Yay!

I found some great deals at the coalition this month!

8 whole roasting chickens for $20 - they're the garlic butter flavor though, which makes them-not-so-great for chicken pot pies with the leftovers. Oh, well.

4 of the big bags of Dole salad - .25 each

4 12" cheese pizzas - $1 each

2 cabbages for .25 a pound

4lbs of cheese tortellini for $3.99

12lb roast for $23

5lbs of ground beef - $7.69

Of course, I had to stop at the 'bad store' for odds and ends (mostly stuff to do things with the leftovers, like barbequed beef sandwiches), but I can manage 3 weeks of meals out of what we got for $102. It'll be so good to have beef again! Boiled beef and cabbage sounds so great right now, but it'll have to wait until after I cook the roast. What kills me every time I walk in there is that you can get some things cheaper at the 'bad store'. For instance; mac & cheese - 3 for $1 there, .33 at the 'bad store'. Granted, it's only a penny, but still. Small bag of egg noodles - $1, big bag at 'bad store' is .89.

I dug through my older stash of scrap fabric and yarns and found enough to make my Dad and SM some more things for Christmas, so that makes me feel much better. They'll get mostly homemade things, but it's the best we can do this year. It's a catch-22 with them. I think one of those rice and herb filled heating pads would be cool for Dad, and I can make a matching eye one for SM. EDIT: Oooo! I just read that corn as filler is better: http://www.diamondthreadworks.com/microwave_heating_bags.htm . (hmmm, my link button is missing, along with all my other buttons! Ut-oh!) I can sneak across the road and get some from the field they never bothered to cut and I won't have to use what rice I have in the cupboard. Shhhhh! ;)

D hasn't said a word about putting up any Christmas lights this year, which for him is a very, very strange thing. He has this 'beat the neighbors' compulsion. Our house simply must be seen from the moon. Is it no wonder one of his favorite movies has always been National Lampoons Christmas Vacation?? Maybe it's as simple as that when he was a kid they were lucky to have a tree some years, much less any lights hung.

I'm debating on how soon to put up the tree. I'm not really in the mood this year. Actually, no one I know is. My SIL is usually so cheery and full of Christmas spirit, oh, about Halloween time, but this year she's as down in the dumps as I am. Her husband lost his job in September and there isn't another to be found anywhere, so I can't blame her, and I know how he feels. She was hinting last week that they might skip Christmas all together, except for their grand-daughter.

My children have already been threatened that I'll never speak to them again if they buy us anything for Christmas. I'm not sure that the instructions of "Make me a card" got through their little heads. I'd rather they had money for things they need than spend it on me. Besides, what's better than a card from your child made with their own hands? I don't think they know that really WOULD be the first thing on my Christmas list. At 22, 20, 16 and 14, they think it's just dumb, but they'll always be my 'babies'. I might have to jot a note to Santa about it...