Mad Monday -- Or Monday Madness -- Or I think I can, I think I can. . .

Dear Readers, 
I'm in a reflective mood today, so no real madness, but I'll share a hodge podge of stuff.

                     
I came home from volunteering at church to find pots, dishes, strainer in the sink and a weird smell pervading the house.  Did I get upset?  No, I'm thrilled, because my daughter made her lunch to take to work -- again.  

She's finally realized that all those little bits of $5, $7, $10 spent for lunch out do add up.  She'll never have spending or gas money if she's frittering it away on lunches.  I shop and buy food a couple of times a week, so there's always stuff to eat, to fix, to choose from at home.  No need to eat out all the time.   And I'm very glad she's learning this valuable lesson--she's nineteen now.  It takes a little bit of planning, but you can make your breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home and save your money for gas, movies, gifts, clothes, etc.
          
Speaking of eating out, we'll be eating out a lot this week because it's my birthday week and I've signed up for birthday coupons at local and chain restaurants that offer that.  Of course, we'll still pay for my daughter's meal, beverages, and tip, but the main courses will generally be about half off.  That's worth celebrating.  
    

And it's about all the celebrating we can do with our busy schedules.  She's working at Great America 5 days a week, plus going to summer school, and I'm tutoring 6 days a week. We don't have the same days off.  We'll find a few dinner-times and maybe a lunch or two to use these coupons.  
 
Yay!  I love to eat out with her because we have polite dinner conversation and catch up on what's happening in our lives.  When we're home, we're usually busy getting ready to go here or there, or crashing in front of the TV.  So often our conversation time is in the car and at the restaurant.  I like to think we're supporting the local economy and enjoying time together, too.  (I have her turn her phone upside down for the time we're together.  Yay again, time together without distractions.)
            
In between our volunteer jobs (I count money and Katy and I do the church flowers together), I prepare for my tutoring.  I keep notes, find resources on the internet, and make copies.  I also read great children's literature, write reviews, and work on revising my own stories.  Then there's the social media to check in with, and lots of email -- migrating to Gmail means I have my Yahoo and Gmail to check, plus my own Outlook mail -- whew!  I don't know how people lived before social media and email, but maybe we had time for other things, like gardening, cleaning, taking care of pets, spending time with friends in person instead of "virtually."  
        
That's it for today.  It's a short week and I'm trying to fit in all my students, computer stuff, celebrating, and maybe even writing.  Have a great week and get your flag out for the Fourth!
      
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Tags:  Celebrating, working, teens, eating out, learning to economize, making lunches at home, family time, social media time, making time.