Hope

Have you ever been so physically and emotionally exhausted that you couldn't sleep? That was me Saturday night. After we got my dad home, I ran by the grocery store and came home, we went to get a quick dinner and I could finally relax, my brain just wouldn't shut down! I slept from 11:30 pm to 12:30 am, and then again from 6:30 am to 8:30 am Sunday morning, and that was it! I got up so tired!

But, when you have someone else you have to help care for, your time isn't your own, so I knew I'd better 'make hay while the sun shone' and get some things done around here. I washed, dried and put away 4 loads of clothes, got the 5th washed and in the dryer. (They are still waiting for me to put them away, but it's jeans so they can wait a minute!) Washed dishes, loaded the dishwasher, vacuum sealed and froze boneless pork loin (enough for 9 -10 meals - I'll be doing a post on that soon), and cooked a wonderful dinner of beef tenderloin, baked potatoes and roasted carrots and asparagus - yum - then got the dishwasher going.

After the last 3 weeks, I really need a few days to recharge and refuel. It won't happen today since we've got appointments for my dad with both his cardiologist and the urologist for a follow-up. Back to back, top to bottom, lol! One appointment is at 2pm upstairs and the next is at 3:40 downstairs, both in the same building - thank goodness!

But here's where the hope part comes in - If all goes well, and my dad stays out of the hospital for a while, I should (hopefully) have the rest of this week to get some things done around my home and do some playing! I sorely need some relaxed playtime in my office/studio. Of course I have other things to do, too - but don't you ALWAYS have things that need to be done!

I need to go to BJ's and do my quarterly household shopping. This is when I buy laundry supplies, dish liquid and dishwasher tabs (but once a year for those), bathroom tissue (TP), a big bag of walnuts, another big bag of craisins, and assorted and sundry other goods that are cheaper at BJ's than at the grocery store. I usually buy enough to last 3-5 months all at one time. This saves a lot of money over time - I just HATE running to the grocery store every couple of weeks to get laundry detergent, and it's so expensive that way!

*Note: I buy the walnuts and craisins because that is one of our favorite snacks, and because they are very healthy (and I know that craisins have lots of sugar, but which is better, them or candy??? At least the cranberries have lots of anti-oxidants!). Whenever we go out riding, canoeing, or riding our Trikkes, I take some of the walnuts and craisins for a snack, and either gatorade or bottles of water to wash them down, and they are filling, satisfy our snacking needs, and are delicious.

Anyway, back to the plan for tomorrow - I also want to go to the Tyson store and buy probably 60 pounds (or maybe 80) of boneless skinless chicken breasts for the freezer. As I've said before, we are very fortunate to live in a town where there is a big huge Tyson chicken processing facility right in downtown. They have a company store where you can buy 20# boxes of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for market price - usually between $26 - 30 per box. They are flash frozen, so they are individual pieces, in four 5 pound bags per box. This is one more step in our stocking up plan.

But after tomorrow, I hope to be able to stay home for a few days, and do some real recharging of my internal batteries! Don't we all need to do that once in a while??? Of course our camping trips are when we really do it (hubby and I) but you have to hve those times in between, too. When you don't feel you have a minute for yourself, that's when you REALLY need to make a few minutes for yourself, because if you don't, you'll find yourself crashing at the most inopportune time!

Well, I hear those poor jeans calling my name - it's time to put them away, get my clothes together and get a bath so I can go get my parents. Before we leave to go to the Doctors appts. my mom wants me to take her to Tractor Supply so she can get some bird seed. We are both avid back yard birders, and I hope to talk about that on here some day, too! So many things to talk about, so little time - LOL!

Have a blessed day, friends! Becky