busy good

Those two words describe how things have been lately. I haven't taken the time to write anything down and then I forget all that's going on...

Case in point, Emma has a band concert tonight, and I somehow missed it even after my non-resolution to be on top of things. FAIL! Okay, it's mid March and this is the first thing I've missed, so that's pretty good. And I didn't miss it, I just didn't know about it.

My 'diet' is going just fine. I took the weekend off, and it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I'm trying to stick to the same type of foods and portion sizes. Saturday was fine, but Sunday was not good because we were gone all day with soccer. And last night I was gone from 4:15 until after 8:30, so I ended up having pizza with Ev at the Sports Bar. (best pizza, BTW!). So I'm gonna just roll with the punches, and not get down when things aren't going just right. And eat less. That's okay too!

I worked out in the garden today for a few hours. I am so stiff and sore. I got the main pump in the pond running and cleaned out the filters, trimmed all the dead plant tops off, and sucked up an entire garbage can worth of leaves out of the beds. It's looking pretty good. Much more work to be done, but off to a good start.

And it's become obvious that I am going to need some new mulch this year. Jen? Trip to Michigan in your future??

I took this photo a few nights ago, and already the buds have gotten so much bigger. they are fuzzy now, ready to turn into new leaves. I can almost believe that spring is here!!

The Meal Plan

Way back at the beginning of the year I wrote some non-resolutions , with the first being to be on top of things. It's going well so far...I haven't missed any of those pesky teacher-work days, nor have I forgotten to sign and send in any permission slips.

One of the ways I am achieving my goal is having a bi-weekly meal plan. I sort of got the idea from Nicole, who is crazy and does an entire month at a time. (Ha! Just wait until her kids start developing weird eating habits or sign up for sports, then we'll see if she can still stick to a whole month pre-planned.) Then I put my own spin on it. Plan out the meals for 2 weeks, and do all the shopping at once.

Of course I do have to pop into the store to replentish milk and veggies and the occasional forgotten item, but I am not going to Kroger 5 times a week anymore! Therefore, I am saving my family money by taking unnecessary trips into the palace of delicious things.

Having the list written out and posted on the fridge also eliminates the constant questioning about what we are having for dinner. If you want to know, get up and see for yourself.

Also, the stress? Gone! I already know what's for dinner, so I don't need to try and figure it out at 5:30 each night. Far and away the best part of the whole deal!

And! The meals are interchangeable! If I should happen to not feel like cooking pot roast on Tuesday, I switch it with another days' meal. I already have the ingredients, so I'm covered. Helpful for nights when you notice that ham & pork loin are right next to each other. Whoopsie! (this might have happened this week.)

I forgot to build in a leftover day, always popular in these parts. You would think that I am scraping food out of the trash bin to feed them. I'm getting better at calculating proportions so we don't have as many leftovers, but some days are a total crapshoot. Some days Emma eats like a bird. Some days, like a horse. Hard to know which animal I'm going to get.

We are also eating better. I am buying less pre-prepared stuff and making things from scratch. Buying in bulk and then freezing stuff right away, like fruit and veggies. We drink a lot of smoothies and smoothie kits are expensive! So are veggies. And I never seem to have any in the house that aren't freezerburned beyond recognition.

Last week, we made homemade pizza from scratch. It wasn't the world's best za or anything, but Evan & I had a lot of fun kneading the dough, and cutting up all the ingredients. We know that next time we need to roll it thinner, use more sauce and double the cheese! We made it though, and that counts for something.

Monday re-do

This joker stayed home from school today. He claims to be 'sick'. And while he has spent the day laying low, there is no fever, no aches, no cough, no discernable sign of illness at all. {Lest you think me unsympathetic, last night he said that his legs were shaky and his feet were red. He has a million excuses stored up in his noggin}

So my Monday routine was hampered by kid. Bah. If all goes according to plan, tomorrow I'll get a Monday re-do. Except that I have to go to the grocery store. Double bah. I'm trying to meal plan for two weeks, and get all the things I need for those meals and have them in the house {see: be on top of things}. Which turns out to be the easy part. I also have to empty out the fridge and look thru the cupboards to see what ingredients I already have. The sucky, not so easy part. I'll see how the meal planning thing goes. In theory it's full of the awesome! But my reality involves 2 nights of driving to soccer practice during peak mealtime hours, and there are just so many thing I can make in the crock pot.

Sayonara!

a non-resolution or two

I hate resoloutions. I never write them down and never EVER keep them. I was thinking the other day in the shower (where all great plans are hatched, btw) and I have a list of not-so-much resolutions as things I want to change for the better. This year would be good. I'm not going to get all crazy if I don't manage to stick to them, but it would be helpful (to me) and eventually to everyone if I did!

• Be on top of things. Get your mind out of the gutter, people. Every year I tend to let things creep up on me, like the end of the school year, the November birthday onslaught, Spring Break. And for some reason, I am amazed that these events are occuring, like I had no pre-existing knowledge of them, and have to scramble at the last minute to pull myself together. Every year come October I know I'm going to need to shut down the garden. Just do it and be done with it. Enough of the 'I was gonna..."
• Be kinder to myself. You are gonna forget things, You are gonna mess up. You are gonna piss people off. Own up to it, apologize and move on. Stop beating yourself up over every little mistake already. Stop trying to crawl into a hole to escape.
• Be more active. In other words, I'm going to get off my fat ass and do something!! I keep saying that I am going to change, but it will never happen unless I force myself to get moving. I'm not expecting to look like a supermodel by the end of the year or anything, but it would sure be nice to go into a store and buy something cute to wear. It would be fantastic to not feel self concsious about my weight and appearance. I can't remember the last time I felt really good about myself. I plan to change that this year.
• Be creative, or be done with it. Scrapbooking, I'm talkin' to you. I have my own room filled to the brim with scrapping supplies and I haven't touched it in 2 years. 2 years. Either decide to jump back into it and use some of this shit or be done with it! Sell it, donate it, have a bonfire, I don't care. I need to make a choice this year. I also have to let go of the embarrasement over how much $$$ was spent on all these suppllies.
• Be balanced. work, play. Junk food, good food. Have to, want to. Me time, them time. Gotta try to get it in balance. I was diong this well for awhile and then it sort of went to hell in a handbasket. Balance is key.
• Be pro-active about my health. This one is really hard for me. I am great at making appointments, lousy at keeping them, and even worse at follow up. I hate going to the doctor, and I have suffered for it. I need to go. My headaches are under control because I went to the neurologist this fall. Imagine that! So now the next thing is going to the girly doctor nomatterhowmuchitkillsme and deal with my painful periods. I need to go to the dermatologist and have my moles checked, and about a thousand skin tags removed. I need to get a mammogram. I need to stop acting like I am 15 and will live forever.
• Be a participant in my own life. I forget to do this a lot, actually. I get caught up in all the 'have to do' things that I forget to have fun. I forget to enjoy my kids. I forget to call my friends. The longer I wait, the harder it is to reestablish those contacts and I get further away from the person I want to be.

Whew, that's a lot of self improvement to be had. I'm tired just thinking about how mature and fabulous I'm going to be.

That being said, I will smack you if come up to me on the street and say something smart assed like 'Shouldn't you be working out?' A girl should only be so fabulous a little bit at a time.