Track, Weather and What We're Eating

Happy Monday everyone! First of all, thank you for the good thoughts and wishes on my post on Friday. This week I should get some answers and fingers crossed these health things are not a big deal. I do appreciate the thoughts. 

The weekend has come and gone. It was an okay weekend here. Jacob had his last indoor track meet (Rebecca also volunteered to help at that meet) and we got to go to that. Then it was home to do laundry, putter around the house and watch some TV and just go at a slow pace. It was much needed. I got some more decluttering done. 

We also had some wild weather-- including thunder, heavy rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, etc. When I took the trash out Saturday night their was ice hanging on the tree branches. Thankfully, yesterday the temperatures rose. It is supposed to be a crazy weather week here so we shall see what this week brings. 

This week also marks the beginning of play practice for Rebecca, doctors appointments, etc so meals will be easy, quick, able to be made the night before.... I think you get the picture.  So having a meal plan is going to be essential over the next few weeks, even more so than normally. So let's see what we are going to be eating....

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What we ate this past week:

SUNDAY: Chicken and Cheese casserole, applesauce and broccoli

MONDAY: Ham, Cheddar and Blackberry Jam panini (copycat recipe from a local deli) and onion rings

TUESDAY: Chili and Crackers

WEDNESDAY: Wings and a diet Pepsi. It was a long day. Boys were with their dad. 

THURSDAY: Homemade chicken nuggets, french fries and cucumbers

FRIDAY: The kids had Pizza, I think that I had a sausage sandwich from the freezer as I wasn't hungry

SATURDAY: Chicken fajita plate- chicken, pepper and onions over yellow rice topped with Queso with corn; boys were with their dad.

                                                 

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What will we eat this week?:

Sunday: Chinese night at my parents' house for family dinner. (We are trying to do this once a month so that all the cousins, and siblings can get together)

Monday: Pasta bake

Tuesday: Beef tacos

Wednesday: The boys are with their dad. I have no idea what Rebecca and I are having

Thursday: Pizza and fruit

Friday: Valentine's Day chicken nuggets, fresh veggies that need to be used, fruit that needs to be used

Saturday: The boys are with their father. Not sure what Rebecca and I will have as she has a music college audition. 

What will you be eating this week? 

Sunday Thought

 

Health stuff and how I am dealing

Happy Friday everyone! It's been a long week and I am so glad it is Friday. This past week was a mixture of emotions, getting things done, and stuff. 

Over last weekend Ben had to have an EKG done. This was ordered by his pediatrician who saw that he had an abnormal EKG when he was in kindergarten and she wanted him to have another in order to sign off on his physical to play school sports. Well, that was done on Saturday and we got the results on Monday. It shows that he has a 1st degree A-V block and that he needs to be evaluated by cardiology. The hospital called today to schedule an appointment for him and he has that appointment next Wednesday. I am not sure what to think. 

Other health stuff has surfaced for me. I have to have a followup mammogram and an ultrasound because they found several spots that they want to look at on my original mammogram. I have that appointment on Tuesday. I am not really sure what I am thinking other than it will be what it will be. I have been avoiding thinking about it honestly. 

So I have been focusing on other stuff--- like cleaning and decluttering. This past week, I cleaned and decluttered my kitchen cabinets. I got rid of lots of things I haven't used in the past 2 years. I didn't take pictures of all my cabinets, but here are a couple that I did. I ended up taking 4 trash bags full of stuff to Goodwill and I have another bag to give to my mom with items she wanted. 

Just a few things that I donated

I have also been slowly decluttering my basement. I think I am down to a box, a bin and an old bed to go through and get rid of. Since January 1, I have taken 15 trash bags full of stuff to Goodwill. It feels so good getting rid of stuff and only having things that I love in my house. 

Speaking of things that I love, I am also surrounding myself with people that I like to be around and can have community with. I have been participating in a Bible study with other women in my church and I love it. Also, this week some of the women have decided to form a book club so I am joining in that as well. Surrounding myself with positive women has also helped my mental health. 

This weekend I will continue to clean house and declutter some. I have laundry to do. Jacob has a track meet tomorrow. Sunday we are supposed to have a family dinner at my parents' house. We are doing a chinese theme dinner. It should be fun. 

So that's what's been going on this week. I have been dealing with a lot and trying to keep moving forward. 

Superiors and Menu Plan

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was good. Saturday I spent the day with Rebecca at her final solo and ensemble competition. This was for OMEA competition. She sang 2 class A solos and was part of an ensemble. She sang "Come Away, Death" by Quilter and "Ma's Song" by Copland as her solos. Both performances of her solos earned a score of 1 which is Superior and the highest ranking. She sang in an ensemble with all the other Senior girls. They sang "Set Me As a Seal" by Clausen. They also received a score of 1. Very proud of her. It was a good way to end her high school solo and ensemble competition. I think her smile says it all. 

In that craziness on Saturday, I was also able to make up our menu plan so let's get on with our regular schedule program of meal planning. 

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What we ate this past week:

SUNDAY: Creamy Parmesan Italian Sausage Soup with homemade garlic bread

MONDAY: Air fryer thin steak, roasted red potatoes, and green beans

TUESDAY: BLTs, mac-n-cheese, and tomatoes

WEDNESDAY: Hot dogs, baked beans, baby carrots

THURSDAY:: Leftover sides with chicken nuggets

FRIDAY: Pizza and tortilla chips and guacamole

SATURDAY: Raising Cane's for Rebecca and I , the boys were with their father.

                                                 

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What will we eat this week?:

Sunday: Chicken and Cheese casserole, broccoli, applesauce

Monday: ham and cheese paninis with onion rings and apples

Tuesday: Chili with crackers

Wednesday: The boys are with their dad. I am doing chicken wings in the air fryer, carrot sticks, celery and cucumbers

Thursday: Homemade 3 ingredient chicken nuggets, French fries, leftover carrots, celery and cucumber

Friday: Pizza and fruit

Saturday: The boys are with their father. Not sure what Rebecca and I will have. 

What are you eating this week? 

Art on Sunday

 

Sonia Lera Preston (New Zealand, b.1980)

Good bye January. Hello February goals.

 Happy Saturday! And Happy February! 

Was it me, or did the month of January seem to be a whole year long? 

As I entered January, I did set some goals for the month to see if I could be productive in things. I don't know that I ever shared the goals, but here they are and how I did on them (Red is not done, green is done)

• No Spend Month
• Plank a Day challenge
• Hem curtain for my bedroom closet door
• boxes to Goodwill
• Menu plan weekly
• Say Rosary in a day daily
• Complete CDA binder
• Pass the CDA exam
• Pass the CDA exam
• start/create bullet journal for the year
• have blood draw done
• complete doctor appointments
• Read for fun each day
• Blog at least 8 times

SO overall not too bad. Got a lot of work stuff done with the work on my CDA and the around the house stuff. I apparently need to work on my challenges. 

This month, I want to do something similar. So my goals for February are: 

• Beat 15 no spend days
• Complete followup mammogram appointment
• read 2 books
• finish decluttering the basement
• declutter the kitchen cabinets
• menu plan each week
• blog at least 11 times this month
• No Amazon purchases besides cat food and treas
• Exercise 14 times 

I think that this is doable. At least I hope so. 

Are you setting any goals for February? 

Food Sculpture, Auditions, and Off brand Lego vases

Happy Friday. We made it to the end of another and the last day of January. Is it just me, or did January seem to be the longest year ever? Seriously. Today it is wet and rainy here, but at least most of the snow is gone. This week has been crazy at work and home and just busy (I shouldn't be surprised, but it was overall taxing this week.) There really wasn't anything spectacular or crazy that directly affected me, so I thought I would just hop on here and give you three random things from this week. 

      

I mentioned last week that I have been ordering groceries online. Well Friday I picked some up and I had the kids unpack it. Well, I went into the kitchen to find this food sculpture of the snacks and pantry offerings. I just love the garlic on top! LOL

Rebecca had her first college music audition to try to get a spot at Bowling Green State University College of Music. She said she was happy with her audition and to me that is all that matters.  

I have fallen in love with Legos. I got a set of Lego flowers for Christmas and really enjoyed putting them together, but not the price tag. Then I found Brickcraft Bricktanicals which are like Lego but much cheaper. I ordered a daisy, a marigold, and a hydrangea to make. I also ordered a Bricktanials vase. I LOVE how this little bouquet turned out. 

                                                            How is your week going? 

                                                                Wishing you all well! 

Wednesday Thought

 

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was busy but good. One of the things that I have been doing on the weekends is meal planning for the following week. Actually I have been making a menu plan on Thursday nights for the following week and putting a grocery order in to pick up on Fridays after Ben's therapy appointment as his therapist is right across the street from Kroger. This system seems to working  now and has allowed me some peace when it comes to what is for dinner. I think that to continue this system, I also want to start sharing what we ate and what we will eat for the week on Mondays. 

So let's start that today: 

What we ate this past week: 

SUNDAY: Chicken Enchiladas and Corn

MONDAY: Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, rolls

TUESDAY: BBQ pulled pork sandwich, tator tots, cole slaw

WEDNESDAY: Girl dinner: meatballs, rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes

THURSDAY: Leftovers

  FRIDAY: McDonald's (It had been a LONG WEEK!) Sorry no picture. 

SATURDAY: Rebecca and I were in Bowling Green Ohio for a college audition for her and we ate a diner. 

SUNDAY: Creamy Italian sausage ditalini soup, homemade garlic bread on hamburger buns

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What we will eat this week:

Monday: The boys are with their dad, so it's just Rebecca and I. I think I will saute a couple thin steaks, roasted potatoes and broccoli?  

Tuesday: BLTs, macaroni and cheese

Wednesday: Hot dogs, baby carrots, baked beans?

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pizza and fruit

Saturday: The boys are with their father. Rebecca and I will get something out as she has OMEA Solo and Ensemble competition

Sunday: Cheese and Chicken casserole, green beans, applesauce, rolls

What are you eating this week? 

Miscellaneous Art for Sunday

Happy Sunday! I used to do a series where I shared nature photos on Sundays. However with the cold temperatures I have not been out to walk usually. So I thought that I would share some art. I have recently started saving pictures of different art creations that speak to me. I thought I would share some of them with you all. This world needs more beauty and less ugliness. Enjoy. 

 

5 Things from this week

 Happy Friday! Today I am going to try something new, as this would turn into a really long post if I tried to highlight EVERYTHING that has been going on since I wrote last week. So I thought I would do a 5 things Friday types post to keep things updated. So here goes:

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Jacob had his 2nd indoor track meet. He threw 25'3" in the shot put, so I had to owe him $5. Grateful he is enjoying himself. Also thankful that I am able to go and watch him throw and then leave since we live close to the his school. 

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I decluttered our closet of doom last weekend. I ended up getting 8 trash bags of items to  donate and 2 boxes of items to donate. These have been in my car all week, but it has been too dang cold to stop to drop them off. I finally got a chance yesterday when I was coming home from work and it wasn't snowing or anything. Felt good to get those out of the house. 

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Speaking of the cold, the weather is stupid. We had a day where the actual temperature was in the negatives. Schools were closed this week, Monday through Wednesday. Today there was a 2 hour delay due to icy roads. The winter weather is stupid. 

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A good reminder that I painted the other night to hang up above my bed. I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping, for various reasons. I felt good to be creative. 

I also  put together some Lego flowers that I got for Christmas. They took me a little over 2 hours to do (over the course of 4 nights). I love how they turned out and they look great in the Ball Jar vase that I picked up last summer when I went thrifting. 

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I have been trying to work on my health this month and I have had various doctors appointments. One of those appointments was to get my very first mammogram. It was easy, painless and not as scary as I thought. I will admit that I have to go back in to have some more imaging done as they found some cysts that they don't like the look of. But I am glad that I am being proactive. 

So there you have it, 5 quick things for this cold Friday night to share what I have been up to, along with work (which I will write about another time), being mom and just living this life of mine. 

Hope all is well with everyone else. Until next time, I am wishing you all well. 

Doctor Appointments, Winter Weather and a New Recipe

Happy Friday! Man it has been a couple of days. 

I have had several doctors appointments and lab work completed. Waiting on results from a few of those labs. Monday I had labs done for my kidney doctor. Tuesday, I had my yearly physical with my primary care doc-- who is referring me to have a mammogram and a colonoscopy. She also wanted different labs, so I had to have more blood work done for her. Wednesday I had an appointment with my kidney doc. She is concerned because some of my levels are going back to where they were when my kidneys started acting up. She has added a phosphorus pill back to my medicine intake. It is what it is I guess. 

The weather has wreaked havoc on us. Tuesday I left work 45 minutes before my doc appointment (which takes 20 minutes to get to) as it was snowing. The roads were terrible, and it took me 40 minutes to get there. I am glad that I left early. 

Yesterday morning the kids' school got cancelled due to the timing of some snow squalls that dumped a quick 2 inches of snow on the ground. I also decided to take a sick day, as I woke with a massive headache and our preschool got cancelled. I am supposed to go into work even if there is no school for the kids, but honestly I really didn't want to drive in the snow. I have been dealing with a headache now for 3 days. At times it is better than at other times. Last night I was awake from 1:30 AM to 4:30 AM with a headache and just really didn't feel good. I am pretty sure I am fighting something off. I called off today as well, as I was exhausted and not feeling good. I had to go to urgent care and get a doctors notice since Monday is a holiday. The doc believes I am fighting off a virus; he is wondering if it is flu A, as that is showing similar symptoms with headache for days and nausea and just feeling blah. I just want to feel better.   I am trying to be productive when I have a burst of energy. And by that I mean, read a book, work on the Lego flower set that I got for Christmas, do dishes, put in a grocery delivery order, etc. 

Speaking of groceries, I tried a new recipe this week that I wanted to share for 3 ingredient homemade air fryer chicken nuggets. 

Apparently it is a keto recipe, but I am not following keto so that means nothing to me (although I know some readers here follow it!). It was super easy and simple to make and most importantly super yummy! Mine actually had 4 ingredients--- canned chicken, shredded colby-jack cheese, an egg, and garlic powder. You can find the recipe here.  I ate mine with chic-fil-a sauce. Rebecca had ketchup with hers. I will definitely be making these again! 

This weekend is going to be busy. Jacob has an indoor track meet tomorrow. I need to do some laundry and get some more things done at home. 

                    What is on your agenda this weekend? How's the weather where you live? 

Wordless Wednesday: Cold but Beautiful