Sneak-Peak Sunday

Hope ya'll had a very nice weekend. Ours was very good. Here is a sneak-peak...

SATURDAY

• Up early and into Butler for my Girls Group - was a fabulous time! Love my lady-friends! I'm so blessed by them.
• Shopped at Target in Butler. Disappointed again. They had the bed-spread I wanted, but only in a King Size and I need a Queen. Finally succumbed to the idea that I am not meant to have said bedding.
• Found some new really cheap and rather elegant place mats. That made my day and hubby approved commenting that they really accentuate our dining room decor.
• Re-organized my coupon box, purged expired coupons, planned sales shopping for the weekend.
• Shopped deals at Rite-aid as per previous post.
• Established next weeks menu plan & calendar notes
• Washed dishes... and there are still more!
• Made BBQ pork ribs in the crock-pot for dinner. Got the thumbs up from Handy-hubby. Yumm-O! I love my crock-pot!
• Went on a date with Handy-Hubby. Saw a movie.
• Fell fast-asleep in the arms of my man...

SUNDAY

• Went to church. Was a lovely worship service. I adored the hymns we sang this morning as they were tunes which I was well familiar with.
• Picked up this weeks Giant Eagle gift-card for grocery budget. Our church purchases grocery gift-cards in bulk and in advance. The stores sell them for 10% less than the value so the church can use them as a fund-raiser. Then I purchase it for face-value and use them to do my shopping. Costs me the same amount, helps me keep within my established budget, and helps the church in return! Each week I purchase a $50 gift-card for Giant Eagle and the church gets $5 of that! It's an awesome plan! Although the church has to purchase like $10,000 at one time to do this, but it is so worth it. It supports our building fund. AND... we can also use the gift-cards to purchase other gift-cards at Giant Eagle if we choose.
• Picked up this weeks groceries. Took Handy-hubby with me. I really should have learned the last time that he doesn't help the budget. He is like shopping with a child... "can I get this?... that?" UGH! But I love when we go together. Also - I don't usually shop on Sunday. It's a mad-house and I have other more important aspirations for our day of rest. In the future... I shall wait and shop on a week-night.
• Picked up this weeks newspaper with coupons. I don't read the paper. I just get it for the coupons.
• Hubby watched some of the Nascar race while I clipped those coupons and organized them.
• Took a 90 minute nap. Shared it with the kitty.... Crystal. It was quite refreshing.
• Washed some clothes. Folded some clothes. Washed some more!
• Exercised
• Tinkered with some work-related things
• Blogged

Re-organizing

New years bring re-organizing. I like that. Being organized makes me feel like I have some level of control over the clutter in my life. I hate clutter!!!

I was just thinking about clutter the other day. I get to a certain point when the clutter is getting to me and I'm just shy of a melt-down. I feel under-prepared for guests and such... I was chatting with Handy-Hubby's mom about this because she was visiting and I was feeling guilty because our home was not of the standard of cleanliness that I desired for when company arrives. She assured me that it doesn't bother her one iota. As a matter of fact, she confessed to not being a very good house-keeper. (although I think she does just fine) She explained that when her children were young, she was a single parent. She worked full-time to care for them and had little time to worry about house-keeping aside from essentials. As a matter of fact, she said that on her day off she was NOT going to spend it trying to catch up on house-work, but instead spent quality time with her children. They went places... parks, museums, road-trips, picnics, etc. They enjoyed each other's company, made precious memories, and even learned about historical things and other educational topics. She did what really mattered and I commend her for that. Funny... as I sit here now pondering that conversation... Now I know why my Handy-Hubby is the way that he is. I understand why he's a "seize the day" kind of guy. I understand why he thinks that things can wait... why I don't need to "clean like the president's coming." (his words) I'm still annoyed by clutter, but understanding how he became the guy he is... even if he's a procrastinator of sorts... it helps.

Anyway... on with re-organizing things... I have much to re-organize:

1. I have a fresh clean calendar just waiting to be filled with dates to remember... birthdays... anniversaries...work schedules... Bible Studies... appointments... and even a menu.
2. I am learning how to be a better manager of funds... we have a budget and a plan to climb out of debt. We've been working on it for a while and are seeing the results... but we can't stop until we reach the goals! I'm learning to get the most for our money on groceries and other misc items. I plan ahead, clip coupons, shop sales, and stick to the list.
3. I'm learning that a huge part of budgeting and saving is linked to planning meals ahead. When I began I planned 3-4 meals per week that I would shop for and it didn't matter which days those would be. Now I'm upping that to a plan for at least 6 days per week and will soon be budgeting/planning more than just dinners (breakfast, lunch, and snacks too).
4. I'm learning about wholesome goodness for our home... whole grains, lean meats, fresh fruits and veggies, and lean dairy products. We are aspiring to "move more" in efforts to boost our overall health.
5. I cleaned in the basement this week. HH has a new toy - a table saw. I found all sorts of ways to de-clutter and organize our construction materials and such. It's a work in progress... but coming along.
6. I'm learning to keep up with my spiritual journal and devotions on a more consistent basis. Now that is God honoring!

So much to do and plenty of time to do it... I want to make a home binder with all our important information in it. Work in progress... I haven't even dug out a binder yet. Well.. the printer is on the fritz so I've been putting it off.

What are you doing to re-organize? Isn't it just so refreshing?!