8-31-11

6:25am

Yesterday after work Tony stopped by Kroger to pick
up my newest med that the doctor called in for me.
I about crapped myself when he called to tell
me my prescription was $100. I was waiting for
him to say, just kidding, like he usually does,
BUT it was for real.
Tony asked the pharmacist if our insurance even
covered some of it because that seemed really, really high,
and the pharmacist said, yes it did, it was normally $746!!!
What the hell is in medicine to make it cost that much???

Anyways I am supposed to take that medicine, 2 pills
4 times a day, for a total of 8 pills daily along
with my potassium medicine.
The two bottles are supposed to last me a month
and it says I have 2 refills, AHHH, another $200!

I started feeling really crappy yesterday evening.
I felt dizzy and like I lost half the muscle
strength in my right forearm and felt like my
mind was scrambled. Tony would tell me something
2-3 times before I would understand him.
It's hard to explain. And my thoughts would be in my
head as to what I wanted to say but it was a little
hard for me to say them. It was like my brain
and mouth became disconnected and didn't
want to work with one another. But good news was it
all seemed to let up before bed. I don't know if
it was my new medicine doing it or what it was.

I got up this morning and went straight for the
ibuprofen. My body is hurting all over. I thought
if this is what I feel like at 40 years old I'm not
looking forward to my senior years. Just take me
out to the pasture and shoot me then!

Last night, or should I say morning because it
was around 12:30am, I awoke to what felt like something
clawing at my forearm. It was the freaking white gerbil
again who got out of his cage. I jumped knocking her
off the bed and onto the floor between the bed and wall.
I leaned over to grab her and being half asleep and not
thinking well, I leaned over too far and banged my head
on wall. There's probably not even a foot from the side
of our bed to the wall. Anyway it was loud enough to wake
Tony up, lol. I didn't catch her and got up and chased her
all the way down the hall and into the kitchen where she
went up under the stove. I grabbed a broom and jiggled it
around and she came out only to run into a small crack
beside the dishwasher. At that point I gave up and said
the heck with it. I went over the the gerbil cage to
check to see if the other gerbil was still in there and
she was. I then returned to bed thinking I'd have to
tell the kids their gerbil is running around the house
somewhere and got out.

This morning I took Christopher to his bus stop and
came home and got Jonathan up. Jonathan was sitting
on the couch and Tony was getting ready to leave
for work. Jonathan, not knowing about anything that
happened last night with his gerbil, was making fun
of a gerbil in the cage this morning. I looked over
to the cage and that BLEEP DE BLEEP BLEEP gerbil that
got out last night managed to climb back in his
cage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There she was running around
digging in the shredded up newspaper. Tony now
thinks I've lost my mind telling him about the gerbil
getting out in the wee hours of the morning. I know
I wasn't imagining it. I woke Tony up in the night
to tell him what was going on with the gerbil
and said it had gotten out. I know detail for detail
as to what happened.

You know the first time that same gerbil got out about
a month ago it could have ran anywhere in the house.
It bipassed the kitchen, living room, dining room,
bathroom and two bedrooms to come to my bedroom
and managed to climb up to my shelf
beside the bed trying to jump into bed with me.
It woke me up because it was knocking stuff off
my shelf trying to jump on the bed.
I had Christopher help me get it caught
and returned to the cage. I just thought it was
a coincidence that it came to me in the bedroom
where I was sleeping. Tony now kids with me that
the gerbil loves me and wants to snuggle with me at night.
BUT to have it happen a second time????
Get out of it's cage and actually get into bed with me WTF???
Years ago I had hamsters that would get out of their
cage and they would never be seen again. Those who think
these critters aren't all that smart better think twice!!

-------------------------------------------

Play Suave Professionals Can You Tell Game

You’ll need to watch videos and decide if you agree with the stylist regarding which person used Suave Professionals products and which person used salon products.
I've read where people have won 1 to 8 products
playing this game to winning products for an entire year.
So who knows, doesn't hurt to play and try to win.

The answers are for each video-

Wake Up- B
Sleep Over- B
Water Works- A
Road Trip – A
Men at Work – A
Wind Storm – A
Get Fit – B
Hot & Humid – A

----------------------------------------------

1:45pm

I laid down this morning and took about a 3 or so hour nap.
The phone has been quiet other than Tony calling around 11am.
I have had a hard time laying down this week and napping
due to the phone ringing or someone knocking at the door.

Thank you Kendra for dropping off the grocery items
and coupons! I really appreciate them!!

Got up and took my newest med then had mom call
the pharmacy for me to see if I could take
ibuprofen with it. Come to find out I cannot
take ibuprofen, asprin or naproxin with this
medicine because it could act as a blood thinner.
I can take Tylenol though which is great that
I get to take some kind of pain medication because
I don't think I could go without it without
becoming a real bear trying to deal with any pain.
At least today I didn't get any side affects
like I did last night after taking my medicine.
I was wondering if it was because I took ibuprofen
right before taking it that had me acting the way I did
with confusion, muscle loss and so on.

For supper I threw something easy in the crock pot,
some pork kabobs. I sprinkled them with some
steak rub seasoning. Maybe make up some mashed potatoes
and a can of corn. I put in 4 kabobs and that's
probably way to much to make for one meal for four of us
but hey the leftovers can always be made into tomorrow's
supper.

------------------------------------------------

I was reading an article in the Farmer's Almanac about
this coming Winter. I like to see how well they can
forecast the weather. This is what they say about
the Winter for the beginning of 2012 for Ohio-

A very active storm track will bring much heavier-than-normal precipitation from the Southern Plains through Tennessee into Ohio, the Great Lakes, and the Northeast. Because of above normal temperatures, much of the precipitation will likely be rain or mixed precipitation, although, during February, some potent East Coast storms could leave heavy snow, albeit of a wet and slushy consistency.

--------------------------------------------------

4:10pm

Doctor's office called and is trying to set up
a colonoscopy appointment for me. I've never had
one before so know nothing about what goes on with it.
Well I'm finding out from the nurse that it takes
3-5 hours to do one. Great, now I have to figure out
what to do with kids getting off the bus. Tony is
at work, mom will more than likely be with me
while I have the procedure done so that leaves
possibly grandpa. I'm trying to picture grandpa
babysitting my two kids and the visualization
is kinda blurry, lol. So who knows. Between schools
and doctors, they all think you can just drop what
you are doing and do whatever they tell you to.

HERE'S a video about a colonoscopy procedure.
This does not look like something I look
forward to having done!

--------------------------------------------

8-30-11

8:30am

Think I'll head back to bed this morning because
I feel so tired. I went to bed at normal time last night
but still not feeling up to par this morning.
Add in that time of the month with the aches and
pains along with tiredness I've been having
and I feel like all that has double at the moment.
Double tired & double aches & pains.


-----------------------------------------------

10:00am

My doctor's office called. They want me to stop taking
my one med for diarrhea and cramps and take this
newest med that I pick up tonight from Kroger
for inflammation in the bowels.
They said they still have test results that haven't
come back yet so who knows what else they'll find.
My cat scan Friday she said should be looking to
see if I have Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis,
and things of that sort.

I had to call my insurance to see if I needed
preapproval for a cat scan and colonoscopy, which I don't,
but what a pain it is with everything you have to go
through on the phone just to be able to talk
to an actual person.

I wonder why it is you can get a regular colonoscopy
as part of your regular check up each year and they
will cover 100% of that but if you need one to
check out a diagnosis of something you already have
to see if there could be something else then
they only pay 80% of it. Doesn't make sense.

My head is spinning trying to figure out my insurance,
doctor visits, appointments, test results, getting tests done and so on.
I have to take notes along the way and sometimes they
don't even make sense. That's why I write some
things on my blog about it. I could loose track of
my notes or forget something.

Now I need to mapquest the address of where my
cat scan appointment is. I still might ask Tony
if we can make a trial run to the place so
I know exactly where I am going and where I need to park.
Mom will be going with me.
It's someplace called Dawn Hall around the OSU medical area.
According to the map it doesn't seem like it's
far from the new Kroger we went to the other day.
Looks to be across the street maybe from OSU hospital?

---------------------------------------


11:45 - 12:45pm

Got some of my banana bread in the oven.
See my recipe HERE.
I made it a little different this time.
I upped the peanut butter to almost a half cup,
and also added 1/4 cup Nutella to the topping mix.
Instead of chocolate chips I grated up
some Hershey chocolate bars.
And instead of making loaves of bread I am
making them in a cupcake pan but using the
same layering like the bread.
I only used 4 of the 8 Hershey bars grated up.
They were somewhere between a mini and regular sized bar.
Any remaining grated chocolate I put on top.
I was able to make 24 of them.

I know I need to up my potassium but I don't
like to eat bananas plain. I do like this banana bread though

-----------------------------------------------

9-29-11

10:00am

Me and mom went over to Meijers this morning.
I spent $14.95 and saved almost $12. I didn't
have much to get nor did I have that many coupons.
My deal I found at Meijers was
I got 7.34 pounds of grapes for $2.20.

I got supper started in the crock pot- beef stew.

I took half of a large onion and pureed it
in my mini blender. This blender is so cute
and just the right size to keep on the counter for cooking.
I found it in the skip out apartment at my honey's work.
Anyway, I pureed the onion instead of chopping it
because my kids don't like when I put onions into things.

I used these ingredients-

1 small package of steak meat, cut into small pieces .66 cents
(never mind the discoloring on it as I had just thawed it in the microwave)

1/2 of a large onion pureed .15 cents

2 packets of brown gravy mix $1.00

4 cups water

1 pound baby carrots .80 cents

3 potatoes cut up and cubed .60 cents

2 cans Dinty Moore beef stew $3.38

Total cost- $7.59
should make 2 meals, one to eat today, one to freeze.
So $3.79 per meal.

--------------------------------------

10:20am

So glad that the trip to Meijers today was a very small one.
I started feeling crappy in the store with some dizzy spells
and felt like someone had zapped the energy out of me once again, very weak.
I also started getting very cold hands and nose.

Once home I threw supper in the crock and now are trying
to eat something so I can take my potassium medicine.
That stuff is nasty to drink even mixed with juice! Ahh!
Once I take that I'll wait a half hour then go lay down.
One of the warnings on the box of meds is not to lay down
right after taking it so I have to wait.

I'm having Tony take my stool sample to the doctor's today
since doc is right around the corner from his work.
I packed it up in a brown paper lunch bag.
Then I said to him, could you imagine if you stuck
that in your fridge at work and someone tried to take
it thinking it was someone's lunch? Ok I know, that's
disgusting but had to get a chuckle thinking about it, lol.

10:30am

I got a call from Kroger pharmacy asking if I could
pick up a prescription tomorrow that they don't have
the full amount today. For starters I wasn't even aware
of another prescription and then I asked what this
other prescription was for. The pharmacist said
it was for a bowel disorder. It's supposed to help
with inflammation of the bowels and help diarrhea as well.
I just checked my caller ID since I wasn't home this morning
to see if my doctor's office had called to tell
me another prescription was sent in and they didn't call.
Now if it wasn't for the pharmacy calling, how
was I even to know I had another prescription???

-------------------------------------

11:55am

The doctor's office just called.
The nurse said the tests came back abnormal.
At the moment the reason for the other prescription
is because they said I have IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
This pill is supposed to be for inflammation in the intestines?
I have an appointment to go back to the doctor's next Friday.
Then they are going to start setting me up for more
appointments to have a cat scan and a colonoscopy done.
They want to find out if I have Inflamatory Bowel Disease,
Crohn's Disease, Ciliac Disease or whatever else there may
be. I'm having a hard time trying to remember everything
they tell me with weird names and figuring out how
they are spelled so I can research them. Some I've heard of
but don't know a lot about. I'm half asleep at the moment
and trying to let this all sink in. I don't like all these
words with "diseases" in them. Not sure whether I should worry
or not. It's kind of confusing at the moment.

Ok I'm going back to bed now. I was asleep when the doctor's office
called.

-----------------------------------------------

12:45pm

Well so much for going back to sleep. I got as far as lying down
when I heard this really loud noise outside. I kinda knew what
it was considering we lived very close to Don Scott Airport at one time.

Then comes the mailman. I'm starting not to like him!
Doctor bills seem to coming out of nowhere! I mean I literally don't
know what they are even for. I thought I had most paid off except for
a few that were under $50. So how does one explain these mystery
bills that one has never seen before but they are about to put
you into collections if you don't pay them in the next 30 days???!!!

I thought I had a $32 one and one for $7 to pay everything off.
Next comes one for $374,
another one for $83.21
another one for $83.21 (different bills, I checked the account #'s)
and yet another one for $165.24

I now have $744.66 to pay on MORE doctor bills!!

In 11 months I have shelled out almost $3,000 for doctor bills alone.
Now another $744.66???????

I am tapped out!! I'm lucky now to be able to pay for our
regular bills along with other expenses like food, school things.
I got holidays coming up in the near future.
The bank account dwindles down further each day!

I don't have Irritable Bowl Syndrome I have Irritable Bill Syndrome!!
And they wonder why I have it. STRESS!!!

Where in the hell am I supposed to find money for cat scans
and colonoscopies and whatever other testing they want to
do or any more meds they want to put me on????? I feel like
just dealing with it on my own and if I keel over, oh well,
it's much cheaper!

We pay about $450 a month for health insurance,
that's at least $5,400 a year. And even with
health insurance, going to the doctor is going to put us broke.
People tell me all the time, go to the doctor to get checked
out, you have health insurance. HA HA and double HA!
Between health insurance and doctor bills we've shelled
out over $9,000 in the last year and who's to say
there's not any more of these mystery bills to come.
This DOES NOT even include any copays or prescriptions we've paid for!!

I see a car going back on the market for sale again.
I don't know what else to do. It was $2,500 with
carberatur problems, now it's $3,000 with everything fixed
like another carb, no more flat tire, and another battery.
I'll just have to pray to God that we find a buyer
for it to fix our financial problems at the moment
because I see it as our only way out at the moment.
Either that or another really good bonus from Tony's work.

Yes I am stressed, yes I am sick, yes I am rambling to
no end with endless thoughts going through my head.
Oh well. Don't like it, there's a little x in the
upper right hand corner to click it all off.
Wish the bills had one of those on them!!
Delete would be even better!

-----------------------------------------


1:50pm

Trying to take my mind of things by cooking at the moment.
It's either that or I feel like my survival mode has kicked
in and I need to cook up stuff to make sure the freezer
is stocked with food.

We had lasagna for two days this past weekend so I'm
putting the leftovers into the freezer. Don't want
anything to go to waste.

I also started cutting up and boiling my potatoes
and carrots. There's probably more carrots and potatoes
in my beef stew than anything else. Oh well,
veggies are more important anyway.

I pulled a bag of bakery rolls out of the freezer.
I was thinking about making up a bunch of spam (kroger brand)
and egg sandwiches and putting them in the freezer
for breakfasts.

WWII Spam & Egg Sandwiches

I also have 6 bananas to use up.
Tomorrow I might make my banana bread.
I should get 6 loaves out of that many bananas.
Not sure if I have enough flour to make them all
but I could try using pancake mix as a last resort.
I have many boxes of pancake mix that I got for .49 cents each.
I know that may sound weird but I look at it this way,
if I have it I will find ways to use it.

--------------------------------------------------

About a week before school started I scrounging around
the house looking for change. I started a little box
called school lunch money. This is now where we toss
any loose change that we may have which isn't much
when everyone uses debit cards now a days.
As I collect $2 here and there in change I put it into an envelope
and seal it up. The kids get reduced lunch at .40 cents a day
or $2.00 a week. This is to make sure I have enough money for lunches
each week. I now have a box of $2.00 envelopes that I can
grab every Monday morning and give to the kids for
their lunches that week.

----------------------------------------------------


BIC Pen Pals on Facebook is having an AWESOME Giveaway throughout the month of August! Meaning you have a couple more days to try for this freebie! Every day and every hour, from 10am EST to 8pm EST, they will give out 130 FREE Pens to the first 130 people to fill out the entry form on their ‘The Cork Board’ Tab.
Daily Goody Bag.

I think I managed to get two pens free.
I filled out two forms, one for me and one for mom.
I pulled up a bunch of tabs on my browser of
that Facebook page and started clicking the enter
button on each of them once the clock struck 3:00pm.
Out of about 6 pages pulled up two of them won!

------------------------------------------------


Spin to Win at Krogers website.
Login, download 4 electronic coupons to your
Kroger Plus card, then you can spin to win a prize.
You can play once per day. Limit 2 prizes.
I've played a couple times now and haven't won anything.

-----------------------------------------------

6:15pm

Got yet another call from my doctor's office.
It seems that they scheduled me for a cat scan
this coming Friday morning. I thought I was to
go see doc in two weeks then we were to discuss
the cat scan and colonoscopy then. See why
I am getting so confused about stuff.
They say one thing and do another.

------------------------------------------------

Tony was telling me this evening he found two coupons
at work for $5 off $20 at Giant Eagle, woo hooo!
He's trainable when looking for coupons and good bargains, lol.
And since I don't get the Sunday paper anymore
I have him watch out for bagged ads on doors of
empty apartments or in hallways of garden apartments
for coupons.

I don't shop Giant Eagle but that $5 coupon paired
with other manufacture coupons could make for a good
grocery trip. I'll use one and give mom one.
When using coupons like this be sure to give
the cashier that coupon first before handing over
your manufacture coupons!

Let's say you purchase $21 worth of groceries.
If you hand over let's say $5 in manufacture coupons that total
now goes to $16. That $5 off $20 coupon now won't work
that is why I say give it to the cashier first.
Unless of course you are spending way more than $20.

----------------------------------------------

8:00pm

And if you think my day couldn't get any worse and I couldn't
stress anymore, wait til hubby comes in the bedroom while
your laying down, not feeling good, to tell you someone
broke into the blue Trans Am last night. Oh and that's
not the best part, not even close. I found out he left the
one and only key to the car in the console and that
was the only thing they stole out of the car.
It's got to be stress causing my IBS. Next I'll go blind
because my eyes seem to be twitching a lot here lately, grrrr!
So now I have to worry about someone stealing the
whole freaking car!!! Obviously, why else would
they take the key out of the console. Tony did take the battery out of it.
Just when you get the thing's running perfect and could
be ready to sell it now needs another ignition put in it.
I don't have money for an ignition for it at the moment.

So when it rains it pours around here. Looking for
the light at the end of the tunnel at the moment
but it seems so far away.

8-28-11

9:30am

Ok, since I'm getting back into couponing I'll start posting
some deals that I find matched with coupon inserts from the newspaper.
I don't have the dates they came out or know which insert it was.
So if you collect coupons you should have them in your binder
from the last month or so. These are only matchups that you would
find on my grocery list. I look for the cheapest and best deals
and that is what I only buy from that store at that time. I do this
each week and eventually I get my stockpile up and going again.
You can't let other things distract you in the store unless
you happen to find mark downs. Stick to your list and only get
the things you need from it. I'm sure you'll have things on your list
that don't have coupons like milk, eggs, bread and so on but those
things you can usually find discounted and marked down at Kroger.

This week I see some deals mostly at Meijer.

MEIJER

3 pound bag of onions $1.25
no coupon

Eckrich smoked sausage rope 2 for $4.00
$1.00 off 2 coupon
makes it 2 for $3.00 or $1.50 each
or if you prefer Kroger has their
Extra Value brand smoked sausage for
$1.40, an every day price.

Heinz 32 to 36 ounce ketchup $1.69
.50 cent coupon doubled to $1.00
makes it $1.19 each

KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce $1.50
.50 cent coupon double to $1.00
makes it .50 cents each

Cascade 16-20 count packets $3.99
$1.00 coupon
makes it $2.99

Buy 4 Mars single candy bars get 2 free.
I found coupons good for $1.00 off 2 Snickers at Speedway.
Snickers are made by Mars.
I don't know how much they are each though.


Here are some other deals I found at Aldi.

ALDI

Canteloupe .99 cents

16 ounce strawberries $1.29

Head of lettuce .59 cents


------------------------------------------

1:00pm

Stopped in Speedway this morning.
I had about 4 freebie coupons.
I got 2 bags of single serve chips
a fountain drink and a mountain dew all free.
Plus I had two coupons to turn in for
1,000 bonus points each.

We took a little adventure over to a newer Kroger on
High St. and 11th Ave. There used to be a Kroger there
but they made a newer, much larger Kroger in it's place
and tore down the old one.

I like to shop different Krogers
to see if they offer mark downs and how many.
We had luck today with finding some.
I'm going to try to use my coupons with sales
and stick to a grocery budget of around $50 a week for
a family of 4. Last year I did $35 to $40 a week
but due to the increase of grocery prices I had to up the budget.


-Donatos pizza reg. $9.99 marked down to $4.49
Heck that's cheaper than a frozen pizza!
-5 pound bag of baby carrots $3.99.
-2 pkgs pork shish kabobs $2.70 & $2.77
was $4.50 - $5.00 each.
-bag of broccoli and broccoli & carrots
.99 cents and $1.29.
-2 boxes chocolate graham crackers $1.29 each.
Was $2.50 each.

---------------------------------------------

Today I get to take my diarrhea and stomach cramp medicine.
I'm so glad. I can't take much more of the stomach pains.
But I could do without doing the stool sample
kit the doctor sent home with me.
I don't know how I didn't throw up!!
My eyes were watering and tearing up so bad!!
Doing that is soooooooo disgusting!!!!!!!

---------------------------------------------


Free goodie bag with samples from Target.

---------------------------------------------

8-27-11

7:25am

Even though I got two prescriptions yesterday evening
I haven't been able to start any of them til now.
I couldn't take the potassium til this morning
because one of the warnings or directions on
the label said do not lay down for a certain
amount of time after taking it.
Well I was exhausted by the time we got
home from Kroger pharmacy and had to lay down.

My other medicine for stomach cramps and diarrhea
I can't take til Sunday due to them needing
a stool sample. This'll be fun having to wait.
My stomach pains stop me in my tracks at times
and wake me up in the middle of the night
having to go potty.

Well I'm going to go do my potassium med.
It comes in individual packets and is a powder
you mix with water or juice, drink slowly for 5-10 minutes
and take with food. I have to do this every day
for the next 60 days/2 months.

------------------------------------------

8:00am

Well we were all supposed to go down to the flea
market this morning. I don't think there has
ever been a time I have turned down going to
the flea market. This morning I think I'll be staying
home while Tony and the kids go. I just can't imagine
me trying to walk around that place with all my
aches and pains at the moment along with my frequent
restroom use. It hurts too much to walk around for
long periods of time. My one right calf muscle
hurts like heck and I'm sure it's associated with
the rest of the muscle pains I've been having.
Extremely low potassium levels causes muscle weakness.

I know I sound like a big cry baby at the moment
but it's how I really feel. Usually I don't feel this bad.
And when mama don't feel
good it kind of affect everyone around her.
I feel helpless because I want to get up and do things
like laundry, cleaning, cooking and so on and can't do much
because I can't stand for too long.
I know, I need to get out
my stool and set it by the stove so I can cook some
lasagna today since it didn't get made yesterday.
We'll see how I feel because tiredness overwhelms me at times.
I also want to make my banana bread. Yesterday me and mom
stopped in Dollar General. I haven't been in there awhile
and was hoping to find some chocolate chips, the last
ingredient I need to make my banana bread. I'm not impressed
with that store and don't see where their prices are cheap
enough for me to shop there. A bag of chocolate chips were
almost $3.00 and looked like they were old because they
were turning a white color. I didn't really feel like
walking around Kroger or any grocery store because of the
way I feel so got to thinking what I could use instead of the chips.
I ended up buying an 8 pack of Hershey chocolate bars for $1.00.
I can either chop or grate them up to use in place of
the chocolate chips.

-------------------------------------------

12:45pm

Just woke up. I went back to bed from 9 til now.
I feel like crap. My whole body hurts to move around.
I don't know if I can take Tylenol or ibuprofen for
the pain but I need something! So mom's going to
call a pharmacy and see if I can take something for the pain
and between it and fatigue I am getting very irritable!!
Pain will make you that way. That is the reason I went
to the doctors, not so much for the diarrhea but for
the worsening pain each day.

----------------------------------

5:30pm

I was allowed to take ibuprofen with my meds
thank goodness because I was starting to look
like a dog trapped in a cage. I felt confined
to the couch wanting to get up but every time
I did it hurt so bad to move or I just felt
so weak with no energy. So I've been
laying down most of the day til now.


At around 4:30pm I started to feel better with
the pain and was actually able to get up and move
around. Tony helped me make homemade lasagna for supper.
It's now 6:05pm and any energy I had went to the wayside.
Tony has been such a super help today getting the house
tidied up. He did all the dishes and even cleaned the kitchen up.

Ingredients-

-1 box barilla no boil lasagna noodle- free
-1 pound sausage $2.49
-1 can meat spaghetti sauce- free
-2 cans tomato soup- free
-1 two cup package mozarella shredded cheese- $1.79
-1 large container cottage cheese- $1.79
-2 eggs beaten- .25 cents

Total cost- $6.32
makes about 12 servings or 3 meals.
@ $2.10 a meal or .52 cents a serving.

Fry sausage in skillet. Drain.

In a large bowl add spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, about a
half tomato soup can of water, sausage, garlic powder,
italian seasoning and a couple tablespoons splenda. Stir together.

In a small bowl beat 2 eggs. Stir in entire container
of cottage cheese.

In a 9x13" casserole dish add spaghetti sauce enough to cover bottom.
Top with 4 sheets of lasagna. Spoon sauce on top then cottage cheese.
Add 4 more lasagna noodles. Repeat layers and start adding
mozarella cheese on top of sauce and cottage cheese.
For top layer add pasta, sauce and cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and put casserole dish on
a large cookie sheet should it happen to bake over the sides
you don't want a mess in your oven.

Bake 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

-------------------------------------------------


Here's an Amish bread recipe for a bread machine.

-------------------------------------------------

8:00pm

Sat out on the porch for a little bit just to
get some fresh air outside. I saw on the news online
that out east you could start seeing some bands
from hurricane Irene.
Not sure if these are the bands, I suppose they are
since there aren't any clouds in any other direction.

Here's some of my enchanted rose zinias that started blooming.

8-26-11

6:30am

Well here we go again. Blogger won't allow me to
edit my blog as usual.

I'm going to try and go without any tylenol or
ibuprofen this morning so doc can see where I hurt.
Sometimes doctors like to push on areas of your body
to see what hurts so just in case he does that I'm
going to suffer for the next four hours.
It hurts to get around. My hips, right calf
and neck all throbbing.

Well gotta run since it's almost time to
take Christopher to the bus stop.

------------------------------------------

1:45pm

I spent about an hour at the doctor's office this morning.
They are running about 10 different blood tests
and I have to do a stool sample, yuck!
They are testing for things like celiac disease,
irritable bowl syndrome, Crohn's disease,
possible blood cells that aren't up to par, check liver and about
5 other things that I can't remember.
Then at a later date if test results don't come
back normal doc is talking about a possible
cat scan to check for non cancerous tumors
and a possible colonoscopy.
He didn't do anything
about all the major body aches and pains I've
been having. And he knows about the fatigue and
no energy wanting to lay around which could be
linked.
They called in a prescription earlier for
stomach cramps and diarrhea. But I can't take
that until I have a stool sample which probably
won't be done til Sunday since I have to take
it back to the doctors on Monday.

I'm supposed to remove any dairy from my diet
to see if that's causing any problems.
That'll have to start tomorrow because I
have plans of making lasagna tonight!
But I am still to eat a yogurt daily like
I've been doing as long as it has active
cultures in it. I guess yogurt doesn't have
as much lactose in it like a glass of milk would.

Just now the doctor's office just called and said
they phoned in another prescription. They must
of been able to run a few tests in their office
and said that my potassium levels were low
so will be getting a potassium medicine to bring
those up to par.

All I know is at the moment I am so very tired
and feel like I could just lay down and sleep
til tomorrow! I got one kid to go pick up at the
bus stop in about 35 minutes then I'll lay down on
the couch. The other kid gets off the bus in front
of the house.

Me and mom did stop in a thrift store not far from
the doctor's office this morning.
I managed to find Jonathan another white polo shirt,
2 pairs of khaki colored pants and 1 pair of navy pants.
I paid $6.00 for them all.
I'm sure I'll have to hem the pants so there's
a sewing project I need to do in the near future.

Doctor's office called again. Don't know if they forgot
that fast that they already had called me or what.
They said they got back some of the blood work tests
already and verified that I do have very, very low
potassium levels which more than likely be the
cause of diarrhea and any other problems I am having at the moment.

What does potassium do for your body?



What foods are high in potassium?
-potatoes
-baked beans
-tomatoes
-bananas
-lettuce
-mushrooms
-peaches
-raisins
-peanuts
-pumpkin
-kidney & lima beans
-yogurt
-whole milk
-salmon
-flounder
-cod
-citrus juices

8-25-11

8:00am

Went over to Tony's work last

night and got the mountain bike

and water fountain from the skip out apartment.

The bike was easy to haul out of there.

I brought along my wagon to haul out

the fountain because it takes two people

to pick up and move!

I don't even know if it works, lol.

It has 3 bowls on it that water

falls from, made from a polyresin

material, and looks to have lights

in each of the bowls.

I'm going to guess it sits 

about 2 - 2.5 feet high.

If it does work I thought it would

be neat to use it in the living room

for decoration instead of outside.

And hey if it doesn't work I could

always use it for a flower planter outside.

Everything is still in truck

that's why the photos suck.

--------------------------------------


5:00pm


I haven't posted much today because
I've either been in bed asleep
or resting on the couch.
My body hurts all over, it hurts
to walk, it hurts to move period.
I got an appointment with
the doctor tomorrow at 10:20am.
So we'll see what he has to say.


Here's a couple videos of the bird
invasion we had, lol.  Seemed like hundreds 
of sparrows flocked to our house this
afternoon.  I hope that ain't a sign
of cold weather approaching.
You'll have to look closely to see
their little heads be bopping through
the grass and from the tree.

-------------------------------------


7:40pm


Woo hoo!
Got the fountain out of the truck 
and gave it a trial run.  It took
a couple moments to figure it out
but it works with no problems
other than having to clamp
the hose to the top bowl.
I did not plug in the lights because
one of the lights are broke.

Not too shabby for free!

I found a photo of it online
and this is what it would look like
all cleaned up with lights working.
Don't know how much it goes
for because I could only find it
available in the UK.


---------------------------------------


8:05pm


Just when you think people
couldn't come up with the most
ridiculous things, check out
WINKERS JEANS!!

8-24-11

7:30am

First day of school!

Boy 6:00am came early along with

all the thunder, lightning and rain.

That made for a perfect morning to figure

out where to take Christopher to the bus

stop and where to find a place to park.

I parked in an alley near the intersection.

It down poured at the bus stop.

We had umbrellas and still got soaked!

When I got back home Tony went on 

to work.  He stayed home long enough

to watch Jonathan while I drove

Christopher to his bus stop.

Well at least I have an hour and a half

before the next bus comes.

Not even sure how many kids will be at

our stop because truck driver neighbor

changed his kids school to somewhere else

so there's two less kids.

And two other kids moved onto junior high.

I'm thinking we might be down to three.

I think at Christopher's stop I

counted 9 kids.

And here are the kiddos this morning

before school.

--------------------------------------

8:00am


4 squirrels in the yard this morning.

-----------------------------------

9:20am

Got the truck unloaded from our
apartment dive last night.
Here's all the things we found.
There is still a large outdoor fountain
and a bicycle on the patio that
we will need to go back and get.

-------------------------------------------- 


Well after making a shopping trip
to Kroger yesterday, so I would
be able to pack the kids lunches,
I today just got the confirmation
letter for .40 cent reduced lunches.
Man, that was quick!
I guess I need to quit filling out
the forms and sending them in
and continue each year to do them
online to get a MUCH faster response.

 I'll still continue out this week
with packed lunches.


Another thing I got in the mail
was a reappraisal value for our home.
Not sure how an auditor appraises
homes without even seeing them in person
but they do.  Every house on our street
is pretty much identical.  I checked out
most of them on the auditor's web site
and most are in the $80,000 to $90,000 range.
How in the world is it that our home
keeps dropping in value?
3 years ago the appraisal was $89,900.
It says on the auditor's web site
the home was updated in 2008.
It's not outdated!  It has newer floors,
bathroom, furnace, water heater, windows,
roof, siding, a new fence & a new very large shed.
Plus I think a corner lot would have more value.
Then it dropped majorly down
to $72,000 about a year and a half ago
and now they dropped it down
to $71,100.
A difference of $18,800 from 3 years ago!!
It says you can fight it and they
have meetings you can go to
but who has the time.
Maybe if I keep it at the value
that they appraise it at the taxes
will be lower?
It says on the notice that they will
use the current value to determine our taxes.
So I guess I'm not worried about
it if I think that way since
I have no plans of selling it.


Now if I was planning to sell it
I would fight the appraisal.
When we bought our home the basement
was partially finished.  It has drywall walls,
and a ceiling with lights in it. 
It still has the concrete floor though.
Our realtor told us that if we could
get the basement finished it 
would raise the value of our home.
They would see it as additional
living space with more added
square footage on the home.
So we could go from 932 sq ft
to about 1,398 sq ft.
So we hope to do that within the
next couple of years and make
it a rec/family room down there.


------------------------------------

8-23-11

Got to the ball game last night at 5:30

even though it didn't start til 7:05pm.

It wasn't one of those top window seats

like I thought but they did reserve a nice

area for the employees called the picnic area.

While most of the ball park had either

bleachers or fold down seats, our area

had all picnic tables with umbrellas

on three different levels

and was in left field.  Left field is

a good area to sit to be able to catch

a ball that might go over the wall.

We had to get to the game early because

that's when they were serving food in

our area.  We had hot dogs & hamburgers

with all the fixings along with chips,

potato salad, baked beans, different varieties

of cookies along with water and pop.

One of their mascots visited our area 

during the game.

Oh yeah it got better, lol.

Tony and Jonathan were sitting

at one of the upper level picnic tables

while me and Christopher were

sitting at the bottom level next to the wall.

Out of 15 picnic tables in our area,

guess where this seal mascot decided

to do a little dance?  On my table!

I kept telling everyone I got a free

table dance, lol.

View of our seating area from other
side of ball park behind the wall scoreboard.

-----------------------------------


Check out this video from ABC news
about a 12 year old couponer!

--------------------------------

Well today is going to be busy getting
ready for the first day of school tomorrow.
I need to go to the store to get things
for packed lunches.  It's either that
or pay $2.25 for elementary 
and $2.50 a day for hot lunch til
we get our confirmation on reduced lunches
@ .40 cents each.
That would be $23.75 a week or
$95 a month for full price lunches!
Packing them would be much cheaper for now!


What I do to save on packed school lunches-


Lunch meat like ham or bologna and cheese slices
for sandwiches.  
Peanut butter & jelly
I already have in the pantry I got for cheap
with coupons.  
Bread can be found marked
down at Kroger.  I just got 5 loaves for 
.39 cents each.
Buy large jars of applesauce or canned fruit rather than the individual cup servings and put them
in reusable tupperware type bowls.
Don't buy the packages of single serving chips.
I buy a large bag of store brand chips
and put them into ziploc bags.
Don't buy juice pouches and things like that.
I have reusable bottles that I pour my own
juice and drinks into.  Wrap with
aluminum foil and freeze so they
stay cold by the time kids eat lunch.
No carbonated drinks that could leak
or explode.
Don't buy lunchables.  Get a box
of store brand crackers, some cheese
and lunch meat to make your own
for much less. 
Tortillas are cheap enough to 
roll up some ham and cheese in them
or even peanut butter and jelly and
give the kids a little variety in their lunch.



I also have to look for a pair of shoes
for Christopher today.
He said the pair we found didn't
fit quite right.


And lastly I need to make a run
to the thrift store.  I'm unsure about
a possible school uniform/ dress code
that I better dress my elementary child
in them just to be safe
 on the first day.

This dress code thing would drive
any parent nuts.  One is supposed to 
wear white or light blue shirts while
the other is not allowed to wear
solid blue or red shirts.
 These aren't private schools so
I don't understand why they can't
wear what they want within reason.


-----------------------------------------


Today I'm going to try something different.
I'm going to drink regular pop instead
of diet pop.  I've been drinking diet pop
for about 6 years now.  Going back
to regular pop isn't going to be easy
because of the taste.  About like
when I switched over to diet
and had to get used to it.
Anyways I've been having diarrhea for
going on 5 weeks now.
I've had problems in the last year
dealing with it.
The first thing I'm going to change
in my diet is to remove the 
artificial sweeteners from it.
Those sweeteners can be known
to cause diarrhea.  So my gut instinct,
(and stomach and abdominal cramps)
says to cut out the diet pop to
see if that might be the problem.
Tony, a diabetic, once tried those
artificially sweetened candy chocolates
and ended up with the worst
stomach cramps and diarrhea.
We never bought them again!!
So I always think back to when that
happened to see if it might be happening
with me and diet pop.


-------------------------------


12:20pm


Back from all the things I had to get
done before school, whew!


Stopped in the thrift store and
got Jonathan 3 pairs of shorts
and 4 polo shirts in school colors
for $9.97.
I needed light blue or white shirts
and navy blue or tan/khaki bottoms.

Tony's been wanting a wooden
magazine rack for all the free
magazine subscriptions I've been getting him.
I found this wooden one at the thrift 
store for .90 cents.

Went to KMart and splurged and
spent $30 on a pair of tennis
shoes for Christopher.
I always get them about a 1/2 size
too big so they last longer
before outgrowing them.


And before coming home we
stopped in Kroger to get things
for breakfasts and school lunches.

I found Oscar Mayer ham
and turkey marked down to $1.99.
Ya know what sucks is last night
I emptied my purse out to go
to the ball game.
Security at the gate will search through
all bags and purses at the gate
before entering.
So I didn't have my coupons in my purse
today which included
$1.10 off any Oscar 
Mayer.
That would have made them each .89 cents.
They were originally $5.39 and
$6.49 before mark down!

------------------------------------




4:25pm


Tony has to work mandatory overtime tonight.
I still have supper to make tonight which
will be some hamburgers on the 
.39 cent bread I got.  
I also need to get lunches packed up
and ready to go for tomorrow,
have the kids get their showers and
cleaned up and have Jonathan try
on an outfit I got today to make sure
it fits.  We did not try anything on in the store
because I was in a hurry and clothing got held
up to his body to see if it would
be the right size just by looking at it.

The kids won't be liking me tonight.
Their usual bedtime is 9:00
and tonight it's going to be 8:00pm.
The reason being is I have to get Christopher
up a couple hours earlier than what
he had been getting up for school.
Oh I see this being a fun event tomorrow.
He's been bragging to everyone that
he gets out an hour earlier but 
wait til he sees what it's really like
to have to be at the bus stop at 6:50am
instead of 8:25am like last year.

Kendra-
I got the empty bottles, coupons
and printed coupons that Tommy dropped
off yesterday, Thank You!
I'm not sure I can use the free yogurt
coupons though as it has your name printed on
them a couple times saying they are exclusively
just for you.  I have actually
been asked for ID for coupons like this
so don't think it will work for me :0(
Thanks anyway though.
I did buy some more yogurt today
though to help with my digestive system.
Willing to try anything at this time
to feel better.
I have been drinking regular pop today
and my stomach hasn't had the pains
like I had been having. I still have diarrhea.
I figured it wouldn't go away the same
day so will give it time to try and
flush the artificial sweeteners out
of my system.


-----------------------------------


HERE'S another coupon story
I found today.
This one is about a Kroger in Georgia
who refused coupons from a lady
saying she was a habitual coupon shopper.
That Kroger is now under investigation.
They can't tell you, you can't use coupons
especially when you see it in their ads
and displayed in their stores.
They can make limitations as to how
many coupons you can use though.
But to tell someone they can't use any
is totally wrong!!


I have been told by one Kroger around
here that you could only use three like
coupons now.  And I'm not sure if they will allow
any more like coupons after that to be taken
off at face value.  Some say yeah while others
say nay. That has changed from using
as many as you would like.

Meijer's coupon policy is that
you can use only two like coupons.
Any like coupons after that takes
off only the face value of coupons.


--------------------------------


8:35pm


I know I wanted the kids in bed by
8:00pm but that didn't happen til about
8:45pm.  The reason was because
we made a run back up to Tony's work.
Just because I've been banned from DDn
at my favorite hot spot after all these
years doesn't mean I can't still
apartment dive, lol.  There's a new phrase!
Meaning to be able to go into apartments
after people move out or people that skipped out
on their apartments that left all
kinds of stuff behind.  
People who skip are ones that don't pay
their rent and just up and leave before
the lease is up without telling anyone.
That was what I was able to go into
tonight, a skip, and had to be there before the sun
went down because there was no electric due
to nonpayment of that as well.  I'm glad I decided
to go to it because I found many things
that we could use, mainly kitchen food
and toiletry items.  
It wasn't easy as it sounds though.
When electric is shut off so is
the refrigerator which obviously had
things left in it and was left cracked open.
It smelled like something died in there!!  
So it was like a race to gather things and
get out as quickly as possible so
you could breath easier!
I'll get photos tomorrow of the things
I was able to get tonight.
Right now it's all in the truck and
I've got kids to throw in the shower
and to get to bed.
It's the least of my worries with
school starting tomorrow.
I have a much earlier wake up call
tomorrow.  I usually get up about 
6:45am and tomorrow starts
a 6:15am wake up call, ahhh.
Got all the lunches made and packed up,
school clothes, shoes and socks all
laid out and ready to go.
I try to do what I can the night
before so it makes my mornings
go more smoothly.