Pencil Thin

This week has taken the energy right out of me. I am just sitting here dreaming of being at one of those Outer Banks rentals hundreds of miles away from here. I love my house but living close to my family sometimes adds a certain degree of stress to my life. Today was one of those days where I just wanted to run away and hide. I am at a stage in life where my parents are starting to rely on me for more and more. I love them but it is kind of sobering to have to start taking on the role of being their care taker.

It am always interested to find out what people account for when planning their budgets. Some people only count food items whereas others allow for toiletries and health items in their food budgets.

I will hold on to my receipts, but I think I’m pretty on target with my estimate. although I don’t think I’ve included diapers and toiletries. It might be a little more if I do that. I do tend to spend more if meats and produce are on sale. I like to keep a stockpile so I always have a meal plan.

I want to plant a small garden this year. I don’t have a lot of room, and the sun isn’t so great in my backyard due to large trees. I usually manage to plant some tomatoes in large planters. I’d like to get some peppers and onions planted as well.

There are so many things I love about children. The only thing that really strikes me lately is their ability to enjoy simple pleasures. Our littlest son can find amusement in almost anything. If you give him and empty cardboard box or even a selection of replica watches the child will happily amuse himself for an hour. Right now he is sitting with a set of flash cards lining them up on the floor with the greatest amount of delight. Why does this simple joy escape us as we get older? Life certainly would be cheaper if flashcards were equally amusing to teens and adults.

We probably spend around $400 a month. Family of four with two boys who eat like the man! I buy my staples in bulk- oats, grains, baking goods, sprouted grain tortillas, yogurt, butter, raw cheese, beans, nuts, dried fruits, etc. I buy most of my olive oil and organic broth at Big lots- when stuff like that comes in I’ll buy as much as I can. I’ve been buying meat and eggs from locally raised sources, so I mostly get produce at the grocery. what I buy each month varies a lot, but we always have to have lots of fruits and veggies. I don’t “budget” for food- I do limit how many expensive ingredients I buy- I love gourmet food and stuff like european bleu cheese is amazing, but expensive. If I buy something like that, we don’t go out to eat that month, but we enjoy what we make so much. I have gotten rid of a lot of debt and other expenses- we don’t have cable, we own our cars, etc., so I’d rather spend more on really nutritious food. I also think that in the long term we’ll be healthy and that’s worth it to me. But really, I don’t think $400/month is too bad considering how well we eat!

Just about 2 years ago I purchased a laptop and for the most part it has been great. In the last couple of weeks it has started to act up. It doesn’t turn on every time I press the button. This is just a bit troubling as I don’t really have the money to replace it right now. This isn’t to say I would not love a Toshiba Satellite laptop or something new and fancy. Right now I am just hoping to get at least one more year out of it before I have to either replace or repair it. It always makes you appreciate something just a little bit more when it starts acting sick and my laptop is like my left arm these days.

We decided a couple of weeks ago to try and use as many organic and natural products as possible. This has been a big change for our family. This isn’t to say we have totally made the switch but we are trying.
Tonight I made this recipe and I must say it was a hit!

4 fish filets (8 oz. each)
extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
1 1/2 tsp each of ground cumin and sweet paprika
1 tsp each of salt, black pepper, and ground coriander

Preheat a cast-iron skillet or grill pan to high. Drizzle fish the oil. Mix spices together and rub into fish. Cook fish about 3 minutes on each side.

We eat this so often that I just mixed larger quantities of the spice blend and keep it in a shaker. The kids all cleared their plates tonight.

There’s also a recipe for an olive salsa to top the fish with:
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
a handful of cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1/2 small red onion onion chopped
12 large green olives, pitted and chopped
the juice of 1 lime
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes.

It has been about two years since I purchased a Linksys router in order to go wireless. Looking back I don’t remember how I ever functioned. There is no way I could get my work done, home school our son, and watch a toddler without wireless capability. Our older son attends a virtual charter school and having a home network is an absolute must. Being able to take my laptop from room to room just makes my life work so much better. It is just me or is anyone else out there really thankful for this age of technology?

I was wondering if anyone else is planning their gardens already? Where I live it’s still snowing here, so hubby thinks that it’s funny that I’m already buying seeds. I went to our local Co-Op and the lady was putting all the new seeds out. I went ahead and bought our corn, green beans and lettuce seeds. Then I went into Walmart and they were putting out all their Lawn and Garden items and I found seed packs for .20 a pack. I bought 60 packages of tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, squash, pumpkin and sunflowers.

Who else is planning their garden and what are planning out planting?

Life has a way of throwing you little kicks to keep you wondering what is next. A couple weeks ago our van was hit while parked in the street. It didn’t look like that much damage from the outside but when they put it up on one of those car lifts they found $2000.00 in damage. Then we took the other car to be inspected and they said it needs rotors and brakes. Today, our cat got sick and is not getting better so we are headed to the vet office in the morning. Just enough to make we wonder what might come next?

This is healthy and cheap which make this an ideal recipe for today’s economy and keeping a budget in line!

2 cans of mixed beans
2 cans of chickpeas
1 celery stick (chopped into rough pieces – not too large)
1 brown onion (chopped finely)
1 box cherry tomatoes
1 can beetroot
1 lebanese cucumber

Mix all that together with a bit of red wine vinegar and it tastes amazing. Very healthy too!

It is looking like I need to look into the best diet pill again. Given the recent stress surrounding the budget in our state I have been in a bit of a panic. Our governor is threatening massive layoffs and my husband works for the state. When I am stressed I find it very hard to focus on taking care of myself. This is something I really need to work on because it isn’t helping my waistline at all. I wish I was one of those people who throw myself into working out to deal with stress but I just am not.

Have you all been following this woman’s story? It just keeps getting better…..

She has collected 168,000 in disability payments…stemming from an on the job injury in 1999. She filed an additional claim in 2001, when her car was rear ended, following a doc appointment for the original injury. She says in her claim, she cannot tolerate prolonged sitting, standing, or walking. SO…if I understand correctly, she doesn’t intend to EVER work….

And are you kidding me?!?! What mother in her right mind, is going to try to raise 14 children, without ever tolerating prolonged sitting, standing or walking!?

The time has come to bust out your Nooka watches because new information has come to light about working out! Did you know that in as little as 7 minutes a day you could be healthy? It may be shocking news but just 7 minutes of REALLY vigorous exercise is all it take to improve your health. We can all give our bodies even that little amount of time each day. No more excuses for not working out are reasonable. I know people who spend 7 minutes a day staring at the fridge looking for something to eat!

I decided to teach my son about being heart healthy. We discussed what it means to be heart healthy and ways to keep your heart strong. We made a healthy meal and dessert of yogurt, fruit, and topping. We also found some cool interactive websites about the heart. And we cut out red paper hearts and put them throughout the house to remind us to eat healthy and exercise. I thought this being Valentines month was a great time to refresh this topic.