Journal of My Week: November 16-22, 2024

November 16, Saturday: Yesterday afternoon, just as we were about to sit down to a very late lunch, Katie called to share her most epic haul at Target.  Between sales, coupons, and Ibotta she got paid to take her purchases from the store.  She earned $8.  She purchased $232 worth of formula and products for her family.

Our conversation went on for a long while.  It was such a lovely long talk, and she brought me to tears at one point with something she said.  It's not often we get validation from our kids and frankly it's not something we expect to get.  I think the majority of parents I know do their best to raise their kids right and hope they've served them well.  But now and then a little confirmation warms the heart and soul.   

Last night, as we were readying ourselves to go to small group, the last of the season, the shower door came off the track.  The scene was not pretty.  The door went right back on just fine and I was the one who fixed it.  I've done it before.  But there was a massive meltdown on the part of one party which was quickly taken up by the second party.  Let's just say that it was ridiculous.  We came very near not going to our small group.  And of course, it turned out that the small group was a huge blessing between us and the couple who host it.  In fact, we four were the only ones who came yesterday evening.  This is the couple whose wedding we were part of in April.  We don't get to spend a load of time together, but we enjoy each other's company.

This morning, Sam ran by with a pan of the loveliest looking cinnamon rolls.  We'd just finished breakfast.  In fact, I hadn't been able to finish my breakfast.  We were far too full to even think of eating those yummy looking things, but I did take a long appreciative sniff.  He used pumpkin pie spice but not pumpkin.  Oh my!  

We sat and talked a few minutes, but we had to leave home at 9 so at 8:30, I announced, "We can only talk about 15 minutes more and then we have to get ready to go.  But please stay until the last minute and let's catch up."  It was a nice chat.  It gave me some insight into how I needed to address my prayers for him.  

John went to shower and guess what?  The shower door came off track again.  The big upset last night didn't happen.  I assured him I could fix it, and he could go on and shower.  Two minutes and all done.  But it made us both stop and think about how we nearly missed a blessing last night and wondered if we were being led to miss another.   

We headed to Outreach which went very well.  The couple we visited with last night were there and we four sat near each other when duties were filled and talked.  As John was packing his things up, John shared with the couple how much we'd enjoyed the night before and how near we'd come to not attending.  When asked why, John said, "Oh we had a huge fight..."  The look on the friends' faces! "You guys ARGUE?"  "Of course, we do!" John said, at the same time I was saying "Oh yes!"   You see, John and I know that even the healthiest of marriages is going to have moments that just go haywire.  We're human.  We try to be better, but that old human nature is strong at times. 

While John was putting things away a tiny little girl came slowly up to him.  She had two fingers in her mouth, huge eyes, and she watched him put everything away.  He spoke to her; told her she could touch the equipment if she wanted to. She just stood there, sucking her fingers and watching his every move, easing closer and closer when he wasn't looking at her. I told Donnie to watch.  "Kids will do this to him all the time, especially the little ones.  It's his arms that attracts them."  She watched and suddenly laughed, "She just reached out to rub his arm."  I laughed, too.  "Yes.  His hairy arms attract the little ones.  They all reach out and touch his arm at some point to just feel it."  The little girl was completely satisfied once she'd touched his arm and went back to her family, lol.

We had a lovely ride home.  The day was so sunny and beautiful.  When we got home, I preheated my oven and put my homemade frozen pizza into the oven.  The crust doesn't rise as much as I'd like, but it's still tasty.  

It's been a wonderful weekend so far.

Meals:  We had doughnuts from the small group meeting last night and half a homemade bagel with cream cheese.

Pizza.

Scrambled Eggs, bacon, toast.  

November 17, Sunday:  What a beautiful autumn day it is.  John and I noted yesterday that nearly all the trees in the yard are bare, except the two sweet gums.  The one next to the driveway in the front of the house has changed colors and has a carpet of leaves at its feet.  The one at the back corner of the house is nearly fully green still!  I'm always amused at how two trees can be so very different, even though they are the same type.   I told John I'll be interested to see if we get any true color off this backyard tree or if we wake one morning and find all its leaves are on the ground.

We went to late service again today.  Next week, we'll switch to early service because we will go spend time with Taylor at Katie's.  We usually leave around 2pm so Katie can get the kids loaded up to take Taylor back to meet her dad.

It was a wonderful service this morning.  Praise and worship were absolutely awesome, and our pastor's sermon was strong.  After service several people stopped to speak to us.  So good to see so many familiar faces.  And then we had the long and lovely ride home.  John asked what was for lunch.  I wondered if any of the meat I had gotten out last night and put in the fridge was thawed yet.  Then I remember we had a whole pot of soup..."Soup!  That's what's for lunch today!"  Perfect day for it, too.  It's just cool enough to make soup welcome even at noon.  And that soup pot of leftovers tasted pretty darned good!

When we've not been out this weekend, I've taken time to think about my 2025 Resolutions and my hopes and dreams for the year ahead, as well as small thoughts towards that pesky budget.  I'll get it all sorted out I'm sure but I'm not going to waste my whole weekend worrying at finances.  What a waste of time that would be!

I've done myself the favor today of putting away all my clothes from the weekend's activities, have cleared up dishes and made the bed.  Now I think I'll make myself a nice hot cup of tea.  I think it's time to consider buying a fruitcake.  And I swear, I will buy candied fruit this year so I can make my own next year!

Meals:  Pumpkins Rolls, Sausage Patties

Leftovers Soup, Saltines

Chicken Tenders, Oven Fries.  John requested I not make a big meal for supper.  I'm not sure that this was a 'small' supper, but he thought it was, lol

November 18, Monday:  I'm tired.  I have good reason to be tired mind you.  Even though I'd tried to keep up with housework this weekend, things just needed attention.  I started in our bathroom and worked my way out into the rest of the house.  Three hours later.... 

I got bogged down when I got to the bedroom because it was so dusty, and I couldn't stand looking at it any longer.  And that led to running the carpet sweeper over the room, sorting out the closet, and controlling the mass of mess that is the top of John's chest of drawers.  I usually don't touch that but the coating of dust there was thicker than in the rest of the room. Usually, he cleans it off himself, but I guess he's been ignoring the task same as I had the room as a whole.

I used the carpet sweeper to run under the bed and my gracious!  Up came a load of dust from there.  I've tried putting sliders under the base legs, but the bed still does not slide easily.  I've had to resort to taking the bed apart to clean under it.  I usually reserve that for the twice annual switching out of comforters, but I didn't do that this year.  I also sorted out little hot spots that had sprung to life over the past few weeks.  

I so enjoy these days where I focus solely on the routine daily cleaning, and I just move from one space to the next.   I stopped and had a glass of water and sat for a moment contemplating the remaining jobs.  I sorted out what we would do for lunch in my mind and when I'd cooled off, I headed to the kitchen to attend to that space.

I still need to water plants and there are dishes in the sink that I need to attend to.  I'll get to those tasks when I'm putting supper on tonight.  I'm going to find a book to read on my bookshelves.  Or maybe make a stack of books by my chair.  I'll have had a good day's work behind me when all those things are done.

I've been sitting here thinking about grocery shopping.  I had a partial list of things I needed to replenish on another grocery list, and I must have blanked because I tossed it in the trash.  I've been trying to pull up the list in my mind...I'm pretty sure I've got about half of them written down but not all by any means.  I didn't see anything on my pantry list I felt needed to be topped up.

I made lunch and swept the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher and then called John to lunch.  No kidding, right there is where my energy left me.  

later:  I looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow and got up and got busy!  100% rain it said, and it was 100% for day and night both.  I knew I wanted to get the leaves off the patio as they were quite deep in places.  Now that the Faith tree has dropped all its leaves, I will only have to deal with any that get blown in when we have heavy winds.  

It took quite a little while to blow the leaves off, they were that thick and the bottom of the piles was quite wet still, though we haven't had rain in a few days.  My battery ran out at the last foot of the patio...I didn't come back indoors and get a fresh battery.  I was tired!  It was harder work than you'd think, even with the blower.  I figured what little was left would be easier to tackle next week when its dry.  I did not tackle the plant pots outdoors but small bites, right?

I came indoors and made our supper.  I watered plants and cleared up the kitchen while that was underway.  Then I called it a day!

Meals: Grits, Eggs, Toast

Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Chips, Peaches (canned, expired so I was glad to use them).

Chicken and Rice with lemon and white wine, Roasted Broccoli.  I used the last of a bottle of white cooking wine up in the rice.  John raved over supper tonight.  In fact, he kept talking about how all three of our meals were so good... Which is a good reminder to me that when it comes to food, he will always eat but he is most complimentary over the simplest things.

November 19, Tuesday:  John said last night if it didn't rain, we'd go shopping today.  I reserved my opinion that we wouldn't go.  Why am I so trusting in the weather prediction?  They are so often wrong. We woke this morning and there was no rain.  As I stepped into the shower however, I heard the first pings of drops on the bathroom vent cover...Never mind.  It was hardly a downpour, and our morning out might still come about but I was in serious doubt.

Turns out the weather man was right.  Not storms but steady heavier rain for the rest of the morning and now all through the afternoon.  John said a bit later, "I guess we'll go tomorrow..."  "Nope.  I'm going to Mama's tomorrow.  But Thursday's open!"  Nothing like having to keep a calendar for household errands!

 I wasn't too fussed over the fact they proved right.  I figured it was a good opportunity to get bread made.  I'd meant to make two loaves today.  I wanted one to be a cinnamon and raisin bread, but I used the last of my raisins when I made Applesauce Cake earlier in the month.  I'll wait until Friday to make that one since I plan to buy raisins this week.

One reason I wasn't too upset about the prospect of going later in the week is because I knew I would be getting ad previews for the coming week's sales and those will be proper Thanksgiving ads.  Truly though, after looking at preview ads today I can honestly say nothing much is on sale that hasn't been most of the last four weeks already.  Prices are so so.  They aren't stock up prices as we used to know them.  The lowest price on a whole turkey I've seen yet is at Kroger for 69c a pound, limit 2.  I've debated getting a whole bird, but the truth is we don't eat the whole thing unless I stuff it.  I'm tempted though, I really am.  I find turkey legs are too full of those sharp little bones to make them worthwhile to pick meat from.  Still, there's a lot of usable meat on a whole bird...I'll think about this further.  I can't store two of them in the freezer, though.  I may get a whole bird and a turkey breast both and put the breast in the freezer.

I got my bread started in the bread machine and then turned and saw the two bananas that had gotten fully ripe on the counter.  I had my cookbook on the counter so flipped right over to my favorite nut bread recipe.  I switched it up a bit.  I added shredded coconut, chopped Brazil nuts, and coconut extract as well as those two bananas.  

When I went to check the loaves (made in two smaller pans), one was perfectly done, and one wasn't.  Why?! They went in at the same time and cooked at the same temperature. The pans were the same size and sitting side by side.  I set the timer for another five minutes and let the second loaf bake a few minutes more.  While that finished off, I made a salad for our lunch.  

This day has slipped right past us.  I need to get our supper prepped...scratch that.  I'm switching up my side dish to incorporate a leftover from last week, so no real prep is required.  It's always good to use up the leftovers.

Meals:  Cheese Toast

Pizza (leftovers) and Salad

Pork Chops, Mac and Cheese, Brussels Sprouts.  I forgot I had the Brussels Sprouts.  Glad I found them yesterday afternoon.  The pasta is left over from last week's spaghetti meal, so I decided to switch from the scalloped potatoes to mac and cheese.  I should get enough to make one for the freezer, too.  Then I can put everything in the oven together to bake this evening.

November 20, Wednesday: Mama called this morning to say she didn't want to go out today but please to bring lunch and visit.  She said she didn't want to go out because it was going to rain.  I assured her it was going to be a beautiful sunny day.  No matter.  She didn't want to go out. Bring lunch.  "What would you like to have?"  "Anything will do.  Just whatever you want."

I know my mom well. Anything will not do.  Just whatever I want is exactly what she won't want.  I asked her again what she'd like.  Same answer.  I went over in my head the number of places I could possibly stop, and which ones were likely to be more pleasing to her.  I finally decided on a chicken place only because I figured she'd been out with my niece the day before and they usually get burgers.

I paid a pretty penny for that chicken.  It was more than John and I usually spend for chicken for the family, but I paid it in the hopes that she'd like it.  I walked in with the bag, and she said, "Oh Goody... Chicken... Again."   I bit my tongue and held it firmly between my teeth for the visit.  I tried too hard.  Lesson learned.  Next time I'll go empty handed and when she's decided what she wants I'll get it for her.

While I was there Katie texted me an update on their household.  She had texted me last night that she wasn't feeling well, Caleb had a deep cough, and Henry had a quiet dry cough.  She took Henry to the doctor today.  He has RSV.  The doctor was pretty sure that was what Caleb had, but Katie hadn't taken him to the doctor because he is nearly over his bout.  The doctor seemed unconcerned about Henry.  His chest was clear, he had no fever and his appetite was unaffected. They didn't prescribe him any medicine.  They are to keep an eye on his breathing and appetite.

I treated myself to a coffee on the way home which was my reward for not getting fussed at Mama.  I bought a seasonal special and for the life of me I don't know the name of it was, but it was so good.  It had four pumps of brown sugar cookie syrup and 4 pumps of toasted almond syrup.  The only issue I had was that after I'd placed my order and got to the drive-thru window, they refused to take my cash.  They said it had to be exact change only.  I asked why?  They couldn't make change for a $20 bill!  It was 2pm in the afternoon.  I don't know a lot, but I do know when I worked in business, we banked every single day and made sure the register had cash.  This place is near the interstate, too.   I was given the option of paying with my card.  And yes, I've checked to make sure that only the coffee was charged. 

I drove with the windows down on the way home.  It was lovely outdoors, and the wind was up a bit.  It's meant to blow in cold air tonight.  The weather report said that we should wear coats for the next few days.  It's about time!

I opted to make one of the freezer entrees for supper tonight.  John was so funny as I read off labels on packages to him.  "Eh." "Meh."  "Nah".  Until I came to the Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo.  He said, "I'm Alfredo NOT."  lol.  He opted for the Lasagna.  That means I'll need to make a fresh lasagna and put it in the freezer in portions but that can wait until after Christmas.  I like my homemade lasagna better than any I can buy.  

Meals:  Breakfast Sandwiches

Chicken Dinners.

Lasagna, Garlic Toast.  Keeping it simple.  

November 21, Thursday:  I am having a hot cup of tea, a cuppa, as my friend who lives in Australia calls it.  It is much appreciated, let me assure you. I have my feet up because my legs and ankles hurt.  I am tired and weary and have battled, yes battled, my way through two groceries today. 

When we left home, we stopped to gather mail from the mailbox.  There was a flyer for the store over at the county seat, the one that is so ridiculously high.  They had turkeys for 49c a pound.  The requirement though was you had to spend $200 the day you bought the turkey.  Not one of those earn points as we go sort of things but all in one go.  Granted that isn't such a hard feat these days but I was pretty shocked all the same.  

For entertainment I told John which items were good buys and which were not.  Only two items made the good buy list.  The rest of the prices were higher than Publix's regular non-sale prices...That blows my mind, it really does.  If it were up to John, we'd shop exclusively at Publix, but my budget just doesn't stretch that far.

Before we left home this morning, I took time to categorize my lists and combine them into one master list.  If something was on especially good, and therefore were more desirable, sale at one store I made note and if I had coupons, I made notes again.  This stood me well in the grocery because as I came to each section, I was able to concentrate on that one portion of the list.

It was hectic and crazy.  Lots of people were out shopping, more than I typically see on a weekday.  I cannot even imagine what next week shall look like.  John and I both had buggies.  He carried our shopping bags and the more delicate items in his cart.  Mine was fully laden!   

Did I get everything on my list?  No.  Some were executive decisions to just use what I have at home and pick up those items later.  Some were nowhere to be found (like those 69c a pound turkeys), and some I just didn't want to walk back across the store to look for.  I spent a lot of money, more than I typically spend in one go, but not over budget.  In fact, I ended up under the full amount of the budget which was what I expected I'd spend today.

Two stores, over $400 and Ibotta netted me $1.10.  Seriously.  I cannot imagine why I continue to hope that it will benefit me.  I earned nearly 2000 points with Fetch, and I saved $45 with coupons I'd clipped.  Aside from 2 bags of chips (just regular size that were on a deep sale and worked with buy 5 items), there were no snacks or drinks or junk food. It was all real food! 

I will not list all that I bought today.  It was a lot.  As I told John the list was so much longer because we were out of loads of things that we use regularly but in such small amounts that it tends to spread out over a year or even two years.  Things like Red Wine Vinegar, baking soda, spices, and that sort of thing.  It just happens that this year it all ran out within the past month or so.  Sort of like having a bunch of personal care items all used up at once.  

I was probably most disappointed in the fact that there were no frozen store brand turkeys at all at Kroger.  It was all name brand and nowhere near the 69c a pound price.   But probably the most shocking price to me today was the cost of red and gold potatoes.  A five-pound bag was nearly $7!  In Georgia we are accustomed to paying quite a bit for potatoes but $1.40 per pound?  NOPE.  I'd prefer red or yellow potatoes, but I bought Russets which seemed mighty reasonable at $3.99 for five pounds.

We were on our way home and John was saying, "I know you're tired.  When we get home you can eat lunch and then put your feet up and relax."  "John...You do realize that all those groceries in the trunk have to be put away, don't you?  My job is only half done.  The shopping was only part of this job."  I glanced at the clock.  It was 3pm.  "Don't plan on anything but your choice of leftovers for supper tonight.  I'm not eating lunch at 3:30 and turning around to start supper an hour and a half later..."  And you know what?  I'm glad I warned him ahead because by the time we got all the groceries in and had eaten and I had put everything away, it was 4:45pm.  Leftovers will be just fine!

It's chilly in the house.  I'm in my coziest clothes and I think I'm going to go find a pair of socks to warm my toes.  I have the most inappropriate reading material stacked near my chair, too... I have The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lighted Windows by Emilie Loring (set in Alaska), and We Live In The Arctic by Constance and Harmon Helmericks.  All nice chilly reads.  Makes me wish the Hot Cocoa packets I ordered would hurry up and arrive!  I guess I got a bit tired of the warm days we were having and as soon as I put my stack of reading by my chair a cool spell has finally moved in.

Meals:  Toast for John.  I did add some cheese and ham to mine for the staying power.

Pineapple (eaten on the way home), deli sandwiches (John paid for those), chips.

John is eating leftovers of tuna salad and mac n cheese. I'm having frozen fish filets and some fresh sliced tomatoes.

Tomorrow will be a Home Blessing Day...and I'll need to get weekend meal plans in place.  I have the kids all day on Saturday and Sunday we won't be visiting at Katie's.  They are all taking the weekend to recuperate and recover.  So, we will need meals here at home.  I haven't even decided what I might do with the kids.  It will be a long day for them if we don't do something, but it will be too cool to go to the park, I think.  We shall see what I think of tomorrow.  I think I'm too tired today to contemplate the weekend ahead.

November 22, Friday:  We have had our servants busy busy this morning.  John's been doing laundry, so the washer and dryer were running.  I put Oatmeal Raisin Bread in the mixer and our sandwich bread in the bread machine to mix.  I loaded the dishwasher after breakfast and that's running, too.  I told John if we just had a machine to make the bed and another to feed the cat and dog, we'd be fully automated.

It's been a busy morning but I'm taking a break at the moment because I do not want my feet and knees to ache as they did yesterday.  I still need to clean our bathroom and make the bed, but I'm waiting for the breads to get put into pans.  I want to make a cinnamon swirl bread from the Raisin Oatmeal dough.

I still haven't determined what we're having for supper today.  Nor meals tomorrow.  So that's on my list of must do things.  It's time to go get my bread out and shaped.   So I'll end here for the week.

I hope you all had a great week.  

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