On Sunday after church, we went to Katie's. Taylor wasn't half pleased. She much prefers a certain routine and wants to lock things into an 'always'. She expects to come here on Sunday afternoons, between Katie's house and returning to her daddy's home. She wants me to serve Gramma's Fried Chicken (from Publix) and to putter around the house seeing what is in the treasure boxes, checking the toy box for anything that might be new, and snacking on what she calls 'spicy hot dogs'.
This weekend Katie brought home her 120 pound German Shepherd, Zoey, and 10 pound Baby Cat to stay with her for a few months while Taylor and her Daddy move and get resettled. Taylor's going to miss Zoey especially. Those two have been 'family' since before Taylor was born. They have played together for years now. So I think they shall very much miss each other.
Work:
Declutter guest room and bath. I think I have two cabinets in the living room to go through and then the house is completely done.
Break up some more of the flower bed I mean to plant this spring.
Start work on sorting out the shed. I am ordering a new shelf unit later this week, but want to cull the donation and trash items from the shed before it arrives.
Clean both porches.
As the end of the month is approaching, I'm making out a short list of things I want to do with a small windfall of money. I want big bang for my funds and I want to know I'm getting the best buys for what we're spending. What are we looking at? Tires for my car. A foundation for the guest bed. Shelving for the shed. I also wish to restock what I might of the sub accounts, since we've recently emptied three and are about to drain a fourth. I know that we can save this money over the coming year but wouldn't it be great to have that money in place and save for 2021 instead? Who doesn't want to stay a year ahead of annual bills?! Well admittedly other's mightn't find the idea of it quite as thrilling as I do but I confess that makes my frugal soul happy.
Make plans for our birthdays. Actually we do have plans but I want to do just a little more. I want to have John's gifts ready and to plan our birthday cakes (yes plural...he likes plain yellow cakes with chocolate frosting and I like something more for a birthday)… and I want money set aside for my birthday plans which we've already talked over. Nothing pricey but it's nice to come to the day with money set aside.
I'm thinking I'd like to change up my capsule wardrobe in February, still keeping winter clothes but using some of the other items in my closet. I'll do some preliminary planning this week.
Menu:
John tickled me at the end of this last week. He planned two menus. I don't mind as neither was a hard meal to prepare and also because he seldom says he wants something specific. What did he ask for? On Thursday he invited Katie to Friday night dinner and then told me what he wanted me to make: Cubed Steak, Mashed potatoes, Broccoli. Which is what we had for our meal Friday evening.
Meal plan two was Saturday night dinner:
Omelets, Chicken Breakfast sausage, Biscuits
Meal planning is just a little trickier than usual right now. We're temporarily eating our big meal at 5pm each evening. That means I have to be careful with carb counts, fat and spiciness. Things that might be fine for a midday big dinner simply won't do for a later supper. It's been hit or miss but I curb carbs as much as I can.
Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Chips, Canned Peaches and Graham Crackers
This sounds high carb doesn't it? I know...It wasn't for me. Here's how I kept carbs low: I used one piece of bread for my two hot dogs. I kept my portion of beans and peaches to about 1/4 cup and I carefully counted out my 11 chips. I wanted to serve Danish butter cookies but two graham cracker sheets were lower carb and higher fiber, so graham crackers it was.
Southwestern Chicken Soup, Cornbread
This will be more or less an off the cuff recipe. I have an idea how I want to prepare it (in the crockpot using canned goods and a chicken breast).
on my own x1
Lasagna, Green Salad, Green Beans, Garlic Toast
for me: a smaller portion of lasagna and no toast or a half piece if I find it totally irresistible. Sometimes a little of something is better than being tempted.
Lemon Pepper Chicken, Asparagus Casserole, Salad
Leftovers Night
We should have plenty of leftovers this week. I have already put hot dogs and baked beans in the fridge and I'm pretty sure the rest of the week will have it's share as well. What we don't eat this night will be packed up in meal size portions and put in the freezer for easy 'tv' dinners.
7 comments:
Winter came roaring in with big wind last night. I was laying in bed listening to it and thinking of the times we spent at my in-laws log cabin in the NC mountains. The wind would blow through the ends of the logs at the corners and moan and sound like terrified voices. Creepy. Last night I was just praying for all the trees to stay upright since our ground is so wet.
Hubby didn't do anything over the weekend but "Hide" as he called it. We stayed IN the house. He did go out this morning to make sure we didn't have any wind damage anywhere. COLD but in reality it's where we usually are this time of year. Warm weather has spoiled us. Charlotte the 2yr old mutt paced like crazy, Wilbur slept and snored and Rascal hid in the corner by the bed.
I danced across the kitchen when I told Hubby I had saved this year's amt for bday and graduations. He asked if that meant we didn't need to save any more... NOPE that means I am now working on next year which will include #2 great grandson that is due this coming summer.
Lana, No roaring wind here but a flag snapping brisk wind did come along. It's barely over 40 this afternoon which is fairly cold for us for daytime temps. Still I'll take my cold weather now in the proper season.
Juls, lol at hubby thinking no need to save more! How nice it feels to have those amounts set aside. I've just been over our future income one more time and with care, we can do this, and still have money to set aside for vacation and Christmas with a bit leftover. What more can anyone ask?!
Terri, I have never heard of a baby sprinkle? Sounds cute, whatever it is. I think it’s so lovely that you and Bess seem to have a close relationship based on mutual affection and respect. I do wish very much that this will happen with my boys’ wives when they marry.
Your menu is always a source of inspiration. I wish I could make good homemade baked beans, but I tried once and wasn’t impressed.
Stay warm down there! It’s proper winter weather here now after having such a warm December. The sun has been shining the last two days so I am happy about that! I have been dreaming about garden plans with all the gardening catalogs coming in the mail. I want to plant our own elderberry bushes so I don’t have to buy dried elderberries to make medicinal syrup.
Well, off to warm up the chili I made earlier today along with cornbread and broccoli. Have a lovely evening!
While I am not pretty like Bess, one of my stepmothers told people I had a horse face and I don't think she was far from wrong, somehow I never got into the makeup routine and clothes/fashion hold zero interest for me. If I find something that fits I will buy three of it and wear the same (clean) thing day after day after day. I know women who love fashion, but I find the entire thing exhausting.
You are not alone in finding joy in having things paid for into the future. One year my job gave out an unexpected bonus, a very large one, and I was thrilled to be able to look up how much water, electricity, oil and phones had cost us for the last year (I keep meticulous records on what we spend every single day. It keeps anxiety at bay) and prepay every single utility for the next year. I am embarrassed to say this, but I actually cried. We had enormous medical debts finally paid off (over $80,000) and the car paid off and were within a year of paying off our mortgage. We still prepay now, several years later, and I hope to keep it that way.
Karen, Generally a 'sprinkle' is a shower for someone who is already a mom and has most baby things. She's usually stocked up with diapers and wipes and other disposables and a few new outfits for the new baby but it's not as heavy as a 'shower' in gifts. Bess, however, is having a girl, after having two boys, so her's really was more of a shower.
I used to make my own baked beans and I keep saying I'm going to do it once more but it's a lot of work. I had a proper bean pot too...but I find it's just as easy to buy the vegetarian beans on sale in the summer and let that suffice, lol.
Mable, John has always said he'd like to pay those monthly bills in full once a year as well, so we can appreciate how that must have felt! It is security. I grew up in a household where we were always without some utility or other or the house was going up for tax sale etc., so being debt free and knowing that no matter what I have a home is very very comforting to me.
What a sweet picture of you and Bess! Both of you look beautiful. I'm glad that you had fun at the sprinkle.
Oh wow, Zoey is a big dog. Poor little Taylor, she has had a lot of upsets in her short life. Glad that kids are resilient for the most part.
Hope you have a great week.
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