Valentine's Day on a Budget

Hubby and I celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday. Neither of us had gone shopping yet so we went together to the mart of wal. I threw a bag of Reese's cups in the cart and I was done. It is my hubby's favorite candy of all time. No need for a fancy box. He just wants the candy. He insisted on buying me some flowers but I was happy that they were less expensive ones from that store than the ones he usually gets at the florist. I always ask him to not buy me flowers on V-day as they cost too much but he always does anyway. He got me the bear because he knows that I don't need the temptation of candy right now. I'm involved in a Biggest Loser competition at work.

Then on to Valentine cards. I don't know about you but I think five bucks is too much to spend on cards. I would have made one at home but ran out of time. My mom had told me once that she and her sister would go to the store together and pick out cards for each other. They would exchange the cards right there in the store and then set them back on the shelf. (Of course they didn't sign them, it was the thought that counts) So we did that. I picked out my favorite card for him and he did the same for me. We exchanged the cards. Read them. Put them back on the shelf. Total Cost. $0.

After the shopping we went to dinner. Due to a conveniently timed birthday of hubby, we had a free dinner coupon to Red Robin. I had signed up for their club and they sent hubby a belated gift. He loves their 5 Alarm Burger and my favorite is the Whisky River BBQ Wrap. Since it was a birthday coupon, the waitress brought us a desert to share. Total for dinner was $10.77 + tip.

Next up was a movie. If you go to Kerasotes website you can sign up for the $5 club. Every Thursday they send you an email of what movies are eligible for the $5 price at participating theaters. Hubby has been wanting to see Gran Torino and it was on the list this week so we both got to see the movie for $10.

We had a great night out and felt really good about not spending a fortune on gifts and cards that we really don't need.

January 15, 2009

So here it is, the middle of January and no updates from me all month. Do you know why?

NOTHING IS HAPPENING AROUND HERE!!!!

I go to work every day. (if there is school that is) School started back on January 5. January 6 we were cancelled because of ice. Back to work on the 7th. Today? No school because of frigid temps. No ice. No snow. But way below zero wind chills. Tomorrow is still undecided. Monday will be a holiday, so no school then.

We have made a couple of trips to the airport. One to drop off my mom, who took her first flight ever. Solo, at age 65. She flew off to visit her sister and enjoyed it very much. Another trip was to pick up the wife of my husband's cousin. The cousin had thought the flight arrived at 12 midnight and his wife arrived at 12 noon. He is several hours away and was still at work. So we picked her up and brought her here until he could get away. Next week we will go back to the airport again to pick up my mom.

I have not been shopping at all except for one or two trips to the grocery store for much needed items. I have gift cards from Christmas but have no desire to go to the stores. I think I am in full hibernation mode. I just want to stay in my house in my jammies and watch TV and play on my computer.

Today's plan is to type a few more chapters of my Dad's book and get some pictures scanned and edited for that. We have a hopeful completion date for March 30(ish). Dad is still writing but hopes to be done by next week when he comes to pick Mom up. Then it is up to me to get everything typed and pictures ready so we can get everything compiled and submitted. We hope to have the completed books in hand by June 1.

This weekend is the final deer hunting weekend of the season so we will be traveling to my son's house for me to play with the kids and hubby to go to the woods if it isn't too cold. Then back to the same old, same old.

January 1, 2009

Had a nice New Year's Eve. My son, daughter-in-law and my baby grandson came and spent the night. We had a nice dinner at Applebees and then played Wii Monopoly most of the evening. Drank some nice wine and celebrated midnight with a champagne toast. We were all in bed by 12:30. We got up late this morning and had bacon and pancakes for breakfast. Played another round of Monopoly and some Wii Fit. The baby and I did the hula hoop part and everyone else thought it would be fun to video tape me. You couldn't see the baby in the tape. Just the back of my body. The kids all left to do some shopping on their way home and hubby and I are just hanging around for the rest of the day trying not to do anything that takes any exertion.

Happy New Year!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I put our tree up over a couple of days. One day the lights and the next day the ornaments. I wasn't home over a weekend so I had to do it in the evenings after work. We won't have much company this year so I didn't decorate the rest of the house. My son will be hosting Christmas at his house for the first time.

It took many takes to get this picture with the lights all lit up. My flash made it too bright and you thought it was daytime with no lights. Then when I turned the flash off, it was too dark. Also, the star is flashing, so I had to time that right so it was lit in the picture.



Here is our attempt at a Christmas photo. It was the first time I used the tripod and only the second time I used the delay timer. There were many outtakes. My dear husband likes to be silly. I never did get one that I really liked but these will do. These pics are all SOOC. I have not had time to tweak them. We were dressed to go to my work Christmas party, so I decided to take advantage of the situation and try to get a good picture of us.


Here are my favorite ornaments. My dad carves an ornament every year for each couple and each child in the family. The current total right now is 14 just to cover family members. Then he makes extra because of extended family and friends that always want to buy some of them. He does great work and I did not inherit one bit of his artistic ability. This year's ornament is the Christmas tree in the bottom corner of the picture. I have been the keeper of my kids' ornaments for years. When each one gets married or moves out, I pack their ornaments up and give them their box. This year I boxed up the ornaments for my last daughter. The tree looks different without all of the had carved ornaments on there.

This weekend has been spent shopping, wrapping and baking. Today I started some red velvet bon bons that will have to be finished tomorrow. I also made chocolate and peanut butter fudge. I will have to make another batch of peanut butter fudge because my husband will eat all of this one long before Christmas. He has no will power over peanut butter. The shopping is going great and I only have a couple of small gifts left to buy.

Tomorrow I hope to go to my son's house to have Christmas with my daughter who is here from out of state. Mother Nature may have other plans. We are anticipating icy roads and frigid temps and it is too far to go if that is the case. The alternate plan is to finish wrapping gifts and to dip the bon bons. I also have many Christmas books that would love to get some attention. That will be a different post.

Winter

So, I'm almost ready for work this morning. I think I'll go outside and start my car and then come in and make my lunch while it warms up. I don't remember the temp but suffice it to say it was c-c-c-coooollllldddd. So, I go out the door, reach into the car to start it and change all the dials so the SNOW! will melt off of the window. I flip the little switch that will make my seat all nice and cozy for me and head back to the house. Stuck. the little button on the screen door is frozen. I can't get back into the house. I go turn off my car, walk around to the back of the house to let myself in the back door with the key. Stuck again. The key turns, the knob turns but the door won't open. Finally it dawns on me that my husband locked the dead bolt to protect me while he is gone deer hunting. Then I go back through the front door, making sure it doesn't close all the way and start my car all over again.

OK, make my lunch, get in my still frigid car, since it didn't have as many minutes to warm up, and take off. First stop is the ATM machine. I pull up to the little screen and: Stuck. The windows on my car are frozen shut. I cant roll any of them down. Well, I decide that if I have to get out of the car anyway, I'll just go inside to get my money. Next stop. McDonald's. Windows still frozen so I have to get out and go inside for my sweet tea and cinnamon melt. I almost fall on my fanny going into McDonald's because of the ice on the parking lot.

I decide to wait until after work to fill up the car because it is so cold. Gas went from $1.63 this morning to $1.79 this afternoon. Crap. I should have filled up yesterday.

Don't you just love winter?

Best Shot(s) Monday and Weekend update

I had a very nice weekend. I got to babysit my new grandson on Saturday so his parents could go to work. Then I got to spend the day Sunday visiting with three of my grandkids. I also was able to finish the book I was reading and start another while I was there. The book I finished was Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. It was a very good page turner. Next, I started Cutting Loose by Susan Anderson. I am only a couple chapters in but it seems like it will be good also.

Here is a shot of my dirty faced youngest granddaughter and her dirty faced doll. She had just arrived home from her dad's house when I got there and hadn't had her bath yet.


Here is my new grandson and his big sister. He was one month old that day. It took several shots to get them both with their eyes open and nobody crying. LOL He was a sleepy guy and she isn't very comfortable holding him yet.

Here are some action shots. She is jumping on a trampoline that I got her for Christmas. She could jump much higher than this. She was a wild child on this thing.

And here is another action shot. Every time grandpa tried to let her go, she let go too. She wouldn't hang there by herself. She was being silly and this shot caught her laughing about it.

We also spent some time coloring. I got the girls coloring books and crayons instead of candy for Halloween since I wasn't going to see them until Sunday. I figured they would have had enough sugar by then. They both love to color so that was a big hit.

The time change caught up with me Sunday night. I dozed through the season finale of Army Wives so I will have to catch up on the computer. Then I was up at 4:30 this morning. I hope to get this worked out soon.

More later.

Tina

Better

I am feeling much better. I went to work yesterday and did fine all day. However, when I got home I napped on the couch until around 7 pm. Then I dozed through Boston Legal and went to bed by 10:05. I guess I wasn't quite as recovered as I thought. So now I'm up and ready to begin a new day.

I had hoped to have a new Tackle-it-Tuesday for today but after my illness, it will have to wait until next week.

Sick

I am sick. At first I thought it was just allergies bothering me. With the sniffles, drippy nose, sneezing, etc. I wasn't feeling exceptionally bad. But the histamine thing was driving me bonkers. So I dug out the allergy medicine and took it..... Nothing. Still the same symptoms. So I moved on to Benadryl. That helped a little and made me extremely sleepy. I hate the nose dripping. I hate sitting around with a tissue permanently in my hand. I spent all day yesterday on the couch, alternately blowing my nose and napping. I did manage to read a few articles in a magazine and watch much television. This morning seems a little better on the dripping side but now there is congestion moving in. The worst part of the whole thing is that I didn't get to go visit with my grand kids this weekend. I'll spend today taking it easy and taking more medicine so I can make it to work Monday. I really need to be typing more chapters of my dad's book. Hopefully I will feel better this afternoon so I can get busy on that.

CLR Bath & Kitchen Cleaner

I recieved my bottle of CLR Bath and Kitchen cleaner in the mail one afternoon. I took it out of the box and showed it to my curious husband. He was happy to see it as he had been interested in trying CLR and had never had the chance. Before I had time to take any before pictures of the bathtub that I was planning to try it out on, he was in there with the CLR and a sponge. Our bathtub had a lot of what I thought was stains in it. I would clean it with scrubbing bubbles and it never seemed to come clean. The CLR worked much better. He scrubbed it two different times and it was whiter than we have ever seen it. (We have lived in this old house for 3 years.) It cut through very old water stains. We are very happy with the results. I will definately keep CLR Bath and Kitchen cleaner around to keep that bathtub clean and shiny.

Anyway, I had to find a new project so I could try out the CLR. We have this ancient utility sink in the basement. We don't use it for anything but to drain our washer. I have been thinking about cleaning it up since we moved in but it was way down a long list of priorities. So, I took the CLR down there and went to work. Here is the before.

This sink has dirt, grime, rust, paint, and many unknown things in it. It has not been scrubbed in years but does have water running through it daily.

Here is the after.

This may not look like a good commercial for CLR Bath and Kitchen cleaner but I think it is. It took off way more than I thought was possible. I only had time to scrub it once and I didn't exert too much energy. Some of the spots are paint and will need to be scraped off. But lots of the rust is gone and all of the scum.

I highly recommend the CLR Bath and Kitchen cleaner. I think it works great.

MORE magazines

I am at my son's house for the weekend, helping out with the baby and the house while my daughter-in-law recovers from an illness. I am enjoying cuddling my 2 week old grandson very much.

I brought a pile of magazines with me to read in the down time. See this post about my magazine issues. I am currently reading the September issues of all the magazines on my list. Not too bad until you consider that the November issues are arriving as we speak. Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that I can downsize my collection by one. I have not subscribed to MORE for very long. I liked the idea that it was geared to the over 40 woman. But upon reading the July/August issue yesterday, I just don't think it is the magazine for me. I didn't enjoy many of the articles. Mostly I skimmed them for interesting tidbits. The fashion pages were full of very pricy items. Who can afford $2,700 for a handbag? So the verdict is in, and MORE is on it's way out.

Edited to add that I will also not be renewing my subscription to Discover. It is probably a fine magazine. I got it because I thought my husband might like it. He never picks them up. I occasionally thumb through them but I have so many other magazines that I like that I can't keep up with. So Discover is also on it's way out.

He's here!

Here is the new baby! This is me with baby boy and his sister at about 12 hours old. He made his appearance on October 2, 2008. Weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.

Here is the little guy dressed up to stay warm.
Here is the happy family after putting his footprint on the wall of October babies.
More later.

Baby Time

Tomorrow is induction day for my new grandson. I will be leaving after work tomorrow to go to the hospital. Next post should be a picture post early next week when I get home.

Magazines

I think I am addicted to magazines. I subscribe to:

• Good Housekeeping
• Redbook
• Ladies Home Journal
• More
• Guideposts
• Discover
• Readers Digest
• Grand (? something like that, It's a mag for grandparents)
• Plus, I get a couple of monthly magazines from work.

So, I get all these magazines every month. They come in the mail and then I stuff them in a drawer of the end table, and there they sit. They sit there until I can't stuff another magazine in the drawer. Then I decide I need to read them. So, I drag them all out and sort them by month. I have to read the oldest ones first. I don't know why? But that is the way I do it.

Then I have a magazine marathon. I will read nothing but magazines for several days until I have a big recycle pile. I never seem to get completely caught up. There is always a month or two in the drawer.

I keep thinking that when the renewal comes up that I'll let a few go. But then they send me the last chance price and it is usually too good to pass up. I think I got More and Readers Digest for $5 a year, and Redbook for $8. So, I renew for another year and the cycle continues.

Do you think I have a problem? Does anyone else read like me or do you read each magazine when it comes and promptly recycle it?

The Family Tree - and other projects

For Christmas,(9 months ago!!!) my son and daughter-in-law got me a very pretty family tree. It spirals around and has lots of charms hanging from it to put family pictures in. Now, every time my son comes over he complains that it is STILL full of strangers.

I love this tree and can't wait to have it full of pictures of my growing family. I just can't seem to get started on it. I have started a folder on the computer with some of the pictures, but they are not edited or printed. I kept saying I was waiting to get the new computer and photoshop elements to help me out. Well, those have been in my computer desk for about 2 months now, and still no progress.

I have other projects on my list that are not progressing also. My new grandson could be here any day now. I want to make a photo album for his parents that includes baby/childhood photos of all of the close family members. I have been planning this since I found out he was comming. That project is still firmly planted in my mind but not even started.

Then there is my dad's book. He is writing a book that we are all excited to see in print. He is plannng to self publish and goal is to have it back from the printers in time for the family reunion in June. I am the editor/typist. I am really enjoying reading the stories but the typing is going pretty slowly. I really need to get going and finish typing what I have here in the house.

Add to all that the housework that needs done, and the cooking that I haven't been doing and I wonder what I do all day. I really need to sit down and prioritize my projects and make a commitment to getting them done. I have promised to have the family tree done before this Chrismas. Dad's book needs to be done ASAP. And the baby's book probably needs to be finished by next weekend.

I also want to start cooking more often. We eat out too much and I want us to eat healthier and to save money. I need to start planning meals for us.

And I would really like to do more blogging. I am still trying to figure out what to write about most days. I don't have any readers yet but I don't want to bore people when they do come here.

I hope by typing this all out where I can see it, that I will get motivated to get things done around here. I'll let you know how it goes.

Back in the Swing of Things

I have a full week under my belt at work and things are getting back into a routine. I am waking up without the alarm and I have been having a little time to wake up with blog reading every morning with a glass of iced tea and some cereal. Then I get ready and out the door.

Work has been going good and I've not been too tired when I get home. Except on Friday, I was worn out. I think that was just because it was Friday. LOL

I'm just spending a quiet weekend at home. The weather is nice and I am reading a paperback and browsing books on photoshop elements. I purchased elements along with a new computer recently and I haven't played with it too much yet. I have books from the library that are due soon, so I need to get busy reading them.

I think the back to school funk is over. Thank goodness.

In a back-to-school funk

I start back to work on Wednesday. I work in a school and I do really like my job. I just don't want to work. I don't like to get up early to go somewhere. I like to get up early and spend hours on the computer. I don't like coming home exhausted and having to figure out what is for dinner when I'd rather take a nap. I don't like having to go to bed "early" so I can get up in time to surf the web and get ready for school.

And then there is the feeling of guilt that I didn't DO enough this summer. We went to Ireland, got my son married, and organized millions of pictures. I got a new computer and I almost have everything moved off of my daughters computer. But, I didn't deep clean the house, finish the pictures, visit everyone I wanted to, or a hundred other things from the mental list that keeps haunting me.

I just have the blahs and I don't know how to get out of it.

Wedding Weekend

Here is my son, my new daughter-in-law and my granddaughter

These are my four granddaughters

These are my kids

The wedding was beautiful. Everything was very nice. My granddaughter did a great job with the flower girl thing. All of my kids and grands were there. We did a group photo but haven't gotten it back from the photographer yet. I hope it is good. A couple of days later everyone who could came to my house to spend the night. That was fun to have them all here. The next day we went to St. Louis and went to the zoo and the arch.

Here is all of us except my son who took the picture.

After the zoo we all went up in the St. Louis Arch. They all had a great time doing that too. Later that day everyone went home and we had some time to relax. It was a great weekend and so nice to have everyone at the wedding.

Wedding stuff

Went to pick up the flower girl dress for my granddaughter today. She was not with me when I bought it. They only had one size left of the dress my son and his bride picked out and I was not sure it was the right one. The dress needed to be cleaned so I had to leave it there that day. I had my granddaughter's mom bring her to the store today so I could pick up the dress and try it on her. We met at the Dollar Tree next door and she picked out some stuffed mermaids that she wanted me to buy her. Then we went to the bridal store to try on the dress. It fit very well. Just slightly too long but that can't be helped. The wedding is next weekend and there is no time for alterations. She calls it her "Princess Dress". Then we went to Sears to buy shoes to go with it. They didn't have much to pick from but we got a pair that will do. After the shopping we went to the car. She got in my truck and wanted to go home with me. I finally got her out of the truck and into her car. I wish I could have kept her but the drive is too long to make an extra trip to take her home. She wanted me to take one of the mermaids to my house but I told her she could bring them with her the next time she comes. That will be the day of the rehearsal.

We decided on pizza for the rehearsal dinner. I will buy some salad and drinks to go with it. Probably I'll get some cookies or brownies too. I still have to get my daughter's birthday present. The wedding is on her birthday. So I'll have to hit the stores one more time this comming week.

Home again

We are back from Ireland!!! It was amazing. We saw lots of beautiful scenery, kissed the Blarney Stone, stood on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, took a boat and jaunting car trip through the Gap of Dunloe, walked in the icy water on a beach on the Dingle Peninsula, toured the Waterford Crystal Factory and had many other great adventures. Hubby and I took hundreds of pictures that I have to sort through and condense into a manageable album to share with friends and family.

In other news, yesterday was the bridal shower for my new Daughter-in-law. It was a very nice shower and they received lots of very nice presents. Her aunts did a great job with the food and her mom made the cake. It was beautiful and delicious. The wedding is in a couple of weeks. I am having a hard time finding something to wear, but am confident that it will work itself out.

This and That

Well, the graduation is over. It was very nice. We had a grad party here at the house and all the family turned out. She has become engaged and is planning a wedding for a year from now. I took over 200 pictures of them last night for engagement photos. About 5 of them are good.

DD is enrolled in a class for the fall. It is an evening class so she can get up in time. LOL

DS is making me a grandmother and a mother-in-law again. This will make my 5th grandchild, the first 4 all being girls. Plus I have 5 step-grandsons. The wedding is in a month. The ETA on the baby is still unknown, waiting on a Dr. visit in a couple of weeks.

We leave for Ireland in two (2!) days. The packing is comming along and the internet has been thouroghly searched for all things Irish.

Hubby's DD and SIL will be visiting tomorrow. They have moved way out of state and this will be their second visit home in a year and a half.

Ok, I promise to try to get more regular with posting after the vacation and the wedding. We will see what happens.