OK, so now I need to come up with a plan because I KNOW I could spend $40 per week, I just don’t.  Granted, I am very thrifty and am always watching the price of food, I have never limited us to $40 per week.  I prefer to eat with very low carbohydrates and no sugar which is VERY hard to do on $40 per week.  If I wasn’t so concerned about health, I could easily do it.

Let’s see:

Breakfast: We both love oatmeal so that would be good for a couple of times per week.  Eggs and toast also fit the bill.  We don’t eat sugary cereal and I have found some bran types for $1.30 per box on sale at some stores.  Pancakes are also cheap, especially if you buy a large box of generic pancake mix.  Buying large quantities of some things pays off for us.  Pancake mix will keep a long time so that is another way to cut costs.  Grits is another low-cost breakfast staple.  Some people may not see grits as a main breakfast dish but a large bowl will satisfy us all morning.  I do think it is wise to also have fresh fruit first thing in the morning.  I have found bags of oranges (about 12 oranges) for $1.48 per bag!  With fruit, you just have to go with what is in season and which stores are having sales.  Fresh fruit is something you can’t stock up on so it will always be changing.  Recently I found a bag of apples (10 Gala apples) for $1.68 per bag.  It is hard to find fresh fruit any cheaper than this.  Remember, what is in season and what is on sale.

Some other breakfast items that are within the $40 per week range are: fruit and grain cereal bars (8 count for $1.49), eggs & toast (using homemade bread), cinnamon toast, homemade biscuits, flavored breads or muffins are always a nice change of pace.

Lunch: We are both pretty easy at lunch.  We like Mac & Cheese, hot dogs, soup, etc.  It is cheaper to make your own mac & cheese than to buy the pre-packaged boxes even though they are pretty cheap.  This just requires buying the cheese in bulk to make it cost-effective.  Hot dogs can often times be found on sale for $1.00 per pack.  When they are, we stock up on them and freeze them.  We do buy the turkey dogs so they are a little ‘less bad’.   We will take two hot dogs and wrap them up in one tortilla instead of a bun.  Besides being cheaper it is also less carbohydrates.  When it comes to soup, I prefer to make mine homemade.  A couple of times a year when we have a turkey I will get as many slices of turkey for sandwiches as I can.  The rest of the turkey is for soups and casseroles.  I make the soups up using the stock I make from the turkey and using whatever vegetables I have lying around.  Adding pasta or rice is a great filler and makes a healthy meal.  I usually freeze the larger bits of turkey to make casseroles at a later date.  Grilled cheese sandwiches are easy and relatively cheap.  For a hardier meal we will sometimes have grilled cheese sandwiches and soup.  If you aren’t prone to making your own soup, Bear Creek has soup mixes that are about $3.00 for 8 servings found in the grocery store.

Dinner: I have found quite a few items that would definitely work for the $40.00 per week meals, but I must say they are not the healthiest!  Fish sticks, corn dogs, canned vegetables are very cheap.  You can get 48 fish sticks for $4.29!  That is about .09 each!  Or 16 corn dogs for $5.49, or .34 each.  Canned veggies can usually be found on sale for .50.  Buy in quantity when you see these and stock up.

We like to eat meat with our dinner meals so I try to buy in bulk and when meat has been marked down.  Meat that has been marked down is still good it just needs to be used that day or put in the freezer.  Our freezer is often full of a variety of meat.  If you look closely as you shop you will find some affordable meats.  Wal-Mart has a selection of ribs of all different varieties.  Once when digging a little deeper in the meat case I found a rack of pork ribs for under $8.00.  I thought it was just a special or a mark down price but it wasn’t marked as special.  The next time I went I found the same ribs at the same cost.  I have since realized that it is the regular price for these ribs.  There are other much more expensive ribs right by them but for some reason these are priced low.   I usually buy a few at a time and put them in the freezer.  I have also found some pre marinated small pork roasts that are similarly priced.  I bought one to try, and we were very happy with the taste. I have since bought more and stuck them in the freezer.

As a child, my parents always purchased half a cow at a time.  We don’t have that kind of freezer space but if you do it would be a good idea to do this or at least split part of a cow with some friends as you can get a much better rate.

When it comes to chicken the price really varies depending on what you like.  If you like dark meat, like we do, then it is much more affordable to buy chicken legs and thighs than it is to by the breasts.  Boneless skinless breasts are nice for a lot of different meals but thighs work just as well if you like dark meat.  Buying a whole chicken is always much cheaper and then you have the benefit of using the ‘leftovers’ for soups.

Pasta, potatoes and rice are good ‘fillers’ that make meat go much farther.  Casseroles can be so much more than the ones your Great Aunt Mabel used to make.   You can use a pound of ground beef to make 8 very small hamburgers or you can use that same pound of beef to make a casserole with 10 servings.  No one will miss the amount of meat per serving if the casserole is filling!   Lately we have been trying to use ground turkey instead of ground beef.  Just keep an eye out at the grocery store as the prices are similar but sometimes one is on sale.

I like to have fresh veggies or salad with dinner each night.  Some tips on fresh produce to follow.  Making your own salad dressing is a lot cheaper than buying ready-made dressings.   We prefer just plain balsamic vinegar and oil which is quick and easy and we always have it on hand.  Just be aware of what vegetables are in season and buy accordingly.  Last summer I noticed a “new to me” vegetable.  Calabactias is a “Mexican Zucchini.  It looks very similar to zucchini and tastes the same to me.  Our garden had a very rough time last year like many gardens in Arkansas.  We got very few zucchini from our own garden so ended up having to purchase them.  Since produce was ridiculous last summer, zucchini, even though in season, was way above the normal price.  I found Calabactias to be half the price.  I had never heard of this veggie before but since it looked so much like zucchini I bought one and took it home and we cooked it just like we would zucchini.  Voila, it tasted just the same!

Desserts/Snacks: homemade brownies, homemade cookies, baked apples, cobbler, etc.  Popcorn made the old-fashioned way is fun for the family and very cheap per serving!   Homemade yogurt is relatively inexpensive.  Homemade popsicles are a fun summer treat.  Always be on the lookout at the grocery store for mark-downs.  Fresh bakery items are often marked down in a certain area of the store.  BEWARE of the name brand items that are 2 for $.  You often see 2 packs of name brand chocolate chip cookies for $4.00.  If you look you will find store brand chocolate chip cookies for much less than $2.00 per bag.   If you have a discount bakery (sometimes called day old) nearby that is always a good place to find some bargains.  You might even find good deals on hotdog/hamburger buns.

Fresh produce: The best/cheapest way to have fresh produce is to grow it yourself.  We have an ever-growing garden – it gets bigger each year!  We use raised beds and add additional beds each year.  Lettuce for salads can be grown almost year round in Arkansas.  There are many good books out there that will help you plan and figure it out.  The next best way to find great fresh produce is at your local farmer’s market.  It is wise to get there early to get the best pickings, but if you are looking for mark downs it is more likely you will find them right before closing time.  Fresh produce in the grocery stores varies widely.   We eat a lot of cauliflower.  Cauliflower has been $2.48 per head at our local grocery stores all winter and spring.  Aldi’s, which is a name brand store has had their cauliflower for $1.68 all winter and this spring it has been UNDER $1.00 per head.  That to me is a huge difference!  Aldi’s produce is always cheaper than the regular grocery stores.  Some people say the quality is not as good.  If it doesn’t look good I don’t buy it, otherwise I think it is comparable.

Coupons:  Personally, I am not a coupon clipper.  I find that often people buy items they would never buy just because they have a coupon and it is a ‘good deal’.  Other times you purchase the item because you have the coupon but don’t bother to look at the prices of the similar items.  I have one client who wants me to use her coupons.  I have noticed that the coupons are usually for ‘new’ products.  For example, I bought her some dishwashing liquid with a coupon.  I think it was for Joy.  It was a ‘new’ type of Joy soap that is supposed to clean better.  It was a smaller size than the usual bottles of Joy that I bought for her and it was more expensive even with the coupon!  That is not a bargain to me.

Pre-packaged foods:  This is where a lot of people waste a lot of money.  People think of it as ‘convenience’ food therefore they buy it.  If money is a concern which it should be to all and time is precious then try setting aside one weekend a month to make your own ‘fast food’.  Yes, it will take some time and a lot of planning but in the end you will be saving a lot of money and possibly your life since it is much healthier.  Yes, fast food is fast and convenient but it does not stay with you long so you are hungrier sooner and the nutritional value is gone.

Some suggestions for your monthly cook fest

*6 of your family’s favorite casseroles – make double batches and freeze singly.

*Make a huge pot of tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes and spices from your garden.  Freeze in containers for quick pull out meals in minutes.

*Make 4 batches of pancakes and freeze in bags of individual servings.  These are easy to pull out and heat up for a quick breakfast.

*Make as many loaves of bread that you might need for the month.  Pre-slice before you freeze for easy toasting.

*Make a couple of pizza crusts to put in the freezer.

*You can even cook up some brown rice or pasta and put it in individual serving containers in the freezer.

*Buy cheese in bulk and divide into portions that you like (shredded, sliced, block, etc.) and freeze them.

*You can even make up a huge pot of mashed potatoes and freeze in serving sizes appropriate for your family.

*Soup, soup, soup!  Make different varieties.  Chili, broccoli cheese, stew, ham & bean, etc.  So easy to freeze and pull out for a quick meal.

*Make some cornbread up and freeze it to go along with those soup meals.

*In the summer when you have those excess fresh veggies cook them up different ways and freeze them.  Or if you are into canning go for it.

Green bean casserole

Stewed zucchini & tomatoes

Sautéed squash

Whole tomatoes (cut out the core and freeze in bags with the skins on.  When ready to use just run under water and the skins peel right off)

Glazed carrots

Peas & carrots

Corn off the cob (conserves space)

*Be sure to utilize your crock pot during the weekend.

BBQ beef

Chicken & dumplings

Applesauce

Scalloped potatoes

You see the possibilities are endless!

Two hours before our scheduled ‘interview’ the reporter sent me an email letting me know that her “superiors decided to take the story in a different direction”.   I was ok with that because I got a nice blog post out of this!  I hope some of you will find a benefit from some of the information.

The Sock Monster!

On my way out to their house the first time, the wife sent me a text message asking if I could pick up some coffee from her favorite drive-thru which was right on the way.  She was so impressed that I would do that.  That’s what an Errand Girl does, isn’t it?  When I got to the house she greeted me and told me she had never even heard of me until the night before when her husband told her I would be coming!  We sat down at first to get acquainted and to explain to her how I could make her life easier.  She then gave me the grand tour of the house including the “Sock Monster”.  I know everyone probably has a sock monster living in their home but this one is different.  They have a huge overflowing laundry basket full of mis-matched socks.  No one wants to take the time to ‘mate’ them.  That is, until The Errand Girl came along!  I asked what they did for socks.  By this time the husband was in on the conversation and he replied that if they couldn’t find two that matched they would just go out and buy new ones.  Hence, the huge overflowing laundry basket full of socks.  They did admit to wearing mis-matched socks on occasion.

On my 2^nd visit out to the house no one answered when I rang the bell or knocked.  They were expecting me so I just opened the door.  Her car was home, but his wasn’t so I figured one of them must be there.  I stood in the doorway and called out hoping someone would answer.  I had this 80 lb. Bulldog staring at me!  I’m not afraid of animals but I know that they are very protective of their homes and I had just intruded in his!  I had met him the week before but wasn’t sure he remembered me.  I called him by name and stuck out my hand trying to get him to come and smell me.  I kept trying for a while and eventually he came towards me.  Then he was FREE, out the door crack he went!  He had no interest in me, he wanted outside to the big world with no fences.  Since I didn’t know him I wasn’t sure how he would react outside.  I was a bit panicked, so I set my water bottle down on the front walk and walked closer to him.  I know not to chase animals because it just makes them go farther and faster.  I didn’t get him.  I had left the front door to the house wide open in my rush to catch him.  Luckily it wasn’t cold outside like it usually is in February.  Down the street the dog went.  Down the street I walked after him.  He stopped at some bushes to pee and I thought I would get him.  When my hand reached out for his collar he was gone!  Further and faster!  This time he headed for a neighbors back yard.  There were some dog toys in the yard so I tried to coax him with the toys.  He wanted to play but he knew better than to get close to me.  He was free and he wasn’t giving that up.  Just what I dreaded…………  He headed to the neighborhood golf course.  Great!  There were some older ladies out in their golf carts playing that day.  I was hoping one of the women would grab him by the collar, but I didn’t even ask seeing their age and his size.  Of course he went straight for the golf carts, they were moving.  One of the ladies asked if it was my dog.  I explained that it wasn’t my dog but I was trying to get him to go home.    Then she very rudely said to me that “Dogs are NOT ALLOWED on the golf course”.  Really???  It seemed quite obvious to me that I was trying my best to get him off of the course and get him home but maybe she didn’t see that.   I finally was able to coax him close enough to me with an empty bowl of dog food that was outside at some neighbors house.  I grabbed his collar and off we went.  Now, how do I get this 80 lb dog home 8 blocks away?  Have you ever tried to walk fast while stooping over and having 80 lbs of force pulling you?  My body was sore for 3 days after this bit of exercise!  We made it back to the house, the front door still wide open and no one in sight.  I got the dog and myself some water as we were both dry from panting so much.  Then the wife comes out of the master bedroom and says she didn’t even know I was there.  I’m glad it’s a good neighborhood and nothing happened while we were off on our little jaunt.

80 pound Bulldog

One week when I was there I was determined to tackle the pantry.  It is a large walk in area under the staircase.  It had kind of become a dumping ground for all things miscellaneous.  When I organize something I start by removing everything.  I was about halfway finished removing items when a little mouse poked his head out and stared directly at me!  EEeek…..  A Mouse!  I HATE mice.  I can take spiders and snakes but mice are a different story.  I KNOW they are small and are more afraid of me than I am of them (so people tell me).  It doesn’t matter, I can’t stand them.  I can’t even stand dead ones!!  I have never felt so terrified of anything in my life.  I just couldn’t go back into that pantry!  I shut the door (even though there is a 2 inch gap under the door) and pondered a bit.  I was there all by myself so there was no one I could tell.  I sent a text message to the husband that I had seen a mouse.  All he wanted to know was if it was dead or alive.  I wanted him to come and rescue me.  I didn’t know how I would get the pantry done at this point.  I had ½ of the contents sitting on the dining room floor!!  I really was not going to go into that pantry again.  I decided instead of wasting time, I would begin to tackle the “Sock Monster”.    I went and got the laundry basket and brought it out to the couches in the living room.  Boy, there were a  LOT of socks!  Most of them were the white athletic kind but I have never seen so many different kinds.  Some had red thread at the toes, some had green and others had gold.  Then there were the tops of the socks!  Man, there are a lot of patterns of socks.  I was able to match about 20 pairs before the husband came home.  I explained to him my fear of mice.  Luckily he completely understood because his wife is just the same.  He finished emptying the pantry for me!  I was able to go in and sweep up all of the mouse droppings without any problem.  Needless to say this pantry organizing took much longer than I anticipated – but they got some sock matches out of the deal too!

January sunset

Both Brian and I are self-employed and work most weekends so we plan well in advance to take some time off.  A month ago we decided to go camping at the end of January.  We had no idea then that the temperatures would be in the 60’s!  We just got very lucky.  We did remember one of the lessons we learned from past camping trips and that is to go during the week.  So, here we are at Whithrow Springs State Park and we have the WHOLE place to ourselves (Benefit #1 of camping in the winter)!!  We got here before lunch yesterday, it was about 60 degrees and sunny!  We set up camp quickly.  We opted not to put the screen house up because there are NO BUGS this time of year (Benefit #2 of winter camping).   We ate some lunch and off on the trails we went.   We hiked the War Eagle Creek Trail, it was a nice steep climb.  We weren’t ready to be done when we got to the end so we picked up the Dogwood Trail and hiked it back to camp.  (Benefit #3 of camping in winter – we did not see one other person on either trail!)

We had this all to ourselves!

It was about time for me to start the fire.  Have I mentioned before how much I like making fires???  I do it all.  I gather the wood, build the fire and keep it going the rest of the evening.  (Benefit #4 of camping in winter – wood is everywhere!)  While the fire was going and we were hanging out, I cut Brian’s hair.  It is so much nicer to cut hair outside and not have it get everywhere.  I like his hair shorter than he does but he is a good sport and lets me cut it the way I like it.  He really doesn’t have much say when I am the one holding the scissors!  Brian is in charge of the cooking and what a great meal we had.  He grilled some fish and served it over pasta and broccoli.  It was yummy.  I never would have paired fish and pasta together but after the first time Brian fixed it for me I was hooked.  Pasta, with a little butter and no sauce.   It was so nice out that we chose to eat dinner outside sitting in front of the fire.  We watched the moon rise and the stars come out as we were making our smore’s.  We can’t go camping without smore’s!

Notice his short hair!

For our anniversary I got Brian an iPhone dock with a CD player.  He had mentioned wanting to have some music while we are camping and we didn’t have an old fashioned ‘Boom Box’.  He loves his new toy and he says I did a great job of picking out one with really good speakers.

For Christmas we both found new camping gadgets in our stockings.  I got a new retractable clothes line and he got paper liners for the Dutch oven.  We are having stew for dinner tonight made in the Dutch oven so we will try out the liners and see.

Using the new Dutch oven liners

Being the huge history buff that Brian is we decided to drive into town (the big city of Huntsville, Arkansas, pop. 2300) to see some Orval Faubus history.  Orval Faubus is the former Governor of Arkansas.  We stopped at the local Chamber of Commerce hoping to find something that would lead us somewhere.  There was not one bit of information in there about a former governor!  Even if he wasn’t very well liked, you would still think they would have something.  We asked a couple of questions and the guy walked outside with us and pointed to the top of a hill.  There sits a home that Orval Faubus had Fay Jones build for him.   The man from the Chamber seemed to not want to be associated with the name Orval Faubus, which we found strange.  We drove up the big hill.  We saw the driveway that lead to the house.  A car was driving down the driveway as we were driving past.  I told Brian to drive back by, there was a gate, but it was open.  The guy at the chamber told us a Memphis attorney bought the place and lives there part time.  I figured since we just saw a car leaving either the guy who lives there just left or other people venture up to see the house.  I told Brian to go for it.  We drove up the driveway and saw a car in the porte-cochere and turned around and went back down.  It couldn’t have been more than 90 seconds total!  The gate that was open was now CLOSED with a chain!!!  This is not an electric gate;  it is an old fashioned chain link gate with a metal rod that goes in the middle through little holes to keep it closed.  We just looked at each other in amazement…………  What were we going to do?  You could see the chain wrapped around it.  There is NO WAY that someone could have come and closed that gate – we would have seen them or a vehicle or something!  The gate was out of our site for about 30 seconds total!!  I got out and thought I would try to do something.  The chain was wrapped around the gate but the lock was not locked!  I took off the lock and chain, opened the gate and Brian drove through.  I carefully closed the gate back and wrapped the chain around it and left it just as we had found it.  Very strange!  All of this excitement got us hungry so we decided to eat lunch in town.  We ate at “Granny’s”.  The food was good, but all we could talk about was that gate!  After we finished I asked Brian to drive back up to that driveway to see if the gate was still closed.  By now, 45-60 minutes have gone by.  The gate was wide open just like the way we saw it the first time we drove by!  Strange happenings……

A week later and we still are puzzled!

Part of the 'spread'

The narrow hallways made it difficult to maneuver through carrying food and drinks while the guests were hanging out there. Why does it seem that people always gather in the kitchen? Every room in the house was full, not just the kitchen.

Brian playing 'bar tender'

The event was a great success and Mrs. Harrison was happy once again. She had used us in the past so she knew that our work is top-notch!

Sue doing 'clean up'

A good time was had by all and the foundation raised a significant amount of money.

Ms. Irma turned 95! I got her this mini cake.

Happy 95th Birthday, Ms. Irma!

Ms. Irma’s electric stove from the 60′s finally bit the dust. Her son ordered a new one for her. I saw her on the 2nd day that she had it. It was a very nice, quite large (almost commercial size) stove. She told me she was ‘afraid’ of it. The next week when I saw her she told me she had used the stove for the first time the evening before. She said she thought the ‘thing’ was ‘ugly’. Then she pointed out the reason she was ‘afraid’ of it – I didn’t realize, but it was gas! In all of her 95 years she had only cooked with an electric stove! No wonder! Why would you buy a 95 year old a gas stove when they had never used one before?

I guess it is kind of like Brian’s sister, Sharon, buying their dad a Kindle for Christmas! He loves to read, but doesn’t have a computer and doesn’t really like technology. Just because something is ‘new’ and ‘better’ doesn’t always mean it is the best idea for everyone. Needless to say he returned it!

The grocery store was out of a dozen Grade A Large eggs today. Instead of buying Mrs. C. a carton of 18 eggs (which I’ve done in the past and she wasn’t happy) I bought her a dozen Grade A X-large eggs. I explained to her what had happened when I delivered the groceries. She seemed very concerned and asked me if they were “normal” eggs. I assured her they were and I took one out of the carton to show her. I pointed out to her that they didn’t really look that different in size. She did ask me if they had the 18 ct. carton with ‘regular’ large eggs. I reminded her that she wasn’t happy when I had done that before. “I would rather have 18 normal eggs”. She asked me if they came from extra large chickens. I told her I thought they came from the same chickens. As I left she said she just wasn’t sure about those extra large eggs!

Today (1/2/12) is a bank holiday. I received a phone call early this morning from a woman who asked me if I could come and notarize her prenuptial agreement. It wasn’t until I was there notarizing it that I found out they were getting married TODAY! They had planned their wedding for 1-2-1-2, but they forgot to plan ahead about the prenup and getting it signed on a holiday!

Here are some of the critters that we have taken care of recently.

Meet Jack & Lily…… They love their swimming pool! Yes, this was in December!

Jack & Lily take a dip after playing fetch

The youngest in our care….. Macy – full of spunk!

Macy was always waiting for us to come and play! This picture does not show how awfully cute Macy really is

Here’s another cutie! Cosy!

Cosy is just as soft and fluffy as she looks. She has a great "purrrr"

Ashlynn is one of the girls who works for us. She loves birds and does a great job with them.

Ashlynn and the birds

Meet Theo. He is sort of like the “King of his Kingdom”

Stoic Theo

Here’s Gump…… What a great dog!

Gump will wear me out playing fetch. He keeps going and going and going.....

This is Colette she is one of the dogs that we walk every day during the week while her mom is at work.

Sweet Colette whose sister, Vivian, would not pose for the camera!

Another cutie and one of my favorites is Elsa!

Elsa loves to hang out on top of the dryer. She watches the world from her post.

I can’t even begin to figure out how many animals we have cared for over these last 14 years. Lots of dogs and cats, but also bunnies, horses, sheep, a donkey, a chinchilla, birds, fish and chickens and ferrets.

The last 14 years have been an amazing journey for me. I couldn’t have done it without many of you. THANK YOU! I appreciate each and every one of you.

I went to her cute little house in a cute little neighborhood and took her to the grocery store she wanted to go to. The store is only 2 blocks from her home! Now I can’t figure out why she only goes to the store once every six months when she lives so close? Again, we just do what our clients ask (with a smile!). On the way to the store Ms. W tells me that the grocery store usually sends one of the “boys” home with her to unload her groceries. She told me she tips them $5.00 and told me she would be happy to split that cost with me if I felt we needed some help. I assured her that I was capable of doing whatever she needed. She told me the only thing that posed any problems with shopping once every six months is fresh eggs.

As we enter the store she gets in the motorized cart and I get a large shopping basket and begin to follow her. It is obvious she has been shopping here and in this fashion for YEARS. Everyone knows her and some employees even knew which brands she preferred. She would pick items off the shelf that were within her reach and the other items she would point out to me so I could collect them for her. After filling an entire basket, I took it up front and ‘parked’ it where the cashier told me it would be safe. Then I got a new basket and found Ms. W in the aisle and begin filling again. We did this three more times!

The oddest part of it all was what she chose to purchase for herself for the next six months. I will just list some of the items:

1 roll of paper towels, 24 rolls of toilet paper (this would not last just me for 6 months!), 2 cans of canned chili, 2 cans of tuna, 5 lbs. of ground beef, 1 whole chicken, 1 package thighs, 1 pot roast, 6 frozen dinners, 13 boxes of instant pudding, 6 boxes of instant jello, 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 10 cans of canned vegetables, 3 word search puzzle magazines, 2 boxes of instant oatmeal packets, 2 jars of peanut butter, 1 package soup mix, 2 jars of pasta sauce, 1 package of pasta, 2 packages of cookies, 1 bag of potatoes, 1 gallon of ice cream (this wouldn’t last me a week!), 4 packages of lunch meat, a couple of 8oz packages of cheese, 20 lbs. sugar, 20 bottles of juice.

I asked her why she got so much sugar and juice and she told me she makes her own wine! She also makes her own yogurt and flavors it with the instant pudding.

What she didn’t get any of:

cereal, milk, shampoo, soap, canned soup and frozen veggies. There were a lot of other items she didn’t get but these are the ones that pop out.

She did get more items but obviously I couldn’t remember them all. It just didn’t seem like near enough food to last her for 6 months. She did tell me her daughter would occasionally bring her fresh eggs. There were a few items that she had on her list and wanted but thought they were way too expensive compared to the last time she purchased them so she went without.

She wanted a few things we couldn’t find right away. She did NOT want me to ask anyone at the store to see if they had the items. One thing she wanted was instant polenta. I know what polenta is but have never heard of ‘instant’. There was a young stock boy standing there so I asked him if they had any. He had no idea what polenta was. In the next aisle there was an adult male stocker. I asked him if he knew where it would be. He didn’t know what polenta was either. Ms. W got a little irritated with me and told me not to ask anyone else because they would think we were crazy. It seems like if you only go to the store every six months you should get what you want and not just settle for not having it because you can’t find it on your own. To each their own.

In the end we had 4 large grocery carts full. Her total bill came to just under $750, which she said was about $100 less than the last time she came. Luckily I have a mini van with a large back storage area. I got all of the bags to fit, but not much more would have! It only took about 30 minutes for me to unload them at her house. Yes, I did it by myself without the help of one of the ‘store boys’. She proceeded to show me how she makes the wine and the yogurt – very interesting woman! She told me she would call me in another 6 months.

I didn’t want to have a silent 45 minute drive with this 18 year old boy, so I started asking him questions to get the conversation going. I made sure he had the cash and didn’t need to stop at the ATM on the way home. He referred to it as ‘the family ATM card’. Apparently it is a very tight knit family. I found out I was taking Mike to an apartment complex (a very large complex owned by a man who owns most of the apartments in the area and builds them CHEAP!), which is the ‘family home’. He lives there with his Dad (Mike), Mom (who is recently employed out of state), his sister (the one who made the reservation), her boy child and soon her baby girl that was born that morning. I’m not saying living in an apartment is bad, but the number of adult people living in this one apartment and sharing one ATM card is amazing! I don’t know any other University student that doesn’t own a phone (usually a smart phone) and most of them have their own cars. Mike said his family only has one car for all of them and his mom is currently using it out of state at her new job. I (being the nosy one I am) asked how his sister got to the hospital this morning to have her baby. He said the hospital sent a van to pick her up! *NOTE* For those of you that don’t live in this area we do not have public transportation available.

I asked him the usual questions about his major and thoughts about The University. I then asked him about his grades. He said he went to a private high school (in a different state) and they prepared him well for keeping up with his college work. He said he makes mostly B’s. He plans on transferring to the University close to where his mom has taken a job and move along with the rest of the family. He was such a nice, polite kid. I was just so impressed that this kid (and family) that obviously didn’t have a lot of extra money was determined to get his education and get good grades to better himself.

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Yesterday morning I received a call from an ‘older’ woman asking me if I was a mobile notary and would I come to her. I told her that I was. She seemed thrilled to have found me. She asked about my charges and thought they were fair. She told me that she lost her husband a few weeks ago and she had 2 teacher retirement papers that needed to be notarized. I told her that I had some time that day that I could stop by. She told me she had some ‘errands to run and Christmas shopping to do’ so she wouldn’t be able to meet me at her house until after 3:00 pm. Fine. I would meet her there then. What seemed very strange to me about this was that she was obviously able bodied and could get out. She was even going to be out, why not get it done while she was out? It would definitely be cheaper for her! Again, I don’t ask why I just do what clients want. When I arrived at her house I asked her how she was doing (knowing that she just lost her husband), she was honest with me and told me ‘not very well’. I noticed her house was decorated for Christmas. I complemented her on going ahead and decorating during this difficult time. She pointed out that she didn’t have a Christmas tree up and just “wasn’t going to” do it. Her house really looked beautiful and very Christmasy. Again, to make small talk I asked her who had been the teacher (I knew I was notarizing teacher retirement papers), she or her husband. She told me that she had been the teacher and her husband had been the principal. THEN it dawned on me who she was. I had never met her or her husband before but I knew there was an elementary school named after her husband! I should have made the connection when she told me her last name. She was thrilled that I knew that. I then told her that I had been a teacher in a previous life. We seemed to have an instant bond from there on. My phone rang a couple of times while I was at her house. I just hit the ‘ignore’ button but did notice it was someone from the same number calling each time. That usually means they want something right away. She was so nice and so sweet. She told me she knew she could have gone up to the school or to the bank to have those papers notarized but she just didn’t want to have to see everyone. NOW, I also understand why she wanted me to come to her house to notarize the documents! She told me how glad she was that she found me. What a nice warm feeling that gives me! I asked her how she found me (I try to ask everyone so I know what advertising is working) – she pointed to the phone book. She said, “right in here, you are listed in a lot of different places in this book, you do so much”.

After I left her house I checked my phone expecting to find a voice message from the person who had been trying to call so desperately. No message. In a few short minutes my phone rang again – the same person. It was a young man wanting to know what I did. I told him that I ran errands for people. I asked him what he was interested in. He wanted to know what ‘types of services’ I offer. I’ve heard this tone of voice many times before but not usually during the mid afternoon. I explained that I bought groceries, walked dogs and general errands like that. He sounded so disappointed and said, “Oh”. I then had to explain to him, like so many others, that even though “Escort” and “Errand” are right next to each other in the phone book they are not even similar businesses! He quickly apologized and hung up. I’ve had this conversation with many men over the years so it was nothing new for me. I figured the Principal’s wife (the woman whose house I had just left) would get a kick out of it since she had just told me she found me in the phone book. I called her and she had the biggest hoot over it. It was so nice to hear her belly laugh and she thanked me for that.

Each year for the past 3 years I have always organized a group of people to volunteer for what Golden Corral calls Military Monday. It is always the Monday after Veteran’s Day. Golden Corral Restaurants across the nation serve free buffets to all current and retired military personnel. They ask for volunteers each year to assist with getting the Vets and their family members to the tables, serving drinks, cleaning tables, offering bread, etc. We spend a lot of time just ‘chatting’ with them and hearing their stories. It is a lot of work but always leaves us with a great feeling after serving those who served for us. I usually drum up volunteers from the Ambassador group of the Rogers Lowell Chamber of Commerce which I am active in. I also recruited a couple of friends to help.

I spent a bit of time over the past weeks getting a car licensed for someone who had moved out of state. Then I had to take the car to get serviced and cleaned so that the client’s son could fly into town to drive the car back to the east coast where my client is now living. This may sound easier than it was. It was part of a nasty divorce between two clients of mine and somehow I got put in the middle. I just try to make my clients happy by doing what they ask. I don’t always get the fun parts!

It became apparent that a trip to the account was necessary! Regina Young is a wonderful accountant and very patient with me. She didn’t try to convince me, she just came right out and told me I had to start accepting credit cards! Because The Errand Girl pays for all clients merchandise up front and because I have hired so many new contractors she said it was a must for my cash flow to work. I am fairly obedient when people in authoritative positions tell me to do something. So, I set it up online that evening! I now accept Visa, Master Card, American Express and Discover! It has already proven to make things easier!

In addition to all of the regular shopping we do for clients I was also asked to do a TV spot with a local station about what we do. For those of you that have followed me, Ms. Irma was on the interview with me!! She was so nervous – it was cute. Here is the clip in case you haven’t seen it 10 times already.

http://www.4029tv.com/video/29827725/detail.html?taf=fts

Thanks to Angela Taylor of 40/29 who did a great job of editing and putting both me and Ms. Irma at ease!

I made quite a few donation drop-off trips for clients. This always inspires me to ‘clear my own clutter’ at home, so we made some donations too. It always feels so good to get rid of STUFF that is just taking up space and/or collecting dust! One of the errands was taking a 50 inch television that had ‘died’ to be recycled. Yes, a female client and I got that TV in the van by ourselves. I am not going to say we did it without any scraps or bruises, but we did it! I took the TV to my friend, Brent Leas, who works for ESCO Processing and Recycling, LLC. They make it easy to recycle electronics.

Being a Notary Public I was honored to assist a young couple with notarizing some documents for their upcoming adoption of a child from China. I had to meet them at the Washington County Sheriffs Office. Usually when I go to the Sheriffs Office to notarize something it is not such a happy and joyous occasion as this one. This was a nice change of pace!

The cleaning side of The Errand Girl is really taking off. We have acquired a few more bi-weekly contracts. This meant I needed to hire more cleaning contractors. This is a very good thing, but interviewing people is taxing!! How do you tell someone that smells like cigarettes and has rotten front teeth that it wouldn’t be a good idea to hire them to represent you to clean someone’s house? I was able to be honest with them about the cigarette smell – I didn’t bother bringing up the rotten teeth issue. Another person I just spoke to on the phone had to be told, “I don’t think you are what I am looking for”. She asked what I was looking for. I had to be honest with her too and tell her “Someone that doesn’t talk as much”! She told me a LOT more details about her life and the people she had cleaned for than I needed to know. She told me she probably didn’t want to work for me anyway. Whew! Glad she saw that!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we visited with lots of cats and dogs. They were all very grateful when we walked in the door! They were just getting us ready for all of the visits we will make over the next few weeks. We still have some openings for pet sitting for Christmas.

I spend a lot of time at doctors’ offices. No, I am not the sickly type, I am there with clients. It is amazing to me how impatient older folks are at the doctor. It is very rare that you don’t have to wait for a long period of time to get from the waiting room to the exam room. It is just a fact of life! You would think that older people would be more patient because they have been doing this for much longer than I have (sitting and waiting) and what else do they have to do???? Needless to say, I have spent some time waiting in doctors’ offices lately.

Lunch time! I don’t usually get to sit down and eat lunch (it is usually on the go). The last few weeks I have had the opportunity to attend a couple of luncheons. One of them was the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) luncheon. We heard some really sad sad stories of local kids (and families). We also heard from volunteers for this organization who are making a difference in the life of a child. I was also invited to attend 15 cent hamburger day at a local senior apartment complex. The administration wanted to bring back ‘the good ol days’ of .15 hamburgers for the residents. That was a lot of fun meeting a bunch of new friends with all kinds of different backgrounds and stories to tell.

Someone called me this week asking me to make a delivery of some large boxes for her business. I always ask people how they heard about The Errand Girl. I really expected her to say she saw us on TV. That is the response I have been getting from most people lately. She said she saw the van on the road a long time ago and put the information in her phone because she knew she would ‘need us someday’. Smart lady!

We were successful in avoiding the stores for Black Friday. Mrs. C. called and tried to get me to go but I told her it would wait until Monday (it wasn’t a special item on sale). I did have to go to the grocery store for a couple of clients but it was not a big deal.

The Christmas wrapping season is now upon us. Today was the first day of gift wrapping mania. It seems as though a lot of people are shopping earlier this year – which is a good thing! I don’t recall seeing so many people in the stores actually buying things this early in December.

By the way………… we did hire another cleaning ‘girl’! Welcome Kim Jones to the team!!

Oh, yea, we also updated our website as you can tell with this post! Thanks to Jeannette at Scribe Marketing for her great work!!!

It has been a very busy few weeks, but we are ready for the next one …………..Bring it on!

I took one of my ‘older’ clients to the doctor.  The clients daughter had asked me to go into the exam room so I could relay what the doctor said to her.   The nurse was doing her initial intake questions – “What’s going on today”?    My client noticed a big shiny gold bracelet on the nurses wrist and mentioned that it was nice.  A few minutes later my client mentions again that she really likes her bracelet.  The nurse said  it was on sale and she felt like treating herself to something nice.  My client said in a very serious voice, “Oh, did you get it at a garage sale”?  I saw the look of horror on the nurses face!  It must have been quite an expensive bracelet.  The nurse just smiled, after she closed her mouth that had been hanging open, and said it wasn’t from a garage sale.

The last time I had taken this woman to this doctor her daughter had asked me to ask the doctor to look at her mom’s swollen ankles.   He looked at them and said they were not swollen.  I am not a doctor and I could tell they were swollen! He said most of his patients her age (80) would be thrilled to have ankles her size.  The daughter was quite disgusted to hear that the doctor showed no concern over her swelling.   This time the daughter insisted that I have the doctor look at her mothers ankles again.  I knew it probably wouldn’t go over well, but I did what I was asked to do.  The doctor again said there was nothing to worry about over her swelling.  My client chimed in at this point, “I guess I will just go to Mayo (clinic) to get them to tell me what is wrong”!   The doctor told her she didn’t need to do that – he would order a CT Scan of her legs.  We got what we wanted, just not how I had expected to get it.

After the doctor’s visit we needed to stop by Petsmart to pick up some cat food. As we walked inside I grabbed a basket because I knew we would be purchasing a lot.  She grabbed the basket away from me and told me she needed to hold on to it.  She said, “Go get your own if you want to hold on to one”!

A trip to the drug store………………..

Mrs. C. called and left her pharmacy list on the voice mail.   She asked for, “2 Kotex sanitary belts, a box of safety pins, and a box of Whitman’s chocolate” When she has an unusual item she usually calls the store ahead of time to make sure they have what she is looking for.  I went to the drug store she specified (it is a more elite drug store than your local chain) and looked everywhere I could think of for sanitary belts.  I couldn’t find them so I thought maybe she had special ordered them.  I went to the counter to ask.  The girl looked at me like I was nuts and said, “I am not sure what you are asking for, a sanitary belt”???  I knew then that Mrs. C had not special ordered it.   The girl passed my question off to a very young looking female pharmacist.  I began by asking her if she even knew what a sanitary belt was.  She assured me she did.  She walked around the store with me following looking in all of the same places I had looked previously. No luck.  No sanitary belt.  They also didn’t carry safety pins at this store which surprised me.  They did have her box of chocolates so at least she will have that fix.  Now, how was I going to explain to her that I didn’t think they make sanitary belts any more?????  When I got to her house I told her I had bad news.  She said, “Did you find the chocolate”?  Yes, I assured her and showed her the nice Christmas tin that they came in.  I told her they didn’t have any belts.  She asked if I had ordered some for her – I usually just go ahead and special order some of her unusual requests.  I told her I didn’t think they even made them any more.  She seemed to wonder how I would know that if I didn’t order any.  I explained that it had been many years since they made sanitary pads that attach to belts, so I was sure they weren’t making the belts any more.  She seemed like she was ‘hurt’.  She said she found a couple of boxes of Kotex pads in her closet and thought she would put them to good use.  I reminded her that pads had been made with sticky tape in recent years.  She then sheepishly said, “Do you think Walgreens would carry them”?  I don’t think I got my point across at all!  I have a feeling that this coming week I will be going from store to store looking for sanitary belts that don’t exist!

Before I left I felt as though I had to let certain clients know.  My older clients often call me during the week and need something that day.  I sat down with Mrs. C. (see previous post “Some background history of Mrs. C”:   http://errandbiz.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/some-background-history-of-mrs-c/ ..)  a week ahead of time and we wrote it on her calendar when I   would be gone.  The two times I saw her the week before I left I reminded her again.  Of course, she called me on Monday morning to go shopping for her because she knew we were leaving that afternoon.  After I dropped off her groceries and headed to the door she said, “I will miss you”.  In all the years I’ve worked for her she has never said anything like that to me before.  I said, “really?”.  She replied, “Yes, you’ve become a necessary part of my life – I don’t want you to go”.  She touched my heart!  She said, “It’s not fair, I want you to be in town for me!”   I assured her that I would be back before long.  It wasn’t the first time I felt bad ‘leaving’ her, but it was the first time she ever indicated that she missed me when I was gone!

Knowing that we would be celebrating holidays I wanted to buy Christmas gifts to take with us.  I hate paying shipping costs!  Brian’s sisters are really easy to buy for – even though Brian didn’t think so before I came into his life.  We had both sisters taken care of and wrapped before we left.  The hard one is his dad!  What do you buy for an 80 year old man that doesn’t NEED anything???  I have the same problems shopping for my own father.  They have more clothes than they will ever wear again because they don’t go out any more. They don’t need more ‘stuff’ to collect dust as they already have more than they know what to do with.  The slippers we bought last year haven’t been worn enough to warrant a new pair.  Restaurant gift cards aren’t much fun when you’ve lost your life partner.   Tools, pictures, dishes, towels, etc.  No, they already have more than they need!

Brian’s dad is a big man (very tall, solid & with bad knees) who is set in his ways like most people his age.  The one thing we’ve gotten him in the past that was the best idea was ‘stability arms’ that attach to the toilet.  I’m not sure what they are called at the moment but it is like a walker placed backwards on the toilet to help you get up.  He loves it and it is useful!  I’m really into useful or necessary when it comes to giving.  We’ve bought his dad some other ‘help’ gadgets over the years but this is the one he uses.  The As Seen On TV foot scrubber that we gave him is still in the box on a shelf in the bathroom with another one identical to it.  I guess someone else had that grand idea!  I get catalogs that have lots of ‘help gadgets’ in them, I thought to bring the catalogs with me this year to look at them with him!  Great idea!!  We were looking through the catalogs and he didn’t seem to think the things I had in mind would be of use to him, although he had never seen catalogs like this before.  I left the catalogs with him just in case he sees something he might need.  : )

As we were coming back into his dad’s house after going out to eat, I noticed what trouble his dad had getting up the two small steps on his front porch.  I asked him if he ever used his cane (I’ve seen a couple around the house in the past), he said it was in his car when he needed it.  In his car doesn’t do him much good getting in and around the house!  I asked him if having a railing to hold on to would help.  He said he had thought that one might be good but hadn’t done it yet.  That was it!!!  We were going to put in a railing on his front steps for his Christmas present!!!  Very useful and needed!!  He thought it was a great idea too!  Sometimes he balks at people doing things for him.  He seemed much more willing to let us help him with projects around the house this time.  It sounds like a good thing, but it really isn’t.  It means his dad is getting older and less able to do things for himself.   Both, Brian and I saw a definite decline in his physical being from last year.  We really NEED to take the time off to go see him more often!!!  Once a year is NOT ENOUGH!!!  Plus he has a lot more chores around the house!

The railing…………….  We went to Menards (home building store) to look and see what they had.  I wish we had a Menards store where we live!  I love that store!  They had a very large selection, but since I am not the Engineer, like his dad, I didn’t take the two steps into consideration.  I may not have the skills to build it, but I sure can ask for help.  I asked a guy that worked there to help “us”.  He and Brian exchanged a bunch of garble that I didn’t have a clue about, but it looked like there was one that would work!  Yea!  His dad looked at it and he liked it too!  We bought it and headed home.  You know how things always seem much simpler than they turn out to be?  The store clerk made it sound so easy too!  I guess we forgot to tell him we were putting it into concrete steps.  After starting the project we find out there is rebar in the way on the steps.  It seemed like it was one issue after another.  While Brian worked on that project, his sisters followed my lead and we cleaned out the flower bed in the front that was overgrown.  The railing didn’t get finished before dinner time, so we stopped for the day.  Of course it rained all day the next day so we couldn’t do anything on the railing the whole day.  That was Thursday.  We were supposed to leave on Friday as both Brian and I had to work on Saturday.   We got up early on Friday to get started so we could finish and leave.  I had wanted to mow his yard, but couldn’t the day before because of the rain.   While Brian worked on the railing again, I mowed the very tall, wet grass!  YUCK! When I finished mowing, Brian was still having some issues – mostly with the drill.  I became his ‘assistant’ and we finally finished the project.  It was complete!!!  Yea!  I feel so much better knowing his dad has something strong to hold on to while getting in and out of his house.  Such a relief!  By now it was close to 3:00 in the afternoon (we had an 8 hour drive ahead of us) and we had hoped to leave that morning.  You do what you have to do.  So, we got on the road again………