The Week Ahead: What's Really Ahead?

We never know what's ahead of us, do we?  Here I am enjoying the spring in my home, trying to get my yards as I've dreamed of seeing them, organizing every spot inside and out, decorating and working away and I'm offered a job.  I don't know if I'll actually be hired...It's one thing to say "Would you like a job?" to someone on a whim and another to actually hire someone who hasn't worked in a traditional job in 23 years.  Well I have my resume ready to go in...



I find it all both exciting and scary at once which is usually the way things hit me.   I've found a lot lately that I have too much time on my hands.  I mean, I get a great deal done and I work hard, I do, as you all always comment, but the opposite side of that truth is that I have a LOT of spare time.  After all, my home has no small children on a regular basis, so things tend to stay fairly neat and clean and I've developed routines that work for me to keep it rater nice.  With John's schedule I have great blocks of time when I can sail through my routines and spend a morning out shopping and come home to nothing at all to do all afternoon and evening long.  Even with my hobbies there's only so much time I wish to spend doing those.  It becomes a bore after a bit.  So yes, I do have time on my hands and I've felt for sometime that I could be doing something more to benefit us.  Perhaps this is it.

That's the exciting side...Now for the scary side.  How shall I arrange my time if  it does come through?  Can I handle a job and all I'm doing now and still have time for the grandchildren?  Will it interfere with John's spontaneity? What if I can't manage it?  What if it's all too much?

What sort of salary would I earn?  Would it truly be worth my time?  Will it affect the other savings I make, in eating up time I might have spent doing other things?  And then there are the hopeful things:  Might I manage enough income to do that big push for savings I'd wanted to get done?  To be able to really manage help to others and get things done for my home renovations?  So many questions and no answers.

 My head could spin, but each time I experience the rise of questions, I say "Shush!"  If God had a hand in delivering the offer, then He shall have a hand in all the rest of it.   It's my personal experience there's always MORE when God is apparently taking something away and you just think you're being left with LESS, be it money He's moved you to pledge or give or whether it's time. His subtraction always ends in multiplication.  And there's my peace.

The week is already shaping up full of the usual home doings.  And let's face it, home is always going to be the main focus. Everything else is just gravy on the potatoes.

Last Week:  I worked hard in the yard until I ran out of mulch.  I also got a load of poison and a big doctor bill.  Ho hum.

 I cleaned the shed when I ran out of mulch even though that wasn't on my list for the week.  I was on a roll of being busy and that worked in my favor.

I got quite a few things cleared up in the guest room but didn't hang pictures.  I find I really don't like the quilt very much.  It's the hunter green checks that bother me about it.  I have the iron bed pulled forward so I can start to work on painting that for the room.  I find more and more I want to make this room a retreat of sorts for whomever needs it be they someone in this house or a guest.

I worked up a quarterly budget, even though April is nearly over and I was surprised at how well that went, even with the ending of the additional overtime.  I can't save at the rate I'd hoped to but I can still make additional savings.

I got the pantry and freezer inventory done.  I am pleased with the results of that and find I'm in good standing in most areas with just a few low areas.  I rearranged the shelves in the closet and moved items about so that it appeared more logical.  I now can put in a small shelf unit and perhaps another bin.

No need of worrying about John's spontaneous moods...There were none and I confess I was a bit disappointed.  All that time off and not one day away from home.  But then again, I was fairly miserable with itching anyway and he said he felt really rested for the first time in months, so there you are.

Meals:  All the roast chicken meals went off fine as did the cheese burger menu and then things went kaplooey.  Our meal out was sort of a split deal.  We picked up deli fried chicken on a Sunday and brought it home to reheat with our own sides and then we picked up a deli sandwich for supper while we waited on my prescription to  be filled on Thursday evening.  That was that.

Reading this weekend:  

The Prudent Homemaker, ten part series titled Eat for 40 Cents a Day in which she shares the many ways she fed her family of 7 in 2011 and 2012 for less than the cost of a pack of gum.  I don't know if the prices translate as low in 2019 but it's for certain that her saving ways would definitely net a huge savings for any household of 1 or 10 or more.  Start HERE and click Next Post at the bottom of each post to read through the whole series. I found it all good sensible advice and very inspirational.

I heard a mention of another vlog on YouTube, Penny Pinching Granny.  I listened to one  of her postings and it really touched me with her constant mention of how God blesses her in her need.   It led me to listen to a few more.  Again, there might not be anything new to seasoned frugal folks but it's certainly inspirational what one might do.

This Week:

I have a planned day out with Mama and another day I'm going to  be out with Katie as well as delivering my resume to the office.

I plan to pick up a half dozen or so bags of mulch.  I'm so very nearly done with the old beds now that I am really wanting to push on through and finish and then I can begin to think of where to put the plants I've dug up and start the beds and begin to buy the plants to go into my flower beds and pots.  Until I can get mulch, I can at least get pots moved out of the next flower bed and begin to clean them for planting.

This is Harvest week. I have bills ready to go out but we'll need to do the usual payday errands and grocery shopping, etc.  I don't need loads of groceries just dairy and produce, really.  I'll be sure to make out a list with some of those low/gap items on it to pick up and fill in those areas.

Definitely making bread this week.  I forgot this past Friday was Passover and we needed only Matzah for that.

Zone:  Porches this week.  And working in yard.  I don't know what to do exactly but cleaning will be priority on the porches and patio and I'll find jobs to do in the yard, just to keep my energy levels running high.

Meals:  

Chicken Verde Enchiladas, Yellow Rice, Black Beans, Avocado and Lettuce, Butterscotch Pudding
This entrée from the freezer.   It all made for an easy Shabat meal since I'd not prepped ahead.

Pot Roast with  Vegetables, Steamed Peas, Salad

on my own x2

Black Beans and Rice, Salad

Shepherd's Pie, Peach Salad

Bbq Chicken, Au Gratin Potatoes, Green Beans, Coleslaw

Smiles and Gratitudes:


I had a last minute day sitting  Isaac.  We had a grand time together he and I.  Best part was the nap we took, lol.  Gramma was tired and so was that boy.  Playing is hard work done the way he does it.

I got a lot more work done this past week than I'd anticipated I might.  I had plenty of energy and time to spare as it happened which was a nice side benefit.

That unexpected job offer...even if nothing comes of it, it's neat to think at 60 I'm considered prime hiring material by some folks.

I was able to get a doctor's  appointment on a non-appointment day.  And at this point the poison is healing.  Praises be!

The weather all week long was sunny with cool mornings, perfect for working in the yard and shed and rain only fell in the evenings.