Monday, August 31, 2015

     Today was a productive day.  I woke up about 1030am.  I really need to start getting up about 845 and walking the dogs again as they really miss it.  And I feel like I am sleeping in so late!   The afternoon is here before I know it.

     So I get up and get dressed.  I wear one of my hankerchiefs on my head as my hair did a funky thing in the back and was standing straight up.  I got downstairs and feed the beasties.  When I'm feeding the rattie boys, I change out the towels in their cage and clean out the base.  That always makes them really happy.  I sat down and sewed up the strap on the clean hammock so I could switch out them, as the old one had been in there for about a month.  Last night, they shredded the newspaper and brought a bunch of pieces up to the 4th floor to make a little nest.  It was cute.

     So I then washed and cut up all the home grown carrots that Janice had gave me from her garden.  I put them in the stew container in the freezer.  I also drained the can of peas I'm going to use for dinner into the same container.  I'm experimenting with saving the veggie water to use as a stock base for the stew, along with little bits of veggies leftover from dinners, left over tomato sauce, mashed potatoes and other stuff.  I don't have a lot saved yet but have scheduled a stew for Friday night.

     Then I sat down and started making the menu for the week.  Couldn't do the whole pay period as we were short on money and I only had $90.00.  But I also have to consider what hubby wanted, more meat and side dishes, less casseroles.  Uhg!  But I did it!

     I came up with the following menu.  Tonight: Spanish Rice with Beef and Peas.  I had everything to make that, so I wouldn't have to go shopping until after dinner.

     Tuesday:  BBQ Chicken.  Thighs and Drumsticks  on sale for 88 cents a pound

                      Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans

     Wednesday: Hamburger Casserole  Hamburger on sale 3lbs for $12.97

     Thursday:  Chicken and Pasta with Bell Peppers  Chicken Breasts on sale for $1.99lb

     Friday:  Beef Stew  Stewing Beef on sale for $5.49 and I needed 2lbs for this and 4lbs total

     Saturday:  Leftovers

     Sunday:  Polish Sausage, Potatoes, Green Beans

     I made up the grocery list and looked up all the prices on King Soopers Home Shop, where you can shop online and they will deliver.  The first order is free, and I was almost going to do it but I couldn't get stewing beef on there.  I guess it is something they only have in shop.  But I looked all the rest of my list and came up with all the prices.  That's how I found out the chicken was on sale for 88 cents a pound.  I knew that stewing beef is usually $5.99 a pound and was happy when I found it on sale for $5.49 a pound in a the bulk buy.  The chicken thighs and drumsticks were in bigger packages than what they showed online so they threw me a little over, but I was able to divide the packages in half when I got home and put half in the freezer for another menu.  All together the total came up to $88 and some change.  Hubby still had a $20 to buy some items at Albertsons that were on sale until tomorrow.  Extra staples for future dinners.

     Hubby came home for lunch, paid the mortgage, cable and utilities.  Earlier this morning he had gone around and floated all our pay day loans for another month.  Next month we will be able to start paying them down!  He made a quick sandwich and had to leave.

     Frank came home, got kind of wet when we had a sudden downpour.  He was tired.  He doesn't have to go in at 5am, just the regular 6am, but they are working until 330pm for the rest of the week.  So I started dinner at 5pm.

     Hubby had inventory today, so had to stay until about 6pm to do all his reports.  He got home about 630pm.  Since I had eaten earlier with Frank, I just sat with him while he ate.  Spanish Rice with Beef isn't his favorite, so he only ate a little.

    After dinner, hubby and I went shopping.  I told him we had to stick strictly to the list, nothing else.  Well, right off the bat, he wanted to buy bananas.  I told him to wait until after we got the whole list done and then I would be able to see if we had any extra to spend.  He got a little huffy for a few minutes but then got into the spirit of it.  I even had budgeted $6 for Pepsi as they were on sale for $1 a bottle when they usually are going 3 for $5.  He was happy.  In the end, he didn't push to get the bananas.  I told him I have frozen bananas in the freezer at home if he wanted one.

     When we got home, Frank carried everything in and hubby and I put it all away.  I split the meat up and froze most of it.  I posted the dinner menu.

    Now hubby and I are heading upstairs to cuddle and watch some Project Runway Canada.  Found it on YouTube and it soothes my soul while waiting for the weekly Project Runway.  I love my PR!

     Tomorrow I will be baking and making cookies after therapy.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

     Today was a fruitful day.  Hubby had to go in early this morning to work in Denver.  Today he was doing inventory on their bookstore.  He had to do about 3 hours worth of work before he could get to the point of doing the inventory but eventually, he got everything done.
     I woke up later that morning.  When I looked at the clock to see what time it was, it was flashing 1217am, the power had gone out.  So I laid there and read for a little while.  After I had said good morning to all the animals and Helen, our biggest cat, that was lying on the bed by my legs, I got up and got a shower.  I was eager to try out my new shampoo with Argon oil.  When I ordered it from Jet.com, I forgot to order the conditioner, but I will get that next time.
     I was quite nice, my hair came out soft and shiny.  I like it a lot!  Then I got dressed and headed downstairs.  I found it it was only 930am, so I had plenty of time before hubby was coming home to pick me up.  When he was done in Denver, he was swinging by the house to pick me up so we could go into the school and pack up the dog biscuits he had to mail to Cassie's friend.
     I played on the computer, checked out his Etsy shop, Best Friends Nibbles.  We had another 3 shop views yesterday.  No orders yet, but it's early.  I'm doing some advertising on Facebook for him.  He got another set of peanut butter dog biscuits done yesterday.  45 biscuits this time instead of just the 40 he did the time before.
     Hubby came home about 3pm.  We ate lunch then took off for the school.  We had the 105 dog biscuits packed up and just needed to label them and get them wrapped in bubble wrap for shipping.  When we got to the school,he finished up what work he had to do, then clocked out.  We designed the labels, the ingredient labels and return address labels.   Then we marked the different packages, cushioned them, sealed them in a box, weighed it and calculated the postage.  We did the invoice, put it in the box, taped up the box and left.  By this time, hubby's tummy was really upset and he was cramping.  Time to go home.
     When we got home, he went upstairs and threw up.  I told him I'm starting a journal of all the food he eats, tracking how he feels after, when he starts getting upset tummys, and throwing up.  I'm thinking it could be a lactose intolerance or maybe that disease where he is allergic to wheat.  Whatever it is, he has had it for a long time, so the first step is to track everything.  And getting him to do it is worthless, he will forget.  But if I do it, since we talk all the time, is better.  So that's what I'm going to do.
     He laid down for a while and started feeling better.  Pretty soon a couple of hours had passed and he got up to make dinner for him  and Frank, pork chops.  I don't eat pork, it just doesn't taste good to me anymore.  So I had ramen.
     And he is fine after dinner.  He ate lightly so not to put too much on his stomach.  If he is still hungry later, he will come down and eat the other pork chop.  But for now, he is ok.  He ate corn, pork chop and au gratin potatoes.
    I still have my ice cream from Baskin Robbins in the freezer.  We went over last night after dinner.  I got Rum Raisin, Pralines and Cream, and Chocolate Mouse Royale.  Yum!  Since I got a free waffle cone, I ate that and just a little bit of ice cream.  The rest went into the freezer.  I have never had Rum Raisin before, it's really good!
     Waiting for the baby skunks to come to the front porch tonight.  They are so cute and tiny!  They like to eat the dry cat food I put out for my cats in the morning.  Hubby and I get a kick out of watching them.
     Tomorrow hubby is going to put the rebuilt starter in the car.  Then he is going to make some pumpkin dog biscuits.  He is hoping that the dog biscuit business will take off and help us get out of debt.  I'm going to try to promote it anyway I can.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

     Today was a yarn day.  Today was the day that Holly and I were getting together and doing the Yarn Crawl!  So I had to wake up at 930am to get ready.  I had a really hard time waking up from a piece work dream.  Bits of this and that, nothing solid that I could remember.  But I was so sleepy when hubby woke me up that it took 10 minutes for me to come fully awake.
     When I did get ready and dressed, I found my glasses and saw that Holly had textedme.  I texted her I was ready and went downstairs to wait for her.  When she got here, I gave her some dog biscuits for her dog, Bud.  And the coupon I had for the free second opinion at a dentist in the area for her husband.  We looked up the addresses of the Yarn Stores and we were off.  She had her two year old daughter, Abbie with us too.
     The first store was in the outdoor shopping mall across the street from hubby's school so not that far from where we live.  It was a neat store, Ewe & Me.  They have a big table in front and open times for anyone to come in, knit or crochet and visit.  I will def be going back there to socialize.  We bought our tote bags for the Yarn Along the Rockies Yarn Crawl.  We got our passports, our buttons and our stamps.  This year each shop was also handing out free patterns.  Granted, they were knitting patterns, but hey!  I will send mine to my cousin.
     We headed to Old Colorado City for the next shop.  It was a cute place with a Stamping company in the back.  This shop was a strictly knitting shop and not very crochet friendly.
     Next we hit what we thought was the last shop participating in the Crawl, The Woolly Ewe, which was downtown.  It was a cute shop and had some good prices on bargain yarn and I bought two fancy yarns to make a scarf with.  There we found out about another yarn shop a little bit away that wanted to participate but was too new, but was still offering good deal for Crawler, so we headed over.
     It was in a good place to find parking.  Still downtown but not dead center and the parking meter still had 20 minutes on it and was right up front.  I found 3 skeins of fancy yarn for $1 each!  Then I found a book on crochet for stuffed animals and bought it so I can make the baby piggies, just 4 and a half inches big!  I want to make them for Cassie for Christmas.  Also, the owner showed me this pretty shawl that reminded me of Owl Eyes and told me they were having a class in October.  I signed up for it and will go back in September to pay for it.  It's only $35!  It's a 3 hour class on a Saturday.  They will be having another one sooner, but I won't have time.
     By now, Abbie, who had been a joy to have around, had a meltdown when it was time to get back in the car.  I looked at my phone and it was after 1!  No wonder as it was past her time for lunch and into her nap time.  Holly and I had planned to stop at McD's for lunch so she could play and we could eat but once we got her in the car, she promptly fell asleep.  Holly and I drove through McD's and picked up lunch, then she dropped me off at home so she could take her home.
     I spent the rest of the day visiting with Janice across the street and looking up at hubby's new Etsy shop called Best Friends Nibbles, selling dog biscuits.
     For dinner, which I made early so Frank could go to bed early, I made my first ever Hash.  Normally you make this with leftover meat but hubby was using the roast for sandwiches so I used stewing beef.  I cut it into fingertip sized pieces, there was a pound of it.  I cut 4 medium sized potatoes into small cubes.  I cooked these in oil first, since they would take the longest.  Then I added in the baby carrots I cut in little pieces.  Then I added the meat.  I fried all this up in canola oil on the stovetop.  I seasoned it with onion pwder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper and a handful of parsley.  Then when everything was almost done, I added a can of Rotel chopped tomatoes with green chilis.  I covered it and let it simmer for 15 minutes.  Then it was ready.
     I was pretty sure the guys would like it, it had potatoes, meat and was fried.  It was also kind of spicy so I knew Frank would like it.  I hadn't tasted it but just went on instinct to what sounded good, used a recipe from Dining on a Dime for Hash, and what I remembered from an old friend who used to make it.  Then I made my own.  Frank really liked it and said that whatever hubby didn't eat, he would love to take in for lunch the next day.  When hubby got home, he ate some but his stomach was upset and he couldn't eat much because of the spiciness.  But he liked it and wanted it for lunch also.  I had enough left over to make two container for both of their lunches.
     I was very nervous making the dinner like that, still feeling self doubt from the big fight that hubby and I had.  I think it's going to take a little while before I have my self confidence in the kitchen back.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

     Today was an extravagant day.  Even though I didn't go to sleep until after 1230am, I woke up wide awake at 742am.  I was up, I was still thinking about the dream I had the night before, so I went downstairs to write it up in my dream journal that I had just started keeping again.
     It was about Cassie getting married.  Not the real life wedding that she had but about her in this long, white, lacy wedding gown, the kind we wore back in the 80s.  She had fru-fru hair with an 80s beaded headband.  It was long sleeved.  She wanted to get married in this parking lot up on the stage at the head of it.  Only the parking lot was angled to a 45 degree to the left, so the center of the stage wasn't the center of the parking lot.  Cassie wanted to be in the center of the parking lot where everyone could see her in her dress.
     So she went up on stage.  A group of us were stand in the far back of the parking lot waving our arms and yelling at Cassie which way to go.  She couldn't see us very good and couldn't hear us like we could hear her, so she came down.  I told her I would go up and they should call me on my cell phone to tell me where to go and stand.  Then I would mark the area.
     And that's where I woke up both times.  After thinking about this dream for 2 days, I came to the conclusion that Cassie used to be the center of my world.  I would yell at her directions and things to do, but she couldn't always hear me.  But she would always come back down to me.  Even after she got married.  And I was taking center stage now, and available whenever she wants to tell me something, by a simple phone call.  I had problems adjusting to Cassie getting married and making a life up in Longmont and Broomfield.  I always held out the hope that someday she would want to move back to the Springs, and come live with us again.  But she's not.  And now I am ok with that.  I'm putting myself and hubby first now, center stage.  Trying to lead her by example, marking the area to stand in center.  Showing her how to put herself first after she loses herself with kids, someday.
     So after I was finished with my dream journal, I decided to go back to bed and read.  I had eaten some yogurt for breakfast, and had part of a can of Pepsi, and now I was a little chilly.  So up I went.  I was reading the 21st novel of the Janet Evonavich series with Stephanie Plum.  This is the last of the series until she publishes another.  I'm still looking for #19.  I was reading when I heard Hot Dog crying out front.
     I go downstairs and grab some dry cat food and go out front to sit on the step.  I call to Hot Dog, telling him I have food for him and I will sit with him.  He does this when Janice won't let him in or she isn't there.  So I pet him, when he let me, and talked to him.  Pretty soon, Janice comes walking up the sidewalk with Kodak and Diesel.  Since Hot Dog had peed in Tim's workout room, they weren't leaving him in the house alone.  They are trying to teach him to come in through the doggie doors, but he doesn't like them.
     So Janice convinces me to get dressed and come with her to Old Colorado City to find this shop that will repair some of her jewelry.  She had contacted the store back in March, so wasn't sure if the store was even there anymore.  She couldn't remember the name but knew it was across from the park down there.
     We found the shop and it is The White Rabbit, a bead shop.  The owner does soldering and jewelry repair, like restringing and such.  She looked at Janice's stuff and said she could fix most of it for only a couple of dollars each.  I really loved the huge variety of beads she had and the prices were pretty good.  She teaches classes like bead looming, and it's only $15 an hour.  I got 3 hat pins with stoppers and a $20 gift certificate for my mom.  No particular reason except mom is making hat pins and thought she might like the beads there.
     We stopped at the Goodwill down the street, I always find good stuff at this one.  And I did!  I found 3 12 packs of plastic hangers for 99 cents each, a food chopper brand new for $4.95, musical symbols for Li An for 99 cents, furniture movers for $1.95, a brand new mesh screen with magnets for $4.95, and a young person's doll house complete with dolls and furniture for $19.99.  This is staying at Nana's house for when my granddaughters come over to play!  And I'm going to play with it too!
     When we were on our way home, hubby called to ask if we were still going to lunch.  I had forgotten but told him, sure, we were on our way home.  He thought all the stuff was really cool and agreed the doll house should remain at our place.  Then he took me to Yakatori's for lunch.  We were having a last hurrah as he found out that we couldn't take a second loan out on his 401k to pay off the pay day loans.  If we had tried in July, we would have been able, but starting August 1st, we couldn't do it anymore.  So we used the time for planning and talking about what we will have to do.
     When we came out, the car wouldn't start.  No clicks, no whirling, no sound at all.  But the radio and the clock still worked, so we knew that the alternator and the battery were good.  It was the starter or the solenoid.  He pushed the car and I popped the clutch and we got started.
    We went to the grocery store so I could buy more flour to make more dog biscuits.  I went in the store and he drove around.  Then we decided to go downtown to see a store we both have seen but never been in, The Book Warehouse.  He figured it was end books, ones that didn't sell in regular book stores.  We would be sorting through boxes and stuff.  But no!  It was a used book store with $4 hardbacks and $2 paperbacks, and a special section of marked down stuff.
     We spent a good hour there going through stuff.  Everything was on shelves and neat and clean.  There was so much to see!  I found 27 old magazines of Stitch by Stitch.  A 1970s mag that catered to sewing, knitting and crocheting in each issue.  I took them up to him and asked him what price could I have if I bought all issues.  I got them for 25 cents each.  I found a few books on the $1 book counter, a crochet hardback pattern book and several more paperback of cooking murder mysteries.  Hubby found several VHS tapes for $1 each, a hardback book on the Civil War that his dad used to have when he was little, and a couple of paperbacks.  We got out of there for $37.
     The car didn't start again, but we have parked on an incline expecting that.  He pushed and I popped the clutch and we were fine.  On the way home, I mentioned I wanted to get my nails done and he said I should also have a pedicure, then he dropped me off.
     When I was done, I called him and he said the car started right away.  But we will park it carefully over the next several days, anticipating problems.
     The rest of the evening I researched mailing boxes and plastic bags to put the dog biscuits up on his Etsy store.  I wanted to get a price for a sampler pack.  We took pictures of the biscuits and he fixed them up on Photoshop.  They came out looking good.  We talked about what it cost to make them and what he should sell them for.  It's been good therapy for me to make them and has given me purpose and helped me with stress during the day.
     Tomorrow I will be cooking again, perfecting my recipes.  I think I will tackle the pumpkin again.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

     Today was a languorous day.  We had Church at noon, so I slept until hubby woke me up at 1030am.  He was getting ready to fix breakfast so I had a little bit until that would be ready.  So I got up and got my shower first thing.  I knew it would take at least half an hour or longer to make bacon and french toast and there would not be time afterwards.  We had picked up some Applewood Smoked Bacon to try out and it was a thick cut so would take a while to do.
     I got dressed and headed downstairs.  Breakfast was good, I had blueberry syrup on my french toast.  I started off with 3 pieces and only at 2/3rds of them.  The bacon was ok, but frankly, I preferred the regular bacon we could get crispy.  I'm not big on smoked taste.  Frank cleaned up while hubby went upstairs to get ready.  I cleaned out the fridge of leftovers so we would have some room when we stopped at the store on the way home.
     Church was really good.  They talked about Paul's letter that says that women should submit or be subservient to their husbands like the Church is subservient to Christ, As Christ is the bridegroom and the Church is his bride.  The part I like is one that most people tend to forget, that the husband should treat the wife as he would his own flesh, to love and cherish and take care of her like he would of himself.  To value her.., consider her important and he should feel worthy of her the better he treats her.  To me, this means that the wife should be just as valued as the man values himself.  He should listen to her counsel, treat her with respect and kindness.  Take her opinions as he would take his own thoughts.  The Catholic Church does not believe in divorce, but, as the Father was saying today, they also do not believe in a person should be submissive to an abusive person.  Either the husband abusing the wife, or the wife abusing the husband.  This is not what a husband being the Head of the Household means.  No person has the right to be lord over another and abuse that relationship, be it physical, sexual or psychological abuse.  And no person should be submissive thinking the other person has that right.  It was quite good.
     Dylan, of the rattie boys, really likes to hoard food.  I make it a habit to leave 8 or so pieces of dry dog food in a plastic lid on the craft table.  And a bag of raw peanuts in the shell.  When I sit here at the computer, I open the cage door for them and they like to come out.  Zeke will wander a little, climb the cage to the top and jump up on top of the bookcase.  Dylan doesn't climb, he looks for the food   He likes to go under my computer stand and peek out.  I have the bag of peanuts open to the edge of the table because one night, he kept getting peanuts and storing them in the cage.  I waited for him to stop, but he kept going!  After the 5th one, I finally moved the bag out of his reach.  When I clean the cage, I find his little stockpile of food and have to throw it all out.  So now I just open the shells and hand him about 4.  He always seems happy.  With having the dog food there all the time, he doesn't hoard that as often, but will only take 1-3 pieces a day.
     Tonight they were excited, we had corn on the cob and I cut half an ear in half again so they could each have their own piece.  I also cut up one of their favorites, tomatoes.  Of course, they have full time access to their seed mixture.  This morning for breakfast, they got honeydew melon and grapes,  more of their favorites.
    After church hubby and I stopped at the grocery store because we were out of butter.  We also picked up some fresh fruits, plum, pears, apples and some fresh veggies like an avocado, bell peppers and a cucumber.  Cheese was on sale for $2.77 for shredded cheddar cheese for 16 oz.  I got picked up two packages of it.  The day before I had bought a 32 oz package of cheese for $8.69, so I was going to take that back.  Since hubby wanted more meat and potatoes, we found a roast for him to cook for dinner tonight and picked up another 10 pounds of potatoes.  We picked up a few other things and it came out to about $70.
     When we got home and I started to put the stuff away while hubby started the laundry, I realized that I had gotten distracted by the cheese when I was on my way to get the butter and completely forgot about the butter.  So I went upstairs to tell hubby about this, figuring we would have a good laugh.  He had changed out of clothes and had shucked his pants and underwear.  He was in sweats when I told him.  He grouched at me, that I went specifically to get it so I better go back.  I told him I wasn't going so he got huffy and said he would go.  I was just going to go tomorrow but said no, I would go.  He was stomping around, so I just got the keys and left.
     When I got to the store, I realized that I had also forgotten to get the Progresso Soup that was on sale, 4 for $6.  The ad mentioned a digital coupon so I thought it was on my King Sooper's loyalty card, but the additional $2 didn't come off at checkout.  I picked up some pasta and 6 cheese spaghetti sauce, along with some hot italian sausage to make a dinner this week.  Hubby likes pasta.  Tomato soup, 4 more packages of shredded cheddar cheese, and two boxes of butter.  $33 later, and I was done.
     When I got home, hubby came downstairs and said that he had gotten dressed and come downstairs to go and found me and the car gone.  I told him that I said I was going and I did.  He said he was sorry he was being grouchy.  I told him he wasn't being grouchy, he was being a butthead.  He said he didn't want to fight so he was apologizing.  He was going to do laundry but otherwise, he would be upstairs.  I put away the stuff and froze the cheese, keeping one package out to make cheesy dog biscuits.   I had an extra day to do it, so I decided to do them tomorrow morning and spend the time with him today.
     We relaxed, re-watched Project Runway's episode from last week and and Apprentice UK.  They are filming Series 11 now so we can look forward to that being released in the fall.  It's on BBC, and the episodes show up on YouTube.
     We are really excited as Fear the Walking Dead is premiering tonight!  We finally get to see the beginning of the zombie apocalypse!  And it will be focusing on a family in LA, Ca.  And, just like in The Walking Dead, this is a world that has no zombie movies or books.  They have never heard of George Romero, and the word "Zombie" isn't in their vocabulary.
     We planned on eating dinner before the show so we would be cleaned up and done by the time it comes on.  And there should be The Talking Dead afterwards to digest the episode.  Yeah!
     I watered my tomato plants tonight as it has been several days.  I have 6 little tomatoes!  I went to look for the black knee highs I had set aside to tie up the plants but couldn't find them.  I may have put them in the donation bags that are still sitting on the floor by the bedroom door.  The cat ripped a hole in one so I'm going to take the stuff out and put it in a new bag.  Then I will cut up something and tie up the plants.
     I watered my clover sprouts, too.  I have them growing in a bird seed container on the front window sill.  During the day I open the jar and Friday I noticed I needed more water, but forgot.  Today, I saw them and panicked, thinking they had dried out.  But no!  They had grown into short green things.  I put another quarter of an inch of water in it and put the lid back on.  I put them back in the front window.  We don't get direct sun in any window much because of the trees in the front, and the covered porch in the back, so all I get is indirect light, so I wasn't sure if I could grow the sprouts.  Mom has her's under a grow light.  I'm too cheap to get one.  If these grow well, I will have to tell her indirect light works well too.  Then I will see if the dogs like to eat them.  Maybe make a dog biscuit with them.  Mom and dad out some in the dogs food and they like to eat them.  Cuts down on them eating the grass.
     Well, it's almost time for Fear the Walking Dead.  The Strain is on tonight too.  Boy howdy, it's good to be alive!
   

Saturday, August 22, 2015

     Today was a baking day.  Hubby and I woke up 20 minutes before the alarm was due to go off at 9am.  He said, wanna sleep in until then?  And I said no, I was up.  So we got up.  My mission today was to go in search of the perfect cookie cutters for my dog biscuits.  I had a dog bone shape for the peanut butter dog biscuits but needed the perfect shapes for the pumpkin and cheese biscuits.  I do the baking for therapy and hubby makes the sales.
     So we started off at Rescued Hearts, the animal rescue organization that has a thrift store.  All sales there go to support their mission of giving $500 grants to rescue organizations.  I didn't find any cookie cutters but I did find an ebelskiver pan, just like I had when I was 20 and first married!  And it was only $10.  Hubby found a German Techno CD from the 80s.  We were off to a fine start.
     Next we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Of course, I had thrown out my coupon when I got it in the mail last week, silly me!  But I found a box of 100 plastic cookie cutters that had so many different shapes.  I bought that.
     We decided to go to Walmart to get the trio of dog shapped cookie cutters.  While we were there, they still had the clearance going on for their 24 pack of sidewalk chalk.  Only $1!  Marked down from $2.97.   So I got 10 of them.  I'm not having a garage sale this year, but next year when I do, I'm marking it back up to $3.50 and selling them.  I stored them away carefully in the garage.
     We stopped at King Sooper's so I could take back the specialty flour and bulgar I had bought.  Even though I couldn't find my receipt, they took my loyalty card and gave me back my money.  We used it to buy lots of cat food.
     We stopped at a garage sale while we were out and found some books, another baby gate, a side dish crock pot and Children's Bible like the one I had growing up.  I got that for when Cassie and Drew have kids.  The baby gate we needed to block the dogs out of our bedroom during the day so I don't have to bring the gate all the way downstairs every day.  The times I have forgotten have been disastrous.
     We got home and I made up ham sandwiches, but could only eat a couple of bites of mine.  Bread has been really unappetizing lately, so I fed the rest to the dogs. I did finished the bag of chips.  Hubby really like the sandwich I made him on a hoagie roll.
     Today was my dad's birthday so we went over to his house for cake and ice cream.  My sister and some of her kids were there also.  Hubby and I had gotten him a toaster that burns the Bronco's mustang head into the toast on one side.  He is a big Bronco's fan and football is in pre-season now.
     When I got home, I started making the pumpkin dog biscuits.  Now I have never made them before but mom had told me that she had to add another cup of flour to hers.  I ended up having 8 cups of flour, 6 cups of spent grain, 6 eggs and 2 cans of pumpkin!  Out of control.  They did come out good.  They were thick and sturdy, my dogs loved them and they were crunchy.  But when I make more this coming week, I'm going to play around with the recipe.
     Hubby cooked pork chops tonight when I got done.  For him and Frank as I don't eat pork.  I am having a yellow bell pepper as that is the only thing that sounds good.
     When I weighed myself this morning, wearing my sneakers, sock, tshit and jean shorts, I came in at 179.9lb.  All this activity around the house like being on my feet and baking, doing the sorting and stuff, is paying off.  When it hits the fall, I will start walking again, it's just too hot right now.
     Tomorrow I have cheese dog biscuits to make and church to go to.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

     Today was a sucky day.  I started out the morning by waking up from a dream and coming downstairs to write about it in my dream journal.
     I was working in a crowded room, with other people.  I got elected to take over hosting this meeting and I was going to be in charge of getting all the drinks and food for everybody.  I had to decide what cabin to hold the meeting in.  So I put all the cabins in a bag and drew one out.  I said this is the cabin.  But the other lady said that is the farthest one out there and will be difficult to get everything and everyone to it.  So I said, what cabin did you want to hold it in?  And she said #3.  So I said ok.
     There would be 50 people at the meeting so I figured we would need 200 cups of coffee.  I wrote that down in big numbers on my clipboard.  I was going to have to figure out other food and drinks too.  But that was later.
     That's it, that was the dream.  The numbers were the big deal, 3, 50, 200.  3 is a number that is significant to me because I was in a family of 3 girls growing up and I now have 3 daughters.  I also have 3 granddaughter.  I don't have a clue what the significance of 50 and 200 is.
     Hubby was in a bad mood this morning.  I asked him to cut up the whole chicken so I could make Italian Chicken for dinner.  He turned it into a huge production, swearing and slamming things as he was cutting.  Then he said as long as he was doing gross stuff, he might as well clean the beta fish tank, so he did.  Then he fed the animals even though I told him I would do it.  He said I didn't get around to doing it until 3 or 4 yesterday, so he wanted to make sure it was done.  I told him I was having a hard time getting motivated yesterday and I got everyone fed by 1pm.  I said what is behind all of this?  I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt because you are in pain, and not just an asshole.  He told me he wasn't in that much pain this morning.  Things went downhill rapidly from there.  He left and I was happy to see him go.
     He didn't come home for lunch and I didn't hear from him until I had to call him at 4 to see if he got the check for the state taxes mail and made copies of the tax coupon before he filled it in a mailed it.  Then since it didn't go out today, I asked him to overnight it.  And I asked him how much he wrote the check for to pay off the 401k loan.  $140.22.  We paid off the 401k loan so we could take a loan out to pay off the pay day loans and some of the other medical bills we have, and maybe pay down the taxes some.  Better interest rate.  We talked politely and hung up.
     During the day I finished measuring out the spent grain from the brewery, the used barley, and put it in 2 cup portions in sandwich baggies then put those in gallon sized freezer baggies.  I saved out enough to make 3 double batches of pumpkin, peanut butter and cheese dog biscuits.  I made a double batch of the peanut butter ones today.  They have to cook for 45 minutes and then rest in 180 degree oven to dehydrate for 2 hours to harden.  I made 78 biscuits all together so I had 4 pans and had to cook them 2 at a time.  Some were a little too thin and got a little brown.  I came up with 48 of them that are sellable.
    I calculated the cost of making them and came up with a total of 25 cents per biscuit for the peanut butter and pumpkin and 30 cents a biscuit for the cheese.  I made sure to cover my costs on things not being on sale but really didn't add anything in for labor as I am doing this as a favor for Cassie and as something I want to do.  But in the email I sent to Cassie's client, I told her I would charge her 25 cents each for all 3 kinds since she wanted 35 of each.  I told her I would have them mailed out on Tuesday and asked her where to send them to.  I'm waiting for a reply.
      Instead of crock potting the chicken since hubby didn't agree with how I wanted to cook it, I baked it instead.  I made sure it was done enough that it was a little dry, just the way he liked it.  Frank and I ate early, about 7pm, so that he could go to bed early.  I made a plate for hubby and put it in the microwave.  Frank did up all the dishes before he went to bed.  I had washed all my biscuit making dishes and containers and done a load of dishes in the dishwasher.  Frank emptied and reloaded it.
     When hubby got home, I came and sat with him while he heated up and ate his dinner.  Then I told him just why I was so mad and hurt by him.  He listened and then told me some stuff.  At the end, he apologized for a few things and I accepted the apology.  But he said he still had to think for a while and I told him I wasn't ready to be done being mad at him yet.  So we went our separate ways.  Hopefully we can wake up tomorrow and life will go on.
     Tomorrow I have to order some groceries and King Sooper's has a shop online and delivery option.  There is a $10.00 and something delivery fee but on the first order, they credit it back to you, so I'm going to get what I need to finish making the biscuits.
     I weighed myself this afternoon, wearing jean shorts and a tshirt.  It came up 181.7lbs.  I have been eating but I have been doing more around the house, so that great!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

     Today was a dynamic day.  Last night was a chilly night, so we closed all the windows and didn't turn on the overhead fan.  So about 6am, I woke up really hot.  I went downstairs and let the dogs out, leaving the sliding glass door open.  Then I went back upstairs and opened my window and turned on my personal fan.  The window and the glass door created a breeze through the house and made it a little too cold, so I turned off my fan.  I went back to sleep until 1030am.
     I woke up at 1030 because my mom called.  The brewery where she had gotten the spent grain before was starting a new batch of beer and would have the grain available after 1230pm.  Would I have a car to go get some for myself?
     No, I didn't have the car today but hubby would drop off 4 containers for her to take and fill with the spent grain.  She told me they would get them filled and drop them off later.
     I sort of got up.  I was awake and I talked to hubby while he was getting ready for work.  Then I ate some yogurt in bed, watched The Price is Right and Law&Order:SVU.  I was having trouble getting motivated to get dressed and start doing things.  Eventually, I did get up and feed the animals.  Then I got dressed in jeans, a shirt, a sweater, and socks.  It was chilly.
     Today was my day to sort and purge clothes out the trunk at the foot of the bed.  Hubby had put my folded clothes in there because I didn't have any place to put them away.  That was about 2-3 years ago.  So I started going through it and found that most of the clothes I didn't need or want anymore but there was some winter things in there that I wanted to keep, like my long robe and my winter nightgowns.
     When I got done sorting, I had two full bags of clothes for donation.  Then I went downstairs and emptied the dishwasher and put away all the pots and pans that were clean.  My parents came by and dropped of the containers of spent grain, and then I started dinner.
     Hubby complained that I was making Mexican Hamburger Casserole, saying I was making too many Mexican dishes.  I had made the chicken enchiladas on Monday.  I had made burritos on my birthday, and I had made the Taco Bake a week and a half or two weeks ago.  But he was tired of it.  So I looked and saw that I could make Sheppard's Pie instead.  I used about a pound and a half of stewing beef and cut it up into small pieces.  I had a can of peas and carrots and a can of corn.  Frank went to the store for me and picked me up onion powder, garlic powder, tomato sauce and onions.  I chopped up an onion and cooked it and the beef together.  Then I added in 2 teaspoons of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of chili powder.  I added half a handful of parsley and a tablespoon of sugar.  Then I made one cup of brown gravy and added that.  I forgot to add the tomato sauce.
     Next I made 12 servings of instant mashed potatoes.  I put the meat mixture in a greased 9x13 pan, and covered it with the mashed potatoes.  Then I ran a fork over the mashed potatoes to make ridges and baked it in a 350 degree oven for half an hour.  Then I turned on the broiler and browned the top.
     It was 715pm by the time dinner was ready and Frank was already dozing.  So I woke him up and we ate.  Hubby was working until 9pm so I kept dinner warm in the oven until he got home.  The Sheppard's Pie came out really good.  It was juicy but not too much.  The gravy was slightly sweet and the meat was tender.  Frank liked it and had two helpings.  So did I.
     I was looking forward to hubby coming home, thinking he would be really happy to have this for dinner instead of the Mexican Hamburger Casserole.  But no, he wasn't happy.  He dished some of it up and I sat with him while he started to eat.  But he picked at it and said he has been not looking forward to coming home and eating dinners for awhile.  He wanted meat and sides, not casseroles.  I was cheaping out on food and he was tired of it.  He was tired of me stretching out the meat in dishes.  He didn't like the food.
      It took me an hour and a half to prep and make dinner.  I have been thinking carefully about making the dinner menus, trying to provide balanced meals that are creative, not the same thing week after week.  When I have been planning dinners, I plan a pound and a half of meat per dinner.  I have made sure that there was veggies and a starch.  I was insulted.  When I planned the meals, I made up the grocery list.  And then I sat down with him went over what I had planned to see if he thought it was ok or if he had any suggestions.  He was fine with it.  So all this was coming in out of the blue.
     I don't think he understands how much he has hurt me.  This has been a sense of pride for me, being able to plan, shop and cook dinners that are challenging.  Yes, a couple have failed, like the chicken and rice last night.  But all the rest have been successful, coming out the way I intended.  He also complained about me using onion in the meals.  He said "I'm am over onions."  I have worked hard to make sure dinner is ready for him when he comes home or soon after.  I do all the cooking on the weekdays and plan meals like pork chops for him to cook on the weekends.
     I am trying to remember that he is in pain right now with the herniated disc.  He can;t take his pain medication during the morning or day while he is working because then he gets fuzzy headed and can't think straight enough to be productive at work.  I also don't want him driving when he takes the pain med.  So I'm trying really hard to not take this personally.  But it's really hard.
     Tomorrow I'm making dog biscuits.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

     Today was a beneficial day.  I had therapy this morning at 10 and hubby had to be at work at 9, so we got up early, got ready and left.  Hubby's tummy was still upset from his food poisoning so he didn't eat anything.  I was going to eat a yogurt, but forgot to take one with me, so I skipped eating.  I did get a Cherry Pepsi from Kum and Go to drink, though.
     When I dropped off hubby, I went to Costco to pick up more cat food, but they didn't open until 10am, so I went over to where my therapist was.  But just as I got to the parking lot, with the option of sitting in my car for 45 minutes and reading, I decided to go to Goodwill that was across the street.  I needed some purple shirts for my Red Hat events, in short sleeves.
     I found two short sleeved purple shirts that were really nice.  I also found a pair of dangly silver earrings that I wanted to wear today.  For a snack, I also bought some of their caramel popcorn.  At $4 for a small bag, it was pretty pricey!  By then, it was time to get back across the street.
     My session with Steve went well.  I talked about all the visitors we have this past weekend, the purging and sorting I have been doing with my clothes and how I thought that this was a form of creativity.  So was all the cooking I had been doing.  The designing of the dinner menus, the grocery lists, and the shopping.  All forms of creativity.  With hubby and Frank doing the dishes, cleaning up, and doing the housework, it was leaving me free to start getting into doing purging and organizing.  My mind was opening up.  I told him that before I felt landlocked, stuck.  Now, with me taking on the responsibility of cooking and food gathering, my mind was unlocking.  I may not be creating in the sense of designing jewelry or sewiing yet, but I was doing other things and this was a form of creation, too.  Steve agreed.
       Next I went to visit my parents.  I wanted to pick up another one of my mom's dog biscuit recipe books and her recipe for a spent grain dog biscuit.  Hubby and I want to see if we could make them and be able to sell them to a restaurant in Longmont that is looking for a vendor to make them from their spent grain.  Tomorrow I am going to mix up two different batches, a peanut butter and a pumpkin.  My dogs have offered to be testers.
     I switched the car with hubby.  His stomach was feeling a little better so he took some chicken enchiladas with him to eat later.  I spent the afternoon working on the computer and playing with the rattie boys.
     For dinner tonight, I was making chicken and rice.  The chicken I had was frozen so I decided to cook it in the skillet with some wine.  Well, it shredded the chicken, so when I combined it with the rice, it mixed and didn't chunk.  Then I added 4 cans of cream of chicken soup and half a container of sour cream.  I had seasoned the chicken when I cooked it but still added more after tasting it.  I was trying to make the dish juicier, like hubby wanted.  It came out gloopy.  I put it in a 9x13 pan and put Parmesan cheese on top and bread crumbs.  Then I baked it at 350 for 45 minutes, hoping to firm it up.  It didn't.  We tried eating it anyways, but it was a complete failure.  I told Frank to put half in two gallon sized zip lock bags, one for the fridge and one for the freezer.  I am going to use it for dog food.
     Tomorrow I will be doing the dog biscuits and while they are cooking, I will be sorting and purging the trunk at the foot of the bed with all my clothes in it.

Monday, August 17, 2015

     Today was a productive day.  I had no errands to run today and hubby was taking the car and working in Denver, so we didn't have to get up early.  We slept in until 830am, then got up, got showers and got dressed.  At 930am, hubby left to go to work.  He was going to the Colorado Springs office to clock in, gather what he needed to take to the Denver office and then head up.  He was going to work until 6pm up there, then drive back down, clock out, and come home.  So I wouldn't see him all day.   He made a sandwich to take with him but he was going to be gone a long time so I told him to take the last of the Taco Bake with him.  It was a week old, or a little older, but it was hamburger and that lasts a long time.
     I spent the morning feeding the beasties and then at the computer, writing letters and doing email, catching up on facebook.  I was at the craft desk so I had the rattie boys' cage door open for them to be able to come out and have some free time.  Because the boys had knocked over my third full glass of tea on the table, I had recently cleaned up the table and gotten some of the stuff put away, so they had more room to roam.  Zeke doesn't run away from me slowly reaching over and petting him.  Dylan still is rather shy and though he will take food from me and come up to me, doesn't really like being picked up and held, or petted much.
     After I ate some lunch, I went upstairs and started sorting and cleaning out my dresser drawers. I got rid of a ton of one-socks, old underwear and scarves that hubby's ex-wife had made and given me for Christmases.  I have all of it in a donation bag but am thinking about keeping the socks as rags for dusting and making sock puppets for the granddaughters.  I was pretty brutal and got rid of another two big outside garbage bags of clothes.  I kept a couple of sentimental tshirts but ended up with lots of room in my dresser.  I have one whole drawer just for my two bras.  There were a couple of fall shirts that I put in the dirty clothes to be washed since they were so wrinkled.  I got rid of all my turtlenecks and ugly sweatshirts.  I now have a selection of fall jackets and pullovers hanging in my closet.  My closet is still organized with like objects grouped together.  I haven't gotten to the point of colorizing it.  Yet.
     While I was working upstairs doing the clothes thing, we got a tornado watch warning.  By now, Frank had come home.  The news said to go to a room with no windows and go down to the basement.  Well, the only room we had with no windows was the upstairs bathroom, so I thought about grabbing Frank and making us stay in the upstairs bathroom.  But it was upstairs, so if the tornado came and ripped off the roof of my house, it would suck us up.  But if we went downstairs, there is a big picture window in the family room, a big window in the office and a big window in the downstairs bathroom.  The closet in the downstairs bathroom has shelves in it, so that was out.  We could crawl into the crawl space, there is a door for that in the family room.  I live in a tri-level house so the downstairs is half underground.  The crawl space is under the other half of the house, the main floor.  It is a dirt floor and we had plumbing issues repaired when we moved in under there.  And we bug bombed it afterwards, so it should be pretty clean.  But I thought Frank would sort of freak out if I made him crawl under the house and stay with me, so I decided to just stay upstairs and eat chips and salsa, watch the Apprentice UK and hang out.  Hubby wasn't any help, his advice was to run naked through the neighborhood with a bag on my head and sneakers on, just in case I stepped on something, waving my arms around.
     After my Apprentice UK episode was over, I went downstairs to the kitchen, turned on the tv, spread some newspaper on the table and deboned the chicken I had rotisseried on Saturday.  I cooked it for an hour and all it's juices ran clear but it was slightly undercooked.  So as I was pulling the meat off of the bones, I was separating the skin, fat and some undesirable meat pieces in a bowl for the dogs, a bowl for the bones and a bowl of meat for dinner.
     Because the meat was undercooked, I then got down my deep skillet, added two and a half cups of water and chicken base to the mixture for the dogs.  I cooked it simmering for 20 minutes to make sure it was cooked good and through.  It made a nice broth for them.  I put it in a bowl and set it aside to cool for their dinner.  I would get two dinners out of it for them.
     Then I took all the meat for dinner and put that in the skillet, added a cup of water and some chicken base,  italian seasoning, pepper, a little salt, celery, and chopped onion.  I let it simmer for 20 minutes, until almost all the water was absorbed by the chicken meat.  It was nice and juicy.  Then I chopped up a can of black olives.
     I sprayed Pam Canola Oil in a 9x13 pan, torn corn tortillas in fourths, and lined the bottom of the pan.  I spread a thin layer of the chicken mixture on that.  Then I sprinkled on a handful of black olive pieces.  I poured some green enchilada sauce over it and then repeated.  Next I covered it with a final layer of corn tortillas, sauce and a layer of Mexican shredded cheese.
     I baked it in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, until the cheese was a toasty brown crust.  Yum!  I fed Frank and myself, so Frank could get to bed by 8pm, and put the enchiladas back in the oven to stay warm until hubby was able to get home.
     But when hubby got home, he was sick.  He had started throwing up at work.  Seems he had left the Taco Bake in the car all afternoon, it was a rather warm day, then ate it and gave himself food poisoning.  So he was in no shape to eat anything.  He spent a good portion of the night in the bathroom either throwing up or in the tub trying to settle his stomach.  I offered to take him to the ER but by then he was feeling empty and better.
     Tomorrow I have therapy, and I plan on cleaning out the trunk at the foot of the bed that has clothes in it that had been washed, folded and put there because I had no place other to put them.  About 2-3 years ago.  I'm excited to see what I will find.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

     Today was a relative day.  Since we were expecting our daughter Cassie and her husband Drew sometime today, I expected them to sleep in and come mid-day.  So I wasn't in a rush to get up.  The night before hubby took the steaks and marinated them in some concoction of his own design and the squash wasn't going to be cut until just before we grilled it.  So when I did get up, I got dressed and came down to write a letter to my nephew Robbie, who is in prison.
     Cassie called when they were getting ready to leave and told me that they would be here about noon.  And she had texted Sarah and Sarah and the girls were coming back over for lunch and so Cassie and Drew could meet the girls for the first time and bring them presents.  Yeah!  So we cleaned up from the day before and got things ready again.
     Cassie and Drew arrived and they brought a big, black fuzzy dog with them.  They are dog sitting for friends that went to Iceland for two weeks.  She was docile and friendly and got along with our dogs, no problem.  We have no problem with any other animal visiting us.
     Sarah and the girls arrived soon after.  We met them out front and Li An immediately wanted to sit in the swing with me and swing.  Sarah handed me Shy, the 6 month old and we three sat there for some time just enjoying being together.  Then we went inside so Cassie could give Li An her presents.  Big toys!  A ball and a floor puzzle of Elmo.  And two stuffed turtles, one for each of the kids.
     Hubby had told me before the kids all came that he was going to step aside and let Drew do all the cooking on the grill.  He could be manly and say this is his house so he was going to do it to show him the right way, but he wasn't going to do that.  I told him that was a great idea.  So Drew got to grill the squash with a little bit of olive oil and garlic, then grilled the steaks.  He did an excellent job.  We were one seat short at the patio table but Frank held the baby while everyone ate.
     Sarah had to leave after lunch and since Li An didn't like the lunch, I packed her some hamburger cut up in small pieces, some grapes cut up, and some cheese for a snack later.  Sarah and the girls are Jewish so can't have meat and dairy at the same time.  I gave Sarah a Pepsi for later.
     Then my parents came over to visit with Drew and Cassie.  They hadn't seen them since the wedding in May so they had a lot to catch up on.  I brought out the sour cream coffee cake I made and we finished it off.  My parents left after awhile.
     Cassie and I went upstairs where I did what she loves, drew on her back.  And she answered work email.  We spent some nice mother and daughter bonding time.  She told me that she loves the Daily Love Tap messages I had been sending her and she wanted me to continue.  And all too soon, they had to leave.  I sent them home with some bottle water for the trip.
     Hubby was a saint and told me to go sit down.  He waved Frank away and cleaned up the whole kitchen by himself.  I swear we went through all the plates, silverware and bowls we had.  And a whole mess of glasses.  I helped him feed the beasties and we got all the cats in the house because it was raining so hard.
     Hubby told me that we missed Project Runway this week and so I have that to look forward to watching tonight.  We have The Strain to watch tonight also.  We will be heading upstairs early.
     This weekend has been the best birthday weekend.  I finally felt like a real grandma, a Nana, as the girls will call me.  And I got to be a true mother to two of my daughters.  I am truly and wonderfully happy.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

     Today was a grandmothering day.  I woke up at 9am when the alarm went off.  Hubby and I had talked about taking the dogs out for a walk this morning but his neck and back were hurting him so I told him he didn't had to go.  So I got up and wrote down the dream I  had.  I'm trying to get back in the habit of writing down my dreams so I can think about what they mean.  And I have such detailed dreams.  Some of them are from God.  Some are from my subconscious trying to tell me something.
     This morning's dream started off with me at a Rape Recovery Center.  I was preforming my final task of talking to people, one at a time, going from person to person.  When I got to the last person, everyone started to congratulate me, I had just graduated the course.
     Then it was time for me to go back to my life, which was in the Army.  When I arrived back at my post, I was greeted with lots of congratulations from everyone, which were all women.  Then we went out on a mission.
     I was in the cab of a truck but I could stand up.  The driver's door was bowed out and hung on with straps.  I was leaning out of the truck against the door with my rifle in my hand.  I was on guard, looking for the enemy.  All of a sudden, I see a bare foot and lower leg sticking out from under my truck.  I go to raise my rifle but I don't have it in my hands, it's inside the cab leaning up against the passenger seat.  I go back in to get it and when I return to my position, I don't see the foot anymore.  I want to call out to my fellow soldiers what I saw and tell them to look out, look under there, but I can't.  I don't know if I can't because I am scared or if I can't because I'm not supposed to make noise and draw attention to myself.  That's when I woke up.
     The dream was haunting and caused me anxiety.  I ended up taking an anxiety pill.  But I could have just been anxious about our daughter, Sarah, and the granddaughters coming to visit today.  It's been 6 months since we have seen them and a lot has happened since them.  Before, Li An, was 16 months old and she was anti social and a screamer.  She didn't want us to hug her or play with her, she was a big girl, already in 3T but not friendly.  Shay Li was just 2 weeks old.
     Hubby and I cooked the hamburgers and hot dogs and fries ahead of time and just kept them warm, knowing they would be hungry when they got here.  And I wanted the food to have a chance to be cooled off enough that Li An would be able to eat it without any problems.  Earlier in the morning I made a sour cream coffee cake, from Bisquick, and rotisseried a chicken for stacked chicken enchiladas on Sunday.  I kept a really close eye on it and calculated it would take an hour and a half to cook but it only took an hour.
     Sarah arrived and Li An came right over to me to give me a hug when she got out of the car!  I felt like a real grandmother!  I told Sarah to tell the girls to call me Nana and Sarah had told Li An to "Go to Nana and give her a hug" and she did!  I picked her up and talked to her, took her in the house, and she was very adorable.
     The visit went very well.  Li An was a completely different child, she will be two in November.  She is used to having baby sister to share her mom's time with now, Shay Li turned 6 months old today.  I was able to play with her, take her out to the playhouse and show her how to look out the windows and shut the door.  We sat and ate lunch, then went inside and introduced her to hubby's pinball machine.  She learned how to pull back on the plunger to set the ball in motion, she hit the button for the flipper, and she loved to watch the ball moving, yelling "Go ball" and when the ball got lost, "Awe".
     We got some pictures of her throughout the visit.  Then we got some pictures of me feeding Shay Li.  I held her for a little while, as did all of us.  She was a very agreeable child.
     Sarah had brought me a kit to make a 3D impression of the granddaughters hands.  But the gel part of the mix required that the girls hold their hands still for over 2 minutes and Li An was just not up to the task.  We ended up just doing Shay Li's hand and jerry-rigging the mold.  But we finally got the plaster poured the mold sat for an hour hardening.  Then it was time to take it out and cut away the gel.  It took a little while using a pen knife to get all the gel off but it turned out really neat.  Now it has to harden for 48 hours, then I can paint and seal it.
     For Li An, I had a 4 piece plaster refrigerator magnet set with some paints.  I set her and I up outside on the patio and showed her how to dip the brush into the paint, then put the paintbrush on the figure.  She had a really good time and did well.  It was the first time she had ever painted and it wasn't until the end when she figured out that she could paint herself.  I marked each of the magnets with her name and the date.  Then I kept two and gave two to Sarah to make the occasion.  They are beautiful.
     It was sad to see them leave.  We had gone out front and sat in the swing, put a blanket down under the trees and played on there.  We had a very full day.  But hubby and I was very happy.
     After they left, we cleaned up and then hubby and I left to go get some pot for his friend, Brent.  We also went to Walmart to pick up milk, baked beans and pot holders.  Milk was still on sale for $1.99 a gallon, we got two cans of baked beans and I picked up a package of construction paper that was on Back To School sale.  We found a set of two terry cloth dish towels with a mitt and two potholders for $4.97, so we got it.  In turquoise, my favorite color.
     The rest of the evening was spent resting up from the visit.  Oh, earlier in the day, we got a visit from a church group.  They were out in the community asking neighbors if there was anything they could do for us and if we had any trash that we wanted them to haul away.  I took them up on their offer and they took all the trash out of Elroy, the pick up, and also took our old sleeper sofa and big old tv.  I tried to give them a $10 donation, but they wouldn't take it.  They gave me a card with information about an outdoor service and baptism they had planned for tomorrow.  It's a a park and we can bring a grill and chairs, blanket, and eat lunch with fellowship.  I plan on asking Cassie and Drew if they would like to go tomorrow.
   

Friday, August 14, 2015

     Today was an expensive day!  I didn't realize that I missed two whole days without writing in my blog!  So sorry!  Let me see if I can catch up.
     Wednesday was the day before my birthday.  Hubby and I had an appointment with the neurosurgeon, Dr Illig, about the herniated disc.  The good news is he isn't going to do surgery right now.  He decided he needed two more tests to check out the disc and one test to check out the nerves.  So after the appointment we walked over the the hospital and did a flex/extend xray.  The nerve stimulation test is set up for the end of the month.  Then we will see Dr Illig again in early September.  At that point it will be decided that this is a Workman's Comp case.
     Wednesday night I baked a Bisquick Coffee Cake for Thursday morning for my Prayer Shawl Meeting at the Churck.  Thursday was my 51st birthday and I wanted to celebrate with my friends.
      Thursday I got up early and took my weaving sticks and stopped at the store on the way to my meeting.  I had to pick up paper plates for the coffee cake.  I had gotten the recipe off the Bisquick.com website and doubled it, baking it in a 9x13 pan.  Hubby insisted we eat a piece when it was coming out of the oven, calling it "The Husband Tax."  I had added in mini chocolate chips so it had some extra sweetness.
     The meeting went well and I was able to demonstrate how to use the weaving sticks and set up and started a new scarf on them.  I got half way done by the time our two hours were over.
     Then I went home and gave the car to hubby so he could go to Denver.  And then my parents picked me up to take me out to lunch for my birthday.
     They took me to one of their favorite places to eat, Country Buffet.  It's an All-You-Can-Eat place that is smaller than the Golden Corral that hubby and I got to.  It's about the same price but offers a variety of mostly comfort foods.  There was a good selection and one of the things I really liked about it was you could get your own drinks.  They even had 2 spigots for chocolate milk!  Dad got us to go cups which we didn't have to use until we were ready to leave.  But they had hard packed ice cream, soft serve, frozen yogurt, cakes, cheese cake and more.  And you could put anything in your cup so dad and I got root beer floats and mom got flavored iced coffee.
     I told my parents that I would ride with them up to Woodland Park to visit while they went up to pick up a prescription for the dog at the vets.  It was amazing to see all the finished construction going around them!
     When I got home, I have several hours to my self to relax and veg.  Frank was out with his buddies drinking at the park, like he does on pay days.  Hubby was working until after 9pm so wouldn't be home until them.  I prepped the onion and tomatoes for the burritos that I was serving for dinner tonight.  I offered to feed Frank early when he got home but he wanted to wait until hubby got home.  Frank gave me a bouquet of miniature yellow rose and a card.  Very thoughtful.  When hubby got home, he gave me a box of my favorite snack, Fiddle Faddle, and a card.  I had already bought my present, my dressmaker form.  It arrived by UPS on Wednesday.
     Today hubby and I got up early and left for work early so he could get off at 5pm instead of at 6pm.  We stopped at Kum and Go and got drinks on the way in.  I also got a yogurt for breakfast since I had forgotten mine at home.
     After I dropped hubby off, I headed home to pick up my neighbor, Janice, and we jetted off to Current.  It is a catalog company that was having a Warehouse Sale with some items up to 80% off.  It took us over 2 hours to get all the way through the store.  I had a cart piled high with stuff and had to edit down at the end and decide what I really did want.  Even then it came to $98.00!  But most of the stuff I got was presents for Christmas and birthdays, and stocking stuffers for us.  I picked up 5 new knit stockings for $1 each, one for me, hubby, Frank, Cassie and Drew.  I'm going to surprise everyone with their names put on them.  And they all match!  I got some silly little stocking stuffers, like drum sticks for the guys, because hey!  You got drum sometimes!
     Next we went to Chef's, a kitchen supply store.  They had so many neat things and a big clearance section.  I was in the market for kitchen towels and found two packs in clearance for $8.00 for 4 towels.  Normally they ran $18 for 4.  I was also looking for pot holders but they wanted $20 for two mitts, so I passed.  I'll go to Walmart.
     We ended up at Old Chicago's for lunch at an all you can eat pizza bar.  I got that and a pepsi and that came to $14.00 with tip.  Expensive lunch.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money to buy Janice her lunch.  I had spent every single dollar I had today, over $120.00!
     We came home and I dropped Janice off.  I hung out at home until it was time for me to pick hubby up at 5pm.  I got there about half an hour early and brought one of my new books to read while I waited.  I was in no hurry, tonight was a scheduled leftover night, so we were just nuking dinner whenever we got hungry.
     When we got home, Frank was home and hubby had to take him to buy pot.   I declined going with them, I had had enough shopping for the day and wanted to stay home.  So off they went.
     When they returned, FRank had bought burgers, fries and onion rings for dinner.  Thought it would be easier than leftovers.  Who was I to argue?
     Tomorrow our daughter, Sarah, and her two girls, Li An and Shay Li, are coming to visit for a few hours over lunch.  We are making burgers and fries.  Then Sunday, Cassie and Drew are coming for lunch, we are grilling steaks and squash.  Don't ask me how we decided this, hubby talked to Sarah and I talked to Cassie.  We both planned without talking to each other and didn't find out the menu of the other until last night.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

     Today was a fractal day.  I woke up early, about an hour before I had to be up so I tried to go back to sleep but my mind wouldn't shut off.  It kept thinking about finances and chores and organizing and just stuff.  So I got my book down to start readying but I wasn't really involved it it.  I'm having a hard time getting into these last couple of books I bought at the thrift store.  They sounded interesting at the time, enough to invest 99 cents in each, but now they don't really sound that good.  I seem to be searching for some type of story, I just don't know what.  Maybe I want to read some more Janet Evonavich.
     So I got up at 915am, got dressed and left early so I could take the two bags of clothes I sorted out of my closet, down to the thrift store for donation.  Part of me really wanted to go through them and sort out all the tshirts and turtlenecks to cut up into strips for crocheting into rugs.  But it would just be another project that I "have" to get around to, so off they went.  I couldn't remember how to get to the back of the building so I took the long way around.  But I got them dropped off and made it to therapy with 15 minutes to spare.
     I talked to Steve, my therapist, about something that happened to me this past Sunday.  About how when I was with the Red Hatters making the pendant for myself, I chose a glass very quickly and thought, this will look good.  Good enough.  But then I started thinking that maybe I wanted to make this as a present for Cassie for her birthday.  Something special.  So I started looking around at the different types of glass, and started thinking about if I turn this a certain way, could I cut this off and add this?  And came up with an interesting design.  But why can't I do that for myself?  I just don't.  And I too lazy?
     We talked about how I will see stuff that I would like to do for me and I will either start it and not finish it, or I will get the stuff to do it but not even start it.  But when it comes time to make things for other people, I will throw my all into it.  It's like, I have bought material and collected stuff to sew clothes for me, but I haven't even touched my sewing machine.  But yesterday I found a free pattern online for a stuffed turtle that I think would be really cute to make for my granddaughters that may be coming for a visit in a week, and I'm considering making it.  But when I first saw the pattern, I thought it was cute and I wanted one for myself, so I printed out the pattern, to put away for "some day".  I can't get creative for myself.
     Steve said usually it's one of two things:  Either you really want someone to like you so you do stuff for them that you think they will like, then they will like you or you just don't love yourself enough to think you are worth  the effort.  It definitely gave me something to think about.  I told him I was ready to explore why this is, because I have spent decades collecting stuff for "some day" but never do anything about it for me.
     When I got home, hubby was supposed to take the car and head up to Denver for an audit.  But right after I left, he got a call that the audit was cancelled, so he was going to be working in the Springs for the day, but it was going to be late.  So I kissed him goodbye and he left.
     I had plans to work upstairs today but as the day wore on, I just didn't manage to make it up there.  I did do the two loads of laundry I had made yesterday but that was the extent of my "work".  I made dinner for Frank and me at 6, so he could eat and go to bed early.  Tonight was grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with soup.  I burned the first set of sandwiches.  When hubby got home later, I made him dinner as well and sat with him while he ate.
     So it was a fairly lax day.  I was a portion of myself, doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that all day, all parts but nothing whole.
     Tomorrow hubby and I have the appointment with the neurosurgeon, Dr Illig, to see if the herniated disc is the same one hubby had operated on 5 years ago, or if it is a new case to open with Workman's Comp.  Wish us luck!

Monday, August 10, 2015

     Today was a productive day.  I woke up early, after hubby had left but around 830am, and decided to go back to sleep.  I rolled over and cuddled with the cat, Dalyhlia.  I woke up at 11 with a crick in my neck.  I laid there texting Holly, telling her of my pain and complaining, then decided to get up.  I got dressed and went down to fed the beasties.
     The rattie boys were sleeping when I sat down at the computer after feeding them but I left the cage door open anyway for them to come out if they wanted.  I caught up on my email and on facebook posts, then wrote to my cousin for a bit.  Hubby called and I talked to him, he told me he was leaving for lunch at 2 and would be home shortly after.  I asked if he could massage my neck as I couldn't turn my head to my left without pain.  He said he would.
     I talked to my neighbor Janice after watching her collect rain water in buckets.  She was outside while it was raining, emptying the bucket under the rain spout into other buckets until they were all full.  Now this could be a problem if other people knew about it as collecting rain water in the city of Colorado Springs is illegal.  The city says it owns all the water from the sky and all our grey water so we aren't supposed to collect it.  But that doesn't stop my neighbors.  And I don't agree with the city policy so I'm not going to tell.
     When hubby came home, I heated up some leftover chinese food for him and we sat and talked.  My neck was feeling better and I forgot to ask him to massage it.  When he got done eating, I asked him to come up to the bedroom and find the remote for the tv.  He did, then he left.
     I stayed up in the bedroom and worked on cleaning out my closet.  We were out of hangers and I had bought some new shirts that needed them.  I had been taking old clothes off of hangers and dropping them onto the closet floor and now I needed to sort through and donate all the stuff.  The cat had knocked a bunch of folded clothes off the shelf so I sorted through those and bagged two big trash bags of clothes to done.  I put some clothes that were full of cat hair or dusty in the laundry hamper and sorted out some name brand nice clothes to send to Threads to see if they would buy them.
     When I was done, I had a big bag for the trash, two bags for the thrift store and the mailer bag for Threads all set for the postman.  I had a ton of empty hangers to reuse, yeah!  And my closet was slightly organized with like clothes grouped together.  I kept just a couple of items that are too small now that I hope to lose enough weight to fit back into.  I was very proud of myself, I kept only the things I have worn this past winter and now.
     Then I headed downstairs.  I got back on the computer for a little bit, again opening the cage door for Dylan and Zeke, until it was time to start dinner.  Tonight we were having Taco Bake and I had 4 pounds of hamburger to do something with, in the fridge.  So I cooked a pound and a half of hamburger with spices for the Taco Bake.  I drained that and put it in a bowl.  Then I set aside another pound and a half in another bowl so I could mix up the meatloaf for Wednesday night.  I then mixed the rest of the stuff in the Taco Bake and put it in the oven to cook.  Then I fried up the last pound of hamburger for burritos on Thursday, my birthday.  I wanted that for dinner.  We were going to celebrate my birthday on Sunday and hubby is going to make stacked chicken enchiladas with green sauce instead of red.
     While the Taco Bake was cooking, I started mixing the meatloaf.  Instead of ketchup, this time I used BBQ sauce.  I thought it sounded better, and we were a little low on ketchup.  I used all the bread crumbs I made myself from stale bread, so I felt really good about that.  Then I added in the mustard, the eggs and the rest of the spices.  While I was finishing this, hubby came home.
     He picked up Frank and they went to the store to get milk, eggs, bread and a small package of ham for grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with tomato soup tomorrow for dinner.  I put the meatloaf in a gallon sized ziplock baggie and marked it for dinner.  Then I stuck it in the fridge with the hamburger for the burritos on Thursday.  I was smoking hot on getting things done today!
      The Taco Bake came out good but a little more juicier than normal.  I guess I put in a little too much salsa.  But the guys liked it and Frank packed some up for lunch when we were done.  There is plenty leftover for his lunches for several days.  I think I have Friday scheduled as a leftover dinner night.  Tomorrow I have to have hubby get out the rotisserie so I can cook a chicken to debone for the chicken enchiladas on Sunday.
     The guys cleaned up the kitchen and tonight Major Crimes is on.  We are caught up and looking forward to watching it.  Hubby is heading up to Denver tomorrow after I get done with therapy so I have to leave early enough to drop off the donation before then.  Hubby brought home more garbage bags so I will be cleaning out my dresser drawers and the chest at the foot of the bed.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

     Today was an experimentation day.  Since I had a Red Hat event today at 1, I wasn't going to make it to church.  But in my head, without looking at the calendar like I should have the night before, I had it in my head that I was supposed to be over to Judithmary's house at 1130am, but really, I was supposed to be there at 1230pm.  So I arrived over an hour early!
     My birthday is on Thursday, the 13th, so this is my birthday month.  And in the Red Hats we normally wear purple clothes and red hats.  But during your birthday month, you wear red clothes and purple hats!  So Saturday, I went shopping at my local ARC Thrift Store when they were having a 99 cent sale and 50% off certain tags, and I found a sleeveless red tank top made out of knit and a black skirt that was like a hankerchief skirt, had panels that came down in points.  It was cotton and lined, but the black material was a lace print, so very pretty.  I also found a couple of other shirts and another short black skirt.  I spent $25.  I got 6 books off the 99 cent table, two for the grandkids, one for hubby and 3 for me.
    I had the Thank You Tea at Holy Apostles Catholic Church on Saturday.  It was a thank you for all the ladies that knit and crochet hats, scarves and prayer shawls for the ministry.  Marilyn had just taken over from Pat and this was her first tea she was hosting.  She made all of us dishclothes and scrubbies as parting gifts.  There was a drawing for a tea gift basket and the lady next to me, Ann, won.  So close!  There was tons of little, crustless sandwiches and cookies.  Marilyn's granddaughter was our little helper.  It was a lot of fun.  After I was done was when I went to ARC.
     The Red Hat event we had today was a class to make a diamicronic glass pendant.  Sue, the artist, comes to Colorado Springs every summer for a couple of months.  She used to live here and likes to visit back with her friends.  She brings all her glasses and kiln and teaches classes, makes jewelry and does craft shows.  I know that is not how you spell the type of glass this is but that is as close to this I can get.
     When we settled in the round table, there was a packet with a black piece of glass and a clear piece of glass and a piece of paper.  This was to be our canvas.  We had bowls of cut glass in front of us, small bowls with tiny pieces and other bowls with larger pieces.  Sue explained that she could cut the glass for us so we could arrange it, just decide on what we wanted, where.  I found a glass with dragonflies that was metalic and changed color depending on how you looked at it.  She cut a rectangle out for me.  I set it katy-cornered on the black base and then she cut two corners off.  I showed her this piece of mirror glass and she cut 4 triangles out for me to put on my corners.  It looks great!  Once I got it arranged, I used this very expensive glue and glued all the pieces into place.  It took a bout 10 minutes for the glue to set.  Then you glue the clear glass on top of your work.  That took a lot longer for the glue to set.  I left mine on top of my bag so it would set.
     After we all were done, she was taking them into the kiln to cook, so the glass would fuse all together and become one piece.  They will be ready tomorrow and Judithmary will pick them all up and we will get them from her later this week.  I also paid for a chain so all together it was $18.00.  I thought I wanted to give this necklace to Cassie for a birthday present but then I thought maybe, I wanted to keep it.  I don't know, maybe at the 15th of the month, I can go back and make another one that is similar to this one and then Cassie and I can "match."
     When we got back to Judithmary's, I left and went to the grocery store.  We were out of laundry detergent and needed to wash clothes.  Normally we get this from Costco but I didn't have time to go there, so I just went to King Soopers.  I got some Arm & Hammer liquid detergent that had 100 loads of stuff for $8.99.  I picked up a peach pie for my birthday celebration that we are going to have on Sunday the 16th.  It was on sale for $5.99.  And I found some pork loin chops in the family sized pack that will feed Frank and hubby for two meals, for $13.00.
     When I got home, hubby was up and dressed, feeling much better.  He was waiting for me to get home so he and Frank could go to the Pot Shop to buy Frank some pot.  While they were gone, I re-did the dinner menu.  With eating a roasted chicken once a week, and some careful planned leftover days once a week, I managed to stretch out our current food until the end of the month.  Ta Da!  And Sarah and the girls, our daughter and our granddaughters, are coming to visit one day next weekend so we will probably order out for that night, so that gives me one extra day of food!  How is that for managing the grocery budget?  We will be down to bare cupboards but we will be fine!
      Saturday I had gone to a garage sale and found a Ronco Chicken Rotisserie for only $7, and it had all the accessories with it, including the book.  Well, today, hubby pulled it out and set it up.  Last night we took out two whole chickens to defrost and he finished doing that today.  He put one on for dinner tonight but set it to cook for 2 hours.  The instructions says 15 minutes a pound but he was estimating in his head.  He dried out the whole bird!  We ended up eating the cornbread stuffing and the corn on the cob for dinner, with probably having a snack of celery and peanut butter later tonight.  But we know the rotisserie works!  That's right, I went to the garage sale on Friday!
     Tomorrow I will be home all day, I have to clean the rattie boys' cage and straighten out the craft table, it's a little full of stuff right now.  I need to go through the extra overflow table and find all the bills to do the bill folder and plan for the next paycheck.
     Only 4 more days until my birthday!
   

Friday, August 7, 2015

     Today was a nursing day.  Woke up to the sound of hubby throwing up in the hallway bathroom.  Poor baby!  I thought it was a reaction to the stronger pain medication he is taking but he says, no, it's a bug.  I got him a drink with crushed ice and tucked him back into bed.  I went downstairs.
     I checked on my little baby mousie and it is doing fine.  I have it in the biggest container I have but it's still not big enough.  So I tried it out in the rattie boys's travel cage.  Seemed fine, lot of room, it climbed up the bars and didn't seem to be able to get out, so I put in a pill bottle on the side with some fluff in it for a bedroom.  Used the cap to put in some seed.  I have a bottle cap with some water in it with a lettuce leaf in it so it will see the water.  I dipped my finger in the water and brought it to them and they licked my finger.  They ate most of the popcorn piece I put in there last night so this morning I got them a half a grape.  Offered it a piece of cat food and it took it right away and started chewing.
     I decided to keep it for now and named it Ralph Mouse, after Ralph Mouth from Happy Days.  But I think it may be a girl but don't really know.  Spent the morning petting her and letting her explore her cage.  When I had the cage behind the computer, I suddenly saw Ralph Mouse out of the cage on the desk.  I chased her around a little but then caught her and put her back in the cage.  She didn't get out again right away so I am keeping an eye on her to see how she did it.
     I check on hubby and he had been in and out of the tub several times trying to settle his stomach.  I had him take one of his anti nausea pills he got when he had the colonoscopy.  I promised to get him some pepto when I went grocery shopping.  I tucked him back into bed and left.
     I went to a garage sale and found goodies!  I found a Thing #1 and Thing #2 stuffed dolls from Dr Suess.  Two animal carved flutes.  A radio pod with earphones so I can listen to my radio station when I am on the computer.  A jello mold I don't have of a duck.  And a Ronco Chicken Rotisserie.  And for all that, only $15.  Score!  I can't wait to cook a chicken on it!  But first I will have to look up the instructions on the internet.  And give it a good cleaning.
     Next  I went to lunch.  Felt a little bad about taking time to eat andjust sit and finish reading my book but I did it anyway.  I was riveted and happy.  Hubby had told me that there was a good ending so I knew the character wasn't going to die, but I didn't know the details.  I must have sat there for an hour, maybe longer.
     I was starting to feel guilty about being gone so long and still not have done the grocery shopping when I realized I had forgotten my list at home, so I went back.  I walked in the door and walked upstairs.  Hubby had been sleeping so didn't notice I had been gone long, thank goodness.  I got him a fresh glass of crushed ice with water this time, got my list and left.
     It took me about 2 hours to shop.  I had gone beef heavy this pay period and it was expensive.  I think the meat alone was over $60.00.  Hamburger was still on sale for $3.99 a pound so I got 4 pounds instead of the 3 I needed.  The lady at the counter told me I couldn't freeze it for some reason so I will just cook it all up before I freeze it.  What really killed me was the stewing beef at $5.99 a pound.  I needed over 6 pounds of it.  I was making dishes that called for hamburger but I wanted stewing beef instead.  What was I thinking?  Since I didn't bring the Dinner Menu with me, I couldn't see what it was I was making and adjust accordingly, so I had to buy all these packages, some half a pound, some just over, and match them up so they came to about a pound or a little over.  They had none of the big packages of stewing beef available, so I have 12 little packages.
     I found out that Butter beans are just Lima Beans that have been bleached or something so I got a different kind of bean since I hate Limas.  This is for the Bean Goulash.  Really looking forward to it.  FRank asked for several things that turned out to be pretty expensive, like brand specific instant coffee, Folger's $7 for the smallest.  And soda.  Mountain Dew.  To get the 12 packs for $2.88 each, I had to buy 4 of them.  I only bought one 12 pack of Pepsi for me.  I got hubby two 2 litter bottles of Pepsi and 1 2 litter bottle of Ginger Ale for his tummy.
     All in all, it came to $179.00 and some change.  I went to use Frank's food stamp card, and there was no money on it.  I had to pay all cash, which was an expense I wasn't expecting to have this week.  Luckily I had the cash with me but there goes the surprise I had for hubby of being able to get his much needed two pairs of glasses.
     I got home but Frank wasn't home yet so I carried all the groceries in, put away the frozen entrees that Frank wanted me to get for his lunches and went across the street to see Janice's flowers.  She called and said they had bloomed and she wanted me to see them.
     When I got back home, with some lettuce from their garden, I finished putting away the stuff.  I checked on hubby, who was still sleeping.  Frank had gotten home by now so I asked him to haul in the sodas from the car.  And with hubby not eating, I told Frank we were just going to eat leftovers.  There was fried chicken, pork chili, hot pockets and sandwich meat and cheese.
     Since the dinner menu is all messed up, I will redo it tomorrow afternoon when I get home from having tea at the church.  The good news is I am pretty sure with the few additional things I picked up I can extend the dinner menu with less food we have to buy next pay period.  Yeah!
     The good news is that hubby is starting to look a little better, though he says that he really isn't.  I bought two cans of peaches for him to eat some of when he takes his pills.  Either that or the chocolate pudding, his favorite.
     Tomorrow is an early day, I have to be out of the house by 815am to get to the Zoo by 9.   I have to remember to take my crochet so I can work on Juan's cowl scarf.  I would like to get it finished soon.