Confessions, June

I posted some confessions last month, and you knuckleheads seemed to enjoy them.  I thought perhaps I might do some more.  Would yah like that?

Also, I LOVE reading yours, so make sure you add your own in the comments!

1) I rarely remember my mom raising her voice at us growing up.  She taught kindergarten - third grade for over 20 years, so really, I think she was a bit of cheater.  She went to school to learn how to deal with kids.  I don't have that education, and it shows.

Last week, I bribed Jack with a chocolate covered raisin to just "omg, shut up and sit still for ONE MINUTE.  JUST ONE MINUTE".

He couldn't do it.

2) Until I was 25, I thought the ZZ Top song "Sharp Dressed Man" was "Shy Best Man".  Sing those words the next time you hear this song.  You'll get it.

3) I love clean and healthy food.  Except, when I'm at Costco.  At Costco, I'll eat the shit out of some GMO, HFCS, red dye 10 samples.  Gogurt?  Don't mind if I do.  Philly cheesesteak?  Yes please!  A tiny cup of artificially flavored sparkling sugar water?  :glug glug:

4) Most of the time, I run the dishwasher the night before Troy has a day off.  That way, when he gets home, he'll unload it.  Unloading the dishwasher is my least favorite household chore EVER.

5) The other day, Troy and I were in the yard because I was getting ready to mow.  He offered to do it, but I said I'd be happy to.  It's the old school push mower and it's quite the workout.  He said he could do it faster than me.  I said "is that because my brain and hands are tiny and my period attracts bears"?  He walked away to me yelling "my period attracts bears" again, and I know my weird neighbor heard me.  I have yet to meet the dude's eye since then.

6) I blog about things that I don't always tell Troy.  Then I get annoyed with him that he doesn't know about it, because dude, read my blog.  I never see you, and I hate talking on the phone; subscribe to my feed, and then you'll know the haps, m'kay?

7) I do my absolute best to be ready for zombie attacks and the grid going down.  However, we had a lot of wind last night, and the power went off.  It was around 8 pm, and I was finally getting a chance to cook myself dinner after a late night at work, working out, and cleaning out the chicken coop.

A legit prepper would have been set.  I on the other hand, almost cried because I was cooking some lumpia and I just wanted to freaking eat already.  I ended the night on the couch reading (it stays light enough to read until about 9:15 pm ish during the summer in Seattle) a book and eating chips and salsa.

Shameful.

Care to share some confessions of your own?  I promise getting things off of your chest is freeing!

Homemade Mondays week 33

Homemade Mondays is a series for people that are on a journey to better living, via healthier eating and a more natural lifestyle.  We realize that there are different paths that we all take to get to that place, and this bloghop celebrates that.  Whether you’re a seasoned raw foodist who has banned all things unnatural, or a rookie who is starting out by cutting out junk food, we’d love to hear from you! Link up with your favorite recipes, projects, crafts, or rants and raves.

The Hosts

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy 

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

• Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
• Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
• Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

One of the most popular posts from last week was Bringing Food to the Table: an Iowa Farm during the Depression. 

Meal plan for June 17th - 23rd

We have eaten approximately 492 strawberries in the last week from the garden.  This is how many made it in to the house.  The rest were transported in Jack's stomach.

My father-in-law is a huge golfer, and has dreamed of someone in the family enjoying it as well.  He found some left handed clubs, and let's just say, he might possibly be the happiest grandpa around.

Troy is off today, and was off last Sunday for his birthday.  I know his schedule is sporadic and he doesn't get to choose it, but I'd like to point out that he was gone on my birthday AND Mother's Day.  Ahem.

This week I don't really have our meals planned.  I'm working late on Monday, I'm off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Thursday we have a play date for dinner.  I'll figure it out Monday or so, and go grocery shopping on Tuesday.  God willing, Troy will be able to hang out with Jack at home and I get get my toes did before getting groceries.  A girl can dream, right?

Hopefully you are all more prepared for the week.  What are you having?

Sugar fast/exercise challenge. Come jump off the deep end with me!

After being off of sugar for a week, and then going back to it, I can tell you I feel like crap.  I know Troy has a sugar problem, so he wants to do a one week fast, and I agreed to do one with him.  Well, technically his idea of a fast was like 12 hours, and he was not keen on a whole week, but I explained to him that half of a day wasn't really a decent fast.

I know I can do this, so to up the personal challenge, I'm going to start doing P-90x discs that I borrowed from my father-in-law.  I need to schedule all my posts now, as I have a feeling I won't be able to move my arms come Tuesday.

If anyone wants to join in with us, please leave a comment and let everyone know what you're going to be doing/giving up/etc.  As with any challenge I run, you set your own parameters.  I am giving up sweets, but this time I will get vanilla flavoring in my once a week decaff latte.  It's my one treat each week, and after drinking it unflavored last time, I realized coffee tastes like shit.  Also, this time I will allow myself my nightly glass of water kefir soda.  It has almost zero sugar in it after the grains do their work, and I just love that bit of sparkling goodness at the end of a long day.

We start Monday morning!

I just care that you have a vagina

I work with someone who has an adult daughter.  The daughter had three boys in about four years (shoot me please).  She decided to have one more kid, and the ultrasound showed another boy.

Surprise, surprise, that little boy turned out to be a girl!  In the delivery room, after the fuss died down, my coworker's daughter stared at that little girl for hours.  It's reported that she said "I don't care if you have horrible teeth, we'll get you braces.  I don't care if you are ugly, I'll teach you how to put on make up.  Anything you don't like, I'll fix because I'm just so glad that you have a vagina".

Almost two years later, and the little girl's mother said she feels selfish because she loves her daughter's hair, and eye color, and wants them to stay as is.  She said she used to be so content just to have a daughter, and now she is being particular with the details.

When I started my blog, I just wanted to share some ideas with people to try to help them through the tough times we were going through.  I thought "if I can just help one person live well and simply, I'll be happy".

Then, I thought "hmmm, maybe I could make a little bit of money off of this" (please note, that decision was made after Troy got laid off for the third time in less than 12 months).

Then I thought "man, I'd love to reach a wider audience".

And recently?  I've had some conversations with God about where to take this blog.  It is a great outlet for me, and I love helping people and making a tiny bit of money, but I started to want more.

God seems to have listened and blessed me in a way that I could have never imagined just three years ago (THREE YEARS!).  At first, I didn't think it was real.  Later, after I had read the email for the fifth time, I threw up in my mouth a little bit, and then I did the Dance of Joy from Perfect Strangers (TGIF lives on.  Preach).

For you see my friends, I've been invited to be an unpaid blogger for Mother Earth News (pause for more  vomiting on my part)!  I honestly can't type that sentence without being giddy.  I've read Mother Earth News, aka the hippie bible, for years.  I've always respected their contributors and looked forward to my issue every few months.  To say I am honored to be a part of this organization would be like saying that Justin Beiber might be on some drugs.

My first post went up yesterday, and I'm stoke to share it with you all.  Happy reading!

Home. Again

Many of you who have been reading for awhile know that Troy and rent the house I grew up in from my parents.

Any of you who have been reading this blog since last September know that my mom has MS - Multiple Sclerosis.  She landed herself in the hospital last fall, which turned in to a stay in a long-term care facility for a few weeks.

That was a stressful time for everyone.  My mom wanted to be home, my dad wanted my mom safe (and also wanted her home), and my sister and I who both work full-time set up a visitation schedule that included bringing dinners because my mom was not a fan of the facility's food.

I distinctly remember driving home one night freaking out.  Is this our family's future?  At that moment, I called my dad and said "sell the house you live in now, and move in with us".  My dad laughed and brushed it off, but I persisted.  I needled and pressed.  They both brushed it off for months.

Right after Christmas, I was the first one to family dinner.  While Jack was playing, I asked mom and dad how they were doing.  They glanced at each other and said "we're managing", to which I responded "should life be about managing, or enjoying"?

I'm not sure if it was that conversation, or just a culmination of things happening, but they relented, and the planning began.

At this point, the architect has finished the plans, and we'll be heading towards the permitting process soon.  Construction will likely start in August or September, and god willing, it will be well progressed in time for the November rainy season.

My little family will have the upstairs floor, and a small portion of the existing basement.  The basement will also be pushed out and over to add space; essentially creating a roomy and private one bedroom apartment.  The addition to the side will add another bedroom upstairs, which will become our new master.  It will be nice to have a third upstairs, as the third bedroom was in the basement, leaving us to plan for Jack and #2 (whenever that will happen) sharing a bedroom.

I have some friends who can't imagine living with their parents, but it has never given me a second of pause.  My family is tight, and we look out for each other.  My parents have been my rock and have been so instrumental in pushing me to follow my dreams.  Their emotional, and at times financial support has made so many things possible in my life.

A friend of mine said that having them move in would be like a way for me to thank them for everything, but I don't see it like that.  Even if they had never gone above and beyond for me, I'd still want them living with us.  Life is not about paying back what you've taken, but rather doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing.  I love my parents and I'm so excited to have them move in with us.  As  challenging as it might at times, it won't be any more difficult than worrying about them all the time.

When I was 5, my parents bought some property and were planning on building a house.  After all the plans were finalized, they realized the cost would be more than they could afford.  They put that dream on hold, and started looking for a ready built place.  Driving around one day, my dad found this house, and gently "broke in" and looked around.  It was instant love for the whole family.  Even when I left home and lived in other cities and states, I always considered this house my home.  My little town was a fabulous place to grow up, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

My parents loved this house as well, and only left it reluctantly in 2007 when it became too much upkeep for them, and it wasn't accessible for their gimpiness.  They bought a condo next to my mom's best friend and were fine there for a few years.  Both of them love this house, the town, and the view.  Having them come home again is what is best for everyone.  They get to live where they love, and we get to help them live independently.  We get stability in our living situation, and they get to live with a four year old naked superhero who makes everyone smile.  They get homemade meals, and air dried laundry.  We get to be around people we love and respect.  There are only winners in this situation.

Afterall,  live should be about living, and not surviving.

Homemade Mondays week 32

Homemade Mondays is a series for people that are on a journey to better living, via healthier eating and a more natural lifestyle.  We realize that there are different paths that we all take to get to that place, and this bloghop celebrates that.  Whether you’re a seasoned raw foodist who has banned all things unnatural, or a rookie who is starting out by cutting out junk food, we’d love to hear from you! Link up with your favorite recipes, projects, crafts, or rants and raves.

The Hosts

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy 

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

• Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
• Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
• Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

The most clicked on post last week was The Kool-Aid Alternative from Everything Home With Carol.