When Daily Tasks Annoy You

On Wednesday the alarm went off, and I got a little tiffed.Why must it go off so early?? Every. Single. Day.

But I kicked the covers off and trudged to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and hair, then tossed on stretchy pants and a T-shirt. Somehow I made it through the rest of the morning routine. I dove into project number one on my calendar. Ate lunch. Tackled project number two.

This picture was taken about five years ago when I still made an effort with my appearance every day. P.S. I miss my giant cat, Cookie. 

Then the evening routine began with me waiting at school for football to let out. I texted a good friend, asking her if the fact I was wearing velour pants, a tee, and no make-up meant I needed an intervention. I've been really schlumpy lately.

Throughout my entire adult life I've put on makeup and made some effort with my hair each morning. Yes, I work from home, but I refuse to wear yoga pants or sweat pants during the day. Jeans and a sweater or tee were my work uniform until two years ago when my weight started creeping up. My work uniform felt uncomfortably tight. Yoga pants slipped into the daily wardrobe. I wore make-up less often.

I'd descended down the slippery slope of not taking care of myself. My attitude was primed to plummet as well.

Which leads me back to Wednesday. After football/cross country practice, I put on workout pants and headed to the park for a nice long walk. But I wasn't in a good mood. Oh, no. I was irritated.

These are the things that went through my head as I stretched.

I'm tired of the alarm waking me up every morning.
I'm sick of  brushing my teeth. 
Flossing is really annoying.
I'm tired of eating. Nothing sounds good. 
Why does showering take so long?
I'm really over having to go to bed every night. 

Did you get that? Yeah, basically I was tired of going to bed, getting up, showering, and eating. 

*raises eyes to ceiling*

I don't even know what to say in my defense. It's ridiculous! I'm ridiculous!!

After my walk/run, I went home with a firm goal. I was going to make an effort with myself again. Yes, that means make-up. And firing up the curling iron or straightener, pulling on jeans and a decent shirt, and not complaining about going to bed/waking up/flossing/eating, which, come on, is stupid to complain about anyhow!!

Today my hair is straight and shiny. My outfit isn't embarrassing. My arms even look toned in this shirt. And I'm looking forward to my broccoli-cheese soup for lunch. :)

Have you ever gotten to a mental low point where even simple daily tasks irritated you? How did you get through it?

Enjoy your weekend!

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$4128.63 in Chicken Thighs?

A baseball mom I'm friends with gave me a great idea last week. We were talking about groceries--I kid you not, this topic excites me!--and she shared how her family does it. They do one big shopping trip a month at a warehouse club like Costco or Sam's, and they fill in each week with a smaller trip for vegetables and such. Fabulous!!

Ever since we moved, I've struggled to get a handle on our grocery bill. I know I can do a better job, but I don't have the time to drive twenty minutes one-way for a cheaper store. Her tip made the bells go off in my head. I decided to give it a try.

I've had a Sam's Club membership for a few years, but it expired two months ago, so I knew I was going to have to pony up for the renewal fee. Also, the staples I buy from Sam's (garbage bags, laundry detergent, toothpaste, etc...) had all depleted. I was going to have to spend over one hundred dollars just on cleaning/beauty items.

I did not let this deter me. A one-time stock-up trip would help us in the long run.

My plan:

- Stock up on all my cleaning/paper product essentials. It makes my life easier and it saves money!
- Inventory my current meat supply. I had plenty of beef, raw chicken tenders, cod, a ham, and a turkey, so I decided to fill in with bacon, chicken thighs, and hot dogs.
- Check the prices of baking supplies. I found the 10 pound bags of sugar and flour were bargains at Sam's, and the canola oil was priced well too.
- Since I had enough pasta and dry goods for the month, I decided to wait until next month to restock.
- Purchase block cheese, the big container of hummus, dairy products, and crackers.

The trip went great. I made notes to myself on the items I knew I could get cheaper elsewhere, and I filled the cart with the rest. By the time I hauled my cart to the check-out line, I was more than ready to get my stuff home.

A nice young man (that sounds like something my grandma would say, "nice young man") rang out my large order. I wrote the check and handed it to him. Then he accidentally pressed "cash" instead of "check." A manager was called.

The manager informed him he needed to retype the entire order.

I cringed, but I felt bad for him and told him it wasn't a big deal and not to worry about it.

As he re-did the order, the manager looked on. He finished up and what do you know? My bill now rang up at over $4000.00!!

Yes, this is my actual bill!!

Trust me--I did not fit that much stuff in my cart!!

The manager found the culprit. Chicken thighs. It's always the chicken thighs. They had come up as $4128.63!

A few minutes later, the bill was correct, and I had the pleasure of unloading my haul. I felt good. I'd avoided a four thousand dollar bill and stocked my pantry!

How do you keep grocery costs down? Have you ever had a surprise in the checkout lane?

Have a terrific day!!

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Crisp Salad All Week Long

I have a ton of tricks up my frugal sleeve. Some of these save our family money; some keep us healthy; and some do both.

One of my best tips (I'm sure I learned it from a magazine!) makes getting raw veggies into my diet a snap. Buy fresh greens and chop them up as soon as you get home from the store. Then you'll have the base for individual salads or for a side dish.

I like trying different greens for my salads.  Boston lettuce has a creamy, fresh taste but loses freshness quickly. Romaine is versatile, as is iceberg. In my humble opinion, the salad starter that holds up with crunchiness the longest is actually a type of cabbage--napa cabbage. It has a mild flavor (not cabbage-y) and goes great with most salad toppings and flavors. Off season they can be yellowish. Skip those--you want a nice, light green one.

I also pick up a bag of pre-sliced carrot shreds. Buy any raw vegetables you like, pre-sliced or whole.

Once I've put my groceries away, I immediately slice the salad starter (in this case, napa cabbage) into little shreds. You can also chop them smaller.

When the whole thing is chopped, I put the pieces in a Ziploc bag. Next, I slice any other fresh vegetables to snack on for the week.

Sure, you can buy a bagged, pre-cut salad mix--I do all the time--but they tend to brown and wilt quickly. Napa keeps its color and crunch all week.

You now have everything you need for a quick, healthy snack. I like to add sunflower seeds to my salad too for extra protein and crunch.

If you'd like a fancier salad to serve as a side, use 3-4 cups of your prepared napa cabbage. Slice up 1 cup of strawberries. Toss in 1/4 cup of sliced almonds or walnut pieces. Toss with raspberry vinaigrette. Delicious!

Fancy Strawberry Napa Salad
4 cups chopped or shredded napa cabbage
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds (or walnut pieces)
Raspberry vinaigrette. (around 1/2 cup, depending how much dressing you prefer)

Toss together and serve.

Do you like salads? What are your favorite toppings?

Happy Monday!

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