Living Well: More Than Enough

Saturday:  John worked last night.  That means a big breakfast is wanted this morning.  I made breakfast sandwiches, but broke my own rule.  I know never to start breakfast until he calls.  Sure enough he was late coming in this morning.  I wrapped the sandwich with aluminum foil and left in te warm oven.  It was plenty hot when he came in.  Nice to have the extra time, two and a half hours of overtime.

While I waited on John to come in, I put all the printed material into the proper genealogy files.



John said three times last week that he wanted spaghetti and meatballs.  It isn't often he asks for something specific so I try to make sure I prepare what he's mentioned.  It was easy enough.   I mixed up the meatballs and baked them mid-week last week.  Then this morning, I opened a can of spaghetti sauce, added in about a pint of homemade sauce and dropped in the meatballs.  I let this simmer all morning and it tasted just fine.

After dinner, I set aside a single entrée of spaghetti and meatballs to go into the freezer for future need.

I mixed up the leftover sauce and the leftover spaghetti with a bit of cottage cheese and a bit of cream cheese that was the last of a package in the fridge.  I put this in the freezer as well.  It will make a fine meal in the future.  I will add cheese to the pie before I bake it.

Sunday:  I made up my mind that we'd pick up dinner out today.  John was of the same mind and informed me that we were picking up dinner after church today.  I love it when we're on the same page, lol.

We picked up chicken and a bag of salad.  John wanted a little macaroni salad, which is a favorite of his.  I put a potato into the microwave when I came home for myself.

I made an executive decision today.  Usually when we pick up dinner at the grocery store,  I lump the amount over with the grocery money.  Not today.  It seems to me that this might well come from our very underused 'fun' money.  It was fun not to have to cook dinner, nor clear up many dishes, and to have leftovers enough to make lunch for us both tomorrow.

We washed two loads of clothes today.  It was supposed to rain...so we used the dryer.  I found the towels weren't quite dry...and the sun was shining plenty, so I took them to hang on the line.

Spent the afternoon working on Jamberry games and making my own pictures to use in Paint 3D, a program that came with Windows 10.

Prepared John's lunch for tomorrow.  Set up oatmeal for morning.

Monday:  Up early this morning.  John left for work as usual: breakfast, lunch, coffee.

I started housework immediately after John left this morning.  I'd made big plans for the day but after waking at 3am to hear heavy rain pounding on the roof, I decided my plans were going to change.  Ran a full dishwasher of dishes.

Picked up and straightened every area of the house.  Then I tackled that kitchen wall I'd kept putting off.  I find that dishwasher detergent is a wonderful grease cutter and that's just what I needed to clean that wall about the stove. I diluted in hot water and wiped the walls down.  I don't know why I put off this one wall so long.  It took no time at all.

I almost always am so hungry by 9am when I've eaten at 5am with John.  I decided I needed a cup of hot tea this morning.  Even if it's hot and humid out, it looked autumn-ish outdoors with rain and wind.  It was meant to be a lovely second breakfast but I had a comedy of errors.  The yogurt was most welcome in the end, lol.

Gave myself a manicure this morning.  It made me very aware that I seldom do this for myself (with wraps and all) and yet I enjoy having pretty looking hands and nails.  Why do I put it off so?  Because I tell myself that the wraps 'cost' something.  Well yeah, they sure did, but what's the point in buying them if I don't use them, or if I seldom use them?  No more!  I'm going to enjoy the product I've bought and enjoy having a pretty manicure!

Had leftovers for lunch.   While I had lunch I indulged in a few FoodNetwork shows I enjoy but seldom get to see.

Spent most of the day working on my Jamberry Party.  So much fun!

Tuesday:  Made John a big 'Welcome Home' breakfast of French Toast.  I used pieces of bread that had gotten a bit dry from the last loaf we'd bought.

Made a pan of croutons from end pieces from the freezer.  This filled a pint and half sized jar.  I always store my croutons in a glass jar and then instead of a metal lid, I used a piece of paper towel, and put the ring on over that.  This allows the croutons to continue to dry out and decreases the chance of molding, just in case there is any residual moisture in them.

Went into town to do necessary errands.  I skipped going to the bank because we are going to go over tomorrow.  That saved a few miles.

Went into the Dollar General and picked up some needed items.  I walked around and just looked since I haven't been in the store in a while.  I didn't spend much but I was pleased with what I found.  I bought two sticker books for the kids.  I'll tuck those into the toy box.  Hailey had discovered a card with stickers that I'd received in the mail last time she was here and spent easily an hour playing with it.  I hope these books will be as interesting.  I also got a set of toy pots and pans in metal.   All the children love to help me in the kitchen.  I have a low flat bin with a plastic lid that I think I can turn into a 'stove' easily enough.

What I didn't buy:  cookies.  I meant to.   And as I stood there trying to decide which I'd buy, I recalled I had a couple of dozen oatmeal cookie dough balls in the freezer at home.  $2.50 for a bag of cookies or FREE for homemade which is like quadruple the flavor anyway?  I decided upon the latter.

Hurried home to make lunch.  Actually, I put a pot roast in the crockpot this morning so I came home to make mashed potatoes and peas.

Packaged up the leftovers in a single container and decided I'd have 'soup' later this week.

Reheated leftover chicken and rice soup and made peanut butter sandwiches to go with it for supper.

Wednesday:  We went to the bank.  Unfortunately the person we needed to see was out today, so that was a wasted trip.   I got cash to cover our allowance.

John and I took off trash, picked up mail on our way out to the bank.

We had planned to eat out today, so off we went.  This was paid for from the joint account.  Why that and not the allowances, as we'd typically do?  Because I need only a head of lettuce and a gallon of milk NEXT week to make it through this whole pay period.  And the best way to NOT spend money at the grocery is not to GO to the grocery, right? 

Besides, the savings will come in mighty handy since we have activation fees on our cell phone account this month.  It means I need not take money from savings to cover it as we'd originally planned to do.

While we were in the area, I went to Kroger and picked up the free items, and a head of lettuce.

I used a gift card to purchase a Cinnamon Latte.  I counted that as dessert.

We went to get haircuts.  While I was there the stylist commented on my nails.   She was very interested.   She joined in on my Jamberry party.

Big meals for lunch mean very light suppers for us.  We had the FREE potato soup packet.  I wasn't impressed with the taste of this particular one, but I figured it was the one most likely to suit John.  He wasn't impressed either.

Prepped John's lunch and set up coffee and oatmeal for breakfast.

Thursday:  Sent John off to work with coffee, breakfast and meals for work.

Did housework this morning, which included running a full load of dishes.  I opened the door and left them to air dry.

Out with Mama today.  We went to Target.  Easy enough to steer away from the dollar spot.  I bought a cute pair of flats that a blogger mentioned were very comfortable.  I found them to be equally comfortable.  I also bought a cute scarf.  This will expand my wardrobe as both purchases will go with at least four other items in my closet, my rule for making my wardrobe work hard.

I have been contemplating solid pillows to play off a pretty print pillow cover I already have in my living room.  I was happy to find two pillows that were perfect.  One was a clearance item.  Both were very reasonable.

Lunch out was inexpensive today, we opted for drive thru hamburgers.  We ate our lunch in the shade of a big old oak tree in a church yard.

After I dropped Mama off at her house, I went back to Hobby Lobby.  Mission: Christmas floral picks and decorations.  I bought two packages of ornaments.  I didn't find any floral picks that I thought were pretty nor reasonable.   I think I'm going to probably end up making my own wreaths this year.  I have plenty of evergreens on the property.  I just don't see $60 for a wreath that is 'on sale'...and of course those are the ones I thought were the very prettiest.  I had put another item in my  cart but noted that it was broken when I was in line at the register.  I heard a woman ask for a discount on a chipped item and I could have done the same but as I stood there I realized that I was buying to replace broken items....Why on earth would I BUY broken ones?!  I walked back and put the items back on the shelf.  Let someone else ask for a discount.

Noted one item I really liked was super simple to make...it was just a pretty cone!  $29.  Seriously.  I realized I could easily do this at home.  I have some fabric that will work beautifully and poster board to make the cone form.  I needed only some pretty thin metallic ribbon, which I bought for $1.49.

Came home and reheated the pot roast leftover soup.  Boy was that good!

Made myself a cup of hot vanilla milk this evening... This is a nice alternative to hot cocoa.  Just add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp sugar to 1 cup of milk.  Heat in the microwave or on stove top.

Friday:  I made a big breakfast for John this morning after work.

We went back to the bank today to tend to our business.  The day turned into a whole day away from home.  We had a lovely time running errands, eating lunch out (out of our allowance this time!), stopping to check on various prices of things.

We stopped to wash the car and used the free vacuum, paper towels and window cleaner to clean up the inside.

I set up coffee to perk in the morning in my new coffee pot.

We received the Hughes Net return product box today.  We'll get that packed up this weekend and send back to them next week.

Light supper for us again tonight.  I had yogurt.  John opted for a bagel.

Now it's time for Shabat....The best part of the week, in my opinion!


What did you do to save this week?