Epic Fail!

Well, I had challenged myself not to eat out the entire month of June. And I have failed. Miserably. Not only that, but I failed TWICE in one day!

It all started so innocently, too.... Princess Penelope had to take the ACT on Saturday. So after I dropped her off, I came home and got really busy around the house. I dusted. I vaccuumed. I swept. I mopped. I decluttered. I made beds. I scrubbed the kitchen. And I consumed lots and lots of coffee all the while. When it came time to go pick up the Princess, I hopped in the car. Driving around in the middle of the day in a black car, when its 97 degrees out and all you've consumed is coffee all day.... well you kind of feel off about it. By the time I picked her up, I was super thirsty and completely famished. Apparently, the ACT does the same to Princess Penelope, we just could not wait the 20 minutes home. We pulled into the nearest fast food place --- and $15+change later.... well, you get the idea.

After I got back home, changed clothes and primped up a bit Singer Friend and I headed out for our Mani/Pedis.... we chatted and gossipped and giggled all the way through those.... and afterwards..... we decided we needed to grab a bite and continue the gab fest. So, two hours later.... another $20 -- because hey, wine goes well with gossip!

So, I failed the challenge. I didn't even make it through half the month. But, I'm not letting my fall from grace deter me.... I think I can still get through the month without any more slipups! I'll just have to avoid gossip/gab fests for a bit!

Cooking for my Freezer

So with my shopping trip to Aldi on Sunday, it was time to feed my freezer a bit. I'm not together enough to plan out whole menus a month in advance, nor am I organized enough to get enough for a full month's worth of meals cooked in one day. However, I do try and do a lot of prep work in advance so that I can just come home from work and throw dinner together quickly.

After shopping on Sunday, I decided it was time to get some stuff prepared in advance. After about two hours of work, I fed my freezer the following:

4 meals worth of regular cooked ground beef (with onions and shredded squash)
6 meals worth of seasoned cooked brown beef (ditto on the above veggies)
2 pounds sliced strawberries
2 pounds blueberries
Shredded squash
Diced Onions
7 Barbeque Sandwiches
Tuna Salad
1 Nacho Casserole (last night's dinner)

I had planned to roast a chicken, but realized that instead of putting it in the freezer, it had gotten shoved to the back of the fridge, and was three days past its Sell By date. Not wanting to risk it, the chicken was fed to the garbage can. Doh!

Aldi for the Basics

It is time for another round of cooking to feed my freezer, which required a trip to Aldi for some of the essentials. I spent more than I intended (thanks to them having the Sundae Cones with no nuts in stock), but since Princess Penelope will be heading to her Dad's next weekend for a full week, I should be able to still come in under budget for the month.

So, here is what I bought:

5 pounds ground beef
2 Boxes Sundae Cones
Dog Treats
2 pounds yellow squash
2 pounds strawberries
2 pounds blueberries
2 Mangoes
3 Bags Shredded Cheese
Margarine
2 Boxes Wheat Crackers
2 Frozen Pizzas
2 Shells & Cheese
Eggs
Sports Drink
Pasta Sauce
Hamburger buns
2 pounds onions

Spent: $60.71

You know, every time I post one of these shopping trips, I get irritated  because our state taxes food --- I know there are a lot of states that don't, but sadly Alabama isn't one of those. If we didn't pay tax on food, my total would have been 55.01 --- that's 9%! Sadly, that has to be part of my grocery budget. Ugh.

Multi-Tasking with Water

My airconditioner system has a reusable filter that you clean once a month and then pop back in the little slot until the next month. I like the reusable filter because I'm not expending the $$$ for new filters and its another item that is not going into a landfill. The con to it, is that it is definitely more time consuming to clean a filter, than to just pop a new one in and toss the old one in the trash. I wanted to say that remembering to clean it is a drawback too, but since you have to remember to change the disposable ones, I don't think it really counts!

This morning, as soon as I woke up, I realized that I haven't cleaned the filter since April! Whoops. Here we are in the middle of a massive heat wave, where the AC is working overtime and I forgot to do the most BASIC of maintenance to keep it working efficiently -- UGH. (I have no clue why this was my first thought upon waking up this morning -- but there you go).

One thing I hate about cleaning the filter is the loss of water --- our water bills are outrageous because they are tied to the sewer costs and.... never mind I've ranted about corruption and stuff before.... so anyway.... with the lack of rain, wise use of water is a MUST not to mention it helps keep my costs down. So my solution to the problem was this:

1. I put three large buckets side to side along the edge of one of my flower beds.

2. I held the filter resting on the buckets so that most of the water overflow would go into the buckets and the overspray and splatter would go into the garden.

3. I used the power wash mode on my hose attachment to clean the filter, as quickly and efficiently as possible only stopping to empty the buckets if they got full --- or at least full enough so that I knew I'd have trouble carrying them.

4. Emptied the full buckets gently and carefully onto my always thirsty garden.

5. Voila! A clean filter and a watered daylily bed using (most) of the same water!

The filter is now drying in the sunshine on the deck --- and will hopefully be completely dry before the temperatures approach the fifth level of hades today and I need to put it back into service!

Mani-Pedi Time!

Just so you know, I have not totally lost my mind and thrown all my newfound frugality out the window! However, I am getting a manicure and pedicure today! One of my dear dear friends, Singer Girl, (whose band I went to see play last night) has decided that a Mani/Pedi is exactly what I need as a belated birthday present.

It has been so long since I got a manicure and pedicure that I'm not even sure when the last time was! I DO know however, that I am so flippin' excited! This is something I never do for myself -- and quite honestly, I tend to neglect my nails more often than not (gardening doesn't really make for pretty nails!). So, I'm off today to go get pampered just a bit. And I absolutely cannot wait! Singer Girl and I will be heading to the nail place in about 45 minutes! Woo hoo!

Rain, rain, RAIN, rAin, RaiN, raiN, RAIN!

Do you SEE that? Those little polka-dotty things all over my Canna Lily leaves? And do you know what those little things are? Those are real-honest-to-goodness raindrops! Its been so long since we had any of those around here, I'd kind of forgotten what they looked like! And aren't they pretty? All cool and refreshing and watery all over my plants. Pardon me while I do my happy rain shimmy!

My rain barrel actually has water in it! (Yea! I hooked it up right!) All of my posies that were previously muttering profanities at me are all perky! Now, if I could get a few more showers like this one, we'd really have something going!

And, as an added bonus --- it's 7:20 p.m. and its 78 degrees outside! I haven't seen it under 90 at 9 pm in weeks! The AC is strangely quiet. I like it.

Friday Means Happy Dance Time!

For me, Friday means, just 8 more hours until the weekend! Thing 1 and Thing 2 like it because that means Mom is almost home for a few days! Since it is summer, Princess Penelope likes it because she doesn't have a 7:30 basketball workout, so she is sleeping in!

I have a HUGELY busy day planned. I have a four hour test to take today for a continuing ed class I've been taking at work all week. And after that, I need to wrap up all the work that has accumulated on my desk while I've been in class. So, busy and hectic day today.

But tonight, I have FUN plans! A friend's band will be playing at a local watering hole as part of the BAMA RISING benefit (for tornado relief). There will be a $5 cover to get in with that going to BAMA RISING. A TON of friends will be there, so it will be a good night to catch up with people and relax. I'll have to make it an early night though --- Princess Penelope will be taking the ACT again tomorrow. I'll need to come in early so Thing 1 and Thing 2 don't wake her up with their raucous barking!

Y'all have a fabulous Friday! I'm going to do my Happy Dance now!