cornstarch, add to thicken.
You can add seasonal veggies to this as you wish. This is the basic recipe, and I put different veggies in, depending on what’s on sale, or what I have in the freezer.
1 lb hamburger
3 lbs potatoes, diced
½ c. pearl barley or other whole grain that simmers well
½ chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups water
Milk
Cornstarch
Brown hamburger with salt and pepper to taste, onion and garlic, drain. In large pot, combine hamburger, potatoes and water. Bring to a boil, add barley, simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Mix milk and cornstarch, add to thicken.
You can add seasonal veggies to this as you wish. This is the basic recipe, and I put different veggies in, depending on what’s on sale, or what I have in the freezer.
Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie
My recipe for Chicken Pot Pie
4 pie crusts (I buy mine, due to lack of cabinet space to roll out on)
2 c. chicken, cooked and shredded
4 c. chicken broth, thickened to a gravy like consistency, with milk and cornstarch
2 lbs potatoes, diced and parboiled in salt water
4 c. veggies of your choice, parboiled
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 9 inch pie plates with one pie crust each. Combine chicken, broth, potatoes and veggies, and ladle into pie crust (If you have leftover, bake in separate container, and serve over noodles for lunch). Cover with remaining pie crusts. Make several cuts in top crust to vent steam. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
I usually serve this with baked beans or ranch style beans, another veggie (creamed corn casserole) and a salad, if I can get the salad makings on sale.
4 pie crusts (I buy mine, due to lack of cabinet space to roll out on)
2 c. chicken, cooked and shredded
4 c. chicken broth, thickened to a gravy like consistency, with milk and cornstarch
2 lbs potatoes, diced and parboiled in salt water
4 c. veggies of your choice, parboiled
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 9 inch pie plates with one pie crust each. Combine chicken, broth, potatoes and veggies, and ladle into pie crust (If you have leftover, bake in separate container, and serve over noodles for lunch). Cover with remaining pie crusts. Make several cuts in top crust to vent steam. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
I usually serve this with baked beans or ranch style beans, another veggie (creamed corn casserole) and a salad, if I can get the salad makings on sale.
Recipe: Chicken and Rice
My recipe for chicken and rice
3 packages rice a roni cheddar broccoli, plus ingredients listed on box to prepare
1 c. frozen broccoli crowns, thawed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 c. cooked chicken, chopped (turkey works, too)
4 cups chicken broth
Cornstarch
Milk
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare rice a roni as directed. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth to a boil, mix cornstarch and milk, add to broth, stir until thickened (can use cream of chicken soup if you’re in a hurry). Turn off the thickened broth, add broccoli and chicken. When rice is done, mix with broth mixture, turn into 9x13 casserole dish, top with grated cheese, bake until heated through.
You can omit the broth gravy for less fat, but it will be a bit dry. Serve with baked beans or deviled eggs to increase the protein content. I usually serve this with carrots.
3 packages rice a roni cheddar broccoli, plus ingredients listed on box to prepare
1 c. frozen broccoli crowns, thawed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 c. cooked chicken, chopped (turkey works, too)
4 cups chicken broth
Cornstarch
Milk
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare rice a roni as directed. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth to a boil, mix cornstarch and milk, add to broth, stir until thickened (can use cream of chicken soup if you’re in a hurry). Turn off the thickened broth, add broccoli and chicken. When rice is done, mix with broth mixture, turn into 9x13 casserole dish, top with grated cheese, bake until heated through.
You can omit the broth gravy for less fat, but it will be a bit dry. Serve with baked beans or deviled eggs to increase the protein content. I usually serve this with carrots.
Recipe: Cheerios Breakfast Bars
My recipe for Cheerios Breakfast Bars (or any other whole grain, kid friendly cereal)
Cheerios Breakfast Bars
1/4 cup butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup dry milk
1/4 cup orange-flavored instant breakfast drink
1 cup raisins
3 cups whole grain kid friendly cereal
Butter a 9x9x2" pan. Melt butter & marshmallows over low heat, stirring
constantly. Stir in milk, breakfast drink, and peanut butter. Fold in raisins and
cereal, stirring until coated. With buttered hands, pat evenly in pan. Cool
and cut into squares.
Cheerios Breakfast Bars
1/4 cup butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup dry milk
1/4 cup orange-flavored instant breakfast drink
1 cup raisins
3 cups whole grain kid friendly cereal
Butter a 9x9x2" pan. Melt butter & marshmallows over low heat, stirring
constantly. Stir in milk, breakfast drink, and peanut butter. Fold in raisins and
cereal, stirring until coated. With buttered hands, pat evenly in pan. Cool
and cut into squares.
Recipe: Beef Stroganoff
My Recipe for Beef Stroganoff
½ c. dried mushrooms (can use fresh, but I’m not sure how much)
2 c. water
½ Onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 c. beef broth
1 c. cooked beef (I usually use leftover roast, but hamburger works, too, just use 1 lb.)
16 oz sour cream
Milk
Cornstarch
16 oz Egg Noodles
Combine dried mushrooms, water, onion, and garlic (you can also add parsley, thyme, rosemary and/or leeks, if you wish), bring to a boil, turn down and simmer, covered, for an hour. If your kids won’t eat mushrooms (mine won’t), strain them out once the mushroom broth is done cooking. Combine mushroom broth, beef broth, and beef, let simmer while you heat the water for the noodles. Once the noodles are done, drain them, then use milk and cornstarch to thicken the beef/mushroom broth. Stir in the sour cream, then add the egg noodles.
I usually serve this with some type of bean, a veggie, and bread.
½ c. dried mushrooms (can use fresh, but I’m not sure how much)
2 c. water
½ Onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 c. beef broth
1 c. cooked beef (I usually use leftover roast, but hamburger works, too, just use 1 lb.)
16 oz sour cream
Milk
Cornstarch
16 oz Egg Noodles
Combine dried mushrooms, water, onion, and garlic (you can also add parsley, thyme, rosemary and/or leeks, if you wish), bring to a boil, turn down and simmer, covered, for an hour. If your kids won’t eat mushrooms (mine won’t), strain them out once the mushroom broth is done cooking. Combine mushroom broth, beef broth, and beef, let simmer while you heat the water for the noodles. Once the noodles are done, drain them, then use milk and cornstarch to thicken the beef/mushroom broth. Stir in the sour cream, then add the egg noodles.
I usually serve this with some type of bean, a veggie, and bread.
Recipe: Beef Pot Pie
My recipe for beef pot pie
1 lb hamburger (Can use any leftover beef)
½ chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp dried dill
Salt and Pepper
4 c. beef broth, thickened with milk and cornstarch
3 lbs potatoes, diced and parboiled
4 c. veggies of your choice, parboiled
4 pie crusts (I buy mine, due to lack of cabinet space to roll them out on)
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2, 9 inch pie plates with 1 crust each. Cook hamburger with onion, garlic, dill and salt and pepper to taste, drain. Combine broth, hamburger, potatoes and veggies, and spoon into prepared crust (if you have leftovers, bake in separate container, then serve over noodles for a lunch). Top with remaining crusts. Slit top crusts to allow for venting of heat. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
1 lb hamburger (Can use any leftover beef)
½ chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp dried dill
Salt and Pepper
4 c. beef broth, thickened with milk and cornstarch
3 lbs potatoes, diced and parboiled
4 c. veggies of your choice, parboiled
4 pie crusts (I buy mine, due to lack of cabinet space to roll them out on)
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2, 9 inch pie plates with 1 crust each. Cook hamburger with onion, garlic, dill and salt and pepper to taste, drain. Combine broth, hamburger, potatoes and veggies, and spoon into prepared crust (if you have leftovers, bake in separate container, then serve over noodles for a lunch). Top with remaining crusts. Slit top crusts to allow for venting of heat. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Recipe: Banana Bread
My Recipe for Banana Bread
1/2 c Shortening
1 c Sugar
2 Eggs; beaten
3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp Baking soda
2 c Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tsp Sour milk (add a splash of vinegar to milk to make sour milk)
Cream shortening, add sugar and beat well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add mashed bananas to eggs, then add to shortening mixture. Mix flour, salt and baking soda, and add to shortening mixture alternately with sour milk and beat until smooth. Baked in a greased pan at 350 for about an hour. Cool well before slicing.
This freezes well wrapped with aluminum foil. To serve from frozen, thaw overnight, then heat at 350 until warm.
1/2 c Shortening
1 c Sugar
2 Eggs; beaten
3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp Baking soda
2 c Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tsp Sour milk (add a splash of vinegar to milk to make sour milk)
Cream shortening, add sugar and beat well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add mashed bananas to eggs, then add to shortening mixture. Mix flour, salt and baking soda, and add to shortening mixture alternately with sour milk and beat until smooth. Baked in a greased pan at 350 for about an hour. Cool well before slicing.
This freezes well wrapped with aluminum foil. To serve from frozen, thaw overnight, then heat at 350 until warm.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
OK...
I have a headache. Why I'm on the computer I'm not sure, but here I am.
So, we did some stock up shopping, now it's time to get back on budget. Of course, we'd been UNDER budget, by force, for so long that in the long run I still didn't spend too much money. So one of the things I'm going to start doing is posting, in addition to the menus, what I spent, and saved.
Spent this week
$1.25 on coupons
Savings
0-no shopping
I got 3 batches of coupons today that I ordered last week. I will need to cross reference them with paypal to feedback, or wait until I get all the sets and then feedback them all, as long as they are all complete orders (so far they are).
I haven't gotten my binder yet but I'm not expecting it until probably Saturday. I was hoping to have it by now but with the storm I'm not really expecting it. The nice lady who sold it to me has checked to see if I've gotten it, though. I actually felt bad because it hasn't yet.
So, now that I'm sticking to budget, I have to figure out how to use these coupons to the best advantage and stay within that budget.
So, I'm gonna work on that while I watch ER.
Nite
So, we did some stock up shopping, now it's time to get back on budget. Of course, we'd been UNDER budget, by force, for so long that in the long run I still didn't spend too much money. So one of the things I'm going to start doing is posting, in addition to the menus, what I spent, and saved.
Spent this week
$1.25 on coupons
Savings
0-no shopping
I got 3 batches of coupons today that I ordered last week. I will need to cross reference them with paypal to feedback, or wait until I get all the sets and then feedback them all, as long as they are all complete orders (so far they are).
I haven't gotten my binder yet but I'm not expecting it until probably Saturday. I was hoping to have it by now but with the storm I'm not really expecting it. The nice lady who sold it to me has checked to see if I've gotten it, though. I actually felt bad because it hasn't yet.
So, now that I'm sticking to budget, I have to figure out how to use these coupons to the best advantage and stay within that budget.
So, I'm gonna work on that while I watch ER.
Nite
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
So tired...
I hate my hormones. Let's just get that out of the way right now.
OK /rant. I think.
We've had two calls in the last two days, so the evenings have been rather hectic. Tonight Larry has class and tomorrow night we have to go to the town council meeting. Some of our town council people don't understand why we won't issue burn permits. They don't understand that we won't issue burn permits right now because fire conditions right now mirror fire conditions in 2002, the year of the Hayman fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history. So we have to make them understand that. We will be presenting some facts regarding current fire weather and fuel conditions, historical observations from both Hayman and Ordway. Ordway is important because that fire was started by an intentional burn of trash-something that is common out here in rural Colorado, and something that is seen as harmless. We have to change that perception.
Of course, we are forecast to get between 12 and 24 inches of snow on Thursday and Friday, so everyone will expect that, that will end the fire weather danger. And while the moisture will mitigate the danger in the short term, meaning we may begin issuing permits for a few days following the snow, only a rain of biblical proportions will truly reduce the fire danger. The plant life in our area has less than 10% of the moisture content that it should have right now. While topical moisture will help that in the short term, it won't take many warm days to suck that moisture right back out, turning those plants into tinder. Forecasters are saying that there may not even be a "green up" on the plains.
So the bulk of what I will be working on today will be preparing for that. I also have to do some research on a minor workman's comp claim, but that probably won't take too long. Although now that I've typed it, it will take all day, LOL.
Then when I come home I will probably cook tonight's dinner and tomorrow's. If we are going to be getting a lot of snow, we will probably be getting a lot of calls.
OK, off to go get dressed and read for work!
OK /rant. I think.
We've had two calls in the last two days, so the evenings have been rather hectic. Tonight Larry has class and tomorrow night we have to go to the town council meeting. Some of our town council people don't understand why we won't issue burn permits. They don't understand that we won't issue burn permits right now because fire conditions right now mirror fire conditions in 2002, the year of the Hayman fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history. So we have to make them understand that. We will be presenting some facts regarding current fire weather and fuel conditions, historical observations from both Hayman and Ordway. Ordway is important because that fire was started by an intentional burn of trash-something that is common out here in rural Colorado, and something that is seen as harmless. We have to change that perception.
Of course, we are forecast to get between 12 and 24 inches of snow on Thursday and Friday, so everyone will expect that, that will end the fire weather danger. And while the moisture will mitigate the danger in the short term, meaning we may begin issuing permits for a few days following the snow, only a rain of biblical proportions will truly reduce the fire danger. The plant life in our area has less than 10% of the moisture content that it should have right now. While topical moisture will help that in the short term, it won't take many warm days to suck that moisture right back out, turning those plants into tinder. Forecasters are saying that there may not even be a "green up" on the plains.
So the bulk of what I will be working on today will be preparing for that. I also have to do some research on a minor workman's comp claim, but that probably won't take too long. Although now that I've typed it, it will take all day, LOL.
Then when I come home I will probably cook tonight's dinner and tomorrow's. If we are going to be getting a lot of snow, we will probably be getting a lot of calls.
OK, off to go get dressed and read for work!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday Morning
My kitchen looks so nice with the shiny sink. That's not to say it's not still a disaster area, but, it's much better. The one thing I did that I really like-I found some of those plastic shoeboxes on clearance at WM, so I got six of them. Now, we have quite a bit of those, but most of them don't have lids. I had this giant empty space on the fridge. I'm too short to really use it efficiently, and forget about using the cabinets up behind/above the fridge. So I put some stuff in those shoe boxes and stacked them, two boxes tall in three rows, on top. One box has flavor packets-gravy mix and such, another has kool-aid, then powdered sugar, brown sugar, unopened spices and umm, can't remember the last one.
So this morning, I will do a load of laundry, since my sink is shiny, and then I will put some dishes in to soak. Not sure if I will get them in before we leave, but hopefully.
I won't be home today cause I have to go to IQS training. This training refers to the software used to request Forest Service resources on wildland fires.
OK, off to go fix breakfast.
So this morning, I will do a load of laundry, since my sink is shiny, and then I will put some dishes in to soak. Not sure if I will get them in before we leave, but hopefully.
I won't be home today cause I have to go to IQS training. This training refers to the software used to request Forest Service resources on wildland fires.
OK, off to go fix breakfast.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
My sink is shiny...
And my pantry is organized...
And my kitchen is somewhat organized...
Still working, but very pleased with what I got done!
And my kitchen is somewhat organized...
Still working, but very pleased with what I got done!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Being a Good Steward...
Well in the interest of needing to be a better steward of our grocery money, I got busy today. In between folding the mountain of laundry and doing more, I was researching couponing.
I know, I know-why does one NEED to research couponing? It's basic, right? Clip the coupons, save the money.
Well, it's not quite that basic. I mean, it can be, but, part of being a modern traditional wife is being the manager of the household. To me, that means managing the household finances, as well. Now, I don't mean managing as in taking the money from the husband and spending it without his input. No, no, no. I am his helpmeet, so it's my job to consult him on our spending. He has asked me to be in charge of finances. He has the foresight and openmindedness to realize that finances are not his strongpoint. I don't really think they are mine, but he also knows that I spent a long time with just Aimee and I, on one income, and we ended up neither homeless or starving. So I handle that end of things, with his input. It usually goes something like this:
"Do you think we should buy X item?"
"Why do we need it"
"Because (whatever reason)"
"Then yes."
Not because he says yes to everything, but because I usually don't ask if it's something we don't need. He does say no. For example, we need a new TV. We got offered a 56ish inch projection big screen for $100. We can't buy a new TV for $100 around here, much less something that big. Granted, we don't NEED something that big, but, because it would be cheaper than new, I thought it was worth consideration. Ever practical, his response was "Where will we put it?" Seven people, three bedroom apartment, darn good question. We measured, it won't fit, we're not getting it. Done.
Anyway, back to being a better steward.
I bought a whole bunch of coupons today. Between the coupon clippers last night, and ebay this morning, I'll have hundreds. Now, you can't choose what you get on ebay, but what I can't use, I can sell on ebay or giveaway. I also bought a coupon organizer. I'll post the link once I get the item, cause it looks to be really neat. This way, when the coupons come in, I can organize them right from the get go. In fact, I think that will be my project for when I'm up in Pueblo for training. Lisa and I are planning on playing Scrabble all night, and we can organize coupons while we do that.
It's important to organize because I will have multiples. Why have multiple coupons? Where this is where you go beyond the basic. To get the best price on your items, why not stock up while they are on sale with the coupons? Let's take rice-a-roni for example. The normal price on rice-a-roni at Walmart is $1.24. Today it was on sale at Safeway for $1.25, but if you bought 10, it was $.75. There is a coupon out there for $1.00 off 4, which, if I had had it, would have taken the price down to $.50. It would have been silly of me to not buy as many as I could at that price-it's less than half!
I found this incredible resource today. It's a forum called afullcup.com. They have advice on stockpiling (which we do anyway, cause I'm a prepper), pictures of people's stockpiles, plus postings about different deals at different stores. I spent some time reading there, and discovered that there were some really great deals at Safeway. They would have been even better if I'd had coupons. Now, I looked at the store sale ad online, but I missed a bunch of these. They also had info on another promotion called Chill Out At Home, which is for frozen food month. They also have a complete list of the items covered under that promo, which includes store brands. If you spend $25 on participating frozen foods, you get $10 towards your next frozen food purchase.
Now, yesterday when we were shopping, we didn't make it to Safeway. The kids (and the adults) were all tired. So after reading this, I decide it's a pretty good deal, even if I don't have coupons. So I ask Aimee if she will watch the kids for awhile, and when Larry got home from training, and we ate dinner, we went to Safeway.
Here's what I got:
10 Mott's Applesauce, assorted flavors, the 6 packs
10 Rice-A-Roni
20 Hunt's Pudding Snacks, 4 packs
2 Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies
10 Honey Roasted Skippy Peanut Butter
10 Duncan Hines Cake Mix
6 Gallons Milk
10 Yogurts
25 Banquet Frozen Dinners (Fire meals)
10 Sara Lee Bagels, 6 pack
2 lbs Beef Short Ribs (I use for broth)
25 lbs Round Steak
8 lbs Pork Ribs
4 lbs Pork Chops
2 lbs Chicken Breasts
2 lbs Chicken Thighs
Total before savings $396.69
Total Out Of Pocket $206.20
Total Savings $190.49, 49%.
The cashier actually said "You saved $190.49! That's awesome!"
Upon returning home we actually had to rearrange the entire pantry! I'll post pics tomorrow!
Well the dishwasher is finally done, so I'm heading to bed!
I know, I know-why does one NEED to research couponing? It's basic, right? Clip the coupons, save the money.
Well, it's not quite that basic. I mean, it can be, but, part of being a modern traditional wife is being the manager of the household. To me, that means managing the household finances, as well. Now, I don't mean managing as in taking the money from the husband and spending it without his input. No, no, no. I am his helpmeet, so it's my job to consult him on our spending. He has asked me to be in charge of finances. He has the foresight and openmindedness to realize that finances are not his strongpoint. I don't really think they are mine, but he also knows that I spent a long time with just Aimee and I, on one income, and we ended up neither homeless or starving. So I handle that end of things, with his input. It usually goes something like this:
"Do you think we should buy X item?"
"Why do we need it"
"Because (whatever reason)"
"Then yes."
Not because he says yes to everything, but because I usually don't ask if it's something we don't need. He does say no. For example, we need a new TV. We got offered a 56ish inch projection big screen for $100. We can't buy a new TV for $100 around here, much less something that big. Granted, we don't NEED something that big, but, because it would be cheaper than new, I thought it was worth consideration. Ever practical, his response was "Where will we put it?" Seven people, three bedroom apartment, darn good question. We measured, it won't fit, we're not getting it. Done.
Anyway, back to being a better steward.
I bought a whole bunch of coupons today. Between the coupon clippers last night, and ebay this morning, I'll have hundreds. Now, you can't choose what you get on ebay, but what I can't use, I can sell on ebay or giveaway. I also bought a coupon organizer. I'll post the link once I get the item, cause it looks to be really neat. This way, when the coupons come in, I can organize them right from the get go. In fact, I think that will be my project for when I'm up in Pueblo for training. Lisa and I are planning on playing Scrabble all night, and we can organize coupons while we do that.
It's important to organize because I will have multiples. Why have multiple coupons? Where this is where you go beyond the basic. To get the best price on your items, why not stock up while they are on sale with the coupons? Let's take rice-a-roni for example. The normal price on rice-a-roni at Walmart is $1.24. Today it was on sale at Safeway for $1.25, but if you bought 10, it was $.75. There is a coupon out there for $1.00 off 4, which, if I had had it, would have taken the price down to $.50. It would have been silly of me to not buy as many as I could at that price-it's less than half!
I found this incredible resource today. It's a forum called afullcup.com. They have advice on stockpiling (which we do anyway, cause I'm a prepper), pictures of people's stockpiles, plus postings about different deals at different stores. I spent some time reading there, and discovered that there were some really great deals at Safeway. They would have been even better if I'd had coupons. Now, I looked at the store sale ad online, but I missed a bunch of these. They also had info on another promotion called Chill Out At Home, which is for frozen food month. They also have a complete list of the items covered under that promo, which includes store brands. If you spend $25 on participating frozen foods, you get $10 towards your next frozen food purchase.
Now, yesterday when we were shopping, we didn't make it to Safeway. The kids (and the adults) were all tired. So after reading this, I decide it's a pretty good deal, even if I don't have coupons. So I ask Aimee if she will watch the kids for awhile, and when Larry got home from training, and we ate dinner, we went to Safeway.
Here's what I got:
10 Mott's Applesauce, assorted flavors, the 6 packs
10 Rice-A-Roni
20 Hunt's Pudding Snacks, 4 packs
2 Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies
10 Honey Roasted Skippy Peanut Butter
10 Duncan Hines Cake Mix
6 Gallons Milk
10 Yogurts
25 Banquet Frozen Dinners (Fire meals)
10 Sara Lee Bagels, 6 pack
2 lbs Beef Short Ribs (I use for broth)
25 lbs Round Steak
8 lbs Pork Ribs
4 lbs Pork Chops
2 lbs Chicken Breasts
2 lbs Chicken Thighs
Total before savings $396.69
Total Out Of Pocket $206.20
Total Savings $190.49, 49%.
The cashier actually said "You saved $190.49! That's awesome!"
Upon returning home we actually had to rearrange the entire pantry! I'll post pics tomorrow!
Well the dishwasher is finally done, so I'm heading to bed!
Busy, Busy, Busy (Again)
Yesterday we spent the day running around like the proverbial chickens.
Saren had an eye appointment, so we went and took care of that. Then we went to see if the thrift store was open (it wasn't) and went to lunch. Then we went back to WalMart to do our shopping and get haircuts. The boys got a LOT of hair cut off, and Nikki and I got bangs trimmed and then some cut off the length. The boys' hair would make any woman jealous, I think. It grows super fast, and has a tendency to waviness when it gets long. Aimee didn't go with us, she was working, but she needs a haircut, too. I think I will see if Catherine can do it. She's awesome at cutting hair. Maybe Aimee can trade her some daycare over Spring Break for it.
Since our IRS refund came, we did some shopping for stuff we really needed. I hit the clearance racks in all the family's sizes and got everyone some shirts, and Nikki and Larry each a pair of jeans (Larry's weren't on clearance, but he really needed them). I also got some mixing bowls, and two more laundry baskets. I found some bakery bread on clearance, so I bought a bunch of that to go in the freezer. I didn't hit the meat because we had already been waiting a LONG time to get into the hair salon and I wasn't sure how long the cuts would take. We finally got out of there at 3:30, and by then we were just done. The babies did great throughout, despite the fact that they had to have been exhausted.
When we came home we had our traditional tax refund pizza feast, ordering pizza from Adamo's here in town. I did add a salad. We also hit Ringos Market, to stock up on some stuff there, including cereal for $2.00/box (I know, but sometimes, we just need cereal for a quick breakfast). Earlier in the week I had gotten blsl chicken breasts there for $1.69/lb.
After dinner we got some kidlets to bed, and I sat down to work on the work laptops. Did some stuff on those, and then just relaxed. Read some interesting blogs, including this one called $5.00 dinners, and then bought some coupons. Well, I didn't actually buy the coupons, I paid someone else to clip them for me. We don't get a lot of coupons in our Sunday inserts, and sometimes, by the time we get up to the store, the Sunday paper is already gone. And, honestly, in the winter, sometimes we just don't get in to the store.
Looking at $5.00 dinners made me think about how else I can save my family money. She was talking about going to Walgreens and getting about $30 worth of stuff for less then $3, after coupons and their rebate program. That sort of thing is just not possible for us to do. Our nearest Walgreens is an hour away, and we only get there once a month if we're lucky. But I do need to be more judicious about our use of coupons. I manage to do pretty well on our grocery budget but could do better.
Which is what made me decide to get some coupons in bulk. I got quite a few from the coupon clippers, and then this morning I got some on ebay. I think, on Sundays when we're home, we'll start walking down to Ringos and getting the Sunday paper there for more coupons. I can always sell the ones I can't use. Plus there's ones I can print online-I know Safeway at least will take those. I think I'll call Walmart later and see if they still take those. I know a lot of stores don't.
Today's agenda is laundry, and going through crates again because for some reason I didn't pull out 3T pants for Roan. Between thrift store shopping, going through crates, ebay shopping and now Walmart clearance, I have a LOT of laundry to do. Plus, with Larry and Aimee gone, I can bleach to my heart's content, so I'm going to bleach the bathroom, the kitchen, and all the floors. Maybe the fridges, too.
OK, I'm off to get everyone breakfast.
Here's the link to the coupon clippers
Saren had an eye appointment, so we went and took care of that. Then we went to see if the thrift store was open (it wasn't) and went to lunch. Then we went back to WalMart to do our shopping and get haircuts. The boys got a LOT of hair cut off, and Nikki and I got bangs trimmed and then some cut off the length. The boys' hair would make any woman jealous, I think. It grows super fast, and has a tendency to waviness when it gets long. Aimee didn't go with us, she was working, but she needs a haircut, too. I think I will see if Catherine can do it. She's awesome at cutting hair. Maybe Aimee can trade her some daycare over Spring Break for it.
Since our IRS refund came, we did some shopping for stuff we really needed. I hit the clearance racks in all the family's sizes and got everyone some shirts, and Nikki and Larry each a pair of jeans (Larry's weren't on clearance, but he really needed them). I also got some mixing bowls, and two more laundry baskets. I found some bakery bread on clearance, so I bought a bunch of that to go in the freezer. I didn't hit the meat because we had already been waiting a LONG time to get into the hair salon and I wasn't sure how long the cuts would take. We finally got out of there at 3:30, and by then we were just done. The babies did great throughout, despite the fact that they had to have been exhausted.
When we came home we had our traditional tax refund pizza feast, ordering pizza from Adamo's here in town. I did add a salad. We also hit Ringos Market, to stock up on some stuff there, including cereal for $2.00/box (I know, but sometimes, we just need cereal for a quick breakfast). Earlier in the week I had gotten blsl chicken breasts there for $1.69/lb.
After dinner we got some kidlets to bed, and I sat down to work on the work laptops. Did some stuff on those, and then just relaxed. Read some interesting blogs, including this one called $5.00 dinners, and then bought some coupons. Well, I didn't actually buy the coupons, I paid someone else to clip them for me. We don't get a lot of coupons in our Sunday inserts, and sometimes, by the time we get up to the store, the Sunday paper is already gone. And, honestly, in the winter, sometimes we just don't get in to the store.
Looking at $5.00 dinners made me think about how else I can save my family money. She was talking about going to Walgreens and getting about $30 worth of stuff for less then $3, after coupons and their rebate program. That sort of thing is just not possible for us to do. Our nearest Walgreens is an hour away, and we only get there once a month if we're lucky. But I do need to be more judicious about our use of coupons. I manage to do pretty well on our grocery budget but could do better.
Which is what made me decide to get some coupons in bulk. I got quite a few from the coupon clippers, and then this morning I got some on ebay. I think, on Sundays when we're home, we'll start walking down to Ringos and getting the Sunday paper there for more coupons. I can always sell the ones I can't use. Plus there's ones I can print online-I know Safeway at least will take those. I think I'll call Walmart later and see if they still take those. I know a lot of stores don't.
Today's agenda is laundry, and going through crates again because for some reason I didn't pull out 3T pants for Roan. Between thrift store shopping, going through crates, ebay shopping and now Walmart clearance, I have a LOT of laundry to do. Plus, with Larry and Aimee gone, I can bleach to my heart's content, so I'm going to bleach the bathroom, the kitchen, and all the floors. Maybe the fridges, too.
OK, I'm off to get everyone breakfast.
Here's the link to the coupon clippers
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