To-Do List....Outcome for March

Let's see how I did with the To-Do List in March........

*  Pay Bills  DONE  Everything was paid off on time or early as usual.

*  Go to many Dr. Appointments  DONE  My last wound care appointment was March 22nd and those were weekly.  I also had biweekly home health care nursing every week until March 24th.

*  Do Taxes 3  2 Out Of  3 DONE  Since Hubs retired he's been handling doing the taxes but I do help with downloading and printing out forms, etc.  He got the Federal and the PA state finished and submitted.  We owed on both of those to the tune of approx. $400 total. Boo!  The LA state taxes aren't due until sometime in May so Hubs waited on those for now as we will owe them as well. 8-(((  Between moving expenses and taxes 2022 has been an expensive year!

*  Clean and Organize stuff in House  PASS  While I was still not able to walk around much most of the month I did as much as I could when I could.  While not able to finish much I did spend time thinking about what needs doing and writing a list to prioritize what needs doing.

*  Buy Stuff for House  PASS  While we aren't done purchasing stuff we have got some items acquired.  But as we get around to different rooms I know more purchases will pop up and decisions will have to be made.

*  Clean out Insert//Coupon Envie  DONE  As the months go on this is becoming more and more a non-chore.  I don't buy coupon inserts, we can't find a local paper that carries inserts that we don't have to drive a distance to get and I don't print many coupons any more.  I use mostly digital Qs now as that is the way the coupon world is headed.

*  Edit more Photos  PASS While this seems a never ending task I don't make as much progress as I want.  I suppose if I were to just STOP TAKING PHOTOS I'd catch up faster.  sigh

*  Post About Old Trips  PASS  While I haven't  posted much in the way of trips I have been working on editing photos, uploading video and working on posts but in March no posts got finished and to the point of posting them.  It's a process people.....

*  Work on Genealogy  DONE  Well this activity is always on going and will never be finished but I do work on it, at times it seems incessantly! lol  So many ancestors and so little time.

*  Go to Dentist x 1  DONE  So in March I had an appointment to have the first of two permanent crowns installed and they piggybacked another filling onto that visit and the work on the second crown.  More Novacaine, yippee!  At least this time due to the location of the tooth that needed drilling my nose didn't go numb and I didn't spew water or other beverage afterwards when I had a drink of something.  No more Hannibal Lecter impersonations. 8-))

*  Organize Clothes  FAIL  Didn't get around to working on closet organization in March.  The only progress was purchasing another box of hangers and moving a few items of clothing into the sewing room as they need altering.

*  Find a New Bank  FAIL  Well I only had a week in March at the end of that month to get out to do anything besides wound care visits so this didn't get accomplished.  We did phone or go online to research where to put the money and have decided on a local credit union so are ready to get this checked off the To-Do List in April.

*  Cash Savings Bond  FAIL  Again a big fat fail.  See item above as to why since our current bank will NOT cash or let us deposit US savings bonds, which I find so weird.

I'm giving myself a thumbs up for March due to circumstances out of my control(or rather stools out of my control). ;-)
I'm trying to get more things under control here but it's a long uphill road.

How was your March?  Did you make any progress on your "What I Want to Do" list?

Sluggy

Babbling Wednesday & Birthday Time!

***It is with sadness that I write that Precious' blog, Frugal Makes Cents, is no more.   She posted about a week ago that she was going to end her blog.  I left a comment about her leaving the blog up as a reference tool for frugal seekers, as she had many good ideas included within over the years.

I went yesterday to see what other comments had been left and if someone had taken over her "Money Saving Challenge" for 2012, but I can't access the blog, as it's been privatized and I haven't been invited to view it.
*sigh*

I guess she's going to use it for other things and not leave it up for a frugal reference tool.
If anyone knows if someone is going to Host the Money Saving Challenge, please let me know.
I thank you....

***While Hubs and I completed filling out the FAFSA forms this past weekend, I didn't actually submit them until Tuesday evening.   I also found out I could efile the older 2 kids' federal taxes.  Did 1 and once it was accepted by the IRS, I efiled the 2nd one yesterday.  Beats having to mail them to the kids for signatures and then having them pay to mail them certified/return receipt requested.  Too bad Hubs and I can't efile our federal return or tele-file our state return.  Gots to go OLD SKOOL with the paper returns.....

***I can't believe how many things I have crossed off my "To Do" List for February so far.  This coming week is all about cleaning out & organizing the garage.  I need to get Hubs to drop off the Sallie's load in his car so I can load him up again.  The donations are backing up here....

*** I also can't believe the weather we've had this Winter!  Tomorrow is suppose to hit 50 degrees here and Friday 54 degrees....INSANE!!!  Usually by this time, it looks like this around here.....

 OR like this in really bad years.....

Not what it actually looks like today....

***Today is my baby's birthday.  16 years ago today I was in labor and trying to pop his massively large melon head out my HooHa.  The week preceding his arrival, our region was facing massive flooding from a late February Winter snow melt-off combined with days upon days of rainstorms.

My water broke as I rolled over on the sofabed at home at 5:30am.....I had been sleeping there as my regular bed had been too uncomfortable to sleep on since December.  Dropped 2 kids at friend's house and Hubs, my mother(who had flown up from VA for the birth)& I drove to the hospital.

Got hooked up to PIT around Noonish, to get things cranking along.  Around 2 o clock is when the pain got heavy.
I was going to attempt another no epidural/drugs delivery.  By 4 I was pushworthy.  His head was down and engaged in the birth canal but he just coudn't/wouldn't leave.  The nurses had me standing on the bed, hanging onto a bar which they set up over the bed(think gymnastic apparatus!) in a semi-squat position.  This power position and gravity was to help me squeeze him out.
After almost 4 hours of this, interspersed with mind blowing contraction pain, I threw in the towel and BEGGED for a C-section.

And about a half an hour later at 8:26pm, the youngest was pulled from my abdomen and commenced hollering.  Hubs still remarks about how freaky it was to be sitting next to me in the OR while the doctors had my ueturus sitting out on my abdomen, chatting away with him, while they cleaned up large amounts of scar tissue from an emergency appendectomy I had undergone when I was 30, before putting me back together.  Yes, good times!

And they fished #2 Son out not a moment too soon, because by the time they stitched me up and got me cleaned up and back to my room and got the morphine flowing(ah!), it was Thursday and nearly time for ER to come on tv and I never missed that show!lol  That boy would rue the day he interfered with his momma's shows.....

And we found out why there was no way on God's green earth he was coming out the other way.  The doctors(I got 2 for this procedure...I am special!lol)said his head was the largest they had every seen(well, for a non hydrocephalus baby).  The nurse measured it when they take all those vital statistic thingys and his head was literally the size of a toddlers.  He was a big boy anyway at 9lb. 11oz.  So between my 5'1" frame with a normal sized pelvis and his melon head, there was no tunnel egress for him!lol

And both his mother(that would be me)and my oldest brother had exceedingly large heads when we were young so it runs in our family.  My brother had a genius IQ so I like to think that WE both needed those larger than normal heads to hold all those brains WE had......well, that's my story anyway.

Because of the C-Section, #2 Son and I had an extended stay in the Maternity Ward.  Between my surgery/stitches and his high Billirubin count(and his time under the lamps with his cool shades), we became fixtures on the ward.  By the time we came home, my mother was worn out from watching the older 2.   Pres. Clinton came to town while we were lazing around the ward but he didn't stop by the hospital.  I still tell #2 Son that Clinton came to town to celebrate his birth.....so what if the town the hospital was in was declared a federal disaster area that week due to the heavy rains, massive snow melt and unseasonably high temperatures that caused flooding.....the presidential visit was all for HIS birthday!

#2 Son has always been my quiet child.  He is introverted and is not one to yammer on or show off, like his older siblings.  We never thought he'd talk when he was young, as his siblings never shut up long enough to give him a chance to speak!lol  When he was born his sister was 3 and his brother was 4.5 years old.  Yes, I had 3 kids under the age of 5 at once. ;-)
#2 Son is my last hope for producing an artist.  #1 Son had a talent for performing/acting and he studied music for awhile put lost interest in it.  Daughter is the least gifted in the artistic realm but she has continued with playing her guitar.  #2 Son has a gift for visual arts(though he doesn't believe what his teacher and I see there) and he has a passion for music.   He eats, drinks and breaths music.  Though he gets good grades in all his classes, if he didn't have music, he'd probably decide to drop out of school now that he's old enough to do so.(And it's not like I'd allow that anyway!lol)  Being an introvert, he can take or leave the whole social aspect of high school.

He lives for music.  And I am thrilled to say that he is making progress in his skills and music loves him back.
Happy 16th Birthday #2 Son!!!

Sluggy

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

It's Sunday night, which means it's time for Chit-Chat with CARLA.

I

This is a shot I caught last week of my 2 goofy dogs.  Every day around 3pm Cherry the beagle lays down and rolls on her back and just lays there and waits for Penny the chihuahua to notice.  When Penny notices she comes over and starts barking at Cherry, as Penny just can't stand it when Cherry lays there belly up.  Penny yaps and yaps until I either come over and roll Cherry over and tell her to stop begging for a belly rub or I pick up Penny and give her pets.
Usually I'll just go get their dinner bowls ready and they forget all about this "one upmanship" game. 8-)

If you haven't guessed they are both female and they both want to be top bitch.lol

Reading?

A funny book called "Do Over".  This guy goes back to watershed moments in his life that went badly and attempts to do-over his life.  He's done-over his horrible Kindergarten experience so far.  fun stuff....


Watching?

At 9pm EST I'll try to watch Hoarders.  After that I'll be primed to go gather up some things for Salvation Army.  It's my AA meeting.....keeps me motivated.


Listening to?

Hubs has some Harry Potter movie on behind me.  Plus the beagle is snoring.....the music of my life.lol

Cooking/Baking?



I went to the grocery's this morning and bought 2 roasting chickens.  I cooked one with veggies today for dinner.  That sure hit the spot!  And there is enough meat for another meal/dish or a big bowl of chicken salad.  I've never been a big fan of "salad" meat spreads(besides tuna)but we are craving chicken salad lately around here.  ;-)

Happy you accomplished this week?

Got taxes x 6 finished(and 4 of them filed online/via telephone) and we got the FAFSA x 2 filled out(but I still need to submit those online on Tuesday).  It's a weight off my mind and shoulders....and NOW I can get my dining room table cleaned off....yay!!!

Looking forward to next week?
Catching up on my Week 3 Decluttering Challenge.  Monday is set aside to get most of it done.

Thankful for today?

Everyone is mostly healthy, roof over the head, no big problems at the moment with the kids, no big expenses or repairs this month(other than the ones I planned for)and enough money put away for what may come that I don't have to worry about it.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday, Weird Weather & What I'm Working on This Week

I am trying not to grocery shop this week unless it's something I really need.  I was good with staying out of the grocery stores last week, until I hit Friday.  Had to take BIL to the store so I was forced, forced I tell ya!, to go into the store so I bought a few things.  I picked up some Kielbasa for $2.50 lb. after holding out for months to find my rock bottom price of $2 lb.....sigh.....salad greens for $1.99 a bag x 2, a carton of OJ for $1.99, some bananas, and a Quaker Deal--buy 5 items, get $3 instantly off your order.  I got 3 boxes of the new Quaker cereal for $2.50 ea. and 2 bottles of pancake syrup since I had none left in the stockpile, so $12.50 for all 5, $3 off and $3 more off because I had $1/1 Qs for the cereal.  The 5 Quaker items ended up costing me $6.50 which is very good for around here.

Then Saturday I went back to that same store...ugh....did another of the Quaker deal(cost me $6 OOP for 5 items this time), more Kielbasa(I have come to gripes with the fact that my new rock bottom price for this is $2.50lb.), got a 2lb. tub of Ricotta for $3.24 w/Q and sale price, and a 1lb. bag of mozzarella cheese for $3.50 since Hubs said I was out of that in the freezer.  Hubs picked up coffee filters since he was out and I bought the kids a container of Nestle Quik since they have been whining for it(and it was on sale, but I think they figured that out themselves lol).

Between these 2 trips and the one to pick up milk last week, I went for spending $0 at the grocery store to $44.96 spent by Saturday.
Ugh.

That is why I am trying to stay out this week and eat from the freezer/stockpile.

I'm having trouble this week coming up with a Meal Plan/Menu.
Just mental menu fatigue I guess.....

Here's what I've got so far--
Monday-Pork Chops, Rice, Veggie
Tuesday-Eat Out...my last birthday gift card
Wednesday-Fish, Crabcakes, Veggie, Coleslaw(leftover)
Thursday-Ravioli, Salad
Friday-Tacos, Corn, Chili(leftover)
Saturday-?? Maybe a big pot of Boston Baked Beans and cornbread
Sunday-Leftovers

I've got to dig around in the fridge and if I find any other leftovers I'll work them into one of my meals.
I've got some potatoes I need to use although I don't feel like having spuds.  I'm sure if I fry them up the kids will suck them down, right?lol

In other news....
The Snowpocalypse never materialized here.  We got about 6 inches of snow, then 2 inches of sleet and ice the following day, which encapsulated all the snow.
The ice was so thick over the snow that #2 Son was out in the yard snowboarding in Chuck Taylors.  He could 'skate' around on the ice and don't break through to the snow layer....

 The sloped part of the yard here was akin to a luge track.  He has pretty good balance to stay on his feet all the way down to the bottom....

Between the snow and ice and the squirrels raiding the suet feeder at the end of the deck, the Beagle was having a great week outside.....

We finally got the last piece of the tax info we needed to do all the tax forms today.
Rah!

Guess what is on my agenda for the rest of the week now? ;-)

First I have to do our State taxes, so I can get that info I need to do the Schedule A for the Federal taxes.
Then I get to calculate all the charitable donation amounts(Sallie's, Food Bank, Car Donation).
Then I get to see if we can file the Schedule A or just take the Standard Deduction.
After the taxes are finished, I get to start on the FAFSA x 2.
And on and on and on......
Are we having fun yet???!!! 8-)

I didn't get to the Food Bank to drop off the donation on Friday as I had wanted to because I had to take BIL out to do errands.  There is a very small window of time on Fridays where I can drop it off so this week, unless the weather intervenes, I'll make a point of getting there.

I'm updating my "To-Do" List on the blog this week as well.  I won't be putting more books on my list since I have tons of taxes paperwork to do this month.  Besides the paperwork, I'll be trying to finish the items carried over from January's list.

Dentist appointments are also on the schedule for this week.
Oh....and runs to Rite-Aid of course!lol

What is everyone else up to this week?

Sluggy