Wednesday and the Approaching Christmas Break

     I really appreciate the ideas and the just plain encouragement to my post yesterday. I can relearn better cooking habits and maybe I'll get healthier alongside DH. Special shout out to Juhli who shared her story of rebounded health-I am feeling better and perhaps more in control. I did make the meatloaf on Monday and he has been eating it as sandwiches. Done is the deli style meats, which I can afford to skip as well. A granola bar I buy is only 2% RDA sodium, so even if he has a couple, to tide over a bit of hunger, he isn't getting much salt. He is going into work for a couple hours, then coming home. If that goes well, he may go back at 5:00 for the evening after a good rest.

     My youngest will be home tonight! her last final is at 10:30, but her car pool wont leave until after all are done at 4:00 I believe she said. I doubt she'll be back to the cities until nearly 9:00. I'm gong into work a little later this morning, will work later, and then head across the highway to a dreaded mall for the last of the shopping items I need. Needless to say, I did not make the December 10th deadline, so will have lingering expenses into January. I have a plan for that though. I am going to make a note in the checkbook of the amount spent on Christmas after the 10th that will end up on January's Visa. Then, reserve that amount when we make our December savings deposit. Then, when the January Visa comes along, I'll have essentially prepaid that portion and not have a lingering Christmas expenses into January. 

     It will be very tight to hit another $4,000 with DH being off work. It's hard to earn money when you are not physically there, so we'll see what his check is. We know we should be able to deposit both his and mine and I know what mine will be on Friday. If he only ends up with his draw and car allowance, getting to our December target will depend on my frugality in the final weeks. 

     I had one of two full day meetings yesterday with our program grantees. This is a grueling meeting for me. It is a packed agenda as we need to make sure it is worth the travel time of grantees throughout the state. We had a remote options for a few sites that couldn't make it. As a division, we were really struggling to find a date for a holiday  potluck, what we typically have done. Instead, to end the day (our meeting was over at 3:30), the leadership team, which is my boss and two other supervisors and myself, hosted a popcorn bar. It was really appreciated by our team and fun. We had  several popcorn flavors and toppings, plus sweet stuff to mix in. One supervisor had  the little cardboard boats, and I ordered popcorn bags for anyone that needed to make a snack for the road since it was the end of the day and may have had child care needs. I also brought sparkling lemonade. I would guess it cost each of us about $15 at most, with all the paper supplies, so pretty reasonable holiday get together, with loads of leftovers for nibbling the rest of the week. 

     Still, despite meeting and party going well, I was knackered by the end of the day. I was actually happy for the long drive home as it got me off my feet for 45 minutes! It was quite cold last night, so pup was not even pulling for a super long walk after doing his stuff. By 7:00, I was in PJ's, ate a veggie burger for supper, and took three ibuprofen. before watching YouTube for a bit. I feel good this morning. My baby will be home, both my older daughter and I are off all next week, and my son will be here Sunday. DH says he feels stronger. We are all getting ready for a Christmas break.