The Weekend Pantry Challenge Days 13-15

 As always, the weekend was busy and full of projects.  Saturday we went to town to pick up some lumber for the new rabbit pen that Hubs is building.  I also wanted to stop at the hardware store because they had canning lids last time I was there.  (If you didn't know, there's a canning lid shortage going on right now and no one knows how long it's going to last.  And since I sell canned goods at farmer's market, and can a ton for my family, I need to be sure I have enough!!)  There were still a lot.  I got 15 packages and a new funnel since my backup funnel cracked. As I was standing by the checkout, some old lady came up to me and asked if I was buying ALL the canning lids.  No, I told her, there are still plenty on the shelf.  Well, she said, where can I find them? I don't see them anywhere.  I told her to go look in the canning aisle, where the rest of the supplies are!!  The tone of her voice really irked me.  I was making small talk with the clerk and told him I can for a living and my family.  He said he's noticed a lot of newbies canning this year and noticed the shortage, and was happy he could help me.

We spent some time looking for a new percolator since my decided to die.  For spending less than $10 on it, it had lasted about 3 years.  I don't drink coffee every day, but I've noticed on days that I do, I get a LOT more done.  Maybe I should drink coffee every day.....  After checking Home Depot and the hardware store, I hadn't found one yet.  I even checked at Walgreens when I picked up pullups (and forgot to pick up prescriptions 🙈). One last hope, we went to Bomgaards.  I was in luck!!  They had 2 left in the camping section!!

On my hunt several people asked me, why a percolator?  I have a few different reasons: 1) I think the coffee tastes a lot better.  Maybe because there's no paper filter to run it through?? 2) I don't have to depend on electricity any time I want coffee.  I have a gas stove I can light with a lighter, or I could set it on the wood stove in the living room or over a campfire if I needed to. 3) Every time I buy a coffee maker, it breaks in no time at all. 4) My Opa always made his coffee in a percolator, so it's sentimental.

Since we were in town so long we stopped at Perkins for lunch.  It's my go-to eat out place if we have time.  I prefer to not eat fast food if at all possible.  Plus the kids will eat pretty good there!  Scraps got half a sandwich, soup, and a piece of pie, and Monkey had "cakecakes" (pancakes) and French fries.  Hubs and I got sandwiches and fries.  I ended up eating half my sandwich, the meat off the rest, and a few fries. 

Once we got home, hubs worked on the barn and I split some more wood.  Man that's a workout!! The boys helped haul wood from the back side of the barn to the front, then loaded our gorilla cart with everything I split and put it in the mini storage shed closer to the house.  It's a lot easier to walk a few feet to get the wood in the snow than across the yard!!

Since we were so busy, I didn't plan supper, so we ordered steaks and burgers from the legion.  Once a month our local legion has a steak fry, and we like to be able to support them.

Sunday was "house" day for me.  I worked on cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, washing bedding, and baking.  No one ate breakfast until after 1030, so I didn't even bother with lunch.  I did put a chicken in the crock pot to cook down, which I'll use today for lunch.  Scraps took out some goat ribs to put on the smoker for supper (I'm still learning how to use it) and they came out pretty good considering I didn't do the best job butchering the goat.  I served that up with a Knorr cheddar broccoli rice, homemade bread, and some sweet corn I had frozen a month ago.

I baked a TON for farmer's market... 3 mini apple pies, a batch of garlic chive rustic bread, 2 batches of regular rustic white bread, 2 pans of apple pie cookies... and I took a recipe for dinner rolls a friend gave me and tried it out as mini loaves.  YUMMY!!  I'll have to make some for tomorrow's farmer's market since I won't even be able to take it today (my family already ate a whole loaf at supper!!)

Hubs DEFINITELY enjoyed the cookies. I gave him ONE to sample... the next thing I knew half the pan was gone!!!  I made a second batch with one extra for him - and still tried taking more off the pan.  I compromised and gave him a mini pie to take for lunch even though I had already packed some cookies.  I told him the cookies take a lot more work since I have to cook the filling plus make the lattice, where with the pies I can just add the uncooked apple filling and put a plain crust on the top.

Today I actually got up kind of early and started up on my Miracle Mornings and SAVERS again (If you haven't read The Miracle Morning, I HIGHLY recommend it!!  It works if you just DO IT!!)  I used to do it all in order because I just HAD to, but now I think I'll change it up again.  I started with my E and got the exercise done right off the bat.  IT FELT GOOD!! I did 36 minutes on the Wii Fit (don't want to overdo it right out of the gate!!)  Played a couple balance games, obstacle course, boxing, rhythm step.  My age based on the testing is 36 - works for me!

I followed up with my SAV - set my timer on my phone for 10 minutes and tried to clear my mine.  THAT was hard... had a million things running through my mind and just couldn't shut it down.  For A and V I decided to take the digital route. I found apps for both - a Daily Affirmation app and a Vision Board app.  I set them up and played with them a little.  I'm putting off my R a little.  I have an audiobook I'm listening to when I go to and from work.  But I might read a blog I recently found that I like so far... I'll report back on it.  And updating my blog here will work for my final S.

Lars wasn't impressed with being up!

For today's lunch, I'm planning on a white chicken chili with the chicken I put in the crock pot yesterday... Supper will be leftovers.  Working on the plan for the rest of the week (I foresee a lot of soup since it's supposed to be chilly!!)  And the Princess has a cold :(

30 Day Challenge - Day 2

For Day 2 of my challenge, I chose exercise.

I used to have a gym membership.  Actually, I've had memberships at a few different places.  Like many others, I start out strong when my membership begins, and then gradually ease off until it's a chore for me to get all my stuff together and trudge to the gym.

And I have a million excuses.

• I don't have a sitter.
• I don't like getting up early in the morning to use the gym before hubby goes to work.
• It's too late by the time we're done eating to go to the gym.
• I feel sick if I exercise after eating.
• I'm too tired.
• All the gyms are all the way on the other side of town.

You get the picture.  Plus shelling out $30 per month for something that is barely ever used.  Even if you pay for the full year up front - there are still other things I could better spend that money on.

So I decided that I could save the money and find a way to do it here at home.  My husband bought a Wii Fit for me a while back.  Unfortunately all the batteries for my balance board and the remote keep disappearing.  Gee, I wonder who could be taking them (Scrappy!)  The big problem isn't the kids borrowing the batteries - it's them losing the batteries.  We specifically shelled out the extra money for rechargeable batteries so that overall we would save money on batteries. So I haven't been using my Fit as much as I want to.

Instead, I've starting going walking outside.  I actually started making walking a priority on my birthday - April 22.  We were at the hospital with Scrappy at that time.  He had sinus surgery and then spent the next 2 weeks getting a CF tune-up.  Chubbers and I stayed with him at the hospital, but Chubbers couldn't be in the room while Scraps was doing his treatments because of his forced coughs.  I would take Chubbers walking usually 4x per day during treatments.  After we got home, I decided to try to continue.  I've walked the trail with my family and walked to pick Beau up from school and back.  

But our favorite is to walk the lake.

Our town is built around 2 lakes.  There is a route around a good portion of the main lake that has walking paths.  It's about a 5 mile walk in total.  Scraps has trouble with the hills, so we've been going the longer route and following the gravel one-way roads that hug the shoreline.  My goal is to do the lake 3x per week, in addition to the exercise I've been getting from coaching t-ball and baseball.  (I've been working just as hard if not harder than a lot of the kids out there.  Man are my knees and ankles taking a beating!!!)

I snapped a few pictures out on our walk today....

Getting ready to go

Snoozing - which is what he normally does during our walks.

Frequent water breaks

We were following a butterfly

Riding on the gravel.  To look at this, you wouldn't think we were in the middle of town.
There are houses on our left and water on the right.

Of course we couldn't just walk past the park without stopping to play.
That was fine, though, because Chubbers needed to eat.

Such a cutie, but always with a dirty face.

I try to get some kind of walking in every day.  Plus it's great for the boys to get fresh air.  I really need to do a battery round up so that the next time we have a thunderstorm like yesterday, I can still do my walking but inside.  I know I don't have to use the Fit, but since we bought it,  I should get my money's worth.  Plus it's more fun :)

In addition to saving money on the exercise, it's going to save on my hospital bills when I'm not sick as often too!!

Making Progress - and trying my hand at frugality (one piece at a time!)

It's been a busy - but productive - week here!!  The kids have been keeping me running (as usual) and I've been keeping myself running!  I've also been doing great with sticking to my resolutions!!!

At my weigh-in on Thursday at TOPS, I was down a full 3 1/2 pounds!!!!  That is about half of what I had gained in the previous 2 months!!!  Honestly, there have been no gimmicks or fad diets or anything like that.  I have a couple of friends who are also on the weight loss journey, but are doing it by taking a lot of medications.  They are losing weight, but I worry about how they will do when they stop taking the medications.

What has been working for me?  Two things, really:

1) I have been writing everything I have to eat and drink (other than water) down.  I'm not tracking quantities or calories or anything like that.  But I think just being aware of what I'm eating helps.

2) Exercise.  I've been doing something almost ever day.  I went walking with my Opa a few times.  Otherwise I have been doing my Wii Fit Step again, for at least a half an hour.  Usually while watching some show of choice, like Grey's Anatomy or something else.

I have been trying to find ways to save money for our family still.  I will be posting various things that I have been doing and how it has helped with our family.  My current projects include:

1) Finding a recipe and making homemade bread that my family likes (after some experimentation, I found my husband likes the recipe for white bread in the Betty Crocker cookbook.  I use my bread machine to make the dough, but bake it in the oven.  He didn't understand why I do that until I explained how the machine leaves a hole in the bottom.  Awesome news on the bread machine - scored it BRAND NEW a the Salvation Army for only $10!!)

2) I have been making homemade laundry soap for over a year now.  (I actually made 2 batches so I always would have some ready.  The recipe I use takes 24 hours until it's ready.  When one bucket is empty, I use the other bucket until it's about half empty, then make another batch in the empty bucket.  I like the leeway it gives me.)  I figure for each 65-load batch I make, I'm saving about $11.20 over buying scent-free, dye-free Tide and getting just as good results, if not better.  If I have a particularly soiled load of laundry, I just set my washer to "heavy duty" and that takes care of it! 

3) Finding more low cost/free entertainment for the kids.  Home Depot offers a free kids' workshop on the first Saturday of each month.  Last Saturday, Beau had to go to make a bird house for Girl Scouts, so I figured why not take Scrappy?  It was free, would teach them skills about using tools and following directions, and would keep them happily occupied for a while. I don't know why we didn't do this earlier!!  But we didn't paint them until today, and they did that at home.... (I had a bit of a headache when we were at HD, and it only got worse with all the pounding!)

She was getting a little frustrated cuz a few nails were bending.

He was so proud - all Mommy did was hold the boards and he pounded
the nails himself(and my fingers a few times!)

They like a LOT of color!

We also got a free night of BINGO last night.  Beau's school had a family night event of Burger BINGO.  

My boys at BINGO

Each person in a family gets a card to play, and each family gets one raffle ticket to start.  For your first BINGO, a family wins a complete meal (hamburgers, buns, ketchup, jello mix, apple slices, 5# bag of potatoes, can of pork and beans, and a half dozen mini Hershey's bars).  After that, a family wins additional raffle tickets.  At the end of the night, they draw for various MOA tickets and for Tiger (school) shirts.  We only won the meal, but that's just fine since they only gave out 100 of them!! (I was the mean mom who told my kids we weren't paying $1 for each slice of pizza and ice cream because we had leftovers at home.  But honestly, our family eats out waaay too much).

4) Starting a price book.  Heather highly recommends it on her site, and has proven over and over again how useful they can be. (Per her recommendation, I checked out and am enjoying a money-savings book also.  I had to get it through inter-library loan, so I have been trying to track down my own.  I found a copy online today in good shape, and should hopefully have it in about a week or so!! I will post more on the book later!)

5) I've successfully learned how to can meat and stock!!!  Found out what I was missing too - it can ONLY be done safely with a pressure cooker.  I managed it - with the help of my Opa!

Meat and stock before sealing.

I'm also keeping a list of all the books I'm reading too.  If someone were to take a look at my Kindle, they would probably laugh.  I admit, I'm a self-help-book junkie!  I'm always reading on ways to help with time management or organization or weight loss or almost anything else you could think of.  I will periodically post my take on the books I'm reading, especially if they are something I find useful!!

There are NO Excuses!!!

It's a decision I need to make! 

NO excuses!

It's easy to find a million reason why I didn't eat healthy today, why I didn't get any exercise today, why I didn't get this, that, or the other done.

I had a 2 day migraine over the weekend.

I donated blood last week. 
We went shopping late one evening last week. 
We ate out. 
I've been good so I deserve a treat. 
It's post baby weight. 
It's my thyroid's fault. 
It's my antidepressants.
I can't get to the gym cuz I don't have someone to watch the kids/there's no school and preschool.

Excuses can't be the reason anymore.  I always seem to find time to watch certain shows on TV or find time to read.  So I need to make the change myself.  I need to push myself because I know I can do it if I try. 

Sometimes I just need a little push to help me. 

Sometimes I just need a swift kick in the rear.

Tonight I was watching The Biggest Loser.  (I had given up on it before because of all the game play and voting people off or getting immunities and not earning them.... and now eliminations have been because they didn't do the work/lose the weight.)  I liked how they brought kids on the show too.  I got the new batteries out and loaded up my Wii remote and my Fit board.  Did half an hour of step while watching TV.

The best part?

Scrappy got his step stool out and was doing it right along with me.

Can't be a much better influence than that on the kids, huh?

I think I'm going to reward myself now... with a nice hot shower :)  (and both kids sleeping!!)

Progress!

Feeling a lot better!  My wonderful hubby brought home some cough drops and real Kleenex for me since my poor nose was so sore from using cheap tissues.  He let me just rest and he wrangled the kids for the night on Wednesday night. 

Even though I still had a little bit of a cough, I still went to TOPS yesterday.  I'm glad I did! I had a good feeling about the weigh in because I've been diligent about tracking everything I eat and been getting workouts in at least 4 times per week.  I aim for a minimum of 30 minutes, but have actually been getting an hour or more most days!!  There are certain show I just LOVE to watch, so I set up the Wii for Free Step and do that while I watch tv.  The maximum time it can be set for is 30 minutes, so sometimes when the 30 minutes is up, I'll reset it for another 20-30 minutes.  It must be working cuz this week I lost 3 1/2 pounds - yay!!!!

My total loss now is at 22 pounds.  The past month and a half before this hadn't been the best, but I'm back on track and hoping to be over the 30 pound mark by my 1 year anniversary with TOPS, which is March 24.  I think I can do it!!!

I've stopped using http://www.fitday.com/ because most of the food values need to entered manually and it's too time consuming trying to figure out all of the calorie counts.  A friend referred me to another website which is now in my 'favorites' bar and is an absolute necessity for me - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ .  I love that you can join discussion boards and request friends.  It also has an extensive database of foods already entered, as well as exercises.  The daily goal already has subtracted out the calories needed for weight loss.  If you have extra calories left at the end of the day, or you 'earn' extra calories by exercising, it tells you how much weight-loss progress you would make over the next 5 weeks.  If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it.

I invite anyone reading this (if there is) to try out http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ for ONE WEEK and see what kinds of results it gives you!  Feel free to send me a 'friend request' (yes it's kinda like facebook in that) at mindy_shs.

And now I'm off to cram on my homework - I've been procrastinating too much on it lately, and now it's due tomorrow :(

Feeling Refreshed!

I really needed to get caught up on my sleep - it's been a rough week!!  Tuesday we had all-day appointments for Scrappy, plus I had my checkup in the morning.  We had to be there at 7 am, so I'd been up since 3:30 am.  No wonder I was crashed in my recliner by 9 pm!! 

Scrappy's appointments were just his normal CF checkups, an ENT appointment, and an audiogram.  His hearing still isn't where it should be, so they decided he does need another set of tubes put in.  He will also be having another nasal polypectomy and bronchial lavage.  This will be his 2nd set of tubes, 3rd polypectomy and lavage, and 4th surgery in less than 4 years.  The ENT also ordered a head CT for Wednesday so she could see if his sinuses were congested with polyps too.  His surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, the 18th, and is planned to be an outpatient procedure unless she does goe up into his sinuses more.  Praying for a simple procedure and no complications!!

We had to be at the hospital at 8am for his CT, so that meant being up at 5am on Wednesday.  Poor little man had to fast until after it was completed.  Second day in a row that he had to fast from midnight until his first procedure - not fun for him or for us either!!  They had to give him anesthesia to do the CT because he was terrified of the machine!  Because of this, he didn't go in to CT until 1015.  It seemed to take forever for him to come out of it.  He started vomiting up mucus and stomach acid, since his stomach was empty.  That made for a really long ride home!  About 3pm his tummy finally settled down and he came out of it enough that he could eat.

My OB cleared me at my appointment!  I couldn't have a complete workout because of the untimely 'visitor,' but my doc told me I could have the last part of my checkup done at our local clinic.  She asked if we were planning to have another child.  I told her we would like to once we got the go-ahead from her health-wise.  She would like me to try to lose a little more weight in the meantime, which I have been working on anyway, but said as long as my last test comes back ok, there's no reason we can't start trying.  I'm supposed to start taking prenatal vitamins now too in preparation.

Being at the hospital 2 days in a row took a toll on my diet :(  At TOPS this week I had a 3 pound gain.  In addition to the eating out, I didn't get my workouts in for the past week since Scrappy hasn't been feeling very well and wanted to constantly cuddle.  Today I was back at it hard again.  I was vacuuming and picked up the mat in the living room, and left it up so I could try out Zumba.  I did about 5 minutes of it and OUCH!  I'm not coordinated - I'm sure it would give anyone a good laugh!

I set up my Wii Fit to do the entire routine - 81 minutes!  Scrappy was getting a little crabby with me and wanted to play.  I told him if he can't wait patiently for his turn, he wasn't going to get a turn.  I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.  It's going to be difficult to get my workout in tomorrow - I have class in 8-2 but am leaving early so I can go to a funeral for a friend.  Very sad for someone to die so young :'(

Another new challenge I've set up for myself in cooking - try one new recipe each week.  I get tired of the same stuff each week and am looking to branch out... Hopefully I'll get some new ideas soon!!

Happy New Year!!

We enjoyed our quiet New Year's Eve at home.  Maybe we're getting old, but we enjoyed spending time with just our kids.  The forecast was for wind and rain, and sure enough, we finally got snow!  50 degrees, raining, on Dec 31 in Minnesota?  Not normal.  But today - about 10 degrees, snow, and awful wind on Jan 1?  Perfectly normal.  Mother Nature has worse mood swings than anyone I know!

I love cooking with my hubby so much!  We cooked a nice dinner together - turkey, stuffing, scalloped corn, baked potatoes, and turkey gravy.  Very yum!!  I cleaned up the dishes afterwards while he cleaned the rest of the meat off the turkey.  There were only a few pans I left to soak overnights so they would be easier to clean in the morning.  I put the turkey carcass in the crock pot on low overnight.  It smelled so good this morning!!  I learned my lesson from before about trying to can chicken stock - I froze my turkey stock.  Not bad - I got 15 cups of stock!!

Normally we go to a movie New Year's Day - it's a tradition that I've been trying to keep with my kids.  Unfortunately with today's weather, I don't think we're going to be leaving the house at all.  We are getting things done around the house though.  I did about 50 minutes on my Fit.  Hubby and I cleaned out the toy box so the kids have room to store some of their new toys.  Some of it we threw out, some of it we bagged up to donate to the Epilepsy Foundation.  I still have a ton of totes to go through in the garage.  Maybe at least get through some of the bags/totes of clothes so I can wash whatever I want to take to the consignment store next week.....  There is a 50 piece limit - I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to make a second appointment!!

My Opa and I are having a contest now.  Today is the day one of our contest.  We're going see who can lose the most by June 1st when he comes home.  The minimum we HAVE to go for is 10 pounds.  I'm hoping to double that.  We'll see what happens - but this year is going to be my year - I'm going to make it the best I can!!!

Checking things off

Yesterday was a much more motivating day - well, at least the morning was!  As normal, I start my Thursday morning with my TOPS meeting.  I gained 1.25 lbs this week, but I guess that's not too bad considering it was over Christmas.  Coulda been worse!!!  Especially if I wouldn't have had my workouts in!  I didn't get them everyday, but did get them more often than not.  I was just a couple pounds short of my 25 pound year-end goal - I finished the year's meetings down a total of 22.5 pounds.  Not bad considering I was pregnant most of that time!  Time to think about what my goal should be for the next year since we do a 'rededication' at the first January meeting.  I definitely want to hit the 25 pound mark before my 1 year anniversary with TOPS, which is March 24 (Beau's birthday!)

**When I was getting ready to go to my TOPS meeting, I went out to start the car and realized I didn't have my Bluetooth with.  I had left it on the counter since the battery was dead.  Since I was going to be in the car, I prefer to use it so my hands are free.  I went back in the house and was looking all over the counter and couldn't find it at first.  Then I found an old key chain that had been hanging on the hooks over the counter.  The key chain was laying on my Bluetooth.  It was a Guardian Angel key chain. I think someone was leaving me a sign that he knew I was thinking of him :) **

I got a lot done yesterday too!!  I went to my favorite consignment store, where I thought I had about $6 on credit, cuz Scrappy needs another pair of jeans (I recently realized having only 1 pair of jeans is not sufficient for him since khakis don't match everything and sweatpants aren't always appropriate.)  Turns out I had over $10 - a nice surprise!  Since it is the end of the year, she cut me a check for my credits, which I used to pay for his jeans ($5 for a pair of almost new Wranglers?  Works for me!)  I made an appointment while I was there to bring some stuff in next week.  I was surprised she got me in so soon since it's normally 1-2 months out!!  She's looking for 'springtime' stuff, and will always take jeans.  Since cleaning out my storage unit, I've found a lot of clothes that didn't sell at my past garage sales.  These things would be perfect to take up there - just have to make sure they're washed first.  And she has a limit of 50 items per appointment, so once I sort through the clothes I'll have to count what I have.  I know I'll need to make an appointment to take in some summer stuff, maybe a second appointment for spring stuff and/or jeans.  My appointment is for January 5.  The Epilepsy Foundation will be picking up on January 4, so anything I'm not taking to consignment is going to them.  Hubby reminded me to go through the stuff up to 2T so that if/when we have another little one, we have some clothes for him/her.  I found a few old onesies belonging to Scraps that I'm going to hold on to.  I have an 18 gallon tote full of maternity and baby clothes along with other miscellaneous items, like bottles, liners, pumping equipment, etc. 

After the consignment shop, I headed to pay the balance on the property taxes and picked up the other 5 cans of Scrappy's DuoCal.  Went to Shopko to pick up his prescription, but turns out insurance won't cover the saline nebulizer solution.  It's only $19 for 100 vials though.  Too bad I only had $5 on me though, so I couldn't pick it up.

I called hubby as I was leaving town to see if he had plans for lunch since I was coming to town to get the kids.  He didn't so he ordered pizzas to be ready when I got to town since Grammy and Opa had treated us last week and since they had watched the kids.  I told hubby I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, so just asked if he stop and pick up the meds on his way home.  (As it turned out, insurance wouldn't cover mine prescription either, so they had to find a generic and order it in for next day delivery.)

I've been having a lot of pain in my side, next to where my incision is, and there doesn't seem to be any logical reason.  There's no redness and there's no actual injury (cut, rash, anything).  And I didn't know if my incision was healing since I've had a yeast infection in the skin around it.  My doc was out, so I saw is Physician's Assistant.  The yeast infection seems to be clearing up, there is one small spot on my incision that is still open, but looks ok, and he couldn't feel or see anything that would leave him to believe I had an infection.  He thinks the pain is due to nerve damage from the surgery.  We are going to try a topical cream to see if that helps.  If it doesn't, then we'll try with a pill.  I told him I just need something to get through until I have my next OB appointment at Mayo on January 10.  So we'll see what happens.  (I'll have to wait until hubby gets home though.  I have anxiety issues when driving in bad weather - it started raining about the time I went to bed last night, and now has turned to snow.  Which means the roads are slick.  And there are too many idiots out there.  He can just pick it up on his way  home - hopefully!)

By the time we got home, I just wanted to relax.  I was exhausted, but I'm sure it's because I had such awful heartburn I didn't get to bed until after 2, then Scraps woke me up at 6:30.  I love my kids, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I just wish they would sleep - or at least let me sleep.  I was trying to nap while they were watching cartoons and putting puzzles together, but every time I closed my eyes, all I hear is "Mo-om!" as Beau loves to make it into a 2 syllable word. Grrr.  I didn't do anything after getting home except to make supper then lounge again in my recliner.  After hubby got home, I did nap a little bit, then read a little before heading to bed.  My whole body just ached and I didn't know why - just hoped I wasn't getting sick!!

I guess missing a workout really does show!  I didn't do my workout Wednesday because of the all the work with the freezer/refrigerator, and yesterday was too busy and I was too tired.  This morning the kids were begging to play their Monster Jams Wii game, so I figured I better get my workout done before they take over the TV.  I used it as bribery for treatments this morning too :)  So while Scrappy did his vest, I did 51 minutes on the Fit Plus - and I was sweating :)  And my body feels SO much better - especially my back!!

I need to get lunch going for the kids - we're having leftovers.  Going to make an easy supper too - a Banquet family meal we have in the freezer.  Then I can get a little more done around the house today without having to worry about making a mess or taking much time on supper.  Have a lot of sorting to do before the EF comes to pick up! (Plus, since they take stuff in garbage bags, I'll be cleaning out some totes so I have more of them to use for other things!!)

Christmas

It's the day after.  Everything is simmering down.  For the next week I have both children home.  We may be getting to go play outside later this week because of the unusually warm Minnesota weather - it's been over 40 degrees!!  A Christmas without snow makes it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit though.  I haven't been feeling it much this year.

However, I am happy to know I am partially responsible for giving someone the best Christmas present they wanted:  My mom wanted all 4 of us kids together for a picture, and also our kids and significant others.  It's the first time all of us kids have been together (other than Little Warrior's funeral, but that was not the time or place to do it) since my husband and I got married a little over 4 years ago.  Here we are (and yes, most of us are in pajamas since that was the theme this year.  My hoodie and pj pants were the best I was going to be able to do.... hubby passed on the pj idea):

I know the two pictures look almost the same, but as I was checking them out, I noticed something interesting.  Look in the first picture, you may notice some floating spots or orbs in the picture and one right above my husband's head.  In the second picture, we see the orbs again, and this time there is one right on my stomach. 

Now, I'm not majorly superstitious, but I've learned that there are signs in life and it's a matter of if we choose to see or not to see them.  Like I had said last week, I believe that the sun coming out to shine was a sign that our Little Warrior was watching over us and knew we were there to visit him.  I think the orbs in these two pictures are there for a reason.  I think it's his way of letting us know that he knows we're thinking about him and he was there with us.  I think God lets those special people close to us give us signs that they're ok and they're watching over us when we need that comfort and peace.  I told my mom that I thought it was sign from him, and she thinks so too.   When I asked my husband about the orbs, he laughed at me and told me that people would think he was strange if he said what he thought.  But that's because he agreed with me and thought the same.  We have our own guardian angel watching over us.

I spent a somewhat 'lazy' day today with Scrappy hanging out at home.  Beau spent the night having a sleepover with our cousins and rode home with Daddy when he got off work.  Wait - I take back that 'lazy' comment.  I don't think getting 1 1/2 hour workout in counts as lazy, even though it was fun and it was with my new Wii Fit Plus game.  My stomach (someday possibly to be known as my 'abs' - if they truly are buried in there somewhere!!! lol!!) is a little sore from working those muscles.  I've been hesitant to do any abdominal exercises for the past few weeks, but since it's been 6 weeks since my surgery, I thought it should be ok now to try at least a little.  Especially since I consider that to be one of my 'problem areas.'

Since both kids are home for the next week, I have a lot less running to do on a daily basis.  I do have an appointment tomorrow morning, and since we'll be out we need to drop off some payments and run to the grocery store for milk.  I try to only make one trip out, or go when I pick Beau up or drop her off at school I try to get all my running done then and schedule appointments accordingly.  It really makes things easier if I already have Scrappy in the car and don't have to get him out and in the house, take off his coat, hat, and boots, then put them all back on 15 minutes later.

I also told Beau that we need to sort through and get rid of some of her and Scrappy's old toys.  They got plenty of new toys for Christmas, so some things have to go to make room for the new.  They have WAY too many toys.  When I have my garage sale in the spring, there are going to be PLENTY of toys to go.  I'm not going to bother with all the stuffed animals and a lot of the small stuff.  Thankfully the Epilepsy Foundation will be picking up next week, so hopefully I can get a bag or a few bags out for them.

**Note to self - (Since I'm thinking of it right now, I'm gonna write it so I don't forget)... After the 1st of the year, I am going to need to keep better documentation of a few things for tax purposes, especially because of my business.  I need mileage for both vehicles as of January 1.  I'm going to keep a binder with all of Scrappy's medical appointments at Mayo since we can write off the mileage on those too.  I'm also going to create a file for donations since I'll be doing a lot of sorting out and we'll be donating quite a bit.  I need to print out the kids' care sheets too so I have a copy of those on hand for 'emergency reasons' - you never know what's going to happen!  And I suppose I should call to check on the deeds for our cemetery plots.  I thought we would have gotten them by now..... hmmmm....

Well, there's a lot on my plate for tomorrow...  Wish sleeping in was on the list, but that's not in Scrappy's book....  Hopefully after some cleaning, some time with Zumba will be on my plate!!

The Learning Curve

Ok, so I admit - I'm not very technically proficient.  I can use things - once I'm shown how... otherwise it sometimes takes a while to figure them out on my own.  And I don't like reading the instructions since they're usually written in Greek.  (Ok, so I'm making myself to sound lazy now too)

Like my Blackberry.  I still don't know how all the apps and stuff work..

Like my Wii Fit.  I've had it for quite some time, and just made a discovery in the last couple days.  Notice the + dividers on it?

Well, that explains why I just COULD NOT get the hang of doing Advanced Step.  I could do the regular step and the blue side steps.  I had trouble getting the timing down of the green kicks.  And for some reason I would have "missed" steps on the purple steps, in spite of putting both feet up and keeping time.  I was getting VERY frustrated!!  When doing the step, one is on the top half of the board, and the other is on the bottom half.  Stupid me, I was stepping in the MIDDLE of the board and not paying attention to the lines.  DUH!!  I don't think it helps much having a 3 year old Scrappy-man crawling around on the floor all around me as I'm trying to step up and down and side to side from it!! haha - that's a workout all in itself!!

Another thing I've recently learned is about HOW I do my workout.  I've been focusing mostly on doing aerobics - step and boxing - and maybe a few balance games and yoga woven in there.  It's still hard to get into some positions since my stomach is still infected (I REALLY wish it would clear up :/ ).  I've been doing about 30 minutes in the morning and trying to get another 30 in the afternoon.  My discovery?  I have to do more than 30 minutes, because I don't break a sweat until almost 30 minutes!!!  But today I changed things up a little bit.  I made myself do more of the yoga - about 10 minutes before I started anything else.  I did the Basic Step twice, then went to my boxing - but skipped the 3 minute level, which I usually use as a warm up.  I went straight to the advanced 6 minute, and was feeling more of my workout.  I even got brave after doing some Advanced Step and tried Expert boxing!!!  Whew! What a workout!!!  Talk about working those muscles!  And I had sweat running down my forehead - quite uncommon for me!  I must be doing something right now!  I need to start working more yoga and the strength training in..... I'm just really hoping my work shows on the scale tomorrow.....

And a little update on canning... yes I'm still doing a little here and there - did some bean and ham soup.

*Note to self - check Salvation Army for jars.
**Note to self - make more applesauce next year - and in the quart and pint (not half-pint) jars.
***Note to self - can tomatoes instead of freezing next year so have freezer space for meat.

****Note to readers - DO NOT can the chicken stock unless you have a pressure cooker and can use it to seal your jars!!!  My frozen chicken stock came out just fine, but the canned chicken and stock had gone rancid since I just used a hot water bath.  (I've also been told that the hot water bath works IF you boil the jars for 3-4 hours)

Doing it!

I've been keeping quite busy in spite of the emotional turmoil.  It's been a month today since we lost Baden, but I'm holding up as good as can be expected.  I had to go to the college today to pick up some paperwork to appeal 2 classes that I failed so they won't affect my GPA.  According to the counselor, my appeal should be granted based on the circumstances.  It's still hard to believe....

I've been pushing myself along.  I stuck to my workout plan until Thursday.  The kids were at Grammy's, so I took advantage of the time and spent the afternoon wrapping Christmas presents since I can't always count on naptime and Christmas is quickly approaching.  The tree looked rather odd without anything under it too.  There's an imbalance of gifts - Beau seems to have more than Scrappy, but he has some bigger (ie, more expensive) than she does.  Quite a few of hers are smaller gifts.  But they all come out to about the same amount.  I think next year, we need to be sure to set a limit on the dollar amount.  It just seems too easy to get "just one more" thing for one, then for the other.... it's not working for our plans for saving money.

Friday I honestly just didn't have the motivation to do anything, let alone my workout routine.  Saturday morning I woke up with a very, very sore and stiff knee.  I broke my left ankle when I was 2 and believe I had messed up my knee at that time, since I've ALWAYS had problems with my left knee as long as I can remember.  Then, my senior year in high school, I was in a bad car accident and buried my knee in the steering column of my car, which was totalled.  I must seem old, because I can usually predict a change in weather based on how my knee feels.  If it hurts to walk up or down stairs and feels like it's going to give out, it means something's up.  The pain didn't go away until Monday morning, so I resumed my workout on the Fit and upped it to an hour, followed with 45 minutes today.

I've been trying several different strategies on how to cut down on costs since I'm still not back to work yet.  My plan is to start up again in January - hoping my clients agree!!!!  In January, I'm due for an upgrade on my cell phone.  Unlike many people, I'm going to do just the opposite and downgrade.  I have a smartphone right now - Blackberry Curve - which I love, but realistically the costs are just CRAZY.  I need to check into other plans for the smartphone, but I know the cheapest way to go right now with our provider is to eliminate the data plan.  That will free up some of my meager pay to go towards other bills.  I've also eliminated another $35 monthly bill by giving up my storage unit.  I have had it for 5 years, and much of the stuff in there has never been touched.  There are totes upon totes of toys that the kids don't even know they HAVE, and the ridiculous amount of stuffed animals and too small clothes.  My plan is to have a garage sale in the spring, or maybe 2, and then try to consign some of the stuff that doesn't sell and donate some to the Epilepsy Foundation.  I love donating to them, particularly since they will pick up donations curbside, rain or shine.

I have become absolutely addicted to a frugality website I found when looking for a recipe for homemade baby wipes.  No, I didn't make the wipes, but I've found many of the tips Heather posts to be quite helpful.  I'm currently undertaking her Pantry Challenge which has actually helped with my menu planning.  I've started cooking some things I haven't made in a while.  The only exceptions to the challenge for me right now is that Christmas is this week, so I will have to do some cooking to take a few treats to my aunt's on Christmas Eve, and the fact that we get WIC, which cover some of the items listed, but there are a few other items on there that aren't "staples."  My husband isn't on board with the challenge, but I'm going to do my best anyway.  For example, yesterday for lunch Scrappy and I had homemade pork fried rice made completely with on hand items and using up leftover pork roast from a couple nights ago.  Last night I made chicken enchilada casserole.  I didn't have any enchilada sauce, but with a quick online search, I found a recipe for a homemade one and I had all the necessary ingredients on hand :)  I had leftover sauce, which I'll try to use later this week, and honestly it was a LOT better than the store-bought packages!!  I would LOVE to make homemade bread, since that's one ingredient that's not listed as a staple, but my husband prefers store-bought bread for sandwiches :( Maybe I'll make it anyway, and maybe he'll change his mind....  Maybe....  Beau was upset that she didn't get any fried rice, so tonight I made chicken fried rice to placate her.  My poor family - they may be eating a lot of oatmeal and rice the next couple weeks since we have both coming out our ears :/  So, like I said, I'm trying the challenge with a few modifications!

I need to go check out the local second hand stores in the next couple weeks.... my vacuum sealer decided it wanted to die on me now that I finally FOUND it again.  So that is going to need to be replaced.  I had called my mom to see if I could borrow her bread machine to see how much I would use one IF I had one.... but she doesn't have it anymore.  She traded it to my aunt.  So maybe I'll see if I can find a used one for cheap.

And I know I've said it before, but I'm trying to get a schedule set to do some blogging more often.  I'm happy that I've been doing pretty good with organizing and sorting throughout the house.  It helps that I do my workout in the mornings - I have SO much more energy to get other things done.  I've been trying to get 2 workouts in when possible.  I do my morning one while Scrappy is doing to nebby and vest treatments and try to get the second one in when he is napping.  (For those who don't know me/my family personally, Scrappy has Cystic Fibrosis, which is the main reason we decided to sacrifice having 2 full-time incomes for 1 full- and 1 part-time... and he's been a LOT healthier!!)

The last 2 weeks, I've gained a total of just over 4 pounds at TOPS, and I'm not too happy with it.  Hopefully all this work will start to pay off soon.  And the fact that I've really cut down on how much Coke I drink and been cooking healthier.  Now only if I wasn't eating so much... time to break the chia out!!!!

What's Next?

It's been over a month since my last entry - again.  Today marks what would have been the one month birthday of my darling baby boy.  I don't have the heart, or control of the emotions, to re-write all that has happened with my angel, but he has left us.  He is no longer in pain.  You can read his story and his battle at www.caringbridge.org/visit/BadenScot. 

My doctor has helped with getting my emotions under control with some new medications.  The anxiety and the depression are under better control - it's not easy to deal with in the slightest.  So I've decided to focus on taking care of myself more. 

I've given up on using my gym membership.  Maybe if there was a gym on this side of town, I wouldn't have as much of an issue actually GOING.  But warming up the car, driving across town and fighting traffic, just gives me another reason to procrastinate.  The time of day is another reason to procrastinate - I'd either have to go early in the morning before hubby goes to work, or at night after he gets home.  Lately he's been putting in more overtime to make up for the time he took off with my hospital stay and the funeral.  This includes working Saturdays.  He's also making up for me not working since we decided, especially with the holidays, that I'm taking off the rest of the year.  (Partly because of my surgery, partly because people just don't have the money for shows during Christmas.)  I can't take the kids with me, and I can't afford to pay for a sitter just so I can go.

I'm going to try something a little different.  My hubby got me a Wii Fit 2 1/2 years ago as a present.  I hate to say it hasn't been used as much as I had planned to use it.  I've started getting into a habit of making it part of my daily routine this past week though!!  That is my new plan - to put in 30 minutes most days of the week, if not more.  I'm on Day 5 right now and have been doing pretty good so far!!  Yesterday I also started doing the dance workout setting on the Wii using Beau's Disney Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) and the dance mat.  It gives the option of choosing to burn a certain number of calories or going for a time, and I use the time option.  15 minutes yesterday and 30 today.  The first 3 days I started with the Fit, I was doing the Fit 2 times per day.  Yesterday and today I did one workout on the DDR and one with the Fit (I only did half of my Fit workout so far - I'm going to do some more when Scraps goes down for a nap...)

So where is my weight-loss effort sitting at right now?  When Baden was born, I was still down 6 pounds from my start weight.  I went back to TOPS on Dec 1 and my loss for the day was 20 pounds.  Last week, Dec 8, I did gain back a little bit - I was up 2 3/4 pounds.  But I also wasn't eating the best and drinking a TON of Coke every day.  I'm getting that back into moderation again.  Let's see how this week goes!!