Simple Works For Me

I have come to the conclusion that I am a simple person. I don't understand conceptial thinking. Give me the concrete.


Recently I've been exposed to some teaching and writing that is very philosophical. Philisophical concepts require one to concentrate ... sometimes for a long period of time. With my short attention span this is a challenge.

But even when I focus on these teachings and writings I find it difficult to share the perspective of the writer or teacher. I want to take a side. Do I agree or disagree? It's difficult to take a side when you don't even understand what is being said.

For the most part my ignorance doesn't bother me. As they say, "ignorance is bliss" But there are those ocassional times when I realize that I'm lacking and I wish I were a more complex person.

I console myself with the fact that I'm more educated than most of those in my family tree. And I do love to learn. I find the challenge of solving certain problems stimulating, when others around me surrender to frustration. I appreciate the fact that I live in a time and place where I have the freedom to choose what areas of interest I will give my attention to ... whether fascinating and and multifaceted or staightforward and unfussy.

We can't all be Einsteins and Mozarts. We aren't all meant to achieve wonderful accomplishments or make fascinating discoveries. It takes the "normal" people of this world to make the geniuses stand out. So, I'll be satisfied to be normal, even simple, and allow others more complex than myself, to dabble in the esoteric.

Thankful for the Rain

The first sign was the sound. It's not a sound that we hear a lot of in So Cal. But to those who live her and love the rain, it is a sweet sound. Just a light dripping sound. Not too heavy, not too light, but slow and steady.

Next was the slight dampness when peering outside early this dark morning. It's not a heavy rain. That's okay.

Then was the smell. It's tough to describe that smell. Wet concrete, wet grass...wet wetness. A terrific smell.

The rain continues to fall lightly this morning. And I am glad.

Strategizing a Menu Plan

After last weeks grocery shopping trip(s), I decided it was time to take a different approach. I sat down with my computer and my cookbooks and determined to create 8 weeks of dinner menu plans using recipes that are already tried and true with my family. My goal was to come up with 56 dinner ideas without repeating any single menu. I did it.


Now for the reality. My family loves spaghetti. They really aren't excited about having to wait 2 months between spaghetti dinners. So here's the plan--if I'm faced with a dinner on my menu that requires more time than I have or just doesn't sound appetizing, I'll just break out the Prego and Pasta. Voila! Problems solved. Spaghetti isn't the only food that falls into this category of things the family enjoys and actually want to eat often. Those will be the fall backs in the plan.

Now part of the problem with this plan is that I'm not working the sales. All I have to say is ... oh well. I've decided not to lament over this. I've also decided that I will shop the sales for other weeks. For example - London Broil is on sale. London Broil isn't in my menu plan for this week. Guess what? I'm still going to buy London Broil this weeek. Why wait? In fact, I'll get two while their on sale and then I won't need to buy them the week that I need them because I'll have them in the freezer. Yeah, Yeah--I know this isn't rocket science. But this is progress for me.

Now the next challenge is keeping my freezer organized and keeping track of what is in there so I don't overbuy. I don't have a separate freezer, it's just the left side of the fridge. That's not much space. There isn't a lot of room for extras. I think I have a plan for this. I'll report back in a bit about whether my plan worked.

Learning from Mistakes in Couponing

Once again I ventured into the realm of couponing. My plan was to go to 4 different stores so I could benefit from the maximum savings. And I did--sort of.

I definitely stretch the bucks further than if I'd just shopped at one store. After factoring in the time (two and a half hours) and the problems (having to return to one store to get the Catalina coupon that didn't materialize at checkout), I can honestly say that I'm not sure this approach works well for me.

There are many reasons that I don't consider my trips a success. First, there is the time involved. Shopping at places that I don't frequent often means I spend more time looking for stuff and getting familiar with the store than actually putting the specific items in my cart.

The price stickers on the shelf at one store were so confusing that I began to doubt if I was getting the price I had planned to get. The sticker showed the old price, the new price, the difference between the those two and the sale price. That's a lot of numbers.

The sales fliers are great at pointing out the sales prices, but not so good at pointing out what is required to get those prices. In order to get the price in the very large type, you have to read the fine print and purchase the 10 or 20 necessary items noted in the fine print. Figuring all this out while actually shopping just adds to the time involved. I never did make it to the fourth store.

As a result of this experience, I have resolved to develop a strategy for future shopping trips that will help me get the shopping done in less time and still save large amounts of money. Since I am currently working full time and have a family at home, I have minimal time for coupon clipping, shopping, coupon blog reading, menu planning and grocery list making. Something has to give.

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.