Two Things

Thing One:
Trevor and I are cracking down on our budget. This is such a challenge for us and has been for the entirety of our marriage. Now with the current state of our economy it's easier to say "I'm on a budget" without feeling cheap or stingy. It allows us to stop that "keeping up the jones" mentality. So, one major thing we have changed is making a meal plan and only grocery shopping once a week. Real Simple's Nov. 2008 issue helped me this week with their "Love Your Leftovers" & "Five Easy Dinners" articles. The first recipe I tried was I the Creamy Mashed Potato & Leek Soup . The recipe is meant to use your leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving....so I had to make a batch first. I just used some baby potatoes, skin on, half a stick of salted butter, & a head of oven roasted garlic. Also, I substituted half of the low sodium chicken broth with regular. Low sodium broth is the devil. I also added a touch of Old Bay seasoning, white pepper, & black pepper to taste. This soup was easy to make and I am telling you that when you eat it you'll feel like you're eating potatoes and lots of creamy fat goodness. But in reality the only creamy fat is the butter you use to make the mashed potatoes. I served it with a small salad of organic greens with homemade balsamic vinaigrette and a slice of hearty bread. HELLA!

Thing Two:
We are entering the cold weather season in the Midwest. This is distressing to me. Not because I don't like the weather....because I LOVE the cold, but because there is a large number of whiney Midwesterner's who BTICH the entire winter season about the temperature. Also it seems that the topic of conversation ANYWHERE you go is the cold. How cold is it outside? How much ice and/or snow is on the ground? What are the roads like? What is the temperature? What is the windchill?

It is cold out. The roads are probably crap. It will be this way for many more months. Get over it. It's the Midwest...either take the winters as they are or leave. No amount of your bellyaching will change it.
Thank you. I just had to get that of my chest.

Buy nothing new for a month??

I've decided to try the "buy nothing new for a year" thing....but only for a month. I thought I'd give it a try...and try it month by month on a trial basis. Maybe I'll make it 2 months, maybe I'll make it a year.

I walked into Target to return a bunch of shirts and random crap I had bought last week while my husband was away. I realized that I didn't need these things and that the money was better off in my account. I realized that while I give my husband a hard time for spending money on large ticket items...I do a lot of frivolous spending of my own.

At the end of the 4 weeks I'm going to compare my bank statements and see what a dent my "latte, target, pottery barn, gap, old navy, jamba juice, eating out, ebay, etsy-factor" has on our pocketbooks. I'll probably want to curl up into a ball with nausea when I see it....but it will be a good reality check.

Tell me, have any of you ever tried anything like this before?

Perfect in our own way.

It's getting cold at night. The air is no longer thick with heat and I walk my huskie throught cool brisk night air...I can see the high school stadium lights a few blocks away and hear the crowds cheer and the announcers voice boom. the sky is clear and crisp and the stars brighter...I walk a few blocks enjoying looking through my neighboors bright yellow windows into their lives for a few seconds each. I breathe pure fall air. I get to the sidewalks end and I am across the street from my home under a wide maple tree, standing with the street lamp spattering through the leaves casting pointy magical shadows onto my feet.

There is my house...the garden tall the mulch thick. Bright fall mums in my window boxes and fall grasses in my hanging planters. the porch lights call me home and I look throught the bright yellow window into my life and its perfect.