Ummm....I haven't really got a clue....


There seems to be an epidemic of climbing the walls around here

Fun Friday

Produce co-op.

Swimming - we'd not gone at all this week. The children deserved a treat.

I busily printed photos of Stacia's first year...but didn't finish before I had to leave the house. Tonight was PWOC's Project night on base. I decided to keep working on transferring old photos to a new album. My friend, Debbie, was uninspired with her project and so she helped me take photos out of my magnetic albums. I got the second album transferred and all the pages are out of the 3rd album. I've arrived in Liberia, West Africa.

BTW - this is part of my Scrapbook Challenge thingy. I hope to be able to make more progress now that I have a whole album of photos removed from the magnetic album and ready to transfer. Sherri, another friend, attended tonight. She sells Creative Memory and was laughing at my old tape runners. I have BOXES of these....but using hers quickly helped me decide to pitch all of them and buy a new one. ::snort:: Wow - much quicker with a decent tape runner. Mine aren't THAT old - I sold from 2003 - 2005.

That's it for the day.

*Confessions of an Organized Homemaker* by Deniece Schofield

I received this book from Paperback Swap. I first thought, "Yeah, I'll skim this and put it back on PBS quickly." As I started reading I thought, "I'll keep this one, it will be good for a resource to hand out." As I finished the book I debated what to do - it IS a good book. I found that I was already doing 80% of what she mentions. I could keep it for step by step instructions as I implement some new organization in my kitchen...and it would be nice, I suppose to have to loan out.....but I have so many books kept for that reason - and I NEED TO CLEAR OUT THE BOOKS!!!! I put it back on PBS, where it was on someones wish list. LOL

I really enjoyed the easy style of writing in this book. Deniece shares many great tips. She has quite a bit on setting up a calendar type household notebook. I find that I already did this on my own but my notebook is not small enough to "carry with me". I'm still not convinced that I will go back and get a smaller one...I like that I can easily 3 hole punch most fliers, support group directories etc. and put them right in my notebook. When I set up my notebook I decided NOT to have daily planning sheets. She goes into detail as to WHY this is a good idea and suggests you only keep 2 months of daily sheets in your notebook at a time. That will stretch my already bulging notebook, but I may do this.

Other ideas that I may implement are: storing spices in a plastic bin that can be pulled off the shelf at one time, having a cleaning cart (not sure where to find one of these), plastic dish drainer for storing cleaning supplies in a cupboard.... She has a filing system that is vastly different than our. She says to have 12 folders by month - all bills from January are filed in that folder etc. She recommends this over a seperate folder for each bill....and then ::gasp:: I guess you throw the bills out at the end of the year? I'm not sure I'll implement that one but it does sound like much less paper.....Remember I recently took a whole BOX of files to the attic. ::snort::

She seems to REALLY like dishpans and kitty litter boxes - you'll have to read the book to discover why. ::snort:: The book was a bit dated....it WAS written 13 years ago....but the principles are timeless. You can visit her website for products and ideas.

I recommend this book.

Thoroughly Thursday

Quote of the Day: "Mom, you just killed that snake!".....followed by my frantic "What? WHERE????" It's a good thing I didn't SEE the snake before I ran over it or I probably would have had an accident when I commenced freaking out! I hate snakes! THIS is my number 1 reason not to garden in TX....when I tried it in San Antonio - I found SNAKES!

Step video this a.m. Alternating workouts is working well because the littles never know if I'm HOME (meaning they need to hang on my ankles while I work out) or if I'm at Curves. ::snort::

I've not said much about Jared's lawn business, but he's been trying to build it back up since our return from vacation. I applaud his tenacity. He spent an entire week knocking on doors without doing any lawns. He DID one yard yesterday and another today. He needed me to run him to Sam's for gas early this a.m. He's earned ALL the money he needs to attend World View Academy in the fall. We had said we'd pay 1/2 - but this is very good indeed.

Jamin's been saving his paychecks to go to World View Academy and the Writing for the Soul Conference hosted by the Christian Writer's Guild. This looks awesome. There will be some leading authors, agents, publishers, workshops galore. I'd like to attend...but the cost is steep. LOL Jamin is working to save the $ for this adventure. He called the admissions officer yesterday to tell them that he's been saving and had a question. He explained that he is a minor and that he'd like his father to attend any meetings he has with agents/publishers etc. He asked if there would be a discount for Michael to attend or if he'd have to register. OUCH. The admissions officer told him that he needed to ask his supervisors some questions because he'd never been asked these questions. They came back and said that they DEFINITELY want a parent with him when he interviews with publishers and agents. Mike or I can attend the keynote sessions and eat our meals at the Broadmore for $450 (a significant savings). Mike can also simply come to the meetings with agents etc. for FREE. THEN they said that they had checked with the Broadmore and they had a policy that a minor can't stay alone so if Jamin stays at the Broadmore Mike will need to as well. I was very proud of our introverted son for gathering the info. It's fun to watch the children mature into adults.

It IS a tad bit expensive, however, to tell your children to pursue their dreams! ::snort::

We THOUGHT we'd frozen our underground sprinkler system last winter. We tried to remember everything Michael wanted us to do. We've been blessed with LOTS of rain this year and haven't had to water the yard. BUT when Michael and Jared dug down to see what the problem was the found something broken that Mike wasn't sure he wanted to mess with. I'd been suspecting that we were paying for lots of water since we aren't watering...I mean we DO a lot of showers and laundry but I suspected. Check this out....the hole is full of water...

After a week of trying to get someone in here - it was fixed today. It was the master valve. WOW do we have water pressure now....

I made lots and lots of cookie dough today. We are in the process of freezing dough. I have no clue how much we'll end up with. I HAD five bags of chips. When it was time to use the chips I was missing a bag. We all looked everywhere.....finally noticing a quiet Miss sitting sedately in the window....could it be?

Yes - the missing chips!

Summer Exercise Challenge

I'm very late to enter this challenge as it is over 3 September....but I've been doing my own exercise challenge all year/summer and so I feel like I CAN participate in all good conscience. AND....mamabright SAYS I CAN! So there. ::snort:: You can click above or here to read more about this. WHY do I love these challenges???? Because they help me stay motivated....I post the tickers at the top of my blog so when I don't exercise I'm REMINDED! ::snort::

So....I need to adjust my ticker goals anyway as they were for the YEAR and I'm going to reach them before the end of December. I'll change them now to reflect where I hope to be by 3 September. Basically this comes out to be 3 Curves workouts a week and 2 Aeorbic workouts (biking, step video, or fast walking). Now I get to use the cool graphic and long time friends know THAT is what really motivates me....that and fitting into those blasted size 8 pants BEFORE I get pregnant again......

"Spaghetti Sauce"

This is a versatile sauce that can be used in lasagna, spaghetti, manicotti, linquine etc. Freezes WELL, makes about a gal - 16 - 18 servings. I triple or quadruple this and freeze it in quart bags (children's lunch) or gal bags ( family meal).

*1 lb sweet Italian Sausage

*1 1/2 lbs of Ground Beef Chuck

3 large yellow onions, peeled and minced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 tsp sea salt

2 T oregano

1 T basil

1 tsp chili powder

1/3 tsp crushed dired hot red chili peppers

1 (8 oz) can mushrooms (or fresh)

1 (1qt 14 oz) can tomato juice

4 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

1 Cup Water

Honey - as needed to take away any BITE

Crushed fennel (opt - I add but it isn't called for)

Tips:

*I use 2 1/2 - 3 lbs of ground turkey, I also adjust spices as needed (usually more garlic and basil)

*I've tried various things to help with the fumes of all those onions - but nothing really works.

Saute meat, onions, and garlic. Drain. Mix remaining ingredients, simmer 2 hours.

1 Cup serving about 195 calories - 3/4 C serving about 175 calories