It's almost Thanksgiving! It's almost time!
Yesterday was a day of cleaning, in all forms.
House:
Our boys were with their grandparents all day, so we did heavy duty cleaning you can only do without little ones running around. Our big area rug in the living room? Yeah, completely moved that, moved the couch out of the room, train table, too, and vacuumed, swept, and mopped that room. It looks so much better.
Same with the playroom. My parents will be sleeping in there, so we rearranged toys, did the winter window-covering to the windows in that room, and organized the bookcase.
That alone took a good 2 hours or so.
Marriage:
We had time alone! For the first time since MAY! It's so nice to be able to finish sentences, eat without sharing food, and just have an opportunity to be with each other if only for a few. Grant it, most of our alone time was spent cleaning, but we did take a lunch break and enjoy eating out at Subway. Without ordering a kids' meal, without needing excessive amount of extra napkins, without a highchair...
Not that we don't adore and love our kids. We do. We even missed them. But in making time for each other, you do serve as better parents.
Soul:
We made it to Confession yesterday, then Mass, and got in some quality prayer time. Without kids! I tell ya, you can really absorb a lot more of the Readings when you can hear what's being said. HA!
Ironically enough, this was the first time in months we wore jeans to church, and of course we were asked to carry up the gifts. Figures.
We also did the last of non-perishable shopping for Thanksgiving, buying our trail mix to put out, nuts, and today Aidan & I are considering making these cute Footballs to have for turkey day.
My absolute favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night. I like all versions I have heard, but I love Martina McBride's. So incredibly beautiful.
Goosebumps every time.
The non-religious one I love is Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby. Don't care for Madonna's too much. I love the old-time sound to Eartha Kitt's. I don't dig this video too much, but you can hear the
song, at least.
There you have it. I posted on my least favorite song, and now you have my favorites.
What are yours?
And I do like country music, but I can't stomach this song:
It's just too whiney sounding, and mopey, and unpleasant!
And our station that is playing nonstop Chrismas music plays it all.the.time!
Too often!
I love nearly all Christmas songs, but in my book, this one goes down as possibly the worst.
Right there next to the annoying Feliz Navidad.
This post: To the Grad School Widows
I had never been to her blog before, but I found that post just now, and it is perfect timing.
I really needed to read that, and I wish the comments weren't closed. I'd add a big thank you to the author.
I so often feel like such a big wimp.
I feel disappointed in myself that I'm getting impatient, frustrated, and wondering how the heck I'm going to endure another year of this.
It's not like I'm a military wife.
My husband is not overseas. He is not deployed.
It's not as though I really am a single parent.
He comes home every night.
Sometimes, though, it's harder because of that. He's here, yet not really. He might be home, but he should be studying, he should be preparing for his next case study.
I know he is doing it for our family. I know he loves us all.
I love him for doing this.
But I'll tell ya, it's not easy. The world knows it's hard for him-balancing his full time job, plus family, while being in grad school.
I just wish at times that the world could see, it's not so easy on my end, either.
Today I am Thankful for avocados.
Make my own?
We're getting a new Christmas tree this year (artificial, which I am a fan of;).
With that, we need a tree skirt. Why the heck are those things so pricey?! It's ridiculous.
Now I'm not crafty, I can't even sew a button. But I came across this last night, and I think it's a cute idea: Make Your Own Tree Skirt. It mentions that if you have little kids, you could do their handprints on it. I thought what was adorable sounding. We'll see if it actually happens.
****************************
I'm buying my turkey tomorrow! On sale for $0.59/pound. I'm excited. I have been obsessing over turkeys, prices, fresh or frozen, etc. I'm nervous about hosting Thanksgiving, but I'm also getting very excited. I think our table layout will be pretty festive.
Aidan and I are planning to do a trial run of making these teepees this weekend:
I made one post so far this month about being thankful.
After a few more days, I'm ready for another.
Here goes:
I'm thanking God for:
12 Reasons Displaying the Cross Is Not a 'Violation of Freedom'
Excellent article to read. The first sentence sums it up perfectly: "The meaning of 'freedom of religion' has nothing to do with creating a society that is 'free from religion' ".
Amen to that!
Another part that had me screaming "heck yes!" was this:
"Forcibly removing the symbol of the cross is a violation on the same level as it would be to force atheists to mount this symbol."
In our home, we have a crucifix hanging in nearly every room.
We fully know and understand that even if we didn't, God would still be with us in every single room.
Of course.
That's not the point.
We believe, and in expressing our belief, we will honor HIM by having that crucifix hanging.
If a visitor to our home doesn't like that, I'd be happy to talk about it, but it will remain.
My thoughts go more deeply than this, but I can't express myself as well as the article. It's a worthy read.
Happy Anniversary to Sue & Jeff!! xoxo
Happy Birthday, Amanda!
Amanda is a person I've become better friends with than I ever expected.
She and I both married Michigan guys we met in college, moving away from our own families after marrying them. (She from Iowa, me from SC)
Our friendship has grown and it's so nice to know Amanda and have her friendship.
Happy Birthday, Amanda! I hope you enjoy your special day. :)
I'm easily amused and entertained. I get giddy over small things, like naps, bite sized chocolates, my kid being in our church bulletin...you get the idea.
So without fail I'm feeling giddy over some recent deals.
In our course to become debt free the Dave Ramsey way, I'm aiming to be more resourceful, frugal, and just pay better attention so as to maximize our means.
I'm not nearly as impressive as some of those bloggers out there, where I'd get paid to buy something, or where I calculate the total meal per person. Maybe one day, but I'm just not there right now.
Here is how I feel impressed, though:
Remember how I posted that we're nearly finished our Christmas shopping?
We shopped when Toys R Us was having their Fisher Price-buy 2, get 1 free sale. So we bought the Imaginext dragon castle, the Little People Fire Station, and a Trio building set. The Trio set was the least costly item, so that was free. Before that became the free item, though, I had printed the $5 coupon from their site, so we had a free item + $5 off. I was pleased enough with that. :)
Then last weekend the Toys R Us Big Toy Book came out (holiday toy catalog). I was skimming through it and noticed the Imaginext castle we bought was going to be on sale for $10 less. We waited until the sale started, and sure enough on Sunday morning we went there and they honored the price adjustment! I was surprised. Pleasantly surprised. Buy 2 get 1 free, + $5 coupon, + $10 price adjustment. Woo-hoo!!!
Good Deal #2:
Giant Eagle had some yummy red meat on sale, buy one, get on free. (Giant Eagle is like Publix around here. The cleanest, freshest, most organic, etc). We rarely eat red meat, so having it is a treat.
I took advantage last week, and I bought just shy of 7 pounds of pot roast beef for $13. I have 2 delicious, red meat-pot roasts in my freezer! I can't wait. Pot roast is more of a "special occasion" meal for us, so I'm excited.
To make it even better, (Good Deal #3), Meijer has 10-pound bags of potatoes for $1.69 on sale! Perfect timing! Got my beef on sale, now my potatoes, too.
I was resourceful at Meijer yesterday. I bought about $85-$90 worth of groceries and only spent $41.42.
I used my coupons combined w\ sale prices. It helps that Meijer doubles coupons up to $0.50. I saved $10.87 yesterday in coupons alone. That put a smile on my face, especially because they were all for items we'd normally buy.
It's the little things that make me happy.
I don't bring any money in, but I can sure do my part to make the money coming in go farther.
Scoring good deals and being responsible for finding those deals...yup, makes me happy.
Have you had any good frugal find lately?
What is your Christmas shopping progress?
