I searched our local news this morning to see if I could find more out about the closure and police cars at my bank branch yesterday. Sure enough, it was an robbery that happened about 10 minutes before I got there. There was a chase, a crash, no one injured but suspects captured and cash recovered. We live in what must be the quietest suburb of our city, but seems like things happen everywhere these days.

I did a bit of shopping yesterday, renewed the Costco membership and bought lots of things to make our increasingly busy weeks simpler. It smells lovely in the house with the turkey breast roasting and potatoes simmering on the stove.

Twice today I visited our local bank branch, first at 8 when the drive-ups were closed so I decided to come back later, then at noon when it was also closed: closed and surrounded by police cars with the branch full of police officers. I have no idea what was going on, but glad I wasn't there when whatever happened occurred.

It's that point in the semester when I'm buried in work, so household things are in super-simple mode. Lots of soup made and simple meals. I did start to defrost a turkey breast figuring there could me some more soup and sandwiches out of it this week.

I'm not the only busy one. DH has a presentation in his history class this week, and DD spends all her time building stage sets for the school production of 1984. Tonight I'm out with colleagues, DD is at a birthday party so DH will be home with his European History paper.

I've e-mailed my hellish student's advisor, re-posted, with warnings, my syllabus's notice on "discourteous behavior," and am arranging a meeting with her and her advisor. I refuse to spend the rest of the term thinking about her behavior. While I was at it, I e-mailed another advisor with concerns about his student's progress. He was shocked as she has reported her classes are going well, especially mine. I beg to differ; she is almost at the point of no return. My 100 students this term seem to have 100 issues rather than the usual 10 or so. Sigh.

We really did enjoy our French girls, but I estimate we spent perhaps $500 extra in two weeks. Is that possible? First--the food. We were in charge of all three meals--an easy breakfast, packed lunches, and dinners. Admittedly my dinners were somewhat fancier than usual; after all they were guests. I skipped out occasional leftovers dinners, bought and made more desserts than usual, and wow--the baguettes. I brought the girls to the shops with me and while baguettes may be half a Euro or so in France, the $3 baguettes--often two a day--really added up. They made me laugh with their requests for "a bit of bread." The very nice artisan loaves we usually buy were rejected and they just wanted baguette. Then there were the tickets--Haunted Houses, China Lights, movies, bowling, trampoline park, wildlife center. I grouponed a few, but yikes. And pizzas. But it was really lovely getting to know them, their family stories, the talk of French schools, their views on everything. They live in a beautiful part of Provence, and I got the impression that one of the girls comes from some serious money. They have a beach house in St. Tropez, a boat on the Med, and lots of ski trips. Her father is a dentist. The other girl just shook her head and said, "We do not have a summer house or a boat." Though it was a lot of work, we were sad to see them go. They left us lovely notes, lots of little gifts, and big hugs with some parting tears.

So--tonight I clean out the fridge, make celeriac soup, boil down some chicken bones, and try to make up some time.

My ravaged budget will need more than one week, but I'm starting with one. The groceries left over will help us through this week. More on the French soon--fun, but budget destroying. And sleep destroying.

Leftover soup for lunch. Leftover tacos for dinner.
List a few items for sale, and come up with a plan.

Chalk up a trip to the Wildlife Center and lots more groceries towards our French fund. Today I took them to the shopping mall, and DD got a new pair of boots and a long cardigan. I think she's watching the French girls and their clothes. One of them says her favorite thing is fashion; the other says her favorite thing is desserts. They're starting to feel very relaxed here, but my baguette budget is going to have to be much larger than I anticipated. On October 30 we'll be on rice and beans, I think.

We've had another fun day with the French. They shadowed my DD yesterday at school, and are starting--slowly--to get acclimated to the time change. Last night we went out for pizza and then to China Lights--a huge display at the Botanical Gardens. It was magnificent, and they really enjoyed it. One of my university students works there and she shared a link for discounted tickets which helped the budget a bit.

Today they're in Chicago for a tour, the Willis Tower, the boat trip, etc and won't be home until 10 tonight. My DD has the day off from school, but we're attending conferences and she's working on a stage set, so I'm hoping--hard--to get some laundry and grading done.

I picked up some meatloaf mix yesterday, so if I don't have to cook much, it would be grand. One of my French girls loves "le cookies!" and the other eats mostly bananas so far, and they struggle to get up in time for breakfast. This weekend we have a trip to a nature center planned and maybe some apple picking. Sunday looks rainy so it's a trip to the shopping mall which they are eagerly anticipating.

We had more than an inch of rain overnight, and it's cold and blustery. I came home from school, googled a recipe for kale and potato soup, and found my inspiration with the Pioneer Woman Olive garden potato soup knockoff. Luckily i had Italian sausage in the freezer. I added a few leeks from last week's CSA box, and it looks delicious. I subbed fat-free evaporated milk for the cream to cut the fat.
Cleaning out the fridge is one goals for the week--mostly in preparation for the French girls' arrival on Tuesday. We had an info meeting last night, and I certainly hope we don't get the ones who smoke and drink! But before then, I need to get ready for our road trip to Fargo for my aunt's 100th birthday. It's been so busy at school, I haven't had a moment to think about anything. Eeek! Lots to do. I'd better get on it!

I thought the brilliant new bathroom (aka the budget buster from hell) would be done today, and I could share pictures. But something funny happened today; at least I think it was funny still. I came home to the dumpster gone, the floor protection all rolled up, and the bill on the countertop. But no bathroom mirror. So I gave their office a call, the receptionist put me on hold for a loooooong time, and I finally got the master carpenter who assured me the mirror was coming on Friday. I honestly think they forgot to order the mirror. Everything else has been sitting in our living room for 7 weeks, and the carpenters sounded a little flustered.And the junior carpenter mistakenly drilled a hole in the tile today when he was hanging the shower curtain rod, so the crazy tile setters are coming back tomorrow. As much as I'm eager to get in there, the extra couple of days will, I hope, mean I can wait for the cash DH transferred from the UK to hit. A long day full of students and endless meetings, but I brought my lunch and only spent the requisite $2 on coffee.

We roasted a turkey breast on Sunday, have had two dinners from it, and lunches all week. Thankfully we have another in the freezer because semi-austerity is going to have to continue for a while. CSA veggies tomorrow will help too. In a effort to keep my big goal coming, I transferred $25 from Swagbucks and am adding on the trifling interest for September. Very eager to start paying myself back for the bathroom.

I've had a bunch of financial decisions to make lately, and this may be the month of saying no to many things. My fabulous girlfriends are going to NYC in December, and oh how I'd like to go. But airfare, hotel, Nutcracker tickets, dinners out--it would be 1K at least. My aunt's 100th birthday is coming up, and it's 570 miles from here. How I'd love for all three of us to fly. But I said no to that too--and we're driving. Airfares were almost $500/each. We'll get an audio book, take turns, and just do it. With my class, I could've covered all those extras, but heck, I have plenty to do here.

Payday can't come soon enough though it's going to take us some time to dig out. I did do some Swagbucks, cashed out, and added $100 to the big goal. And now that fall weather seems to have arrived, I've been cooking up a storm--including a fridge clearing veggie soup for DH's lunches.

The good news is HOORAY the bathroom should be done early next week. Pictures to follow! My only spending is that $2 cup of coffee to push through my morning classes.

Yesterday's garage cleaning did mean I found some more items to sell and declutter. I've sold DD's red wagon from her childhood days (kind of sad?), and it's awaiting pickup with the bathroom light fixture.

I've also cashed $25 out of Swagbucks which is being transferred to my Big Goal UK house fund.

In other frugal news, some of the fridge veggies found a new home in a pot of soup, and I've made extra brown rice and quinoa for salads this week. DH is taking soup to work for lunch all week.

My adjunct class starts tonight, so it's good to be back in the earning cycle. it's just composition, but maybe I'll have another superstar like my ex-con from two terms ago.

Not me, just the bathroom! Our bathroom contractors showed up at 7:30 this morning and spent the day taking out the sinks, toilet, vanity and wall tile along with removing the light fixtures and towel bar for reuse. I'm giving the relatively new and nice Kohler faucet to a friend; she may also take the light fixture. While I'm still a bit anxious about the cash, we're also excited. DD and I watched the eclipse at the university. We have a widely respected astronomy department, and the director of the planetarium is a real treasure. We were able to buy glasses there for $1, and had a great time sitting with friends. Lots of them constructed box viewers, brought picnics, and enjoyed the humid afternoon.

I do have a bumper crop of tomatoes. It may be time for a caprese salad. While I've enjoyed the tomato canning of years past, I'm probably going to pass this year. The semester is sneaking up on me, and I'd rather get prepped. We had BLTs for dinner tonight with some coleslaw. Any one have some fabulous summer easy dinners to share? I have the August menu blahs. I can figure out how to use my CSA veggies but am uninspired otherwise.

We've been getting by on freezer food, fill ins, and CSA veggies this week, supplemented happily now with garden tomatoes, but it's time to buy some things. We seem to need all the staples from olive oil to tortillas to eggs and milk. Perhaps a Costco lunch is in order!

We're joining together with some folks from church to serve dinner at a local AODA halfway house tonight. We've talked about it for a while, but they had an emergency opening in our three monthly dinners there, so we signed up. One family is bringing chili and cornbread, another desserts, and I thought a big fruit salad and some veggies and dip would be a nice addition. It should be a good experience for all of us. I'm aware sometimes of the bubble we live in most of the time. One of our members is on the board and she has shared some amazing stories.

All of this prompted a big shopping trip to Costco yesterday for fruit and veggies. But 85% of them will go out with us tonight, and I'm helping a friend move tomorrow and will bring the rest with me then.

Packing for London now!

No such thing as a free lunch? I had one today thanks to one of my university friends who had gift certificates to a fancy French place and took a few of us out for lunch. Yum. A nice glass of Vouvray and a Salad Nicoise followed by a fruit tart divvied amongst several of us. I spent the morning with my summer teaching group discussing a book about learning styles. It's always fun to hang out with faculty from other disciplines. It helps us all. I had to pay for parking as the streets around the French place were all torn up, but it was only $1.50. And I fed the family from the freezer for dinner. I could get used to that kind of a day.

Oh my word--I wish I was one of those people who entertained without stress. My poor DD. This was her first birthday party at home in years, and she must've caught my nerves. She was awake at 1am the night before fretting over having chosen what she feared was the "wrong" flavors for her ice cream cake. She worried about the guest list; she threatened to cancel. My maniacal cleaning probably didn't help. For some insane reason she thought she should invite friends from 5-11, plus I had to drive 45 minutes south to pick up her friend who has moved. So how did it go? Fabulous. People told her it was the best cake they ever had--a Baskin Robbins Oreo ice cream cake. Four pizzas, endless bags of snacks, our new patio lights, games and chatter until their parents hauled them away. One girl slept over and they weren't up until 11. Her first party with BOYS.

DH and I sat outside for much of it, admiring our new patio lights and enjoying a nice bottle of rose'. I'm exhausted, but the whole thing probably only cost $125 or so. England in 12 days.

Yesterday I stuck to my grocery $30 as we didn't need much. I got a free can of beans, and thanks to a generous soul leaving a coupon in the freezer case for skinny cow ice cream bars that doubled, I also got free ice cream bars. We did spend a bit of cash on more London tickets. I bought tickets for DD, her buddy, and me for something called Alice's Adventures Underground. I opted for the matinee to save 15GBP each which I promptly spent on tickets for the London Eye that night. We've done it before, but my DD was about 5 or 6, and she'll be 15 tomorrow.

I went to see a friend's new house today. Very cute house and I'm again amazed at the difference paint makes. I spent another 43 cents on ginger for our stir-fried pork tonight, and then came home and cleaned closets. It was actually fun. I've got some more household tasks tonight--but they'll have to wait until after Masterpiece Theatre!

After a very long drive from west central Minnesota yesterday, we're home safe and sound. Sometimes I think we take these long uneventful drives for granted, but about halfway home yesterday we saw a young man on the side of the interstate with his car engulfed in flames. We could hear the sirens coming, and he was quite a distance away from the car talking on his phone. What a bad day for him, but he looked unhurt. We spent about $18 on lunch, another $8 on beverages (mostly icd coffee to keep me going), and $30 on gas. I bought my favorite Norwegian lefse for a couple friends, spending $30 there. Despite packing snacks and water, we did spend a fair amount on road food, so I'm planning on an NSD today.
There's all the food DH buys when we're away to use up. That might keep us going for a week at least and we need to start to draw down upstairs freezer food before our UK trip. That should keep us uberfrugal for a few days.

I cashed out $25 in Swagbucks, need to deposit my adjunct check, pick up the CSA box and a piece of marble someone is giving away. I'll either use the marble for pastry making or in the garden. It's hot and humid here so it may be a great afternoon to spend tidying the basement.

I'm hosting a birthday lunch for my university pals tomorrow and have been cooking in spurts all day. I also took DD and two friends strawberry picking yesterday so have made three batches of freezer jam, and have more to go. So far I've made garlic scape soup from the scapes in my CSA box, quinoa salad, and am about to embark on chicken salad with dried cherries and pecans. I've still got cake and Greek salad to throw together tomorrow, but will need to do a bit of housecleaning too.

Tomorrow is also my last evening class until late August. I will still have some capstone projects to read, but it's nice to have NO students to think about.

Any advice beside chicken wire to keep the bunnies out of my raised bed gardens? The little ones have munched their way through my pansies, Italian parsley, and any number of other things.

Oh, the shock it--I spent NOTHING yesterday. DD and I went for a hot walk, ate our semi-successful mason jar salads ( PSA: Use a wide-mouth jar unless you want to wear that salad), did a library run, and then I taught/counseled/urged/cheered on/goaded my evening class. Two more class nights left, and still my ex-con student is my clear favorite. Last night's line after trying to teach APA citation: "I'm going to stay here tonight, Miss, until I get it. If they have to throw me out of the building, I'm going to figure this out." We won't discuss the one who left with his work undone.

I've been again running Swagbucks in the background while I read papers. They're starting to add up again. Anyone have a good tip for high online savings rates? I see Barclay's has 1.05%, but I read somewhere that some online rates are as high as 1.25%.

I usually go to church n Good Friday, but DD has the day off and needs some cheer. We're going out to Noodles for lunch (with our coupon) and picking up the making of something strange called Rainbow Slime. Her friends are coming at 2 to mix this goop up.

Yesterday was our dirge of a department meeting, harried students, textbook reps, no lunch--all on a day of little sleep the night before. I honestly cannot believe I had the foresight to pull a lb of hamburger out of the freezer before I left for school and make a hamburger pie thing when I got home. But it was another no-sped day for me, though DH had to pick up half and half on the way home.

So--we're off to Michael's (with coupon), and tomorrow I'll do the "real" Easter shopping. I'm sort of treading water here with the expectation things will ease up soon.

I'm always beat on Tuesdays; I guess I've resigned myself to it for the rest of the semester. That evening class is full of personality--which is my polite way of saying I can't get them to discuss nicely, in fact everyone seems to all talk at once. Last night I actually commanded two students to be quiet for ten minutes so others could talk. On the positive side, if I can get 15 working adults enthusiastically discussing 100-year-old stories, something must be going right. But one of the women said to me on the break, "we must exhaust you." And they do. And the class is over four hours long. And I have two more classes beginning at 8 on Tuesday mornings.

But I got a lot done--after school I stopped for milk and a few things. The checker forgot my coupons and sent me to customer service for a refund. Hey, it was $4.45. There's no way I'd leave that money there. And I'm using the wellness- incentive pre-loaded debit card DH got last year for our grocery spending this month. That should ease the budget a bit.

I also stopped to vote on the way home. We had a bunch of small local elections, a judicial race, and the school board. The sun came out for a few hours so we put the chicken on the grill, and I roasted some potatoes and carrots. Since they're talking about sleet and snow tomorrow, I'm glad we took advantage of some of the sunshine. And I found a penny on the street!

I'm going to write a quiz tonight, work on the dissertation, and try to get to bed early.

I had some simple goals today--the library, return and mail some packages, and go grocery shopping. Despite the cold rain, the library worked out well--and we've finally received the 5th season of Homeland. I went to the UPS store to return a pair of DD's shoes to Zappo's, but the USPS had closed before I got there with my sample glasses frames. That'll have to wait until Monday. The third return was the air compressor/inflator I ordered from Target.com which never worked. It was also my attempt to use up my various gift cards, so I got yet another gift card as credit and did more grocery shopping at Target than usual to spend it rather than "real" money."

Target grocery prices are hard for me to figure out. They're significantly more expensive on some things, but the Tazo tea, cocoa mix, and a few other things were almost 1/3 less than my usual grocery store. I still have over $35 left on that card, and a lot of credit at Target.com. Maybe when we get the bathroom remodeled, I'll buy lots of lovely new towels. We could probably use another set of sheets as well. I spent $48 at the regular grocery store, and we seem to have SO much food now. DD has spring break and I wanted to buy a few nice things. We'll also use some BOGO lunch coupons. Not Mexico or Florida like some of her friends, but a few fun outings after work.

The dog is still resting. So far, so good.

Our small dog is in surgery right now to remove her rapidly changing fatty tumor. I always worry about these sorts of things so have been up since 4:30 mindlessly fretting--but also got a bit of grading done.

Fun lunch with university colleagues yesterday. After I got home and took DD to the ortho, I cashed out $25 in Swagbucks and $45 in Chase rewards. DH spent about $20 on liquid ibuprofen for DD's braces-bothered mouth and ice cream for the same issue as well as a few odds and ends.

I'm still working on clearing out the basement freezer, so pulled out two containers of homemade soup stock and some broad beans. Veggie soup on the horizon as it seems like it's going to be a wet and miserable weekend. You may be chagrined to hear there are still some lima beans left, but I'm hoping to dump them into DH's soup over the weekend. Not much other news--lots of school work and housework. No decluttering done over break. Maybe I still have some time this weekend.

It's at that point in the term where I could work 18 hours a day. Capstone projects are rolling in, I have a new evening class on Monday,and there's plenty of grading still to do.

In an effort to plow through some of it, I stayed home while DD and DH went to friends for a game day. I did manage a trip to the grocery store, but that was about it.

DH and I had a celebratory lunch out yesterday as he begins work on Monday. You'll recall that my office mate was urging us to go out, and now that he's ready to begin, we felt like we could spend a few (well, more than a few) dollars on a lovely lunch at a cozy French bistro--great wine--great tarts--great lunch. I'll miss the old boy when he's back at work.

Before I moved to Milwaukee, I had never heard of paczkis, although somewhere in my dim memory I think my first husband talked about them. Are you all familiar with them? The usual pronunciation sounds like poonch-key. They're big jelly-filled doughnuts very popular around here on Fat Tuesday. That's been my only spending this week so far: $3.99 for six paczkis. I had half of one for breakfast, but found the dept admins brought in a couple dozen, so I relented and had a whole one. I think I'm in a paczkis hangover now. I rarely eat that much fat and sugar in one go-- I almost look forward to a leaner tomorrow and Lent.

In minor financial news I deposited another $25 insurance reimbursement and filed for flex reimbursements for DD's ortho and dental work. TIAA Cref is sponsoring some sort of seminar tomorrow for "America Saves" week, and I've registered for it. I hope to go after tomorrow's classes and office hours.

My major post-paczki triumph today was finding the new George Saunders' book at the library. They have a "hot" shelf, but you can't reserve the books. I'm looking forward to digging in this weekend.

Buried in grading. Absolutely buried.

After a brief interlude with spring weather, we certainly have come back to winter. We've had snow the past two nights, though not as much as in MN.

A brief recap of the spending for the past few days shows I spent $15 on lunch with colleagues after our award ceremony. I didn't plan on going, but it was fun. I brought a few leftover--including the Italian bread--home for DD. I did make a vat of potato soup again from the easiest recipe ever. It lends itself to add-ins, so I threw in some leftover chopped spinach and some Boursin cheese from Christmas. I went to a old friend's 60th birthday party on Friday night, but had a bookstore gift card to tuck in his card, so no spending there.

Yesterday was more grocery shopping as the fridge was pretty empty--and my totals are back in the $60s, but we now have a very full fridge--especially with the batch of chili I made for last night. And in our ongoing effort to eat it all, I found a can of dark sweet cherries in the basement which went into a cake recipe from the Pioneer Woman site. It was good--if a bit too sweet for my tastes. We watched "The Theory of Everything" on DVD from the library. We somehow missed it when it came out--and I liked it a lot.

Today looks like it will be church, the ongoing laundry, and more of the endless paper grading. My evening class begins in another week, and while we'll be happy for the cash, I really prefer to work just one darn job. But my new syllabus has got some interesting different articles, stories, and films, so I'll enjoy it--if not the increased work load.

I'm looking forward to it being March--even if just for the morale booster!

DD and I just got home from seeing a cute French film, Belle et Sebastien II. Our university is hosting a French Film Festival, and all the films are free. It's also free to park on Sunday. We did buy a good looking cake in support of a youth program in Haiti. All the Francophone countries are showing films so there's quite a wide range. As a bonus, DD gets French extra credit for going. I'm going to try to go to a few more while it lasts.

We did the weekly shop yesterday, but I blew the $50 budget buying another 99ct/lb turkey breast and more milk than usual--but we just about hit $70.

DD had a great time at the anime convention. We're going to have to get used to her being out later. We feel like old fogeys (sp?), but she has a much better social life than we do. We watched more of The Crown, and I graded papers.

On Wednesday I'm meeting with a nursing doctoral candidate looking for dissertation editing help. That could be a nice bonus. I'm not sure I need more work now, but I can put some other things on autopilot. No other spending to report--but am scuring the Target ad for other things we need.

After lengthy discussion, it seems clear the DH wants to take the regular job, not the contract with the possibility of it turning into a job. He's very slightly concerned he'll be bored, but he always keeps himself entertained outside of work. It also has the shorter commute--probably a minimum of 15 minutes each way --which adds up and is aggravating.The other folks keep calling him back, but I think he's decided. They don't need him though, until 6 March, which means we'll continue on a somewhat spartan budget for a while. I think the smaller paycheck compared to the other job is not much of a concern. He just needs to keep an eye on his spending. Lots to think about, but he's about to call them and accept.


We continue to eat through the freezer and pantry. Here are some embarrassing revelations. Yesterday DH ate chili from the basement freezer that I have NO idea of its age. But he said it was fine and appears to still be alive. I really should be better about labeling. I'm much too sporadic. And I found a box of alphabet pasta in the far recesses of the cupboard. I'm relatively sure that we have had it for years. I'm throwing it in the latest batch of soup. If you don't hear from me, well, you'll figure it out. Dry pasta has a long shelf life though, right?

I'm home with this awful cold--drippy nose and miserable. I got as far as getting dressed and picking up my bag this morning before giving up and going back to bed.

In other minor financial news, I cashed $25 out of Swagbucks and found 2 cents in the parking lot yesterday. And I read a capstone project to keep that cash coming.

I've turned into such a homebody lately, but it was great to get out last night and today.

I went out with university friends for drinks and appetizers. Someone gave us a card for 25% off for educators, and the six of us made good use of it. Happy hour wine specials and absolutely fabulous crispy Brussel Sprouts with goat cheese and honey. Honestly, they were fabulous. We also ordered a plate called Middle East peace with hummus, babaghanoush and beautiful warm pitas. It was lovely and fun. Lots of worries about our jobs, but so good to get together and reassure and help each other. I paid way more than my share to help some of the others, but it was only $23.

Today I bought a hot pink desk chair off a local FB list for DD. She's been making do with a raggedy old chair that needs paint and a new seat cover, and this was adorable and $10.

Yes, you can see that I've been loosening it up a bit.
But not too much. We needed a little breather.

Today the three of us drove out to where DH's new job will be on the 20th. It is a bit far, but I'm really hoping for a car pool buddy for him. We then went together to the grocery store which is usually a recipe for disaster, but I think he's really gotten behind my stricter shopping. The local grocer had great loyalty coupons this week and we spent (drum roll) $44.16. Ok--we still have a few things in the freezer, but most of it was shopping with a detailed list, electronic and paper coupons, and attention to the special offers.

We got through Season 4 of Homeland last night and are #98 (no kidding) on the waiting list at the library for Season 5. I see an evening of work and Netflix ahead of us.

Lately the moment we finish eating one batch of soup, I start another. Gone is the veggie soup; we're on to slow-cooker potato which smells fabulous right now.

DH is at his interview and will stop and take the pre-employment drug test on the way home. This is yet another interview for a job other than the one he's accepted. Worth talking to people, right?

CCF's list got me thinking about my pantry/freezer progress which has been pretty darn good. A couple weeks ago I bought 10 lbs of potatoes because they were 59cents for the entire bag. We like potatoes, but not that much, so we've been throwing them in soup and having the occasional baked potato with toppings for lunch. But I swear they're multiplying in the pantry. Today's soup used six of them. I also pulled out a jar of mincemeat. Put mincemeat in the lima bean category for me, but the old Brit loves mince tarts, and sometimes his mean wife actually gets around to making some. It seemed too putzy this week to make tarts, so I used the bar recipe on the jar and froze half. I only wish I liked them. I'm making a batch of brownies too with chocolate chips since I seem to have an abundance of them--particularly the mini ones that DD used to like in pancakes. The pantry looks much better, but I could and will work through it for another month or so. Lots of pecans to use, so maybe more granola?

I'm very slightly loosening the purse strings--drinks out with friends tonight and maybe a small Valentine treat for all of us. But though we've mostly managed to live on my salary, we still have ground to make up once DH starts work on the 20th. It's an ongoing mission.