Day 90 - Not Spending is No Longer My Biggest Problem

Andy's spending ban ends tonight--mine ends next Friday. However, I would gladly extend mine another month to be finished with
The vet (who was probably chuckling to himself the entire time) said to give Calisto one and a half doses (syringes full of pink bubble-gum scented goo that I shoot into her mouth) twice a day for a week or until the medicine is all gone. Don't let the size of that bottle deceive you--it's WAY bigger than it seems. I've been good & only slopping a little over the sides, but it's still only half empty. Calisto's cough does seem to be getting better--or it might just be that it's hard to tell as she is now fleeing for cover whenever she glimpses me. This really might last until Sunday--let's hope it ends before one of us runs away from home.

Day 89 - Andy Has One Day Left

Friday Andy will be able to buy anything he wants--or at least up to $100. I have promised myself to be warm, loving and supportive and to not grumble too much that one of us is still deprived of retail therapy.

Maybe I'll spend my last shopping-deprived week figuring out what to do with 30+ pumpkins...
So far I've found recipes for pumpkin flour, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin butter, pumpkin waffles, baked pumpkin, pumpkin muffins, and if Andy hasn't fled in squashed-induced terror by them, we can always freeze pumpkin puree.

Thank heavens it wasn't 2 zucchini plants--I think that would have been grounds for divorce.

Day 88 - We'll Be So Glad To Be Consumers Again

Since we had 90 days of not buying anything new to endure, we've basically been taking every catalog that arrived and depositing it straight into the recycling bin. No sense in useless temptation. Since we're so close to being done, however, tonight I flipped through a baking catalog that arrived.

SO tempting!

First we have square biscuit cutters
for those who are unable--or have forgotten how--to cut on a grid.

Or how about a peanut butter and jelly knife for children who don't want to get peanut butter in the jelly
and aren't smart enough to figure out to use two knives.

Or how about an onion keeper?
Which seems to be an acrylic bowl with a lid that costs 3 times as much as an acrylic bowl with a lid that isn't an onion keeper.

Well thank goodness we'll be free to buy things again. Look what we've been missing!

Day 87 - At Least It Will Keep Our Minds Off Shopping

Today this entered our lives:Amoxicillin for cats (and, it looks like, small children, but we've chosen to not think about that one too much, though I suppose giving cats pediatric drugs is better than giving small children feline drugs...and it does probably explain the whole bubble-gum flavoring thing)

To be administered twice a day for a week to our least-social cat, Calisto, who only occasionally sees fit to tolerate Andy's existence.

If there are no further blog posts this week, you'll know my hands are too scratched up to type.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty.....

Day 86 - We're So Close!!!!!

It's a good thing we have already agreed on the $100 limit. As the spending ban nears the end, the temptation for a spending spree is almost overwhelming. My credit card is trembling in fear....

Day 85 - Andy's Making a List

On Friday, Andy will receive $100 in cash to spend on anything he chooses, and I will be taking another look at the mohair shawlto remind myself why 8 extra days of a spending ban was worth it.

August 16 is my day, and my list so far:
* new Goober Goggles
* earplugs for swimming
* a package of large sewing needles for use on sweater seams when I can actually persuade myself to sew sweater pieces together--I seem to be down to one, or more accurately, I can currently only locate one.

It doesn't sounds like much, but it is terribly exciting at this point.

And the results are in from our experiment in canning garlic:
We hate it.

Luckily, we gave some to a friend who positively loves it and already finished her jar. Well, that's handy. She gets a Christmas gift we know she'll love, and we'll get our pantry space back.

We'll be attempting pickles soon, and hoping someone somewhere will like the results!

Day 84 - Add Plastic Forks to the List

We met up with friends last night for a picnic and concert at the Idaho Botanical Gardens. It was great fun, the music was good, and we did pretty well on the food for the picnic, but it feels a bit odd passing around miss-matched paper plates and plastic spoons to everyone--especially when the food called for forks and knives.

6 (14) more days, and our friends can quit thinking we're insane. The countdown is on!!!