I love looking at pictures of what people are having for dinner. I get in a rut and tend to fix the same things over and over again. Sometimes I just need a virtual "push" and inspiration to shake things up a bit. There are some lovely ladies out there with wonderful blogs that I visit time and time again because they share mouthwatering pictures and recipes. So here are a few of our meals lately:
I made an herb and garlic pork roast with roasted potatoes, onions and carrots. We had this for 2 meals. I then took some of the leftover sliced pork and made chow mein with lots of veggies and the thinly sliced pork. This gave us another 2 complete meals.
Another night I oven roasted some beer brats and some homemade potato wedges. This was served with fresh cantaloupe. I had some leftover beer brats so I made a pasta dish with them and some veggies. Very easy and yummy! This gave use 2 different meals.
I'm trying to use up things in my pantry. I found a box of Suddenly Salad in the Ranch Flavor. I cooked that up and added some broccoli and precooked honey bourbon barbecued chicken to it along with some mayo and other seasonings. This was served with Italian bread with butter and melted parmesan cheese. The salad gave us a nice dinner and yielded enough leftovers for 3 more servings.
We were given some salmon. I wanted to make a nice dinner to serve out on our back screened in porch since the weather was so warm. I also had half of a red pepper left so I thought I would use that up. I baked the salmon, along with the red pepper and then served it with some wild rice mix that I got on sale combined with a coupon for under a dollar. I would love to say we had leftovers but it was so good that we finished it all off.
I would love to know what some of the meals you have been having are and how you stretch your budget and remake your leftovers into something scrumptious and new. I'm running out of ideas here. ;)
Yesterday I wrote a post on living with a chronic illness and how frustrating it can be. I was feeling down and had just reached my limit with hurtful and ignorant comments directed at me and at other people who also are dealing with these "hidden illnesses" as they are sometimes referred to. I just felt like I needed to get it all out there. I had no idea when I pushed the Publish button that I would have had so many people reaching out to me with kind and supportive comments and also people who could identify with what I was going through because they or someone they loved are also going through it and were sharing their stories with me. I had comments both here and privately emailed to me.
I am completely overwhelmed with gratitude for all of you. Your compassion, helpful advice, kindness, caring and willingness to share your stories also touched me so deeply. I told my husband I had quite a few comments on my post and he said "I hope no one is criticizing you for it". He is very protective of me. I told him that no, it was just the opposite, I was getting a huge amount of support, kindness and compassion and I could see his body language change drastically. He too was surprised at the outpouring of friendship and support that you all showed us. It meant so much to both of us because this strong man has held me more times while I have cried out of hurt or frustration and being a man, he wants so badly to "fix me" so that I am healthy again. He has also heard the many rude, hurtful and ignorant comments, sometimes even from a member of his side of the family who knows the truth but continues to choose to believe I am faking it and openly shares their opinion with others both in and outside of the family. Those comments and actions have hurt him deeply too.
So thank you, from the bottom of my heart and also from my sweet husband. It amazes me how total strangers can connect through the internet and become friends who genuinely care for and support one another. You all are amazing and I am so thankful and blessed to have you in my life!
"She is just lazy and is taking advantage of _____________" ( this was said in reference to me supposedly taking advantage of my husband). This said by a person who knows that I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for years but is convinced that I'm not really sick because I look healthy.
Ignorant comments like these and other equally ignorant ones are extremely frustrating and hurtful for those of us who deal with these auto-immune illnesses that drastically altered our lives and that of our family members who also suffer collateral damage from our illnesses also. We may suffer for years as we try to find answers to what exactly it is that is making us sick. The medical bills mount as we see specialists and try different medications and treatments along the path to diagnosis. When we finally do have a diagnosis, we again play the game of what medications might or might not work, if there are indeed any available for our particular auto-immune disease. For some of us, there are no medications that help and then it is a matter of having to try to find supplements, changes in diet and lifestyles, anything that will help us cope and deal with our illnesses.
My personal experience started with extreme fatigue, pain throughout my body, constant yeast infections and feeling like I was losing my mind because my brain was in a fog some days. I had chronic infection after infection, one on top of another. We tried all kinds of medications which would lead to other infections and it became a vicious cycle. This went on for two years. I went to a specialist that confirmed what my doctor had finally diagnosed me with but basically said there was nothing they could really do for me. So began my search for ways to treat my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with supplements, diet, and a complete change in lifestyle.
When I was first diagnosed, there was not a lot of information out there on my disease and some of the medical insurance companies were actually dropping coverage on people who had this disease because a. they did not believe it was real or b. because they were afraid of the huge costs to find a diagnoses and because the "treatments" for it could potentially cost $10,000 or more to just get a workup and plan done that might or might not help. My doctor warned me about all this so we "tip toed" through trying to find something, anything that might help me to no avail.
I wanted to just give up. I was miserable and felt like I was letting my husband and kids down. I was no longer the same woman my hubby had married or the mother to my kids that I so desperately wanted to be. I had HUGE amounts of guilt (and at times still do). I finally realized that I was going to have to figure out a way to live with this and try to find some answers for myself. It was through lots and lots of research on my part, trial and error, and tons of money spent on different supplements and things that we finally found a few things that worked for me and my particular body chemistry.
Here are a few things that I have learned along the way. I am NOT the same woman I was before and will never be again. I had to let go of that and learn to cope with my new "normal". After taking the supplements and starting to feel a bit better I still have to pace myself. I may have a day when I have lots of energy and I push myself to get as much done as I can, but I do collapse and rest for about half an hour at time when I feel like I can't even move another muscle. I also realize that if I have a day when I do have lots of energy, they next day will most likely be a crash day for me when I will not be able to do much at all. Three days in a row of even moderate activity will wear me out to the point of bringing on a crash. Stress makes my illness flare up big time. I have Chronic Systemic Yeast Overgrowth as part of this and it will explode. My body will ache and I will get horrible tension headaches along with migraines. My brain goes into goes into foggy mode and I basically just have to shut down for awhile. If things are really bad, it can take me a very long time to recover from these crashes...sometimes months. During these times, I severely limit any and all outside commitments and try to avoid any stressful situations which will just make things all that much worse. Even though I may be exhausted, sleep eludes me or my sleep cycles are completely thrown off.
Let me give you some examples of what my life is like. I may go and run errands on a day when I have a decent amount of energy. By the time I get home, I am usually exhausted and the next day I become "lump girl". I don't move much and spend most of my day recovering for the day before. They next day I may have a bit more energy, but I still can't push myself so I only get one or two critical things done that day.
Here is another example. This past Friday I pushed myself big time. I made multiple loaves of banana bread, a loaf of sourdough bread, worked on some laundry and got some seeds potted up. I also made a nice dinner. By that afternoon, I was completely exhausted and so sore I could hardly move. I soaked in the hot tub trying to get my muscles to stop aching so I could sleep that night. As per usual, even though I was exhausted, I could not fall asleep until about 3 the next morning and even then, my sleep was very fitful because my muscles ached so bad. Saturday morning, after I got up found me with brain fog and limited energy. We had plans with family for that afternoon so I pushed through but by that evening I knew that the next day was going to be a major crash day. I again had a hard time sleeping due to pain but I did manage some. Sunday morning I was achy and managed to get our bed stripped down, the sheets washed and hung out on the line to dry. I then collapsed back into bed and had a hard time concentrating on what was on tv. I finally got up after a few hours, made lunch and then had to rest again. It is now Sunday afternoon and I am writing this post and, due to my brain fog, have had to go back and edit multiple times and it has taken me over an hour just to get this far. I'm frustrated with myself and just want to cry.
I hate having this illness and I hate feeling like this. When I am out and about on my "good days", I put everything I have into it. I will also push myself when I am around people and give them my everything. I don't want them to know how hard it is at times just trying to concentrate on things when my energy is slipping. When I was substitute teaching I gave those kids everything I had because they deserved my best. By the time I would get home I would collapse. If I had a multiple day teaching job the following off days after that would find me in crash mode. When I had a long term several weeks in a row or more teaching assignment, I would come home in the afternoon, crash on the couch, and repeat. by the end of the week, I could barely move and concentrating was hard for me. The weekends were spent in bed trying to get enough rest to get me through another week. I learned that I just could not keep up that kid of pace and it frustrated me to no end because teaching is what I am trained to do and love.
It hurts when people think I am "faking" my illness or taking advantage of my husband by not working full time. I would love to be able to teach full time again. I would love to feel normal and healthy and have energy. I would love to be able to go without pain for more than a day, I would also love to not have brain fog. Most of all, I would love to be the same woman my husband married and be the mother that I was to my kids before this illness hit. But I can't and that tears me up inside. My husband and kids are wonderful and they are so supportive and understanding but I still feel guilty at times. When I see how hard my hubby works both outside our home at his job and then here at home too, it makes me love him even more but at the same time, makes me feel awful that I cannot do more to ease the burden on him.
I do hope this now going on two hours of me trying to put all this down in some coherent manner will help give a glimpse into what I and so many other people go through who have a daily battle with these kinds of diseases. Yes, there are days when I can get a lot done but what you don't always realize is that the day(s) after are ones in which I have little to no energy. If you are also going through something like this, my prayers are with you. I get it...I'm right there with you. If you are someone who loves someone who is dealing with this, my prayers are with you also and thank you for being there and understanding and supporting them. If this is all new information to you, I hope it will give you some insight into my and so many other people's world. God bless and thank you for hanging in here with me.
Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have all had a nice and productive week. :) It's a good thing that I am finding more ways to be frugal. Early Monday morning found us in the emergency room with my hubby to make sure that he did not have another blood clot in his leg. Thankfully he did not and we now have the ER and lab workup bills to pay there. It was worth every penny though because if it had been a clot, he would have been in serious trouble. Now onto the savings!
~The mail brought a free magazine and a vitamin sample.
~The weather has been so warm so we have been drying our sheets out on the line. There is nothing better than crawling into bed at night with freshly line dried sheets.
~We took our grandkids to one of their favorite parks to play on Sunday. Free entertainment for them and for us.
~I had requested a movie from the library for the grandboys to watch. It had been one of their daddy's favorites when he was a kid. They loved it!
~The blackberry plants that we started from canes just cut off the mother plants and stuck in the ground in the Fall are leafing out. Two more free plants.
~Jeff and I watched some shows online.
~We found peanut butter and chocolate candy marked down to .50 a package and bought 1 for our candy drawer.
~This week was my MIL and FIL's anniversary. My husband found a beautiful card for them at the Dollar Tree for .50.
~Our dear DIL Heather and her mom Tammy brought us a dozen doughnuts...yum!
~Our grandsons love all things Superheros and Ninja Turtles. We found some shirts with their favorite Superheros marked down at Ross so they each got one.
~My trip to the dentist turned out much better than I thought it would. I did not have cavities but instead had pain due to me grinding my teeth. He flattened out the area where my teeth were rubbing and oh does it feel better already. I made an appointment to get my teeth cleaned next month so I will have to budget for that expense then and not have it come out of this month's budget.
~A stop at the thrift store next to my dentist's office produced some great finds. I found CDs for .50 each, a really pretty Summer purse for .50, some games for the grandkids for .15 each, some gardening supplies, a really pretty long gray sweater for $1.50, some cookbooks for .25 each and a Babar books for .10 .
~My hubby saves all kinds of hardware and stuff from doors and windows, along with anything else he takes apart that we have replaced over the years. This came in really handy when he found a screen door handle and installed it on the door from the breezeway onto our screened in porch. No more having to deadbolt the door to keep it closed and in the process locking ourselves out or in. ;)
~I made my first batch of sun tea this Spring now that the weather is warmer.
~This week my hubby put in a request for more croutons so I gathered up all the leftover bread, rolls, and buns and made a triple batch for him. That should hold him for awhile.
~More loaves of sourdough bread were made.
~We borrowed more books and movies from the library.
~Planned my shopping trip around what was on sale and what I could combine the sales and coupons with.
~Trying to use up food in the fridge before it goes bad. I had half a red pepper that needed to be used up so I baked it alongside some salmon (free to us) and served it with a wild rice mix that I got dirt cheap after coupons. Yum!
~Our cat Rufus eats an expensive kind of cat food since he has allergies. I was able to find a printable coupon online for $3 off a bag of his food. Every dollar counts around here. ;)
~One of our grocery stores was having a amazing sale on some of their Asian entrees in the frozen food section. They were one sale for $2.79 each (they usually are over $8 each). I had printed off 3 coupons for $1.50 off each box. I bought 6 boxes total. Each of those boxes is enough for 2 meals each for my husband and I. I will just cook up some rice or noodles to go with the entrees and we are set. Much cheaper than going out for Chinese or Japanese food which are my huge weaknesses.
~I printed off coupons that I needed going through a link at Swagbucks so I will get 10 points per coupon that I redeemed. My coupons savings on Thursday alone were $15.75.
~A stop at Goodwill on Thursday yielded 2 black and silver 8x10 picture frames. They were officially "document frames" so they were .49 each instead of "picture frames" which were $1.99 each. Same exact thing but one word made a huge difference in their pricing.
~That same stop at Goodwill blessed me with 2 large brand new bottles of Bath and Body Works lotions for $3.99 each and a brand new Calgon bath set for $4.99. I use lotions every day for my dry skin and I love to smell pretty too. ;) Win Win!
~I started some seeds in pots and with the "pellet" pods (that I got at the thrift store earlier in the week) and in some seed starter trays that I already had on hand. Our hot tub area makes a great greenhouse of sorts.
~Printed off a $25 Walmart gift card that I cashed in for at Swagbucks.
~Worked on my points programs and surveys. I have set a goal for myself to get $50 in gift cards and/or cash each month this way.
~Made a triple batch of banana bread with overripe bananas.
~I again put the banana peels around the roses to help fertilize them.
~I needed some shallow watertight trays to start my seedlings in so I dug out some aluminum roaster pans that I had out in the shed.
~A new composting area was started in the side garden. I added some coffee grounds to it and will use this to top dress our blueberry plants that love acidic soil.
~Rufus created a new toy for himself when he snagged a paper bag that I had just unloaded the groceries from.
I do hope you all have a great weekend. We are going to see our beautiful oldest niece and her family who are in the area on vacation. We have not seen them since last Summer and I have missed them! We will be spending some money to go out to eat and/or do something with them but family time is precious and we only see them once a year. :) Be blessed!
"I love you"
Three powerful words, linked together, that can change lives forever. Everyone needs to hear these words spoken into their life. At every stage of our journey, we need to know that someone truly loves and cares for us. How many times have those three words touched your heart or that of someone you love?
I tell my children that I love them every chance I get. I end my conversations with them with "I love you". It speaks life into them knowing that I believe in them and that my love is unconditional always.
My grandchildren get lots of hugs, kisses,praise and "I love you" from this Grammie. I do the same thing with them that I did with my children when they were growing up. Even if they get in trouble, as all children do when they are learning their limits, I hug them and tell them I love them and that will never change...no matter what.
My parents and my mother in law and father in law hear "I love you" often from me. They are amazing people who have sacrificed so much to give their children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren so much in life. All of us have been blessed by their giving hearts, guidance, love and laughter. I want them to know that I cherish and love them.
My siblings (including my brother's sweet wife) and my nieces and nephews also know and hear the words "I love you" from me. Those relationships are precious and I treasure them.
I'll never forget the first time my husband ever told me he loved me. My heart melted and I knew right then that we would spend the rest of our lives together. I also knew he meant them and did not just throw those words around lightly. They had deep meaning to him and he would not say them until he was absolutely sure that he was in love with me. We tell each other "I love you" every day and we mean it and have meant it for 32 years and counting. ;) Every night when my hubby leaves to go to work our conversation goes like this:
me: "I love you"
him: "I love you too"
me: "I love you more"
him: "I know"
:)
Recently our family went through something very hard that threatened to destroy some relationships within our extended family. One of the things that I made sure of was that I told the person that we were having the conflict with that my love for them was unconditional and that I would always love them, no matter what choice they made. That spoke volumes to them about how much they meant to me and how important they were in my life. That made a huge difference to them and helped resolve things.
It's amazing how those three simple word can change things. My heart melts when my grandchildren tell me they love me, nothing is sweeter. My eyes well up when my grown children say "I love you", because I know the weight that those words carry and the deep and strong bonds we share. When I share those words with my parents and my husband's parents, I realize that it might be the last time that I am able to given the recent health issues that some of them have had. My friends are like family to me and I try to tell them I love them as much as I can because they matter to me and many of them are going through struggles of their own and need that reassurance that they do have someone in their "corner" who will be there for them and love them through it. And my husband, the man who is my rock, my best friend, my port in the storms of life, he knows that when I say "I love you" to him it means I appreciate and respect him and all that he does for us and that I want to continue to spend the rest of my life showing him just how special he is to me.
Always tell those who you cherish that you love them... I hope that one day, when I am gone, my family and friends will be able to look back and say "Some of her last words to me were "I love you". I know how special that is, because those were the last words my grandmother and I shared that last time I saw her before she passed away and I will treasure them always.
Our grandsons came to stay with us on Sunday. Their mommy had an eye doctor's appointment in Seattle early Monday morning so she and her mom headed over there and our son had to work Sunday night and Monday night into the early hours of the morning.
Sunday was spent doing lots of fun things with our grandsons. We went out to one of their favorite restaurants, then to a park to play, to the mall and got new superhero t-shirts for them and did a bit of shopping and then came home to have pizza, hot tub and watch a movie. We wore them out! :) My hubby and I headed to bed around 10:30p.m., and, as per usual, my "mommy ears" hear everything and wake up to every little sound. The boys did really well sleeping, but it was my hubby who got my full attention at 3:30 in the morning.
It is never good to hear your hubby say he is in pain and that it is the pain that woke him up. It is even worse when you ask him how he is doing after he takes some ibuprofen and he says not good at all (this from the man who has an incredibly high pain tolerance threshold.) Then things just scarier when he tells you he has pain in his leg and it is now climbing up to the side of his knee and it is in the same leg that he had a blood clot in last October. At this point I go into proactive mode because he has a history of blood clots, and several of his family members have serious issues with them also and we almost lost one of them to a several blood clots and my father also suffered a stroke due to clots. I called the ER and they said they could not give me any medical advice over the phone but would advise me to get it checked out. So fearing that we could be dealing with this issue, I called my son Chris, who has just got off duty at 4:30 in the morning (he is a police officer and is also an EMT) and explain the situation to him. He also says that I need to get his dad in to be seen and that he will be on his way over (remember, we have his kids here with us spending the night). Chris gets here, our oldest grandson wakes up and I get him put back to bed before he sees his father and Jeff and I head over to the ER.
Two hours and several lab tests and other evaluations show that he does not have a blood clot, Thank you Jesus, but most likely has some ligament issues and needs to take more vitamin D to help with some other pain. He and I both breathed a huge sigh of relief and headed home to find our grandsons watching a movie on TV and our son asleep on the couch right next to them. We let him sleep and I fixed breakfast for everyone and then sent him home when he woke up so he could get some more sleep there before he had to go back to work again (he works 12 hour shifts.) The boys played for awhile, we had a snack, watched another movie and then I put them and myself down for a nap and my hubby dozed on the couch. Once the boys were up from their nap, we had lunch and then my hubby went to bed so that he could sleep for about 6 hours straight before he had to go to work tonight.
The boys and I played the afternoon away and I gave them both a bath so that my DIL would not have to worry about that later. She still has her hand in a cast so she can't really bathe the boys or get that hand wet. She and her mom showed up with doughnuts for us when they came to pick up the kids, which was so sweet of them. I know she has been really worried about my hubby when I told her what happened earlier in the day when she called to say goodmorning to the boys. My son Chris also called to check in before he headed back to work.
So here it is at 9:50 p.m. Monday and I am thinking it is time to head to bed myself. I've had a grand total of 3 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours. My hubby took my car with him to work because it is easier for him to drive with the knee brace on and to get in and out of than his car is. I have a long overdue dentist appointment tomorrow where I am sure I will have to have some cavities drilled and filled and hopefully that will take care of the tooth pain and sensitivity I am having. I know I will be wiped out after that so I am planning on napping tomorrow afternoon myself.
What I have learned from the last 24 hours: My hubby is my world and I would be lost without him. Just the thought of him possibly having another blood clot scared the heck out of me. My son Chris will drop it all and do what is needed, even if he is exhausted himself. Our grandsons are the best for making you smile and giving you hugs, especially when you really need it. And last but not least, our DIL Heather and her mom are two of the sweetest people around, bringing us doughnuts after a very scary and early morning. I am so thankful for God once again watching out for our family and for the family He has blessed me with.
Time for another Frugal Friday Wrap Up. My biggest money saver this week was staying home and out of the stores for the most part. I did make one stop over the weekend at one thrift store but stayed out of them on my 2 other trips into town. I'm sure my poor car was confused because it seems to be on auto pilot when it comes to thrift stores. ;) Anyway, here are a few of my frugal ways for this week.
~We have more volunteer spinach coming up in the garden. I let the plants go to seed last year to see if we would get some free plants this year and it worked!
~I feel pretty again! :) My husband and I finally got my hair cut after letting it go for way to long.
~I have been searching for a smaller crossbody purse that was a bit "fancier" than the ones that I already have and that would be good for either casual days or even going out at night. A trip to the thrift store on Saturday yielded a huge blessing in the form a a gorgeous Brighton purse that is just perfect. After some cleaning and reconditioning it is once again ready to go.
~The thrift store was giving every customer their choice of 1 free Easter item. My husband picked out a stuffed animal chick for our dog Caesar who has not gotten a new toy to play (actually tear apart) with for awhile.
~I had forgotten to have coffee one morning and by the afternoon I was going through caffeine withdrawals and had a bad headache. I made a cold vanilla latte with some creamer and leftover coffee from the morning. It tasted really good and sure helped with the headache that not even Tylenol was touching.
~My husband and I had a double date with our oldest son Jaysn and DIL Rachel on Saturday. We went to see the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2". Jeff and I used a gift card so no cost to us.
~I brought home half of my lunch from one of our favorite Chinese restaurants and had that for dinner one night.
~Easter Sunday found us a a big extended family celebration. My DIL Heather rented out a community center that had pool tables, foosball, ping pong, basketball games and air hockey. Everyone pitched in on the cost so it was minimal to each family. We also did a big potluck meal. It was so much fun with everyone being able to visit and play games if they wanted to and the best part is that no one had to cope with a huge mess at their home afterwards. ;)
~Heather's mom sent me home with a bottle of white wine after our Easter party. She only likes reds and I prefer white.
~My husband and I are planning a fun day trip in April to Palouse Falls. I have been there but my husband has not, even though he has lived in this area for most of his life. A menu is being hashed out so that we can have a lovely picnic lunch (prepared and taken from home) that day.
~I took the leftover mashed potatoes from Easter and made Potato Cheddar soup and garnished it with some green onions that I had grown. Yummy and filling on a snowy day.
~Petco sent me a coupon for a free bag of cat treats again so I printed off the coupon and picked them up when I made the loop running all the errands one day.
~A good friend sent me a link for a free 8X10 photo from Walgreens. I order a picture of my hubby and I that was taken at Jaysn and Rachel's wedding a few years back. I love it and wanted one for our family picture gallery wall in the hallway.
~More bread and croutons were made, much to the delight of my hubby.
~I worked on my points programs as much as time would allow and earned enough to cash in for another $25 Walmart gift card via Swagbucks.
~Our library system just added a bunch of new movies to their collection so I went online and put in some requests for them.
~Since getting rid of our DISH network subscription, my hubby and I have been catching up on a few of our favorite TV shows by watching them online. It is lovely to be able to pull up a show and view it when we want to.
~I was given some gorgeous mushrooms and was unable to use them all up right away so I sauteed some in butter and garlic and froze them for future use in dishes or to put on top of a lovely venison or elk steak.
~The two small containers of green onions that I rooted from the bottoms of the ones I bought at the store are now planted in the garden.
~I turned one pork steak that I got on sale for .99 into a delicious dinner of pork and peppers for my hubby and I.
~We've been spending lots of time outside working in the yard so our hot tub has been a very welcome luxury to indulge in to sooth sore muscles.
~I had some sour cream that needed to be used up so I made a red potato salad and also used some of the green onions from the garden in it. So yummy and perfect for the warmer weather.
~While I was at Walmart I noticed that they were clearancing out a lot of things so I browsed around. I found some of the solar shield clip on sunglasses that clip to your own prescription glasses for $5. This is what I use on my glasses because it is so expensive to get bifocal sunglasses. I picked up an extra to have on hand in case mine break.
~Rufus' pheromone collars came in the mail (I had bought them in bulk) and he is now sporting a new one and it is already calming him down.
~Walmart had marked down their Beer Brats and some of the pork loins along with some of their bread, so I bought some of each.
~My handy hubby managed to repair the damage done to the grill of my car by a suicidal owl. He is one very talented man I tell ya!
~I keep an insulated cooler bag in my car to put refrigerated items in to keep them cool during the warmer months and also will use it to keep hot foods warm if I need to transport them somewhere.
I know that this coming week is going to stretch me a bit. We had both my hubby and my life insurance payments due along with registration for one of our cars so that was a rather large expense that had to come out of our first of the month budget. I also have a dental appointment coming up this coming week that will need to be paid for so yes, things will be a bit tight. That's life though...things happen and you have to roll with it.
Be blessed and have a great weekend!
