It begins...

The diet that is. My doctor still wants me to lose 50 pounds, imagine that! Soooo, I told her all about my foot pains(ligaments and tendon problems), my hip pains(bursitis), and my bum gall bladder issues. In turn, she told me to take Tylenol(not Advil or Alleve due to kidney stuff) and that once I start losing weight my liver enzymes will keep me from having gall bladder attacks. I'm not so sure about the last one but I will trust her. She says smaller portions, no strenuous exercising just gentle stuff like yoga and walking. Soooo, here we go!

My mom wants me to join Weight Watchers but I'm not keen on having to travel to a meeting every week. Our lifestyle is already complicated enough with Mark's work schedule and the kids are always wanting to do this or that. I also don't like the fact that their program seems(and I've not been so I don't know this for fact) to focus on the number of points and not on types of foods. I'd rather eat a huge salad with some turkey, cheese and a balsamic dressing than fried anything, ok well maybe fried squash.

Here's some red metal shelves I rescued from my dad and brother. They were on my grandparents back porch for years and years. I cleaned them up and will use them for my pretties in the dining room. Chester is here guarding them from our neighbor cat, Tom. The fabrics will be for quilted mats to go on the shelves(imagine the red a bright cheery 40s looking red, the blue is true).





In other news, we had NINE trees taken out today. Most were dead, three were not. Our front yard is down by seven and the back lost a dead maple and a huge pine that was threatening the vinyl liner of the swimming pool with its roots. I will miss them, especially the three sycamores in the front, they kept the yard cool in the late afternoon. Ryan wants to plant a weeping willow and the girls want to do hydrangeas. We'll see. Grass first, then riddance of the briars and baby oaks, then an overhaul of the corner evergreen bed(icky!). Of course, this in addition to repainting the girls bedroom, and ours, and decluttering, and dieting, and quilting, and crocheting, and pool maintainance.... hmmm, maybe that's why I don't wanna do WW meetings.

Veggie-tarian?

This year I've made the decision to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our rotation but had a hard time coming up with legitimate meals. Having 3 kids, 3 dogs, 5 cats, and 6 guinea pigs, plus homeschooling, crafting and having a hubby who works 60 hours a week leaves me with little desire or time for experimentation.

Enter The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas! This book has almost 300 recipes in it for all sorts of heavenly sounding things, plus ideas for school lunches(or homeschool park day lunches for us), soup and sandwich/soup and salad combos, embellishments/variations for each recipe, and (my favorite), how to make each thing a meal-where she gives dishes(also in the book) that compliment each other, even for the salads! Most of the recipes are things I'd never have thought of in a million years too. The chapters are thus; Easy Breakfast Treats, Soothing Soups and Savory Stews, Salads and Such, Pasta and Noodles, Tofu and Seitan, Vegetable, Grain and Bean Main Dishes, Vegetable and Grain Side Dishes, Sandwiches, Wraps and School Lunches, Healthy Snacks and Fruity Treats, and Wholesome Baked Goods. It is well worth finding! I've yet to make something from it because I just started reading it a few days ago but the recipes sound very tasty.

Will let you know how it goes.

Shampooey Fooey!

But first the kitties, well 4 of the 5, in the window watching squirrels and birds. I smeared parts of the pic around kind of LOTR style.



So I was reading my favorite blog, Crazy Aunt Purl, who is just a HOOT, saucy, sassy and sweet at the same time. Anyway, she was talking about finding out how many women don't wash their hair daily. Lots of comments about that so I googled natural hair cleaners(or some such) and found a "receipt" for something that might be the end of my shampoo days forever. I can't find the link now but it goes a little something like this:

1 egg
some distilled water(I used two egg shells full-so maybe 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil(only do this occasionally)

I used this on my hair Saturday night(yeah really!) and it was AMAZING! Someone on one of my groups sent this website, Shampoo Free! Healthy hair, naturally. which explains how hair oils work. According to them, there might be a greasy transition period after giving up shampoo, but not to worry, it will pass.

Ok, now I'm up to three shampoos with this stuff, sans oil. The second one, Monday morning, left eggy residue on my hair. It came out with brushing but I didn't like it. Wednesday morning's session went better, I didn't let it sit on my hair and this afternoon it is soft and shiny! I'll do this for a month and see how it goes. If it ends up not being what I want, I'll switch to the baking soda formula. That would be easier but I want to see where the egg mixture ends up.

Now to convince the rest of the family...

Pie Anyone?

You Are Mud Pie

You're the perfect combo of flavor and depth Those who like you give into their impulses

What Kind of Pie Are You?

I was hoping to be buttermilk. While I'm at it...

Your Intrapersonal Intelligence Score: 98%

Your Intrapersonal Intelligence is Very High You've spent a lot of time introspecting, and it's really paid off. You are comfortable with who you are, and you have a life philosophy that you are happy to live by. And you're always re-evaluating what you believe. Because you learn something new about yourself each day!

How Does Your Intrapersonal Intelligence Rate?

That is more like it.
And, because I still have down time(the boys are cleaning up in the garage and the girls are on the trampoline), I'll give a teeny update.

My grandpa died last Monday at age 92. It was expected, his health was failing rapidly, but still hard to believe I have no grandparents left. I won't bore yall with the details but the highlights included a Masonic funeral service(of which the family did not necessarily approve), a motel straight out of a horror movie(at which we did not stay), unruly blow-up beds, lost shoes, dogs, llamas, cows, snakes, fishing, red Oklahoma clay(LOTS of it), coyotes(of course), a skunk encounter, loads of deli trays and cakes, God-sent breaks in the weather, a fireworks display(kid you not!), a quilt shop, and getting to see the baby who was born on my birthday(he is CUTE!). Ryan, Amy, Sarah, Rose and Christian.

Jamie(my cousin), Lauren(1st cousin once removed), and her baby Lex(1st cousin twice removed). Isn't he precious?

It is good to be home.