April 27: Clearing My Head

 

I might ought to title this one "Work, Work, Work!"   I couldn't sleep Friday night for thinking oh so many thoughts about the weekend and the week ahead.  I planned meals and planned tasks and planned things I felt sure I hadn't any time for at all.  I thought ahead into next month and realized it's a five week stretch this time between paydays...which bears thinking about.  

We received a bill I'd somehow forgotten entirely and it's not a small one, so planning next month's budget (and June, July, August and who knows how much longer) suddenly feels rather imperative as well. Then I realized that Saturday was Lily's 19th birthday and I'd never gotten a card out, and so my good intentions at the start of the year where birthdays are concerned flew out the window!  Which reminded me that May, June, July, August, September, October and November are all birthday months, and I really should be getting cards. I let the fact that we have a lull in March where we have no birthdays give me a false sense of being all caught up.  

Anyway, I had to get up and jot all the things down so I could clear my head and go back to bed to find proper rest. 

May starts this week...Did you realize that?  It does and I feel I must remind myself, same as I did at the start of April, that the year isn't done yet and there's still plenty of time for working towards goals be they financial, personal, work, etc.  There's time to continue on getting things done!

Things to do this week:

Get the flowerbed at the back steps and the one in front of the back porch sorted out.  Remove empty pots, deadhead and trim those things that need to be tended to.  Arrange things as pleasantly as I can at the back steps.

Plant the last of the seeds in the shed flower bed.

Spread 1 or 2 bags of mulch.

Spray clean the back porch railings and siding.

Get the May budget hammered out.  Lily's graduation, a friend's wedding require gifts.  I have two birthdays in May as well.  So that pretty much taps out the gift budget and anything extra I might finagle from the budget.  Then there's that large bill, and the February doctor bill that is only partially paid that something must go towards this month as well.  There's two full weeks of May before we get another paycheck...Lots to think about and plan for financially.

Decide what I'm to do about this weight loss app.   Seven weeks in, I can sincerely say I've learned a great deal...And I've discovered how very frustrating it is to have an AI program telling me what I'm doing wrong.  Without a doubt there are many ways I could improve my diet even yet.  Equally without a doubt I have found myself frustrated to an extreme as I try to 'fix' every single issue at every single meal, trying to figure out what I've done wrong, exactly how I might improve it, etc.  And just as frustrated as I've found that the same food that the app deems unacceptable on day one, will do a complete 180 on day two and say that I've done very well indeed with it.  

 I am sick to death of being urged to 'eat avocado'...It's not that I don't like avocado, but I seldom buy them out of season.  And surely there is some food other than avocado that is low in sugar, high in fiber and low in sodium?  Or is there?   There is also a huge emphasis on eating tomatoes at breakfast...which is fine but why should I eat them every single day at breakfast and not at other meals?

John quite rightly suggested that maybe it's just not the right app for me.  So, do I drop this one and try to find another, or try to wing things on my own using a wholly different method, or commit to the fact that for the next four months I shall continually be told to try eating avocados?  

Get a haircut.  

Cut out all the food waste.  I was doing very well with this and somehow in the past few months I've watched as the garbage can has filled with more and more foodstuffs.  This really galls me, because it's not just money I'm wasting, but my own energy and time in acquiring, cooking and then discarding it.  The animals have gone on strike and don't want human foods at all, so I can't even rely on them at least getting food to eat.

And that means I need to seriously analyze why food is being wasted. And then to remedy it.  But this week it is my single-minded goal to not throw a thing into the trash that might be used as compost or feed an animal (if they will stop being so snotty about it), or a person.

Meals

I want to be sure we eat oatmeal for breakfast at least 2 days this week.  I didn't eat any last week. I simply didn't want it, but I know it's a good way to reduce cholesterol and that is a goal of ours. 

I know John would love to have pancakes one morning.  I'll attempt those from almond flour, oat flour, hemp seed hearts and flax seed meal.

We have breakfast burritos in the fridge drawer that we can reheat as well.  The app wasn't happy about those even on the 2gm net carb tortillas...But I won't toss them.  

Lunches generally are just thrown together from leftovers made into salads or sandwiches or soup.  

Red beans and Rice, Coleslaw, Cornbread Muffins.

Chicken Pot Pie, Pear Salad.

Italian Beef Sandwiches, Green Salad.  I need to make hamburger buns for the sandwiches.

Pork Chops, Green Beans and Potatoes, Cucumber and Onion Salad.

Italian Chicken over pasta with Zucchini, Mushrooms and Peppers.

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