I feel a lot better today. I was in bed by 9 last night and slept wonderfully! Except for the really strange dreams I had this morning.....WEIRD. No more grilled cheeses before bed for me. I am definitely a lot less witchy today. Jeff brought me roses last night to apologize for him being witchy. (Although Daniel tried to take the credit and tell me HE got me flowers.) I apologized for me being less than my normal self, because lets face it I am witchy all the time, just some days more so than others. We all enjoyed a nice peaceful evening cooking and spending time together.
I still have a lot of things I need to catch up on. My kitchen stock is running pretty low. We have been eating store bought bread and chips for the past few weeks. GASP! I know how horrible right? I still need to just take some time to relax for my own peace of mind. I have lots of recipes I have found that I have not been able to try. I have lots of ideas for blog posts that I just have not been able to get too. BUT...first is going to come the relaxing. And the cooking. Strangely enough if I am in the kitchen messing around to me it IS relaxing.
I did find time Sunday to whip up a batch of my homemade mayo and I DID IT ENTIRELY FROM MEMORY! Ok so I ALMOST forgot to add the lemon, but I remembered at the last second and threw it in last and it still came out fine.
Savings are continuing to grow even with the purchase of a washer and dryer from craigslist. I still have some extra money that I am planning on transferring over to the savings, but I want to get through the first month of bills at our new place to see what kind of expenses we are looking at first.
Mom is doing really well. She went back to the Doctor yesterday and he said everything seems to be healing the way it needs to be. She said she does not however recommend getting a stomach virus the week after having major abdominal surgery. NOT FUN!
We are really enjoying the new place. Daniel loves the fact that there is a yard for him to play in and he enjoys seeing all the other kids who come walking by with their parents. He has already made friends with a little girl right down the road and does not understand why we can't go over there everyday. Luna is enjoying the freedom to go outside, and she is trying her darndest to catch one of the million robins in the yard, but has had no luck yet. Spot is enjoying being outside in her own yard. She has even quit barking quite as much as she used too. Now it is every other person that walks by that she barks at. Jeff and I are enjoying the extra room and the fact that the rest of our family is happy.
All in all, it has been a really crazy past 2 months for us but things are finally going to settle back down. (Who am I kidding something else will come up in a few days I am sure. That's just how we roll around here.)
I am worn out. At about midnight last night I finally got all the stuff from the move put up and the last load of clothes out of the dryer. I literally have not stopped other than to sleep for a few hours every night this weekend and then get back up and do it again. I will be back sometime this week I promise, but for now I need some rest. Because if I get any bitchier my husband might decide to leave me lol.
For details on how to enter the MyCoke Under the Cap Instant Win game go here. I won a $20 Mastercard giftcard on my first shot! And we all know I am not very lucky.
Seriously. If I have 20 kids and we have to sleep 10 to a room, I am not moving again.
We have almost everything moved, and all the furniture. Just odds and ends stuff left. I would say 60% of the stuff that has been moved has been put up and organized. Still a lot left to go.
The washer and dryer I found on Craigslist is awesome though because if it was not for that we would not have been able to get as much done yesterday as we did.
Hopefully I can catch up on blog reading and posting this next month I mean week!
I have fallen behind on transfering money every week when Jeff gets paid. I was a little worried though that with the trip to AL I might fall short. I somehow seem to have accumulated more money in my checking account over the past few weeks though than what is normally there! Which is good. We are going to need a washer and dryer for our new place so it is nice to know we can go ahead and do that instead of waiting a month or two like we thought we were going to have too. So far this year even without the transfers when Jeff gets paid we have saved 32% of our goal!
I have decided too that the money I would have normally paid on my laptop I am going to put in the savings and at the end of the year, after we set aside the money for the emergency fund I am going to make a big lump sum payment on my car with the rest. That will get my car note down to where I should be able to pay it off next year. I am hoping I can do it sooner but we will have to see.
How is everyone else doing?
I will be glad once we get everything moved to our new place! I have missed blogging the past week or so. I will try and post here and there this week but I am still going to be pretty spotty. I will be reading all my favorite blogs when I can though.
Daniel is glad to be back in "Tucky." He did not want to leave Mimi's house Sunday but once we got on the road he was ready to be home. We have been talking tohim about moving and I think he thought we were moving to another city. Once we showed him that we were just moving around the corner and he saw his yard and that he was going to be able to play outside more he is ready to go! Everyday when we go down there he asks me if we are going to sleep there yet. Just a few more days and we will be! I am ready to get the move behind us though. These past few weeks have been crazy for me and I am ready to get back to normal.
Mom is still doing really well. She went back to the Dr yesterday and got the staples taken out. When I talked to her last night she said that completely wore her out. Hopefully in the next few weeks she will be back to normal and pain free! I am just glad it was good news.
I took a break from the computer this week while I have been in AL but I just wanted to let you guys know Mom is home and is doing good. She is sore but able to get around a little bit. The best news came yesterday when the doctor called with her pathology results.......Not cancer!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!
I am spending the day visiting with friends before we leave tomorrow. I will catch up on all my blogs and blog reading when I get the chance. It might be a week or so though because we will be moving this next week when I get back.
I will be leaving in the morning to go back to AL for my mom's surgery so I will be hit and miss on the blog this week. I will try and keep it updated on how she is doing but fighting my 16 year old sister for the computer may not be easy. My laptop will be with me but I am not sure what the wifi situation is around my home either. I will do my best though!
The doctor finally called and left me a message while I was in a defensive driving course for work........NOT CANCER and do not have to do any other procedures other than a repeat pap smear in 6 months! HAPPY DANCE!!!! Now I only hope my mom's results next week are as good as mine.
I should be getting the results of my biopsy today. NOW WHY WON'T THAT DOCTOR HURRY UP AND CALL!? I have had to wait 2 weeks as it is because of her vacation! Is that not enough? Noooooo now I am going to have to wait all fricking day evidently.
We met with our future landlord last night and signed our lease! We are going to start going through Daniel's toys this weekend and start taking what we can over. Then after I get back from AL we will move in completely! YAY! No more small dreary apartment! Now it is a small duplex with a yard! WOOHOO!!!
I have been searching the newspaper and craigslist for the past 2 months for a new place for us to live. Our apartment is just too small for the 3 of us and the dog and cat. I had not had any luck really in finding something that thought we could afford.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed a duplex that I drive by on my way home (it is literally a block from where we live now.) had a for rent sign out front. I stopped and wrote down the number and called the next day. The landlord said that the current resident would not be out until the end of February but I could call back after then and go look at it.
Last night Jeff and I walked down and met the man to look at the duplex. It has a fenced side yard for the dog. YAY! A small back yard for Daniel to play in. Plus his outdoors toys can finally be outside not in his room. It has washer and dryer hook ups so we will be scouring craigslist for those in a few weeks. PLUS I will have room to do some container gardening this summer!!!!! YAY! Fresh squash and broccoli! Tomatoes! Herbs of all kinds! (Can you tell I am a little excited about that?)
The best part of it is....it is the same we are paying for our apartment now! We will have to pay for water and garbage there but I know we can swing that every month.
So the rest of this week and the week after I get back from AL I will be packing up and moving!
We have saved 29% of our yearly goal already! YAY! There were a few weeks this month that I did not transfer the weekly amount from Jeff's paycheck. We are still way ahead of our goal though. I was hoping for a big chunk of money back from the IRS, but evidently you get married and you get screwed on your taxes. LOL. We are getting enough back to cover the deposit and first months rent on a new place though. That was the most important thing. I had wanted to pay off a good chunk of my car so that I could hopefully completely pay it off this year, but that is not going to happen. I also wanted to take the rest and apply to our savings fund. Oh well, overall I am happy with the way our savings is going. I also paid off my laptop this month. So that will be an extra $85 a month. Have not quite decided where I am going to put it though. How are your savings coming?
This weekend was exactly what I needed! Saturday we did our grocery shopping and I cooked up some more mac and cheese and a sheperds pie and I was done for the weekend. I did not clean my house, did not bake bread or make chips or any of the other 500 things I normally do on a weekend. I relaxed. And it was sooooooo nice! I think I might do it again next weekend! Spend my last 2 weekends without Daniel relaxing and getting prepared for the hurricane to come home.
We went to Miyako for our anniversary on Sunday and it was pretty good. I had a coupon from the entertainment book buy one entree get one free up to $20. I ordered a couple of pieces of sushi (Jeff even tried it and liked it!) and we both got the hibachi steak. Only cost us $30 plus tip. Not bad for a Japenese steakhouse. Plus it was our anniversary we deserved to splurge a little bit.
Now it is back to work. Thankfully this week will be a lot calmer than last week. No corporate people here and end of month is over! YAY!
The end of the month is always a busy time for us, because clients are pushing us to get cars picked up so they can make their quotas, and our company is pushing us to get cars picked up so we can meet our quota. For some reason the past week though everyone has decided they do not want their cars anymore and want us to come get them. The guys are exhausted! Plus we have had our HR director and the CFO of the company here as well. I am glad today is Friday. I need a nice relaxing weekend. DOUBT that will happen.
Woohoo! I am getting a surprise in the mail from Almost Empty Nester! I love those kind of surprises!
Want to get one in the mail from me?
This is called Pay it Forward. Leave me a comment on this post and I will randomly pick 3 people to Pay it Forward too. I will send each person a handmade item through the mail. Each person that is choosen, has to then post Pay it Forward on their blog. Only people with active websites/blogs can participate.
I made this last week and I am sad because the leftovers are almost gone. It was delicious!
1 (16 ounce) package elbow macaroni (I used 8 oz of macaroni)
2 eggs
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (did not use)
1 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces process cheese (Velveeta), melted (about 1/4 of the whole brick)
2 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese, divided (I used mozzarella)
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
I also added chopped red onion
Cook macaroni according to package. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, butter, mustard, seasoned salt and pepper and onion (if using). Stir in the melted processed cheese and about 1 1/2 cups of the other cheeses. Drain macaroni and stir into mixture. Pour into a greased pan. Cover with the remaining chesses. (I more than you were supposed too. I like mine to be COVERED in cheese on top.) Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are bubbly.
This was quite possibly the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had. Seriously.
A couple of weekends ago I was up later after Jeff went to bed. Nothing abnormal for me when I have a lot on my mind. It is hard for me to go to bed anyway, but when I have a lot on my mind, it is almost impossible. I got a wild hair and looked up English muffin recipes. I did not have the time that weekend to try them, but last weekend I did. They were AWESOME. And relatively easy. Jeff liked having them for breakfast this week. He asked why I decided to make "Mcmuffins." I said well to normal people those are english muffins, not something you get at McDonalds. I am now in the process of making my second batch and thought I would share the recipe with you.
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 cup melted shortening
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Warm the milk over low heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat and add the sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, combine the yeast and water and let sit about 10 minutes, or until it is creamy. Combine milk, yeast and 3 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Add the salt and the rest of the flour. Knead and then place in a greased container and let rise. I preheat my oven to the lowest temperature possible when I start making the dough. Then I turn it off and place my dough in the oven to rise. After it has doubled in size, take it out and punch down. Then roll out to 1/2 in thickness. Cut out with a biscuit cutter, glass or whatever round object you have. Sprinkle wax paper with cornmeal and place cut outs on wax paper. Sprinkle tops with cornmeal and cover and let rise again for about half an hour. Heat a greased griddle or pan over medium heat. Cook 5-10 muffins on each side until brown.
These are great because you can freeze them and then pull them out of the freezer, cut in half and pop in the toaster.
Jeff LOVED the Mcmuffins as he calls them and they will be a staple in out house from now on.
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