Thursday, October 28, 2010

Thursday's Thoughts

E is now pulling himself up and standing in his crib and playpen.
Last night I bet he did it at least 3 or 4 times before finally settling down and going to sleep.
That boy wears me out . . .

My mom and brother are coming to visit today which means I need to clean the guest bathroom, vaccume the floors, and finish picking up the kitchen . . . :(

I was thinking yesterday about all things domestic and I came to this conclusion, as a "homemaker" I can cook delicious meals, mend clothes, sew new clothes, & create crafts out of thin air. Now, with all those skills I really shouldn't be expected to keep the neatest house on the block, right? ;)
Because, let's face it, why would you want to mop the kitchen floor when you can make you son a super cute sweater vest? Not that I did that yeasterday . . .

My house really is clean, it's just cluttered. I'm working on getting rid of all the extra nonsense we have laying around, it's just taking awhile.

Enough rambling, I need to make lunch and get to cleaning :P

I can't wait until naptime, I'm going to take a nap and then a long hot shower, it's going to be glorious! Hurry up 12:30!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Just another day . . .

I'd love to say that today was a huge improvement over yesterday. But that would make me a liar.
Blah.
That pretty much sums up how I'm been feeling. Physically tired, mentally frustrated by situations outside my control and my own stupidity.
I am ready for next week. Not this weekend, no I've still got 1 1/2 halloween costumes to finish before Saturday night. But, come Monday I will be done with all of this obligatory sewing and I will finally be able to concentrate on my etsy shop. Good. Cause we need $$$$.

Oh, and my Mac is still down for the count :(
It probably will be for the next couple of weeks. Sigh.

All right enough fun and games, E is screaming for me, I best go tend to my suddenly very needy baby - please, God, let this stage end soon!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A day when everything goes wrong

I am exhausted.
These last few weeks have been crazy and today is no exception.
My computer cord won't work. I found E chewing on the end of it yesterday and now it refuses to work which means my laptop is dead so I'm using this old windows based dell which I hate. I miss my Mac!!!
I'm going to take it in to the mac store tomorrow to see if it does just need a new power cord. Not that I'll be buying one anytime soon. I think they run around $120 . . . ugh . . .
For as much as I love my Mac I am seriously considering trying to sell it and buy a new, cheaper. wondows based laptop on an after Thanksgiving day sale. It's only 3 years old so I'm thinkinh I should be able to get about half of what I paid for it, right?

I have an old iBook that I would rather be using (instead of this dell) but I need to run the software for the airport card and I don't have the disks and can't find any software for free online . . .ugh.

I'm trying to finish up our halloween costumes. Mine is being ridiculously difficult. The zipper keeps sticking and I don't think I bought enough fabric so I've got to get creative.

E is currently boycotting nap time by laying in bed &spitting, his newest trick. At least he's not screaming bloody murder.

This day started out so well but has managed to quickly spiral out of control . . .

I need a vacation.

Friday, October 8, 2010

It's raining

When it rains, it pours.
And right now, I feel like I'm in a torrential downpour.

At about 3 o'clock today I realized I hadn't eaten yet and I was hungry!
There isn't a lot of quick meal food in the house as tomorrow is grocery day. Ethan was napping at that time and I decided that once he woke up I would go get something to eat.

Sadly, my food trip didn't exactly go as planned.

In retrospect I should have just gone to sonic (it's across the street) but I couldn't stop thinking about McDonalds and the fact that they have the monopoly game going right now swayed my thinking.

About a mile and a half from home, while sitting at a red light, my car died.
I tried to re-start it but it just wouldn't stay running more than 5 seconds.
So, I turned on my caution lights and tried to call N at work.
No answer. Left a voicemail.
Thankfully after not too long two super nice men cam and pushed me, quite a ways, into the Walgreens parking lot.

Ok, so now I'm thinking about how to get Ethan and I home.
I try starting my car again and notice that the low oil light is on. Sreiously? I just took it in to Jiffy Lube yesterday morning and paid $27 to have the oil changed! Ugh, not cool!
I add 2 quarts of oil and I think it's going to get me home but it dies again as I'm driving through the Walgreens parking lot. Luckily, I'm able to coast into a parking space.
I then call the $7 cab company (who actually charge $8 - per person) and after a 15 minute wait Ethan and I are on our way home.

So here I sit, still hungry, out of cash, throughly frustrated, and out $10.

I should have just ordered a pizza.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Huh?

Just woke up from my nap and am feeling much better!

Now, for a funny story.

First let my explain a few things that help this story.
1) My parents are married and live together.
2) While my dad occasionally goes out-of-town for business he has been home for at least the past 3 weeks.
3)My dad likes to talk, it's pretty rare for me to have a phone conversation with him that lasts less than 20 minutes.
4) My dad is a pastor and my mom also works at the church (which is right next door to their house).
5) My mom has been pretty sick (flu/cold/achy,etc.) for the past week and a half.

Ok, I hadn't talked to my mom since Friday and I wanted to see how she was doing so I called my parents house and my dad answers

D: hello
Me: Hi it Michelle.
* silence as though I am a stranger*
Me: It's me, Michelle.
*with slight recognition*
D:Oh. Hi.
Me: Is mom there?
D: I don't think so.
Me: Well do you know how she's doing? Tam (my aunt) texted me because she couldn't get a hold of mom so do you know how she is?
*sounds of chewing*
D: Uh, no. I haven't talked to her in awhile, not lately, I really don't know. I think she's over at the church.
Me: Ok. Thanks dad. bye.
D: bye.

It was the oddest conversation. ever.
I'm not sure he ever fully realized who he was talking to.
And, how does he not know how she is feeling? My dad isn't always the most perceptive person (it took him 3 months to realize I had pierced my nose, while I was still living at home) but come on . . .

The whole conversation was just . . .odd.

Oh, and I tried calling the church and got a fax machine sound :s.


What a day

I don't have any yummy recipes or cute craft ideas to share with you today.
We had a busy weekend and now I am laying in bed feeling sick.

E has been so fussy today, nothing was right for him.
Bills are due.

The dish washer needs to be emptied and reloaded.

Laundry needs to be done.

I have pushed myself as far as I can.

My throat hurts, I'm achy and tired.

Enough rambling.

I'm going to sleep.




Friday, October 1, 2010

Weekly menu/meal planning

Since today is Friday, my weekly menu/meal planning day, I thought I would share some tips and tricks for how I plan my weekly meals while staying on budget.

Step 1)
Every Thursday I clean out my fridge, all edible leftovers get put on the same shelf and I take an "inventory" of what I have, I also glance in my cupboards and jot down what I have on hand.
For instance, this week I've got:
Celery
Tomatoes
Cheddar cheese
bacon
mushrooms
6 eggs
rice
carrots
applesauce
red cabbage
spaghetti sauce
macaroni & black beans.

Ok, so I know that Im going to use some of those things for next week's meals, thus saving me some money and ensuring that food doesn't go bad on me.

Step 2)
Next, I look at last week's menu to see if there are any meals we didn't get to. For instance, we had burger king one night and McDonalds one day so that's two meals that I can throw onto next week's menu that I've already got the ingredients for. :)

Step 3)
I sit down with my computer, a couple cookbooks, pull up excel and start planing.
Saturday afternoon's are always leftovers and nights are frozen or homemade pizza.
Sunday lunch is something I can put in the crock pot before church. Sunday night is taco's, nacho's, or both. I make sure to put in the meals from last week that we didn't eat. I also plan in 2-5 meals of leftovers.

Step 4)
I make out my grocery list and next to each item I write down what I believe it costs.
i.e. onions $3
honey $10
7 sm. frozen pizzas $7.50
eggs $2.50
etc . . .

Don't forget to include staples like milk. Also, I don't meal plan my breakfast's so items like Oatmeal get added on as well.

Step 5)
Add it all up. I try to keep our weekly budget below $75 for 2 adults and a 6 month-old.
Some weeks, like this one, I'm way over my budget. The first thing I do is look at my menu to see if there are any pricey meals that I can get rid of. Next, I look at my list and make sure I've only got true essentials on it. I also brainstorm for substitutions.
For this next week I need 40oz of canned tomatoes. I take those off my list because I know I've got about 3lbs of roma tomatoes in my fridge and I can easily use those instead of buying the canned one's. I also cut down on the amount of cheese I'm buying. I've found that you can easily cut the amount of cheese in half for a recipe and it will still taste great.

Step 6)
Re-Add it all up. Today I was able to cut my shopping list from $76 to $65 including tax.
Now, I've got $10 leeway so that if I see anything extra I want at the store I can buy it without feeling guilty. :)

There you have it, my Friday weekly menu/meal planning strategy. I know some people plan 2 weeks or even a month in advance but I've found that one week at a time work's best for me. When I do more than 1 week I tend to have leftovers and fresh produce go bad which is a big waste of money.

Because I know you're just dying of curiosity - lol - here's what we're having next week.