My Tireless Retirement - Week 24

 

Oh my gosh what an amazingly productive week I had.  I began on Sunday waking up exhausted from everything I had done the week prior so I spent the majority of the day in my recliner with my feet up watching movies.  Monday I wasn't feeling much better surprisingly, even though I had a good night's sleep the night before, however by the end of the day I figured it out when a migraine reared its ugly head.  And on Tuesday and on Wednesday and again on Thursday.  Grrrr.  I hadn't had a migraine in a very long time so I guess it was time, but this one was a booger and it was hanging around as if we were friends.

 

Damned you migraine!  You will not defeat me!!

I was not about to give in to that stupid migraine so I persevered and got on with it.  All week long I would work on something for a little bit, then take a break.  Then work again and take a break and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I was able to accomplish.  It was amazing!

 

Monday I canned 18 pints of sausages and peppers to add to my long term food storage.  Only one of those pints failed to seal so I was good with that.  I just added it to the fridge and figured out how I would use it up when I did some meal prepping in the coming days.

 

I did get my errands run on Tuesday and I even went to the movies and saw Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris.  I loved it and it was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits and the fog that you get with one of those nasty headaches.  I went to the library and picked up a DVD before going to DSW with a$10 OFF coupon I had received in the mail and picked up five pair of hiking and padded trail socks for only $20.  Those puppies can be expensive so I was thrilled to get them.  My feet will be thrilled too.  Next I went to Bath & Body Works with a coupons I had receive in the mail and treated myself to a couple candles that were on sale, a bottle of shower gel and a pumpkin marshmallow latte scented foaming hand soap for the upstairs bathroom.  Then it was off to the feed store to pick up a 50# bag of chicken feed and some dried meal worms to set aside for the girl for Christmas.  They are still working on the bag I got them last Christmas.  Next it was the movie and then on the way home I stopped in at Wal-Mart to pick up some miscellaneous items on my list.  I was pretty impressed I was able to get all that done.  I'm sure having a long break at the movie theater was my saving grace.

 

Wednesday afternoon I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some fun stuff for future projects I have planned, few new Fall pieces, as well as a new tabletop Christmas tree on sale for 50% OFF.  One of those projects I have planned is actually a result of something I saw there that I fell in love with, but it was outside my price range.  More on all of this later in some upcoming posts.

 

On the way home from Hobby Lobby I stopped and got my $25 monthly allotment of gasoline.  This time I put it in my car.  I had just under a third of a tank and now I have just over three quarters.  I used my fuel rewards card to save 3¢ per gallon paying $4.36 for 5.78 gallons.  Still a ridiculous amount to pay for gasoline, but I won't complain since I'm doing fine and have plenty to get me where I need or want to go.

 

One of the things I wanted to accomplish before winter hit was to finally finish purging the garage and get it reorganized.  I have been steadily working on this project all summer.  Wednesday and Thursday I went through a ton of stuff and listed a bunch of items for FREE on the Facebook Buy Nothing Group I belong to.  It all went and I was thrilled!

 

Thursday I cleaned and reorganized the garage - again - and for the first time in never it looks truly amazing!  I have so much extra space out there now that I can actually work on some projects out there instead of having to do them outside.  This will be so nice, especially if the weather is yucky.  It feels so good to get rid of stuff I don’t need or want anymore.  While I was waiting for someone to stop by for a pickup I was able to plant three chrysanthemums.  Two in my flowerbed near our big tree and another one, my birthday mum, in the pot I previously had pansies in.  They look so pretty.

 

Friday I woke up with just a hint of that migraine.  Mid morning I put on my new socks and my trail shoes and went for a hike in the Boise Foothills.  The weather was perfect.  After lunch I went outside and did some work in the backyard near the chicken coop.  Details coming on that.  Then I had some supper and a settled in for a quiet and restful movie night watching the DVDs I had borrowed from the library.

 

Saturday was a fun day as it was Museum Day and I had a FREE ticket to the Old Idaho Penitentary.  I always look forward to this annual event.  Afterwards I was off to my favorite park for a picnic lunch I had packed and a walk through the nature center.  By the time I was done eating though I was pooped out so I opted to sit in the sunshine next to the Boise River instead and just be.  It was a fantastic day!

 

Throughout the week I meal prepped not only the meals I ate last week, but also several freezer meals to put in the kitchen freezer.  I want to use my kitchen freezer for meal prepping so I can store freezer meals, side dishes and bags of frozen fruits and veggies.  I want the chest freezer out in my garage to be used for long term storage of meats, seafood, cheeses, breads, extra vegetables and butter.

 

Freezer meals I made including using the pint of sausage and peppers that didn’t seal along with some leftover sausage I had from the week before to make Pizza Bake.  I used ground turkey to make red sauce enchiladas and pork sausage to make Lasagna Bake.  I added riced cauliflower to the lasagna sauce to keep it low carb instead of layering it with noodles.  This recipe is what I use to make my Lasagna Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms.  I also added riced cauliflower to the pizza bake just to boost the nutrition.

 

Other things I got done include pulling the A/C units from upstairs and getting them stored away for the season, a few items on my quarterly checklist completed, my regular housekeeping and laundry, did quite a bit of writing, read a book, had company over for wine and a visit, did some more Fall decorating, cleaned and reorganized the refrigerator and freezer in my kitchen, brewed a batch of beer, made a pan of brownies and did some surveys to earn points toward another Home Depot gift card.

 

Friday's Movie Nite

Looking over the past week I cannot believe I got done as much as I did while sporting that stupid migraine.  I hate to think what might have happened if I didn't have one.  I would've probably run myself completely ragged.  Now you know why I titled this blog the way I did.  Ha, ha, ha, ha!

 

I hope you all enjoyed a spectacular week.  Let me know what you've been up to.  I love hearing from you.