Drying out and reaching for my jacket!

There are people out there! I should have realized how busy everyone is. We're trying to adjust to a new schedule in our home, too. Cliff, I do have men who comment from time to time (including Freddie who is a Catholic Friar from Italy). My son-in-law usually writes me an e-mail if he sees an error... which hasn't happened often... thankfully. He is too nice to me to leave a comment that I'm getting even more daffy as each year progresses.

After a few days of 90 degree plus heat and humidity ahead of the remnant of Gustav hitting us, we awoke to a temperature much more autumn-like. I had to reach for my red jacket for the first time since... spring?

I'm operating on the sleep deprivation of motherhood. Not that which comes with babies who awaken during the night but the light sleep (and constant waking up when one thinks they hear the car coming up the gravel lane) of a Mom whose son left class at 10:00 PM and decided to study on campus at the University until 2:00 this morning. Little did I know during those sleepless baby nights that I'd still be getting up nearly nineteen years later.

I know I should be able to sleep but the weather outside was horrible with blinding rain and wind... Gustav sending a greeting as he made his way through the Midwest. Traversing such roads are interesting enough "in town" but they make country roads especially difficult. I was talking to a friend today who also has grown children and she remembered the inability to drift into a deep sleep until that front door had opened and whatever child who had been out and about was now safely home.

He has been studying a lot after evening classes with his Indian friend, one of his close friends for many years now who is in his second year as an engineering student at the University. It is his mother whom Christopher is asking for cooking lessons on how to fix the Indian cuisine she has served him through the years.

He provided us one of the funniest lines about education last year. Christopher had told him he thought he was ready for a test. He asked if he was ready enough if he had Asian parents. That is oh, so true! Now when he says he's studying for a test, I'll ask him if he has studied enough to please Asian parents. :)

Otherwise, I spent the day going out and bringing my food from afar. Okay, I went to Wal Mart but that doesn't sound very Proverbs 31-ish. I'm using most of the money I made this Book Rush to deepen the pantry and feed the freezer, along with ordering two bags of detergent from Charlie's Soap. We had five bags of salt delivered yesterday from Culligan, enough to last through December. We figured this was the best use of my income, to prepare us for those weeks we must depend on the pantry.

Speaking of deepening the pantry, I'm still appalled at the price of some food items... ummm, ALL food items. Sheesh. There are some items that have almost doubled in price (and then there are those made with wheat that HAVE doubled). Once again, anything I can purchase now on sale will help overcome rising prices now and even higher prices later.

To answer the question about vanilla, I like Watkins brand and I've bought it in a large bottle when I've had the money. However, I can get Rodelle's 8 oz. bottle of pure vanilla for $3.00 or $4.00 less than anywhere else when I buy it at Target. That makes it even cheaper than store brands. I'm going to work on a price book soon with comparison prices on the basics I buy at four different stores. It used to be easy to keep a mental list but with prices constantly rising, I need to write them down now.

There were many empty spaces on shelves at Wal Mart. I've never seen them out of so many items. It reminded me what happened to my friend, Kathy, after Katrina hit. She lives in New Mexico and she said they had empty grocery shelves for weeks due to supplies being diverted to the Gulf Coast. I don't know if this had anything to do with a hurricane but it reminded me why a pantry was important.

Hubby is unwinding from working a third (and final) full week of Book Rush by watching his beloved White Sox on TV. Christopher is playing tennis under the lights with one of the twins, who will return to Northwestern soon. As for me, I'm too tired to even brew some tea... gasp! I'm heading straight to bed with the possibility of reading awhile.

Isn't that the cutest picture above? I had in in my picture files already. I found that same picture in a double frame with another similar scene at Goodwill recently. It is now hanging in my hallway.

Okay, my eyes are drooping and I'm having to blink to see the screen. Definitely time for bed. Goodnight. Thanks for those who commented!

Picture: Amish Country Home; allposters.com