Tuesday the 4th of February 2025

 The puzzle is complete! So much fun and we cannot wait to start another one.

But we will not until Sissy is better and she is down.

I did not blog yesterday as my day got away from me.  

I so wanted to start my taxes but still no documentation from our bank and it was also not available online?

So, I went up to Sissy's and got rid of the child droppings as in vacuuming and dusting.  They are such messy little creatures.  Sissy is punk!

I then came home to find mail and all documents are in so I set up my laptop and I am ready to rock and roll this morning.  I have a huge old Oak desk, but with a laptop and a tower and screen it is now very crowded.

Not a great picture, but in the corner of my desk, sits Lucy our feral who only likes my Husband.

WE found her abandoned in our back yard eleven years ago when she was only three weeks old.  Eyes barely open and such a tiny thing.  We took her immediately to the vet and were told she would not survive, but were given instruction and we took turns for weeks feeding her and stimulating her every two hours and she made it!

I took her to the Office every day and my Employees loved it, and she loved them.

As she matured her feral came out and Husb became her number one!  That is okay as I have Bud.  She and Bud get along great so here she is.  She loves small spaces, and the corner of my desk is one of her safe spots.

I made fried rice and eggrolls for dinner last night and got three more things out of my freezer.  I do have leftovers and will take some up to Sissy later.

Now it is 7:25 and I am going to go and get dressed and do my morning chores and then hit the taxes.

Wish me luck!  Every year is a crap shoot, and we always owe, even with paying quarterlies!

I will also check on Sissy.

Now I am off.

I hope everyone has a great and productive day!

Hugs.

Kay

Sunday February 2nd! Puzzles anyone?

We are having so much fun with this jig saw puzzle, and it is quite difficult.

Sissy, Hubs and I have worked on it off and on for two days.

Forgot how we used to enjoy this during the long winters in Montana growing up!

Sissy really followed me yesterday at the grocery store and I was very good and only spent $27.11 of my $50.00 a week grocery budget.

I found pork stew meat (with lots of fat) marked down to less than $1.00 per pound and bought 4 pounds.

I got out my KitchenAid meatgrinder and ground it this morning.  Will fry it up and use it in Egg Roll in a Bowl and for Egg Rolls.  This was a steel as normally I have to pay at least $4.00 a pound.  Yeah!

I was up early, and all my morning chores are done with the exception of my ironing.  I do not want to do it.  Why is it so easy for me to keep up with Sissy's ironing but not my own? Go figure.

Now I could stop typing and make myself go do it and set my stopwatch and report back and that is what I am going to do.  You can all work with me...It is 10:41...It is now11:30 and I am done and everything is put away!  Now was that so hard?

Sissy is here with the Grands, and they are causing a small riot, so I am taking them downstairs to watch the telly.

Husb and Sissy are working on the jig saw puzzle and I must go and clean my kitchen and plan dinner.  If Sissy is staying, then it will be fried rice and eggrolls.  If not Dan and I will have the last of the French Dips.

Now I am off to the kitchen. Will check on the Grands first!

Hope Everyone has a blessed Sabbath!

Hugs;

Kay

 

Well Folks it is the 1st of February, and the weather has turned bitter cold. A cold front is coming in and the wind is wicked! But at least my Car is not frozen over which is strange, but it will be tomorrow! 

I have gone over my financials for last month and I had some serious fails and also unexpected things I had not budgeted for which I do not call fails as they needed to be done. 

So where did I fail the worst?

 Number One:

 Eating out my one very serious downfall and I must reign this in. Now was it better than other months? Absolutely, but I am a Foodie and I can cook so I have upped my budget by $100.00 for February. to give myself a cushion.  I do not want to feel like a failure, and I will seriously work at this! 

Over by $276.60 

Number Two:

 Grocery Store! I just overbought and cooked and cooked and cooked and this has got to stop this next month. Loss leaders only and only what we need. Wish me luck! I am allowing $200.00 a month or $50.00 per week.

 Over by $381.27

 These are the only two categories that were really out of control.

 I did fail to budget for my computer needs (this has been an ongoing problem and had to be addressed) which were expensive, but the improvements that I made will pay for themselves in 13.49 months. This was $607.00, whew! I still do some consulting work for a firm back in Washington and my printer kept going offline, due to the Rotor/Modem that was provided by my internet service! Come to find out (my mistake in the beginning) they were charging me $45.00 for a faulty piece of equipment and I was not the only one in the Vally suffering from this. So, I did some research and bought my own. Pricey but oh so worth it as I always print in hard copy to read my final drafts before emailing back east. 

I also did not take into account that I got my Idaho Driver's License ($47.00) for four years, titled the Car in Idaho ($211.00) for two-year stickers. 

I also bought $89.00 worth of Cuddle Duds, and I needed no new clothes period, but I was so tired of being cold and they are working like a charm. I got these at T.J. Max, and they were on clearance, so five pair of leggings and long-sleeved tops I think is a steel!

 So, $1,611.87 over the plan, but now I know, I had the money, and I made my savings goals so I should be able to do much better going forward.

I was very proud of myself for tracking every penny and have tried many times to do this and failed.  Sissy has helped a lot on this.

Speaking of Sissy I will go to the Grocery Store with Her today so she can babysit me.  She came for dinner last night and I made porkchop sandwiches on hoagie rolls with provolone cheese and sweet potato fries. Restaurant quality good.

We then started on a Jig Saw puzzle and had so much fun. Will take us several more sittings to finish it.

I have done all my chores for today and wanted to start my taxes, but after going online to my bank, they do not have the interest forms done and apologized, so I will wait.  It is Saturday after all. Sissy is here and we are going to the grocery store. 

Tune in tomorrow for more great news!

Hugs;

K

The last day of January 2025

Sleeping in the Office next to Mommy!

 Well folks it is the last day of January and the first day this month that my Car has not been covered by a hard frost.

This won't last of course but it is nice. Not nearly as cold today.

I have finished my chores for the morning and must get up to Sissy's to help her with a spreadsheet.

My spreadsheet is a mess, but I plan on working on it tomorrow morning when I do my final tally and report my successes and fails.

I vacuumed the stairs to my Freddie Krueger basement and oh were they bad.  The carpet is still horrible, but I was able to get four pounds of Cat hair off them!

I am going to go to Albertson's this morning and get myself some fresh flowers, why because I want them, I have no discipline!

When I get back from Sissy's I plan on making a menu for the week after talking with her and hopefully I can stick to it.

When I cleaned the fridge this morning, I am afraid there was quite a bit of food waste, and I hate that, but I did it!  Will try and do better going forward.

Now I am off (well I am always a little off!)

Have a great day!

Hugs;

Kay

 

Okay two blogs in one day? 

I left my first bog of the day with great angst, only to have the Husb come and get me to tell me about the plane crash at Reagan National on the Potomac, (our old stomping grounds) how tragic and my heart goes out to all of the Families. Why, why does it have to happen in the winter, that river is so cold and swift, and this is not the first time.?  It does not matter who is to blame or what is to blame, they are gone, and I ache.

When things really stress me, I think back to my grandmother saying in Her heavy accent...Hands to work hearts to God!

And so, I prayed and went to work!  Finished my morning routines!

I have finally figured out the picture thing and this is Bud to the left.  He really wants to go south and help Sluggy pack!  She has yet to invite Him and His feelings are very hurt!

Trust me He is no help!  Unless you want Him popping up through all the paper you have gathered to pack!

It is January 30th, and I have been able to get all my savings challenges done and have a slush fund of $677.00 going into next month.  I wish I had the Slug's slush fund, but it will grow!

I promise I will be better, and tomorrow is the last day of January so I will not report the bad until February 1st!

However, I do see significant things I can do better and as I am a thinker (of many things) I must think on this. Hmmm?

Sissy is so much more disciplined than me, but then she has always had to be, it is part now of her DNA, mine not so much!

The Husb went up and looked at the bricks we pulled and just laughed and said, those won't work they are not pathway bricks but building bricks...and refused to help clean them.  Hmmm? He may be writing a check from His personal funds...we shall see.  Sissy has a magic way of manipulating Him.  I do not...go figure?

Hub's is feeling so much better, and we went to lunch today as our lunch date cancelled for good reasons, and He still wanted to get out of the House.  He did get to the laundromat and wash all His quilts yesterday, so He deserved it.  I did iron His sheets and get the bed made and that makes us happy.

Our lunch was not good, and the service was terrible but then it is not our last meal, and it will be better next time.

I still cannot get the bogs I follow on the left side of my blog, and I will continue to try or call Sluggy for tutoring.

I just went and put six pounds of processed burger into my freezer for future meals (Tacos etc.) and it is full, full, full! HUsb processed this yesterday for me while I was helping Sissy!

Sissy after looking at the Freezer inventories told me in no uncertain terms that nothing will be purchased until we use up twenty meals... fast forward to yesterday... I was planning pork chops (which will be cooked today "come hell or highwater ") she had cooked a huge pan of chicken enchiladas (they were restaurant worthy and so damn good) so we ate those for late lunch early dinner and brought home leftovers that need to be eaten.  I cannot plan meals if she cooks and vice versa.  We have to figure this out and then life spins out of control...I must stand firm on this, and she needs to be ever vigilant about her damn schedule! 

In other words, Sissy quit changing it to suit your whims, unless it is an emergency! The Bossy is coming out!  A nap is not a priority! Ha!

Now I am going to go read a book of some sort.

Have a great and productive day (my words not Sissy's...she just copied me!)

Hugs;

K

I have messed up my blog and cannot load pictures, do not know what I have done wrong and do not even know if this will publish!

Bricks? I mean really?

Sissy is twisted!

 Yep, this is what I did yesterday morning with Sissy in 27degree weather! We went and salvaged bricks and it about killed me.  I am still frozen but will thaw eventually.

My Sister is one brick short of a load!

I think we got enough for one path.  Now I would have written a check, but Sissy would not let me, and since I did not want her to go it alone, I acquiesced.

We still have to clean all this brick, oh joy, the things I have to look forward too!

Husb was still not feeling great, so He was down for the day drinking Gatorade and eating chicken soup.

So, no linen washing, that will be this morning as He is up and actually drinking a cup of coffee which is a good sign.

After I ran an errand, I went back to Sissy's to unload said brick and then helped her with a five-layer prom dress that was taking over the shop. Took me 30 minutes just to iron two layers, the rest was netting.

I then did a freezer inventory, and we have enough premade dinners for three of us for two months.

This does not count the whole chicken, the whole turkey and a whole ham.  Then there are pork chops, burger, steaks and plenty of chicken in the raw form.

I was able to gift Kim's daughter number two with three meals of stuffed cabbage and three of Swedish meatballs.  I now have room for Chicken and beef enchiladas that must be made and also will thaw six pounds of burger for taco meat.  We do have room for this.

By my calculation we can eat for at least four if not five months.  Now no one wants to eat down their entire inventory and I date everything I make so it will be loss leaders only and fresh produce as we eat a lot of salad.

Still so much fruit and so many nuts left over from Christmas.  Just crazy! Sissy did put a shout out to someone in her Church that bakes like we do, and she is coming to get some of our excess, so it does not burn.

Sissy had a Bride last night at six and did not come for dinner, so I ate scalloped potatoes and ham. and tonight, I will make pork chops with a side of scalloped and corn.  We just do not waste food. I purchased the pork chops in late August, and they need to be eaten before they freezer burn.

So, my focus is to eat the oldest first and this will take several weeks.

Two more days until the end of the month and I have really blown it at the grocery store, way over budget.  I now realize that I love to cook, and it gives me something to do.  I need to find a hobby. I love yard work, but it is too cold to do anything.

I cannot wait until February first as my bank will have my tax forms I need and I can finish our taxes, which will be interesting filing in two states.  I have done this before, and I can do it again.  I refuse to pay an accountant.  Now when I owned a business, I always used an accountant for business taxes, but personal...no way!

Now I am going to strip the Husbands bed and get the linens in the wash and then get dressed and do my morning chores or routine I should say. Husband is taking quilts to laundry mat and will drop me off at Kim's so I can help her in the shop.

I wonder what crazy thing she will want me to do today.

Stay tuned...as life with Sissy is an adventure.

Hugs;

K