When I woke up I knew that today was the day that I’d put out all the Christmas decorations. I started by just setting up the tree. It needed to be fluffed out and we also wanted to see how Baby Ruth would react to it.
She was very interested in it but never tried to climb it. I felt better knowing that.
I was separating the ornaments by breakable ones that I knew needed to go on upper branches. We have never had a themed tree. It’s more like just put it all on, the gaudier the better.
When we decorate for Christmas I have to pack up and store our normal decor which makes a lot of work.
Poor Mary, I think Joseph went out for milk. But seriously, he’s somewhere in the house.
Baby Ruth loves the candles and will just stare at them.
I was really wanting to get everything out and then get all of the totes back into the shed. It was so windy all day that I thought I couldn’t get the lights outside put up. The wind finally died down about 3:30 so I was able to get the lights up and still get all of the boxes back into the shed.
One thing I did not think about was the projector lights.
Because guess who thinks it a toy for her?
Since I had been going non stop all day we decided to go get Rotolo’s when Donny got home. Best cauliflower crust around.
Everything goes back to regularly scheduled program tomorrow because the kids go back to school.
We woke up to a cold, gray, drizzly day. The perfect day to do some craft projects I’ve set aside for a while.
First I wanted to get some oranges dried.
I used my mandolin to get uniformed slices. Only a couple got a little dark. They turned out pretty good.
Next I made some cinnamon ornaments.
They smell so good but I can tell they are going to take a few days to fully dry out. I want to make a garland with the oranges and these.
I also wanted to make some orange pomanders. I only had enough cloves for two, but these also smell so good.
After a quick kitchen clean up I finished the episode I started last night.
I did end up finishing the episodes this evening. I am not a fan of breaking the season up into two blocks and then having the finale on January 1st. I wish they would just stream all of the episodes. It’s so good though. I think it is one of my favorite seasons. Donny doesn’t watch Stranger Things, but he is a good sport and when it hit Netflix on Wednesday he asked me if I wanted to watch Weird Stuff before bed. He only lasted about 5 minutes before he was sound asleep.
The kids and I did go back to the mall so Jackson could use his coupon at MiniSo. I was happy to say that there were quite a lot of people. Our mall is small but mighty. It was about to go under until Dillard’s and another investment group bought it. There are more stores and now more people. Progress!
This is the second night my cat Monkey has given me a heart attack.
I woke Jackson up around 8 so that we could go to the mall after I dropped Donny off at work. He works less than 2 miles away and the mall is a little under 3 miles. I was surprised that it wasn’t super packed. I think that every time Entertainmart has a sale we are a bit disappointed. It was buy 2 get 3 free on red ticketed items. The thing is, you have to look everywhere to find a red ticketed item and it gets frustrating. We looked around there for a while and then headed into the mall.
JCPenney always has some pretty decent deals. I found some bath towels that I really liked. I cannot stand fluffy towels. They also cannot be soft. It just grosses me out. I found the perfect ones on sale for $2.99. I only got 4 because that’s all I needed to replace.
I also found Donny some shirts and pajama bottoms for Christmas. Next Jackson wanted to go to Hot Topic. It was buy one get one half off. He found a belt and a shirt. I got Hannah some Christmas gifts there also. MiniSo was actually having their Black Friday sale tomorrow so we’ll go back because there are some items the kids want to get their friends. That’s all the shopping we actually did because a designer that Jackson loves was having a sale that started at 10 am. Some people might think it’s weird to let him pick out what he is getting for Christmas, but designer clothes aren’t cheap and I wanted to make sure it would be something he would definitely wear. Even though he knows what it is the clothes will still go under the tree.
After Jackson and I got home we ran to the thrift store because I needed to get a plate for my candles. I did find one and I also found some burlap for $2.00.
I had wanted something to put on the back of one of my bookshelves. I always use a dark walnut stain and because I have a lot of dark items it’s hard to actually see them. I measured the area, cut the fabric and used spray adhesive to get it to stick.
I think it turned out pretty good.
I also put together my candle plate.
I’ll end up switching out the candles as they burn down but it adds such a happy glow to the kitchen area.
The weather has also gotten much colder so that means bringing in all of my delicate plants from the patio. It’s supposed to be near and below freezing until the 10th. Winter in our home means it’s going to get a little plant crowded. I brought in one of my shelf tables from outside so that I had a place to put them.
We just always have to make it work.
Does anyone else cut up old sweat pants to make dusting rags? I swear they are the best rags. Jackson had a pair of sweats that didn’t fit him anymore so I cut them up.
I like to use the legs for ceiling fan dusting. Saved from the landfill and given new life.
Since either Donny or myself have always had to work the day after Thanksgiving we’ve never really traveled on this holiday. None of us really like traditional Thanksgiving food so for many years we’ve just always gone to Cracker Barrel. This year we decided to do something different.
I waited in the car while Donny picked up our order. Best decision ever. The food was exactly what we ordered. Everyone got what they wanted and it was so good. We watched football and napped. I had picked up a pumpkin pie so there was zero cooking on my part, which was greatly appreciated by me.
Jackson hit me up to go to the mall for some sales he had seen at Entertainmart. So we will be fighting the crowds in the morning. Are there still even Black Friday crowds? I can remember when it used to be a big deal to pick up the Thanksgiving day newspaper so you could scour the ads and make a game plan on which stores to hit first. Now it seems as though Black Friday starts the first of November. I guess we’ll see.
We did do a little bit of Black Friday shopping earlier in the week. Well, I wouldn’t really call it that because it was just some Halloween things at 80% off. The kids and I had to run to Michaels to get new portfolios for them because the ones I got them at the beginning of school weren’t holding up with their easels in them. You can always spot art students because they lug these giant things around.
Jackson and I are always looking for the Spooky Town houses. We found these to add to our collection.
Hannah also picked up a few things Halloweeny for her room. She likes all things spooky.
Unlike most people I’ve seen online I have not put our Christmas tree up yet. I did however get all of the boxes out of the shed but so far that’s it. I just cannot do it before Thanksgiving. It just seems so wrong to me. I’m hoping to get it up by Saturday or Sunday. We are all also worried about our kitten because she climbs everything and I don’t know how we are going to keep her off the tree.
And just because I thought our house looked cool in the dark when we drove up.
Last Sunday I woke up not feeling well. I was having really bad back and lower abdomen cramps. I had had them on and off the week before but just thought they were gas pains. This day though, my whole body felt “off”. I went to bed early and Monday I was sure I had a UTI. I had all of the symptoms so I started AZO. For some reason it just wasn’t working, but I thought I could just power through.
Tuesday and there was still no relief and I started getting extremely nauseated. I decided to go the the grocery and pick up some cranberry juice. I was basically living on AZO, aspirin and cranberry juice by this point. The UTI was not letting up. I would have called to make a doctor’s appointment, but I already had my 6 month thyroid one scheduled for Friday morning.
Wednesday and nothing had changed, only gotten worse. I drank a half gallon of juice. I couldn’t eat because I felt so sick. My lower abdomen, side and lower back were killing me. That night I contemplated going the the ER but decided I could stick it out until Friday.
Thursday morning I woke up still hurting. I was having the worse UTI I have ever had in my life with not relief from anything. I went to the bathroom to pee and immediately felt better. I look in the toilet and lo and behold there was a kidney stone.
I still wasn’t feeling super great so I was ready for my appointment on Friday. They tested my urine and found blood in it. By this time though, my UTI symptoms had basically vanished. (kidney stones can cause UTI symptoms) The doctor (if you read here you know we don’t have a great relationship) stepped out of the room to make a referral for me to get an x-ray and call in an antibiotic for me.
My phone was on 1% when I got the text from Walgreens that my prescription was accepted. I clicked on the Rx site to see what he had prescribed. I am so thankful that I did because he had prescribed Cipro. About a year ago I saw a TikTok video about how dangerous Cipro is. Sixteen years ago the FDA warned doctors about the very bad side effects that this drug can cause. It’s a Black Box Warning antibiotic.
It’s also not just a run of the mill antibiotic that you would prescribe for something that is on the mend but you just want to make sure it gets cleared up. It’s BAD!!!!
His assistant popped in to tell me it would just be a few more minutes and I told her that I was not going to accept the Cipro and could he please prescribe me something not as dangerous such as Bactrim. I expected a fight from him, but he did it. I cannot express enough to advocate for your health. If you feel something is wrong or you are not getting the care you feel you need SPEAK OUT. Don’t just blindly accept what a health care worker tells you.
I got my kidney x-ray done so I guess I’ll find out later this week if everything is okay. I actually feel better today than I have in about a week and a half.
Normally we have a relatively quiet Saturday. We keep errands to a minimum and just spend time at home. Today, however, that was not the case. I noticed that we were very low on coffee so that meant a trip to Walmart. I like the Great Value coffee. It taste just like Folgers and comes in a big cardboard canister that can be recycled. But before we went to Walmart we stopped off at Hope’s Closet. Hannah was with me and we had planned to go earlier in the week but never made it.
She found these cute boots that were brand new. They are so her style.
She also got these pants that will fit into her wardrobe perfectly.
I picked up this olive green sweater. Not shown is the Nautica sweater I picked up for Jackson that he actually liked.
Walmart was PACKED!!!! It felt like we were playing Frogger ,or as Hannah described it as Crossy Roads, when we were trying to get from one aisle to another. I have been having menopausal symptoms that were not fun so I did a little research and decided to try this. I will make a doctor’s appointment if I feel like this isn’t working.
Hannah needed some candles and while we were looking for those I picked up some incense cones to use in the holder I bought by mistake.
I’ve never bought the Mainstays brand, but at least they are made in India.
We we got home from Walmart I got a text telling me that my Michael’s voucher expired today. I checked at it was a $10 one. The kids are always needing art supplies and I knew Jackson needed ink for one of his classes so off to Michael’s we all went. I think that everyone in Longview was also wanting to go to the same place. It doesn’t help that TJ Maxx is right next door. The line of cars turning in when we were leaving was crazy.
The one thing that I HAD to do today was grocery shopping at Aldi. I did not want to go. When we drove by it didn’t look very crowded so I took a deep breath and headed out. I was so wrong because there were SO many people shopping. I did however find some fake Poppi that I can’t wait to try.
And I had never seen these before. They are so good and gluten free.
I have to be so much more careful and read ingredients. This morning I woke up bloated with all my joints hurting. I could not figure out what in the world was causing this until I realized what mistake I had made. The past two evenings I had eaten lobster bisque soup for dinner. I actually know how bisque is made and it’s made with a flour base. I just wasn’t paying attention. Tomorrow I’m going to make a big detox salad and lentil and carrot soup to see if I can get rid of all the gunk.
After I settled in at home I started searching for shoes that I have been wanting to get for Fall. I had the exact shoes I was looking for in my head but couldn’t find them anywhere. I wanted a medium brown corduroy footbed clog. I found some that were the right color from Birkenstock but they were suede and if I was going to pay that kind of money I wanted what I wanted. I finally found them.
These are exactly what I had pictured in my head. I ordered them immediately and cannot wait until they arrive. I ordered them 1/2 size bigger than I normally would so I could wear them with socks when it gets cold. Do not judge me! LOL
And I will leave this post with the bad little kitten that climbs everything.
For the month of November the big thrift store near our home has a nickel book sale. They bring out bins and bins of books. I decided to go see what I could find. I had the kids with me so I couldn’t really sit and dig through everything. I did find two book.
I always buy chicken, but run out of ideas on how to cook it. Hopefully this will give me some ideas. The other cookbook is from 1974 and is so interesting. There are so many recipes that I want to try.
Hannah and I found this cool horse. I didn’t really have a place for it, but Hannah said that it would go perfectly in our house because it’s colorful and weird. Then she added but it’s weird in a good way.
I was debating if I should remove the base and hang it on the wall, but in the end, I decided to put it on our hanging shelves.
Since Donny was off today we decided to go to the two estate sales that Texas Pro On The Go had listed. Because it was the second day of the sale I didn’t really expect much to be left. Even if that is the case, it’s always fun to go look at the houses.
The first sale was in a neighborhood. The home was very pretty. It wasn’t too crowded which I really liked. When you go on the first day it’s always packed. Anyway I came away with a hat, scarf and a shirt.
I love hats and this one will work well with my fall wardrobe. The scarf is also the perfect color to add.
I was needing to add a long sleeve t-shirt and this one was perfect. I got all three pieces for $3.25. Bargain!
The next estate sale was at the most amazing house. It was on 3 acres. My favorite part was the artist studio. I told Donny that this is the type of house I just love. It would have to be a bit bigger, but you know what I mean.
How adorable is this cabin???
I found a bracelet and a Christmas tree topper. Donny found a ring for me that I just love.
I love the hammered silver band.
We spend $11 here. Another bargain!
After the sales we were starving. I couldn’t stop thinking about the protein shake from Sprouts so we picked up two of those and some sushi. Who knew Sprouts had such good sushi.
Longview Texas finally got a Sprouts. It’s grand opening was on Halloween. The kids were out with friends last night so Donny and I decided to go check it out. I was so happy with all of the gluten free options. The food on the train was not gluten free friendly and all I had brought with me was a salad so later in the trip I had a grilled cheese and the next day my joints started aching. We found some pasta that I’m so excited to try.
I’m not a big pasta eater, but sometimes I just want a bowl of it with a good sauce.
Before I left for my trip I realized that I was almost out of my perfume oil. It’s my very favorite and I normally have to order it. Luckily I put off ordering it because they had it in Sprouts.
It was on sale for BOGO so, of course, I had to get two.
I picked up this protein shake that is amazing.
I think I could drink this instead of eating for every meal. It’s that good.
I burn incense every day so I picked up my favorite and this, what I stupidly thought, was a stand up burner.
I’m pretty sure it’s for cones, but I made it work.
I guess next time I’ll have to pick up some cones and another shake of course. LOL
After being with my daughter and her family for almost a week, I decided that Friday would be a good day to say good-bye. They needed space to establish a schedule and start finding their new normal with a newborn and a toddler. Because I didn’t want Donny to have to make the drive again, I had decided to take the train back home. If you know me, you know how much I love trains.
My plan was to sleep and read on the almost 9 hour trip. Because the train was sold out everyone had to sit with someone. I lucked out and sat by a 70 year old Air Force veteran named Mike. He was heading to St. Louis to see his granddaughter for her 16th birthday. We had such good conversations because we had lived and/or visited the same places.
If you have never taken a train here are some observations that I have made. The seats are big and there is so much leg room. They also lay back like a recliner. It’s a whole different dynamic than flying. People are so friendly and you end up making so many friends and having a good time. People will offer you snacks, shots (the alcohol type) and just good conversation. You will meet people from all over.
After I had lunch from the food car I decided to go sit in the observation car for a little while.
I love that you face the windows and the ceiling is clear so you can see so much more than you can from you seat. There are also tables where people were playing cards and other games.
I love going through the small towns because it’s like you see the opposite side of what you would see in a car. It’s like looking at someone’s backyard when all you are used to seeing is the front. You get fresh air breaks at certain stations where you can get out and walk around.
Our Dallas break.
All in all I highly recommend taking a train trip at least once in your life. I hope to do many more in the future.
The Funky Frugalista 