The past week

Life has been weird this past week or so.

I've been having all sorts of odd feelings with the pregnancy. Odd in that the "morning sickness" is random, has even ceased for a day or two, and then returned with a vengeance. Then, my prenatals that are already the kind that they tell women who can't handle anything else to take, made me extremely ill in other unpleasant ways. I'm fairly certain it is the added iron and I am going to talk about that with my doctor tomorrow morning. Tomorrow! I am anxious to hear the baby's heartbeat. I know he/she is in there because I feel like hell, but I want the peace of mind of hearing them.

Craved Panda Express (I crave it often. Same meal every time: Bejing Beef & Orange Chicken with Chow Mein) so I went last night before grocery shopping and ditching the boys to eat leftovers and "woodles." I had an absolutely terrible experience. So, you can be sure I wrote an email to their customer service department. Especially because they were unable to honor their guarantee (they have multiple signs in the store) that if you don't get your receipt, your meal is free...plus, the ice machine was broken, they were out of forks, and they let my chow mein & orange chicken sit and get cold for ten minutes while the beef was being cooking. Ugh! I kind of hope for my own sake I can find something else I like to eat more when I have intense cravings (it was avocado rolls the other day from Wild Chef. That was easy to fulfill).

Funnies thing, my fortune cookie said "You will receive an unexpected windfall." Today in the mail I got a check from a settlement for...$4.25

I'll take it!

Another crazy amount of snow was dumped on us today after it was 53 and I had my windows open on Sunday. Michigan's Feb/March weather toys with us like a sadistic mofo.

Even worse is Mike's car has bit the dust. Bad timing for certain. So now, we share my car until we find a good deal on a van and work that into our budget and life. I suppose at least we took care of some things we needed to with the tax money, but it would have been nice to put it towards a van.

Still, I have had a sense of peace today that God will handle it. I don't need to stress. It is a need for our family and it will all be provided, some how. The feeling just enveloped me today like a hug, so I am going to rest in it and hope that I can apply that peace to all the areas of my life that stress me out. Who of us by worrying can add one more hour to our lives?

I did have some fun this past week. Went to the movies with my girlfriends (ha! It sounds so silly to say that!) on Sunday evening. We all saw Deadpool. It was odd. Not our usual sort of movie. I thought there was no plot! And that everything was just so try-hard. I don't know. I wouldn't see it again, but I suppose it was a hundred times removed from my daily life or usual sort of film I'd pick to watch, which kind of made it fun escapism. Plus, I got to eat nachos and not share, which was nice.

We also had a night this past week where I went over to a friend's house to have girl chat and whatnot and her husband came here to play video games and mess around with Mike's piano, because the guys are friends too. I really liked that arrangement! We live pretty close and this way everyone gets to socialize while the kids are all sound asleep. She works during the week so we can't hang out then.

I had a total flop day of cleaning the houe yesterday, but I think I made up for it today. Being stuck without a car to escape/being stuck inside a snowglobe probably helps. Plus, both the boys are taking long naps! Now that I snowblowed, I am just drinking water with frozen raspberries in it (um, yum) and reading the blog moon schooling eleanor and I just read that an old family friend had her son yesterday! Of course, being off Facebook for Lent means I miss a lot of stuff, but I am happy she's a very prolific blogger!

Also saving this recipe to maybe make some day...some time...I am already making salsa chicken in the crockpot to have tacos tonight & I think I am going to throw some potato bread in the bread machine soon too.

Ta Ta :)

Amazing Thrifting Finds! 1/9/16

Second only to libraries, thrift shops are my favorite places to go and lose myself. Sometimes even just trying on five dresses that I'll never buy will turn my mood around. However, I found three dresses I loved while browsing on Saturday. All of them fit! And one was on sale for .69 cents! From L.L. Bean and while most these days might not find it stylish, it is comfortable, well-made, and I look pretty good in it, if I say so myself...

While my dress was a steal, the really amazing find was something I wasn't even looking for, but definitely needed. I popped into the secondhand shop next to our small local grocery when I realized I had forgotten potatoes for the night's dinner at Aldi. Imagine my surprise when, after picking up a pair of pants for Orion, I found a perfect winter jacket for $5! It is Columbia brand, which is an expensive and well-made coat which is perfect for the intense winters here & will keep me warm during all the snowblowing in my near future. Online I see the Interchange Jacket (which is very similar to the one I found) retails for $175 new! There are no rips and hardly any wear on the jacket, save for some dirt stains on the cuffs, which washed out. I am very pleased and warm now! :)

(Sorry this photo came out so blurry...I don't have time to retake one right now).

I'm very lucky to have amazing places to shop secondhand here. It definitely helps our budget and is a gratifying activity because I quite enjoy the "hunt."