Driving, Driving, Driving

On the road again.... now that the weather and the roads are improving, it's been time for the kids to get back behind the wheel. I had full intentions of having them do more bad weather driving, but unfortunately the bulk of our bad weather had ice involved, and I was NOT enthused about driving in it myself, much less teaching 2 teenagers! What we have been doing is getting the night hours in for DS. That and driver's ed are all he needs before he can test for his license. He needs about 5 more night hours, and driver's ed starts this afternoon, so in about 2 months, we will be finding ourselves scheduling the test and increasing my insurance bill! haha DD is also taking driver's ed but just the classroom part right now. She will only drive if her brother is not in the car now, so we're getting her time in, just slower than what he did.

This weekend's adventure was interesting. It kind of started as a joke but then DS decided it would be fun to do. Both kids are balking at learning how to read a map. In their opinion, they have Mapquest and online direction programs and will want GPS systems in their cars and so won't need to know how to read a map. I've told them that I won't let them go for their license tests until they prove to me that they CAN read a map. After all, it's not like Mapquest is ever wrong! ;-) Anyhoo, I told DS that one day I was going to take him out to the middle of nowhere and make him find his way back home. On his own. And he thought that would be great! He even wanted blindfolded! The only resource he used was the sun. And he did quite well getting us home. It was definitely the scenic route, but we made it. It took him about 1-1/2 hours to get home, usually an hour or a little less), and he thought he was more north than he was, but all in all, he did very well. DD isn't sure she wants the same challenge, though!

Once we get map reading down and night driving more comfortable (for Mom at least!), I need to bite the bullet and let DS drive to our favorite mall in Columbus. He has driven to Columbus once, but that was on Christmas Day, and traffic was definitely sparse. Not sure I want to let him go in full traffic, but I know I have to. My mom never let me drive in a town larger than our hometown, and even that she wasn't too happy about, but I knew I was capable of it. Of course, that was because she didn't like driving in large cities, but I don't mind it. Anyhow, that's coming. And since we didn't get much bad weather driving in this season, informal driver's ed will be continuing into next winter. But that's where we're at. Won't be long at all before they fly on their own.

Overwhelmed in a Good Way, For Once!

Usually when I'm feeling overwhelmed, it's not good. Typically it's because of the whole single parenting thing, sole income thing, teenage siblings thing all coming together at once, and it's not pretty! But Sunday was different, and I'm still feeling it today.

Let me start by saying, my kids' grandpa (Papa) is amazing. It's a testimony to his grandpa-ness that my 16-year-old twins still love to spend time with him and do things with him. Even nearly 10 years after the divorce, he still refers to me as his daughter-in-law and rarely declines to help us out when he can.

When I was going through the divorce, it was because of a loan from him that I was able to purchase this house, and I only have a few more months' of payments until that loan is repaid. Or I should say, "had." That's because on Sunday, he gave me his copy of the loan agreement marked "paid in full." *wow* I wasn't expecting that! But he insisted that is what he wanted to do. It wasn't a huge monthly payment, but to have it finished is a huge weight gone. Then he hands me a check. Huh? He said he is giving both sons (my ex and his brother) a check for the same amount to do with as we wish. He said he realizes one son has taken advantage of him over the years and that he wants to so something to even that out. He hopes these checks will be yearly occurences, though the amounts may vary, and he knows that with college expenses looming and increasing costs of raising kids, that this money could come in handy. No strings attached. Spend it as I please. *double wow!*

But wait! There's more.... Then he says, he is not sure if I have an updated will, medical power of attorney and living will or not, but he has arranged for all 3 of us (again, my ex and his brother) to have wills and any necessary documents drawn up at his lawyer's office, at his expense. I know he has been worried about my ex-brother-in-law's health for a while and what arrangements would be made for my nephew should something happen. And I have known that I need to update my documents considering my mother was my main decision-maker, and she passed away 3 years ago, and my brother, who is no longer speaking to me, was my back-up. So I will be soon making an appointment do that. *triple wow* And oh yeah, I'm to bring my payment book for DD's braces so he can resume those payments. *a hundred wows!*

My head was spinning and still is actually. DS can now start official driver's ed as soon as he gets the classroom part done and test for his license. I can now accelerate my debt repayment and hopefully be completely debt-free by the time school starts back in August. What a blessing Papa is to all of us. A simple thanks doesn't seem enough, but I have no idea how to begin to let him know what this means. Earlier Sunday morning in Sunday School class, our teacher said to never deny someone the blessing of giving. I pray that Papa is blessed through these gifts and that somehow we can show him the love of Christ that he is showing us.

Adventures in Groupon

I've had the opportunity to use 2 Groupons in the last couple weeks. Groupon is a website that offers deals of the day based on your location. The deals are usually limited in number, offered for a limited time (usually just that day) and some must have a limited number purchased before the deal is actually good. (If the minimum isn't purchase, your money is refunded.) Different Groupons are offered in different markets, so if you live in Dayton, your offer will be different from Columbus, which will be different from Cincinnati, etc. You can buy a Groupon out of your market; just be sure to read how to redeem it before purchasing. You don't want to purchase a Chicago Groupon that must be redeemed in person if you live in Houston! Anyhow, sometime late last fall, they were offering free gift codes, and I was able to snag $35 worth to apply to my account, and recently there were 2 Groupons that caught my eye.

My first purchase was from Purely American, which is actually an Ohio company that does business online only. I was able to get a $40 credit to the company for $20 (which was deducted from my gift codes). They also included a $7.95 shipping credit. The company sells specialty soups and baking mixes, spices and nuts. I love this kind of thing but can never really justify spending $6 or $7 on a mix! I was able to get 5 different mixes plus 2 pounds of Virginia roasted peanuts and only spent 95-cents out of pocket. Because I ordered during a stretch of really bad weather (my kids had 3 days of school off in a row!) and I knew where the company was located was probably iced in, I knew shipping would probably be delayed, but my order arrived within about a week. I haven't made much from the mixes because of our schedules but look forward to baking this weekend. And the peanuts are really, really good!

My second purchase was a $20 Barnes and Noble Groupon that only cost $10 (again, deducted from my free credits). We went to Columbus on Saturday, and I bought "The Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook" and a bar of Godiva chocolate. :-) My total came to $20.06, so I only paid 6-cents out of pocket! It was kind of funny because when I went to check out, as the cashier was ringing up my purchase, I started to say, "I have a Groupon..." and he said, "Oh! a Groupon!" This particular Groupon was available for 4 or 5 days nationally instead of being a local deal and was obviously very popular!

I still have a $5 credit left on my account, and I'll keep my eye out for something to use it on. ($5 Groupons do come up occasionally; usually they are more in the $10-$20 range.) I would probably purchase another Groupon with "real money" if it was something that I used regularly or could give as a gift toward the holidays. A lot of what is offered in my market seems to be for restaurants and yoga/spa deals, which I wouldn't particularly use. I would probably try more things that I wouldn't normally wouldn't (see my first deal above!) if they were to give out more credits, but I would be surprised to see that happen again. Anyhow, it was fun splurging over the past few weeks without really spending any money. A girl needs that once in a while!

February Meal Plan

Well, part of February anyhow! I have discovered that even if I only go 2 weeks between meal plans, I like the flexibility and options that planning out to 3 weeks gives me. That's why some of the meals listed below are carry-overs from last time. That and a couple of the recipes I just really like and want again! And as always, Thursdays are leftover days, and Sundays are pizza-with-Papa nights.

Mondays
Rotisserie chicken (shopping day)
Chicken-broccoli roll-ups
Chicken cacciatore

Tuesdays
Beef chimichangas
Beef au gratin
Enchiladas

Wednesdays
Beef stew
Spaghetti pie
Breakfast casserole

Fridays
Pork chops paprikash
Tuna melts
Onion soup

Saturdays
Potato-leek soup
Farmhouse chicken
Hamburgers

February Goals

I did okay with my goals last month. Not great, but okay. Good enough to encourage me to continue. And what I didn't finish is being carried over into this month, namely cleaning out DS's closet and fixing the leaky faucet in the bathroom. February *should* be a much quieter month, so I will have no excuses for not meeting these goals.

1. Keep up to date with Bible reading. (So far, so good!)
2. Extra payment to Visa.
3. Savings deposit.
4. Read 2 books.
5. Unfinished projects:
Fix leaky faucet in bathroom
Hang new smoke detectors
Cut fabric for quilt
6. Teach a meal.
7. Bag to Goodwill.
8. Clean out and organize kitchen linen and junk drawers. (These are driving me nuts!)

January Reading

I came across The Cheapskate Next Door in the library's new book section. The author interviewed many self-described cheapskates to see what set them apart from everyone else in regard to saving and spending. I didn't really learn anything new that I would want or be able to implement, but I did learn that I'm already do a lot more than the the non-cheapskate-next-door!

Black Friday is a novel about a teenage newspaper intern and her friends, who uncover the dark side of the abortion industry. As a parent, I appreciated that the consequences of some of the teens' choices were not minimized or easily dealt with. I do believe the book was written more towards the teen/young adult reader as I would have appreciated more depth to the story and characters, but this is a suspensful book my daughter would read and perhaps be drawn to other books in the Soul Survivor series.

Salvage Stores

We went to our first salvage grocery store over the weekend, Dings and Dents in Plain City. I wasn't sure what to expect actually. I knew the merchandise would be banged up a bit but that the prices would be good, and I was kinda right and kinda wrong. :-) A salvage grocery is one that sells items that couldn't otherwise be sold in your mainline stores. The boxes are beat up, the cans have some major dents, bags of wrapped items have been torn and taped up, etc. The food is good, quality has not been affected, but if you're looking for perfect packaging, keep on driving. You'll never know what will be in stock because it changes every week, depending on what they get in with their shipment. Think Odd Lots, only less fancy. :-)

I was right in that a lot of the products were not going to win a beauty pagent. I would say 70% had packaging defects, but not everything. We got a large box of Kellogg's Pops cereal that was in perfect shape for $1.50, a jar of Wyler's beef bouillon cubes for $0.99 and a jar of their chicken cubes for $1.49, and all of those had no defects at all. We also got a few baking mixes where the boxes were crushed, all around $0.89 to $0.99 each, but those are some really good deals! I debated about the baking chocolate; it was marked down to $0.99 but each box was missing 2 squares, and I decided to pass, and I didn't really need any canned goods, so I didn't take mental note of those prices. Candy bars were marked at $0.25 each, and DD quickly snapped up 4 Lindor and Reese's cups. On the flip side, some of the household and personal items I thought were not as good a deal. I didn't look at expiration dates of the batteries but at $5.99 for 8 AA size, I passed on price alone. There were a few perishables, but not many, and the only meat available was sausage. We weren't going straight home, and I didn't bring a cooler, so I didn't even look at those items. Bread was available for a donation.

Plain City is about an hour from our home, so I wouldn't make a special trip to the store, but if we are in the area and they are open, I would definitely stop again. There are other salvage stores in Ohio, and in checking this list, I see others within that same distance. (This is a national list; scroll around for other states.) Some salvage stores sell things past their *sell by* dates; the only things here I saw that were past dates were on a specially marked table, specifically noting that. Everything else was well within a usable timeframe. It's definitely nice to have another option in grocery shopping.