Scripture for today....

The angel of Jehovah is camping all around those fearing him, And he rescues them.
Ps 34:7

What a verse of comfort.

I got the long term substitute teaching position!

I will be teaching first grade! I am guaranteed until mid-January! Then it will depend on if the regular teacher can get early dismissal from her tour of duty or not.

She is trying to save up her leave time to get done early, but if not, I will be subbing until mid May!

I am so excited and honestly, an tad scared!

I brought home a stack of teachers reference materials to start getting an idea of what I will be doing!

I also need to start bulk cooking some, since I will be working full time AND taking two online courses. LOL Talk about jumping in feet first! LOL

I have been tagged...

Okay, Donna over at the Zoo, has tagged me...so here we go:

Here are the rules.

1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell 6 quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them. (I don't know if I can do 6, since most have already been tagged by other people! LOL)
5) Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

Okay here go the Quirky, Boring Details

1) I love to bake, but hate to clean up after. (Is that really quirky???)

2) I read all sorts of "self-suffiency" books, but don't really want to HAVE to grow and raise all my own food.

3) I am a rather frugal person, but secretly, I would love to be able to go shopping without looking at any price tags!

4) I usually have at least 3 different books going at any given time!

5) Although I would never get one, I would love to have a small tattoo.

6) Is it a quirk to not really know what your quirks are?? I would ask my sweetie what my quirks are, but he is not here. LOL

Now... off to see if there are any of my online blogging friends that has NOT been tagged yet.

Update on monthly spending

Hi all,

I have been wanting to post some pictures I have taken with my new camera, but we lost the programs I normally use when we got this new computer. LOL I will post them as soon as I can....promise!

Okay, back to the budget.

As of yesterday, I have spent $246.69 of my budgeted $350.00 for food, and $10.53 of my $50 for animals and misc.

Considering this is the 17th of the month, and I will not need to buy much for the rest of the month, I should be able to make my budget. I think I will use the excess to stock up on any meat sales that happen between now and the end of the month.

So...how is your grocery challenge going?

Using the USDA's Guide for grocery budget.....

I decided to look up the USDA's website to see what they had for their monthly food budget plans. (I always like to see how much less I spend than what they
"think" I should! LOL)

The most recent figures they have are for April, 2008 (here)

For their "Thrifty" plan for my family, I should be spending $694.07 a month on FOOD! Let me just say, even with my being lazy that last couple of months, I did not spend even close to that amount on food! I also did some stocking up and did not come close to that amount!

I am still planning on spending just $350 for this month, with a budget of $50 for non-food items (this will include pet supplies also). This is a very reasonable amount, since I have a nice pantry and have been working with a pantry for years.

Our garden is also starting to produce, so that helps keep costs down at the store. I also need to look into some new canning recipes so that I can stock up my pantry with home made items!

Getting back to tracking my monthly grocery spending....

I used to know to the penny what I spent on groceries every month. I really did, but then I got lazy. LOL

I am back to doing that. I went to the store today and spent $20.92 on groceries. I spent $26.76 four days ago... so as of today, I have spent $47.68. I plan to keep my spending to less than $350 this month.

It should be easy, but only time will tell. lolololol

Ceremony day is here!

well... all the cupcakes are iced, the veggies are cut up, the dip is in the fridge, and we will pick the cake up at the bakery.

I have done all I can.....so we now just wait and hope it goes rather smoothly! LOL

I will let you all know how it went later.

1930's Wife

96 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Something I read on a message board I frequent...

Let me preface this by saying that I have a number of "Northern Friends" that would fit the same role as "Southern Friends" do in this list. :-D

'FRIENDS' VS. 'SOUTHERN' FRIENDS


FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Always bring the food. And lots of it.

FRIENDS: Will say 'hello'.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss. More than one.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad, and often.

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Cry with you. And for you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing, and just being together. Then do the dishes before leaving.

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you. And most of the time know you better than you do yourself.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' butt that left you. Then walk beside you in the front of the crowd.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, 'I'm home!' If you are not home they will wait.

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
SOUTHREN FRIENDS: Are for life. And then some.

FRIENDS: Might ignore this.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will forward this to all their Southern Friends!
'Life is Short ......So Enjoy It!'

First full week of summer vacation over...

And they are still both ALIVE...but barely. LOL

Oh things are really not that bad... just them adjusting to being home together all day. LOL Add in the neighbor boy that I am watching this summer and it can get interesting.

I have signed them both up for the library's summer reading program. I have mentioned it to the dad of our neighbor... so hopefully he will sign his son up also. I would truly dislike having to let them get prizes and he not getting anything. I can only do so much.

The garden is coming along nicely. I just wish it would hurry up a bit. LOL

Not much to post about... but wanted to at least post something, I am sure it has been at least a week, if not longer, since my last post.

Hope you all are enjoying the first official day of SUMMER!

Summer time in the country.....

Such a nice place to be a kid!

Molly, Molly quite contrary.....how does your garden grow?

The garden in doing very well, considering the heat we have been having.

Here are a couple of pictures:


My cukes.


My squash.

My peppers, tomatos and beans are coming along nicely also. I will take pictures of those later.

After checking on our garden... I went around front to finally get my herbs planted. I got my thyme, dill, oregano, spearment planted. Went on to plant my sweet basil... when I noticed that the soil seemed to have been "disturbed". I just figured something had been messing with them... no biggie, they looked good. Got my hole dug and loosened the container, flipped the plant over and.........



This plopped into my hand along with the dirt. Let's just say that I jumped a foot and screamed a bit! LOL

Okay... I am NOT afraid of toads...but when I am NOT expecting one to come out of my herb container, I am taken by surprise! LOL

S/He was not a happy camper either! LOL I beleive I woke it rather suddenly! LOL



So... any interesting garden stories you would like to share?

Part of my weekend.....

I will post some more pictures...but wanted to share a couple for now:

Here is the cake we got for the cookout:



Here is one of the family:


(well, minus Heather, who was taking the picture and Jennifer, who had already gone off with friends)

And here is the cute couple:



I will post more later... school ending has us really busy!

I am still alive...

My life has been REALLY busy. We were gone for Memorial Day weekend... I then worked three of the four days of school that week. Then add in two nights of awards at the high school for my senior... I have not done much at all.. least of which online.

On the home front... my 20 year old step daughter is taking the navy exam on the third of June. If she does not pass, then she has to enlist in the army! (Yeah, tough love going on here!) We got her a book to help her pass the exam, but her idea of studying is not what I would call studying! But as DH says, "she knows what will happen if she fails"... so there is not much I can do about her lack of studying.

We have most of our garden in! YIPPEE! I planted a long row of bush beans today. DH wanted to know WHY I did not do both. LOL I told him that I would like to stagger the time of harvest. If we get a yeild like last year, I will have plenty to can! I did not have my pressure canner last year... so this I hope to end the season with rows of nice jars of home canned green beans! (yes, I can already see them!)

My blueberries are coming along wonderfully! I will actually get some this year! Nothing like I will once the bushes really get going though!

So... how are your gardens growing???

Getting back on the frugal bandwagon.

Okay,

I have been a bit lax on my planning in the grocery/meals department lately. (I know, that is not a new thing!)

This seems to be my "issue" when it comes to frugality! I just get tired of it! Plain and simple. It happens a couple times a year, but usually only for a couple weeks at a time. This time, it has lasted longer than normal. I am sure I could come up with all sorts of reasons "why" or excuses, but it really just comes down to the fact that I just did not WANT to.

So.... I am figuritively kicking myself in the rear and getting out my menu sheets, cookbooks and figuring what I have in the freezer and using that up with what is on sale each week!

Tonight will be chicken and dumplings because it is cold and rainy... perfect weather for a stew-like dish!

Wednesday will be spagetti with homemade bread.

Not sure about the rest of the week....but will get that planned before Thursday morning! LOL

With prices going up, I can not take the luxury of NOT planning and sticking to those plans.

I need to re-read my own stratigies for keeping my grocery budget down! (I need to go search my blog history for those posts! LOL )

Proud momma post.....

This past saturday was my 18 year old's senior prom. I thought I would share a couple of photos from that day:





And here is one with him and his girlfriend:

More on our Daytona trip....

Here are some pictures from the JROTC competitions that my oldest son went to..

Here is some from their drill team performance:









Now, I hope I have those in order, but if not... you get the idea of what they were doing. I think they did really good, but of course, I would. LOL

I think I have adopted three little ones today.......

birds, that is!





They are casualties of our storms last night. Their nest was on the ground, and I just couldn't leave them there to become a meal to some animal.

I put them on our porch... fed them watered down puppy food and then when I stepped inside to check on our dinner (washing my hands thoroughly)...I come to the window to see momma bird feeding them some worms! I could not beleive it.

Now I have a different problem... they are not safe on the front porch, at least not where they are now....but I have no idea where to put them so that momma can get to them, but nothing else can!

What was that I said... about posting again soon??

Hmmm... that was back on the 25th of April and here it is.... May 5th! LOL

Oh well... the best laid plans.. yada yada. LOL

Well... part of what has been going on is that we went out of town for about 4 days. We surprised our 18 year old in Daytona on Friday. No, he was not there on some sort of spring break debauched vacation... he was there because his JROTC group qualified to compete in the National Drill Team competition!

It was really fun...and really impressive what those kids can do!

Got home late on Sunday, then turned around and worked today at the school and will work tomorrow also!

I have not even had a chance to look at my CVS ad or to get by there to pick up my May book! I am having withdrawal symptoms! But, I understand there are some nice deals... so hopefully I will be able to not only get "free" products, but to also increase my ECB's! (reminder to myself, check the experiations on the ones I have!)

Anyways, that is all for now and I truly hope to be able to post more soon!

Wow, what a busy week...

This week has been busy. (Goodness, I have been saying that alot lately!)

I worked more this week than others...plus, DH has been home earlier than usual. (Which is nice!) So, I have spent more time either with him or he has been on the computer in the evenings.

I have been able to get on and read, so that is not too backed up. LOL

There has been all sorts of stuff going on in the blog-world. LOL I might mention my thoughts and views on some, then again, I might not. Depends on how much time I have and if I feel it will be worth it. LOL

My message board has really picked up in activity! I love it!

Well... that will be all for now, don't be surprised if I post again later.