I have been busy again the past few days.  I guess I sort of like it that way, though (as long as I'm not at work).  On Saturday, I had a big dinner for just me, Dave and the kids.  It was really nice.  He has to work on Thanksgiving, so I wanted us to have a special dinner.  I did 3 loads of laundry, put the turkey in the oven, did all the dishes, gave the kids a bath, vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms, then I took a little break until the rest of the food had to be done.  I made turkey, mashed potatoes, noodles, stuffing, gravy, corn, peas and chocolate pie.  I made a HUGE turkey so I could make Dave turkey sandwiches for work this week, plus have enough to freeze for other recipes.  As much as I love to cook, this was my first turkey.  It was also my first homemade stuffing and gravy.  I made the gravy from homemade broth, too.  This was an awesome dinner!!!  Dave keeps raving about it.  He even told my mom that he loved it.  He told her 3 or more times, so she knew it was good. 

Sunday I worked all day, and in the morning, Cameron asked me where I was going.  I told him I was going to work, and he said, "Oh.  Good luck, mama."  I said, "Thanks.  I'll probably need it."  On my way to work, I stopped and got my newspapers, and when I got home Sunday night, I reheated some turkey dinner for us, and then I cut out my coupons. 

Monday I worked, but only half a day.  In the morning, I got online and checked out the deals at a few stores, and I looked up some recipes.  I made fried squirrel for supper when I got home.  I was scared to death, because not only have I never cooked squirrel before, I have never EATEN squirrel before.  It wasn't as bad as I thought, but I couldn't get past the thought, "Oh, my God, I'm eating a squirrel!"

This morning, my mom and I went down to Cameron's school to help out.  They had a Thanksgiving feast for the kids.  Mostly I helped set tables and do dishes.  I don't like being in the kitchen with a bunch of people because I always feel like I'm in the way.  But I had a good time and I talked to a lot of people.  The kids were so cute!!  They all made special placemats for their tables, and Cameron's class was dressed like Pilgrims.  Some of the other classes were, but some were also dressed like Native Americans.  The kids said a prayer before they ate, and they all used their manners.

After they were done and we got everything cleaned up, my mom and I went shopping.  We went to my work first, and I got some lettuce, grapes and some Santa tissues that Emily wanted.  Then we went to CVS, and first I went through and got some M&Ms for Cameron so my ECBs would print out.  Then we did our real shopping.  I spent $7.24, and I got a Dove hand soap, 4 boxes of Neutrogena face cleansing pads, a Nivea Men shaving gel, 2 Gillette Fusion aftershaves, 2 Lubriderm lotions, a Glade scented oil candle kit (which Dave is putting in my stocking for Christmas), a Hershey Special Dark bar, a Snickers, an Almay face soap, 2 Christmas Post-It pads (for the kids' stockings), and 2 candy cane pens (also for the kids' stockings).  $1 of that $7.24 was also a donation to St. Jude's.  I put Cameron's name on it, and my mom got 1 for Emily.  I should be getting around $13 or so back in my account, too, so I'll be able to spend that next week.  Then we went to the mall.  We very rarely go to the mall, but we ha some good coupons to use up.  My mom had a coupon for a free Vicoria's Secret perfume, so we went there and got that first.  Then we went to Bath and Body Works.  I had a coupon for a free gift with ANY purchase, and a coupon for a free gift with a $10 purchase.  I did the $10 order first.  I got 4 hand soaps which were 4 for $10, and I got a free lotion--hot chocolate scented.  Then I did the other one.  I bought a $1 gift bag and got a pink grapefruit lotion free.  So I ended up spending $11.66 and getting $20 in free stuff, too.  I didn't really need the stuff, but it was fun.  My mom got a bunch of free stuff, too.  They gave us some more coupons, but this time they were for $10 off a $30 order.  Anyone who knows me knows I wouldn't spend that much.  Maybe on gifts.....  Anyway, we went to Giant Eagle then.  I spent $74.27!!  Well, $11 of that was my mom's.  The turkeys were limited to 1 per customer, so she gave me the money and a turkey.  So anyway, I spent $74.27, and I got 4 bottles of All laundry detergent, a turkey, 8 boxes of Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix, an Oral-B toothbrush, a 6-pack of Breyers yogurt, 2 Suave shampoo/conditioners, 2 loaves of bread, a bag of potato chips, 2 jars of Bertolli pasta sauce, a bottle of Hershey's strawberry syrup, 3 containers of Breakstone's sour cream, a bag of Halls coughdrops, a tube of Colgate toothpaste, 2 gallons of milk, a cheese ball, a box of Sociables crackers, a box of Ritz crackers, a pack of Pull-Ups, 2 sweet potatoes, a family-size pack of ground beef, a pack of pork chops, a pack of chicken legs, and a pack of New York strip steaks.  Doesn't sound like a whole lot, does it?  My savings was only 32%.  I was planning on making meatloaf for supper, but then Dave saw the steaks.  So he did those on the grill, while I heated up some potatoes and corn my mom gave us from the church.  It was a really good supper.  I haven't had steaks in a long time.  They are so expensive, but these were on sale AND there was a coupon, and Dave loves steak.

I have gotten some good mail lately.  I got a sample of Gillette Fusion aftershave, some samples of Sunsilk shampoo/conditioner, a magazine, a sample of Neutrogena daily scrub, and 2 V-8 Splash t-shirts from an instant win.  The kids snagged those even though they are way too big for them.

Dave saved us a lot of money on my car yesterday.  He knew I needed a new fuse box, because my turn signals hadn't been working right for quite some time.  Actually, I was lucky if they worked at all!!  He checked it all out, and the fuse box was apparently not in good shape, so the wires weren't connecting right.  So he called the dealership, and a new fusebox was $410!!!  And you had to install it yourself!!  So he went to a junkyard and got one for $20.  It gave him some trouble, but he got it in and everything works great now!!  I was at work, so he went and got the part, then picked up his mom.  They came and got my car from work and took it home, and his mom watched the kids while he worked on it.  Then they brought it back.  So he saved us $390!!  Not a bad deal there.

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