You may have been thinking it was going the way of the dodo. I was kind of thinking that too. Lately, I feel that my blog needs some direction. I’m tired of talking about working out. And I’m tired of talking about my garden (by the way, if anyone wants roughly 150 jalapenos, please, please come over!). Now what? I could turn this into a blog where I talk about food, which sounds yummy. But there are so many blogs where ladies talk about food (they sure are fun to read though). Should I jump on that bandwagon? I don’t know. Maybe my lack of posts of late has been due to my lack of focus here. It would be really neat to talk about something innovative. I really don’t want to stop blogging. I mean, I finally have my very own domain now and don’t you think my little mobile home with the smiley face is just so cute? So, all that to say, I will continue to blog. I just don’t know what about just yet. It may continue to be a hodgepodge of different things. Or not…Maybe you should come back again so you can find out! 🙂
Four Months Later
Okay, how in the world do I begin this post? I’m just sitting here, trying to come up with something witty to draw you in after a nearly four-month sabbatical (or something) to no avail. So, you’ll just have to bear with me as I flex my rusty blog fingers and type away.
In recent news, my garden is doing very well this year again. I have lots of cucumber plants (6) and jalapeno plants (8 – I would have had 9 but one died). So, yeah, I’ll have quite the crop of veggies. My friend suggested I make spicy pickles with my jalapenos and cukes. I thought that sounded great! I have a feeling that canning season will be fairly busy once again.
So other than gardening, what else have I been up to? Well, lots of things actually. School is done and the kids are enjoying their break. I’ve also been getting up earlier than usual to go walking with a good friend every morning. These past few months, I’ve had some health issues that have hopefully resolved. Time will tell I guess. David finishes his degree next month! This is the one and only class that he’s taken that I’m actually interested in. Throughout his college career, I’ve read to him microeconomics, marketing, accounting, journalism, and I know I’m missing stuff. But this time, it’s music appreciation! The cool thing about music appreciation is that I actually know what the authors of the book are talking about – no talk about profit margins and other microeconomicky things. But quarter notes, Beethoven, and syncopation! Musical instruments and harmony! Ah, it’s like a breath of fresh air. The best part about music appreciation? It’s his very last class!
The puppy is doing well. He will be a year old at the end of this month. He finally figured out the whole potty thing. We have some occasional accidents, mainly when he gets scared, and it sure seems like he’s got a sensitive stomach because he throws up more than I thought a dog would. On the whole though, he’s doing well.
I better wrap this one up. I have to call the insurance company (don’t I know how to have fun?) and work out (again, lots of fun there). So until next time (which will hopefully be sooner than four months), adios!
Hey There, Hi There, Ho There
Um…Hi! How are things? All is well on the exercise front for the most part. I took a break from the 30-Day Shred and threw in a little Turbo Jam to spice things up a bit. 🙂 But you know what? I’m tired of talking about exercise. So, on to other things.
Today was a teaser for spring! It was so beautiful outside. I can’t wait to start my garden again. But you know what I found still alive in my flower bed? Weeds! And you know what else? They were still GREEN! What’s up with that, I would just like to know? I could have spent quite a bit of time outside this afternoon WEEDING MY FLOWER BED IN FEBRUARY! That just doesn’t seem right. I have to hand it to those weeds, though. They sure know how to drive me crazy survive the cold weather. Well, what’s on the menu for my garden this year? I’m so glad you asked because I will tell you just that.
To make it more fun, I’ll have you figure it out by the process of elimination. Zucchini plants? NO WAY! Carrots? Probably not. We just aren’t big carrot eaters around here. Lettuce? Nah. Okay, have you narrowed it down yet? 🙂 Just kidding. Here’s the tentative garden list for this year:
Jalapenos
Garlic
Green onions
Tomatoes
Green beans
Peas (maybe)
Bell peppers
That may be it. I don’t know yet. This list is subject to change. I saw that is is supposed to snow on Saturday, so after that, maybe it’ll be warmer more consistently. However, there is a slight drawback to all this talk of gardens and warm weather and what not…the creepy crawlies will be back to torment me. But, alas, I am willing to march right into the throws of bugdom with my bottle of Raid and care for my veggies!
Well, I suppose I better call it a night. The morning will come early. I don’t know what workout I want to do tomorrow. The shorter, the better. 🙂
Checking In Briefly
Hi folks. I’m here. I’m sorry to have concerned so many of you. I appreciate the emails and all the comments. I was just overwhelmed the other day. It probably wasn’t even a good idea to be on here. Oh well.
It is 12:24 according to the time on my computer, time for me to go night night. My eyes are getting heavy and morning will come too quickly. I am planning on writing sometime within the next couple of days regarding my exercise challenge and all that good stuff.
Good night, all.
Losing Steam
Hi all. I’m here but barely. This has been a hard week for me so far. I’ve worked out Tuesday and Wednesday, missed Monday and yesterday and today, it’s 10:40 a.m. and I’m still not dressed. It’s been a difficult week all the way around, not just for working out. I’m really bummed about some things and all I want to do right now is lie around all day in my robe and do nothing. But that would make me more depressed so I better just get busy because I have so many things to do today as usual. Sigh….
I really don’t have much else to say right now. If anyone has any words of encouragement (not just related to working out), I sure could use them.
I’m Ba-ack!
Did you get tired of seeing that glowing picture of me every time you stepped over to my blog this week? Sorry folks! I’ve still been exercising but have not made the time to update on here. So, here I am!
Let’s see, I checked out Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds, 3-Mile Walk at the library last week and like it pretty well. It’s not real intense and a tad cheesy (but you’ll hardly find a workout video that isn’t) but it’s decent. Some of the cheesy parts are when occasionally the people working out will exclaim how much they like the workout, what part of their body they’re really “feeling it” and then will let out an occasional, high-pitched “Wooo!” Get the picture there? But, it doesn’t come close to the cheese level you’ll find with Denise Austin, bless her heart. 🙂
And then…my Mom got me Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred (thanks Mom!!). I now know why they use the word “shred.” I was hardly able to walk yesterday. My legs and arms were so incredibly sore that I considered taking a “break” and doing Billy Blanks Ultimate Bootcamp. Seriously. Ouch! I figured for those who are interested, I’d post my own little review of the workout so here goes:
The video has three levels on it, the first one being the “easiest.” Let me tell you, my friends, that Level 1 was what I started with and what has gotten me so sore. Each level is broken down into three circuits and each circuit has 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. Rinse. Repeat x3 for a total of about 18 minutes plus a warm up and cool down. The first day I got it, I thought, “Pshh, only 20 minutes? I’ll do Level 1 and 2 to get a good workout.” Um, I hardly made it through Level 1! I felt like a gelatinous mess by the end and curled up in a fetal position on the bed afterwards because I felt physically ill. And then the next day, I did it again! Only this time I was able to make it through a little better. Yesterday, I did the same thing and it got a little easier. I worked out despite being terribly sore and that’s when I could hardly move. Today, I don’t feel nearly as sore and am planning on working out later this evening. Here is a list of pros and cons about the video:
Pros:
1. It’s short.
2. See above. 🙂
3. The moves are very basic and easy to follow, no fancy foot work or anything.
4. It is an extremely intense workout in a very short period of time.
5. You feel like you really accomplished something by the time you’re done.
6. She has a no-nonsense attitude about working out.
Cons:
1. Jillian is a tad masculine. Some people might not have a problem with that. I just thought it was a little off-putting.
2. She also seems kind of arrogant.
3. In Level 2 (which I have only watched) she says if we want to be a bad a** to watch one of the girls in the background. It certainly isn’t terrible. I just didn’t think it was really appropriate.
4. At the end of Level 1, she says it’s time for a cool down and, “God knows we deserve it.” It just seemed kind of flippant when she said it. God knows all things but I don’t think we “deserve” a cool down. He knows we may need a cool down but “deserving” something so trivial…I don’t know. So I’ll just say I think she should have been more thoughtful.
And there you have it: my two cents about the 30-Day Shred. You’re also supposed to follow her diet plan but you have to buy her book. I don’t plan on doing that so I’ll just keep exercising and try to be mindful of what I eat. This past week, I’ve done an okay job with my portions and what I’ve eaten and stuff. That is until last night. We went out with some friends after church to IHOP. They have a new coffee drink special going right now. It’s iced coffee and it comes in vanilla, mocha, and maybe one or two other flavors. And free refills! Who can pass up something like that? But, as if that wasn’t bad enough, we also ordered an appetizer sampler x2. It had (drum roll please) onion rings! I was sharing the appetizer basket with my son and he doesn’t like onion rings so I did my part and “helped” him out. Wait! It gets even better because no onion ring would be complete unless you dipped it…in ranch dressing! Yum. They were so good. The funny thing was, I had fixed a fruit smoothie for dinner because I really was trying to be careful about what I ate. Good thing I was being so careful, eh? Yeah…good job, Lisa. So, it’s back to being careful after my little slip last night.
For those of you joining me on this challenge, how has exercising been going for you? Are you noticing a change yet? Do you find yourself enjoying it more?
In Which the Author is a Glutton for Punishment
I think this picture about sums it up, don’t you?
Can you guess which workout I just did? I’ll give you a hint: It was made by a man whose first name is Billy and his last name is Blanks. Give up? It was Billy’s Ultimate Bootcamp. I am feeling a tad wobbly and jiggly. We’ll see if I’m able to walk tomorrow. I might need a walker.
In other news, I had a great birthday. Lots of food, games, friends, food, food, food. Suffice it to say, I’m glad birthdays only come once a year. Oi. I was afraid to step on the scale this morning for good reason. Sigh. That was one of the motivating factors for me to do the ultimate bootcamp this morning. Also, the Crockpot Lady is doing a wellness challenge too! Check out her site for great, healthy recipes you can make in your crockpot. She wrote a post this morning with some good information on there about eating healthy. How cool! Lots of people are getting into the whole workout/healthy eating thing lately. It dawned on me that it probably has something to do with New Year’s resolutions. Just to clarify, I am not doing this challenge as part of some New Year’s resolution. It is a resolution, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the new year. I just want to be healthy and now’s the time to do it.
I recently got some birthday money and I’m trying to figure out how to spend it. I’m contemplating buying Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, but her use of the word “shred” has me a tad concerned…I don’t know. Maybe I should just spend it on something more girly. But it was under $10 on Amazon. Has anyone ever tried it before? Jillian Michaels is from a TV show called “The Biggest Loser.” I’ve only seen part of one episode before. Basically, a group of overweight people are chosen and they go on this crazy diet and exercise regimen to see who can lose the most weight by the end of the season. Jillian Michaels is their “drill sergeant” so to speak. She is in charge of their workouts, and from what I hear, she’s pretty tough. I’m still thinking about it…
I need to go shower, if I can get off the chair. I’m ready for a nap. G’day, mates!
Catching Up…
Long time, no blog. This has been a really busy week. I can hardly believe it’s Thursday already. As far as exercising goes, I’ve been able to work out everyday this week so far. I have not yet worked out today though. This morning ended up being pretty busy (my license is set to expire tomorrow so I had to get that taken care of ASAP) so I’m planning on working out as soon as my dinner digests. 🙂 David took the kids out for a mysterious outing. He’s got something up his sleeve. I just don’t know what it is. I’m sure it has to do with my birthday because tomorrow, I hit the big 29. But unlike everyone else who says they’re 29, I’m really going to be 29. 🙂 But, I’m thinking about stopping at 28 because 29 just seems too suspicious, like you’re hiding your real age or something. How about (in David’s terms) the second anniversary of my 28th birthday. There! Doesn’t that sound nice? We’ll just call it that now, shall we?
Anyway, I had something I else I was going to write but it left me (AUGHHH!!!! It’s because I’m getting older!!). Onto the fun part. We’ll just call this section of this post, “On Why I Need to Purchase a Cow.” Are you intrigued yet? There are so many cool things you can do with heavy cream and milk!!! First off, you can make butter from heavy cream. Here’s what you do.
Pour some (however much you want – I didn’t measure mine) heavy cream into a bowl and get out your mixer. Beat your cream at medium to high speed for quite awhile. It will turn into whipping cream first. Then, you’ll see that it will turn color to more of a yellow color, and the consistency will change too. Once it starts to harden, strain it out in a strainer over a bowl. The butter will stay in your strainer while the buttermilk will drain into your bowl. Rinse your butter very well because any remaining buttermilk can make your butter spoil pretty quickly. You can also make butter by shaking the cream in a jar or other container. I tried this and lost patience with it pretty quickly so I got out my mixer.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
Yogurt! You can make your own yogurt. Now how cool is that? Instead of posting the directions on here, the Crockpot Lady has a really great and very easy recipe that you can do in the crockpot. I had tried making yogurt a couple times before but it never set. I think it had something to do with the temperature being too low and/or the fat content in my milk being too low. But this one worked really well. You can add crushed fruit to it or whatever you like. I have never had success using anything but whole milk, but Stephanie said you can dissolve a package of unflavored gelatin in to help it along.
Don’t go yet because you can make your own…
CREAM CHEESE! Yep, it’s true. Here’s what you do. Take some yogurt, put it in a dish towel on a strainer that is sitting over a bowl and let it drain for 5+ hours. After you have drained it over a mixing bowl, my friend, Cara, tied the dish towel with the stuff in it to a spoon and let it drain into a jar overnight (I think it was overnight anyway). Does that all make sense? What drains from the yogurt is this stuff called whey which is actually a natural preservative. You can add it to different things to make them last longer, like salad dressing for instance.
NEXT PLEASE!
You can make your own buttermilk. You can do it by using the stuff you strained from your butter or use:
- 3 1/2 c. milk
- 1/2 c. buttermilk, room temperature
Simply mix the above ingredients together and let sit for 24 hours. Voila! You can also use dry milk for this.
NEXT RUNNER UP…
Sour cream! Yay! You can make your own at home! And you know what? It is just about as easy as the other things I mentioned. Here’s what you need:
- 1 cup heavy cream (um, this isn’t the light version in case you haven’t noticed)
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Combine the above ingredients in a container with a lid or screw top jar and let sit for 24 hours. It tastes really good. Like sour cream. But I guess you’d expect that, huh?
So now I guess you can see why I need to get a cow? 🙂
And one more thing for your reading enjoyment. This homemade food item doesn’t come from a cow but it’s still pretty cool. You can make your own baking powder. Here’s what you need:
- 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Mix it all together and there you go. Homemade baking powder. I have not looked into whether this is cheaper than buying it at the store, but you can have the peace of mind to know that there isn’t any aluminum in the homemade stuff, if you are concerned about that type of thing.
Okay, I think that’s it. If you are interested in making any of these things and my directions weren’t very clear, leave a comment and I’ll try to explain it better. With me getting up in years, it’s kind of hard to think straight. 😉
Almost Week 3
I was able to work out today and definitely feel it in my legs. It’s probably a combination of yesterday’s workout and today’s. I ended up doing Billy Blanks’ Basic Taebo Live workout. It’s about 35 minutes or so on VHS. I really like the workout as it’s not unbearable and doesn’t last too long. Afterward, I felt kind of dizzy and like I just wanted to go to bed. I still haven’t quite shaken that feeling either, but I have a lot of things to do before bed. *yawn*
I’m looking forward to a rest from working out tomorrow. And right now what I’m really looking forward to is…my bed. But! I’m off to go clean the bathrooms, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, do dishes, throw in a load of laundry, and make pancakes to stick in the fridge for tomorrow. (we’re having breakfast for dinner tomorrow and some folks from church are coming over). Oh yeah, and the kids need a bath too…Has anyone heard of Flylady‘s website? She has a system of cleaning that looks really neat. I need to look at it more in depth, but from what I saw it sure looks helpful. Then, on Saturday nights, I wouldn’t be rushing around trying to get everything done.
On my next post, I want to share some of the really cool things I’ve been making at home lately. It’ll be fun!
Until next time, adieu.
Gobs and Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts…
Remember that song? I had it in my head this morning as I was cleaning my…washing machine of all things. You know that washing machines typically are supposed to, um, wash your clothes, right? Well, let me tell you a thing or two about my washing machine. Okay, let’s start with anatomy, of my washing machine that is. You know that part in the middle that spins around and at the top there is a place to pour your liquid fabric softener if you decide to use it? On mine, the part where you put the fabric softener comes out so you can, I don’t know, clean it maybe? Who knew? I took mine out and if you could see what I saw, you’d be singing about gopher guts too. Blech! Ew! Sick! It was this black, thick, nasty gunk in the thing that holds the other thing where you put the liquid fabric softener. It probably has some other technical name besides “thing,” but I don’t have any creative word to use in its place. I spent probably over an hour trying to get this gunk out of my washing machine. I was using a knife, q-tips, toothpicks, paper towels, and bleach. Finally, I got it to where it was looking less disgusting. It still doesn’t look quite like I would like it to, but I couldn’t get it any cleaner unless I can disassemble it somehow. But let’s not go there, shall we? I am afraid what else I might find! The moral of this story: Clean out your fabric softener thingy and the spinner thing that holds it every once in awhile (like every 7 years or so in my situation…eh). David said I should have taken pictures. I thought about it but just didn’t feel like doing that to myself. I might get the EPA knocking at my door or something. 🙂
“…and I forgot my spoon, but I’ve got a straw…”