Whoa - It's December Already!

 Wouldn't it be loverly?

I would like to be organized, I would like to be focused, I would like to remember my bright ideas for posts long enough for me to jot them down - but it seems that I just can't pull it together. I need a little life coach who will sit on my shoulder and whisper in my ear the things I should be doing every day, and a big life coach to sit on my depressed husband's shoulder so he will get off his butt and take advantage of a dry weekend to sweep the chimney so we can burn wood this Winter.* It just feels warmer than the gas furnace does, and I am cold all the time. Cold, I tell you. And the only thing worse for me than being too hot is being too cold. It definitely is more uncomfortable and, as you may be able to tell, makes me grouchy. I'll try to get beyond that for you all.

We went grocery shopping last night, and I noticed two things: my walking is definitely getting slower since I went off the Copaxone and the price of groceries seems to have gone up again. First the walking. I know I haven't been doing much of anything for some time, but I could always count on being able to get up and grab my crutch and move from one place to another fairly smoothly. Lately, not so much. I take two are three tries to get solidly on my two feet, then tentatively take a step or two to assess my balance, then slowly walk to the kitchen, bathroom, wherever. This slowness has happened gradually since I stopped taking the Copaxone shots, so that's what makes me think there's a connection. I guess the only way to check it out is to start using them again, but oh I do not WANT to. I cringe at the thought of it, but it IS the only way to be sure. 

And the grocery bill last night was $179 and cents! Granted it included a $25 mattress pad, and a $7 box of Christmas cards - but still, that seems like a lot to me. The milk was on sale for $2 a gallon and the bananas were just .39/#. We got 18 frozen entrees because neither of us cooks much anymore, some frozen veggies, tofu, and spaghetti sauce which will make 6-8 more meals; and we got some cookies on sale that had no partially hydrogenated oil and some mini donuts on sale that did! (I was hungry when we went to the store - need I say more?) I grabbed a frozen pizza for $4 which counts as two more meals. So, aside for a very few non-edibles that's what it cost. And I, for one, think that's terribly ridiculous! I thank God that I qualify for Food Stamps, because I know we wouldn't be making it without them.

Come to think about it, We live a very frugal life. I like to say, "We don't go anywhere, we don't do anything."  It's not far from the truth. We get the most basic of cable TV service, with just the local stations and AMC, Fox movies , and the Food channel, plus a Spanish channel and a couple political, Christian and shopping channels just for shits and grins. We have the necessary internet connection - my lifeline to all of you, and two at a time Netflix. I go to lunch with the girls once or twice a month. I exchange a scant few presents at Christmas time, and I mostly keep the balance on my charge card below $1000. DH cuts his own hair because I am lousy at it, and I get mine cut two or three times a year. I like the way my gray is coming in, so I have no need to have it colored. I'm a simple girl who has no need nor desire for a weekly mani-pedi and a spa treatment, but oh what I wouldn't give to get a regular massage!

I used to go to Starbuck's on a regular basis, but that was when I was still working. About 18 years ago, not long after we moved into this house, we bought a Krups Novo, the precursor to the Barista home espresso machine. It made great lattes and broke my going out for coffee habit. After about nine years, the machine started wearing down so DH went to an appliance repair shop (remember those?) and got a few parts for it and it worked  well for several more years, actually, but in recent months our Krups finally gave up the ghost.  Fortunately, my sister-in-law told me she was willing to give me hers (which is the same age as ours, but has been used only two or three times), and I readily accepted. After all, my brother does owe me money he can't pay me, and I have hinted that mine was dying a slow death. So now I am the happy owner of a new, old espresso machine that works! Gee, it almost feels like Christmas. 

 Well, that's it for now. It's only taken me three days to finish and post this, alas.

Good Night, TTYL and Be Well





*I just got the gas bill and we used $96 worth of gas from 11/1 - 11/24! When we burned in the wood stove I never paid more than $15/month. We had a source of free dry wood from a place that makes staircases and such that is about a mile away. DH would go two or three times a week to get free wood, with a lot of hardwood in the mix. Just sayin'.