In this part of the world it wasn't too exciting but we watched it, anyway. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the telescope focused well (we think something's wrong with it) but watched it with the naked eye.

Okay, now I've seen a lunar eclipse - my year is set.

Just a few minutes ago I was at the kitchen sink and I glanced out the window there behind the sink. That view is of our front yard and the road in front of the house. I noticed an unfamiliar car stopped in the middle of the road, right in front of our house. I said to my husband, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, "Do you know who that is?" He walked to the door and said, "No" and headed out.

About that time the woman driving the car got out and headed up the little hill toward our house, leaving her car in the middle of the road. She had a blue bag in her hand but I couldn't see what it was. Well, it turns out she is the neighbor who lives kind of behind our house. She told DH, "I have dog food with me to give to Blackie." and handed him the blue bag of Kibbles and Bits. He was about to ask who Blackie was when Wee Black Doggie, our chow/shepherd mix ran to stand by DH. The woman put her hand out to pet him and he backed up a bit then relaxed and allowed her to pet him. The woman said, "Hi there, Blackie!" and explained to DH that Wee spends time at her house and she feeds him Kibbles and Bits. Huh? He does run around a bit but I've never known him to go behind our property. The lady asked if we were the ones with the shepherd and told DH that "Blackie" and the shepherd ran around together a lot but the other dog hasn't been around in awhile. Neither of us remembers ever seeing a shepherd out here but he just smiled and went along with her. She then asked if we were the ones who had the pig. Uhhh no, no pig here. But there is a hog pen on the property and we were told when we bought the place that the previous owner had a pig that got out.

So at any rate, this stranger dropped off a bag of Kibbles and Bits (which contained a $1 coupon and $2 coupon for K&B, by the way) and talked to DH about what a great dog he's been to her and how she hadn't seen him in a few days so she wanted to try to find him and make sure he's okay.

We're both a bit puzzled that Wee Black Doggie would be hanging out at another house without our knowledge and that this woman seemed pretty familiar with him and he seemed familar with her. And he used to run around with a shepherd? When? Where? We've had him since he was a tiny pup and we've lived in this house since 1998. Wee Black Doggie appears to have another "family" in the neighborhood. Stranger things have happened, though..

It just goes to show you, don't think you know everything your dog does when you're not looking. You probably don't.

Ugh, I didn't get much done this day. I did finally get the clothes out to the clothes line but not until about 3 PM. I've taken two brief naps today and still don't feel good. I hope I'm not getting sick. That's the last thing I need.

I paid $75 on the $223 T-Mobile bill. It isn't due until March 7 but if I pay it in chunks as I get the money I should have it paid off by the due date which is my goal.

I've stayed home all day (one advantage to not having a car) so I haven't spent a cent. I imagine DH bought lunch but I don't know that for sure. It's almost 4:30 and I haven't heard from him since he left the house at 7:30 this morning. He should come rolling in any time now.

Okay, time for me to nap again! More later.

We're digging out the telescope and good camera for the total lunar eclipse. It will occur Saturday March 3 about sundown and will be visible over the eastern Americas, Europe, Africa, and western Asia.

Here's a wiki on lunar eclipses:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse

I think I'd remember if I'd seen one before - somehow I don't think a red moon would escape my memory!

It's 42 degrees this morning with a predicted high of 77. I love this weather! By late this week the overnight temperatures will drop and the daytime highs will be in the 60s with upper 30s this weekend. But Spring is almost here so the beautiful temperatures will be more plentiful.

I was awakened at 4:45 this morning by the phone ringing. It was my 22 year old son. On his way home from work his truck had broken down so DH and I threw on some clothes and drove to get him. Poor kid, he was so distraught about it. He had it in the shop when he got this new job two weeks ago and now it seems to be doing the same thing it was doing then. I know the frustration of vehicle trouble!

When we got home DH made his breakfast and I made coffee and started laundry. As soon as it's light enough outside to find my way to the clothes line, I'll hang up the wash. I've swished and swiped the bathroom and stripped the bed linens to be washed later.

If you like to cook simple but tasty dishes and haven't yet done so, peruse
Nancy's Kitchen.
It's one of my favorite cooking groups and the people are very friendly. From the Daily Newsletter Index link, you can read each day's newsletter and that's where the good stuff is.

DH has a wireless job at 8 AM. That should take a couple of hours. Hopefully another one we're waiting to hear about will come to fruition and be installed not long after the first one but we'll see.

I have some things to do around the house, including getting things ready to post for the local Freecycle group's Spring Fling. I'm going to post some Pyrex items and some clothing, cookie jars, and not sure what else. I also need to wash a load of clothes and hang them on the line. Then I need to clean off the porch since I didn't get that done yesterday. I did get most of the bathroom cleaned but still need to scrub the tub so that's on today's list, also.

I think I'll bake some bread and prepare a breakfast casserole for tomorrow morning. DH isn't wild about breakfast casseroles but will eat them now and then and I enjoy preparing them. I like having the leftovers for lunch the next day!

Dinner will be leftovers from yesterday's lunch and dinner. We still have a few chicken legs, some with barbecue sauce and some with teriyaki sauce, and some of the turkey dressing and gravy. I'll prepare spinach and green beans to go with the main dishes.

I have some letter writing to do today so I'll work on that. I need to go through my coupons, too, and see if any have expired.

And last but certainly not least, I need to decide what bills to pay right now. I don't want to spend every cent we have on bill payments but do need to get one or two paid.

Progress, one little step at a time...

Well, I got up early, made DH's breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, and checked email. DH has a couple of wireless jobs to do today (yaaay, more money!) and I have some things to do around the house.

Laundry is caught up but I'm going to clean the bathroom and the kitchen and work on the front porch a bit.

Dinner tonight will be turkey dressing with gravy, green beans, spinach and salad.

I'm going to cook 5 lbs of chicken today, debone it, and stick it in the fridge for the coming week. We eat a lot of chicken, more than your average bears, I think! We prefer it over most beef and at .49 a lb for whole chickens and .29 a lb for quarters it's hard to beat pennywise.

This week we'll have chicken pot pie, chicken and dumplings and probably some kind of chicken and wild rice casserole. Yummy!

Anyway, that's about it for today...

Today I'm going to clean the house, cook, wash some clothes and hang them on the clothes line. I have bread rising right now and plan to boil a chicken to be used throughout the week. I also have some ground beef that needs to be used so I'll use some in tonight's main dish. I'll put the extra in the freezer for some later date.

I'm also going to go over the budget spreadsheet again to see what we've spent that we shouldn't have. I know there's something!!

And I plan to clean out the truck. We're doing some commercial satellite receiver installation jobs and when we do that, we basically live in the truck so it's a mess. I need to get it all cleaned out in preparation for the upcoming wireless internet installations we'll do. Woohooo! I think that will keep us busy and keep the bills paid.

Anyway, I have a busy day planned and I hope it's a frugal one!

Okay, the connection is back though it isn't the most stable one at this time. The new owner of the ISP is working on things so hopefully they will improve.

In the meantime, I need to get caught up on reading yall's entries. I'm so far behind! I hope I didn't miss anything really good.

We still have no internet access but should soon, I hope. I'm checking email from the computer of the friend buying the ISP and he says he isn't sure when the T1 will be put in but he thinks it will be soon. Since he's the buyer, he knows a lot more about what's going on than the rest of us do.

So, we still have no access but I thought I'd check in and say I'm surviving. Barely.

Moneywise, things are tight but they always are! Hope is on the horizon, I believe, though.

More to come later...

Our ISP is having major issues and is down totally and we don't know for how long. I'm using a friend's computer but don't know how often I'll be able to do that.

At any rate, I'm offline for awhile and will miss posting and reading other people's blog entries.

Hopefully, I'll have good news to report when I am back.

Well, we ended up having a very boring but very cheap dinner. When we got home from running errands DH had two pieces of bread with two turkey franks and some dill pickle relish. I had the last of the taco soup from last night and it was very good with a few fritos in it.

DH then left to go pick guitar with some people and I've been lying around doing nothing but watching movies and being a bum.

Oh yes, I did record today's spending in my log and updated the January records. Hey, I might be getting the hang of this!

I have a 1988 Yugo GV that I got in lieu of wages some years ago. It needs a new engine and I'm not going to do that (again) so I'm selling it. It won't bring much but it's hard to sell it, anyway. I've had it so long and it's been a great car, getting 40+ MPG and being something of an oddity on the road. Ahhh well, the decision is made, it's listed on a couple websites and I've gotten some inquiries about it, already. I mentioned it to someone this morning and he said, "Wow, you're selling your car?" He knows how I feel about it but such is life.

I'm also going job hunting today. I'm going to look for a retail job in the little town we're near. Even part time will be okay for now. DH is okay with it, finally. He knows it has to be done and he says he'll work his schedule around mine.

He also said that he's going to look for a job in the optical field in about two months. This is the worst time of year to look for a job in that field and he still has two books to get out so he'll do those and by the time he is finished, spring will be around the corner and he should be able to find a job.

This is hard, admitting that the business has failed, but at least he's coming around. He hurts but he knows what has to be done. We both do.

Well, DH is feeling much better today so off he went to town to try to collect payment from a couple of advertisers. I stayed home because I don't feel too chipper and I'm just tired and cold today.

In the crockpot I have Taco Soup and we'll have that tonight with cornbread, unless one of the guys picks up corn chips or tortilla chips today. If they do, we'll have the soup over those but if not, cornbread is great. I baked a few chocolate chip cookies so if they aren't gone by supper, they can have those for dessert.

Someone in the local Freecycle group offered some cat food and cat litter and I claimed it. Yippeee! She lives not far from me so I need to get to her house today or tomorrow to get it. That's a few dollars I won't have to spend and I'll add those to my challenge money. I just love free stuff, even if it is free stuff for my cat!

Okay, I'm cold and need to warm up. I'm going to climb into bed for awhile and hopefully that will help me warm up.

we need spending discipline!

I'm watching the state of the union address and he's talking about how the U.S. needs to budget better.

Wow, novel concept, huh?

While I was in the process of cleaning and organizing the cupboards yesterday, I updated my inventory. I didn't include the freezers, fridge, or outside pantry, just the kitchen cuboards.

I got to thinking of what a boon a well stocked pantry is. I haven't had to run to the store for one or two things for a meal in many, many years. If I don't have it, I substitute and if I can't do that for some reason, I don't make the dish. I just prepare something else and move on.

I truly believe that being well prepared is one of the things that's enabled me to feed 4 adults on $200 to $250 a month, most months for less.

So, what's in your pantry?

Here's part of what's in mine:

1 jar of garlic parmesan sauce (which we love over chicken and broccoli)
1 can spaghetti sauce
3 bottles misc. hot sauces
1 bottle worcestershire sauce
1 jar mayo
1 16 oz bottle honey dijon dressing
17 cans green beans
7 cans ranch style beans
2 cans sweet potatoes
10 cans corn
5 cans sweet peas
10 cans spinach
2 regular cans black eye peas and 1 6 lb can of black eye peas
1 can kidney beans
7 cans Bush Vegetarian baked beans
2 cans asparagus
1 can mixed vegetables
3 cans saurkraut
7 cans potatoes
2 1 liter boxes of Creamy Chile Poblano soup (anyone have ideas what to do with that?)
1 can bamboo shoots
3 cans tuna
1 can beef in juice (will be used in stew at some point)
1 bag Szechwan Chicken
1 can beef luncheon loaf
1 large can enchilada sauce
1 can black olives
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mushrooms
1 can apricots
1 can mixed fruit
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can pumpkin
2 cans pineapple
3 16 oz bags of instant potatoes
2 26.5 oz bags of powdered milk
1 quart of low fat shelf milk
8 cans milk
6 lbs rolled oats
10 lbs farina
15 lbs white flour
10 lbs whole wheat flour
3 lbs soy flour
3 cake mixes
1 container of frosting
1 box dates
1 bag chocolate chips
8 lbs white sugar
4 lbs brown sugar
1 jar molasses
1 bag splenda
lots of spices
baking goods like yeast, baking powder, etc
teas and coffee
7 bags beans, misc. varieties
8 lbs rice
4 large bags of pasta, misc varieties
2 6 lbs cans whole tomatoes (what in the cat hair do I do with those? I'm thinking homemade spaghetti sauce for the freezer)

The 21 year old is moving out tomorrow. He is not moving with our blessing. In fact, for reasons I won't go into here we think it's a foolish thing for him to do but he's determined so out he goes.

There will be one less mouth to feed, less electricity used, less water used, etc. but there will also be one less smiling face each day and that makes me sad. He's a great young man and we get along very well.

I'm sorry to see him go...

Today's been a no spend day so far and should continue to be one. DH's cousin who visited from Louisiana a couple days ago left something with us... a virus! DH is sick with it and I pray I don't get it!

I've spent most of today working in the kitchen, cleaning and organizing the cupboards. I do that every few months, clean them out, put down fresh shelf liner, re-organize the items in there, etc. When I woke up this morning I wanted to work on that today so I have been. It might take me a couple of days to do the entire kitchen as we're having bug issues so I'm also spraying after the cleaning and then I have to let the spray dry and that takes a little more time.

At any rate, the food the cousin brought is now neatly in the cupboards with the rest of the stuff and the cupboards look nice!

I thought a couple of pictures would be good.

I went to flush the toilet awhile ago and there was no water. I waited a few minutes and tried again - still no water. Hmmm. I called the water company and got a busy signal for over 30 minutes. Obviously there are water issues. I just called my son at his work and asked if they have water. Nope, none there, either.

The Sabine River, not far at all from us, is flooding but I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

I hope they get it working again soon. Between that and the internet connection not working well for the last 4 days, this is a real adventure!

These are my niece's identical twin boys. They were born mid-November. I think they're precious and just wanted to share this photo. Dylan, the one in red, has a temporary Hawkeye tattoo on his thigh. I think that was his Daddy's idea.