[Contrary Housewife]

Grey and cold this morning, in the 20's. Don't think it will change much this afternoon. Staying in, had a long weekend out with friends. Have to go around and see which clocks need changing. Then start on the housework. One of the cats flipped a litter box over during the night. Don't ask me how.

Dinner is out of the freezer, leftover pot roast and veggies.

 

[jettsmom]

Cloudy and cold today. If my order comes in, I'll go to Kohls to pick it up. There's one ready now, but have one more coming. I also have $10 Kohls cash and will pick up another tshirt. If the order comes in, I'll also stop and pick up a pie crust and some decorator frosting to make a pie for dgd. Tomorrow is Pi day and she loves math and talks about pi all the time. She rattles off the quadratic formula all the time. I have no idea what that is and what it is used for. But she feels smart and that's all that matters.

Dh wants to go get some grub control. The moles are still at it. I killed one last year. I felt bad, but it's tearing up the yard so bad. I saw it moving around and got the shovel and gave it a couple of whacks. The dogs or the cat got another one. Dh noticed all the pipes and connectors/valves for the pool have cracked. We'll have to replace those this year.

Doing laundry and making a chocolate pie today. Busy day tomorrow. Taking mom to the hospital for her fistulagram. My sister said she's really confused about what is happening. I've explained it to her multiple times, and she just doesn't get it. It's different than the previous things she's had done. At least it will all be done in one visit instead of five.

My nephew got his birthday card. They took him to Dollar Tree to spend his money. He's 22, but is more like a 5 year old.

I doubt I'll cook the next few days. Dh has lunch for at least 2 days. I have some leftovers I can eat tonight.

 

[Zhoen]

Got my hair trimmed today at the "cheap" place... $40 with tip, and the weird stylist mostly used clippers vs. scissors... bizzarre considering my hair is fairly long... She took off a lot, so it will be interesting to see how long I can go before it gets ratty-tatty again...

I am continuing to wrestle with my banking transfers... Chase had a good intro offer I signed up for weeks ago, but when I went to make the required deposit by online transfer, they said they couldn't "pull" it... my other bank won't "push" that much, so no I have to just go to the branch and deposit an actual check like it's 1981. Luckily there is branch here in town. I had to do the same thing with opening DD15's Cap1 CD on Saturday (mine went through with electronic transfer, hers didn't...) Then I have 2 direct deposits that are supposed to go out from my paycheck Thursday... hopefully those go smoothly...

It was weird seeing all the people in the Cap1 bank Saturday... definitely made me appreciate my credit union!

Jetts, thanks for the reminder about Pi day! We have personal pizzas on the menu (pre-made crusts, add your own toppings...) DD15 was wanting apple pie soon, so I guess I'll do that and call it good!

 

[RedSpruce]

A crappy night’s sleep last night. And a busy day today.

1. I will be filming another video for my Ko-Fi site, and
2. writing another blog post for it. - Tomorrow…if at all.
3. I have bills to pay and
4. my personal finances to update.
5. I have wall hangings to finish. I was up in the middle of the night pressing them all. - I basted cording in the edge of the rest of the little ones. Three big ones to go for cording.
6. We also have laundry to do, and we’re expecting another snowstorm
7. I have to phone the bank to warn them of my large CC payment for my dental work tomorrow. Not sure who to call.

Supper tonight will be turkey burgers. No leftovers from last night.

NB. Also updated my gardening journal. See gardening thread.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Frosty but sunny this morning. I hope it warms up like they say it will. I had plans to plant the onions and put down lettuce seed. If it is too cold I'll see about getting some starter pots ready. DH is in the office today. He packed himself a sandwich this morning.

Dinner is miso chicken and butternut squash. I found a glaze that works well on chicken thighs and have some left over from last time. Thinking of making some peach pies if I can find a recipe. I got a pack of mini pie crusts for $1 last month or maybe earlier. It was a new item they were promoting, and I have canned peaches. Something could happen.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping. We are just about out of fresh food.

Hope everyone is having a good week.

 

[jettsmom]

Sunny and warming up a little. It was really cold this morning. Took mom for her fistulagram. She had no idea they were going to fix it today. You can tell her a million times and she won't believe you or she doesn't remember. I hope she doesn't have to do this again. If it does happen and we do have to go through this, I'm just going to tell the doctor to put the stent in. This is the second time she's had to have both areas ballooned. They couldn't find a vein for the IV. She didn't understand why she needed one. I'm just glad it's done for now. My sister took dad for his blood draw. He's talking about getting a scooter again. He wants to be able to go to the store. She said no you can't do that. My dad said lots of people do it, but I haven't seen very many. I used to see them a lot, but not anymore. I told her there was a reason we took the car away. Same reason he doesn't need a scooter. I'm sure he'll ask the doctor about it again. Nope, no way, not happening. It's getting more difficult with them. My sister said last night, it was time to look into nursing homes. I know they don't want that, but they need more help than we have time or can give. They don't want our help with some things like sorting their meds. I don't want to get old.

Made a chocolate pie last night for dgd. We'll take that over tonight. Hope to be home early.

Not sure if we'll get something for dinner. I was so hungry when I got home. I had some leftover bacon and made a sandwich. I wanted to be home because we are expecting a delivery that may need to be signed for. I'm tired.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Jetts, I'm sure you're doing the best you can. I'm sorry you have to face these hard decisions. I'm fortunate that my in-laws took themselves off to a retirement community when they recognized they were starting to have physical problems. It made it much easier for everyone and they met a lot of folks their own age.

I did a little cleaning today. Ran the vac in the LR. Brought laundry upstairs. Shopped in the downstairs fridge for things we need in the kitchen. Going to make a shopping list for tomorrow. Have grocery points to redeem so I need to look and see if anything is worth it. They tend to have a lot of sugary stuff and processed food on the list.

Went to the nearest grocery store for sale items. Mostly frozen stuff I wouldn't buy at regular price. Got a loaf of bakery bread on sale plus .50 off for being dated. I froze it for later. Got a bag of cat food marked down, too. Frozen breakfast things DH likes were 2/5, which is really low so I got 6 boxes. Spotted a seasoned rice mix we like marked $1 so I grabbed the last two.

Going to sit for a while, then go dig a trench for onions.

 

[RedSpruce]

Lots done today. Crappy weather was helpful. We did start laundry in the morning. Hubby took care of it today.

I filmed my video and then edited it. Got it uploaded and scheduled for Friday. I had a weird thing happen when I played the video back. A man’s voice came on saying exactly what I had said on the video. Weird. I thought it might be some kind of special effect, but I couldn’t find it. I ended up deleting the audio track for the majority of the video and redoing it.

We did banking. I paid bills and talked to the teller about an upcoming dental expense that will be put on my cc. She made a note on my cc account. Hopefully that will be good enough to keep the bank from freezing my cc.

Came home and napped. Made turkey burgers and kale chips for supper. Yum!

Spent the evening watching YouTube videos while working on the edges of my wall hangings.

 

[rujerro]

CH- Ooohhh. What types of things can grocery points buy and what market gives these points? I hope there's something you can use and the points never expire!

Jetts- I agree with you on taking all personal transportation away from your dad due to his cognitive decline. I also agree with the stent for your mom. We are in a similar situation. DH's parents are not in good health. Mom is still in a rehab hospital for her infections/ulcers/diabetes/MS and needs 24/7 care. Dad has cognitive decline and walks with a walker. Nobody has medical powers over them and they did not want it. DH's sister is moving nearby in April but I know she is very uncomfortable with seeing them in this state and unsure of what to do. I don't know how much cash they have or receive, but putting mom in a nursing home was too costly and they didn't want to be separated. They hired homecare CNA's but we can see where this is going. I can't say much since I'm not their daughter.

Zhoen- I hope the haircut was something that you liked, despite the use of clippers. For that price, I hope you got a shampoo and blow-out!

Red- The wall hangings sound nice. Is there a theme you prefer when making them?

I attempted to trim the bushes in the backyard. One lilac will need an electric saw. The peach and chokecherry have not been trimmed and I'm afraid to do it. They stretch towards the sun and have branches like tentacles, reaching across the yard........ I'll clean up the branches and pick up any dead leaves surrounding them.

I poured soil into my outdoor buckets and got rid of that bag of soil. We're expecting snow this week but I have visions of a garden.....

I spoke to a financial adviser to see what they had to say..A free consult. This one deals with stocks/crypto and I'm shy about those due to lack of knowledge but it was eye openng..

I did laundry and will start going through my stockpile and cleaning areas for donation. The HVAC people are coming this week to tell me what's wrong with the furnace.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Rujerro, it's a local grocery chain. They scan my loyalty card with each purchase and I get a point per dollar spent (rounded down) with occasional bonus points for buying specially marked items or shopping certain days. They used to only offer gas discounts, but a couple years ago (just before COVID) they started with the food and grocery items. It's usually canned or shelf goods, things like olives, salsa, tuna, ketchup, kid's cereal, juice. There's often frozen things, like waffles or ice cream. Once in a while they have butter or bacon. During Nov & Dec they offered various turkeys (1500 pts) and holiday fixings, even disposable aluminum roasting pans. Points are good for 60 days. I find it hard to rack up more than 500 points, and if I do I forget (like this morning) to use them.

Some current offerings are:
-- Chunk Light Tuna, in Water or Oil 5 oz 90 Points
-- Sour Cream 8oz, Selected Varieties 105 Points
-- Creme De Menthe Thins 4.67oz 180 Points
-- Hot Cocoa 8 ct 190 Points
-- Instant Potatoes 7.34-8.2oz, Selected Varieties 230 Points
-- Fruit Blends Flavored Drinks 52 oz. 260 Points
-- Thick & Fluffy or Whole Grain Waffles 11.6oz 270 Points
-- Frozen Pizza 20-25.49oz, Selected Varieties 500 Points

And also for 500 pts I can just take $5 off my total bill. Right now I have 447 points, and they are going to start expiring on Friday. So I need to decide if I want any of the above delicacies, or if I should chance it on the next round of offers, which goes up tomorrow. Right now I'm thinking I can use the tuna and sour cream and still have a good point balance if something nice comes available in the next few weeks. After you click and add it to your card you have a week to get the item.

So I've put the sour cream on my card, because that offer expires tonight, and in the morning before I go shopping for the rest of the week I'll check the web site and see what's new, and look at the sale ad (because it didn't get delivered today, sigh). Hope that answers questions.

I'm not a financial advisor, but crypto currencies are going down the toilet so fast right now. Run from anything involved with that. People are going to jail for fraud.

Hope the tree trimming goes well. There are a lot of sites that tell you how to do it for each type of tree/bush.

 

[RedSpruce]

@rujerro , not really. My themes range from geometrics to landscapes to flowers to buildings. Anything that takes my fancy.

It’s windy and still dark outside right now. Today is more finishing of wall hangings, writing a blog post and the first half of major dental surgery. I imagine I’ll be sleeping that off afterwards. I’m planning a big lunch so I don’t need supper.

 

[josantoro]

the store I go to has a loyalty program, you enter your phone number to sign in before you checkout. Store brands, you get 2% back and every quarter you can activate your rewards and it comes right off your total. Plus you get special coupons based on what you buy (online, not clipped) and special offers. The other day I got $5 in rewards just for going shopping, and 4 items, all were free.

 

[dlrcpa]

Good morning. Cold and windy 2nd day in a row. Working on using up things from the fridge. Safeway had good sales on produce and chicken, also got 2 lbs ground beef 50% off that is now in the freezer. I finally made the cauliflower soup Monday night, added the queso cheese dip to it, now have a large container all to myself. Made more onion dip and cut up vegs. Hubby made fajitas last night and there are leftovers. TV repairman coming today but only has 1 of the 2 recommended circuit boards, NOT the main one that is likely the problem. Apparently they can't get parts. Scheduled dog1 vet appointment for Friday and will give them a bunch of old towels to use in the kennels. Eye exam tomorrow, it has been 5 years.

Ruj - one local chain (Giant/ Giant Eagle/Food Lion) loyalty program gives 1 point per dollar spent. Extra points of they are promoting something (like spend $10 on produce to get extra points.) 100 points is approximately $1 off groceries if you choose but they also have some items for points at a better "price". Like gallon of milk for 100 points; or dozen eggs, case of water or 3 lb bag of mandarins for 200 points. Bag of frozen vegetables for 50 points. I always keep a free gallon of milk loaded on the card. For a while there was bacon but no longer. Hubby is just trained to use the rewards card, he never looks at prices but frequently picks up the milk (and junk food). He doesn't buy the other things mentioned, I have to go get those items. Points expire about a month after being earned so I have to keep checking and choosing the rewards. Then the rewards get about 14 days to be redeemed. Fortunately this store is really close by. They also have digital coupons and the occasional "free" item digital coupon.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Windy but warmer today.

Red, hope the dental surgery goes well and you recover soon. 🤗

Dlr, that's really frustrating about the tv. I didn't realize there were problems with appliance parts, too.

We also get digital coupons on the store website. I "clipped" a bunch last night but will scan for new ones today. Our new reward offers include instant rice, brownie mix, and a variety of juices.

I got an email that World Market is doing their Golden Gnome promotion again. They hide several cards each day worth a $20 discount on your purchase, with some $50's on weekends, and a $100 for Easter. I found one of the $20s during the christmas promotion. So next week or the week after when I have time to kill I'll go browse one of their stores.

And I'm on the mailing list for a sushi place which just sent me a $20 promo, so I may take that in a week or two when it warms up more and enjoy a nice lunch.

Mac and cheese with ham and a salad for dinner tonight.

 

[dlrcpa]

TV guys came and left, still not fixed. They are supposed to return Saturday with the needed part. Think I will give dog1 a bath tomorrow, before his vet appointment Friday. Temp has climbed close to 50 but still windy today. If the wind drops and it stays sunny tomorrow then he should be OK. He does not like the hair dryer.

 

[jettsmom]

Sunny/cloudy/windy today. Supposed to rain tomorrow. Yay for me. Anyway, I went to the dentist today. Still have the same watch and wait. They suggested getting a waterpik. I did some looking and found one that also comes with a toothbrush. My toothbrush stopped working and I'm looking for a new one. This is the year I'm trying to take better care of myself. So far I've had my well woman, 6 month dental cleaning, next week is 6 month doctor appointment. In the fall will be another doctor appointment and mammogram. I do have a followup with the GYN next month. Now I just need to work on the diet. I stress eat. Some days I live on sugar. I know that's bad, but it's the only thing that makes me feel good right now.

Stopped at one store today for some of their good coupon deals, which they were out of most of them. Also out of the pasta they advertised. I did find a couple of boxes of pasta way back on the shelf. I would have like to get the chicken wings. Maybe I'll try again this weekend or early next week. Then went to Kohls to pick up an order. The other wasn't there yet, so I'll have to go back when it gets here. I decided to go today, because the 1st order needed to be picked up by tomorrow and it's supposed to rain and I'd rather not get out. Picked up a t-shirt too with my kohls cash. The cashier was trying to talk me into getting two shirts because they were 2/$24 or $15 each. I knew what I was doing. I used a 30% discount last week with $5 kohls cash and paid $7. Today with $10 kohls cash and senior discount I paid $5. So I got 2/ $12 instead of 2/$24.

Going to clean up the kitchen this afternoon and maybe start a load of laundry. I grabbed a chicken sandwich from McDs today, so I'll probably munch later this evening.

 

[chumbleyn1]

Been in the 60s today, but windy. Moved costumes, did laundry, and went to the grocery store. This was weigh in day fir DH and I. We both lost an inch in the waist. He lost 7.6 lbs and me 4.5. Checked my garden and radishes are sprouting.

 

[marthamfi]

sunny here since the time change and things are starting to come up. but was ice on the car this morning. Yep parents who are ill but... sigh. You can go get guardianship over them to get them into homes if it comes down to it. Always thankfully never came to that with the inlaws. stll other issues but not that.

On that note had to take mom to ER (yes have healthcare but now the downsize seems from covid is all family doc are go to the er for everything..my closest walk in clinic doc works from home so..yeah) Was an adventure getting there from roads closed due to accidents or construction. She didn't want me to stay so went to last store to do. Turns out she has a hernia not a ice cream belly as she calls it. and has to wait for test results from family doc etc.

She had asked my brother when she was going to see the new place so got an email invite from sil for a visit within a certain time frame. us cus of course we have to bring her. Told mom she said what just casual so no she was just taking an interest and doesn't feel well. Since we are more casual popping in type (within reason of course) (like I drop off stuff for her or brother comes by her house to do laundry before she is up (he wasn't allowed to do laundry in the place they bought together until recently. yes mom regrets pushing marriage.says didn't know she was off after all these years doesn't really work either) So at least don't have to deal with that. Free celticfest coming up this weekend and I have some free lectures too so will see what is going on. Tomorrow is last regency cooking but haven't make those recipes. couldn't find the ground almond at walmart for the cookies.

I shopped at walmart since I was there and got the stuff we need for the next while..milk, dh kcups, hoagies, single pack yogurt, dry cat food, etc. $105 later sigh picked up some ginger cookies for a icebox cake but they were only 1.47 a pack. Jamie Oliver recipe. still leftovers too or people can make pizza using wraps etc. Of course housework but dd did the cat boxes and dish washer. tomorrow is another day for other cleaning and laundry.

got the annual water/garbage/sewer bill of course it went up over $2000 a yr doesn't matter how many people live in the house 1 or 10. condos are cheaper. So that needs paying. Still have to bill for my bookkeeping too.

 

[dlrcpa]

Good morning, 34 degrees here. Corned beef and vegs are in the crock pot today. Eye exam at 9:30, it has been 5 years. Can still see fine but someone should look inside and check glaucoma, etc. Planning bath for dog1 later. New smoke detector in garage started beeping like low battery, supposed to last 10 years! Printed off the receipt (Home Depot) and got out instructions to deal with later. It's sitting outside so it can annoy the neighbors instead. Have a good day.

 

[RedSpruce]

Good morning! It snowed during the night and it’s nice and bright with light reflecting off it right now. Still overcast though.

I was up and had breakfast. I have extra strength Tylenol and a super duper mouthwash from the dentist that are doing wonders for any pain I might have from the dental implant. So far I’ve been good about using them.

My seeds are sprouting, so I’m excited (see gardening thread). I’m a bit early for some of them. I didn’t expect such a rapid germination on 2021 seeds! There are a few 2022 and 2023 seeds, but not many.

Today will be more edge finishing on my wall hangings. I’m also creating another menu plan.

Have a great day everyone!