Right now Dan is at a Fibromyalgia support meeting; Alyssa and Ryan are enjoying pretzels, carrots, juice, and Spongebob (ugh); and I’m in the bedroom, watching House (working through all the seasons for the second time – I’m currently on the third to last episode of season 4) while I process photos and videos for product reviews.
Dan found part-time work that will hopefully be a good fit for him, and he starts next week. We’re both excited, though I think I’m a little more excited than he is. I feel bad for saying that, because I know it will make him feel bad for what he perceives to be his fault (the financial stress and pressure we’ve been under for the last year), but I’m doing my best to be more candid and honest — not just for my sake, but for his, too, since he specifically asked me to be more open about things, instead of shoving them down inside me and just trudging on like a good little work horse.
On a related note, I have to say: being reduced to one income definitely brings out my determination to keep making those ends meet, and creativity in getting what we want/need. I stalk Pet Smart and Petco and combine their routine clearancing of the premium cat foods with coupons to save up to 75% on most of the foods we purchase. I wait until cat litter goes on sale, and then use coupons when making the purchase. For food, once again: sales and coupons. Also, we hit up a local grocery outlet/overstock store and are able to stock our cabinets and sometimes our refrigerator and freezer with foods that are marked down by at least 50%, and often up to 90% (examples: a 24-pack of Greek yogurt for $2.99; a bag of egg noodles for $0.40). This year, the majority of my protein and vitamin needs have been met via product reviews. A lot of our bath/body/hygiene products have also entered our household via product reviews, rather than from purchases at stores. Now if only I could find a need for gasoline and actual food reviews…then we would be just about set. ;)
And on a final, and somewhat morbid note: does anyone know how long it takes for a deceased pet to be cremated and returned to you? Alcide was euthanized on the evening of March 1st, which was a Friday. It’s been a little over a month now, and I honestly thought we’d have him back a couple of weeks ago. I keep meaning to call to ask on his “status”, but I also keep putting it off because I know I’ll most likely start blubbering on the phone, and I don’t want to put myself or the person on the other end through that.
Holla for a dolla was published on Jenn.nu.
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