This week is gonna be interesting - I'm working over 50 hours on varying shifts. On my list for stuff at home (along with laundry and all the other 'normal' things) is taking down the electric fence around the garden (we let the cows have it after harvest) and making up some muffin mix that I can use for a bunch of different types. Gotta get out the tomato seeds and get some plants started.
Prep Genrl PREP THREAD - 3/9/14-3/15/14
- Thread starter moldy
- Start date
I'm finding some paper products in the damaged/markdowns such as Chinet paper plates and regular picnic paper plates. Bought 100 heavy duty Chinet for $5.79 and about six 100 pack picnic type plates for $1.29 each .........
TP is on sale: Quilted Northern 4 pk (2x rolls) BOGO at $4.49 for one....I bought 4 pks. plus 4 free and used $1 coupon on each that I bought....so 8 pks for $1.745 each!
Also King Sooper's 12 pk Home Sense TP at $4.99 with a $1.10 coupon= $3.89 for one............and I'll buy two.........
Tomorrow I'm out searching for bargains again............it's like a treasure hunt...........yes, albeit a domestic one.
TP is on sale: Quilted Northern 4 pk (2x rolls) BOGO at $4.49 for one....I bought 4 pks. plus 4 free and used $1 coupon on each that I bought....so 8 pks for $1.745 each!
Also King Sooper's 12 pk Home Sense TP at $4.99 with a $1.10 coupon= $3.89 for one............and I'll buy two.........
Tomorrow I'm out searching for bargains again............it's like a treasure hunt...........yes, albeit a domestic one.
Found me some replacement sunchokes ... the armadillos got what was left of the last patch. Of all the places to find them I was just in Fresh Market to get something real quick before softball practice and they're on display staring me in the face at $6 for a small bag (wound up with ten tubers in the bag I picked). Here's hoping these things take in the new and improved bedding space I am building for them. Dug out a trench, lined it with chicken wire. Back fill with good soil, plant tubers, and then lawn staple another length of chicken wire of the top of that. It's like having to put the blasted things in jail for their own protection. Geez Louise.
I was scheduled for a 3-day weekend off; Fri/Sat/Sun this past week. Plan was to pick up youngest grandson and keep him overnight on Friday so middle grandson and daughter could go to a movie - but MGS decided he'd rather go to Grandma's instead. Daughter's plan to babysit her step-sister's children Saturday night had been cancelled; and she'd been offered tickets to a 'Dessert Theater' production at the high school on Saturday night, so both boys came home with me for the afternoon on Friday, while daughter took the opportunity to grab a friend and go walk the trails at the park as the weather was starting to warm up. A family friend came out and visited while the boys were there and stayed to have supper with us. Daughter came to pick the boys up and stayed for supper as well. The boys had a great time running and playing outside - and fell asleep in the van on the way home; sleeping through being changed into pjs and tucked into bed, and slept clear through 'til morning. I think I was probably in bed by the same time they were - and also slept clear through 'til morning 
Hubby had a competition shoot Saturday morning so I took the opportunity to sneak out to the local consignment shop's 'Bag Sale' - anything you could stuff in a a bag for $3. I was so busy choosing things for the boys that I forgot to look for anything for myself! Ended up with 5 fully stuffed bags - a total of 218 items (less than 7 cents each!) - up to kid's size 10 for the boys including not only shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, pants/jeans; but also several coats & snow pants; and boots, sneakers, and dress shoes several sizes up as well. One pair of the shoes were nearly new Nike's in boys size 4 that I'm pretty sure will fit me - if they are comfy, they may end up being my new walking shoes! Also brought home some cargo pants and long sleeve thermal henley style shirts for Hubby to wear to work, and a couple of fleece baby blankets to use to make covers for my dust mop.
Daughter brought the boys back out Saturday afternoon and we again went outside to play; the little one conked out on us by 8:30 and the bigger one wasn't far behind - I managed to last until 9:30, but it was a challenge! Little one got up early Sunday morning, so he and I had eggs and toast for breakfast; MGS managed to con Papaw into making pancakes when they finally got up, so LGS and I had a second breakfast lol! After that, I tossed a load of blankets into the washer and took the boys outside with me to hang them on the line once they were done; daughter called while we were still outside and said the time of SIL's family dinner had been moved up an hour so she'd be out to pick the boys up an hour early, which meant we had to hustle the boys in the house and get them bathed and dressed in pretty short order.
Once they left, Hubby and I went out and picked up all the downed branches in the yard, cleaned a bit in the machine shed, fixed the boy's playhouse that had gotten tumbled across the yard in a windstorm; then took a walk around the farm. We were just sitting down to a lunch of smoked sausage, cabbage and potatoes cooked in the pressure cooker when the phone rang - I ended up agreeing to cover for a call in a work; splitting the 12 hour shift with a co-worker 6/6; but ended up working 7 hours rather than the 6 I agreed to but that was okay - we were just all talking at work about how we were ready for the vacation season to start so we'd get some overtime... I really DON'T like driving home at 2 am though - especially since Hubby put his foot down and demanded I not stop anywhere on my way home - like CVS or Walgreen's lol! And after my co-worker buddy had brought in the coupon inserts from the Sunday papers he'd picked up for me!!
I got home and managed to settle down enought to fall asleep by 3:45am; slept til 9am; then started in with laundry again. One load to the dryer to tumble for just a bit to get the wrinkles out, then hung to dry inside; 3 loads hung on the line outside. We did a little minor house cleaning, then Hubby fixed beef stew in the pressure cooker while I pulled a set of sheets off the line and made up my bed. After lunch, I went over and walked with the neighbor lady - we managed to get in two miles; down from our usual 3, but it had been a long winter lol! Then it was back home to take a shower and crawl in between those wonderful line dried sheets for a nap before work. Up at 4:30; got the rest of the clothes off the line and put away; then sat down to assorted left-overs for supper. I headed to town by 5:30 as I wanted to make a couple of stops on the way - not that I've found very many good deals so far this week. Stopped first at CVS and bought:
Lancaster caramels; 8 oz bag, $3.99 - $2 scanner coupon - $1.50/1 manufacturer's coupon = 49 cents. Not much to bother stopping for, but I wanted to scan my card to get scanner coupons for the following weeks.
Next stop was Walgreen's:
Bic razors; Buy one; get one for 50% off
2 Soleil razor 4 pks; $6.49 + $3.25 = $9.74 - 2, $3/1 coupons ($6) = $3.74 or $1.87 per pkg.
This morning on my way home, I will stop at one of the local rocery stores and pick up:
12 jars Ragu pasta sauce @ 3/$4 = $16 - 6, $1/2 coupons ($6) = $10 or 83.3 cents/jar
6 boxes assorted Cheerios cereal 9-14 oz @ $1.97= $11.82 - 3, $1/2 coupons ($3) = $8.82 or $1.47/box
12 pkg assorted frozen veggies 16 oz @ 79 cents = $9.48
10 bottles Red Gold catsup 24 oz @ 77 cents each = $7.70 - we're running low on homemade so this will get us through until tomato harvest (I hope!)
Yes, homemade pasta sauce is cheaper and tastes better than commercial but it is good to have something on hand that can be briefly heated rather than homemade that requires lengthy cooking - whether the reason is a power outage or a sudden invasion of starving teen boys lol!. Ditto the Cheerios vs Oatmeal - and they travel a lot better as a snack for little ones than a blob of oatmeal in a baggie
Freezer space is pretty well maxed out at the moment, so 7 bags of the veggies will go in the dehydrator; 5 will be used in canning 3 canner loads (27 pints) of soup for Hubby to take in his lunches.
5 oz cans of Starkist tuna are on sale for 69 cents each but we are fairly well stocked up on tuna for now; I may pick up a dozen cans although the last I purchased seemed 'mushy' or waterlogged. I really prefer the foil envelopes even though they are more expensive.
I found one more Buy one get one free dog food coupon so will also be stopping at Dollar General on my way home from or back in to work today to pick up 2 cans. This purchase will most likely generate a $5/$25 purchase coupon good on Sat 3/15. If so, Hefty brand zipper storage and freezer bags are on sale for $2.50/pkg, and I have $1/2 coupons so will stop in on my way to work Saturday evening and purchase 10 boxes = $25 - 5, $1/2 coupons ($5) - $5/$25 purchasecoupon = $15, or $1.50/box, which will be added to the stockpile.
I have another 3 days off work after tonight (if no one calls in!) - Wed/Thu/Fri. The neighbor lady works Thu/Fri/Sat days, so I promised her I will try to crawl out of bed no later than 2pm on Wednesday so that we can walk again - although I'm hoping she backs out as we're likely to be walking in snow! We're supposed to have a high of 70*F today; freezing rain/sleet overnight, then snow and a drop down to 17*F by Wednesday night! I'm thinking I might take advantage of the high temps today to shut off the furnace and open a couple of upstairs windows to air out the house a bit while I am sleeping. I'm a little leery of doing so as we had a break in about 2 miles away, but the dog will let me know if anyone is on the place; and her barking is enough to wake the dead - or even a nightwalker
I will have the boys overnight Thursday until sometime Friday evening - hopefully the forecast of 54*F on Friday is correct so that I can get the boys outside again. Oldest grandson (will be17) and Son-in-law have birthdays this week; Friday and Saturday respectively, so we may end up doing a pizza dinner on Saturday before I go in to work. OGS will get a metal ammo can filled with treats that I've made or purchased using coupons/bought on sale/traded for such as M&Ms, deer jerky, protein bars, peanut butter cookies & gum. He will also receive a Real Tree camo T-shirt that I bought on clearance after hunting season for $4.99, BBs for his air pistol, and a Silver Eagle. SIL will receive 2 boxes of .22 ammo, 2 bags of Starbucks coffee that he likes (purchased using coupons), M&Ms (ditto), homemade cookies, and a Silver Eagle. I don't think there will be any complaints
Hubby had a competition shoot Saturday morning so I took the opportunity to sneak out to the local consignment shop's 'Bag Sale' - anything you could stuff in a a bag for $3. I was so busy choosing things for the boys that I forgot to look for anything for myself! Ended up with 5 fully stuffed bags - a total of 218 items (less than 7 cents each!) - up to kid's size 10 for the boys including not only shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, pants/jeans; but also several coats & snow pants; and boots, sneakers, and dress shoes several sizes up as well. One pair of the shoes were nearly new Nike's in boys size 4 that I'm pretty sure will fit me - if they are comfy, they may end up being my new walking shoes! Also brought home some cargo pants and long sleeve thermal henley style shirts for Hubby to wear to work, and a couple of fleece baby blankets to use to make covers for my dust mop.
Daughter brought the boys back out Saturday afternoon and we again went outside to play; the little one conked out on us by 8:30 and the bigger one wasn't far behind - I managed to last until 9:30, but it was a challenge! Little one got up early Sunday morning, so he and I had eggs and toast for breakfast; MGS managed to con Papaw into making pancakes when they finally got up, so LGS and I had a second breakfast lol! After that, I tossed a load of blankets into the washer and took the boys outside with me to hang them on the line once they were done; daughter called while we were still outside and said the time of SIL's family dinner had been moved up an hour so she'd be out to pick the boys up an hour early, which meant we had to hustle the boys in the house and get them bathed and dressed in pretty short order.
Once they left, Hubby and I went out and picked up all the downed branches in the yard, cleaned a bit in the machine shed, fixed the boy's playhouse that had gotten tumbled across the yard in a windstorm; then took a walk around the farm. We were just sitting down to a lunch of smoked sausage, cabbage and potatoes cooked in the pressure cooker when the phone rang - I ended up agreeing to cover for a call in a work; splitting the 12 hour shift with a co-worker 6/6; but ended up working 7 hours rather than the 6 I agreed to but that was okay - we were just all talking at work about how we were ready for the vacation season to start so we'd get some overtime... I really DON'T like driving home at 2 am though - especially since Hubby put his foot down and demanded I not stop anywhere on my way home - like CVS or Walgreen's lol! And after my co-worker buddy had brought in the coupon inserts from the Sunday papers he'd picked up for me!!
I got home and managed to settle down enought to fall asleep by 3:45am; slept til 9am; then started in with laundry again. One load to the dryer to tumble for just a bit to get the wrinkles out, then hung to dry inside; 3 loads hung on the line outside. We did a little minor house cleaning, then Hubby fixed beef stew in the pressure cooker while I pulled a set of sheets off the line and made up my bed. After lunch, I went over and walked with the neighbor lady - we managed to get in two miles; down from our usual 3, but it had been a long winter lol! Then it was back home to take a shower and crawl in between those wonderful line dried sheets for a nap before work. Up at 4:30; got the rest of the clothes off the line and put away; then sat down to assorted left-overs for supper. I headed to town by 5:30 as I wanted to make a couple of stops on the way - not that I've found very many good deals so far this week. Stopped first at CVS and bought:
Lancaster caramels; 8 oz bag, $3.99 - $2 scanner coupon - $1.50/1 manufacturer's coupon = 49 cents. Not much to bother stopping for, but I wanted to scan my card to get scanner coupons for the following weeks.
Next stop was Walgreen's:
Bic razors; Buy one; get one for 50% off
2 Soleil razor 4 pks; $6.49 + $3.25 = $9.74 - 2, $3/1 coupons ($6) = $3.74 or $1.87 per pkg.
This morning on my way home, I will stop at one of the local rocery stores and pick up:
12 jars Ragu pasta sauce @ 3/$4 = $16 - 6, $1/2 coupons ($6) = $10 or 83.3 cents/jar
6 boxes assorted Cheerios cereal 9-14 oz @ $1.97= $11.82 - 3, $1/2 coupons ($3) = $8.82 or $1.47/box
12 pkg assorted frozen veggies 16 oz @ 79 cents = $9.48
10 bottles Red Gold catsup 24 oz @ 77 cents each = $7.70 - we're running low on homemade so this will get us through until tomato harvest (I hope!)
Yes, homemade pasta sauce is cheaper and tastes better than commercial but it is good to have something on hand that can be briefly heated rather than homemade that requires lengthy cooking - whether the reason is a power outage or a sudden invasion of starving teen boys lol!. Ditto the Cheerios vs Oatmeal - and they travel a lot better as a snack for little ones than a blob of oatmeal in a baggie
Freezer space is pretty well maxed out at the moment, so 7 bags of the veggies will go in the dehydrator; 5 will be used in canning 3 canner loads (27 pints) of soup for Hubby to take in his lunches.5 oz cans of Starkist tuna are on sale for 69 cents each but we are fairly well stocked up on tuna for now; I may pick up a dozen cans although the last I purchased seemed 'mushy' or waterlogged. I really prefer the foil envelopes even though they are more expensive.
I found one more Buy one get one free dog food coupon so will also be stopping at Dollar General on my way home from or back in to work today to pick up 2 cans. This purchase will most likely generate a $5/$25 purchase coupon good on Sat 3/15. If so, Hefty brand zipper storage and freezer bags are on sale for $2.50/pkg, and I have $1/2 coupons so will stop in on my way to work Saturday evening and purchase 10 boxes = $25 - 5, $1/2 coupons ($5) - $5/$25 purchasecoupon = $15, or $1.50/box, which will be added to the stockpile.
I have another 3 days off work after tonight (if no one calls in!) - Wed/Thu/Fri. The neighbor lady works Thu/Fri/Sat days, so I promised her I will try to crawl out of bed no later than 2pm on Wednesday so that we can walk again - although I'm hoping she backs out as we're likely to be walking in snow! We're supposed to have a high of 70*F today; freezing rain/sleet overnight, then snow and a drop down to 17*F by Wednesday night! I'm thinking I might take advantage of the high temps today to shut off the furnace and open a couple of upstairs windows to air out the house a bit while I am sleeping. I'm a little leery of doing so as we had a break in about 2 miles away, but the dog will let me know if anyone is on the place; and her barking is enough to wake the dead - or even a nightwalker
I will have the boys overnight Thursday until sometime Friday evening - hopefully the forecast of 54*F on Friday is correct so that I can get the boys outside again. Oldest grandson (will be17) and Son-in-law have birthdays this week; Friday and Saturday respectively, so we may end up doing a pizza dinner on Saturday before I go in to work. OGS will get a metal ammo can filled with treats that I've made or purchased using coupons/bought on sale/traded for such as M&Ms, deer jerky, protein bars, peanut butter cookies & gum. He will also receive a Real Tree camo T-shirt that I bought on clearance after hunting season for $4.99, BBs for his air pistol, and a Silver Eagle. SIL will receive 2 boxes of .22 ammo, 2 bags of Starbucks coffee that he likes (purchased using coupons), M&Ms (ditto), homemade cookies, and a Silver Eagle. I don't think there will be any complaints
Gosh, Renee - your week sounds about like mine! Flipping between shifts - 6 hours here, 12 there.... sigh, I'm ready for a vacation, but probably won't take one until late late summer. I managed to get the fence down yesterday and a couple loads of laundry done. DH and I went thru part of the storage house and found taxes from a few years, but are missing some, too. I just want them in a consistant place where I know where they are. Reboxed them, so that the receipts for specific years are together and I need to get them put away today. It's only 0430 and DH has left early to do another quick job before heading to his regular work. I"m thinking I may head back to bed for an hour or so...
prudentwatcher
Veteran Member
During the last few days I've managed to add 8 4packs (megarolls) of tp, 5 sets of heavy duty paper plates, and 4 bottles of laundry detergent to the stash. Also managed to tuck away a few dollars in an envelope for emergencies (or good buys).
At least the weird work schedules teach us to roll with the changes, don't they, Moldy? I can pick up a phone, roll out of bed, shower both sides, yank on some scrubs, and be out the door in 10 minutes if I have to - tho I gotta admit that it's not nearly as exciting as it used to be to do that I don't have vacation scheduled until September, and there are no more full weeks available. I may compare my usual schedule (bwhahahaha!) with the few, scattered open days to see if I can finagle a 5 day run here or there though, as I will be really crabby by September if I don't!
I went outside when I woke up this afternoon to carry in the items I'd left in the car this morning (was too tired to tote in anything but the perishables) and found 2 - 3# jars of honey in the driver's seat! I'd asked a neighbor if he had any left for sale last week and he said they'd have to check to see; so I texted to find out what I owed and he said "Don't worry about it." I'll have to see what I can do to return the blessing
I was blessed twice - when I picked up my groceries this morning, doing the Ragu and Cheerios in three transactions to obey the coupon limits; each transaction rewarded me with a catalina coupon for $1.50/3 Big G cereals, so I will stop by on my way to work tonight and pick up 9 more boxes of assorted Cheerios before the sale of $1.97 ($1.47 w/coupons) box goes off at midnight. I'm pretty sure we won't have any trouble getting through them before the best by date.
Make that 3 times - my two cans of dog food purchase this morning did result in a $5/$25 purchase coupon for Sat 3/15 at Dollar General, so I will be able to do the Hefty zipper bag deal as planned.
It's getting cloudy and starting to cool off - guess I'd better go close the windows and kick the furnace back on before I get ready to head to town - Hubby might notice the furnace being off if it gets down to freezing like it's supposed to!
I don't have vacation scheduled until September, and there are no more full weeks available. I may compare my usual schedule (bwhahahaha!) with the few, scattered open days to see if I can finagle a 5 day run here or there though, as I will be really crabby by September if I don't!I went outside when I woke up this afternoon to carry in the items I'd left in the car this morning (was too tired to tote in anything but the perishables) and found 2 - 3# jars of honey in the driver's seat! I'd asked a neighbor if he had any left for sale last week and he said they'd have to check to see; so I texted to find out what I owed and he said "Don't worry about it." I'll have to see what I can do to return the blessing
I was blessed twice - when I picked up my groceries this morning, doing the Ragu and Cheerios in three transactions to obey the coupon limits; each transaction rewarded me with a catalina coupon for $1.50/3 Big G cereals, so I will stop by on my way to work tonight and pick up 9 more boxes of assorted Cheerios before the sale of $1.97 ($1.47 w/coupons) box goes off at midnight. I'm pretty sure we won't have any trouble getting through them before the best by date.
Make that 3 times - my two cans of dog food purchase this morning did result in a $5/$25 purchase coupon for Sat 3/15 at Dollar General, so I will be able to do the Hefty zipper bag deal as planned.
It's getting cloudy and starting to cool off - guess I'd better go close the windows and kick the furnace back on before I get ready to head to town - Hubby might notice the furnace being off if it gets down to freezing like it's supposed to!
Cut DH's hair tonight - anything to save a penny here and there. Dinner was leftovers from a hospital shin-dig - pecan crusted chicken with mushroom sauce, pasta, green beans, and bread pudding. Got to spend a little time looking over my new herb books I bought a month ago. I just feel a strong need to find if there are herbal substitutes for a lot of meds.
Hubby doesn't trust me with the clippers, Moldy - he does his own lol! Now if I could just talk him into doing the younger grandson's hair cuts as well... They don't cost anything though; daughter trades massages for hair cuts at the spa where she works. Barter is alive and well!
The weather was HORRIBLE when I got off work yesterday morning - a snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, and ice pellet mix; had to keep stopping to whap the ice off the windshield wipers. It was so nasty that I didn't even stop anywhere else on my way home lol!! The snow continued off and on through the day, and we still had a layer of snow on the ground this morning, but it had all melted by this afternoon, and it is supposed to be 60*F again tomorrow - silly weather!!
Daughter called early this morning; early enough that I was only half way through my first cup of coffee - eek! - and asked me to ride with her to a larger town down south to help with LGS while she shopped for an interview outfit. I had some shopping to do in that town that I'd been putting off, so I hopped in the shower and was nearly ready by the time they pulled in the drive.
First stop: Kohl's - daughter found a pair of slacks that ended up being 75% off after sale price and other discounts were taken; and since I had a twin set (shell and cardigan sweater) at home that would coordinate perfectly with the slacks, the only other purchase she needed to make was a pair of pantyhose - and she held off on those for a trip to the dollar store in her home town.
Second stop: Shoe outlet - daughter bought a pair of Nike sneakers for SIL's birthday for 60% off the outlet price. I glanced at shoes while I was there, but after wearing plain white sneakers for so many years, all the shoes appeared unbearably gaudy.
Third stop: Uniform shop. My employer changed their dress code, specifying no printed scrubs, and, in some areas, certain colors for certain departments. Since the employer had mandated the changes, they offered to reimburse staff $100 on work clothing purchases. I picked up 2 lab coats @ $25 each, and 4 pair scrub pants @ $17 each = $118. I had a 20% coupon that I'd gotten in my birthday card at work, so by the time that was discounted and tax was added, my total was $100.54. I'll turn in my voucher for the $100 reimbursement tomorrow, and should be set for work clothes for a couple of years or more. Usually, I buy all navy scrubs/lab coats for the ease of doing laundry, and because I can toss them in the washer with a bit of RIT navy dye every month or so and keep them looking new for a long time, but there were NO navy scrub pants in my style and size medium, or navy lab coats in size medium at all. I may purchase one more lab coat out of my own pocket to match one pair of the scrubs; haven't decided as yet.
Fourth stop: Aldi's. Only stock up deal I did was for carrots - baby carrots were supposed to be on sale for 49 cents/1# bag but were actually 39 cents/1# bag, so I picked up 9 bags. Will use 7 of them to can 9 pint jars of carrots for the pantry; reserving the rest for fresh eating. Most of the rest of the items I purchased were for the short term (current~>6 month use) pantry, although I did buy 4 cans of pineapple rings @ 69 cents each to put in the dehydrator, and 3 jars of strawberry applesauce (no HFCS) that I'll whip up in the blender with a packet of liquid pectin, then drop by spoonfulls on dehydrator sheets to dry for fruit snacks.
Got back home to daughter's in plenty of time to have apples, cheese and crackers for lunch before we needed to pick MGS up from school; then daughter drove us to my house, where we ran the boys around the yard for 20 minutes before bringing them inside and putting them down for naps - once she headed back to town, I joined them
I forgot to thaw out meatball mix so the boys are either going to have hot dogs or chicken alfredo with green beans/applesauce for supper this evening; Hubby and I will have leftovers from last night.
Tomorrow, I hope to get the kitchen island counter cleared off so I can set up the dehydrator and get the pineapple and fruit snacks started drying. I talked to one of my occasional co-workers the other day and she said she had another 20 dozen or more canning jars set back for me (she sells antique jars and often buys large lots of jars to get just a few antique ones, so sets back the newer ones and sells them to me - all sizes - for $3/dozen. I've still got several dozen jars - the grubbiest ones, of course - from the last batch sitting on the picnic table in the shed that I should try to get washed up before the new load arrives; maybe I'll try to carry in a dishwasher's worth and get them done. And I've still got the clothes from the consignment shop bag sale to take the tags off of, sort for size/color, launder, and put away...
Daughter won't be back from upstate until late afternoon, so I'm sure I'll be taking the boys outside during the morning to wear them out for naps A friend will be coming out during the afternoon to visit with the boys; and then we may have that pizza party for SIL & OGS birthday as well, so I'm not sure what - if anything! - else I'll manage to get done (I'm hoping to find time for a shower - without a short person pulling back the curtain every few seconds to make sure I'm still there lol!)
The weather was HORRIBLE when I got off work yesterday morning - a snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, and ice pellet mix; had to keep stopping to whap the ice off the windshield wipers. It was so nasty that I didn't even stop anywhere else on my way home lol!! The snow continued off and on through the day, and we still had a layer of snow on the ground this morning, but it had all melted by this afternoon, and it is supposed to be 60*F again tomorrow - silly weather!!
Daughter called early this morning; early enough that I was only half way through my first cup of coffee - eek! - and asked me to ride with her to a larger town down south to help with LGS while she shopped for an interview outfit. I had some shopping to do in that town that I'd been putting off, so I hopped in the shower and was nearly ready by the time they pulled in the drive.
First stop: Kohl's - daughter found a pair of slacks that ended up being 75% off after sale price and other discounts were taken; and since I had a twin set (shell and cardigan sweater) at home that would coordinate perfectly with the slacks, the only other purchase she needed to make was a pair of pantyhose - and she held off on those for a trip to the dollar store in her home town.
Second stop: Shoe outlet - daughter bought a pair of Nike sneakers for SIL's birthday for 60% off the outlet price. I glanced at shoes while I was there, but after wearing plain white sneakers for so many years, all the shoes appeared unbearably gaudy.
Third stop: Uniform shop. My employer changed their dress code, specifying no printed scrubs, and, in some areas, certain colors for certain departments. Since the employer had mandated the changes, they offered to reimburse staff $100 on work clothing purchases. I picked up 2 lab coats @ $25 each, and 4 pair scrub pants @ $17 each = $118. I had a 20% coupon that I'd gotten in my birthday card at work, so by the time that was discounted and tax was added, my total was $100.54. I'll turn in my voucher for the $100 reimbursement tomorrow, and should be set for work clothes for a couple of years or more. Usually, I buy all navy scrubs/lab coats for the ease of doing laundry, and because I can toss them in the washer with a bit of RIT navy dye every month or so and keep them looking new for a long time, but there were NO navy scrub pants in my style and size medium, or navy lab coats in size medium at all. I may purchase one more lab coat out of my own pocket to match one pair of the scrubs; haven't decided as yet.
Fourth stop: Aldi's. Only stock up deal I did was for carrots - baby carrots were supposed to be on sale for 49 cents/1# bag but were actually 39 cents/1# bag, so I picked up 9 bags. Will use 7 of them to can 9 pint jars of carrots for the pantry; reserving the rest for fresh eating. Most of the rest of the items I purchased were for the short term (current~>6 month use) pantry, although I did buy 4 cans of pineapple rings @ 69 cents each to put in the dehydrator, and 3 jars of strawberry applesauce (no HFCS) that I'll whip up in the blender with a packet of liquid pectin, then drop by spoonfulls on dehydrator sheets to dry for fruit snacks.
Got back home to daughter's in plenty of time to have apples, cheese and crackers for lunch before we needed to pick MGS up from school; then daughter drove us to my house, where we ran the boys around the yard for 20 minutes before bringing them inside and putting them down for naps - once she headed back to town, I joined them
I forgot to thaw out meatball mix so the boys are either going to have hot dogs or chicken alfredo with green beans/applesauce for supper this evening; Hubby and I will have leftovers from last night.
Tomorrow, I hope to get the kitchen island counter cleared off so I can set up the dehydrator and get the pineapple and fruit snacks started drying. I talked to one of my occasional co-workers the other day and she said she had another 20 dozen or more canning jars set back for me (she sells antique jars and often buys large lots of jars to get just a few antique ones, so sets back the newer ones and sells them to me - all sizes - for $3/dozen. I've still got several dozen jars - the grubbiest ones, of course - from the last batch sitting on the picnic table in the shed that I should try to get washed up before the new load arrives; maybe I'll try to carry in a dishwasher's worth and get them done. And I've still got the clothes from the consignment shop bag sale to take the tags off of, sort for size/color, launder, and put away...
Daughter won't be back from upstate until late afternoon, so I'm sure I'll be taking the boys outside during the morning to wear them out for naps
A friend will be coming out during the afternoon to visit with the boys; and then we may have that pizza party for SIL & OGS birthday as well, so I'm not sure what - if anything! - else I'll manage to get done (I'm hoping to find time for a shower - without a short person pulling back the curtain every few seconds to make sure I'm still there lol!)Spring is so busy, but man, I don't think I could keep up with you, Renee! I had a class yesterday (cross-training for our little ICU), then a committee meeting (sigh - the new phrase is 'shared leadership'). Got back in time to see DH headed out with the girls and the skidloader to the neighbors. Dh had seen him getting ready to burn a bunch of stuff and offered to take it off his hands, so they loaded up fence posts and telephone posts and some roof-type thing that DD wants to use as part of a calf hut. I did chores, then headed to meet them, but they had already finished. Made up some French onion soup (with exxtra beef) and fruit salad for supper, then pulled out tomato seeds to get planted and hit the hay.
Today, youngest had her monthly orthodontist appt, then I headed to the bank to get money out of DD's account and buy her some more silver (at her request). Headed back into town and stopped at a local distributor to order more salt (25# bags); I'll pick it up Tuesday. Youngest and I put up some irrigation pipe and put out flags where I plan to plant trees I bought in Jan at a discounted price. Now I"m off for a nap, while youngest makes up some muffins and cleans up a bit. Oh, and I hit Walgreens the other day - gotta get stuff for Easter baskets, you know (it doesn't matter that they're 15-24)
Today, youngest had her monthly orthodontist appt, then I headed to the bank to get money out of DD's account and buy her some more silver (at her request). Headed back into town and stopped at a local distributor to order more salt (25# bags); I'll pick it up Tuesday. Youngest and I put up some irrigation pipe and put out flags where I plan to plant trees I bought in Jan at a discounted price. Now I"m off for a nap, while youngest makes up some muffins and cleans up a bit. Oh, and I hit Walgreens the other day - gotta get stuff for Easter baskets, you know (it doesn't matter that they're 15-24)