I'm BAAACCKKK!!!

After almost 2 months, I am starting things back up again! 

When I last left, I was sitting in the hospital after my husband had surgery wondering what in the world I was going to do.  The two weeks that followed were the most difficult and trying weeks I have every gone through.  There were times when I didn't know how and when we would ever get back to living our lives the way we had.  Once my husband was back on his feet, the financial toll of almost 1 month without his paychecks hit us...hard.  I was embarrassed to come back to my blog to post that we couldn't afford the meals that I had been planning.  We were eating the many items we had in the house--hamburger helpers, mac and cheese, freezer meals, etc--so we were doing just fine, but I didn't want to make that one of my "weekly menus".  We are getting back on our feet, still, but with the encouragement and support from my friends, I've decided that the show must go on.

I have made a few more tweaks to my plans since we can't go out and buy a ton of groceries every week.  I am only having 1 or 2 "fancy" meals a week, a CHEAP and EASY meal (which is a meal that we usually have the supplies for in the house and make when in a bind), and watching the meals I select to try and keep the ingredient lists low on most recipes.  I don't feel like I've done any damage to my meal planning ideals, but rather I've made it work for our finances, time, and life style right now.  I have also cut out the breakfast items for the time being until I feel like we can do more than just an egg and toast or bowl of cereal for daily breakfasts. 

I feel a little guilty that I backed down so quickly from sharing my experiences when things got tough.  I will work on that and realize that those are actually the points that need to be shared.  I think that every family struggles at times and has a hard time keeping afloat.  I'll keep planning, sharing, and floating a long...

No Way to Plan for Life's Crazies

Just when you think things are quieting down and falling into place (or at least an expected pattern), life blows up in your face!!  I thought that last week was a difficult week since we had a party and more "running around" than usual.  Well...this week beats last week to a pulp!  After 1 visit to the ER, and 2 doctor's appointments, my husband was admitted to the hospital for surgery.  I'll spare the details, but it by all means is one of those things that makes you feel old and VERY uncomfortable.

So, here I sit, on a futon in the hospital in the dark, hoping that the most recent pain meds will do something and that my husband will catch a few winks of sleep (aww, darn!!  he just said something)  Not only had I hoped to post my menu for this week today, but I hoped to be further along in my weekly cooking.  Instead, I have three meals remaining this week (and it's Saturday) and have my meals for next week selected, but haven't compiled the shopping list or typed it up.  I'm staying here tonight until he falls asleep, am going to head home for a few hours of sleep for myself, and then will be back dark and early in the morning.

With all of that being said, I am going to have to push back my weekly meal planning/blogging meal plans.  I don't think anyone is following our meals, and I don't even really know if any one has made any of the same meals (IF ONLY SOMEONE WOULD POST A COMMENT!!!  :) ), but I will try to get things figured out in the next week or so to get back on track.  With all of this crazy stuff going on, I've realized that I've been posting some idealistic (crazy cooking/baking) meals that probably don't fit easily into a "typical" work week.  But if this week has taught me anything, it's that there is no such thing as "typical".  Hope everyone reading is healthy and happy (and not in a hospital room).

Take care, Jessie