Mid-Month Frugal and Other Updates

 

      Jeff and I are missing our youngest grandbabies so much.  They recently got snow at their home in Utah and the kids were so excited!  They went out and made snowmen and played in the snow.  Josh said they were very happy little campers. :)  Chris and Heather invited us over for dinner last week and we had a wonderful time with them and the oldest grandboys.  We did try to get together with Jaysn, Rachel and Steven, but they were out of town at her cousin Doug's birthday.  Hopefully we will get to see them soon. 😊

     Jeff went up and closed out Helen's bank account and then headed up to Sandpoint to pay for her cremation.  His cousin very generously sent us a check to help with the expenses but we still spent over $1,000 out of our own pocket to cover her final expenses.  We will scatter her ashes up on the mountain where she wanted them.

   Jeff and I both got the crud making the rounds and are still recovering from it.  We both already had doctor's appointments scheduled for other reasons and luckily our lungs were clear.  Jeff had to get an x-ray on his knee and they found lots of arthritis there.  He now has another upcoming appointment with the orthopedist to see if he is going to need surgery since his knee has really been bothering him.  

   Now onto the frugal doings.  I am going to try to remember everything, but we all know how well my memory is.  LOL!

~I found more of the poinsettia garland at the thrift store and bought all that they had.  I also found some more Christmas decor including some old glass ornaments like I had on my childhood Christmas tree and 2 more bags of balls for Maggie.  Spoiled puppy!

~I am always on the lookout for more Christmas china.  I was so excited to find some of the Pottery Barn retired reindeer pattern dinner and salad plates.  I got the 4 salad plates for $1.99 each and the 4 dinner plates for $2.99.  

~Jeff found a pair of jeans on clearance at Walmart.  He needed a new pair for work.

~I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce with the last of the tomatoes that had been ripening in our house.  I'm freezing it for future meals.

~Jeff and I went out to eat and we both brought home half of our lunch since the portions were so huge.  That made for 2 meals for each of us.

~Shannon was so sweet and brought us home a street taco kit from Costco on one of the days that Jeff was still feeling ill.  that made for 2 meals with leftover tortillas, salsa and cilantro lime dressing.

~I found some beautiful decorator Santa plates at. you guessed it, the thrift store for $1.99 each.  They are now hanging up in our kitchen by the sink and bring a smile to my face each time I see them.

~More bread was finally made.  It had been a long time since I made bread.  I sent one of the loaves home with Shannon as a thank you for all she does for us.  I also sent home some of the last of the tomatoes with her.

~Jeff finished off the wood trim for Shannon's new kitchen door.  Luckily, we had some extra wood here at home that he could use since they ran a bit short.

~We popped up some popcorn and watched the movie "Twister" on TV.  It was really good!

~Jeff and I both found some nice clothing at Goodwill.  I found jammie pants and some shirts.  Jeff found some slacks and a nice WSU jacket.

~Chris and Heather surprised us big time by giving us their pop up tent trailer.  We had offered to buy it in the past, but they said it needed some repairs and they did not want us to have to do them.  We had told them that we could make the repairs since most of it was replacing some flooring and dry rot.  Jeff can easily do that.  Still, they had not wanted us to have to do any of that.  Thus how surprised we were when they surprised us with such a kind and generous gift.  We are storing the trailer in their shop since it will keep it undercover.  In the Spring, we will bring it home here so Jeff can replace the flooring and we can paint the interior to give it a fresh look.  We are looking forward to many years of family camping trips and fun!

~I've been switching out the artwork on the walls with more winter and Christmas stuff.

~I went through Helen's Christmas decorations tote and found some beautiful and meaningful things in there.  One of the items was a fabric Christmas tree that Jeff's mother had made for Helen years ago.  I recognized it immediately since Jeff's mom had the same one in her home and had told me that she had made it.  I know this might sound strange, but I am finally able to appreciate things from Jeff's mother again.  There were years when I could not due to all the heartache she put Jeff, our kids and me through.  I'm still healing but am moving in the right direction.

   So that is all that I can remember right now.  My plans for this week are to get the house decorated for Christmas.  I really am needing the joy that the season brings.  It has been a rough year for us and this Christmas will be bittersweet.  There are daily reminders of our loss of my cousin Jeremy and Jeff's Aunt Helen since we have Maggie and Remmie with us.  I will say that Maggie and Remmie bring us comfort and comic relief.  I am so glad that they are now ours. I am going to try and focus on the good memories and building new ones.  Be blessed my sweet friends.