I slept in again this morning, but it seems to have helped keep that cold from taking over. Still an occasional sneeze, but I can live with this. I walked to the end of the road and back, then fixed porridge with apple, and had it with a banana and vanilla yogurt. I did a bit of research on the internet, then made myself a mocha and began dealing with the canner full of chicken bones. I made part into vegetable barley soup and had some for lunch. (Meanwhile hubby came home from night shifts and crashed on the couch.)
I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen, canning two canner loads (14 quart jars) of soup. While the bobber bobbed I began reading the second book of the Mars Hill Classified Trilogy by Austin Boyd (The Proof). Meanwhile I munched on peas and two Wasa crackers with garlic cream cheese and a handful of dates.
For supper I fixed stuffed pork chops (apple, onion, bread crumbs, seasonings). I bought these really thick chops a few weeks ago and so this has been on my menu every week for the last three (grin) and I finally made them. They were kinda fun but not perfect. Oh, we also had salad and corn. (So does that mean the menu works? Eventually?)
While I was cleaning the kitchen (a real chore today, trust me...) hubby received a phone call regarding the application we submitted nearly a year ago for high speed internet. The guy will be here tomorrow morning!!!!! Glad hubby *happens* to be home for this. Wow, I can hardly believe we'll soon actually be untied from the phone line.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Saturday, September 29
I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up this morning. I'd sort of woken up around 6:30 but fallen back asleep and when I really woke up, it was quarter to nine!!!! I'd slept through the whole night, and then some. Wow.
So, in celebration, I went for a half hour bike ride. Time will tell whether that was a smart move or a dumb one, but I was in the mood for something a little farther afield than our little road. My bike allows me to sit quite upright, and I wasn't off-roading...
After my shower, I fixed two pieces of whole-grain toast which I had with margarine and a sliced banana, eating the last few plums...and now plum season is officially over.
Went upstairs, mocha in hand, to think about the Master Bedroom zone, which we've been concentrating on this week via FlyLady. I went through two drawers in my dresser and all of my closet (and hubby's) sorting things to keep, to toss, and to take to the thrift store. I loaded the bags to toss and donate into the truck. I cleaned up what I'd accomplished over the last week in magazine sorting, taking a stack to the truck for recycling. Decided to leave the books for another time. Stripped the bed and started the laundry. Vacuumed the stairwell and the whole upstairs. Realized that it was time to take the fans from upstairs out to the storage cabin for the winter, grabbing a couple of other things that fit that category while I was in the mode.
Then I washed the mirrors and a couple of the windows (remember I did the exteriors a couple weeks ago) and watered the plants.
Lunch time anyone? Fixed myself Glory Bowl and tried to make a menu for the week. I find that the most difficult organizational task and have never yet made and kept one for a full week.
Went into town for errands: dropped stuff at the thrift shop, the library, recycling depot, and the dumpster. Got water and my daughter's birthday present and stopped by the grocery store for a couple things we were out of.
When I got home I dumped all the chicken parts I'd found in the freezer into my large canner, topped it with about 4 gallons of water, and started it towards boiling. Then I curled up in the recliner with a library book, a handful of peas, and 2 Wasa crackers with garlic cream cheese. And a couple of Entrophen as the exertions of earlier caught up with me.
I picked green beans and sautéed them for supper with shrimp, and also had a salad. Talked to my kids on the phone while doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Now a little surfing and reading and back exercises before bed!
So, in celebration, I went for a half hour bike ride. Time will tell whether that was a smart move or a dumb one, but I was in the mood for something a little farther afield than our little road. My bike allows me to sit quite upright, and I wasn't off-roading...
After my shower, I fixed two pieces of whole-grain toast which I had with margarine and a sliced banana, eating the last few plums...and now plum season is officially over.
Went upstairs, mocha in hand, to think about the Master Bedroom zone, which we've been concentrating on this week via FlyLady. I went through two drawers in my dresser and all of my closet (and hubby's) sorting things to keep, to toss, and to take to the thrift store. I loaded the bags to toss and donate into the truck. I cleaned up what I'd accomplished over the last week in magazine sorting, taking a stack to the truck for recycling. Decided to leave the books for another time. Stripped the bed and started the laundry. Vacuumed the stairwell and the whole upstairs. Realized that it was time to take the fans from upstairs out to the storage cabin for the winter, grabbing a couple of other things that fit that category while I was in the mode.
Then I washed the mirrors and a couple of the windows (remember I did the exteriors a couple weeks ago) and watered the plants.
Lunch time anyone? Fixed myself Glory Bowl and tried to make a menu for the week. I find that the most difficult organizational task and have never yet made and kept one for a full week.
Went into town for errands: dropped stuff at the thrift shop, the library, recycling depot, and the dumpster. Got water and my daughter's birthday present and stopped by the grocery store for a couple things we were out of.
When I got home I dumped all the chicken parts I'd found in the freezer into my large canner, topped it with about 4 gallons of water, and started it towards boiling. Then I curled up in the recliner with a library book, a handful of peas, and 2 Wasa crackers with garlic cream cheese. And a couple of Entrophen as the exertions of earlier caught up with me.
I picked green beans and sautéed them for supper with shrimp, and also had a salad. Talked to my kids on the phone while doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Now a little surfing and reading and back exercises before bed!
Friday, September 28
Got up and went for my walk. I'm starting to increase the briskness of the walking, easing the arm movements back in. Breakfast: soaked oats, plums, yogurt. Mocha to go.
For lunch we had leftover ground beef stew and whole-grain toast. Later I snacked on peas and had a piece of plum cobbler from the freezer.
Hubby left for his night shifts shortly after lunch. Because he'd been home (sick) for two extra days, I hadn't done the FlyLady house blessing, so I started on it Friday afternoon. I tidied up the living room, dusted and vacuumed. Tidied up the kitchen and vacuumed.
I reheated chili from the freezer for supper and had a tossed salad.
I spent several hours online researching the new farm use idea hubby and I have been talking about. It sounds like it could be reasonably lucrative for less work than the cows. Part of the problem with the cows is our local elk population, who have decided that our back pasture is on their daily (weekly?) migration route. They hop over our electric fences--or just plow through them. So even if the cows aren't in the back pasture, the loss of electric power in the fenceline causes shorts throughout the system, meaning that the calves in particular wander in and out of the pastures at will (in a bad week, anyway.) It seems like fixing fences is permanently on hubby's to-do list. Also, the price of beef cattle has been low most of the seven years we've owned the farm. A couple of years extremely low (during the mad cow crisis), but it's never gotten anywhere near the first year for dollar-per-pound. This year the cruncher is the fact that the Canadian dollar is so high versus the American dollar. Apparently the price-per-pound has sunk 25% in the past couple of months, just as our calves are getting to market weight. It has become increasingly clear to me that raising beef cattle, particularly with hubby out of town half the time, is just beating our heads against a wall. Hubby is not quite on board with my realization, so we'll see what happens. He is pretty excited about some of the research we've been doing, though. Of course it always costs money to switch gears and use land for a different purpose. And spare cash is something we don't have a lot of.
No, I'm not going to talk about the specifics at this time.
Cleaned up the kitchen in the evening, then watched What Not to Wear and finished the novel I've been reading: The Evidence by Austin Boyd. Jean, have you heard of him? I'm suspecting you might enjoy this trilogy.
For lunch we had leftover ground beef stew and whole-grain toast. Later I snacked on peas and had a piece of plum cobbler from the freezer.
Hubby left for his night shifts shortly after lunch. Because he'd been home (sick) for two extra days, I hadn't done the FlyLady house blessing, so I started on it Friday afternoon. I tidied up the living room, dusted and vacuumed. Tidied up the kitchen and vacuumed.
I reheated chili from the freezer for supper and had a tossed salad.
I spent several hours online researching the new farm use idea hubby and I have been talking about. It sounds like it could be reasonably lucrative for less work than the cows. Part of the problem with the cows is our local elk population, who have decided that our back pasture is on their daily (weekly?) migration route. They hop over our electric fences--or just plow through them. So even if the cows aren't in the back pasture, the loss of electric power in the fenceline causes shorts throughout the system, meaning that the calves in particular wander in and out of the pastures at will (in a bad week, anyway.) It seems like fixing fences is permanently on hubby's to-do list. Also, the price of beef cattle has been low most of the seven years we've owned the farm. A couple of years extremely low (during the mad cow crisis), but it's never gotten anywhere near the first year for dollar-per-pound. This year the cruncher is the fact that the Canadian dollar is so high versus the American dollar. Apparently the price-per-pound has sunk 25% in the past couple of months, just as our calves are getting to market weight. It has become increasingly clear to me that raising beef cattle, particularly with hubby out of town half the time, is just beating our heads against a wall. Hubby is not quite on board with my realization, so we'll see what happens. He is pretty excited about some of the research we've been doing, though. Of course it always costs money to switch gears and use land for a different purpose. And spare cash is something we don't have a lot of.
No, I'm not going to talk about the specifics at this time.
Cleaned up the kitchen in the evening, then watched What Not to Wear and finished the novel I've been reading: The Evidence by Austin Boyd. Jean, have you heard of him? I'm suspecting you might enjoy this trilogy.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27
Have you noticed it is almost the end of September? Where do all the used up days go, anyway?
So, I got up, went for a walk, had the shower and the brekkie (porridge with apple, banana, yogurt, and mocha-to-go).
First stop of the morning was the follow-up doctor's appointment in which I found out that my weight issues are all my own and cannot be blamed on thyroid problems. I haven't been to Curves for a couple weeks now so haven't weighed myself; I'll have to stop by and do that soon, just for record-keeping. Doc suggests that I had better steer away from high impact exercising. No more running, for example. He thinks I should concentrate on building up my core muscles, which is something I've become aware of recently anyway and have started focusing on.
I need to really think about the movements at Curves and decide if it is going to continue to meet my needs or if I'm better off dropping out and saving myself forty bucks a month. Which I will probably spend elsewhere. The rec center has some low impact workouts listed, for example. Really, other than the thyroid question being answered, I don't feel it was a particularly helpful discussion.
At lunch time I went home, being as I still have a sick hubby there (who now has the bathroom taps taken apart to fix the leaks and then finds out that he can't get the parts in this town. So no sink taps for a few days, yay.) Normally I would send most of the leftovers (planned-overs) to the apartment with him but...decided we had too many now being as he's been home all week. So I reheated a couple servings of the pork roast supper. Brought peas and grapes to work for snack.
After work we test-drove a truck. I am rebelling. I want to stick my head in the sand and when it comes out, I want our truck to work right and my bank account to look the same. I am absolutely freaking out over this. So I try not to think about it. Which is hard to do when you're test-driving trucks.
Came home and pulled the last of the mini meat-loaves out of the freezer and reheated them alongside yammy fries, and ate salad while it all baked. Had a piece of chocolate-chip cake.
Discussions of vehicles, what we would use the farm for if we sold all the cattle, and trying to load RealPlayer on my Palm took up the remainder of the evening. I did the evening routine, including the back stretches.
Not only do I want the truck issues to be fixed when I wake up, I could do without this stupid cold, also.
So, I got up, went for a walk, had the shower and the brekkie (porridge with apple, banana, yogurt, and mocha-to-go).
First stop of the morning was the follow-up doctor's appointment in which I found out that my weight issues are all my own and cannot be blamed on thyroid problems. I haven't been to Curves for a couple weeks now so haven't weighed myself; I'll have to stop by and do that soon, just for record-keeping. Doc suggests that I had better steer away from high impact exercising. No more running, for example. He thinks I should concentrate on building up my core muscles, which is something I've become aware of recently anyway and have started focusing on.
I need to really think about the movements at Curves and decide if it is going to continue to meet my needs or if I'm better off dropping out and saving myself forty bucks a month. Which I will probably spend elsewhere. The rec center has some low impact workouts listed, for example. Really, other than the thyroid question being answered, I don't feel it was a particularly helpful discussion.
At lunch time I went home, being as I still have a sick hubby there (who now has the bathroom taps taken apart to fix the leaks and then finds out that he can't get the parts in this town. So no sink taps for a few days, yay.) Normally I would send most of the leftovers (planned-overs) to the apartment with him but...decided we had too many now being as he's been home all week. So I reheated a couple servings of the pork roast supper. Brought peas and grapes to work for snack.
After work we test-drove a truck. I am rebelling. I want to stick my head in the sand and when it comes out, I want our truck to work right and my bank account to look the same. I am absolutely freaking out over this. So I try not to think about it. Which is hard to do when you're test-driving trucks.
Came home and pulled the last of the mini meat-loaves out of the freezer and reheated them alongside yammy fries, and ate salad while it all baked. Had a piece of chocolate-chip cake.
Discussions of vehicles, what we would use the farm for if we sold all the cattle, and trying to load RealPlayer on my Palm took up the remainder of the evening. I did the evening routine, including the back stretches.
Not only do I want the truck issues to be fixed when I wake up, I could do without this stupid cold, also.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26
The morning routine is pretty well in place, methinks. At least on work days. Got up, went for a walk, shower, breakfast of plums, Fiber One, and vanilla yogurt. Mocha to work. At lunch we had leftover hamburger stew from earlier in the week. Grapes for afternoon snack (from my sis-in-law's vines, most excellent!)
Hubby was home--sick and restless. He decided to make me a treat of a chocolate chip layer cake, complete with butterscotch filling between the layers and chocolate chip glaze over the top. Oh calories where art thou? So, yes, I had a piece. He's been making serious inroads on the cake so the temptation shouldn't be there much longer. I *may* get a second slice Thursday. Or not.
Had a tossed salad for supper, then wild & brown rice and beef ribs in a hot mesquite marinade. Probably a bit too fatty, but the taste was pretty nice. A banana milkshake later, towards bedtime.
I hadn't done the zone cleaning Tuesday, so doubled up Wednesday. The top of my nightstand has only what's needed on it: lamp, clock/ radio/ telephone, hand lotion. Jim's is equally clear: lamp, clock, and a ceramic egg that he keeps stuff in. Dusted both of them off, then went through all three drawers of mine and tossed some stuff, reorganized other stuff. His nightstand has one drawer and a shelf; the drawer hasn't gotten cluttered since last time I cleaned it out, and the shelf has over-sized books on it. It's dusted now and good to go. Then I emptied the garbage and continued with my decluttering of magazines. My goal is to get rid of about half of my old decorating mags, which I honestly do still look through and get ideas from. However, I'm thinking that anything prior to 1997 had better have a darn good reason for remaining in my house! (Don't laugh, a few were pre-1990!) I did the mags while I did my back stretches--yay for two birds with one stone.
Finished up the evening routine and to bed at a decent time. It's funny cause I'm sleeping better at night, but I'm more exhausted earlier in the evening. The kind of tired where I just can't keep my eyes open another minute.
Hubby was home--sick and restless. He decided to make me a treat of a chocolate chip layer cake, complete with butterscotch filling between the layers and chocolate chip glaze over the top. Oh calories where art thou? So, yes, I had a piece. He's been making serious inroads on the cake so the temptation shouldn't be there much longer. I *may* get a second slice Thursday. Or not.
Had a tossed salad for supper, then wild & brown rice and beef ribs in a hot mesquite marinade. Probably a bit too fatty, but the taste was pretty nice. A banana milkshake later, towards bedtime.
I hadn't done the zone cleaning Tuesday, so doubled up Wednesday. The top of my nightstand has only what's needed on it: lamp, clock/ radio/ telephone, hand lotion. Jim's is equally clear: lamp, clock, and a ceramic egg that he keeps stuff in. Dusted both of them off, then went through all three drawers of mine and tossed some stuff, reorganized other stuff. His nightstand has one drawer and a shelf; the drawer hasn't gotten cluttered since last time I cleaned it out, and the shelf has over-sized books on it. It's dusted now and good to go. Then I emptied the garbage and continued with my decluttering of magazines. My goal is to get rid of about half of my old decorating mags, which I honestly do still look through and get ideas from. However, I'm thinking that anything prior to 1997 had better have a darn good reason for remaining in my house! (Don't laugh, a few were pre-1990!) I did the mags while I did my back stretches--yay for two birds with one stone.
Finished up the evening routine and to bed at a decent time. It's funny cause I'm sleeping better at night, but I'm more exhausted earlier in the evening. The kind of tired where I just can't keep my eyes open another minute.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25
Went for a walk first thing. I don't know if I've ever seen a rainbow before the sun comes up in the morning before. Obviously the sun was shining on the mountains to the west, but it looked very cool. Had plums and Fiber One and vanilla yogurt for breakfast. Mocha to go.
For lunch I had the leftover beef soup and some toast. Grapes from my sis-in-law's vines for snack. MMM. After work I stopped off at the grocery store for a serious shop, so now I'm restocked on goodness. I'd put a pork roast in the crockpot in the morning (on onions, apples, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, garlic, and a few plums) so supper was waiting when I got home. We also had a tossed salad (and later, a banana milkshake). Hubby was due to leave for work after supper but he called in sick--he's got a major cold.
Instead of cleaning anything, we made a mess. The ballasts in the bathroom florescent were flickering so hubby bought some pot lights to replace it with. Of course now it isn't as bright, but it is more flattering light. I did clean up the kitchen and did my evening routine.
For lunch I had the leftover beef soup and some toast. Grapes from my sis-in-law's vines for snack. MMM. After work I stopped off at the grocery store for a serious shop, so now I'm restocked on goodness. I'd put a pork roast in the crockpot in the morning (on onions, apples, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, garlic, and a few plums) so supper was waiting when I got home. We also had a tossed salad (and later, a banana milkshake). Hubby was due to leave for work after supper but he called in sick--he's got a major cold.
Instead of cleaning anything, we made a mess. The ballasts in the bathroom florescent were flickering so hubby bought some pot lights to replace it with. Of course now it isn't as bright, but it is more flattering light. I did clean up the kitchen and did my evening routine.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24
My neighbor called to say she wasn't able to walk with me this week due to company, but she really wants to again next week. So, I went by myself. Came back and had porridge with apple and some frozen raspberries in it with yogurt. (You can sing the encore already: and the mocha went to work with me).
At lunchtime I heated a jar of beef/ veggie/ barley soup. Starting to run low on canned soups so will have to have a marathon or two yet this fall. It's so nice to just be able to pop a jar open and have home-made soup. Anyway I took peas and carrots to work for snack (out of grapes). And had chocolate.
We went out for supper; I had the pulled pork sandwich (with carmelized onions) and a tossed salad. Our truck is showing signs of imminent transmission failure so we did much talking, trying to figure out what our options are and whether any of our options are any good. Bleh. None are cheap, that's for sure.
When we got home I did the FlyLady mission: took everything off my dresser. It wasn't cluttered, but I dusted it and washed the mirror and thought about what to display on it and changed it up some. It is a pine dresser with a warm finish and I had a couple of wooden doo-dads on it: a carved oblong dish from Senegal and a round covered container from Bolivia. I moved those to a shelf that isn't wood and moved the displaced items to the dresser: a ceramic elephant Hanna made in kindergarten, two (black) carved elephants from Senegal, one jade elephant (local) and two colorful little ceramic Quechua women. This group shows off against the wood better. So I put my legs up on a stack of pillows on the bed, laid on my back, and contemplated the room to think what all could be done in there this week.
Went back downstairs, made a banana milkshake, and cleaned the kitchen.
Wish the stupid truck would just fix itself. I hate spending money on vehicles.
At lunchtime I heated a jar of beef/ veggie/ barley soup. Starting to run low on canned soups so will have to have a marathon or two yet this fall. It's so nice to just be able to pop a jar open and have home-made soup. Anyway I took peas and carrots to work for snack (out of grapes). And had chocolate.
We went out for supper; I had the pulled pork sandwich (with carmelized onions) and a tossed salad. Our truck is showing signs of imminent transmission failure so we did much talking, trying to figure out what our options are and whether any of our options are any good. Bleh. None are cheap, that's for sure.
When we got home I did the FlyLady mission: took everything off my dresser. It wasn't cluttered, but I dusted it and washed the mirror and thought about what to display on it and changed it up some. It is a pine dresser with a warm finish and I had a couple of wooden doo-dads on it: a carved oblong dish from Senegal and a round covered container from Bolivia. I moved those to a shelf that isn't wood and moved the displaced items to the dresser: a ceramic elephant Hanna made in kindergarten, two (black) carved elephants from Senegal, one jade elephant (local) and two colorful little ceramic Quechua women. This group shows off against the wood better. So I put my legs up on a stack of pillows on the bed, laid on my back, and contemplated the room to think what all could be done in there this week.
Went back downstairs, made a banana milkshake, and cleaned the kitchen.
Wish the stupid truck would just fix itself. I hate spending money on vehicles.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23
I'm not that fond of getting up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, but I did so (after quite a decent night's sleep). Walked to the end of the road and back, quick shower, brekkie of 2 pieces whole grain toast with margarine and cheddar, and headed to the church for an 8 am worship team practice. I run the sound board once in awhile. The team had it mostly set up; I just did some finetuning and ran over the order of service with them.
Came home about 9:30, got hubby rolling, and had my mocha before heading back to the church for the 11 am service. After last week's little fiasco with my back, we took the car obus seat in with us. Even so, an hour and a half was a hard slog. I stand up at the sound board during singing and managed that part okay. I sat for part of the sermon, but then walked around the library for awhile and listened from there.
Our friends invited us over for lunch and I said so long as I can lie down for a bit first, I'll be fine. So we swung past our house and got the mega heating pad and went back to their place where I laid down in the living room and talked to their son, my good buddy who is in grade twelve this year. Lunch was hamburgers. I had two, with buns, because...that's what there was. Apple crisp for dessert. We visited for awhile longer before going home, where I promptly spread back out on the floor.
Later hubby and I walked to the end of the road and then fixed ourselves a chef salad for supper. Had a need for something veggie heavy! Banana milkshake later. I finished reading HP7 and got the basic evening routine done before heading for bed.
I see this week's FlyLady zone is the master bedroom and that the zone missions will encourage me to dig a little deeper than simply surface cleaning. A good thing, I think. Most of our library lives in our bedroom. I wonder if there's any way to get hubby to let go of some of his books that he will never re-read? I've already started setting aside some of mine...
Came home about 9:30, got hubby rolling, and had my mocha before heading back to the church for the 11 am service. After last week's little fiasco with my back, we took the car obus seat in with us. Even so, an hour and a half was a hard slog. I stand up at the sound board during singing and managed that part okay. I sat for part of the sermon, but then walked around the library for awhile and listened from there.
Our friends invited us over for lunch and I said so long as I can lie down for a bit first, I'll be fine. So we swung past our house and got the mega heating pad and went back to their place where I laid down in the living room and talked to their son, my good buddy who is in grade twelve this year. Lunch was hamburgers. I had two, with buns, because...that's what there was. Apple crisp for dessert. We visited for awhile longer before going home, where I promptly spread back out on the floor.
Later hubby and I walked to the end of the road and then fixed ourselves a chef salad for supper. Had a need for something veggie heavy! Banana milkshake later. I finished reading HP7 and got the basic evening routine done before heading for bed.
I see this week's FlyLady zone is the master bedroom and that the zone missions will encourage me to dig a little deeper than simply surface cleaning. A good thing, I think. Most of our library lives in our bedroom. I wonder if there's any way to get hubby to let go of some of his books that he will never re-read? I've already started setting aside some of mine...
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Saturday, September 22
As I suspected, I wasn't all that happy to come down the stairs this morning, knowing the kitchen hadn't been cleaned. Still, I started with my walk, shower, and breakfast: cherries, yogurt, and All Bran. I got dressed and tackled the kitchen: dishes and hot spots. Vacuumed the floors on the main floor and started the laundry. I had just decided I deserved a break when hubby arrived home from night shifts. I laid on the floor and talked to him for a bit, then made myself a mocha and checked email, etc.
He seemed to be sound asleep so I heated a bowl of soup for my lunch (with a piece of toast) and then tackled the bathroom. (Yes, it did all FEEL like tackling!) I spent over an hour in there, vacuuming the ceiling and walls, taking items off the high deco shelf and washing everything down, washing the mini blind, putting towels and bath mat through the washer, sorting through items in the drawers, spritzing down the tub walls, and finally, washing the floor. The room is pretty darn clean.
Then I took stuff out of the freezer for supper and read HP7 for awhile (while snacking on peas and 2 wasa crackers with chocolate cream cheese). I made stew with lean ground beef and lots of veggies for supper and woke hubby up. Dishes are done, banana milkshakes are drank, and the evening routine is well under way.
Much better.
He seemed to be sound asleep so I heated a bowl of soup for my lunch (with a piece of toast) and then tackled the bathroom. (Yes, it did all FEEL like tackling!) I spent over an hour in there, vacuuming the ceiling and walls, taking items off the high deco shelf and washing everything down, washing the mini blind, putting towels and bath mat through the washer, sorting through items in the drawers, spritzing down the tub walls, and finally, washing the floor. The room is pretty darn clean.
Then I took stuff out of the freezer for supper and read HP7 for awhile (while snacking on peas and 2 wasa crackers with chocolate cream cheese). I made stew with lean ground beef and lots of veggies for supper and woke hubby up. Dishes are done, banana milkshakes are drank, and the evening routine is well under way.
Much better.
Friday, September 21
I still felt pretty good when I got up Friday morning. After my walk with my neighbor, I had my shower and a breakfast of porridge with apple and banana and yogurt. The mocha came to work.
I felt SO good that when a friend I rarely see called and asked if I'd like to go for lunch, I agreed. We went to my favorite *Quite GI Friendly* restaurant where I ordered a Thai chicken wrap with a side salad...and had a nice catch-up visit. Then I went to the rec center to sign Jim and I up for a class on making a Dichroic pendant with a silversmithed edging. It's a 3-hour class held on his birthday, and he really wanted to do this with me for his birthday gift. So it should be fun. He's already booked the shift off work.
Now that the weather is cooler and I'm out of wearing shorts, it occurred to me that I only had one pair of pants suitable for wearing to work (and two pairs of jeans). Those pounds I've gained? Yeah. They did it. So I went and bought two pair--one on sale and one from the thrift shop. Apparently my shorts weren't the same size as my pants, or I may have noticed the issues in time to do something about them. This is a bit of a bummer (insert haha here).
I also swung past a fruit stand and found one last container of cherries--huzzah!--and ditto of peaches. By the time I got home it was nearly four o'clock and I was exhausted. I spent half an hour on my back on the floor, then walked to the end of the road and back and debated supper.
The garden is pretty much done, too. We haven't had frost yet but it is imminent. Doesn't look like we got any butternut squash worth mentioning. Jim has two pumpkins, thankfully much smaller than last year. The zucchini has petered out. The corn didn't do well, and neither did the green beans. The tomatoes are the happiest things in the garden, and I don't own them--my sis-in-law and her hubby are responsible for them, though we've been fresh eating off them. I picked enough green beans for me for supper. If the frost keeps holding off, I may get another meal in a few days.
I sauteed up the green beans with two farmer sausages. The cherries I bought really weren't in very good shape, so I picked through and ate a lot of them over the evening, while watching too much *What Not to Wear* on TLC. It amuses me. Not enough to make a date with the tv, but...yeah. I also started reading HP7.
One more half hour stretch on the floor--this time with the kitty stretched out on my torso--and I headed for bed only to realize that I had done pretty much none of my evening routine. It was eleven o'clock--I just shut the lights off and went to bed, knowing I would regret it in the morning.
I felt SO good that when a friend I rarely see called and asked if I'd like to go for lunch, I agreed. We went to my favorite *Quite GI Friendly* restaurant where I ordered a Thai chicken wrap with a side salad...and had a nice catch-up visit. Then I went to the rec center to sign Jim and I up for a class on making a Dichroic pendant with a silversmithed edging. It's a 3-hour class held on his birthday, and he really wanted to do this with me for his birthday gift. So it should be fun. He's already booked the shift off work.
Now that the weather is cooler and I'm out of wearing shorts, it occurred to me that I only had one pair of pants suitable for wearing to work (and two pairs of jeans). Those pounds I've gained? Yeah. They did it. So I went and bought two pair--one on sale and one from the thrift shop. Apparently my shorts weren't the same size as my pants, or I may have noticed the issues in time to do something about them. This is a bit of a bummer (insert haha here).
I also swung past a fruit stand and found one last container of cherries--huzzah!--and ditto of peaches. By the time I got home it was nearly four o'clock and I was exhausted. I spent half an hour on my back on the floor, then walked to the end of the road and back and debated supper.
The garden is pretty much done, too. We haven't had frost yet but it is imminent. Doesn't look like we got any butternut squash worth mentioning. Jim has two pumpkins, thankfully much smaller than last year. The zucchini has petered out. The corn didn't do well, and neither did the green beans. The tomatoes are the happiest things in the garden, and I don't own them--my sis-in-law and her hubby are responsible for them, though we've been fresh eating off them. I picked enough green beans for me for supper. If the frost keeps holding off, I may get another meal in a few days.
I sauteed up the green beans with two farmer sausages. The cherries I bought really weren't in very good shape, so I picked through and ate a lot of them over the evening, while watching too much *What Not to Wear* on TLC. It amuses me. Not enough to make a date with the tv, but...yeah. I also started reading HP7.
One more half hour stretch on the floor--this time with the kitty stretched out on my torso--and I headed for bed only to realize that I had done pretty much none of my evening routine. It was eleven o'clock--I just shut the lights off and went to bed, knowing I would regret it in the morning.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20
Got up and went for a walk with my neighbor, Hannah. Came back and made a breakfast of porridge with apple, banana and yogurt. Took the mocha to work.
For the first time in, what, two weeks?, I felt like I had a brain of sorts. And much less fog. What a relief. Still needed the pain drugs but it all seemed much more manageable. I took an extended lunch break and made a beef/ roasted tomato/ pasta soup for lunch (with a piece of toast) and got to spend a bit of time with hubby before he headed back to the mines (and me to work). Had peas and grapes for afternoon snack. And some chocolate.
It was my in-laws' 49th anniversary and the clan got together for take-out at their house. FIL had knee replacement surgery a couple weeks back so they're still fairly house-bound. Anyway, I took over a tossed salad which I had a large bowl of, but then also had two pieces of chicken and some fries. And corn-on-the-cob. And a glass of Zinfindel (and thought of Karen).
Even though I'd had a really good day, by then I'd had enough verticalness and so went home (across the yard) to lie down. Went to bed quite early. Just couldn't keep my eyes open.
Haven't done ANY of the FlyLady zone missions this week at all. Maybe Friday afternoon, being as I won't be working. We'll see. I'm just so thankful to finally be feeling a little better.
For the first time in, what, two weeks?, I felt like I had a brain of sorts. And much less fog. What a relief. Still needed the pain drugs but it all seemed much more manageable. I took an extended lunch break and made a beef/ roasted tomato/ pasta soup for lunch (with a piece of toast) and got to spend a bit of time with hubby before he headed back to the mines (and me to work). Had peas and grapes for afternoon snack. And some chocolate.
It was my in-laws' 49th anniversary and the clan got together for take-out at their house. FIL had knee replacement surgery a couple weeks back so they're still fairly house-bound. Anyway, I took over a tossed salad which I had a large bowl of, but then also had two pieces of chicken and some fries. And corn-on-the-cob. And a glass of Zinfindel (and thought of Karen).
Even though I'd had a really good day, by then I'd had enough verticalness and so went home (across the yard) to lie down. Went to bed quite early. Just couldn't keep my eyes open.
Haven't done ANY of the FlyLady zone missions this week at all. Maybe Friday afternoon, being as I won't be working. We'll see. I'm just so thankful to finally be feeling a little better.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19
Met my neighbor Hannah for a walk, came home and made porridge with a chopped apple in it, served over a banana with vanilla yogurt. Mocha to go.
Very very sore this day. I could barely hold my head up. Went home at noon hour so I could lie down on the floor. I had tuna and wasa crackers for lunch, peas, grapes. By the time I got home after work my incentive for being good was gone. I cooked myself two farmer sausages and frozen fries. But I also had a large tossed salad, and a chopped peach with yogurt and All Bran at bedtime. I did swish and swipe the bathroom--finally--but other than that just maintained my most basic evening routine.
I need to get well.
Very very sore this day. I could barely hold my head up. Went home at noon hour so I could lie down on the floor. I had tuna and wasa crackers for lunch, peas, grapes. By the time I got home after work my incentive for being good was gone. I cooked myself two farmer sausages and frozen fries. But I also had a large tossed salad, and a chopped peach with yogurt and All Bran at bedtime. I did swish and swipe the bathroom--finally--but other than that just maintained my most basic evening routine.
I need to get well.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Slow Cooker Recipe -- Chicken Paprika
Chicken Paprika (serves 4-5)
adapted from Kelly at Fly Lady.
In slow cooker:
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
Add a layer of chicken pieces
(1 whole chicken, cut up, or equivalent--I used about 10 chicken thighs)
Drizzle with:
Olive oil (maybe 2 teaspoons?)
Salt
Pepper
About 1 tablespoon paprika
Add second layer of chicken pieces and repeat oil, s&p, paprika
Pour over chicken:
1 can crushed tomatoes (or tomato pieces) 16-19 ounces
Turn on low for 8-10 hours.
Before serving, add:
1/2 cup sour cream and stir in.
May thicken with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed into a little cold water.
(Turn slow cooker on high for half an hour or so to thicken)
Serve over brown & wild rice with a side salad! You don't really taste the paprika, even though it seems like a lot. Nor does the sour cream come through as much as I thought it would. Really tasty though!
adapted from Kelly at Fly Lady.
In slow cooker:
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
Add a layer of chicken pieces
(1 whole chicken, cut up, or equivalent--I used about 10 chicken thighs)
Drizzle with:
Olive oil (maybe 2 teaspoons?)
Salt
Pepper
About 1 tablespoon paprika
Add second layer of chicken pieces and repeat oil, s&p, paprika
Pour over chicken:
1 can crushed tomatoes (or tomato pieces) 16-19 ounces
Turn on low for 8-10 hours.
Before serving, add:
1/2 cup sour cream and stir in.
May thicken with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed into a little cold water.
(Turn slow cooker on high for half an hour or so to thicken)
Serve over brown & wild rice with a side salad! You don't really taste the paprika, even though it seems like a lot. Nor does the sour cream come through as much as I thought it would. Really tasty though!
Tuesday, September 18
So, got up and dragged my neighbor Hannah out for a walk. Not to be confused with my daughter Hanna. She used to say I walked too fast for her to join me, but anymore that isn't true. How fast can I walk without swinging my arms? :P So it will be fun to walk with her when it works out.
Breakfast: soaked oats, a peach, and vanilla yogurt. Went to work with the mocha. The headache is pretty bad these days. The new chair helps a lot with functionality, but not so much with the head. I think I'd like to trade it in for a new one. I don't even care if it is cuter.
I took the leftover chicken paprika to work for lunch, also peas and grapes. And chocolate and pistachios. Comfort food, anyone?
At 5:00 I went to my 45 minute massage. I was so afraid she'd send me home unmassaged because I have gotten worse since last time and she didn't want to massage during flare-ups. Which I am now undeniably in the midst of. She listened to my tale of woe and suggested we switch techniques to the Hurley/Osborn technique. She said it was an hour long procedure but because I'd already paid her for the 45 minute one, it was okay this time. Well. She worked me over not for 45 minutes, not for 60, bur for 105. I couldn't believe the time when I got out! It certainly reduced a lot of pain for the remainder of the evening.
I reheated mini-meatloaves and yammy fries and corn-on-the-cob for supper, and the only other thing I accomplished (besides a bit of reading and tv and back stretches) was cleaning the kitchen and the very most basic bedtime routine.
My bathroom NEEDS to be paid attention to this week. I hope I'll get to it.
Breakfast: soaked oats, a peach, and vanilla yogurt. Went to work with the mocha. The headache is pretty bad these days. The new chair helps a lot with functionality, but not so much with the head. I think I'd like to trade it in for a new one. I don't even care if it is cuter.
I took the leftover chicken paprika to work for lunch, also peas and grapes. And chocolate and pistachios. Comfort food, anyone?
At 5:00 I went to my 45 minute massage. I was so afraid she'd send me home unmassaged because I have gotten worse since last time and she didn't want to massage during flare-ups. Which I am now undeniably in the midst of. She listened to my tale of woe and suggested we switch techniques to the Hurley/Osborn technique. She said it was an hour long procedure but because I'd already paid her for the 45 minute one, it was okay this time. Well. She worked me over not for 45 minutes, not for 60, bur for 105. I couldn't believe the time when I got out! It certainly reduced a lot of pain for the remainder of the evening.
I reheated mini-meatloaves and yammy fries and corn-on-the-cob for supper, and the only other thing I accomplished (besides a bit of reading and tv and back stretches) was cleaning the kitchen and the very most basic bedtime routine.
My bathroom NEEDS to be paid attention to this week. I hope I'll get to it.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17
So. Get out of bed, walk to the end of the road and back (35 minutes). Have a shower, eat breakfast. Soaked oats, peach, vanilla yogurt. Take vitamins and drugs. Go to work, nursing the thermal mug of mocha.
At lunchtime, drive home. Lie down on the floor and contemplate lunch. Get up, make toasted BLT sandwiches. Go back to work. Have peas and grapes for a snack.
Go home. Be thankful you put supper in the slow cooker. Be even more thankful that hubby noticed it wasn't turned on (sigh) at about ten o'clock and fixed the problem. Make sandwiches for hubby's lunches, double-check his laundry, etc. Enjoy a tossed salad, brown-and-wild rice, and chicken paprika. More lying on the floor. More contemplating. A banana milkshake for the road.
The night hubby leaves for his day shifts has become my *Home Blessing Hour*. I don't feel much like blessing anything. I also can't very well leave the house like this. I've come too far to go back. I muster some energy together and do the dishes and clean the kitchen. Then I hit the floor for some more contemplation time. Eventually I get back up to water the plants and run the vacuum. For now, I consider my house blessed and will read in the recliner, trying to stay awake until bedtime.
At lunchtime, drive home. Lie down on the floor and contemplate lunch. Get up, make toasted BLT sandwiches. Go back to work. Have peas and grapes for a snack.
Go home. Be thankful you put supper in the slow cooker. Be even more thankful that hubby noticed it wasn't turned on (sigh) at about ten o'clock and fixed the problem. Make sandwiches for hubby's lunches, double-check his laundry, etc. Enjoy a tossed salad, brown-and-wild rice, and chicken paprika. More lying on the floor. More contemplating. A banana milkshake for the road.
The night hubby leaves for his day shifts has become my *Home Blessing Hour*. I don't feel much like blessing anything. I also can't very well leave the house like this. I've come too far to go back. I muster some energy together and do the dishes and clean the kitchen. Then I hit the floor for some more contemplation time. Eventually I get back up to water the plants and run the vacuum. For now, I consider my house blessed and will read in the recliner, trying to stay awake until bedtime.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Saturday & Sunday, September 15-16
So it was a weekend again. My head is kind of fuzzy as to what all took place. I know I got up Saturday, went for a walk (hands planted firmly in the pockets--that feels so strange!), and had Fiber One, a peach, and vanilla yogurt for brekkie. I did Friday's zone mission, cleaning out under the kitchen sink, and also completed the week's laundry. Knowing I would regret it...but I did it anyway...I washed all the windows on the main floor of the house. Really it is only six windows and they badly needed doing from the outside. Who knows how many more nice days we will have?
Then I spent awhile on my back on the floor. I am so thankful to my massage therapist for showing me that position and insisting I do it daily. It takes so much stress off it isn't funny. Fifteen minutes on my back and I can manage life again. We had tomato sandwiches for lunch.
Jim and I drove to the next town over which is big enough to have a Staples. The main goal was to find me a better computer desk chair for at work. I *tried on* a couple dozen chairs and then we narrowed them all down to three and finally settled on one. I looked for an online picture but can't find it, but really, it's *just* a gray leather desk chair with padding in all the right places. I'd have preferred fabric, actually, but was purchasing strictly on fit. We also purchased a under-mount keyboard tray for the at-home desk. We went out for dinner at Mr. Mike's, where I had a steak sandwich (minus the garlic bread, which I normally love but it wasn't really toasted --wasn't really WARM--so it was easy to pass on), fries, and a salad. And the green beans off Jim's plate, which were too squeaky for him and therefore just how I like them! :P
The ride in the car wasn't the easiest thing, but the Obus form helped. Jim uses the seat part and I use the back part. Part way home he asked if I was up to a little side trip. There was a dirt road he'd always wanted to explore. Of course we have the car, not the truck, when he decides that! It was very bumpy, but so worth it as we discovered a great camping site along the river. We were there just at dusk and it was very peaceful. A wonderful interlude.
When we got home I stretched out on the floor again while Jim assembled the chair and mounted the keyboard tray. All I can say is this should make a big difference. And that he is wonderful. We had a strawberry milkshake before bed.
In the morning I went for a walk and had the same breakfast. We decided to go to church which apparently was a bad idea, even sitting on chairs at the back (rather than the wooden pews). I stood up for awhile...and there was just no way it was going to work so we came home. After awhile on my back I heated a jar of soup for lunch (beef bean barley), then spent time in the recliner with heat on my back. I can hardly believe how half an hour in a stupid bad chair was THAT bad.
Later on we went outside and I *helped* Jim pick plums. Apparently he is making a batch of Zinfindel (spelling?) this fall. I washed the plums and he halved them all and put them in bags in the freezer.
I did a beef pot roast (with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, and garlic) for supper. I made us a plum cobbler later which made him very happy! Another round on the floor and I managed to get the kitchen clean before collapsing in bed.
Then I spent awhile on my back on the floor. I am so thankful to my massage therapist for showing me that position and insisting I do it daily. It takes so much stress off it isn't funny. Fifteen minutes on my back and I can manage life again. We had tomato sandwiches for lunch.
Jim and I drove to the next town over which is big enough to have a Staples. The main goal was to find me a better computer desk chair for at work. I *tried on* a couple dozen chairs and then we narrowed them all down to three and finally settled on one. I looked for an online picture but can't find it, but really, it's *just* a gray leather desk chair with padding in all the right places. I'd have preferred fabric, actually, but was purchasing strictly on fit. We also purchased a under-mount keyboard tray for the at-home desk. We went out for dinner at Mr. Mike's, where I had a steak sandwich (minus the garlic bread, which I normally love but it wasn't really toasted --wasn't really WARM--so it was easy to pass on), fries, and a salad. And the green beans off Jim's plate, which were too squeaky for him and therefore just how I like them! :P
The ride in the car wasn't the easiest thing, but the Obus form helped. Jim uses the seat part and I use the back part. Part way home he asked if I was up to a little side trip. There was a dirt road he'd always wanted to explore. Of course we have the car, not the truck, when he decides that! It was very bumpy, but so worth it as we discovered a great camping site along the river. We were there just at dusk and it was very peaceful. A wonderful interlude.
When we got home I stretched out on the floor again while Jim assembled the chair and mounted the keyboard tray. All I can say is this should make a big difference. And that he is wonderful. We had a strawberry milkshake before bed.
In the morning I went for a walk and had the same breakfast. We decided to go to church which apparently was a bad idea, even sitting on chairs at the back (rather than the wooden pews). I stood up for awhile...and there was just no way it was going to work so we came home. After awhile on my back I heated a jar of soup for lunch (beef bean barley), then spent time in the recliner with heat on my back. I can hardly believe how half an hour in a stupid bad chair was THAT bad.
Later on we went outside and I *helped* Jim pick plums. Apparently he is making a batch of Zinfindel (spelling?) this fall. I washed the plums and he halved them all and put them in bags in the freezer.
I did a beef pot roast (with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, and garlic) for supper. I made us a plum cobbler later which made him very happy! Another round on the floor and I managed to get the kitchen clean before collapsing in bed.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Friday, September 14
Went for a walk first thing, trying to remember to keep my hands firmly planted in my pockets. That's hard to do! I really need the exercise but can do without the upper back burn (that I probably shouldn't have ignored all summer in Aquafit, come to think of it.) I had Fiber One with a peach and vanilla yogurt. Took the mocha to work.
I had trouble focusing on anything again. Just enough customers to keep me from being bored enough to become productive. Back was sore. I left for the day at noon and mustered up enough energy to pick up groceries on the way home. I did my back stretches before making lunch of chef salad.
Hubby's home so I loaded the YA novel I need to crit onto the laptop and set myself up in the recliner for the afternoon. Took a break to make us banana shakes. :) Later, at supper, I fixed yammy fries, corn on the cob, and steak strips with garlic green beans. I'd also baked bread in the afternoon. Really it doesn't take that much kneading. While it was in the oven I roasted a head of garlic to make garlic cream cheese (I'm out of smoked salmon cream cheese and wanted a change).
I read a novel--Turquoise, by Marilynn Griffith, and had a couple of pieces of fresh bread with cream cheese at bedtime to soften the nighttime meds.
I had trouble focusing on anything again. Just enough customers to keep me from being bored enough to become productive. Back was sore. I left for the day at noon and mustered up enough energy to pick up groceries on the way home. I did my back stretches before making lunch of chef salad.
Hubby's home so I loaded the YA novel I need to crit onto the laptop and set myself up in the recliner for the afternoon. Took a break to make us banana shakes. :) Later, at supper, I fixed yammy fries, corn on the cob, and steak strips with garlic green beans. I'd also baked bread in the afternoon. Really it doesn't take that much kneading. While it was in the oven I roasted a head of garlic to make garlic cream cheese (I'm out of smoked salmon cream cheese and wanted a change).
I read a novel--Turquoise, by Marilynn Griffith, and had a couple of pieces of fresh bread with cream cheese at bedtime to soften the nighttime meds.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Thursday, September 13
I went for a 30 minute walk first thing in the morning, then had a breakfast of soaked oats, a diced peach and vanilla yogurt. I took mocha to work. Mid-way through the morning I began having spasms across the middle of my back, not steady, but often enough to be annoying. And when you're tense--waiting for a spasm, for example--they come oftener. Who knew?
I had a piece of chicken with the second round of Entrophen about 11:30, then at noon debated what to do with my hour. Finally I decided to drive home and lie down on the floor and give my back a rest. I set the timer for 30 minutes, the tv to the nature music channel, and did my best to relax. Went back to the shop, had my black bean soup, peas, and grapes and the spasms started up again. Finally at 3:30 (and the next round of drugs) I went and bought myself a new (large!) heating pad and came back home. I spent the first 20 minutes lying on the floor while trying to remember where I had an extension cord, and how I would arrange things.
My new heating pad has a dead-man switch--you have to hold the switch down or it goes off. Yes, a person could elastic band the switch down, but honestly it gets too hot anyway. I watched some tv from my recliner while heating my back and thinking about the next phase: supper. Eventually I rousted myself long enough to make a stir-fry (beef, onion, mushroom, garlic, ginger, carrot, broccoli) with a homemade sauce (even though I haven't actually given away the ones from yesterday yet--I like mine better!) and watched some more tv. HGTV and Reno Thursdays--not that exciting, but beats back to back real estate shows.
When Jim insisted on getting me the recliner two years ago I thought he was crazy. Turns out it is the only place I can sit these days that doesn't tweak the back. Otherwise I am standing or lying down (or wishing I was.) I need a better (bigger) table in the corner beside it though, cause not everything I need within reach fits within reach. Actually I'd rather get healed and not have to deal with it. Going for that one.
So I determined to do the FlyLady zone mission. Reading the testimonials reminds me that my own problems are really quite minor and lots of people have to deal with much worse. And also I don't know how long this flare-up will last and I can't just let the house sink without a trace. However, the drawer that holds wraps and bags looks good. Two sizes of zip-locs, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, waxed paper, freezer bags. Masking tape and a jiffy marker for labeling stuff headed for the freezer. All good. By the time I'd swept the floor and done the dishes, that was enough FlyLadying for me.
It occurs to me that I may well spend a lot of time in my recliner this fall and I can't work on the computer from there. There's only so much tv and reading that need doing. Must think of a solution. I'm not fond of idleness. I munch my apple and contemplate...
I had a piece of chicken with the second round of Entrophen about 11:30, then at noon debated what to do with my hour. Finally I decided to drive home and lie down on the floor and give my back a rest. I set the timer for 30 minutes, the tv to the nature music channel, and did my best to relax. Went back to the shop, had my black bean soup, peas, and grapes and the spasms started up again. Finally at 3:30 (and the next round of drugs) I went and bought myself a new (large!) heating pad and came back home. I spent the first 20 minutes lying on the floor while trying to remember where I had an extension cord, and how I would arrange things.
My new heating pad has a dead-man switch--you have to hold the switch down or it goes off. Yes, a person could elastic band the switch down, but honestly it gets too hot anyway. I watched some tv from my recliner while heating my back and thinking about the next phase: supper. Eventually I rousted myself long enough to make a stir-fry (beef, onion, mushroom, garlic, ginger, carrot, broccoli) with a homemade sauce (even though I haven't actually given away the ones from yesterday yet--I like mine better!) and watched some more tv. HGTV and Reno Thursdays--not that exciting, but beats back to back real estate shows.
When Jim insisted on getting me the recliner two years ago I thought he was crazy. Turns out it is the only place I can sit these days that doesn't tweak the back. Otherwise I am standing or lying down (or wishing I was.) I need a better (bigger) table in the corner beside it though, cause not everything I need within reach fits within reach. Actually I'd rather get healed and not have to deal with it. Going for that one.
So I determined to do the FlyLady zone mission. Reading the testimonials reminds me that my own problems are really quite minor and lots of people have to deal with much worse. And also I don't know how long this flare-up will last and I can't just let the house sink without a trace. However, the drawer that holds wraps and bags looks good. Two sizes of zip-locs, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, waxed paper, freezer bags. Masking tape and a jiffy marker for labeling stuff headed for the freezer. All good. By the time I'd swept the floor and done the dishes, that was enough FlyLadying for me.
It occurs to me that I may well spend a lot of time in my recliner this fall and I can't work on the computer from there. There's only so much tv and reading that need doing. Must think of a solution. I'm not fond of idleness. I munch my apple and contemplate...
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wednesday, September 12
Okay, after thinking things through I've decided to keep with Curves, at least for now, so up I got at 6:45. I felt like a hot breakfast today so I made porridge with a diced apple in it. Had that over a sliced banana with vanilla yogurt and off to the gym. Weighed in at 146#. I worked a bit harder than on Monday but not up to my usual. Then off to the shop to settle down with my mocha. Had two brief sessions on the exercise ball today.
Jim was home at lunch so I made salmon pasta salad with celery, corn, and broccoli added. And I took peas and grapes along for snack (also had a handful of pistachios and 2 pieces dark chocolate). Today I tried to remember to take Entrophen whether or not I needed it...well I succeeded morning and noon but forgot at supper. It's hard on an empty-ish stomach so will now wait til bedtime snack.
I stopped at the farmer's market for a few peaches after work, then came home and went for a walk (35 minutes). Even trying not to swing my arms too much I still kinda hurt across the shoulders. Don't ask why that didn't remind me to take my drugs. I have no idea. :P Then I lay on my back on the floor for twenty minutes pretending to watch tv. When you have progressive lenses it's not like you can actually WATCH from that angle.
For supper I thawed two mini-meatloaves, and also had a large tossed salad and two slices of whole-grain toast with margarine and light cheddar. I tried to push my menu planning a few more days into the future--have I told you how much I hate planning menus? I'm good for a few more days now and have most of Friday's grocery list put together.
At that juncture I'd done the dishes and decided to do the FlyLady mission for the day. I opened my fridge, looked inside, freaked out, and set the timer for 15 minutes. No way was the whole thing going to get done. Actually all I got done was the door! I discovered THREE Oriental/ Thai sauce/ marinade thingies that I apparently don't use. None of them are old enough to toss in the garbage (I make my own rules for that) so I phoned a friend who has two teenage boys and an out-of-work (ill) husband and she thought they sounded great. So I did put them back in the fridge and will get them to her soon. While I had the door emptied I washed all the little shelves and that took a bit of time cause there were crusties. Last time I cleaned out my fridge I didn't bother with the door so I don't feel too bad at tonight's half mission!
Still to come: a bedtime snack (thinking banana shake) and another back stretch. And muscle relaxers! :P
By the way, what's with putting the toilet paper roll on a certain way being a sign of perfectionism? Anyone who goes to the bathroom as many times a night as I do appreciates not having to open their eyes and turn on the light to know which angle to smack the roll to make it dispense.
I rest my case.
Jim was home at lunch so I made salmon pasta salad with celery, corn, and broccoli added. And I took peas and grapes along for snack (also had a handful of pistachios and 2 pieces dark chocolate). Today I tried to remember to take Entrophen whether or not I needed it...well I succeeded morning and noon but forgot at supper. It's hard on an empty-ish stomach so will now wait til bedtime snack.
I stopped at the farmer's market for a few peaches after work, then came home and went for a walk (35 minutes). Even trying not to swing my arms too much I still kinda hurt across the shoulders. Don't ask why that didn't remind me to take my drugs. I have no idea. :P Then I lay on my back on the floor for twenty minutes pretending to watch tv. When you have progressive lenses it's not like you can actually WATCH from that angle.
For supper I thawed two mini-meatloaves, and also had a large tossed salad and two slices of whole-grain toast with margarine and light cheddar. I tried to push my menu planning a few more days into the future--have I told you how much I hate planning menus? I'm good for a few more days now and have most of Friday's grocery list put together.
At that juncture I'd done the dishes and decided to do the FlyLady mission for the day. I opened my fridge, looked inside, freaked out, and set the timer for 15 minutes. No way was the whole thing going to get done. Actually all I got done was the door! I discovered THREE Oriental/ Thai sauce/ marinade thingies that I apparently don't use. None of them are old enough to toss in the garbage (I make my own rules for that) so I phoned a friend who has two teenage boys and an out-of-work (ill) husband and she thought they sounded great. So I did put them back in the fridge and will get them to her soon. While I had the door emptied I washed all the little shelves and that took a bit of time cause there were crusties. Last time I cleaned out my fridge I didn't bother with the door so I don't feel too bad at tonight's half mission!
Still to come: a bedtime snack (thinking banana shake) and another back stretch. And muscle relaxers! :P
By the way, what's with putting the toilet paper roll on a certain way being a sign of perfectionism? Anyone who goes to the bathroom as many times a night as I do appreciates not having to open their eyes and turn on the light to know which angle to smack the roll to make it dispense.
I rest my case.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Tuesday, September 11
Today I had my breakfast of soaked oats, apple, and vanilla yogurt and prepared myself for my doctor's appointment at 9:10. I'd made a bit of a list of the things I wanted to talk to him about in two main categories: the weight gain/ menopausal issue and the degenerative disc pain and treatment. I do like my doctor quite a lot, I must say. He chided me that my piece of paper wasn't quite big enough for all the diagrams he wanted to draw. He ordered bloodwork done to determine if the thyroid is playing a part in the weight issues. Other than that, we mostly discussed pain management. I'm a little chastised and encouraged all in one go.
At my lunch hour I went for a walk to the library and made a couple of other stops as well. I'd brought Thai shrimp soup for lunch, also some chicken breast, peas, and grapes. I bought an exercise ball and tried sitting on it a bit in the afternoon. That is going to take some getting used to. Awhile back Jim bought an Obus seat for in the car but found he preferred to use the base without the backrest. So today I took the backrest to try to use with my current desk chair. It does help, but there is nothing to hold it in place. Still, I'll use it for a few days as best I can.
Came home and spent 15 minutes lying on the floor, resting. Then I got up and made supper (farmer sausage, onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes). While it was cooking I did the FlyLady mission and sorted out my container drawer. I'm mostly using cheapie stacking containers these days--we use a lot of them cause hubby takes them to and from work and so do I, also I freeze leftovers in them. So I put the other containers in a box in the porch (yeah, I know!) because I'm not sure yet that I don't need them. We'll see if I get them out again or not. Some of them are good Tupperware ones and I imagine they'll land up in the camper and the others may get tossed yet. We'll see. Everything that fit nicely in the drawer, easy to find, I put back.
I finished reading Hood by Stephen Lawhead and then had a large tossed salad before cleaning up the kitchen. I just have another floor session to go while waiting for hubby to arrive home on his 24-hour split.
My doctor said the simplest rule of thumb for diet is, if it tastes good, don't eat any. Yeah, I need his advice all right. Sigh.
At my lunch hour I went for a walk to the library and made a couple of other stops as well. I'd brought Thai shrimp soup for lunch, also some chicken breast, peas, and grapes. I bought an exercise ball and tried sitting on it a bit in the afternoon. That is going to take some getting used to. Awhile back Jim bought an Obus seat for in the car but found he preferred to use the base without the backrest. So today I took the backrest to try to use with my current desk chair. It does help, but there is nothing to hold it in place. Still, I'll use it for a few days as best I can.
Came home and spent 15 minutes lying on the floor, resting. Then I got up and made supper (farmer sausage, onion, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes). While it was cooking I did the FlyLady mission and sorted out my container drawer. I'm mostly using cheapie stacking containers these days--we use a lot of them cause hubby takes them to and from work and so do I, also I freeze leftovers in them. So I put the other containers in a box in the porch (yeah, I know!) because I'm not sure yet that I don't need them. We'll see if I get them out again or not. Some of them are good Tupperware ones and I imagine they'll land up in the camper and the others may get tossed yet. We'll see. Everything that fit nicely in the drawer, easy to find, I put back.
I finished reading Hood by Stephen Lawhead and then had a large tossed salad before cleaning up the kitchen. I just have another floor session to go while waiting for hubby to arrive home on his 24-hour split.
My doctor said the simplest rule of thumb for diet is, if it tastes good, don't eat any. Yeah, I need his advice all right. Sigh.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Monday, September 10
Well, generally speaking I'm sleeping better. The question probably is: better than what? Better than February. Better than July and most of August. Practically that means that I'm only getting up twice most nights, and usually falling back asleep within a half hour. I'll take what I can get on that front. Today I didn't even hurt when I first woke up :)
Not having been shopping yet for more peaches, I had a chopped apple with my soaked oats and vanilla yogurt, and took my mocha to work. It didn't take long for my back to start biting me. My desk chair there is one I paid twenty bucks for three or four years ago. I experimented with putting my keyboard up on a box so I could stand at the desk. That kinda works. I also wandered around the store and did some light housekeeping.
For my lunch I had taken the last two pieces of cheese pizza from yesterday, along with peas and grapes. Later I had two wasa crackers with salmon cream cheese...and some dark chocolate.
At lunch hour I went over to Curves and tested out my range. I didn't have much, and even working up to a full cardio (keeping my arms still) didn't really work. Quit the workout early and spent extra time stretching. Then I went over to a medical supply shop around the corner from where I work and borrowed an exercise ball to try out as a chair for the afternoon. I can see it would really help align my back but I couldn't handle it for more than about 20 minutes at a go. Did a few stints with it and took it back. Need to think on it.
So I came home and decided to start my evening with the FlyLady zone mission: cleaning the outside of the fridge. I took everything off of it and used Fantastic spray on the top, front and sides. Currently the top has a couple of serving platters living on it (turned upside down to keep them clean!) The fridge handles in particular really needed a concentrated cleaning; it's funny because I noticed them just a few days ago! They're still not as white as the rest of the surface but I have a hunch they'll never get there again.
I have to say that a big white fridge looks like we're moving or something so I was happy to put some photos back on it. I have magnetic frames. I really sorted the photos though and put many away, leaving just the most current and printed out a couple new ones! The only other things are the white board and library printouts. Gotta have those up there too. So now it still looks like my house but there's less than half the stuff on it there was earlier. And it's clean. Go me.
I took a container of chili out of the freezer for supper and had it with carrot sticks, a tossed salad and one slice of whole-grain toast. Later I had a banana milkshake.
Two years ago when I had the major arthritic flare Jim bought me a recliner to fit my body frame. I've been using it a lot lately. Tonight I started reading *Hood* by Stephen Lawhead. It's nice to have a chair that supports in all the right places. I've taken a break to clean the kitchen and do my prep for tomorrow. I see the back stretches on my evening routine, so next I'll read lying on my back against the floor and my feet up on the couch seat, just like a teenager talking on the phone!
Not having been shopping yet for more peaches, I had a chopped apple with my soaked oats and vanilla yogurt, and took my mocha to work. It didn't take long for my back to start biting me. My desk chair there is one I paid twenty bucks for three or four years ago. I experimented with putting my keyboard up on a box so I could stand at the desk. That kinda works. I also wandered around the store and did some light housekeeping.
For my lunch I had taken the last two pieces of cheese pizza from yesterday, along with peas and grapes. Later I had two wasa crackers with salmon cream cheese...and some dark chocolate.
At lunch hour I went over to Curves and tested out my range. I didn't have much, and even working up to a full cardio (keeping my arms still) didn't really work. Quit the workout early and spent extra time stretching. Then I went over to a medical supply shop around the corner from where I work and borrowed an exercise ball to try out as a chair for the afternoon. I can see it would really help align my back but I couldn't handle it for more than about 20 minutes at a go. Did a few stints with it and took it back. Need to think on it.
So I came home and decided to start my evening with the FlyLady zone mission: cleaning the outside of the fridge. I took everything off of it and used Fantastic spray on the top, front and sides. Currently the top has a couple of serving platters living on it (turned upside down to keep them clean!) The fridge handles in particular really needed a concentrated cleaning; it's funny because I noticed them just a few days ago! They're still not as white as the rest of the surface but I have a hunch they'll never get there again.
I have to say that a big white fridge looks like we're moving or something so I was happy to put some photos back on it. I have magnetic frames. I really sorted the photos though and put many away, leaving just the most current and printed out a couple new ones! The only other things are the white board and library printouts. Gotta have those up there too. So now it still looks like my house but there's less than half the stuff on it there was earlier. And it's clean. Go me.
I took a container of chili out of the freezer for supper and had it with carrot sticks, a tossed salad and one slice of whole-grain toast. Later I had a banana milkshake.
Two years ago when I had the major arthritic flare Jim bought me a recliner to fit my body frame. I've been using it a lot lately. Tonight I started reading *Hood* by Stephen Lawhead. It's nice to have a chair that supports in all the right places. I've taken a break to clean the kitchen and do my prep for tomorrow. I see the back stretches on my evening routine, so next I'll read lying on my back against the floor and my feet up on the couch seat, just like a teenager talking on the phone!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Friday-Sunday, September 7-9
A whole weekend has gone by once again. Friday morning I had the usual breakfast and went to Curves before work. I got off for the day at noon fully intending to go grocery shopping on my way home but the power was out at the grocery store, though they did accept responsibility for my horrid peaches and give me a refund.
Came home, hubby was out in the field cutting hay so I did what FlyLady calls a room rescue. More like a little blitz of the main living areas! When hubby came in we had lunch and headed out to see our daughter and son-in-law in their new home. I'd been really wavering the past few days arthritis-wise and sitting in the car for an hour and a half nearly did me in. We got there and visited a bit but I just hurt too much to sit so Jim and I went for a walk in their new neighborhood while the kids put the finishing touches on dinner. One of our favorite things is walking back alleys and they have some neat ones there and we got some cool ideas for our garden and yard. Came back, had spinach lasagna, garlicked spaghetti squash, and garlic toast (my girl is a really good cook!). She came home with us for the weekend.
Saturday morning I made raspberry whole-grain pancakes for the three of us before Hanna and I went into town to pick up the groceries I still needed. We made a really delicious Thai style pumpkin/ shrimp soup for lunch. We had a good visit and went for a walk--again, not a brisk walk but a stretching the muscles one. For supper we had steak, corn-on-the-cob, green beans, and a zucchini stir-fry.
In the evening we went out to Jim's sister's house for a family get-together. Jim's younger brother and his girlfriend and their 10-day old baby girl were out from Calgary and we had a family baby shower. Hanna and I had brought veggies and dip but I also had a couple of pieces of lemon bundt cake...too good. We came home early and I went to bed shortly after. Just sore.
Sunday morning Hanna caught a ride home with Jim's other sister whose kid had a football game over there today. Before she left we had peaches with Fiber One and vanilla yogurt. Jim had some things to do with his brother and then spent a few hours raking the hay he cut the other day. Meanwhile I sat in my wonderful recliner with a few recipe books trying to make a menu AGAIN and specifically looking for crock pot recipes. I made a basic cheese pizza for lunch with whole-grain crust. I hadn't made that recipe for years and it is so easy and tasty. We had a big salad with it. Banana milkshake for snack.
At supper we baked a turkey hindquarter as a pot roast with yams, carrots, parsnips and onions. After Jim headed back to his apartment (day shift starts again tomorrow) I dragged my energy together and did my weekly *house blessing*--watered plants, wiped mirrors, vacuumed the main floor, and washed the kitchen floor. Right now the last load of laundry is in the dryer and I have clean sheets on the bed. The kitchen counter is clean.
Most of my evening routine is done but I haven't decided yet if tomorrow is a Curves day. I'm still plenty sore but to some degree I feel in a *use it or lose it* mode. I have a doctor's appointment made for Tuesday morning. I'll be headed to bed early tonight as well. Sitting is such a pain. I've added back stretches to my evening routine so I won't forget.
Came home, hubby was out in the field cutting hay so I did what FlyLady calls a room rescue. More like a little blitz of the main living areas! When hubby came in we had lunch and headed out to see our daughter and son-in-law in their new home. I'd been really wavering the past few days arthritis-wise and sitting in the car for an hour and a half nearly did me in. We got there and visited a bit but I just hurt too much to sit so Jim and I went for a walk in their new neighborhood while the kids put the finishing touches on dinner. One of our favorite things is walking back alleys and they have some neat ones there and we got some cool ideas for our garden and yard. Came back, had spinach lasagna, garlicked spaghetti squash, and garlic toast (my girl is a really good cook!). She came home with us for the weekend.
Saturday morning I made raspberry whole-grain pancakes for the three of us before Hanna and I went into town to pick up the groceries I still needed. We made a really delicious Thai style pumpkin/ shrimp soup for lunch. We had a good visit and went for a walk--again, not a brisk walk but a stretching the muscles one. For supper we had steak, corn-on-the-cob, green beans, and a zucchini stir-fry.
In the evening we went out to Jim's sister's house for a family get-together. Jim's younger brother and his girlfriend and their 10-day old baby girl were out from Calgary and we had a family baby shower. Hanna and I had brought veggies and dip but I also had a couple of pieces of lemon bundt cake...too good. We came home early and I went to bed shortly after. Just sore.
Sunday morning Hanna caught a ride home with Jim's other sister whose kid had a football game over there today. Before she left we had peaches with Fiber One and vanilla yogurt. Jim had some things to do with his brother and then spent a few hours raking the hay he cut the other day. Meanwhile I sat in my wonderful recliner with a few recipe books trying to make a menu AGAIN and specifically looking for crock pot recipes. I made a basic cheese pizza for lunch with whole-grain crust. I hadn't made that recipe for years and it is so easy and tasty. We had a big salad with it. Banana milkshake for snack.
At supper we baked a turkey hindquarter as a pot roast with yams, carrots, parsnips and onions. After Jim headed back to his apartment (day shift starts again tomorrow) I dragged my energy together and did my weekly *house blessing*--watered plants, wiped mirrors, vacuumed the main floor, and washed the kitchen floor. Right now the last load of laundry is in the dryer and I have clean sheets on the bed. The kitchen counter is clean.
Most of my evening routine is done but I haven't decided yet if tomorrow is a Curves day. I'm still plenty sore but to some degree I feel in a *use it or lose it* mode. I have a doctor's appointment made for Tuesday morning. I'll be headed to bed early tonight as well. Sitting is such a pain. I've added back stretches to my evening routine so I won't forget.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Thursday, September 6
Wow it has been a crazy week with the reshuffling of Forward Motion from Jatol to its new host. That's been a little stressful, being as I hang out in chat with some of the folks integral to the move. All seems well this morning.
Thursday I went for a bike ride first thing. I'd been a bit lazy getting out of bed but remembered FlyLady and decided that the time I had left was better used cycling than not, so I went. For some reason I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as usual and wound up biking home against the wind, so I got a serious workout in the 30 minutes I had. Then I had soaked oats, a peach, and vanilla yogurt for breakfast and got myself out the door to work with my mocha.
Spent the morning helping to trouble-shoot the transfered forums, finding bugs for Mar to fix. A client came in with a box of doughnuts. Why do they do that? The guys really won't eat them, and they were for all of us. I'd bent over backwards for her too. I opened the box. Six doughnuts. My very favorite, a maple glaze, right on top. Yeah I ate it.
Hubby was home by lunchtime; I went home and made a salmon pasta salad, adding peas and celery. Took more peas and grapes back for snack. Had another doughnut later. Why? Why do I shoot myself in the foot? Honestly, I haven't had doughnuts in years. They're not even my favorite splurge. The rest have been disposed of.
For supper we had garden-fresh veggies--potatoes, corn, green beans--and ground beef patties. Very healthy! ;) Then I tried to can more peaches but gave up. They're just crappy peaches. Too many were going from green to rotten without bothering with my favorite stage, ripe.
I did my evening routine and went to bed. Bleh. I need to do better.
Thursday I went for a bike ride first thing. I'd been a bit lazy getting out of bed but remembered FlyLady and decided that the time I had left was better used cycling than not, so I went. For some reason I didn't pay as much attention to the weather as usual and wound up biking home against the wind, so I got a serious workout in the 30 minutes I had. Then I had soaked oats, a peach, and vanilla yogurt for breakfast and got myself out the door to work with my mocha.
Spent the morning helping to trouble-shoot the transfered forums, finding bugs for Mar to fix. A client came in with a box of doughnuts. Why do they do that? The guys really won't eat them, and they were for all of us. I'd bent over backwards for her too. I opened the box. Six doughnuts. My very favorite, a maple glaze, right on top. Yeah I ate it.
Hubby was home by lunchtime; I went home and made a salmon pasta salad, adding peas and celery. Took more peas and grapes back for snack. Had another doughnut later. Why? Why do I shoot myself in the foot? Honestly, I haven't had doughnuts in years. They're not even my favorite splurge. The rest have been disposed of.
For supper we had garden-fresh veggies--potatoes, corn, green beans--and ground beef patties. Very healthy! ;) Then I tried to can more peaches but gave up. They're just crappy peaches. Too many were going from green to rotten without bothering with my favorite stage, ripe.
I did my evening routine and went to bed. Bleh. I need to do better.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Wednesday, September 5
I'm not quite done the day's work but had a few things to do online and don't want to pop back later. So here goes.
Breakfast: soaked oats, cherries and peaches, vanilla yogurt, mocha. Went to Curves and weighed in at 146. Went to work. Snacked on a handful of pistachios.
During my lunch hour I ran errands: renewed the car insurance (with a few days to spare!!), picked up a library book, got vitamins. I'd brought taco salad for my lunch (ground beef/ black bean mixture, greens, tomato, bit of cheddar, and ranch dressing). Followed that with a container of green peas and then grapes. Later a couple squares of dark chocolate.
When I got home I mowed the lawn which has probably needed it for the last week. Well, it's done now. About half of it is dry and therefore not growing and therefore not in need of cutting, but the other side seems to not mind a good drought. And the area around the garden got regular water up until a couple weeks ago. Then I reheated that last bowl of baked beans for supper and will make myself a banana milkshake shortly. Finally have some bananas ripe enough again!
FlyLady. Today she wants me to stomp out hot spots in the entryway. Little does she know I extinguished a forest fire on the weekend and I'm not up to more in there yet. Unless it counts that I gave my sis-in-law a box of random hot tub chemicals and paraphernalia that had been sitting in the way for (cough) probably five months now. (We quit using our hot tub three years ago when all the kids left home.) Of course, we still need to remove it, but we aren't having a yard zone week so I'm still good on that. At any rate, I'm no longer dodging that box every time I go through the entryway.
The decorating mission for the week is about creating a Launch Pad in the entryway. I think she means more than keeping my workout bag on top of the washing machine. As we prepare to renovate that room--some day, in my dreams--I've been giving some thought to the Launch Pad and to the electronic stuff that seems to need a home as well, with access to electricity for charging.
I'd like to buy one or two of these storage cabinets and paint them up fun. (Ikea used to make a block of six drawers a bit smaller than these; I currently own three sets of them. Two live in my bathroom above the toilet for all the random things that would go in drawers if I had any, and one is hubby's for craft stuff. But they don't make them anymore.) So the plan would be to mount these on the wall on a board that would stick out on the bottom and have hooks on it for stuff like my purse or keys. And just above it I would like to mount a bar of plug-ins. You can get ones for shops or kitchens that are tidier than the power bars we use for computers.
So the deal would be that each little drawer would have a purpose. The cords and keyboard and info etc for my Palm Tungsten would live in one drawer. When it needs charging it can be done right there, in the drawer. A drawer for my cell phone, a drawer for hubby's. Again, charge them right there and they're ready to go. A drawer for the camera and its charger and spare cards. A drawer for just batteries of all sizes. Maybe a drawer for sunglasses.
Any ideas? What would YOU put in drawers like that? Each drawer is about 5" wide by 6" tall by 7" deep. Ish.
And now I must go clean my kitchen and start my evening routine.
Breakfast: soaked oats, cherries and peaches, vanilla yogurt, mocha. Went to Curves and weighed in at 146. Went to work. Snacked on a handful of pistachios.
During my lunch hour I ran errands: renewed the car insurance (with a few days to spare!!), picked up a library book, got vitamins. I'd brought taco salad for my lunch (ground beef/ black bean mixture, greens, tomato, bit of cheddar, and ranch dressing). Followed that with a container of green peas and then grapes. Later a couple squares of dark chocolate.
When I got home I mowed the lawn which has probably needed it for the last week. Well, it's done now. About half of it is dry and therefore not growing and therefore not in need of cutting, but the other side seems to not mind a good drought. And the area around the garden got regular water up until a couple weeks ago. Then I reheated that last bowl of baked beans for supper and will make myself a banana milkshake shortly. Finally have some bananas ripe enough again!
FlyLady. Today she wants me to stomp out hot spots in the entryway. Little does she know I extinguished a forest fire on the weekend and I'm not up to more in there yet. Unless it counts that I gave my sis-in-law a box of random hot tub chemicals and paraphernalia that had been sitting in the way for (cough) probably five months now. (We quit using our hot tub three years ago when all the kids left home.) Of course, we still need to remove it, but we aren't having a yard zone week so I'm still good on that. At any rate, I'm no longer dodging that box every time I go through the entryway.
The decorating mission for the week is about creating a Launch Pad in the entryway. I think she means more than keeping my workout bag on top of the washing machine. As we prepare to renovate that room--some day, in my dreams--I've been giving some thought to the Launch Pad and to the electronic stuff that seems to need a home as well, with access to electricity for charging.
I'd like to buy one or two of these storage cabinets and paint them up fun. (Ikea used to make a block of six drawers a bit smaller than these; I currently own three sets of them. Two live in my bathroom above the toilet for all the random things that would go in drawers if I had any, and one is hubby's for craft stuff. But they don't make them anymore.) So the plan would be to mount these on the wall on a board that would stick out on the bottom and have hooks on it for stuff like my purse or keys. And just above it I would like to mount a bar of plug-ins. You can get ones for shops or kitchens that are tidier than the power bars we use for computers.
So the deal would be that each little drawer would have a purpose. The cords and keyboard and info etc for my Palm Tungsten would live in one drawer. When it needs charging it can be done right there, in the drawer. A drawer for my cell phone, a drawer for hubby's. Again, charge them right there and they're ready to go. A drawer for the camera and its charger and spare cards. A drawer for just batteries of all sizes. Maybe a drawer for sunglasses.
Any ideas? What would YOU put in drawers like that? Each drawer is about 5" wide by 6" tall by 7" deep. Ish.
And now I must go clean my kitchen and start my evening routine.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tuesday, September 4
When I first woke up I felt the most pain-free I've felt in weeks. That changed once I started moving, of course, and by noon I was hunting pain meds again but it was still a nice little interlude. I slept fairly well in between waking up. Really, that does make sense, sadly.
Had soaked oats, peaches and cherries, vanilla yogurt for breakfast and went to Curves. 146#. Had my mocha at work. Came home at noon and had baked beans with one slice of whole grain toast with hubby before he headed back to work. I took peas and grapes for afternoon snack.
At home I had a large salad, then sauted up two farmer sausages with onions, garlic, mushrooms and zucchini, which was pretty good with a bit of fresh parmesan grated on top.
I started canning peaches but it was frustrating. They look ripe but I guess they're not--quite. I'll leave the rest for a couple more days. So far I canned 7 pints with Splenda and 7 with sugar. I have no idea if the Splenda ones will work or taste like chemicals. If they're wasted, well, it was about seven bucks down the tube on them. And I'll know for next time!
There was no time for FlyLady missions today. Let's see: tidying up coats, shoes and stuff from the entryway. Heh. Been there done that. I've decided that my front-loading washer may make a good staging area for the stuff that goes back and forth with me: purse, workout gear, etc. I can't leave anything on it permanently cause it jiggles around on the spin cycle, but this could work. We shall see.
As far as the evening routine goes: breakfast and mocha are prepped, lunch is prepped (tomorrow is a bag lunch day, the only one this week), papers for errands over lunch hour are set out (on the washing machine with my purse!), the kitchen is clean (as clean as it can be with a canner and jars still cooling) and my workout bag is prepped. Just a shower (to try to turn off my internal furnace before bed) and I'm good to go.
I've been thinking about menu planning. Which is a step in the right direction, really. I baked a ham a few days ago. That made 4 ham dinner servings (hubby and I had it for dinner and I sent 2 containers to work with him), 6 ham sandwiches, 8 bowls of clam chowder, and 6 bowls of baked beans. And the scraps made the outside cats happy! So...hubby works 8 day rotations. Maybe I should try to come up with other sequences besides the ham one, which I'd like to do more often now its fall, and rotate them. Fall and winter ones could rotate end on end with minor variations. Spring and summer are when the fresh produce is on and often dictates dinner.
Heh. I can get a fair bit of mileage out of a rotisserie chicken too!
What's your best deal for multi meals out of one basic one? Does anyone *plan* to cook this way regularly?
Had soaked oats, peaches and cherries, vanilla yogurt for breakfast and went to Curves. 146#. Had my mocha at work. Came home at noon and had baked beans with one slice of whole grain toast with hubby before he headed back to work. I took peas and grapes for afternoon snack.
At home I had a large salad, then sauted up two farmer sausages with onions, garlic, mushrooms and zucchini, which was pretty good with a bit of fresh parmesan grated on top.
I started canning peaches but it was frustrating. They look ripe but I guess they're not--quite. I'll leave the rest for a couple more days. So far I canned 7 pints with Splenda and 7 with sugar. I have no idea if the Splenda ones will work or taste like chemicals. If they're wasted, well, it was about seven bucks down the tube on them. And I'll know for next time!
There was no time for FlyLady missions today. Let's see: tidying up coats, shoes and stuff from the entryway. Heh. Been there done that. I've decided that my front-loading washer may make a good staging area for the stuff that goes back and forth with me: purse, workout gear, etc. I can't leave anything on it permanently cause it jiggles around on the spin cycle, but this could work. We shall see.
As far as the evening routine goes: breakfast and mocha are prepped, lunch is prepped (tomorrow is a bag lunch day, the only one this week), papers for errands over lunch hour are set out (on the washing machine with my purse!), the kitchen is clean (as clean as it can be with a canner and jars still cooling) and my workout bag is prepped. Just a shower (to try to turn off my internal furnace before bed) and I'm good to go.
I've been thinking about menu planning. Which is a step in the right direction, really. I baked a ham a few days ago. That made 4 ham dinner servings (hubby and I had it for dinner and I sent 2 containers to work with him), 6 ham sandwiches, 8 bowls of clam chowder, and 6 bowls of baked beans. And the scraps made the outside cats happy! So...hubby works 8 day rotations. Maybe I should try to come up with other sequences besides the ham one, which I'd like to do more often now its fall, and rotate them. Fall and winter ones could rotate end on end with minor variations. Spring and summer are when the fresh produce is on and often dictates dinner.
Heh. I can get a fair bit of mileage out of a rotisserie chicken too!
What's your best deal for multi meals out of one basic one? Does anyone *plan* to cook this way regularly?
Monday, September 03, 2007
Monday, September 3
So, started the day with soaked oats, a peach, and vanilla yogurt and surfed the web while making my mocha linger as looooooong as I possibly could because I knew there was a lot of work waiting for me. Behold, I was right!
I would like to point that FlyLady's zone cleaning for the day was to sweep the porch area around my front door. And I did. It just took a couple hours to FIND the floor to sweep it. And hubby is going to freak out over some of the stuff I hauled into the shop, but really...he needs to put his stuff away himself if he cares. I've been patient.
Then I came in and heated some of that clam chowder for lunch. And remembered I needed to up the veggie content of my life so peeled and ate a carrot while I mixed some version of baked beans into the crock pot before heading into the entryway. Hauled the recycling to the truck. The curtains I thumb-tacked up over a shelving unit were dirty so I took them down and hucked them through the wash. Then removed all the stuff, vacuumed the cobwebs and dust, then wiped down the shelves, then replaced the stuff. Well, and tossed some of it. Tacked the clean curtains back up. Discovered part of the entryway floor. Washed the floor I found.
Had three Wasa crackers with smoked salmon cream cheese and a handful of peas before heading to town to drop off the recycling and go to my massage.
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Then I picked up a jerry can of gas for the lawnmower on my way home but could not convince myself that mowing the lawn right after a massage was a good idea. So I didn't.
Had a large salad for supper, followed by two bowls of baked beans. Yeah, one would likely have been enough but it was soooooo good. Catching up online now and then shutting it down for the evening. Still have to clean the kitchen (again), do my brekkie prep for tomorrow and the rest of my evening routine before settling down to read. Which I think I will do with a handful of cherries.
Hubbie will be home latish for his 24-hour split.
I'm tired. But by golly the porch and entry look a thousand times better than two days ago.
I would like to point that FlyLady's zone cleaning for the day was to sweep the porch area around my front door. And I did. It just took a couple hours to FIND the floor to sweep it. And hubby is going to freak out over some of the stuff I hauled into the shop, but really...he needs to put his stuff away himself if he cares. I've been patient.
Then I came in and heated some of that clam chowder for lunch. And remembered I needed to up the veggie content of my life so peeled and ate a carrot while I mixed some version of baked beans into the crock pot before heading into the entryway. Hauled the recycling to the truck. The curtains I thumb-tacked up over a shelving unit were dirty so I took them down and hucked them through the wash. Then removed all the stuff, vacuumed the cobwebs and dust, then wiped down the shelves, then replaced the stuff. Well, and tossed some of it. Tacked the clean curtains back up. Discovered part of the entryway floor. Washed the floor I found.
Had three Wasa crackers with smoked salmon cream cheese and a handful of peas before heading to town to drop off the recycling and go to my massage.
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Then I picked up a jerry can of gas for the lawnmower on my way home but could not convince myself that mowing the lawn right after a massage was a good idea. So I didn't.
Had a large salad for supper, followed by two bowls of baked beans. Yeah, one would likely have been enough but it was soooooo good. Catching up online now and then shutting it down for the evening. Still have to clean the kitchen (again), do my brekkie prep for tomorrow and the rest of my evening routine before settling down to read. Which I think I will do with a handful of cherries.
Hubbie will be home latish for his 24-hour split.
I'm tired. But by golly the porch and entry look a thousand times better than two days ago.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Sunday, September 2
See what happens when I don't check off my bedtime routine list? I forget to soak the oats for breakfast. Here it was the first day of September, the first day of FlyLady's new habit of doing up a good evening routine...and I didn't do mine. Goes to show I need to pay attention. I have five routines on a doc file that often lives *up* on my computer screen, which is just around the corner from the kitchen. The most important two are the morning and evening routines. I've also written an after-work one but mostly just wing it. The other two are the contents of my work-out bag for a Curves work-out or an Aquafit work-out.
So I had Fiber One for breakfast with a diced peach and vanilla yogurt. I suppose it doesn't hurt to change it up once in awhile anyway! A mocha while I checked my email and did morning computer things. Off to church. Home to reheat clam chowder for my lunch and to put my brewing sourdough starter into bread dough to rise.
When FlyLady does Fire Drills, she often says to come in your front door and clean up the first hot spot you see. Ouch. I've been ignoring FlyLady! My hot spots start outside the door, on the top of the deep freezers under the porch overhang. One freezer is empty now (waiting for butchering day on the farm) and so it has become covered with stuff. The other freezer I have to get in and out of daily so it doesn't accumulate so much. Then the hot spots only increase when you enter my house. That entry area is my biggest enemy as it contains not only my washer and dryer but all the coats & shoes, the vet supplies and ropes and fence testers, the canning supplies, recycling...all the stuff most people would store in their basement. Which I don't have. Nor do I have another door into my house. I am not the first person to live in this house and hate this room--my in-laws never took care of it either. It has inadequate storage, no finished ceiling, and unpainted concrete block walls. It is ugly, which makes it quite easy to let stuff build up in there.
And we have a plan for the room which we haven't gotten to yet. It will be months before we do, if it even takes place in 2007-08. I try not to get my hopes up too high, though the room is definitely on the list after the kitchen gets finished. Meanwhile I ignore it as best as I can, and in between I muck the place out.
Now, Jean, you know more than you wanted to know about why I needed this to be Entryway Week at FlyLady!
So quick before I found out it wasn't, I decided to do some work in the outside area of the entry this afternoon. I spent an hour and a half out there (in 15 minute segments) and it still isn't finished but it is vastly improved. Because Monday is a holiday, I hope to have it sort of complete by the end of tomorrow. In that time period I've also done some work on the inside section of the entry, mostly hauling things to our *guest cabin* for storage. Our kids moved into a smaller space and sent some seasonal--and other little used--stuff home for storage but I hadn't made the effort to just take it across the yard yet. So I did make a ton of progress but it's still a mess. Surprise.
Speaking of surprises, I found one just outside the storage cabin. It looked suspiciously like bear scat but rather small. Talking to hubby on the phone later he thinks it may be skunk or coyote. Either way, I can't think of a good reason to wander around my yard in after dark this week.
On one of my breaks I had a handful of peas and three wasa crackers with smoked salmon cream cheese. When my whole-grain sourdough bread came out of the oven I treated myself to two slices with margarine. It's all sliced up, bagged, and in the deep freeze now.
On another break I read a bunch of testimonials on FlyLady from gals who work full-time. Most of them have kids at home, too. Really I haven't got it so bad! I was looking for some tips for the working gal and think I need to get into FlyLady habits at work too.
Come supper time I picked off green beans in the garden and sauted them up with shrimp and a bit of garlic. A bit later I finished off the applesauce I made yesterday morning (with vanilla yogurt and All Bran). Today I made a serious effort to think about what I was eating. As my friend Bonnie says, sometimes you just have to accept feeling a little hungry. I had a serious desire for a sweet snack this afternoon and finally succumbed to a can of Coke Zero. Even though it has no calories, I really don't want to be drinking something laden with caffeine and aspartame on a regular basis. Who knew there were so many evils in the world!
So it seems time to plan this week's menu again. It's kind of a laugh because last week I followed the menu about half the time. The rest of the time I just wung it. I'm not sure if that's because I planned poorly or what, but it can't hurt to have the right stuff for a bunch of good meals on hand. Obviously I should make sure some of them are all frozen or otherwise packaged so that there is no great financial loss to putting them off for another week.
I wandered FlyLady's website and landed in the slow cooker recipes section (**corrected to be the general slow cooker table of contents). I copied a dozen or more over into a doc file to try. I've had a slow cooker for over fifteen years and have periodically gone through spurts where I'd use it a fair bit for a couple months and then quit again. So I think we're setting up for another spurt! It would be cool to use it for supper every eighth day--the day hubby is due to head back to work. That way supper would be ready early enough for him to hit the road at a decent time, plus he'd have leftovers to take along for a meal or two.
Don't know who all besides Jean is reading this blog these days, but I'd sure love it if YOU (whoever you are!) might post a slow cooker recipe in comments (whatever day it happens to be when you post it). Seems like a pretty cool tool that is likely under-used by 95% of the people who own one. I'll try a recipe some time this week and post it up too. Deal?
And yes, my evening routine is done and my oats are soaking. WooHoo!
P.S.--Okay, I'm an addict. Just checked FlyLady again and this IS Entryway week! I'm off to a good start! (If you don't have a troubled entryway or front porch as I do, FlyLady recommends your dining room this week. Good to go!)
So I had Fiber One for breakfast with a diced peach and vanilla yogurt. I suppose it doesn't hurt to change it up once in awhile anyway! A mocha while I checked my email and did morning computer things. Off to church. Home to reheat clam chowder for my lunch and to put my brewing sourdough starter into bread dough to rise.
When FlyLady does Fire Drills, she often says to come in your front door and clean up the first hot spot you see. Ouch. I've been ignoring FlyLady! My hot spots start outside the door, on the top of the deep freezers under the porch overhang. One freezer is empty now (waiting for butchering day on the farm) and so it has become covered with stuff. The other freezer I have to get in and out of daily so it doesn't accumulate so much. Then the hot spots only increase when you enter my house. That entry area is my biggest enemy as it contains not only my washer and dryer but all the coats & shoes, the vet supplies and ropes and fence testers, the canning supplies, recycling...all the stuff most people would store in their basement. Which I don't have. Nor do I have another door into my house. I am not the first person to live in this house and hate this room--my in-laws never took care of it either. It has inadequate storage, no finished ceiling, and unpainted concrete block walls. It is ugly, which makes it quite easy to let stuff build up in there.
And we have a plan for the room which we haven't gotten to yet. It will be months before we do, if it even takes place in 2007-08. I try not to get my hopes up too high, though the room is definitely on the list after the kitchen gets finished. Meanwhile I ignore it as best as I can, and in between I muck the place out.
Now, Jean, you know more than you wanted to know about why I needed this to be Entryway Week at FlyLady!
So quick before I found out it wasn't, I decided to do some work in the outside area of the entry this afternoon. I spent an hour and a half out there (in 15 minute segments) and it still isn't finished but it is vastly improved. Because Monday is a holiday, I hope to have it sort of complete by the end of tomorrow. In that time period I've also done some work on the inside section of the entry, mostly hauling things to our *guest cabin* for storage. Our kids moved into a smaller space and sent some seasonal--and other little used--stuff home for storage but I hadn't made the effort to just take it across the yard yet. So I did make a ton of progress but it's still a mess. Surprise.
Speaking of surprises, I found one just outside the storage cabin. It looked suspiciously like bear scat but rather small. Talking to hubby on the phone later he thinks it may be skunk or coyote. Either way, I can't think of a good reason to wander around my yard in after dark this week.
On one of my breaks I had a handful of peas and three wasa crackers with smoked salmon cream cheese. When my whole-grain sourdough bread came out of the oven I treated myself to two slices with margarine. It's all sliced up, bagged, and in the deep freeze now.
On another break I read a bunch of testimonials on FlyLady from gals who work full-time. Most of them have kids at home, too. Really I haven't got it so bad! I was looking for some tips for the working gal and think I need to get into FlyLady habits at work too.
Come supper time I picked off green beans in the garden and sauted them up with shrimp and a bit of garlic. A bit later I finished off the applesauce I made yesterday morning (with vanilla yogurt and All Bran). Today I made a serious effort to think about what I was eating. As my friend Bonnie says, sometimes you just have to accept feeling a little hungry. I had a serious desire for a sweet snack this afternoon and finally succumbed to a can of Coke Zero. Even though it has no calories, I really don't want to be drinking something laden with caffeine and aspartame on a regular basis. Who knew there were so many evils in the world!
So it seems time to plan this week's menu again. It's kind of a laugh because last week I followed the menu about half the time. The rest of the time I just wung it. I'm not sure if that's because I planned poorly or what, but it can't hurt to have the right stuff for a bunch of good meals on hand. Obviously I should make sure some of them are all frozen or otherwise packaged so that there is no great financial loss to putting them off for another week.
I wandered FlyLady's website and landed in the slow cooker recipes section (**corrected to be the general slow cooker table of contents). I copied a dozen or more over into a doc file to try. I've had a slow cooker for over fifteen years and have periodically gone through spurts where I'd use it a fair bit for a couple months and then quit again. So I think we're setting up for another spurt! It would be cool to use it for supper every eighth day--the day hubby is due to head back to work. That way supper would be ready early enough for him to hit the road at a decent time, plus he'd have leftovers to take along for a meal or two.
Don't know who all besides Jean is reading this blog these days, but I'd sure love it if YOU (whoever you are!) might post a slow cooker recipe in comments (whatever day it happens to be when you post it). Seems like a pretty cool tool that is likely under-used by 95% of the people who own one. I'll try a recipe some time this week and post it up too. Deal?
And yes, my evening routine is done and my oats are soaking. WooHoo!
P.S.--Okay, I'm an addict. Just checked FlyLady again and this IS Entryway week! I'm off to a good start! (If you don't have a troubled entryway or front porch as I do, FlyLady recommends your dining room this week. Good to go!)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Friday & Saturday, August 31-September 1
I couldn't help but mention the beginning of my Friday when I posted Thursday's records. Friday, like I said, I went to Curves. Had breakfast of Fiber One, a peach, vanilla yogurt, and the mocha. Felt kinda bloated in the morning, sadly. My mother used to say: "I like *name of food* but it doesn't like me." Methinks Chinese food is starting to hit that category for me. Jim was bloated, too, and we both had crampy guts and gas on Friday. (Very romantic for an anniversary I assure you.) I don't remember seeing the usual *no MSG* disclaimer on the menu, so that may have been the culprit. I don't know, but it ruined a couple days for us.
I went home at noon and made us a chef salad, trying to put good stuff in over the bubblies and hope for the best. I even had a nap in the afternoon. We had a rain storm and quite a lot of wind, and we both read. We put a ham in for supper and had it with fresh garden potatoes, gravy (yeah I know) and garden fresh corn-on-the-cob. I did the basic kitchen cleanup after supper, read for a bit, and went to bed before 10:00.
Got up only twice through a ten hour night and felt almost human when I woke up this morning, though Jim's gut wasn't back to normal yet (he'd eaten more of the leftover Chinese late Thursday night--I've tossed the rest in the garbage since). I'd prepped sourdough Friday night so I made whole-wheat sourdough waffles with fresh applesauce for breakfast. I made the rest of the batter into dough for buns, which came out of the oven at lunchtime, by the time I'd made a clam *chowder* out of the hambone.
By mid-afternoon we were both feeling better, put the bikes in the back of the truck, and drove across the valley to the wildlife centre which is criss-crossed with dikes. We rode for about two hours with a few stops to look at birds: a flock of pelicans, a kazillion ducks and geese, about 8 great blue herons, a cormorant, and 2 cock pheasants that nearly scared the living daylights out of me blasting out of the underbrush ten feet from the bike. In two separate instances a few minutes apart.
So of course we biked too long for my neck and shoulders--no problem with the legs. Even with the shocks on the bikes I was hurting good by the time we got home. Jim needed to leave early for the drive to the mines so we just had a large tossed salad, packed his stuff in the car, and he headed out. I took some pain meds. A bit later I also had 2 slices wholegrain toast with cheddar and a banana milkshake. Then I cleaned the kitchen and performed most of FlyLady's home blessing: dusting, vacuuming, watering plants, washing mirrors/ glass doors/ tv & computer screens...and washing the kitchen, dining room, and living room floors.
I've purchased 40# peaches which I'll be canning in a few days when they ripen enough.
I went home at noon and made us a chef salad, trying to put good stuff in over the bubblies and hope for the best. I even had a nap in the afternoon. We had a rain storm and quite a lot of wind, and we both read. We put a ham in for supper and had it with fresh garden potatoes, gravy (yeah I know) and garden fresh corn-on-the-cob. I did the basic kitchen cleanup after supper, read for a bit, and went to bed before 10:00.
Got up only twice through a ten hour night and felt almost human when I woke up this morning, though Jim's gut wasn't back to normal yet (he'd eaten more of the leftover Chinese late Thursday night--I've tossed the rest in the garbage since). I'd prepped sourdough Friday night so I made whole-wheat sourdough waffles with fresh applesauce for breakfast. I made the rest of the batter into dough for buns, which came out of the oven at lunchtime, by the time I'd made a clam *chowder* out of the hambone.
By mid-afternoon we were both feeling better, put the bikes in the back of the truck, and drove across the valley to the wildlife centre which is criss-crossed with dikes. We rode for about two hours with a few stops to look at birds: a flock of pelicans, a kazillion ducks and geese, about 8 great blue herons, a cormorant, and 2 cock pheasants that nearly scared the living daylights out of me blasting out of the underbrush ten feet from the bike. In two separate instances a few minutes apart.
So of course we biked too long for my neck and shoulders--no problem with the legs. Even with the shocks on the bikes I was hurting good by the time we got home. Jim needed to leave early for the drive to the mines so we just had a large tossed salad, packed his stuff in the car, and he headed out. I took some pain meds. A bit later I also had 2 slices wholegrain toast with cheddar and a banana milkshake. Then I cleaned the kitchen and performed most of FlyLady's home blessing: dusting, vacuuming, watering plants, washing mirrors/ glass doors/ tv & computer screens...and washing the kitchen, dining room, and living room floors.
I've purchased 40# peaches which I'll be canning in a few days when they ripen enough.
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