Hubby in the kitchen.

And he did GOOD!

I got home from work yesterday and was SO glad the week was over. I gave Hubby and kiss, changed clothes and headed to get something to drink. Hubby handed me a big glass of peach tea at the kitchen doorway...okay, it's not a door, just an opening to the kitchen...and told me not to come in.

I went back into the bedroom to check my email and pay a couple of bills, then went to the living room to veg in front of the tv. I could see Hubby in the kitchen, as it is open, and he was busy, busy. And the most delicious smells started wafting in.

After a while, he told me dinner was ready. OMG! He had made beef enchiladas and cheese enchiladas. Two BIG casserole dishes full! One to eat and one to freeze. He also made rice, beans, chili con queso, guacamole and nachos! It was a dinner fit for a king...and a queen.

We ate and then watched a couple of movies. It was a wonderful Friday evening!

I am SO ready for the weekend....

It was a good thing I had a relaxing weekend last weekend, since this has been a rough week at work. Due to the Federal Government not getting the issue of the debt ceiling taken care of in a more timely manner, I have had a TON of work to do.

I have spent the last 3 days reading all the contracts with have with Federal entities and analyzing our exposure if they don't pay their electric bills. UGH! I am so tired of reading contract and government acquisition regulations. One good thing is that I HAVE to finish it tomorrow. But still!!

My mind is jello.

I hope everyone else is having a good week.

Oh, lovely Sunday!

I just love weekends! I spent a nice lazy Saturday doing not a lot of anything. For all you ambitious people that are busy, busy, busy on the weekends, please do not be ashamed of me and my laziness. It was SO relaxing.

Today I got up and made breakfast! Yeah, me! LOL! MIL had sent us a loaf of homemade bread a while back that we stuck in the freezer. Hubby took it out this week and had a gleam in his eye, since he knows her homemade bread inspires me to make french toast. So, this morning, I made him french toast for breakfast. Isn't it lovely?

I mean, wasn't it lovely? It is all gone now and it was delicious! I also cooked bacon to go with it, something we don't eat often. It was so good. And it wasn't totally decadent, since we use sugar free syrup on it. It was SO good! And Hubby was a happy boy.

This afternoon, I ran to CVS to use up some ECBs that will expire tomorrow. I spent $16 and got back $15 in ECBs. I would have spent less, but grabbed a bag of Jolly Ranchers to put in a care package we will send to Chance this week.

Then off to Kroger I went. I had a really small list and tops on the list was red cherries, on sale for $1.99/lb. The best price I have seen in a while. I got 10 lbs and will pit and freeze them for my Fall jam making. My mom LOVES cherry jam and I have not made it in a couple of years. I also grabs a few more snacks for the care package.

I was so glad to get home since it is incredible hot and humid today. Not as hot as it has been, but high 90s and high humidity make me miserable. Yes, I am a heat weiny that lives in Texas. Ha!

Hope eveyone had a lovely weekend!

So I wish I could dance

I am so addicted to dancing shows! Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance are my favorites and I never miss an episode.

But they both make me a little sad. I used to love to dance. And I danced every chance I got. When I was young, we used to have dance parties at home. Yes, my mom loved to dance, too. So when Dad wasn't home, she would crank up the stereo and have a party! My dad did not care to join in, so we did it when he was not home. LOL!

In high school I was on the drill team, so danced almost every day. I danced my way through college as soon as I discovered discos. Yes, I was a disco queen!

After college, I still loved hitting the dance floor and having a good time. Then I got old. LOL! And though I do, on occasion, dance around the house, it is not the same as it was in the old days.

Now, I watch amazing dancers on tv and wish I were young and able to do that again.

Sigh.

Kids, plan a reasonable wedding.

I wrote this really long blogpost today while at work to put up tonight. Then when I got home, I realized it was not nice to air ALL my kids' dirty laundry. So I will give you a shortened version.

Let me tell you why I think our daughter, Samantha, should plan a reasonably priced wedding. Including a dress she can afford.


First I want to say, I know there are many dresses well-worth $1000 and more. I watch “Say Yes to the Dress.” LOL! The one Samantha wants is not one of those. It is cute. That is why she likes it….it is cute. It is a pretty ivory, eyelet cotton sundress. A very simple design. It IS pretty. But I think a $1000 dress should be stunning, gorgeous or even beautiful. It just should be more than “cute”.

Now, on to the non-dress spending.

Samantha graduated in November 2010 with a degree in advertising. Since then, she has been working a part time job... 2 or 3 days a week. She is not even looking for a full time job because she does “not want to work full time.” She is happy with the money she makes and she hasn’t asked us for any, so more power to her.

John just got his journeyman certification in May as an electrician. He has worked for several companies while getting his certification and is now working for a company he would like to stay with for a while. However, he is doing contract work, which does not have regular hours. One week he got 27 hours. He wants to work more and is hoping that he will keep getting more.

John is more realistic when it comes to money. He says they need to save up to move from their current apartment, then save to have a small wedding. They currently live in an apartment that is not ideal, but cannot afford to move.

Samantha does not have a car. She bought a scooter, since she cannot afford to get a car. Not enough money and really bad credit.
They adopted 3 dogs. Yes, 3. They do not have any savings in case something happens to the dogs. We all know that pets get sick and you need to be able to take care of them.

So, those are a few of the reasons I think Samantha should try to plan a more reasonably priced wedding. She cannot afford an expensive one. And if anyone gives her money for a wedding gift, it should be going toward living expenses, not a party.

There, I don't feel so bad about airing a little dirty laundry. LOL!

When you have a lot of money and want to have a huge wedding, more power to you. When your parents have the money to throw a big shindig, that is wonderful. When you have niether you plan accordingly.

That is just my opinion, of course.

You want to spend how much on a dress???

Most everyone here knows that I am cheap. My family knows I am. My kids know I am. I was hoping some of that had rubbed off on our kids. They did live with us PART of the time they were growing up, so I kept hoping. Honestly, they are more frugal than some of their friends, but sometimes I want to scratch my head.

I told you about Samantha's recent engagement. Well, she has started planning here wedding. They plan to wait until next March to get married so they can save up their money for the wedding. Knowing that Samantha and John have been living on little income over the last year made me think that they would be having a small, inexpensive wedding.

What was I thinking?!

Samantha sent Bob an email about the ceremony venue she is considering. $1000! Just for the venue rental. And she is planning to have the reception at a pizza restaurant. The ceremony venue includes nothing else. Just the rental to hold the ceremony there.  Bob came and asked me if she thought WE were paying for the wedding. Umm.....no. I told him that she knows how cheap I am and if she wanted our help, she had better ask for it before making plans. When she told us they were engaged, she said that they would not be inviting everyone in the world, since they were paying for it. To me, that did not sound like a request for assistance.

Plus, we have not let our kids know that we have money in the bank. As far as they know, we are poor, poor, poor.

We do plan to give them money as a wedding gift and they can use it to pay for whatever they want. Knowing Samantha, it would be for anything but an expensive wedding.

BUT then she posts on Facebook a link to the dress she wants. $1000! OMG! For a dress! For one day! I know, I know, a lot of people spend that and much more. But we are not a lot of people. We do not have money to pay for a multi thousand dollar wedding. Well, we could....but we won't.

I didn't comment on the dress, but Sam's mom did. She said it was pretty, but that was a lot to spend for a dress for one day and that she was sure Sam could find something that she loved equally as well for a lot less. Once upon a time, I would have offered to make the dress, as it is a very simple design. But it has been many years since I sewed clothing and even longer since I sewed formal wear. So I think she best find something less expensive.

I don't want to sound even cheaper than I already do, but we have already given Samantha a lot more money than we have ever given the other kids and there is a fairness factor to consider.

So please cross your fingers that Sam is only fantasizing right now and will find some more budget friendly ideas for her wedding.

Meet the family!

Since Mark commented that he didn't know my family, I realized that I have not been posting pics like I used to. So, here are some pics so anyone that hasn't "met" my family will know who I am talking about.

Here is Hubby and me.

 Me, Chance, Samantha, Meredith, Bob (aka: Hubby), this was on Chance's 22nd birthday, 3 days before he deployed to Afghanistan.

Meredith, Samantha, John (Samantha's fiance), and grandson #2, Jacob, in foreground

 Grandson #1, Theo, Grandson #2, Wyatt, and Hubby

 Chance and Jacob

 Chance in Iraq, 2008...this is how he looks at work.

So, there is my family! I will try to post more pics, so you all don't forget everyone!

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July holiday!

We did. I had a 3 day weekend, so that ensured I had a good one. Saturday was just a day of relaxing. I didn't even go to the grocery store! Hubby ran and picked up a few things we needed. We saved money by me NOT going to the store. Yeah for saving money!

Sunday, Hubby, Samantha and John went to the Astros afternoon game. Astros lost. Poor Astros...they are not doing well this season.

While they were gone, Meredith called to see if we were busy as she and the boys wanted to come and visit. I told her to come on over as Hubby would be home soon. So they did. We had and excellent visit! The boys were so happy to see us. And we had a ball entertaining them. When they went home that night, Hubby and I were exhausted! Toddlers are a perfect sleep aid. LOL!

Monday, we met Samantha and John to have pizza for lunch and they shared some exciting news. They are engaged! And the cool thing...Samantha proposed! I thought that was so cool. John said he was planning to propose, but wanted to wait until they had saved some money. Sam just beat him to it. They don't plan to get married anytime soon, but they are engaged. And, no, Sam is not pregnant. That is the first thing her mom asked her...weird woman.

So, we got to visit with kids and grandkids and had a great weekend.

Hope you all had a great one, as well.