Sew Exciting

Yesterday was muggy, unbearably muggy. After a while I fled to my room and put the air on, rather than cool the downstairs, since no one was there. In my room, I got my winter and summer clothes fully switched out, and then decided to (finally) do some mending. It was like reverse winter, cozied up on my bed near the AC, trapped inside by the muggies rather than snow. I mended holes in two pairs of F’s pants and one of my cardigans. Then I sewed the two straps of one of my bras together where the hooks are. The hooks had gotten mangled in the wash somehow, so I cut them off (but left the “eyes”). So now it’s like a sports bra. I did this before to another bra that had the same problem. I happen to really like this bra, and good bras are hard to find!

I also took another cardigan that had been languishing on the floor with pink stains (it’s white). Happened in the wash somehow, and I had just bought it. I mixed up some Dawn soap, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and applied it to the stains. I washed it and the pink is lighter. So I’m letting it sit again with another application.

Prior to this, I cleaned and did wash. And prior to that, F and I hit the farmers’ market for pierogies, potatoes and green beans (strawberries seem to be done already). We also went to Target because she wanted to go, to buy a birthday present for a friend. First time I’d been in Target in a long time. I was having a craving for iced coffee and I bought a four-pack of Starbucks iced cappuccinos. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve bought them — when inflation first hit, they were one of the first things I gave up. But that’s all I bought.

Tom worked much of the day and then wanted to do “something fun” at night. Hey, I told him, you’re talking to someone who is super excited about sewing. What do I know about fun? But we ended up taking F and a friend bowling. It was fun and we didn’t have to wait at all! Nobody bowls in June lol. Four bowlers, four pairs of shoes, two games, and bar food (beers, nachos, sliders, etc.) = $176. Sweet Jebus.

That meant that today there would be no money spent. I’ve got about $50 til I get paid on Wednesday. It was another rainy-ish day (but less humid). First, Rocco and I went for a walk. Then I took four bags of clothes (mostly F’s) to Goodwill, picked up prescriptions at CVS ($17) and stopped by my parents. Then I spent $30 or so at Acme on essentials.

Back home and now truly broke, I baked banana bread using frozen banana puree. Then, I was blanking out over dinner — I had plenty of veggies, but not really a suitable main course. Inspiration struck, and I made a casserole using all things I had on hand — egg noodles, sour cream, shredded mozzarella and provolone, cream of chicken soup, leftover frozen rotisserie chicken from the last two birds I bought, and crushed saltines for the topping. I kept the veggies on the side: corn and sauteed green beans. I was prepared for everyone to hate it but they all liked it! I still find casseroles kind of foreign — we never had them growing up. But this was really fast and easy.

Couple random wins this week:

I thought T had to take a placement test for college, but it turned out to be a glitch — he doesn’t. So I should be getting a refund for the test voucher.

I got a 24 oz Wawa coffee for Tom for $1 (it’s a current bonus reward), and now have enough points for a free iced latte.

I received my new contacts in the mail and immediately filed for the rebate.

Meals this week:

Monday: Scrounge; chicken Caesar salad for me (romaine plus butter lettuce from the garden)

Tuesday: Stouffer’s lasagna; chicken Caesar salad

Wednesday: Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast

Thursday: Chicken street taco kit from Sprouts; homemade pizza; ravioli

Friday: Boys weren’t home; I had a turkey sandwich

Lunches: tuna; chicken Caesar salad; bought on Friday because I overslept ($13).

I was off on Thursday and made pizza for lunch using Wegmans dough and sauce. Surprisingly, everyone liked it and it all got eaten throughout the day.

Thursday was prom! The pre-prom promenade in Knights Park was lovely (though hot). T and his GF looked picture-perfect! They went down the Shore afterwards with friends. T didn’t have too much to say about prom itself so I’ll have to ask other parents if their kids were more forthcoming.

I didn’t do too much in the garden this week. Just watering and waiting. I saw the little bees again, in the marigolds, and am pretty sure now that they are sweat bees. Tomatoes are forming. I had two more strawberries.

On Monday, I spent $40 to Uber to the dentist and back. Still less than a car payment and easy as pie.

I set a date for a graduation party for T, here at the house — two weeks from today. Massive cleaning has to take place between now and then.

We had a couple days last week that were a little bit hazy because of the Canadian wildfires. Could have been worse…