I don't know if it's the economy, the return of fall (thank goodness!), nesting, or preparing to live with my income cut in half (I'm only going back to work part time after Caitlyn is born), but lately I have the urge to hunker down and get cozy.
I've started restocking the pantry - I could actually see the shelves in several places, which makes me nervous, like we don't have enough food on hand (odd, since I haven't been hungry a day in my life, but I'm weird that way). We cleaned out the big freezer (I still need to do the little one), and now I'm prepping food for easy meals come December. I have a list to work from, and I've decided to make one thing each weekend, as my schedule allows. Last weekend I made a big batch of meatballs, enough for four meals. We ate one as spaghetti and meatballs, and three went into the freezer.
I've gotten back on the internet (as much as my sore tailbone will allow, anyway), and am back to reading the frugal websites. I've also put down the childbirth books (I'll pick them up again in a week or two, I'm sure), and have gone back to reading my cookbooks, refreshing my meal ideas.
Although I let my garden go this year, I've been keeping an eye on what's still out there, thinking about how I can salvage it with my limited energy (which has come back a little bit in the last week or so, amazingly). Same with the apples that my parents didn't take - I gave them most of them, but there are still some left on the tree.
I've reworked the budget a couple of different times, just to see how much we can save even though our income will go down. Like everyone, our big savings has been drastically cut with the dip in the market, but I know it will come back eventually, and I know that now is the time to be setting more away if we can.
We're working on some big house projects that we want to finish before Caitlyn arrives. The new heating and cooling system will be installed on Monday; we got a new garage door opener yesterday (the old one hadn't worked since shortly after we moved in). I don't know if we'll get our pathways installed in the front yard this year or not, depends on the weather, but at least we finally have grass!
We have about two years' worth of firewood in our backyard, so bring on the cold!
All in all, I'm rapidly becoming a major homebody, more than normal. Now I just have to get my schedule to accommodate that urge!
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Decluttering, continued
Ok, ok, so the decluttering is going in fits and spurts, rather than on a consistent, week to week basis. BUT...today's a cleaning day (well, hubby is cleaning, I'm doing bits and pieces but generally sitting around and hoping he doesn't notice, LOL!).
We're about to take a load to Goodwill, and it has, among other things, an old free weight set, my Ouija board that I've had for about 15 years and only used once or twice, a box of misc. kitchen crap, seven VHS movies (I'm slowly replacing my VHS stuff with DVDs), a garden watering kit we bought, hated, and never returned, an old TV, a bunch of old computer stuff, and who knows what else - the truck is looking kind of full! So, see, even though it's not consistent, at least it's happening! Have to do SOMETHING to make up for the piles of baby stuff that keep making their way into the house!
Next weekend is a hazardous waste pickup not too far from my house, so we'll be getting rid of even more. Yay!
We're about to take a load to Goodwill, and it has, among other things, an old free weight set, my Ouija board that I've had for about 15 years and only used once or twice, a box of misc. kitchen crap, seven VHS movies (I'm slowly replacing my VHS stuff with DVDs), a garden watering kit we bought, hated, and never returned, an old TV, a bunch of old computer stuff, and who knows what else - the truck is looking kind of full! So, see, even though it's not consistent, at least it's happening! Have to do SOMETHING to make up for the piles of baby stuff that keep making their way into the house!
Next weekend is a hazardous waste pickup not too far from my house, so we'll be getting rid of even more. Yay!
Friday, October 03, 2008
Back up and running
Phew - it was just the router. We're back in business, folks! Yay! Thanks to the good folks at Verizon and UPS for getting us back up and running just when they said they would.
On another note, we're getting quotes this week to replace our furnace and put in an air conditioner. Them suckers are EXPENSIVE! Apparently we're lucky our furnace has lasted this long - both people who've come out to give us estimates said that most last 15 - 18 years, and ours is 24. I guess it's time! So, just when our income is about to be drastically cut, we're going to plunk down a huge chunk of change to put in the new system. Oh, and we ordered a new garage door opener last night, because it hasn't worked since we moved in and the door spring finally broke a few weeks ago. Ka-ching!
Between those and the stock market, my kitchen remodel is getting farther and farther away. It's ok, I can wait. I'm comforted by the fact that, once these purchases are made, about the only thing in this house that we haven't replaced since we moved in four and a half years ago is the water heater, which isn't original so hopefully it will hold out a while longer!
This homeowner stuff sure gets expensive sometimes...
On another note - tonight we start birth preparation class. Time's flying by!
On another note, we're getting quotes this week to replace our furnace and put in an air conditioner. Them suckers are EXPENSIVE! Apparently we're lucky our furnace has lasted this long - both people who've come out to give us estimates said that most last 15 - 18 years, and ours is 24. I guess it's time! So, just when our income is about to be drastically cut, we're going to plunk down a huge chunk of change to put in the new system. Oh, and we ordered a new garage door opener last night, because it hasn't worked since we moved in and the door spring finally broke a few weeks ago. Ka-ching!
Between those and the stock market, my kitchen remodel is getting farther and farther away. It's ok, I can wait. I'm comforted by the fact that, once these purchases are made, about the only thing in this house that we haven't replaced since we moved in four and a half years ago is the water heater, which isn't original so hopefully it will hold out a while longer!
This homeowner stuff sure gets expensive sometimes...
On another note - tonight we start birth preparation class. Time's flying by!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sigh....
our internet has crapped out, and we don't know if it's the router or the motherboard. Pray it's the router because if it's the motherboard we have to send it back to the manufacturer (it's under warranty), which means we'll be without a computer entirely and I'm not sure we could survive that!
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a profile picture of Caitlyn at almost 29 weeks. We hit 30 weeks this past Saturday - just 10 to go!
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a profile picture of Caitlyn at almost 29 weeks. We hit 30 weeks this past Saturday - just 10 to go!
Monday, September 01, 2008
Decluttering, weeks 2 and 3
Hubby decided we needed to clean, and we got rid of so much stuff this weekend that it's good for a couple of weeks, I think.
During the week, I decluttered my email boxes by unsubscribing from seven lists that I never read. I also cleaned out the veggie bin in the big freezer and tossed some really old, dried out fruits and veggies to make way for the beets and beans that I harvested and prepped last weekend.
This weekend, we took a load to Goodwill, which, in addition to all the other stuff that's been accumulating by the front door for about a month, included
- 15 tablecloths that don't fit any of our tables
- two sets of place mats
- eight doorknobs (we're replacing the knobs on all our inside doors)
- three sets of hinges (we're replacing those, too - we just haven't taken them all off yet)
and an old shredder we don't use anymore.
We also took two garbage bags of pop cans back to the grocery store (only five more to go - we don't take them very often!).
To the "stuff to give to my dad" recycling box (he recycles metal and gives the proceeds to the Boy Scouts), we added three old doorknob sets (our old outside door knobs, and we must have tossed the keys because we can't find them) and a set of car chains for a car we no longer have.
And, finally, this afternoon we cleaned out the rest of the big freezer and got rid of a bunch of old, dried out food that we'll never eat.
That's definitely more than seven things, so I'm counting it good for last week and this.
Next week, I clean out the medicine cupboard and the medicine box in the bathroom!
During the week, I decluttered my email boxes by unsubscribing from seven lists that I never read. I also cleaned out the veggie bin in the big freezer and tossed some really old, dried out fruits and veggies to make way for the beets and beans that I harvested and prepped last weekend.
This weekend, we took a load to Goodwill, which, in addition to all the other stuff that's been accumulating by the front door for about a month, included
- 15 tablecloths that don't fit any of our tables
- two sets of place mats
- eight doorknobs (we're replacing the knobs on all our inside doors)
- three sets of hinges (we're replacing those, too - we just haven't taken them all off yet)
and an old shredder we don't use anymore.
We also took two garbage bags of pop cans back to the grocery store (only five more to go - we don't take them very often!).
To the "stuff to give to my dad" recycling box (he recycles metal and gives the proceeds to the Boy Scouts), we added three old doorknob sets (our old outside door knobs, and we must have tossed the keys because we can't find them) and a set of car chains for a car we no longer have.
And, finally, this afternoon we cleaned out the rest of the big freezer and got rid of a bunch of old, dried out food that we'll never eat.
That's definitely more than seven things, so I'm counting it good for last week and this.
Next week, I clean out the medicine cupboard and the medicine box in the bathroom!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
26 weeks
Well, we're heading into the third trimester - I hit 26 weeks today. I feel a lot more pregnant than that, though. My hips are sore, my tailbone is KILLING me, I wake up two or three times a night because there's a head squishing my bladder, I barely have an appetite, and my feet look like balloons most days.
I can't even imagine what it's going to be like come late November, as I head into the last couple of weeks!
But I'm not complaining, really! Things are still going well. Compared to a lot of women I know, my pregnancy is a breeze. It's the weirdest thing, watching her kick me (my whole belly jumps sometimes), feeling her spin around, randomly losing my breath as she smashes my lungs. Utterly fascinating.
I can't even imagine what it's going to be like come late November, as I head into the last couple of weeks!
But I'm not complaining, really! Things are still going well. Compared to a lot of women I know, my pregnancy is a breeze. It's the weirdest thing, watching her kick me (my whole belly jumps sometimes), feeling her spin around, randomly losing my breath as she smashes my lungs. Utterly fascinating.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Declutterng - week one
I've decided to look at this decluttering thing more as seven things a week than one thing a day. And at this point, it's a lot more about cleaning up than about getting rid of actual stuff - we're not so good at, say, taking the recycling out of the bathroom on a regular basis. So maybe this will help!
Anyway, last week I either gave away, tossed, or added to the Goodwill box (which will someday make it to Goodwill):
1. Five boxes to a friend that's moving
2. bubble and foam wrap to the same friend
3. two old light fixtures
4. four pairs of unworn underwear that will never fit me (washed them before I tried them so I couldn't return them, darn it all!)
5. a book I finished with and will never read again
6. a pile of toothpaste boxes off the bathroom counter
7. some perfectly good skin care products that I will never use
All in all, a good first week!
Anyway, last week I either gave away, tossed, or added to the Goodwill box (which will someday make it to Goodwill):
1. Five boxes to a friend that's moving
2. bubble and foam wrap to the same friend
3. two old light fixtures
4. four pairs of unworn underwear that will never fit me (washed them before I tried them so I couldn't return them, darn it all!)
5. a book I finished with and will never read again
6. a pile of toothpaste boxes off the bathroom counter
7. some perfectly good skin care products that I will never use
All in all, a good first week!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
365 days of decluttering
Just ran across this blog posting, and I'm taking the challenge!
That's right. Starting today, for the next 365 days, I'm going to donate, recycle, or toss one unused thing from my house. Granted, I may take a few weeks off in, oh, December or so, but I'll have to get rid of multiple stuff (like that box of stuff to go to Goodwill that's been sitting by the front door for weeks) on other days to make up for it!
Today, I started with the alumni magazines I know I'll never read...
That's right. Starting today, for the next 365 days, I'm going to donate, recycle, or toss one unused thing from my house. Granted, I may take a few weeks off in, oh, December or so, but I'll have to get rid of multiple stuff (like that box of stuff to go to Goodwill that's been sitting by the front door for weeks) on other days to make up for it!
Today, I started with the alumni magazines I know I'll never read...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Cheddar-Bacon Muffins
I haven't posted a recipe for a while, and Amy's been going through withdrawals, so here's one I made today. Even hubby likes these, and he doesn't like muffins. They'd be perfect with a big bowl of potato soup on a cold winter's night (yes, I know it's 80 degrees outside - a girl can dream, can't she???).
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded cheddar (medium works just fine, but sharp gives it that extra zip)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (gives it a little heat, but not too much)
1 tbsp. dried minced onion
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon (sometimes I cook up some bacon and keep it in the freezer for this, other times I just use bacon bits (the real stuff, not the Bacos).
In a large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. Add eggs, milk and oil all at once, stir just to combine. Mix in bacon. Spoon into greased muffin tins (about 2/3 full or so), and bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
You can also make this into squares by pouring into a greased 9x12 pan and baking for 35 minutes or so, until your toothpick comes out clean.
I always store these in the fridge - I don't know if that's necessary or not, but leaving something with cheese and bacon out on the counter gives me the heebeejeebees!
Enjoy!
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded cheddar (medium works just fine, but sharp gives it that extra zip)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (gives it a little heat, but not too much)
1 tbsp. dried minced onion
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon (sometimes I cook up some bacon and keep it in the freezer for this, other times I just use bacon bits (the real stuff, not the Bacos).
In a large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. Add eggs, milk and oil all at once, stir just to combine. Mix in bacon. Spoon into greased muffin tins (about 2/3 full or so), and bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
You can also make this into squares by pouring into a greased 9x12 pan and baking for 35 minutes or so, until your toothpick comes out clean.
I always store these in the fridge - I don't know if that's necessary or not, but leaving something with cheese and bacon out on the counter gives me the heebeejeebees!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Getting Ready
Phew - time is flying by! I've had a couple of comments about how I should be blogging my pregnancy and all, but really, these days I'm lucky if I get on the computer for 20 minutes a day, which almost gives me time to clear out all my junk mail! So my apologies for being MIA, but things are going well.
It's hard to believe, but we're more than halfway there. I'm 21 weeks along now, so in 17 - 21 weeks we'll have a little one in our arms. For those of you who haven't heard, it's a girl - we found out a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Caitlyn Claire, and I don't expect that to change unless she suddenly sprouts a penis!
We've been hard at work getting things ready - hubby got the nesting instinct so bad I'm beginning to think it's just going to pass me right by! We've painted the nursery (periwinkle blue and purple) except for the trim, bought our furniture and crib bedding, and have already started accepting hand-me-downs from friends and family who have been waiting for this for years (literally) and are eager to get stuff out of their closets and attics!
I've started our first baby registry. Feels a little early, but people have been asking, so I guess I should get on board. I'll do one more, so people have two stores to choose from. Registering is really difficult, since we'll have so many people giving us things. I have no idea what we're going to get so I have no idea what we'll still need! I know my hormones are seriously at play when it comes to this, because, while I'm so excited (and truly grateful) that we have so many generous people in our lives who can't wait to shower us with the things their children no longer need, it kind of takes the magic out of registering because I don't get to have the fun of looking at all the options and figuring out what I like best, like I did when we did our wedding registry. Of course, that makes me sound like an ungrateful selfish cow but, like I said, let's blame it on the hormones. Heck, we're blaming just about everything on the hormones these days!
On the whole, everything is going really, really well. Caitlyn is healthy, and she must be strong - I'm getting kicked A LOT, which is pretty darn cool! I just wish she'd flip over sometimes so I can get it somewhere besides my bladder, but I'm living with it. We have another ultrasound on August 22, to check her growth (since I'm a "fluffy" person, shall we say, my weight gain or lack thereof isn't a good growth indicator, so the doctor's doing it with ultrasounds. I don't know if that's common or not - used to be you only got one ultrasound in a pregnancy, but the people I know have been all over the map in recent years).
That's it for now - later gaters!
It's hard to believe, but we're more than halfway there. I'm 21 weeks along now, so in 17 - 21 weeks we'll have a little one in our arms. For those of you who haven't heard, it's a girl - we found out a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Caitlyn Claire, and I don't expect that to change unless she suddenly sprouts a penis!
We've been hard at work getting things ready - hubby got the nesting instinct so bad I'm beginning to think it's just going to pass me right by! We've painted the nursery (periwinkle blue and purple) except for the trim, bought our furniture and crib bedding, and have already started accepting hand-me-downs from friends and family who have been waiting for this for years (literally) and are eager to get stuff out of their closets and attics!
I've started our first baby registry. Feels a little early, but people have been asking, so I guess I should get on board. I'll do one more, so people have two stores to choose from. Registering is really difficult, since we'll have so many people giving us things. I have no idea what we're going to get so I have no idea what we'll still need! I know my hormones are seriously at play when it comes to this, because, while I'm so excited (and truly grateful) that we have so many generous people in our lives who can't wait to shower us with the things their children no longer need, it kind of takes the magic out of registering because I don't get to have the fun of looking at all the options and figuring out what I like best, like I did when we did our wedding registry. Of course, that makes me sound like an ungrateful selfish cow but, like I said, let's blame it on the hormones. Heck, we're blaming just about everything on the hormones these days!
On the whole, everything is going really, really well. Caitlyn is healthy, and she must be strong - I'm getting kicked A LOT, which is pretty darn cool! I just wish she'd flip over sometimes so I can get it somewhere besides my bladder, but I'm living with it. We have another ultrasound on August 22, to check her growth (since I'm a "fluffy" person, shall we say, my weight gain or lack thereof isn't a good growth indicator, so the doctor's doing it with ultrasounds. I don't know if that's common or not - used to be you only got one ultrasound in a pregnancy, but the people I know have been all over the map in recent years).
That's it for now - later gaters!
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