8 Hours From Now...

...the pork butt roast will be finished in the crock pot. I put it on two hours ago and it is just starting to smell good.

Simple, simple recipe - stick a pork butt roast in the crock pot and add a small bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce. Cook 8-10 hours on low. After that time, shred the meat with a couple of forks, remove the bone and any big hunks of fat, and then heat it through again if it cooled off too much while you were shredding it. I'll offer hamburger buns to the family tonight but I think I'll skip the bread, myself. We're having fresh cauliflower and baked sweet potatoes as sides.

The best part? I found this pork roast on sale at the store because it was approaching the sell by date. The cost was only $11.50 for an 8 pound roast. Eight pounds!!! The first thing I'm going to do is put half of it in the freezer for a future meal.

Weight Loss Wednesday - Week 2

I know I am a day late. I thought about skipping it but then decided that would constitute hiding, and that's not who I am. Embarrassed, yes. Cowardly, no.

I stood on the scale yesterday and was sad to see xx5.4. Up instead of down. :(
This morning it said xx3.7 so it's at least going back in the right direction. My weight seems to fluctuate a lot day by day. I'd like to see it keep coming down, of course.

I know what happened, though. Our grocery budget got tight and I did the 'responsible' thing by cooking from our pantry instead of spending money that we don't have at the store. Well, in our pantry were 3 boxes of pasta and a bag of rice. Carbs anyone? Clearly my body reacts unfavorably to this type of eating. Tyler, on the other hand, lost weight this week. Unfair!!

Thankfully, yesterday was payday and our fridge and pantry are stocked again with some better choices. I bought several bulk packages of meat and split them up into more reasonable servings and froze them. I think that will help a lot.

Goals for this week:

• Get back to Taekwondo. I still haven't managed this one yet.
• Keep climbing the stairs at school. I'm doing very well with this.
• Skip snacks or at least choose wisely.
• Have only one can of diet Pepsi per day.
• Pack a lunch for school on Friday since I am there all day.
• Stick to the meal plan!
• xx1.9 on the scale next week.

Me and You Day

Yay, it's Me and Matthew Day!

With the new semester, we are lucky enough to have two Me and You Days every week - Tuesday and Thursday. Mondays are reserved for Daddy while I'm at school, and he has half-day preschool on Wednesdays and a full day on Fridays. I like Fridays at this school because there are a lot fewer kids enrolled that day so he gets a lot of quality time.

So far today we have played Sorry Spin and Sorry Sliders. We had a candy cane (well, he had a candy cane - I pocketed mine 'for later.') We went to a grocery store that we don't usually go to since I found a gift card that had a remaining balance. I don't know if they're having a sale or something, but I found great prices in their meat section so I stocked up on some stuff to make this week. I also ran across a huge box of Cheerios that was half price just because the box was torn up. The inner bag was completely fine and sealed. Now, we're watching Blue's Clues on Netflix; soon we'll have lunch.

I know it probably sounds boring to some people, but we just love these days that are so laid back. After lunch, he'll play quietly by himself and I'll get some homework done. Since he's our last baby, I know all too well that before I know it, he'll be in school all day and it will be a lot harder to find time to do these little things together. I'm treasuring this time with him.

How to Get Compliments on Your Hair

I have the kinkiest, curliest hair of anyone I know. It's always been really hard to manage and to be honest, it hardly ever looks nice. It's ok - I know this about myself and it's something I have come to terms with. My hair is never going to look like those women on the shampoo commercials, you know? It doesn't swing around when I turn my head and it doesn't cascade down when you lift it up and let it fall.

Anyway, yesterday I got TWO compliments during the day about my hair. Very unusual! So I had to think back and see what I had done that was different. I should sell this information for one *billion* dollars, but you guys are my friends so I will tell you the secret for free.

• While in the shower, realize that you are almost out of shampoo. Open the bottle, add a little water to the half-teaspoon of shampoo that is in there, swirl it around, and pour it onto your head. It's not enough to lather much, but it's shampoo so your hair is clean, right?
• Get out of the shower, dry off, get dressed, and then get distracted before you even get a comb through it.
• Twenty minutes before you are supposed to be somewhere that is fifteen minutes away, run some leave-in conditioner through your hair, add a little water, and hope for the best.
• Have the best hair day of your life; enjoy the compliments!

I really don't get it, LOL. I didn't think it looked all that special but apparently I was having a good hair day for a change. I'll take it!

Weight Loss Wednesday - Week 1

Wow, I can't believe it has been a whole week already.

I did terrible with my goals this week. I ate cookies instead of fruit. I bought fruit, but every time I went to have a piece, it had already been vultured by the other 5 people who live here (ha ha!) I guess I need to buy it in bigger quantities. Or find a better hiding spot. (Just kidding ... mostly!)

I took the elevator at school last night (I was almost late for my first class.) I didn't go to Taekwondo class or the free fit class on Monday. I didn't play anything on the Wii and I didn't eat breakfast, ever.

I did make sure that we were eating healthy dinners almost every night. Everything cooked from scratch and plenty of veggies. My favorite meal by far this week was the meatloaf we had last night. No potatoes which was a little sad, but we lived without them. :)

So, at Thanksgiving, I weighed xy8.0 (the y is for one higher number than it is right now.) Last week the scale said xx5.8 and my goal was to see xx5.0 this morning. I didn't have much hope after my failed goal attempts, but was thrilled to see xx2.4 when I stepped on the scale a few minutes ago. A total loss, since Thanksgiving, of over 15 pounds. :)

Goal for today: climb the stairs at school today. Up and down. For both classes. Go to Taekwondo class.

Goal for next Wednesday: xx1.9 which is half of a pound.

Garden Planning and Books

The snow is bright and thick on the ground outside, but I can't help but think about spring. I'm planning, just like I planned last year (haha), to build some raised beds and plant lots of veggies for the family to use. I have enough cedar planks to build either 3 or 4 beds (can't remember) and I have the equipment I need to preserve any excess veggies. Typical for me to plan the beginning and the end but leave the middle (where all the work is actually done) in limbo.

This year, my parents are planning on coming to help me with the middle part which I am SO grateful for. I don't know why I can't seem to just do it myself; I'm an independent person after all. But for some reason I feel like I get to a building block and just get stuck.

A book that I've been reading lately has given me a lot of great ideas for things we could do with our yard. It's called The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! and it's on sale at Amazon for $11. Another one that is on the list of books I'd like to read is One Magic Square: The Easy, Organic Way to Grow Your Own Food on a 3-Foot Square. It has good reviews and I like the idea of having someone else make up the garden plans. I'm just not good at that!

My newest gardening book is called Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre. It takes the backyard homestead one step further and shows how one could actually profit from what they can grow on just 1/4 acre of land. Our lot isn't that big, but I am enjoying reading it and dreaming of what I could do (if someone was there to help with the middle part, haha!)

Unfortunately, our village will not allow any livestock, so my grand scheme of keeping a couple of hens for eggs and meat just isn't going to work out. It's ok if the neighbors across the street have 5 huge, loud hound dogs, but Heaven forbid I have a couple of hens that would actually be beneficial to both our family and the soil. Anyway ... that's out.

In the mean time, I could be capitalizing on our cherry tree, pear tree, and the huge space we have available for growing things. Although I'm not a huge fan of where we live right now, we do have an amazing yard, and I've been really negligent in using it to its full advantage. The soil is very clay-heavy, which is why I decided last year to raise the beds and add my own good soil instead. I hope it works this year and that I can keep up with the maintenance!

Weight Loss Wednesday - Week 0

Okay. I'm not a New Year Resolutions kind of person. My life isn't perfect by any means, but it's my thinking that I don't need a 'day on the calendar' to get me motivated to do something. If I didn't do it the other 364 days of the year, there is nothing special about January 1st that is going to make me change it now, know what I mean?

Anyway, the fact is that I am very overweight. I know this. I've known it for years. I have tried various things to try to fix it over the last few years, but all of them halfheartedly with little success.

Apparently, my own body has decided that it's time to get serious about losing some weight. Somehow, since Thanksgiving, I've lost 12 pounds. The only thing I changed was the amount of eating out I was doing. I took the kids out to lunch the other day and it had been so long since we went out that they actually thanked me for giving them such a special treat. It made it a really nice outing that everyone appreciated for what it was - a treat.

Today, I came across this entry on the blog of a member of a message board to which I belong. I was inspired to join her weight loss journey, although I don't think I am quite up to posting the whole number that I see on the scale. I think I'll just post the last two numbers, for instance xx0.0. Maybe eventually I will feel comfortable enough to share the whole thing.

I'm not going to "diet." I think that word has so many negative connotations that if I even start using it then I am signing myself up to fail. So I just want to make a few lifestyle changes that will benefit both myself as well as my family. Hopefully I'll have some success. Guess we'll find out next Wednesday when I post about this again.

Some goals for me during this adventure:

• Eat at least one piece of fruit every day.
• Get back to providing two vegetables with dinner every night.
  
• Go to Taekwondo on Monday and Wednesday nights.
• Attend the free fit class at Taekwondo on Monday nights with the girls, who already go (this is a really challenging fit class that does a lot of exercises from the 'plank' position. To be honest, I've never tried it because I'm afraid I'll have a heart attack while doing it!)
• Play on the Wii twice a week. Doesn't have to be strenuous but it has to be something that isn't a sit-and-play game. The kids would love to play Wii Fit or Just Dance with me so this will be fun, I think.
  
• Climb the stairs at school, even when I don't want to do it and my backpack is really heavy.
• Incorporate a fun family outing once a month that involves physical activity, like bowling, ice skating, or just walking around the neighborhood.

So, what did the scale say this morning?
xx5.8

I would like to see xx5.0 next Wednesday. I think that is a reasonable short term goal.

Daydreaming of Someplace Warm

On cold winter days, I like to daydream that I'm somewhere else. Don't get me wrong - I love the beauty of the new snow. As long as I don't have to shovel it, I don't even mind driving in it. I did however, shovel snow today, so I feel that I'm entitled to this daydream.

I'm at the beach. I'm laying in the sand, close enough to the water that the waves are washing up over my feet. I've got a novel and a cooler full of bottles of ice-cold water. Even though I'm at the beach, no sand ever gets in my bottle of water or caked around the lid of it. I have liberally applied sunscreen, so no worries. Plus, in my daydreams the sun is wonderfully warm but not hot enough to burn. And the water is right around 80 degrees. Hey - it's a dream, right? And while we're dreaming, my kids are somewhere else and I'm the only one on the beach. And I look fabulous; maybe I'm even wearing a bikini. Maybe not. ;) And my hair is straight and it moves around when I toss my head. You know, like on those ridiculous shampoo commercials.

I wile away the day reading and swimming and tanning (with lots of sunscreen and no worries about skin health.) I put on snorkeling gear and spend hours exploring on and under the water, marveling at the abundance of life in the ocean. Coming out of the water, I lay back on the sand and feel the warm sun dry my skin. There are no sand fleas, no annoying sea gulls; there is only me. And that motorboat.

Wait, motorboat? What? Wait, where am I? That's not a motorboat - That's the neighbor's snowblower. Dang. Back to reality.