Diary of a Homemaker: Glorious November

Nov.6, 2021:  Last night just before we had Shabat, I stood at the windows and admired the most glorious and colorful sunset.  It had been a grey and dreary looking day with no sunshine and was plenty cold but the day ended with a warming sunset determined to chase away dreary clouds and color the world.  It was just beautiful and well worth taking the extra time to stand and watch it intensify and then fade before we officially ended our day and week with candle lighting.

This morning we slept in until nearly 9am.  It was mighty good sleep, too. 

I did Bible study and then Katie arrived to finish setting up the party.  I supplied tables, chairs and a few extra serving dishes.  She supplied all the foods.  Our favorite item by far was a Jalapeno Popper dip that she picked up in the grocery deli.  OMGoodness!  I have suggested that perhaps we should do finger foods for family Christmas day and make sure to include that.

That party rocked, rollicked, rolled and dwindled to a whimper, whining group of children who were overtired but they had the best time.  It gave me great joy to see them running about the yard and trying to climb the big Chinaberry tree that sits center of the yard.  We didn't start out with a Chinaberry tree there but one grew up in the middle of a turkey foot oak that gave up and quit.  The Chinaberry is a lovely shade tree that grows fairly quickly and this one has four separate trunks that come out of a central root.  It's really a pretty perfect tree for little boys and girls to try climbing or simply sitting in the middle of the crotch of the tree and contemplating things.    No one was rude or impolite and everyone truly enjoyed the day. 

Everyone packed up and left around 3:30pm and Sam lingered here alone to talk and talk and talk and I enjoyed that very much.  Katie said they all went home and fell into bed and slept.   Millie and Bess had left to go home for a nap about 3:30, the boys walked home about 4:15 to have a quiet time in their rooms and Sam stayed.  It was so pleasant to get a chance to just have him to ourselves for a wee bit.   We finally sent him on his way about the time we had to leave to go out for the evening.

Our small group at church has transitioned from one thing to another but to sort of wind up the original group, and celebrate the new one, our leader hosted a cookout.  It was a lovely gathering with people we've come to like quite a lot and the evening ended with all of us sitting about a firepit laughing and giggling and engaging in conversations.   We all started homeward about 9pm.  I don't remember the ride home at all.  John and I were so busy talking over the day as a whole and each party we'd attended that the time flew and we were home before I supposed we possibly might be.  

Of course, we then had to 'wind down' from all the day's excitement and ended staying up until midnight and successfully losing that so called extra hour sleep that daylight savings time was going to net us.

Nov.7:  Up early to get ready for church.  I'd told Caleb's Mimi yesterday when she pitched in to help clear up that I didn't do dishes on Saturday.  She looked rather surprised.  "Just rinse and stack?"  "Yep.  It's my gift to me for having done dishes all week long.  It takes only a few minutes to tend to them all on Sunday and I get a day off."  "I think I should adopt this idea..."   

I had plenty of time to put dishes in the dishwasher and hand wash the few that weren't going in the dishwasher.  When I heat up supper tonight I'll put the dry dishes away.  

After church we headed out to grocery shop.  "I'll shop once a week from now on," I told you all...Well I guess I won't.  I went right on today and did a monthly shopping.  I still have grocery budget left to spend and perhaps I will and perhaps I won't.  It really does depend on sales and what's needed.   I mean, I don't have cranberry sauce or sweet potatoes so I'll definitely be going out to get those.  And I'd love to cook up a mess of fresh greens, too, for Thanksgiving.   But I really don't need to shop otherwise.  

I went into Kroger first and found that turkeys ranged from $2.29/pound for Butterball to $1.89 for Honeysuckle White.  I didn't see any Kroger brand birds but here's a quick tip: they're packaged up by Honeysuckle White and I will buy one of their store brand turkeys in a heart beat.  I noted  that they had plenty of turkeys and turkey breasts and boneless turkey roasts, at least in that store and I'll warrant in others, as well.   

I didn't buy turkey but picked up holiday breakfast items which were all on sale this week, and eggs (18ct for 97c with member card and digital coupon).  I got four cartons, could have used the coupon 5 times but I knew I had a little over a dozen at home already.   I also picked up birdseed so I can start to fill my feeders once more.  I'll pass some along to the boys for their feeders at their house.

Then we headed over to Aldi.  I didn't really mean to shop for a month but every item I thought I might want this month was on the shelf and so I bought it. There was only a limit on one item I got but for the life of me I can't remember what that item was.  It was a limit of 2..Oh yes!  That was on the turkey I bought.  I do remember that I don't see the need to return to do a big shop, and will only go back if they have some super good purchase.   They had plenty of frozen boneless turkey roasts ($8.99 for a 3 pound roast; their usual price on that item), Smoked Butterball turkeys for $1.99 pound, and Butterball turkeys for 87c/pound this week.  That was likely why they limited the amount you could buy.  The regular price was $1.39/pound).  They had an entire freezer case devoted to turkeys.  Several people were picking up their turkey now and I suspect it was because the price appeared to be the best we might see this season.  John and I decided to just get one.  

He said "Besides you haven't any room in the freezer..." and I said "Yes, I do.  It's only about half full but we don't NEED to buy two turkeys for Thanksgiving.   Sam is going to cook a farm raised  one and bring it over.  So we'll just get the one."  We'll see how big his turkey is before I plan to cook one as well.  Mine is 16 pounds.

But let me just add this: with the prices of meat overall, right now poultry is the very best buy you can make even if you're paying prices similar to those  at Kroger.  It just is...Ibotta has a deal with Walmart where you may buy a turkey (boneless or bone in must be at least 3 pounds) and you can get a full rebate on it.  Lana says she got hers for 57c after rebate.  I plan to run by Walmart and pick up the items on Ibotta special this week.  Free turkey is hard to beat and we can always use it later.  Turkey will keep well in the freezer for up to a year.   If you'd like to do this deal (there are other free items as well), my Ibotta referral code is jagemcv

I figure we've got a chance to get another one in December so I'll wait.  I didn't price duck because we don't care for it but I saw plenty of those, too and Cornish hens, as well.   I'm not talking about just loads and loads but normal amounts of all those items, plus chickens.  No outages

My total for spending today was about where it typically is when I do the main portion of a month's shopping and that included the holiday extras.  I think that was pretty good.  Some of the items, like the eggs, will likely last us well into December, possibly even through to January.

We went by Tractor Supply and picked up three food grade buckets for me to use here in the pantry.  I'll order gamma lids for them.  We also bought 48 pounds of dog food.  

And then we took ourselves off to Burger King and got lunch.  I still had pocket money for the month.  Well truth, we still have eating out funds for the month, too but I offered to pay for this out of my pocket money.  We found a shady spot to park and ate our lunch in the parking lot.  It's truly been cool but we'd gotten very warm while shopping today and sitting in the shade with the car windows down was quite nice.  We were hungry and the food was hot and tasted very good.    I felt almost sleepy going home but I didn't nap because John talked and talked all the way home and I was enjoying listening to him.

Once home the next big jobs: unloading from the car and bringing stuff indoors and then me unloading groceries and putting them away.  That took almost as long as shopping had done!  

And then I sat down in my chair and realized after staring at my clock off and on that I'd failed to set back any of the 'real' clocks, the ones that tick tock, which are the ones we look at most often.  This day was as busy as yesterday.  I'll try to be careful in the week ahead to rest since this weekend was essentially without rest and a lot of go go go.  Still I can say honestly that it was a great weekend and I deeply enjoyed every moment.

Nov. 8:  I just looked over at my perpetual calendar and realized I haven't changed the date since Friday.   I'll set it up for tomorrow when I head to bed tonight.  Too late to worry about setting it up for today!

It was rather nice to wake in daylight once more.  In fact, I was awake a little before the alarm went off.  I actually woke an hour earlier but in looking at my clock realized I could easily rest another hour and so I did.  

I came to the kitchen with a meal plan in mind this morning.  I've been wanting an omelet, specifically a mushroom and onion omelet, so that's what I made.  Tomorrow morning I think we'll have baked oatmeal.  I'm going to add in blueberries and will top if off with milk.  I find the combination of maple, blueberries and cinnamon is so yummy and warming.  I love how warm blueberries sort of burst with a juicy gush of fruit in your mouth.   

The mornings continue to be downright chilly but the days are warming up nicely.  The AC will often kick on in the late afternoon as the sun warms the house but it never stays on for more than a cycle or two and then it shuts off once more.  It makes is a bit difficult to dress.  You need warmer layers and longer pants in the morning but by afternoon I'm nearly uncomfortably warm in my jeans and I've long since shared any additional layers.  Even Caleb wanted to take his socks off this afternoon but then he wanted them right back on again after a few minutes.

He has a very sweet ritual with Katie each morning and he's begun an afternoon one.  In the morning, he now tells her "NO!" when she says to him to tell her bye.  John usually chases him down and he gives his Mama a kiss and high five and says in his own garbled way, "I love you.  See you later."   She goes out the door and he runs to the living room window and watches her get in the car.   When she starts to back out he runs to the kitchen sitting and watches her go down the driveway, saying 'Bye Bye' softly the whole while.  When she gets to the main drive into the property, down at the bottom of the hill, she'll stop and flash her lights and he waves.   

In the afternoon he can hear the dogs bark when she comes up the drive and he runs to the living room window and watches her pull in and get out of the car.  Then he runs to the back door to greet her.   He immediately tells us 'Bye!'   None of that 'No' business when it comes time to leave us.  He is ready to go!

Today, I was clearing up breakfast dishes and noted one more time the stained and grungy looking work tops in the kitchen.  I found a magic eraser and later used dishwasher powder and a damp rag to go over the most offending one.  I removed everything from the counter and was shocked at the streaks on the back wall.   I don't know why had dripped and run down those walls but I was not happy seeing the mess.  So even though I'd planned no real kitchen work this week, I ended up cleaning the wall and that one counter really well.  I moved some things around and removed other items and it looks so much nicer.  

I then took my damp magic eraser and cleaned the refrigerator and touched up the kitchen cabinets which all looked as though they'd been horribly neglected.   I clearly recall washing them down really well since Fall came along and yet I would have been hard pressed to prove it!

I wondered how the time change would affect Caleb.  He was his usual bright and cheery self this morning but he was hungry plus hungry at 10:30 am.   Nothing for it but to give him his lunch then and there.  He held off wanting to go lie down until 12 noon but he wanted lunch at his usual hour regardless of what a clock might have to say.  I'll be honest, by 12pm I was more than ready for my own lunch.  There's a bill floating around somewhere in our state senate and it's being debated about giving up time change.  The big hold up?  They can't decide if it would be best to stick with daylight savings time or simply go to eastern standard time.  Sigh.  I think they want to do some sort of study on both options...Lordy.

After lunch, I settled in my chair to rest while Caleb was asleep.  I guess I was more tired from the weekend than I'd realized because I took my own little nap.  I think that's why my energy was higher this afternoon.

When Caleb left this evening I mopped all the hard surface floors.   And after supper, when I was rinsing dishes to load into the dishwasher, I found myself scrubbing two more sections of worktop.  I have only the baking counter left to do and I suppose I'll probably tackle it some time this week.  

I sat down and played with the Ibotta app this morning while Caleb was happily occupied dropping blocks onto a hard surface, picking them up and dropping them again.  Apparently he liked the noise and I honestly didn't find it irritating to listen to.  I will say quite sincerely that John and I tolerate whistles, harmonicas, drum beats, bells ringing very well.   I wouldn't have stood for it when my own children were small and I notice that the parents don't tolerate it so well either.  I don't know if it's dulled hearing, or a more relaxed approach to life in general, or that we see simply see the contentment and think "Oh heck, he's well occupied let him play."   

Back to Ibotta, I was looking over that Walmart Thanksgiving deal and do plan to take advantage of what parts of it I can later this week.  I've already missed out on the free cranberry sauce but I'll lay odds something else will come up before Thanksgiving hits.  I've not taken the time to do much with Ibotta.  I think I've been a member now for two years (?) or maybe longer.  I'm pretty sure Katie hooked me up with it at some point...

I started scanning receipts and was amused when I earned 10c right off the bat.   There are larger rewards, and many free items one might take advantage of but I don't plan to buy things I typically don't use just because it's free.  I did note that there are several small rewards like 2-5% back on purchases at many stores.  I thought of some of the online shopping I've done this past week and I can say honestly that I wish I'd looked harder at the Ibotta app before.  Several of the stores I've shopped at online are included.  I'll just have to get myself in the habit of going through the app to do any future shopping when I see items I think are worthwhile purchases.  

I'd watched Frugal Fit Mom's Free Thanksgiving video that she did about the Walmart/Ibotta  collaboration and she mentioned also scanning receipts for Fetch rewards.  So I went and joined there and scanned all my receipts again, including one from the pharmacy where I paid NOTHING out of pocket and I earned more points.  I was surprised.  I'm already half way to a gift card just by scanning receipts today.   It's a new small earning thing for me and while I seldom make more than $5 or $10  a month on any of my schemes it's nice to have another shot at making a wee bit of extra money.  It helps a limited budget go just a bit further.

All in all, I felt it was a pretty good day with just enough accomplished to hold off that feeling of restless dissatisfaction that is prone to hit if I'm not doing something productive.

Nov 9:  I knew today would be challenging.  It went off just fine.  Millie, having just seen Caleb on Saturday was less prone to holding onto her utter disdain of him for very long.  Within a few minutes she and Caleb were chasing one another about the house.  At one point they were both on their knees crawling and meowing.  

I held off putting Caleb down for a nap until 1:30 but the longer he went the more frantic and wild he became.  He is most active when he is the most tired.  I was amused that when he cried because I'd put him to bed, Millie was the one standing outside the door this time "Okay?" she'd call repeatedly...God bless these two little ones.  

I was very grateful that Samuel had given me enough chili this weekend that we could have it for supper tonight.  While I had a main dish thawed I had nothing I prepped for sides nor any idea what I'd have for sides.   I had leftover rice from last night's supper, chili Sam had given me and since we'd had a very nice lunch with fruit and vegetable, I decided that a bowl of chili was full of beans and vegetables already and that was a good enough supper for us tonight.  John wanted oyster crackers atop his.  I had corn chips and we both used grated cheddar and sour cream.  

On our way to the dump this evening, I spotted two deer at roadside.  They were nibbling grass and were in the soybean field when we came back the same way.     Last night as we came up our driveway we looked up the power line area which was recently cut by the maintenance crew.  There were three deer grazing in that grassy area.   I've been watching squirrels, too.  One was over at John's shed this afternoon and there is almost always one at the pecan tree at the back.    Misu and Maddie used to keep the squirrels away, but it's a sign of their age that the squirrels now come up so close to the house.

Nov. 10:  I started having a scratchy throat yesterday afternoon.  I'm convinced at this moment that it is sheer allergies only because when we were out this evening running errands, my eyes stung and burned and I found my throat was increasingly scratchy but cleared a little when we got back home.   I've been nursing myself along drinking lots of fluids, taking pain relievers, and using essential oil and resting all through the day.  It may be allergies but it doesn't hurt to give myself a little extra care.

We had a rather pleasant day.  Caleb has a new thing.  John and I tend to fuss at him together.  Mind you we're not 'fussing' as much as telling him "No".  But this afternoon Caleb if only one of us was in the room and said "No", Caleb would look for the other of us and then say to the one reprimanding him "Shhhhh!"  It is funny but no, it doesn't mean he hears "No" any less, lol.

Nov. 11:  The day went just fine.  Caleb is smack in the middle of the percentiles in every way.  Dr. said he was healthy and doing all that he ought to be doing.  Well yes, I'd kind of gotten that idea filling out the questionnaire that doesn't get turned in until you leave.  The doctor never sees it during the visit at all.  And knowing doctors the way I do, he probably won't look at it now that he's seen that healthy child either.  So...No shot and that was the good part of the whole visit.

After that we drove to Perry about 15 minutes away and I went into Walmart and picked up what I could get of the Ibotta deal.  I couldn't find the packets of gravy.  No great loss there.  And cranberry sauce and stuffing were long expired and no longer part of the deal but I got a frozen pie for free so there was compensation.  I got the receipt uploaded and after a bit of confusion figured out how to redeem it and yep, I had a free turkey breast, well almost free.  I paid $1.64 for and that ain't bad.  And it fit nicely into my freezer when I got home with only minor freezer Tetris played beforehand.

We took Caleb straight home where Katie was waiting on him.   Tonight she fed him supper and he'll likely go to bed right after because he was yawning broadly on the way home.   

As we were going down the street there was a kid with a table and a chair set up and a sign.  We'd seen just the same on another street in town yesterday but couldn't read the sign and didn't want to cross the busy road to try to read it, but I think now I know what they were doing and likely it was the same as this young man.

He smiled disarmingly and held up his sign as we went by and John almost went on to the stop sign but he said "I gotta find out what he's selling," and the child ran up to the car and said "Hello Mister, wanna buy something?"  "Whatcha got?"

He was selling candy.  John assumed it was a class fundraiser and he was selling candy bars.  No indeed.  Mr. Entrepreneur was selling his excess Halloween candy stash.  Oh yes.  I asked what 50c would buy me and John asked what kind of candy he was selling and the answer was a country boy drawl of "Alllll types..." which made us chuckle.  No fear, y'all.  His daddy was standing near by and supervising the boy.   So John produced $1 and said "Give me a $1 worth," and the little boy reached in a sack and brought out four pieces of candy.  And when John said "Thank you" and was about to drive off, Mr. E said "Wait now...the lady hasn't gotten her 50c worth..."  Now that tickled me and I handed over my 50c and got the most amazing snaggle toothed grin.  With a flourish of his hand he said "You get... THIS!"   It was a Charm Blow pop, lol.  I told John after we drove away, "You got rooked for your $1 but I got a bargain for 50c so I guess it balances out."   We smiled all the way home.

John had no time at all to be home really.  He put away a few things and then kissed me on the cheek and headed out the door.  

I made good on my promise to myself.  I made Chicken Pot Stickers and Egg Rolls with steamed snow peas.   I had a yogurt for dessert.  I watched the first two episodes of the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.   

Cold/allergy...No clue.  The scratchy throat is gone but now it's all stuffy head. It is what it is.   

Nov. 12:  While in a less familiar store two weeks ago, we found lactose free milk in the shelf stable aisle.  Caleb has an allergy to regular milk.  It manifests in stuffy nose and raspy voice and a barking cough.   Lactose free milk does not react with his body in the same way.  I'm sure it's more to do with the processing than the dairy itself.   However, occasionally we have a run of the stores all being out at once, at least all the usual stores.   So to find shelf stable milk seemed rather fortuitous and I took advantage of the finding of it to buy two cartons to put on my pantry shelf.

I'd meant to pick up more lactose free milk yesterday (along with a few other items) while I was in Walmart, but I was conscious of the fact that Caleb was tired and prone to being irritable and that John was sitting in the car with him, so I pretty much skipped everything that wasn't right with the few items I was picking up for my free Thanksgiving meal.   That meant no walking to the dairy.  I completely forgot that I was very nearly out of lactose free milk.

This afternoon when it was time for a sippy cup of milk to lie down with, guess who suddenly remembered the outage?  Yep.  Not the best timing.  But then I remembered my pantry and the lactose free shelf stable milk on the shelf.  He got his cup and went right off to sleep.  And I was so grateful because I felt a real need to lie down and nap myself.   The afternoon will go a whole lot smoother now that both of us has had a nap.  As it was, John, good man that he is, pretty much carried the morning.  I prepared meals and cleared up behind the (or at least stacked dishes) but he was pretty much on child care and Caleb must have instinctively known this because he dogged his Grandpa's footsteps all the way around the household tasks this morning.

I'm glad we've nothing planned at all for the weekend ahead.  Glad to have some down time to rest and should anyone call, I'll be sure and explain that I am at full rest this weekend.  

What was your week like?   Come tell us all about it!