Meal planning and schedules

There's been a chill in the air, the sun is setting a bit earlier.  Yesterday really felt more like September than August.  (This will all change in a few days when we have a heat wave in the low 100's with lows in the 60's).  I looked up the bus schedule, talked to a mom "in-the-know" from the school about some rumors I had heard and had a craving for chicken pot pie.  As much as I LOVE summer and don't want it to get cold and grey and have short days, I am also hitting the stage I do every August.... the desire for a routine and a schedule.

My boss talked to me yesterday and it looks like I have two weeks of craziness left before I'll be working every Monday and Tuesday during the day and still every other Saturday.  Yipee!!!!  That leaves Wed. am for school volunteering, our business or myself, Wed afternoon for our business where we are on a tight schedule.  Thursday & Friday for school volunteering, household care, whatever may need done for the business and gee, maybe even some time for ME.  Let me tell you, that is a big ol' carrot dangling in front of me! I cannot wait to have every evening free, every afternoon without the ulcer growing while I impatiently wait for FG to get home so I literally pass him in the doorway as I rush off to work.  I'll have Tuesday nights off for all the school functions that happen a few times a month, the PTA meetings on Tuesday afternoons once per month. I'll have Wednesday afternoons to be home and wait for the bus which will now arrive 45 minutes earlier for "Professional Development".  I'll be home to tackle homework and projects each night. (hmmm, that could be the downside here!)

I checked out The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook at the library a couple of weeks ago.  I've been reading the tips more than the recipes so far.  Last week I had a bit of extra cash and I made amazing use of it.  I got all the toiletries we needed, most of the school supplies and lots of food at great bargains.  My best bargain.... spent $86 at Target (we have a very very limited grocery section at our Target - no produce or anything like that so this was all school supplies, cleaning supplies, toiletries and some packaged food like cereal) but I saved $40.  Out of all of my shopping, I got 9 boxes of cereal and didn't pay more than $2 for each.  The ones I did pay $2 for were GIANT too. :)  I got razors for FG and I at a steal too.  I used my coupons wisely with sales and BOGO offers.  Yay for me!!!

I also managed to make a menu for roughly 2 weeks.  It, of course, got thrown out of whack immediately when we had DS's teacher from last year over to dinner. What an enjoyable evening it was!!!  But I wasn't going to serve her the hot dogs I had on the menu that night! Instead I got a great deal on some petite sirloin steak which I marinated all day to tenderize it.  Corn was on sale.  She brought a salad.  I made a peach pie with fresh peaches that were on sale too.  I made homemade bread in my bread machine.  All in all, I think I spent about $15 on the dinner total.  It has felt good to have a menu again and soon, I will be sharing it on here again.  Hopefully with some new recipes and some more interesting content than what I've had lately!

Other items of note... DD finally pulled out her first loose tooth.  It's been hanging there for over a week.  While I was at work this past Tuesday, FG had the kids outside playing and DS's bike chain came loose, which meant he had no brakes.  Going down the slope of our street.  He panicked, FG didn't have much time to think so he literally used his body to stop DS from getting hurt.  Instead FG got hurt pretty badly and most likely cut an artery in his ankle.  From the puddles of bright orange blood I cleaned up and the way it took a few hours to stop bleeding heavily that's my best guess.  We are not sure if he broke something, sprained something or just really bruised his bone but he did something nasty to it beyond a deep cut.  He couldn't put any weight on it yesterday and was ready to go get himself a walking boot.  This morning he woke up and it felt a lot better.  He could bear weight on it but not his full weight.  We'll see how it is.  I must say, I'm a pretty good wound cleaner!  I got home and fixed him all up and have been changing his dressing as needed.  Poor DS feels awful that he hurt his dad but keeps calling his dad his "hero" for saving his life.  :D