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This & That

November 9th, 2011 at 10:16 pm

Dh made butternut squash soup for dinner, Sunday? YUM! We had some at a restaurant last weekend, and it was DIVINE. A recipe came in our cooking magazine this week. The quality was about the same. Perfect for a cold weekend.

That also reminds me that dh got these awesome frozen pizzas this week, at the grocery store. YUM! When searching for the online, just to link, I saw the tip that this company makes other entrees and that they are cheap to buy at Indian grocers. Dh told me there was an Indian grocer by the gym - I might just have to check it out.

Text is Tandoor Pizza and Link is http://www.tandoorchef.com/products.php?category=naan
Tandoor Pizza

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The heat challenge is on. Made it through the weekend. Saturday was hard with drastic temperature drop. Nothing much hard since then. Work week is easy for me (free heat at work). Men and boys at my house don't seem to mind cold. Cooking warms up kitchen/living area by the time I get home from work. As much as I am a wimp in the cold, it doesn't bother me at all at night (fleece clothing, blankets, and hubby body heat are all just fine - a prior house I lived in was regularly 50 degrees at night. I might have had an electric blanket, but now I have a husband to keep me warm at night. I don't think our current house has ever dropped below 60F degrees - good insulation).

Anyway, considering we are only paying $240 per year for gas (hot water, central heating, gas stove, etc.), or merely $20/month on budget billing, why don't I just flip on the dang heat? The point is not to be uncomfortable. It's just realizing that we are extremely adaptable. The biggest shift I have made in the past couple of years is not relying on the thermostat. It's easy to think, "By God, it is 65 degrees in here - it's COLD!" and to just flip on the heat without thinking. I ideally prefer it to be about 70-72. Probably why I am not much into the programmable thermostat thing. The last couple of years I have been more mindful that in fall the thermostat may fall, but the air isn't always quite that cold. (Whereas in winter the air will feel FAR colder at the same thermostat temperature. Maybe because our two thermostats are kind of central in the home, though we may spend a lot of time closer to walls and windows - where it gets chillier as it gets colder outside. The evidence is I can be fine at 60 degrees in fall while freezing my butt off at 70 degrees in the winter. IT's just, different!).

Because of this, I find that the cold is not bothering me at all this year, beyond initial shock factor. Showering while 60 degrees is not the most fun, but truth is water is nice and hot and I can throw on a warm robe the second I step out of the shower. A minute or so of discomfort not necessarily worth running the heat - using resources, etc.

Since we jumped from summer to winter, pretty much overnight, temperature-wise, I will probably turn on the heat if it drops below 60F. I don't know how long that will take. It was 60F when I showered this morning but maybe 66 or 67 when I went to bed last night (by kitchen, anyway). It's been near freezing at night, but sunny during the day, so maybe this pattern will hold for a bit. It is usually not quite so cold this time of year and this is probably the coldest I have been comfortable - so leaves me wondering if the house will get below 60 degrees. I think that will be my breaking point - will see. I might break before it gets to that point...

We can generally make it to Thanksgiving. We usually turn on the heat for guests on Turkey Day.

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I ran by Michael's and lucked into a great frame sale. Holy cow! I went a little crazy, and also hoped that MIL would just accept them as my birthday gifts, from her to me. (She can wrap them and reimburse dh the cost, whatever).

BUT, I decided to go back for some more frames for my dad's prints. The ones I got were GREAT. They looked of very high quality, for odd-shaped 11 x 14 frames (selection for which was huge), but were on sale for about $18/each. That said, I then found a 25% off coupon. Online.

Made me feel like an idiot, since I had spent $100 the night before. Or $25 more than I needed to spend!! Rolleyes

So I got 2 more frames at about $13.50/each. (Thinking maybe for gifts - framed prints? The prints cost me all of $2/each - my dad's photos).

I toyed with the idea of returning some frames and re-buying with coupon (could use once per day, per household). Problem is I already used frames, and mostly cleared the store out of these particular frames. There were a lot of them and I didn't really want to haul any of them back. Considered it for smaller $20 purchase, but seemed like a lot of work to save $5.

I suppose no matter - MIL said she will make them my birthday gifts. Big Grin

In the meantime, my house looks like an art gallery for my dad's photos. & I have no idea what to do with all these frames, but even if I ended up paying for them, was a nice investment. Was nice to invest in higher quality frames, and regardless I am very happy with the price I paid. Everything was already 40% off for the holidays. I got a REALLY nice collage frame that was 65% off. I also got a monkey frame! House art will need some serious re-arranging. I expect to get most the prints for free, or VERY cheap. In the grand scheme of things, was a very low investment for some semi-serious home improvement. It's been so long that I shopped at Michael's, or for frames, I just didn't expect to find such great deals!!

Mental note: Never go to Michael's without checking website. There's a lot of coupons there!

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Dh finished that creative video with lots of special effects for LM's class.

It makes me a wee bit sad because clearly he has SO MUCH TALENT in that area. But I just don't think he has the personality to make it work. (Feels too practical to pursue creative endeavors, plus doesn't have the pushiness to really sell himself. Kind of two strikes against him).

I told him that people would eat that up and he could make it a business. His reply? "Anyone can do that!" Anyone can do that? Oy vey. & anyone can do their own photography in this day and age (really, cheap cheap technology), and yet people still pay tons for professionals! Meanshile, I'd argue this was 10 times more creative and specialized.

Anyway, his sister now wants a personalized video. This is my "I told you so," moment. People will talk - people want videos. I see business opportunity. OF course, same for weddings, but dh was really bored with subject and bridezillas. But this has got to be a little more fun?? Totally could sell the personalized kid video thing - as some kind of childhood memento.

In this case LM is VERY creative and kind of lives in a dream world. So dh made this whole video how he lives with clones of himself, and has to spend every day taking care of all this craziness. He had to save his brother from two of his clones, help daddy find his body when he lost it, and he had to save me from a giant robot. Just a typical day in the life. I was unsure how his class would react to it (& had dh tone down some stuff that I felt was a bit too violent). BUT, the kids LOVED it. Some asked if it was real. HA! The headless (and, er, bodyless) scene was absolute genius & came out very well.

Anyway, I'd also say that LM wouldn't make a bad actor. BM and I were both pretty terrible, at acting. Maybe that boy needs acting classes - he's got some natural talent.

1 Responses to “This & That”

  1. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1320894574

    Mmm! I love butternut squash soup. Smile

    The video your DH made sounds neat. I bet many parents would love to have something like that of their kids. Might make great Christmas presents for grandparents, etc. Big Grin

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