Weight Watchin' and other miscellany

Steve's surgery went very well. I am doing better with the lawn care, but it's not as pretty as when Steve does it. Oh, well, at least it's done. In about 2 weeks, he gets the weedeater back.

For the past few weeks, he and I have been talking about needing to lose weight. We're both tired of being fat, not having any energy, and not being able to do the things we want to do. We also want to set a better example for Jacob. On Tuesday night, we joined Weight Watchers. Both of us had successfully done WW in the past, on our own, but thought if we go together, and stick to the plan, it will give us more motivation. The hard part is, he gets more daily points than I do, and I'm the one fixing all of his food.

In addition to the other reasons above, I just want to feel attractive. I know my husband thinks I'm sexy, but I want to look sexy for him. I want to stop having to shop in the plus size stores. I want to buy underwear that don't include the words "Just My Size" on the package. And who, exactly, decided that plus size women either have unlimited budgets (I'm looking at you, Lane Bryant!) or want big old flowers and sequins on every article of clothing they own? So to accomplish this, I'm sticking to the plan. I'm counting the points in everything I eat, every single BLT (bite, lick, or taste). I will do it this time, for good.

College classes are now out for the summer, so I'm at home now. I'm still teaching four courses online over the summer to earn some extra money. We're going to fence in the backyard and buy a pool. We've gotten estimates, and determined the amount I will be earning extra will do both of these, plus eliminate the rest of our debt, except for my car payment. After all the credit cards and doctor bills are paid off, we'll be first adding to our emergency fund to get it to the $5K mark, then doubling up on my car payments. All of this should be done by next May.

Jacob will be out of school next week. We're going to have "Math Camp" here over the summer, he is really struggling with basic multiplication. Does anyone have any fun ideas that will help multiplication stick for him?

Well, gotta run! There's laundry to fold, beds to make, and supper to calculate and cook.

A Change of Plans

Steve has been having some trouble with pain in his elbow. On Thursday, we went to see a specialist, who did some x-rays and testing, and determined that Steve has no cartilidge in his elbow, just the bones of his elbow and forearm rubbing together. Painful enough in itself, but he also has a twisted nerve that is getting trapped between the two bones. Ouch! The doctor recommended surgery, and then told us he had an opening on Monday, just 4 days later. The surgery will leave him unable to use his arm and hand for around 6 weeks.

We came home Thursday night, picked up Jacob at my parent's house, and I got a crash course in using the lawn mower and the weedeater. We also worked until after dark on the landscaping, as we had just bought a truckload of landscaping rock. Most of the rock is unloaded in the flowerbeds now, but there is still about a fourth of a truckload left for me to do when the weather clears up. Yesterday (Friday) it rained all day and through the night, and today it is drizzling rain, cold, and windy, so the rocks will have to wait.

We spent the morning doing some deep cleaning in the house, so it will be a bit easier for me since I'll have all the indoor and outdoor chores to do by myself until Steve is able to help me. This afternoon, I'm working on some papers for my classes, trying to get a few weeks ahead, so I can adjust to my new life style. I sat down and came up with a new schedule so the major stuff gets done as it needs it.

6:30 am: wake up, dress in workout clothes, wake Jacob. Fix breakfast, empty the dishwasher, and start the laundry. Jacob dresses for school, eats breakfast, feeds the animals, and washes face, hands, and brushes teeth.
7:15: Jacob gets on the bus, I work out for 30-45 minutes, then reboot the laundry.
8:00: Shower, get dressed/hair/makeup for work. Fix work lunch, fix Steve's lunch and put in the mircrowave for him.
9:00 Fold and put away laundry, thaw meat for supper or put in crock pot, any supper preps that I can get to.
10:00: Leave for work.
4:00: Home. Change out of work clothes, put dishes in dishwasher, make our bed. Jacob does his chores, start on supper, clean while supper cooks.
5:30: Supper
6:00: Kitchen clean-up, Jacob loads and starts dishwasher and sweeps kitchen, 10 minute tidy of the living room.
6:30: Homework for me and Jacob
8:00: Jacob shower, teeth, jammies.
8:30: Jacob in bed, can read or watch TV until lights out at 9:00.
9:00: time with hubby. Watch a movie or some TV. I usually read or sew or crochet while we're watching.
11:00: Lights out for me.

Daily cleaning must-do's:
1 load of laundry, dishes, counters in kitchen, sweep kitchen, food preps.

Day by Day cleaning tasks:
Monday: Sweep (Jacob) and mop kitchen, bathrooms, and entry
Tuesday: dust all furniture: Living Room, Bedrooms, Hall
Wednesday: Clean bathroom counters, tubs, and toilets. Make grocery list.
Thursday: Grocery shop on the way home from work. vacuum all carpets (Jacob), clean mirrors and windows (inside only)
Friday: Family night (movies or games)
Saturday: mow and weedeat. If it's raining, do Monday and Tuesday cleaning, then mow those nights. Homework for me.
Sunday: Church, meal plan for week. Bring up food for week from basement pantry and freezers. Rest.


Menu planning:
Breakfasts: cold cereal with milk, oatmeal with fruit, eggs and turkey sausage, peanut butter toast
Lunches: Jacob eats at school, I take a sandwich or supper leftovers or a frozen Weight Watchers meal. I fix Steve leftovers or a sandwich, or he finds something he can fix.
Supper: changes weekly. I will be focusing on easy to prepare foods that don't require a lot of time from me. I'm searching for some good crockpot meals, so I can just dump it all in before work.

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

I am joining up at 5 minutes for mom ultimate blog party 2011. If you are a new visitor, welcome! Have a seat!

I am Amanda, married to my best friend Steve! We have one son, Jacob, and an assorted menagerie of animals that currently includes a cat named Mittens, a poodle named Patrick, and a bunny named Floppy. I enjoy making things, growing my own produce, canning, even when it doesn't always work like I planned. I'd love to live on a farm someday, and be able to have even more animals.

We have dreams of self-sufficiency, and even though we won't be entirely self-sufficient, we enjoy working together and making things. I like use what we have to make what we need. Sometimes it's an experiment that works, and sometimes it doesn't. We live and learn.

So what can you expect from me? Posts about crocheting, sewing, canning, gardening, occasional rants. You may see some book reviews, because I like to read, and like getting free books. You won't see much adver-blogging, though. This is just my daily life, I'll be posting about that.

Weekend Wrap-up

This weekend I:
Planted 8 trees (2 apple, 2 cherry, 2 peach, and 2 pear)

Planted 10 fruit shrubs/vines (5 blueberry, 2 grape, 1 raspberry, 1 blackberry, and 1fig)

Tilled the garden, covered it in fertilizer and started covering it in plastic to kill the weeds.

Laughed in delight as my son caught an abandoned baby rabbit that's been hanging around for a week.

Made an after hours phone call to the vet to find out how to care for the rabbit.

Made an impromptu run to Wal-Mart at 9:30 pm to buy baby food sweet potatoes for said rabbit.

Cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom.


Finished writing a 10 page paper.

Spent quality family time snuggled up on the couch watching movies together.

Thanked the Lord for my family, the animals, the beautiful weather, and the abundant blessings He provides.


Note: this was also posted on my other blog.

A Time to Plant...

Well, almost time to plant! It's time to start prepping for this year's garden. Last night, we bought a tiller and started tilling and raking up the dead grass. It will take a few days to complete this.

This year, we are planting watermelon, lettuce, corn, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, peas, cantaloupe, celery, cauliflower, bell peppers, broccoli, radishes, and several types of tomatoes. And some strawberries. I'll probably also do a few herbs in pots on the deck.

Currently, we have 3 blueberry shrubs, a plum tree, and a nectarine tree. This year, we are adding 5 more blueberry shrubs, and 2 each of these trees: apple, peach, pear, and cherry. We will eat fresh throughout the summer, and I'll can, freeze, or dehydrate whatever possible. I plan to get a pressure canner this year, so I'll be able to can even more than last year with just my waterbath canner.

Are you gardening this year? What do you plan to do?

Help needed!

I've mentioned before, I think, that I'm working on a doctorate in marketing. the topic of a current paper I'm working on is the ethics of marketing to children. This may possibly be the topic of my dissertation as well. If you have children (or grandchildren) do you let them use the internet? What ages are they? What websites do you let them visit? Please feel free to comment on this anonymously if you prefer. I'm just collecting info on the advertisers of the websites geared to children, not looking to stalk anyone.

Thanks!

Preparing for the Pantry Challenge

(okay, I've never added pictures from my camera to blogger before. I don't know why they are all at the top of the page, but that is the over-the-fridge freezer, my closet pantry, and one of the kitchen cupboards)

Heather is having a pantry challenge in the month of February, and I have decided to join in. I have recently posted the inventory from my freezer and the cupoboards. I did go to the store last week to stock up on a few sales, spending a total of $83.00 between two stores. This is what I bought at Kroger:
15 lbs flour
3 (24) packs of drinking water
10 Totino's pizzas
4 half-gallons of chocolate milk
8 (1 lb) blocks of assorted cheese
4 packages Annies Organic mac and cheese
1.21 lbs tomatoes
1.78 lbs grapes
2 boxes saltine crackers
1 lb carrots


After I left Kroger, I drove to the next town over to an Amish bulk store, and purchased the following:
.52 lbs bacon bits
.67 lbs sour cream and onion powder
.48 lbs cheddar cheese powder
.66 lbs nacho cheese powder
.32 lbs cheesy bacon and potato soup mix(This prepared with a dash of red pepper sauce tastes exactly like O'Charley's Potato Soup)
.74 lbs vanilla pudding mix
.79 lbs choclate pudding mix
.62 lbs whip topping mix
.87 lbs cherry gelatin
.32 lbs grape gelatin
1.31 lbs sea salt

I will need to buy milk, eggs, and sandwich bread throughout February, but that is it. Hopefully I can save by staying out of the grocery, and apply that money to reducing our debt