Sunday, November 9, 2008

Dreams do come true.

As I sit here I am listening to one of the most beautiful sounds in the world, a running dishwasher. Now before you think I've totally gone off my rocker let me give you the history as to why this sound is so sweet.

Hubby and I had always lived in apartments that came fully furnished with dishwashers and it was a wonderful thing indeed. This is because I despise washing dishes beyond any other chore in the world. So when we bought our house one of the requirements was that it had to have a functioning dishwasher in place. This was the case with the house we bought however, a year after moving in the dishwasher broke and it was one hot minute before we were at Home Depot to replace this fine machine. We picked out the model and had it delivered that week with the plan that the young men would also install the beast.

This is not of course what happened. What happened was that the dishwasher was delivered where after inspection they claimed they could not install it because the shut-off valve for the water was more than 50 feet from the unit. This was the worst news because my less than inclined husband then stated he would put it in no big deal. The dishwasher sat in it's new box in my front room for six months. I'm not even making this up. At the six month mark my darling husband did manage to put the dishwasher in the hole where it goes in the kitchen where it sat with the plastic still on it for the next three years.

I threatened him, begged him, told him I was going to hire it out, and refused to wash a dish until the thing was hooked up. He never budged on the matter. He simply stated that he would do it soon and that we would appreciate it more if we had to wait to have one again. It took everything that I have not to nag him every day over the last couple of years.

Well out of the blue when I came home last night he put on his coat and headed to Home Depot to pick up the parts to fix the dishwasher. The wonderful part is that I hadn't even mentioned the dishwasher in several months except to tell him that it would need to be in place before I was home full time.

So now as I sit here and listen to the gentle churn of the water in the dishwasher I'm thankful that although my husband lives in a world without clocks he does eventually do what he says he's gonna do and he does it well.

Do any of you have spouses that live with a different concept of time? Do they just in general drive you nuts sometimes? Sometimes I think mine drives me crazy with the exact intensity that I love him.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Soup is a budget's best friend.

Times are tough all over and no where is that more evident then when you make your way to the grocery store. So I thought I would share with you one of my favorite ways to make my grocery dollar stretch just a little bit further. It comes down to one word SOUP! Soup has got to be one of the most economical ways to feed a large family or to make sure you have leftovers for several days. Soup is filling, comforting, and can make a cheap piece of meat taste wonderful. So over the next month I thought I would share with you some of my favorite budget friendly soup recipes that I have tried and loved.

I'm going to start with one of my favorites Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Other than the meat that is in the cream of chicken soup this recipe doesn't require any other meat. However, it does taste very meaty. I used a mixed vegetable mix instead of straight broccoli and carrots and they were frozen. I also used a low fat cream cheese to help cut some of the calories but trust me when I say this is very yummy and filling.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Bring rice to boil, then reduce heat& simmer 10 minutes.
  2. Add broccoli& carrots.
  3. Simmer 5 minutes.
  4. Add soup& cream cheese.
  5. Stir until melted.
  6. Just before serving, top each serving with slivered almonds, if desired.
Let me know what you think of this super easy soup. I think when it was all said and done it cost me a total of $6.00 and offered four large servings.

D day has been established

Well after several very long weeks of work I finally have a few minutes to myself to write. Halloween through Christmas is hell for anyone who works in retail. The hours get longer, the customers get ruder, and the list of to-dos in order to keep everyone in line both at work and at home becomes longer than I care to think about. I have worked in retail longer than I care to admit and frankly I'm done.

My job is actually making me a person that I don't like very much. With the economy being in the state that it is in theft is more rampant than I have ever seen and because of this I have changed my behavior to save my company's assets. I'm judging people based on attitude and looks simply because history tells me they are likely to steal. This is driving me nuts. I have to follow the teenagers around the store like a mother hen simply because the chances that they will take something are higher than I like. The other thing that bothers me is that I take all this theft personally. I know that people are just stealing because they think that there isn't any victims that some large corporation will just eat the loss but it doesn't matter is still burns my butt every time I find an empty package shoved behind something else.

Well at least for me there is an end in site. If fate is on my side and all goes well I will get to leave at the end of January. This is very exciting for me and for my family. We are all looking forward to a more peaceful existence where mommy doesn't come home at midnight upset and not wanting anything but sleep.

So keep your fingers crossed for me that all will go well and I will join the ranks of sahm for a more joyous new year.

Do any of you have work issues that just drive you bonkers?