BOGO Buying

 Today was a rough day. I am sooo tired. Last night, I actually slept at night instead of all day. I may have partially solved my sleep problem. I started taking my meds in the morning instead of at night. Things like thyroid meds are supposed to be taken in the morning. As a result of this change, I am exhausted and my eyes will not stay open. So, like a sane person, I go to bed. 

We had things to do and did not get to Publix until about 5 pm. UGH Never let me do that again. But, I did need things. Both of us needed milk. 

BOGO items and final cost:

Peter Pan Peanut Butter 2@$2.05

Philadelphia Cream Cheese 2@$2.20 He got the 1/3 fat variety instead of the one I told him to get! 

Nature's Own Honey Wheat Bread 1@$2.06 I will get another before sale goes off.

Edward's Chocolate Cheesecake 1@ $4.62. This jumped in the cart when I was not looking. 

B2G1

3 Diet Pepsi 12 packs 2@$9.29 

We needed:

Jello sugar-free Cherry $1.65

Hefty 2.5 gal.$5.75 

a2milk two half gallons @.$4,99/each for me

1 gallon milk 1@$3.99 for Tommy

bananas 2 for $0.25/each  I had three at home. 

Raincheck:

French's Fried Onions

Total $59.50 without tax

There is fresh produce, frozen, cooked vegetables, fruit. So, that is it for today. 

Tommy had called Keith to mow. Twice. No response. So, I called today. He had not heard from Tommy and was confused. I sat right here and heard Tommy leave a message twice. So, no telling what happened, but the yard has needed mowing for a month. 

Tonight, we cooked the eye of round roast with potatoes, carrots, and celery. Delicious. I forgot to have slaw. 

Today, the day ended up with high, overcast skies. The day was bright, not gloomy at all. The high was in the 70s. We are preparing for a rainy day tomorrow. 

I have frozen limas that I will use for succotash. The corn will be canned, but it will be good. I am planning to use frozen green beans for green bean casserole for Tommy. And, I need to cook the zucchini I bought this week. Remind me. 

All day, I have wanted to call my two friends who are ill. They are actually too ill to talk, so I have not called. Tomorrow I will send each a note. It is all I can do. It makes me feel helpless. 

I am going to be hanging Easter eggs in Tommy's Dogwood tree. That is all my decorating for Easter. Do you decorate for Easter? 

I get so hungry! Yard mowed! Wisteria destroyed, I hope!

I am just not up to cooking in crock pot or in the oven. I can lift to do neither, especially a pan of food into and out of the oven. So, I don't feel like I am getting the nutrition I need. Even getting a sandwich out is expensive after a couple of weeks. I need a balanced diet.

Plus, since I hurt my hands and wrists in the wreck, slicing and peeling is difficult. Even using the cane or walker causes my wrists and hands to hurt.

Well, don't ask me what came over me. Sunday, I put out four meats to thaw. The ground pork will go into the crockpot for Taco Casserole, but it comes out like soup and is delicious. I have 4 small filets of chicken breast that I think I can get into the oven and out without dropping them or burning myself.  The bag of boneless center pork chops will get cooked somehow. I haven't figured that out yet. A small package of turkey lunch meat has been eaten.

Cooking on top of the stove involves too much standing! ugh!

THEN, I thawed four hotdogs and ate all four of them. I know!

This is not just about pain; it is about hunger. Two different days I just lay in bed in pain and finally ate my first bite around 5:30.

Exbf never cooked for himself. So, he is useless on this point. Although, he does take me out to eat when he is here. When he got a package of ground beef, he cooked the whole thing at once so he would not have to wash the pan more than one time. Of course, he cannot stand to do that now.

I am writing this Sunday night at 10 pm. I might boil eggs tonight. Thankfully, I love salad, so I can buy the greens for that.  Although I love pbj sandwiches, I will not be the old lady who just eats sandwiches.

Saturday was an especially good day since my yard was mowed. Plus, the guy pulled up and killed with poison the wisteria. I am afraid to walk to the chickens' pen when I get them because of the tendrils of wisteria. Next year, I am going to get one of the fire things that burns the roots. I will not use it, but he can.

I know that is an excessive number of exclamation points in the title.

Has anyone used the fire thing that kills weeds and roots? Any thoughts on it?

It's Monday night and tomorrow is a church lunch. Yippee! I need to get into the kitchen and cook! Ugh! I still hurt. Have you ever felt like you had rather starve than get up and cook when you were in pain? Oui and strawberries are on the counter to eat while I cook.

Another small economy that is large

The yard was mowed today. When I pulled out money to pay the guy, he commented that his yard had not been mowed in a month and could he....I put the money away. So, he mowed my yard in exchange for using my mower on his grass. Works for me. He is an adult and promised to push it back today. I had him fill the gas tank here since I buy 100% gasoline for the sake of the motor.

I hope we can keep up this arrangement. This kind of arrangement was what I hoped for when I got the mower. Since I would have to hold a gun to anyone's head to get a person to rake, even for money, this mower with a bagger causes a lot less drama for me.

Do you or have you had this kind of arrangement with your mowing or another chore? Do you ever trade chores instead of paying money?

Tuesday, Wednesday, My Waist

Tuesday was lunch day at the first church I ever went to for lunch. We had chicken fingers, broccoli slaw, green beans and potatoes, unsweetened tea, and cake.

Two to-go boxes came home with us. I ate most of it about 10 pm Tuesday night. I did not get one bit of sleep Monday night so I was exhausted Tuesday. However, I slept about 12 hours Tuesday evening and night, getting up at 6 am Wednesday morning. I only awoke to eat the dinner, use bathroom, and watch 30 minutes of the news. I was exhausted. I slept most of Wednesday, too.

Of course, I sent his box home. Plus, I gave him the only piece of cake. I packed up about three cups of the taco casserole and topped it with the Italian cheese I bought. So, he can eat it and mix in the cheese when he does. I forgot to put the taco seasoning in the taco casserole...oh well.

Tuesday, I finally put on the heart monitor with the help of exbf and company (over the phone) that sent it. The descriptions of the body did not fit with my body...lol. Directly to the left of my navel is on my waist, but not according to the company person directing me. Exbf just read to me. I stuck on the little things to attach the leads.

The monitor has one wire which divides into four leads. Somehow, the single wire disconnected from the monitor. I could not figure it out as the cell phone said to check leads which I was doing one at a time. Nope. The one main lead was disconnected.

The cell phone makes noises when I need to check something. Plus, there is a message for me on the screen. It is loud enough to wake me up in the night. Ask me how I know.

Tuesday was beautiful with no rain and only a tiny breeze. I think it sprinkled on him as he neared his home many miles South of me. Wednesday has been equally dry and pleasant.

Maybe I found someone at the lunch to mow who will be more trustworthy. The brother of the last guy has not responded.

Since the advent of low-riding pants, I don't think the younger crowd knows where the waist on the body is located.  One day I asked J, "Where is your waist? Show me." She put her hands down on her hip bonesn not on the top of hip bones, but down on the side of the bones. I was astounded. She was puzzled and told me that no, her waist was lower than mine. I told her that her pants were lower than mine. I don't think she believed me. I am long-waisted. Well, before my fatness appeared I was.

When I told the guy on the phone that 4 inches to the left of my navel still was under my waistband and was bothering me. He said,"No. " I should put it to the left of my navel. Well, I don't know here he thinks navels are in relation to waists." Okay, maybe my navel is a smidgen higher than my waist. No, it's not!

He kept correcting me on the waist location. He also kept correcting me on another placement. I was to put another lead three inches below my breast  in line with the nipple and on last rib. Finally, I told him that was not working on my body. So, I put it sort of where he said. I suppose it all works.

Help me on this--Is your navel basically at your waist or a smidge above or below? Inquiring minds want to know. Check the others in your household who wear pants at the waist, not below. Thanks.
Have you ever worn a heart monitor?

Mowing Disaster

His mother was bringing him at 9:30 am Saturday. They arrived at 10 am. I was not happy as I had planned for him to take about two hours, and at 11:30 we could leave to stop by bank and get cash for him.

I had plans for the day and this screwed it up since I had to go to Publix, buy something, wait in line,  write a  check, and get back to car. I bought one banana for 25 cents.

He mowed down every last daffodil, so I wonder how many I will have next year. However, I did not show him daffodils. He mowed down a Hosta last time. This time, I showed him the Hosta nearby and told him I was not angry, but he mowed down one last time and watch for them. I pointed to the chopped off hosta. He exclaimed, "It was dead!" It was still green, though hacked up. He lies. He cannot take instructions or corrective criticism. He makes excuses.

This was about thirty seconds after his mother pulled out of the driveway! It portended the tone for the rest of the day.

He lives in a trailer with no grass, only weeds but mostly dirt, and not one shrub or flower.  He mowed down my monkey grass and left weeds all over the place.

At one point, I told him not to try to get all the wisteria out of a doomed crape myrtle, just to get it where he could walk under it to mow. He said, "I will if you will just let me do it." That did not set well with me.

He was carrying the crockpot to the door for me. I did not want him walking onto the porch because there is only a small space to stand and I needed to get my hands on the crockpot while mostly facing the door and keep my balance as I turned to go into the house. I kept saying as I motioned, "Come right here." Exbf always put things on the porch rail for me as he stood by the steps. So, this is not new.

He kept not coming to my side and the side of the steps. I said, "Now put it right here where I can handle it. I motioned to and patted the iron rail where it makes a ninety degree turn, making a right angle where something can be set down and not have it fall off. Instead, he held it about a foot above the rail and it was moving in the air as he could not keep it steady. I had to tell him twice more to set it down while I was patting the rail.

When it is on the iron rail and steady, I can get the grasp I need. He said to me, "If you don't quit being impatient, I won't come back." What? Threaten me? I told him I was exhausted and if I sounded impatient, it was a function of my lack of energy and the pain. I did not tell him I was impatient because he tried to do things as he pleased when I gave a specific instruction!

He mixed wood and tree limbs which will cause the city not to get the limbs! He claimed he did everything right, things I specifically told him to do! I looked out at about 2 am and found wood where I told him not to place it, still in the backyard and not in the street where I told him to place it for pickup. Earlier in the morning, he explained in a patronizing tone that he would do it later. NO, SHIT, Do it now...but I did not say that.

When I left him at his mother's home, I said, "Well, if you or your brother want to mow, it will need mowing in two weeks. He said "okay"  and left fast as he could.

Having missed what I wanted to do Saturday afternoon, I came home and took a nap. When I got up, I checked the other side of the yard. He did not even mow what I told him to mow! It is not like he missed it as it was about 20' x 30'.

He told me he took all the nails out of boards that clearly had nails left in them. He continually dragged a bistro table as I was yelling, "Don't drag the table, Pick it up!" That annoyed him to no end!

I paid him $23 for 2 hours and 15 minutes and lots of aggravation! So, that makes $35 for all the mowing and other stuff. Oh, I had told his mother there were things other than mowing, things in the yard. So, he was not quoted a price for mowing and then came and found there was more to do. He was not told it was only pushing a mower and was tricked. Actually, the other things than mowing are mowing related, like moving something to mow underneath.

I told him to move two chairs and two tables, mow under them and move them back before he left. He only moved back one table. When he stacked the chairs, he did not stack them. He just sort of laid one on the other. He piled the stackable chairs. However, when he "unstacked them," he put them all over the yard, just wherever he happened to stop with them.

His mother warned me he had to be reminded sometimes, that he did not focus. She also said he could not hold a job because he became angry over something and just walked off the job or was fired, often on his first day of work. He is 21, no diploma, has a girlfriend and two children, and they live with his mother. He has many tickets and has lost his license after spending time in jail. Enough said?

The yard can now be mowed in less than one hour. It took almost three hours for cleanup and mowing and I paid $35. I suppose he will want $35 for one hour next time if he came here. He won't get it. He will not come back.

I had him move a 24-pack of water, turning it up instead of my leaving it upside down as a clerk put it in the trunk. He was going to close the trunk hinges on a long box. I frantically said, "wait, wait." He yelled, "WHAT!" Rude?

In the car as we passed a car wash by teens, I asked him how much he would charge me for washing my car in my yard, using my car wash liquid, my water, just the outside of the car. He said $10 or $15.  ???!!! For 30 minutes work?

Exbf said he agreed I should be disappointed and said do not ever have him here again. Your thoughts? I do not need suggestions of who to get! People are over-priced, lazy, or rude and sometimes all three.

Potato Planting

The potato has been sprouting indoors for two months. About three weeks ago, it had leaves. I put it outside two days ago on a shelf and sheltered by the porch. Then, after one chilly night, the leaves disappeared. The little sprouts remained green.

Saturday, after J mowed back and side yards, I gave her the $25 money order, and we went to mail it. She had worked here portions of three days.  I like to see money go into the mail! Then, I took her to the little free pantry to see what was there that she needed. She got sugary cereal and angel hair pasta. Her bf refuses to eat regular spaghetti pasta. I hate angel hair, but I will eat it rather than go buy more.

Then, we came home and planted the potato. I had her put the pallet in the back yard in front of the rock wall. She put the pot on that. The holes are big, so the dirt could fall out. She got the broken pot from the trash for me and got a brick with no idea why I asked for them. I smashed the brick into the piece of pot. She knows my hand hurts so she was trying to figure out how to hand me the brick and not hurt me. She was so shocked. I think I scared her when I smashed the broken piece of pot. I mostly just let the brick fall without much support from my right hand.She has no understanding of planting since she has never done it. I instructed her how to put the pot pieces in, put in dirt, put in potato, and more dirt.

I keep telling her to read about planting. Lots of knowledge can be gained by reading. She does not like to read that kind of stuff.

I told her she now knew how to grow food. Her bf likes meat and potatoes, and pasta with anything. So, she can grow potatoes! I hope she takes this life lesson to heart. Maybe I will find another potato that wants to sprout and give her a bucket, watch her plant the potato. She can take it to her apartment (when she gets one) and grow more potatoes. It will be easy enough to carry without much dirt in it at first.

I asked her to bring a hose to water the potato and soil and to put the hose on a light mist. Well, she put it on a hard mist and shoved the hose into the pot and watered the potato about two inches from the potato. I yelled not to hit it so close and pulled the hose up. It was a yell of alarm not anger. When she got it on a soft mist, she wanted to water closely again. This is a mix and does not need to be watered so long and hard. It blows away even in a mist. It had definitely had enough water. I explained it all to her. She has never heard this, so I hope she learns.

While I was sitting in a chair, waiting for her to bring all supplies I asked her to bring, I examined the potato up close. There was a potato starting to grow. It was about half the size of a grain of uncooked white rice. There were other little nodules, some as small as a period on this page. It was fascinating to observe how badly that potato wanted to reproduce more potatoes. I know I am anthropomorphizing the potato. But, nonetheless, it was following it destiny, its biologic" urge," if you will.

If I had planted the potato when I should have, I would never observed dozens of dust-sized potatoes. That alone, the observation, the knowledge, added a zing to my day. Hopefully, J learned something, too. When the potato has grown through the dirt a bit, I will show her how to add leaves, pine straw, and dirt.

If a raccoon or other animal turns this over, you will hear my primal scream from the ends of the earth. I could put it into the chicken pen...good idea, Linda. Sunshine comes in there. And rain.

Sunday morning
Nothing had dug up my potato.

Your turn
Have you ever grown potatoes from a potato? In a pot or bucket or the ground? Have you ever observed the minute potatoes on a sprouting potato? Would this be a good science project for kids? I think so.

Done!

For the last few weeks J has been so helpful. I do try not to work a good horse to death, but I could use her here 8 hours a day for weeks. However, we have both had bad sinus problems with fever. And, there are allergies. She works very odd hours and never knows when the woman needs her. Besides, I could not hold up to her being here for an 8 hour day. So, she comes here at odd times and for a few hours.

She did not mow the yard last week, so today she came and finished picking up sticks and such. She did an excellent job of getting the yard clear of sticks that could ruin the new lawnmower exbf bought last year. She arrived at 9 am and left about 1:30. We did take off for lunch at Arby's--Grand Turkey Club with a coupon, of course. So, each sandwich was $2.99. We got 50 cent Cokes and ate in a little park with a walking trail, pulled up under trees for shade.

I told her I could not pay much and she said it was okay. She received $20 + lunch + other things she can use that I gave her. AND, yes, she agreed to come every two weeks.

The mower has a bagger. This was my request so it would get leaves people refuse to rake, even for pay. They want to blow them. Well, that just makes a mess. With fences on two sides and bushes on the third and lots of leaves, the leaves just blow up too much dust. Dust that is 30 feet high and leaves going nowhere is not my idea of getting leaves up.

She dumped the leaves on the street right where I told her. She likes to have me there so she can do it right. As she dumped the leaves, I decided I should have told her to put them in the chicken pen. Wasted leaves!

Then, I told her to dump them in the chicken pen and just happened to be there when she was ready to do so. I had her just dump them at the back of the pen. She wondered it I did not want her to spread the leaves out. Nope, one pile from each time she dumped. I explained the chicken would spread it. Later, as she was dumping the last bag, she smiled and said she saw Dominique spread it.

She learns lots, maybe not really important life skills, but learns nevertheless. She left a few things undone that I told her to do, but she got weeds, leaves and grass up. Or down, depending on what it was.  She told me she left lots of my flowers because she hated to cut them down even though they were right in the middle of the yard. She explained she mowed around them.

When I went out to see, she had left weeds. When I showed her the rounded ends of daffodils and the pointed ends of the weeds, she volunteered to mow the weeds she left. Guys complain about mowing around huge swaths of daffodils. She has a better work ethic and attitude than anyone who has ever mowed my yard. She has a job as long as she wants it. Really, it will only take her about an hour from now on. It was my lawnmower and my no-ethanol gas. And, she walks down the street. Plus, I feed her.

I gave her a huge, square, flour-sack kitchen towel and told her to wear it like a bandana so she would not get the pulverized leaves in her nose and mouth and drop it down cowboy style when she did not need it. She was glad to have it because of the dust. I also gave her a Zyrtec since she was out.

The weeds do look like pretty, tiny deep purple Iris. But, I hate them. One guy refused to mow them even when I begged and threatened. He was a good friend. So, I just went out and live-headed the weed flower before he arrived and we never had another problem...lol. He was very careful not to mow down my daffodils! He knew not to mow them after they bloomed!

Even though I did nothing useful today, I hurt so I can barely stand it, even lying down. Since it was her first time to mow, I had to show her things and she came in to ask and wanted me to come out. Climbing the steps and walking around was excruciating.

I fixed Dominique's food about 10 am and found it on the counter at 6 pm. I am a bad chickie mama, but she had about an hour to eat. She did not give me an egg unless she laid it after 6 pm.

One thing I did was to get my son and grandson's birthday gifts in the mail. So, that's done in time since some of the stuff is Easter stuff. My son will be 49 on Easter and his son will be 12 on the 19th.

Your turn
Do you ever feel a great accomplishment even when someone else does the task? That's how I feel right now. Does exhaustion overtake you even when just occasionally supervising a task?

Clothes Drying Rack

This handy drying rack is from Country Living. It is a custom-made piece, but we could probably adapt something we in Blogland already have for the same purpose, just not so cute. Then again, those with handy husbands might get something just this professional and cute.

In my yard is a rack of some sort that I use in the yard for drying. I only have one short clothesline. I have no idea what it originally was. Recently, the sight of it has annoyed me. It's too good and handy to move to the curb. That's where I found it...lol.  Maybe I can do something with it inside.

The rack in the yard is about 6' tall and very, very light. It is in the way now, because the guy who mows my yard for $10 just tosses it aside and never puts it back. NO COMPLAINTS!

Ex bf would move it or give me a chance to do so. I usually put chairs and other items on walkways, in the swing or on a table to help him. This guy does not call, just shows up. So, for a deal on mowing, I am certainly not complaining to him!

I think if I take the front of the rack off, I can attach the bottom to the back part of the house so that it will never have to be moved. It will barely show. This is still not a project I can complete on my own, but at least it will be easy to do. If you notice the front part is the best piece for the rack. It is already bent just right.  Hooking the front to the wall will give me a piece that is attached to the wall and then permanently leans outward.

As it stands, it always blows over in a stiff breeze, especially if there are clothes on it! See the bare spot in my lawn? That is one of the many bare spots left after the daffodils die and are mowed down. Unsightly spots are the price I willingly pay to have large swaths of daffodils in the spring. Besides, moving the bulbs to a bed would just make too much sense.

It suddenly occurred to me that this project could be completed using a broken wooden drying rack, the kind that sits on the floor. I see those all the time...light bulbs going off all over my brain today...lol.

Your turn
Does anyone have a similar swing-out or drop-down rack like Country Living shows? Does my project to obtain more hanging space outdoors look feasible?