This Life of Mine

sunny summertime days~blue skies, palm trees, warm breezes...pine trees too!

Today we have the plumber in fixing things we have put off for a while (since we were having a hard time finding a plumber we could count on and trust). New toilet fixtures, a new kitchen faucet, the bathtub faucet.  The closet is still torn up from the leak and that will have to be addressed by having someone replace the carpet and repair the drywall in the wall where it had to be removed in order for him to get to the leaky pipe. 

I feel like our house has had a small explosion within the walls since stuff is everywhere. Anyway, since life is like that at times, I'm just taking a step back from my usual "daily goal" list and am going to focus on getting my sewing/craft room in some sort of order.  It has gotten so out of control I've lost all interest in going in there and being creative.  I haven't sewn or worked on any scrapbook pages. The clutter and disorganization just overwhelm me! 

We are also making plans to get someone in to landscape the front yard and are in the process of researching companies. I'm hoping for something very low maintenance since I'm not a big outdoorsy girl when it comes to going out in our extremely humid, brutally hot weather and doing yard work.  Add in voraciously hungry mosquitos and...no thank you!  I do enjoy those rare days that are truly lovely to spend time out enjoying our backyard and I don't mind puttering around planting seeds for my container gardening efforts here and there. 

I've also decided, since our breakfasts are generally the same from day to day, and we don't often eat lunch, that I would just keep track of our dinner menus and post the weeks dinner menus only, at the end of the week.

Basically, this blog of mine will just evolve as I see ways to make it easier to journal this life of mine.  And I appreciate you coming along!

Thanks for stopping by!~TJ

 

 

 

Dinner Menus and Updates

pretty roses to brighten your day

 

The past few days have been spent trying to have dishwasher troubles, the leak in our bedroom closet and a new problem developed-cable tv issues-resolved.  The dishwasher showed up on Thursday, however, it was damaged out of the box before they even brought it into our home. So now, they are supposed to come back tomorrow, Saturday.

The cable guy came out and the cable worked for 24 hours before showing signs of the same troubles again. They are supposed to be out Monday.

Thankfully, we found a good plumber that came out right away and took care of the leak but there are still things related to the leak that need to be taken care of. (Imagine damp carpet we are in the process of cleaning and drying out and the closet contents all over our bedroom, office, and guest bedroom until the drywall can be repaired and carpeting issues resolved.  Yeah.) 

I share these happenings not to be a downer or to complain, but to encourage you, so that if you are going through some things as well, you know you are not alone.  It can sometimes feel that way.  And sometimes problems happen in a "when it rains it pours" fashion, magnifying the situation.

All we can do is try to laugh about it and keep a sense of humor and remember that "this too shall pass".  But in the meantime, I believe the stress has gotten to me.  My ongoing neck and shoulder issues seem to have flared up over these past three days as well. Pain.  In the neck. Literally.  And because of that, I have been taking it as easy as possible.  So, my daily goals have been set aside for the time being and I have only focused on taking care of those daily things that must be taken care of.  Plants and pets and the like.

Therefore, I'm only going to list our last couple of days dinner meals and then get back to nursing my aching neck and shoulder with tlc and gentle stretches.  

Dinner Menus 

Wednesday- we had Schlotzky sandwiches since the plumber was here and the water to the house was shut off.  I had a veggie, hubby had a fiesta chicken.

Thursday- Chicken enchilada casserole, made with some turkey I had in the freezer.  So, technically, turkey enchilada casserole. (low carb= no tortillas but hubby had Frito scoops with his)

Friday- Spicy black beans and rice  (made with beans that were in the freezer that I had cooked and divided and frozen for quick and easy meals such as this.)

Not ideal. I would like to have had salad or veggies with our meals but I just wasn't up for a big production, I felt happy to have just made the entrees and gotten a hot meal made.  I was trying to have as few dirty dishes to wash as possible, lol. 

Have a great day y'all!~TJ

Tuesday's Menu and Goals Update and Wednesday's Goals

sage (front) basil (behind)

Our meals today were kind of grab & go because we were

waiting on the dishwasher to be delivered and didn't want

to have a mess happening in the kitchen when they came.

BUT THEY NEVER SHOWED!!!  Thanks SEARS! I honestly

hope to never do business with them again UNLESS they

TOTALLY make this up to us. This isn't the first hiccup (to

put it mildly) we've experienced with them.

And to place a cherry on the top of our day, just as I had come to terms with the fact that we had been stood up, I decided to go ahead and go to the grocery store. When I stepped into our closet to get my shoes, the carpet was wet and there was a mighty funky odor. So we spent an hour emptying out the closet to save our stuff from whatever is leaking. I guess we'll add that to our "to do" list for tomorrow too. 

I never made it to the grocery store.  / ':   Oh well.

C'est la vie!

Enough venting. Moving on.

basil (front) sage (behind)

Tuesday's Menu

Breakfast~ hubby = scrambled eggs & American cheese

sandwich; I had a banana blueberry protein shake; coffee

Lunch~ I had an Atkins meal replacement bar

Dinner~ I had coleslaw; hubby had a bowl of cereal

***water for beverages unless noted. I'm also trying to

incorporate drinking a glass of water with 2 teaspoons of

 apple cider vinegar mixed in daily.

Tuesday's Goals

1.  Wait for dishwasher delivery/installers (thank the Lord!)

They never showed. We'll have to reschedule.

2.  go through seeds and choose next ones to plant

3.  harvest sage& amp; (since I didn't do it Sunday) basil to dry

4.  Pack modem for return and take to UPS (I didn't take it to

UPS since I was unable to go to the store (waiting on

Sears). UPS is in the same little shopping center as the

grocery store and I was going to kill two birds with one stone

to save time & gas.

5.  spend at least 15 minutes working on more misc.

sewing/mending

6.  Spend 15 minutes cleaning and organizing sewing/craft

room.

 



 

Wednesday's Goals

1.  call Sears to find out what happened with the delivery of the dishwasher. Reschedule.

2.  take hubby to doctors appointment.

3.  plant seeds that I chose yesterday. (parsley; tarragon; kale; four o'clocks;  johnny jump up's (also known as violas, which we prefer as that's my DD's best friends nickname  :D )

4.  take modem for return to UPS

5.  go to grocery store

6.  spend 15 minutes cleaning and organizing sewing/craft room.

7.  spend at least 15 minutes working on more misc. sewing/mending

 

 

~bonus (if I can get to it project(s)~

I'm not even going to worry about this one today, lol!

I would LOVE to hear about your day!

  

Have a great day y'all!~ TJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday's Menu and Goals Update and Tuesday's Goals

oregano and thyme from the garden~ready to dry!

 

I know posting my daily menus and goals may not

interest everyone but I, personally, enjoy having a peek into

other people's menus and the things that fill their days. It

often gives me motivation and inspiration when I'm feeling

"blah" as far as the "day in and day out" goes.  So...I thought

I might offer the same. Besides, it keeps me accountable

when I know others might be looking on.  And that, in itself,

keeps me motivated!

Monday's Menu

 

Breakfast~ scrambled eggs with American cheese; hubby

had toast; coffee 

Lunch~ I had an Atkins meal replacement bar

Dinner~ I had a shrimp salad with homemade creamy herb

 

dressing; hubby had a

blt & dinner salad with Thousand Island (both

homemade~trying to use up

what we have on hand before going grocery shopping)

 

***water for beverages unless noted. I'm also trying to

 

incorporate drinking a glass

of water with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar mixed in.

Since my Monday didn't go quite as planned, I only

 

accomplished the first three things on my list. So they will go

 

on my Tuesday list.

 

 

Monday's Goals (Update)

1.  take hubby to doctor appointment

2.  misc. sewing/mending~

3.  powder room windowsill hotspot~ clean it off & wipe it down

4.  spend 15 minutes in craft/sewing room cleaning and organizing

5.  go through seeds and choose next ones to plant

6.  harvest sage & (since I didn't do it Sunday) basil to dry

 

                             ~bonus (if I can get to it project(s):

* clean out cabinet under microwave

 

 

 

Tuesday's Goals

 

1.  Wait for dishwasher delivery/installers (thank the Lord!)

2.  go through seeds and choose next ones to plant

3.  harvest sage& (since I didn't do it Sunday) basil to dry

4.  Pack modem for return and take to UPS

5.  spend at least 15 minutes working on more misc. sewing/mending

6.  Spend 15 minutes cleaning and organizing sewing/craft room.

 

~bonus (if I can get to it project(s):

* clean out cabinet under microwave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturdays and Sundays Menu; Mondays Goals

Saturdays Menu

Breakfast~ I had plain yogurt with honey; hubby had fried eggs and toast

Lunch~ ****crickets chirping****

Dinner~ We had Taco Bell~~~hubby=2 Quesaritos; me= Chicken Cantina Bowl...nummy!

Sundays Menu

Breakfast~ I had a protein smoothie; hubby had cold cereal & milk

Lunch~  I had an Atkins bar; hubby wasn't hungry

Dinner~  homemade chicken, mushroom, wild rice soup

 

 

Monday's Goals

1.  take hubby to doctor appointment

2.  misc. sewing/mending~

3.  powder room windowsill hotspot~ clean it off & wipe it down

4.  spend 15 minutes in craft/sewing room cleaning and organizing

5.  go through seeds and choose next ones to plant

6.  harvest sage & (since I didn't do it Sunday) basil to dry

                             ~bonus (if I can get to it project(s)~

* clean out cabinet under microwave

  Have a great day y'all!~ TJ

 

 

 

Ebates~My New (Savings) Love!

Please note: This post contains affiliate or referral links.
I always seem to be a little late on any new bandwagons. Recently, after hearing about it, I discovered

Ebates. I did a bit of clothing shopping and a few weeks later got a check from them for $9 & change. Cool! Shopping with a money kickback? Yep. I'm sold! Last night, when ordering out regular coffee order, I remembered to check on Ebates for the online store (I'm still getting used to remembering to use it---can you imagine?!) and found they were giving 2.5% cash back plus 5% off any order. After getting on the coffee website, I found they were offering a back to school 6% off any order special that trumped the 5% on the Ebates site! Add in the free shipping on orders $45 or more, plus the $1 off I used from "Loyalty Points" earned from out last order and we saved a total of $11.18! I truly love saving money! It becomes addictive. I learned frugality during a time when it was a necessity for survival but now I can't see any reason not to be prudent with money. It makes it go further even in the abundant times (i.e. there's more money left over to buy other things!).
If you're interested in saving money when you shop online and haven't heard about Ebates yet, I encourage you to check them out by clicking any "Ebates" word in this post and it will take you to there website where you can sign up and begin earning cash back on your online purchases. 

*when you follow the link and sign up with Ebates through my blog, I will earn a small referral fee, and I thank you and very much appreciate it!


Sunday Morning Smoothie

Sunday Morning Smoothie 

This morning, I decided to have a protein smoothie for breakfast.  My smoothies never

follow a particular recipe (except once when I tried to follow a recipe.  But after several

days of shopping at different stores trying to find the special ingredients-with no luck-I

decided to go back to my way.). My recipe is always just simply recipes of

experimentation. 

I make different types of smoothies: protein smoothies, fruit smoothies and green

smoothies. And as I've mentioned before, I always use what I have on hand. Sometimes

the "experiment" turns out yumilicious and sometimes they turn out, well, not so great. 

This morning was yumilicious.

I used *1 scoop of protein powder, 1/2 teaspoon of matcha green tea powder, a handful of

 

frozen blueberries, most of a whole frozen banana, 4 cubes of frozen plain yogurt (which

 

I freeze when the yogurt is getting close to it's expiration date), 4 frozen strawberries, 1/2

 

cup of apple juice and 1/2 cup of water. At the last minute (and why it's not pictured) I

 

decided to add a tablespoon of ground flax seed for more fiber. I popped all the

 

ingredients in my ninja blender and voila! Breakfast!

Now, I may never make this exact "recipe" again. But only because being the frugal girl

that I am, if I don't have this combo of ingredients on hand again, it ain't gonna happen.

But...there's always tomorrow, and I still have the ingredients...

 

Have a great day y'all!~TJ 

*I purchased all these products myself

Friday's Goals~Update and Menu

 

 

 

Friday's Goals

1. raspberries~ freeze the 5 pints I bought on sale for $1 each at Randalls on Wednesday. (I rinse, air dry for a bit on paper towels and then spread out on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet before popping in the freezer for and hour. Then into zip top gallon bags before placing back into the freezer. Some I might use the food saver on for longer storage.

2.  chicken stock~ strain and place chicken stock that I made in the slow cooker from

 carcass of  the baked chicken we had last week. Place into freezer containers and into

freezer. (The one chicken was eaten baked the first night, and then we used some meat in

 a green salad another night. Any bits of chicken that is strained out of the broth will be

a treat for the kitties. OK...and maybe Dollface too.)

3.  vacuum downstairs

4.  oregano, thyme and basil~ cut and prepare for drying. (I just lay herbs out on a flour sack towel lined baking sheet and cover with paper towels so that air circulates but no dust settles on them.)

5. tackle kitchen hotspots~ the table and windowsill by the back door become a catchall for things that need to go out in the garage,garden or recycling bin. ugh...

6.  bathe Dollface~ so `tinky toes can become twinkly toes! (did I hear a puppy "ugh"?)

~bonus (if I can get to it project(s)~

*misc. sewing/mending

Above, I marked through the "to do" items I accomplished. The ones I didn't

complete I will do on Sunday as I set aside Saturdays as a Sabbath/day of

rest/rejuvenation of my mind, body and spirit. My to do lists are by no means the only

things I do for the whole day, they are things that don't fall into my "dailies" category,

such as meal preps, watering plants/lawn/garden, laundry etc.

Speaking of meal preps, I also want to, again, try to remember to keep track of my daily

menus/meal plans here so that when I lose my "what should I cook for dinner" mojo, I

will be able to review menus past for some inspiration. I'll start with today!

Fridays Menu

Breakfast~ scrambled eggs on cinnamon raisin english muffin, coffee (hubby had a slice

 of american cheese on his)

Lunch~ frozen fruit/spinach smoothie (me, hubby didn't want anything)

Dinner~ macaroni & cheese (boxed. We prefer our homemade stovetop version but I had

 a couple of boxes in the pantry and wanted to use them up before they went bad.);

dinner salad, water to drink.

Nothing exciting but nourishing and comforting. And fairly frugal! (Because to be

honest, I was tempted to go pick up burgers for dinner ; D )

Have a great day!~ TJ

 

 

Fridays Goals

gifts from the garden~arranged in a vase saved from a Mother's Day arrangement



 

Friday's Goals

1. raspberries~ freeze the 5 pints I bought on sale for $1 each at Randalls on Wednesday. (I rinse, air dry for a bit on paper towels and then spread out on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet before popping in the freezer for and hour. Then into zip top gallon bags before placing back into the freezer. Some I might use the food saver on for longer storage.

2.  chicken stock~ strain and place chicken stock that I made in the slow cooker from

 carcass of  the baked chicken we had last week. Place into freezer containers and into

freezer. (The one chicken was eaten baked the first night, and then we used some meat in

 a green salad another night. Any bits of chicken that is strained out of the broth will be

a treat for the kitties. OK...and maybe Dollface too.)

3.  vacuum downstairs

4.  oregano, thyme and basil~ cut and prepare for drying. (I just lay herbs out on a flour sack towel lined baking sheet and cover with paper towels so that air circulates but no dust settles on them.)

5. tackle kitchen hotspots~ the table and windowsill by the back door become a catchall for things that need to go out in the garage,garden or recycling bin. ugh...

6.  bathe Dollface~ so `tinky toes can become twinkly toes! (did I hear a puppy "ugh"?)

~bonus (if I can get to it project(s)~

*misc. sewing/mending