(NEW) SMART SPENDING CHAT THREAD

[mrsdutt]

Yesterday was scrubbed the house day.  I did the downstairs.  I moved around a couple of things and like the changes.

I made mac and cheese 2 days ago and lemonade yesterday.  This means I can eat until tonight on the mac and cheese.

I froze some broccoli, but had a serving with the mac and cheese.

My thyroid functions (test) came back on target.  Which is why I have had energy and care about things again.  The best thing is I can walk again - more than two feet at a time.

DD3 and I will go shopping today for GS's 3rd birthday.  As part of his gift I will contribute to the cost of the party.  How they grow!  He's such a sweet boy, but with tiny little horns.  When they come out - watch out!

My tomato seedlings are finally doing well.  They're leafing out and growing taller.  I was afraid for a bit that they would die.  The cukes have come up, but the beans haven't yet.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Holly, glad that 4.2 percent increase wasn't 10 percent ... but it's hard to be happy about any increase!

Lynn, my tomatoes are doing fine, so far. No sign of the cucumbers sprouting.

I think I shall have to pummel to death the gardener in the yard behind mine as he has been running his loud and whiny leaf blower for the past 48 minutes ... AAAUGH! They have a lot of pine needles over there and I think this man doesn't own a rake, just a leaf blower. I have the windows open because the temperature is still nice out, but that loud leafblower sound is about to set me over the edge. Seriously, if I had water balloons (or watermelons) I'd be lobbing over the fence about now.

[snapdragon]

May 8, 2013 13:10:58 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

Holly, glad that 4.2 percent increase wasn't 10 percent ... but it's hard to be happy about any increase!

Lynn, my tomatoes are doing fine, so far. No sign of the cucumbers sprouting.

I think I shall have to pummel to death the gardener in the yard behind mine as he has been running his loud and whiny leaf blower for the past 48 minutes ... AAAUGH! They have a lot of pine needles over there and I think this man doesn't own a rake, just a leaf blower. I have the windows open because the temperature is still nice out, but that loud leafblower sound is about to set me over the edge. Seriously, if I had water balloons (or watermelons) I'd be lobbing over the fence about now.

Molly I say go for it!!!  Don't you have a garden hose?   What is the worst thing that could happen? Him throwing pine needles into the pool? That would mean that he would actually have to pick em up!

[motherto2]

Ooops!  Molly are you telling me that my neighbors might be ticked at me when I spent hours power washing my cement patio 2 weekends ago?  I have a pretty large patio, and it's too level, which means it's hard to get the algae and "stuff" to wash off easily.  Takes a long time and a lot of patience trying to get the stuff off of it.  Then some still stays behind because I also have a diamond pattern of lines that holds the water.  Not much fun, and I have to wait til it's fairly warm because I stay wet for hours.

DS made it home safe and sound yesterday.  Spent all day sleeping and chilling.  After studying so hard for his early exams, he needed a day like this.  It's been raining all week, and looks like it will continue for a few more days at least.  Glad I was able to get the lawn cut this weekend.  Will need it again this weekend for sure.

Stay afloat peeps

[TheOtherMe]

Lucy spent the evening on the back of the sofa, in the crouch and pounce position, as she watched neighbors mowing and puttering in their yards.  I do not know what she thinks she can do from indoors and she has never been in the backyard.  Silly kitty.

I received the contract that parents will need to sign on their apartment.  We move them one month from today.  DS had called mom and mom thinks she finally got through to dad that they have to leave the house before the time of closing.  It's 6 days between the time we move them and expected closing date.  DS is going to put the 10% down and then parents will pay difference when they move in.  Rent is pro-rated the first month.  Mom will pay DS back when their money is put in bank account by realtor.  

DN made dad's appointment for June 10 with cardiologist.  Mom already knows she won't feel like going.     Either my DS or me or both of us will take him.  If he has to have a new pacemaker, mom is going for that procedure.  

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Hmmmm.... police helicopter circling overhead for more than an hour. Yikes... what awful criminal did they lose in my neighborhood?

It's going to be 99 degrees by the weekend. Yuck.

I will give the grass extra water tomorrow. And my tomatoes.

I shaved the mats off the back of Miss Cricket yesterday and she's still sulking. And leaving tufts of black fur everywhere. Ahhh... long-haired fat cats.....

[marvholly]

Molly
I don't think I have ever had an insurance renewal (house, auto, health) that did NOT have an increase.  Same goes for property tax.

My cat is NOT long haired but the open shoe box on my night stand had cat hair in it after being out in the open for 2 days.

Hair.  Hair.  EVERYWHERE!

[TheOtherMe]

I have cat hair every where also--even with brushing Lucy.  She will not be happy when I go see Paul in Memphis.  

I once had a long haired fat cat, but she loved to be brushed.  She'd sit and purr for hours.  That was when I first retired and had lots of time.  

I worked at the church today.  Learning new things as I am being given more responsibility, which is giving me more hours.  I'm happy about that.  

I don't think I've ever had an insurance renewal that did not increase on my house or property taxes.  I was amazed at how much cheaper car insurance was when I moved here from Colorado.  Of course, I'm not driving in Denver traffic any more.  It also went down when I moved from the mountains to the city.  Not much, but it did go down.  

[Sharon]

That is one thing about DD getting married that I am looking forward to, no more teen driver on my car insurance.   A teen driver who had a little fender bender in a parking lot with a parked car no less.  My insurance will drop a lot, hopefully at least half if not more.

[TheOtherMe]

Talked to mom today and she had called the doctor for a refill of her prescription!  She also said "I am going to get better" and she said it with determination in her voice.

Sure made me feel better.  She coughs when she tries to talk, so I didn't talk to her for very long.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We had one kitten adopted today at Petco, a cutie pie fluffy tabby with white paws. I had an enjoyable 5 hours there cuddling kittens and answering phones and dealing with the public. The plan is to go again tomorrow and stay all day to help out. I need to remember to fill bird feeders, first!

My wonderful DH is due home around 1:30p on Sunday. In case I get distracted or busy, let me just wish all of the wonderful women here a "Happy Mother's Day" ... whether you have human kids or furry ones, or even just friends and grandkids! A very happy day to you all.

We're forecast for 98 tomorrow, 100 Sunday and 97 on Monday. And it's still early May. All I can say to that is "Holy Crap." (I know, I know, a bit graphic ... but SHEESH!)

I had a nice dinner out tonight with my girlfriend Stacey. We decided on chinese, and I came home with some leftover chow mein and mu shu chicken. We were hungry and ate the rest! Afterward, we watched a movie on DVD (she has Netflix) ... it was Pitch Perfect. (I don't recommend it ... the singing was good but the rest of the film was dreadful.)

I have laundry in the dryer.

I will probably be tired tomorrow after Petco, so will put off grocery shopping until Sunday morning. This way, I'll have some of my wonderful DH's favorite stuff on hand.

[marvholly]

My kids have their own kids and IL families to deal with for most holidays so we are getting together on the 18th - may end up being a combined celebration with my bday since DD2 is due shortly after my actual bday and it is VERY close to father's day.

Got both my state & federal income tax refunds in the last couple of weeks. That will help pay for my new a/c which is MUCH more $$$ than I anticipated.

I managed to miss the rain forecast on my shopping run Fri. It ended just before I left. However it was COLD here & not due to get much better for several days.

[mrsdutt]

The weather is nice, in the mod 80s.  DD3 is having a birthday party for the grand.  He's 3 today. 

I made the frosting for the cake because DD was sick.  She gave me a recipe that mirrored the one I use.  Only this one had more of everything in it and heavy cream.  Mine is good and even a bit more memorable, but this one is tremendous!

3 sticks of butter whipped until soft
ADD
1.5 t vanilla
3 T heavey cream
4.5 C confectioner sugar (a little at a time)

Beat until fluffy ( 3- 5 minutes)

Delish!

I also made a potato salad which is pretty good too.

Mother's Day will be spent at a brunch and laid back the rest of the day.

DD3 sent me books as a gift.  One of them I was planning on getting at the book store.  Nice surprise.

[Sharon]

That frosting recipe looks good but I would have a hard time parting with 3 stick of butter.  It appears that it would make quite a bit of frosting though.

I am hosting a BBQ tomorrow for mother's day.  Today I made a macaroni salad, a box angel food cake (which I frosted), and cleaned a variety of fruit for salad.  We will grill up some hamburgers.  I also picked up some fresh local strawberries at the farmers market today which we will have with the cake.  My sister is bringing chips. 

I am trying to keep everything very low key because I don't feel like working too hard tomorrow.

Angel food cake is the only cake that I make using a box mix.  I enjoy baking and always make cakes from scratch but somehow just don't feel like tackling an angel food cake with all those egg whites.  DD was even laughing at her high school graduation party that was the first cake that I had ever bought for her.

[TheOtherMe]

DS called.  She wanted to let me know she had talked to mom.  She is feeling "much better" and should have called for the refill on the prescription sooner.  You think?  At least she finally did it.  DS said she didn't cough once.  

I got a great night's sleep last night.  I realized it was the first good night's sleep I had gotten since mom got sick.  I think in the back of my mind, I thought this would be the end and she would never see their beautiful apartment.

I once had a secretary who sent me Mother's Day cards signed by my cats.  I loved receiving those.  I found three of Lucy''s toy mice yesterday.  We are down to one, which has been to the basement and back.

We might have frost tonight.  Yikes!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Mmmmm.... frosting.  (Yes, I'm easily distracted!)

We were 98 today and we're forecast for 101 tomorrow. Hmmm.....

I spent the day with kittens, and that was pretty nice ~ even if there weren't any adoptions. Some Saturdays are like that! We did help a lost dog find its owner (she was microchipped), signed up a new family to foster, and took in a 4 week old orphaned calico who we named Rainbow.

After Petco, I hit the Long John Silver's Drive Through since I was in the mood for fish and shrimpies. Yum.

I am currently washing the sheets, since I want fresh and clean sheets on the bed for my wonderful DH's homecoming tomorrow. If I get these dry tonight, I'll make the bed tonight. Otherwise, I'm camping because I don't feel like rummaging through the linen closet for different sheets. (Camping = sleeping on top of the bed without sheets ... but there is a mattress pad cover and a quilt ... and did I mention it's only cooled down to 86 degrees and 10:30pm?)  Yes, I'm a weirdo.

I'm fine with the fact that my cats don't celebrate Mothers Day with cards or gifts. If I could just keep them from barfing on my clean sheets, that would be something! (grin)

(I lost both of my parents in 2004 .... so we really don't celebrate holidays)

[marvholly]

Theotherme
DO NOT say frost.  I have HAD IT w/needing the heat on at near mid-May and we are usually 12-24 hr behind you for weather.

Molly
Enjoy having your DH back today - How long this time

[Sharon]

Molly enjoy your time today with your DH.

Everyone else have a great day. 

[TheOtherMe]

It got down to 32 this morning and the heat kicked in once or twice.  It was cold in here and I did need it on to get the chill off.  I have had it with this cold weather also, but I will be complaining about the heat when it arrives.  

I called mom to wish her Happy Mother's Day.  Her mind is racing a mile a minute about the move.  I told her to start making a list of all the things that need to be done and checking them off.   Yes, she definitely feels better.  

[Sharon]

Theo I am glad that your Mom is feeling better.  It will be nice for you and your Sis to have them close by and less worry for you knowing they are in a nice apartment.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

OK ... about an hour and 10 minutes until his plane lands ~ yay! He called from Denver and sounded tired (no surprise there, that's for sure!)

Holly, he should be home for a while ~ more or less. He has to go to San Antonio for a week in June for training, but otherwise I rather expect he'll be around all summer. After that? Who knows .... his career is rather up in the air with the planes moving to OKC and no word on whether there will be jobs there for the pilots. He isn't retirement eligible until 8-1-14 (that's NEXT August), so he may have to go somewhere to get orders/hours lasting through then ... or they may keep them on the books here even without a plane.... we'll see.

[mrsdutt]

THEO:  I'm happy to hear your mom is feeling better.  It sounds like she's getting excited about the move.

MOLLY:  I'll provide the frosting, if you have a spoon!   And just to let you know, I think everyone has 'camped' at one time or another. 

Give DH a hug for me and enjoy looking at him while he vegges in his favorite chair.

Brunch was great and even though everyone was tired from the party yesterday, they were in good humor.

My son sent me a box of some of my things.  At the bottom was a card and Bob's work measuring tape with his name scratched in it.  If you remember Bob left his tools to DS.  This was his gift to me. (Bob was a commercial building engineer.  If he didn't scratch his name into his tools, he wouldn't have them.  They'd end up in someone else's tool box.)

DD2 sent me the new Martha Stewart book.  Good thing I picked up the mail on the way to the book store to buy it.

DD3 gave me a flat of Yankee candles.  God bless her, she told me how exciting it was to find them on sale!  She's her mother's daughter!

DD1 gave me a basil plant and a planter for the kitchen.  She said she knew I would like it because I was always stealing hers from the back deck. So I guess I'm down to stealing the bay leaves only.

Good day.  Great nap.

[motherto2]

Happy Mom's day to all my mom friends - whether they were born or adopted (my littlest is curled up next to me ).  DS is home but has been feeling bad, so he didn't go to lunch with my mom and stepdad.  Had a nice lunch, and brought him home a dinner that he just ate.  I got to talk to DD for a bit.  Either one of us stays up late and the other gets up early, or vice versa.  But good to hear from her.  My stepdad is the best - he made me a gluten free brownie cake from scratch that was to die for.  Awesome!!!!

Molly - glad to hear your DH is back (I'm assuming he's back by now!).  That's great that he will spend most of the summer home.  Fingers crossed for the next year!

Theo, I am so glad that your folks are moving soon.  What a relief to hear your mom is coming around.  I hope your dad has a good report.

There is some dispute and uncertainty on whether DS has to report for his summer training on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I told him he needed to check on it because his paperwork was clear as mud.  I guess you can tell he didn't do it.  Now I'm going to be ticked if I go to work tomorrow and get a call to say he needs to be there Tuesday instead of Wednesday (I kept telling him his flights were on Wednesday but he kept insisting on Tuesday, so I was supposed to be off Monday and Tuesday since he has to be there at 0800 and we live over 4 hours from where he needs to be).  If I have to drive down tomorrow after getting up before 5 in the morning, mama ain't gonna be happy.  Time will tell!

[TheOtherMe]

We are doing the money part of this behind dad's back.  Mom is fine with it, but dad would never agree.  He wants the check in hand from the house sale before they move.  Anybody that has ever sold a house knows you have to be out of the house when you close--or arrange to rent it for a few days, which I have done.  He doesn't seem to get that his movers (grandsons) work and are only available on Saturdays.  Hence, the move is June 8 and the closing is set for June 14.

DS is going to put the 10% down and mom will pay the balance.  Mom does the check book and, right now, dad is in need of a hearing aid, so he won't hear any of the conversation.  Mom is worried they can't pay the first month's rent.  When I told her it is pro-rated, she sounded relieved.  The only installation they will have to pay for is a telephone.  That is their only household bill outside of their rent.  

If dad sells the car (DS is thinking of buying it and having newlywed son make payments to her to buy it), that would give them more of a cushion.  Mom and dad shouldn't be selling anything on time at age 89.  

[marvholly]

Yesterdaay I made myself a 'treat' dinner - NY strip steak, baked potato & ceasar salad (bag).

Today is an inhouse day - dw is currently running.

Tue will be an errand day- started a list of stops on Sun, had 3; now up to 6.  Wonder how many it will end up being.

Foiund a couple new recipes I want to make on the internet over the last 2 days and AMAZINGLY I do have everything on hand.  Both end up prepping about 4 servings so I will only do 1 this week.

[Sharon]

Monday again.  I only have to work 4 day this week which will be nice.  Actually I will be counting them down, I am ready for a long weekend.

[Sharon]

Today was much cooler than recent days and very windy.  We did not get very much rain but it did shower a little bit over night.  I could not sleep last night so tonight I plan on going to bed early.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Yay for getting stuff done today!

I needed to staff the Petco Adoption Center for 3 hours this afternoon, so my wonderful DH tagged along. (Kittens to play with!) My car's oil has been changed and tires rotated/balanced (while we were at Petco), we got a lot done AT Petco (yay!), we went out for a Welcome Home dinner afterward (yay), my wonderful DH got the broken sprinkler fixed (yay) and now he's getting unpacked. After working 21 days straight and travelling 10,000 miles, he was glad he got today off. But, it's short-lived ... he's flying missions again starting tomorrow morning.

We hit 100 again today, but only 95 tomorrow!

I need to pay bills tomorrow.

[motherto2]

Well, DS is safely ensconced in Marine life again.  What I figured would happen did - he found out around noon that he needed to be in Roanoke to report today at 0800.  So I was at work, hurried up and finished some things, came home, helped him get packed up (surprise, he still needed some things, and lo and behold, didn't have some of his uniform stuff he needed to take with him).  Nothing like waiting til the last minute, right?  His saving grace was one of the guys he went to boot camp last summer can't go = he has a hip issue.  So, we swung by the school last night, went and got his stuff, and headed to Roanoke.  We had to stop in town to add me to his bank account to transfer money for his bills, and he realized while we were there that he didn't have his dog tags, so we had to drive back home and then go back to town ( we drive through town on our way to Lexington/Roanoke).  Got there around 11 or so last night.  Quite by mistake we ended up at the same hotel we stayed at last summer when he had to report to his unit after his boot camp graduation.  We had to change to three different rooms that first trip - first one was already given to someone else, second one was disgustingly dirty, and the third was ok (not great, but doable).  Get to the first room last night, and then toilet didn't work, so had to move to another room.  Absolutely ridiculous, especially when you pay so much.  We could have stayed at the Howard Johnson right next door for $39.99 and would have had at least the same quality.  Now, I know .

DD sent a pic of an award and patch that she earned for getting a perfect 300 on her pt test.  How exciting for her!  She's such a gym rat.  I sure wish I was like that.  She said she's been told that switching from reserve to active is going to be just as difficult while on active duty as it was from her reserve unit.  I told her she has nothing but time right now, so try to do it.  If she can't get switched, she can go ahead and finish her years of reserve and then get out, and go back in.  It will give her time to go to school to get her Physician's Assistant degree, then when she goes back in she can change to a different position.

Tomorrow is stepdad's birthday, and Thursday is DD's birthday.  Sure am missing her this week!

[Sharon]

Mother at least it wasn't too much of a surprise that your DS had to report today.  When will kids learn that Mom's do know something?  Congrats on your DD's award.  Why is that some people get all the gym inspiration, ability etc, while some of us get none of it.


I talked with DD a little bit on FB this evening.  It is so good to finally see her be happy.  The last year and half has been hard on both of us.  It is so hard as a Mom to know that your kid is miserable and yet you can't really fix it or they won't let you fix it.  They need to learn on their own.  DD is loving her apartment and apparently the manager is loving her as a tenant.  She was afraid that the manager would be upset that she took the hose and hosed off her patio/walkway and cleaned all the moss off.  She also cleaned up all the pine needles that were in between the parking bumpers and the curb.  They kept tracking into her apt so she swept them all up.  The previous tenant left a flower pot by her door and she has gotten some pansies and planted them in it.

The landlord told her he didn't have any issues with a tenant who not only paid her rent on time but also kept everything neat and tidy and tried to make the whole complex look nice.

Tonight she was busy fixing her fiance a nice dinner.  They were having lemon and garlic chicken with potatoes, green beans and broccoli.  I told her I would be right over.  That was way better then my chicken pot pie.