On spring and gardening in Indiana

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Ahh…spring in Indiana…the forsythia gracefully swaying in the breeze, the stately magnolias braving the possibility of a freeze, the cheerful daffodils bobbing brightly in the sun, sweetly scented hyacinths sending forth their perfume, curly leaves of tulips forming the bowl from which the riotous flowers will spring.  The colors, the scents, the textures…no artist can paint a more beautiful picture.

As I was walking today, I was able to experience the full spectrum of all that spring has to offer, including sleet and snow!  What in the world?!  It is almost April…high time to put winter weather behind us. At least when we get snow now, we know it won’t last long.  Today was no exception…no accumulation and now the sun is shining and reminding us that spring truly is upon us.

With spring comes the urge to garden.  Today I decided to spend a few minutes looking at the seeds I have and planning what else I need to buy (Yes, I know the perfect time for this is in January…just didn’t manage to get anything done in January…no time like the present).

I like to grow several varieties of lettuce in the spring and early summer.  And now is the right time to get spinach and radishes planted too.  Tomatoes and peppers need to be started so they’re a decent size to set out once the danger of frost is past (I usually push this by planting some in pots that I can bring inside if I have to).  Today I planted one planter of mixed lettuce and radishes as well as two types of tomatoes (Roma and Big Boy).  I also planted three types of peppers (bell pepper, jalapeno and my favorite, a four-way hybrid from Burpee). 

I will very likely buy seedlings from farmers at my city’s farmers’ market.  I’ve managed to find several heirloom varieties that way…some I liked and some, well, not so much.  When you garden, you never know exactly what you’ll get.  Sometimes the weather works against you.  Last year was a great year with my peppers, but the tomatoes didn’t really produce as I’d hoped they would.  Whatever happens, it’s a joy to get outside and play a part in feeding yourself all the produce that’s just bursting with flavor.  It won’t be long before we can be taking a bite out of a big juicy tomato fresh from the vine.  That makes today’s snow a little more bearable.

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Dancing with the (not quite) stars

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I love to dance…have always loved to dance.  To watch me, you might question that, but I don’t think how well (or not) you do something necessarily has any bearing on the enjoyment you derive from an activity.  I know I’m not any great shakes on the dance floor, but it still makes me happy to have upbeat music playing and to just move to it.

I’ve watched Dancing With the Stars from season one.  I’ve always imagined myself as one of the “stars”.  You know, coming in not really knowing anything about the different dances, but working hard and improving every week until my partner (Maks…yum) and I would win that world-famous mirror ball trophy!   Of course, I would love to look like those professional dancers in those revealing outfits, but that’s not a huge part of the fantasy (okay…yes, it is..looking like that has always been part of most of my fantasies, but I would settle for just being able to dance like they dance).

I know dancing is great exercise.  When I’ve worked really hard to get in shape, dance was always a huge part of my workout routine.  Dancing improves your cardiovascular fitness, your posture, your energy level, your strength and flexibility.  And it’s a lot of fun. 

I’ve just got to dance.  I may not ever appear on Dancing With the Stars, but I can sure get my groove on  in my kitchen!

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What can you do with over ripe bananas?

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I had some bananas sitting on my kitchen counter for several days.  Every time I noticed them, I thought I should do something with them…but I didn’t. Usually I’ll just peel them, break them up and freeze them so they’re ready to throw into a smoothie.  I guess I must have been lazy last week.  The bananas just kept sitting there, looking worse and worse.  Finally, this morning, I decided I was going to do something with them…went online and started looking at recipes (yes, I have a huge collection of cookbooks…love the Gooseberry Patch ones….but it’s so much easier to just do a search).  Wow…there’s a lot you can do with those icky looking, mushy bananas.  Cakes and cookies…dessert  bars and pies..and about a million recipes for banana bread.

I finally decided to go with banana bread, making one loaf of bread and a dozen muffins.  I like to freeze the muffins so I can keep them fresh, pulling one out of the freezer to take to work whenever the mood strikes me.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not the best recipe follower in the world…I’m always replacing things, adding things, whatever.  This particular recipe (http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/banana-bread/51427396-6764-4b0a-a73a-78c683c703d2/?p=1) called for 2.5 cups of regular old white flour.  I decided to try to make the recipe a little healthier by replacing some of the white flour with whole wheat flour and reducing the amount of salt by about half.  I thought about adding some applesauce in place of some of the butter, but didn’t have any applesauce (what?  better add that to my shopping list), so used a stick of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter in place of the regular butter…then totally negated the whole healthier thing by adding a handful of mini chocolate chips…

Have you ever noticed that quick breads or muffins don’t really look like much before they’re baked?  And honestly, who in the world first decided to use rotten…I mean, over ripe… bananas in anything that they wanted to eat?  How does that thought process come about?  Did they say to themselves, “Hey, I’m really hungry and all I have left is this bunch of rotten bananas and some flour and eggs…what can I do?  I know, I’ll mash the bananas up and make kind of a cakey bready thing.”  Well, however and whoever, it worked.

They look good and taste good…these will be a great morning snack for work over the next few weeks…and a few chocolate chips never hurt anything.

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Successful Kroger shopping trip today

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I had to do some grocery shopping today and I was determined to buy healthier foods this week.  I spent about an hour going over the ad and my coupons so I could get the best deals.  I planned what to take to work for my lunches for the week, sort of planned what to have for dinner (smoothies here, soup there…a little more flexible with my dinner).  I printed out my list and my plan to get the multiple $5 off each 10 items in the Mega type sale they had going on at Kroger.

I stopped in the produce section first…holy moly…have you seen how expensive produce is now?  I planned to buy a bell pepper to cut into strips to put on my sandwich for lunch, but decided that $1.39 was more than I was willing to pay.  Ended up buying Romaine lettuce, cucumber, bananas and strawberries.  I had printed out a coupon for the strawberries, but for the life of me, I couldn’t find it anywhere…must be a coupon thief running around somewhere…

I picked up the next few things on my list (including diet Pepsi…yes, I still bought diet Pepsi, even though I know I shouldn’t drink it…one of these days I’ll kick that habit, just not going to be today).  When I got to the pasta aisle, I was a little (okay, a lot) disappointed.  The Ronzoni pasta that I was really going to stock up on was almost completely wiped out.  I had coupons that would have made the pasta free when combined with the sale, so that kind of threw a wrench in my planning.  I was able to get six boxes today, but it made me have to re-think some of my other purchases.  This is what I ended up with…

I ended up picking up the tuna to get my total purchase of the mega sale items up to a multiple of 10 (and therefore get the additional $5 off my total purchase)…and the tuna is something that I can take to work some day when I’m running behind and didn’t prepare my meal the evening before.

I was pretty thrilled to score some freebies

The pasta and tomatoes were free when I combined the sale price with coupons (and I really wanted to get a lot more of the pasta to donate to the food pantry).  The peanuts and Country Crock were my winnings on the Kroger website’s March to Savings game.  The Purex Crystals I won in a giveaway on the Sweeties Freebies blog.

I found some items marked down that I’ll be able to put to good use this summer when I can some pickles.

Both mixes were under fifty cents each, so check it out if you think you might be interested in doing a little canning of your own.

My goal is always to come in under $50 a week…I was just a little over that today.  However, the Lysol cleaner isn’t officially in my grocery budget (I put that in my household, health and beauty budget), so I actually came in a little under $50 for groceries.

Spent $53.26 and saved $57.71, a savings of 52%…no wonder I was consistently spending over $100 a week on groceries before I started couponing.  Now if I can just break the diet Pepsi habit…

I just found out today that the farmers’ market starts next weekend…thank goodness…looking forward to some fresh, locally grown produce…and maybe some lower prices too!

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People are sometimes offended when you try to be considerate

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Wow…who knew that trying to be nice could cause some people to take offense?  I read something the other day…a person in line waiting to check out overheard the cashier talking to the elderly lady at the front of the line.  Apparently the cashier called the older woman “sweetie” and the person behind the elderly lady took offense at that.  Really?  I mean, honestly, how did the person who found this to be so offensive know whether or not the two knew one another?  Could be the older woman shopped at this store frequently and was a favorite of this cashier.  Why are people so eager to jump to conclusions?  And usually negative ones at that.

I’ve heard so many people complain about someone wishing them a nice day.  Seriously.  How can it possibly be offensive to have someone wish you well?  Okay, so that cashier at the grocery store doesn’t personally know you, but does that necessarily mean she can’t hope you have a nice day?  It’s not like she’s commanding it, she’s simply hoping the rest of your day is pleasant.  Take it in the spirit in which it’s given.  When there are so many awful things happening in the world each day, let someone’s genuine well wishes put a little brightness in your day. 

 And how nice would it be if we’d all treat one another with kindness and respect?  Can you imagine how much easier each day could be?  A simple smile and a pleasant word or two might be all that someone needs to make it through a terrible day.  Every person we come in contact with has a story, or multiple stories.  We may only see a sentence or two of that story, but we can make sure that our little part in another person’s story is positive.  My mom always said you should treat people as you’d like to be treated.  I think that’s something we need in our world now more than ever. 

Smiles are contagious. 

And now, for “the women” I work with who gave me the adorable pink purse…sorry I didn’t mention your names.  I did think about it and was concerned that you all might not want to see your names in my blog.  But now that I know differently, expect  to see yourselves mentioned frequently… Susie, Jean Ann and Diane!!  Be careful what you ask for, girls…I’m always looking for blog topics…

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I’m fortunate to work with friends

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Today was another work day…a lot to do and not enough people to get it all done.  Stress, headache, feeling like I’ll never get caught up.  Then my whole day got better…three of the women I work with came in to the office just as I was preparing for a conference call.  I couldn’t really figure out what they wanted until I saw the gift bag one of them was holding.  Oh my, how could I have forgotten that tomorrow is my birthday? And how very sweet that they remembered.  They’d gone together to get this for me…

Isn’t it a blessing to work with people who are such good friends that they know exactly what you like?  That they knew I would love this pink purse…love it because it’s pink and because it’s small (I don’t like large purses, never have).  Isn’t it wonderful to work with people who are more than co-workers?  People who are also friends?  I’m blessed in so many ways and so very grateful to work with such sweet, thoughtful people.  Life is good!

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The Live Well challenge…day one

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Had a pretty good start to the Live Well challenge that my company is sponsoring.  Today was the first day…I worked out this morning before I went to work, rode the exercise bike and did core strength training.  Didn’t put my pedometer on until I was leaving for work…managed to get in the 10,000+ steps I needed for the day.  They’re giving away weekly prizes, you get one entry for every day you get in at least 10,000 steps.  There are over 1,600 teams competing in this challenge.  When I entered my steps for the day, our team was in 41st place…I’m hoping the other people I work with remember to record their activities.

Now I’m off to help my health and fitness efforts…I’m actually going to go to bed early tonight.  I’ve had entirely too little sleep the past three nights.  I know I need at least 7 hours of sleep a night to feel good and I’ve only been getting about 5 hours a night.  I’m working hard to regain my fitness and sleep is a big part of that.  I know I can do this!

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I’m still standing

Ahh…finally the renovations/repairs are finished (at least for now…who knows what next week will bring?).  I’ve been getting back into my workout schedule…gradually increasing my time/distance…for a while there, I wondered if I had lost my desire.  Now I realize it was simply napping…the desire is back and I’ll be training for another 5K.  Going to get back to the long walks I was taking last summer, getting outside and enjoying the spring weather.  When the sun is shining and the birds are singing, how can I not enjoy walking around town?  And the farmers’ market will be opening next month…one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning!

We also start our LiveWell challenge at work tomorrow…so just a little added incentive to get up and move.  Really though, the biggest incentive is just how much better I feel when I work out daily.  I feel better physically, of course…but I also feel better emotionally.  And I’m definitely ready to get back to feeling good emotionally.  I’m ready to get that smile back!

I know it’ll take me a while to regain the fitness I’ve lost over the past few months, but I also know I can do it.  I’ve taken the first steps, it gets easier from here (you know, that whole “a body at rest remains at rest”  thing?  And I truly believe that increased movement leads to even more movement…that’s what I’m aiming for…move, move, move!!

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Ahh…Stepping into spring

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Happy St Paddy’s Day to all my Irish (or Irish for a day) pals!  Today couldn’t have been nicer here in Indiana…70 degrees, sunny (for most of the day), light breeze…I even opened windows to air winter completely out of my house…This was one rough winter and I’m so glad to see it gone!

I had to be at work at 5 this morning for another fun, exciting truck.  Then I had to be back home at 9 (thanks Chris, for letting me do that) to let the floor guy finish the downstairs bathroom.  I should have known he wouldn’t actually show up at 9…it was after noon before he got there.  Meanwhile, I’d called the office to tell them that he didn’t turn the water on to the upstairs toilet and I just couldn’t get the thing turned on…my grip sure isn’t what it used to be.  Fortunately, one of the maintenance guys showed up right away and turned the water on.  Then I noticed the water was constantly running in the stool…jiggled the handle and that didn’t stop it…so another phone call to maintenance.  He came and looked at it and had to replace some part (yes, I’m a total moron when it comes to anything related to home repair…that’s what maintenance guys are for, right?)…it’s working fine now!!  How in the world did our grandmothers make it without indoor plumbing?

So the floor guy finally came and finished the job around 3:30…what a long couple of days..for me and for poor little Spooky.  She hid out until after 6 pm, then came sneaking out, her belly dragging the floor, jumping at any noise…poor little traumatized girl.

But everything’s fine now…she’s sleeping in the middle of the bed, the floors have been completely replaced (and look pretty good) and I’m going to be able to go to bed early tonight and not have to get up at 3:30 in the morning (and really, isn’t 3:30 am the middle of the night?).

Mmm…this is what good planning in the spring can give you in the summer…good planning or a good farmers’ market!!  Can’t wait!

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Taxes (and thankfully, no death today)

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While waiting around for the flooring guy to show up today, I decided to tackle my taxes.  I have a bad habit of putting it off until the absolute last-minute.  No real reason for me to do that either…I do usually manage to get a bit of a refund (and yes, all my CPA buddies, I know that’s not ideal…giving the government my money interest free is kind of silly…but those old habits die hard).   I suppose it’s just the fear of doing something wrong…you know, the dreaded IRS audit…hopefully that won’t happen (please keep your fingers crossed for me…I think everything was done correctly…used tax software this year).  Of course, general procrastination is also a factor.

So, the deal was the floor guy was going to come in and put new tile in the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen…coming around 10 am…well…that deal was a dud!  He showed up after 3 pm and his work order showed that he was replacing the flooring in both bathrooms!  Now, there’s nothing wrong with the downstairs bathroom…it was completely renovated just about a year ago.  I called the maintenance guy back (oh, probably for the fifth time today) and he came back by.  Said the deal was both bathrooms today, the kitchen in a couple of months, which is really interesting since he told  me earlier today that the guy would move the fridge, stove, washer and dryer outside onto my patio…hmm…But the guy only has enough flooring with him to do the bathrooms today, so what can I do about that?  So, at some point in time, I have to move the furniture back into the kitchen…but decided to blog before tackling that totally unnecessary project.

(old flooring in upstairs bathroom)

(new flooring in upstairs bathroom…hmm…is this worth all the trouble?)

I guess, on the bright side (yes, there is a bright side), I did clean the walls in the kitchen since I had everything out of there anyhow.  I mopped behind the washer and dryer (I’m so bad about not doing that very often) and cleaned the dryer vent and hose (just did that a couple of months ago, but figured I might as well do it again since everything was disconnected).  And now I’m thinking about not  putting everything back into the kitchen..I didn’t realize how much stuff was in the kitchen until I started pulling it all out…so this is the perfect time to do a little decluttering.  I always feel so much calmer when my living space is uncluttered and clean.

I had a lot of little things on the fridge door held on with magnets…but now I”m thinking about going with the clean look and not putting anything back on it.  I also had several candles sitting on the stove along with a spoon rest and a tea kettle…how about just one candle, the spoon rest and the tea kettle?  Those are things I use every day and I really don’t have a lot of storage space to put things away.  And now I’m thinking about going with a fairly cleaned off counter top too…I think we often don’t see how our houses really look, maybe because we see them every day.  It’s always surprising to me to see pictures I’ve taken of something in my house…that’s when I notice how things really look…isn’t that odd?  Why should what’s in a picture be more real than what we actually see every day?

Well…things are changing while I’m blogging…he’s not going to be able to finish everything today after all.  My boss is going to love this.  I had today off, but am supposed to work tomorrow.  However, I just don’t like to leave these guys in my house when I’m not here…yes, they’re bonded and all that…but why put temptation in front of them when I can simply be here to make sure everything goes well?  Plus, I have my cats to think about…both are inside only cats…one of them is such a little scaredy cat, that I’m always afraid she’ll run out the door if a stranger is here and leaves the door open (and I’ve seen them do that at other places)  But I’ll have to talk to my boss and see what he thinks of my reasoning…I have plenty of vacation and personal time left so that’s not an issue…it’s just that tomorrow will be a busy day (but at least no corporate visitors or auditors…all on vacation).  I always feel guilty when I take an unplanned day off.  I don’t know why.   I don’t think most people feel that way, but I always hate for people to have to do extra work because I’m not there ( I also hate coming in to a pile of work that no one had time to finish…I think I may hate that more…).

Alright, another update…we’ve got a truck coming in at 5 am tomorrow, so I’m going to go in and work until 8 to help with the truck.  I’ll still be able to make it back home before he gets here…shoot, if today is any indication, I could probably work the entire day and still beat him back here.  Not going to risk it though.

Happy St Patrick’s Day from Spooky…oh, and from me too!

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