My Tireless Retirement – Week 112

 

Hello my friends!  My week started off with a bang.  I got a $2 an hour pay raise – whoo hoooo!  That was totally unexpected but very much appreciated.  I also completed a public transportation challenge and earned a $20 gift card.  Can life get any better?!

 

On the way home from work on Friday I stopped into Trader Joes and picked up some lettuce, tomatoes and feta in order to make myself some more fresh green salads.  I also treated myself to a bottle of wine to celebrate my pay raise.  A lovely little Malbec from Argentina.  It was delightful.

 

"Old Mike"

The next day I rode the bus to Taco Time to pick up some lunch and then walked to the Boise Depot to have myself a little picnic lunch.  I have absolutely no idea how long it has been since I’ve been to a Taco Time but it wasn’t as good as I remembered it being.  Well, now that this itch has been scratched I’m probably good for another ten years or forever.  After walking around the depot I walked over to the liquor store to pick up a bottle of vodka.  I’m having friends over soon and we’re going make some adult beverages.

 

My Dollar Tree haul & some vodka in the background😁

Then I headed into Dollar Tree to stock up on stickers to use with my daily journaling before their prices increase again to $1.75.  I doubt I’ll be doing too much shopping there, if any, once that happens because I don’t feel the value for the price is going to be there.  Next I walked up to Albertson’s and popped inside to pick up some asparagus that was on sale for 99¢ a pound before hopping onto the bus and heading back home.  It sure made for a nice little outing.  The weather was perfect too.

 

I still have to pinch myself that this is 
what I get to come home to each day

Sunday I was all about yard work.  I headed outside to trim my boxwoods and the euonymus bush, which I cut back a fair amount.  Once that was all done and cleaned up I got out the leaf blower and did the entire yard, the front porch, blew out the interior of the garage and the driveway.  After a break I went back outside and got all of the trees and the newly trimmed shrubs sprayed for the second time.

 

My dwarf Japanese lilac in full bloom

I harvested some cilantro from the garden
This plant is a volunteer

Things I Did To Save $$: 

I did some “unshopping” by returning a handful of purchases I realized I did not need.  While at the bank I disputed a service charge and got a full refund after calmly stating why I felt it was incorrect to have been charged that particular fee in the first place.

 

I used a sales price, a digital coupon plus a paper coupon to get a three pound package of lean ground beef for FREE!  My favorite price!  I also redeemed all of my accumulated store rewards points to get a 10¢ per gallon discount on fuel and topped up the gas tank on my truck.  It is only the second time I’ve bought gasoline this year! 

Last week I grouped the errands I needed to run according to location.  I spread it out over two days and drove to work on both those days, then I ran my errands on the way home which worked out particularly well as on one of those days it was very stormy and cold.  The remainder of the week I used the bus to get where I needed to go and to hit my walking goals.

 

Meals I Prepared: 

After a week of clearing out leftovers from the freezer it was time to cook again.  I began the week with three strips of leftover bacon so of course I had to have myself a BLT sandwich and a little green salad for supper.  Oh my goodness was it ever yummy.  Why is it that the simplest meals are so satisfying?  This one was my favorite last week.  I also had one bowl of soup leftover so I finished that up as well. 

Sunday I made a delicious salmon, pesto orzo and grilled asparagus dinner that was absolutely delicious.  I made enough for two meals plus I had an extra serving of orzo to put away in the freezer for a later date.  The next day I made myself a big green salad with olives, sliced egg, feta cheese and sunflower seeds for extra protein.  It was fantastic! 

I pulled the gallon size Ziploc bag where I’d been squirreling away my veggie scraps out of the freezer and put it in the slow cooker with water to cook all day and made a lovely vegetable stock.  Once cooled and strained, I placed the broth into a container and put it away in the freezer to use in a future soup or recipe.  The spent veggies then went outside to the compost bin.

 

There was a little bit of broth left that wouldn’t fit in the container as well as a small container in the freezer from a previous batch that I wanted to use up.  It happened to be the perfect amount to use in place of water for a batch of rice I made.  I added a pint jar of home canned chicken breast and the remainder of a package of broccoli florets I had in the freezer that I chopped up to make a simple, yet delicious all-in-one-pan meal.  There were four servings in total so I placed them into individual containers and used these meals instead of soup meals on this particular week as part of my meal plan.  Using broth, in place of the water, really amped up the flavor of the rice.

 

I reorganized my washi tape drawer

with these two organizers I got while at Dollar Tree
They fit perfectly in the drawer and I still have room for more!

Another busy, productive and satisfying week is in the books my friends.  I’ve been making plans for the summer months and I’m getting super excited for what is to come.  Have you made any summer plans yet?  Going anywhere on a vacation?  I’d love to hear about what you have on the docket.  Have a fabulous week everyone! 

 

FYI - My retirement week runs from Friday through Thursday.