Meal Plan and Dolphin Sighting

I always make a meal plan, sometimes it's in my head (and not very useful) and other times I write it down on scraps of paper that get lost.  I'm not very good at keeping track of it.  So When I wrote up my meal plan and used the same page in my notebook to write my shopping list, I figured I had to make myself a copy to put on the fridge.  And since I did that, I should post it here - seeing as how I took the effort to make one and everything.

But before I get into that, did you know you can make pumpkin spice coffee with a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice?  Oh, YUM!  I read about it this weekend and made it this morning.  I don't like flavored coffee all the time but occasionally it's fun.  It's really simple, just put the grounds in the filter and add 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice on top and then brew as normal.  You can mix it in but it doesn't really matter.  I made eight cups of coffee, for four cups, use 1-1/2 teaspoons of spices. 

Matt made it to his first ship and he called me yesterday to let me know he'd gotten there and was safe.  The ship is way bigger than he'd expected and he saw his first dolphin.  He was tired so that's all I managed to get out of him.  We'll be able to communicate regularly once he gets his email set up but who knows when that will be.  Right now I'm just working on getting back into some sort of normal (whatever that is) routine.  I think I'm going to start posting care package ideas, or what I put into the care packages I send.  I'm clueless right now because I had two boxes all ready to ship the things he left behind and then he told me not to send them just yet because he doesn't need what's in them right now.  Hmmmm.... 

Week of November 6 - 12, 2011

• Roast with Horsetooth Hot Sauce rub, onions and mushrooms in the crock pot.  Mashed sweet potatoes and beets.  I made sour cream horseradish sauce to go with this.
• Beef stir fry, egg rolls and egg drop soup.  I bought sweet and sour sauce but not hot mustard - I hope I have some because egg rolls require hot mustard.
• Chicken pasta carbonara and salad.
• Meatloaf with homemade macaroni and cheese and green beans.  I kind of want to do mashed sweet potatoes instead of mac and cheese.
• Bacon and bleu pizza with salad.
• Taco soup with cheesy tortillas. For Thursday night when Rob is playing darts.
• Hamburger helper and corn for the night I have class.  Rob and Lindsay like this sort of thing.

Some meals ideas for next week:

• Pumpkin waffles with bacon and eggs.  I just love breakfast for dinner.
• Butternut squash soup - I love this stuff but I've never made it.
• Grilled cheese and tomato soup.

It's time to start writing again....

Things have been crazy for so long and I haven't kept much of a record of it - except on Facebook and that's not great for journaling. I was surprised to see that I'd actually written something here in 2011, but not nearly enough.

Matt graduated from high school in May and we held a graduation/going away party at the beginning of June.  My wonderful friend hosted it at her home and it was amazing.  The following week, Matt spent time with his friends and had family time, culminating in a trip for 10 to the Denver Zoo on Sunday and a barbeque at our house that evening.  The Monday he was to leave - wow, it still brings a lump to my throat - we all woke up early and got ready to go to breakfast at 9:00.  We met his friends and my parents at IHOP, enjoying our last moments with him before he left.  At 10:30 we left and picked up a few last minute items at Walgreens, got some paperwork from the bank and went home.  When we got there, Matt went in his room and cried; the rest of did too.  I spoke to him in his room a few times and then Rob said he should get ready to go since his brother was supposed to have him to the recruiter's office at noon.  We all went outside and hugged him, crying.  When his brother drove him away, my daughter and I stood outside in the driveway wrapped around my husband and loudly sobbed for several minutes.

Fast forward through all of the pain and anguish of learning to live without him in our lives every day - two whole months (eye roll).  He didn't die but I had never really understood what it was to be cut off from one of my children, if only for a short time.  In August we went to Chicago to watch PIR (Pass In Review - Navy Boot Camp Graduation) and it was amazing to see him - and he LOOKED amazing too.  I said to Rob at breakfast that Saturday morning that he looked like he belonged in the uniform, like he'd waited his whole life to be big enough, mature enough, to wear it with pride.  My heart melted and I've never been more proud of him.

I started the Professional Counseling program at Colorado Christian University and I'm totally overwhelmed.  And…  I find myself smack dab in the middle of an "I don't give a sh*t" moment with a paper due in just under a week.  Not a good place.  I hope it's just a bad week or two.  If it isn't, I'm going to have to consider taking a year off school.  I just can't be in school under this amount of pressure for an extended length of time.  I could have a stroke.  Just kidding….  Maybe not.

Ramblings of a Crazy Person

I just realized that my mothers birthday is tomorrow. She'll be… well, that's not important. She bought herself a Nook two weeks ago so I think I'll get her a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.
My life has become a pressure cooker. Between planning Matt's graduation/going away party and trying to figure out how to get to Chicago in August, being on the board of the rescue, fostering dogs, stressing over how to pay for prom tickets and Lindsay's growing distaste for soccer, I thought I was overwhelmed… And then Jake started talking about joining the Reserves. We talked about it a couple of times and he was going back and forth between the Army and Navy. Tuesday night he called me up and said he'd made a decision. He has decided to go into the Navy, but there's a catch… he's going active rather than reserves. That means that both of my boys will be gone for four years, at the same time. We likely won't have them back here together for all of that time. I'm not doing well, but I have to be supportive.
A friend of mine sent me a text last night asking if I was doing okay. She's not very attentive… that's the nice way of saying that the friendship is hit and miss. She'd seen all my posts on facebook about the boys breaking my heart and decided that she'd ask me how I was doing… in a text. I'm just not from that generation. I don't think that a text is good conversation and I decided I didn't want to deal with her so I just said I was fine and left it at that. At least she doesn't have to feel bad about not being a good friend. I let her off the hook.
Graduate school starts August 22. Oh, I didn't mention… I got into the program! Very cool. Anyway, I'm hoping that I'm not so stressed by the time I start school again. We'll be going to Chicago, Great Lakes actually, for PIR from the Navy RTC at the end of the second week of August for Matt. We'll go back sometime in September or October for Jake. We decided that it will be cheaper to rent a car and drive than to fly. It will take 15 hours, plus stops, so I think we'll plan to start at night when Lindsay can crash for a lot of it. Maybe I'll have to put a bunch of movies on my computer for her to watch.
I suppose that I should post a menu or two. I love being able to keep track of them here but I haven't been posting. I'll have to go back and find all the little pieces of paper I scribbled dinners down on.
Anyway, tonight is the night Matt, Lindsay and I have dinner together. Rob is out playing darts so the kids and I can have whatever we want for dinner without Rob refusing to eat. He's picky and he makes me crazy sometimes. Lindsay is picky too, but I just make her try it and ignore the complaints. Tonight we're having Stouffers Macaroni and Cheese. I found the box in the freezer this morning and thought all day about how good it would taste. Alongside that rich, gooey mac n cheese, I'm serving broccoli. And that will be dinner. Yum.
So menu's will have to wait. I'll hunt them down and post them when I can.

SNOW DAY... Or should I say, It's-too-freaking-cold-to-keep-the-buses-running-Day!

It's cold here in Northern Colorado.  So cold that the school district didn't know if they could get the buses started in the morning, therefore stranding kids in below zero weather while waiting for the bus.  They also don't want kids walking to school when the windchill is -24, our predicted morning weather.  I really hate cold weather.

On the bright side, I survived January, finished my last class at Grand Canyon University, finished my application to Colorado Christian University, and have a general feeling of contentment with the choices I have made for my life in the recent past. 

I have been really busy these past several weeks with so many different.  I've written a press release, guidelines for foster homes, reviewed a 501(c)(3) narrative, attended a board meeting, updated my resume, wrote my admissions essay and have the books at work nearly done.  I should be able to send them to the accountant tomorrow - if I don't decide to take the day off work and stay home with the kids watching movies and drinking hot chocolate while staying warm under a blanket on the couch.

My husbands grandfather had surgery six days ago to remove his gallbladder.  The day after the surgery he experienced severe chest pain and was transferred to the cardiac ward where he has been ever since.  He is slightly disconnected with reality and confused due to the pain medications and the doctors haven't been able to give the family a prognosis.  To complicate matters more, he broke his shoulder at the family Christmas party and didn't tell anyone because he was embarrassed...  an 87 year old man, playing basket ball with his 11 year old great-granddaughter fell and broke his shoulder.  I'm not sure what he was embarrassed about.  He told his wife two weeks later when he couldn't stand the pain any longer.  They had finally scheduled surgery on his shoulder when he had to have emergency surgery on his gallbladder.  The situation doesn't look good.  Losing grandparents isn't easy, yet it is a fact of life.  I've lost both of mine - one six years ago, the other this last December.  I haven't even begun to process my own loss; now I have to be there for my husband and children.

So life goes along at its own pace, throwing in the curves along with the easy rides.  Maybe I will call in tomorrow and take a break.

Second Week of January Hell

As far as my personal life, last week went as smooth as silk.  Evenings were relaxed and dinner was a breeze.  I didn't know what to do with myself when I came home to slow cooker dinners.  I had so much more time on my hands that I had no need to try and stay awake until midnight - I was in bed by 9 every night and asleep before 10.  Amazing.

Work, on the other hand, was awful.  I hope I survive this month.  I'm convinced that I will be actively looking for a job at the beginning of February.  Sigh...

So my plan for this week is...

• Potato Soup with bacon, sharp cheddar and bread or toast.
• Taco Soup with cheesy tortillas.
• Broccoli Beef with rice and egg rolls.
• Stuffed pasta shells in marinara sauce with green beans.
• Chili with all the fixin's. (can make this in the slow cooker)
• Chicken (or Turkey) Divan with rice.  (another slow cooker dinner)
• Pot Roast with baby bakers, carrots and biscuits. (slow cooker definite)

I feel a little bad that we're having soup twice this week and Rob doesn't have darts until next week, but I'm really in the mood for soup and they're cheap, easy, filling meals, great for this cold weather.  I had to be a little sparing with my food budget this week and this weeks groceries only cost me $36.  Score!  I shopped my freezers and pantry.

For breakfast this week we have cereal, oatmeal, whole grain apple muffins and mini pancakes.  I wish I'd bought some microwave sausage, but the kids will survive.  We've been getting out the door earlier this last week, a habit I hope we'll continue, so they even have time to eat breakfast at school if they didn't grab anything on the way out the door.

I'm prepared to pack Lindsay a lunch again this week.  I did it every day for about two months at the beginning of the school year and then I just couldn't do it any more.  I even tracked it every week on facebook.  This week, at least a couple of days, she'll be having soup (chicken tortilla or leftover taco) with crackers and cheese or leftovers from either the turkey divan or broccoli beef along with some ramen noodles and a side of hot sauce.  Strange child, she is.  Everything's got to have hot sauce to go along.

January and Other Horrors

Something about today - the last day of our holiday break - gave me the strength to face the coming month.  January is chaos at work, Thursday I start the last three weeks of my last class at Grand Canyon University, and I'm starting to feel as though I have some say in the direction of my marriage.

I have been struggling lately in my relationship...  I guess the right way to phrase that is that we have been struggling.  We're not communicating well, but we've never been great at it. I'm going to listen better, process what he says and then respond rather than react.  I think I just made a New Year's resolution.  I'm not comfortable with calling it that - I think I'll just make a vow to myself to try harder to be present in my relationship.

My relationship with the University I attend is a whole different animal.  That relationship is over.  Besides the administrative difficulties and instruction failures they have, the program I'm in is one of the worst to try to take online.  If you only have to show your degree/transcripts to work in a field, I'm sure online is great.  When you have to pass state boards and really know the subject inside and out...  well, lets just say that I've spent almost $6,000 on classes and don't know much more than the day I started.  I need to be in a classroom, talking with people, practicing what I'm learning, and really absorbing it.  UoP is launching a program at the Westminster campus sometime in March and I'm going to transfer.  It will be tough to drive down to Denver once a week, leaving at 4:30 and getting home around 11pm, but it will be worth it.

Like every January for the last 12 years, I'm about to head into hell at work.  Closing up the books for the previous tax year always takes every last bit of energy I have.  Hopefully I can ease into it; my boss is leaving for a conference on Wednesday afternoon and will be gone the rest of the week.  I keep telling myself that this is the last January I'll have to do at this job.  I'm crossing my fingers that I can get my act together and find another job before the end of the year.  After all, I'm in a field I've been tired of for at least 10 years.

Cooking Makes Me Happy

And so does meal planning.  If I plan what I'm going to make during the week, I have the ingredients I need and there are no last minute shopping trips, which cost more money than they should.  I truly hate going to the grocery store when I get off work.

I rarely decide what day I'm going to make something; it's too restrictive for me, especially when I forget to thaw something - I feel like I'm falling behind.  The definite exception is soup.  Rob doesn't like soup so during dart season, I plan soup dinners for Lindsay, Matt and myself on Thursdays when he plays. 

So this is my list for the week of January 2 - 8, 2011.

• Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas
• Macaroni and Cheese Casserole (Kraft, tuna, mushroom soup and peas - simple and comforting)
• Rotisserie Chicken Tacos
• Puff Pastry Pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms
• Crock Pot Lasagna with salad and french bread
• Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff with green beans and garlic bread
• Breakfast for Dinner - Waffles, eggs and bacon.  The waffle maker I got for Christmas is amazing.

It took me about an hour of reading recipes and looking at past meal plans while drinking coffee, watching television and playing with our foster dog to come up with this plan and write the shopping list.  Now, if I can only fit all of these ingredients in our refrigerator and freezers. 

We have a lot of random leftovers from the holidays.  There are three half-gallons of eggnog, orange juice, ice in the deep freeze (great for using to shake up a Cosmo), artichoke dip, rolls, and random half-packages of Schwans frozen food.  I also have frozen turkey in the deep freeze but I don't want to use it all up right away.  We had turkey pot pie with with garlic parmesan cream sauce.  I'd post the recipe but I really do suck at writing them.

2010 in Review

2010 was interesting.  I received my undergrad degree, started graduate school, decided I hated my job enough to actually consider moving on, decided I had made a horrible choice in colleges, my son enlisted in the Navy, my grandfather died, and so many marital problems...  the last few moments of 2010 summed up the whole year.  Miserable.

 

Other items of note:

• I had 8 posts here in 2010.  What kind of awful is that?!  When I first started this blog I loved writing here; I loved being able to put my thoughts somewhere.  Now I tell myself I'm too busy or that I don't have the energy.  I think the real reason is that I don't want to see how awful I felt about my life. 
• I started fostering dogs in 2010 and the one we have right now had puppies on December 13.  Seven were born, three have survived to date.
• I realized that, after years of not buying myself new clothes, I have one pair of jeans, one pair of casual work slacks and one pair of nice work slacks.  I have several nice summer blouses but almost nothing for winter. 
• I have two four-year old pajama pants, both of which have holes in them.  I asked for new ones for Christmas but Rob was being an ass and decided I should have a bathrobe instead.  Not the same thing and not nearly as useful. 
• I received two broken Christmas presents.  That pretty much sums up my year.
• I spent a Christmas gift card on groceries - just because.
• I discovered that lime vodka makes amazing Cosmopolitans.
• Three or four of these Cosmo's (drunk one right after the other) will make me go right to sleep.  I think that makes them cheaper than most over the counter sleep aids.
• Letting your family know that you aren't happy doesn't generally yield any results.  There needs to be yelling or something equally jarring in order to remove their heads from their various electronic devices.

This list could go on and on but it's just whining.