sTiR CrAZy

Birrrr...

Woke up to snow this morning.

Its supposed to do it some more...

though it was not much.

The sort of snow where kids have to scoop up every

flake in the yard to build a small snow man.

We are awful about collecting things and reusing them.

We do recycle in a serious way here.

The whole dang two towns together do that.

(We might as well be one town, but a river runs between us.)

We don't have box sized recycle containers.

We have great big garbage can style bins on wheels.

The neighbors drive the dog nuts rolling out their bins.

We do our part in our house.

So every margarine, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc. tub

is carefully collected and put into the cupboard

we call the "Fibber McGee closet".

So named because when you open it, things fall out.

I am sick of reorganizing it repeatedly.

 Their lids occupy two big drawers in the kitchen...

they are in opposite corners.

It is a pain in the butt to find a lid that matches a tub.

The more one digs, the more messed up

each area gets.

It is a flawed system.

The entire time I have been living here...

the man has said to me

"This is your kitchen, you arrange it the way you want."

It's my area.

So as I was flipping through a coupon book for a local store...

I became very excited about food storage containers.

This may not float your boat.

It does mine!

This morning I purchased 80 food storage containers.

Does that sound excessive?

They came in sets of 40... so I bought two.

The thing I like about them is that the lids snap to their container bottoms.

There is no need for the bottoms and the tops to 

live across the room from one another.

Likewise no need for a messy method of picking through

piles of lids that are not the lid I want....

or the annoyance of lids getting stuck when you try to close the drawers.

I spent a wonderful day going through all our containers.

The man has more Tupperware than my mother ever had...

 and a good mix of Rubbermaid, Zip-lock and Glad containers too.

Crazy!

When I was finished, 

I had ten "saved" containers... the sour cream, etc.

stacked with their lids neatly stored beneath them.

Those are for sending left-overs home with guests.

No one has to worry about returning them...

please, please don't return them!

My cupboard is neatly arranged with lids below containers

for all of them.

Two drawers are empty now and ready to be used.

I've no idea what I will put in them.

But something will present itself.

Meanwhile, my recycle bin is 3/4 full of plastic 

bottoms without tops...

and plastic tops without bottoms.

Not to mention all the sour cream, etc. with lids.

I kid you not!

Tonight I will smile when I sleep,

knowing that the cupboard is neat and orderly.

 Happy sigh.

Tomorrow I will hit the drawer under the stove...

I rarely open it, its so scary!

There are pan lids and casserole lids in there for every

pot that resides here or ever lived in this kitchen... EVER.

Most do not have pots to sit under them.

I do believe in recycling and reusing things.

But the man, bless his heart...

is a bit of a pack rat.

Its all clean and lovely.

But certainly needs to be weeded out.

Clutter is a sneaky animal.

Where does clutter sneak into your life?

Are you a clutter buster...

or a pack rat?

I'm kind of both.

But every now and then, I go crazy getting rid of things.

I'm thinking this is spring cleaning itching to bust loose...

I really want the snow flakes to melt off and leave us be.

I'm so ready for sunshine and being outside again.

 

BITS & PIECES

~Kurt Vonnegut

The man is as regular as clockwork on filling up the truck 

when he has driven 249 miles.

Our gas gauge went kaput.

He keeps track with the trip meter...

rather than shell out a mini fortune to fix the gas gauge.

( This pic came from FaceBook )

When we went to fill the tank on his Friday morning...

he about had a hissy fit on the spot.

Thanks to the unhappy Iranians...

and the greed of oil companies using the 

limp threats of the Iranians as an excuse to jack the price

of oil per barrel.

And like o'l Kurt said...

we are still addicted to oil, so we will pay the ransom.

Unrelated.

When the man left to go to his graveyard shift

on his Friday morning...

my Thursday night...

Roxy did the most surprising thing.

It is our custom to walk the man to his truck

and say our good-byes,

then reenter the home and check the parameter.

Once all doors are locked tight,

all lights are turned off,

and the security system enabled...

It is our custom to go to the bedroom together.

 

 

Roxy will check out the bathroom for possible idiots

hiding in the shower.

I have not taught her to do this, but she does it.

 

 

Normally when we walk the man out...

I have already moved my "stuff" to

the bedroom.

This "stuff" is my kindle, my Sudoku puzzle book,

and a writing tablet for ideas that pop into my head.

I tend to leave the door ajar.

By now you have guessed what Roxy did.

We finished our rounds

and as I flicked out the last light in the foyer

near the bedroom...

and we plunged into darkness...

Roxy launched into hyper drive.

She also launched into the firmly closed door.

 

 

 

Poor girl!

I've never heard her make that noise.

I felt awful.

I opened the door to let the light spill into the foyer area

so that I could see if she was hurt.

Cowed, head bent low...

Roxy slunk to her blankets

and lay down with her back to me.

She didn't even check the shower for idiots.

I crooned at her and gave her ears a good tickle...

until she laid her head down and sighed,

I felt badly for her.

We all have those moments.

The exuberance of stupidity can be emotionally crushing.

I was glad that she didn't physically hurt herself.

What a shock!

I had a fantastic weekend.

Visited with friends for a bit Sunday morning.

The rest of the time was "us time".

Sweet.

 =:]

 

 

 

I got some new "New Balance" shoes.

At least 70-100% of the materials used to make them are made in the USA.

The shoes are 100% assembled here.

They are very comfy too!

Otherwise...

an uneventful weekend.

Sometimes I think those might be the best sort of weekends.

What did you do with your weekend?

SSS GROW

YAY!

Its time for another episode of 

Saturday Scavenger Shots.

Our word this week:

"GROW"

I can't help but think of my kids when 

I think of the word GROW.

 

We have anxiously watched this 

baby bump GROW!

Olivia will arrive on March 6th.

She is one of two new grand daughters

that are making our family GROW.

Zoe will join us on April 30th.

Yay!

 

 

This next one made me all teary-eyed.

I love that our school made these for each

of the students and gave them to the 

parents at graduation.

 

 

Not the best photography on my part.

But what a great way to remember

watching Squeaky GROW up.

(sniff, sniff)

We certainly had fun watching this 

GROW

 in to this!

The handsome Puck!

Of course there are many things that illustrate the word GROW. I focused on family.

Please note that Puck is a family member!

This one I just had to add for the heck of it.

Same meaning, different spelling.

=:]

I hope your weekend GROWs into

a fun one... filled with things and people

you love.

Mine will be.

The man has the weekend off.

So this weekend,

I know that I will not GROW

lonely.

Instead, I will GROW happy!

My little friend here can be found at amazon.com

 It is not an electronic tampon.

This nifty gadget is a sort of calculator for keeping track of nutrition numbers.
It does not tell you how many calories you have burned 

or how many steps you have walked...
though its found in the same store section if  you are looking to buy one.


Setting goals in my personal life was never my forte...
until I became diabetic.
Unless you or someone you know well are one...
you don't know just how much of a bummer that is.
They scare the crap out of you with horror stories about:

Depression.
Going blind.
Kidney failure.
Infection that can lead to amputation.
Heart attack or stroke.
Coma.
Loss of nerve sensation due to poor blood circulation.
And if those things aren't bad enough...
Limp Lennies!


I got an inkling of what I was supposed to do.
They gave me books to read.
I went to meetings.
But my brain had trouble getting past this
nasty business of "diet and lifestyle" changes.



You put the word "diet" in front of me and you may as well 

replace it with the word "punishment".
"We here by punish you for being fat by taking away all the 

taste and joy that food brings!"
When they added exercise to the list my brain exploded.
Inwardly I shrieked.
This simply was unfair and too much to ask.
Couldn't they see I was a slug?



I fought it at first.
I only put half effort into doing things right.
I made progress of a sort.
The doc gave me a  year to get things the way they should be.
I used every second of that year to avoid as much of the issue as possible.


Then I had that life changing moment... if you have read here long,
you know about it.  If not...
I decided that I was not happy and the only one who could change that fact was me.
That's when I got serious and got busy.
That's how I got here to my happy place.


However, I still have the issue of "stress eating".
Prior to  the wedding I began to have the nibbles.
Then after the wedding I continued to nibble.
I regained some of the weight I lost.
Then I got a grip again and began to do things right.


Then I quit smoking!
Remember that?
I began to nibble again.
CRAP!
I cannot afford to do this.





The trick for me is to understand that we are all on "diets".
Not all "diets" are good for us.
Too many people are on "gaining weight" diets.
I am choosing to be on a reducing weight diet that is healthy and sane.
I have to be careful of that... the healthy and sane part.
(Sssshhhh... I'm tricking my brain here!)


So I ordered that gizmo up there.
There is a formula for diabetics to figure out what your ideal weight goal is.
(ideal being reasonably accomplish-able)
And another formula for figuring how many calories you can take in daily to accomplish reasonable weight loss.
And another formula tells you how many carbs you can have with that amount of calories that will keep your blood sugars right.
It is then up to you to divide them into two snacks a day and three meals.
AND KEEP TRACK of what goes into your body.


See how simple that is?
It means you can eat whatever you want as long as you fit it into your daily goal amount.
Oh, and try not to be stupid about it.
One of Carl Jr's six dollar burgers could do in my daily intake amount for everything!
Shopping at the grocery store is fun and saves carbs and calories.
Not to mention you can make some darned tasty fresh food.



I've always done this with a little note book.
Yeah... like my little note book for keeping my blood sugar levels recorded.
I'm not good at making those entries,
though I know what I can and can't eat...
I can lose track of how many calories or carbs I have left in my day...
because I forget to write them down.
Or I left my notebook at home.
My blood sugar levels are kept electronically in my meter, thank heavens!


So now I found a gizmo to do that with my nutrition too.
Less chance for screwing up!
Less time spent scribbling in notebooks.
Yay!
And its just a little guy that can go in my pocket.
Very cool beans.


Now all I have to do is;
not wash it in the laundry,
not lay it down and forget where I put it,
not sit on it and break it...
well you get what I'm saying.

Are  you making any life style or big changes in your life?

Have you found a cool new gizmo that does... something? 

BTW... 55 days and still not smoking.  Yay!

SSS FIRE!

Welcome to another episode of

Saturday Scavenger Shots!

Our exciting word this week: 

FIRE

FIRE didn't affect me much until I moved to this

area on the Columbia River.

Wild FIRES are a scary part of gorge living.

One FIRE actually came close enough to melt my

mail box across the street from my home.

Yikes!

Now that was exciting in a scary way!

It's a good thing we had these guys...

Our volunteer FIRE Department!

YAY!

Though firemen came from all over 3 states

before they could put it out.

Wild FIRES are horrible hungry creatures

that gobble up everything in their path.

But not all FIRE related things are bad.

There is romantic candle light FIRE,

the warmth of a cozy FIREplace burning logs,

or 

a stinky old trash pile FIRE.

Ewww

FIREworks are my favorite kind of FIRE.

And another kind of "FIRE"

happens when you discharge one of these

as you carefully aim and FIRE!

I think it is also interesting to note that

FIRE makes noise.

Even tiny birthday candles make a "woof" sound as you blow them out.

A match makes a scratch and poof noise when

struck.

Wood crackles as it burns.

FIREworks make a big BANG.

FIRE has long fascinated me.

Did you ever look closely at a match

as it burned and see that between

the flame and the unburnt wood/cardboard

liquid scurries along before the flame?

FIRE is part of a chemical reaction!

Solid to liquid to vapor.

Even the science of FIRE is exciting.

Whatever  you do this weekend...

I hope its something that you feel all

FIRED up about doing...

in a good way of course.

=:]

THE V'S DAY OH CRAP MOMENT

Happy Valentines Day!

So the man comes home from work yesterday morning...

which is his evening.

I make him a nice diner meal while he farts around on the computer.

When the casserole is finished, I announce its diner time.

Normally this would take a bit before he is ready to eat it.

I expect him to say 

"As soon as I finish this game..."

and I am used to compensating for this by allowing 

5 to 10 minutes of cool off time...

So that papa bear's porridge is just right!

He must have been famished.

He showed right up and I hadn't even dished it onto the plate yet.

We get into the family room where we are going to eat

and he takes a bite.

Too hot.

A commercial comes on TV about giant teddy bears.

Get one for the one you love in time for Valentine's Day!

Its the day before Valentine's Day...

if you're going to get that bear, the time has expired.

I say this out loud...

because I am amused by that fact.

The man looks at me confused.

I explain that tomorrow is Valentine's Day

and anyone who orders that bear now

hasn't got a pin head's chance on the MENSA test

of getting that score.

"No its not."

says the man in miffed tones.

"Yes it is... look at your phone."

He checks the date on his cell phone.

He has that "oh crap moment" look.

I know that look.

Its the look that even I get when I have forgotten something...

that could lead to trouble.

Inside my head I am giggling.

I know that his remember-er is broken.

I had planned to drop at least one hint when he got home...

and another when he got up to go to work.

If I help him to remember Valentine's Day from the start...

there will be less awkward moments for him later as life together goes on.

Training the man is tricky work.

Luckily I am tricky.

So he picks up his food and tries another bite.

"Mmmm..."

he says and casually picks up the grocery store flyer.

He is reading it like it has interesting things in it...

on every page.

Yeah.  Right.

The man does not do the grocery shopping planning.

He does not care what food items are on sale that I can make into a meal.

That's my stock 'n trade.

He gives me a weekly budget and I make magic out of it.

His job is to eat it.

Obviously he has not put a lot of thought into the big

Valentine's Day issue.

I think he vaguely knew it was coming up.

He's hoping that Albertson's Market will bail his ass out.

I figure I can expect whatever is in the sales ad when he arrives home.

I wonder which thing it will be?

The single rose in the swan vase?

Nah.

Strawberries dipped in chocolate?

A real possibility... since he loves chocolate as much as I do.

Flowers?

Maybe... he knows that I love flowers.

It does not really matter what he brings home.

Only that he bring something that he thinks will make me smile.

Anything he brings will do that.

But don't tell him.

As for the man...

I got his gift  a week ago.

It's a very cool panoramic photograph of 

the Ducks at the Coliseum winning the Rose Bowl.

And I got him to make a nice frame for it.

He will figure that out when he opens it.

Hee hee.

Did I mention that I am tricky?

That's because framed, it cost $199.99.

Unframed was much less.

The frame the man makes won't be as flimsy as the store one either...

and it will match the frames on my wall.

I think that will give his crank a good twist!

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

Anything fun or romantic?

Are you giving a special gift to someone dear?