- Coupons! I've been having so much fun saving mega bucks on our groceries. Maybe I'm going a bit overboard because I haven't been here basically for about 5 years, but I'm CVS-ing and Walgreen-ing and Kroger-ing. A friend of mine adopted a baby last week and needed formula coupons and I was able to send her a bundle! It's been way fun to have such an easy outlet for saving money!
- On the flip side, the produce here is very disappointing. Even farmer's market produce, although it's better than I'm seeing in the grocery stores. Seriously, the mandarins here look like something fake is sprayed inside of them- they're a weird color. The avocados don't ripen the right way. The tomatoes are mushy. The apples are waxy. And the bananas taste fake. I'm kind of grossed out, yet still wanting to keep our norms of eating plenty of fresh fruits and veggies.
Makes me want to start my own Victory garden, except we'll not be here in future years to do anything with it, and I really already missed planting season. I do have a basil and rosemary in my kitchen window, though. - CashFlow the game is super fun! (But, wowzers, it's expensive on Amazon!) We bought it years ago, back when we were landlords, before we sold all of our properties and moved abroad. We dug it out from storage this week and have been playing with the kids.
- Yesterday we went to the Amon Carter museum in Fort Worth and viewed their collections (free!) and picnicked afterwards. The Hudson River School collection was by far my favorite. Our sons definitely preferred the paintings and sculptures of cowboys and Indians.
- Bluebonnets are in full bloom, and we need to do our pictures! This is likely our only chance for bluebonnet pictures in years... we may try today.
- A few days ago, Ethan said, "I wish __(friend #1 in Turkey)___, ____(friend #2 in Turkey)___, and ___(friend #3 in Turkey)___ lived here. Then our circle of friends would be complete!" It's hard having part of your life on one side of the globe, and part of your life on the other. No matter how old you are.
- Gulp, this one's hard to admit. I like the kind of mom I am here, better than the mom I am overseas. The stress levels-- in big and small ways-- are much, much lower. The "norms" of life are norms that I know... as in, I know where the freebies are; I know what the fun things to do are with kids, and where to find them; I know what it's like to grow up here and look forward to sharing those things with my kids here; I remember the tasty treats I loved and can offer those same things to my kids. I know those are all small, sideline things... but they're real, and it's hard to watch the sands of time slipping by and see evidence of the things we're missing (like, I never thought my sons wouldn't experience Texas little league baseball!). *sigh*
Well, that's this week's 7 Quick Takes. Thoughts? What's going on in your world?
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