Answered Prayers!

There is a reason why I have not been online...my sister Leonie came for a visit from Tahiti!!!  I have not seen her for almost 37 years.  We celebrated Thanksgiving early with most of the family (Josh and Lauren were in Vegas).  We've been so busy enjoying our time together and building lots of new memories.  Thank you God for answered prayers ad bringing my sister to me.  In the picture above, she is the one holding my oldest grandson Bradley on her lap.  The baby, Steven, especially has really taken to her and loves to cuddle with his great auntie. :)  My heart is full!

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 11/1-11/7 2019

Portuguese Sausage and Potato Hash

Friday:

~Jeff and I did the grocery shopping and stocked up on baking supplies that were on sale that we needed.  We also stocked up on basics and used coupons and sales to further save money.  Our shopping was done at Winco, Rosauers and Dollar Tree.  We spent about $100 total including HBA items.  That should get us through for at least 3 weeks with only picking up fresh fruit, milk and a few items that I forgot even though they were on the list. Fibro fog was bad that day!
~At the Dollar Tree we also picked up toothbrushes (2 pack), antiperspirant, and some half off Halloween candy (candy corn).  I want to try a recipe for making Butterfinger candy with the candy corn.  I had everything else needed for the recipe at home.
~I watched a movie on YouTube.

Saturday:
~Jeff and I stayed home for the day so that we could get caught up on things around the house.
~Jeff worked in the yard finishing getting it ready for winter and sued some of the leaves that he raked up to put around our pear trees that have metal fencing around them.  This works as a great mulch to help protect the roots and also breaks down into compost as the Spring arrives.
~I baked two loaves of homemade bread, cooked a marked down pork roast in the crockpot and also piggy back backed some squash after the bread came out of the oven.
~In trying to get ready for the colder months where I do not venture out much, I took inventory of our HBA supplies so that I know where the gaps are that need to be filled in and started a list for them.
~Laundry was caught up and I finished unpacking some of the things that we had taken over for the kids to use in their wedding.
~Beautiful music soothes my soul and I have found myself listening to some of it via YouTube on a daily basis again.
~We used out hot tube to soak our sore muscles.
~Jeff and I were watching movies on YouTube and they had the Gilligan's Island "The Castaways" on.  I immediately recognized the flyover of the resort that the Howell's supposedly built and laughed at some of the things they modeled the resort after.  I can tell that the writers spent a lot of time down at Kona Village Resort and loosely modeled  the resort in the movie on that and used shots, hidden phones in the lobby, etc.  from KVR as part of the movie.  I had never seen the movie before but it brought back great memories for me because Kona Village Resort was my second home growing up since my father was the assistant manager and later manager there for 38 years.  All the buildings have now been torn down after damage from the tsunami and neglect, but it is being rebuilt by some of the same guests, who are now the new owners of it, who enjoyed it for so many years.
~We enjoyed munching on popcorn popped the old fashioned way while watching the movies.

Cookbooks I picked up at Goodwill

Sunday:
~Jeff worked some more on the garden beds getting them ready for Winter.
~Jeff and I went to Goodwill and found a shirt and leggings for me, pants for Steven, a cd for Jeff, brand new curtains for our guest room, a purse that I have wanted for years after having sold them when I was a teenager, and 2 cookbooks.
~We picked up more discounted candy at Winco since we had to go back there to get Canadian Bacon since I forgot it last time.  I had promised Isaiah and Bradley that we would make homemade pizzas this coming weekend and that was requested as one of the toppings.
~We hot tubbed again and it felt so good!
~I used up the last half of the bottle of red wine from my girl's night last week and made mulled red wine with it.  I cut a tangerine and put it in while it simmered.  So good!
~Jeff and I watched a Christmas movie on YouTube.  I am excited about Christmas this year.
~Chris called to tell us Heather got her doe.  They are giving us all the meat from it since Chris already got a buck and is going to try to get another doe.  Venison is my favorite red meat.  We are going to help them butcher and wrap but we are sending some of it to be made into ground venison and will pay for that and for it to be wrapped by the butcher.  Luckily we have a good family connection with the butcher so we get the family discount.
~Jeff and I both had coupons for a free item (up to $13.50) with any purchase at Bath and Body Works.  Their Fall fragrances were on sale so we got two of the small apple fragrances that I love and then got two of their full sized aromatherapy lotions for free.

Monday:
~I borrowed a book and a movie from the library.
~Yaki Soba was on the menu for dinner.  I used some of the leftover pork roast in it.
~We got all the bedding washed on our bed.
~I had the last cup of the leftover hot mulled wine in the afternoon to help take the edge off my pain.
~Caesar and I went for a short walk.  Normally this would be a great thing to do on a beautiful Fall day but half way through my back went out and then my neck followed.  OUCH!
~I put in requests for some new movies that are currently in cataloging through the library.
~Bradley's Lego magazine came in so we will be taking that out to him on Tuesday when we go out to butcher the deer.
~My onions had all gone bad so I rehydrated some of my dehydrated ones to use in a potato and sausage fry for breakfast.
~I signed up for some free dog food samples.

Pork Roast, Wild Rice Mix and Acorn Squash

Tuesday:
~We went over to Chris and Heather's to butcher the dear Heather got.  Heather set me up in a chair to watch since I was in a bad flare. We brought home venison steaks and stew meat.
~Jeff and I picked up a reduced priced pizza, some chips and some cupcakes that were all on clearance when we dropped off some of the venison to be made into burger meat.  It made dinner so much easier and faster.
~Jeff picked up some freezer paper on his way to work so I can double wrap all the meat.  We already put them in ziplock bags that I got from the Dollar Tree but I like that extra layer of protection from frost and it keeps them from getting freezer burn.

Wednesday:
~I found a sleep eye mask in my HBA stash and used it to help block out the light in the morning so I could sleep longer.  I am hyper sensitive to light so this helped.
~I worked my points programs.
~More shows were watched online.
~I cooked up some wild rice mix and had that with leftover pork roast, leftover acorn squash and some pears for dinner.

Cookbook and movie borrowed from the library.

Thursday:
~I again put some beautiful music on via YouTube.  I love calm piano music...it really is soothing and reminds of the days in the past where I would sit at the piano and play for hours just making things up and letting the stress leave my body and soul.
~Jeff picked up an item that the consignment store decided not to sell and also picked up a check for things that had sold.  He did this on his way to his bowling league since he was going right by there anyway.
~I watched some videos on homemade Christmas gifts and make ahead meals.  It gave me great ideas!  There is a recipe on how to make vanilla extract in you Instantpot is life changing. How to make Vanilla Extract in your Instantpot.  The recipe comes near the end of the video.
~It's that time of year where I keep a cozy sweater on the back of my recliner that I can slip on when I feel a chill coming on.  I also have throws on all the chairs and couch so everyone can have one of those too.
~Jeff had bowling league so dinner for me was Easy Mac and some Spring Rolls from the Dollar Tree.  It may not have been the healthiest meal ever, but it was quick, easy and comfort food.
~I've been reading two cookbooks I picked up at Goodwill.  Both are amazing!


   I hope anyone reading this has a wonderful weekend!  Be blessed!

Just Some Late Night/Early Morning Ramblings

   

A screenshot of the peaceful video I was listening to of calming music on Youtube.  It is a bit off kilter, just like I am feeling at the moment.

   I've had a rough week both physically and emotionally.  I've been working through some things that resurfaced years after I had them safely tucked away in my mind and thought that these were some things that great progress had been made on in a certain relationship.  It's a strange thing how people can revert back to old patterns of behavior, even if they are destructive and certainly unhealthy, after having worked so hard to move past them and change.

   Stress plays a huge part in Fibromyalgia along with weather changes, overdoing things, lack of sleep, and so many other factors.  Coming off a very hectic time with our Josh and Lauren's wedding (which was beautiful and something I will treasure always) and meeting so many new people and being so social left me exhausted.  I was trying so hard to make sure that everyone felt loved, welcomed and included in everything and trying to put out "fires" before they arose.  In the process, I forgot to take care of myself when I really should have but I did not want to miss out on a single moment with family and friends that had traveled so far to share in this special time.

   I made it about a week after coming home before the collapse came.  I think the adrenalin was still going strong and I also had my hanai sister still in town visiting during that time and was trying to get my house back into order after being gone.  I hit my "Wall" and I hit it hard.  Walking became difficult most of the time and I felt my spine compressing when I took Caesar for a short walk around the block.  It seemed that any time I exerted myself in any way, I'd end up having to go to bed or to my recliner and I'd either be in tears or fighting to keep them at bay.  There was not a single part of my body that did not hurt, including the hair follicles on top of my head.

   My emotions got the best of me too.  I tried to stay upbeat and positive, but there were times of deep despair.  I am thankful for the medications that my doctor has me on to help with this or I would have been a total basket case.  Counseling has also helped me cope better that I did previously and for that I can say that I am proud of myself for learning and implementing the techniques that I was taught.

   I will admit that it has all gotten to be a bit too much at times and the pain has become overwhelming to the point of me wanting to ask my husband to just take me to the hospital so I could get some relief.  But I know deep down inside that would not be a good choice for me since I do build up tolerances to medications rather quickly and my doctor and I have agreed that we have to save the few pain meds that might still work for me to use in case of emergencies.

   After all these years and seeing this thing progress in me, my family is very aware that there are times that I honestly cannot do certain things.  We went over to help butcher a deer that Heather got hunting and that they are giving all the meat from to us.  Heather took one look at me, got me a chair and had me sit and rest.  She set me up where I could still be a part of the conversation and also watch my oldest grandson Bradley entertain me with all his cool tricks on his skateboard.  She, my son Chris, grandson Isaiah, and Jeff all worked on the deer and had it all trimmed out and butchered within a little over an hour.  Isaiah, at 6 years old, has some amazing knife skills since he spends a lot of his time helping Heather cook.  I think we have a future chef on our hands there! 

   It is now 1:45 in the morning and I am exhausted but still cannot sleep.  I feel cold and ache all over, and no, it is not the virus going around, this is normal for me when I am in a flare. I've got soothing and calming music on in the background, had some Gatorade because I felt dehydrated, and watched some calming videos a bit earlier to help slow down my overactive mind and nervous system.  I'm going to try to head to bed here again soon and see if I can get some sleep.  Praying that tomorrow will be a better and less painful day.

   

   

Frugal and Easy Girl's Night

   One of my dear friends, whom I consider my sister and was a second mom to my boys, came for Josh and Lauren's wedding (I will be doing another post on that when I have more pictures to share).  She came home with us to spend some time with her mom and rest of her family.  She ended up staying longer than planned due to a last minute job interview (praying she gets the job and moves home).  Huge blessing for me!  I decided at the last minute to have a girl's night with her, her mom and her sister.  Her sister was unable to make it, but her mom, who is also one of my dearest friends, came with her.  

   I was in a fibro flare after all the wedding festivities but was able to throw together a nice little spread due to having a stocked pantry.  It was not much work at all and we could all just sit, laugh, share stories and enjoy each other's company.

   My husband got out my great grandmother's small parlor table for me and I set it up with 2 bottles of wine, one red and one white.  I then got the appetizers ready.  I had some garlic stuffed green olives that I got from the Dollar Tree, snack crackers, also from the Dollar Tree and put these in pretty white dishes.  I used an antique silver pickle fork to serve the olives with.  I then added a cut glass bowl filled with artichoke tapenade that I had picked up at Ross, and a plate of cream cheese covered in mango and pepper jelly that I had picked up on one of my trips to Montana at my favorite specialty food and kitchenware shop.  I had individual little plates for each person along with a small spreader for each to load their toppings on the crackers. All of this was also laid out on my great grandmother's table along with cocktail sized cloth napkins.

   I had some beautiful music pulled up on YouTube playing in the background and set out soft fleece throws for each person to cuddle under.  The fire was going in the pellet stove and the lights were down low with a beautifully scented wax melt going in the bathroom down the hall just to add just a hint of the wonderful cold weather comforting scent.

   My friend Roni snuggled up with her throw and cuddled into the couch with a glass of red wine and a plate full of goodies.  Her mom, Char, cuddled into the corner of the other couch close to the fire burning in the pellet stove.  One of our cats, Midgy made her way over to Roni and got lots of lovies.  Midgy usually does not like strangers, but loved Roni.  Midgy is a great judge of character and knows who she can trust. ;)  I cuddled up under my throw with a glass of white wine and some goodies too.  

   We all had a wonderful visit and it was so good to have them here.  They know that I have Fibromyalgia and am not able to drive myself places other than just right here in town.  They also know that my energy is limited but that I love having them here in my home.  My "love tank" was once again filled by my time with these amazing women that have become family to me.  It did not take much money and I had everything here at the house that I needed to throw together a fun evening at the last minute with minimal effort.

   The time we had together is priceless to me though.  Roni now lives in Palm Springs, CA but is trying to find a job here in her field so she can return home to her sweet little house here in town and to help her mom.  Char lives in a tiny little town close to us, but because I am not able to drive out there, I do not see her much at all.  Char lost her husband Mel in a tragic car accident last year.  Mel was like another father to me and I loved him.  Char and Mel are like another set of grandparents to my boys.  These amazing women have been through a lot in their lives and I have been on the journey with them both for a good part of it.  It has created a strong bond that cannot be broken between us.  I am hoping that we can do many more of these girl's nights in the future because I know it means a lot to us and it just makes those bonds grow even stronger.

    

   

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 10/18

~Lauren and Josh are in the final stages of getting everything ready for their wedding but still needed a few items.  Lauren mentioned that she needed something to put cards in and also a cake stand.  Luckily I had exactly what she needed here so I will be taking a gorgeous glass cake stand and basket that goes perfectly with their cabin and outdoor type theme over to Montana for their wedding.
~Bradley needed some dress shoes for the wedding and I was able to find him a nice pair at Goodwill.  They were even half off!
~Bradley and Isaiah needed more snow pants.  I found a pair at Goodwill and since they did not have a price sticker on them, the girl ringing us up gave them to us for $5.99 even though all the other snow pants were marked at $9.99.  I also found a winter coat for Steven, who needed a second one, for $5.99.  The coat was brand new!  I want all my grandkids to have at least 2 pairs of snow pants or snow bibs, 2 jackets, and 2 sets of gloves and hats so that they can use the second ones when the first ones are wet from playing outside.
~Jeff found a draft dodger door thingy to keep the cold out for $1.99.  Rachel and Jaysn needed one of those.
~I found a sweater (I used a 20% off coupon on this item), a lightweight jersey material type jacket, a pair of Sketchers shoes (half price) and lots of Ziplock storage containers that were $2.99 for a 4 pack.  Again...Goodwill!
~Heather invited us over for lunch and Chris grilled venison steaks.  They were so good!
~G-pa (Jeff), Chris, Bradley and Isaiah all worked together to build a cornhole game for their friends for Christmas.  Between Chris and Jeff, they had all the materials they needed to both build and paint it.  We left the rest of the wood we took over for Heather to use for making signs or other crafts.
~Saturday we were able to spend some time with Jaysn, Rachel and Steven.  We had not eaten lunch so we took a huge sub sandwich and some chips over there that we bought at Winco.
~Jeff helped me get all of my Summer clothing packed up and my colder weather clothing unpacked and into my dressers.  While switching things out, I purged lots of items that I no longer fit into or no longer use.  It was great to find things that I had forgotten about in the process also!
~I made a delicious tomato and pepper fettuccini dish for dinner one night using some of the tomatoes from our garden that I am ripening inside the house.
~More homemade bread was made.
~My sweet friend, Shannon, blessed me with a pitcher full of freshly pressed apple cider that they made up at the orchard over the hill from us.  I have been enjoying it hot with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.
~We stocked up on treats for our house sitter. :)
~I found 2 books at the Dollar Tree that I thought were wonderful and very gift worthy.  I also picked up some cold coffee drinks (for our trip), some coloring books, more medicated powder (Jeff uses it every day), and some toaster pastries.
~When I find fully cooked chickens reduced price at the deli at Walmart, I try to pick them up and then freeze them for future meals.  Being in a bad fibro flare, I was able to just pull one out of the freezer, thaw and then add some green beans and baked potatoes to it to make a nice meal without a lot of work.
~Jeff picked up 4 bags of fully cooked meatballs and 4 large cans of green enchilada sauce.  All were half price.
~I used one of the packages of meatballs and simmered them in a brown mushroom gravy.  I served it over rice with a side of carrot sticks.  I had enough of the meatballs an gravy for another meal along with enough leftover rice for several more meals.
~Chris came over for a visit and I sent him home with the snow pants we picked up for the boys, some books for them and some bean bags for a cornhole game that they are working on to give as a gift to their friends.
~I watched several movies on YouTube.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up and Snow! 10/11/19

   Yes, that is snow you see in the picture above.  It is our second snow this year.  I don't remember us ever getting snow this early.  I took that picture right after it started.  We still have some snow in the shaded spaces in our back yard as of today.  We had to start using our heat early because we have gotten down into the lower 20's with highs only reaching the low 40's on some days.  Chris and Heather were really sweet and picked up a ton of wood pellets from the building supply store today (they were able to just put it on our account there since we have them listed on our account to use it also) and brought it out to us and unloaded it with Jeff.  I am so grateful and so is Jeff for all their help.  It was wonderful to see our oldest grandsons too and hear about their trip to the coast with their mommy and grandma. :)  Oh, the pellets were also on sale this month....Bonus!!!

   My days this past week have alternated between trying to get as much done as possible and then going into huge Fibro crashes.  This whole finding balance thing is not happening in big part to the weather changes that throw me into huge flares also.  I'm also trying to readjust my sleep schedule to normal people hours before we head over for Josh and Lauren's wedding in 2 weeks and it is NOT working.  As it is, I get the best sleep if I stick with Jeff's sleep times which means I sleep from about 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. or noon.  I am making the best of those hours though and doing house cleaning and baking in those early morning hours.

   So here are the frugal doings that I can remember from this past week:

~Jeff needed some new black slacks for Josh and Lauren's wedding.  We could not find any in our area so we headed up to Spokane and found some at JC Penney's for $24.
~I found 2 pairs of jeans at Sears.  They were going out of business.  The jeans I bought were identical sizes, brand and style.  I tried on one pair and figured the other would fit also....wrong.  I am going to see if they fit Rachel and if not, I will just take them in where needed.  She and I are close to the same size but are shaped very differently.  I really hope they fit her though.
~I made a huge pot of elk stew in the InstaPot and served it with rice.  It was delicious and made lots of meals for us.

~We needed breakfast and snack foods for when we go over to my parents' home for a few days before Josh and Lauren's wedding since most of our crew, along with Lauren's mom and stepfather will be there.  I wanted to help my mom out with all of that since she is feeding the masses as it seems. ;)  In addition to the two gallon sized bags of zucchini muffins that I made about 2 weeks ago and froze, I also made 2 more gallon size bags full of raspberry/blackberry muffins and froze those.  All the berries and squash came from our garden.  I'm glad I froze so many bags of berries now.
~I made 2 loaves of bread and a squash casserole (again, squash from our garden that I saved before the big freeze took everything out.
~I sorted through the box of tomatoes that I had picked when they were green (again, trying to save them from the frost) and pulled out the ones that have ripened.  I sent some of those with Heather today since she needed some for a salad she was making.
~I consigned a bunch of jackets at a new consignment store near us.  They took almost everything I had in that department.  I love having another outlet where I can make some money and clean out my closet at the same time.
~There is a toy drive going on in our town right now for Christmas presents for kids who are in one of the hospitals in Spokane over Christmas.  Our house sitter organized it to give back to them after she was the recipient of gifts on Christmas morning there about 2 years ago when she had to have emergency surgery.  It meant the world to her to have presents Christmas morning when she was stuck there after that surgery.  I had some brand new children's games and toys set aside in my gift closet and donated a Candy Land game to the drive.  I figured that would be a great gift for a child who was stuck in bed.  They could play with their parents or siblings while at the hospital and then later at home also.  It was my favorite game as a young child too! Fun fact...she and I were talking and I realized I had taught her father years ago when I first started subbing at the high school.  Small world (and town).
~I borrowed the movie "Ugly Dolls" from the library.
~More free magazines came in the mail.
~Our town had a Fall Clean Up day and we took full advantage of it.  They hauled away all kinds of stuff for free for all of us here in town.


   I leave you with the following picture of Caesar and Midgey cuddled up together.  Only the coldest of weather could bring her to cuddle up with him.  I thought it was so precious!

     





   

Leaks in the (Frugality) Boat

   

   Jeff and I have bee trying so hard to be as frugal as we can lately.  However, the SS Frugal has sprung a leak and it was a pretty decent sized one too.  UGH!  

   We have a trip to go over to Montana for our son Josh's wedding to his beloved Lauren in a few weeks.  Since the weather had been strange and we have already had snow, we decided to pick up some chains for our tires because they are required on some of the passes when the weather gets bad.  Well we found some for $160 at Les Swab that will fit our tires...ouch.  If we don't have to use them this season, we can take them back on April 1st and get a full refund.  Nice if we can do that...but still.

   Our old microwave oven decided that it was not going to seal properly anymore, so out it went.  I will not take chances on our health.  Since we use our microwave daily, we went to Walmart and picked up a midrange one for $70.  It has a higher wattage than our old one, so we will have to get used to it.  While there, we also picked up another phone card refill for Jeff's tracfone and I added that to his account along with a bonus 60 minute code tonight.  I also found some marked down bread products and picked those up as well and a reduce priced chicken from the deli.

   We are still on the hunt for some nice dress slacks for Jeff and stopped at one of the thrift stores...no pants to be found but we did find a beautiful print from Hawaii that was signed by the artist, a warm fleece jacket for me and one other item that I can't remember now (Fibro fog has struck).

   In order to patch some of those leaks in the SS Frugal, we continue to try to do things here to save money to offset some of the bigger costs that we have incurred.

~I mended 4 articles of clothing.
~More sandwich bread has been baked along with biscuits.
~We harvested and froze more berries and green onions before the big killing frost hit.
~Jeff finished fixing the garage roof so it should not leak anymore.
~We pulled some butter, elk steaks and creamer out of our 2 big freezers that live in the garage.
~I have no idea why, but natural disaster movies are one of the few things that I can watch that will take my mind off the constant pain I am in.  I found a bunch of them on YouTube and even got Jeff involved in watching them.
~I found a channel on YouTube called relaxdaily that has some of the most beautiful and calming music...I have it on right now.
~I have been gifted lots of plums and pears...yum.
~There is yet another bucket of apples picked from our tree before the frost hit that I need to make into applesauce or dehydrate.
~My Scentsy wax burners were pulled out and we have the most amazing fragrances going in them.  All of the fragrances and burners were either gifted to me or I found at thrift stores.  I have a drawer filled with them.
~We did find a brand new spy voice decoder toy at Goodwill over the weekend and bought it and put it away for a Christmas gift for our spy loving oldest grandson Bradley.  Jeff also found some Yak Trak things that you strap onto your shoes to keep you from slipping on the ice (these are for him, I already have a pair) and some bean bags for a corn whole game that Jeff, Bradley and Isaiah are building together for a Christmas gift for their friends. :)
~A large pot of split pea soup was made with things we had in our pantry and refrigerator.  It was so good!
~Starkist sent me a coupon as part of a settlement that was for up to $5.03 worth of Starkists products.  I was able to get 6 cans of tuna for just a few cents after using the coupon.  These are great stock up items for the pantry.
~Even though we are having to use the pellet stove to heat our home, we are still keeping it turned down as low as we can but are still comfortable if we are dressed warmly and cuddle under blankets when we are watching tv or sleeping.  It got down to 26F here this morning...brrrrrrr.....  We also pulled out the warm houseslippers and fuzzy socks.


   With that all that listed above, I will not be doing a Frugal Friday Wrap Up this week.  We have another storm coming in and it is greatly affecting my health.  I can feel it taking me down so I wanted to get this done before it completely did.  If you need me in the next few days, I will most likely be in bed or in my recliner dozing on and off.  Such is life these days.  Be blessed!