I haven't been feeling great the last couple of days. Not sick, really, just...yucky. Today I didn't stick to my meal plan. I cooked, it's just that the idea of doing a complicated new recipe did not appeal. Plus, I realized I was out of soy sauce, so I couldn't really make the marinade. I ended up just doing bacon cheese burgers, corn on the cob, and nectarines. It worked well. We picked up soy sauce so we can make the Tropical Chicken Stir-fry tomorrow and bump the ribeye meal to next week. They are frozen so it's not that big a deal. Plus DS is doing a make up tae kwon do class tomorrow for when he was so sick, which means a stir-fry will just be easier than the other.

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I found this interesting booklet on meal planning:

http://nchstd.documents.s3.amazonaws.com/More%20Month%20than.... It's kind of a crash course for people who don't really know what they are doing. It wasn't exactly news to me, but I think it would be very helpful for someone who hasn't tried meal planning before and wants to dive in. It does require time though. I think this is more for families with a stay at home parent (and not of very young children, but at least preschool age and up, because some of it would just be hard to do with a toddler clinging to your leg or wearing a baby) or maybe one parent who is only working part time. I'd find it hard if I was working full time. Not that it's not doable, but it's probably not practicle in that situation. Also didn't really care for the breakfasts, because I don't like oatmeal (unless it's in cookies or bread or granola or Joe's O's), but it's not hard to plan breakfasts. And I liked the shopping lists. It's a good teaching tool really.

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I added $6.98 cents to the coin jar. I picked up a prescription for $25. We filled up the gas tank on the van, $57.16. We did a major stock up run to Costco so I shouldn't have to go there for a couple of months, and picked up six LED lightbulbs there, batteries, toilet paper, and of course groceries.

I got really annoyed at a lady there. She was trying to squeeze between me and the shelves instead of going around DH and I. There was not room to do this and she was practically shoving her cart into me. I was probably less than gracious about it because I was having a bad pain day in my leg which always makes me walk slower. I walked even slower at that point. I get cranky when I hurt. She huffed loudly and finally just went around us. I wanted to tell her off, but I bit my tongue. People are rude enough at Costco without me adding to it.

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Spent $10 on two foam swords for the kids. I probably played with one of them more than was seemly for an adult, but it was fun to whack something today. Very stress relieving. This was actually an expense for school.

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Here, have a photo of the half grown chickens roosting in the coop. I will try to get a photo of the ducks up soon.



Oh, and here's a photo of the damage my mother "didn't" do to our older car. The suction cup dent remover does not work to pull it out, either. It cost $5.

This makes me so pleased. DH's camera is the one that won't take photos anymore and mine had gone missing, but it showed up today, rather mysteriously. I'm pretty sure it fell through a crack in the space/time continuum, because it was not there last night. Or this morning. Or maybe one of the kids snuck it back after finding it in their rooms or something and isn't saying. But I have it.

It is not as good as the other one, but I hate not being able to take pictures. There have been so many times in the past couple of days when there has been something I've wanted to snap and couldn't. I am still researching new cameras, as I do feel we need to get a good, high quality one soon, but I no longer feel so rushed to do so.

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I almost blew it today on a credit card payment. I had accidentally charged something on one of the paid off cards and then forgot about it until the last minute. And I do mean last minute. As in it was 4:40 and I had to get home to a meal I had started making but left my daughter in charge of. Fortunately she was just finishing putting everything on the table as I walked in the door. I was able to eat in 20 minutes and had enough time to drive over to the one drive-thru branch of BoA that stays open until 6, so I got it paid. If I hadn't paid it today there would have been interest. No more cutting it that close for me!

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I also picked up a prescription because I was on that side of town, $3.35.

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I got gas today. The pump shut off at $50. I don't know why, I pre-paid with my AMEX card and I've never had it shut off before the tank was full except on really hot days and even then it was a gallon shy not this much. It was only 12 gallons and I have an 18 gallon tank and it was empty. It should not have clicked off at 3/4 of a tank, but I was in a hurry so I didn't try to do a second purchase or go in and see what was up. But I figure DH will be home when it runs out again and he can take it and get it all the way full.

Gas was $4.29 a gallon. Ouch. It's cheaper at Costco, $4.17, but not worth the time driving there and the time spent in the line. It works out to be cheaper to pay the 12 cents more a gallon. I actually save money that way, which tells you gas prices are ridiculously high.

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Tomorrow is payday. I will be running around a fair bit to pay things and to do a small amount of grocery shopping. Produce mostly, but I also want to look for some BPA free storage containers. I'd like to replace all of my cheap plastic with either BPA free plastic containers or glass containers.

One of the hints I saw on doing this for cheaper was to buy things in glass containers that you could reuse, but most of what I buy either doesn't come in a container (fresh fruits and vegetables) or doesn't come in glass at all, only plastic or tin. Peanut butter and jelly come in glass, but they are small, so while I might be able to fit a serving or so of some food in one, I wouldn't be able to fit planned over leftovers for the next days meal into something like that. I also do get a glass bottle of mango nectar that my son can have but it has a narrow mouth so it would be hard to store anything in it, except maybe popcorn or rice (which comes in a cardboard box anyway, not plastic). Maybe small uncooked macaroni noodles or shells.

I did see some quart-sized and pint-sized Ball canning jars at Goodwill when I was there that I could use. I would have to buy lids and rings to use those for storage, plastic wrap on top defeats the purpose of using sustainable products, but that is certainly cheaper than Pyrex with lids, which is what I was looking for in that aisle of Goodwill. I found lots of Pyrex, but not any with lids. Something to think on as my reusable plastic wears out and we switch over to products that are better for the planet.

DH managed to break his tooth because he wouldn't stop eating hard candies. He doesn't suck on them, he chews them which you are really not supposed to do for the sake of your teeth and it's not like he hasn't been warned to knock it off. For years. Not only did he chip the tooth he broke the crown off. So now $1500 worth of work has to be done to fix it and I am very irritated because I was supposed to be next in line to get my teeth fixed and now I have to wait. I have some cracks in two of my six-year molars, just general wear and tear, but they have to be fixed before the cracks get down to the gumline or we'll be talking root canal, etc. And they hurt when I chew anything tougher than chicken, fish, or hamburger. I am trying not to be resentful about this, but I am afraid it is not working. Especially since it means post-poning paying off the last credit card. Which frustrates me even more. Our dental insurance sucks.

I can't believe it is May already. This year is just whizzing by. Yesterday was very busy. I had an appointment in the morning, $90. DD had a dentist appointment, which will be billed to insurance and be fully covered because it is the first of the year.

We paid the property taxes yesterday for the half year on the old house, $524.75. DH took the two new toilets out to the old house. His father will help him install them on Wednesday. While out there he dropped off the water bill and saved a stamp, $144.

The money from ING showed up yesterday but we didn't have time to go over and make a payment at BoA. I am hoping we will today, but if not then that will get paid tomorrow.

We finally took the kids to The Hunger Games movie last night. We went to the 6:30 showing so we could get out and be home at a decent hour since it was a school night. I would have preferred to go to the 4:00 one, but DS doesn't even get out of school until 3:45. I was really well pleased with the movie. I felt it stayed true to the book on almost everything and only missed one tiny little scene not being included, the district 11 sending the bread scene. It should have been there as it was such a pivotal moment, but oh, well. You can't have everything in a screen adaptation, but this was pretty close.

Still it cost us $40 for the four of us to go. This is why we seldom see movies in the theater. $9.50 per student and $10.50 per adult. Even matinee prices would not have been that good. It's not like they are half price anymore. They are just a buck or two off per ticket to go at a less convenient time. I think it was worth it this time, but I miss the days of $5 movies. Heck, I miss the days of $1 movies.

So far today I have paid $700 to BoA VISA, $600 to AMEX, and $265.86 to Costco. We bought two new high pressure, low flow toilets for the old house, plus selected organic groceries there (and some raw sheep's cheese imported from France that they were sampling, so good, and we usually get some kind of expensive cheese when we go there). The toilets were $79.99 each plus sales tax of 8.9%. They are one piece models where the tank is part of the toilet unit, so very easy to install. We also bought gas while we were there, filling the tank for $59.56.

I figured out the budget for this week and next week's pay, and then figured out that since the car payment isn't due until 5/19 and we get paid on 5/18, I could actually skip making a car payment out of next week's check and make it on the 18th in person instead. I could then take the $800 (payment + additional principal that I always make) and put it on the BoA VISA instead. It's cutting it close, but I do still have enough money in the EF to cover the car payment if needed.

That should still have us on track to have the VISA paid off by the end of May or at the very latest the middle of June. I wasn't expecting to have to buy a new bed for DS this month, but sometimes things happen. Maybe we won't have to use the full $1000 I've set aside to have the whole house professionally cleaned. We are going to email about setting up an estimate. Then we can make an appointment to have it done. Then the only thing left to do will be to change out the toilets, get an estimate on fixing the window, and then scheduling an appointment to actually fix the window.

And then we will have to make a decision on replacing all of the interior doors and frames, or letting the house go As IS/Where IS without fixing those things. I don't think we are going to paint. I might get an estimate to see if it is worth it, but...I don't really want to put that much more money into it. I just want it clean, on the market, and not have to worry about it anymore. At least the roof is sound. We are twelve years into a thirty year roof warranty come July, and it was an excellent roof we put on.

The lawn will have to be mowed this weekend though. And probably at least every weekend from this point on, at least in the front where it shows from the road.. *sighs* It won't be too bad. We'll need the gas mower this first time, but after that I can use the push mower. And I can save the back yard for DH when he's home and he can use the gas mower for that.

I have some other bills to pay and set money aside for but I'll probably do that tomorrow. I did make a deposit to the Safety Net of $122.30.

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I forgot to post this before I left, so we took the kids clothing and bathing suit shopping after school, a planned expense, and got spring wardrobes for them (shorts and t-shirts for DS, Capri pants and t-shirts for dear daughter. They each got a bathing suit and I got one, too, though I am annoyed about it. The one I really wanted and liked the colors in various shades of green and blue of the most showed way, way, way too much cleavage even for me, and I'm pretty comfortable with that sort of thing, but dang, I would have had to pin this to feel comfortable in public. It fit so well, too, otherwise. It was an older ladies swimsuit, too. Why do they think we want to show off that much over age 40? It's like the toddler booty shorts. I mean, why? It'd be one thing if I was buying a bikini, but this was a swimdress style suit.

The one I ended up buying was various shades of pink (one of them hot pink, which I do like, but most pastels, which I don't) and brown. I am not really a pink person, but due to things that often tend to be out of my control, I have far too much pink in my wardrobe already. Usually because I just want to be clothed and the only thing left in the styles I like and my size by the time I get to shopping is the pink ones.

But it fits perfectly and supports perfectly. The skirt is a little too long for my preference, but hopefully it won't get in my way when I do the crawl stroke. I used to have one that was so long my hands would tangle in it when I swam laps. This one isn't billowy though at all. So I bought it. One nice surprise is I was able to buy it a size smaller than my other swimsuit. (I like to have two because I swim almost every day mid-spring through mid-fall, and the older one invariably falls apart from all the chlorine mid-season.

I mean, if I wanted to spend over $100 for a suit, I would order one online and get the colors I really wanted, but I don't, and a $33 suit with proper support and coverage, even if it isn't the greatest colors, is fine with me. And DH likes it regardless and says it looks good. It's just my dislike of pink, not reality. Sometimes we have to make compromises in life. This isn't a big one.

We also picked up some school supplies to replace what was worn out or used up, and some OTC medications to replace the stock used up when ill. The last thing I want to do when I am sick is go shopping for medications, so I really like to have enough on hand to treat 3 of us if we go down at the same time (DH is seldom sick).

We went to two stores and spent $73 at one (after $8 off from our loyalty card and were given a $5 gift card because we qualified for having spent over $50). At the other, where we did the bulk of our shopping we spent $265.56 (almost the exact amount we spent at Costco, interesting).

I was so tired by the time we were done, I decided to get takeout pizza instead of making some. *sighs* Willpower, thy name is not LuckyRobin. So that was $27.18. And after a quick run to the store tonight for milk and crackers I am not going to spend any money (except to write out bills) for the rest of the weekend. I hope.

I have managed to hurt my eyelid and my eye has spent the better part of the day swollen shut or mostly swollen shut (it opens a bit after 20 minutes of icing). I don't even know what I did, really, but there is a nasty scratch right above the lashes that is about an inch long. They eye itself is fine. And fortunately I can type without looking so I can still post.

My mom picked the kids up from school today for me and I sent money to pick up another gallon of milk and some antibiotic ointment and bandages for my hand. It came to $14.40. No other money was spent today. I added .60 to the coin jar.

We have finished naming the ducks now, so the last two are named Noisy and Snuggles. I don't know if I mentioned the first two were Inigo Montoya and Len Tao. Snuggles likes to do just that, snuggle her head against the side of your neck and shoulder. I think Noisy's name is self explanatory. It was either Noisy or Squeaky and I think it'll outgrow the squeaky noise so Noisy won out.

The chickens are more fragile and we'll probably put off naming them for another couple of weeks except for Half-Pint and Pipsqueak the two littlest ones who got named despite us knowing the survival rate of chicks.

Three of the hens have not been laying, or at least not laying in the nesting boxes, since we moved the chicks and ducks in. They may be hiding them elsewhere. One of the few negatives of allowing your chickens free range is that sometimes they hide their eggs when they get broody, even when there is no rooster around. I think the introduction of the chicks may have made them broody. One of the other few negatives is they freak out easily when you turn a car on and streak across the driveway so I'm always afraid I will hit one.

Still, I'd never want to keep them cooped up all their lives and I am looking forward to when the little pen is constructed so we can let the babies out for an hour or two a day when the weather is nice so they can get used to the outside under supervision. Although I am not looking forward to the day when they get to run free but have not yet learned to go into the coop on their own and we have to chase them in. Fortunately the learning curve only lasts about six weeks. And with the adult chickens to show them what to do they may not be as difficult as when we started from scratch.

It was nice to wake up this morning to the smell of chicken stock simmering away in the crockpot. You know what I like about making stock over making soup? When you make stock you don't have to peel anything, you just have to wash it. And you don't have to dice it, you just have to rough cut it. It was so nice to just cut the onion into 12 pieces and throw it in. So nice not to have to peel the carrots, too!

I will have to peel and dice for the fresh veg I put in after I strain it, but that's not a big deal. I am going to put more diced celery than usual in, though, because it's starting to look a little sad, and DS is going to take one cut up stalk with peanut butter in his lunches for the next couple of days.

I was looking at enchilda sauce recipes on the internet last night and then I thought, well this is basically the ingredients in my big bottle of McCorkmick taco seasoning with tomato sauce, green chiles and garlic added, so that is what I'm going to do. If it tastes weird, I can adjust it with chili powder and cumin, but I'm sure it will be fine. And I will add a bit of cocoa powder if I don't like the color. Cocoa powder makes it more brown and less tomato sauce color.

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Yesterday for the DEC challenge, I spent $14 on a haircut for DD. That was the only spending.

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I added $1.14 in change to the coin jar.

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I am getting a massage today as my hip and knee and low back got majorly tweaked last week, so I will spend $90 on that.

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I'll be making blueberry cornbread muffins and a loaf of bread today in the bread machine Mom loaned me. I haven't used it for more than dough before so hopefully it will turn out. It's a fancy machine, way more bells and whistles than my old one had, and I'll have to recheck the manual online to make sure I do it right, since she can't find her manual.

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I got to cuddle a duck last night. It just lay there in my arms and put it's neck right over my shoulder. So cute and sweet. Unfortunately I managed to slice my hand open on a metal screen. I am going to call the doctor because it looks pretty bad this morning and I want to make sure it's not infected. I cleaned it immediately and put antibiotic ointment on it, but it still looks nasty. It's in one of the worst places, too, on my right hand just beneath the webbing between thumb and first finger. Basically wherever you need to grip to open a jar, it's in the way and it hurts.

I never ended up getting a tetanus shot for the staple I stepped on. The doctor said since it was a clean, unused staple with no rust I was fine, and I have been, but this time I know there was rust on the screen so I guess I am destined to get that shot after all. If I had got it last week I wouldn't have to worry now, but oh, well. I'm sure it won't be completely covered, most vaccines are not unless you are a child. Stupid, but it's the way things go, sort of like how insurance doesn't want to pay for orthodontia in adults. I find it very short-sighted.

Okay, okay, so I've already posted twice today, but I could not let this occasion pass. My blog hit one million hits tonight! Hee.

And just to talk about something financial...I think I mentioned I have been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. Well, I really do think I am going to have to find a way to start buying organic, grass fed, wild caught, or free range protein from now on. The more I read about the industrial food industry, the sicker I get.

It just frustrates me so much, because a pound of organic, grass-fed hamburger costs $6 a pound and a pound of hamburger from a corn-fed feed lot steer is $2.50 a pound on sale. I say corn-fed, but eww, the stuff that goes into that feed is just...icky and not just corn that's been stripped of it's nutritional benefit. Plus the poor cows. Their stomachs cannot actually digest corn properly and they have to do unspeakable things to the poor beasts to release the gas it causes them. It also allows bacteria to grow in their stomachs that they cannot fight off because they were never meant to eat corn. It is sad. I won't go into details because they are very gruesome, really.

So plans so far are to buy a half a side of beef in the fall from this little farm in Bow, but I need to investigate chickens and lamb, too. In my state it is easy enough to buy wild fish at the store and stay away from the farm fed stuff. It's weird. I don't have an issue with paying $7 to $8 for wild salmon, why is it so hard for me to pay that much for beef? Or chicken? Maybe that is just something I will have to get past.

I think ways to manage it, is to have smaller portions of meat (hard for DH particularly) and fill up more with organic veggies and fruits. Organic veggies like broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, and cauliflower are pretty cheap here as are bananas and quite often strawberries. I still have a huge supply of frozen blueberries from the back yard. Organic potatoes and sweet potatoes aren't too expensive either, and that is a good filler upper food. We can grow a lot of green beans here, that is one thing that never fails so we can put those up.

I also can go back to baking more rolls and bread again so I can control what is in the food. There are a lot of corn products that go into commercial bread, things I never knew were forms of corn syrup like maltodextrin. I knew it was a sweetner but not a form of corn syrup. As are polysorbate, glucose, and dextrose. I always thought glucose and dextrose came from fruit and I'm not sure where I thought maltodextrin came from. It's kind of scary how they can disguise it. Just like they do with MSG.

And don't get me started on what's in a certain fast food place's nuggets. Suffice to say I wish I'd known before eating there the other night. TBHQ? Really? I think I've finally found a way to set the fast food switch to OFF for good.

You know, I thought this book was awfully simplistic when I started reading it, but the more I get into it, the more horrified I am. I consider myself fairly well-educated when it comes to the food industry, but now...well, now I think my eyes were only half open and if I am going to protect my health, I am going to have to find a way to spend the money on real food. I also realize why my allergies have been so awful these past few years. And my kiddos, too.

I guess it's time to go back to serious meal planning again.

...I got excused from jury duty. Fully excused this time. Apparently being partially disabled, being on certain medications that cloud my thinking, having various doctor's notes about surgeries and being unable to sit on those hard chairs for eight hours a day due to my hip and low back are not valid reasons to be fully excused without being recalled in six months, but being a stay at home mom who has to take her kids to and from school or be home with them on non-school days and has a spouse working in another state and cannot afford to pay someone else to do that because all our money is going to pay off past medical bills, is. Go figure.

But at least I feel like I have my life back now. That I don't have to wait another stomach-churning day to figure out if they are going to call me or not. That I don't have to worry about not drinking water all day or having violent allergic reactions to people's perfume or cigarette stink. That I don't have to have all my months of physical therapy ruined by being unable to move like I need to move throughout the day to avoid wrecking my body. That I won't have to go through the muscle spasms that would be caused by sitting in those chairs for so long.

None of it would be worth the $10 a day stipend. $100 to regress all the physical progress I have made and had to spend $1700 out of pocket for. Yeah, that's really what I wanted to do. I like walking without a cane. I like being able to go up and down stairs like a normal person again. I like only having to use my handicapped parking permit 1 time out of 10 and not every day. Going backwards I'm not a big fan of.

The only thing is I know that in a year or two when we buy a new house and we move and I have to change my address with the DMV and change my voting address (it's automatic now with changing it at the DMV) it will just pop me up on their list again. It does that every time I change my address or renew my license. Like clockwork. But at least I know which reason to use now. I suppose that is something.

And someday when I am healthy and strong and my kids are grown and they call me to serve, I will go. Of course, that is probably when they will finally give up calling me to serve.

I ended up spending $14.52 yesterday after tae kwon do testing. DS was so tired and I was ridiculously exhausted at that point and so sore from sitting on those benches that I knew I wasn't going to want to stand and make something on the stove and it was already 8 p.m., so I gave in to temptation and took us through the McD's drivethrough and got a couple of combo meals. I can't believe how expensive they have gotten. You used to be able to get two full meals for $10 and now it's almost $15.

The thing is, it's been a while since I didn't just grab a bag of double cheeseburgers and a couple small fries and the free cups of water, so not only was there price shock, but there was flavor shock, too. I'm not sure what it is, but the taste of the bigger burgers was just really off to me. DS thought so too. Maybe we are losing our taste for it or maybe the smaller meat is different than the bigger meat patties. Anyway, I don't think I'll be buying combo meals there any time soon. Plus I think they charge more for the bottled water than for the sodas, even though they are supposed to substitute directly.

It was just a big disappointment. I think we'll stick with Boomers Drive-In for bigger burgers in the future. It might take longer, but the quality is so much better. Lesson learned, I guess.

I am feeling a bit better today than yesterday, but I am still going to take a nap today. I want to continue in this direction.

Oh, I also picked up a prescription last night so that was $3.35.

Today when I woke up my left ear was not blocked for the first time in over two weeks and there was no clicking or crackling in my right ear. My head doesn't feel like it's about to explode from the pressure. Still have a runny nose and very minor throat cough and a headache, but my fever has actually dropped to 98.7 (still well above my normal, but almost standard normal).

I slept pretty well last night, 1:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., and took DD to school and then Mom said she would take DS to school so I went back to bed and slept for two more hours and I almost feel human again. I really had to stop and think about it because it's been so long. I still feel lethargic and like I don't want to tackle anything more ambitious than putting a roast in the crockpot, but I also don't want to spend the rest of the day sleeping so I think that's pretty good. LOL

I am thinking about making an appointment with a neurologist. I've been having some numbness and tingling in my right hand and less often in my left arm. I also have tremors in my hands sometimes when I'm really tired. I know those are possible signs of diabetes, but I don't have any of the other main symptoms. Since Dad had MS, I think it might be a good idea to find out if the symptoms mean anything.

It is also possible that it is the way I type, because tingling/numbness usually only happens then in my hand and I do have lazy laptop typing posture. But the elbow and arm happens when I sleep. It could just be me pinching a nerve, but still... Probably should just do an overall physical, too, as it's been a while. I just don't want to find out that maybe there is something else wrong with me. And more medical bills. I just want to be healthy. Is that too much to ask? It gets so frustrating to keep channelling money into this unending array of health problems.

Oh, well, I should focus on the fact that I am getting over this current illness and maybe by next week I'll be well for a while. I'd really like that. Even if it is just in time for jury duty.

I stepped on a staple today, not like the kind you use to hold papers together, but a more heavy duty one, like they use in construction. It was on the fairly small side of construction staples, but it still hurt like blazes. It didn't bleed too much, it was in the thick part of the heel, and I really don't like walking on it right now. Of course I did it too late in the day to go to the doctor for a tetanus shot (I'm due), but I will call tomorrow. You have 72 hours to get one after a puncture to be in the safe window.

I did not end up going to the store last night like I had planned. I had also only planned to only spend $10. And ended up spending $129.21 today. Well, I bought more cold medicine, and they had hamburger and pot roast on sale, and then they had chicken noodle soup and beef stew and chili on sale, and my pantry has been looking a little bare because anything we could heat and serve was pretty much used up while I was so sick (still am, but more functional now). And I bought milk. So...it's not like I went out of my grocery budget or anything, I've barely spent any of it this month so far, but it was a lot of unplanned buying. Staple buying, but unplanned.

I made tacos for dinner tonight. I didn't feel well enough to make the hamburger on the stove so I did it in the microwave with my Tupperware stack cooker, then added the taco seasoning. We use the big container of McCormick taco seasoning they sell at Costco and we use half a cup per pound. The directions say 1/4 cup but it is not enough for our tastebuds. We didn't have quite enough shredded cheese for everyone so I improvised with some Tillamoos. I do have some cheese I could shred but I didn't feel like standing there and doing it. Mom gave me all the lettuce leftover from the family gathering, so we used that for the lettuce.

This is the second dinner I have cooked this week that did not come out of a can. I made chicken last night. So I do seem to be getting back on stride a little, but I don't have the energy or strength to do anything big and complicated.

I have to take DS to tae kwon do tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday. I really don't want to, but he still has to get two classes in before the make up test Wednesday. He's missed so much being sick. It's already been four months to get the needed classes in. Usually at his age it only takes two months. I think I may just sleep out in the car. I am so tired and the hard benches inside for parents are so uncomfortable.

I feel like all I have done for the past four days is sleep. My fever finally broke yesterday. A week at 101 is hard, but yesterday it was 99 and today it was 97.6 (my normal). I am still coughing a lot, but it's way up towards the base of my throat. I can read again (have several days worth of blogs to catch up on now!) for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

I have spent around $40 on Dayquil, Nyquil, and psuedophederine this week. They at least helped manage the symptoms. Until today that is all I spent in the last few days (for the daily expenses challenge). Today I ordered a XL pizza from Round Table which was $27.18. I'm still not much up for cooking. I managed a chicken stir-fry from one of my homemade kits in the freezer yesterday, but that about did me in. Mostly it's been soup and sandwiches around here, or anything that comes out of a can but doesn't have additives.

Hopefully I will feel good enough on Sunday to make a big batch of pancakes for the freezer. That would have come in handy this week as it only takes 30 seconds in the microwave to warm one up from frozen. Maybe I'll make a batch of blueberry cornbread muffins, too. That's real simple and fast and involves hardly any work on my part.

Mom is having a big get together on Saturday. Everyone will be here except my husband. My eldest sister, her son and his wife and their son, my older sister, her spouse and her four boys, me and my two kids. I don't know how much time I'll spend there, though. I can't be around my nephew's wife much as she is pregnant and I don't want to expose her to this. I'll probably hang around for an hour or two and then go back to bed.

Mom wants DD to make cookies. DD is probably still contagious with this same thing I'm getting over. I don't think that's a smart idea at all, and DD doesn't want to, but once Mom gets a thing in her head you never hear the end of it until it gets done. Of course if the whole family then gets sick it will be DD's fault. *sighs*

I filled out my jury question form and sent it in today. I listed all of my physical limitations and disabilities, as well as a list of the medications I am on that may cloud my thinking. I will probably still have to serve, but whatever. They can't say I didn't warn them.

Daily Expenses Challenge will henceforth be abbreviated to DEC for me.

DH took the kids to see The Lorax in 3D yesterday so that was $36. They got 2 pretzels at Auntie Anne's for $6.36. They got 2 bottled waters from the vending machine $3, and a bubble tea $4.25. This is what happens when I don't go with them, other money gets spent. But I was too sick to go and frankly didn't care that DH would likely have loose fingers. They had fun and I had peace and quiet.

DH spent $39.27 at Walgreens to get various medications--the dye free cough medicine and dye free allergy medicine for DH, some fake Excedrin PM for me since the real stuff is still on recall, all natural cough drops, and some ice cream for sore throats.

DH took DS to the after hours clinic last night and then to get a prescription for antibiotics, $15. He spent $42.50 at the grocery store and $38.78 at McDonalds for 20 double cheeseburgers and 4 fries. I can't cook right now, I can barely stand, so when people want something they can warm up a cheeseburger. DH is making dinners, though. DD feels well enougn now to help with dinner tonight, which means it may or may not be more elaborate than tacos or spaghetti.

Today is a no spend day. Nothing will be bought and no one will go anywhere.

I added .74 to the coin jar today.

I spent .50 on parking meters.

I spent $37.50 today, $30 for three types of the Boar's Head deli meats that we will divide up and freeze for DS's lunches for the next month and $7.50 for a bagel sandwich, small chips, and pickle spear for DS's lunch today as we were completely out of everything that he isn't allergic to and I was really, really behind on everything this morning and I had to pick DH up at the airport.

I went to the dentist at 11:30 to have some chips repaired and my portion was $68, so paid that, too.

So we still don't know whether DH has been excused from jury duty or not. Which is ridiculous considering he is supposed to report on the 4th. He asked to be excused due to financial hardship, which it will be as we are still pretty much living paycheck to paycheck while we try to dig out of debt. It's really bugging me how unorganized they are. If he has been excused all will be well and he can go back to Alaska on schedule. If he has not been, he will miss a week of work, have to change his flights and pay a fee to do so, possibly have to pay the difference if flights cost more the day he needs to fly, etc. If he hasn't been we are going to have to make some tough financial decisions.

I just found out that the Bank of America VISA due date is going to be the 21st and we get paid on the 20th, so I can go ahead and do the payment to pay off the Master Card. But now I'm not sure if I should until I know whether or not he is going to have to serve jury duty, because that extra $2000 will come in handy if he loses a week of pay. I was so looking forward to having that credit card be completely gone this month.

The other option is to pay it anyway, and then take the hit to the emergency fund. But I don't want to do that. I feel like a baby about it. My mind keeps going, "It's not Faaaaaiiiirrrrr!" and stomping its foot. We worked so hard to get that emergency fund to where it is at and to just see it wiped out is so frustrating.

I wish they would just hurry up and send a letter or make the phone call letting me know whether he has been excused or not. Living in limbo is my least favorite thing to do, and the court system has made me do it more than they should ever make anyone do it.

I still haven't heard about my own summons, either. Supposedly I am to report on April 30th, which is what they told me when I was excused for six months because of my surgery last time. But every other time I've been rescheduled, when the new summons comes, it's never for the date they tell me for, it is for different dates, generally two to three weeks later. So I can't plan anything for the month of May or June because I don't know what they are going to end up doing. They really need to be on the ball and give proper notice so that people can arrange their lives, not leave us hanging for so long. It's ridiculous and highly unprofessional. My tax dollars at work, thank you, gubbmint.

I'm trying not to be frustrated, but it's like they are putting themselves in our way of finally getting out of debt. Like they will be single-handedly responsible for destroying any further major forward progress we could make right now. And I know when I go in to serve I am going to have the worst attitude in the world about it because of all this rigamarole. Plus, you know, be slightly spaced out, because I am still on painkillers and muscle relaxants for my hip, back and knee. So I will be not the most attentive person. Just what you want in a juror.

It also looks like some of my problems that I had the last surgery for are coming back, so I will have to be thinking about a second surgery there to make a final repair. The doctor warned me that might happen, but there has to be about a year between surgeries for complete healing, before doing the second surgery. *sighs* Which will be July. But I haven't called yet to try to schedule anything because one, I want to be out of credit card debt first, and two, I don't know what my life is going to be like until I find out about this stupid jury duty thing! And also, three, I don't have time to be bedridden again for several weeks recovering. *big sigh*

In the small arena of making a little step forward, I added $8.11 to the coin jar. Although I'm starting to wonder, what's the point of scraping so hard to build an emergency fund if something like all this can just wipe it right out? Which is counterproductive, because it's better to wipe out the emergency fund, than to wipe out the finances altogether, right? Just so incredibly discouraged.

Again, not too much going on right now. I added $10.16 to the coin jar today. I had given DD a $20 as she went to an all day thing yesterday and I knew she would need to eat twice. She brought back the change so it went into the coin jar.

I paid $100 on DH's 3 months same as cash for his glasses. That leaves $100 left on that to pay next month. I set it up online so that I can send it directly.

I paid a medical bill of $105.62.

I will be entering my info into all the spreadsheets I got behind on when my laptop died today. EF tracking, HSA tracking, Holding Tank Tracking, finishing entering the last week of Feb's expenses, create the March budget spreadsheet of the budget template and entering in everything that has been paid so far, which is everything. Also create an April budget from the template. I hate being so far behing, but I did not want to work with Open Office's Exel-alike program. They can say it's compatible all they want to, but things get lost.

Spent some time looking at "dream" houses this weekend. Calculated that they would also involve hiring a groundskeeper and a maid. And a person to clean the docks and the boat. Decided those particular dream houses can stay just that. LOL Though I really would like my own moorage and swimming area on the lake one day. *sighs* Or a condo there. The condos seem affordable for us when we no longer have kids at home. It'd be the HOA fees that would probably be the kicker.

I just don't want to buy a big house anymore. I mean, I want room, but DD goes to college in two and a half more years. DS goes in six and a half. And having a big house with lots of bedrooms encourages children to move back home after college. And I really don't want that. I want my kids to stand on their own two feet. And I really don't want to have a bunch of guest rooms that encourage people to drop in on us for weeks at a time, or some such after the kids are grown.

It seems silly to have a big house for ten years and then sell again and get a condo on the lake. But I know we can't stay here that long. Well, we can, but we'd go insane well before the sell-by date if we do.

I did not make it to the CU I keep the safety net in this week. I meant to, but things just kept getting in the way. There have been various purchases made and I have kept saving all the ones and coins. I picked up hotdogs for Mom at Costco and she paid me back in cash, $11 for a $10.66 purchase. I put the whole eleven into the coin jar.

So including that $11, this week I ended up adding a grand total of $28.28 to the coin jar. I will have quite a deposit to make on Monday if I ever get over there. The safety net is getting pretty close the the $1000 mark.

So since The Market closed in Fairhaven, it took with it the only commercially sold source of Boar's Head deli meats, the ones without fillers or additives that my son can handle. We found out today that The Bagelry, a bagel shop in town that also makes sandwiches on it's bagels, uses Boar's Head meat, and if we put in an order the night before they will sell us just the sliced meat, as long as we buy a pound at a time. And it is at the same price as the grocery store we used to buy it at.

This is such a relief. We have really been struggling on what he will eat, because he has a very short list of what he will tolerate cold and of course there are no microwaves available to students at the middle school level.

Of course I will have to divide up all the meat and freeze most of it, as it has a three day holding time without the additives and preservatives. I'll have to be a bit more organized and remember to thaw as necessary. It's such a small thing, but it really will make my life that much easier.

I am really glad that we hit our deductible last month as yet another prescription has gone up. Thankfully out of pocket cost for it is now $40 instead of $100ish. What is up with the cost of prescriptions lately? This one was name brand but all the other ones were generics and I know it can't cost as much as they are raising it.

Did government benefits get raised this year? Seems like whenever they are prescription costs go up. *is annoying* My mother actually refused to go to the doctor when she thought she might have walking pneumonia because she wouldn't be able to afford the antibiotics. I told her I'd pay for it if necessary! I may grouse, but for that I'd put debt repayment to a lesser amount. Makes me worry about the old people in her position who don't have family members who could step in.

Oh, the payment hit the credit card so the new balance of it is $6,557.86. The interest had hit, too, but the interest hits should be a lot smaller now.

Got a thing in the mail from the insurance company. They want to go after the makers of a surgical mesh that went wrong in numerous patients, attaching improperly to organs and/or growing through them. I am one of those patients and my insurance company shelled out an awful lot of money for me to get it fixed.

So they want my info and I'm like, that's an awful lot of work for me to track down that I'd rather not be doing. The doctor who did the initial surgery retired years ago. I don't even remember what year I had the initial surgery in, unless it was done when I had my hysterectomy when I was 33. I vaguely remember trying to schedule that so they could do it at the same time, but can't remember if they did or not. It's been 9 years and I've had so many surgeries it all just blurs together.

I'm not really sure there is a record anywhere anymore, which is why I didn't pursue the class action lawsuit in the first place. (I guess I can check with my OB/GYN and ask him if that was done at the same time, then I'd at least have a date, and they might have the name of retired doctor to see where the records got to). Or maybe the hospital would know. Ugh. See? Work. Guess I will be on the phone a lot on Monday. Oh, joy.

I was hoping my laptop would be back from being repaired. All they have to do is replace the screen, so I don't know what it taking them so long. I am so sick of working on this cobbled together mess with this larger than life keyboard. *sighs* Plus the lack of mobility is also annoying. I can cope. I just don't want to have to. We get spoiled by our luxuries, don't we?

I added $6.29 to the coin jar.

Mom wants us to skip paying her this month so that we can pay off the rest of the physical therapy bill without having to dip into our savings. Apparently she is better off than she has led us to believe right now. Now that she is getting Dad's social security benefits (which had been going to the nursing home) since he died instead of her own, she's got more money coming in than before.

She also wants us to skip paying her next month and hire a cleaning service to clean the old house once we get the last few boxes out of there. I really don't like doing that because it feels like we'll owe her forever this way, but it does take a burden off of us if we can use that extra $1000 each month for needed things. And it would be nice to have someone come in and deep clean the place. Like one of those services apartment complexes use when someone moves out.

Taking DS for a doctor's visit today. We've hit the deductible now so it should all be covered but 90%.

And so far this year I've got $2434.68 that has been processed that applies to the deductible and $65.32 to go to finish it off. I have to renew my blood pressure medicine on Friday so that should take it past the $2500 cap unless they process one of the remaining PT appointments first, and then they'll start paying the majority of my prescriptions again and my doctor visits, thank goodness! It's hard to believe we have spent so much on medical already this year and this doesn't count the chiropractor or our portion of the glasses we have to pay for (though those do count toward the HSA).

I finally got billed for physical therapy from 1/1 to 2/16. It's a whopping $1689.32. I think I have 2 more sessions that have not been billed. I at least have today's which was my last one. The aquatherapy was a lot more expensive than the regular kind. I only did five of those this year. The ones I did last year were covered 100% since I'd hit my out of pocket cap for the year. Still, they cost $200 more per session than one on land. I really don't see why as you are using less equipment and not using the expensive machines.

Oh, well. All of it has done so much for me. I still have pain issues with standing for more than a few minutes at a time, but not with walking. And the standing will come in time if I continue to strengthen my back.

I have $1000 saved in my medical fund so I just need to come up with the $689.32. I will see what kind of payment plan the hospital offers. In the past for bills up to $1000 they have offered 90 days at low interest (3% or something) and then a higher interest rate (18%) after that. We can pay off the $689.32 in 3 months time. If not, I guess I'll take it out of the emergency fund. I don't want to, but if I do, it'll be my priority to replace it. I'd rather do that than take it out of the tax return or put it on a credit card (obviously).

The nice thing about having an emergency fund is having choices. With this bill I'm getting pretty close to the $2500 deductible. Things will get easier after that and I will also be able to start saving up for next year's deductible. I budget $500 a month for medical. Not all of it is processed through insurance (like the chiropractor, which we can claim on the HSA, but not on the insurance because we go with a family chiropractic plan that allows us weekly visits for each of us and not the one visit per month the insurance allows for). Once we are through with the deductible we'll be able to save $100 to $200 of that $500. The rest pretty much gets spent monthly.

Hmm. I did go to Costco and get the cash back for my Costco AMEX this morning. I was just going to put all of that in my emergency fund, but if I take that $177 then I will only need to come up with $512.22. That I can do in 2 months. Maybe I won't need to dip into the EF at all, just stop contributing the $100 each month I normally put in for 2 months. That leaves $312.22 and I can scrape that up. Just cut out our rare few meals out and cook more out of the freezer and pantry and less from the grocery budget for a couple of months. I think I can do it.

One of the great things about blogging is that sometimes I will see something like this bill that at first seems really hard and maybe a bit insurmountable, but if I reason myself through it, I realize it's doable after all.

I cleaned out my purse from the week's purchases and had $8.94 in ones and coins. I transferred that to the coin jar.

I bought $60 worth of Chinese food last night. I am still having a lot of stomach upset, so that gave us food for several days without me having to cook. I got mild dishes with lots of veggies so they would be easy on my stomach. It seems to be working. I am keeping it down and was able to take my blood pressure medication and keep it down for the first time in 4 days.

I am waiting to hear back from DH on whether or not I need a referral to make an appointment with the gastroenterologist. If I don't, I can make the appointment tonight. I've seen one before from when I had my gall bladder out and he's still in our practice so I would just have to call up before five. Otherwise I'll have to wait until Tuesday to contact my regular doc and have him write me a referral. Long weekends are such a pain sometimes.

I have been procrastinating something fierce this last week, but finally sat down tonight and did the bills. I should have done them on Friday. It's not like anything was due before the 17nth and those are all bills I can walk in or drive-thru for. But I'm not usually this far behind. I feel like a ditz.

Okay, some of it has been severe stomach upset since Sunday night, but that doesn't account for not doing it on Friday or Saturday. I think it's time I go see a gastroenterologist because this has been happening too often to be just a virus or food poisoning. Maybe it's an ulcer or something else along those lines. I did have one when I was 20, I just don't remember throwing up all the time, just tons heartburn. This time I've got both and it's been pretty steady since the beginning of December. Maybe I can get something stronger than OTC fake Zantac. I'm really tired of barfing. And no, I'm not pregnant.

I hope this isn't going to be another expensive medical year. I'm so tired of medical. I had to get a prescription today and it's gone up $12 from last month. $106.05. Hopefully this will be the last month I need this one. I will be so glad when I hit my deductible again.

Anyway, I have balanced my checkbook and entered everything into the spreadsheet, so I shouldn't have to worry about anything financial again until the next payday on the 24th. Which is a good thing the way my brain feels.

Okay, so I had $2306.05 left over from the money that I saved up to cover the 4 week period with no paycheck in January. I finally decided what to do with it today.

I set $1000 aside for future medical expenses. I will use $1000 of it to go towards debt repayment. $23.05 went into the propane portion of the holding tank, and I added the final $283 to the Emergency Fund. I also added 10 cents in interest from the Safety Net account at the CU, that I forgot to add at the end of the year.

So that brings the grand total of the Emergency Fund to $3860.28. My goal for the EF was to hit $4000 by the end of March. I think I will revise that goal to hitting it by the end of February. Actually I might have to revise it more, since I will be depositing $31 to the Safety Net and $100 to the EF at ING out of the paycheck.

Oh, wait. I just did the math on that. I only need an additional $8.72 to hit $4000 then. Umm...okay, I'll deposit $108.72 tomorrow instead of $100 to ING. So that's that goal met. Okay, then. Let's see if I can hit $4250 by the end of February then.

I finished writing my February Budget Spreadsheet and updated my January one. Everything should be pretty straight-forward now, so long as I can keep my head on straight.

The weather warmed up a trifle today and we had a tiny amount of rain, so the white stuff thawed a little. We're in for a bunch of rain over the next five days so hopefully that'll take care of it and we'll be snow free again soon.

I spent $3.35 on a perscription today, one I've had to do without since Monday. Mostly because I ended up not sleeping for 56 hours and that was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. My brain just would not shut down. I was so glad the doctor was finally in today.

We did end up getting out to the chiropractor yesterday, and then stopped by the grocery store. It is nice to have oranges, apples, bananas, and green stuff again, as well as bread and milk. I don't think my fridge had ever been this empty before. We ate up everything that was in there and some stuff from the freezer. So this is what a no leftovers left behind week looks like.

I bought some vitamins as well which made things pricey and I walked out of the store having spent $186.42. But I was getting some staples as well, since I really wan't trusting the weather forecast at that point. I will have to go to TJ's on Sunday, but other than that I should not have to grocery shop again until February.

The snow is just not stopping. My physical therapist called this morning to say she could not get out of her driveway so therapy was cancelled. Then my daughter's dentist called to say they couldn't get in. In a half an hour I will call to see if the chiropractor made it in today or not. I really need an adjustment, I slept funky on my neck. I hope he did, but am not holding my breath as he lives clear out on Sandy Point and probably got slammed harder than we did with the snow.

I still need to call the pharmacy about that medicine. I hope they got a hold of the doctor, but I'm thinking the doctor probably did not make it in today either so may not have been available to be gotten ahold of. If it is there, though, I want to go and get it sooner rather than later as it is supposed to snow tomorrow as well and I can't see things getting any better. At least the pharmacy is off a main road.

If it is called in I will spend around $5 today. If not, then it will be a no spend day.

I have to say this is quite a relief as even though the kids are on the upswing, an extra day to rest before going back to school is a good thing, as neither of them is 100% over the virus. No longer contagious, but still feeling kind of run down. And snuggling back under the covers was a great feeling. I'm just so glad DH got out last night, because the overnight snow fall was pretty serious. I hope I can still make it to physical therapy, but that is going to depend on the roads they plow.

I finally got the checkbook up to date and balanced. I entered about half of it into my budget spreadsheet last night and will do the other half today and then hopefully update my blog with the numbers as well. I've just been so out of it this past week. Thankfully I have no more bills to pay, though I should have another prescription to pick up, since it wasn't there last night. I have one left of it, so hopefully the doctor will renew it. I'm not sure why he didn't when he renewed the other one and they work together. I certainly don't want to try to go without it. At least it is a cheap generic.

Other than that it should be a no spend day. Oh, DH filled up the vehicle yesterday, but never gave me the gas receipt so I'll have to wait on recording that until I hear from him again. He usually calls or texts when he arrives safely on the North Slope.

It started snowing last night and it has continued to come down all day with very few breaks. I'm not a big fan of snow, especially snow that sticks around. I mean, it's pretty and all, but it's a bear to drive in and right now we don't know what the status of DH's flight is going to be. Sometimes they have problems with keeping the runways cleared and the plane de-icers going.

I suppose it is better to go today though, than tomorrow when the chances that stuff will partially melt then refreeze and turn into an icy mess or that the planes will freeze to the runway like they did a few years back.

I just really hope he can get up there, because it's already going to be four weeks without a paycheck. I still have money in savings in medical and there is the emergency fund of course, but I would hate to touch either of those things. I have about $500 that isn't allocated to anything else for use between now and the 27th that I was hoping not to touch at all.

At least I am feeling a lot better today. Still have a stuffy head, but the stomach stuff is gone, the sore throat is gone. Still coughing a bit, but with cough syrup that is under control. I think I might be capable of driving soon, though Mom has volunteered to take the kids to and from school this week and take DS to tae kwon do. I do have physical therapy tomorrow and that is up at the top of a pretty substantial hill so I hope they clear the roads.

My sinus/respiratory infection hasn't really made much progress in going away, probably because I also caught DH's stomach virus and was throwing up for two days. That kind of acid in the throat and nose does nothing to help. DD got it even worse than I did. So far DS seems to skipping the stomach virus. Anyway, I've kept my food down since about 7 p.m. last night, though my stomach still hurts.

I've done absolutely nothing productive these last couple of days. Well, except make sure the bills that needed to get paid, got paid. I need to do a post on that but I have been procrastinating. I also need to balance the checkbook.

I skipped exercising yesterday because of my stomach, but hope to do the physical therapy today.

I am so tired, though. Even though my stomach is better, there's still a lot of acid so it woke me up every couple of hours last night.

I am not sure how I am going to get through this week once DH goes back to work Monday evening. I am having a difficult time driving because of the pain in my hip. It is not my driving leg, but it is distracting. I can't take the heavy duty painkiller or the muscle relaxant in the morning if I am driving. I also couldn't take them (or even ibuprofen) for the last two days so a lot of pain is going on. I am so ready for this to be over.

I need especially to try to slow down on the muscle relaxant anyway. They cost about $100 for 30 pills and since the deductible started over again at the start of the year, I have to pay all prescription costs until it is met. Ugh.

I can't believe how cold it got last night. It was 26 degrees F, but the wind was blowing hard, so the wind chill factor made it much colder. It's been so warm through December and the first part of January that I've been fine without the space heater in my bedroom for a while, but last night I had to turn it on around 2 a.m., because it was freezing. I definitely won't be beating the cold this week.

The wind comes down the side of the house my room is on and it actually whistles sometimes. Last night it was just roaring. It sounded like a train coming at the house or something.

It is supposed to snow this weekend. It hasn't snowed all winter (we had a few random flakes in late fall, but nothing real). We had one hailstorm in November. Otherwise nothing.

I hope it doesn't affect DH flying back to work on Monday. Four weeks without a paycheck is enough, thank you.

I have some more bills to do today and I need to catch the blog up on the ones I've done earlier this week.

I added $6 to the coin jar. Unexpected medical came up so I transferred $500 from the medical holding tank. I'll specify that out in another post though.