Why I Am SOOOO Tickled

So the other night I laughed sooo hard that my husband wanted me to be committed and my brother in law came out of hiding to check and see if I was crying or laughing.

I was laughing and I am still laughing and now you must hear why.

Darrell and I very frugally planned a trip to San Francisco this summer to go to a friends wedding.
On this trip we will have NO kids (this is very important to remember).

We got our air fare for next to nothing thanks to some travel vouchers that we have been holding onto and I also found an excellent coupon code for a rental car. So we get to and around San Fran for less than $200. All that is left to book is the hotel and this my friends was Darrell's job:)

He did a great job picking out the location and swankiness of the hotel.
Major props to Darrell, you see it is just too bad that I can't thank him properly;) because we will be staying in a room suitable for these two:


Yes my friends my loving and adoring husband booked a hotel room with TWO TWIN BEDS:0
And here is where I will steal something from one of my favorite tv show bloggers and insert the Jim Halpert face here:Love ya honey! Can't wait to cuddle up to my pillow on our 3 day trip to California without any kids!

Grocery Project: What I Learned

I think I was hoping that Darrell would hate the meal planning (which he did), hate grocery shopping (which he did not), go over budget (which he did) and that at the end of it all he would come home full of praise and admiration for his wife with all that she does.

So here is what we learned so far:
1. I am a wimp when it comes to sticking to the rules. I was supposed to hand over the $$ and go away and let him figure it out. I didn't. Every time he moaned for a little help or got a little pouty, I would sigh, groan and go help.

2. Darrell had no idea that planning a menu actually meant you would have to think about ALL parts of the menu including the main dish AND the side dishes.

3. He also didn't take into consideration that breakfast, lunch and paper products had to be bought.

4. Looking in the pantry to see if we had any items, consisted of asking ME what we already had.

5. Coupons and Darrell work better if I am in charge:)

6. He gets bonus points for taking the grumpier of our two children with him to the grocery store only minutes before bedtime. No seriously he deserves much praise for this one!

7. He went WAY over budget and even brought home items in brands that I have never seen just to try and save a few dollars. This is funny b/c he bought some random orange marmalade(it looked like it came from the international food aisle), but then individual things of Pringles for Jackson's lunch-hello?

8. I still don't think he is a great appreciation for the time spent meal planning, couponing, and shopping, but I think he hated it just enough to not complain for a few weeks so:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The Grocery Project

Just a little note for everyone to get ready for next week.
Darrell will be starting on a little journey I like to call payback
The Grocery Project.
I have done the shopping, planning and couponing ever since Darrell and I have been married. Darrell loves that I save a lot of money, but just this week I thought it might be a fun little experiment to put him to work and maybe gain a little appreciation for the skills that it takes. (I just hope he doesn't put me to the yard project:)

For one or maybe two weeks I will hand over my weekly grocery budget and the big fat coupon book and let him have at it:0

It makes me smile just thinking about it.

So here are the rules:
1. He gets $75 to get all of our groceries and consummable items for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. He has to make out a menu plan for the entire week and I will still do the cooking seeing as I don't plan on torturing EVERYONE in the household.
That doesn't seem to hard does it? At least I am not making him actually cook the food.

We will see how it goes. So, sweetie, enjoy that long weekend with the guys, because you have a lot of work to do on Sunday!

Any other wives willing to join me?