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It's just rained. All the predictions said we were in for storms, but all we've had is a bit of rumbly thunder and brief, not heavy, showers. The sky has finally lightened up, not as though it's clearing, but as though the sullen part of the day might be over. The rain is appreciated as it will dampen the pollen and prevent it floating quite as freely through the air.
I got a few things done last week and officially I won't be worried any further about what was on March's goals list or weekly to do lists. Either it was done or left undone, and I can't be bothered to turn and look back. I did my best. I was so grateful to finally get my feet back under me and lose that malaise and fatigue that hit me after that bout of flu. I'll take my wins and forget the losses.
And now it's time to begin a whole new month. Someone on some short reel on Instagram was saying, "The year's one quarter gone! Now's the time to get busy..." Phooey. There's still three quarters of the year remaining and unless you have a target date for a deadline, let's just plod on and do what we can. I don't know if I've share it before, it's likely I have, but we have a family motto that is in plain site in our living room. "It's better to do something and fail, than to do nothing and succeed."
Spring Break officially begins next week for our children, but Caleb had an added day on this week and so his Mama brought him and Henry over to play at Gramma's house. Henry fights to get down on the floor these days and spends most of his time either grabbing his feet or rolling over onto his stomach and trying to get his knees under him. He'll be seven months old here in a little over 10 days.
I watched as he and Caleb tumbled together on the floor on a blanket. Later I asked Caleb if Henry had finished his botte and Caleb said, "I think so." He tried to take him from Henry, who wrapped both hands tightly around it and wouldn't let go! Henry is a strong little fellow.
It's incredible to me that we're nearly done with this month...I'd love to ask where it went but I recall too well that for at least two weeks, I struggled with fatigue (residue from that flu) and then for two weeks I have struggled to catch up with all the things I wanted to get done this month.
Today, I headed to the grocery store. I went alone which was rather nice. I just went to Aldi and concentrated on produce and eggs, but I did pick up a ham (shank end to divide and bake in whole portions and a boneless sliced ham for sandwiches). I also got some chicken tenders and a package of breaded veal patties. But everything else was indeed produce as I'd intended. We are now stocked and should be good for another two weeks or so. And I am down only another $130 which means I've spent around $250 this month and that's something to sing about. (Alter that to add in the $67 I spent on Amazon Sub and Save. Still, I have about $180 left which is nothing to sneeze at either.)
As I said, I was on my own today, John saying he didn't much feel like leaving home. I don't mind when I get to go out alone, but I find more and more, now that we're in the habit of just being at home so much, that I am prone to say, "Oh I don't need that..." or "Why would I buy this?" and putting things back. Not just food. Other things, too. I'm just not that interested in shopping. I am, honestly, more interested in getting things that will have a more lasting value in our home, like those curtains I hung yesterday in the guest room.
John shocked me into complete silence yesterday. He actually contacted one of the workmen who helped renovate our home and asked if he'd paint our kitchen...Wow! When he hung up the phone he said, "We'll just take the money from the bank and be done with it." Double Wow! I wasn't expecting that to be on his radar any time soon. I'll be so pleased to get the kitchen squared away at last.
John is off mowing again, this time over at the Manor House as he calls it. We were much amused on Saturday when Josh said to John, "I think it's time for you to start mowing over our way. The grass on the secret path is getting pretty high." John laughed about it later, but it did light a fire under his feet to start his mowing season. I can't recall starting it this late in years and honestly the grass here in our yard didn't look bad. In fact, we haven't heard any neighbors mowing their lawns just yet, either.
Today, while I was driving along the roads, I noted that Dogwoods are blooming and Wisteria (which grows wild and free here, taking over like Kudzu). Wisteria always reminds me of my friend Shirley, who died in 2020. We were driving along country roads and noted how pretty the Wisteria was along the way in different shades of white and purple. She said, "Why it's a variable jungle!". She meant to say it was a veritable jungle, but her slip-up was far more apropos and every Spring when I see the Wisteria I think of that moment with her and laugh all over again.
I also noted that Tansy was blooming in various places. Spring flowers, like autumn ones come mostly in purples and golds. Speaking of purple, when I went out to get in the car this morning, I noted that the purple iris has started to bloom. I am tempted to go cut another bouquet, but the previous one didn't last too well in the house. I think it was just too warm in here for them.
Goodness, it's 4:30...I need to plan supper and get it going. I don't think we'll have a big meal tonight since we ate another very late lunch. I've put it off too late to get anything cooked in time to eat, so I shall have to go peruse the fridge and see what I might make.
Then I'm going to sit down with the genealogy notebook and work on another section. My goal is to get all my notes on the proper pages and to make them legible. It's a long and arduous, but very fascinating, task.
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Yesterday afternoon, I worked on the patio a bit. Moved a few pots around, contemplated what I'd like to plant in the empty ones, blew off the porch and patio again...And then John came along and mowed and blew loads of stuff onto the porches and patio. I loathe doing a task and then finding it was all for naught and it definitely all went to naught yesterday afternoon. Phooey.
A few weeks ago, I received an email from Chabad.org about an 18-week course called Project Purpose, based on the book "On Purpose" by Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson. I signed up right away. Why? Why am I seeking Life Purpose at this stage of life? Because it is a new stage of life that's why. I pretty much could figure things out as I went through the other seasons. My purpose was to be a good wife, raise good people, make my work meaningful, be a better person, a better Christian. Here at 66, I can say honestly that I still want my work to be meaningful, to be a better wife, a better mother and grandmother, a better Christian...but what else? What have I missed? What will lead to a full and fulfilling senior season?
Hello loves.
We had a rather nice, if unplanned sort of weekend. Friday night I'd announced my intentions to spend all day Saturday working in the current genealogy notebook. John laughed because I made plans
Turns out John was right. I had a text from Sam of some troubles in his household and he asked if the kids could come here. I said "Sure, I'll send them home after lunch." But when lunch arrived, they asked if they could have quiet time here with us and then it was snack time.
I thought I'd keep this first post of each week which goes out on Sunday afternoon, so you all can see what my intentions are for the week ahead, what meals I've planned, where I could share links I found interesting during blog reading, etc. It just seems a nice way to start the week. I'll also briefly catch you up on my weekend. But officially, this is not a Journal entry. It's sort of a getting my head together for the week sort of post.
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I am sitting here tapping out a post as I wait for our time to leave to arrive. John has finally agreed to go on a date. It's not really the sort of date I had in mind, but I made no special request, so he planned what we'd do. We are going out to eat and he's already chosen the restaurant which sounded good to me.
A date...For whatever reason I was remembering my first 'date' yesterday. Ready for a bit of life twist sort of tale?
I woke this morning to pounding rain. It was dark enough out the window that I simply rolled over and went right back to sleep. When I rose at 8:30, it was windy and sunny. Through the kitchen window, I saw brilliant blue skies. I wondered if I'd dreamed the rain, so I asked John, "Did I hear rain this morning?" "You sure did! And it was no light shower either."
I've been thinking for quite some time that I am terribly bored (and quite possibly boring) with my current mode of posting. I'm tired of scheduled posts and I don't know how on earth you all manage to read that too long end of week post about my days. Some of you deserve medals, for sure!
I think I'd like to live up to my blog name "Journal" and write a daily entry, at least five days a week. I'll include meals I made, homey doings, thoughts I've had, goals I make, and all the usual things one might include, or at least I do, in a daily journal entry.
Seriously...The THIRD week of March. This month is going quickly. For that matter, this day has skipped right on by, too. Anyone else still adjusting to the daylight savings time change? I used to be up most mornings between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. but these days it's more like 9am. I'll be glad when my body catches on to the switch in times.
In the meantime, I am late with this week's meal plan post. I didn't get it hammered out until about 10pm last night. I wrote it down on my planner pages before going to bed. Just before I wrote down the menus for the week, I noticed a package on my dresser and realized with a sinking feeling that I'd been blind to it for a week. It was supposed to go back on Sunday of last week. Ugh.
This morning when I got up, I focused on getting out of the door to take the package to mail off. And while I was at it, I might as well run into Dollar General to pick up a needed over the counter item...which turned into wandering the store aimlessly, saying "Oh that's cute!" and plopping it in my buggy. I spent some money.
Anyway, here are this week's meal plans.
Breakfasts:
Sourdough Pancakes, Bacon, Sausage. I thought this was going to be some protein pancakes I'd made. I call them protein because I add oatmeal, flax seed meal and hemp hearts to my flour. Next time I make those, I will grind the oatmeal and try using all oat flour. Eventually I may buy some almond flour to use in the mixture as well. I'm trying to find a less carb-y option for making pancakes.
In the meantime, I thawed these overnight in the fridge and put them in the oven this morning. I realized they were sourdough the moment I tasted them. Oh well. Oddly enough my meal tracker says sourdough has protein, so it worked out. I served mine with sliced banana, a drizzle of maple syrup and 1/3 cup plain yogurt.
Mushroom Omelet, English Muffins
Cranberry Muffins, Boiled Eggs, Cheese Cube
Oatmeal x 3
Lunches:
Haluska: A new to me recipe, Pennsylvania Dutch the vlogger said. It wasn't bad. Again, surprise on the food tracker. They say the no yolk noodles have a protein count.
Tuna Salad
Chicken Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup
Leftovers
Supper/Dinner:
Mongolian Beef Roast, Broccoli, Rice. This is the roast that I've had too long in the freezer (the second one). I knew it was smaller than the other but was convinced I would get two meals off it. I had planned to divide the meat in half and season it separately, making one more Hispanic flavored for tacos, but this is a good bit smaller, and bonier.
The Mongolian Beef is excellent over rice. I'm debating on that part. On the other hand, I could skip the broccoli and rice, and we could fill tortillas (I have low carb ones) with the seasoned meat, pickled onion and radishes and I could serve it with cucumber. All depends on how hungry and ambitious I feel come time for dinner.
Southwestern Beef Soup, Pineapple Salads
Roasted Chicken, Spring Salad (Lettuce, green onion, radishes, carrots, green peas), lemon vinaigrette, Greek yogurt Muffins. I am so hopeful that this chicken will be better than the last one. Oh, that was one tough bird and just didn't taste good. This is a HUGE chicken, just like the last one but I plan to cook it a lot longer than I did last time. Fingers crossed.
BBQed Chicken legs and wings, Cauliflower au gratin, Green Beans
Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole, Broccoli, Sliced Tomatoes, Leftover yogurt Muffins.
Bonus Meal: Chicken and Dumplings with mixed vegetables. I figured I'd have the thighs left at this point and the chicken frame. It's a bonus soup meal for me this week which I don't mind at all. John won't complain either if dumplings are involved. I'm curious to try making dumplings with the Greek Yogurt dough and see how they come out...I'll let you know.
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Hello all. I am finally beginning to feel like life is worth planning once more, lol. I will say that whatever flu I had, that one knocked me for a loop. Do any of y'all say that? That something has knocked you for a loop? It means you were completely put off your game.
I felt well enough on Friday that when I noticed the front door was a bit of a dirty horror (from the doorknob down where all the shorter people handle the door) that I went right on and cleaned it from top to bottom.
Saturday: John is 'testing' me...I explained to him we'd be changing our eating somewhat and he's convinced that all of a sudden, I'll turn into some health guru feeding him things like spirulina and hemp hearts (which he's already been eating for years by the way) and chia seeds. Does the man even know me at all?
What I have done is up our vegetables, try to decrease our fats and monitor the carb counts a little more closely. Does he want ice cream? Have it I say. It's in the freezer. When it's gone it will be gone, and we'll buy better smaller portioned ice cream when we do want it again.
Although I shopped on March 5th, it really wasn't a 'shopping trip' but just a fill in for milk, eggs, and bread. We didn't pick up impulse items nor snacks that day. We stuck hard to the original list. I spent $42 total that day
Today we went to Aldi. My focus was produce. We didn't need much dairy and didn't really want meat except Corned Beef. It felt good to walk past the aisles and say, "We don't need that, we've plenty at home...
I will need to go buy some produce this week for sure. I'm down to some frozen peas and canned green beans for the bulk of my vegetables at present. However, that will have to suffice.
This week I'll share my plan for breakfasts and lunches.
Breakfasts:
Oatmeal x 3. With apples and pecans, with blueberries and walnuts, with strawberries. I have fresh apples, frozen berries.
Sourdough English Muffin breakfast sandwich.
I'm slowly finding my way back to something resembling energy. I spent the last two days of the past week in the kitchen making meals, cooking ahead, etc. I managed to get a bit of minor housework done but for the most part, I rested and rested and rested.
I'm finally starting to feel slightly better. There's a lot of congestion still in my head and chest but it's slowly breaking up. Eventually it will clear.
Friday: Reset.
I wrote a long whiny bit to fit this day and after letting it sit for 36 hours, I have erased it all and we shall begin again.
I was sick. Nothing earth shattering there and nothing remarkable. When I sort of 'came to' so to speak the state of my kitchen distressed me horribly. I whined and wept a little and pushed through and got it cleaned up but my gosh...
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Hello you all. I'm not really ready to tackle March just yet, because my ambition at present is heavier than my strength to do. However, my mind is active as can be as I move about my house trying to reclaim it from the last week of February failures. I thought I'd just list all my ambitions down, which I am sure will be far too much to do in March alone. However, if that is so then I shall repost the things I didn't do for April. How's that?
I'm going to set this up a little differently than usual. I'm going to go space by space in my home and tell you what I hope to accomplish in each and why. Some of the things listed will be purchases I want to make so that definitely won't all get done at once. Some are repairs that will require a bit more effort. That's why I don't expect everything on this list to get done this month.
I know this is late and all of my first of the month posts likely shall be. That's just the way it goes at times. I'm not going to let it bother me. Don't let it bother you either, okay? My chief goal since last week has been to get well and fully recovered.
I was not horribly sick, beyond the two- or three-day blur of sleeping countless hours but I do find that illness takes a heavy toll on me, my sleep patterns, etc. these days. Katie texted us on Friday that Caleb woke with fever. She ended up taking him the pediatrician since he was already whooping with his annual allergies, and this stuff has been a chesty sort of illness.