It Doesn't Take Much

Well, I'm back momentarily - I know I haven't written in a while and I'm going to be changing my blog around a bit soon, but for now I had to write about my trip to Giant this afternoon. Using the current General Mills $10.00 off $20.00 catalina promotion and doing this in four transactions, here's what I got:

12 boxes of Hamburger Helper (don't judge - you know you'd cook it too if it were nearly free!)
6 Apple and Eve Fruitables (8-pack)
4 Green Giant Steamers
2 boxes Cocoa Puffs cereal
1 box Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
1 box Trix cereal
1 box Lucky Charms cereal
5 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars
2 boxes of Bisquick
1 Reese's peanut butter cup package (2 peanut butter cups)
4 Breakstone sour cream

The grand total out of my pocket after rolling the catalinas through four transactions was - drum roll please - $13.47.

*Contented sigh*

Yes, it's a sickness.

*sniff*

This is what I feel like with my boys. *sniff* (Click on the image to see it larger).

The boys digging their way to the woodshed to get firewood. Tote that barge, lift that bale!



I love how the trees look painted with snow.



We all went out the other night and played in the snow. While Jerry was tackling the boys (literally!), I made a snow angel. The boys remarked at the small head and large posterior of this particular angel!

Camera Cleaning Time!

Sledding - redneck style. Jerry and Tom dreamed up this combination. It worked - once - then one of the legs broke off of the chair!



After taking pictures of Jerry on the roof, I turned around to see this - and then got bombarded with snowballs. I snapped this picture quickly as evidence.



Jerry on the roof shoveling snow. He said if anyone asked, to tell them that he couldn't find enough on the ground to shovel!



More pictures of my man shoveling snow off the roof.



And yet, another picture. Sorry - just can't stop snapping pictures of this guy!

Going to Hungary

I'm going to Hungary, y'all. I was reading Reader's Digest last night and came across an article where they had taken surveys all over the world about weight issues. Turns out that Hungary is the country least likely to be concerned about weight; either with themselves or with others. So if you'll excuse me, I have some packing to do........

Gearing Up!

Yes, I know it's been about a month since I last posted. No excuses - I've just been too busy to write! Oh, wait - that is an excuse isn't it?!

The snow started here about 11:00. We are all looking forward to the Great Snow that is supposed to happen. We have movies, games, snowball fights, snow cream, and other stuff planned. How about y'all? What do you do on snow days?

Better Late Than Never!

This is a post that I started a long time ago (mostly in my head) and intended to post around Christmas. It's still around Christmas isn't it?!

I was listening to Gabriel's Message, a song by Jars of Clay, (on the player below - turn off the player to the right and click play on this player to hear the song.) A line from the song made me think. The song is based on the gospel of Luke when the angel Gabriel visits Mary and tells her that she will be having a son and he will be the Savior. To this life-changing message Mary responds, "To me be as it pleases God."



This is what I started thinking about. Here was Mary, a young girl, engaged to Joseph, told she would be pregnant and give birth. Keep in mind what being pregnant before marriage meant at that time. It still raises some eyebrows now; imagine back in Mary's day - yet, "To me be as it pleases God." She was risking everything. Being ostracized from the community, disowned by family, being left by Joseph.

But she knew, she knew, that trusting God was more important than any of that, and that He could indeed be trusted. How many times have I knowingly or unknowingly not trusted Him? How many times should I have said, "To me be as it pleases God," and just simply trusted? How long until it finally sinks in that there is Someone in charge - and it's not me!?

I am ashamed to admit that in the same circumstances I may not have had the same trust and outlook as Mary. And look what I would have missed. What am I missing now by not having her outlook? Everything that is put in front of me in this life - good or bad - is designed and planned by a God who loves me and only wants what is best for me. Lord, please help me to have a trusting heart and truly be able to say, "To me be as it pleases You", whatever the circumstances.

Merry Christmas Eve!

I have a moment while I'm waiting for milk to scald. I am making Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls this morning. I do hope my neighbors are home today to share them with; I would hate to be forced to eat all of these myself! I've never made these before; I'll let you know how they turn out.

If you haven't used your Hallmark coupons that I mentioned here yet, today is the last day. I went to the local Hallmark store last night and scored two big rolls of wrapping paper for $1.33 total, or .66 each - and that is including tax. You lucky folks in tax-free states will do even better. Since I only needed one coupon and printed two, I gave the other one to Tom who is going today to see what he can find. Yes, I have indoctrinated my children into the world of couponing! There are worse things to pass on to your children.

I probably would have stayed and found something else to use my second coupon on, but on the way into the store I slipped on ice right outside the store and landed on my you-know-what. Jerry helped me up and by the time we had walked around the store a few minutes, my wrist was aching pretty badly and I couldn't move my hand, so I didn't spend too much time shopping. But there were bargains to be had, and that comes before pain any day! This morning my left wrist, elbow, and er, posterior, are a little sore, but nothing's broken, anyway!

As I'm typing this, I am keeping an eye on my neighbor's cat, who is currently in the top of one of our trees. I know that logically cats don't actually get stuck in the tops of trees, otherwise there would be dead cats lying around the bottoms of trees, but still I can't help but wonder if this guy needs help. I walked outside to talk to him and see if I could coax him down, but he just stared at me. Here's what I saw -






Well, my cinnamon rolls need me now, and I have lots of other things to do, so have a wonderful Merry Christmas Eve, y'all!

Yummmmmm!!!!!

I made peanut butter bars last night. Oh my. It's just like a GIANT Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. There goes that hour on the treadmill. Oh, well. The recipe is on my Recipes page - you really should try it.

Now I'm off to make myself and my house beautiful. A long shot, I know! Jerry is on his way home from Delaware and I haven't seen my husband in about two weeks. Yes, we talk a gajillion times a day, but that's not the point. I miss my husband! After 27 years of marriage, I still get butterflies thinking about seeing him again. Awwww...................

Final Tally

This was the measurement in the side yard.



The cat loved being out in it this morning, but he looks
pretty disgruntled here!



The back deck and porch.



The back deck steps.



Front of the house. My Christmas flag got wrapped around the
flag pole, but there is a drift on the sidewalk underneath that is
up to my thighs, so it will have to wait!



I don't think Tom will be going anywhere soon.



Lamppost with a top hat.



Bird feeder and bird bath.



My beloved chaise lounge.



The snow has stopped. Darn. I was enjoying it, too! The final tally on snowfall amount is 16", 15", 13", 12.5", and 10", depending on where in my yard I measured! Last night as it was tapering off at around 11 PM I measured on my chaise lounge on the back deck because it didn't get a whole lot of wind and I thought the measurement might be fairly accurate there. That measured 16". Then this morning when I measured it, it was 15", so some might have blown off. But I think that's probably the most accurate measurement, as the rest of the yard has drifts, with hills and valleys of snow, making the measurement off. In any case, it's a lot of snow, and we are definitely playing in it today. And I was excited about snow on my blog post of 12/05! Little did I know......

Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful - Not Really.

This is what I woke up to this morning. In this picture
I love the contrast between the lights and the grayness of the day.



The back deck. That large round thing is my wonderful, comfortable, adjustable, nap-worthy chaise lounge that my wonderful, comfortable, adjustable, nap-worthy husband bought me last year.



Christmas lights shining through the snow. Festive, no?



This is my birdbath. No birds were harmed in the making of this blog entry.


I am loving this snow. I measured it when I got up this morning and it was 9.5 inches on my front step. There's so much snow to play with, and even more is supposed to fall during the day today. Yay! I think I'll go out later and make a snowman. And a snowlady. And snowchildren. And their in-laws. You get the picture - there's a lot of snow!

For The Creatively Challenged

I admit it - I am creatively challenged, but reading The Nester's blog has inspired me to get out of my comfort zone (you know, must be storebought/perfect/color-matched etc., etc.) and try some things. I made a ragamuffin last night and hung it in the bedroom. It was not my intention to amuse my boys into fits of laughter, but that was an unfortunate side effect. It may not stay in the bedroom (it may not stay in the house at all!), but I must admit - I like it. It has grown on me and I like it. So there, boys. And to show that I have no dignity whatsoever, I have posted a picture of it. The cat must like it too, apparently.

P.S. - Check the Mr. and Mrs. pillowcases! I LOVE them! I found them at a yard sale a couple of years ago. They are very old with very old embroidery, so they are the kind of pillows that are nonfunctional - the kind that annoy you every night because you have to remove them from the bed and then put them back on the bed in the morning. Oh, well - it's worth it just to see them there!

It's Snowing!

Yay!!! It's snowing!!!! I love snow!!! Can you tell?! Could I possibly use any more exclamation points?! Here's my truck with proof on the hood!!! And please, no comments about why the truck is there and not in the garage - Jerry even specifically cleaned his "manly" stuff out enough to make room for it this week but I didn't park it in there yet. Oops.

I Dare You To Sit Still!

While the rest of the world is probably listening to Christmas music right now, I'm listening to ska music while I do stuff I need to do today. The boys got me started listening to ska and I have to admit that I like it a lot. I'm very glad that the boys and I share tastes in music. When Andy and I go to Delaware we usually blast Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish in the Tahoe while we travel. It makes for a much more enjoyable trip! Here's a video of Streetlight - I dare you to keep still listening - something has to be tapping; a hand or a foot or something! The talent these guys have is amazing; the horns are great and their energy makes me tired just watching them!

$5.00 Magazine Sale at Amazon

I put this post on my Frugal Finds page, but wanted to be sure everyone saw it, not just the couponers among us!

Amazon is having a great sale on magazine subscriptions until 12/01. There are 10 listed for $5.00 each here, plus there are more with $3.00, $5.00 and $10.00 off listed here. The discount will be taken off when you go to checkout, so don't be worried if you don't see it when you click on the item. I used Swagbucks to get myself a subscription to Country Living for $5.00. Merry Early Christmas to me!

Yay! New Content!

I've finally gotten around to adding something to my blogroll. It is Dear Brother's blog. You can access it by going to my blogroll page where the link will be on the right. You can't miss it - it's the only entry I have! I'll be adding others sometime, I promise.

A Chuckle For You

I came across this the other day. The boys and I found it thoroughly amusing, as we all like Queen music and well, we have a strange sense of humor.

Post Thanksgiving 2009

Betcha can't guess what we had for lunch Friday. And today. And possibly tomorrow.........

We had a great Thanksgiving, as usual. It was just the five of us. The menu consisted of:
Turkey - betcha didn't see that one coming, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, gravy, biscuits, cranberry jelly, cheesecake, sweet potato pie, and pecan pie. The links for these recipes will be posted sometime today if time permits.

We had a slight change of plans Thanksgiving morning. For the last few years I have been brining our turkeys and then smoking them on the grill. (I initially had just typed "smoking them" in the last sentence, but I just knew some wiseacre would write and ask how to roll them, so I added "on the grill")! I put the turkey in the brine Wednesday night and Thursday morning when it was time to put the bird on, the grill wouldn't work. I use the gas grill for this because I only use one burner which the hickory chips sit on, and the other burners are off and the turkey sits over these. The charcoal grill would be too small to allow the turkey to cook over indirect heat.

We have never had a problem with the grill, so of course it figures it might as well not work on Thanksgiving! Anyway, I roasted it in the oven. I was still determined to get some type of smoking with it, so I put a pan of wet hickory chips on my oven floor. It certainly was not smoked like it would have been on the grill, and it may even be debatable if the chips did very much at all, but I felt better! At least the brine itself gave it a good flavor and it was extremely juicy.

It was a very good (and filling!) day. We all ate entirely too much. But really, isn't that the purpose of Thanksgiving? To eat until you need to loosen your waistband? Kidding aside, I was (and am) thankful for everything the Lord has given me. As grace was said at the table on Thanksgiving, I was reminded of just how much I have been blessed with, and was (and am) grateful. I hope everyone had a wonderful day too. Happy Post Thanksgiving, y'all!

Home Again, Home Again

We are back home again. Andy and I have been back and forth to Delaware for about the last month and then spent the last two weeks there. Yesterday's drive home was not very enjoyable. I didn't even have any coffee before we left, it rained and was foggy the entire trip, and I seriously had trouble keeping my eyes open! There's just something about rainy days that can lull me off to sleep. Granted, when you're behind the wheel it's not a good idea. One good thing was that traffic wasn't bad and the other drivers were actually decent. No one was passing anyone, and no one seemed to be in a big hurry. Well, except when we got closer to home. We knew we were back in our home county again because the drivers started acting like they usually do here. We knew we were truly home then because of the ignorant drivers. Oh, well. No offense to any of my blog readers who may live in the same county as I do, but I am pretty sure you don't drive stupidly because if you did, you wouldn't be the kind of person who would read a blog like mine!

Anyway, I have a ton of things to do to get ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'll write more about that when I have time. I also haven't unpacked yet. And I have to work. And brine the turkey. And make bread for the stuffing. And clean the house. And, and, and..........hmmm, maybe I'll take a nap instead.

P.S. to Susie who left a comment for my blog - after driving home three hours from Delaware yesterday in the rain, I guess my brain was soggy and foggy too. On the email I received to moderate comments, I intended to erase the email itself; not reject the comment. I'm not sure what happened, but I think I must have chosen the wrong choice because your comment isn't posted and when I went to check it said it had been rejected. Sorry about that. Please comment again and I'll be more awake this time when moderating comments!

Great Week!

Not only was it a pretty good week all the way around, but I had a pretty good week couponing, too. I have updated this week's lists on Frugal Finds. My total for all the stores this week came to $193.63 before sales and coupons; what I actually paid was $54.27. That's 72% off! How great is that?!

Now I'm off to do my real job! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!