Saturday: Drove to synagogue Saturday and rather than add miles to the car, I went on into the next larger town to spend the afternoon. It was less than 10 miles to the next town, but if I'd come home and driven back that evening for my friend's birthday party, I would have added 80 extra miles to my car.
Take out lunch was in order. I chose a casual restaurant where I ordered a sandwich and water.
Made a return at a clothing store and had it credited back into my account rather than take cash.
Stopped in a retail store I love but seldom visit due to prices. Found two napkins for $.98 each on clearance. Bought them to use as the fronts of pillows for the front porch chairs.
Stopped by two local Goodwill stores. Unplanned, yes? Worth it? Oh yes! I found several items I'd put on my list for other stores at well below the price. A Queen sized flat sheet will make two panels for the guest/craft room window. A heavy canvas like fabric to use for cushions for the back porch and 1 lightweigh aluminum wreath (?) of sorts that I plan to hang on the wall of the house above the table and chairs on the deck. Oh and one butcher block cart to use as a work station next to the grill. The cart was $30. The sheet, the wreath and the fabric were $5.
Ran out of things to do so I grabbed one of the books I bought (paperback for $.50), found a shady spot to park at a shopping center near my friend's home and read for a couple of hours.
Turned AC to 80F before I left home Saturday morning.
Washed a full load of dishes.
Sunday: Didn't go anywhere at all. Admittedly it had as much to do with being dog tired after a busy latter part of the week.
Turned AC up immediately when I got up.
Dinner was a salad made using one of the cooked chicken breasts in the refrigerator.
Planned grocery shopping using online ads.
Had yogurt for my nightly milk since I was running very low on milk.
Monday: Went over grocery list once more and pared it down to the needed items and the very best sales.
Spent the day making bread, preparing a good sized dinner. Made up a batch of meatloaf and two burgers from two pounds of ground beef/buffalo mixed half and half. I made a small meatloaf and a smaller meatloaf. Used end pieces of old loaf bread as the filler for the meatloaf mixture, as well as the last of a can of tomato sauce opened last week for a recipe.
Made two loaves of bread and three hamburger buns from the batch of dough.
Wanted a cool snack. Ate chilled canned pineapple chunks from fridge.
Used last of milk. Ate homemade yogurt for my nightly milk portion.
Washed a full load of clothes.
Tuesday: Went over grocery list one more time to double check planned purchases.
Got cash to cover gorceries. I find I stay on budget far better if I know I'm carrying a limited amount of cash.
Even if I think I have the best sale price on my shopping list I look high and low and compare prices. Doing so meant I saved an additional $1.40 on two loaves of bread. We love our homemade bread, but Chance likes to have a loaf of store bought on hand as well. I bought extra when I saw the second loaf was marked down, since I meant to put it in the freezer anyway.
Looked over the reduced price meat bin. Found a pound of ground chuck for a $1 less than the ground round on sale. And a packet of sliced sandwich meat that went into the freezer for a road trip later.
One store had a special $5 off 10 participating items. The bread I didn't buy would have counted for two of my items. I made it up by picking up 2 extra of a much less expensive item that has a long shelf life. I've messed up these deals in the past so I kept a careful record of what I was picking up towards that deal and I counted it twice. Checked the receipt before leaving the story to be sure I received credit of $5.
I double checked and triple checked my list in each store to be sure I got all the sales I'd meant to take advantage of while in the store. Not only did I double check the list of store sales items but of the basics lists on another sheet of paper.
Wednesday: I forgot to take out my turkey breast to thaw...which led to a change of plans. I had chicken out but that also remained frozen. Thankfully it was partially thawed, enough that I could cut into nuggets to oven fry.
Two sweet potatoes went into the microwave to cook for just 5 minutes. That was enough to partially cook the potatoes. I cut them into wedges and oven fried along with the chicken nuggets.
Two breasts and two sweet potatoes netted enough food to feed three. Could have fed four if I'd bothered to make slaw.
I love using the toilet bowl cleaner on my shower stall. It cuts right through the soap scum, takes far less effort and product to clean than using other items. I smear on the walls with a damp cloth, let sit for a minute or two and then lightly scrub over the surface, then rinse. It takes about 3 minutes start to finish.
Realizing we just weren't going to eat a packet of ground lamb bought for $1 earlier in the year, I cooked it and mixed with cooked rice. Made a nice couple of meals for the dogs.
Washed a full load of dishes.
Thursday: We turned the AC on only during the very late evening hour to remove a slight stuffiness from the house. I think it ran less than 30 minutes total.
No AC needed again this day, with the cool morning temperatures. We planned to be gone from home, so we turned up to 80F.
Plans for the day were to take pizza to Alan's and spend the afternoon with him. I grabbed a bag of cookies, soda and off we went for an afternoon on his deck above the lake. Lovely lovely way to spend a cool Spring afternoon.
Took off trash and carried along mail to be sent out with us when we left home.
Supper, after the heaviness of our dinner of pizza was bowls of cereal.
A broken sunvisor on the passenger side of our car has refused to be mended by anything we do. We ordered one to replace it. Not from the manufacturer but from an eBay site that specializes in replacement parts for our auto make. Cost is about 1/2 what the dealership wanted to order the part.
Friday: Hung a load of clothes to dry on the line outside.
Open windows invite cooler breezes indoors and offset the need to run AC until late this evening.
Leftovers for breakfast? I had enough grits for two, four slices of bacon and waffle batter in the fridge, all leftovers from breakfasts this past week. We cleared that portion of the shelf very nicely.
Since I forgot to take out my turkey breast half for Wednesdays dinner, I took it out last night to begin thawing. I'll take Turkey and dressing to our Oneg dinner tomorrow at synagogue. I also had a Banana Poundcake in the freezer. Might as well thaw that, too. I'll make a pear salad to finish off that meal and think it will do nicely.
Having found only 1 6pack of Chance's favorite soda at the grocery this week (even after checking three stores) I thought he would be very limited. Checked pantry and have two more six packs there
Although I watered my potted plant well earlier this week, I discovered it looking rather shriveled this morning. I set it to soak in a pan of water. This should saturate it enough to perk it up once more.
Reading through the older magazines I rediscovered a product I'd forgotten all about: Jobes houseplant spikes. I found a double pack in the dollar store for less than $2. I stuck one or two into each potted plant and boy have they all had a growth spurt over the past two weeks. I'm glad I saw the advertisement that led me back to this easy to use product.
Careful measurements of pet food have done exactly what I'd hoped it would do. The dogs and cat are losing the extra weight they put on over winter. They don't seem hungrier than usual either. I simply read what was on the package recommendations list. I do feed them a little extra in winter especially when the temperatures are very low, but there's no need of those extra calories in warmer weather.
Living Well
I'm very proud of my husband this week. I wrote last week about taking care of myself, being kind to me in ways that only I could be. Well my husband had a tough week at work last week, far worse than usual to be honest and this week he's done something extraordinary. He's planned to relax, planned it by writing in what he'd do on the calendar! And he's treating it as a 'cannot under any circumstances be cancelled' appointment!
So yesterday we went off to visit with Alan. We took along pizza and cookies and drinks and sat about on the deck of his apartment overlooking the lake and sunned ourselves. We relaxed into that almost stupor of ease that comes with sun, food and peace. The kind of deep relaxation that sinks into your bones and lingers all evening long. It was like taking a vacation mid-week, truly it was.
He's planned a day next week to go golfing. I'm not going to go along on that day, but he'll have company in a friend he's asked to join him. After a few days of resting like this I think he'll be more than ready for the next phase of work for the month.
In other news, Granny is our rehab after her falls in late March. She's back at the Assisted Living center and pronounced it good to 'be home once again,' as she went through the door. I'm glad she feels at home there and was glad to return. I hope to see her on Sunday.
Susan reported Miss Rose was thrilled with her rose covered tin tea set that we sent for her birthday last week. Hard to believe that little miss has turned five! And she'll be off to school this autumn, a thing she is more than ready to do.
All's well in the Poundwise home.
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