They Went That-a-Way...

Lots of chores to squeeze in today.  SM went with me to do post-ops and then we went to Trader Joe's and Sam's Club.

This buying groceries once a month thing is way harder than it looks.  My hat is off to everyone who does it on a routine basis.  You must run your households like clockwork.  Understanding where all the food is going, input and output...Now that's talent.  I can understand how meal planning can really help you out when making the decision what to purchase and when. 

At 3 weeks into our experiment, we needed to go shopping again.  Not for everything but for many things that I just didn't plan well for.  I suspect that given several months of "bulk buying" we'll get much better at this.  Plus, we really need to get a stocked up pantry and this is not something you can do overnight. 

I used to think that I kept enough food on hand to keep us going for several weeks.  Ha!  I now know better.  

It's truly weird filling up a whole cart full of groceries.  SM joked that the Buick was riding real low from the weight of all our stuff.  This time I took a notepad so I could keep track of current prices.  I did this about 3 years ago in 2008 and it really opened my eyes to how expensive the local groceries stores are.  Coupons and loss leaders can take you only so far.  If all I ate was processed pre-made crap than I suppose I could save alot.  But I like to cook and basic staples, fresh fruit, meats and veggies rarely come with a coupon. 

If you can make the room for storing all of your purchases than bulk buying is really the way to go.  We have come to the conclusion that we really need to buy a freezer for additional cold storage.

After we got home and tossed the food into the house, we went back outside to tackle the last of the tree trimming.  We only got a couple of limbs down and our neighbor James came over with a handy little chainsaw that was attached to his weed-wacker.  (Men and their toys!)  I let the boys take over and other than my colorful and annoying commentary (ie: screams, gasps and "look-outs") the job was safely completed to everyones satisfaction. 

Lollipop anyone?

(*Whew... Next time we'll pay somebody to do that.  Too nerve wracking.  I still hope the frickin thing just DIES from a severe case of pruning and then I won't have to worry about it anymore.)

Must remember to make some cookies tomorrow to say "Thanks" to our good neighbors for helping us out.

After picking up the tree limbs, I went back in and took a shower.  Stinky gasoline smell from that chainsaw.  Phew!

SM stayed outside and gave the Jeep an overdue spark-plug change.  He says it runs like a top now.  215,000 miles on it.  She'll stick around for another thousand if we're lucky.

I then attacked the housework, laundry and stuck another ham in the oven.  Pre-sliced sandwich meat is way too expensive anymore.  Buy the ham, cut the meat up for sammies and tomorrow I'll make soup with the bone and some dried beans I just put on to soak.

SM felt that a bonfire was in order tonight.  So about 4:30 he went out and started burning limbs from the pear tree.  We've got a bit of a breeze so, while there's plenty of smoke, it appears to be lifting up and out quickly.  None of the neighbors are yelling at us yet :)

At 5:45 he asked for a beer.

I expect he'll be lighting up a cigar before too long.

Ahhhh...the good life.