We Got Mail!

Today I have a little story to tell you. It's about Christmas, 2007. Yes, 2007.

We purchased a baseball card on ebay for Buddy as a gift in early December, 2007. It was an autographed card of one of his favorite baseball players and would definitely be an unexpected gift.

It was also going to be one of his bigger gifts. We insured it when we paid for it through PayPal.

It was coming from the state of Washington clear across the country to Virginia.

It didn't come.

We contacted the seller. He waited the appropriate amount of time and filed the claim with the post office so he could get his money back and give us our money back.

In the meantime, we purchased another card from a different seller, which did make it safely to us.

Today (depending on when I post this, it was Tuesday, St. Patrick's Day) we received a bubble-wrap envelope postmarked December 10, 2007, from Spokane, Washington, to our original Virginia address, which in turn forwarded to us here.

I have no idea what we do now.

All photos, with the exception of the one of my mailbox taken a few weeks ago, are courtesy of flickr. (They still haven't given us our subdivision required mailbox. I think the ground is thawing and I should probably call soon.)

Splurges

I've been thinking lately as I've been doing meal planning and shopping about where our money goes. That's made me think about the things that we pay a little extra for, by choice, and the things that we don't. Before I tell you some of the things I splurge on, here are some of the things I won't:

• Soda...we don't usually buy it unless we're having pizza, it's New Year's Eve, or Super Bowl Weekend.
  
  
• Juice...I buy frozen and make my own, and then I water it down some. It's much more economical than buying the plastic bottles, and then there's a lot less that has to be recycled, too. I just make sure I buy the 100 percent juice.
  
  
• Fancy chocolate...good old Hershey's is my favorite.
  
  
• Jeans...There are some crazy priced jeans out there these days. Just give me some good old Levi's. Hubby has been trying to get me to throw one pair away because of a hole by the back pocket. My undershirt covers everything up!
  
  
• Name brand clothes...I love Land's End, and I'll get it if it's on sale super cheap at Sears, but we're not fancy people. Kohl's, Penney's...and on sale, too. You get the picture.
  
  
• Picture frames...I have found that a good basic black frame can be found at Wal-Mart or Michael's, and they are a classic style that should last forever. Of course if I have a good print or cross-stitch that needs framing, this totally doesn't apply, but that's rare.
  
  
• Storage cubbies...have I mentioned Ikea? They are so reasonably priced it's almost silly. Not something I shop for on a regular basis, but I hadn't mentioned Ikea in over a week. I was kind of in withdrawal.
  
  

My splurges:

• Organic milk...my kids drink a lot of milk, and I really don't want all the extra junk going in their bodies. This is one of the areas we've made a sacrifice to spend a little more money. The best price we've found is actually at our local Meijer's. It's even better than at Sam's Club!
  
  
• Organic fruits and veggies...we are finally fortunate to live close to a Whole Foods. We don't buy everything organic, but we try to get as many of the fruits and veggies that have the highest percentage of exposure to chemicals and such organic. Bananas, pineapples, cantaloupe, cucumber...not so much. But strawberries, grapes, apples, lettuce, etc., those we do try to get as often as possible.
  
  
• Toilet paper...I love Charmin Ultra Soft, which used to be just Charmin Ultra. I'm a little particular about my toilet paper.
  
  
• Paper towels...I'm a little particular about these, too. Bounty all the way.
  
  
• Cotton balls...love those gigantic Swisspers. Can't stand those teeny tiny things. I don't know if these count as a splurge, but I was kind of going along with the white, absorbent theme.
  
  
• Coffee...I love good coffee. No Folgers or Maxwell House for me.
  
  
• Tide Simple Pleasures and the Bounce that matches...it's lavendar and vanilla scented and I buy as much as I can whenever it's on sale to hold me over until the next time. I'm Tide loyal anyway.
  
  
• Ground beef...I alway get somewhere between 93 and 97 percent lean. It's better for us, and by the time the other stuff cooks off, I figure that the cost comes out about the same. Someday soon I'd like to get this organic as well, but I'd like to maybe find a local farmer or something. I would probably need to get a freezer and buy in bulk so it will have to wait for now.
  

So what do you splurge on? What are you not willing to pay extra for?

Buttercream Frosting

I wish I could say I'd made a cake recently and had need for this icing, but I haven't. I haven't made a super special cake for my kids' birthdays for years. Thus, none of this yummy icing which I eat directly out of the bowl. I used to give the leftovers, after I made a cake and gorged myself until I was almost sick, to some friends of ours from church. They would freeze it and then use it sparingly on graham crackers over a reasonable period of time. Smart people, they were.

Well, Caboose likes a little frosting on his sugar cookies, so I decided I'd make a little of this yummy icing. I didn't remember exactly how much one batch made up, so I doubled it. I've got a lot of frosting in my fridge. Wish I had some reasonable friends to share with about now.

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups (1 lb) powdered sugar
2 T milk

Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer.

Add vanilla.

Gradually add sugar one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. You might want to have it on low when you're adding the sugar, because it sure flies through the air otherwise. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl often. This is a picture with about half of the sugar mixed in.

When all the sugar is mixed in, icing will appear dry. Your mixer might start throwing chunks of icing through the air too, so lower the beater speed. In this picture I have all my sugar mixed in.

Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Now remember I doubled the recipe that I gave you above. I used my large mixing bowl, and you can see how much that made. Lots!

It's also not friendly to the waistline. Figures.

Memory Monday — Proverbs 4:20-27

I've missed something like four weeks of Memory Monday, shame on me! I've even been getting my menu plans posted on Sundays specifically to free up Monday for this, but I just haven't had my verses memorized. After this I'm going to have to stop biting off more than I can chew and plan for fewer verses a week for a little while, maybe even just one. Then if that's going really well I'll add more as a bonus. I'd rather do that than completely skip.

So, from memory:

Proverbs 4:20-27:
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them close to within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
keep your foot from evil.

I had said before that we had the last five verses, 23 through 27, each listed on a different colored index card and hanging on our kids' bathroom mirror in Virginia. I did this for several reasons, but primarily as a reminder to them of how important it was to guard their hearts.

I got the verses specifically after reading The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop. It's a book that follows along with The Princess and the Kiss for girls. The Squire and the Scroll is 'A Tale of the Rewards of a Pure Heart' and follows the squire on his quest to save the Lantern of Purest Light after the kingdom's final and most trusted knight, and the squire's master, fell to temptation.

There are a lot of temptations out there for our kids these days, as well as us, and these verses can be the cornerstone to battling those temptations. I was going to challenge my kids to memorize them and post their own Memory Monday, but we didn't get around to it. I'm hoping to get that done soon. They've seen these verses, but they don't have them memorized, and I think that's very important.

For next week I'll be memorizing Psalm 119:9, which goes along perfectly with these verses:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.

After that I will move to Deuteronomy 6:4-9, just getting as much as I can done at a time. I'm going to put them on index cards, hole punch the corners, and put them on a ring binder. Then I can carry them around the house with me or throw them in my purse, or just whatever. That's been my downfall — not having them handy all the time. I think that will help me get them memorized more effectively.

Joanne hosts Memory Monday at The Simple Wife every week.

Menu Plan Monday — March 16th-22nd

Last week's new menu selections were big hits overall. There was the Beef and Noodles, Country-Style Pork Loin, and Cheesy Sausage Penne, and all of the recipes can be found at the bottom of my left sidebar. Everything was great actually, except that I didn't have to make the Beef Stew on Saturday since we had leftovers during the week so I was able to bump things around, but those were specifically the new recipes we hadn't tried before.

For this week I will be trying a few tried and true recipes and a few new ones again. I'll be using another new Taste of Home Cookbook I recently purchased at Sam's Club as well.
I've discovered that I like cookbooks with pictures, being a visual person and all. If they don't have pictures I have a tendency to not pick a thing out of them. I used to have five or six Southern Living Annual Recipe Cookbooks, but I got rid of all but one of them about ten years ago in a yard sale. Actually, they went to Goodwill because nobody wanted them. They don't have many pictures, so I never made anything out of them, but the Taste of Home Cookbooks and Magazines — LOTS of pictures. Often they have one for every recipe. I like that.

Monday — Chicken Enchiladas (recipe to follow). Last week I bought the family size pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and boiled and cooked up the extra. I cut them up and froze them, so I already have the meat for this meal.

Tuesday — Incredible Cavatini for a Crowd. This sounds a lot like a cavatini I've had at some Pizza Huts, so I'm going to try it. The recipe says it serves 12-15 people. Since there are six of us, I'm just planning to have it for leftovers the next night.

Wednesday — Leftovers.

Thursday — Potato Bacon Chowder. I've got a couple of kids that aren't big soup eaters, so we'll see what happens.

Friday — Bacon Cheeseburger Rice. Seems like I have a bacon theme going now.

Saturday — Tacos. Then we'll have the leftover meat for Monday evening for Taco Salad.

Sunday — Eat out since we ate in all week!

Chicken Enchiladas
from my friend, Erin

6 cups boiled, cut-up chicken
Butter
Onion, chopped
Chili Powder
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream (or more if you like, which I do)
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese (or a shredded mix)

Saute onion in butter (about 1/2 stick) and chili powder (sprinkle to your taste). After onions are soft add chicken. Mix soup and sour cream together. Add about 1/4 cup of the soup/sour cream mixture to the chicken and onions. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture. Fold and place in a casserole dish. Cover with remaining soup mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly around edges and hot throughout. I serve with Spanish Rice on the side.

Erin at $5 Dinners is hosting Menu Plan Monday this week for Laura, The Organizing Junkie. I've never checked to see how much my dinners cost individually, but I might just give it a try. I'm not so sure I can make it a habit though, especially with six of us. A weekly budget may be my best bet still, but I'm a little curious. I'll keep you posted.

And The Winner Is...

Cute dish, huh?


Just three names to pick from. Well, four, because one was a pair of sisters. Buddy was the one still awake to help me out at 10 p.m. EST!


And the sisters were the winners!


They win this copy of Guided By Him To a Thinner, Not So Stressed-Out You!

and I'm sending their name(s) on to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications for a chance to win this awesome gift basket of books. I hope you win it, too!


If you'd like to read more about the book Direction by Cheri Cowell, you can read the blog tour post here.

p.s. Just in case you wonder on the post time, I put the time back a little so my Menu-Plan Monday would show up on the top. I actually waited until after 10:00 to do the drawing in case there were any last minute commenters.

Tour The House — The Powder Room

I suppose it's a powder room instead of a bathroom since there is no bathtub or shower. Basically, it's the downstairs half-bath and the only bathroom, or powder room, that is on the first floor. It's located near the laundry room, mud room area (not officially a mud room yet), kitchen, and where we come in from the garage. It's the only bathroom...I can't keep from calling it that...that has nine foot ceilings in the house, too. It's kind of weird.

You can tell I've got pictures up. We're really doing this unpacking and moving in thing for real now. Someday we'll paint over the builder beige and replace the basic light fixtures, but those things can wait.

There is a strong resemblane to the bars hanging in the kids' bathrooms. Oh, they might be from Ikea. The only bathroom they aren't in is mine. The only reason they aren't is that they were just a little too cutesy for me to pull it off.

You might also be sensing that I have a tendency to like a little bit of an Americana theme.

Well, except for that daisy dish holding Peka's Dixie cups for his fresh tap water.

Americana, daisies, and snowmen. That's me in a nutshell.