Grocery shopping again.

Have I mentioned that I don't like grocery shopping?  I had to go again today and I have had such a headache all day that I imagine that an axe handle must be sticking out of the top of my head, it feels that awful, but it had to be done, so I went.  My husband had given me coupons that had come in the mail and one was for 16 dollars off my order if I went above 160 dollars.  They know that 160 a week is above my grocery budget because they track spending with those plus cards, so they are trying to make me get in the habit of spending more.  I know that, but 16 bucks?  I had to go for it.  My youngest son was with me.  We stocked up on expensive crazy things like peanut butter (really only 1 jar but it was a biggie) and toilet paper and we threw in a few things we really didn't need like Goldfish crackers.   We got the 16 dollars off but we had gotten a little carried away and were over budget even with the 16 dollars off and a few other coupons.  I felt bad because I always feel bad if I go over the budget.   It's a personal challenge, that budget.  I came home and looked up average grocery budgets and found this.   Apparently, according to the FDA, I am even under the lowest estimates for a family of 5 which includes 3 teenagers (AND 3 dogs and 2 cats) and we pretty  much never eat out.  I feel somewhat better, but I am still absolutely determined to stay within budget from now on.  :-P

PS.  I wore the same pants that I blogged about before here. but I've lost some weight and now they are way baggy on me and so they no longer have the same effect.

PSS.  I did have a grocery list today as well as a meal plan, but that coupon made me go kind of crazy.  That's my excuse.:-P

PSSS:  Also, I had a headache.

Sometimes,

I really just don't know what to blog about, but I'll tell you what I am up to this morning.  I am off work today and it's cleaning day and I've gotten started on that.  In between house work chores, I've checked Facebook, blogger and g-mail and took a tiny look at Pinterest.  I signed up for Youtube for educators in the hopes that I can find some good videos for the kids to watch on there.  I haven't explored it much because I'm just bouncing around between things today.  I don't really have much to say about homeschooling today because Thursday is their lightest day for school and they haven't started yet. 

I've read the first chapter of Wheat Belly.  I don't know why I get these books, it is just disheartening because  I have (2) friends and (5) family members whom I think would benefit from a gluten free diet and none of them will even consider it.  (I put the numbers in there because certain people who read my blog think that I think that everyone should go gluten free when really out of all the people I know, it's only 7, 2 with Crohn's disease, 1 with lupus, 1 with myasthenia gravis, 1 with rheumatoid arthritis and 1 with fibromyalgia) so :-P to those people.)   Wheat Belly is another book written by a doctor (I've read several) in which, when people took wheat out of their diet, they started feeling better in rather unexpected ways.  Their joints stopped hurting.  Rashes cleared up.  Brain fog and headaches went away.   Restless legs stopped being restless.  This all has happened to me too.  I feel so much better, but no one I have mentioned it to wants to even consider that it might help them or even try it for 1 week.  It's discouraging because I hate to see people suffer when I think they could feel better.  

Anyway.  Back to what I'm doing.  Right now I'm going to take a break from my up and about activities and sit for a few minutes, possibly watch a video and cut out the Boxtops for education for our homeschool group.  Through the year, I just tear them off of whatever package they are on and put them in a ziplock bag.  Then, this time of year when they are due, I cut them out more neatly, because I know that our homeschool group leader has to put them on some kind of form.  Last year we got 50 bucks for our group and I think it will be more this year because we've all been going to the salvage grocery store a lot.   (Chex gluten free cereal for 1.45 and a box top!)  

Friday night, again.

Vincent Van Gogh, Wheat Field Under Threatening Skies

It's Friday night at 8:23 p.m.  and no one's done with school.  They do have plans to finish up soon, so does that count?  I'm rolling my eyes here, though you can't see me.  I was hoping when I started working at home again that my get up and get it done early work ethic would wear off on the kids, but it most definitely has not.   I got my work done today, went to the library to get some books, and then to Walmart for a few minutes and then did the dreaded grocery shopping.  Wow, those prices just go up and up.  We were out of everything and that did not help.  The store brand peanut butter in the size I always get (although I kind of think it might be smaller now) has went, in the last 2 years, from 4.99 to 8.99.  It's crazy.  Right in the middle of the grocery shopping, it suddenly hit me that I was exhausted.  (The left side of my back started hurting and now I think I may have a kidney infection.  Oh.  Joy. )  It was, of course, not as bad as the before-I-went-gluten-free-constant exhaustion that I used to have, but still, it was kind of bad.  Pretty much nothing makes me feel as bad as eating wheat does.  

Catching up.

I didn't post over the weekend.  We were busy.  Friday night we had the family fun night at church that we planned.  We only had a few people there and most of them were related to me, but it's okay.  Those of us who did attend really had a good time.  Then Saturday, the kids had a hayride and I went to the grocery.  I really, sincerely hate going to the grocery now.  I mean I didn't like it before all the prices started going up exponentially, but now I really hate it.   I really need to start doing the coupon thing again I guess, but I'm not very organized for stuff like that.  It would be easier for me to just work more hours and I am considering that as an option.  :-(

I finally got the results of my echocardiogram and Holter monitor.  It was fine.  I'm pretty sure that the palpitations were caused by a combination of stress and anemia.  I'm taking iron pills now and I'm not having any issues with that.  I still don't feel great but I'll be okay.

This post is kind of random, but that's the way I roll.  :-).  I thought I'd share a few work funnies from this week.  These illustrate why some doctors will probably never be able to dictate to voice recognition software, or at least not for a while.  One of my doctors always dictates "parasitic atrial fibrillation" instead of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.  I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean that the patient's heart is being faster because of parasites?  Other always says that "a cardiology consultation was seeked." and another recommends that the patient have postsurgical monitorization.  I'm fairly certain that monitorization is not a word.   I correct these and make them sound fine and that's why I continue to have a job.

So anyway, that's what's going on with us.  We're doing school, we're procrastinating about all the things we usually procrastinate about and just being ourselves.  My oldest son is playing guitar all the time now and is making huge callouses on his fingers.  My husband got the Suburban fixed. (yay!)  I have beef stew in the crock pot that I'm looking forward to when I get home from work.  Life as usual.  Kind of nice.