Yesterday I went to the commissary, crazy as usual around payday and as usual I had to go because we were running out of important things like jelly and cereal and this coming week is busy like most have been lately. I went in thinking I was all prepared with my menu plans and shopping list. Somewhere in the middle of the busyness of the aisles, Michael wanting to dance around or 'help' me shop & Lydia trying to squirm out of her seat I realized that I could get Shawn's favorite foods and NOT send them off in a care package but rather have them waiting for him in the fridge or pantry. :D I would have done a cartwheel if I weren't in the crowded commissary. I take that back, I'm not sure I can even still do a cartwheel. Anyways, I was excited. I got biscuits, pepper jack cheese,
pepperoncinis and mandarin oranges. I JUST realized that I forgot to get bacon, hot links & soda. I'll have to go back for milk in a few days so I'll get the rest later.
I still can't give out any dates - don't have a specific date & OPSEC rules. But I can say that my husband SHOULD be home in just over a week. So we're literally counting down the days. No longer months or weeks but DAYS. It's amazing. Nearly 14 months ago it felt like it would be forever until he was back home, I was venturing into an unknown reality. I've grown a lot during this time, made good friends & found that I am capable of taking care of several things on my own. But I really enjoy doing it all with my husband alongside & leading the way.
The last time I talked about Shawn coming home I had a
to do list of sorts....I just looked at it and wow I was crazy to think I'd get all of that done while maintaining a clean house, getting Michael to & from school and working my business. So I've got a new more realistic list that I'll share.
- Vacuum and clean couch
- Clean baseboards
- I started to write clean ceiling fan until I looked up & realized we don't have one in this house. Yes, I'm losing it. No, it doesn't bother me. ;)
- New filter for vent
- Change shower liner {for $2 I'll save myself scrubbing time}
- Take my old clothes to Back Door Boutique {store that lower ranking families can get items for free once a week}
- Find someone who wants Michael's old clothes or BDB
- Send Lydia's old clothes to my sister for my sweet little neice
- Organize scrap stuff
- Organize Mary Kay product/supplies Check
- Return patio chairs to friends
- Computer boxes to Lydia's closet {I'm holding two computers for a friend who got them as Christmas gifts for two of her sons but they're in our bedroom, Lydia's closet has room so they're going in there}
- Trash out of car
- Vacuum car
- Wash car
- Organize closet??? {this one may or may not be done until he's home and we get a dresser}
I have some other things that I need to take care of like getting Shawn's cell phone turned on, adding his truck back to the insurance, update registration & get a new battery because he forgot to remind me to start it up once a month or so. I also have to figure out just what I'm wearing to pick him up, have an idea but it's not set yet. The kids' outfits are set & I'll hang up my sign closer to him coming home. Now I'm all motivated to go start getting things done, yesterday I organized my MK product & supplies, the laundry/storage room looks SO much better now but still more to do.
We did this webcamming a few weeks ago & I got screen captures of it. It was fun to do, even more fun knowing he'd be home in person soon. No more worrying if I forgot to forward the house phone or if Comcast was having technical issues, no more putting messenger on my phone everytime I leave the house, no more taking the phone into the bathroom & everywhere with me. No more VTC scheduling, waiting & connection issues. It will be strange to be able to call my husband rather than just waiting for a phone call, but I'm sure it's an adjustment I'll get used to quickly. =]
I'm Sunday Scrappin' two weeks in a row! I woke up feeling crafty again today so I altered a notebook for menu planning. This notebook came with two plastic dividers & a pocket but they weren't where I wanted them, so I took moved things around. I only used one of the dividers, putting a blank calendar behind it & am going to get an erasable pen so I can write out my meal plan each week, this way I can also try to avoid repeating dishes too often as I'll see what I made in the weeks before. I sectioned the notebook into seven sections; slow cooker, chicken, beef, pork, sides, desserts & misc. for breakfast dishes, salads, anything that won't fit into the main categories. In the back I used the plastic pocket page for notes, I want to keep grocery receipts as a way to track our grocery budget and can put a running shopping list in there also. Because I want to use this planner for as long as I can I don't want the shopping lists to tear out of the pages so I'll just use the pocket to hold it. My kitchen colors are green & orange so I looked through my supplies & found patterned paper that had those colors. The letters are from a stack of punch out letters, also using green & orange. I think this will be a fun way to track my menu & have my commonly used recipes handy.
