Sunday, June 17, 2012

Saturday's Musings

This past week was busy preparing Matt to leave.  I also ended up cleaning the doctor's office an extra day.  Our different styles toward moving were quite noticeable.  He waited until Friday to start packing anything he was taking.  Knowing I have a month at most I've already started boxing things up.  If I can ahold of boxes I will probably have everything packed I won't need within two weeks.  Our menus were totally off this week due to my working so much so we ended up eating a lot of pickup meals.  Several nights I picked up food after I got done with the doctor's office so we had some late meals.  Fast food isn't good for you to begin with and it's even worse eating it late at night and going to bed right afterwards.

Matt left early yesterday morning and should have arrived about 1 am this morning,  a 17 hour trip.  I know it will take me longer when I drive out due to having to stop for doggie potty breaks and stretching.  I'm pretty sure we'll have to stop overnight.  There's no way I'll be able to drive 24 hours straight.  Other then a major backup by Chicago he said it was a pretty easy drive.  H.e called about 10:30 last night to "tuck me in" and said he was about 200 miles from Fargo

I was a bit depressed yesterday, it was like I was being left behind.  There was that childish part of me that was screaming "But I want to go too!".  To snap myself out of it I decided to take the dogs to the Eastpointe farmer's market.  Unfortunately I'd forgotten yesterday was the Gratiot Cruz so there was no farmer's market.  Needing to take the dogs someplace since I had them in the car so I decided to try the St. Clair Shores dog park.  Totally was bummed to discover they require a city issued fob to get into the park and there's a fee associated with it.  Guess we won't be hanging out at that dog park, which is a bummer since it's the closest dog park to where we live.  The pups and I spent the day hanging out in the house.  I finished Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets (book 2).  It was a kick back and relax day.  I used up some of my freezer food to prepare lunch.  I ran out and got some groceries later in the evening, mostly fruit.

Breakfast: Eggs over easy and buttered toast
Lunch:  Buffalo chicken bites and zestie fries (both freezer items)
Supper:  burrito with homemade salsa (using pantry items)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Moving prep continues

It's just starting to hit me that this weekend will be my last weekend with Matt for at least a month.  It's sort of scary.  We're still working on finding housing.  Having three dogs and two cats is making that difficult.  It's not like I haven't been in this position before though.  Have you ever tried to find housing with four kids?  People immediately assume they'll rip the place apart and won't rent to you.  Same with pets.  We're crossing our fingers that we get approved for a lease to own double wide trailer.  Hopefully we'll hear tomorrow.  If we don't get approved it's going to be difficult.  The park the trailer is in is okay with the number of pets we have where apartments will only allow one pet, period.   I've been busy filling out forms on ND job sites.  I really hope I can get a job lined up before I move out there.

Meals this week:
Monday: blueberry pancakes and bacon
Tuesday: On Your Own Night (OYON) since I work
Wednesday:  Ham and scalloped potatoes
Thursday: Ham sandwiches (basically another OYON)
Friday: BBQ ham and pineapple pizza (homemade)
Saturday: Dinner with Matt's brother and his wife

Lunch today: burrito with cheese and sour cream

Sunday, June 3, 2012

SHOPPING MAY 27TH

I did a quick shopping trip last week.  With the pending move it's imperative that I try to use up what I have in the pantry as well as in the freezers.  I did my shopping at Aldi's because their fruit and vegetables were priced the cheapest.  I didn't find everything I wanted - they only had iceberg lettuce which is really odd since they normally have 3 packs of romaine and gourmet types of lettuce.

Water 2.49
jar of banana pepper slices 1.19
baby carrots .49
frozen corn .99
frozen broccoli 1.09
Dijon mustard 1.19
BBQ sauce .89
poppy seed dressing 1.29
celery .69
can of black beans .59
can of pumpkin puree .99
3# of baby red potatoes 1.99
avocado .89
strawberries 1.29
Boston Market frozen dinner meatloaf with mashed potatoes 2.79
Nutter Butter cookies 2.99
TOTAL: $21.84

Since Aldi's didn't have romaine lettuce Matt ran down and grabbed a bag of salad mix and a cucumber last night for supper.  It probably added another $3-$4 to the overall amount for the week.

With Matt being gone I ate pretty lightly.  I picked up a corned beef sandwich Tuesday night and ate half of it and then had it again Wednesday night to finish it off.  The Boston Market frozen dinner I used for lunch on Friday.  This time of year when it's hot like this I like to make salads with fruit and use poppy seed dressing.  It makes for a light taste.

The pumpkin I like to keep on hand for pumpkin bread when we get an occasional cool day when I can bake.  Another reason I keep pumpkin on hand is for the dogs in case of diarrhea.  It's the fasted thing I've found to cure diarrhea so we try to always have a can on hand.  If you don't it's Murphy's Law that you'll need it and won't be able to find any.  The heat is throwing Oreo's eating off already so I won't be surprised if we need to open that can to help her.  I'll need to pick up some cottage cheese for her before the week is out.  I prefer Daisy brand cottage cheese because it has no chemicals or preservatives.  She won't eat her kibble without a spoon of it added.  Even if she only eats the cottage cheese it gives her some calories.  Another option is yogurt to help with their digestion but it doesn't have as many calories as cottage cheese. 

I had grabbed a bag of #10 russet potatoes for $2.99, which were obviously a better buy, BUT ended up with potato juice down the front of my dress.  If they're rotting they're not a good deal, so I went with the more expensive reds.  Potatoes tend to go back quickly in this heat so it's best to buy in smaller quantities unless you have meals planned to use them up quickly.

The Nutter Butter cookies were a splurge for Matt.  He only buys them for his hunting weekend so I decided to treat him.  I'll probably even steal a couple.

As you can see I didn't buy any meat.  I'll use what's in the freezer.  I have a ham which I will probably thaw and use later in the week after Matt gets back.  I still have quite a bit of the chicken leg quarters left and a ton of venison to use.  I'll probably inventory the freezers mid week so I know what I have to work with to work menus.







JOB INTERVIEW UPDATE

When Matt interviewed this week they told him it would be late next week before we heard anything as they were interviewing two more applicants next week for the position.  Apparently he must have really aced the interview because they called him Thursday and offered him a position.  We're moving!!!  We're so excited it's hard to contain.  Last night we took his mother out to our favorite Mexican restaurant to celebrate.  Now the panic of how we're going to pull it together is setting in.

With everything going down I haven't been sleeping well.  I woke up at 3 or so this morning and didn't get back to sleep until Matt got up for work about 6:30'ish.  Ended up sleeping until about 10:30, which totally threw my day off.  I'm giving serious thought to trying the herb Valerian again which helps with sleep.  I did manage to get a couple loads of laundry done.  We did a Costco run and picked up a paper shredder that we've been wanting for several years so we can shred stuff that we have in our file cabinets that doesn't need to be moved with us.  We also picked up flea treatment for the furkids. We typically use Frontline but decided to try Kirkland's brand and see how it works.  It's nearly half the price and double the doses.  I also sliced up the lemongrass soap into bars that I made on Monday.

I took Lacey to the Bubbles and Bark groomer and used their self service option to groom her.  I think I brushed nearly another dog out of her she had so much coat - maybe even a dog and a puppy.  She's always had a really heavy coat and when she sheds it's worse then all the other furkids combined which is why I only took her in since she takes so much longer.  She looks mighty fluffy and soft at the moment.  Oreo and Tip get the treatment tomorrow.  This self serve is a new place I decided to try.  The other place I've been using cost me about $17 each with upgrades to oatmeal soap and adding conditioner.  Bubbles and Bark cost me $11.99 today so a bit of a savings.  We were both getting tired so I need to finish her pedicure on her back paws.

Well it's after 1 in the morning so I should be getting to bed or I'll really mess up my sleep cycle.  Tomorrow's goal is to weed the flower beds and possibly the garden.  If I'm industrious enough I'd like to make another batch of soap.

Supper tonight:  Spaghetti and garlic bread