#49 Contacts and Glasses

While I got the scripts a while back, I forgot to update here. I have new glasses and I love wearing contacts now. My eyes are even less dry than they were before (see previous post about eye appointment) since I'm wearing the 2 week lenses and using Clear Care contact solution. I'm even wearing my contacts pretty often these days since the weather has finally decided to be nice to us here in Southeast Alaska. YAY for contacts and regular sunglasses!

#32 Read The Birth Order Book

This was such an informative book - and Dr. Leman is even funny! I learned so much, not only about myself, but about my siblings and my children. He gives advice on parenting and also letting loose (for those perfectionist types - though I don't know any of those). Ahem.

Anyway. Before I get struck down right now, I want to say that I highly recommend this book. It took a long time to read b/c I was trying to take everything in (not to mention the two kids who demand time so reading while this kind of book while they are awake is next to impossible) and start applying things to my life.

I can't say I'm less stressed or less perfectionistic, but I can say I am learning to loosen up some and I've noticed a difference in how I react to my children. For instance, when I ask the kids to wipe their face after dinner and they do, I don't need to wipe it off after them to get all the stuff they missed. It's not really hurting anything and they'll be getting a bath soon anyway. I don't need to go behind them and fix everything they have already done. Remind me of this as the kids get older, okay? Thanks.

You can purchase your copy here.

#46 New Robe!

For Christmas, my husband got me the robe on my Amazon wishlist! I was SO happy and it is A-MAZ-ING! It is SO comfy and warm and I love to wrap up in it after a nice long shower or bubble bath, climb onto my chaise and read. Having a nice cup of tea at the same time is even better.

Funny, I just noticed that this looks like it could actually be my bathroom door.

#98 - Recycle

We have been recycling pretty much everything since last summer, so I think I can cross this one off. This is something we hope others will begin to do themselves. It's so important to take care of the earth that God has blessed us with. It's all about stewardship for us. We have been entrusted with its care - to a degree - and it is important to honor that responsibility.

#101 - Donate Hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths

This was done about a month ago, but I forgot to post. It is so rewarding knowing that my hair is going to help a woman undergoing cancer treatment. I had about 9 inches that I donated and they will combine my donation with hair from about 6 other donations and make a wig. Our hair is something that we don't always think too much about, but imagine not having it. It's one thing if we CHOOSE to shave or cut our hair and an entirely different situation if that choice is made for us. If my hair can help a woman feel better about herself, that makes me feel so happy. It's amazing the difference I feel about myself when I feel like my hair looks good. I pray for the woman who will wear my hair. I pray for healing, but also that she realizes that she is beautiful, hair or no hair.

#45 New Cut and Color

I cut my hair for Pantene Beautiful Lengths and went pretty drastic. I lost 8+ inches and went blonde with pink highlights. This was something that was pretty (ok, extremely) hard for me to do. Yeah, I know it's just hair, but I am one who always worries about what other people will think of me.

I first wanted to color my hair pink back in middle school. It only took 15 years, but I finally did it. I was still worried about what others would think, but I needed to do this for ME. And you know what? I LOVE it! It was more than just about the hair for me, it was about not caring so much what other people think about me and doing what I want to do - something that is extremely difficult for me.

I love it and plan to keep it up. I just wish that the pink wouldn't fade so fast. Anyone have any ideas on how to make it stay?

***ETA: I'll consider my PBL donation complete when I finally get it in the mail. I'm such a slacker.

#24 SIL's Final Stage Performance

SIL is an amazing dancer and the stage is going to miss her greatly. She has decided at the ripe, old age of 20, that large productions just aren't her thing and that she would rather focus on what he wants to do with her life. She will continue dancing, but wants to get her degree and do dance therapy. HOW COOL IS THAT? I'm so happy for and proud of her.

The performance was amazing. We had fantastic seats in the second row. I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect a Broadway style performance, which is what we got. A-MAZ-ING! The talent in that group of performers (both singers and dancers) is just phenomenal. SIL was in several numbers (7, I think), but there were two that were especially heartwarming for me. The first was a ballet number - think long tu-tu's and point. I looked at her and just thought about how she was living every little girls dream. The second was her last number, in which the entire cast was on the stage doing what they do best.

I'm so thrilled that we got to be there for her big night. She is an amazing dancer.

#83 I Found an Old Friend!

I'm so excited! I have been trying to find my friend TM (I now know she is TF) for about 5-6 years. The past few weeks I've really felt like I just HAD to find her. So, I pay some online sites for her information and none of them were current. I finally found her parents phone number (yes, I did try that first, but could never get them and they didn't have an answering machine). So, tonight I called the number for about the 5th time this week and I'm SHOCKED when the phone is picked up.

"Is this B_____ M____?"
"Yes...."
"Hi, This is _____ ______, I went to high school with T and would really like to get in contact with her."
"Who did you say this was?"
"_____ _____"
"Oh, I remember that name. Here is her phone number. [insert number] I'd wait to call until the weekend since she is usually asleep around 8:30."
"Thank you SO much. I'll wait until the weekend to contact her then. How is she doing?"

We continue to talk for a few minutes and she remembers who I am...I think, then I get off the phone. She reminds me to wait until the weekend and I reassure her I will wait.

I get off the phone, look at her number and say, "I can't wait any longer! I've waiting 6 years and I'm not waiting any more." So I called and we talked for an hour. We are planning to see one another this summer when we go visit my IL's. We will meet half way since she is in the next state.

I'm so excited. It was wonderful talking to her. She has 2 sons and a husband and is still in the military. She is working on her bachelors degree and hopes to apply for OCS. I really hope we stay in contact now. It made me heart so happy to talk to her.

She was amazed at the lengths I went to in order to find her and was SO happy I did. I am too. I don't talk to people from my past very often. In all honesty, I have really kept up with anyone from my PH days (pre-hubby). Sad, really. I honestly think it's because I never let anyone get that close after a while. I held a lot of people back at arms length.

Anyway...I'm so happy that she was the first person I found. It did me a world of good to know she is well and is accomplishing so much with her life.

#49a Get Eyes Checked

Hmm...so I got my eyes checked today...kind of. I didn't walk out with a rx b/c he dx me with acute allergic conjunctivitis. Dr. Shank told me that I wouldn't be allowed to wear contacts any more because I am allergic to the proteins in the eye cleanser. I took his word for it and left with my free sample of Restasis and my rx for my steroid treatment with a follow up appt scheduled for Dec. 2. So I just sit down at the computer and do some research. Sure, I could very well be allergic to the eye cleanser, but there are any number of other causes. How did he know that was the cause when I haven't worn contacts for months and still have my eye problems? He also didn't do any tests to check for specific allergies.

According to Vision Web:

Allergic conjunctivitis results from a response to airborne pollen, dust, smoke, or environmental agents. Both eyes are usually affected and may itch, tear excessively and discharge a stringy mucous. You may also have other allergic reactions, such as a runny or itchy nose. Allergy tests can identify specific causes, and repeated injections may desensitize you to the allergens.

Topical eye drops are available to relieve symptoms, and depending on the severity, you eyecare provider or physician may also recommend oral medications such as over-the-counter or prescription decongestant-antihistamines. Eyecare products such as contact lens solutions or eye drops can cause allergic reactions as well. Discontinue use if you notice allergic conjunctivitis symptoms following the use of a particular product.

I think since contacts aren't covered in any way, shape or form by my insurance, I'm just going to get my eyes checked again at LensCrafters while I'm in Anchorage while getting my new glasses. (I should have a new rx at my follow up.) I go up on 3 Dec for some appointments for my son.

So, I think I'll use them as a second opinion while I'm there and hopefully get some new contacts. I only want to wear them every once in a while. If I can't wear them once a week like I would prefer, just for special occasions would be nice. Dr. Shank refused to even allow that and said that Lasik would be out of the question too since it tends to exaserbate eye problems. Anyone know if that is true?

So while I didn't get my rx yet, I did go...finally. I think the last time I went was back in 2005 and perhaps even 2004? I'm pretty sure it was Feb. 2005 though. I'll update after my next appointment. I am going to talk to him about what I found though.

#10 Learn to Make Sushi

Ok, so I actually did this on Sept. 6, but what can I say? I'm lazy. The only reason I am posting it now is that I'm not able to sleep.

It is really a lot of fun, making sushi, I mean. Pretty easy too actually. I was pleasantly surprised. The only thing that takes some practice is getting the rice right. It needs to have just the right amount of rice vinegar and sugar, but also cool it down to just the right temperature. Aside from that, it is really simple. Ok, layering the rice is a pain, not to mention sticky, and I HATE being sticky, but not bad.

Oh, and yup, that picture is MY roll! YAY!

#61 Photos to cd's

Ok, so they aren't really on cd's, but a computer geek friend recommended I get an external hard drive instead. So for a whopping $100 I got a 500 gig external hard drive. It's stupid easy and I've got it set up to update every night at 1 a.m. so I don't have to do anything really. It does it for me. All I have to remember is to delete the photos from the computer every once in a while to save some disk space (I'm down to less than 2% right now, so when I get home from vacation I will update and delete). What a relief too. I kept having nightmares that we got a virus and lost all of our pictures. We would then have virtually no pictures of our kids or anything really from the past 3-4 years. Yikes. No need to worry about that now though.

#65 Fence in Yard

Well, we had the inaugural run of the back (side really) yard. The dogs didn't know what to do the first few days. It took a lot longer than it should have and we spent a lot more money on it than we should have, but it's done. Sing it with me, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"

What a blessing that will be come February when the man is deployed, I have two wee ones running around like maniacs and the dogs need to pee. No more pulling the Muck's on and shuffling the snow to find the leashes (that are tied to the deck). Nope, I'll be saying, "Ok, girls, go outside," opening the door and shutting it right behind them.

Ahh....the joys of a fenced in yard.

#72 Pay off all credit card debt

YAY! I just submitted our final payment for our credit card! WOOHOO!!! We do still have a credit card, but we pay that off each payday. We have it for the miles. It's fabulous!

We have been paying $300+ a month on our card to try to get it down and now that it is payed off we will take that $300 and make an extra principle payment to our car loan. Note to self, don't every buy a new car again! It depreciates in value so much. Do I love my car? Absolutely! Would I want anything else? No way. Do I like the payments? Not a chance!

We should have that payed off within a year or two. I haven't taken the time to calculate that out, but I will try to do that soon so I can figure out how much we will be saving. This makes me so happy!

#31 Dr. Zhivago

I started out this goal with 10 of these movies already watched. Here is the first one towards my goal. I've had Dr. Zhivago from Netflix since March. Yup, you read that right...March. I'm officially one of THOSE Netflixers. In my defense, I thought I lost it for a while. I take that back, I thought the kids lost it for a while. Just prior to succumbing and sending an email to Netflix to let them know so I could pay for it, I had the man look around one last time. He found it! I have no idea where he found it, but he did. I'm thrilled. I finally watched it over the past 2 days. It was a looong movie [read: over 3 hours and the dvd was double sided]. It took 2 days worth of naps, but it was watched. It was good. Not the best, but good. I didn't like it becuase like so many of the movies of today, there was infidelity involved. I don't do well with that being glamorized. Ticks me off. Maybe I'm too close to the issue - not in my own marriage, but those that I love. I'm glad I watched it though. Made me glad I'm living in a country where we aren't fighting a war on our own turf. The death and destruction were so sad.

Anyway...whoever the next Netflixer waiting on Dr. Zhivago is, you can rest easy, it will be to you soon.

Already failed 3 goals

But that's ok. I've realized that I set my goals a little too high in regards to having too many "x times a month" items. So, I haven't made bread every month, I haven't cooked 2 vegetarian meals a month and I haven't blogged on all my blogs once a month either. So, I'll be depositing money into the kids college savings accounts shortly.

You know what though. I was a little bummed at first, but I have 2 kids I'm chasing around as well as trying to maintain a household and a life! I'm not worried about it. I'm not going to give up on those goals completely. I may adjust them though. Maybe 1 vegetarian meal a month and I'll still try to blog once a month, but the bread thing I just don't have time for right now. I will try to get my life organized a bit more and then work on getting the bread baking added back in.

So there we have it.

#15 Make Baby Food

I think I can safely say I have accomplished this goal. My youngest is now almost 10 months old and I can count on one hand (and I don't even need all the fingers) the number of times she has had food out of a jar. We started off with sweet potatoes, and now we pretty much give her anything (including steak and chicken). A good friend let us borrow her portable food grinder and we LOVE it! We can just grind small portions for her. We tend to use it multiple times daily.

For bulk baby food making, I found that I prefer a hand blender to the tabletop blender. We then put the food in ice cube trays. Once frozen, they would get placed in a gallon size ziploc labeled with the item and expiration date (usually 2-3 months).

This was SO easy and I highly recommend this to anyone with babies. Not only does it save a ton of money (a huge factor), but you can also control what your baby eats. Most of time time I use organic produce for the kids, so that I can be a little more cautious. I really enjoyed putting my heart into this. It really didn't take took much time and surprisingly I really enjoyed it. If we decide to have more children in the future, you can bet that I will do this again.

#1 Learn to Sew

I am SEW excited! Haha, get it? Sew? Yeah, I'm a dork, but I'm okay with that. One of my fabulous friends taught me. Actually it's more like she gave me the basics and enabled me to learn myself. I still haven't finished my first project (a quilt from Bend the Rules Sewing), but I did finish my second project. Yeah, I'm a little backwards, huh? I started - and finished - a drawstring a-line skirt from Sew What! Skirts. I found this wonderful fabric by Amy Butler at my favorite local fabric shop (lfs).

Apparently drafting your own pattern isn't very common among newbs to the sewing world, but that's just what I did for this skirt. Ok, so it wasn't perfect. I was off by a few inches and had to rip seams, cut and re-sew. I made sure to make the changes on my pattern as well so that when I make another one I won't have to re-do everything. I also didn't do the piping right, but now that I know how to do it I'll do better next time. The perfectionist in me wants to rip it out and do it right this time, but I have decided to leave it for the time being. When I see it I remember all the lessons I learned in my new craft.

Some of my lessons learned:

• When drafting a pattern, you don't have to add extra inches to your pattern "just in case" - they have done that for you. It will only result in ripping and stitching again.
• It is important to wash the fabric first....and iron it! It's not just something they recommend, it really does make a difference.
• When attaching piping, do not, I repeat, do NOT cut the piping before you are almost finished sewing! You may (and likely) have not pinned it perfectly and you will be short and have to rip it out, buy more piping and start all over again.
• I really like the almost instant gratification sewing offers. With knitting it takes a while before you can really see a big result, unless of course it's a quicky, and I like immediate results.

I can't wait to get started on my next project. Oh, and yeah, I suppose I should finish my quilt too, huh?

#18 Dish 4/101

I baked apples for the first time. I've always wanted to, but never have. I even bought an apple corer a year and a half ago, just so I could make them. Let's just say it sat in its drawer for a L-O-N-G time. It had seen use before this, but was the first time it was used for what I originally purchased it for. I made them for dessert the night my friend Becca brought the Mexican Pizza (see below) for dinner. It's rather sad, but I did use a recipe. I wasn't exactly sure how to do it. Now that I do, the ideas are running rampant! I don't think I'll ever use a recipe for these again. I may even experiment with pears.

Baked Apples from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

4 Apples, cored
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 c raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 c apple juice

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place cored apples in baking dish, fill with mixture; pour juice in dish around apples and bake at 350* for 45 minutes.

I halved the recipe since it was just the two of us. I'm going to improvise next time though and who knows what I'll come up with. I was just happy I finally made them and they were SO good. And healthy too!

#13 and #18 - Vegetarian meals and 101 dishes

I got a recipe from a friend for a Mexican Pizza, that also happens to be vegetarian! It was YUMMY! She brought it over for dinner one night while the man was deployed and I just HAD to make it. Let me just say, he loved it even more than I did. We had a lot of fun eating it for our in-home lunch date and we each came up with different ways to change it. We will definitely be having this again. So, I'm going to count this for both 13 and 18. I really need to get to work harder on the 101 dishes though. I'm sure I will get a lot of them done around holidays or parties we have. I like to experiment on my friends.

Loaded Mexican Pizza by Mary Barker of Knoxville, TN
(from Light & Tasty, Feb/March 2008) given to me by Becca

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 med red onion, chopped
1 small sweet yellow pepper, chopped
3 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3 med tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 10 oz. prebaked thin italian bread shell crust
2 c chopped fresh spinach
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
Hot pepper to taste
1/2 c shredded reduce-fat cheddar cheese
1/2 c pepper jack cheese

In a small bowl, mash black beans; stir in the onion, yellow pepper, chili powder and cumin. In another bowl, combine the tomatoes, jalapeño and garlic.

Place the crust on an ungreased 12 in pizza pan; spread with bean mixture. Top with tomato mixture and spinach. Sprinkle with cilantro, hot pepper sauce and cheeses.

Bake at 400* for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

How I adapted it:

Instead of mashing the black beans with a fork, I pureed them slightly with my immersion blender. I used a medium yellow onion that I had leftover from my produce co-op. I used a red pepper since the yellow pepper was $5 for ONE (yikes). I also didn't have quite the right amount of tomatoes (less) but we couldn't tell and we don't know how it could have held much more on the crust. I hate cilantro, so I used a little parsley instead. We also used the Boboli premade crust, and that isn't thin, but I prefer thick crust.

Other options we came up with:

Refried beans instead of black beans
Saute the onions, so they aren't quite so potent.
Use pearl onions, sliced into rings.
Use 2 jalapeños.
Change up the cheeses.
If we don't want vegetarian, top it with fajita style chicken or steak.

#68 Recycling Center in Garage

We finally set this up last weekend. We went to Walmart and got three large Rubbermaid storage boxes and have them set up right below the entry into the garage. Paper, plastic and aluminum/tin. I would have done two more, to separate aluminum and tin and one for "other" items (i.e. batteries, electronics) but decided that 1. the recycling center has employees to separate these and I've seen them out there doing it and they seem to enjoy it, so I'll let them separate my aluminum and tin (won't make them do everything b/c I get an odd satisfaction out of it too - strange, I know), and 2. when we have other items I will just take them when I have something to take down. We won't have too many batteries to take down since we now use rechargeable ones.

With the containers we chose, we can easily slide them into the back of the car to take down and place in their respective bins. YAY! Oh, and my cardboard boxes (in good shape and large enough) will go to my produce co-op for distributing food.

We have started working on #98 too and the man mentioned just the other day that he is shocked by how little he has to run the garbage down now. Instead of going through a garbage bag every day or two, we are going through one every 3-4 days, sometimes longer.