I’m back to just four kids.
My little visitors went home yesterday afternoon, so now I’m back to having just my four.
So, today is our first day back to routine (thus the miscellaneous post today!)
My kids were super helpful with our visitors, especially Sonia and Zoe. In fact, I’ve decided that ideally, you should have two kids, then wait about 5-8 years and then have a couple more kids. That way your first crop of kids are at perfect age to play with the second crop. 😉
One fun thing about little kids: they get so excited about the small things. Like standing and waiting to see which elevator door would open first. Or pressing the buttons on the elevator.
(Actually, now that I think about it, Sonia and Zoe STILL like to press the buttons on elevators. Heh.)
People aren’t sticking with meal-kit services.
I thought this article about services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh was fascinating. Apparently, a lot of people are signing up and then dropping the service within a fairly short time frame.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to these services over the long haul. I know they’re valuable for a segment of the population, but I wonder if that segment is big enough to keep these companies going.
(Why I haven’t signed up with Blue Apron/Hello Fresh)
I got some better LEDs from Costco!
I returned the ones I hated for a refund and picked up a small pack of soft white LEDs. These are far warmer than the daylight bulbs I had and yet they’re not too yellow.
I give them a thumbs up.
I also bought an LED bulb from Aldi yesterday, but I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet.
I bought my last pack of breathing strips.
My nose surgery is less than 30 days away, which means this pack should be the very last one I have to buy.
Whee!
I turned on my heat today.
A week ago, we were sweating and temps were in the 80s…but this morning when I woke up, it was 33 degrees outside, and it was pretty chilly in our house too.
So, on went the heat.
We usually never make it this far into October with running the heat pump. And even though I turned it on now, I think there are still a number of days ahead in the forecast where it won’t run much.
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And now I am off to drink a mug of hot tea. And probably put on a sweatshirt.
P.S. In case you were having trouble getting the Audible free trial link to work yesterday, here’s a fresh link for you. (affiliate link)
(Email subscribers, you’ll have to click on over to the blog to access this link.
Shirley
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
Since I am a senior citizen I use the one line shopping at HyVee. they shop and deliver for $4.95. It is a great service for me. I sometimes over shop because it is so easy to put it in my cart.
Diane C
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
More random thoughts:
Dear SD was gifted with a meal service after her first baby. It saved her from shopping, but she still had to cook the food. We were there for ten days, making over their new condo, so long hours away from their temporary quarters (and grandbaby, alas). It was amazing to come home to such delicious meals. She said it exposed her to some new things and that she would apply what she'd learned to her usual cooking once the subscription expired, but not renew. My observation was that a lot of the meals were overly elaborate, and I'm a bit of a foodie. Excellent point on the trash, too.
I volunteer at the library. I'm careful on entry/exit because I don't want to accidently deprive the littles of their much-anticipated turn to push the button to open the door. Elevators are a close second. Always adorable to watch their excitement. I, too, used to work at Nordstrom. One day a little guy dashed into an open elevator and pushed all.the.buttons. Of course, the elevator stopped between floors and we couldn't get him out. We called the elevator company and the service guy dropped everything to get there lickety-split, because he had a little guy of his own. All ended well, but I've never forgotten the care and concern of the elevator guy.
Our utility company wastes money each month by sending out a full color statement showing you how your house compares to your neighbors. Today, it says we used 105% more than the "average" home of similar size in my neighborhood. Huh. Let's see, we live in a newer (10 years vs 50 years), better constructed home with energy-efficient appliances, didn't use the A/C once this summer, haven't succumbed to the heater's siren call this Fall and all our lights are LED's. I've decided that it's becauses we are four adult-size persons, we cook at home and are homebody-ish. Yeah, it's good to have black-belt frugality skills. I can pay the utility bill without concern because I know I'm saving money in many directions, especially by being at home, as odd as that sounds. It's concerning, but good not to have to worry about it too much.
End of brain dump.
Kristen
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
Identical experience here with the energy thing...I figured that it's because I cook and also because we are home more than the average household, due to homeschooling!
K D
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
A friend an I were talking yesterday about her subscription to Home Chef. She and her husband are empty nesters, don't like leftovers, and like the fact that they don't have to figure out what to make for dinner. They are enjoying their subscription and feel they'd pay much more eating out. I think she said it works out to about $8.75 per individual meal serving. I silently wondered about the packaging waste (and the cost).
April
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
What a delight to read that today. Sometimes I feel sad that we've been TTC for over 4 years, and we've had nothing but miscarriages. *If* I am pregnant now (too early to test), my kids will be 7 and 10 when the baby is born. (being an optimist here...had testing done and there is "nothing" wrong with me. Supplementing with progesterone just in case that was it (I have had tests with 5 and under).
I'm glad that'll be "perfect." I know you could have easily left that part out, but maybe it was from God just for me. :)
Kristen
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
Aww, I'm so sorry that you've had so much heartbreak. Sending you lots of love, and I hope a new little one is on the way for you soon, soon, soon.
Frugal Paragon
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
I'm glad you found some better lights! We had bought 8 LED flood lights from Home Depot (and those suckers are EXPENSIVE) and hated them--they just did not dim nearly enough. I took them back and got some from Costco instead, which worked much better. They were the same "kind" of bulb; the only difference was the Costco ones had a slightly lower lumens rating.