Manic Monday

Today I began my countdown towards heading for Guatemala. I did the regular Monday things such as changing the linens on the bed, putting fresh towels out and putting a load of laundry in to wash after putting the load I ran last night in to dry. So I made up the bed, folded the laundry from the dryer and put it away. Put the towels in the dryer and put the sheets in the washer. Put away the little outfits of Alaina's that were air drying. I took time to check my email and found that there was room for me in Guatemala. It turns out that many adoptive parents end up going and taking over the foster care of their child while waiting for the process to be completed. I found a place that is something like a bed and breakfast that caters to us adopting parents. At the place I will be staying there will be a large room for me and a crib for Alaina. I will have use of a common room, the kitchen, and the washer and dryer. They will provide linens, kitchen ware and dishes, and cell phones that will charge me 13 cents a min to call the States. That works for me because we have an internet phone with a State side number. I will bring the stroller we bought and all of her clothes. The place is within walking distance of shopping and grocery stores and I need not be lonely as there will be other adoptive parents sharing the house with me. So after I found out they had room, I emailed back to reserve a room, let my husband know, and started looking at plane tickets. Then I went down stairs and made a real macaroni and cheese using whole wheat penne pasta. I also made some blueberry bread and it is delicious if I do say so myself! Then I emptied the dishwasher, reloaded it, ran it, and hand washed everything else that needed washing. Wiped down the counters, cleaned the stove and headed for the commissary. I haven't done any real grocery shopping for some time. Since before my sister came really. I stopped by a few times and got a few things but not much. So today since I didn't have time to go through my coupons I went to buy the things I know I will not have coupons for. Namely meat, milk, etc. My goal was to buy enough to last until I get home from Guatemala. 6 lbs of hamburger 2 pkg of chicken, a steak, a brisket, eggs, cheese, yogurt, 2 large bags of cat food (with coupons from the store) onions, green peppers, lettuce, 4 TV dinners with coupons from the store (for Alan while I am gone) 4 quarts of long life milk (like Parmalat from the States) 3 rolls from the bakery (some of Alan's favorite) and turkey sausage. All for 80 bucks. Not too bad. We don't get sales on meat here so you always have to pay full price. That will turn into a huge kettle of chili, a 3 pound meat loaf, barbeque brisket, a homemade sausage pizza, oven fried chicken, hard boiled eggs, and enough milk for his cereal while I am away. I'll freeze the chili in meal portions so all he has to do is pull it out in the morning and it's ready to go in the evening. The chicken and steak will likely be eaten before I go. The hard boiled eggs keep well and will be snacks for him while I'm away. The pizza I will freeze and he can put in the oven when he wants it and the meat loaf I'll refrigerate and he can bake with in a day or 2 of my leaving. I'll make the brisket up before I go and that will likely only last him a day or so. Big meat eater. Otherwise he will have to make due with TV dinners and eating out or at the dinning factility. The DFAC is actually a decent place to eat and is really pretty cheap for what you get so I'll feel ok about that. Now I'm just waiting for him to come home and the macaroni to come out of the oven so we can eat. Then I'll fold the sheets from the dryer and organize my coupons for the rest of the shopping tomorrow. How was your day?