I only walked a mile last night. I wanted to walk 1.5 but just didn't have time. I know, I know.. how long can it take to walk a half mile, right? Our schedule was cram packed yesterday. As it was, Britt and I still didn't get to go to bed til after midnight. I promised myself that I would at least walk a mile - and that I did. Maybe I will make up for it and do 1.75 tonight. :) I just have to start earlier. I don't like to walk in the dark by myself so I need to get it done during the daytime hours. Maybe after Elijah is done with physical therapy I can go walk.
So my friends have been sending me recipes, which I love! I am determined to stop eating out and start cooking at home more. The key to doing that successfully is to plan and shop.
I went wild with my eating there for a while. My stress level was really through the roof and that's how I deal with it.. I eat and I bitch. It's how I roll. I feel a bit more in control this week. Of my emotions and my eating.
I am praying that things continue on an even level for a while. I think a break will do all of us so much good. We can handle busy. We can handle crazy busy.. It's just nice to be able to have a bit of normal happy crazy busy, and not scary bad stuff.
walking the mile... walking the mile...
Walking, racoons, and trying new recipes.
Some folks in the condo complex called a "wildlife extraction" specialist to come out and see about the racoon. I suspected that she had babies in the attic space above our condo. The neighbors a few doors down confirmed it. They heard the babies crying and quite a bit of scratching going on in their attic. The wild life specialist came out today and sprayed some sort of chemical in the attic of three of our units. The chemical is supposed to mimic the scent of a really large and really angry racoon. Mama would then think said big mean racoon was going to eat her and quickly relocate her babies. Once they were sure Mama and babies were out, they would repair the hole. We really think she moved them out tonight. We were watching a movie and heard the most awful noise. At first we didn't know what it was, but quickly found out it was these babies crying while she was pulling them out of the hole to take them to their new home. I know they had to go, but it almost made me a bit sad! I'm just thankful they opted for a humane extraction and didn't just kill them - even though I know racoons are not nice. They sure are cool looking though.
I decided that I would take my walking with Baden up a notch. I downloaded a pedometer on my iphone. I thought I already had one, but it wasn't there anymore so I downloaded a new app. I don't like it very much. Last night I walked a tiny bit over a mile with Bay. Tonight I was determined to get up to about a mile and a half. I got about halfway as far as I did last night and Hannah sent me a text message. No big deal. I responded to the text message and kept on walking. I got to the point where I knew I had walked about a mile (because it was the same route from last night) and looked at my phone. It had stopped recording my steps at about the point where Hannah sent me the message! I guess it got confused when the text came in. Not cool! I have a real pedometer someplace. I am hoping I can find it when I get the rest of the house unpacked unless it's in storage.
I didn't try any new recipes tonight. I was going to but E is having some issues with mouthsores so I opted for soft fettucini alfredo - something I knew he would be able to eat. I did splurge and picked up some garlic bread from Silveks. Yum! I am looking for new stuff to fix though, so if you have any good recipes that are family friendly please send them my way.
I have to figure a way to get my walking in tomorrow. I have a meeting in the evening and it will be dark by the time we get home so walking the trail is out of the question. Maybe I will do laps in the sanctuary at church - ha!. I am enjoying the bit of time to myself though and think the walk is really good for me. My goal is to get up to two miles soon and to keep walking every day.
So much coming up.. Hannah is in a pageant this weekend, Riverfest is coming up, School about to be out, yipes. Good things.. All good things.
Moving, cooking & life
We sold our house and have moved to a condo. I am so thankful to be out from under the home repairs and the obligation of the mortgage! It's like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I know everyone says that you are supposed to buy a house and that renting is just throwing money away. Guess what? A raccoon tore a hole in the roof of our condo. We don't have to fix it. It's not our responsibility to hire a "wildlife removal" person and a roofer to repair the damaged roof and tiles. That makes me smile and makes it all worth it to be "throwing away" money every month. Did I mention that we don't have to rake leaves or mow a yard? The condo has yard people that do that. Sure, we traded in a few things. I can't paint or change anything (not necessarily bad). I have less than half the space I had before. Our big dog went to stay with a friend of our because we don't have a yard for her. (it's really better for her and better for us).. BUT.. we have a pool that's right across from our front door. We have lovely neighbors. It's MUCH quieter here than it was at our old house. I haven't heard a peep from our neighbors through the walls, it's closer to Elijah's school, Britt's office, and the church where I work.. AND it's incredibly quaint, efficient and charming! Did I mention no stairs? Did I mention that I have been walking the dog every day since we moved in? Yep. I am happy with our decision. I loved our house but I am loving this freedom even more.
Elijah is doing really well. He seems to be feeling better than he has in a long time aside from a few aches and pains here and there. He starts PT tomorrow which I am really hoping will help with some of the issues he has with his feet and ankles. They just hurt him nearly all the time. They are weak. I am praying PT will help. His hair is starting to grow back, but per the norm for him it's very blond and very fine so even though we think he has hair, he still looks totally bald. I wish his eyelashes would hurry up and come back. I think his pretty lashes are what I miss the most about him not having hair. I'm just thankful he is still with us. We've seen too many neuroblastoma kids recently that have passed or are not doing well. We are so lucky.
I am starting to cook again and I think I am really enjoying it. Crazy, I think. Since my kitchen is very tiny. I had a pretty large kitchen in my other house and for the most part, stopped cooking right before we moved out. Part of it I blamed on packing and lack of time. Part of it, I think, was that I just didn't want to cook. One of the girls that hosted bunco a couple of months ago used some recipes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. I loved the lasagna she made and went to go buy the cookbook. I discovered when looking at the book that she has a blog and pretty much has all of her recipes on the blog. I would much rather look at a free blog than pay for a cookbook! So far I've made three of her recipes. Meatballs, mashed potatoes, and tonight I made chicken parm. The meatballs are now a family favorite and will probably be added to our list of regular meals. The mashed potatoes are rich and creamy (made with half and half AND cream cheese) and while they are wonderful, will have to be an "every once in a while" treat. The chicken parm was good. The chicken was the best part. I didn't much care for my sauce but I think it was my fault and not the recipes. I didn't have decent wine to use and I accidentally got petit diced tomatoes instead of crushed. I really think it made a difference. My boys liked it though. I will just do a little tweaking next time and I am sure it will be awesome. I am looking through her blog now to see what I want to fix next. I watched Julie and Julia the other night and LOVED it.. Maybe I will cook a bunch of Ree Drummond's recipes and blog about it.. but wait.. she already does that - wouldn't I look like an unoriginal ninny. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to pick a few more recipes from her blog to fix, but I would love for friends to recommend recipes to me for me to try. Doesn't have to be super easy, but not uber challenging either. I don't eat veal and I don't eat lamb. I don't typically eat chicken with the bones still in it either. I am pretty much open to all suggestions - so please tell your friends as well.. send me recipes.. good ones... yummy ones... I'm in the mood to cook in my tiny kitchen. I even want an apron that says something catchy about a tiny kitchen.. I will have to look on cafepress for something entertaining.
I've taken my ambien and my words are starting to look as though they are quilted on the page. It's cool, but a definite sign that I need to go to bed soon.