Fell off the Face of the Earth

Ok, so I did not really fall over the face of the earth, but my blog has been ignored for the last several months.  So what have I been doing during this time?  Well to tell you the truth, I haven't been doing much crafting.  I think I got burned out after doing several swaps and crafting 3-6 days a week for almost 3 years.  I just needed a break from it all.  I did make (and mail) about a dozen Christmas cards and have been getting together with friends about once a month since November so I'm slowly getting back into it.

I also got into couponing which was taking A LOT of time.  I have found an easier way to organize my coupons though so it does not take near as long (I file my inserts by date and only cut the coupons I need for my shopping trip).  By couponing, I cut my grocery bill from $125/week to $35-$40/week (and now I spend that about once every 2 weeks!!).  Occasionally I will still have a bigger trip but that is usually when I am loading up on meat or don't have coupons for the things I am buying.  I have quite a stockpile now and am trying to use what I have for our meals.  It is working really well so that other than picking up a couple of special items for my daughter's birthday dinner, I have been able to cook for us using items in my stockpile. What is even better is that I have been able to make about 3-4 meals and snack/side items for a family who is having to spend a great deal of time at the hospital as their son has been in ICU for almost 2 weeks.  So the last 2-3 weeks, I have been cooking a lot more.  We are really enjoying making homemade pizzas and crockpot applebutter (so easy).  As soon as I can get a good hamburger deal (93% lean), I am going to make homemade pepperoni!  Here's the recipe if you are interested.  I haven't tried it yet because hamburger is too expensive right now.

I also spent a good deal of time over the Christmas Holidays to work on my genealogy which I've not touched much in the last 18 months or so.  Felt so good to find some new info!  I can't wait until April 2nd when the 1940's census becomes available.  I know, I know, but for genealogists this is a goldmine of information!  Call us weird, because we are!

So if you start seeing posts unrelated to crafting, just remember that I warned you first!