Still Sick

Over the weekend I had a terrible headache that just would not go away. It probably didn't help that I barely slept at all Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. QT was up every half an hour to an hour crying because his nose was so stuffy and he was having a hard time breathing. Of course, cleaning out his nose is a huge feat. You just wish that kids would understand how much better they'll feel after you have to do something to them that doesn't feel so good. Anyway, in part because of lack of sleep and in part because of the weather pressure, I had a horrible headache. In desperation I took some Tylenol with coedine and boy did that make me sick. I spent much of Saturday running to the bathroom and being sick.

The fun part of Saturday was taking QT to Trainfest. He loved watching all the model trains and just keep saying "choo choo" over and over and over again. The not so fun part of Saturday was babysitting my two nieces that night. Maybe it was the headache and all the vomiting but everything they did seemed to annoy me. It's at times like that when I question my desire to have even one more child much less two or more.

At some point Sunday my headache went away and I started feeling much better. Then this morning it was back to throwing up and then throwing up breakfast. Right now I am just anxiously awaiting to see if lunch will stay down. I still haven't really gained any weight. I've lost around 20 pounds and will sometimes gain two back but then I lose it again right away.

I've done a pretty good job sticking to my meal planning, coupon clipping and grocery shopping despite this week's plan getting a little off because the husband and I went out to dinner one night and his work schedule changed so that he'll be gone more nights than normal. Here's the big plan for next week:

Saturday - Picnic chicken made in the crockpot
Sunday - Tuna parmesan noodle casserole
Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Pork chops and apple slices made in the crockpot
Wednesday - Beer cheese soup
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Frozen prepared meal or perhaps pasta
Saturday - Fiesta meatloaf

Meal Planning

The entire time I was growing up my mother cooked dinner every night and we sat down together as a family to eat. How she managed that working full-time, raising three kids and having a husband who never lifted a hand to help her with any inside the house jobs is beyond me. I do work full-time but I only have one child and a husband who will help, along with eat just about anything (my father didn't consider Hamburger Helper to be a real meal) and yet I still only manage to make dinner one or two nights a week. The other nights we may just snack on things, or make a sandwich, have a frozen pizza or maybe get carry out. Not only is it expensive but I've begun to feel guilty that we never sit down at the table and actually eat together. Sure, we may all be eating at the same time some nights but the husband is on the couch, I'm sitting in the living room chair and QT is in his chair and we're all watching t.v. or I'm opening the mail or we're just tired and not talking much. I've made it a goal to change our ways and to establish a dinner routine, which undoubtedly will get thrown out the window once the baby is born, but I figure at least I'll have a goal to work our way back towards then.

I started this the week before last by doing something I never do, looking through the weekly grocery store sale ad. I made a list of anything on it that I either knew we needed or thought I may be able to use in a recipe for the next week. Next, I did something else I never do, I clipped coupons. Third, something again I never do, I actually listed out each day of the week and what we would have for dinner. Normally I detest grocery shopping but knowing that I wasn't just haphazardly buying things and instead buying items I knew I would use made it seem better. Even better was how exciting it was to use the coupons and then find out that so long as I shop on Wednesday or Thursday the coupons will be doubled. At this point every little bit will help.

Here is the meal plan I made for this week and the one I'm working on for next week:

Sunday - Spaghetti squash casserole
Monday - Since the husband isn't home either leftovers or frozen pizza
Tuesday - Cock pot chicken legs
Wednesday - Loaded baked potatoes
Thursday - Leftover day
Friday - Fajitas
Saturday - Chili

Sunday - Cranberry pork tenderloin
Monday - Probably frozen pizza again
Tuesday - Crock pot chicken thighs
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Crock pot macaroni and cheese
Friday - Sour cream hash browns and ????
Saturday - Pork chops w/ apples

Guess who just bought a crock pot recipe book?