I know I have told you that we have both been sick since we got to Phoenix, but this is getting to be really ridiculous. We got here October 29^th, so that it has been, what, more than two weeks that we have been grumpy, frumpy, whiney, snotty, and all the other seven dwarves combined. And quite frankly, I am sick to death of being sick. I want to go play, I want to have some fun, I want to be able to just sit down and read or play computer games without having to blow my dang nose every five minutes!!!

We have decided we must be allergic to Phoenix. We have lived in very rural areas for about two years now, first in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, then in north Georgia, and then at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Because it is so rural in those places, there is not much traffic, therefore, not much pollution. We have had no nasal/sinus/breathing problems, except when we were in Atlanta and now in Phoenix.

So, when we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we borrowed their yellow pages book, and called about a dozen health food stores and herb stores, looking for one that sells our favorite brand of herbs. No luck. No one here sells them, except for one store way down in Tempe about a hundred (or 35) miles away. Through a lot of traffic.

Then, we decided to go to Target, which is just a couple blocks down the road from Cracker Barrel, because FabGrandpa needed some new pajamas. Well, he wears those long flannel pants that tie at the waist, but he calls them his pajamas. After we found him some of those, we paid and started to leave, but then I saw a Salon Supply place. We needed some of that way expensive shampoo and conditioner that is the only one he will use, so I went in to see if they had some. Of course, they did, and whoo hooo! It was buy two get one free. So, for ONLY $49 I got one bottle of shampoo and two bottles of conditioner, which is good because I use the conditioner, too.

In the same shopping center, there was an herb shop called Hi-Health. We decided to go in to see if they had our brand of herbs. They did not. But they did have another brand that had the same combination we were looking for—Fenugreek and Thyme. The combination of Fenugreek and Thyme will dry up clogged nasal passages and get rid of sinus problems for us in just a few minutes. We got those and a bottle of Echinacea and Goldenseal. We have never used that particular combo, but it is supposed to clear up chest congestion.

We both took some in the truck before we left the parking lot. And, let me tell you, I feel better already. Maybe tomorrow we can go outside and play.

I stepped outside for some fresh air, and was surprised by this beautiful end to the day. This picture does not begin to show how big the sky is, and how beautiful it was:

This was looking the other way, to the east. The sky was a vivid pink giving way to purple at the edges of the sky:

My home is my ….

Last Monday was when I made a public commitment to sticking to a $300 per week cash budget. I said then that I would come here every Monday and give a report on how we did. So, here is the report for the first week of Cash Monday.

We went to the bank and drew out the cash, and divided it up between us. FabGrandpa got to hold $120 and I got to hold $180. Yeah, I was the divider, and I also was the one who had to pay for more stuff, so I got more money. It’s just like that around here.

We went out to breakfast 4 times (all at Cracker Barrel); we drove out to Brenda once (about a 250 mile round trip); we drove up to Sedona once (about a 325 mile round trip); we ate lunch out twice (once for Mexican food, once for gluten free pizza in Sedona); we bought groceries, cigarettes, high dollar vitamins, and ice cream and milk at the convenience store (very high dollar!!!). As you can see, we had a very good time of it.

This is NOT how we live every week, but it was our first week on this budget, and our first week in town with our friends. So, we went driving more and out to eat more than we usually do, and will probably be doing more of the same this week.

The bottom line: We have $36.80 left of our $300 this week. Week one, on budget.