Monday, Busy weekend, Flu shot

 It was a super busy weekend.  We had our runners here Friday night and they were so much fun.  I got up early on Saturday and Hubs went and babysat Oliver.  I made a big breakfast for the runners and got them out the door and then started to work on my chili.  When hubs got home, I went to get my flu and covid shots.

However, my pharmacist, said no to both at the same time.  He told me to get the flu first as I had so far been what he thinks is immune to covid.  Even though I have had the shots, I have been exposed over and over again and no covid.  The flu is rampant around here.  I felt fine until we got home from the church activity, and I was so hot.  

I ran fever and chills all night and a bad headache most of Sunday.  I still have a slight headache, but much better today.

The grandkids had so much fun at the churches trunck or treat.  Kelsa did not want it to end.  She stayed out in the dark running around in a (brat) bat costume.  She had a flashlight

and thought she was pretty special. We finally got her home and she continued to play with her flashlight.

We ate chili all weekend and as the kids are due down here this evening to bring all the kids down for trick or treat, I am going to order pizzas. 

But today I must sew.  I have to finish hemming a wedding dress.  I did finish the hand work on Saturday afternoon.  I had to take it up in the shoulders and put the sleeves back in and reset the bead work.

Then I swear there are at least 20 pair of pants in the shop to hem. I really am not sure, but I know there are 27 curtain panels to hem.  Plus, all the dresses.  Kim really has to get her butt in gear.

It is just going to be a busy week and I am happy about it.

Also, I forgot to add that the runners brought us about $300 dollars' worth of Telford beef and pork. Telford is company up by Sun Valley Idaho, that has a huge beef ranch. They sell by the whole, 1/2 and 1/4 animals and then process it in their shop.  They sell out almost immediately.  So, to even get some of the beef is a privilege. They are very rooty toot and spendy.  But these kids all were members of the Telford clan and they learned to work hard from an early age.  We got roasts, steaks, bacon, stew meat.  I could not believe the generosity.  Plus, potatoes.  This ranch is very diversified. I did not expect payment.  But well worth the trouble and the fun.

Okay I am off to get to work, wish me luck, I really have not been up to snuff in the shop since before I left.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Friday, Such a nice decision.

I am telling you deciding to take Friday's off was one of the best if not the best decision I have made in a long time.  Even thought I still may do some sewing on Friday I do not have to greet clients.

I had things to do this morning, like getting my nails done and going to get a list of essentials like, dog, cat,chicken feed.  I did not even worry about leaving the house.  I just went. 

Going to a 4 day work week will not hurt my business at all and it will give me more time to relax and do the things I want to do.

I tryed hard to get the house cleaned yesterday with my timer method and it was a total failure, as I had client after client.  I was trying to make meatloaves for Lil sis and I and also help the grandkids frost cookies.  Actually I frosted and they decorated and I am sure glad I waited to clean the kitchen area until after they were done.  Sprinkles every where. See pictures of my mess throughout blog, this was just me! No help from grand kids, that came later.

Kim's floor after cooky (yes cooky) baking

A good friend came over to pick up a quilt top I had done and she is going to quilt it for me.  Which is great as I cannot see any time in the far flung future that I will get it done.

We had expected 10 cross country runners and parents this evening, but now we are down to five.  I was not worried about sleeping or feeding them, but showers were going to be an issue with our one hot water tank.  Hubs got permission to shower all the runners at the high school.  He has the keys we will just send over a large bag of towels, cloths, soap and hair products. We can handle the adult bathing here. Don't know if we will need to provide breakfast, but if we do, I will make BBIT, best breakfast in town and hot cakes.

Anything stainless steel is now a disaster!

 

BBIT is one pound of bacon, one pound of sausage, chopped onion, chopped cooked potatoes, eggs, all fried together and topped with cheese.  You can feed an army with this and I have everything here, plus niece is bringing me potatoes from the ranch.  Then I can do pancakes from scratch easy. I will have to lay in some milk, and some orange juice.  I will also pull Sis's coffee maker from the garage and run down to lil sis's for some coffee to put in it.

I purposely made a huge batch of cookies so the kids would have snacks when they came. I also took several plates of cookies around this morning to different people in our church that are shut in.  They love those frosted sugar cookies.

See Kim's fairy foot prints?  These will lead you to any room in the house.

Saturday I have to take a large pot of Chili to a church chili feed and a trunck or treat activity.   We will all have treats in the trunks of our cars the kids can go from car to car in the safety of a parking lot.  We will have Kelsa that night and then probably through Monday as she is here Monday anyway.  I don't know for sure.  But it will be a busy weekend.  I also think the runner's will be here Saturday evening as well, but they can go to the chili feed.  It is a 10 hour drive back to their home town in Idaho.

Front door handle with flour on it.

Anyway, I have a bathroom to clean, and a bed to make, I have the beans soaking for chili and the meat thawing.  There will be left over meat loaf for dinner.

I think I will take a nap!

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Thursday, mystery solved and Thrifty doings

 

I lost my American Express sky miles card when we were traveling.  One thing I do every day when traveling is take stock of my money and receipts and CC's.  I actually clean out my purse and in doing this realized my card was missing right away.  So was able to call and get it cancelled.  Well, Sissie called me, and she found the card in her car.  So that mystery is solved.  I am always very careful with my things as in (money, cc's) when traveling.  So, to find out I got home without it that night was a little discombobulating. 

Also, I told you about my disappointment with Delta airlines. I had purposely booked my flights through them and paid almost twice the usual fair that I can get from Travelocity. But with all the problems the airlines are having, if you use one of those sites and you miss a connection, they will not help you.  You have to rebook through the Travelocity trip advisor.  This can mean a long 24 hour wait and a hotel stay.  

Well, the connections to my flights were so close together that it was impossible to get to them on time.  I missed the one connection going into DC, on the way home I ran yes ran and it was a little over 2 miles, to get to my gate only to see the plane loading.  I could not believe after running for what seemed like hours turning a corner and seeing a sign that said B gates another 7-minute walk.

I was offered 100 off my next trip by Delta and I said no that is not enough compensation for the overly priced ticket and the service I received. I was very polite and kind but insisted that $100 was not fair.  Now I had to jump through hoops, but I was just awarded enough points for another airline ticket. Well worth the time it took to complain higher up. Now I think both myself and Hubs can fly free to DC at Christmas.  It pays to complain nicely.  I was very positive to the people I talked to about what was good about Delta, as in their staff was so nice. 

 Always put a criticism in an OREO.  I learned this while teaching. If a student was making a mistake and not doing a step correctly in a number, I would stop the class and go to that dancer and say, "I love the way to did this.  But you need to correct this." Then I would have the student do the thing I liked for the class.  As in," watch Nancy, see how well this is done?  Now, Nancy correct this part, then we can all watch how well you can do it." If the step was hard and Nacy was struggling, I would just say," Now, you know how to do it and you will work on it and get it. " Always, praise, correct, praise. It almost always worked.  If a student was really shy or sensitive, I would demonstrate what they were doing wrong and purposely screw it up, in a funny way to make the class laugh.  Then would say," no. no it was not that bad, please do not do it that way." It always made the dancer feel better about the correction if the teacher messed up.

Thrifty doings:

1. saved all my spare change, found .41 cents this week

2. saved all my $5.00 now have $50.00

3. no longer saving the $36.00 will start over after Christmas

4. cooked and ate all meals at home from scratch.

5. downloaded receipts to fetch

6. purchased a loss leader 3 lb package of burger

7. re did master bedroom and bath with thrifted things and things bought on good sales and of course spray paint.

8. spent time shelling sunflowers for extra chicken fee,

9. bought gas at least expensive station

10.still continue to get my diet coke daily at the circle Kay saving me loads of money every month.

What have you done this week to save money?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Wednesday, Dismal Groceries.

 As I am on a no spend grocery challenge until after Christmas, I am only buying what I need if we don't have a particular item.  I am trying to only use what I have and plan all my menus around what is in the freezer or pantry. But I still peruse the Wednesday grocery adds for any deals that might be too good to be true. 

So, this week there was a buy a three-pound package of good quality burger for $1.99 a pound but you are limited to one and have to have it on your app. This way you can't go back and buy another.  I went and picked it up.   I have not seen burger for that price for a long time.

But I felt sorry for the other people at the store who were trying to buy groceries.  I cannot imagine what the bills would be. I am so grateful for my pantry and stockpile, and freezer.  To be able to just go open the freezer and pull-out chicken breasts and go get stock out of the pantry.  Getting potatoes out of the bin where we store what we picked out of the garden is such a blessing.  Then frying up a large skillet of green beans that I picked last week from our vines.  Whipping up a batch of baking powder biscuits to soak up the chicken gravy.  All of this without going to a store.

Later today I will be making up the rest of the sour cream sugar cookie dough.  I will frost with butter cream frosting, the butter I purchased for $1.99 a pound and the powdered sugar purchased last Christmas for .99 for 2 pounds.  My recipe makes 10 dozen cookies.  But don't worry, I have lots of people to feed them to, like church ladies with birthdays and my Lil sis.  I am sure Schmills will want to take some to his class.

So today I will actually roll and cut out the cookies I was going to do yesterday. Put the kids off until Thursday, for frosting some of them.  I am the messiest of cooks and when I make cut out cookies, I swear flour is all over the house.  I walk through it and then leave fairy prints everywhere I go.

I want to get a few things done in the shop and the bride that was coming yesterday cancelled and is due in today late this afternoon. Hubs is up watching Oliver and then has to be at the high School at 4 so he will not have much time between getting home and going. I will not be cooking dinner today as we have leftovers.  I love leftovers, not so much to eat as to keep me from having to cook.

Do any of you make cutout frosted cookies for the holidays?  If you do what recipe do you use?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Tuesday, Okay, really? Who is in charge here?

 

Kim's life right now.  Did Kim think she would get back from her vacation and have a few months of relative down time?

Why yes, she did think that. After all she had caught up on all things wedding, the shop only had a couple of to do's.   

So why is she living in a wedding nightmare?

Why is she stuck, asking herself the above question repeatedly......?

Because she does not live in reality.  Well, I live in my reality, where I am a princess who does not have to work, and I get to watch Netflix all day, and I also get to be in charge of the sounds volume and the remote.  So far, I have no control over sound volume or the remote, but a girl can dream.

Right now, there are 8 wedding dress in the shop.  Yes 8.  I am trying to figure out how to hide my house.  But that is hard.  My Harry Potter skills are lacking.

I did manage to get my cookie dough made last night and get dinner over to Lil sis's. I also managed to get a wedding dress that I have a fitting for today, ripped, the sleeves removed, and all of the mending done on the back.  I still have to get the hem ready for try on, but it is one of those huge ballroom dresses, that has several layers of petticoats.   I need to press the darn crumpled things in order to measure the hem correctly.  What a pain.

So that is my first job of the day if I can get people to quit calling and coming over.  Sheesh you would think I have a business or something.

I did manage to get my picture to the framer this morning and I need to take dinner into Lil sis tonight who is working from home and caring for her other half.  She hates to cook and is so behind at work.  I also am going to make cookies up for Schmills and Kelsa to decorate this evening. I hope Kelsa does not use her feet this time.

My day is full.  My day is too FULL.

But I am grateful.  I am blessed with work.

All will get done in its time.  I think.

Trying to remain positive.

Things I need to do:

1. get wedding dress ready for fitting

2. take chicken out to thaw.

3. get picture to framers

4. transplant lemon tree to new pot

5. pick all tomatoes green or not (get Hubs to do this?)

6. make cookies

7. make dinner

I do not see relax anywhere on this list.  Nor do I see myself getting the remote.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Monday, when you are dragging, do something fun!

 Since I was having a hard time getting myself motivated to get anything done, I decided to work on a long overdue project. We have been in this house now for a little over two years and I have yet to get the Master bedroom and bath the way I want them and as I had gathered most of the things, I decided to get that done-on Saturday!

This involved three trips to Wally world, to exchange things, and a trip to a secondhand store to buy a large picture frame. But I got the Master bedroom and bath exactly the way I wanted them except for one picture that needs to be reframed (might have that done professionally)

As you know I can hold onto things and repurpose things over and over.  I had to laugh as I perused the things was replacing.  Two gold bath sheets that were over 27 years old. A shower curtain that daughter had, had in her house before she got rid of it, and I nabbed it, that was at least 15 years old.

Of course, Kim got out her spray paint and went to town saving, lamp shades, a trash can that I know is over 20 years old, A picture frame and some decor and a shelf for the bathroom.  All of these things I have had for years, and they have been painted and repainted.

I love Navy and white I think it is so crisp and clean.  When I was in St. Louis at my niece's wedding, I picked up a duvet cover and sheets in a navy and white.  I needed to replace a set of sheets that were pilly and old. While I was with Sissy shopping, I was able to find some really nice regular pillowcases in navy and white stripe.

The pillows on our bed desperately needed replaced.  They were flat and awful.  My Sissie also had a mattress topper on her bed that I just loved.  After staying at nice places with nice linens I was inspired to do something about our bed. Here are the results and it is so comfortable.  The topper made all the difference on this old mattress.

I sprayed the lamp shades, and the lamps I found at Wal mart 75% off.  Even the clerk said she was thinking of getting the lamps I found for $5.76 a piece.  The old brass ones will go in the spare room. I also found this huge picture frame with glass for the girl's photo.  It was just in a cheap plastic frame that we had from an old poster.  I went to a secondhand store and bought the frame with the mat, and it was 50% off day so I purchased it for $4.36.  Then I spray painted the frame navy blue.  It now is matted and has glass and looks better.

This pillow was purchased in Hawaii, and I kept the dresser scarf, and the antique rocker with the same light grey upholstery that I did about a year ago. Now the green picture of hubs and I am going to have done by someone else. 

See the mirror?  That was on the servant's staircase at the big house that my stepdad was raised in, in Sweden.  He remembers the servants checking their uniforms and hair in it, before they went down to take care of things during parties or to serve dinner.  In the drawer were combs and brushes and lint remover for uniforms.  He and his brothers and sisters were relegated to the upstairs.

I spray painted the shelf and the wall plaque and replaced the rugs which I know were 15 years old.  I had the master bath in our old house done in sage green and gold, for 22 years.  I think I got the goody out of my things. I am really happy with this and so is hubs.

I did want to put up room darkening shade and reuse long navy curtains from Lil sis's house but hub's nicked that idea.  He just like the windows the way they are, and I do have to take his feeling into account.

So, it was a busy all day getting things painted and placed where I wanted them.  I am happy and this will last a long, long time, I am sure.

On Sunday we did the missionary loop.  I had made a huge pot of stew on Saturday, and we ate off that.  I am taking the remainder to Lil sis for her boyfriend for dinner along with homemade biscuits.

By the way I had 3 wedding dresses come in today and I have to get one that came in last week ready for a fitting tomorrow.  Lots of hand work. So, no rest for the wicked here.  I want to make a large batch of Sour cream sugar cookies to frost with Schmills and Kelsa this week.  So, Kim is back on the run again. I am so glad she is back.

By the way last Friday after Nate picked up Kelsa, I slept all Friday afternoon.  It was lovely no clients.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Friday, Reaching even keel

 I am sleepy.  I think I have been sleepy since I got home.  I am hoping to get rid of this feeling by the time the weekend is over.

I had a bridal dress come in and a bridesmaid dress come in plus a police uniform.  So, I have plenty to do.

I contacted the paper and my web guy and have changed my hours, and I also ordered a new sign from a sign shop to put on my garage.  Monday -Thursday 10:5:30 evenings by appointment. I also raised my prices.  Thanks Anne!

I need to make homemade rolls for Lil sis's sig other.  He had his knee replaced on Wednesday and is home already.  Modern medicine is amazing.  He is doing well and managing his pain.  I will also make cinnamon rolls when I make his rolls.

Hubs is out hunting (or taking his gun for a walk) I have plenty of dinner left over from last night for him to eat when he gets home.

There are so many things I want to get done around this house and I cannot motivate myself to get anything done.  I think going on vacation spoiled me.  It is hard to get back into the work mode. I think me keel is upended....

Any clues as how to get motivated after a long vacation?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Thursday, What's thrifty?

 Well, I think I stayed in budget on my trip.  I will know for sure when I look up my CC bills.  I did not necessarily try and be thrifty on my travels.  I bought some winter things for myself on sale.  I was able to get a little Christmas done on sale.  But I really just enjoyed myself and spent what I wanted, which was nice.  Of course, I had purposely saved for this reason.

I did not care that McD's diet cokes were more expensive back east or in the gulf.  I just bought what I wanted. We were going to eat out most meals, but after two dismal meals the second one was well over $80 for the four of us, we decided to get some groceries and cook.  I don't mind eating out in fact I enjoy it, but not when the food is less than stellar, and Sis and my choice was downright awful.  Also, I don't mind cooking and neither does Sis. Anne was able to grill our steak to perfection.

But I am home now, and I am putting a spending freeze on groceries until we leave for our cruise in December. Mostly because we just need to eat down what we have in the freezers. I really would like to do some re arranging in the garage as it is not really conducive to good food storage, but I have not figure out when I can do that. I will probably get Nate and Hub's on that in the future.

So now the plan is to pull things from the freezer and eat what we have taken from the garden.  If anyone has any good eggplant recipes let me know.  I do a mean eggplant parm but would like some alternatives.  I do love fried eggplant.  We have a ton of eggplant and green peppers.  Way more peppers than I can freeze or use.  So, I will probably be giving those away on the marketplace.

Tonight's repast will be chicken breast strips, salad, potatoes, and a can of veggies.  Hubs is working at the school tonight so dinner will be early.  I have two brides coming in this afternoon and a little work to do in the shop. It was really nice to have yesterday to just get myself back into home mode.

Thrifty Thursday:

1. saved all my spare change on trip added over 25 dollars to my coin bank

2. saved 5 since I came home $15.00 it was weird to spend 5's on the trip as I have been so actively saving them for so long.

3. bought Christmas gifts and a birthday gift at 60-70% off on the trip.

4. hubs picked all the potatoes and onions from the garden, so we have plenty for a while

5. picked all peppers, eggplant and green beans we will eat these all the rest of fall

6. Took home a large suitcase of Sis's for all my gifts and paid nothing for luggage with my Delta sky miles card.  My second bag was $40.00 so I decided to carry it on and then when I got to the gate, they offered to check it for free as they were over loaded.  Free is always good.

7. we cooked more than we thought at the beach and saved ourselves some money

8. gave away leftovers at beach to people there so no waste

9. Sis and I almost always split and entre' when we did eat out.  The only time we didn't we ended up eating only 1/2 of what we ordered but sent it home with Sister-in-law for my brother-in-law so no waste.

 Not much in the way of saving, but I was having fun.  I will get back on my frugal horse now that I am home.

What have you done to save money this last week?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim 

Wednesday, I'm back!

 Well, I got in about noon yesterday, and I was a little sleepy as I got up at 3:30 to get to the airport on time. With the three-hour time difference between DC and Idaho it makes for a semi strange day.  But I stayed up until 11:00 so I could try and get my sleep pattern back somewhat.

I had an absolutely marvelous time. We laughed and laughed, mostly at me I think as I can be a bit dense. The weather was wonderful, except coming home from the beach we hit a torrential rainstorm. Anne was driving and you could hardly see a thing.  There was a car going really slow in front of us with flashers on and you could follow him.  It is very dangerous to pull off as someone could think you are moving and rearend you. But Anne could see the flashing.  I told her to turn her flashers on and she did not know where they were, but Sluggy was a good copilot and found them.  It was white knuckle for a while, and I felt bad for her.  But we made it back to the house safely.

Sissie's very disgusting T-shirt.  We went to the outlet mall and bought a few Christmas presents.  Slugs and her hubby will be with us at Christmas and I am so excited. We will stay at Sissie's after the cruise.  So, I don't have long to wait to see them again. Now if I could just figure out how to get Ane and her husband up there.

I love the beach and could have spent much more time there.  I did get a little color on my face and my forehead is now peeling. We stopped at a little town called Enterprise and had lunch. 

Sis and I in front of the Ronald Mc Donald Boll weevil. 

Slugs, and Sis and I.  Anne refuses to have her picture taken, and she is a lovely woman. So funny, she is truly a kindred spirit.  We just laughed so much we hurt.

Anne's bouse is deceiving, it is beautiful, but does not look overly large and then you get inside, and it goes on forever.  Like doors, and doors and doors.  It is a magic house. She is a lovely hostess,

Me with beach hair. Of course, Slugs and I had to continue our competition of who could find the most change.  It was very stiff, and I am sure she won as Anne was aiding and abetting her. But we are really cheap entertainment.

Sissie on the beach.  We loved going down for a few hours.  I could have stayed down longer, but Sissie is getting delicate in her old age. I am used to playing with grandkids and making sandcastles and staying out longer.

Sissie was having a hard time driving, and I even saw her run into a glass door at a restaurant. So glad we figured out the problem, before we got on the road again.

Off course we had to find a donut shop, because what is the world like without donuts?

Anyway, I am glad to be home.  Hubs was able to get all his gear removed the Tuesday before I left, and our eldest daughter came in and stayed with him until Sunday. He was still in need of some care, although Braunwyn was much more into changing the dressings than Jess. Jess has always had an aversion to blood.  B relishes in the gore.  B and Signe' then checked on Hubs throughout the next week and I found him in good shape when I got home.  He still tires and little easy and is not up to walking his usual long distances, but he is back to work at the high school and seems to think the surgery was a success.

My sister-in-law had to cancel her second chemo treatment as she has lost so much weight and her white blood count is too low. She needs to gain some weight, so we of course are worried. Please continue to pray for her.

I am so happy I told everyone that called while I was gone that I would not be home until the 20th as I did not want to be swamped the moment I arrived on the scene, which has happened so many times before.  I am a slow learner.

It is my daughter Signe's 35 birthday today.  I have Kelsa as she would not leave me last night and my grandma heart could not stand it. Sig will pick her up later today and I will give her a gift. I need a few days to get used to the time change. I am loving not having anything to do but get used to just being.

I was able to get most of my Christmas shopping done while on vacation, just have a couple more things to buy and I am done which is so nice.  

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

Monday, So much to do!

 

I need to get packing, but I have to get the laundry and the ironing done first. I sent most of the weekend just resting and sleeping trying to wear this cold off. I still have a slight sore throat and a very raspy voice.

Hubs is anxiously awaiting his trip up to the doctor tomorrow to have his tubes removed.  The catheter is really annoying. I too am looking forward to him getting rid of his little friend.  He is so tired of not doing things he normally does. 

Jess is due in tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to see her.  The other girls are coming down to spend the night so a slumber party.  Don't know how much care Hub's will get I think it will just be a free for all. 

I am going to Sonic at about 4:30 to get food for 4 missionaries as I am not going to cook a big meal right now.  I said I would feed them, but it would have to be fast food. I don't think the boys will mind at all.

So today I have a list of sewing things that must be done and then the laundry and the ironing. Hubs and I will grab a sandwich, as I am not cooking.  I am in my let's get out of town mode.  

To Do:

1. load of laundry

2. hem 2 pants

3. hem 2 jeans

4. put patches on police uniform

5. hem a fancy dress

6. alter a man's suit

7. feed missionaries

8. get ironing done

9. go suntan to prevent burning at beach

10. dye hair roots

That is, it for today!

I did get 14 pints of various pickles made this weekend.  I pickled green beans, cucumbers, peppers, and some combos of carrots, beans, onions and peppers.  They are delicious and so much cheaper than buying at the store.

I also made a batch of fresh salsa, and we snacked on that all weekend. I am just trying to use up all the leftover things from the garden.

Well, I am off to start on the list, what are you doing today?

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim