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!
Monday, April 6, 2009
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!!
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