Christmas is Coming

I decided to post a couple of pictures of my living room. I have a few changes this year from our normal Christmas decor. First, I painted the fireplace this year and I love it. The brick fireplace had become so dark and dingy and I felt like it was a black hole in my living room. I love the new color. It shows up a bit "whiter" in pictures than it really is, the color is more of a creamy white. I like switching out the wreath on the hearth and being able to actually see it.

Second, I purchased a red slip cover for my couch and a bunch of new pillows. I have wanted a red couch for ages, but I am just not ready to spend the money, so I opted for a slip cover and it makes me happy, especially with Christmas decorations.

My decorations are much more simple this year, just enough to make me happy and not stressed.

Our Red Slipcovers

Christmas 2010

I Love my Life

As I sit at this computer, there is an unusual chorus resounding in my house. I would not quite call it 3 part harmony, but husband and both grown sons are snoring away. I don't mind so much. This is the first time in over 3 months that both boys have been home at the same time and it feels good. Youngest had a birthday this week and we had planned on going to see him for the evening last night. Plans changed suddenly (practically as we were walking out the door) and now both boys are home. We put together a dinner of steaks on the grill, and I put together a pumpkin pie while they were on their way. These moments do not occur very often.

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Let the baking begin!

I am ready to bake! This is the haul I picked up at Walgreens today! Before coupons it would have cost $72.25. I spent a total of $14.20. I did a deal much like this last year at Walgreens and I was excited to see the deal pretty much repeated. I did have $20.00 in Register Rewards left over from making money last week on the Sinex deals so that helped quite a bit.

Golden Cream Soup (Cheesy Potato Soup)

I have had a couple of requests to post the recipe for my potato soup. It is yummy and pretty easy, so here it is.

Golden Cream Soup

2 cans chicken broth
3-4 peeled and diced potatoes
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 TBS butter
2-3 peeled and sliced carrots
2 TBS flour
2 cups of milk
1/2 lb cubed Velveeta cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 TBS Parsley flakes
1 tsp salt
dash pepper

Saute the onion and celery in butter until just translucent. Add chicken broth, seasonings, and carrots and simmer until carrots are almost tender. Add potatoes and cook until they are tender. Mix flour with milk and add to pot. Cook until thickened then remove from heat and stir in cheeses until melted. Once cheese has been added , do not boil or cheese will separate.


Yield about 4 servings.

Winner Winner Yummy Dinner

I so loved reading about all of your first dates. I think these stories would make a lovely coffee table book!

Congratulations to 3 Boys and a Girl! You are the winner of my date night prize package!

I will email you for the details on how you will receive your prize!

Sunday Savings!

I have not had a marathon shopping event for quite some time. This felt good. $22.66 for everything pictured and I got back a $10.00 Register Reward at Walgreens. The canned vegetables are normally .80 cents a can at Dollar General, but were on sale for .45 each. Lucky me that I had a bunch of coupons for a dollar off of three cans, making them .12 cents a can. I have not bought canned vegetables since the Del Monte deal at Target one year ago. (They were 20 cents a can, so I beat that deal!)

Remember, I can afford to spend $22.00 on these items without buying meat, etc., because of my stockpile.

Soup's on!

I love this time of year. I love everything about fall. I love how the leaves change and I even love watching them in their free fall to the ground. I think it is so cool that God decided to give us that last burst of color before putting everything to sleep for the winter. He could have just let them drop as they were.

Tonight I made a big pot of cheesy potato soup. Actually my potato soup is so much more. It has onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes, all simmered in a rich chicken broth, and then loaded with yummy cheese. It smelled so good as it simmered away in the kitchen. I lit a few candles, then turned on the furnace for the first time. Such a cozy evening. I was even lucky enough to get to see our oldest son briefly tonight, as he and his friends are on their way to Florida for a few days. Our house was the meeting place for some of them along the way.

Tonight the temps here will drop below freezing. Tomorrow the warm coat will come out along with gloves for sure. Unfortunately, at some point tomorrow I will probably complain about the cold, but I really do love it right now.

Permed!

What we will do for the sake of beauty!

Recently I decided to get a perm in my somewhat long poker straight gray/white/brown hair. (No, it is not striped) The hair is still brown is underneath for some reason, and the rest is a mixture of pure white and gray. You have seen my pictures.

Well, my poker straight hair seems to have a mind of its own. The first perm was less than 2 weeks ago, and last night I underwent the procedure again. I have an amazing hairdresser who wants to see me happy, so she worked late to help insure that I like my locks.

I had not had a perm for about 17 years, and my hair color has changed drastically in those years. This was uncharted territory for me, and for my hairdresser, who had no idea how it would take.

Well...the thing is, I must have pretty resistant hair because, it still is not curly in some places, and very curly in others. The brown underneath hair curled like it was 1993 and had tight ringlets, other areas have a wave.

I will post new pictures soon, but now I need to go and perfect my style for the day. Wish me luck.

Contest is now closed / Winner has been notified!

Don't these two meals look yummy? I LOVE orange chicken! For years I would have it in a restaurant and wish that I could make it at home. My son and I tried once, and it was okay, but not very easy. Now that Wanchai Ferry makes one in this handy kit I can have it anytime I want.

Sometimes my husband and I want something different to eat, but really want a quiet evening at home. These meals are perfect for a "Stay in and go all out night". A yummy dinner plus a movie are what we are all about.

I was fortunate to receive these two meals courtesy of Macaroni Grill and Wanchai Ferry through MyBlogSpark. I was also given a gift card to use for anything else I needed to make the dinner or date night special.

Good news! I am able to give away the same gift to one of my readers. One of you will receive both the Macaroni Grill kit, and the Wanchai Ferry kit, along with a $25.00 pre-paid VISA gift card. Create your own date night at home and enjoy a delicious dinner with little work.

Here is how to enter: Tell me where you and your spouse went for your first date. Our first date was a college winter banquet. The picture is at the bottom of my blog. We looked pretty good together for a first date, huh? I wish he had kept that jacket though, because I am sure it will come back in style...

Post a comment to this post telling me about you and your spouse's first date. On Monday, Nov. 1st I will select one winner through Random.org Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you.

Here's to Birthdays

I have not been around here for a while, and the thing is, I really like doing this. I just get caught up with other stuff and then I forget about this little project of mine.

I do want to talk tonight about my birthday. On Friday I turned 54. For some odd reason that sounds so much older than 53. I think it is because I couldn't wait to turn 53. Some of you know of that shadow that was hanging over me for my entire 52nd year. My oldest brother passed away at that age, and I just wanted to prove that 52 was much too young for that. I could not let that happen to me, especially after my health problems the previous year. So I longed to be 53. It was a celebration in and of itself.

So now, even if 54 sounds "much" older, I was pretty happy to be having another birthday. In the weeks preceding this day, I would see the short spots on TV from the American Cancer Society where a guy with a guitar is singing a slow rendition of the Happy Birthday song. Its intention was to celebrate birthdays in general for cancer survivors. I decided a few weeks ago that he was singing to me personally and thought it was quite thoughtful of them. Okay, so maybe he was not really, but it is one of those commercials that take on a very special meaning to those that relate to it.

It is a sweet celebration really, just to be having another birthday. I just cannot take them for granted any more. I know we all complain sometime about getting older, and I know that everyday I have a new ailment, but I should not complain about anything really.

What a blessed woman I am. I celebrated on Friday with my family, showered with gifts, enjoying a dinner out and feeling so very loved.

Here's to birthdays.

My name is Anita, and I am a terrible blogger

I want to blog more often. I just have lacked creativity.

I will be back. For those of you that know me, I will probably post something on Facebook when I return full force.

STRIKE

As most of my good friends already know, this is day 3 of a strike between our teacher's union and our school district. I would much rather be in class than on the picket line, so I am praying tonight for an agreement to be reached. My mind is pretty consumed with this right now.

Much ado about everything!

What a busy weekend. On Friday as soon as I got home from school we headed off to take youngest to his college town... without an apartment. We were glad that he has a friend whose mom was willing to take him in until an apartment opens up, and hopefully that will happen this week. We were also glad that he has an art studio that can hold some extra things.

Saturday I dove into things around here and re-claimed my house! I tackled youngest's room first and brought it up to my standards. Then I went through room by room putting things away and finding places for more of the things we brought home from husband's folk's house. Problem is, we are still bringing things home and trying to find room for them. I am almost paranoid about finding places right away, lest my home looks like one featured on a popular TV show about people with extreme clutter.

Saturday evening I was struck by some strange bug that threw my tummy for a loop which altered our plans a bit. It finally settled down around midnight.

Today was a full day, beginning with church. We then went to the folk's for Sunday brunch at the apartment complex. After that we went to their old house to do more cleanup and to bring a car load of things home. (most of those have already found their place) I also put 12 quarts of diced tomatoes up for the freezer. We were honored today to attend a 100th birthday party of the oldest and longest member of our church. What a great celebration!

Our oldest son popped in later this afternoon for a brief visit on his way through town, so he, husband and I and our friend all went out to get a bite to eat. It was a short visit, but it was good to spend a little time with him.

I think I am ready for school tomorrow, to greet and meet our new class, and to get the year underway.
After this weekend, I might even relax a bit at school!

So Long Summer

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I am never ready for the first day of school, but once I get there, I am okay. I am fighting a back to school headache tonight though, so I will be more ready when that goes away.

It was a busy summer, I did not check a lot off of my own list, but I was able to help a lot with the important job of moving the in-laws. I am grateful to have been able to help as I did. My own stuff will get done in time. Things will actually slow down now that the folks are moved, school is starting and youngest will be moving back to his school.

Funny, I will go back to school to relax!

OY Vey

Will things ever slow down? We have husband's folks mostly settled in, we have had the big sale, and more family is coming in tomorrow to help with the cleanup of what is left before closing on the house. I should be able to breathe easier, right. Not yet, because school starts the day after tomorrow for me, and youngest has to pack in the next two days for his return to school. We have a major prayer request in that department, so all of you prayer warriors, start praying that his placement on the list for an apartment on campus advances by leaps and bounds in the next 3 days. There was a mix up with his application for fall, and as of yet, he has no apartment. We are praying really hard around here for this to fall into place.

My house needs attention, but may not get all the attention it deserves until Saturday. I can live with that.

So, since my time is precious right now, I will keep this short and sweet, and request prayers from all of my friends that an apartment opens up. Soon.

Welcome Coupon Class!

If you are here for the first time from my coupon class, welcome! You were all so gracious and loving as I shared my crazy lifestyle. Thanks for your encouragement and attention. Look around, look for my "frugal" posts and have fun checking out my shopping adventures!

And life goes on...

Remember the Bee Gees song, "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?"

Right now I am thinking that if you replace the word heart with the word home, that is what this family is feeling. The family homestead is breaking. Not by the means by which one might think, but just breaking up, piece by piece. Husband's folks are moving to an assisted living apartment, and this week the task falls on the children to divide, distribute, and pack a lifetime of possessions. The task is physically exhausting, and emotionally devastating. How do you go about doing that right in front of parent's eyes and remain undisturbed? The memories attached to even the simplest object are real and precious.

I emphasize, these are not my birth parents. I lost mine to illnesses long ago. We split up their possessions as well, just not in front of their eyes. These are my parents now. They have been in my life longer than my own were, so I feel that I am not just a daughter-in-law, but I am an adopted daughter.

I have for the most part remained focused, and set to the task of just "doing this". I am a "Daughter-in-Law" I could do this, I could be unemotional and be the one to take care of business. The "real" family will be sad, but I would be fine. Who was I kidding? This morning, I am crying like a baby, and grieving over the smallest object. Each day I feel like I am toting part of their life home with me in the back of my car. Granted, if you inspected the contents a lot of these items are of little material worth. Paper plate holders, a blender (void of all the current bells and whistles), a wicker basket, on old wooden stool. Thing is, these are THEIR paper plate holders, their blender, their basket, their stool. Today I want so much to take it all back, put it back where it goes and forget the plan.

I know the reasons are valid for them to move. I even encouraged it. I just had no idea this would hit ME like this. I did not grow up in this family. Many of their memories are just interesting stories to me. I cannot hang my heart on most of these items. However, I LOVE these people. They became a real part of my family when I lost my own parents. Their memories are precious to me, even if I do not share all of them.

We will plow through, even today, with sorting and packing. We will pick up an object, and pause to learn the story behind. If there is no story, we might even resort to comic relief and make one up. Like the little mottled yellow pitcher that belonged to Aunt Irma. Thing is, there is no Aunt Irma.

Too bad really, if there was, I would let her do this task.

I am certain though, that throughout this day, I will look at every object in a very special way. And there will be tears.

Random Thoughts in bullett form

• Our dog hates fireworks. She also hates thunderstorms and getting her feet in wet grass. Yeah, we have spoiled her I guess.
• CIY is an amazing teen convention. Pretend you are a teenager and go some year, we did.
• My desktop computer may be fried. Well, probably the hard drive is shot. We could lose a lot of pictures. Back up your photo libraries . Today.
  
• My tomato plants are humongous. We bought new stakes today because the old ones are not keeping them up. I picked the first tomato tonight. I cheated, it is not fully ripe. Couldn't wait.
• I really really want to teach my coupon class again. Anyone want a class? I have it on PowerPoint and am ready to go. ( Glad I had that on a flash drive, it would be a lot of work to do all over again!)
• I am slowing down on my shopping trips. There are lots of bargains out there, but my stockpile is so full that I can pass them up. That is the benefit of a good stockpile.
  

That is about it for tonight.