Grocery Planning

After perusing the local grocery store ads, I've concluded that the bulk of our grocery shopping will take place at Ralphs this week. With $80 to spend for a week's allotment of groceries, this will be a challenging trip.

My first focus is finding the best values on meat. I already have frozen chicken tenders and sirloin patties, so I'm looking to round things out with some pork. Ralphs has pork roast on sale for $1.99 per pound and smoked sausage for $2.00 each. The next focus is on produce. The following deals on produce will round out the essentials:

• Green grapes - $.49
  
• personal watermelon - $1.47 each
• peeled carrots - $.79
• peaches/nectarines - $.79
• Mushrooms - $1.79
• Russet Potatoes - 2 lbs/$1.00
• Broccoli - $.99

I'll add in some dairy, bread products and paper goods, plus crackers, flour, lunch meat and jello paired with coupons that will double and I think I may have a few bucks leftover to bargain hunt for some extras like chips, granola bars and other miscellaneous goodies.

Eighty bucks should be plenty.

Not Forgotten

I haven't forgotten about my blog. I've just been a little too busy to write. Well, actually I've been pretty darn distracted with the life circumstances I find myself in right now. My husband's job loss has caused a lot of changes in our household. There have been shifts in responsibilities and roles. Laundry is no longer a concern of mine - yay! But menus, grocery shopping, meal prep and clean up still mine to manage. House cleaning is up for grabs, which means it usually doesn't happen - ugh! Taxi Dad has replaced Taxi Mom. Plus, there is the slow drain of energy that comes from pondering all the what-ifs of the unemployed life.

Add to that the increase of hours in my work schedule and I'm finding myself struggling to stay awake much past 8:00 some evenings. Our company website will soon launch and hopefully the stress associated with that project will diminish significantly. At least I can hope.

In the last week there was an ending of a long-standing commitment that will allow me to attend services regularly at my church, which I haven't done in many years. I'm so looking forward to that and hoping that the release from that commitment will allow me more time to blog.

It is my desire to establish more of a routine with Thankful Kim. As things settle down this fall I would like to think that I will regain focus. For now, my primary objective is making it through the next week with groceries in the house and a happy spirit. I'm hopeful that the coming week will bring more blessings than frustrations. I'm prayerful that an upcoming job interview for my husband will bring employment. I'm a feeling a tiny bit melancholy because my baby girl is going to start her senior year at high school. I'm encouraged because my son's first weeks at college have been full of good experiences. Life is so full. There is so much for which to be thankful. It's funny how easy it is to forget that.

Still Thankful One Year Later

It's been a while since I've blogged. Mostly I've been pretty busy. My husband had a huge change in his job situation which recently culminated in his being laid off. I've added additional hours to my work week. Add to that some extreme couponing and church commitments and it makes for a pretty busy life. Finally, it seems that things are calming down a bit.

I'm reluctant to make commitments or promises about my blog, but I'm not ready to give it up completely. I started to blog in hopes of having a ministry or career that would involve speaking to moms. I wanted to encourage other women to find the bright side of life. Since I have very few readers, I think it's safe to say that this may not be the course I'm destined to take.

One of the challenges I've run into is that I struggle to find the bright side of life. I knew this about myself and thought perhaps this would add a sense of realness to the blog. I think it has, but it has also proven to be a stumbling block to consistency in blogging because sometimes I just don't feel very thankful.

Another challenge is that I'm coming to the conclusion that I may not be the public speaking type. Since there haven't been any opportunities to hone that skill it's difficult to tell at this time. I'm still open to the idea, but don't have the energy or inclination to pursue public speaking like I thought I might a year ago.

As I move forward with the blog I'm not sure exactly where I plan to go. I still hope to focus on being thankful, but there may be various other themes, like family, couponing, dealing with unemployment and assorted other topics.

Right now I'm thankful for fans because it's picken' hot. I'm thankful for our savings account which is allowing us the flexibility we need to deal with this uncertain time. I'm thankful for my computer because it allows me to stay connected to friends and family. I'm thankful for those people in our lives who have reached out to us and shown us love by offering of themselves in ways that were genuine and caring.

Sometimes saying I'm thankful seems so trite and yet it really does convey the sense that I have of wanting to express my feelings of gratitude to a God who loves me and takes wonderful care of me every day.

Seventeen Years Ago Today...

I was in the hospital birthing my second child. They say that you forget the pain. And they're right. I just remember being so happy to have a daughter. And I still am.

Now that she is almost a grown up we have great conversations, fun times shopping and lots of laughs. I can't image not having her in my life. She is smart, pretty and full of character. I wonder what her future holds. She has so many opportunities open to her. I want her to be willing to take risks and not doubt herself. She needs to be open all sorts of options, even if they are outside of her comfort zone.

It's amazing to me that this pretty cool human being came from my gene pool and was
influenced by my ideals, values and lifestyle. Of course, I know that there have been other influences - among them are godly people from our church, caring teachers and loving family members. I realize too that God has chosen to bless our lives with a fairly easy-going temperament in a mostly rule-following personality. This does make our job quite a bit easier. Thank you God!

So for today...I'm thankful for my seventeen year old daughter.

Simple Pleasures

A nice cup of hot tea, Harney and Son's Paris to be exact. In my favorite teacup, the one my son gave me for Christmas last year. A couple of Mother's macaroons. This is bliss. Especially after sweating through hand washing the dinner dishes. And preparing Enchilada Casserole and Spanish Rice for dinner. I've been in the kitchen for about 3 hours. Before that I had make a quick run to the store for a couple of ingredients.

I'm pooped, but I'm not complaining. Actually I'm pretty darn content at the moment. And the funny thing is that there really isn't any special reason for this contentment. It's just a little pause in life's busyness. There's just enough time for a quick read of an article in a quilting magazine. It's a quiet moment - well relatively quiet given the ballgame being watched by my hubby in the other room - with a cool breeze gently blowing the curtains. I can see the green summer leaves on the trees swaying gently when I peek out the window.

Maybe it's the joy that comes from serving my family a good, home cooked meal. Or maybe it's the clean counter tops that I wiped at least a dozen times today, but have managed to stay uncluttered for 15 minutes this time. Or maybe it's the peace that comes when I remember that I am God's child and he will take care of me. Sweet!

Score!

My local JoAnn's was recently remodeled and the ownership decided to have a 3 day special celebration. Since that store is only about 3 blocks from my house I had planned to attend. I had ready on a flier that they were giving $5 gift cards and free cloth shopping bags to the first 50 customers for those 3 days.

I was sure that I'd read the opening time as 10:00 a.m. I figured I'd swing by and see if there was long line and then determine if it was worth it try to be in that group. Sitting in a line for an indefinite amount of time on a Saturday morning didn't sound like a fun thing to do.

At 9:07, when I pulled out the flier to see if there was a coupon attached, I noticed that the opening time for the day was 9:00. Dang! I was sure I'd missed my chance. And I still hadn't fixed my hair or put on make-up. Oh well, I decided it was worth a try so I rushed to the car and bipped up the road.

As I walked in the door the opened was crowded with people filling in the drawing entry form. The employee at the door smiled at me. I asked, rather skeptically (based on the full parking lot) if I was one of the first 50. Sure enough - I was! She handed me my gift card and my bag. Woohoo!

Now I know it isn't much. But these days, with the husband working 0 hours (and getting paid commensurately) every little bit helps. So I'm glad I was able to eschew vanity for a few minutes and take a risk. It paid off and that's a great way to start a Saturday.

A Lesson Learned

I'm learning how to do the coupon thing in a whole new way. I've been clipping and organizing coupons like a crazy woman. There's a group in the blogosphere who seems to have things down pat. When they can go to CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid, they make a killing. Yes, that's right - they make money. It doesn't seem too difficult when you read their scenarios. I gotta hand it to these gals (yes, all gals). They know their stuff. Or do they.

Last night I went to CVS with my plan in hand. I knew what I was getting. I'd seem some blog posts about the wonderful deals to be had there, so my itinerary included an involved trip to the local CVS as well as a quick stop at Target. I had my spreadsheet and I was on a mission. I got my items, pulled my coupons and got in line. It wasn't a long line...until I got in it. They stacked up behind me like dominoes. The cashier was a patient older man. When everything was said and done I'd paid seventeen dollars and change for over $60 worth of merchandise. A pretty sweet deal. I left with a sense of satisfaction.

It was after the Target run that I realized that I hadn't received the Extra Care Bucks I was owed at CVS. I checked and double checked my receipt. Nope. They weren't there. Then I called to find out if there might be a legitimate reason they had been excluded. Perhaps there was some rule in this wonderful coupon game I'd not yet learned. The gal on the other end of the phone informed me that I could bring my receipt and the items I should have received the Bucks for and they could force the register to produce them for me. Off I went, items in hand a little after nine o'clock.

Upon arriving to the nearly empty store (note to self 9:30 in the evening is good time to shop) I explained my situation to 2 cashiers and was finally deemed worthy of the night manager's attention. I liked her right away. She was warm and friendly and seemed to genuinely want to help me and make sure I got what I deserved. She looked at the receipt and matched the purchased to images in the weekly sales flier. Not a single item was supposed to produce the sought-after Extra Care Bucks (worth about $14 dollars). She was so gracious as she informed me that CVS didn't owe me anything and I was so confused. What on earth had happened?

I left the store a little sheepishly, but vowing to figure out what the heck had happened. Then it dawned on my that when I had prepared my spreadsheet I had relied solely on the information in a blog post. I hadn't even opened the ad to validate the information I would be acting on. I had just wasted time and money on the words of a complete stranger who probably had different information than me.

One of the lessons I take away from is something I've heard in from Horatio Caine on CSI Miami a time or two - trust, but verify. Uh-huh...The ad is the ultimate authority in couponing. Blogs can educate and inspire well enough, but I must do the work to make the deals my own. I suppose the money wasn't really wasted. I did buy things I'll use and I did get a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon. I also realized that gathering $50 dollars worth of stuff isn't really too much of a challenge. Neither is bringing that total down to a reasonable number with coupons.

The learning curve is pretty steep in the drug store coupon genre, but I'll get the hang of it...eventually.