Month: January 2025

Juggling

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn familyLeave a comment

It’s only Tuesday, but this week has already been a juggling act. Donny got had jury duty on Monday. The guy settled, so there was no trial. He came home for a bit since he had taken the morning and afternoon off just in case he was chosen. I got a wild hair and decided that we needed to clean out our bedroom closet. Donny has two large fabric cubes that he had just been throwing clothes in that either didn’t fit or he didn’t like. It became a problem when every time I had to pull down my jeans basket his stuff would fall on my head. I couldn’t go through it because I didn’t even know what all was in there. Well yesterday he went through both cubes and the hanging clothes. I went through my stuff and this is what we accomplished.

That’s a LOT of stuff. During the process I looked around and thought, there’s no way we will ever finish this today. This was the bedroom mid clean.

This morning Hannah had a doctor’s appointment at 10. I had made the appointment last week. They informed me that she already had her yearly appointment scheduled for today. They said they would add what her GP had suggested be looked at. Well, when we arrived, where we always go, we were told that her doctor had moved closer to the hospital. We rushed over there and they had no record of her appointment. When he switched offices he also became the assistant chief medical doctor and all of the appointments made in 2024 were just dropped off. They were supposed to call and let us know, but didn’t. They told us that they could try to get us in in a few weeks. Nope, what they are thinking this is cannot wait. Hannah is learning how to make her own appointments and she learned an important lesson today. Everyone needs to advocate for themselves. We told them nicely that we understood there was a mix up but this can’t wait and we need to be seen asap. They were able to squeeze us in tomorrow morning at 8:15.

Next Hannah drove around our neighborhood. She’s working toward getting her license. She did really well. Longview is a scary place to drive. The amount of red light runners, DUI’s and wrecks is insane in a town of this size. Also just people driving and being on their phones adds to the problem. She’ll get there though.

She wanted to come with me to pick Jackson up so we could go thrifting. She hadn’t been able to go in a while due to work and she wanted to hang out with her brother. She found some cute tops for work. Even though she works in a department store she’s very frugal and saves her money. We were in the one we call relish when Jackson came and got me because he found some framed artwork that he wanted for our home. If you have ever been in our home there’s really no space for anymore artwork. The pictures were really cool so we bought them and I found a place that I think is just perfect.

They are right above where the cat bowls are.

The past two days have worn me out. I feel like I’m living in the kitchen when I’m at home. Last night I’m thankful that Donny cooked the steaks and all I had to make was the broccoli and rice. Tonight the kids wanted waffles, sausauge, bacon and eggs and that was alright by me. I just took a shower and really do not feel like going and cleaning up the kitchen. I’ve found that if I just go and push through it doesn’t take much time and I’m not walking into a messy kitchen in the morning. I’m getting better at staying on task and making sure what needs to get done does. Although it does sometimes feel like I’m juggling balls and keep getting new ones thrown in.

P.S.

I saw a video that if you do 10 body weight squats every hour your mobility increases. Ever since I quit working the bounce houses I feel like I’m getting creakier. The squats really help with that. Just a though.

A Hidden Gem

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Date NightLeave a comment

I know I’ve mentioned it on here before, but for a while we have been trying to go to the Morris Theatre in Daningerfield, TX. I checked the weather and on Thursday, it was supposed to be right above freezing. Hannah happened to be off and it’s Donny’s normal day off so we decided to make it a family night of going out to dinner at Arnold’s in Lone Star and then driving a few miles down the road to Daingerfield.

Hannah ended up not feeling well and Jackson was into doing something with his friends online so we decided to make it a date night. After grabbing the kids some Sonic, because I hadn’t planned on dinner since we were going out, Donny and I got a late start. Arnold’s was too crowded for us to be able to make the only showing that night, which was at 7:30. We drove to the theatre and everything was dark. Granted we were there 40 minutes before the show started. Donny peaked in and said, “Hey, they have hotdogs”, so we just decided to press out luck and have a movie concession dinner.

As we were getting out of the car the marquee lights came on.

When we got up to the ticket window we were told that our movie was playing in the upstairs theatre and the heating had gone out for that space. She told us it’s about 55 degrees, but if we didn’t want a ticket she’d understand. Oh, hell no, we were going to see a movie in this theatre. Luckily I had brought a pretty big wrap so we gave the go ahead.

At the concession we bought a large popcorn (freshly popped and it was divine), 2 hotdogs, 2 good sized drinks and a box of candy. Are you ready for it? The total was $20. So for a movie and concession it cost us $23.

When we walked up the stairs and entered the theatre, there was no one there. It was a little spooky.

We were about 30 minutes early so we just sat there munching away on our food. I know I already said it, but if you know how much I love popcorn, this stuff was AMAZING.

About 10 minutes before the movie started people started showing up and all in all there were about 15 more people. How were the previews you might ask. They don’t show previews. Instead there are little commercial ads for businesses in the town and little nearby towns.

Although we could tell when the temperature started dropping outside because it kept getting colder and colder while we watched Wolf Man. We still had such a good time and will definitely be back.

P.S.

If you are wondering how the movie was we both enjoyed it. I absolutely adore Julia Garner and will see anything that she’s in. Ozark is probably one of my very favorite series and her character was by far my favorite.

If you like the older movie, The Fly with Jeff Goldblum, it is shot very similar to that movie. If you are expecting the Wolfman to look like what you remember from older movies you will be disappointed. The special effects are very well done though. Donny and I both said that the theatre being so cold actually added to the ambiance of the film.

I Feel Seen

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home life, thriftingLeave a comment

If you read here you know how much I love our backyard, especially the tree line that acts as a natural privacy fence. It is lush and the trees curl over making a great hiding place/chill out place for our chickens. It’s like you are in a little forest.

We had to disconnect part of the lights because of the chickens heat lamp that is in their coop.

Yesterday I was at the kitchen window and looked out. I thought our yard looked different, then my brain registered what I was seeing. The tree line was disappearing.

I immediately called our landlord. She doesn’t own the house directly behind us, but owns the white house next to it. We are friendly with the neighbor who lives there. Our landlord had no idea what was going on. I told her that I had seen a dumpster in their driveway so maybe they had moved. She didn’t think so, but something was going on. I walked over to the house and knocked, but no one was there. I opened the door to the dumpster and there was a lot of household things in it. As I was walked over to the white house to find out if that neighbor knew anything Trent, the neighbor saw me and came out. I asked him if he knew what was going on and he told me that the neighbor had died and that the daughter now owned the house. He gave me her cell number.

I took pictures for Donny because when they were cutting everything down they were just leaving it in our yard.

Today it got worse. The lawn crew was out there bright and early this morning and Donny went to tell them to get all of the branches out of our yard. They did but not before cutting every single bush, plant and tree down. It’s awful. Our whole backyard is now exposed. Before it was so nice to not have to look at the neighbors behind us. Now the whole fence is naked. When I went out to feed the chickens her two young girls were leaning over the back fence just staring into our yard. Not only is their no privacy now, but we are going to have to put up more chicken wire along the back fence so the chickens won’t jump over.

While I was out there I noticed my string lights that I had attached to our tree were down.

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They had cut right through the wires. I did call the owner and tell her what had happened. I also asked her why she had everything cut down. She just said, Oh, it had gotten overgrown. No shit, It’s a natural privacy fence. Donny assures me it will grow back some and we are planning on planting a new fence in the spring, but until then we’ll just have to grin and bear it.

Jackson asked if we could go to the thrift store today so I figured some second hand retail therapy might help. We went to Goodwill first. Ours is not that great, but I did find these plant stands for $1.99 each that I’m going to use out on the patio when it warms up and we can plant again.

We also went to the big thrift store where I found one of the two cookbooks that have been forever on my wish list. Yes, I know I could buy it new, but finding it secondhand is so much better. Plus it was only 50 cents.

I also found this 1979 bread cookbook that I am going to love cooking out of. The Julia Child book is the one I was the most excited about though. Now if I could only find the Jacques Pepin’s Le Technique. One day.

I also picked up this vintage whisk. I use a whisk everyday and I just loved this little guy.

Cooking is definitely my therapy.

Cream Cheese + Mini Thrift

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal Life, Recipe, thriftingLeave a comment

Today I made cream cheese from scratch. It was SO easy! There are only 3 ingredients: whole milk, lemon juice and salt. That’s it. Here’s how I made it.

Pour 4 cups of milk into a heavy pot. Heat over low heat and stir, stir, stir. You want it to get to 190 degrees.

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Once it has reached 190, take it off of the burner and pour in 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice. It should start to form the curds. If it doesn’t add a little bit more juice.

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Stir it around and then let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool off a bit.

Next put a dish towel in a colander, set it in a bowl and pour the mixture into the cloth. Let it drain and then give it a good squeeze. I made the mistake of squeezing it dry. Leave a little of the whey water in it.

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The above picture is before I squeezed it out. Once you have it squeezed, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. (you can also add anything else you like in your cream cheese) I used a little blender and blended it for a couple of minutes.

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It was so good. I ate some on a skinny everything bagel. It just tastes so much fresher and not a chemical as the store bought cream cheese. The longest part is just getting the milk to 190 degrees.

Jackson and I had not really had a thrifting date in a while. When I picked him up from school on Wednesday he suggested that we hit 2 of our favorites. We didn’t find anything at the first one we went to. The second one I found 2 books that I really wanted to read. The hardbacks are only 50 cents so I didn’t feel bad about buying them. I also found 3 cute little mushrooms that I’ll use outside once the weather is better.

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I also picked up a shower caddy. I have never bought one before because our shower head is above the shower insert and it’s not level all the way down. This caddy is the exact one I would have bought if I thought it would fit, but I didn’t want to pay 30 bucks for a brand new one only to find it wouldn’t work. I was surprised that it works really well and I only spend 4 dollars on it.

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I can’t wait to reorganize the shower now.

Parenting Love Language

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn familyLeave a comment

The other day one of my older daughters was giving me grief about making Hannah’s breakfast and taking it into her room so she could eat while she got ready for work. I reminded her that I used to do the exact same for her and her older sister. In fact, one of my oldest daughter’s friends never ate breakfast in the morning before school so I would go pick the friend up and bring her to our house so that she could have breakfast with us. To be clear, both of my older daughters have families of there own and do not live in the same town as we do or they would get breakfast too if that is what they wanted.

Every day I make Hannah breakfast and, if she is working, pack her lunch. Jackson doesn’t eat breakfast and, because he gets out of school at 2, he doesn’t eat lunch at school. Technically they don’t really have a lunch at his school. They can put in an order for food at The Spot during their break or get something our of the vending machines, but Jackson doesn’t like to do that. Therefore, I bring a lunch and drink when I pick him up so he can eat in the car. I guess you can say that that is my love language to my children.

Saturday evening Jackson and two of his friends wanted to go to Film Alley to see a movie and hang out at the arcade. I’m always worried that he might not have enough money or that one of his friends might fall short. That’s why I always give him more than he will probably need. He actually gives me back what he doesn’t spend. I picked up his friends and took them home because I actually enjoy doing that. One day both Hannah and Jackson will be ready to move out and be on their own. Until that happens I want them to be able to live a stress free life and feel nurtured and loved. And yes, they do make food for themselves if they get hungry. Granted it is mostly in the middle of the night when I’m asleep, but they are very capable young people and I adore both of them more than I can say.

Can I also mention that yesterday I realized it was 5:30 and it was still light outside. Since I’m not a winter loving person this made me so happy.

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This morning when I went outside to feed the stray cats there was this light in the trees. It was the moon! I could not believe how big, bright and low it was.

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Moon pictures never come out when I take them and I had to enlarge this so it’s wonky, but it was gorgeous.

Dining Nook Dilemma

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home StuffLeave a comment

Our poor little dining nook is hardly ever used. It has been through so many changes since we first moved into this house almost 5 years ago.

We first tried our normal dining room table. That was WAY too big.

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I had another smaller table that we used until we could find one that we really liked. This one was okay, but it was just too narrow.

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We had this round table in our breakfast nook at the house we were living in before this one.

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Unfortunately we got rid of it when we moved because we actually downsized about 50% of our belongings. I had gotten the table off Facebook Marketplace and like it, but didn’t love it.

The table we have now I actually got for free. I was helping our landlord get one of her houses ready for new renters. The old renters had left this one behind and she asked me if I wanted it. I did and I love it. It’s an antique drop leaf. I refinished the chairs that I picked up at the thrift store. They were only $2.50 per chair. The problem is that the door needed to be about a foot to the right when the house was built in the late 1950’s.

I can’t really change anything until the weather warms up because the outside plants in front of the window need to still be indoors.

This is another angle.

I would really like an island cart with seating. Something like this, but I would rather build it myself out of something I could repurpose.

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I’m sure I’ll figure it out, it’s just bugging me right now. I want something that is just more user friendly which is hard in this particular space. It could be I’m just going through a funk and next thing I know I’ll like this room again. I guess time will tell.

Hair Day

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn familyLeave a comment

Well, today wasn’t exactly my hair day except I was getting ready this morning and walked into the living room to tell Donny something and he just started laughing and asked me if I had looked in the mirror. I never really think about what I look like while I’m getting ready, but Donny has never really seen this. I have to straighten my hair in sections due to it being so wavy so I clip half of it up.

He actually thought I had styled it like this.

It was the kids’ actual hair day. Jackson had asked me last week if he could get his hair cut. I think he was just sick of it being long. This is the only picture I got, but it actually ended up much shorter and more layered.

When Hannah found out the Jackson was getting his hair cut, she wanted to get hers cut also. Luckily Desiree had an opening a few hours after Jackson’s appointment.

The girl has so much hair. She just got the ends shaped up and more layers. We all go to Graffiti Hair Studio. Desiree is so good. You should definitely check her out if you’re in Longview.

I will need a cut soon, but right now I’m liking my hair. I have no idea why my eye is swollen. It finally went down a little bit. I think my allergies are getting bad because they itch and I sneeze a lot.

Also, if you have an Aldi, their spiral sliced ham are 49 cents a pound right now. When Hannah and I got home from her appointment Donny had just pulled it out of the oven. Of course this was taken after we had pigged out on it.

He didn’t use the glaze that came with it but instead used hot honey. Sooooo good!

Comfort Food

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn RecipeLeave a comment

The snow and ice seems to have skirted us. It’s still very cold and rainy, but luckily nothing too bad. It’s days like this that I like some good old comfort food. Tonight I decided to make Chicken and Dumplings. It’s a good stick to your ribs kind of meal. I have the copycat version of Cracker Barrel’s pinned to my board on Pinterest. This is my favorite Chicken and Dumpling recipe.

No matter what, when I use flour, baking soda/baking powder, I ALWAYS sift it. Sometimes the soda or powder can get clumpy and if you get a bite with a clump it is SO bitter.

The dumplings call for 3 cups flour, 1 T baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1 cup + 2 T milk. just mix that together, roll it out into a big rectangle about 1/4 inch thick and use a pizza cutter to cut it into squares.

Cook your chicken breasts (or whatever chicken you like) in 6 cups chicken broth. I only had 2 cups so I used to bouillon cubes. You would think just boiling the chicken in water would be enough, but you really want that chicken flavor. Add 1/2 onion and some celery. Cook it partially covered for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is done.

Remove everything but the broth. Bring it to a simmer and add the dumplings. Make sure you add quite a bit of flour to the dumplings when you roll them out. This makes the gravy. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and that’s it. I add a lot of pepper once it’s cooked, but I find I don’t need any extra salt.

It was so good.

The other night Jackson wanted shrimp Po boys again. I found this shrimp at Super 1. It’s breaded raw shrimp and I just pan fried it.

It was SO delicious! I only cooked half of the bag and there’s plenty left for the next meal. I think it was $17.49 for the box, but if you think about how much a shrimp dinner is at a restaurant, it’s a good deal.

Arctic Blast

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Yesterday the wind was howling. Things were flying all around the patio, all around the yards, it was a mess. This morning we woke up to temperatures in the 20’s. I realize it’s nothing like the more northern states, but for us, it was COLD. Once I get cold it takes forever for my body to warm up. In fact, this is how I walked around the house until Donny left for work and I actually got dressed for the day.

I had no plans to leave the house today. I still had laundry and some baking to do. I had cooked and mashed some sweet potatoes so I decided to make some spiced muffins.

I’m still not sure how I feel about having to take care of a sourdough starter. I have moved it to a larger container and fed it again.. Maybe, if some bread turns out okay, I will feel more confident about it. I don’t know why I feel intimidated by some dough in a jar.

I am almost through all of my meal plans for the week. Tonight was meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy. I did not serve a vegetable because no one seemed particularly hungry and I knew it would just get shoved back into the fridge.

I don’t know if anyone else does this, but when I’m cooking I always wear an apron. I end up just leaving it on, sometimes just taking it off when I’m ready to get dressed for bed. I was telling Donny that things were made so much better decades ago. This apron was from when I was 18 years old and working at Catfish Charlies in Corpus Christi. I worked there for 3 years and this is the only apron I have left from that time, but even the name is still legible. How crazy is that?

Yep, I’m wearing a turtle neck and a heavy sweater. I’m telling ya, I get cold easily.

Now I’m going to go ready the Daily Bible book. I’m still in Genesis, but I’m learning a lot. Especially learning that the very early biblical names are very hard to pronounce.

Project Pan – Skin Care

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Project PanLeave a comment

Project Pam is where you use up what you have before you purchase anything else. I recently went through my skin care to take inventory of what I have, what I use and what I need to throw away. I found that I had several samples that I wanted to use up.

Most of these were half full so I’ve been using them up before I use my normal skin care.

These are what I use as a daytime moisturizer. I really like the Hempz oil. It only takes a little bit and really hydrates my skin. I have a backup of this so it’s going to last for a while. The bee venom cream is also good. I don’t know if I would buy the bee venom again. I like it, but I think there are probably better products out there.

I love all three of these serums. I’ve used Mad Hippie for years and they are cruelty free and plant based. I will definitely purchase all three of these again. I layer them under my moisturizer.

Again, I love all of these products and will repurchase them. The cleansing oil is so good at removing makeup. The triple C night cream leaves my skin feeling so soft. The microdermabrasion treatment is something I only use twice a week so it lasts a long time. As you can tell I love the Mad Hippie line of skin care.

Hannah has sensitive skin and we have found that this keeps her skin clear of breakouts but doesn’t strip it. I have been using it also and really like it. So we will be repurchasing this when it runs out.

I guess I don’t really have a problem with buying extra skin care because I tend to be brand loyal. If it works for me I’ll just keep using it. Even after using the more expensive mini sizes that I have I still stick by my Mad Hippie as the best skin care for me.