4-30-11

7:30pm

It's been a pretty nice day.

We spent a lot of time outside.

This morning we got the mower 

unloaded from the truck then headed

down to the flea market.

The flea market was packed with

people.  Found a couple items

we needed or wanted.

72 cd holder for $1.00

has a price sticker of $9.99 on it.

 Got Tony 2 three packs of

diabetic socks- $5.00 a 3 pack.

I recently priced 1 pair of socks

at Kroger for $5.79.

 

 I got several yards of lace.

2 different kinds of wide lace-

.25 cents a bundle.

Smaller lace on rolls

was .50 cents each.

 Christopher got 13 train magazines

from the 80's.

They guy wanted $5 and I wasn't

too happy with that price.

I ended up paying $3 for all of them.

Then we headed over to

the indoor flea market

because I wanted some "sharpie"

permanent markers.  The lady

used to set up at the outdoor flea

market but has now moved to

the indoor one.

A package of 18 permanent markers- $2.00

A package of 10 Sharpies

at Walgreens cost $10!

 I forgot to add these items

I got yesterday at a yard sale.

I found 2 cans of full paint

in a freebie box.

 

On our way home we were stopped

under an underpass

around CCAD and the Kroger bakery area.

Police on motorcycles blocked off

intersections to allow a HUGE

motorcycle parade, and when

I say that I mean several hundred motorcycles

to the point I put the truck in park

until they all went by.

It was very loud under the underpass

with motorcycles revving their engines

and vibrating the truck.

Once back home daddy couldn't

wait to try out his riding mower.

The yard was cut in no time!

The gray house with red shutters

is where the lady was beat over the 

head with a board this week and made the news.  Still makes us very cautious 

when outside, especially at night

coming home from somewhere.

And of course Jonathan

had to try out the lawn mower.

We didn't let him cut grass just

yet but we let him ride

it down to grandma's house

to practice more grass cutting, lol.

And of course grandpa had

to give it a try. Instead of 2 families

buying two of everything

we each borrow things the other may

have.  Like we share edgers and mowers

and stuff like that.  Cuts down

on the expense of owning 2.

 For an early supper we headed to Taco Bell

with the intentions of going to Menards

after. While at Taco Bell we took 

a gander at Menards parking lot

(right behind Taco Bell)

and instantly decided not to go there.

It was packed and overflowing

into the dirt area almost behind

Taco Bell.  Crazy!!  Wasn't worth

even going there if you had to walk

that far just to get to the front door!

------------------------------------

4-29-11

7:45am

Getting the kids on the bus soon then

me and mom will be heading to some

yard sales.  Will let you know how

it turns out.

-------------------------------

1:15pm

Yard sales sucked today.
I only got two items.
-Street sign picture frame- $1.00
(for my oldest son for Christmas)
-4 mini champagne glasses
with chocolate strawberry candles inside
them- .50 cents  (for BIL's wedding)

Stopped in Menards thinking
their sale was going on now
and was going to get some toilet
paper.  It doesn't start til tomorrow
so I browsed the garden area.
I bought a raspberry and blueberry
plant for $4.99 each.
Tony can consider this my Mother's
Day present.  For Mother's Day
I always request something that I can
plant that will come back yearly.
No flower bouquets that are costly
that die and are pitched in the trash.
To me that's a waste of money.

When I returned home the neighbor
asked if I wanted some clippings
from their lilac bush because they
are thinking about trimming it
down a lot.  
So I went over and got a small
kitchen trash bag of clippings.

I'll pass half of these onto
mom and the rest I'll enjoy in 
a vase on our table.  I might try to dry some
and some I might try to see if
I can get to grow roots to be able
to plant a few lilac bushes here
and at mom's house.


---------------------------------


5:00pm


Supper-


I had ham and potatoes that needed used
up so came up with this concoction for supper.


Peeled then shredded about 4-5 potatoes
into a pot with cold water and a splash
of lemon juice.  This will keep my potatoes
from turning brown while putting
everything else together.

In a greased casserole dish I added
a can of cream of chicken soup,
about a 1/2 cup sour cream
and a couple tablespoons butter.
Salt & peppered then mixed together.

Next I added in about 1 cup
cubed ham, 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
and 1/4 cup diced yellow onions.
Added a little more salt & pepper
along with garlic powder.
Potatoes will absorb the salt
so more is needed when working
with potatoes.
Stir together. 

I then drained the potatoes 
and mixed them into the soup mix
with my hands.  I felt they got
better combined that way.

And lastly added 4 slices
of Swiss cheese on top.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 
an hour.

--------------------------------------


9:30pm


Every year after getting our tax refund
we set aside a little bit to use
on something we might need around
the house.  This year we had
an allowance of $300 and
It was a toss up of either another
fridge, a new queen mattress
or a riding mower.
And because we saved so much
by purchasing our fridge for
$75 we were able to get a 
riding lawn mower with the remaining
money left over.  The mattress will
have to wait til next year.


We priced new riding mowers at
Lowes and they run about $999
to over $2,000.

The mower we got is a Toro
Wheelhorse Recycler
rear engine mower.
It's a smaller mower and just the
right size for our yard.  Didn't really
need a full sized mower.
Looks like this one below.
Almost looks like a go-cart, lol.
Briggs & Stratton motor.
And the guy also threw in a free,
new in the box, battery charger to go with it.

No pictures as it's in the suburban.

Yet another reason for wanting 

a smaller mower- needed to

fit inside Suburban to be able

to haul it home. 

While we have a perfect running,

not self propelled,

walk behind mower, the reason

for needing another one is that

my honey has developed arthritis

in his hips, has nerve damaged feet

from diabetes and now is

having problems with his back.

This would make it easier 

to get the grass mowed

without suffering the consequences

with joint or foot pain later on.

We could also ride it just down

the street and mow my mom and

step-dad's grass if needed and when they

can no longer do it.

I'm tired.  This lawn mower was out

in Pickerington so it was a little

drive to get there.  On the way home

we took Main St. and saw a Marathon
selling gas at $4.25 a gallon.
It hurt my eyes to see that!!


Well all, I'm heading to bed soon
as it's almost 10:00pm.
Early wake up call tomorrow
morning.  Heading down to the flea market.
Hopefully it's much better this
weekend than last.
The weather is supposed to
be nice tomorrow.


10:00pm


OK one more thing before I go.
My honey just got back from Speedway
just down the street and he said
that it looked like someone may
have gotten hit on a bicycle.
No police were on the scene yet
when he went passed
until he went in and came 
back out of Speedway then
sirens and emergency vehicles
everywhere shutting down the road.
  He says the bicycle
had a flashing led light on it
as he could still see it flashing
underneath the mini van.
Terrible!


--------------------------------------

4-28-11

10:30am

So this morning I went to crank open

the front window.  I see the little birdies

hiding in the bushes patiently awaiting

to jump on the feeder for some morning grub.

I then see a large bird shadow on the ground.

This hawk swoops down into the bush

as I'm standing there and tried to grab

one of the little birdies for his morning

breakfast.  Scared me for a moment.

I immediately made a loud

growling noise to make it fly away

which he did.  Pretty scary seeing

that up close like that, a very large

bird on the attack only about a foot away

from the window. And even though

4-27-11

8:00am

Kids are having testing this week

at school and they are allowed

to bring in healthy snacks to munch on.

This is what I came up with-

celery filled with peanut butter

topped with cocoa puffs cereal

since they don't like raisins.

---------------------------------------


10:35am



Ever since making sloppy joes
for Tony's potluck today the kids
now want sloppy joes for supper.
So today I scrounged around to
find ingredients in the pantry
and freezer to make some for supper.
Throwing all these ingredients
below except for the bread
into the crock pot.

3/4ths bottle of mild picante sauce- $1.00
1 pound deer burger- free
1 can tomato soup- .50 cents
mustard- free
dark brown sugar- .05 cents
garlic powder- .01 cent
loaf of French bread sliced- free

Now just set it and forget it
til supper time.

----------------------------------


Rain, rain, go away!

----------------------------------


For a snack tonight I made
some jazzed up snickerdoodles.
snickerdoodle cookie mix,
1 tablespoon orange zest,
and half a puck of Mexican chocolate grated.

------------------------------


6:45pm


While out and about and almost
back home we saw a car get pulled
over by the police.  The funny thing
about this situation was that the car
pulled over was an old police car
probably purchased at an auction
that looked just like the regular
police car with the stripes on the side
minus the words police and the
badge on the door.


--------------------------


Tomorrow for supper
we will be having chili dogs
using up some of the leftover
sloppy joe mix.  There's a bunch
leftover so at least half will go
into the freezer for another time
for maybe some chili mac.

So as you can see one pretty basic
recipe made in the crock
can then be divided up into
many container or zip bags and
put into the freezers for different meals.
You could also add more ingredients
to the mix at a later time such
as chili powder.
Using ground turkey is much cheaper
than using ground beef.
Ground turkey was around $1.19 at Aldis
for one pound.  I priced a pound of
ground beef at Kroger and it was
around $3.29 a pound.


Sloppy Joe Mix-


1.  sloppy joes
2.  chili dogs
3.  chili mac
4. chili 
5. tacos
6.  taco salad
7.  over rice
8.  use like a spaghetti sauce over pasta
9. dip for nachos or frito chips


--------------------------------

4-26-11

7:30am

Sunday evening around 11:45pm

as I was laying in bed watching tv

I hear a noise outside.  As I got up

I saw flashing lights out front.

There was a firetruck and ambulance

at our neighbor's house caddy corner

from us to the left.

A couple moments later I saw

about 3 police cars. 

I knew something was

terribly wrong after seeing

the police.

Awhile later after the fire department

and ambulance left the police taped

off the front yard with the yellow

crime scene tape.  I got scared and worried.

Then I saw a guy pull up that I would

assume was a detective because

he wasn't in police attire and wore

a necklace with a badge attached to it.

I didn't sleep well.  Before noticing

something happening just right

outside my window I was watching 

some crime show on tv about a women

getting beaten and murdered.

Monday evening we noticed that

channel 10 was over at this house

interviewing the older man that lived there.

I had no clue as to what happened.

These are quiet and good people

over there.  They don't cause 

anyone any problems. 

We watched the news at 11pm

last night and I was horrified as to

what had happened a hop, skip and

a jump right behind the wall

where I was watching tv.

The elderly man had just picked up

his wife from the airport and

was returning home Easter night

at 11:30pm.  He had run into

the house to use the restroom

while his wife was still getting

out of the car.  When he returned

he found her slumped over the hood

of the car holding her head.  He couldn't

of imagined what had happened to

her in that short of time.  She said

it felt like someone had hit her really

hard in her head with a board.

He laid her down on the front step

and saw that she was bleeding really bad

and was in and out of consciousness. 

And at 11:45pm is when I saw

the firetrucks and ambulance

over there.

I don't know what feeling to describe

this incident.  I'm pissed that someone

had the balls to do this to an older person.  

Who was it

and where did they come from?

What were there intentions because

I don't believe she was robbed of

anything.  Who's lurking in the shadows

around here!!??  That could of been one

of us!  Now I am worried about

ourselves, kids and other neighbors

with some psycho running around

here on the loose.  I feel so bad that

this happened to this couple.  

You see stuff on the news all the time

but when it happens within feet of

just outside your front door 

it's another story. 

The lady is at Riverside and had

to have 60 stitches in her head!!!

This lady will never be the same again.

If she survives she will live in fear

because of that night.

I recorded the news episode on the DVR.

This took place right across the

street from our house!!

I'm worried, other neighbors are scared.

Some are talking about getting guns

for safety reasons. 

My video of Sunday just before midnight.

Pictures from my living room 

Monday evening.

And the news clip from the Monday

11:00 news last night.

To give you an idea of what 60 stitches

in the head would look like, here

is a man who was attacked by a bear.

 --------------------------

 

11:00am

Mom stopped by to drop off

some bread she got me from

the senior rec center.

I see some ham, egg and cheese rolls

in the near future for breakfast, lol.

As we were talking along the curbside

we saw channel 6 pull up.

There was no one home at

the one house across the street.

The news reporter, Steve Levine,

came over to us and asked if they

were home and a couple brief questions

and left a business card with me.

I had run into the house to get

something for mom.  And as I did

the phone was ringing.  Tony called

to say the school called him 

about Christopher having a 

101 degree temperature.

So off we go to the school to pick him up

then over to Kroger to pick up

some ibuprofen and a frozen

pizza for lunch since he didn't 

have lunch yet.

And I thought the first day home

after vacation and everyone going

back to work and school was

going to be a quiet and relaxing one,

yeah right!

-----------------------------

4:50pm

Mom got her new Insight cable installed
today.  I think I did really good
getting an appointment set
up for them to get another service
to save money.
I think they were paying around
$100 a month for phone and
basic cable with Wow.
And now with Insight they will
pay only $67 a month.
That's a savings of $33 a month or
almost $400 a year!!
They get more channels
including HD channels
and a couple movie channels
like Encor and Showtime.
Something they didn't get with Wow.


-----------------------------


6:00pm


Supper- Spaghetti


spaghetti- $1.00
can of hunts spaghetti sauce- $1.00
pound of deer burger- free
package of yeast rolls- free


Total cost $2.00
makes 6 servings
@ .33 cents a serving


-------------------------------


Don't ya love it when your honey
tells you the night before that
they're having a potluck at work
the next day?  AHHHHH!


Wish I had known this earlier
when I was at kroger.
I was brain storming as to what
I could make in the crock.
Mom gave me the idea of
sloppy joes so that's what
I'm gonna make.
I always go to AllRecipes
to find recipes which are
rated by people.
Here's the sloppy joe recipe
I will be making.
Sloppy Joes
The only difference is that
I'm gonna add Franks Red Hot sauce
to it because people at his work
likes food with a kick.
Thinking about maybe stopping
in Aldi's and pricing their
ground turkey to cut down the
price of making this for
15 or more people and you
figure about 2 sandwiches each
so enough for 30 sandwiches.


Might also pick up a card
for the people across the street
to let them know we are thinking of
them during this awful time they
are going through.
This is all we have been thinking
and talking about!

I used up a 6 pack of yeast rolls
mom got me today to make
egg, ham and cheese sandwiches
for breakfast.

---------------------------------



Went over to Aldis to get some
ingredients such as ground turkey.
The turkey is only $1.19 a pound
compared to about $2.99 a pound
for hamburger.


Sloppy Joes


3 pounds ground turkey fried
up with about a cup of diced onions
and a cup of diced green bell peppers.
Drain. Add a large bottle of medium
chunky salsa and about 3/4ths of
a bottle of ketchup.  Squirt in some
regular yellow mustard.  Then I added
about 2 handfuls of dark brown sugar
and a sprinkling of garlic powder.
I also added some Frank's Red Hot sauce
to the mix.  I put it all in the crock
pot and then into the fridge.


Cost for about 30 sandwiches- 
between $6-$7