PUBLIX SHOPPING TRIP 1/25/08

This one was so good I had to blog it.

All this food.....
$68.84 retail price before sales and coupons

Total out of pocket after sales and coupons $28.04!!!!!!!!

How did I do it? I mostly shopped the buy one get one free things, and stacked manufacturer's coupons on top of these sales. Publix is great because they will accept one coupon for the one you pay for AND for the one that is free! That adds up to some killer savings. If you shop at Publix I really recommend checking out the weekly coupon match up posts on Sarah's Blog, FiddleDeeDee and on Southern Savers Many of the coupons are printable so you don't even have to save the coupon inserts from the Sunday papers for most savings. (But you save even more if you do!) These ladies make it their full time job to help us save BIG BUCKS on our weekly shopping trips!!


I'm going back for a few more things that I didn't have coupons for with me later this week, but wanted to be stocked on essentials because Gabe isn't feeling well and worse case scenario I don't want to be stuck with no toilet paper if I can't leave the house! HA!

NOTE: The toilet paper was actually on sale at Walgreens and was about $5.

Off The Wagon...

I've been catching bits and pieces of Oprah's "Best Life" week. Yesterday they talked about "falling off the fitness wagon" she had one of the past winner's of The Biggest Looser on and he had gained back around 100 lbs. My husband and I actually watched this season and I was so sad to see him look so embarrassed and discouraged, but I related SO MUCH with what he had to say. He talked about his addiction to food and depression and how maintenance is a constant battle and almost harder than just loosing the weight in the first place.

I've actually lost all my "baby weight" and thanks to P90x, I lost a total of 20 lbs and got my metabolism kicked back into gear! However, since I stopped working out my sugars have just been wacked. I realized yesterday I have officially fallen off the "diabetes wagon". I haven't been logging, I've been checking my blood sugars really sporadically, I haven't ordered any new Dexcom sensors out of sheer lazy and busyness. So I am on it. One of my new D-friends, Joanie, sent me some great Excel log sheets and I went through my meter and logged all my sugars since January 1 of this year. I need to fax over 60 days worth to Dexcom (so some of those might possibly be made up numbers but whatever gets me coverage) and I am going to shoot for getting in 3 cardio workouts per week. I'd like to do another cycle of P90x, but I'm sane enough to know that my current schedule will NOT allow that dedication, but that doesn't mean I should do NOTHING.

Debt Free Probably Not For Me....

Last year we hired a financial consultant from the Dave Ramsey organization to help us make a budget and figure out the best way to pay off our debt and save money. She was AWESOME and motivated us both to make a lot of great changes. We did make some good progress too.

Here's the thing that is frustrating. I'm saving a TON of money on household and grocery stuff by menu planning and couponing. I'm working part time now teaching piano. We have a fantastic cash flow plan that allows us to track every dollar and plan for the future. And we're STILL not paying off our debt very fast. WHY? Medical bills. AHHHHH!

We have a pretty decent insurance plan from Justin's employer and even WITH that coverage we are spending a lot of money out of pocket. I just did the math and basically.... if even ONE THING goes wrong with another family member besides me (because it's just unavoidable for me... too much medication, supplies, specialists co pays) we go back into debt. Every time we go into debt it's because of medical bills. When Gabriel had his adenoid issues it set us back AGAIN. It is so frustrating to me. And there is just absolutely nothing I can do about it which frustrates me more.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DIABETES BLOG!

It's been about one year since I started writing this blog to help manage my Type 1 diabetes. I never IMAGINED that by starting this blog I would be introduced to such an AMAZING group of people, The Diabetes Online Community. I have learned more about this disease I've battled for over 20 years in this one year, than all the other ones combined.

One year ago my husband saved my life by finding me unconscious on the floor next to our bed. He called the ambulance and one Glucagon shot later, all was well. But it was enough to scare the %&$* out of me and I realized I needed some support, an outlet of sorts to see if anyone understood what I was dealing with.

It all started with a little Irish angel named Bernard Farrell who found me first. He told me about the search engine he had created and I saw the Diabetes365 photo project linked on his blog. I thought, cool! What a neat idea and joined in! It was there on Flickr that I met lots of other cool diabetics like Kerri, Landileigh, and Sara. I also was linked to sites like Amy Tenderich's, Diabetes Mine and Manny's Tudiabetes.com social network. The day I discovered there was a NINJA diabetic was a GOOD DAY with lots of laughs to follow. Scott K. Johnson is always the encouraging cheerleader. Then there's the awesome Chris Bishop who is my husband's favorite D-blogger because of his awesome comic book like layouts. Donnabetes who reminds me of my mother, always the optimist and her caring nature protrudes even through the internet!

There are sooooo many more of you, I could list you guys all day! But I wanted to take a moment and thank you for understanding the struggle and just being there in a way that other people can not. I am so thankful for the support I've found through this new circle of friends. May 2009 bring new friends to our little corner of the internet and lots of breakthroughs in research! I pray we all have a healthy, happy year full of blessings!!! Cheers!!

Gabe's Pre School Program

This post is intended for out of town family, but some of you may enjoy it. =)

Last night Gabriel had his first Christmas Pre School program. It was VERY cute. The two's class did a live nativity to a narrative read by their teacher, the 3's and 4's sang some cute songs, and some of the school age children did a puppet show that was absolutely adorable.

Here's a clip from the first song, "Mary Had A Baby Boy and His Name Was Jesus..." Gabe is so funny.




Zoe and Mommy cheering for Gabe



What a ham!



Zoe and Daddy smile for the camera!

Menu Planning Monday

Monday- Peach Chicken, Rice - THIS IS SO GOOD OVER RICE!

Peach Chicken - serves 4-6

6 chicken breasts- halved
1 jar peach preserves
1 cup BBQ sauce
4 TB. soy sauce
1 onion diced

Sautee the above ingredients for 40 minutes on low

1 green pepper cut in thin strips
2 cans water chestnuts, drained

Add the green peppers and chestnuts for final 10 minutes.

Tuesday- Meatloaf, salad, corn cassarole

Wednesday- leftovers

Thursday- Tuscan Bean Soup, homemade bread

Friday- Pizza Biscuits

Saturday- hamburgers on the grill, veggies

Sunday- leftovers

Cheap Thrills For Us...

So, I don't think it's a secret that most everyone is pinching their pennies in America these days. We recently had family come to visit for Thanksgiving weekend and we had such an AWESOME time, without spending a ton of money! Enjoy my photo narrative.

Mattress Surfing 101

I swear this was hours of crazy fun, and a fantastic full body resistance workout. You try carrying an old twin mattress up stairs over and over again for a bunch of giddy little kids (umm and grown ups) wanting to take a ride down a flight of stairs into a bunch of bean bags.







FOOTBALL AT THE PARK ON THANKSGIVING MORNING WITH LOTS OF FRIENDS
(NOTE: I don't do football, but I had fun playing with Zoe and taking pictures!)







And then there was the Black Friday shopping, where CVS paid me 9.99 to take a new Rival crock pot out of their store.

Have a great week!!!