I cannot believe it's been that long, but apparently yesterday was my lucky 13th Blogoversary. What? No card? No flowers?

Because I'm pretty sentimental I thought about all the folks who have traveled through this blogosphere like that lady from Atlanta, Retire at 50, the guy who was living in his car for a while, and another really funny one. Someone help me remember some of the others!

I've been determined not to go to the grocery store for another few days so we've had some slightly unusual meals. Last night's burgers were accompanied by kohlrabi fries. I just need to figure out what to do with the huge cabbage in the fridge. Maybe I'll try that eggroll in a bowl again. Or resort to store cupboard enchiladas for dinner.

In other mundane but satisfying news, my DD voted for the first time yesterday. I voted absentee, but am a dedicated voter, and hope she emulates that behavior. She was proud of her "I voted" sticker. And I cashed $35 out of SB and MyPoints to add to my big goal

I also did a usage test on some crackers, sampling three kinds they sent. For that I gained a $10 Amazon card that went for a wallet for DD. No other news--hard at work prepping for classes!

I'm spending every morning this week and next in sessions for improving online learning. I've taught online occasionally for more than a decade, but there's a lot of new technology and all sorts of tips and tricks to learn.

I had to laugh at myself today as I was somewhat astounded how many students access so much of their course material through their phones rather than laptops. "Who could use their phone as a primary learning device?" I asked my DH at lunch. He just stared at me and reminded me I access Duo Lingo every day on my phone for my language lessons.

Although I'd much prefer to be in the classroom, I'm looking forward to video commenting on papers, and some of the fancier parts of our learning management systems.

Today was a NS day. We ate up lots of leftovers for lunch, and although my DH was convinced there was nothing for dinner, I made a very good veggie-filled mac and cheese using up the last bits of leftover cream cheese, some questionable Brie, and subbing evaporated milk for the heavy cream. There is something so satisfying up using things up.

DD and I took our usual 40-minute walk today and for over five minutes we were accompanied by 5 turkeys. They followed us down the street and got a little too close for my comfort. But it was very funny. Another small joy for the day!

It started out cool and lovely this morning, but it's turned into a hot day. At 5, I gave in and cranked up the A/C. Without it the old dog lays on the tile floor and looks at me like I'm making her suffer.

Still no news from Edinburgh, but our DD's drive-through graduation is tomorrow. She's so done that I had to talk her into participating and decorating the car. Lured by the prospect of a Culver's sundae later, she's agreed.

I'm also in a summer cooking slump. I made soup with a large head of cabbage and cooked down some marginal fruit to top my DH's bowls of oatmeal. Dinner tonight was a grilled sandwich and salad. I'm busy prepping for fall classes and spent ZERO again today. I feel like an extremely boring human lately, but I suspect I'm not alone.

Three darn zoom meetings today--all with lots of bad budget news. I'm safe from more cuts besides the mandatory furlough days, but I've lost more staff.

The drips are small but good drips. Another $5 will go into my big goal from a MyPoints payout. And we got another load of CSA veggies today which made a nice veggie pasta tonight. I'll freeze some kale later for winter soups.

And still we wait for DD's CAS number from Scotland.

Lovely and cooler today!

I've noticed that if I get up and go for a walk for about 40 minutes before sitting down to work, my day goes so much better. I've been walking with DD almost every day, but that morning walk alone seems to clear my head and give me much more energy. And two walks a day seems like a good idea, right?

I've got a document to edit this morning for a university committee, and will also have to face some decisions about class cancellations. My dept chair would like to drop two more classes, and I'll have to decide whose will go. I'm asking him to just drop one, but our budget is dire for the department and university as a whole.

Lots of veggies from the CSA to use up. I made veggie enchiladas a couple of days ago, and the recipe made about twice the filling needed, but my DH is the king of leftovers, so he's been filling quesadillas with it. I've got my first cherry tomatoes and lots of peas from my planter box vines. I've never grown peas before, but they've done well in wheeled planters with a makeshift trellis repurposed from ancient tomato cages. And they have the added advantage of acting as a patio screen from the neighbors who must get sick of me hanging clothes and talking to the birds.

The big goal has been updated with some cash from Swagbucks and MyPoints. I seem to be able to hit those sites regularly now without papers to grade and while watching rom-coms and documentaries with DD. If you haven't seen "The Biggest Little Farm" on Netflix, I recommend it. It's a lovely film about a young couple trying to start an organic farm.

Wishing you all a lovely sunny cool day like we have here!

Our state university system has made a big fanfare about how campuses are re-opening. Yes, we're moving students into dorms in the fall. Yes, some classes will be held face to face. How many? I don't have a hard figure yet, but I would be surprised of the hundreds of classes offered by my department if more than one or two are face to face. It has to be this way. We don't have enough room to make socially distanced classes across the board. We will have a very hard time monitoring student behavior. But we've got to keep the machine running. Everyone I know has been sharpening their skills to teach online--classes, seminars, practicums. I seem to be both relieved and disappointed at the same time. This will be the first fall in over 20 years without me saying "Welcome to English..." in front of a classroom. But there's work to do, and we'll do the best we can.


In other news, I cashed $10 out of Mypoints which went into the UK house fund. I picked up the first CSA delivery which was heavenly. We now have wonderful greens, maple syrup, green onions, and the first darn kohlrabi of the season. No spending for days here.

Enjoy another lovely--though plenty hot--June day.

My wonderful daughter and I have started a big project. Our United Way is sponsoring a huge appeal for disposable masks. Yesterday we picked up the kit for 700 masks. It's four gigantic rolls of paper which you fold, hole punch, and attach rubber bands for behind the ears.
Because we're a bit slow on the uptake, we had to watch the video instruction about a dozen times, but then got into the swing of it. They're due back Friday so we'll have some busy evenings.

That was our only outing yesterday as we had the "pneumonia front" pass through on Sunday dropping our temps 20 degrees. Before that we had a great hike in a county park followed by Culver's drive-through custard.

This is the last week of "instruction," and I think we did as well as we could through all of this. I read a blog on a FB group of teachers titled :"Not Crushing It," which is kind of how I feel. We got through it. Of my 100 students, about six have disappeared from online access. The university is trying very hard to find them and get them back--and is being very generous with incompletes and a credit/no credit option. I'm probably the kindest grader I've ever been.
Then there's DD's college plans. Her Scottish university seems also in panic mode--encouraging her and other foreign students not to give up on them. But it all seems like a (bag) pipe dream at this point. She's confirmed at Wisconsin-Madison without turning down Minnesota or Edinburgh. And with the university system in such financial panic, we'll need a lot more funding from the state. And I worry about my pension plan and seemingly everything else at 3 am. I think this is the lowest I've been since this began; I hadn't realized how much I care about the institution I love/hate/love.

Sorry for the big whine. I need to re-set, keep folding masks, and live with the uncertainty that we've all had to live with. My husband loves this isolation; he's not nearly as social as me. I get a lot of energy from going out, seeing students/friends etc. So glad our daughter is home; she's the best company and one great mask folder.

Not much detailed financial news. My seeds are sprouting, we have a lot of food to use up including another magnificent pot of bean soup, and I've reverted to my bag lady behaviors of moving money around and running stupid Swagbucks while grading.

A friend from Minnesota has an elderly mom in a care facility there where now 17 people have died of COVID, while another's mom is across town where another 18 have died. The numbers in those care facilities are just staggering. Please keep these folk in your thoughts and prayers while the arguments for and against quarantine continue.

We spent nothing today, and my garden seeds have arrived. Tomorrow the hair scissors come. I'm busy busy teaching and trying to keep my mind clear for students and spirits up for them and my family.

After updating classes and grading papers, my DD and I decided to drop off some pansy bowls I'd planted with the remnants of the pansy flat I bought earlier.

Since of our pansy recipients was a co-worker who lives close to the university, we decide to walk around campus. It seemed like a good idea; I haven't been there in well over a month, the flowers on campus are usually cheery, and it offers a lot of things to see. But instead I came home almost in tears. It seems so sad to see campus completely empty. All of those buildings should be bustling with students, and friends, and colleagues. The coffee shop should be full, and the library should be open. Instead of a good idea, it seemed like a bad bad dream.

Then I came home and cooked a big dinner, but faced with yet another stack of dishes, I think I just spiraled down. One of my dear co-workers is ill, so I did some of his grading and stayed up too late.

I need to find something else to help raise the spirits. Maybe, like CB, I need to paint something. Or maybe just a book and a nap. Ugh.

Yes, it's been a strange time here, hasn't it? I have little financial news as we've done little spending.

Sunday night I ordered a few things, about a dozen I think, from Target.com. It was mostly fill-in groceries, pet food, and some toiletries. The Easter ham will be on the agenda for quite some time. What's that joke from Dorothy Parker: "Eternity is two people and a ham." There's three of us, so maybe we can outwit eternity.

We also have colored hard-boiled eggs to use up so I foresee a CSA spinach, ham and egg salad. And a million other things with that ham.

In earning news, there is little. I continue to push away at SB, mostly running videos as I e-mail students and grade papers. I like their new $10 Paypal cash out. My very bored DD is also running SB. But DH and I continue to work and continue to get paid.

And although the mail is quarantined in a corner of the entryway, it looks like our auto insurance rebates have arrived. I wish I was kidding when I say I'm really looking forward to a visit to the drive-up bank.

It's been so cold that I didn't walk yesterday. It does make me restless without the walk.

I ordered a few extra groceries from Target to bring to the drive through food collection at church. It sure hurts the heart to see those food donation lines.

There will be lots of NS days ahead, I think.
And more soup making on today's agenda. I've got another wild rice soup that I'll throw in the Instant Pot today.

Lots of questions and a few postings from students, but online education is slow.

DD and I had a lovely walk yesterday and hope for another today in the sunshine. Other outdoor activities may include garden prep. I can't seem to get a definitive answer about whether it's too early to plant spinach outside. But I have a lot of seeds so may attempt an early crop.

I'm worried about a work colleague, actually my "work husband." He's the sweetest guy in the world, but lives alone, struggles with depression, and is morbidly obese. I brought him chili last week and will go by tomorrow with some soup and fresh food. He has lots of health challenges, so if you have room on your prayer list, please fold him in. I would be broken hearted without him.

I expected today to cost me at least $10. It was award ceremony day for our professional writing students, and I had to park in the ramp, haul the trappings for the ceremony upstairs and help set up.

But the barrier at the ramp was up as we were holding a fair for incoming students, so parking was free. There was leftover food which I patched together for lunch, and even coffee and a quart of cream. These small bonuses are so fun.

On a frugal front, I had to meet a new teaching assistant to go over his work and we usually meet in the coffee shop at the library. I was early and ran into a former student who shared with me how his GI Bill is paying for his education, and he's received full scholarships for his upcoming training as a therapist. We laughed about his packed lunch, my free coffee, and our shared aversion to debt.

Bean and cheese enchiladas for dinner tonight--and it's Friday.

Very busy at work translates into very little time to spend. But I did get one thing checked off my list: consolidating an old 403B into my IRA. Swift and simple with one phone call.

Instant Pot soup for tonight for all of us. And thene back to grading, writing up class observations, and annual reviews. It never ends.

Another in a series of NS days. A few of my students told me today they often spend $7-10 on lunch at school. Frankly, I was a bit amazed and pulled my homemade salad in plastic ware out of my bag. Frugal, delicious, and healthy with last night's leftover green beans, dried cranberries, turkey, cukes, and romaine. More cold walks to the free parking today, but it's probably pretty good exercise.

I cashed $25 out of Swagbucks which went into the Big Goal Fund--bringing it over $6125.

Yesterday was a no-spend and eat from the freezer day. We needed something simple and lighter after all the holiday food. I made potato leek soup with frozen leeks from last summer's CSA and some potatoes which were looking a little sad.

We did some cat sitting work, and I worked on my fill-in adjunct work. My DH is still really struggling with his cold, so he's just hanging on.

Today we drop off some gifts, and since it's DD's last "official" day of school holiday, we goof around.

I had a small win with DD's trip to France. The auto-pay didn't go through and they charged us a $40 (!) late fee. No idea WHY the auto-pay didn't work, but I got them to waive the late fee. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

With 10" of new snow overnight, we're all home again. I think this is a good opportunity to get a lot done--caught up on grading, laundry etc.

I spent nothing yesterday as I brought my coffee, and made a great big pot of soup from Thanksgiving turkey stock. I have another turkey in the freezer, and this might be the perfect weekend to roast it.

No real money news, but would like to get the taxes done this week and get a bit ahead of the game.

Back to it!

It's been a hot day here, but we've managed to make it a Frugal 4th so far. Most of the frugality has come from cooking. This is a strange thing to admit, but despite being 1000 years old and cooking a lot, I've never made pancakes without a mix before. I've always had Bisquik or Krusteaz around, but not today. I'd promised DD red, white, and blue pancakes, so found a recipe online and stirred some up. We decided they were a great success, though a bit putzy. I may make up some dry ingredients ahead and store enough for a few batches for us. I wonder what other surprises the Ultra-Frugal Month will offer? I also stirred up a batch of granola, made potato salad for tonight's dinner using some of the lovely garlic scapes from the CSA along with some radishes, and roasted some CSA beets.
DD is off to Summerfest, our big music festival, with her friends, so the Old Brit and I will have the day to ourselves. I have lots of prep work for my upcoming class as does he. The midweek 4th doesn't seem quite as festive to me. But still fun and time to think about ways to make the country better for all of us.

I had a long meeting this morning, and at the end, colleagues talked about going out for lunch, but we talked so long it just didn't happen. Lunch out might've been nice, but it saved me at least $10 to go home, read papers, eat leftovers, and watch Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry bake on PBS.

A frugal dinner of a bargain frozen pizza awaits. And the remains of the going-into-meal-4 rotisserie chicken are now in the slow cooker becoming broth. My shriveled grape tomatoes just finished roasting with a bit of oil and balsamic, and they may dress up the pizza. That rotisserie chicken was first served as is, then chicken tortilla soup, then chicken pie, now broth. Amazing. I'm a little tired of being frugal, and have to shop for a potluck dinner tomorrow night, but we'll stay the course for the next week. Since it's hardly like we're going to Monaco the following month, I think it will also be a mostly frugal February.

I am SO looking forward to Thanksgiving break. And I think my students are too; it's that time of the year when we're all weary and can use a break. To make the day better,I've just realized it's been a no-spend day! That hasn't happened in a while.

I spent the better part of the weekend catching up on paper grading, writing the final case of the semester, cooking, and cleaning out a few closets. Our church had a coat drive and I found two to donate, and three things to list on FB. Two of them sold--jeans and a Christmas sweater DD wore years ago. I'm adding $10 to my junk sales list We also enjoyed our third symphony performance. I'm really pleased with that birthday gift for my DH. We've enjoyed the evenings out.

Wishing you all as pleasant a day as I've had. Stuffed spaghetti squash for dinner too!

My second consecutive NSD day hopes were dashed when my friendly carpenter wanted the second part of the bathroom cash. I expected him to ask for it a week ago, so perhaps I earned a few cents interest on that $8000. Ugh. But things are progressing in there.

My class started last night with nine students. It's beginning composition and usually we read a variety of essays from a textbook assigned by the university. I've decided to tweak it and make the readings all essays about people and their relationships with money. They're all adult learners, so why not talk about money, right? We'll see how it goes. I pulled a bunch of essays off the web, but would welcome anyone's suggestions for more.

The bright spot is more junk is leaving my house. We keep throwing random things into the dumpster, and the red wagon has been picked up as has the light fixture. Count that as $20 in. I've just listed a small table which has sold too!

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.

I had meetings at the university yesterday, and I'm pleased to say that one of my spring semester students won a writing prize. DD and I had our traditional Friday summer lunch out--frugalish with coupons and a Noodles gift card we're using.

The frugal fail came at the mall. I wanted to pick up a baby gift from the Hanna Andersson store for my niece. I used to shop their outlet all the time when DD was little, and their clothes are so cute. I did fine there--and adorable jacket with a snail embroidered on it and a sale shirt. But I made the mistake of going into Loft and trying a few things on. After successfully avoiding buying anything there, I promptly went home, found everything I tried on for MUCH cheaper on their website and bought it. Granted it was less than half the store price, I got free shipping, and 2% back from SB, but I probably didn't NEED it. And it was only $64 for four things--and a black summer cardigan is useful--oh I'm going to stop rationalizing and call it a lapse.

It will be better today. I may limit the grocery spending to $30 and focus on eating through the fridge. But we need milk, eggs, berries, etc.

The 9+ hours in the car on Wednesday have made me achy, and I need a walk. I also need to iron, enter grades, and so some tidying.

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.

My lunch for friends went very well, but after wine on the patio, it was too chilly to eat outside and we came in to eat lunch. Everyone stayed for hours, then I rushed off to class. I spent nothing today, but sure wish I had more leftovers. My classes are over until late August. The highlight of tomorrow is our appointment with the bathroom remodeler. That will likely NOT be a NSD.

We've had heavy rains all evening--the aftermath of a very muggy day.
It was a no-spend day here, and I picked up the CSA veggies, some of which went into our pasta tonight along with the garlic scapes. We have a lot of lettuce, so salad on the menu for tomorrow. I need to find ideas for the salad turnips that came with the CSA box. I'm busily dejunking my home office, and scads of paper have made it to the recycling bin. Barclays has raised their savings rates to 1.15% which will help make us a bit more cash. And I cashed $25 out of Swagbucks which went to the UK House fund. Between that and reading a few capstone projects, it's been a quiet day.