Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Busy Weekend, Slow Week

Saturday:   I completely forgot to share Friday's menu with you all:

Cereal, Toast I used some of the strawberries on my cereal.  Yum!

Pot stickers, Egg Roll I had five Pot Stickers left in my freezer bag.  John was out for lunch with his friend.  I counted the egg rolls and realized there were five in the package so I had one of those with my dumplings.

General Tso's Chicken, Broccoli, Rice, Egg Rolls I don't normally indulge in Chinese inspired foods twice in the same day but I did today.  I had a chicken breast that I cubed and cooked and then poured the General Tso's sauce from Aldi over it.  Yummy!  I asked John what he thought, since we'd been buying the Asian Fusion frozen General Tso's in the past and he said he thought it was better this way.  I agree.  Bottle of sauce might be $2.49 (can't remember) but everything else is just basics in our house.  We used about half a bottle for this entrée.  

Today was birthday party day at the house across the field.   We headed over right before 12 and found we were the last to arrive.  Caleb was delighted to see me.  Millie was busy paying attention to Caleb.  I had to go hunt down the three older children who were all tucked up in the bed playing with kindles.  Lest you think they ought to have been outdoors it was pouring rain and cold as could be as well, so no, they couldn't.  They were sent to the bedroom to get them out of the adults way while lunch was being prepared and they were doing what anyone might have done, including me.  Isaac was downright sleepy by that time, anyway.  When I walked in he got up to greet me and yawned widely.

Isaac doesn't much care for a birthday.  He likes every one else to have them but he is very blasé about it all and doesn't really want to be the center of attention in that way.   He doesn't much care that he's a year older.   John is pretty much the same way and it amuses me to see Isaac react the same.   I think as time goes on, it will be a much quieter thing to celebrate his birthday if he has his say about it.   Hard to tell how Millie is going to handle it.  She's new to all this.   

It was a nice little party and the children seemed to enjoy it.  Isaac may not be all that enthused over the birthday party part, nor the cake either, but he likes the presents.  No surprise there.  After about two hard hours of partying, dancing, eating and singing, we were all ready to go home including the children.    John waited long enough for Sam to gather all the trash and we took it to the dump before we returned home.

Home once more, I grabbed coffee, put on my comfy knit pants and slippers and turned on the propane heater.  The heat pump was keeping the house at the temperature set but some days you just need the extra touch of cozy that comes with a visibly glowing heater.

I've got supper prep underway.  Now I'm going to take up my book and vintage magazines and read for a bit.  Hope you all are staying nice and cozy at home, too.

Meals:  Bagels, Cream Cheese, Strawberries

Burgers, Chips, Brookies  Birthday foods...

Taco Pizza

Sunday:  Happy Valentine's Day.   It was pouring rain last night when we went to bed.  I was having an anxiety attack, one of the first in over a month, it went on all through yesterday evening.  I lay it at the feet of being overly stimulated by the birthday party.   I wasn't winning this battle on my own.  I had an anti-anxiety pill and can tell you the exact moment the medication hit my blood stream. It was truly as thought someone told my mind "Shhhh...." and like a child it hushed immediately.   Though I didn't go off to sleep right away it was a blessing to have my mind just shut up and I mean that sincerely!

This morning we were up early and it was still pouring rain and quite cool out.  We headed to church in weather that could best be described as miserable.  I chose to wear the heavy winter coat Katie gave me rather than my raincoat and I'm glad I did, because it was truly cold outdoors.

After service we walked around in the lobby and looked at the Small Groups tables.  There were some that were really interesting: Kayak Fishing, Motorcycle Club, Empty Nesters, Praying Ladies, and more.   We had joined the Creatives group midway through the last cycle and really enjoy it.  After walking around I think we decided that we will stick with Oasis (Older Adult Seniors In Service) and the Creatives Group and John will do the Men's monthly meetings.  I don't know of a women's group that meets routinely as the men's group does.

No need to stop for anything but gasoline on the way home.  I asked John to buy me a cup of coffee.  Walking to the car had chilled me to the bone.

Back home, I started my dinner.  I'd had one plan and then overheard John talking on the phone last night and he reeled off a menu to his brother that we have 'every Sunday that Taylor is here.'  I thought, "Hmmmm...I hadn't planned that but he's apparently counting on that being the meal."    I changed the menu last night before making that post.

I decided, since I'm washing dishes by hand anyway, that today would be a lovely day to have the pretty china on the table.  I chose the grocery store incentive purchase rose china that I loved so all those years ago after we moved here.  I used the red placemats and opted to use the red and white strip napkins, because they are far more stain resistant that the  pretty white lace edged ones.   

Taylor was really disappointed when she came in and said, "But Gramma you haven't even decorated for Valentine's!"  I haven't decorated for anything but Christmas in years but I shall make an effort for her if she's to be here in future on any holiday.  I was awfully glad I had the pretty china out and the table set and candles lit.   Her whole face shone with pleasure when she saw that pretty table.   "I didn't decorate but I thought today was special enough for pretty china...Don't you?"   Taylor was beyond thrilled when Katie poured her drink into a pretty tea cup.   I was pretty thrilled myself because I'd thought to myself I'd let her drink from a tea cup, and that Katie immediately thought of  it told me she understood exactly what I'd done.   Well she would.   I used to do the same sort of thing for her.

The cake was delicious.  The jam toned down the sweetness of the frosted cake.  Everyone liked it, even the non-chocolate cake eater who was intrigued enough to try it since it had raspberry in it.   The Aldi cake mix is really nice, by the way.  I made it exactly per instructions and baked it exactly per instructions.  It was tender, moist without being clumpy and not at all dry.

After lunch, Taylor and I played Candy Soda Crush.  She really enjoyed matching the candies and won several rounds.   Then she insisted on watching videos on the Kindle and we had to share the ear buds so I could hear what was going on, lol.

Before leaving, Katie asked "Soooo, which of you is going with me today?"   I volunteered.  She was delighted, since she needed to go by Walmart and we like to putter through a store together.  Neither of us are big on walking the entire store to shop it.  We pretty much know what we want and where we must go to get it and then we're done.  Mission today was to buy an umbrella stroller that would fit in my car, which her nice stroller does NOT.  I have to take Caleb to the doctor tomorrow and the last time I did that he was so heavy and I was so worn down by the experience of trying to keep him off the floors that I vowed I'd not do it without a stroller the next time.   Now that I'm using a cane, well the stroller is a necessity.  

We always stop at Dunkin Donuts and get a coffee for us and Taylor has a chocolate milk and quite often gets a donut but today we reminded her she'd had cake for dessert...  John usually pays for this treat whether or not I go along.  I like getting included when I do go!  

Walmart wasn't very busy but there must have  been a big sale on TV sets because we saw three go out the door, all the same brand.   I spotted a rug that was perfect to replace my ratty one in the kitchen.  It's a slightly smaller runner but it was on sale for $15 and is fully washable.  The color was perfect, too.  That side stop was on our way to the baby section to find the stroller.  On the way to the meat aisle, I spied Splenda with Fiber packets on sale for 98c each.  It is a clearance item.  I bought two.   That will last us for a very long time.   I was glad to find it at that price.  In the frozen food aisle, I got a new bag of Chicken Pot Stickers.   This brand is carrageenan free and I love having them on hand for quick meals.  

I did note that the Valentine's day candy was about gone.  Wonder if this means I won't get any half priced chocolate tomorrow?  It doesn't bode well...

I came home with cups of soup from the deli for our supper.  I served them with our leftover sandwich from Thursday shopping day lunch.

This was a lovely Sunday.   I'm going to to have to set my alarm in the morning, since Caleb will be here around 7am.  I told John we'd better do our childproofing before we go to bed tonight while we're lucid enough to think.  I doubt we're so quick on our thinking feet in the morning!

Bacon, Cheese Eggs, Croissants

Gramma's Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Black Eyed Peas, Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Chicken Noodle for John, Tomato Bisque for me and leftover sandwiches.

Monday:  Up extra early this morning because Caleb was coming in.   I wanted time to get coffee into my system before facing a busy day with a toddling little boy.  

And that's as far as I got with writing today!

Tuesday:   We gave ourselves permission to sleep in this morning.  We'd had three busy-ish days and after yesterday I was bone weary and barely coherent.  I think John was tired as well because he seemed to be sensitive.  I was not sensitive.  Nor was I in the mood for anyone else's sensitivity and I told him bluntly I was not.   We spent the evening in pretty much silence and then we went to bed.  Not mad but not interacting and frankly that was about as good I had to give by evening.

Caleb is not a hard child to keep.  But with each new day he has a new skill level and is capable of getting into more than before.  All the Gramma barriers were nothing at all to him, just two weeks later.  He learned two weeks ago that he could, if he put his mind to it, push through some spaces.  So we carefully figured out how to layer barriers to keep him from going into the kitchen.  Ha!   That little boy had it all figured out how to destroy it and move into the kitchen.  And he did so boldly, shouting his pleasure and talking out loud to himself and anyone else who'd care to listen, proclaiming victory and joy at new grounds to explore.  It was amusing, amazing and exhausting.  

He did take a long nap that morning and he well might have done so because he'd eaten like a hungry lumberjack for breakfast, gulped down a cup of juice/water mix and then explored the entirety of any space visible.   He walked most of the morning with just a few bits of crawling here and there.   When I put him down for a nap about 10 he didn't  throw the bottle over the edge of the pack n play nor bang the bed against the wall repeatedly.  He lay down and went to sleep and slept for three hours.  I had to wake him so he'd have time for lunch before his doctor visit.  

When he woke he was shaking all over.  I recognize that.  I do the same when I've been heavily asleep and am awakened even gently as he was awakened.  I had to change his clothes and give him lunch and then we packed up our little world of stuff and off we went to the doctor.

We had the new stroller to make things easier on me and it was so much nicer.  However, when I got inside the doctor's office, and they commanded me to go to the car and wait, I pointedly told the young woman that I'd just stay there inside.  "We're parked around the other side of the building, and I've already brought him out in the rain to come in here.  I'm not going back outside to put him in the car and put up the stroller and start all over again in ten minutes."  I must have sounded convincing because she merely said "Yes Ma'am."     

I know that they were doing their best to protect everyone.   And had I known that was the way it was meant to work I'd have gone in on my own and not taken Caleb in with me.  But given the cold nasty rainy weather and that he was dressed in the pajamas Katie thought would be easiest for me to get him back into after he'd had his checkup and shots, I was unwilling to expose him to the outdoors four times over.     He's had Covid already.  He has the antibodies.  We kept our distance from receptionists and incoming patients alike.  But I did find myself wondering about parents who came alone to the place.  Are you seriously expected to leave the child in the car alone while you come in to get a sign up sheet?  That bothers me no end.  It was cold and rainy and I shouldn't have liked to leave Caleb in the car without heat running and that meant not being able to lock my old model car either.  It all just seems a bit risky to me, more than Covid risky.

I told John later that I was happy to see that Caleb is a people watcher like his grandpa, mama and me.  He was perfectly entertained just watching various people come and go.  

In the examination room he was a bundle of energy and I wrestled with him from beginning to end, trying to keep him from falling,  keep him off the floor, etc.  He snatched off my mask and tossed it to the floor and I was just changing his diaper again, when the doctor came in.  I told him before turning, "I haven't got a mask...He's snatched it off and tossed it onto the floor."   And the doctor said "Never mind.  I'm loaded with antibodies..."   He seemed awfully tired.  He made a comment about the weather being so dreary and he spoke to me about all sorts of things as he examined Caleb.  Then he sat down wearily in a chair and I wanted nothing so much as to mother him.  He's young but was so obviously worn out and it was just Monday...He even yawned widely behind his mask at one point and shut his eyes.  

He told me that Caleb was hale and hearty and a perfectly healthy child, smack in the percentiles where he ought to be and to tell Katie to stop worrying over the little things she'd had me ask him about.  

It must have been shots day at the office because every single baby in every single room cried loudly at some point.  Caleb had three shots, administered by a nurse.   Here is where I pay for all those times in my children's lives when they had shots and someone else held them and allowed me to comfort after.  I had to help hold Caleb.  He screamed so loudly and so long he lost breath on the first loud wail...My heart wrenched inside and the nurse jabbed him twice more.  He couldn't even take a breath to squall, but tears poured down his face and into his ears and I was broken by it.  I'd brought him a bottle and gave it to him immediately and apologized to him profusely while I dressed him and then put him in the stroller and he looked up at me and smiled.  Oh my heart! 

Well once we were in the car, it began to pour rain in earnest.  Caleb sang himself to sleep in his car seat.  At 4:30 pm it was dark enough for street lights to be on.  I was exhausted by that point.  Chad called and said he was home if we wanted to drop him off on our way through town.   

John and I contemplated take out (only one option in town and we weren't interested in their offerings) or frozen pizza from the grocery and I said "You know what?  I've got some of the frozen cheese ravioli and a can of spaghetti sauce.  Let's just go home and make that.  The longest part of the meal is waiting on the water to boil."    So that's what we had for supper last night.   And then we embarked on our mostly silent evening, him watching tv and me listening to videos.

I slept quite well, and didn't wake but once all night.  John too slept well, staying in bed long after I got up.  I had breakfast ready to put into the oven and his coffee set up to make when he got up.   We had an easy morning here.  Neither of us wanted to leave home today though we might have gone out to attend to our own errands.   I did laundry and not much else beyond making the bed.   

At lunch time, I had a disaster of a meal.  I'd saved odds and ends to make 'Leftover Soup'....Well it wasn't good.  Not even a little bit.  I regretted wasting the few ingredients in the jar, but the dogs can have it tonight and they'll no doubt eat every bit of it up, so not a total loss.  We had leftover pizza instead.   Every now and then a planned over just doesn't come out edible.  I don't have days like that often.  I wasn't keen on eating the pizza either, because to be honest, I didn't think it was one of my better pizzas on Saturday evening.  It left one wanting something more.   Same today.  Ho hum.

I went through the fridge while the soup was cooking, thinking I could add something more to it to improve it but I found only leftover spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes.  The bit of cooked broccoli stem I had I made into a Broccoli Rice Casserole with the leftover rice and a thin cheese sauce.  I will make something with the tomato products this week.  I'm subbing the Broccoli Rice dish for the Wild Rice and Chicken casserole this week.  I'll just bake some chicken to serve alongside.

I'm not going to continue to share menus here in this post each day, unless I do make a change to the week's menu I'd already planned...I'll mention the substitutions that if I make any but not the meals themselves.  And I will share the new recipes I make and tell you how we liked them.  I find that mostly I repeat menus with a few new ones tried here and there and then a whole lot of the same old same old all over again.  For evidence choose any month and check blog posts for the last few years for that same month.  The menus repeat, folks.  I'm not sharing anything at all really, so why waste the space?

I was busy last night putting jump breaks in past posts and I was shocked at how very long last week's diary was.  I know this is meant to be one of the longer posts each week but I think I get a bit carried away at times.  Well, just so you know, I can be about that talkative at times and someone just needs to remind me to stop.

Thursday:  I didn't even bother to write yesterday, not because I was weary or tired but I just never thought of it!  Maybe I just need a break from myself at times.  To be fair, I did work on two extra posts this week.

I'll tell you highlights of Wednesday.   My breakfast toast was limp which was a huge disappointment to me.  I like toast to be crisp and buttery.  This was more like warmed over bread.  When I picked it up it folded itself over my finger as though it had never seen a toaster at all.   That is not my idea of how toast should be, not in the least.   In future, I'll take it to the kitchen and re-toast it!

I was  contemplating the lack of Valentine's chocolates on Tuesday at breakfast.  The day after Valentine's half price sales is the only time of year I allow myself to indulge in a box of candy.  I was pretty sure by Wednesday all the chocolates would be gone and next year was all I had to look forward to...Apparently the jelly had sympathy for my short list of disappointments...You can see that my toast was crisp this particular morning.

See that heart?!  I was actually talking to John at the time I spooned it on the toast and didn't realize it was heart shaped until I had returned the spoon to the jelly jar.

We went off to get the oil changed in my car after breakfast.  I'd contemplated walking over to the nearby Tuesday Morning and nosing about but in the end decided I'd rather just read.  I carried along my Kindle.  I don't much care to read on the Kindle but I thought one chapter surely wouldn't make my eyes feel too bad.  I also played a game but there was no internet available so I was happy when they told us my car was ready.

John was fully occupied with an old  Vietnam Vet, former Marine.   John had noted his Vietnam Vet hat and thanked him for his service.  That led to a long discussion that went on and on and the poor man repeating himself several times over.  He seemed unusually distressed about all the WWII veterans who have died.   John could never figure out why he was so concerned but he was polite and listened quietly to the man who went on and on.  John served in Ubon, Thailand during the war.  He never says he's a Vietnam Vet.  He says those guys deserve that designation.  He'll only share that he was in Ubon during the Vietnam War if hard pressed about his service area.

We went over to Jimmy Johns after the car was serviced to try the sub sandwiches there.  I noted that they charged extra for cheese on the sandwich and it was higher than what we pay for a sandwich at Publix deli.   But it was something we've not tried before and I was open minded about it.   We were taking our sandwich home.  On our way we stopped at CVS and John went in to survey the last of the Valentine's offerings.  He came out and apologized.  He did have a box of candy, but it was small.  Oh well...The lady told him that the shelves were nearly bare by Sunday.

We decided to go to Butler to a bank where we like the tellers.  That may sound odd but we went to a bank in Warner Robins the other day and they'd closed the bank.  The ATM still works but the bank was closed.  Our bank was acquired by another back in October and we've been waiting to see what happens with them.   We don't care for the branch in Ft. Valley.  I've done business with them there for years but they've yet to know who I am...Doesn't say much does it?   The bank in our home county is small and not that busy.  I'm honestly expecting it to close down now that they've been taken over but we'll see.   Every time we come up the tellers speak to us by name.  That's why we are willing to drive the additional 22 miles beyond our home road just to go do business with them.

Home to have our sandwich.  Meh.  It was fresh, I'll give them that.  But for the money spent, I can get just as fresh at Publix with cheese not counted as extra and less expensive.  We shared the little candy box and that was our big meal out for this week.

Happily the Meatball stuffed Zucchini I made for supper was good.  John enjoyed it.  I compiled recipes and followed directions from another to top it with marinara and cheese.  I used the leftover spaghetti sauce and tomato bits.  It was good...but I dare say John wouldn't be disappointed if I never made it again.  I took the extra meat mixture and made a meatloaf that I put in the freezer.

I went through two magazines from Family Circle, back in the 1980s that were full of recipes.  These were special publications and both were for budget or thrift meals. I tagged lots of recipes to try.

Today has been quiet and easy.  I didn't have need to do too much housework.  It's been raining since the wee hours of the night.  Our big chore today has been to refill the bird feeders.  I went through another of my recipe books and added a couple more recipes to my recipe notebook.  I tagged a few to try.  I think, aside from the reading cookbooks, I'm down to five cookbooks now and I'm okay with that.   I'm still trying to determine what I want for supper tonight.  I have things on the menu and stuff out to make them...but I want something comforting and cozy and heartwarming but not spicy.   I don't have anything like that on the menu, so I've no clue what I'll end up making but at 4:45 it's time to determine what it might be.

Later:  Supper tonight was pot stickers and  vegetables stir fried together and sauced with a chicken broth, sesame oil, soy and cornstarch thing that was really good.  I was inspired by a vegetable dish we shared years ago that one of John's friend's wife made.  She is Thai and hers was such a pretty dish of vegetables.  Mine needed more color, but tasted good.  It had carrot rounds, zucchini sticks (there were 2 HUGE zucchini in the packet I bought, I used 1/3 of the largest one tonight), some sliced onions, and the last bits of cabbage from last month's head.  I also tossed in a handful of red bell peppers and then a can of water chestnuts because I have several cans on hand and John's mentioned three times this week how much he likes water chestnuts.

Friday:  Got up this morning and started bread right away and then made blueberry muffins using the dried blueberries from my expired bin.  I checked that out this morning and I guess I've done pretty well on using up stuff.  I do have a few more items in it and a few stashed together in the kitchen, but I'm not unhappy with the progress I've made on using up the items I needed to use.  I'll look it all over again later this afternoon and see what I can plan into meals for next week.  

For now, I am satisfied with what I've done.  I'm a week out from grocery shopping and at this point I ask myself, What will spoil first?  Obviously the fresh foods I have on hand that need to be used must become priority.  I have asparagus that I've planned into tonight's supper as well as two baking potatoes I bought a few weeks ago.  I have apples that John is not eating.   I need to make something from apples in the next week.  So I need to plan on using those things.  And then there are any fragments to be gathered.

After housekeeping was done this morning, I went over the freezer and finally did the inventory.  As a an addendum to my frugal foods post earlier this week:  I had to really examine hard how I use my current freezer space.   I've decided that except for the few items I really don't mind frozen that are fruit and veg, I'm dedicating my freezer space to bread, milk and meats or entrees.   I have a basket full of fruit in the freezer and aside from the fresh peaches I'd frozen and cranberries ( I do like to keep a couple of bags of cranberries) why am I even saving fruit in the freezer?  It's taking up valuable real estate in my freezer.  Ditto for the vegetable basket.  Yes, I like to keep a few items but I've also kept things that I simply didn't know what to do with and knew that John didn't want to eat at the time.  I also let Mama talk me into putting up some items that we rarely eat because she always put those things up when she was homemaking for a family.  Wasted space.  I could stash four gallons of milk  in that space.  Or more chicken/turkey.   I want to be wiser in my use of space. I'm thinking in reality that one basket of combined fruit and veg will do me just fine in the future once I empty these two baskets out.

I've contemplated betting a pressure canner and perhaps canning items such as broth, squash and such.  But really?  I'm not sure it would pay me, unless I have a garden of produce or bulk purchases of fruit to buy a pressure canner.  I'll keep my eyes out for a bargain on one.  Surely an estate sale or thrift store will eventually have one, but I truly believe that buying a new one would not be the most economical choice I might make at this time.  Key words being: at this time.   Who knows what the future might hold?

We have a lovely day today and I'm glad of it.   We need to see some sunshine here.  

Two things: Please remember in your prayers all those who are dealing with these snowstorms especially in areas not at all accustomed to or equipped to handle them.  A lot of people are suffering and exposed to some pretty serious health risk conditions.

And please pray for my daughter Amie and her partner.  He's had a heart condition for years and recently was diagnosed with a tear in his heart.  He needs surgery but can't have it until the tear is mended.  So please remember them in your prayers.  Amie could use all of them she might get.  She has a hard life in many ways and has already faced unimaginable things in the past year.

Thank you all!

Please share how your week went!