Batting 0.500

Trying to use up some ingredients that I had in my pantry, I tried out two new recipes this week that I found using the ingredient search on allrecipes.com. One turned out great, the other was pretty much a flop. The flop was Pork Chops Deluxe. Now I guess I didn't really know what golden mushroom soup was, but between that and the diced tomatoes, this was really tomato-y, and we're not big tomato fans. And it was just tons of sauce. Now it all got eaten between dinner and lunch the next day, but I certainly would not make it again. The success of the week was Hashbrown Breakfast Bake. I found this by searching for a recipe that used ham, eggs, and hashbrowns. I had ham in the freezer from Easter that I wanted to use up, and Walmart had forced me into buying a dozen eggs instead of my usual half dozen (since all the half dozen ones were broken) so I had a lot of eggs without a plan. This turned out really tasty and pretty easy. I did not do the pico de gallo or sour cream on the top at the end. I had some more for lunch today and it was just as good the second day.

So 0.500 isn't too bad, and either way I made progress towards cleaning out the pantry.

Thrifty Tuesday 6/28

Well I went a little crazy today and spent a whole $4.50! Which for me garage sale-ing, is really quite a lot. I hit 15 sales today by myself as my partner in crime has VBS this week. My office-mate Christin was having a sale, so I bought some lemonade from her son Wesley for a quarter. My next quarter went for a thing of cute ribbon...white with a black flowered print. I love being able to wrap up presents with some cute ribbon. It seemed like it would be really cute with some bright colored paper. I spent two dollars on two books by a new-for-me author James Scott Bell. One of the other author's I really like, Terri Blackstock, has Bell in her list of "If you like my books you might like..." It appears he also writes Christian Romantic Suspense...my favorite genre :) Last I bought a funeral chair (wooden folding chair) for a dollar and a six gallon western stoneware crock for a dollar. The crock is not in great shape, but I thought it would be fun to use outside somehow. This guy had a bunch of crocks in different sizes, all $3 or less, but I couldn't decide if I really needed or wanted them. So one for $1 seemed like enough for today.

So all in all, some good times. I was pretty excited to find some new books as I just finished my last garage sale book, The Time Traveler's Wife, today and don't have any other books in line. If nothing else I need some vacation books!

C25k - Big Step Up for Week 4

So in week 3, the ratio of total jogging to total walking was 9 minutes to 9 minutes. This week, that stepped up to 16 minutes of jogging and 8 minutes of walking. That's a big step up! The 16 minutes was in four intervals: 3 min, 5 min, 3 min, 5 min. So 5 minutes is my new longest run :)

It felt pretty good overall today. I always feel tight that first jogging interval and feel much better the last one. I guess at the end I'm just looser and relaxed, even if I'm more tired. With all these extra minutes of jogging, I also covered more distance today. I always walk to down to Country Club as my five minute warm up and do my workout in there...less traffic, less jumping in the ditch. About a quarter mile in there is a road that makes a big loop, so I just do laps there. I had been making two laps and then heading back out to Sheridan, but today I got in three laps before heading back out. I'm not sure how long the loop is...maybe like a half mile. So I would say walking and jogging combined I'm somewhere around two and a half miles.

New Morning Routine

This summer we have kind of a weird morning routine that changes depending on the day of the week. On Mondays and Wednesday I'm up early and out the door while Brad is still in bed, and the other three days I'm usually still in bed when Brad heads out the door. Whoever gets up first is always responsible for the dogs - get them out of their crates, put their collars on, let them outside, and feed them.

So after that all occurs and person #1 leaves, Lucy has decided the next step in the routine is for her to come upstairs and get in bed with person #2. And if Lucy comes up, you know Sad Dog won't be far behind.

I'm not sure how I feel about this routine. It's not that I don't like the cuddling, I just would like to have one place in my house free of dog hair, and if I can only have one place, I want that place to be my bed. Though it is hard to turn down a snuggly puppy...

Walgreens Deals 6/26

I haven't tried to snag any deals at Walgreens in a long time. They had a few things I needed on sale this week so I thought I would work up a plan and head over. Which chatting at my parents after lunch, I made a little flow chart of how to work my transactions for the best deal...and yes, I am that kind of dork.

However, since the last time I was there, Walgreens has changed several policies. One of which effects how the Cat discount card works with the register rewards and also changing how you can use register rewards to pay for future purchases. So I had to ditch my flowchart and work a new plan...good thing I'm pretty good at math :) Though not really all that good at arithmetic :/

I did one transaction of everything that had a register reward and skipped the Cat card...three deodorants, two packages of twizzlers, and two toothbrushes for about $23. At Walmart this would have cost $26, so not a big savings, but I also got $9 in register rewards. So I got things I would have gotten for about the same prices at Walmart and then got two packages of hot dogs, a case of bottled water, hamburger buns, a bag of Lays, and two packages of peanut butter sandwich crackers for free with my register rewards.

So while not quite as good as the plan I had originally worked I still got some stuff we needed and some stuff we can use at our 4th of July party. I must say, Walgreens doesn't give me the same happiness that Aldi does :)

Couch to 5k - Week 3 done!

Well I got out there this morning before church and did my last workout of week 3. It was a gorgeous morning, I went sans dogs, and I felt great. I did ten minutes of running total split into intervals of 90 sec, 3 min, 90 sec, 4 min. The workouts next week step it up quite a bit with 16 minutes or running total in intervals of 3 min, 5 min, 3 min, 5 min. And for the first time the walking intervals are half the time of the running intervals. Most of the previous workouts the walking was equal to or longer than the jogging. So this should be good. My friend Natalie is starting the program tomorrow (right Nat?) so it will be fun to have a C25k buddy these next few weeks. The first long run comes at the end of week 5 - so in two weeks I've got a 20 minute run. One day at a time... :)

Winter project perhaps?

Natalie showed me this fun site yesterday with free plans for building a whole variety of furniture. I started out looking for chairs we could build to go with our patio table and got sidetracked with this: Farmhouse Kitchen Island

It has all the things I've been looking for in an island...some closed storage, some open storage, and space for two stools. The plans are for a 2'x5' island, which I think would be just about right for our kitchen. The plans seem pretty straight forward - I think we could handle it. And for the top we've already scoped out walnut butcher block tops. We saw one a couple months ago at Lowe's and really liked the look and found them online for pretty reasonable prices.

Maybe in the meantime I should keep working on ideas for patio chairs, seeing as though it's only June...

C25K - Working Week 3

I got in my second run for week 3 today. Normally I run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I was subbing yesterday so I put if off until today. Now I need to run on Sunday...hmmm...maybe before church? I find it easiest to get myself to go first thing in the morning. As the day goes on, my motivation seems to decrease.

I did the first run this week by myself and today I took the dogs with. They were just so chipper this morning and seemed very ready to go do something. They did pretty good until the last interval when Lucy was really dragging. And due to some poor math on my part I think that last interval was a minute longer than it was supposed to be. It was a combination of me being tired, Lucy really dragging her paws, and what sounded like the sirens going off that caused me to forget if we were going until my watch said 15:00 or 16:00.

The workouts this week are a five minute warm-up walk and then two sets of 90 sec jog, 90 sec walk, 3 min jog, 3 min walk. So 9 minutes of running (or 10 I suppose today). This week is the first week that it actually felt like a workout. The first two weeks really came pretty easy and I wasn't very tired our out of breath at the end. After the last three minute jog, I was breathing pretty good this week.

One more time this weekend and we graduate to week 4!

Thrifty Tuesday 6/21

My mom and I finally made it out for some garage sale-ing this week. We hadn't been in a couple weeks with meetings at work and trips to Iowa. We didn't spend much but had some great finds which is always the goal :) The best finds came from a house on Johnson where a little old couple lives. We're always excited to see old people manning the garage sale. Because old people have old stuff...and we like old stuff. Mom found a milk glass mixing bowl, a crystal pitcher, a vase, and something else I can't remember now...for a grand total of $1.05. And for me a gallon jar...for $0.25. I use old jars as my canisters on the shelf in my kitchen and I have certainly paid more than a quarter for all of them. My other find was a set of four Sarasa colored pens. For those that know me well, you know I love pens. It had a pink, red, orange, and green ones. Good for grading, good for manuscript studies, and just fun in general. I paid a whole $0.75 for those. Big money.

Sally and the storm

Poor Sally is quite terrified of thunder. I had seen the forecast and knew there were strong storms expected Tuesday evening - the same night we have our park district puppy class. During dinner the storm began and Sally started to pace. Her favorite place to be in a storm is in the basement and I left the basement door open while retrieving some laundry so she was able to take shelter - behind the heating oil tank in the corner of the basement. When it was time to go to class, I went downstairs to find her, and she was all balled up in the corner crying, quite a sad sight. I tried to coax her out by calling her in my "happy" voice but was having no luck. So I brought in reinforcements, aka Lucy, who was able to convince Sally the world was not going to end. I got her leash on and off we went. It was a small class because of the weather and you could tell she was a little on edge the whole time. She still did pretty good...sitting most of the time when I told her to and doing a good job on practicing "stay". So we've learned so far walk, about turn, u turn, halt, sit, stay, and come...though I wouldn't say we've mastered any of them.

Couch to 5k - Week 2 done!

Another week completed - two weeks down! Next week the total running time stays at 9 minutes, but the intervals get longer. After a walking warm up it's two sets of 90 sec jog, 90 sec walk, 3 min jog, 3 min walk. I have a feeling 3 minutes is going to feel pretty long...but on the plus side all bones and joints are still feeling good!

Father's Day Junkin'

Today for Father's Day we went to early church and then headed with my parents to the Third Sunday Market at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. It had rained earlier in the morning, but thankfully the rain held off and we didn't get wet at all. It was pretty muddy, but nothing my crocs couldn't handle :)

We had a nice day of wandering around. I came home with just a couple of things - a Morton pottery bowl and some vintage tablecloths. The bowl matches another Morton bowl I already have in a blue spatterware/spongeware pattern. You don't see the pattern very often and it's usually really pricey, so I was pleased to find one I was willing to pay for. The tablecloths were a steal...three for $5...they have some fun patterns and I figured if nothing else maybe I could try making some cute pillows out of them. I don't actually know how to sew, so that plan may be a bit ambitious.

It was fun wandering with my parents and we ran into Brad's parents, sister and niece while we were there. Glad the rain decided to hold off :)

Couch to 5k - W2D2 with my training buddies

Well I've now made it through two of three workouts from week two of the Couch to 5K program. This week is a five minute warm-up walk and then 21 minutes of 90 seconds of jogging, two minutes of walking. Tuesday's workout was kind of cold and rainy and not really all that fun. But it got done. Today, I wasn't feeling great, but it is GORGEOUS outside, so I grabbed my training buddies and off we went.

I hadn't taken Sally and Lucy with me since the first day as they are not really all that helpful. When we're walking, Sally spends a lot of the time trying to cross over to my other side to be closer to Lucy, and when we're jogging, Lucy spends a lot of the time being dragged behind us. I must give them credit, though, that Lucy is an awesome walker, and Sally is great when we are jogging. Tuesday when I was out some of the neighbors even commented that I was missing two someones! (Perhaps I need to mix up my route a little more) But this morning I wanted some friends so off the three of us went. While they may not be great walkers and joggers, they are great distractions. The time flew by since I was spending more time encouraging Lucy to pick up her paws then thinking about how many seconds were left until I had done my 90. So we made it through. One more time on these intervals this weekend and then we bump it up again.

New Business Opportunity Anyone?

Lucy is in full shed. She seems to spend most of her life in this state. She sheds WAY more than either of our two goldens ever have. What ever is in the lucy-mutt-mix, it is something with some crazy shedding. I have a Furminator (yes, that's what it's really called) that can do some amazing things on Lucy. We could totally be in the Furminator infomercial. So I'm thinking the next step is this...http://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Dog-Hair-Better-Sweater/dp/0312152906 Really I just love the second title: "Better a sweater from a dog you know and love than a sheep you've never met"

I will make you one sweet deal on the raw material if anyone is looking for a new start-up business.

Sally the Valedictorian

Tonight's doggie class was about coming when called. We did some practice on our own just on leash and then the instructor brought each dog up one at a time to practice off leash. She stood at on end of the room and had the owner go to the other end and then call the dog. Most of the dogs ran as fast as they could to get to their owners. When it was Sally's turn, I handed her leash to the teacher and she gave the teacher some of the saddest eyes she could. I walked away and when I called her she sauntered at an incredibly slow speed over to me. She could not have walked much slower. Everyone laughed at her :) So while she did come, she was in no hurry to do so.

At the end the teacher was talking about what they would have to do to "graduate". She was explaining the different expectations for the different ages and breeds of dogs in the class. She said that she wouldn't expect the same things from a three month old puppy that she would expect from the class valedictorian Sally :) I guess we have some work to do so we don't disappoint her!

They really do exist!

For those that have been to my house and seen my kitchen, you know that I love vintage pyrex. More specifically, turquoise pyrex to go with my 1940 turquoise kitchen. I have most of the pieces that they made in the butterprint pattern as well as the snowflake pattern and use them daily. I also have a few of the bakeware pieces and have been looking for the others. These are solid turquoise in color from the mid-1950s. I have the loaf pan, the cake pan, and the casserole dish. The hunt has been on for the pie plate, the square pan, and the rectangular pan. On our antiquing trip to Ohio and Indiana, we saw TONS of pyrex and saw these pieces in several fun colors like lime and flamingo, but not the turquoise. Brad was convinced that they do not exist.

I had seen the pie plate on ebay before, so I knew it was out there somewhere, but had never even seen a picture of the other two...until tonight! I was doing some searching online and came across a site called the Corelle Corner and they had an article about what pieces were made, when they were made, and the model numbers (which prove to be very helpful when doing searches). So it seems I am looking for the 222 and 232 pans. And to prove their existence....here is the 222 square pan and here is the 232 rectangular pan in turquoise! These ones that I found online aren't for sale, I was just excited to know they exist! So the hunt continues...

ABC's & 123's...or perhaps sit, stay, come

Last week Sally and I started our K9 Kindergarten class at the Pekin Park District. It's the same class that I took Midas to four years ago. Midas graduate from Kindergarten, but he was certainly a terror at the beginning. He was barking so much the first night that I'm pretty sure no one in the class heard a thing that the instructor said. That was the first night that I used a pinch collar on Midas and without that we would have been Kindergarten drop outs.

So I knew what to expect this time having been before. Sally likes other dogs, usually more than other people, so I thought she might enjoy that aspect, though she is pretty nervous when she doesn't have Lucy there to show her what to do. It was very nice to not be the owner of the loud and obnoxious dog in the class. We practiced walking in a big circle, which she is pretty good at, though when we stop she is supposed to sit down, and we were not so good at that. We also practiced two kinds of turns - about turns and u turns. The u-turns were a bit of struggle that involved a lot of pushing with my knee. At one point one of the naughty dogs was being used by the instructor for a demonstration and he was getting yelled at a lot and Sally just turned around and faced the wall so she wouldn't have to watch :) We're just a bit sensitive. So while we weren't terrible, we also didn't really do most of the things that we were supposed to do. They told us to practice every day at home, which we've tried a few times - she is soooo not amused when I put her leash on and try to get her to walk laps in the back yard. Maybe if I gave out hot dogs as treats like the instructor did! (Though Sally wouldn't actually take the piece of hot dog from her hand...)

Couch to 5K - Week 1 Done!

In my mind, I'm a runner. The problem with this is that it has been about 9 or 10 years since I've actually run consistently. Don't get me wrong, I've tried numerous times over the past years to get back into running, but knee pain or general joint pain has always stopped my endeavor after a week or two. You see, this happened because, since I'm "a runner" I would just head out and try to run a few miles. This would seem okay at first, until my joints revolted a few days later and then I would give up.

So I'm finally ready to admit, I'm not a runner. And I'm not really even remotely in shape. So I've started on the Couch to 5K program. This is designed for people not even remotely in shape. It starts off slow and only has you work out three times a week to give your body time to recover in between and states clearly - even if you feel like you can do more, DON'T! With the goal that slowly your bones and joints will grow stronger instead of just getting injured the first week and quitting.

And Week 1 is done! Week 1's workouts were a five minute walk and then 20 minutes of alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking. So all told you jog for 8 minutes. Since I'm not teaching on Tuesdays and Thursdays these seemed like good opportunities to work on this and then the weekend for workout three.

So while I'm not a runner, I'm one week closer than I was before :)

Freezer Cooking - Round 1

In the summer, there are a lot of nights where it is too hot to really want to cook or we're working outside until kind of late and 7:30 is not a good time for the question "so what should we eat for dinner". So I did a first round of freezer cooking to see if I could keep us going for a couple weeks without much cooking. We've now eaten all but one of the things I froze, so I deem the first freezer cooking a success.

Meals: I only froze main dishes for dinner, as we don't really eat breakfast, we both pack lunches to take to work, and for side dishes we always eat spinach salad and I usually just make some rice or instant potatoes and pull some rolls out of the freezer.

So the dishes were:

-Cavatelli (a recipe from my mom...kind of like lasagna but with mostacciolli noodles instead)

-Two meals worth of Southwest burritos (Recipe from monesavingmom.com)

-Porkchops with garlic-lime vinaigrette (Recipe from onceamonthmom.com)

-Meat for Mexican Cheese Soup (from a Taste of Home cookbook)

-Two meals worth of Pulled pork sandwiches and pork tacos (for the tacos I just add some salsa and taco seasoning to the pulled pork)

-Brats (okay, so no skill here, I just put some brats and buns in the freezer so they were there when I wanted them)

So it was like 10 meals, plus a couple meals of leftovers. We've eaten everything except for the Mexican Cheese Soup, as it's been really hot and soup didn't sound so good. It took ~2 hours to make everything, except for shredding the pork that was still in the crockpot. It's been almost three weeks since I did my freezer cooking, and I haven't really cooked since then.

I'm ready for another round, though I think I'm going to take a week here and just do some regular cooking. I've stockpiled some things with recent price matching and my aldi coupon, so I feel like I just need to cook through some of the stuff in my pantry.

Once upon a time there was a blog...

Once upon a time there was a blog, started by someone who didn't have much to say, but thought perhaps that wouldn't matter. Well it turns out, if you feel like you don't have anything to say, you just don't say anything at all. But then there's the aspect of time. This person with not much to say didn't have any time...until now. So now despite a lack of things to say, but with a plethora of free time, I'm just going to start talking. Better watch out :)