Planning for My Work Trip

     I'm only gone tomorrow morning through Thursday night and we have no kids at home. I still feel like I need to plan more than I should for the days away. Of course there are the work things I need to  have taken care of and no doubt I'll be on line off and on for the three days of the meeting. Even though without kids, I still feel like I need to plan to be gone. DH no doubt will have two long days on Tuesday and Wednesday and while Thursday is supposed to be his day off, his schedule gets derailed quickly. I'd like him to be able to  just come home, heat up some dinner and relax. He'll have to come home mid-day to take care of the dog but I can see my daughter stopping by to see the little fluff ball.

     I went shopping for food for the week yesterday morning before church. We had a family dinner so I already had salad ingredients to buy, but along with those my  shopping list looked like a teenager who was left a couple $20's by their parents who were gone for a long weekend.

• frozen supreme pizza
• four frozen chimichangas
• cheese tortellini
• two pot pies
• two versions of hot pockets
• instant potatoes
• marinara sauce
• 1 pound cheddar cheese
• yogurts for the jello salad
• deli turkey
• coleslaw mix

 This was not my list I started with, but the local store is so much more expensive than Aldi, but I hadn't stopped on route and didn't want to make a special trip. The salad ingredients were really pricey here with walnuts and dried cranberry's, spinach and a raspberry vinaigrette. I'll also had cheese on the side and apples for sort of a harvest salad. I made a jello with mandarin oranges and a yogurt/gelatin layer that the kids like. I
ll make a good dinner tonight of chicken, potato and stuffing, of which there will be leftovers. I'll also bake a small chicken hot dish with some diced chicken I  have in the freezer. I'll make a few extra chicken breasts for wrap sandwiches, so his choices will be a bit broader than frozen foods. I had $43 for the shop per my plan and interestingly I spent $45.57. over by over $2 from what I intended, but not by much. I'll probably stop at the Kwik Trip on route tomorrow for another 1/2 gallon of milk, bread, and a few bananas, bringing my over spent to most likely $10, but still a  good budget amount at $90 to go into Thanksgiving shopping week. Of course he may choose to grab take out, or go out for a meal, but the kitchen is stocked regardless. 

     While packing tonight since I have a very early flight, I'll make sure the linen closet is stocked with clean towels, and DH has a week's worth of clean clothes. He'll hardly know I'm gone.