NoSpenduary - Week One

The goal at the end of this three month period is to have a nice chunk of change saved up in order to renovate the hallway bathroom.  So, here's what I did to save money this week:

• Lowered the thermostats throughout the house to 65*.  We have baseboard heat throughout the house, so we lowered the thermostats as much as possible.   
•  I took lunch to work every day.  Usually, my lunch was leftovers from one of the other meals.
• Breakfast every day was oatmeal.  I picked up a Dairy Free version of Egg Nog just after Christmas.  I made overnight oats with my Dairy Free Egg Nog, Craisins, and Pecans.  Not too shabby for a quick overnight meal!
• I turned out lights throughout the house in the rooms we weren't using.
• Husband's birthday was this past week.  We made his favorite cake for him - German Chocolate - from scratch.  I also made a kick-ass stir fry for him.  We took him out to the movies for his celebration.  (I used a gift card to the movies that was given to us for Christmas for admission.)

Dinners This Week 

1. Bean Soup. With the leftover ham bone from Christmas, I made a huge pot of bean soup with the little white beans.  (Dried).  I had leftover roasted veggies from Christmas that I added to the pot.  (Carrots, leftover baked potatoes, onions, etc.)
2. Baked Beans. I took the leftover bean soup, poured it into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, poured a drizzle of molasses over top, and baked it at 350* for 30 minutes.   
3.  Sloppy Joe Potatoes.  When we went to my Mom's house to celebrate Christmas two weeks ago, I made Sloppy Joes for dinner.  I made two batches - one vegetarian and one with 2 pounds of ground turkey.  I froze the leftovers.  I pulled them out, and we had that served over baked potatoes for dinner.
4. Baked Chicken Fajitas.  Believe it or not, I found the recipe on Facebook, via a Tasty feed.  (Let's see if the link works! Chicken Fajitas) It was quick and easy!  We had leftovers, which I took for lunch both days. (For lunch, I wrapped the leftovers in corn tortillas.)
5. Salmon.  I found a bigly fillet of salmon on sale this week.  We cooked it up for dinner one night.  I served it with a huge salad and the leftover sweet potato and pomegranate salad, and baked cabbage steaks.  I saved back a portion of the salmon for dinner the next night.
6. Salmon Pasta Salad.  Made with the leftover salmon.
7. Kick Ass Stir Fry.  I made this with the last of the leftover ham from Christmas, a couple of scrambled eggs, and all of the raw veggies that were still left from the Christmas veggie tray.  (Celery, Carrots, Cauliflower, Broccoli, and an onion.)  I used brown rice instead of white rice as our base.

Are you cutting back on spending this month?  What are you doing to save?

Monday Musings

Love this little guy!  He lives with friends of ours, and we spent New Year's Eve with them.  He's a Beagle crossed with something.  Isn't he totally adorable?  He spent the evening snuggled up on the sofa, curled up between me and E.

Snow, Snow, Snow
We got minimal snow in our area.  BUT, it was in the forecast.  I stopped by the Home Depot on Thursday afternoon, pricing wood screws and could not believe the number of people in the store buying snow shovels, rock salt and snow blowers.  Total amount of snow on the ground in central Maryland right now?  An inch-ish.

BUT- I have a friend from college who lives South of us.  His boss looked outside of the window Friday afternoon to see the Weather Channel vans pulling into the parking lot and setting up shop.  "That's it" he declared.  "You know it's going to be bad when the Weather Channel shows up in your neighborhood and sets up shop. Everyone goes home, now.  See you Monday."

Christmas is Over
All of the Christmas Trees came down over the weekend.  It's sad to see it all put away, but it's wonderful to have some extra square footage back in our house!  Now it's time to decorate the mantel in the kitchen. What am I going to do?  Easter doesn't start until late this year - so I need to do something between now and then.  What to do?

Gluten Free Cake
We have finally found the most amazing recipe for Gluten Free cake.  We used the Hershey recipe for chocolate cake, and subbed in King Arthur One to One GF Flour for the gluten filled flour, and coconut milk for any cow milk in the recipe.  Good golly, that is one powerfully good recipe!  Me oh my, who knew that a gluten free dairy free cake could taste so good?

Television Antenna
We've never had cable television. We've always had an antenna.  We've never had an issue with reception.  Since we moved to this house, we've had the wire for the antenna that runs around the corner, under the front door, out around the porch, and then up onto the roof, where we had tossed the antenna.  The biggest issue we had was that our antenna was an indoor antenna and would quit working once every 5 years.  Our antenna recently quit working.  Rather than toss it up on the roof again, husband decided to put it into the attic and run the wire down through the wall and out behind the television set.  So, for the first time since we moved here, we don't have that really weird cable snaking up the side of the house and across the roof to face towards Baltimore.  OK, we also subscribe to Netflix.  We have DSL for internet - but we're close enough to the switching station that we have enough bandwidth to stream video without a problem.

Have a great week!

Book Review: Outlander Kitchen

Fans of the book and the series will enjoy this nod to traditional Highland Cuisine.  Painstakingly researched, every recipe in this book ties in with some type of food from the books.  The author gives the passage from the book where the food is mentioned, and then writes at least one paragraph going into the historical details of this food, from how it was traditionally made to where to find more traditional ingredients.  She also gives information on acceptable substitutions for foods that our modern taste buds might not appreciate!

Thoroughly researched, beautifully photographed and lovingly presented, this cookbook will be a welcome challenge for any seasoned cook who wants to take a trip to the Highlands without ever leaving the comfort of their home!

However, if you're like me, it will inspire you to begin planning a trip to Scotland. A trip that involves a lot of eating.  And several teas.  And maybe a beer or two. 

Bats in the Belfrey

I originally published this post on August 15, 2014.  Enjoy!

I wish I had pictures to share.  I really, really do.  Unfortunately, as this story unrolled, I ended up dropping the camera, and running away screaming.  Since the husband had the hose on and there were bats everywhere - well... at least the camera wasn't toast, but I also didn't want to get any closer.

We live in a brick rancher.  Do you know those roof vents over the ends of the house?  We have three of them.  One over the carport, and two over the "T" at the other end of the house.

The vents are screened on the inside to keep out birds and other beasties.

I park on the pad next to the carport.

This time last week, as I was getting out of the car, I looked down at the ground and saw lots of tiny little black things.  They looked like hamster pellets, in a way.  There were tons of these things.  I ended up backing up my car so that I wouldn't walk through it and track stuff through the house.

Bravely, I looked up into the vent and saw lots and lots of little black things.

Bats.  The stuff on the ground (and all over the siding) was bat guano.  Not a good thing.

When husband got home, I mentioned it to him.  He got the ladder out, got close enough to look inside and said one word "bats".  He climbed up into the attic to verify that there were no bats inside of the attic.

After he changed clothes, he went to Home Depot and picked up some fiberglass netting.

He came home, and began spraying water from the garden hose on the parking pad and siding, attempting to get the guano off.

The bats really didn't like that.  They left.  Over 2 dozen of them flew out, all over everywhere.

Husband then decided that he would spray up into the vent in order to get any other bats out of the vents.  A couple dozen more flew out.

Yeah, by this point, I was long gone.  I actually took off once the bats started flying out.

Once he was certain no more bats were coming out, he climbed up onto the ladder, and measured the vent.  He cut the fiberglass netting to fit over the vents.  He used the staple gun to attach the netting on two sides.  He has left the bottom open - so that it's an exclusion net.  Just in case if any more bats were hanging out in there, they can get out, but not get back in.

Last night, he climbed back up the ladder with a flashlight to verify that all of the bats were gone.

He then stapled the bottom of the netting across the bottom of the vent.

We still have another vent that is loaded with bats.  Absolutely full.

We have plans to put up a couple of bat houses on the property, before we work to get them out, so that they can have a new home to go roost in.

But where do these houses go?  They like to be up high.  We have an elm tree that's high, but that tree is sick and will have to come down within the next five years - so we don't want to put it there.  And we really don't want them roosting inside of the house or the attic.  With the amount of bats we have in this particular vent, if any more move in, it is possible that they could pop the screen out and take up residence in our attic.  And that would be a bad thing.

Now, if we could just get the telephone company to come in and install a couple of poles for us in the back yard, I would know exactly where to put the houses!

Hippodrome

We went to the Hippodrome in Baltimore over the weekend to see A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.  

The Hippodrome itself is a fascinating piece of architecture.  Originally built in 1914 as a movie palace that also showcased Vaudeville Performances, the Hippodrome attracted some of the "biggest" of the big name Vaudeville actors.  

The Hippodrome eventually closed its doors in 1990.  At that time, it was the last operating movie house in the city of Baltimore.  In 2004, the newly renovated Hippodrome was re-opened.  This masterpiece combined three previously existing, historic buildings into one major showpiece.  These buildings were: The Western National Bank, The Eutaw Savings Bank, and the Hippodrome.  A new building was built on the corner of Eutaw and Baltimore streets to tie the buildings together.

The Hippodrome is now a cultural icon in the city that attracts major performers and touring Broadway shows.  (Note - Mike Rowe recently gave a talk here.  A talk in which he introduced his Mom, and the audience began chanting "Old Blue, Old Blue, Old Blue"!  

(Source: France-Merrick Performing Arts Center)

Below, you can find a few pictures that I took around the building.

Is this not one of the most beautiful spaces?

The second floor hallway, outside theater itself.

As near as I can tell, this area is the new building.  There's a cafe on the first floor.  Do you see that clock tower through the window?  That is the Bromo Seltzer Tower.

Don't you just love this window?

The mural above the stage.

It's a very fuzzy picture, I do apologize, but that is the main stage!

I was told to point these boxes out. During one of the 20th century renovations, these boxes had been torn completely out.  With the 2004 reno, they were added back into the architecture, replicating the original design as much as possible.

Monday Musings (on Tuesday)

No Spenduary
I began on Sunday, with the beginning of the month.  Saturday, I went out and indulged for the very last time in one of my favorite items - a Very Berry Refresher from Starbucks.  I made certain that I got a Venti.  I took it to work with me, and I nursed it all day long!  I drank some before I went in, and then put it in my thermal cup, in the fridge at work, where I knew it would stay cold and I could take a sip now and again as the day went on!  Not very dignified, I know, but hey, why not?  I love cold water with lots of ice, so once I finished off my drink, I refilled it with water a couple of times. 

Star Wars Rogue One
I went to see the new Star Wars movie last week.  I was hoping to pay homage to Carrie Fisher.  As I watched the movie, I was confused about the plot of the movie. No Carrie Fisher, no Mark Hamill, no Kai Loren.  And there was Darth Vader and the Death Star.  Confused as all get out, I left the movie confused and unsatisfied.  As I was driving home with the kids I made the comment "Really?  The Empire is still trying to make the Death Star operational?  You think they would have learned a long time ago to give that up."

"Mom" laughed the kids... "This wasn't the Eighth movie in the series.  This was basically 3 and 1/2.  It was set after episode 3, but before the one where Luke makes his appearance."

OK, so now that I know that, I need to go back and see the movie again.  I might appreciate it more now that I know the premise!

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
One of the family gifts we gave our kids for Christmas was tickets to go see A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder at the Hippodrome.  We had a marvelous time, the show was fantastic, and the actors were absolutely amazing.  I'm so glad we went! Good golly, how much I love theater!  I've still got that happy buzz going!



Funemployed
Daughter was given this game for Christmas by one of her friends.  It's an absolute hoot!  It's like Apples for Apples, but with a really fun twist.  The "Hiring Coordinator"  (think HR person)  puts down the title of a job.  Each player is given 4 qualifications for their resume.  Ten extra qualifications are then laid down.   You are given one minute to swap out qualifications and build your resume.  At the end of a minute, you get to present your case as to why you are the most qualified person for the position given the skills on your resume.  We laughed so hard we cried when we played this game!  It was great!

Facebook Quiz
I don't normally take Facebook quizzes, but I couldn't pass this one up.  It's called "What is Waiting for You in 2017?"  I pasted my results below.  I'm curious to see how this plays out.  Maybe I should look at this instead of making a list of resolutions for the year?  Yeah, right.  Anyway, here is what is going to happen to me this year:
January: A Road Trip  (In the middle of winter?)
February: Time With Family  (Do we see a massive snowstorm on the horizon?)
March: A Wedding
April: A New Family Member
May: A New Hobby
June: A Vacation
July: Money
August: A Change
September: A Surprise Visit
October: A New Car
November: A Dream House
December: A One of a Kind Party

Hmmm.... we'll see what happens.  I'm assuming that I win the lottery in July, and decide to move somewhere else, ditch the mini-van for a new something and buy a dream house.  I'm going to have to keep track of this one and see how it goes this year!  (Should I add this list to my 2017 Goals and Resolutions list?  Or keep it in my Monday Musings.... decisions, decisions, decisions)

Enjoy your week!

2017 Resolutions

Resolutions, resolutions.  We all make them, but how many of them do we keep?  I've been keeping an online list of my resolutions this year, and it has kept me honest.  While I not have kept all of my resolutions, I have completed a significant number of them!  I read an article recently that said that there are several reasons we don't keep our resolutions.  The two that stuck with me the most are

1) Making your resolutions a year long process: something you work on every day.
2) Having an accountability buddy: someone close to you to whom you have to report.

So, by keeping this list for an entire year and checking back in on it monthly, I am ensuring that it does become a year long process.  Also, by making this list public, I am ensuring that I have several accountability buddies!

(If you'd like to read the entire article, you can find it here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201312/why-we-dont-keep-our-new-years-resolutions)


So, having said all of that, here's this year's mix of goals and resolutions for 2017!

1) Complete 12 Home Improvement projects around the house this year.
Do I have specific things I'd like to accomplish?  Yes.  Am I going to list them?  NO.  Last year, we were confounded by unexpected home repairs.  I am going to accomplish one home improvement project each month of this year.  Heaven knows, there's enough stuff that needs to be done in our house!  If I made a list of everything that needs to be done, I think it would depress ALL of us.  So, I'm going to limit it to 12 projects.  12 things that can be accomplished with the skills or materials or money we have on hand.  At the end of the year, I'll share the master list of home improvements... and we'll see how many of them I've actually knocked off!

2) Lose a few more inches around my waist.
Last year, my goal was to lose 3 inches.  I nailed it!  According to the guidelines for women that I've been able to find, the healthiest waist circumference is between 32" and 35".  Losing a few more inches would put me safely into the middle of that spectrum.  Can I do it?  Well, I'm determined. It might mean that I need to sign up for a Pilates class, though.  I'll do whatever it takes!  I've come so far at this point, I'm NOT looking back!  This does mean that I will continue to exercise on a regular basis.  Again, after 2 years of making this my focus, I don't see this going away.  I WILL NOT stop going to the gym and exercising.  As the annoying commercial says, "Just Do It". 

3) Get away with my husband - just the two of us - twice over the next year.
I don't know where we're going to go, but we need to spend some time together, without our children along.  Where are we going to go?  Who knows?  But a couple of weekends away without any of our grown children around sounds like a great idea!  (It's much harder to do with grown kids in the house than you think it would be!)

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge
Last year's resolution was to get rid of 23 things a week. Boy howdy, did I clean up!  Stuff is gone, and the house is cleaner. But, there's still room for improvement.  I've got a long way to go in order to get this house truly clean.  But instead of setting the bar at 23 things a week, I'm setting it differently this year.  There's a challenge out there that I found to get rid of 40 bags of crap during the 40 days of Lent.  I found it on White House Black Shutters.  I'm pretty sure I've got 40 bags worth of crap laying around here that I can get rid of!  I'm looking forward to narrowing this challenge down from a year long cleaning stint to a 40 day challenge!  It should be great! 

5) Post at least 12 Book Reviews on my Books for Teens Blog
I've fallen behind on posting book reviews, and I need to make myself blog more.  This past year, I started reading more children's fiction.  I am going to shift back to Young Adult fiction this year and will post at least one book review per month.

6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom
It will happen this year.  Middle child is graduating from college and moving back home.  We've got no choice but to get that finished before he graduates.  We also have issues with that toilet.  So, whatever we've managed to save on March 31 is the budget we'll be working with.... with that thought in mind...

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
The challenge is not to spend any money outside of the necessities for a month.  Since March 31 is our deadline for saving money to fix the bathroom, I will be holding back on all spending for January, February, and March.  I'll most likely be picking up some extra shifts at work during this time, too.  I really want to have a decent amount of money for us to work with when we sit down and start planning out the budget and meeting with contractors.  *sigh*  I'm both really looking forward to this and really dreading this....

8) Learn Another Language
I took 4 years of Spanish in high school.  After 30 something years, I remember a handful of words.  (Hey, I remember the important ones: Donde esta el bano?  AND  Dos cervezos, por favor!)
I really need to do better.  

9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do
Last year, I published a list of 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do Before They Die.  I've done a fair number of them, but not nearly close to all 100.  I am going to knock 12 more of those items off of the list this year.
You can read the original lists here:
100 Things Every Marylander Must Do At Least Once, Pt. 1
100 Things Every Marylander Must Do At Least Once, Pt. 2

10) Finish Daughter's Quilt
She's finishing up at the Community College in May, and will be transferring to a four year school in August.  I have pieced and pinned the quilt - but now I need to quilt it and finish it.  Before August.  (The bigger question here is: Will she go away to school, or will she continue to live at home and commute?  Big decisions need to be made in the next month!)

11) Clean out the Closet and Dresser Drawers in the Master Bedroom
Not just straighten it, but clean it.  I need to go through and get rid of the things I no longer wear, and go through the stash of stuff that I made to sell on Etsy - but never sold.  I need to donate them or give them away or something.  I really need to get everything out of that closet.  I also need to go through the dresser drawers and throw some things away.  This sounds like an easy task - but if it were easy, I wouldn't have had to write it down as a goal, would I?

12) Clean out the little room in the basement and make it usable.
We have a little room in our basement.  When my in-laws lived in the house, my father-in-law used it as an office.  When we moved in, we found a leak in the basement that necessitated the removal of all the drywall, sealing the cinder block wall, and replacing the dry wall.  Now that all of that has been done, we need to address the final issues (cleaning out the last of the stuff we had shoved in the closet, fixing lighting, etc.) and make it into a usable room of some kind.   I had thought of making that into a craft room years ago. We'll see how this plays out, considering the bathroom remodel and some kitchen issues I'd like to address. At the very least, I'd like to make it more presentable...

13) Work on the landscaping in the front yard.
Our landscaping can best be described as "overgrown disaster".  We've pulled two hugely overgrown bushes out - they were higher than the roof on the house.  I want to update the landscaping.  While I might not get the entire front of the house updated, I'd at least like to update the part in front of the master bedroom so that it looks neater and more complimentary to the house.

14) Take at least one class through the American Library Association.
I have several choices, and I need 6 hours of CEU's to renew my teaching certificate.  As long as I've got to take classes, I'm going to see if I can take something that will count towards renewing my teaching certificate in 2019 AND benefit my library.


This promises to be a year of great things!