Littlesister

Much warmer today. Didn't get racks put together yesterday. Weather was damp feeling and colder than I thought it would be. Thinking a wind chill factor in the 50+ weather yesterday. Today is in low 70's. Nice outside already. Got the cement blocks down for the racks. So will finish putting them together after my coffee break. Went straight outside early this morning and no coffee. Yeah, I needed some caffeine. Hoping to get all the wood stacked today, but not counting on it as GS is working this evening. So, will only be me later this afternoon to finish stacking wood.

Started early on bedroom going through a lot of stuff. GS is still asleep in his car but when he wakes up, he will be cleaning off the driveway and then helping me outside. He is off today so I am putting him to work on the heavy stuff. He is going to help me get those wood racks put together and then we will finish stacking wood if it doesn't get too cold. Weather right now is 43* and going up into the 50's starting at 1 pm and then dropping back down at 5 pm. So, we will have a small window to work in. About 4 hours if it don't rain or anything. I have some chicken thighs to cook and thinking about cooking them in slow cooker. Not sure yet how I want to fix them for dinner yet. I also have some peanuts to cook up also. I fry those up like they did at the Bennett's Creek market. Break over and need to get back to the bedroom and go through a few more things while waiting for weather to warm up. Miki, you need to take a nap today. That was not enough sleep.

Jeepers, let me know when you figure out why they have to roll the rugs up. They do that here as well as the longer ones they fold them over twice and leave 2 humps in there making it hard to flatten them. I left the house around 11:30 or so and returned the extra play pen they sent me. Then looked around through Kohl's. They never have much of anything anymore. But did find a couple of baby toys and a couple of outfits for the baby. They left there and went over to TJ Max. Yes, that store is dangerous. I can spend some money in there on the right day. Found a couple more baby outfits and some books and a couple more toys. Then looked around at other things. I found an aromatherapy essential oils and the diffuser to go with them. Been wanting one for a long time. Price wasn't bad at all. Bought a couple of pillows as mine are worn out. And now I can't find my pillows anymore. As they were the ones I could use for my neck. But hoping these will work. Picked up a few other things I needed and then left to head to Michael's. And of course, there was Ross right next to them. So, went in there and found some more baby toys and books and a couple more baby outfits. So got those. The outfits are for Easter as you can give a I think she will be 5 months old by Easter or near that. So, no basket of candy. The toys are for here when I am babysitting. I have books for her, and I can read to her and let her look at the pictures. Then I left Ross and went to Michael's I wanted to pick up some flowers that were on sale for DH's grave. Our anniversary is coming up on the 26th and I want to take flowers for the grave. We would have been married 41 years. Then I went to see how much the Tee shirts were. Jack pot $2.99 each. So, I got 9 of them. Like Jeepers, I can stain them up fast. These are all short sleave, so for warmer weather. But will pitch out some very old rough looking ones and these will replace them. By that time, it was about 5 o'clock so headed to hardies for dinner. Then came home. I really made a day of it, and it felt good just to get out of the house for the day. Haven't gotten out like that in over 3 years. My DD said she is missing our shopping trips together. I have to agree. I don't shop like I used to now that either DD or DH isn't going with me. I have been used to having someone going shopping with me for years. My GD works during the week, and it has been too cold to take the baby out in the cold weather.

I'm not crazy about sauerkraut but I do love cabbage and corned beef. Wonder if you could can that together. Yes, it was me that said I didn't like the Italian seasoning in the unstuffed peppers. It was ok but was not as crazy about it. The second batch I did I didn't use any seasoning. Figured I could add that as I was heating it up. To me it tastes a bit like Spanish rice. I added the rice to the jar that didn't seal for dinner. It was good though. Next batch I will try the basil and Parsley. Midnightmom, those cans of food look really good.

Ambergris, I swear if it wasn't for bad luck, you would have no luck at all. Seriously, I hope that bee sting hasn't given you any issues. And hope you are not allergic to them. Do you have an epi pen? You might want to try to get one for just in case. Hope the Birthday party went well. Right now, I am waiting for it to warm up a bit more. Kohl's is where we take returns for Amazon. I ordered a pack and play pen for GGD as I will be doing some babysitting and they sent me two of them. How they did that I don't know as I checked my order and I only ordered one. So, heading to Kohl's in an hour or two. It's up to 35* now. So, while in Harborview area, I will go to TJ Max and Michaels. Not sure where else yet. Need to pick up some Birthday cards as well. Yep, just sitting here right now and 3 fire trucks flying past on Bennett's Pasture Rd. They have stopped so must be a fire somewhere nearby. Temps are now up to 38* so will get off of here and head out. Not going to be that warm today anyway. So, want to get the pack and play pen to kohl's and hit a couple of other stores and then home.

I haven't been to Big Lots in a long time. Might have to make that trip to see what they have. Sometimes you can get some really good bargans.

Becca Anne, I hope they can get him moved soon. I know it will be a load off of your shoulders. I gave the kitchen a deep cleaning earlier instead of working on stuff in my bedroom. But that is about to get started again. I just don't like a dirty kitchen or bathrooms. My bathroom got a deep clean yesterday and finished it when I got back from GD's house. Looked at the Main bath that GS uses and walked out. I won't go there. But his next day off will be cleaning up the bathroom. I will still have too deep clean in there, but the worst of his mess will be out of there. Just taken a break right now. Needed something to drink. My GD got me started on those Bubbly drinks and there are a couple of other brands. They are fruit-based flavors. No sugar and no salt. All natural. So, have been drinking those. I try to get them when they have a good sale on them. I like them because they are nothing but water with fruit flavor in them. Almost forgot that Food Lion had some fresh fruit on sale. So, went to Food Lion to pick some up. Blueberries, grapes and cherries. I looked around and found some canned ham that I had never seen in the store before. I was very familiar with the brand, so I bought one. It's the Danish Crown fully cooked ham and ready to eat. Sodium was low for ham 580mg. It is a product of Denmark. and is a 4lb. can. It has a best by date of 10/26/28. So will last a bit longer than that. Will put it in my longer-term foods for a while.

Didn't make it to Church this morning. Shoulder blade was killing me. I forgot to take a muscle relaxer last night. So here I am in pain today. This is the left shoulder blade. My heart doctor checked it out and said it was muscular. He pressed on the very spot that hurt the most. So, he said muscle relaxers and Advil or Aleve. I was already taking the Aleve but not muscle relaxers. I am so tired of having to take meds and now having to add a muscle relaxer. But at least it wasn't my regular meds I forgot to take. Once the pain eases off, I will get a few more things done in bedroom, but not going to lift any heavy boxes. That might how I strained the shoulder blade. My other shoulder and knee have been doing much better the past 3 or 4 days. Don't like to take muscle relaxers during the day as they make me sleepy, and I don't get anything done. But right now, it is very tempting to take one. It's hurting that bad.

I think I still have an old Army blanket packed up somewhere. Not sure if I still have it or not. Will have to check that out. But thinking I gave it to one of the grandchildren for some reason. Might have been the GD in Washington. But there is an old second-hand military store in Newport News. Might add that to my list of stores I go to on that same road. I usually take a day and run all up and down that road to the different stores there.

Funny how cars do that. They just have a mind of their own and say nope not today I'm going to this store.

My GS is not allowed to vape or smoke in my house. He had one pipe that leaked everywhere, and I made him keep it in garage on newspaper. He goes through those pipes like crazy. Had one blow up on him. And yes, they are expensive.

Jeepers, Aldi's is not hard to do with the carts. Just drop your quarter in and it unlocks the cart from the next cart. unhook it and take your cart. When you are done just hook the cart to the other cart and it gives your quarter back. Though sometimes I will just give my cart to someone getting ready to go into the store. People do that for me as well.

My GS is the same way. He switches from cigarettes to vaping. Right now, he is on vaping again. You don't want to be around him when he can't get his nicotine. I won't let him smoke in house. He has to take his butt outside to smoke. He knows that is what his father has to do as his mother won't let him smoke in house either. So, I have never had a problem with that. Got most of the bathroom cleaned before leaving for GD's house. Baby was fussy when I got there. But quieted down. I will be doing a lot of babysitting in the next few weeks as her DH is now on a 3 week leave and takes care of the baby while she works. So, when he goes back to work, I will be keeping the baby for her and alternating with her DH's mother. I went ahead and ordered a play pen to keep here at the house. Been meaning to buy one and kept putting it off. So now that is done and will be here on Sunday. Now I am just tired and ready for a nap but need to finish the bathroom.

My GD just bought a small chest freezer, and they went to the commissary and bought meat to fill it up. Said it was cheaper than any of the stores. When I go to Kroger, I have to be very careful as if you don't stick to the sales, you are in deep trouble at the registers. Guess that is why I don't go there often. I usually go to Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Lidi's and Aldi's for grocery shopping. But right now, I am not doing much shopping. Will be picking up some things at Harris Teeter when they call me to pick up RX. Then I will wait till Thursday to go for the senior discount and use my $10.00 coupon.

18.3 miles. Not walking in this cold weather. So also down a bit.

My plans for today have changed. DD is coming in to town by 11:00 today and we are all going to DGD's house for a while. DD is going to babysit the GGD this evening and they are staying till tomorrow. So, I will be at DGD house for a while today. Sunday is church and then home in which case DD and SIL will be coming here before leaving to head back to NC. My list of things I need to get done around the house is growing. Painting, new storm doors, all the lights replaced outside, garage sink which will be done as soon as my plumber can get here. But right now, it has a very slow drip which is good in this weather. So far nothing has frozen. Running electric to the one shed, replace some ceiling lights in house, etc. So much to get done and to many interruptions. But it will get done. Just hoping sooner than later. Told GS to sleep in house tonight and he said he sleeps better in car. It is freezing outside. He will get his car really hot while he is in the car. And then turn the engine off and crawl in back seat and go to sleep. He does have 3 really warm blankets but still that's cold. I think he likes that back seat car mattress I got him. Told his mother to get him to stay in house as I was afraid, he would get sick again. She texted him and told him he needed to stay in house in these temps and he said no. He liked to sleep in car. She told him his p---s get frostbite and fall off. I couldn't believe she told him that. No wonder the kid is like he is. She says all kinds of things to him she shouldn't be doing. She did it with the girls, but they put a stop to her. He will sometimes play along with her or ignore her. So, she still keeps doing it. I am just afraid he will get sick again and then give his mess to me. I got lucky this last time. Only a slight cold but then I was using Lysol everywhere. He doesn't wash his hands unless you stand there and tell him to wash them. And that spreads germ.

Momo, with BJ's they send you a coupon book in the mail. And you can get one in the store as well. Plus, you can use any other coupon for an item you are buying to go with the BJ's coupons. They will take both for that item. They have specials on gas if yours has a gas station. You can get gas cheaper there. Also, propane is cheaper there or was the last time I got a tank filled. They cater more to families on the food rather than those big cans like Cosco and Sam's. Though I think Sam's is selling the regular size cans on a lot of things now. Been over 3 years since I have been there. I was going to renew it as before the Bennett's Creek market paid for my membership and now with them being closed down, I need to pay to join. So being just me I don't know that I need to do both BJ's and Sam's club.

Momo, please be careful if you have to go out on that metal ramp. Those things are very slick with ice and snow on them. And you can't see the ice with snow on top. Don't want you to be falling down and getting injured. I know we have had cold weather like this before, but don't remember it lasting this long. I wish it would just hurry up and move out of here.

I like BJ's for the same reason. I really need to make a trip over there at some point soon. I want to pick up another propane tank and get that filled. And a few other things. Too soon for garden items yet. But I think they will be putting that out in the next couple of months. I need to get topsoil, raised bed garden soil and a few other things in the garden line. But need to check Lowes and Home Depot's sales against BJ's sales when they start selling. I am going to need a lot of garden soil for those raised beds. So, this year will be an expensive year for the garden but then it will settle down. Those raised beds are big.

Prices seem to be going up every week on things. It's hard to keep up. But from what you said about some things going up, I am going to pick up some frozen veggies and a few other things before they go up again. The Dollar Tree is next door to Harris Teeter, so will swing in there also. I really don't need much of anything, but I do want to try to stay ahead of these high prices. GS has been promoted to full time even though he was already working full time, he was considered part time. It also came with a $1.00 raise. These days that doesn't seem like much but a dollar an hour raise does help. He never had training as he already knew how to do the job and he hasn't been there 3 months yet. So, he is doing well with this job so far. But I wish he would let me know when they are about to have a hike in prices. He just doesn't pay attention to that stuff. He buys what he wants and doesn't care what it cost.

I would rather have Quinoa than brown rice. I do have some Quinoa but not much of it. With what you found out about prices going up in the grocery challenge, I might pick up a few things when they call me to pick up my RX's. It's at Harris Teeter and Dollar Tree is right next to it. So will look around at the sales and pick up a few things. I would rather pay the price of it now than to wait and it goes up again. I want to pick up a few frozen veggies anyway. So now would be a good time. I also have a $10 coupon off for the total on groceries. Harris Teeter mails those out once a month. So, I can save $20 a month off total grocery bill. Then when I go on Thursday, I get the senior discount on top of that.

Mommato3boys, I hope it works for me, but I already have my doubts. But will give it a try. If it keeps my A1C down that would be something. I was put on Trulicity about 3 years ago and that caused me to both gain weight and my thyroid levels went off the chart because of it. So, I was put on 2 different meds, one from the Endo doctor and one from the heart doctor. Both made my feet and legs swell up and with the B/P med. I started getting dizzy and other issues. The Actos never did much for the diabetics. The heart doctor took me off of it and put me on the Farxiga so will find out how the Endo doctor fills about that when I see him next month. I am going to make a few changes on my diet even though I follow a mediterranean diet. I don't eat much beef. Only about once or twice every two weeks. But do eat more chicken and fish. Though fish is starting to get high priced. But I do have plenty in freezer and that when on sell, I buy it. I don't really care for brown rice and do eat white rice about once a week. So just some minor changes. But will see what Farxiga does after a month or so. Mommato3boys, you are doing great with your freezer meals. It all sounds good.

Jeepers, seems it is never ending for you. Hope you start feeling better soon. GS just got over bronchitis. He was also on Doxycycline. He got over it in just a few days, so hopefully it will clear you up fast. I can see why you love your dining room the best. You have it set up really nice. I love all the furniture and the table turned out really nice and matches well with all the other furniture. I agree with Mother, take pictures and tell a story about each item for your son and GS. I think years from now they would enjoy reading about your adventures. Went to heart doctor this morning. Both the EKG and the stress test was really good. Only thing was the heart muscle is stiff. But a lot of walking will fix that. But I don't walk in this freezing weather. So, will do some exercises in house and walk on the warmer days. I told him about my shoulder on the left side. It has been very painful right under the shoulder blade. He checked it and said it was muscle to use a heating pad and take Advil or Aleve. I have muscle relaxers so will take one tonight as the pain kept me up all night. He also changed some of my medications. The Norvasc caused me to gain weight as well as the Actos the endo doctor put me on. So, off the Actos and on Farxiga and on a combination of a fluid pill and blood pressure pill. He wants me to go on a mediterranean diet. I am already using that diet though. I was a little bit mad as I gained over 10lbs due to the Norvasc and Actos. And because of hypothyroid it is hard to get that off. So here I go again. Hopefully the Farxiga will get that weight off like he said it would. So just taking it easy today with heating pad for shoulder. Will work on some things later today. Waiting for pharmacy to call to pick up the RX's.

Jeepers, I really hope there is a solution to that issue. I know that makes it hard to find food that taste good. I never got Covid, and I thank the Lord daily for that. Though I don't know how other than the Lord was watching out for me back in 2020. Hospitals, pharmacies and everywhere else I had to go to get things that were needed for DH. And I never got it. I did follow all the guidelines for flu and took zinc, C and other vitamins as well. So, maybe that helped but I give the credit to the Lord.

Jeepers are you on any medication that could cause that also. Check online about the issues with any you are on. That might help also.