Saturday Shopping

I prefer to do my shopping on Friday mornings, it's the best time for mark down food at the local market (and I did get some), but today was the only day for the $5 coupon at the $GM.  On top of that the store was packed as there was mention of possible snow flurries tonight (oh my).  So braved the hordes and loaded up a cart for me and a cart for hubby (don't tell).  We were able to use two of the $5 coupons and I also had two 1cent egg coupons to redeem : )    I prefer farm eggs but these are good for making hard boiled eggs (farm eggs are not).

First week total for Jan. ended up being $78 as of last Thursday the 6th.  Second weeks total started Friday the 7th and is currently at $145.  I would like to do better than this, but it does include pet food.  I am also proud to say that all food choices and purchases were with high protein/low carb in mind and was successful.  I almost caved yesterday as I had been battling a flu bug and didn't feel like cooking but decided the cost of prepared food/frozen for all of us was not much cheaper than a nice piece of corn beef I found and plopped into my slow cooker with a bunch of veggies.  Much more satisfying and tasted delish!  Today sees a nice roast with low starch veggies in my crock pot and a wonderful smell in my kitchen.  I also whipped up a batch of bread machine hot dog buns made with spelt flour (have you seen what is in the commercial pack). 

I do have a couple of recipes to share but want to point out that sometimes there are other benefits besides financial.  I will share a recipe for toothpaste and deodorant.  Besides being cost effective they are extremely earth and health friendly.  There is no fluoride, and you don't need it, in the toothpaste and  no aluminum (why do they put it in there) in the deodorant.    Just trying to be the best me I can be.  If you would like the book info on where I get my information just drop me a line.

Toothpaste:
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon salt.

Mix and store in an air tight container.  You may also add a couple drops of any natural oil you prefer for taste.



Deodorant:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix it up.  Store in air tight container.  Use powder puff to apply.



Whats next for us?  Well I am officially giving up soda.  Eventually coffee too I hope, but baby steps for now.  I will drink ice tea and half/calf Folgers.  When my tea bags run out I will then switch to decaf. green tea.  I am also only buying brown sugar and using local honey to sweeten.  Eventually only the honey .  Just some small steps for us to look forward to : )  Will keep you posted as the month progresses and so does our money spent on groceries.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Getting Started

Today is the first day of a new year and a whole bunch of new possibility's!  I usually do my grocery shopping on Friday, but with the holiday decided to hold off a day.  Another motive was my $5 off coupon at $GM and starting with a clean shopping/budgeting slate for the new year.  Starting with today's trip, I will keep all grocery receipts for the year, in order to get a better grip on our spending habits, in hopes of it helping our budget bottom line.  I was real worried as hubby had just shared with me that food cost in 2011 would go up 3% and gas 6% (his pay only went up 2% - that's a major corp. for you).  Anyway, my goal was higher protein, low carb and more veggies (a-la-Leptin diet).  This being a tight after holiday week (real budget will start with first pay day in Jan., which is next week).  So with $40 (cash - always use cash) and my coupon to pay for tax, I went to the $GM.  I was so happy when I left and felt goals had been met!  I ended up spending$37.64

Here is what I found:

2 bags Romaine- marked half off - $1.50

2 bags 1lb. carrots-$.85 each (we share these and the romaine with bunny)

2lb. bag popcorn kernels - 1.85 (great snack in our air popper)

1lb. Mexican chorizo sausage- $2.25

2c. shred. cheese - $1.85

pkg. sliced provolone cheese - $2.00

4-1lb. ground turkey chubs- $5

green onions - $1

creamy peanut butter - $1

celery - $1

head of cauliflower - $2

3lb. bag sweet potato - $2.25

cinnamon broom marked half price - $2 (total splurge)

pantyliner - $1

pretzel sticks - $1

wheat bread - $1.05

15oz. tomato sauce - $.55

season salt - $1.65

4% cottage cheese/16oz. - $2

3lb. bag frozen chix tenders - $4

2 - pint size bottle 2% milk, marked half off - $.75 (will be used in morning coffee)

2 dozen eggs - $3

The chicken tenders were only $1 more than hot dogs for lunch and wayyyyyyyy more protein!  They will be great cooked on our table top grill with a little season salt.  Great price on those.  I probably should have skipped the broom, but I do enjoy the smell.  I try to get one every year and hang it on our pantry door.  Besides, it's right across from the ferret cage if you get my drift . . . LOL  Unfortunately I will have to pick up a few more items during the week, such as rabbit and dog food and maybe t.p. for us.  I will keep those receipts too.  Not sure how I will sub categorize them at the end of the year i.e. pets, paper products, food, ect.  But I feel this is a step in the right direction in reclaiming our pocket books and getting a handle on being a good steward of the blessings God brings us.

Here is twin dd E.  She went out with me today and wanted to spend some of her Christmas money.  She did well also, she got these two fairy dolls for only $2 each!

Not sure why I am tossing in this pic, but here is where a ton of our money goes!  Tina, the narcoleptic cat.  She has junk in her trunk, as the kids say : )  Here she is passed out next to our coffee cups on the hutch in the dinning room, on a pile of Christmas stockings awaiting to be put away.  Can we say precarious?

So here's to you and yours and hoping we all have a healthy and happy new year!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Figuring . . .

Been a busy past couple days, what with chasing mice and finishing up a couple of the kids curriculum's.  B officially starts 9th grade on Monday and Z has about 1 semester of 12th grade left.  Does time ever slow down or does it just keep getting faster the older we get?  Is there a correlation?

Hubby had two days off during the early part of the week, giving me a chance to catch up on some paper work and to do some figuring.  First, we only have 5 pay checks before Christmas = yikes!    Second, we have cut everything we can and still can't make ends meet.  There is always two choices, spend less or bring in more cash.  Since we can't do the first . . .    The second will we hard in this town and this economy.  We are still down to one car since we don't happen to have the 'extra' money to fix mine.  Z can't even get his driver's license until we fix hubby's car, speedometer is broken. 

I spent all of Tuesday re figuring our grocery budget, again.  Here are some interesting numbers: I figured that on a 'thrift' plan, based on current (2009) USDA food plans, that $3 per a person per a meal is not out of line.  That equals $18 a day for our family of six.  I am currently spending between $12 - $14 a day.  Interesting, and that is the 'thrift' plan.  So, once again, can't cut more here and it's nice to know it ain't me : )  Just so you don't think I am feeling sorry for myself, I'm not!  This information just reinforces my faith, belief and amazement with God!  I am blessed that God has given me the knowledge and resources to know how to budget, plan, and cook from scratch.  I am blessed that God has brought us here to this area, which is rich in faith and love.  He has provided us with an amazing support system and people who love us and bless us.  Every time I look at these numbers or get our yearly taxes done, we are tempted to ask "how do we make it?".  Obviously the answer is GOD.  Not only does he provide for us, but because of Him I am able to stay home and teach my children as we are called to do in the bible.  We don't suffer and we have learned how to appreciate little things and each other, not stuff.  He also seems to bless any outing that promotes, friends, family and glorifies Him.  We still camp, visit pumpkin patches, eat out on special occasions and do church outings.  I love my life and have no regrets.

Blessings, Beth Ann   Matthew 6: 19-34

Lets try again

Well I have been crabbing this week over money again, as usual.  I ended up with only $50 for this weeks groceries and I was not happy.  But you know what?  It turned out fine, not great, but fine.  I think we have gotten into some lazy habits over the summer and we need to re-group so to say.  I think I need to go back to cash only for grocery shopping, and make it $75 a week.  It will still be tight, but oldest son kicks in with pet food and such from his check.  So it works out.  I think I will also give up driving into the 'boro and over to Kroger.  I will save a ton on gas and this is also a must since I need front end work on my Durango.  Hubby said I can't leave town until it is fixed, which at the earliest will be at the end of the month.  I think I can get pretty much everything from our local grocer and the Dollar General Market.  The $GM is a huge blessing and their food selection as well as paper goods have fair prices.  Any location without the market add-on just doesn't know what it's missing out on.  Anyway, the local grocer has a pic-5 sale every week.  Basically you pick 5 different dinner items, such as chicken, beef and assorted other items, for $19.99.  So $20 a week for 5 lunch or dinner entree's is a good deal.  We are looking at about $40 of my $75 and my lunch and dinner is pretty much taken care of.  I only need now worry about some veggies and paper products.  Sounds good in theory, lets see if I can make this work better than I have been.  I really take being a good steward of my husbands money seriously.

Tonight for dinner I made roast in the crock pot (on sale at the local grocer).  I heated up some green beans and also added some rice to the cooker after the roast was done.  I kept the roast warm in the oven and stirred the rice into the beef juice, turned it to high, covered it and cooked for 30 minutes or so.  It was sooooooooooo excellent.  I said it was just like rice=r=roni and my hubby said no, it was better! Aweeeee LOL  Just wanted to pass that rice tip on to you all who slow cook.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Mexican Stew and more . . .

Well I did manage to make it to the store over the week-end, but in the chaos of a sick kid, lost the recipes and the older kids put the items away, so no picture. I had $56 of my budgeted grocery money left (spent some on take out for New Year's Eve) and only spent $51. I put the last $5 in my gas tank : )

I did want to share the Mexican Stew recipe with ya all. It was a big hit and no leftovers!

Lo-Carb Crockpot Mexican Stew

2 lb. beef stew mat, cut into 1" cubes
1 can rotel tomatoes
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tsp. chili powder
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 can black soybeans
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Put beef, tomatoes, onion and chili powder in your slow cooker.Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Stir in the taco seasoning and soybeans. Re-cover, turn to high and cook for another 20 minutes. To serve, sprinkle with shredded cheese and add a dollop of sour cream on top.

Serves 6, each with 399 calories, 18 g. fat, 46 g. protein, 12 g. carbohydrate, 5 g. fiber = 7 g. usable carbs.

Since we follow a healthy Leptin diet, we do have a small amount of good carbs at each meal. Just make sure the carbs are under 20 g. and less than the protein total. So I server this stew over a 1/4 c. brown rice. YUMMY!!!


Today is day 5 of twin son being sick. Our doc recommended we take him to the ER yesterday. The gave him an IV full of fluids as he was becoming dehydrated from 4 days of vomiting. They also gave him some good med. to stop the nausea. Today he is doing better. Still tired, and not eating, but NO vomiting : ) On the down side, while at the ER last night the older kids stayed home to babysit his twin sister. Sister is fine, but they lost our new dog. They didn't even know she was missing until we got home and asked where she was. Given the dog is always taking off, so no big surprise. Been 24 hours and still no dog. Hoping someone picked her up and will call the number on her tag.

Well hubby had the past two days off, not that you could call them that. Two of the four toilets at church broke yesterday, and they asked hubby to come over to fix them. The kids got all our Christmas stuff down and put in the basement yesterday - yeah kids! So today I made hubby help me rearrange all the furniture in the kitchen, dinning room and living room! Great op to also sweep and mop the entire down stairs. I guess we spring cleaned a bit early! LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Mother's Day

Wishing all a warm and wonderful mother's day, if your a mother or not. I will say mine was one of the best ever. My day started with my oldest calling from MI, bright and early! Only four more weeks until her visit! I am sooo excited to see her and the grand kids. I just walked around all morning with a big grin on my face. My DH and other four kids made me breakfast and we all ate together before heading off to church. It was a wonderful service with an awesome surprise at the end. A gentleman who had been attending regularly for the past few years gave himself to Christ! He had a great testimony to share and the joy was palatable and contagious! Again, I couldn't stop smiling. After church it was an extremely quiet day, the twins even took a nap. Ok, they actually fell asleep watching a video in the early afternoon, but still . . . LOL DH and kids finished getting our starter plants transplanted from the peat pots we started them in, into the garden and we called Grandma S in Las Vegas. It was the next best thing since I can't reach my own mom. Miss the Vegas due so much . . .

Well they are going to start putting the roof on our church tomorrow and one of the lady who runs the church kitchen approached me about helping to cook for the crew. It was a sign and a blessing. We are struggling with medical bills/school tuition and curriculum and I had recently been praying on if I should try to watch children again to help our income. I really don't like kids and feel that not only do I have enough of my own but with cooking special meals for my son - three times a day; well a bit over whelming to say the least. So being asked to cook, which I guess the insurance company will pay for (or something like that) seemed ideal. I love, love, love cooking and I love, love, love my church family! Just another reminder of how God provides and will show you his will. Just be patient and listen.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Christmas Salt

We are all about not spending money this year, since we don't have any = LOL So we are trying to be creative in our gift giving venture, using things we already have around the house. I am currently making counted cross-stitch cards/ornaments with scraps of adia cloth I had, more on that later with photos when they are done. Today I wanted to share the Christmas gourmet salt we are making to give out as thank you and hostess gifts this holiday season. Since I already keep most of my jars, free. I also have many scraps of fabric and left over raffia, so also free. I also have every imaginable spice, so all I needed was the salt. I bought a box of kosher salt for $2 and will get 4 gift jars out of it, so 50 cents a gift; not bad.

I decided on Southwestern salt blend first.

Look how pretty the colors are in the salt.

Finished project topped off with some pretty green fabric with cardinals on it.

Pretty simple huh? I have 3 different recipes and am glad to share them with you!

Southwestern Salt Blend

2 cups kosher salt

1 Tbs. brown sugar

1Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs. oregano

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground chipolata chili pepper ( I used crushed red pepper flakes)

Mediterranean Salt Blend

2 cups kosher salt

1 Tbs. basil

1 Tbs. marjoram

2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. thyme

Moroccan Salt Blend

2 cups kosher salt 1 Tbs. paprika

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Hope you enjoy these and can put them to good use. Let me know if you have other ideas on how to use these.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Gratituesday

Greetings all. On this Tuesday I am grateful for a service oriented heart and attitude, that allows me to run our home smoothly (most of the time) and with an eye toward frugality (most the time - LOL).

Yesterday on menu Monday I mentioned that I had a hard time feeling motivated to spend an hour at the end of the day, making a healthy dinner. Yes, occasionally I do the crock pot thing or remember to make something ahead. Most times I need to do it at the end of the day though, and many times fresh food . . . well just tastes better fresh! So making ahead is not an option sometimes. Anyway, just wanted to expound on the change in my heart a bit more on this today. Like I mentioned before, I am service minded. I worked in retail for almost 15 years before getting a chance to be a SAHM with my twins. So I have been both, a working mom and a stay at home mom. I was/am good at retail and never thought I would miss it. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I wanted to be a SAHM, I would have said "heck yea"! LOL I am sure there are many working moms who know what is coming next . . . . Well when I found out I was expecting (what a surprise) I still planned to work. My boss and I were even discussing soft wear I could use at home so as to only be at work half the time. When I found out it was twins . . . (double heck of a surprise) It just didn't make sense financially. Our family went from having 4 jobs between my DH and myself to one, yea. DH had two, but quit one so as to be more help with the new arrivals, bless him (and I did need him as we are hundreds of miles from family) and I of course gave up my day job when I was put on bed rest. I had also been watching some neighbor children, but that ended (God has good timing). Anyway, we were still doing okay, for a while. Then DH kept getting sicker and sicker from the chemicals at the factory he worked in, not to mention the mental stress of working with non-Christians all day who seemed to go out of their way to show they knew all the commandments and were set on braking them all. Almost two years ago he made the decision to go back to his lower paying retail job and quite the factory. He is much healthier and happier, but our finances are still in disarray. I was and am still frustrated much of the time, trying to find a way to help with the money/cash flow and spend it wisely. I can not tell you how much I have struggled with this, and prayed over this. See with my servants heart and attitude, I "need" to work and feel like I am contributing. I even feel restless if at any point of the day I am, gasp, caught up on house/school work! DH thinks this is hilarious when he sees me kind of standing in the middle of a room looking disoriented. And yes, DH is always reassuring me that what I do at home and taking such good care of the kids IS contributing to our home. Anyway, you see the vicious circle going on here. About two weeks ago while praying over another, should I work or do such and such to help the family, I heard God. Now I don't want you to think I "hear" HIM all the time. I don't. Can't tell you how many prayers He didn't answer me on, or at least in my time. DH prayed about work, took three years for that one to get an answer. Anyway, I can only recall about 3 times in the past 3 years I have heard HIM loud and clear. This time HE asked me a question, "who's glory is it for?" I was stunned. I thought a moment, and yes I could JUSTIFY all my prayers and choices but they would be for me. GOD made it pretty clear that He wants me here, at home, home schooling the children and teaching them in HIS word and ways.

Since then I have come to view what I do for the house as my "job". God needs me to be a good steward with the money we do have coming in. Why would we be blessed with more if were not taking care of what we have? So as I make menus and search for bargains on healthy food, teach my children how to garden and cook with our own produce and make healthy food from scratch with no corn syrup or preservatives, I know God has blessed my hands too! I no longer resent the time in the kitchen. I put in some Billy Joel ( showing my age here), shew the kids outside for awhile and rock out while I chop, stir, cook and prepare. Yes I am tired, and hot (especially this time of year) but we sit down as a family and enjoy our time together. I look at it as an hour of my time with my music, my thoughts, doing something I enjoy anyway (sometimes not after 8 hours of kids being . . . . well kids) and with my God.

For more Gratituesday, please visit www.heavenlyhomemakers.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

Gratituesday

I love God so much and I am grateful that I can see Him working in my life! So on this Gratituesday I am grateful for having God in my life.

I want to share a story that started about 4 months ago. My oldest dd called me to tell me she was getting married. When we relocated to middle TN. she remained in northern MI. to be with her friends and boy friend. They have been together for 7 years and last year they gave me my first grandchild, Jack. So this news came as no surprise. But it did come at a very bad time and with real short notice. For many reasons, including money, jobs and my other children, we couldn't make it up there. My husband and I prayed every day on this. I watched it eat up my middle dd. As the time grew nearer, it tore me up too. I tried to be as happy and supportive as I could on the phone for her. Last Sat. was the same. I called to tell her that I had mailed her wedding gift and offered her comfort and advice . I KNEW in my heart we weren't going and I had accepted it. Then last Sunday God spoke to us. My DH and I were praying and I heard HIM, and DH did too. I looked up from praying and said, "God says to go and take our RV to stay in up there". At the same time my DH looked up and said, "We will find the gas money". We looked at each other in amazement, then started laughing and crying. DH said, "God wants us to ask for prayer on getting there". I said at almost the same time, "God wants us to start a prayer chain of love". The feeling was electrifying and I could feel the love bubbling up inside of me. We started right away that day. Phoning, emailing, visiting people and and asking for them to pray for us and our trip. We are totally walking in faith on this one. We don't have one extra dollar to our name and we will need the gas to drive about 1600 miles round trip. With shaking hands I dug out the RSVP from her wedding invitation and filled it out, six people will be going to your wedding and reception. When I put it in the mail first thing Monday morning, DH said there is no turning back now. In just 14 days we will be leaving for MI on Gods love. We are excited by trusting God like this and are hoping that by telling as many people as possible about our trip we can also turn it into a testament of God and reflect His love for others to see and want a part of. Today is only day two of this mission and we have already had several positive affirmations of love and prayer. We are so thrilled, and the children are learning a valuable lesson as well.

Walking in faith and leaning on God is not new to us or our family. For the past year and a half my DH has had no gas money for his truck, but he has never missed one day of work. On pay days we never put any money side for our vehicles, we didn't have any after paying bills and buying groceries. Some how he always managed to have enough. An odd job here, a car repair there. The key here is the word enough. We always had enough, never more, never less. God will always give you what you need to survive. The trick is to knowing what you need vs. what you want. You and God might have different ideas! LOL

I have mentioned the book God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew several times here on my blog. It has impacted me and my family greatly. My DH and oldest son reference it frequently. So once again I encourage you to read it if you are unfamiliar with it. If you know me personally, I would be glad to lend you my dog eared copy!

For more Gratituesday visit www.heavenlyhomemakers.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

Works for me Wed. ~ Carrots!

As I was blogging yesterdays Gratituesday, it occurred to me I had an idea for today. I was so excited, which I know sounds silly, but I can't always think of anything new and exciting I do. So you see, I seldom post on Works for me Wednesday. Anyway, here is my big idea - carrots! I buy the big 25lb. bag from Publix for $14.99, which is a heck of a deal since the 5lb. bag goes for $5.99 here in middle TN. It is the big bag for juicing, but we don't juice. The bag lasts me about 4 weeks now, used to be 6 before we got our rescue Guinea Pig. I use them in everything! If the kids want a snack right before dinner, bam! Here's a carrot! LOL I make a ton of veggie trays, especially in the summer with our garden produce. I make my son Z favorite, honey glazed carrots. I shred them into salads and slaws, I pickle them, the pig eats them . . . you get the picture. So for about $3.75 a week I get a ton of options and the kids are happy, the animals are happy and I am happy feeding my kids something so healthy!

For more Works for me Wednesday visit www.rocksinmydryer.net

Blessings, Beth Ann

It's all "realative"

So I am sitting in my rocker, drinking my coffee and watching GMA. Emirl Lagassi is on doing a segment on cheap meals to grill out for the week-end, or some such nonsense. I mostly take all news with a grain of salt, but that same grain rubbed be the wrong way when I here ol' Emirl listing all , and there were alot, the ingredients and he refers to the boneless pork tenderloin as a relatively cheap piece of meat to serve. Where does he shop? Does he pay or does GMA? Is this like the time I watched Oprah and she admitted she hadn't pumped her own gas since 1982? Maybe Emirl is still thinking 1980's prices? This just bugged me, maybe I needed more coffee, but it made me think of Rachael Ray too. There is another one who has no concept of food prices or feeding a family. RR made it big demoing meals, hence the 30 minute meal fame. By the way, I have tried a couple of her recipes and the only way to do it in 30 minutes is to have her prep crew in your kitchen, slicing and dicing so that all you have to do is put it all together! What I want to see is someone who will do a realistic demo of real, cheap and nutritious food for people on a budget. Maybe call it .... "Get real with zeal with Beth behind the wheel". No, sounds like an RV show. I know, "Real cheap food, for you and your crew!" LOL You know, someone who will show you how to stretch 6 chicken breast into 4 different meals, someone to tell you it's okay if you run out of sugar, just use half as much honey and turn your oven down 25 degrees. Someone to show you how to make home made croutons so you won't wast your old bread......You get the idea. I will try to Emirl a break, he did use the term relative. I am guessing his relatives have more money than mine - LOL LOL LOL But am thinking there is no hope for miss Ray...... She only cooks burger and pasta but manages to add all manor of odd and expensive items to them, starting with like $8 a pound cheese! Yikes.


Blessings, Beth Ann

Going Postal

I just wanted to share an experience I had recently with the post office and see if I am the only one who feels are government makes no sense and isn't here to serve us at all.

Last Friday I took a bunch of over sized envelopes , reg. mail and two boxes to the post office. Nothing out of the ordinary there. However I did find it a tad annoying that one of the reg. cards I was mailing, at least I thought it was reg. since I bought it with the other Mothers day cards, was weighed as well and was 17 cents more than reg. postage. I paid it with out saying a word. I made small talk to the guy behind the counter. He took my boxes and weighed them, asked about insurance and I paid him. End of story? Guess not, or we wouldn't be here! LOL

The next day I see a big headline telling me that postage stamps are going up, again. I moan over this as I have a bunch to use up and now have to buy one cent stamps. Oh well. But what really got me was the reason for the price hike listed in the article. I named a $7 million dollar loss of revenue as the cause, since more people are not using the post office any more. So I am thinking to myself, " and the pay to fix this is to hike prices and penalize us?" Anyway........... The following Tuesday the mail truck comes and returns one of my boxes, listing that it is undeliverable. That is all it says on the tag. I ponder this and double check the address, and triple check the address, Nope, it is correct. I never really doubted it to begin with. So DH takes the box back down to the post office asks for an explanation. They look at it and shrug. They have no idea why it didn't get mailed. But if we would like to try again they would be glad to send it for another $7. What? It never left our town, it never left a 4 block radius of my house! DH refuses and comes back home. He tells me and I am verrrrrrry unhappy about this. I mean I just do not, I mean do not have an extra $7 to mail this box again. I feel they should try again or refund our money. They next day DH goes down and talks to the post master. Again no dice. My DH feels if they can read the address well enough to take money from his wife, then it is good enough to be read and delivered. Post Master is now irritated that DH thinks the government only wants his money. He says, "the government is not in the business of making money", oh and he won't refund our money either. So right now the box is sitting here in limbo. I am thinking this is to funny. They lost $7 million dollars last year, so not only are they raising prices but stealing money from citizens as well. Yea, that's gonna make me want to use them more!

So Mike, if your reading this... Now you know what happened to your fathers day gift from the kids!

Blessings, Beth Ann