11-21-13

7:10am

Stomach is having a rough time this morning

for some reason.

In an hour and a half I've been to the bathroom 4 times.

Can't be down and out today because

I've got a couple of pies to make,

one for hubby's work tomorrow and one for us for supper

as kind of a taste tester pie.

8:15am

Well I got two pie crusts and toppings made.

This evening I'll work on the filling and getting them baked

when making supper which will be

Chicken Parmesan.

That way the oven will be going and warm the house some

for the night.

Still making bathroom trips.

Been a total of 6 times this morning!

What is up with that?!

I never know what to expect on day to the next.

2:15pm

Home Depot in Grove City just called

and said I had an order to be picked up.

Said it was under a business account.

I haven't been to Home Depot in a long

time let alone I don't even know where

the one is in Grove City, lol.

Hmmmm, wonder what I got, lol.

I told them they got the wrong person.

3:15pm

Stopped by my friend's house on the way home

from the bus stop.

This is what she gave me today!

I don't even know what to say anymore I'm speechless!

She helps us out sooooo much!!!!

All I can say is it couldn't of come at a better time!

2 large tubs of breakfast bars,

2 packages of cheese slices,

2 boxes of Triscuits,

a platter of melon & grapes,

2 Kroger bags of pants,

2 desk top lamps,

a Kroger bag of cans of pop,

Time for some ibuprofen.

Don't know what it is about this time of day

but my whole body starts a throbbing.

Gonna start supper here soon and get 

my pies made.  I've got my fingers crossed they turn out ok.

Plus I brought up a box of Christmas lights

to start plugging them in to see if they work.

That would totally suck to put them on the house

and they wouldn't light up!

Last year hubby's supervisor gave him blue

icicle lights for the front of our house.

This year at a yard sale I found a box of

blue icicle lights all for a $1.00!

6:05pm

Pies are done, supper done and ate.

I only ate half my supper and that's the only

thing I have eaten all day.

I go through spells where nothing looks good to eat

because of my stomach, sometimes

forcing myself to eat.

Today I went potty 8 times!

Maybe I need to go on a liquid diet or bland foods

for a little while til my stomach calms down.

11-20-13

9:50am

Me and mom headed out this morning at 7:15am.

She took me out to breakfast and then we went

to Meijer to do her grocery shopping

and we each got turkeys that were $17 off.

Mine was around $28 and with the sale it cost around $12,

.61 cents a pound.

My turkey is 19.5 pounds for our family.

This won't be used for Thanksgiving.

I got it while it was on sale to use at another time

for a bunch of meals.

Well I've had my fun for this morning

and are going to lay down for a nap.

12:20pm


I took about an hour and a half nap.
Had to put a sweater on I got a little chilled.
During the day I turn our heat to 69 degrees
and at night between 72-73 degrees.
I like to be all warm and snug at night.
I had a guy the other day come to my door
and try to get me to change my gas supplier.
First of all he can't read the sign that says
No Solicitors on the door.
Second of all I'm fine with having Columbia Gas.
My bill at the moment is only $38 and
I'm not on the budget.
I got him to go away by showing him how much
I pay and saying our house is well insulated
and we have a wood burning stove.
Ok, we don't burn any wood but do have a wood stove
and he could obviously see the pipe coming
out of the side of the house.
We can't use the stove because whoever installed
it put it too close to a gas line, duh!
My highest gas bill during the coldest of Winters
here was around $130 and that's only for about
2 months out of the year, February & March.
The rest of the year it stays between $25 and $60
so I'm not complaining.
We have gas heat and water heater.
Stove is electric.
I've had $200 to $300 gas bills at other places for one month!
Now my electric bill can get stupid
topping $150 to $170 during warmer weather
(air condition)
and $100 to $130 during colder weather
(Christmas lights, baking more, everyone being
cooped up inside using more electrical things).
We've been discussing ways of how
we can possibly cut it back.
We are thinking about going back to a regular
fridge with upper freezer rather than using
our side by side one which is larger.
Refrigerators can be electric hogs!


1:30pm


Working on getting the rest of my
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles baked
before I go pick up kids from the bus stop in an hour.
I ended up with 64 cookies, a little over 5 dozen.

I think my next cookies will be made from a cake mix.
I have been getting cake mixes
throughout the year either marked down
after the holidays or in a scratch and dent bin
for a buck or less.  I have 8 cake mixes I can choose from.


1:50pm


We had a 3.5 magnitude earthquake in SE Ohio today.
I didn't feel anything.
Last night hubby woke up and swears he felt the bed
shaking.  I think he was dreaming.


2:55pm


Whelp there goes the body starting to throb.
And I thought I was doing so good today
not taking any ibuprofen, wrong!


I'm still going through things my friend gave me.
Today I went through a bag of misc items.
A bunch of it was vitamins and supplements
since she knows I take them.
3 turkey oven bags,
4 crock pot bags,
2 boxes of 50 count packs Stevia,
100 count packs Sweet N Low,
box of ginger tea,
tin of variety of teas,
Turmeric, Magnesium, Vitamin D3,
Calcium-Magnesium-Zinc-Vitamin D3 all in one,
Excederin, Alleve, Dulcolax, GasX,
Anti-nausea liquid, Centrum vitamin & minerals,
Pepcid AC, Astragalus drops.

---

11-19-13

12:55pm

I laid down and took a 3 hour nap this morning

I was so tired.  I'm always tired it seems even

if I get enough sleep.

Well I got through the last clothing bag in the truck, whew!

Now I need to figure out where to put the clothes I kept, lol.

I filled up my side of the closet with nothing

but my new clothes.

1-2 bags of Summer clothes went to basement storage.

I ended up donating 2 bags of clothes that wouldn't fit.

2 medium boxes of clothing will go towards Christmas presents.

I'll have so many pairs of shoes some brand new with tags!

I've never owned more than just the basics

like one pair of tennis shoes, boots, sandals and maybe a dress shoe.

It sure feels like Christmas came early for me!

1:50pm

I've got 2 batches of Pumpkin Snickerdoodle dough

chilling in the fridge.

2 boxes Krusteaz snickerdoodle cookie mix

2 eggs

1 cup butter

1 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

and I'm guessing on these measurements

because I just kinda dumped them in the bowl-

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

box of pumpkin spice pudding mix

Drop tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheet

and dip the bottom of a glass into some cinnamon sugar 

and press onto tops of cookies before baking.

These will go into the freezer for Christmas cookies.

3:15pm

I have been trying so hard to find my living room once again.

It started looking like a clothing boutique!

I got the Winter clothes put away in the closet

but now have to figure out where to put shoes,

any and all jackets & sweaters (things that zip or button up),

and under garments, pajamas and robes.

4:00pm

I made up 6 cookies to taste test with the kids

from the cookie dough I made.

While they tasted good they were kind of dry

so I dumped a small box of pumpkin spice pudding

mix into it, along with some more flour,

sugar and brown sugar to stretch it out further.

Waiting for them to bake to see how they turn out.

If they are still dry then I might run icing stripes on the tops.

4:40pm

The cookies came out excellent and had lots of flavor

that I won't be needing icing.

No longer dry with the pudding mix added in.

I got supper going in the oven of BBQ chicken wings.

I put them on a cooling rack placed on top of a cookie

sheet to catch any grease.

Bake 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and using tongs dip them into

a bowl of BBQ sauce and return them to the rack

to bake another 15 minutes.

While the chicken was cooking I saw that I had

a 10 pound bag of potatoes that needed used up

so I peeled them all, chopped them up 

and put on the stove to boil in a pot of water.

Some large potatoes I reserved for supper,

cut in half and in half again and microwaved

them for about 8 or so minutes til tender.

These will be served with the bbq chicken wings.

Of course I saved all my potato peels 

and have them soaking in a bowl of cold

water with a splash of lemon juice.

I'll drain these and put in freezer bags

to make baked potato skins.

This time of year potatoes seem to go on sale.

I've been finding them for $1.99 a 10 pound bag.

I just bought another 10 pound bag this week

so the other bag needed cooked up.

Plus I've been working on getting clothes put away.

Here's just a sampling of the shoes/boots I got.

You can see they are still in their boxes

and some still have tags on them!

There is also another pair of the red shoe boots in a 

different color, another pair of black suede boots

that are shorter, another pair of black leather riding boots,

2 pairs of tennis shoes, a pair of dress shoes,

a pair of loafers, 2 pairs of high heel dress shoes,

and tons of sandals on top of what you see!!

5:50pm


Getting overwhelmed with everything.
Between clothing, baking Christmas cookies,
planning what to make for Thanksgiving, etc
I also have a potluck at church to make something for
and now hubby says he needs something for work
by Friday for a Thanksgiving potluck for his coworkers.
I'm gonna be a baking fool!!!
I'm thinking about making a pie for his work
that I want to enter into a contest.
I can use his coworkers as taste testers
and get feedback from them before entering it.
It's making me tired thinking about everything
I need to do!!


8:50pm


So I made all that supper for everyone
and to me it didn't look appetizing at all so I didn't
eat the chicken and had a little bit of potatoes, didn't
even finish them.  I was hungry so ate a Banquet entree
that looked good.  Now my stomach feels like it's
doing flip flops.  There's days when I get hunger pains
that eventually make me sick and throw up.
None of this stuff makes sense to me.
My insides are so screwed up.

11-18-13

8:40am

Oh....My....Gosh....

I will never need any clothing items for the rest of my life!!

I feel like I have raided a celebrities closet

there are sooooooooooo

many clothes I have been given!!

It blows what clothing I have away!

This stuff looks brand new and some even have the

tags still on them!!

They are not bo bo brands either for women.

Lots have been gotten off of QVC shopping channel.

Some clothing even comes in one of each color offered.

I'm supplied with everything 

from jackets for all seasons, socks, undies, slippers, girdles,

riding boots, snow shoe boots, dress shoes, tennis shoes,

sandals, many kinds of belts, pajamas for all seasons, robes,

jeans, dress pants, sports pants, casual pants,

dresses, skirts, summer dresses, shorts, capris, t-shirts, 

summer tops, sweat pants, sweat shirts,

sweaters, all different kinds of shirts from

short sleeve to long sleeve, button sweaters.

Some outfits are matching.

Some things I can give to the kids that are neutral clothing

like sweatshirts, sweat jackets and socks!

I even found hubby about 3 or so pairs of diabetic socks in there.

Oh my goodness did I miss anything, I'm sure I did

because I still have a couple more bags in the truck

along with many shoe boxes to still go through.

I can pass my good fortune onto others that need

it and as gifts for Christmas.

I plan to give clothing as gifts to 2 people

because I don't have much for gift giving,

stock my closet with it,

some I'm giving to my kids and hubby,

and the rest I am donating to a charity

called The Kidney Foundation.

PLUS...

I am being told there is still more clothing to come

and I am being given a sewing machine!!

I'm so overwhelmed by everything it ain't even funny.

To me it's one heck of a Christmas gift and blessing!

Even the cats have found them a new toy or two

from the pile of socks I've been going through.

---

I would like to get a turkey this year.

The best price I've found so far is at Meijer

which requires a $20 purchase to get

$10 or $17 off a turkey.

Well I've already went to Kroger to do my grocery

shopping and don't have an extra $20 to just

spend to get a turkey when I could be using that

money to get a turkey.

What to do?

Mom shops at Meijer for groceries.

So here's what we plan on doing.

We are going to split her grocery list in half.

I shop for half of her list, she shops for the other half.

We each go through the line together with separate orders

using her same bank card for each of them

since it is her groceries she's getting.

In each order will be a discounted turkey, one for her, one for me.

And I'll just pay mom cash for the cost of my turkey.

Wallah, no extra money spent to get my turkey.


7:20pm


So I went to my friend's house this afternoon
to pick up a sewing machine she was giving me.
Along with the sewing machine
she also gave me a tablet.
Oh...My...Gosh!!!
I am so lost for words.
She lost her mother recently and has been sharing
things with our family.
Santa came early this year that's for sure!

---

11-17-13

9:05am

Got a breakfast casserole baking in the oven.

Just something else I threw together that sounded good.

Take 2 cans of biscuits, cut and quarter them and place

into the bottom of a greased casserole dish.

Whisk together 6 eggs, a little milk

and seasoning and pour over top the biscuits.

Cut up a package of precooked bacon and

sprinkle bacon and some shredded cheddar cheese

over top of biscuits.  Bake 350 for 15 or so minutes.

3:05pm


We've been out the last couple of hours at hubby's 
work on a call.  Had to replace an entire toilet.
Before coming home we stopped by Big Lots
to get hubby a wiper blade for his car.
His wipers are horrible and streaking across
the window.  Big Lots had them for $5.
Got just one for the driver's side which is better than nothing.
Plus I also picked up some Suavitel liquid fabric
softener.  I have been using dryer sheets
but that doesn't seem like enough to remove
any cat hair from our clothes.
As we walked through the front door of Big Lots
I saw that they had just put a discounted cart
out.  I picked up 3 bags of
blueberry muffin top cereal for .75 cents each,
that's one of my favorite cereals!
Also I plucked every package of peanut butter
cookies they had marked down to only .10 cents a pack!

Well time to finish up laundry and work on supper
here in a little bit and clean up the living room
from the clothes bags I've been going through.
Nothing like getting an ENTIRE new wardrobe
from shoes, boots, under garments,
Summer and Winter clothes and everything in between,
all at once!  Lots to go through!
These are not your little kitchen trash bags either,
more like big bubba trash bags!
Here's the first one I went through.

---

11-16-13

10:30am

I think I went to bed around 8:30pm

then got up for a couple hours then back

to bed til 9:30am.

If today goes well meaning not too many pages

out to go to hubby's work,

then we might work on getting the gutters

cleared out of leaves and start hanging

Christmas lights on them.

Other than to be checked to make sure they work

the lights won't come on again til the day after

Thanksgiving.  That's also when I get

the Christmas tree and other decorations out.

One holiday at a time thank you.

Last night me and hubby was trying to figure

out his vacation time.  He is only allowed

to roll over one week each year and he has

3 days needing used up before then.

He gets Dec. 24 & 25th off so decided 2 vacation days

will be for the 26th and 27th.

Then we have one more day sometime to

go Christmas shopping.

While we don't have much money I do have

our Christmas savings account to fall

back upon now for Christmas presents.

I started this a couple years ago because

we were so broke we could hardly have a Christmas

for the kids.  Now $25 is taken out of hubby's

paycheck automatically.  By the end of the year

we have save up $600 to use for Christmas.

3:00pm

We went to the grocery store to get food for the week

and spent $49 with no coupons.

I had a small list and no meals planned.

Sometimes I just have to go to the store

and find mark down meat and take it from there for meals.

So here are the meals I have for this week

after the trip to the store.

1.  4.69 pound package of chicken wings marked down.

bbq chicken wings with beans, mac n cheese,

maybe a potato salad.

2. & 3.  2.69 pound package of pork roast marked down.

Sides- mashed potatoes & gravy,

green beans or peas, bread & butter.

4.  Chinese veggies (marked down) & teriyaki pasta

with chicken nuggets.

5.  Sweet Italian bread pizzas.

Bakery bread was marked down.

6.  Marked down Italian sausage on bread

with a side of french fries.

7.  Sausage gravy & biscuits

8.  Breakfast casserole with biscuits,

eggs, cheese and bacon.

6:00pm

Nothing like mowing and raking leaves in the dark.

We started cleaning out gutters and raking leaves

earlier but of course the pager went off

and we had to head to hubby's work for a little

over two hours.
This was earlier before we got called to work.

8:15pm

I've got a lot of clothes to start going through.

My friend gave me 15 to 20 trash bags full of

her mom's clothes, shoes and coats!!

Now imagine a whole back end of a Suburban

top to bottom, side to side full

of bags of clothing!!!


Hubby wants to go to his mom's for Thanksgiving
so I guess we're going.
So now I've been sitting her racking my brain
as to what I can cheaply take.
I have my 3 crock slow cooker I can use
and take with us.
I was thinking maybe some creamed corn
in one crock.
You put about 3-4 cans of drained corn in the crock
with about half a block of cream cheese, butter, milk,
salt and pepper.
I have a bunch of canned corn I found marked
down at Kroger.

In the other two crocks I think I'm going to make
my usual homemade noodles with gravy.

Then lastly I have a bunch of chips that I bought
awhile back for .25 cents a bag.
I have blue corn chips, sweet potato chips
& other kinds of chips.
What if I put those on a platter with a cheese ball?
I saw a recipe for a cream cheese ball that looked yummy.
Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball.


OK, time for some more ibuprofen.
I don't think yard work did my body any justice today
but it needed done.
Let the throbbing resume, ahhh.

11-15-13

5:55am

Trying to keep my eyes open.

It was hard to fall back asleep once back home last night.

I'd say it was around 12:30 to 1:00am that I drifted off.

Once asleep then I had acid reflux that kept waking me up.

5:30am came way too fast.

Sooooo tired!

8:00am

Well I was going to make more cookies this morning

but I'm too tired and I'm waiting for my ibuprofen

to kick in to make my body stop throbbing.

My next batch of cookies will be

pumpkin snickerdoodles.

I found a bunch of marked down cans of

pumpkin earlier this year at Kroger for .39 cents a can!

So I have been finding ways to use it up.

I love shopping those after holiday sales

and finding marked down baking stuff!

3:15pm

I laid down from 8:30 to 12:30 and took a 4 hour nap.

I always feel tired and my body throbs.

I try to watch how much ibuprofen I take

because it can mess with your liver.

Sometimes I tolerate the throbbing all over

and other times I have to take something

to get some relief.

Just took some ibuprofen because my whole

body is throbbing.

I hate feeling like this, miserable!

5:40pm

I took a shower which always seem to help

relax the muscles and inflammation.

Right now I'm working on another item

for my emergency supplies around here

considering the colder weather is here.

With winds, ice and snow you risk the chance

of being without power.  No power means no heat

unless you have a fireplace or a generator.

So here's the next thing I want to make

for an emergency called a terracotta heater

that will heat a small room.

I know you've all heard of ceramic electric heaters,

well this is pretty much like that except it runs

off candles.  Ceramic electric heaters have wires

that run through and heat up ceramic plates

then a fan blows that heat out into your room.

Place a couple of these terracotta heaters in a larger room

but make sure to watch over them like you

would any other candle to prevent fires.

You can check out how simple and cheap

they are to make on YOUTUBE.