Staying Home and Saving Money

   Well, the start of this week was a bit scary, but it all turned out to be okay.  Jeff had been having pain in his upper leg and with the family history of blood clots,  he and I both thought it would be best to get it checked out.  They ruled out a blot clot, but thought it might be a hernia.  Since he had taken a fall at work, they also did an extra, which did not show a break thank goodness.  Then, they did an ultrasound later in the afternoon, and found nothing there either.  So it was decided that it was just a severe strain.  Thank the Lord above!  He is feeling a bit better and is back at work and doing heat treatments on it in the morning and when he comes home.

   While he was getting all of the things done at the doctor, I was home taking inventory of just about everything.  I wanted to make sure that no matter what, we would be fine if he had to take time off from work if surgery was required.  This was after he told me they thought it might be a hernia, but had not had the ultrasound done yet. I also decided that I would not be going anywhere in my car unless absolutely needed, or had a prior commitment.  I need to save money on gas anyway.

   Since I have so much time on my hands, I am trying to get some projects done around here.  I mended a seam in the loveseat before it got any bigger.  Thank goodness I have a huge array of colors of thread so that I can match just about anything. I started to seriously work on getting the pantry organized.  This is an ongoing project.  I've been trying to keep track on the temperature in the greenhouse.  It should be really interesting given that we will be going into the below zero temps at night here soon again.  

   I've been baking our usual sandwich bread and am go back to making our own mock sourdough bread again.  It is a recipe that I have used before in my bread maker.  I think I will do the English Muffin bread again too.  Homemade tortillas are on the list also to try next week.  

   While going through the pantry and cleaning out the refrigerator, I found things that needed to be used up.  I made a menu based on that and lasagna is now baking in the oven.  I will also be baking up a ham this weekend complete with mashed potatoes and green bean casserole since those are some of Jeff and my favorite sides to go with ham.  The meat sticks and cheese from Hickory Farms that my baby brother sent us are now put away in the "goody and treats" area of our pantry.  Those are so nice to have on hand to make a movie night into something special here at home.  They also come in handy if we have company.

   Hopefully this week Jeff and I will be able to get each other's hair cut.  We are both looking a bit "shaggy".  We had planned on doing it a few weeks ago, but Jeff got sick and then he hurt himself.  We are going to Bradley and Isaiah's dance recital on Saturday night and want to look nice for that.  Either before or after the dance recital, we will pick up some of the grocery items we need and try to see if we can get more free buckets from Safeway.  I use those buckets for so many things, both inside and outside of the house.  This will be my one trip outside the house this week and I want to make sure to get everything done that I am able to fit in before either Jeff or I get too tuckered out.

   Well, I should go and check on the lasagna.  It is smelling divine and I want to also get a fresh salad or something made to go with it.  Be blessed my friends and keep stocking your pantries with those sale items and keep your homes cozy and inviting.