We have an interesting month coming up mainly because the kids will be gone for nearly half of it. They leave for camp in about 2 weeks, are gone 5 days, come home and leave 5 days later on a 10-day mission trip. It will be interesting to hear all their stories and see pictures. It will be interesting to see how they grow while they are gone. It will be interesting to see the effect their absence has on my budget. It will be interesting to see what preparing for their absence will have on my budget! lol And it will be interesting to see how all 3 of us handle being apart for that long.
It's actually the last part that has me most concerned. It has been 5 years since the kids have been gone longer than 4 nights in a row, and that was to a camp here in Ohio at The Wilds. We all did okay then, so I'm praying we all do okay now. The twins are older and will be with a group of people they know pretty well, and I have faith and confidence in the youth pastor and young couple that are leading the mission trip. They will be fine, I'm sure. It's just that.....I just don't like being completely alone at night! This is the first time in 27 (oh my gosh!) years that there has not been a critter in the house to blame noises on. No cat, no hamster, not even a goldfish! I live in an old house in town, so there are going to be noises. It's just being realistic and mature at 2 AM that might be a problem! haha :-) Anyhow, I'm sure we will ALL be fine and happy to be back together. And IF I can get my act together and get back to posting more regularly, they might actually be recorded in the written form! :-D
The countdown is on....now, where to find cheap, petite junior bermuda shorts that will hold up for 7-8 days of concrete work? And how do we fit in a reunion, graduation parties, Father's Day, driving and more driving and a neighborhood yard sale into the 3-1/2 weeks (that soon???!!!) before they leave for the mission trip?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Bragging on My Kids :-)
Good news twice for the kids yesterday. First of all, their passports arrived in plenty of time for their trip next month to Jamaica - yay! DD has already started planning all the places she wants to go and all the visa stamps that she hopes will one day fill the pages of her book. Another step into the world of adulthood!
Second, it is an advantage sometimes that DD is very competitive with her brother. She is constantly comparing grades, how he does versus how she does in something, etc. Constantly. So as soon as the excitement over the passports died down a bit, she brings out this notebook and asks her brother how he did on the tests. My ears perk up because they aren't in the same classes and only share 1 or 2 teachers this year. Turns out Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) results were released yesterday. There are 5 sections of the OGT, and students must pass all 5 sections in order to graduate. Tests are administered every year to sophomores, and if you don't pass a section, there are opportunities to re-test at various times up until the summer after your original graduation date. Anyhow, BOTH KIDS PASSED ALL 5 SECTIONS THE FIRST TIME! We are ALL so happy! Between our district's track record - we tend to have the lowest pass rates in the county - and DS's handwriting - he should be a doctor! haha - I wasn't sure if they would pass all 5 sections in the first sitting. The tests are taken over 5 days - 1 section per day - and by Friday, I'm sure DS was sick of hearing me harp on him to be careful with his handwriting. He has failed or gotten low marks before on papers because the teacher couldn't read it. Not all the time, but when he feels pressured or is in a hurry, like on a timed test that determines whether you gradate or not! And DD had me a little worried when she would come home each day and say how easy the test was. I remember walking out of tests that I thought were easy and finding out later that I bombed, so I was hoping she was right. And she was. :-)
It's such a relief to have both the passports here and the tests passed. Each bring the kids one step closer to adulthood, to being off on their own and doing their own thing. It's definitely an exciting time!
Second, it is an advantage sometimes that DD is very competitive with her brother. She is constantly comparing grades, how he does versus how she does in something, etc. Constantly. So as soon as the excitement over the passports died down a bit, she brings out this notebook and asks her brother how he did on the tests. My ears perk up because they aren't in the same classes and only share 1 or 2 teachers this year. Turns out Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) results were released yesterday. There are 5 sections of the OGT, and students must pass all 5 sections in order to graduate. Tests are administered every year to sophomores, and if you don't pass a section, there are opportunities to re-test at various times up until the summer after your original graduation date. Anyhow, BOTH KIDS PASSED ALL 5 SECTIONS THE FIRST TIME! We are ALL so happy! Between our district's track record - we tend to have the lowest pass rates in the county - and DS's handwriting - he should be a doctor! haha - I wasn't sure if they would pass all 5 sections in the first sitting. The tests are taken over 5 days - 1 section per day - and by Friday, I'm sure DS was sick of hearing me harp on him to be careful with his handwriting. He has failed or gotten low marks before on papers because the teacher couldn't read it. Not all the time, but when he feels pressured or is in a hurry, like on a timed test that determines whether you gradate or not! And DD had me a little worried when she would come home each day and say how easy the test was. I remember walking out of tests that I thought were easy and finding out later that I bombed, so I was hoping she was right. And she was. :-)
It's such a relief to have both the passports here and the tests passed. Each bring the kids one step closer to adulthood, to being off on their own and doing their own thing. It's definitely an exciting time!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Grocery Budget Problems....Again
DD and I did the grocery shopping Friday night, and I went overbudget. Again. *sigh* I know that prices are increasing, but I'm just frustrated that I can't keep within my grocery allowance. I've checked out a couple books from the library for a "refresher course" in lowering my food bill and to kick-start my motivation to work at this harder. It doesn't help that the "manager specials" at Kroger no longer seem so special. I can rarely find red meat for under $3 a pound now except for hamburger, and that will be $3/lb very soon, I'm sure!
So what to do? First of all, I need to re-think my menus. Simple recipes with common ingredients will be key for me. We like to try new things, and we still can; however, I don't believe I will be making the new-to-us chicken recipe that calls for a $7 bottle of almond butter anytime soon! There is also a discount grocery - Save-A-Lot - in town that I have only been in once. It's now time to check it out again and see if there are any savings to be realized there. I'm not anxious to add yet another store to my usual 4-store trip, but it is on the way, and if there is a decent savings, it will be worth it.
Finally, the kids will be gone for a total of 2 weeks in June, and my grocery costs should decrease significantly while they are gone. After all, I don't think I will be going through 5+ gallons of milk each week all by myself! haha! I am going to challenge myself to cut my budget for that time period by a little more than half - $50 instead of $125, and I don't think that will be a problem. The savings, I'm debating what to do with. It will either become the kids' spending money for Jamaica or I will use it to stock up on red meat. Maybe a bit of both.
Anyhow, it's time to hunker down and squeeze this budget even further. I hate the idea of having to increase my budget, but with the kids home for breakfast and lunches here very soon, that might be my only option. But it won't be without a fight! haha
So what to do? First of all, I need to re-think my menus. Simple recipes with common ingredients will be key for me. We like to try new things, and we still can; however, I don't believe I will be making the new-to-us chicken recipe that calls for a $7 bottle of almond butter anytime soon! There is also a discount grocery - Save-A-Lot - in town that I have only been in once. It's now time to check it out again and see if there are any savings to be realized there. I'm not anxious to add yet another store to my usual 4-store trip, but it is on the way, and if there is a decent savings, it will be worth it.
Finally, the kids will be gone for a total of 2 weeks in June, and my grocery costs should decrease significantly while they are gone. After all, I don't think I will be going through 5+ gallons of milk each week all by myself! haha! I am going to challenge myself to cut my budget for that time period by a little more than half - $50 instead of $125, and I don't think that will be a problem. The savings, I'm debating what to do with. It will either become the kids' spending money for Jamaica or I will use it to stock up on red meat. Maybe a bit of both.
Anyhow, it's time to hunker down and squeeze this budget even further. I hate the idea of having to increase my budget, but with the kids home for breakfast and lunches here very soon, that might be my only option. But it won't be without a fight! haha
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Gardening Baby Steps
Way back when, when we lived in the country, my ex-husband had huge gardens. As in easily larger than our present backyard for the main garden and several specialty plots - one for strawberries, one for potatoes/onions, etc. I'm not a dig-in-the-dirt kind of girl, but I loved going out and picking the fresh produce for dinner and freezing what we couldn't use right away for winter. I've missed that. Unfortunately our current backyard is 95% shade. There are 1 or 2 spots that might, might, get more than 4 hours of sun, but not a big enough spot to grow a whole lot. Plus, the location is rather inconvenient - one is about 2 feet away from the fence gate! I've thought about container gardening in pots, which could be easily moved when mowing, to a more sunny spot if I find one, etc., but haven't really done anything about it. Until now.
This past weekend was our annual Mother-Daughter banquet at church, and the theme was on servanthood. As in the past, a number of ladies did centerpieces for the tables which were then auctioned to help cover the cost of the food for the banquet. This year, the centerpieces were to be things from the kitchen. (I did a basket full of quick breads.) I usually bid on one or two that I like but have never won before. But this year I did, and I won an edible salad bowl. It has several different lettuces in it. You snip off the leaves, leaving about 2" behind, and keep reharvesting. It may seem silly, but I'm so excited! haha I have it elevated on one of our old grills until determine if any critter is going to try to make his own salad. :-) Once I determine it's safe, I will probably put it elsewhere.
Now that I think we have put most of the 30-degree nights behind us (hey, I live in Ohio after all - we could still have 30-degree lows in June!), it's probably safe to proceed with the rest of my container plans. The grill that is holding the salad bowl now will be turned into a small patch of mint. Mint grows and spreads like crazy, so it needs a contained spot. I love it in ice water and iced tea and am looking forward to trying it on a few desserts. I also want to do a pizza pot. One tomato plant and some basil and oregano in the same pot. We have a kettle grill that we no longer use that I'm thinking about for that, but I need to make sure it's deep enough. Otherwise I'll just use one of the gardening pots in the basement.
Maybe someday I'll live somewhere that I can have a larger garden and be able to eat fresh veggies and put some up for fall and winter, but for now this is a start. Hopefully it will be a successful one!
This past weekend was our annual Mother-Daughter banquet at church, and the theme was on servanthood. As in the past, a number of ladies did centerpieces for the tables which were then auctioned to help cover the cost of the food for the banquet. This year, the centerpieces were to be things from the kitchen. (I did a basket full of quick breads.) I usually bid on one or two that I like but have never won before. But this year I did, and I won an edible salad bowl. It has several different lettuces in it. You snip off the leaves, leaving about 2" behind, and keep reharvesting. It may seem silly, but I'm so excited! haha I have it elevated on one of our old grills until determine if any critter is going to try to make his own salad. :-) Once I determine it's safe, I will probably put it elsewhere.
Now that I think we have put most of the 30-degree nights behind us (hey, I live in Ohio after all - we could still have 30-degree lows in June!), it's probably safe to proceed with the rest of my container plans. The grill that is holding the salad bowl now will be turned into a small patch of mint. Mint grows and spreads like crazy, so it needs a contained spot. I love it in ice water and iced tea and am looking forward to trying it on a few desserts. I also want to do a pizza pot. One tomato plant and some basil and oregano in the same pot. We have a kettle grill that we no longer use that I'm thinking about for that, but I need to make sure it's deep enough. Otherwise I'll just use one of the gardening pots in the basement.
Maybe someday I'll live somewhere that I can have a larger garden and be able to eat fresh veggies and put some up for fall and winter, but for now this is a start. Hopefully it will be a successful one!
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