Garden Part 1: Planning and Planting

John:  "I am ready to plant the garden."
Me:  "Let's do this thing!"
John:  "Who are you and what did you do with my wife?

Seriously. He is not kidding. We have only been discussing this garden since we moved into the house in 2001.  We can't even decide where to hang baby pictures of Olivia in the house. For. the. last. four. years.

We visited many places including Lowe's, Home Depot, and finally the Co-Op.  The Co-Op was Olivia's favorite. It had baby chicks for sale and a slide.

Get Ready....Get so.....GO!



Whhhheeeeeeeeeeeeee!



We bought a raised bed as we don't know how to 'cultivate' the crappy soil we have.  It was fairly easy and even I stepped in to help build it. Again, John:  "Who are you and what did you do with my wife?"

"Seriously. Where is my wife?"

We built the bed and then planted our veggies, herbs and flowers.  There is Rosemary, Lavender, Onions, Shallots, Garlic, Brocolli, Bell Peppers, Romaine Lettuce, Iceburg Lettuce, Spinach, Cucumbers and Tomatoes.  Then we watered it. Then we prayed. Then we waited. Water, pray, wait. Water, pray, wait. 

  

 water, pray, wait

 



 water, pray, wait




 water, pray, wait





While we watered, prayed and waited, Olivia got in on the action and planted some flowers. What a joy to see her get her pretty litty hands dirty.  Pretty cool stuff.

 And, after lots of watering, praying and waiting...something sprouted. Lots of things sprouted.



brokkoli. cavolo broccoli. brassica oleracea var. italica. broccoli.

Pretty, isn't it?

Raw Cleanse...done!

Whew! I did it! I actually made the commitment and stuck to that commitment. For eight days I ate only fruits and vegetables. I drank plenty of water and herbal teas. I did not put one drop of dairy, sugar, high fructose syrup, chocolate, or diet cola into my body. My only deviation (and if you know me, this is an absolute line drawn in the sand) was my morning two cups of coffee with non-dairy creamer.  I am thrilled to say that I lost four pounds and a few inches. I gained energy and a new confidence that I really can do it if I set my mind to it.  I attended a birthday party, a special dinner banquet, McDonalds and Chick-fil-a and still stuck to my plan.  I have since decided to continue to eat this way with a few revisions. I am going to eat as little dairy as possible. I have discovered that it doesn't like me very much.  I will do my best to eat whole foods as much as possible.  And, I will try to eliminate as much processed foods as possible.  This is my plan for during the week.  On the weekends I will loosen the reins a bit. Not go crazy, just loosen up a bit.  I am borrowing this plan of attack from both Dr. Josh Axe (whole foods) and also from Chantel Hobbs (caloric and portion control along with fitness AKA 80-20 rule).

Raw Cleanse...eww.

I have finally made the committment to do a detox.  Over the last few months I have fought off the sluggish fatigue, headaches, nausea, low energy and more.  You see the words "cleanse" and "detox" so I don't need to list any more symptoms...kapish? 

I have been listening to Dr. Axe on SuperTalk 99.7 on Sundays and have heard enough testimonials to this particular cleanse. You can read more about it here:  http://www.draxe.com/the-best-way-to-detox/.

The Do's are simple

• Eat plenty of organic, raw fruits and vegetables
• Drink lots and lots of water
• Work in garlic flax seed, legums, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, herbal and green teas

Plus....a seven day cleanse kit called "Raw Cleanse"  yum.

The Dont's are pretty simple too:

• Avoid dairy, meat, processed foods, grains, sugar, alcohol and caffeine.

Not too difficult except:
I love dairy. Really, I do. I love real butter, cream, yogurt....ect.  But I will abstain for a week.  The other uh-oh for me is caffeine.  I have two cups of coffee faithfully every morning. And, I use CoffeeMate. Arrggghh! So, I will give up my dairy. I can follow all of the rules, but I will continue my coffee. I am curious how much of a monkey wrench that might throw into the mix. 

For breakfast I slowly ate 12 oz of blackberries. Yum!  For lunch I had a veggie burger, strawberries, oranges and watermelon and some cucumber.  Again, yum! 

Stay tuned!

Does this clutter make my home look fat?

Ever tried to lose those last 10 pounds? Ugh. Right??!!  That is how I feel about my clutter. And I have realized that it is dragging me down and wearing me out. My piles of paper are so "in your face" that my poor family has no idea that I actually spent a few hours and blood drops on an area. How's that for confession? Anyhoo. Tonight, I am taking a teleclass "Your Home Matters" by Kimberly Medlock.  The announcement of the teleclass arrived in my inbox like a light of hope:

"You will never truly experience all of the benefits and satisfaction that can come from a successful direct sales business if you are constantly nagged by the feeling that your home life is being neglected as a result.  If your home is lacking order and organization then don't miss this special session by professional organizer Kimberly Medlock!
 

This session will give you specific systems and strategies for addressing the key areas of your home - closets, kitchen, papers and kids!  It is packed with must-know information if you truly want less clutter and chaos in your environment."

WISH ME LUCK AND MOTIVATION!

Southern Fried Chicken Pasta Salad

In my recent endeavors to rid my home of clutter, I found about four different file folders filled with recipes printed off from websites and clippings from magazines.  The funny thing is, I don't really cook...alot. I used to. Once upon a time, I was an independent consutlant with The Pampered Chef and gained quite a reputation for cooking well and cooking creatively. I used to preach it to the choir at my kitchen shows...."do you find yourself in a dinner rut? Does your family know what day of the week it is just by simply taking a look at the dinner table? You know...Taco Tuesday, Sloppy Joe Saturday, Whatever-is-in-the-pantry Wednesday, etc." Then, I would throw myself and my guests into an fun cooking demonstration of how to kick up their menu and shoot that dinner rut out of the sky.  And all for pennies and in very little time. Ahhh...well, I stopped listening to myself.  I fell into a rut and pulled my family down in with me.  Poor things!  I received a bit of inspiration recently. My neighbor was in a difficult and physically painful situtation that deserved some serious TLC from us.  I offered to bring some meals over.  In going through all of my recipes I found a little clipping about the size of a coupon for Southern Fried Chicken Pasta Salad. 

Simple and easy. Mayo, mustard, salt & pepper, bell pepper, hard-boiled eggs, minced garlic and cold fried chicken.  Confession:  I purchased popcorn chicken from the Wal-Mart deli.

Olivia and Chloe helped.  They loooved the Food Chopper.

It turned out pretty well. My hubby and little one were pleasantly surprised by my "shake-up" and enjoyed it too.  My neighbor said it was delish. I feel the need to place a gold star on a chart for myself!

Three days of being a slug created a monster in me!

I had a little itty bitty teensy weensy female surgery on Friday morning and took complete advantage of the fact that I had permission to rest. I rested on and off all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I am a firm believer that you can truly never have enough naps...but three days of taking it easy (well, I rested between loads of laundry, throwing away four garbage bags full of stuff...can you say "hoarder"?) took a toll on me. Tonight, the monster came out! I attacked my pantry with gusto. Man...I wish I had taken a before picture. Not for your eyes, I would be far too embarrassed for that! I threw away more stuff and have a stack of Pampered Chef  cookbooks, a few pieces of stoneware, a mini micro cooker and a cutting board ready to sell or give away.  I felt so empowered that I peered around, quietly stalking my next victim. A hunter hunting her prey. I feel a bit like Bella in Breaking Dawn during her first hunt as a newborn vampire. Crouching slowly and deliberately I pounced on the cabinets under my sink.  It didn't even have a chance. I swiped it so skillfully that it didn't even see me coming. Hmph, I am that good.   I completely reworked that space into serious shape.  Here is the thing, after reading some more of It's All Too Much by my good pal PW (Pete Walsh...yes, we have moved on to initials, don't be jealous...it's all good) I realized that for some reason I have everything that I don't need or use right within my reach. The things I use daily or weekly are way up high.  Seriously? Seriously.  So I switched things around and although it sounds easy...it's not.  But rewarding? Ahhhhh!

"It's All Too Much!"

I am reading the book, "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh.  I think he rocks. Seriously.  Although I am a "Bag Lady" due to my Thirty-One business, I truly am a "bag lady" by nature. I don't completely understand the spell I am under and have been for as long as I can remember...to hold on to everything. For years...I have created piles and then moved those piles around from here to there. Frankly, I don't know what to do with them. I know the reasons I hung onto that darned stuff. Like, the cute knapkins that were at a Halloween party last year, I snagged a couple of fresh ones to put into Liv's scrapbook. The same scrapbook that I have not yet worked on and she is going on 5 years old. Yes.  Seriously. 

Or how about the ticket stubb to the Preds game?  Or the numerous cards from my sweet and precious Moo Moo (mommy).  And...programs, magazine articles, recipes, notes for my journal, pictures, and more, much much more. 

I took Pete's advice, yes, we are on a first name basis. Don't be jealous, you would not want the baggage it takes to be on a first name basis with him.

I attacked a corner of my bedroom. This particular corner has three levels of stuff.

• On the bottom is a crate holding frames and pictures to be put into those frames to be put on the walls. I do believe there are baby pictures of Liv in there. 
• On top of that is a clear plastic bin with shoes. Don't know why they are in the bin. Don't even know if they are mine.
• Then on top of that layer sits two bins of school paperwork. Liv is still in Pre-school but I have managed to hang on to every single piece of paper that her precious little girl hands have touched.  Included in these papers are notes from the teacher, from the school, copies of signed field trip forms with copies of the checks I wrote to pay for those field trips.

Petey says to keep a couple of special pieces and the rest must go.  I have been fighting this one area of clutter for a few years now. What kind of mom would I be to throw away papers that her sweet little brain thought about before she put her crayons to it?  Well...let me tell you what kind of mom does that. The kind that hangs on to everything and then witnesses her own special girl doing the same thing. She actually got upset with me for throwing away the packaging that her Jesse doll came in. Mmmmhmmmm.  That flashed through my head and then I proceeded to attack the bins. And, viola, I am down to just a few pieces of each year (Grandma Joanies for a year, then Preschool #1 for a year and now Preschool #2)

Many corners still to go. But this one corner in my room looks good. A bit liberating actually.   Of course, I still have two layers to go for that corner, but one little step at a time. Thanks P.  Love, Me.