Plans for Sunday

Dh and I go out for dinner every December 31st. But not for New Years Eve, but for our anniversary. :-)

We go to a certain restaurant that is only for our anniversary. (Okay, I would love to go to this place more often, but it is not in THAT price range.) We save up all year for this dinner.

It's hard to beleive that another year has gone by. It seems like just yesterday that I was getting used to writing "2006" on my checks....now I need to get used to putting "2007" down.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Updated "Grateful" list

What I am grateful for:



1. Jehovah God
2. His Son, Jesus
3. God’s word, The Bible.
4. My wonderful Husband
5. Ian
6. Ainsley
7. Heather
8. Jennifer
9. Donald
10. Mom
11. Becky, my sister
12. Rich, my brother and his family
13. Kathy, my sister-in-law and her family
14. Joan, my mother-in-law
15. Even my sister-in-law, April, that I have never met and probably never will and her family.


16. Ability to practice the religion of my choice
17. Aloe Vera plants
18. Antibiotics
19. Apples
20. Avocados
21. Baby Blues (cartoon)
22. Bean Soup
23. Bees
24. Birds
25. Biscuits, hot from the oven
26. Books
27. Brigadoon (movie)
28. Brown Sugar
29. Butterflies
30. Butterfly kisses
31. Calvin and Hobbes (cartoon)
32. Cameos (jewelry)
33. Carnations
34. Cartoons
35. Cats (Cosmo and Payne)
36. Cell phones
37. Charm Bracelets
38. Chickens
39. Clothes Dryers
40. Colored pencils
41. Cookbooks
42. Corn bread
43. Cotton
44. Crayons
45. Cross-stitching
46. Cucumbers
47. Diamonds
48. Dogs (Rocket)
49. Earthly Paradise
50. Eggs
51. Electricity
52. Fall
53. Fall Leaves
54. fishies (aquarium type)
55. Flour
56. Flowers
57. Food in my pantry
58. Gardens
59. Gold
60. Goldfish crackers
61. Gone With the Wind (book and movie)
62. Googly eyes
63. Home
64. Ice cubes
65. In-door plumbing
66. Internet (for information and friends)
67. Jumping in a pile of leaves
68. Kitchen Aid mixers, specifically mine. J
69. Kittens
70. Lettuce
71. Libraries
72. Lighthouses
73. Lilacs
74. Lobster
75. Mangos
76. Miss Kayla, in Georgia
77. Miss Norma, my WW Friend
78. Miss Sharon, my Mary Kay Director
79. Miss Sue, my WW leader
80. Miss Theresa, in Florida
81. Miss Traci
82. Molasses
83. Money (The fact that we have enough for bills and a few “extras”)
84. Moon
85. My spiritual brothers and sisters
86. Oxygen
87. paints
88. Panthers
89. Pasta
90. Pecans
91. Pictures of loved ones
92. Pine Trees
93. Pink, the color
94. Platinum
95. Powdered Sugar
96. Puppies
97. Purple anything
98. Rainbows
99. Resurrection Hope
100. Roses
101. Salmon (Yummy)
102. Sewing machines
103. Shrimp
104. Silver
105. Slides
106. Spring
107. Stars
108. Story books
109. Summer
110. Sun
111. Sun-ripened tomatoes
112. Swings
113. Teapots (I collect them)
114. Thrift stores
115. Tortilla Chips
116. Trees
117. Upright freezer, to store my meat deals
118. Walnuts
119. Washing machines
120. Water
121. Wheat
122. Wild animals
123. Wine
124. Winter
125. Zoos

Still around, just busy.

This past week has been busy...so blogging has taken a back seat to life.

Monday took D to have his hand looked at by our regular doctor. Well, actually a CNP, but I like her better. :-) She said that D was to stay home from work AND school until the 2nd of January. She did not want to take a chance with infection.

Tuesday, I worked on my talk that I gave last night (Thursday). Then just worked on laundry and taking people here and there.

Wednesday I spent at the subustitute teacher orientation. That went very well. Of course, at one point I was the oldest person in there for the orientation. LOLOL Then thankfully some other ladies around my age showed up! The rest of the day was spent with DH and then we went out to eat. Had sushi! YUMM! I love it.

Thursday was more laundry and going over my talk for that night. That night went smoothly. The sister that was my householder was, of course, wonderful. I am just glad it is over with....at least til next time. LOLOL

Today I am going to do more laundry (I swear, sometimes I feel that is ALL I do!) Then I am goint to finish up some items that DH asked me to help with and then maybe do some cooking.

I hope everyone has a great day AND weekend!

**Kayla, I will add some more to my list soon.... I promise.**

Weird font changes

That is so weird. My previous post went really small about half-way through!

I don't even know how to change the font on this blog thing! I guess I should learn so that I can fix that!

That will teach me to say nothing exciting has been happening...

Okay....so I made my post earlier. Went to do dishes and my phone rings.

DsS17 calls to tell me that he has been burned at work and needs to go to the ER!

Well.....my day goes nothing as planned after that.

Got the kids in the car, call DH on my way and get to D's job. He comes out before I am halfway across the parking lot. I look at his hand....very red, but only alittle blister!

Get in the van and head to the ER. Thankfully they were almost empty. We go back almost immediately.

They clean his hand and his forearm. (There is tea leaves all over it) Then they apply silver "something" (I can not remember what, but it's for burns). It is then loosely bandaged. Oh, before doing this, they give him a vicadin to help with the pain.

Then I got extra guaze, more of the silver stuff and instructions on how to clean the burned areas.

Most was just first degree burns, with some areas of second degree. He was very fortunate, because it could have been ALOT worse.

Now, he is laying in bed, bored as can be. Plus his is bummed because he really needed the money and now he can not work. But he does get out of any writing this week in school. ;-)

Nothing exciting going on...

Not alot is going on here that I can blog about.

I am still reading the Complete TWG, but there has been nothing major to add to what I am already doing.

I am trying to use up left overs better. I was going through a phase of throwing out more than I was using up! Not a good thing!

I am going to the orientation for the teaching position on the 20th of this month, so I hope that means I will start taking assignments in January.

I am looking forward to having some "spending money" of my own that does not need to come from the "household" funds.

I will try and post again sooner.

**Oh and I have not forgotten the 1000 list...I just need to sit and type of the new ones.**

Saturday Thoughts

Hi all,

Just sitting here updating my blog. :-)

Not alot going on here.

Still deciding if I want to have "no internet" days or not. And if I do....what days they would be. Maybe I will have "no message board" days. They seem to be what suck up my time. LOL

I put in an application to be a substitute teacher here in my school district. I like the idea of being able to take jobs when I want to, and have a little bit of money for "putting away". I like the idea of buying DH something with money that did not come from "his" paycheck. LOL

I bought some milled flax seed at the store yesterday. Does anyone have any good recipes for it? I want to start incorporating it into my diet. I have heard some great things about it.

Have a great day everyone!

No-Internet days

Okay, my time online is interferring in my caring for my home and family! I said it!

I am looking into establishing "no internet days" for myself. Has anyone else ever done that?

I just feel that I am allowing this World Wide Web is taking away from my home. I don't want to cut out the internet completely. I have learned alot about being frugal from the internet, it does have it's benefits. I just seem to have a weakness for the time I spend on here and the boards I visit.

I have not decided which days it will be, but I am going to pray and think about this....

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

What I am Grateful For:

What I am grateful for:



1. Jehovah God
2. His Son, Jesus
3. God’s word, The Bible.
4. My wonderful Husband
5. Ian
6. Ainsley
7. Heather
8. Jennifer
9. Donald
10. Mom
11. Becky, my sister
12. Rich, my brother and his family
13. Kathy, my sister-in-law and her family
14. Joan, my mother-in-law
15. Even my sister-in-law, April, that I have never met and probably never will and her family.


16. Ability to practice the religion of my choice
17. Aloe Vera plants
18. Antibiotics
19. Apples
20. Baby Blues (cartoon)
21. Bean Soup
22. Bees
23. Birds
24. Biscuits, hot from the oven
25. Books
26. Brigadoon (movie)
27. Butterflies
28. Butterfly kisses
29. Calvin and Hobbes (cartoon)
30. Carnations
31. Cartoons
32. Cats (Cosmo and Payne)
33. Cell phones
34. Clothes Dryers
35. Colored pencils
36. Cookbooks
37. Corn bread
38. Cotton
39. Crayons
40. Cross-stitching
41. Cucumbers
42. Dogs (Rocket)
43. Earthly Paradise
44. Fall
45. Fall Leaves
46. fishies (aquarium type)
47. Flowers
48. Food in my pantry
49. Gardens
50. Goldfish crackers
51. Gone With the Wind (book and movie)
52. Googly eyes
53. Home
54. Ice cubes
55. Internet (for information and friends)
56. Jumping in a pile of leaves
57. Lettuce
58. Lighthouses
59. Lobster
60. Mangos
61. Miss Kayla, in Georgia
62. Miss Norma, my WW Friend
63. Miss Sharon, my Mary Kay Director
64. Miss Sue, my WW leader
65. Miss Theresa, in Florida
66. Miss Traci
67. Money (The fact that we have enough for bills and a few “extras”)
68. Moon
69. My spiritual brothers and sisters
70. Oxygen
71. paints
72. Panthers
73. Pasta
74. Pictures of loved ones
75. Pine Trees
76. Pink, the color
77. Purple anything
78. Rainbows
79. Resurrection Hope
80. Roses
81. Salmon (Yummy)
82. Sewing machines
83. Shrimp
84. Slides
85. Spring
86. Stars
87. Story books
88. Summer
89. Sun
90. Sun-ripened tomatoes
91. Swings
92. Teapots (I collect them)
93. Thrift stores
94. Trees
95. Upright freezer, to store my meat deals
96. Washing machines
97. Water
98. Wild animals
99. Wine
100. Winter
101. Zoos

I haven't forgotten about this blog, I promise.

I have not had much computer time lately. I will write more soon. I am also working on my own personal "One Thousands Things to be Grateful For!" (Thanks Kayla! :-P Just kidding, you know I wub you!)

New recipe

I tried a new WW friendly recipe yesterday. It is called "Slow Cooked Tuscan Styled Sausage and Bean Soup". I was nervous fixing this for the family because one of the ingredients was Kale. Now, I have no qualms about that, but I love soups with different ingredients and one of my favs is "Italian Wedding Soup", which has spinach.

ANYWAYS..... The kids liked it. Now, they didn't LOVE it, but that is okay. I can handle "like". :-D DS7 also ate ALL the kale in the soup!!!!!! He wasn't too excited about the beans, but he ate what I told him he had to. I was just stunned by the Kale. He even said he "kinda liked it". Well, that will be a soup that will show up on our dinner table again. (Only 4 points for 1 1/3 cups)

I also took some day old italian bread, sliced it and then turned it into garlic toast. Very nice meal on a cold, windy and wet day.

Things are quiet here on the homefront. Today is cold and windy, but at least dry. I need to bake some goodies for the school play tomorrow night, but other than that, just normal daily Monday chores.

**OH, thank Kayla for you comment on my previous post. It made me smile!**

When you can not decide what to blog about...

I have so many different things that I want to write about, but can not decide if I should or not.

First, and I can not beleive I am blogging this..... I am thinking of trying out cloth sanitary napkins. Yeah, I know... "EEEEWWW". I did that also, at first. Now, the idea is growing on me. LOLOLOLOL I have read several posts from SEVERAL ladies that they love them. So, I am thinking of sewing up a few and giving them a try.

Also, on a more serious note. I am SO sick and tired of "good" meaning christians telling me that I am in a cult! UUGH! If they only stopped and thought about it, they would realize how misguided that truly is. I am a Christain thru and thru. Because I belong to a faith that does not beleive in the doctrine of the trinity (which is not found in the Bible), I must belong to a cult. What phooey!

Okay, that felt good to get off my chest!

There are other things, but I figured that was enough for now.

Kids are out of school tomorrow.

It has been busy here the last couple of days.

Keeping up with the housework, taking sD18 back and forth to work, and normal errands. Plus, we have been participating in a new campaign out in the field service work.

Tomorrow is a payday, so I normally do a semi-big grocery trip. I will be doing this tomorrow with both kids in tow. Not bad, but I do have to plan a little differently. LOL

Latest TWG incorporation:

Besides just committing to use up leftovers better and getting back into making things from scratch, not much.

I am planning to experiment with some breakfast items. I want to start weaning my kids off of cereal for breakfast. I try to get them on sale w/coupons, but they are still a budget hog!

I will keep the blog updated on what I do and how it turns out.

Updates from Virginia

Here are the results of I's doctor appointment on Tuesday:



NO MORE CAST!

Tightwad Gazatte Update:

Tonight (Thursday) I re-instituted the "Baked Potato Night". This is actually a favorite around here. As long as I have a few of the favorite toppings on hand. :-)

These include, but are not limited to:

Chili; usually homemade, but I try to have canned in the pantry just in case.
Steamed Broccoli; This is actually my 7 year old's favorite!
Butter, shredded cheese, and taco toppings.

So, depending on what is homemade verses store bought, I can feed the family for less than $5.00. Not bad if you ask me!

The original "Frugal Zealot"

That's right. I have taken my copy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette down from the book shelf and I am re-reading it.

I have really allowed myself to drift away from trying to find the best cost-effective ways to do things. I have gotten lazy and I need to get back on the frugal straight and narrow!

I hope to chronicle my steps in getting back into the "tightwad" frame of mind.

It's Meredith's fault!

Okay, I was out of town this past weekend, so I have been playing catch-up with my regular blogs.

I was reading Merediths (Like Merchants Ships)and learned about Crystal's new e-book (Secrets to Supermarket Savings). I went ahead and bought a copy also. I am sure I will glean many new ideas.

Not too much is going on in my life. DsS17 just had all four of his wisdom teeth taken out last Friday. The first 24 hours were rather rough on him, but he is better now. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to make THAT frugal. I was just happy we had dental insurance to cover most of it.

I hope to start concentrating on frugal ideas and posting them. I seem to have gotten away from that lately. Time to tighten things up again.

Until then.......

What did they eat in the Middle Ages, mom?

That is the question that my little man asked at dinner tonight. Now, this in itself is not that big of a deal. I encourage it, actually.

We were having a somewhat boring meal of oven-roasted chicken, mashed potatos, green beans and italian bread. Little man wanted to know if this is something they would have eaten in the middle ages. DH and I went into the yes, please veggies that they could grow, along with deer meat, birds and also a coarser kind of bread.

Then....***drumroll please*** "I asked you mom because I know you are old and you were there in the middle ages." Completely serious. I calmly explained to my beloved little man that although mommy is getting up there in age, she was NOT alive in the middle ages. I know what they ate, because I have read books about life in the middle ages.

Sigh.... I am now "old" in my 7 year-old's eyes.

The Festival

We had so much fun!

DS7 had a part in a kids show:



and....



We also rode the ponys there:





The day was beautiful. Weather was mild and the rain stayed away. Although the outfits were not finished in time (so I didn't dress up either), they will be done for next year. I will do them well in advance....so just in case we have a medical situation the week before we are to go (I's cast) they will already be done.

More detail of the past week.

Okay everyone,

So, this past week was not one that I would like to repeat any time soon. LOL

Monday was not bad, just a normal day. Woke of Tuesday morning with a bit of a headache. It had the feel of a possible migraine, so I chose to stay home that morning instead of going out in service. By about 10:30 am, my headache had cleared, I was happy.

I decided to head to the school. Not only to meet up with I and A for their lunches, but I needed to take care of a book issue at the school library. I do all that, have lunch with first I, then A. Say bye and head to the store.

While I am at the checkout at Walmart, my phone rings. Hmmmm.... it's the school's number. I answer and the school nurse says, "Mrs. Fraser, I has had an accident on the monkey bars. He says his arm hurts and I believe he needs to be checked."

"I am just checking out at the Warrenton, Walmart. I will be there as fast as the law will allow." Was my response. I was on my way.

I get to the school about 2:15 p.m. (yes, I did the MAX speed, but I did go over it!) Talked with I and decided, this was not just a "boo-boo" this required a doctor's knowledge, plus x-rays. Called DH, got A from her class and hit the road. STopped long enough for J to jump in the van. (She would stay in the waiting room with A.) and we were at the ER by 2:48 pm (the time on my sign-in form).

Our ER is wonderful....they "fast track" all kids. We went back immediately. After evaluation, they sent for the x-ray tech. Once she came and did her thing, we then waited. (DH had shown up before the x-rays were done).

The doctor got the x-rays back, both bones in his left wrist are broken. Fortunately, kids his age heal really fast, so he should only need his cast for 4-6 weeks. Filled him up with kids tylenol and motrin after putting on a temporary cast, and home we go.

I was able to get an early am appointment with the orthopedic doctor. Ian choose a "sky blue" cast. (He was very specific, it HAD to be sky blue. LOL)

We have a follow up visit in 4 weeks for new x-rays and then we will see where we go from there.

Yes, I am glad that week is OVER!

Hug your kids.....YOU need it!

Wanna know about my week????

Pictures say a 1000 words:

This was after the ER visit.



And this is after the Orthopedic Doctor's visit on Thursday morning.



I'll write more later. :-)