Journal of My Week: The Last Week of January 2025

 

Monday:  I didn't take time to write this weekend, so I'll quickly catch you up on what we did.

Saturday, I took the kids to the library.  They really enjoy playing with the toys and on the computers and almost always get books.  This week Josh said "No thanks" to the books, but Isaac and Millie brought some home as did I.  

One of the books I brought home was a Budget meals cookbook.  Well, I've skimmed through the thing and doggone if I see the 'budget' part.  I'm not sure what this author's 'budget' is but it's definitely not the sort of budget I have.

After the library we went to the grocery store.  I've written a grocery haul post so won't repeat that here since this will publish after that one.  We went in to pick up frozen pizzas and I'd promised the kids treats which they got.  

We came home to cook the pizza and putter around the house and the kids went home after lunch.  Josh was glad to go.  He was lost without his tablet.  

I really enjoy these days with the kids, and they talk freely to John and me about many things.  I always marvel at some point about the ease they feel here.  It's something I noted with Lily, that she felt at home with us and was relaxed and felt free to talk.   Josh, Isaac and Millie display the same ease.  That is such a blessing to me!

After they went home, I spent time working on the last two pages of my first Genealogy binder.  I got nowhere as far as info is concerned.  Now I want to go back through this particular notebook and neaten up my notes on each individual, so things aren't such a jumble.

Yesterday we went to church and then to the grocery store.  I can't tell you what I did after that.  I really don't recall.  I know I divided up the meats we bought and put that in the freezer but as to what I did beyond that I don't remember.  We didn't eat lunch until nearly 3pm and supper was made about 6:30. I must have been tired, but I know I didn't nap.  The house was a huge mess, and I had flowers that needed to be arranged but I didn't do either of those tasks.  

I was more than ready for bed last night, but John couldn't sleep and played videos on his phone for what felt like an hour.  I didn't complain or moan over it because heaven knows that back the last few months, he's had the glare of my screen pointed towards him often enough.  I wish he'd used his earbuds, but he didn't.  Still, nothing to complain about.  He didn't have his volume blaring.  I passed the time praying silently and thinking about foods in the fridge that needed to be used up and what meals might be today and what tasks needed to be doing and finally bored myself right to sleep.

I slept well enough. I did not want to get up this morning.  I forced myself from the bed and discovered it was much later than I'd thought.  I wanted to make pancakes for John.  I found my eggs froze (darn it!) and one split, so I made plans to go ahead and use that up.  I used one of the less frozen ones to make the pancakes.  I realized I didn't have to make all the pancakes; I could make what we needed for breakfast and then go back and finish them off.  That meant we got to eat sooner.  

I started bread, then mixed up a bowl of banana muffins.  I swear I have washed or loaded dishes forty times already this morning and there are dirty dishes waiting on me now.  I started a slow cooker meal for tonight's supper.  I planned a use for the leftovers in the fridge I'd forgotten about.  I worked on the checkbook, cleaned the house, arranged flowers, made lunch...The morning is barely over but I got a load of stuff done and aside from the dishes waiting in the kitchen at the moment.  I do not feel compelled to do much of anything else today, so I shall read, write, work on genealogy.  There's plenty that needs to be done but I just don't feel like deep housekeeping.  

Tuesday:  Yesterday afternoon I spent some time on Pinterest looking at outfits.  I've been hyper-focused this month on my wardrobe just as I've been deeply focused on deep cleaning and the Pantry/Freezer challenge.  My goal is to be prepared for Spring/Summer before it gets here.  

With that said, I jotted down outfit ideas, looked at recipes, etc.  I looked at grocery ads and did all sorts of thinking.  Mind gymnastics right here in my chair without getting up to clean anything.  And I enjoyed it all.

Today, John was having lunch with his friend, and I decided it was a good time to run a few necessary errands.  I started at a different grocery than we usually shop at and it wasn't to buy groceries. I broke my clip-on sunglasses the other day and I've been trying to find a replacement set.  I thought of this particular store since it's essentially the same and yes, I found a replacement set of sunglasses.  I also bought birthday cards for five people for February.  

From there to drop off the donations I put in the trunk early last month (never thinking of the new stack that has begun building in my bedroom) and then did some banking.  Then I headed to Cato to make a return.  I decided to go to a different store than I was in a bit over a week ago.  I made my return, exchanging it for another in the right size/material, got a pair of jeans, another tee-shirt for Spring wear, and tried on a sweater I'd already bought in a different size range to see if I liked that better (I didn't). 

I contemplated doing some more shopping but determined that I simply didn't want to.  I'd rather shop slow and cautiously.  I decided against stopping at any grocery stores, too.   

I got myself some lunch and then came home.  I had a few minutes to myself before John came in.  It was so nice to walk into a clean house!  I looked at pansies and Kale at Lowe's as I was headed to the thrift store, and they were all looking mighty pitiful.  I decided it wasn't worth my while to buy any if they looked that bad.

I tried to renew my licenses online.  The paperwork sent to me assured me this would be 'easy' and 'save time' over going to the DMV.  No.  No, it doesn't. Not at all. It took nearly 45 minutes to set up an account and get approved for said account and then to file my information online requesting they renew my license and uploading the eye exam.  I have to wait three days for them to approve my eye exam... And nope, I'm not renewed yet.   Maybe next week I'll just go by and waste their time and get my license renewed in minutes.

I went online to Cato once again, reordered a sweater and t-shirts in the right size.  The sweater will likely end being for next winter.  I've looked at our forecast and in the next week we're easing back up into the 70's for daytimes.  I don't mind. I really wanted a sweater in this color for this winter but couldn't find one.   I'll set it aside for next year.  The tee-shirts are for spring/summer wear.  The only things I'm really looking for at the moment are sandals and pants.  I'd love a white denim jacket but can't find one at the moment.  I'm sure I'll find one sooner rather than later though.

John's friend bough doughnuts for us.  He said it was a Happy Birthday for us.  I heated one for each of us up right away and we had it with a cup of coffee.  Gosh but that was good!

Wednesday:  We did an unheard-of thing last night.  We toddled off to bed at 9:30.   It wasn't particularly cold nor were we seemingly all that tired.  But somehow, as good as the day had been we were just tired and ready to end it.  And we both went right to sleep, too!

I won't say we slept all night long.  Of late, I've been on night watch from 3-4 a.m. and this morning was no different.  What was different was that I only slept until 7am this morning after going back to sleep.

Since I was doing unheard of things anyway, I decided to continue the effort and sat down and read a book, cover to cover.  Yes, I did.  All the way through and finished it before lunch time.  It was a very good book by Effie Leland Wilder and was a debut novel in 1995 for the 85-year-old author.  Out to Pasture (but not over the hill).  Really quite good and thoroughly enjoyed.  Just the light but interesting reading I required.  She wrote more books until her death at 95.  I'll see if I can get inter-library loans of these novels.

I wasn't just leisurely today, but I wasn't terribly productive.  Just average with picking up, making meals, puttering around.  It's just that the house has really held up well over the last three days.   

John did my short 'honey-do' list for indoors: hanging two pictures and straightening a curtain rod that he'd put up terribly crooked.  He'd worked on a frame from a picture that was coming apart on Friday, so I put that picture back together and rehung it.  He also went out to fill the bird feeder that the birds pretty much emptied within 24 hours of his last filling it.  There is another feeder close by, but the birds empty the one feeder five times faster.  No clue.

I need to get myself in gear tomorrow and deep clean the guest bedroom.  I said I'd work on the living room this week, but I think I'll do that bedroom and then I'll work on the living room in February.

After looking at how much food I have on hand (not the recently purchased things except milk, eggs, onions and cheese) I think I'm going to expand my Pantry/Freezer challenge into February for at least two more weeks.  I think I can easily manage.  I have a few more old items in the freezer to use and I'd like to get them out and used up.  

Supper is ready to go into the oven here in a little while.  John's enjoying these later daylight evenings.  We've been watching the sunset (or at least the fading light) every night until past 6:30. How lovely!  

Thursday:  Well, I did it again.  I did nothing much again today and then I spent all afternoon reading and finished my second book.  It was another debut novel, this time by Fran Littlewood, Amazing Grace Adams.  This one was a hard read on many scores.  It's a dark comedy sort of thing but it was interesting, and it held my interest enough that I felt I couldn't put it down.  

Just before reading the very last two chapters, John announced he was off to take off trash.  I looked out the window at the sun and said, "Can I go, and we go around the block?"  I told the book was pretty intense and I felt the need to get out in the fresh air (which was lovely, it was warm outdoors) and blow things out of my head.  John thought a minute and said, "Yeah...we can do that."  I think we both felt a little closed in and claustrophobic with our own thoughts at the time.  

It was lovely to get out and ride.  It might feel like spring and the Peepers were booming chirping away in the wetland just up the road, but it still looks like winter, deep winter, out there.  I know it's getting time for the ground hog to come out and check things out this weekend, but something tells me we're in for more winter.  It won't be as early a spring as it was last year.

A round trip of our country 'block' is a total of about 15-20 minutes of driving normal speed. When we came back home, I picked the book up again and finished it.  It had a good ending.  It is well written. There's not any language much, no horror, no blood and gore, and not any real intimate scenes.  But do be forewarned it is a bit intense.

We had a pleasant evening.  Good supper, an online church service that we typically watch on Tuesdays and saved for tonight, since our own church televised their Spiritual Emphasis Week sermons this week.  Tomorrow is home blessing day, and we will officially end January.  I can't say it went too quickly.  It's felt like a month in its passing but not a long one. 

Friday:  I just received a gift card from Amazon for November.  I earned $10.13.  I know a few of you have been curious and I'll tell you that typically I earn something every month.  November earnings were low, but I seldom earn more than $30 and am generally in the $20 range.   I thank those of you who placed orders using my link in November.

I posted the Butter Baked Chicken and Biscuits recipe here on the Blue House Journal Recipes blog.  

After I'd finished with my house blessing this morning, I started a fresh loaf of bread.  This time I added oatmeal, hemp hearts and flax seed to the batter.  It was slow rising bread.  I think it missed the acid from the buttermilk that my original recipe calls for.  I should have added it.  Instead, I used water as I normally do.  I think that was my mistake.

When housework was done, and bread was working in the bread machine, I changed clothes and went off to mail off a bill and a birthday card.   I went over to Butler because Piggly Wiggly has had the best prices on a few items the last few weeks.  I haven't been before.  This week they had shoulder steak for $5.45 a pound, center cut pork chops for $2.59 a pound and five pounds of Golden potatoes for $2.99.  There was supposed to be a 2-pound bag of red, yellow or white onions for $1.99 but there were none of those.  I bought what I listed above and a package of cubed pork steaks (beef cubed steaks are priced crazy high these days and it never goes on sale).  I spent a total of $55.  I got 4 2pc packs of chops and 2 2pc cubed steaks in the freezer plus the two roasts that weighed just over 2 pounds each.  Oh and 2 bags of Lays chips that were 2/$5 (same price Kroger sells them for).

I scanned prices as I went through the store.  1 dozen eggs were over $6.  a pound of butter (name brand was all they had) was $8.99.  I shook my head as I scanned.  I've played with the idea that we might try shopping only the local stores in the county and fill in with Sam's Club every other month, but I honestly can better afford to shop at Publix all the time than I can either of the local stores, because the regular prices at Publix are less than the prices at the two local stores.    

John and I were talking this morning as we ate our breakfast.  I had bought some locally made casing sausage, such as we used to eat routinely when we lived in Macon County.  We spoke of the two places in town that made their own sausage.  It was not uncommon for us to buy sausage at either of those shops and then pick up a bottle of 'sauce' at the local hamburger place to serve with the sausage.  The sauce was another locally made item.  

That sent me reminiscing about shopping locally (this was in the 1980's).  We could buy cane syrup, peaches and vegetables, eggs, and honey, as well as pork that was locally produced and everyone including us took advantage of having those good local foods.  They were reasonably priced, so much so that no one was tempted to drive out of town to big chain groceries for those items.  Alas, all but the burger place and one farmstand are gone.    It's the sort of thing I've often wished we had here.

And indeed, when we moved to Taylor County, we did drive out the main highway beyond Butler to a butcher that raised his own pork and beef.  He died and the person who went into his place now processes deer for hunters.  Here in my own hometown was the peach and strawberry stands but no farmers markets to speak of.   The peach shed closed about five years ago.

Oh well, pipe dreams.  I do buy what I can locally but mostly I must rely on grocery stores these days.  Oh well.  

I'm going to wind up for the week here.  We will go see Katie's kiddos on Sunday after church.  John's getting a haircut from Katie.  I've asked to get mine cut next week, too, but I don't know if we'll attempt that on Sunday or not.  We'll see.

I hope you have a great weekend!

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