i apologize for my absence here. it hasn't been intentional. i'll admit, we've been busy around here, adjusting to some new developments, dealing with some Asher stuff, and generally enjoying ourselves.

we got ourselves memberships for the Y, and we've been taking full advantage of that. blithe and bram are enrolled in classes (creative dance and tae kwon do, respectively) and swimming lessons, i've been enjoying yoga, and we've all been going swimming a couple times a week. it's actually been really nice. we feel great, we're getting along better, we have more energy, we cope with stress better... it's fantastic!!

the kids are all back at school, which is great. they're doing fairly well, too, so that's really nice.

i've begun pursuing a dream i've had for a long time: last month, i did the make-up for a production of Tuesdays With Morrie. truly, an amazing, life-changing experience. i learned a lot, grew in some friendships, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. in fact, i have actually joined another production, doing make-up and other backstage stuff, for next May. that's going to be a lot of fun, too. SQUEEE!!!! i can't wait!!!! :D

so that's our lives around here lately... but now that you're caught up, i want to post about something else, actually...

our local hydro company has recently made the switch to time of use billing. basically, that means that certain times of the day are cheaper than other times. the idea is to lower energy consumption by making peak-times (like, the middle of the day) less attractive from a financial stand-point.

it works.

blerg.

as soon as it kicked in on October 1, i became super strict about lights. and i've picked up a few extra tidbits along the way:

• crockpots. instead of turning on the oven which sucks more energy than i care to think about, thank-you very much, i just throw the makings of stew into the slow cooker and walk away, knowing that in a few hours, i'll have yummy food and a lower hydro bill.
• vacuum less. yup. i'm blaming TOU on my lack of vacuuming. you'll buy that, right? (wink)
• wash dishes by - gulp! - hand. but you know what??? it uses way less water, plus doesn't require as much hydro to heat the water in the first place (electric water heater. ugh. but better than gas, i suppose) but it also... wait for it... gets my dishes cleaner than the dishwasher! and faster! i know! shockingly, this only occurred to me the other day. i was just running the dishwasher every night to save hydro. never occurred to me that i can wash the dishes during the day and save money. haha
• minimizing time on the computer during the day. which is an ironic statement as i'm writing this at 11:30 in the morning. but i've found that, in addition to lowering my hydro usage, i'm also getting more done around the house, and i'm spending more time connecting with people in real life, which is actually more meaningful, anyway. (again, the irony of writing this on a blog is not lost on me.) another benefit to less screen time: my memory is coming back and my attention span is getting a bit longer (insert "ooh! something shiny!" joke here)
• read more books. you know, those blocks of paper with stuff written all over them? yeah! those things! apparently they're called books!!! :P and i've actually been reading some!! HAHA!!!! ok, i read fairly often anyway. but now i have an actual reason: it's economical. (or maybe i'm just trying to justify my addiction. don't judge me!!!!!!!!!) (ahem. {composes self})

and it's funny, even by doing these small things... somehow... i lowered my hydro bill by almost $30!!! 

and in case you're wondering...

i've been doing laundry during the day.

not every day. but given how tired i am in the evenings, i just can't stay up late at night to do laundry. so i've kept doing it during the day, but cut back on hydro usage in other areas, and yes, managed to lower my hydro bill. significantly. {happy dance}

getting myself un-dis-organized

so, over the last few months, like, since i started working in november, i've gotten a little disorganized.

ok, a lot disorganized.

well! that all stops today.

i'm working on a filing system for bills. a binder with two sections:

1. paid
2. awaiting $$

because i can't pay a bill if i don't have money... see how that works?

the other thing i'm working on is re-instating the weekly menu. and when i plan the menu, i don't just plan suppers. nope. i plan everything we eat for the week.

• breakfast
• lunch (including school lunches)
• snack
• supper

this way, if i need to make, say, muffins for breakfast or bread for sandwiches, i know ahead of time and i can make it the night before.

the other thing this allows is for budgeting and variety in our meals. i always find that spend at least half again as much on groceries when i don't plan the menu, and we end up eating the same things over and over. which isn't always a bad thing, since i am a pretty good cook, but i am capable of making a lot of different things, and most of those... never get made. :( so this way, i can make more of the foods we enjoy for a lot less money. 

and let's not forget the calendar!!

for christmas i got the Cake Wrecks calendar (SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!), and it's got plenty of room for writing down, well, everything!!!!

• my work schedule
• school project due dates
• library book return dates
• appointments
• pay day
• bills due
• play dates

you get the idea, i'm sure. basically, if we're doing it, or we should be doing it, it goes on the calendar.

i may also include specific tasks to be done around the house. things like, "wash bedding and towels" or "baking day" or "organize so-and-so's bedroom."

and yes, i'm going to have a baking/cooking day. i figure, if i do it on saturdays, then we'll have good snacks for the week and the kidley-winks can help me! muffins for breakfasts, cookies or granola bars for snacks, and any suppers i can make ahead of time for thursdays or other busy days.

anyway, that's the plan for now. the way i see it, if i work on one disorganized part of my life at a time, i should be completely organized by the time i'm 80 or so. that's my goal, at least. {wink}

it's amazing what you find in your kitchen in seven minutes...

it's no secret that i hate housework. and i mean,

i.

hate.

housework.

well, it's not so much doing it that bothers me. it's the unendingness of it all. i can clean off the counters right now, but by tonight, they'll be covered with stuff again. and laundry. seriously, when is someone going to invent perma-clean clothes????????

ugh.

a few years ago, i gave FlyLady a whirl (the link is on the sidebar). and found it to be just as overwhelming as the mess in my house. so that was a no-go.

but, a friend suggested it again a few weeks ago, so i decided to sign up again. and yes, it took me a while to figure out how to wade through all those emails (and WOW! there are a lot!), which ones to read and which ones to delete unread. but now that i've figured that out, i'm actually not so overwhelmed by it all.

(and please ignore the irony that i can tackle the clutter in my inbox but want to cry when i look at my coffee table.)

anyhoo...

the other day, she issued a challenge: clean up. do it all, toss stuff, put stuff away, wipe stuff down. everything.

for seven minutes.

that's right.

seven minutes.

"bah!" i thought, trapped in some semi-dickensian (time-)warped frame of mind, "seven minutes! i can't clean the house in seven minutes!! humbug!!"

but then i thought... you know... it's only seven minutes... maybe i'll try it...

and prove FlyLady wrong...

because we all know you can't get anything accomplished in seven minutes.

and so, i set off to the black hole pile of clutter kitchen to do some tidying and cleaning. again, thinking, "seriously, seven minutes?? bah! humbug!!" and i set the timer on the stove.

and do you want to know what i did in that seven minutes??

i put away the remaining pantry stuff from christmas that had not previously fit in the pantry. but it fits now... other than the case of KD, so, admittedly, that's still on the floor.

i put all kinds of stuff into recycling.

i almost threw up a bit when i looked in my mini compostainer.

i found several forks.

i found a couple spoons.

i found parts of the floor i'd forgotten were there.

i found out what colour my counter is.

i found my breadmaker.

ok, the breadmaker wasn't lost. i knew where it was. but i couldn't get to it. but now i can!!!

turns out, you can accomplish quite a bit in seven minutes! who knew!!!

ok, probably a lot of you. i'm sure this is some centuries-old strategy and i'm just ridiculously slow in learning it.

and now i have a new housework mantra:

it doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to be done.

so my plan for today is:

• seven minutes cleaning the kitchen.
• seven minutes tidying the living room.
• seven minutes looking for the dining room table.
• seven minutes in the bathroom.

and i may, perhaps, if i have time (i have to work at 3:30), do the challenge from one day last week: the 27-item fling. basically, you get a garbage bag (or item from your declutter kit, haha), and get rid of 27 things. could be 27 flyers. could be 27 pieces of clothing that are too small. could be 27 toys the kids don't play with anymore. could be 27 mini chocolate bar wrappers. could be 27 miscellaneous items of various shapes and sizes and degrees of decomposition. just get rid of 27 things from the house. if they're donate-able, then toss them in your vehicle and take them straight to the nearest Goodwill or BFM or whatever. if they're garbage, take them outside. if they're recyclable, recycle them. but just get rid of them.

who knows?? by the end of this week, i just might find my floor... at least, i hope so. 

"simple"? maybe not. but definitely healthier.

wow, i can hear you thinking, three posts in two days! what has happened that i am being graced and gifted with so many beauteous thoughts from heather???


awww, stop, i'm blushing.

well, what has happened is this: the house is a mess, and i'm procrastinating. no, seriously, that's what it is. i'm not actually joking. it's kind of a disaster right now. {hangs head in shame} but it's going to get cleaned up as soon as i finish this post. promise. anyhoo...

i have decided that November is officially Getting Healthy Month in my little neck of the woods. i've decided to stop eating so much junk food and fast food. no more $5 pizzas because i'm too lazy/tired/short on time to cook. hence the slow cooker this morning. i'm also going to be better at housework (she types, not looking around the house). but also...

i've decided to actively work on getting healthier in other ways, too. in the last post, i mentioned that i was going to the gym. well, i just got back. i've decided that i'm going to go every weekday to do some cardio stuff, and 2 to 3 times a week, do some strength stuff, as well. i'm also going to take a couple classes a week. for example, tomorrow morning, i'm going to yoga. i can't wait!

so far, it's going nicely. i've been twice now. (don't laugh too hard, please.) i'm really enjoying it. my mood is better, and my energy level is better. sure, i'm not in as great shape as i'd like to be, but again, that's why i'm going every day. i have three very active young kids, and i'd like to be able to keep up with them.

the other reason i'm working out is this: i don't want to gain weight. or rather, more weight.

in march 2008, when i turned 30, i wore a size 18 (but i fit a 20. can you say, "denial"??) and weighed in at a whopping 270 lbs. and i didn't look good. now, about 2.5 years later, i'm wearing a size 14. and in fact, i have some pants and skirts that are a 12! 12! can you believe it?!?! i've worked hard for this, and i'm enjoying it.

in the last couple months, however, i've put on about 5 lbs. that makes me sad. and who knows, maybe no one else can tell by looking at me. but i know. i see it. and it bothers me. especially since i'd like to lose another 20 to 25 lbs.

as it stands right now, i can walk into a store, grab a large or 14, and buy it, without even trying it on (i seem to always have the kidley-winks with me when i shop), and know that when i get it home, it will fit. i hadn't been able to do that for a loooooooooooooong time. so it's nice.

so, yeah, maybe this is just adding something to my life, when i really should be trying to simplify, but to me, simplicity also means health, wellness and wholeness. and sitting on my arse for x number of hours a day just isn't cutting it anymore. so this is now my plan. i'm making a lot of changes around here lately, and it's good. i'm working out, i'm looking for work, i'm drinking more water, i'm trying to drive less, i'm trying to eat healthier, i'm trying to do yoga or mediation every day...

and yes, i know that i wrote "i'm trying." that's because i'm aware that changes like this take time, and there will be days that i don't manage to reach one or more of these goals. some days just get away from me. and i'm ok with that. as long as i do my best every day to make healthier choices for myself and the kids, it's ok.

but i gotta say... this working out thing better be worth it, because wow! my abs are tired!! and my arms a little bit (an old canoeing injury... yes, i'm just. that. canadian. haha) i'll be ok. i'm going to drink some water, put on the radio or an andrea bocelli CD or something, and get to work cleaning the house.

sigh... i really hate housework. what they need is a house that cleans itself. that would be awesome. oh! and make it in my price range, too. hey, a mom can dream, right? k, off a-cleaning i go.

upswing + a few extra bucks + bulk barn = FALAFELS!!!!

in case you haven't noticed, i've been expanding my culinary repertoire lately. i have discovered the pure and simple joy of fish, made the yummiest french toast the world has ever known (chocolate. 'nuff said.), and improvised pasta sauce with cream cheese.

yesterday was no exception.

i took the kidley-winks to bulk barn yesterday for some grocery shopping. i anticipated getting some flour, cereal and maybe some bird seed. we got bird seed... and several things, none of which were flour or cereal. but that's how i roll. especially lately, in the middle of an up-swing and after three weeks of insomnia. and now you know why i usually go shopping with a list, written out in the order in which i find it in the store: because i tend to shop impulsively.

i was meandering through the store, and i spotted something i hadn't seen there before: falafel mix!! so of course i just had to get some. (see up-swing/insomnia comment above.)

now, i just want to make this clear: i avoid "mixes" like the plague. i just don't like them. i'd much rather make something from scratch, thank-you very much! much tastier and more satisfying. besides, mixes are usually filled with ingredients i can't pronounce, and in my world, that's just not right. ingredients should be REAL FOODS and not something concocted in a laboratory. but when i looked at the ingredients, it was all actual ingredients!!! chick peas, garlic, spices, and something else i can't remember, but it was REAL!!!!

i was tempted to just go home and make it myself, having all those ingredients in my kitchen right now. but then i thought, "you know what? the kids have never had this before. do i really want to put all that work into something they may not even like?" so i got a scoopful, and decided that if it went over well enough, i'd make it for real on my own one of these days.

well!!! this was one of the coolest things i've done in a while! you take a cup of mix and 1 1/4 cup of water and mix them together. let it stand for at least 15 minutes. then you just form it into patties and fry in about an inch of vegetable oil until the patties are golden brown and crispy (aka, what you'd expect when deep-frying).

and just how did the little darlings react, you ask?

THEY LOVED IT!!!!!

they want these more often! which makes me very, very happy. so i plan to make them again, using the mix (i still have enough left for probably 2 more batches), and then i'll make them myself from scratch. i know how to do it (meaning: i read the ingredient list, and now i'll just wing it), so i can't wait!!!

and no, there was no pickled turnip (which sounds disgusting, but apparently i've loved it for years without realizing it!!). but, for the likes of hope and diane, i looked tonight at the superstore for some, but alas, couldn't find any. i'll keep looking. :)

oh. my. goodness. i'd forgotten just how much i love planning and list-making!!

i used to be so organized. i had all my meals planned a week in advance, all the housework (evenutally) got done, we arrived for appointments on time. (lately, it would be an accomplishment to eat, find any clean clothes to wear, and arrive for appointments. period. LOL ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but not much.) spend a few months in the hospital and the whole system breaks down! sheesh!!


well, that changes now. i'm too overwhelmed anymore not to live without my precious lists. to-do lists. grocery lists. appointments. calendars. day planners. menu plans.


oh, yes, folks, this was my life once, and everything got done, on time, without (too much) stress and chaos. appointments were kept, work got done, things were accomplished, and i didn't feel like a complete and utter failure. so i've decided to go back to that. to get organized again. and you know what?? i'd forgotten how much fun it is!!!


here's the list of all the ways i'm a square:

1. i love lists. i'm even making a list to prove it. seriously.
2. day planners. {insert choir of angels}
3. crossing things off my to-do list thrills me in ways i don't care to admit on a family blog.
4. i have two ways of crossing things off a to-do list: a straight line through the item means that the item has been completed. a squiggly/wavy line through the item means that it's not on the list anymore, for a variety of reasons.
5. DW gave me a beautiful planner/organizer last week, and i got all teary-eyed. it's just so beautiful!!
6. i truly believe that a plain ol' papermate pen is one of the most wondrous things in the world. 
7. i'm actually blogging about all this.
8. i re-copied my menu for the coming week, so that i can have one on the fridge, and one in my planner. plus i've written the days' meals on the appropriate page in my planner.
9. i have at least 4 pretty "My Week" pads on my fridge, each for a different purpose. the pale pink with polka-dots is for the menu.
10. when i do my weekly menu, i don't just figure out supper in advance. nope. breakfast, lunch, snack, supper, all planned out days in advance. which, i'll admit, makes me very, very happy.

and #9 and #10 segue so nicely into the next part of this post: the weekly menu. now, since the kids are with ed from tuesday morning to thursday morning, my week starts today. and because they came back in the afternoon today, i can skip breakfast and lunch for today and go straight to snack and supper. here's what we've got for the coming days:

Thursday

snack: apple slices

supper: smoothies (they had a huge lunch)

Friday

breakfast: Timbits (supplied by my mother)

lunch: grilled cheese with ham, using homemade bread

snack: n/a, since the kids will be with their dad

supper: pasta with tomato sauce

Saturday

breakfast: smoothies

lunch: perogies with fried onion

snack: roll kuchen (i don't know how to spell it. it's a mennonite deep-fried piece of dough. i'm just guessing at the spelling there.)

supper: lentil and spinach soup, with homemade bread

Sunday

breakfast: toast with peanut butter

lunch: spaghetti and meatballs. alas, not homemade. nope. chef boyardee. but we're going to be at both services at church on sunday (i'm doing the sunday school thing again), so by the time we get home, it will be late and we (read: I) will be tired and needing something simple and easy. and there's not much easier than opening a can and dumping the contents into a pot for a few minutes.

snack: apple slices

supper: fish, roasted potatoes, corn or other veggie. see? this meal makes up for the chef boyardee, don't you agree? ;)

Monday

breakfast: pancakes

lunch: leftover soup with homemade bread

snack: homemade chocolate chip cookies (which we're going to make on monday afternoon)

supper: rice, beans, fried onions

Tuesday

breakfast: maybe.... chocolate french toast

so there we go. the week in food. and don't doubt that i've written in my planner when i need to make bread, too. and allot time to make the cookies. and when i need to start soaking the beans and cooking the rice. and thawing the fish. oh, yes, i'm on the ball. and it feels fabulous!!! i'll let you know on tuesday how this all went, but i'm hoping that this will go well. cross your crossables for me! 

 

Creamy Pasta Sauce (fat-free)

ok, so of course, asher's surgery earlier this month couldn't go entirely smoothly. sure, the surgery itself was "uneventful," but because this is asher, there are lingering complications. the biggest one (not only due to severity but also because it affects all of us at home), is something called "chylothorax." during the surgery, a lymph node was nicked. lymph nodes take fat out of the bloodstream, and when they leak, the fatty substance (called "chyle") fills the space around the lungs. if left untreated, it can suffocate you. nice, eh? ugh. the treatment for this is a fat-free diet for 6 weeks.

so we have started a new diet at home. i refuse to make more than one meal at a time. everyone eats the same thing. no exceptions. now, i have always cooked somewhat low-fat (just ignore the labels "deep fried", "cheese" and "sausage"... i did say "somewhat" after all...). but now i have to eliminate ALL fat from our home. in some ways, this is proving more difficult than i anticipated. on the other hand... i now get to try all kinds of recipes i hadn't attempted yet. and (surprise, surprise) i've decided to share some of these fat-free recipes with you, gentle reader. bon appetit!

and be warned... this is a typical heather-ish recipe. you know what to expect.

Creamy Pasta Sauce (and yes, it's fat-free)

250 ml fat-free cream cheese (Philly makes a 95% fat-free one, which is allowed)
some spinach
some mushrooms
some sundried-tomatoes (that's right! they're fat-free!!)
skim milk (which i don't hate)

i've picked up a few tricks along the way, so i tried "sauteeing" the mushrooms with water instead of butter. they didn't turn out perfectly, but it helped. then i added the spinach. mixed them all together in the pan. then i added the cream cheese. the whole container (which, admittedly, is the only reason i know how much i used. teehee). the cream cheese actually becomes nice and creamy and delicious at this point. i blanched the sundried tomatoes before throwing them into the sauce (i just used the pasta water for this; it gave the noodles a nice hint o' flavour, too). i didn't plan on using the milk, but the sauce just like that was pretty thick, so i added some milk ("until it looked right") to thin it a bit.

and the review? de. lish. ous. and so simple, and so fat-free, and relatively cheap (because i had sundried tomatoes on hand already). the kids all loved it. in fact, they all had seconds! it was so easy and good and healthy... i'm totally making this again. maybe next time i'll grill some chicken breast and throw that in, too. but we'd already had quite a bit of protein today, so i left it out tonight. but definitely next time! :)

when you're poor, you gotta do watcha gotta do... sigh...

i bake.

a lot.

sigh.

i hate baking.

a lot.

sigh.

but i'm discovering something about myself. i may not hate baking as much as i have in the past. note, i'm not saying i love it. but i'm discovering that i actually kind of enjoy it. or maybe someone has taken over this blog and is typing this post. annie, i'm looking at you... haha

anyway, i have recently taken up baking on a fairly regular basis. why, just this week, i've made apple crisp and cookies. and i plan to make tortillas, a couple more loaves of bread, some granola bars and/or muffins (having just re-discovered my recipe for banana muffins on this blog), and possibly some cookies.

 i've also begun making soup more often. from scratch.

i have to make soups from scratch (including broth, since commercial broths are rather high in sodium, and that doesn't mesh with my littlest man's congestive heart failure). to do this, i've started shopping differently. now when i go to the store and buy chicken, i make sure to buy it with the bone in. then when i cook it, i take out all the bones and spend the evening using them to make broth. (if you're lucky, i'll post those details later.) the next day, i make soup.

i've decided that i love soup, and the more i make it, the better i'm getting at it, too. soup is awesome. that's all i'm gonna say about that. and in fact, when i'm done this, i'm going to post my current fave recipe, which is loved by everyone in this house... and the occasional babysitter. ;) it's quite scrumptious, actually: sausage and lentil soup. and believe me, it's just as easy to make as it is yummy. mmm... sausage and lentil soup...

the other thing i did yesterday, for the first time in my entire life, was to make hot cocoa. and holy marshmallows, batman, it was AWESOME!!!! infinitely better than hot chocolate!! i'm going to be making this more often, and don't be surprised if i have the recipe memorized in the next week or so. the kids loved it, i loved it, it's cheap, it's easy, it's slow (which is definitely the way to go when it comes to food, etc, if you ask me), and it's satisfying on more levels than i care to admit.

and one other thing i've done recently... i rediscovered my local library. did you know they let you take books home... for free?!?! it's a poor booklover's dream come true. why, just last week, the kids took out several books, and i grabbed a few for myself, including one about ADHD, a barbara coloroso book, a magazine, and three novels, including one Sophie Kinsella (and no, not The Undomestic Goddess; i already own that one. haha). and today i went again on my own, and borrowed another novel, which i'm digging so far (it involves Dracula!!) and... get ready for this... a cookbook. you may be able to guess my heretofore held opinion of cookbooks, given that they contain actual recipes, for which one must - gasp! - measure! but i've decided that cookbooks are perhaps the most glorious kind of books. because. that's why. just because. in fact, just thinking about them right now, i have a smile on my face. :) <---- that's me, right there, in case you were wondering.

anyway, i have to run at the moment. it's about time i start working on supper for tonight. in case you're wondering, perogies with bacon and fried onion, smothered in (gah! i'm gonna butcher the german here... forgive me, anni) schmauntfat... basically, it's milk, flour and bacon grease. and yes, it's a beautiful meal. comfort on a plate, if you ask me. and the kids all begged for it tonight, so there you have it. toodles!!!

i think i can, i think i can, i think i can, i think i can

ok, so, i don't know how many of you readers know this, but i journal. a lot. it helps me to sort through my life, my self, my feelings, my journey in general. so i like it. today, while writing about something else, i branched off into "how can i be better at housework?", and i thought i'd share it with you. now remember, this is from part-way through a journal entry, so the beginning is rather abrupt here. but here you go:

and i'm not quite as good as i'd like to be in some areas. i'd like to be a harder worker.... and i need to work harder at things like integrity, being a role model, self-control, discipline, but also having fun. basically, balance.

God, please make me the woman You want me to be.

yikes! what a prayer!! God, help me to mean that prayer, and don't let me be afraid of that prayer.

but i think it's do-able (strengthening my weaker areas), so long as i remember balance. that's the key. when i get all fired up and go at it in a manic, frenzied determination, it never lasts. i burn out, get discouraged and depressed, and nothing changes.

so what's the trick? what's the path to success? i'm thinking specifically about housework, for example. what are my obstacles?

1. doing it alone
2. lack of routine
3. uber long to do lists
4. emotional exhaustion
5. physical exhaustion
6. an "i hate housework" attitude.

alright, now that i've identified my obstacles, i need to identify some solutions.

• the kids need chores, and those need to be displayed prominently to remind them (and me). i've already assigned the chores; now i just have to display - and enforce - them.
• i need a routine. a daily routine, but also a weekly and - dare i say it? - monthly and - eep! - yearly routine. basically, i need to know what gets done when. i need to make regular time for housework, every day at the same time.
• my uber long to do lists can be shortened, now that i'm thinking about it.

1. make a list of everything that needs to be done
2. assign as many tasks as is possible and reasonable (to kids, to friends - like helping to build stuff around the house, to hired people).
3. rank remaining items by importance and deadline
4. ask of each item: Do i have to do this, or can someone else? how long will this take me to accomplish? how urgent is this item? when MUST it be done by? do i need any supplies to accomplish this?

• emotional exhaustion can be beaten by balancing work and play. going for walks, playing with the kids, creating, working in the garden, coffee with friends. routine will also help with this, since i'll know when work gets done, etc. also, a shortened, organized to do list will prevent me from feeling overwhelmed. cutting myself a bit of slack, remaining realistic in my goals, and not hating myself when i don't succeed right off the bat. i will never be annie brown (love ya, girlie, but we both know it's true! LOL) or martha stewart, but i can do better than what i do now. perfection isn't possible, but improvement is.
• i need to rest. i need to accept help, and i need to ask for help. and i need to sleep. if, in the afternoon, i'm tired, i'll nap. better nutrition will also help. and i think that once i've started working on alleviating my emotional exhaustion, my physical exhaustion will also be taken care of.
• my "i hate housework" attitude is crap, i'll admit. when i get down to doing the job, i generally enjoy it. i like doing laundry. i like doing dishes. what i hate is the seeming un-ending-ness of it all. you know what i mean. how you wash all the dishes, then kids want a drink of juice and bam! a dirty glass. same goes for laundry. and sweeping, now that i'm thinking about it. LOL but once i get a routine in place, and i know when things get done, and i can stay on top of things, it'll be better, and i'll actually start to enjoy housework again. because i used to, once upon a time. and i know i can again. i just have to not feel so overwhelmed, that's all.

i think i can do this. i really do. it's possible. it's totally do-able. and i can succeed at this. wish me luck!!! :)

chores, chores, chores

so now, as always, housework must be dealt with. and as you know, i hate housework. i HATE housework. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE IT!

but i have kids who are now old enough to help out around the house. seven, four and two are old enough for jobs (albeit very simple jobs for the 2-year-old). yes, folks, THIS is why i bred. in the hopes that, one day, however distant it seemed at the time, there would be someone here to mow the lawn, shovel the snow, take out the garbage, tidy the house, do the dishes... basically, everything. teehee

and so, on that note, i give you.... .... THE CHORE LIST!!!!

Blithe (age 7)
feed Smokey... twice daily. (it's her job b/c smokey's food and dishes have to be on top of the dryer, out of charlie's reach. but this also puts it out of bram's reach, so it falls to blithe.)

make her bed

put clothes in hamper

help with supper prep

drying the dishes

sweeping (her request, b/c "i LOVE sweeping!")


Bram (age 4)
feed Charlie (our new doggie - boxer/shar pei mix - he's awesome, though dumb as dirt! but i love him!). (once daily.)

make his bed

pick up cars, trains, tracks

help with lunch prep

wash the dishes (he specifically requested this one, and really, who am i to argue? [see why i bred comment above]). (and let me explain this task: he's mostly washing plastic stuff, and the cutlery, minus sharp knives. i may be lazy... er, i mean, ready and willing to instill in my kids a good work ethic... but i do have enough sense not to hand him a butcher knife or china tea cup to wash.)


Asher (age 2)
tidy cars, trains and tracks

put plastic dishes, etc away

help with laundry (now let me explain this task: i take the clothes out of the washing machine one by one, and hand them to him. he puts them in the dryer. and later... i take the clothes out of the dryer one by one, and hand them to him. he puts them in the laundry basket. and we spend the whole time talking about colours, shapes, animals, favourites, etc etc etc)


so far, so good. i've already had to shoo the kids away from the sink b/c they had other jobs they needed to do more urgently than dishes. and they've been feeding the animals very well over the last couple days already. except bram, who seems to think that it's too much work to put more than 4 or 5 bits of food in charlie's dish, but he'll learn. lol

and this isn't to say i've delegated all the work to the kids. as you can imagine, i have a TON of stuff to do around here, including re-arranging the house, organizing the chaos, grocery stuff, cooking, washing pots and pans, laundry, and wishing i could afford a housekeeper. lol

i'll let you know how it all goes in a week (provided i can still find my laptop by then).

"First" day of school

blithe and bram, after their first day at school.
bram, tired and a little shell-shocked after his first day at JK. he had a wonderful time, though at this point he was still somewhat overwhelmed by the whole experience.
bram made a friend who helped him at school.

what a day. i don't know quite how i feel about the whole thing. i'm glad they're enjoying it so much. blithe has informed me that i did, in fact, make the right decision, so i guess that helps. they are both really happy to be at school. bram has decided to learn to put on his own shoes by himself, because "that will make Mrs B- so happy." oh, yeah, it's already starting.

so, there you have it. their first day of school.

hi everyone,

i'm writing to let you know that edwin and i have now separated permanently and will be getting a divorce. this has been a long, painful and sorrowful journey for each of us, but in the end, we are parting amicably and peacefully.

we still care for each other deeply, and will be supportive to each other for the rest of our lives. we continue to be best of friends. but we also now realize that we make better friends than spouses.

in all of this, the children are doing well.there is now, at long last, peace between us, and this will help the children.

i really appreciate your prayers and support during this difficult time, and would ask that you continue to pray for us, as the road ahead during the next while will be stressful for all of us.

thank-you so much for your understanding. if you wish to talk, please feel free to contact me.

heather

try this one on for size

ok, before i start on this, i'm inspired by the title here, and a little bit of vanity, and i have to share this with all of you. if you've been reading my blooming blog, you've probably noticed that i've been rather depressed over the last few months. so depressed, in fact, that i've almost entirely lost my appetite. well, i like to look at the positive in situations, and i think i've found something great about crippling depression: weight loss! i've been carrying around a lot of extra "stress weight" for a while now. but.... not anymore!!! it is official, i have lost quite a bit of weight in the last couple months, apparently. i'd guess about 2 sizes! that's right, folks, on monday, i wore my "skinny" jeans (and had some room to spare in the rear), and today, i'm wearing my "goal" skirt, which is a size 14, and 2 months ago, i couldn't get it further than half-way up my thighs. well, i'm wearing it now, and it's quite comfy! yay!!!!! very pleasing, if i do say so myself. and this just goes along so nicely with my newfound self-confidence. i also feel attractive again for the first time in years... in fact, looking back, it's probably been about 7 years since i've felt this good about my appearance. so this is a delightful change for me. :)



but the real subject of this post is this: i'm trying out a new regimen at home. a housekeeping plan/schedule. i was inspired by my grandmother (and her generation) who always managed to have a clean, well-organized home/life, despite the busyness of 5 kids. her schedule was slightly different, since she washed and dried clothes on mondays and ironed on tuesdays. i don't iron. i believe that's why God gave us dryers with fluff cycles. so, i have tasks divided up by day. here's the schedule:

Monday
laundry
appointments for Asher (as often as possible)

Tuesday
outdoor work (gardening, lawn work, etc)
big projects (eg, painting, decorating, etc)
the kids are with ed on tuesdays and wednesdays, so i'm using those days to tackle the bigger jobs that might be more difficult with them around.

Wednesday
finish projects from Tuesday
purging/de-cluttering/organizing
taking items to BFM, storing for future garage sale or off-season
appointments for me (as often as possible)

Thursday
menu planning and grocery shopping
dusting/vacuuming/floors

Friday
cooking (meals to be frozen)
baking

about friday's plan: i kind of like meals made ahead of time, and kept in the fridge or freezer. given how busy our lives are, this is a great way for us to eat healthy, avoid expensive take-out (thereby saving a LOT of money), and enjoy home-cooked meals that we made ourselves (i plan on getting the kids to help with some of it). i can also use it for schooling, since the measuring is math, and the planning and budgeting and shopping can all be used as math, "home economics" and basic life skills.

so there you have it. a little housework schedule that i'm going to try on for a while. i'll likely tweak it as i go, but i'm feeling pretty good about this as it is right now. so today is groceries and floors etc. should be good. i'll try to post in a week and let you know how it's working.

weekly garden update

my tomato plant (from plant). it's huge!
blithe's tomato plants, from seed. doing really well!
zucchini. there's a bud on there, not quite a flower yet, but it's coming.
hot banana peppers. lots of flowers on the top plant, and a pepper is starting on the bottom one.
there are now 6 potato plants.

these are the highlights from the garden this week. but there were a couple of other exciting happenings: 3 of the cucumber plants now have flowers, and there's a couple buds starting on the pumpkin plant. as for the beans i had planted, yeah, nothing's happening there. so, this afternoon, i dug up the 2 rows (and found nothing - i'm guessing the birds ate them - i need a scarecrow), and the kids and i planted one row of peas and one row of carrots. i had no idea carrot seeds were so small! they're tiny! did anyone else know that, or am i the only one who didn't? i don't know what i thought they would look like, but they're even smaller than sesame seeds! who knew?!

anything else this week? well, um, i removed my acrylic nails. i don't mean i had them removed. i mean, i removed them. snapped/pried them all off. now, before you ask why i would post this on my simplicity blog, there's 3 reasons i took them off:

1. they kept peeling off at the ends a bit, and dirt was getting in between my nails and the acrylic ones. so, even though they made my nails so much stronger the rest of the time, they really weren't practical for gardening, which is my new passion.
2. i really felt they were the antithesis of all things simple. they represent a lack of genuineness, a dissatisfaction with the natural, and an elitist "ok, so, like, you mean you want me to work? like, seriously?" kind of approach to life. and is that really what simplicity is? is that what i'm aiming for in life? um, no. i'm the girl who was on her hands and knees in the garden this afternoon digging up the rows for seeds. so the whole pretty-girl-refusing-to-work-and-wreck-her-nails image just wasn't jiving. the nails had to go.
3. i was too lazy to get them filled.

anything else going on in the house this week? my mom is working on stripping the paint off the banister in the front hall. some of it was coming off anyway; it looked like they had put latex paint over oil paint, and that's not the best combination. so, it's coming off, slowly but surely. and mom and i are working on a plan for the front hall, mainly involving what to do with the stairs (that carpet has to go!) and paintable wallpaper for texture, since the hall is too narrow for art, but it's so boring in there.

so that's the house this week. hopefully in the next month or so, i will be painting the bathroom a delightful powder blue, and i'm working on gathering what i need for the master bedroom, which has not been re-decorated since we moved in. so that's the house at the moment.

well, that's all i got right now. have a delightfully simple week, if i don't "talk" to you sooner! h

like my little notebook?

picked this little baby up at michaels the other day for $1. anyway, i altered it, and now i'm going to use it for household notes. recipes, farmers markets and local producers, uses for vinegar, how to make pasta, homemade laundry soap, schedules and allowances for the kiddies, that sort of thing. yeah, that's the idea. i figured, if i keep everything in one place, i can be somewhat organized as i do all these changes and stuff.

besides, the way i see it, one day, i can use this book to teach blithe (and the boys, too) about simpler life and natural housekeeping (hence the "family traditions" tag).

now i'm off to bed. i have an early massage in the morning, then blithe's "congratuation" at school. goodnight, all! :)

oh! one more thing i forgot!

perhaps you noticed the link to Orchard-Hill Farm on the sidebar. this is an organic farm outside Sparta, Ontario. and by organic, i mean, they don't even use tractors, they use draft horses! how cool is that?!

anyway, it's part of a growing trend called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). this means that you can buy "shares" in their crop, and every week from June to October (in this case), you pick up organic produce at the farm. and it's very affordable. and to make it even more affordable (and rewarding), you can sign up for a working share, which means that you go to the farm a couple of times during the season and do some of the work yourself.

check out their website and see the list of veggies, and get inspired! and i have a link to a list of other CSAs throughout Ontario, which i will post, as well, so you can get involved in this movement near you!

IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

garlic.
hot banana peppers, look there's a bud-type-thingy (i'm so not a farmer-type).
that's zucchini you're looking at here. grown from seed. yup, i'm good. lol
i'd like to draw your attention to the bud there in the middle of my tomato plant.

some of my herbs. the 2 you see here are rosemary and lavender. in the yellow pot i have sweet marjoram, and there's oregano in the blue one.

that's right, folks, my experiment in gardening is WORKING!!!!! i'm so excited! i've actually got a garden, and there's stuff growing in it! woohoo!!!!!!! next year, i'm gonna have a bigger garden! i have declared! lol

i have a number of things going on in the garden, and a couple things in pots. here's the list:

1. cucumbers (slicing, pickling). growing from plants.
2. yellow beans. growing from seed.
3. lentils. from seed. (giving this a whirl, don't know if it'll work, but hey, you never know.)
4. pinto beans. from seed.
5. garlic. i had a few cloves, so i planted them. and they're working.
6. potatoes. dunno how it'll work out, but i'm trying it.
7. hot banana peppers. doing rather well, if i do say so myself. from plants.
8. green peppers. from seed.
9. zucchini. 2 plants, both doing well. several seeds, one is pictured above. :D
10. butternut squash. from plant.
11. acorn squash. from plant.
12. pumpkin. from plant.
13. watermelon. from plant.
14. cantelope. from plant.
15. honeydew melon. from plant.
16. tomatoes. one plant (bigger ones), and some seeds (grape, i do believe). they're in a whisky barrel, at least for now.

a lot of the plants are doing well, although i think a little intruder has nibbled on my melon plants. i'm not impressed. i'm thinking of building a scarecrow. how ever so Little House on the Prairie. i just hope it doesn't turn into that Simpsons episode where Marge built a scarecrow but then Homer came home drunk and thought it was an intruder or something and he beat it to a pulp and then all the crows loved him and followed him everywhere. that was creepy. i hope that doesn't happen here. i know it's not likely, but hey, you never know, you know?

anyway, that's my garden. i've decided to post its progress here weekly. so, every sunday night, check in and you'll see how things are coming along.

as for the whole domesticity thing, well, today i canned some pinto beans for quickie suppers, made some rice to have on hand for the week. i love rice, but i'm too impatient, so i make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. then when i want it, i just pull it out and do whatever to it, and then i'm happy. also, i did the Day 5 thing on an amish bread starter i got. and i'm thinking of starting my own in a couple days. i looked up the recipe on allrecipes.com (i'm really digging that site!). i just want to give it a whirl, having never done this before.

and i just realized, that i may have given the impression that i don't do anything in the kitchen. so sorry, if i have. in fact, i love being in the kitchen. i love to cook. i could cook all day if i had the chance. rarely use recipes; no, i check out food at my favourite restaurants and then come home and make it myself (and mine's usually better!). that's the type of cook i am. i love it. very creative and soothing, in a lot of ways. very pleasing. just baking... ugh. but i'm trying it. tonight i'm trying annie's homemade granola bars, and i'll let you know how they turn out. i'll give you the link to her recipe below. (there you go, annie, a little free advertising there for you! lol)

so, that's going to be my evening.

here's the links i mentioned earlier (just to give credit where credit is due):

1. http://myrecipestash.blogspot.com/2008/04/chewy-granola-bars-recipe.html
2. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amish-Friendship-Bread-Starter/Detail.aspx

cloth diapers and so forth

so, remember yesterday i wrote that i'm looking for cloth diapers? no? well, go now and read yesterday's post, directly beneath this one. then, once you're done, come back up here. ... [humming a cheery tune to myself whilst you read elsewhere.....] done? good. so you know what i'm talking about.

ok, now forget it.

we had used cloth diapers for blithe for a couple years, almost right up until she potty trained. then we had bram, or as i like to call him, "his royal highness, prince bram the sensitive." God forbid he sense a couple wee drops of something wet in his nappy! seriously, you have no idea. screamed like a banshee until we'd change his perfectly fine, almost bone-dry diaper. oh, yeah, it was just as fun as it sounds. ugh. so that was a no-go, and he was in disposables (much to my chagrin, but relief).

enter asher. he's in disposables at the hospital, and at the beginning, i'd had to give up so much else that i believe in regarding parenting, that the diaper issue really never came up. he's been in disposables this whole time.

at one time, we were going to get rid of the cloth diapers. in my mind, we already had. so, imagine my surprise last night, as i was checking out usedclothdiapers.com, when ed says ever-so-non-chalantly, "heather, we still have diapers upstairs." "um, excuse me," says i, in my most non-valley girl tone, "those are disposables. i want cloth. duh." he rolls his eyes (not unlike you upon reading this), and heads upstairs. i hear some stuff being moved around, and down he comes with a laundry basket filled with blithe's old diapers!

long story short (yeah, right, this is me, after all), we have diapers. and covers. just need to freshen them up a bit, and fix a seam on one, and we're in business! well, first i want to finish up the disposables. i paid good money for them, and i don't think we have too many left. so, later this week, my baby/toddler will be a cloth-diaper-wearing, butt-even-bigger-than-i-ever-imagined-possible-on-a-hypoplast kid! woohoo!!!!!!

i just need to find some extra liners for overnight. until i do, i still have some flat diapers that i can fold up and put in there, but i'd like the extra liners. they fit perfectly. and before you offer your oh-so-predictable protest, "but heather, he's on laxatives! yuck!" i'm going to be perfectly honest with you. but sit down before you read this, because it will shock you. ready? ok. when blithe was wee, i cleaned a lot of poopy cloth diapers. and you know, i washed those ones by hand, and took great pride in getting them clean. and i mean clean! i defy you to find a stain on those diapers! go ahead and look (if you get the chance ever). you won't find one. that's because i'm gooooooood. it was actually quite rewarding, in a crappy (pun intended) kind of way... to get something so dirty and gross, so clean. so there. i can't wait. i'm so excited, i'm like a little puppy! ok, not that excited. i'll leave that to bram (honestly, today he and a little red-haired girl - how ever so charlie brown! - were playing fetch. seriously, fetch! and bram was not the one throwing the ball. no, he was down on all fours retrieving the ball with his teeth. "bram, are you a dog?" i asked. "no, mommy," says he, clearly disgusted by my ignorance, "i'm pretending to be a dog.") ok, now where was i? kind of lost my train of thought there. ah, yes, cloth diapers. woohoo!

so, to sum up:

1. i'm disorganized and absent-minded.
2. when quoting myself, i make myself out to be a twit.
3. i have cloth diapers for asher.
4. bram is whipped.

that's today. tonight i cleaned my kitchen (well, mostly, anyway), and tomorrow i'm making pasta, rice and beans with the kiddies in the afternoon, and donating toys to somewhere. that's my sunday coming up. well, i've gotta go. his highness beckons. toodles! :)

i'm trying to focus my "energies"

lately i have begun trying to minimize the impact my family and i have on the environment. i have also been trying to reduce plastic usage, buying "stuff" (so, less consumerism), decreasing waste and increasing composting and recycling, saving money, reducing gas usage, reducing hydro usage, eating less meat, and on and on and on.

and, yes, it's just as overwhelming as it all sounds.

today, in a moment of eco-fatigue, i sat down for a moment and asked God, "what am i supposed to do here? there's so much i need to do, but i can't do it all. how do i do this?"

and my answer came, as clear as the words on this post, "just pick one." one at a time. i can do that. so.....

i have decided on minimizing waste and consumerism. increase recycling and composting, buying less stuff (don't worry, pam, paper and chipboard are biodegradable, so i'll still be paying your hydro bill, lol), and cooking more foods from scratch. less in, less out. oh, and we will also be driving less (uses less gas and saves money).

so, for the "cooking from scratch," i'm going to do some cooking/baking this weekend:

1. my own pasta
2. dare i try bread?
3. maybe i'll just start with banana bread
4. a big batch of rice, to be kept in the fridge for the week
5. some beans, to be kept in the fridge for the week

i think that's ambitious enough, esp given that we have 4 hours of respite tomorrow and i still have no idea what we're gonna do for 4 whole hours! especially if it's going to rain. better get planning, i think.

i've also posted on Freecycle (St Thomas chapter) that i'm looking for cloth diapers for asher. let's face it, he's not going to be potty-training anytime soon, and with the diurretics and laxatives that he's on, we go through a lot of diapers. i hate spending that much money, and sending all that waste to landfill. but... if you have cloth diapers, or access to some, and they need to be the big ones, so they'll fit 25lbs and up, please let me know.

i also have one other item i need to look for: a solar-powered generator, to be used as a back-up power source during black-outs. given that one cannot really predict events like that with much certainty, and given that my child is technology-dependent and required power in order to be fed, this is somewhat of a high priority for us. but like i told a friend earlier: i don't know anything about power generation, and therefore, i don't know what i'm really looking for. you can see my problem. so, if you know anything about solar-powered generators, or if you have a lead on one (and you're reasonably local, say, within the 519 area code), please contact me. you can either post a comment here, or email me (if you have my address, that is). thanks so much! :)

anyway, have a great weekend; may it be simple, green, and filled with power during the storms (take that metaphorically if you will; i'm just hoping we don't have any black-outs!).

i don't bake...

but i'd like to change that. minor problem, though: no recipes. and when you don't make a habit of baking, you can't really wing it right off the bat.

see, here's the thing. it's not so much the baking i mind. it's the measuring. never tell a formerly messed-up pastor's kid what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and for how long. which is why the rebel in me refused to bake for, um oh, ever!

until now, my friends! but again, you see my problem. i don't bake, so i lack recipes. what to do, what to do?

i want to start with some old-fashioned things that just about everyone i know can bake (ok, so maybe i'm caving in to peer pressure or something, or maybe i want to give my children what i was deprived of: memories of baking with mom. sorry, mom, but i don't remember doing that with you.) anyhoo...

i love the smell of baking bread. at least, i want to love it. i think i've honestly only smelled it a couple of times in my life, but in my soul, i love it. so, i did what any SAHM who spends too much time online does: search the net. stupid, naive me, entered "bread recipes." don't know what i was thinking; there's THOUSANDS of sites out there with bread recipes! yikes! well, i'll admit, i don't scan them all and choose the best. maybe i should, but i don't. i just pick the first one on the list. if it doesn't "speak to me" i move to the second. i don't remember the last time i got to the third link on the list. well, i found this website (allrecipes.com) and it has a whole section on bread! (can you tell i'm new at this? the bread section was a surprise for me! i mean, who knew there were so many recipes for bread? lol) so i printed off 3 recipes:

1. traditional white bread
2. amish white bread
3. simple whole wheat bread

i can't wait to give them a whirl. maybe tomorrow with the kids. we'll learn together. :) (and a quick note about printing the recipes: you can choose the format: full page, 4x6 or 3x5. i chose 3x5, seems like a nice traditional recipe card size [am i wrong? i hope not, i want to do this right, and that means down to these seemingly stupid details. yes, i'm a nerd, but i can't help it. lol] it prints off in 2 small boxes, surrounded by dotted lines which are your guides for cutting it out for real-life recipe cards. can you believe it? i have recipe cards! woohoo! lol)

ok, sorry about that little outburst. i'm just a little excited here. maybe a little too excited. that could be. i'll take a sedative later (ah, the simple life. lol). but wait! it gets better! i found other recipes, and printed them off, too!

1. banana banana bread
2. BASIC PASTA!!!!!!!

oh, i am just too excited about the pasta recipe! i can't wait to try it out! i feel like asher sitting in the grass or bram playing with his trains or blithe looking at anything pink! ok, i should stop writing now, otherwise i'll go on and on and never get any sleep tonight and then tomorrow i'll be tired when i deal with the kiddies and that's no good. i get cranky when i'm tired. but i also have to do a quick sample for my scrappin challenge blog and give asher his meds, so i just need to stop now.