While at the grocery store, I noticed that you can buy sliced peppers in a pack instead of having to buy the whole peppers. I pointed it out to my husband as a way to save money while still enjoying some of his favorite dishes. He then talked about how he saw sliced onions and celery that would make it easier for him when he cooks.

My husband does like to cook – he just hasn’t lately like in the past two years or longer. I’m not sure after that much time that he can still claim he likes to cook. His complaint is our kitchen – he hates it. Welcome to the club. I don’t like it either. It is an odd layout and very cramped. Now that I think about it, I don’t believe he has ever liked any of our kitchens. He still managed to work through his disgust and cook. Maybe he needs to be reminded of this.

It is fun to cook with someone. You can divvy up tasks and have someone to keep you company. Usually when I cook, my husband is still at work. The girl is usually watching her shows and some days she has an interest in helping. That usually lasts for about two minutes – about the time it takes for me to make her a spot at the bar to help out. Hopefully one day we will have a kitchen that meets my husband’s standards. Then he will have no more excuses.

Does your husband cook or helpful in the kitchen? I definitely want to make my current kitchen more husband-friendly.

Ever since I first heard of E-Mealz, I wanted to sign up. As usual, I obsessed over actually joining and then decided not to. After all, I stay at home. I can plan my own meals. It really doesn’t take that long. The problem with planning meals is that it does take longer than I like. If I do with what I know, then it takes less time, but we eat the same meals again and again. I finally decided that it would be worth the $15 to try it for 3 months. That breaks down to $1.25 a week – not a bad deal to have an answer to “What’s for dinner?” that my husband insists on asking at least twice a week.

I chose the low card 5 meals a week plan for two. My daughter hardly eats anything I cook, so there is no need in cooking more. My husband is technically not doing low carb, but he will eat whatever is cooked.

The plan comes with five meals, ingredients list, and instructions. The shopping list prints out on a separate sheet of paper. I love how it gives a cost estimation. Friday will be my next trip to the grocery store and my first using E-Mealz. I’m looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a complete grocery list and meals planned for next week. I could definitely get used to this.

It is a shopping trip my mom had been planning to take for weeks. The day finally rolls around. We load up and head out in search of bargains galore. The night before I had used my debit card online and made sure to put my wallet back into my purse. My purse sat on the couch/bed in our living room all evening until it fell off landing bottoms up. My husband returned my purse to its original spot shortly thereafter. My gut told me to double check the contents; a quick glance at the floor didn’t reveal anything that out of the ordinary.

As I am getting ready to make my first purchase of the day, I start searching my purse for my wallet. It is nowhere to be found. Luckily I keep my cash in a coin purse and was able to buy what I wanted. I only carried a little bit of cash, so I had to pass on a few items.

I knew I should have checked closer for my wallet last night but I assumed that it was in there. This just proves to me the importance of listening to that small voice inside your head. It is okay to ignore the voice in certain situations like when someone cuts you off in traffic. Your voice might say to speed up and give the driver a piece of your mind. A lot of times the voice is spot on. If I had just taken two seconds to check for my wallet last night, then I would have been assured of having it today.

I would love to say that I will act when my inner voice tells me something but probably not. This is a lesson I seem to learn every few months. One of these days maybe I will learn to follow my gut instinct.

One of my big problems with clutter is paper. Being such a computer geek, it is kind of ironic how much I depend on paper. I read better from paper than on a computer screen, so I will print out writing guidelines and craft patterns instead of using them on screen. We also have other paper like receipts, coupons, and bills. It stacks up pretty fast, and I hate going through everything.

Sometimes it just becomes too overwhelming and debilitating. I have to do something or I cannot get anything done. First I go through all of my papers and sort in piles of keep and toss. The toss pile goes into the garbage and the sort pile is then sorted into subcategories. I may have patterns, instructions, articles, etc I want to keep in that pile. Once I have sorted them all, I then decide how to store them. I like to keep guidelines and other important documents in a three-ring binder. It keeps the paper protected and makes it easy to find it down the road. My crochet patterns are so disorganized. Right now they are stacked in a clear drawer waiting to be put away. At least that gets them all in one spot.

When I can see my desk again, then I will know I am getting close to being done.

It is hard to believe that in a few short months, Christmas will be here. It seems every year I try to plan a little sooner since the holidays can be so hectic. It would be great to have everything taken care by the beginning of December. Last year, my daughter had some pretty hard-to-find items on her list. She wanted Zhu Zhu Pets and a ladybug Pillow Pet. Both items were nearly impossible to find.

This year I’ve decided to shop early and get those items that she really wants. I’m sharing her top 10 list of Christmas gifts since a lot of items she wanted last year were hot sellers. Maybe this can help those buying gifts for kids have an idea of what they might want. Plus all of these products are constantly advertised on Nickelodeon. If they watch Nick, then they are very familiar with these products.

Zoobles – Zoobles are best described as Bakugan for girls. My daughter is the one who explained Zoobles to me that they were like Bakugan. Zoobles come with a habitat and they come to life when placed on it. It’s magnetic, so the Zoobles open up out of their ball. One Zooble is comparable in price to Bakugan at $5.

Squinkies – Squinkies are small, cute toys that come in multi-packs. Each comes in a round container that is very reminiscent of bubble gum machine toys. Each round container has a surprise inside. They are animals, fairies, or objects. A small pack of Squinkies is under $5.

FurReal Frenzies – FurReal Frenzies are Hasbro’s answer to Zhu Zhu Pets. Frenzies are smaller, cheaper, and cuter. They comes in different animals and have a play set. Each play set comes with a Frenzy pet. FurReal Frenzies

Legend of Nara Battle Bugs – My daughter loves insects and when this commercial comes on, she always mentions she wants these. Battle Bugs are realistic motorized insects that that do battle in the battle arena play set.

LEGO Minotaurus game – This is one of many new LEGO games that you build and then play. You can then change the layout and play again. Apparently the pieces are Lego-sized so that could cause some issues with tiny hands. The game is most closely related to Sorry! – which is a game I love but would probably frustrate my four-year-old to no end.

Batman Trio Batcave – This Trio set has my daughter intrigued. She really like a lot of boys toys, so it’s no surprise that this caught her eye. I do like that these building toys are age appropriate for her, and it’s Batman – one of my favorite DC characters. This gift just might make the short Christmas list.

Moxie dolls Magic Snow – I have to admit that I cringe a little when she mentions she wants Moxie dolls and their magic snow maker. First I think of the potential mess from fake snow, and then I think how Moxie dolls just look too much like Bratz. If it works have as well as in the commercial, then it might be a fun toy. That might be a huge if though.

Fin Fin Friends – These small fishes come in a variety of styles like the dog fish, whale, and catfish. You can buy them a play set water world where they swim and play. The play sets are around $20 and extra fish are about $6.

Zhu Zhu Kung Fu – Zhu Zhu Pets were all the rage last year. This year they have Zhu Zhu Kung Fu with battle arenas. The appeal is definitely to boys but I’m sure there will be many girls clamoring for these as well. My daughter can’t be the only one. They started advertising these last summer as part of movie previews. Zhu Zhu Kung Fu has been well advertised that is for sure.

Disney Rapunzel Braiding Friends Hair Braider – Disney’s new movie Tangled will be released before Christmas, so it stands to reason that merchandise from the movie will be a good seller. From the commercial, it looks like this set comes with the braider, Rapunzel, and some small animals. I have a feeling that my daughter is more interested in the small animals than anything else. I still love Barbie, so she can play with the small animals and I will take Barbie.

She has added even more items to her list but these are the ones that she really mentions a lot. Some items on this list are sure to be big sellers and harder to find once Christmas gets closer. It is time to think ahead now to make sure we are not scrambling for gifts in December.