Dinners for 1/18-1/24

Monday-Potato Soup, leftover veggie tray
Tuesday-crockpot chicken (chicken breasts, can of condensed soup), stuffing, veggies
Wednesday-Lunchables in between dance and church
Thursday-freezer meals (Kid Cuisines and Bertolli)
Friday-???
Saturday-Pizza party thanks to DiGiorno!
Sunday-dinner at church

Breakfast is cereal, fruit, pancakes, oatmeal. Lunch is sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken bites, steak bites with fruit and veggies.

I will continue making pancakes to stock the freezer.

2 weeks 4 days left...but who's counting? ME! :)

There are days where I'm not quite ready for my surgery, and then there are days like today. We went to the Home and Garden Show here in OKC, and I couldn't handle it. For the first time in my life I was claustrophobic! The only thing I can figure out is that's it's from my meds. :( Meds that I can't stop taking until H-Day.

I've done several things around here that I hope will help Jeff while I'm recovering. I made him a recipe book of all my made-from-scratch recipes. Our laundry mountain is a tiny hill now. The kids' rooms look half-decent!

A not-so-frugal aspect of pre-op has been the dog. I'm actually having to board my dog while I'm in the hospital. It sucks, but what can you do when no one wants your dog?

I got to hold a 2 day old baby tonight...and I handled the whole situation just fine. No crying from either party. :) I think it's a good sign that I'm ready for my surgery.

Changes

We're at the end of 2009. What a crazy year this has been. The craziest part was loosing an aunt before it was her time to lung cancer. I truly hate cigarettes, and if you smoke, please think about what it does to your family. She missed her daughter's wedding by 3 months. :(

Frugal-wise, we got that deep freezer for ourselves for Christmas. My parents helped us fill it for Christmas too...what a blessing!

2010 brings a lot of changes here. In exactly 5 weeks I will be having surgery. A total abdominal hysterectomy. I know what you're thinking...she's only 30?! But my body has said enough is enough. I've had two very scary months, so it's time to say goodbye to that stage of my life. I'm actually a little excited about it...no more checking the calendar before I can go swimming, no more cramps and heating pads, and there's a certain section of the store I won't have to visit! (unfortunately we've only got a few years for that one since the girls are getting older!)

So I will be spending January getting prepared for 4-6 weeks of recovery. Meals need to be made and frozen so Jeff will just have to reheat stuff, and schedules need to be figured out since the girls' dance will still go on. I've got my crafts ready, and a stack of books ready to read.

It's time for change.

We are looking at one of these as a Christmas present to ourselves. ;) It's a 9 cu. ft. deep freezer from Lowes http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=90724-2251-LFFC09M5HW&lpage=none

I can't wait to try some once-a-month cooking! Usually Angelfood fills up my little freezer above the refrigerator, and I can't put very much more in there. So stay tuned...I'm going to become a baking fool in a couple of months. ;)

We're doing good here...

I've been quiet here over the summer. We're debt free...have been for 6 months now. This helped us out greatly when the cat spent several days in kitty-ICU over the summer. Did you know cats get asthma? :( But she's fine now...she better be for what we spent on her! :P

We're planning a Disney road trip for 2010...paid for in cash! It will be a trip out West...we'll visit the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Carlsbad Caverns, Disneyland. It feels so good to be able to do this for the girls. :)

Angelfood is looking for new customers. We get this almost every month...depends on what the menu is. Get more information here: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/Default.asp?

Angel Food-June

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menu_0906en.asp

Here is the link for the June menu for Angel Food. We have to order by June 13 for a June 20 pick up. Please check with Angel Food for your local pick up times here.

Save money...go to the library!

Summer is fast approaching. Along with summer comes kids who are "bored". If your kids fit into this category, consider making a weekly (at least) trip to the library.

We'll be doing several free activities at our library. They include:

• Summer reading program...for every 8 books, they get prizes. Last year we watched a baseball game at the end of the season!

• Free movie Thursdays...we'll get to watch older children's movies for just the cost of parking (our library is in downtown OKC...so there's parking meters)

Please don't forget about the library this summer. As long as you stay away from the late fees (last night a man had $9 in fees), it's a very cheap and educational way to entertain your family.