I just realized how long it had been since I had last posted. WOW! Life has been flying by and I realized 1)I have been terrible about posting and 2)I have been really bad about taking pictures. I need to get back to both. Easter has flown by and now we are trying to continue with school and we will be having a wedding at our house on June 2. I have lots of things to do before then, but, being the procrastinator that I am, deadlines are not a bad thing for me...even if they are self-imposed.
We are having a good friend's wedding here on June 2nd. No, the house won't be completely done so we will just have to make it all presentable and look BEAUTIFUL. So, I am starting on "Project Get the House Ready for the Wedding" (I need to come up with a more creative name for this...all ideas are welcome). What I really need are my cyber friends, Emily and Cynthia, (or my s-i-l, Gia) to come and help me get my house completely organized and beautiful, but I somehow don't think they could spare two months out of their lives to come to my rescue so I will have to rely on you all in cyberspace to keep me accountable. Not only do I need to get my house ready, but since I had completely slacked off in working out and eating healthy since the holidays(we ate okay, we weren't going to fast food every day, just not as healthy as I would like and I was not hitting the gym regularly) I am trying to get back in shape by the time the wedding happens. I did go to the gym 4x this week to get myself back in the swing. I will also be recording my adventures and accomplishments here for you all to pretend to read. Hey! I see you snoozing off over there! Wake up!
Today is planning day (and house cleaning...Tim invited his motorcycle club over Sunday night for a meeting and so at least the main part of my house needs to be cleaned up). I need to get the next eight weeks of school on the Homeschool Tracker program (not hard, it is already in there, just needs to be assigned dates and I need to assign TOG). Also, I need to semi-plan for the week. I say semi-plan because I cannot move forward well without a plan (let's say I am generally crippled without one and will just walk around aimlessly so it's my own little crutch), but then life happens to move my plans around so I have decided "semi-plan" is the best way to put it. I am working at our Home Show next weekend for the smart wiring guy (I am sure you all saw what a beautiful job I did in our basement of smart wiring for the computers and phones). He is letting me work for "tech toys" and as I am truly a "techno geek", it is fun for me. I have to do some training for that this week as well so it will be busy.
I have planned my menu for the week and I even grocery shopped yesterday. It is also a "semi-plan" as stuff happens, but if it is planned....I will have a better chance of fixing it than going for something else that might not be as healthy. Here is what it looks like (I'll start with Friday so you all can admire my handiwork for the entire week):
Friday--Mediterranean Pork Chops, Broccoli with Almonds and Hot Pepper and Toasted Quinoa Pilaf (it did turn out quite good, if I do say so myself and Tim spontaneously invited the neighbors over for dinner and they liked it as well)
Saturday--Dinner at our neighbor's (this is my favorite as I don't have to cook)
Sunday--Passover Seder Dinner at church (I am bringing an orzo-chickpea salad, which isn't really Jewish, but we are having lots of "non-Jewish" foods for the potluck part) BTW, Tim is making pizza for the club and I will make the dough and sauce for him today.
Monday--Greek Salad with Grilled Shrimp and WW Pita Chips
Tuesday--Tandoori Chicken, Roasted Eggplant Salad, Green Salad
Wednesday--Tim works so we will be having an Encore Presentation of the above
Thursday--Beef and Mushroom Kabobs and Spinach Salad
Now before any of you goes and thinks that I am this FABULOUSLY CREATIVE gourmet cook and came up with all these meals, I will make a confession...I got most of them from The Sonoma Diet book and cookbook. I did do the South Beach Diet a few years ago, lost 25 pounds and have continued to follow a lot of the principles from it (i.e. whole grains, very little to no refined sugar, lots of fruits and veggies, etc.) and a friend of mine had gotten this book and said it was very similar. Well, I saw it in Costco, flipped through it and, being the cookbook addict that I am, had to buy it. It has great recipes in it (and pretty pictures...something that gets me every time) and I love the fact that it uses whole foods pretty much. I am not strictly following the diet, but the recipes we have tried so far have been great and I was mostly just looking for new healthy recipes. Of course, I forgot (again!) to take pictures of last night's dinner, but I will try and remember. If any of you all wants to try any of the recipes, I will try and post some of them as well.
Well, I am off to start my day (it's only 9am on a Saturday, for goodness sake). Tim is off to the Air National Guard this weekend and Alyssa had to go to traffic school this morning to get those pesky demerits from her accident off of her record. Everyone else is still asleep (except Sammy who just came sleepily down the stairs).
Here's my "To Do" List:
1)Blog (almost finished)
2)Clean house (or at least main part)
3)Catch up laundry (I have a few loads to do)
4)Make Pizza Dough
5)Make Pizza Sauce
6)Make Pita Chips
7)Make Pesto (I have basil that needs using up)
8)Lesson Plan
9)Practice Haggadah for Seder Dinner tomorrow
Let's see how the adventure all goes today!
