Hearts and Flowers

The random urge to craft struck me again this weekend. I was taking down our remaining Christmas decorations and wishing for something to replace them with. Inspiration struck in the form of the Baker Creek seed catalog. I had wanted to make a garlands of hearts for the fireplace mantel, but had no red paper. Now we have flower hearts instead.

I taped some of the extras to the china cabinet.

It was instantly cheering! And appropriate for Valentine’s Day and spring. And recyclable. And free!

Baker Creek has such nice photography in their catalogs.

Speaking of seeds, my onion seedlings are doing well. They seem to dry out fast, so I have to keep on top of them.

Today, F. started training for softball. She’s never played before but wants to give it a try. She likes to stay busy! So this meant that yesterday we had to procure a bat, batting gloves and a helmet (she told me at the last minute, and I didn’t think to ask). We went to Play It Again Sports looking for used stuff, but she turned her nose up at the used bat I found. And truthfully it was pretty scuffed, and an inch short of what she needed. So we went with the $75 new bat. The batting gloves were $35. We found a used mitt (since she’ll need one eventually) for $25. Later my husband told me it was a baseball mitt, not a softball mitt. Face palm… But he dug out another mitt from the basement that might work. Later, we went to Dick’s to get the helmet ($95).

So this was my whole day and all my money til payday, basically: softball. I hope she likes it. I better start figuring out how to get the cleats, the pants and the gear bag for cheap.

Today after picking F. up from training, we tried to go to Costco. It was insane — there was no parking, probably because of the snow piles. We went to TJ Maxx instead, to get some needed socks and hand towels, then ended up at Sprouts. We also went into Target just to get her an ice pack for her lunch bag, after not finding one anywhere else.

Yesterday I was feeling really peppy and psyched. I rewrote my master to-do list and did a good amount of cleaning. Today was the opposite: tired from sleeping on the couch (long story), uninspired. Tired of the deep freeze, the parking problems, the highways where some of the lanes are still not fully cleared. Tom is sick, following F. on Friday, so I wonder if I’m next.

Small wins:

• My mom gifted us a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread.
• I continue to earn Fetch points by scanning receipts and playing solitaire.
• F. and I got Panera for lunch on Thursday since she was home sick. I had a coupon that saved me $5.
• I blanched two heads of broccoli one morning before work, while Tom was asleep and couldn’t complain about the smell.

We also did not get takeout at all this week, unless you count spending $40+ for lunch for everyone at Wawa on Saturday.

Monday: tortellini in chicken broth and leftover broccoli pizza

Tuesday: leftover broccoli pizza

Wednesday: eggs, sausage, home fries, toast

Thursday: Leftover Panera sandwich

Friday: chicken cutlets, baked sweet potato, pierogies, baby carrots

Saturday: Buffalo chicken naan pizza from Wegmans

Sunday: Rotisserie chicken from Sprouts, mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots, steamed broccoli

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were all scrounge nights. Everyone pretty much managed to find something else in the kitchen to eat if they didn’t eat what I did. The cupboard was definitely bare by the end of the week (hence why I wanted to do a big Costco shop).

At least January is over…