Seems I need to catch up a bit on things. I have been very busy trying to figure out how to run the house, clean the house, cook and do it all after putting in a full day at work. Not to mention finding time to hit the gym. That has not been working and while I have no put all the weight back on, I have backed up a bit. I am quite determined to get myself organized and to organize this house as well.
My oldest son was married in September. A really beautiful ceremony at Morro Bay on a deck beside the ocean. It was wonderful. They make a great looking couple.
I was so thrilled that we had so much family from Texas actually make it in for the wedding as well. Living in California I only get to see my sweet little grandson, he is 5 now, once a year. This year I got to see him twice as our oldest daughter came out for the wedding.
It was a touching ceremony and for a reception we all went to the state park and grilled out and just relaxed with all the guest. I was really thankful that we had our new trailer to camp out in as it made it so easy for us to dress and stay in.
Other than the wedding, I have just been muddling along with the day to day things of life. Not successfully most times.
I have added a member to our family, the four legged furry kind that is. He was dumped out by someone out where I work. Which is the middle of farm land, so it happens often. At any rate, a co-worker rescued the little male puppy from traffic and brought him to the office. From the first sight I knew I had to have him. He came right to me so guess he felt the same way.Now, I ask you, is this a face you could just dump out in the middle of traffic and not care if there was food, water, or protection for the little guy? I just don't see how.
He has found a place in our family's heart, each and everyone of us. He is too small to let roam outside long so has become an indoor dog. He is very spoiled, but we feel he deserves it as he shows his love for each of us as well. Here in California we have Kit Foxes which are protected or endangered, not sure which, but the kids decided he looks a lot like one so his name is Kit. Best we can figure out is that he is a toy Pomeranian.
We have also had our first blast of winter, which makes me want to curl up and just do nothing. Which I am very good at. We went to Texas to see family for Christmas. It was a very long drive, taking us 19 hours one way, but it was so nice to see family again. Now that the holidays are over though, it is time to get working around here. I didn't have any vacation time, but took off the two weeks that the kids are out of school anyway. Now this next week I am determined to make some kind of order in this world of chaos. Cleaning out, getting rid of, organizing myself as so many people resolve to do this time of year. I woke up this morning with the sore throat and flu junk that the kids have had but I did manage to get the family to take down the Christmas decorations and take the tree out. I on the other hand worked most of the day cleaning out the two freezers and defrosting the one in the garage. I threw away what was no longer good or was just too big a mystery to figure out. There was several packages of that in there. I organized it all and made an inventory of what I have. I made a spread sheet listing the item, how much of it, what it is, where it is so I can use it to create some menus for the next couple of weeks. The G tells me it is in the freezer in the garage and what shelf it is located on, or H for the freezer in the house.
This is my list:
BBQ Chicken Pizza 1 Pkg Prepared G 1
Cheese Ravioli 1 Bag Prepared G 1
Chicken Strips 1 Pkg Prepared G 1
Chicken Nuggets 1 Pkg Prepared G 1
Chicken Popcorn 1 Pkg Prepared G 1
Chicken Pot Pie 1 Box Prepared G 1
Coconut Shrimp 1 Box Prepared G 1
Cordon Blue 1 Pkg Meat G 1
Crab Rangoon 1 Box Prepared G 1
Creamy Rigatoni 1 Box Prepared G 1
Hamburgers 1/2 Bag Prepared G 1
Herb & Cheese Ravioli 1 Bag Prepared G 1
Honey Herb Chicken Picata 2 Box Prepared G 1
Imitation Crab Meat 2 Pkg Seafood G 1
Jalapeno Poppers 1/2 Pkg Snack G 1
Meatballs 1 Bag Prepared G 1
Mini Cordon Blue 1/2 Box Prepared G 1
Mini Empandas 1/2 Box Prepared G 1
Pannini - SW Chicken 2 Box Prepared G 1
Soft Pretzels 2 Box Snack G 1
Sweet Sour Chicken Bowl 2 Bowl Prepared G 1
BBQ Wings 1/2 Bag Meat G 3
Chicken - Breast Bone In 1 Pkg Meat G 3 4 in pack
Chicken - Breast Bone In 3 Pkg Meat G 3 2 in pack
Chicken - Whole 2 Meat G 3
Hot Wings 1 Bag Meat G 3
Hot Wings 1/2 Bag Meat G 3
Andoulle 1 Pkg Meat G 4
Boneless Pork Chops 1 Pkg Meat G 4 6-Chops
Chicken Spinach Sausage 1 Pkg Meat G 4
Cubed Beef Steak 1 Pkg Meat G 4 4-Pieces
Hot links 1 Pkg Meat G 4
Mini Corn Cob 1 Pkg Veg G 4 Pkg 12
Mini Corn Cob 1/2 Pkg Veg G 4 Pkg 12
Smoke Sausage 1 Pkg Meat G 4 3.5 Pounds - Sections
Turkey Drumsticks 1 Pkg Meat G 4 2-Pieces
Cooked Brisket 1 Gal. Bag Meat G 5
Ground Beef 2 Pkg Meat G 5 1.5 Packs Approx.
Marinated Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 2-Steak
Marinated Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 2-Steak
Sirloin Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 2-Steak
Sirloin Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 1-Steak
Sirloin Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 1-Steak
Sirloin Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 2-Steak
Sirloin Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 4-Steak
Sirloin Steak 1 Bag Meat G 5 2-Steak
Stew Meat 1 Pkg Meat G 5
Chopped Okra 1/2 Bag Veg G D1
Chopped Spinach 2 Box Veg G D1
Green Peas 1 Bag Veg G D1
Mixed Veg 1 Bag Veg G D1
Whole Okra 1 Bag Veg G D1
Chopped Broccoli 1 1/2 Bag Veg G D2
Whole Kernel Corn 1 1/2 Bag Veg G D2
Fr. Toast & Egg 2 Box Break H 1
Fruit Chiller - Peach 2 Ind. Cups Fruit H 1
Fruit Chiller - Strawberry 6 Ind. Cups Fruit H 1
Ham & Egg Scramble 2 Box Break H 1
Mini Choc Chips 1 Box Baking H 1
Raspberry Toaster Strudel 2 Pkg Baked H 2 Icing missing one box
Sausage & Biscuit 1/2 Box Break H 2
Eggo Cin Toast 1/2 Box Break H 3
Eggo Mini 1/2 Box Break H 3
Eggo Waffles 1 Box Break H 3
French Toast Stick 1/2 Box Break H 3
Hashbrown Potatoes 1 Bag Veg H 3
Hashbrown Potatoes - Sticks 1/2 Bag Veg H 3
Mini Pancake & Sausage Rolls 1/2 Bag Break H 3
Sausage Links 2 Box Break H 3
Tater Sticks 1/2 Bag Veg H 3
Blue Bell - Cherry Cordial 1 Gallon Dairy H 4
Blue Bell - Vanilla 2 Gallon Dairy H 4
Rainbow Sherbert 6 Ind. Cups Dairy H 4
Salami 1 Pkg Meat H 5
Salt Pork 1 Pkg Meat H 5
Strawberries 1 Bag Fruit H 5
Weiners 1 Pkg Meat H 5
Coconut - Flaked 1 1/2 Bag Baking H D1
Sausage 2 Rolls Meat H D2
Fuzzy Navel 2 Can Juice H D3
Orange Juice 1 Can Juice H D3
Almonds-whole 1 Bag Baking H D4
Blueberries - Frozen 2 Bag Fruit H D4
Raspberry - Frozen 1 Bag Fruit H D4
I was amazed at how much I actually had, amazed at the amount of money I have put in to that freezer, and how much pre-prepared stuff there is. I also informed the family that they would be eating what I prepared for the evening meals and that was all there is to it. It was just outrageous the amount of waste I found, threw away a whole pizza from a local pizza place that had been in the fridge for over a week. How many times over the last few months have I heard that there was nothing to eat so pulled through a drive up to bring home something.
Well, things are changing around here.
I now have some idea of what meat I have, so can now plan out some menu plans. Tomorrow I will work on the pantry and will then know exactly what I have. We have a terrible problem with these little brown months, and the maggot type worms they start out as, getting in to all my dry goods. So...periodically I have to just purge the majority of the cake mixes, rice, cereal, crackers even jell-o packages to get rid of them. I am actually looking forward to this as it gives me a sense of accomplishment when I clean it out. However, I am in a purge mood, just really tired of all the junk stacking up, so am really not holding back. That means that every room I can get to this week is in for some extra cleaning time since I will be home for a change.
I recently changed gyms, part of the new membership deal is two free sessions with a personal trainer and a fitness assessment and nutrition help. My appointment is 8:00 AM on Tuesday so will find out how bad I have slipped backwards and what I need to do to get moving forward again. I am tired of standing still.
So, here are my goals for the new year:
1. Organize my home and myself.
2. Go to the gym on a regular basis
3. Spend more time with the family
Okay, sounds pretty normal I know, but not as easy as one would think.
Organizing the home and myself will consist of: planning and actually executing menu plans, scheduling my time to allow not only for gym time but writing and computer time as well. As you can see from the time gap in postings for this blog I need some serious help with the whole time management thing. I also intend to change my personal style a bit as well. And in doing all this, I want to make myself get in the living room with the family a little more instead of spending time hiding out in the bedroom playing games on the computer. My writing has been sitting idle as well.
Well, now I am going to close this off and get moving on with other things but will make a concentrated effort to blog regularly.
