Thankful, grateful, blessed, week 5...

So very blessed to live within a mile of our children and grandchildren; close enough to bake them Monster Cookies for Halloween and drop their treats by their house.

When we sold the ranch to move near them, it was hard.  And I'm not going to lie, we still miss living on top of our hill.  But sometimes blessings involve sacrifice too.  We love sharing meals weekly, and games, and the occasional school pick up we are asked to make, the sleepovers we have had, and taking the opportunity to teach them the letter writing that has made their great-grandmother so happy.  So many memories we have made!

I was chatting with a friend online last night.  She is in the middle of uprooting her home and job to move over a thousand miles to be near one of her children and grandchildren.  I think it's a pretty safe bet to predict that she will love it too.  :)

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Aaaaack!  No. Time.  To.  Read.  Sigh...maybe on the weekend.

Frugal Friday File 2019, week 43...

Successes:
1.  Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go!  I applied for a full-time position with my current company.  I was offered and have accepted the job.  It is at the new branch office that is SO close to my house!  :)  We still have to finish out the hiring process before I 'officially' start, but since I am an employee of the company that fills in where needed, I am able to work the new job in my on-call capacity, so have worked all week, and will continue to do so until the official start.

2.  I am using less gasoline as my daily travel path has decreased.

3.  Carey's workplace is a little understaffed at the moment.  He got called in on his days off to work a couple of days.  Mama likes overtime!

4.  I paid all bills on time avoiding any fees.  Though I have to admit I came close on a couple, as I need to adjust my routines with the new schedule the daily work has added.

This hasn't been a very frugal week.  We ate out a lot.  I'm working on a menu plan and shopping list that I think is workable for the decreased home time and energy I am experiencing at the moment.

Saturday:  I cooked, I just don't remember what
Sunday:  Sunday family dinner at Kasey & Beau's.
Monday:  *Chinese
Tuesday:  *Tex-Mex
Wednesday:  *birthday dinner out
Thursday:  *burgers
Friday: ?

Number of individual servings made and frozen for work lunches this week:  0

(*not-frugal takeout or dinner out)

Thankful, grateful, blessed, week 4...

Today is my 62 birthday.  And I am thankful, grateful, and blessed to be here to celebrate it.  And I do celebrate it!

I've had some really close calls (in 2008 there was the car accident, and then, in January of 2009 there were the pulmonary embolisms), and those were some excellent educational experiences.  

Each morning is now another chance to wake up and say 'thank you for this extra day.'

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Good Morning, Young Lady by Ardyth Kennelly

This is another one that I read when I was very young.  It's interesting going back and rereading a book, seeing what you still love, or find you have outgrown one and wonder, "What was I thinking?"  I haven't gotten too far into this one yet (it's out of print, so I had to order a used copy, and the print is pretty tiny), but I am enjoying it, and it's because I love the characters, and the author's writing style is very interesting.

This one is set in Utah.  Notice anything on the map?

Yep!  Utah is the ONLY state left!  Woohoo!!!

I don't have much reading time lately, so this one may take me awhile to wrap up.  I am very happy to have gotten to this point in the challenge, however, and I am looking forward to reading some books set a little further afield.

Frugal Friday file 2019, week 42...

Successes:
1.  I worked four days this week.

2.  I paid off my car loan!  Yea!!!  From now on that amount will be going into savings for next vehicle.  Carey has been talking about replacing his truck for awhile now, so it will be coming up soon, I'm sure.

3.  I've been doing some online window shopping for clothes, but was able to hold off on purchasing.  There's a possibility that I will need some things, but I decided to stand strong in the face of the SALE siren's song and wait until I have all the facts.

4.  Used very little gasoline this week, since worked very close to home.

5.  It's cooling off...FINALLY!  The electric bill was down just a bit this month, and am looking forward to it to continue dropping until we need to start heating.  I'm about to put the warmer linens on the bed...same ones we've had for years as all are still in good condition.

Saturday:  Frito Pie
Sunday:  Sunday family supper at Kasey & Beau's
Monday:  leftovers
Tuesday:  roast, potatoes, carrots
Wednesday:  *Schlotzsky sandwiches
Thursday:  *chicken
Friday:  ?

Number of individual servings made and frozen for work lunches this week:  2

(*not-frugal takeout or dinner out)

Thankful, grateful, blessed, week 3...

Thankful for the rain we had Tuesday night / Wednesday morning.  It was a long, dry summer.  

I'm not excited to have had dripping in the attic, but grateful that we could hear it, and do something about it before it does too much damage over time.  Carey went in the attic, and was able to ascertain that it was the seal around the chimney that is leaking.  He attempted to get on the roof yesterday while I was at work, but quickly realized that the roof pitch was too steep for him to climb about safely.  Thrilled that he accepted his limitations and contacted a professional with the equipment and experience to access the heights.