I can't...move

I am sitting in bed looking out the window at all the snow on the ground and can't for the life of me seem to make myself get out bed, shower, and off to classes today. Gah, how pathetic. At least tomorrow I can sleep in as long as I want to. Here's to making it though the day, what ever it may have in store for you.

frozen veggies vs. Fresh produce, where I stand

I love broccoli. It really is ridiculous how much I love the taste. I always have too, I was the little kid who thought if its green it must be good. Those other kids just didn't know what they were missing out on!

So, since I use so much broccoli in my cooking I decided to purchase a bag of frozen florets from both Kroger and Wal-mart instead of my usual purchase of two fresh crowns in produce.

The bag from Kroger was the biggest disappointment. I specifically bought the bag titles florets and upon opening the bag found mostly stalk with count them, 4, 4 florets in the whole bag! Gah, what a rip off!

The bag from Wal-mart was surprisingly significantly better. It was completely florets. I didn't have to toss any stems/ stalks from the bag. That scored big points with me. Secondly, it still had a fresh taste after it was cooked. The bag from Kroger had a very distinct frozen taste once cooked.

I am not telling you to buy frozen over fresh but if you want to stock the freezer like I did, I would say Wal-mart brand is the most satisfying choice.

Meal plan Monday

Monday: Pizza (take away)
Tuesday: Left Overs
Wednesday: Broccoli and Rice
Thursday: Pasta
Friday: Party- snack food
Saturday: Beef stir fry
Sunday: Pinto Beans

review of first day of class....

I just got back from my classes about half an hour ago. I am so thrilled. The faculty is interesting and so far I feel like they are still "in teaching" for the satisfaction of it. I have homework, boo. I have even more reading to do, big boo.

Week 2 of the 52 week challenge

WEEK 2

I was focused on the areas of the house that felt like my personal space the last few days. That worked out really well for me because week 2 on my list of organizing goals was to reorganize and purge items from our closet. I admit I love clothes and shoes and purses, oh my!

Our closet was beginning to look like it was alive though. We weren't really interested in wearing out clothes at the back of the closet because it was not worth the fight or jungle trek to get there.

It took me and entire day to complete it. I purged an amazing amount of clothes. Both mine and the boyfriend's.

Next weeks challenge sends me to a different part of the house. I have to reorganize the the laundry area. I am not looking forward to this one. Not at all. But I think I will start doing before and after pictures.

Starting to get a little worried

I am so excited to go back to college but as of right this moment I am also on the verge of tears scared. I don't know why. I know I can handle the classes. I know I am making the right decision to complete my degree. I am not really worried that my teachers won't like me or the people in my class.

So what is my problem? Maybe it is just my nerves. Maybe, its that my books haven't arrived yet because of all the snow in our area and I am very superstitious sometimes.

I did get a Starbucks giftcard for Christmas so I was thinking of stopping for a treat on my way to class in the morning.

SNOW; love it or hate it, I have it

It began snowing here on Sunday night and it finally stopped entirely last night. We have a few inches on the ground and plenty of ICE. We didn't go anywhere yesterday and stayed warm inside playing with a fire in the fireplace.

I love snow, I always have. It is beautiful and I think the world looks calmer and more peaceful when covered in snow. Here is the kicker. I can't leave the house once it starts snowing. I am white knuckles scared of driving in the snow. I simply don't go anywhere, make do with what I have and constantly maintain a supply of hot chocolate. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

But on the 26th of December we had to take the kids back to their mother in Raleigh. Going threw the mountains and driving in snow just about put me off snow for life. It was a foot deep, one lane that was clearly not the "lane" and we were driving on packed snow and ice. I believe I cried, yelled, and prayed hard. And then it started snowing again. Sigh, at least I am home now.

52 weeks or organizing

I am hooked on orgjunkie.com right now. I am trying to follow her suggestion of meal plan mondays although I don't know how strictly I will follow it. We tend to have lots of schedule changes round here.

The next of her projects is 52 weeks of organization. I know it seemed like a lot to me too! But it is really more about breaking the projects down and accomplishing them one at a time and keeping it ongoing rather than spending one weekend doing the whole of the kitchen and then two weeks later your kitchen is back in the same state, that is if you ever finished in the first place, hehe.

Week 1 for me was under the sink in out master bathroom. I pulled everything out and I mean everything! I tossed over half the contents. I was really pleased. I shouldn't have let it get so bad, but I did. this will show up again on the list of 52 because I want to make sure I am being vigilant about purging things we don't need.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday: Szechuan three pepper chicken
Tuesday: Broccoli and egg noodles
Wednesday: homemade pizza
Thursday (first day back at university for me): Flank steak over rice
Friday: out of town
Saturday: out of town
Sunday: out of town

hip pressure cooking: Beginner Basics: Learn to pressure cook, one recip...

I received a pressure cooker for Christmas and i am so excited about this series!

hip pressure cooking: Beginner Basics: Learn to pressure cook, one recip...: "Starting mid-January I will begin a recipe series for those of you who have been sitting on the fence and waiting for an excuse to start us..."

Happy Fabulous 2011, i'm back y'all

I finally feel like the chaos that is the holidays have left my mind, body and soul. Hoorah! I am looking forward to so much this year. I am going back to university January 13th to finish my public administration degree. The boyfriend is getting back on track with his research to finish his PhD. And maybe the biggest thrill. His son is going to graduate in may and we are moving back to our condo downtown in August.

This year I decidedly set broad goals (not resolutions). Here they are

1.  be smarter about my finances and using my money wisely
2. work on deepening my relationship and building ever stronger bonds
3. stay on course to finish my degree 
4. improve my cooking skills and range by attacking the "to try" pile of recipes in my binder

So far we have been pretty good about getting on track. We have made several recipes. Boyfriend is even cleaning up dishes, wow!

I get my financial aid package on the 24. I can wait to not be broke!

cheers, here is to the new year