Today I Am . . .

by Katy on December 11, 2014 · 24 comments

Today I am . . . 

  • Picking up a $26 check from the kids’ consignment shop. I’d brought in my son’s collection of Starbucks Bearistas a few months back, which of course had all been from Goodwill to begin with.
  • Annoyed that I forgot to stop by The Dollar Tree on my way home since I want to mix up a double batch of ginger snaps and their molasses is cheaper than at the grocery store.
  • Pleased that I figured out a good Hanukah gift for my fifteen-year-old nephew. I bought him two pairs of what I call “The Nike Placebo Socks” (Nike Elite sports socks) as I know my sister is too practical to ever fork out $18 for a single pair of socks. Then again so am I, so it’s good I have lots of Amazon $5 gift cards from using Swag Bucks. I’m still going strong on my Zero Dollar Christmas!
  • Happy to receive my “Free Turkey or Ham” gift certificate that my employer sends out every year. I always get the spiral-cut ham since it’s something I would never normally splurge on. Plus I stretch that thing within an inch of its life!
  • Enjoying my Christmas tree, as we discovered a nearby lot where every tree was priced at twenty bucks! Gotta love living in Oregon!
  • Looking forward to tonight’s episode of Project Runway All Stars. You know I’m a fan of Portland’s own Michele Lesniak!
  • Super super bummed that I spilled a fair amount of my leftover soup from eating out with my father yesterday. I had deliberately eaten very lightly so that I would have enough soup leftover to share with the kids, so spilling even the cup or so onto the floor was a stab in the heart. And especially because it was from Jade in Sellwood, and their food is worth more than gold!
  • Now your turn. What are you doing today?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

Vickie December 11, 2014 at 12:31 pm

Today I ate a wonderful lunch for free!
Our annual Winter I.T. Department meeting on Campus includes a free lunch – Marriott buffet – with prizes given to some lucky co-workers who guessed the annual stats correctly. Techies love stats!

I had ordered some replacement toner and the package included a $100 wine voucher for nackedwines.com. Well, they don’t deliver in Oklahoma, but they do in Hawaii, so I’ll mail it in a Christmas card to my SIL & BIL .

I’m jamming to some great Jazz music on Jango – I love free online music!
It makes the day go so much faster. 🙂

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Randi December 11, 2014 at 3:55 pm

the 100 dollar voucher is a joke. Its not really good for 100.00, it might be taken off 200.00. Check the fine print.

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Vickie December 12, 2014 at 12:03 pm

Oh well, I figured there was some gimmick to it. I sent it on in the card. They are both extremely smart so I’m sure they’ll figure it out. thanks!

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Lisa December 11, 2014 at 12:48 pm

-I carpooled to the grocery outlet. I do this regularly and this time it was not my turn to drive. A full cart was $46. Because I meal-planned before going, I knew what we needed and what I had to stop at the regular grocery store.
– I caved and bought a king-sized blanket. I’ve been trying I get by with two smaller blankets but end up getting tangled or wake up freezing. The heat upstairs is set at a very brisk 55 degrees. I’m disappointed that I ended up buying the blanket retail, but I’m at the point where I’m going to turn up that damn thermostat, which will cost me more than the blanket.
– The rest of my day off will be spent making some dishes that my sons will take to school for lunch. In winter they like to break out the thermoses, and I want to encourage that so I have a pot of chili going alongside a pot of mac& cheese. The other benefit of this plan is that I won’t eat either dish, not should I. But the teen jocks can take the calories.
– my youngest will have a haircut later today. He’s getting a proper cut every 3rd cut, and I trim in between. That means 2-3 professional but per year instead of 6-7, saving at least $140 per year per kid.

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Emily @ Simple Cheap Mom December 11, 2014 at 1:10 pm

Today I’m
-relaxing at Grandma’s. it’s great.

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K D December 11, 2014 at 1:20 pm

Today I am exhausted:

I went for a walk at 5:00 am with my hard working husband.

I had my annual gynecological appointment early this morning, followed by my annual mammogram. Then I met up with friends for some crafting and our annual holiday lunch.

While I was out and had a few minutes between appointments I stopped by a bread shop that I had an old EverSave voucher for (purchased in 2011 and the promotional value expired in early 2012). They let me have the purchase price value so I scored a loaf of Challah bread for $.50.

I woke up with a sore throat so I am trying everything I can to chase it away: generic Cold-eeze and Airborne, ibuprofen, and cayenne and lime juice in water. I can’t say that I’m feeling a lot better but I’ll keep hitting it. I don’t want to be sick.

I’m contemplating whether to send holiday cards this year.

Dinner will be leftover soup and muffins.

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Joyce December 11, 2014 at 3:35 pm

–I used my usual 30 minute exercise session to shovel the sidewalks and clean off our car (Since yesterday morning there is 20 inches of snow in Syracuse). Yay! Free exercise!!
–Stayed 4 extra hours at work since there were not enough nurses. Cha ching!
–Free breakfast at my Secretary Meeting
–Free dinner compliments of a nurse who also stayed longer than their scheduled shift.

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Tonya December 11, 2014 at 3:46 pm

Today I packed my lunch to take to work, I’m cooking at home for dinner, and am looking forward to the weekend (I don’t work on Fridays). I love my 3 day weekends and I love that because of frugal choices I don’t have to work full-time.

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Rowen G. December 11, 2014 at 3:58 pm

Having a square of home-made gingerbread with a glass of sherry. I made the gingerbread for a “Christmas Tea” this past weekend, and there were a few pieces left. (It’s a family recipe which is very close to one I found in an 18th century cookbook.)

Pleased that all my holiday cards are mailed. I got three almost-complete lovely packs at the local thrift store, ($.99 ea.) plus two more acquired at an estate sale ($.25 ea.) More cards than I needed, but I tracked which one I sent to which person, and people will get different ones next year, without my needing to buy more.

Sold a Mullingar Irish pewter mug I got at the thrift store last summer; that model retails for about $70; I paid $8, and sold it for $50.

Also pleased that my holiday shopping is essentially done, as I’ve been stashing thrifted/estate sale things all year. Just need to visit my local garden center for an African violet for a friend (her furnace went out, and hers all died) which I’ll repot into a handsome pot I found sitting next to the dumpster last summer.

Rummaging in my fabric stash to make a new nightgown – my old winter one is so threadbare it actually split up the back. (Well, I made it in 2009.) There’s a nice piece of tartan flannel destined to become a new nightgown.

Sautéing some leftover chicken with caramelized onions and peas for dinner.

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Su Mama December 11, 2014 at 4:23 pm

1. Being calm and semi-productive on a day that’s predicted to give us a tremendous windstorm. It’s intermittently “highly breezy,” and the poor doggie, who’s very sensitive to weather changes, is cowering under the bed.

2. Feeling good about Christmas preparations. My most complicated box got sent off a couple of days ago to my much-adored brother and his family in Nebraska — nine people and one dog! My off-and-on recuperation from months-ago knee replacement has resulted in a take-it-a-day-at-a-time outlook, mood and energy daily unpredictable. Heaps of cut holly and various greenery await packaging on the porch, to be sent to various friends and family. (I-can-do-it, I-can-do-it . . . . )

3. Just found out that an article I wrote, my last assignment (pre-oral exam) for my masters in Textile History, has been sent off to Wikipedia. That thing was one mutha to write around the surgeries!

4. Laundry. How can two people generate so much? I remain madly in love with our triple-loader washer and dryer, which makes doing the massive laundry for the guest cottages if not exactly a snap, very much do-able.

5. Feeling almost-religious gratitude for having such a wonderful family that includes a very attentive and loving husband, two ditto daughters, and four insanely adorable grandchildren.

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Anne December 11, 2014 at 5:14 pm

Su Mama, I was interested to hear about your on/off recuperation from knee replacement surgery. Husband had his on 10/20 and for the first two weeks he was setting land speed records for recovery, completely skipping over any home therapy and going straight to P.T. We thought he would be running marathons by Thanksgiving. 😀

The he hits the wall.

Now, he’s slowed waaaaaaaay down, sleeps more than he used to and has some pain a lot of the time. I think we expected way too much, way too soon, so it is comforting to hear your report that slow and steady is the way it will happen. Thanks again for your report.

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Su Mama December 11, 2014 at 5:52 pm

Yeah . . . when, in the midst of post-op complaining to my doctor, I said that my SIL says she was back to normal two weeks after HER knee replacement, I loved his dry reply “She mis-remembers.” I’ve been told it can take up to a year to be pain-free. And from my experience, that’s about right. (Mind you, post-PT, I have NOT been good about doing the exercises, so it’s kind of my own dang fault, right?)

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Renee December 11, 2014 at 5:17 pm

Ham recipes, please? I bought one for Thanksgiving weekend when we had family in town and surprisingly, we didn’t make much of a dent in it. Also, how long do they last…

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Katy December 11, 2014 at 6:35 pm

Chop it up for frittatas, save the meaty bone for split pea soup. Sandwiches. What else? Hmm . . .

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momsav December 12, 2014 at 4:16 am

Use that chopped up ham for omelets, add some to au gratin potatoes, quiche. I would freeze it in small portions to use over the coming months. Hams are good for a long time.

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Vickie December 12, 2014 at 12:47 pm

I chunk it up with a bag of coleslaw mix (cabbage mix – minus the dressing), season it with Soul Seasoning, put it in my cast iron frying pan, pour some olive oil over it and fry the the mixture. If you love fried cabbage, it’s awesome!

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Kelly in MA December 15, 2014 at 1:42 pm

Hams (and the bones) also freeze really well. I work for Hormel, here is the website with lots for really good ideas. We also have a great recipe for a ham and cheese pull apart bread that is to die for. In my sales office we end up taste testing a lot of things and this bread goes like wild fire every time.

http://hormel.com/Recipes.aspx

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Kelly in MA December 15, 2014 at 1:46 pm

Katie, I can’t seem to post the recipe here without having to type it all out. If I email you a PDF scan can you email a copy to Renee? The email will be from my @hormel.com address.

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marie December 12, 2014 at 6:31 am

Watched the wind blow!! We had a huge wind storm and stood out on the back deck and listened to alder trees blow over. They sounded like matchsticks breaking, very exciting.
Then the power went out, So I opened up canned chili, and warmed it on the woodstove for so husband had something to eat. His 1 hour commute took over 3 hours with all the power lines and tree branches down!

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Betsey December 12, 2014 at 6:39 am

I am hosting a luncheon for my 94 year old mother and some of her friends. I am serving turkey chili, cornbread muffins, and ice cream for dessert.
Later I will go to a friend’s house and watch a video, relax, and eat popcorn.
I had one of those dreams that seem so real. In it I had my purse stolen on vacation, had to call credit card companies, and get a new driver’s license. When I awoke, I was so happy it was just a dream, but I wrote down all the numbers on the back of the cards so I had easy access to them. Believe me, it isn’t easy to report them stolen without an exact number.

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Shona December 12, 2014 at 7:21 am

Day 2 of refinancing my house to drop my rates nearly 2% points.

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Lisa December 12, 2014 at 11:09 am

Working until 4:30pm.
Picking my kids up from a friend’s house.
Using a Groupon to have dinner with my family at a new burger place that we’ve been wanting to try.

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Diane December 13, 2014 at 5:01 am

Staying out of stores….making merry at home….taking my granddaughter to lunch at Panera with a free gift card and wishing to see sunshine after days of dreary gray.

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Jessica December 16, 2014 at 12:43 am

Spilling soup from Jade is a shame, my kiddos favorite pho! And don’t get me started on their desserts!

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