Big, big, big news! The dentist bill is a paid in full! That was one fat, furry mole, and he is roadkill! I have been nibbling away at that bill for more than 2 years, I am thrilled to be done with it! (hear the dancing and singing in the background?) Every time we hit a glitch in the budget, that was the one that got skipped, because they were just SO DARNED NICE about it. Too nice, they should have complained once or twice, and gotten paid a lot sooner. Now, on to the family Dr.'s bill! (don't ask) And, even better news, Hubby is finally back to work!!! He got his first full paycheck this week! Huge sigh of relief. Just as heating season is starting. So, things are looking up for the moment.

Hubby was channel surfing this AM, and came across that perenniel favorite "YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN", just in time for me to hear Madeline Kahn warbeling her "I'm So Tired" song, as the "teutonic titwillow". I can't remember her characters name, but I remember the cheesey moniker! So, I'm writing this in the spirit of: sometimes being frugal, and working hard to get out, or stay out, of debt is exausting and life-changing. In fact, I'm going to amend that and say that ALL of the time it's exuasting and life changing. At least it is for me! I have an opportunity to go shopping for the day with a good friend, next week, it's been our big "get-together" for the past few years, and I'm not even sure that I want to go. A nap sounds so much more appealing right now, that's just SAD! Then I got to thinking about all of the other things that I used to do, ladies activities at church, school things for the band, sports teams that my kids were on, 4-H, community projects, and I only still do a couple, and not very faithfully, anymore. I am just so tired, that nothing sounds like fun! I am lucky to be pretty healthy, and I don't feel "sick", I would just like to try life on more than 6 hours of sleep a night, or day in my case. For about 6 months, or maybe forever. A fact that doesn't always come up in the frugal-saving money sites is that being frugal is a lot of work! It takes time, and effort! I am always willing, but man, I could use a few more hours in each day! (and if anyone out there figures out how to get them, I will be your first customer!) I always laugh when some new "need" comes along, I tell them that I will schedule that in my "spare 5 minutes a day" Some days are just that bad! I think that I actually had more time with 4 kids at home, I could just delegate! And I did! It was a fact that my kids did not come to me and complain they were "bored", if you were bored, you got a job to do. Now 2 are gone, and the other 2 have a long day already, with school/work/sports, well some combo of that between them. They do their own laundry, and clean their rooms, but other than that, they aren't here enough to clean a bathroom, or do dishes, or mow lawn, not on a regular basis anyway. (But I digress, I do that a lot.) Anyway, the point was that being too tired to have any fun is the pits, I'll have to try to do something about that. Maybe I'll think about it, you know, in that 5 spare minutes a day! And don't ask why I'm on the computer at 2:14AM on my night off, you don't want to know!

OMG! It's 5:16AM here, and you will not believe why I am up (well, maybe you would). I have tonight off, so I am lying in bed, trying to sleep, and the dog is downstairs pacing back and forth thru the house. I thought she had to go out, although she usually whines just to get her point across. So, being the nice person that I am, and not wanting to mop up a puddle, I got up and let her out the door. It's raining here, so I wasn't surprised when she was back pretty quick, until I opened the door.... SKUNK! She had gotten it good! (0r BAD, definitely BAD!) Now what do I do? It's 3AM! So, I shut her in the back entry, which she DID NOY like (whining and yipping), and hit the computer, thank God for Google. And thanks for the shure-fire formula that I found on at least 6 different sites, that only used stuff most of us have in the cupboard! Peroxide, baking soda and dish soap! Then there was a variety of other after-products, I went with antiseptic mouthwash, which luckily I had just bought a big, new bottle of. And thank you to DD#1, who just moved out, but left three big bottles of anti-stinky dog stuff, because she doesn't have the dog anymore! So we doped, and soaked, and sudsed, and rinsed, and repeated a couple of those, and rinsed with the mouthwash, not minty fresh, she'll just have to suffer, and rinsed, and toweled, and so far, so good! Now, I just have to freshen up the back entry, which has about 20 coats hanging there, of course. Also luckily, new bottle of Febreeze in the cupboard! So, now I am boiling some vinegar in the kitchen, maybe we will just smell like a pickle factory, instead of a skunky pickle factory. All this, and I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet! And I don't even drink coffee, thats how bad it is!

Wow, I often get ideas for this blog from other blogs that I peruse daily, and this one was a humdinger! How frugal is it acceptable to be when having guests? This one made me think, because we just had a housefull of people over the weekend. The inspiration blog dealt specifically with serving leftovers to the company, good or bad? I have to say I think it could be both. We have leftovers on a regular basis, both as heat-ups and reincarnated in something new. Would I feel bad about serving them to my guests? Ehhhhh.... We have 2 kinds of guests, the family/friends who are around all the time, and eat my leftovers as much as we do, and the invited over, lets plan something special folks. Although, now as I think about it, we don't have "fancy" people here, and probably don't know any. Is there anyone I know that I wouldn't serve a letover to, not really that I can think of, but I would certainly tell them. Would I feel slighted if we ate at a friends house and they served leftovers? No, I but I might ask for the recipe. But I also think that in planning a get-together, the meal is half the fun! Trying a new recipe! What a great bargain I got on this! Remember last time, the really bad dessert, well this is what I did different this time! (true story, but for another time)

I am trying to make some homemade hot sauce. The hot peppers went just plumb crazy this year. So I washed and stemmed them, put them thru the food processor, and cooked them down in the crockpot, with a little salt, vinegar and water. OMG! It's a good thing that the weather is nice, cause I opened all of the windows in the kitchen, and turned on a fan! I am standing as far away as I can reach every time I lift the lid! My Hubby will love it! If I live long enough to can it. I did let it cool overnight, and then food process it again, so it would be nice and smooth. Now its just reheating, and then into 1/2 pint jars. If I survive, I will make another batch, (sucker)! I hate to throw anything away, even hot peppers. So, I won't have to make more for a decade, that's planning ahead, right? As long as it doesn't eat thru the lids, I can't imagine a bug or bacteria brave enough to break into THOSE jars.