We had a very interesting Easter Sunday last week. Not at all like we had planned, but very good
nonetheless. I scored a FREE charcoal grill off Craigslist. Our current grill is a little portable gas
grill you take camping. This one will be
so nice for my daughter's graduation party.
We picked it up Sunday morning right after breakfast and it even had a
partial bag of briquettes tucked inside.
It needed a little bit of work, but nothing I couldn't handle.
After we brought home the grill and got it unloaded the youngest
and I went over to the FREE WOOD bin near my work to pick up some supplies for
an upcoming project we have planned once school is out. We will need to acquire as much as we can
between now and then for free as we pretty much have a $0 budget for this
project.
We filled up the truck and then headed over to Home Depot to
return a bag of odds and ends leftover from our many projects we had going last
year. They refunded me on a gift card
and I used part of that for a can of BBQ paint.
After we got home it was time to get cooking and we managed to
cook up quite a storm. It became a bit
of a meal prep as well as a holiday dinner.
Lots of good leftovers to carry us throughout the week and well beyond.
Monday evening I cooked up a couple of chicken breasts I had
thawed. This gave us a nice option over
the ham and we were able to use it in some salads as well. I also cooked a cup of rice for the girls and
we were able to add that to the mix quite nicely. Lots of variety and options for all our
meals.
Our pretty Easter table |
Tuesday my youngest woke me up in the middle of the night. She had come down with a stomach bug and my
poor little girl was sick. Oh my goodness I've never seen her so sick. I stayed home with her that day and while she
slept I was able to get outside and work on the BBQ grill. I spent three
hours total on the transformation and I think you will be impressed. I'm a bit surprised myself. Check back tomorrow to see what I did.
My oldest is now a licensed driver! She took her final drivers test on Tuesday
and got her license at the DMV on Wednesday.
Hurray! We finally got there!
By Thursday my youngest was back to school and determined although
I felt she probably should've stayed home another day. But she was concerned about falling behind in
her classes and off she went. We also
had the parent's meeting at the high school for dance team and she didn't want
to miss that either. My girl is a
trooper, I have to say. She made it through and by
Friday was feeling more like her old self.
With one girl out of commission and the other one either at school
or work all of the chores were mine last week.
I managed it just fine and even got the yard mowed, trimmed and
raked. I started spring cleaning the
front area of our house and along the driveway.
With all of the rain we've had our yard has been in desperate need of
some cleanup and a good mowing. With
only 3 more weekends available until the graduation party (can you even believe
that?!) I've got a fair bit of work to do.
Our poor deck is in desperate need of a refresh So is our little fire pot |
Saturday I managed to get a lot of things knocked off my
list. My neighbor let me use his city
issued compost bin and I filled it up with leaves and debris from our trees
that had accumulated over the winter. I
burned a big pile of scrap wood and tree branches in our firepot along with a
bag of shreddables we had collected in the last month. I mowed the lawn again and pulled up another
nice pile of weeds. I neatened up the
backyard and our deck, did a load of laundry, washed dishes and unclogged our
bathroom drains. I felt much better
after all that, tired, but better.
I popped into Dollar Tree and picked up a few items on my list
which included some BBQ supplies and a can of oven cleaner to clean the
portable grill and the "new" one. I also grabbed a couple more
party items and found a beautiful graduation card for my daughter that pretty
much says everything I needed it to say.
A few supplies for the upcoming grilling season |
I started stockpiling ice cubes for the party. I want to be able to put ice in our cooler to
keep the drinks chilled so I've been filling gallon Ziploc bags and putting
them into our chest freezer out in the garage.
I don't like to pay $2 for a bag of frozen water so I am making my own.
I did not do any grocery shopping last week.
I rinsed out an empty bottle of laundry detergent and added the
soapy liquid to the wash. Used up every
last bit in that bottle before I tossed it into the recycle bin. I did the same thing with a fabric softener
bottle as well.
Happy girls! |
We finished up a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner
that was sitting upside down in the shower for a couple of weeks. We managed to get out every last bit before
we tossed them into the recycle bin. I
replaced them with a partial bottle of shampoo and conditioner I had found
underneath the sink. I don't know how or
why they ended up under there but we are using them up now.
Happy hens = lots of eggs |
I washed out several Ziploc bags in various sizes to reuse.
I cleaned out some extra produce in our refrigerator and a bag of frozen
corn muffins the girls were not going to eat and gave it all to the
chickens. They had a very happy Easter!
Easter flowers |
Some
of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished
to keep my home in order:
Laundry Room & Half Bathroom -
vacuumed floors, washed mirrors, scrubbed the sink. Daily swish & swipe.
Dining Room - vacuumed & spot mopped
floor, dusted the light fixture.
Kitchen -
vacuumed & spot mopped floor, cleaned microwave.
Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed
& dusted. Scrubbed the sink, toilet
& tub, vacuumed floor, washed the mirror.
Daily swish & swipe.
Other - three loads of laundry, dusted
& vacuumed living room, hallway & entry, cleaned the hearth, mantle and
wiped down the stove, cleaned the TV. Swept front porch.
How
was your thrifty week?
You go to Sears, don't you? Well, here's your chance to pick up one of those free Christmas presents... if you're a rewards member, Sears is sending a $5 off $5 coupon if you text SPRING to 732-77. Here are specifics:
ReplyDeletehttps://moneysavingmom.com/sears-five-off-five-purchase-coupon-text-offer/
Thank you Cindy. Sadly our Sears is no more. They closed it down. Very sad to see so many shops folding. :(
DeleteHI there. Also a Boise resident. Most of those bottles you mention throwing into the recycle bin are not allowed anymore. And if we pollute our recycling I fear they will stop taking anything :-( https://curbit.cityofboise.org/recycling/what-goes-in-what-stays-out/
ReplyDeleteHi Elle. I appreciate your concern because it is a concern here at our house as well. We are careful to check the symbols and place what belongs in the blue bin or the orange bag. Thank you for commenting and recycling.
DeleteThank you. This made me go to their website and find a page on how to recycle by number rather than the ridiculously difficult flyer we got last year. (why didn't they send that out! So simple). So we CAN recycle more than I thought. Thank YOU!
DeleteI completely agree with you about that flyer. The website is very helpful.
DeleteCongrats! To the new driver! My daughter and granddaughter had a nasty stomach virus Easter weekend. I hear it's really going around. I'm glad your baby girl is better. Looks like a good week!
ReplyDeleteThank you I'll pass that along to her! :)
DeleteOh goodness, it is a nasty bug! I don't envy anyone who gets it. Not nice!