Today is the 100th anniversary of my mother's birth! This is one of the earliest pictures I have of her, taken in the mid-1940s when she was a bridesmaid at her brother's wedding:
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| Mother in her 20s |
My mother's new sister-in-law hand colored the details.
And this is one of the last photographs taken of my mother, in 2005:
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| Mother aged 85 |
She died in February, 2006.
I went to the cemetery, this afternoon, with flowers from the garden to place at her gravesite. One of my cousins texted me, while I was at the gravesite, to say she was thinking of me. That was so sweet of her!
Afterwards, I went to the grocery store to pick up the groceries I had ordered. The store had emailed me around 10:45 a.m. to let me know that my order was assembled. Then, I received a text around 12:00 noon, stating that one item I had ordered (a frozen pizza) wasn't available and there were no substitutions and two other items I had ordered (store brand 12 oz. frozen corn and a 20 lb. bag of rice) weren't available, but, they had substitutions (a 24 oz. bag of brand name corn and a 10 lb. bag of store brand rice) if I authorized the substitutions. If the item they substitute costs more than the item I ordered (as was the case with the frozen corn), they charge me the lower price; if the item costs less (as with the rice), then, I pay the lesser price. So, I lucked out and received double the amount of frozen corn for $1.00 (the regular price of the larger bag of brand name corn was, apparently, $4.49!).
My total bill came to $59.04 (with tax on the non-grocery items). The non-grocery items were a package of 8 pieces of soap (regular price $5.99, club card price $3.99, "buy 5 or more participating items" sale price $2.99, which is what I paid), and two 4.0 oz. tubes of toothpaste at $1.00 each. The non-grocery items plus tax came to $5.40. If I deduct it from the grocery total, the groceries amounted to $53.54.
October grocery spending to date = $5 (earlier, for raisins) + $53.54 = $58.54.
Yay! I am back to being within my pre-Covid grocery budget of $75 per month! LOL! With a little over $16 to spend on a few additional "top up" items towards the end of the month.
After I came home, I washed and disinfected everything I bought. Then, I put everything away, but, first, I took the opportunity to wipe down all the fridge shelves, before the new items went in.
I purchased a tray of 8 assorted pork chops (3 lbs., regular price $4.99, on sale for $2.49 per lb.). I separated the pork chops and froze them, 3 packages with 2 chops each and the last two chops frozen individually. I froze the smoked sausage links I bought, too. My plan is to freeze half the hot dogs and half the hot dog buns, but, they are in the fridge for now.
Cousin P's daughter called me to confirm that she can drive me to the appointment with the ophthalmologist and back, tomorrow morning, as I will not be up to driving back after my eyes are dilated. Very grateful to her as she's arranged her work schedule to have the day off in order to drive me. Definitely blessed!
Plans for the rest of the evening include cooking the chicken drumsticks I had kept in the fridge to thaw, practicing the piano, and getting everything ready for tomorrow's appointment.
Today, I am grateful for:
- My mother's influence on my life
- Being able to visit her gravesite
- Being able to take her flowers from the garden
- Contactless grocery pick ups
- Cousin's daughter being able to drive me, tomorrow.
Today's joyful activity was bitter-sweet, actually; visiting my mother's grave and reminiscing about her.
Monday's To Do List:
- Doctor's appointment in the morning
Depending on how soon my eyes recover from being dilated:
- Piano lesson
- Change bed sheets
- Load of laundry (bed sheets/towels)
- Dust living room & dining area
- Clean the fridge (DONE)
- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up
How was your Sunday? How is your grocery shopping coming along? What are your plans for Monday?
I thought about you today, because I knew from your past posts that you visit your mother’s gravesite on her birthday. Your mother was a very pretty lady.
ReplyDeleteI hope your visit to the ophthalmologist goes well.
Thank you, Nil. I miss my Amma. :)
DeleteYour Mom was a beautiful woman. It is very nice that you were able to visit her gravesite! It reminds me that the next time I go to my church I need to stop by and see Mom and Dad in the columbarium.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. I appreciate the fact that her gravesite is close by. My father's and step-father's graves are in Sri Lanka and it is highly unlikely that I'll be able to visit them, again.
DeleteYour Mum was a beautiful woman. I'm glad you were able to place flowers on her grave in memory.
ReplyDeleteThat was a good deal with the substituted items. I've noticed that things seem to be settling down again and I am keeping within my budget, although food is generally costing a bit more as I'm not picking up any yellow sticker bargains.
Thank you, Eileen. One time, a serviceman came to check on my heater, looked at a photo I have of my mother on the mantel, asked who it was, then, looked at me and asked what happened to me! LOL!
DeleteYes, I am not picking up any of the good bargains, either, but, that is the price of the convenience of not having to go in person, I guess.
Classic beauty
ReplyDeleteThank you, Regine. :)
DeleteWhat lovely photos of your Mother! I so enjoyed reading your past posts about her over the years ... and her love of the many roses you both grew in your garden. A garden bouquet is a beautiful way to honor her.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carolyn. She did love her garden and flowers. I thought she would have appreciated the garden flowers more than anything else. :)
DeleteHow comforting to be able to visit your mother's grave and place flowers for her. My mother is buried in England but there is a tree here some friends purchased, by donation to a wildlife area and the tree is marked with her name. We have visited it but not this year.
ReplyDeleteIt rained and rained last night but this afternoon was sunny and my doggy pal from next door decided to show up for his treats.
I like the idea of a tree planted in memory of a loved one. I wanted to do a Memory garden for my mother, but, then, I realized that the whole back yard was, in essence, a memory garden to her.
DeleteI'm sure your doggy friend was was happy the rain ceased long enough to visit you and get his treats! :D
What a really lovely picture of your mother as a young bridesmaid. The colored touchups are such a nice touch. Thank you for sharing the pictures of your mother with us.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you were able to visit her grave and put some flowers there as a tribute to her.
You are doing well with your food shopping and have found a pretty good rhythm to managing your food needs.
To be back to your pre-pandemic grocery budget is very admirable.
I am still ahead of where I used to be. Not too much but still, it adds up doesn't it?
I am thankful for being able to absorb the expense but do hope to get it lower again at some point.
Thank you, Debra. :)There was another hand-tinted photograph of her in my childhood home, but, I don't know what happened to it! It probably got thrown away. My mother and step-father weren't sentimental about such things and I know they tossed hundreds of photos in old albums and handmade quilts when they shifted houses and, again, before we left the country.
DeleteI think I was able to get the grocery budget under control only because I am pretty well stocked up, now. I might do another grocery order, towards the end of the month, just in case things go out of stock closer to Thanksgiving. If I do that, then, I'll probably go over this month's budget! I received the weekly grocery ads for the Armenian store where I used to buy most of my produce in pre-Covid days and almost cried when I saw those prices! Unfortunately, they don't offer curb-side pick up, and I am still not going into the stores in person.