** WARNING ** Long post.
Crazy, busy week ahead!!!
This past Sunday was
much more relaxed than the one before, thankfully. I began my day with a hot cup of coffee after
sleeping in almost to 8:00. It was
windy, but sunny as I got busy making waffles for our Sunday breakfast. After breakfast I pulled out everything I
thought I needed to feed us throughout the week. A pot roast from the chest freezer and a
container of pork verde. I also took
some carrots, celery and onion from the crisper drawer and got busy chopping up
those veggies. I put the broth I had
made the day before back into my medium size slow cooker along with the veggies
and leftover turkey meat and allowed the soup to cook all day. Later we cooked up egg noodles and I served
them separate of the soup so I could enjoy it as well.
Pot roast dinner |
Monday, before I
left for work, I seasoned up the pot roast with garlic powder, onion powder and
pepper. I let it cook all day and when
we got home I prepared some rice for the girls and made gravy with the
drippings and some beef broth I had in the pantry. I also steamed some broccoli in a bowl in the
microwave and then stirred it with some butter, salt and pepper.
Tuesday I picked up
the girls from cheer and band practice.
Once home we reheated the pork verde in the microwave and served it up
with tortillas, shredded lettuce and sour cream for some quick tacos. The girls got busy with chores and homework
and I worked on some things around the house.
Wednesday I was on a
run once again leaving work and heading straight to pick up the youngest from
cheer practice. Then we headed off to
Fred Meyer to pick up kitty litter and use up some coupons that were about to
expire on some items that just happened to be on sale. Then up the street a half a block to the feed
store where I picked up two bags of chicken feed to put away for winter, which
was also on sale. Yay! When we got home we had to set out trash cans
for us and both neighbors on each side for pickup the next morning, put away
the feed and litter, sweep out the garage, put away the groceries, feed our
animals and fix supper. I made sirloin
steaks with a salad and heated up a rice pouch I'd received as one of my Friday Freebies.
Free stuff! |
Thursday was our
craziest, busiest day of the week. I had
to be at work at 7:00 as I was leaving early and didn't want to use up any of
my vacation time to cover my hours. Before
I left I made some wraps with ham, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and lettuce,
rolled them up and packed them away in my lunch box along with my regular
lunch. After work I picked up my
youngest early from cheer practice and we headed off to her orthodontist
appointment (she is doing so great!),
then back to the high school to pick up my oldest from band practice. There is a park next to the high school where
we ate the wraps at a picnic table and enjoyed some warmer weather for a change. Then back to the high school for my youngest
to get changed into her orchestra dress and to perform there in her honor
clinic concert, which we thoroughly enjoyed, before we got to head home arriving
around 8:30. Those days are not my
favorite ones to organize and pull off, but I'm always happy when we can make
it happen and thankfully we did.
Friday morning we
discovered our upstairs toilet was leaking around the flapper. I seated it really good and we left for the
day with plans to fix it that evening.
After work I headed home to pick up the girls, dropped my youngest off
at her school for a Halloween dance and then the oldest and I went to Dollar
Tree so I good pick up some items for a planned Christmas project (details
coming) and she could get some stuff on her list as well. Then off to Home Depot for a flapper ($5.48)
for the toilet. Once we got home we
switched out the flapper, adjusted the chain, gave it a test flush, adjusted
the chain again, gave it another test flush and done! My daughter was amazed at how quick and easy
it was to fix the toilet. I think,
judging by the extra $$ on our water bill this month, it had been silently
leaking for some time and just finally started making noise that morning. Glad we have it fixed now.
While at Home Depot
we did some "window" shopping in the appliance department. Oh my goodness gracious. Yeah....
My daughter had her
second band competition on Saturday so our window for getting things done
around the house was small. While she
cleaned the upstairs bathroom and got ready to go the young one and I went
outside and harvested what was left in our garden and got it all cleared
out. I trimmed one of our bushes and we
cleaned up the backyard a bit. We were
able to give the chickens a nice pile of greens to enjoy and scratch around in. Last thing was to disconnect all of the
hoses, drain them, roll them and then hang them up for the winter.
I dropped the oldest
off at the high school to catch the bus for competition and then went to
Wal-Mart to pick up a filter and motor oil for the truck. I had forgotten to get that when I was there
last, ugh. So back I went.
Also, during the
week, I planned out our menus for Thanksgiving.
I ended up doing two of them and will use whichever one depending on who
all RSVPs for dinner. I have a small
crowd menu and a larger crowd menu, complete with desserts and beverages. And almost all that I need to prepare is
already in my house. Yay! I printed out my menus and added them to my
new day planner. Since I was on a roll I
also made up our Christmas menus. They
are pretty simple to put together as we tend to have the same things year after
year. It is what we like and a big part
of what makes our holidays traditional.
I change up a couple items each year, but for the most part it isn't
very different. The girls were excited
when I showed them the menus. Around
here it is all about the food at the holidays.
Homemade turkey soup |
I rinsed out a bottle
of shower gel and used up the last bit there was before tossing it into the
recycle bin.
I picked up pine
cones at work and brought them home to use in some Christmas decoration project
I have in mind.
She discovered her blankets warm out of the dryer |
I trimmed my oldest
daughter's bangs.
I also collected
some more trim from the FREE WOOD bin for my stash as well as a piece of a door
jamb with weather stripping on it. I
plan to remove the weather strip and use it to replace the old one on my back
door. That will save me about $10 not
having to purchase a replacement at Home Depot.
I replaced the weather stripping on our front door last fall and now I
can fix up the other door and we should be set for a while.
That about sums it
up for us. How was your thrifty week?
You had a busy week! I'm glad you were able to repair your toilet. We've had to do that several times as well; thankfully it's an inexpensive fix.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest win this week was still managing to cook dinner on the day my back started to go bad. I had no idea what to make (I was also feeding a picky guest!), but managed to throw together a tasty breakfast casserole from stuff I already had on hand. Didn't have to run out for anything, didn't just give up, and it gave us plenty of leftovers (which I finally finished yesterday). Major win for me! I also sewed my daughter's Halloween costume. Not hugely frugal, but I enjoy being able to make her the costume she wants, and she'll rewear it for dress-up for a long time. :) And Sunday, I got SO much done around the house- baking, making breadcrumbs, cleaning ALL THE THINGS- I feel pretty good about that. Not a terrible week for me, despite a lot of pain. :)
GAH, that bunny is so adorable!!!
Oh Stephanie, I am so sorry to hear about your back. Back pain is the worst. I hope you are better soon. In spite of that you got a lot accomplished. Go you!!
DeleteThat bunny has captured my heart. I just love her.
That was sure a busy week for you! You are so smart to stay on top of home repairs and improvements as they need to be done. We are moving and getting our older house ready for sale has been a lot of work after living here for 14 years and putting off a lot of repairs along the way. In our new house, I hope to be more on top of things!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard sometimes, especially when we are busy, but I try to stay on top of things the best I can. Some things to fall by the wayside unfortunately, but eventually I'll get it all done. At least I keep telling myself that. :)
DeleteWhat a busy week! If you weren't so organized it would have never run that smoothly. I am definitely taking a few pages out of your book for getting everything done! You and your girls have a good week.
ReplyDeleteIt's my day planner. Without it I'd be sunk!
Delete