Experimental brownies, batch #1

I am my mother's daughter. I'm trying to make a guilt free brownie from scratch not a box. This didn't quite make the mark, but they're not inedible. It does have chocolate in it after all. I will say only people who like prunes would like these. Next time I'm trying non-fat yogurt.

Low Fat Experimental Brownies -batch #1

3/4 C of prune butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
12 T of cocoa powder
1 C flour
handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F

- Mix the prune butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add cocoa powder and flour and mix until combined. Spray a 13X9 pan with non-stick spray and spread the brownie batter out evenly. Throw a handful of chocolate chips on top because my mom says everything tastes better with candy on top. Bake for 35 minutes.

Prune Butter

Prune Butter can be used as a fat substitute when baking. Its easy to make and adds nutrition to your treats!



In a food processor mix a heaping cup of prunes, aka Dried Plums, with 5-6 Tablespoons of water or fruit juice. Process into a paste which can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks.

We're safe.

Another crazy night in Wisconsin. I was at work for most of it. It was chaotic. Our weather alert radio kept going off with tornado, flash flood, and thunderstorm alarms. I'd tried to listen to where exactly the tornadoes were, but Tanner the owner's dog was barking like crazy, the phone was ringing off the hook, "are you still having lessons," and guests were trying to register for Summer semester. It was the last night of Spring semester as well so everyone had report card questions. I was too busy to be scared I'd blow away.

Thankfully I made it home. The road I travel was under water. I was one of the last vehicles to make it across before they closed the road. Unfortunately, my co-worker couldn't make it home and was planning to stay with relatives. Many roads are closed and flooded over. This morning they are advising people not to travel and our major interstates 94 & 90 are closed down.

Our Mallard's baseball game was rained out. Instead the boys were home alone during the tornado warnings. I debated whether they should ride in to work with me and have DH pick them up there, but the pool I work at has no basement. Traveling in a car isn't the safest option either. I figured the safest place is our home. It has basement area without windows.

When they heard the sirens, they acted exactly as we had practiced. They went into the basement and followed our tornado action plan. (We discovered we need a telephone list in our emergency kit.) The tornado actually was in the next town over. Thankfully we have no damage.

Today if we can get a break in the rain, we are going to get our green thumbs dirty. Our neighbor started her plants indoors, but now her health is prohibiting her from working in her garden. We have to weed the beds and then transplant her veggie plants. I'm sure the ground is moist enough this will be easy work.

I'll probably bake a few pans of brownies for Dad's day weekend. They are always better after having aged a day. We like a fudgie brownie with chocolate frosting, and they're better if the frosting can dry out a bit. I'll bake up our regular recipe, but I also want to try a new fat free version which uses prune butter. Sounds bad, but I'm not going to knock it until I try it.

Well, I better go and burn off some pre-brownie calories on my Wii Fit. There has got to be subliminal messages in that game! It always makes me feel fantastic, and I can't go a day without it!

Wishing Well - Blind Melon

The brand new video from Blind Melon "For My Friends" in-stores now! Can you see me in the crowd?!

Lake Delton is now Canyon Delton

As some of you have seen in the news, Lake Delton near Wisconsin Dells is gone. Flood waters caused the man made lake to spill over a roadway and into the Wisconsin river. The rush of water carried away pretty much the entire lake along with several people's homes. The video on the news was amazing to watch but now its time to point fingers.

I don't know anyone who lost their entire home, contents and all, but I feel for them. In the news today it is reported the village of Lake Delton did not comply with federal flood plan maps so they are not eligible for flood insurance or FEMA assistance. Click here.  It seems accepting new flood maps would have made new construction in the resort area too expensive. It always comes down to the almighty dollar doesn't it.

The governor of Wisconsin has vowed the lake will be refilled. Its a major Wisconsin tourist attraction after all. Can't lose those tourism dollars!

I like my husband's plan better. He pointed out that for awhile, the empty lake itself is a tourist draw. Come see Canyon Delton! Someone just needs to set up ATV rentals and there's lots of fun to be had in the mud! Hmm... come see Tommy Barlett's mud skiers!

Seriously, the flooding has had a huge impact here in Wisconsin. There are smaller towns cut off because roads are impassable. Today they have closed down westbound HWY 94 because the Rock River is inches away from the road surface. They have parked dump trucks filled with sand in the hopes it will help the bridge survive the rushing water underneath. Sounds crazy to have heavy machines on an unstable major bridge but the idea is the weight may keep the bridge from moving. Crazy!

Tomorrow's forecast is for more rain.

TTT

My storm damaged impatiens bloomed again! Yeah!

Ten Thoughts Tuesday

1. Despite those wispy, cottonwood/dogwood seeds, I'm opening up the windows. The heat and humidity are gone for now, and the fresh air feels good even if I have to endure filmy, itchy eyes and a runny nose.

2. I'm throwing back huge mugs of ice water with fresh lemon. Helps with #1. (No pun intended but that just made me giggle.)

3. Anyone have a recipe for sweet tea? I feel like we're drinking way too much sugar using the Lipton instant.

4. I am a true Melonhead! DH's taking me to see them two nights in a row in July! I can't wait!

5. I must not forget my kazoo this time!

6. My Wii Fit is hidden from the Posse. Its bad enough I have to share it with my tribe. I don't want dirty rat feet on it.

7. I should buy a silicon cover for my Wii Board.

8. Why is it on the nights I have to work, it seems like the days go by so quickly?

9. Rebate Affiliate Marketing is a home based business scam. My search continues.

10. I have to buy Dad Day cards!!

Stormy weekend..

We're still here. We didn't blow or float away despite the crazy weekend of storms.

I had to work Saturday at the pool for Safety Day. Thankfully I scored a front desk position inside. Last year I baked in the sun at the "Rescue Trevor" station. (Remember to Reach or Throw Don't Go!) The downside to the front desk spot was listening to the weather radio go off every 10 minutes with yet another flash flood or tornado warning.

At one point the alert said a tornado had been spotted near Evansville. I tried to call home for 30 minutes and no one answered. When I finally got through, I found out DH was mowing lawns. He heard the sirens go off but the sky looked clear to him. Men!

The Banana Lady was also at Safety Day.  Another reason I was grateful the weather radio was going off! I have no desire to see the "Banana Shake" again.

We had two graduations this past weekend. One nephew graduated 5th grade and the other high school. Sitting through both on hard bleachers, to be brutally honest, I'm glad we home school.

The 5th grade ceremony we watched a slide show of baby/kid pictures for 30 minutes straight. When the babies aren't your own, this gets old really quickly.

My nephew's high school graduation was filled with several long, boring speeches I've heard before. "Best years of our lives, our bright future, blah, blah, blah.." The highlight was listening to the band play The Pirates of The Caribbean theme, the song chosen by the senior class. My sister gushed about how Evansville High School is a top school with 60% of the class on the honor roll. I just wonder what the standards are if 60% of the class can make it?

Yes, I'm cynical and totally home school biased. I can't help it. When I attend the home school conference and listen to home school graduates get up and share their experiences, its inspirational and from the heart. When I attended the public school commencements all I heard was the administration saying, "We're so great," and the few students who spoke sounded so canned.

Maybe I'm just in a mood because school is out and my phone has begun ringing off the hook. Too bad gas is so expensive or I would have run away with the boys today.

Looking for cheese...

to go with my whine! 

I have a feeling this blog post is going to be me just whining. Feel free to stop here but I have to get it off my chest.

I'm sleep deprived. This is why I'm probably feeling this way. Plus, its the first week of June and the trees are releasing little cottony wisps into the air. My head's achy, eyes itchy, throat getting sore. Its allergy time.

We had big time thunder boomers and look what it did to my new impatiens! Wahhh!!! My pretty pink petals are gone!!!!!

My sister, (don't worry she doesn't read my blog), wants to throw an end of the year hotdog party at my house tomorrow. She wants me to invite the Posse Rats just when I successful chased them away. Why my house?!!! I know the answer to this. We have a boycave, and I'm home during the day to clean it. I'd look forward to this party if I knew my boys were excited about it, but they aren't. Lately the P. Rats are turning into middle school freakazoids. 

I'll stop whining now. It gets old real fast doesn't it.

My Wii Fit glory is being trampled. I had been triumphing over my family members, but now they are catching up and breaking my top scores. Yesterday I had worked up to completing the 30 minute free run. Today DS9 decided he wanted to try it. His pace is of course, much faster than mine. He ended up with the "calorie scorcher" rating and over 7000 points! I'll never catch him. My top score on the 30 minute free run had been around 3500.  In all seriousness, Wii Fit has been wonderful for our family. We are all moving more and having a great time.

I'm on the hunt for an affordable piano. DS12 has suddenly decided he wants to learn to play. Personally, after listening to Mr. Joe Jackson, my own interest in re-learning piano was awakened. Now that I'll have a family member to share this with, I really want to find a piano. I tried to talk my mom into selling us hers, but that was a no go. She's not ready to let go of it even though I doubt she plays it very often.

I also have to find a native Japanese speaker. I've given up trying to encourage my children to learn Spanish. I thought Spanish would be a better second language to learn, since we'd have more opportunities to use it. DS12 has his heart set on Japanese though. We have a Muzzy Japanese program but regardless of what the commercials tell you, its useless. My son may be able to recognize certain Japanese words when he hears them, but it hasn't helped him learn to read it or speak it. Thankfully I only paid $10 bucks for it used.

We have a tent worm invasion in our yard. I'm not sure that's the correct name for them. (We're looking into that.) They look like caterpillars. Yesterday I was amazed to find one that I thought had drowned in the rain water collector. I watered the plants and then placed the soggy wet critter in the sun. He dried off and then started to move! Amazing! It made me reflect on the many of God's miracles. To think just months ago we were buried in several feet of snow. Its so amazing to me that under that frozen blanket insects lay dormant, waiting to reawaken. I do get geeked up about stuff like that!

I have a great idea on how to celebrate my 40th- 10 weeks away! I'm changing my name! I'm going to start using "Dawning" instead of just Dawn. I was named after my maternal grandmother, Daga, Swedish for Dawn and my mother, Inger. I've always felt jipped that my name only had one syllable. I like "Dawning" because its a blend of both my grandmother and my mother's names. Its also an action word! I like to think I'm "dawning" into the woman God wants me to be.

I'm also thinking of renting a giant inflatable bouncy house for my front yard. I'll spend the day acting like I'm 4 not 40! LOL!

Catching Pigs

Someone shared this on a home schooling list I'm on, but its not just for home schoolers.


CATCHING PIGS

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some
exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the
professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back
and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he
had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in
his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and
install a new communist regime.

In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange
question. He asked: "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?" The professor thought
it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said that it was no
joke.

"You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on
the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn.
When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down on one side of the
place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin
to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to
that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the
fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, which are used to the free corn,
start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the
gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their
freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon
they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they
have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their
captivity."

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in
America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps
spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income,
tax credit for unearned income, taxcuts, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies,
dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs,
etc. while we continually loose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch and
you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do
it yourself.

If you see that all of this wonderful government "help" is a problem confronting
the future of democracy in America , you might want to send this on to your
friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you
will probably delete this e-mail. But God help you when the gate slams shut!

I don't know about you, but I'm not looking for free corn. And from a home schooling standpoint, my children don't need free corn either!

Its a great day for hoops....

The morning is cool and crisp. Its overcast but not raining. DS9 always likes to exercise his body before he exercises his brain. He says it helps move the blood to his brain. I think he's so right! I'm off to follow his example!

June 3, 2008

I'm really trying to relish the fact this is the last week public school is in session and its just the 3 of us at home during the days. After this Friday, I'll begin my countdown to September, waiting for the doorbell to stop ringing.

This also means I'll have to share my library, my parks, my museums, no lines in the stores. For a home schooler, summer means everybody else is out there trying to do what you do all year long. I'm spoiled. I like having it all to myself! One of these years we should run away.

I've already started to see the back up at the dentist yesterday. DS12 got in at his appointment time, but DS9 had to wait another 30 minutes. This is not easy for his anxiety. Who wants to wait in the dentist office thinking about all those metal instruments scraping you? I did my best to distract him, but I ended up having to sit next to him while he was worked on. I was pleased both boys had no cavities! Yeah!

We stopped at a great grocery store on the way home. They have a large produce section and natural foods area. You can buy every type of granola made under the sun. I stocked up on organic sushi rice. DS12 picked out a vanilla granola and raisins. I bought more cherries at $1.99 a pound and picked up more dried cranberries.

After coming back home, I made too much supper. I forgot how filling sushi rice really is. We made onigiri, or rice balls. You wrap or mold the cooked sushi rice around fillings of your choice, fish, chicken, veg etc... Its sort of like sushi rolls without the seaweed wrapping. This time I brushed the onigiri with a dressing of fresh garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil, and then grilled them. So good!!

Today I'm getting the garbage ready, cleaning out the fridge, and I feel so guilty. I'm throwing away food we should have eaten. I have to learn to make and buy only what we will eat. We also miss what we do have on hand because the fridge and pantry are too cluttered.

I'm depressing myself, thinking about all I have to do to get organized. I think I'll give myself some Wii therapy and then I'll start taking one step at a time.

Somebody's got to do it....

I guess I'm having labor relation problems. One of my workers is questioning his job responsibilities. This was his way of asking others to question it with him. As you can see, he didn't find any union sympathy.

This prompted me to type up an entire list of chores that must be done. This took me about 5 minutes, and I'm sure I've left some good ones out. I thought it was important I show my workers we're all in this together. Here's our list. We are still discussing how to divide the fun amongst ourselves.

• Litter Box
• Bird cage
• Birds' food and water
• Yumi's food and water
• Laundry baskets down to basement
• Laundry wash & dry
• Laundry fold and put away, (baskets brought up)
• Grocery shopping
• Putting away groceries
• Garbage
• Recyclables
• Sweeping floors
• Vacuuming
• Mopping floors
• Dusting
• Tidying living room
• Tidying kitchen
• Tidying boys’ bedroom
• Tidying mom and dad’s bedroom
• Tidying guest room
• Cleaning boys’ bathroom
• Cleaning mom & dad’s bathroom
• Tiding basement- Wii room
• Lawn mowing
• Raking
• Cleaning the garage
• Bringing in the mail
• Watering plants
• Cleaning back deck/weeding
• Organizing video games and controllers, systems, cords etc.
• Cooking supper
• Cooking lunch
• Cooking breakfast
• Loading dirty dishes
• Unloading clean dishes
• Windows

Right now DH and I do the bulk of this list, with DS12 & DS9 pitching in here and there. There were certain chores we had asked them to take ownership of, but how fair is it to always expect one person to scoop poop, even if that person promised he would if you allowed him to bring home that cute gray kitten? I'm not one to schedule things like this. I believe if you see something that needs to be done, you do it, but how do we keep this fair? We are a family. We all share this home. We have to share taking care of it.

So we're continuing our labor relation discussions and trying to figure out what's going to work for us.

Our Sunday

DH had to work. Waaa! Another day without him.

DS12 returned from the laser tag/sleep over party. He had a great time even though he came in dead last in both rounds of tag. He still had fun though and I'm glad he realized that was more important that his score. I'm sure he'll do better next time now that he knows what to expect. I'm thinking we will have to go try this as a family. Ultrazone


The boys and I decided to get out into the sunshine and scout out locations for Letterboxes. This Friday our homeschool group is having our end of year picnic, and we are planting several temporary boxes for our homeschool friends to find. While looking for hiding spots, we came across this cool looking mushroom.

I'm out of sun shape. Even though thanks to my SPF50 I didn't burn, I still felt drained after being in the sun all afternoon. I guess my blood is too Scandinavian. Something happens to me after being in the sun. I just want to lay down and sleep! Maybe I'm a nocturnal Scandinavian?

I told the boys I needed 20 minutes to recharge after we arrived back home. DH came home from work and DS12 told him, "Mom's meditating."

Yup. That's right. I was "meditating", not taking a nap because I'm old and out of shape after an afternoon of hiking!

While DH decided to mow the yards (ours & our neighbors), I decided to stay cool in the boycave basement. I began working on decluttering the exercise/office area. DH came home from MIL's garage sale with an elliptical machine.  Problem is, we have no room for it.

We were thinking of placing it next to our treadmill, but as you can see from this photo, its a nightmare right now. The boys' computer desk is horrific, I know.  I did manage to chip away at the corner behind the treadmill. I'll start working on the computer desk this week and hopefully I'll have a nice "After" photo to show you soon.

Sunday night, we decided to watch National Treasure 2. Blah. Its not even worth a review blog post. I was sorry we wasted our precious family time on this waste of a movie.

We made microwave Smores. Place one marshmallow onto a graham, nuke for 10 seconds, smash with Hershey chocolate and another graham cracker. They do lack the ash taste of one made over a campfire, but all that smoke isn't good for you right?

Hey! It's 10:00am! It's now officially my turn on Wii Fit this morning. I'm going to head down and kick DS12 off! Have a great Monday.

My Sweet Saturday

My day went by too quickly.

DH & DS9 headed out early to help with Grandma's garage sale.

DS12 & I went out shopping for sunglasses. For some reason, he decided he needed sunglasses before he went to his party. He also had to wear his Tony Hawk Polo and jeans with the torn knee. I guess this is his first "teen" party.

We eyeballed peel and stick vinyl flooring and laminates at the Menard's grand opening before grabbing lunch together at Noodles.  Hmm.... Pesto Cava-whatever its called!! So Yummy!!

At 1:30 I dropped off DS12 at his party.

At 1:31pm I realized the afternoon was all mine! Ahhhh... the possibilities!! I ended up calling a big sister and we hit the nurseries in search of flowers. I could have returned home with tons of plants, but knowing we are probably only one more week away from the clearance signs going up, I showed restraint. I did buy a few inpatients, but the rest I'm waiting on.

After getting my hands good and dirty planting, I didn't feel like sitting still so I broke another sweat with Wii Fit. Why is it so rewarding to have artificial intelligence praise you?

I took a shower while my brown rice supper cooked. 45 minutes later I realized I had turned down the heat too much. My rice was still sitting in a pool of water. I pigged out on fresh bing cherries waiting for my rice. Have you ever seen the movie Witches of Eastwick? I probably ate too many cherries.

DH & DS9 returned from their road trip, garage sale leftovers in hand. They are still celebrating their father-son time with Mario Kart.

I was going to finally get some reading time in, but decided I'm too tired to read. It's easier to blog instead. I may just hit the hay early tonight.

Must...Blog...Something...Cohesive.......

ARGGHHH!!!

I'm out of my regular blogging routine and don't know where to begin. Lots has happened, but I don't have the writing talent to bring it all together cohesively in a nice little blog entry. So here's my ramble. Take it or leave it.

We're all sore. Thank you Wii Fit. I'm also addicted. Dare I say its more fun than blogging? BLASPHEMY! Don't worry. I'll grow weary and be back blogging soon.

The boss asked me last night if I'd give her a head's up if I choose to leave work due to gas prices. I assured her I would. She mentioned she may give me new responsiblities which I could perhaps work on from home, and she said she'd compensate me. I hope this is true and it works out. Its getting very close to not paying for me to drive to work.

We finally got our sunflower seeds for the great sunflower project. We have them planted in a sunny spot and we're watering daily. So far, no sign of sprouting plants.

Did you know Niagara Falls is moving upstream? I hadn't realized water falls do this. We came across a great show yesterday on the science channel about it. The water is of course washing away the rock and moving the falls back. I've always wanted to visit Niagara Falls and now I'm really itching to go.  I want to explore downstream the valleys where the falls used to be thousands of years ago. You can discover huge chunks of rock that broke off and find evidence of aquatic life on the forest floor.

DS9 has been busy with Ape Escape once again. He's now designing his own game manual, mapping out levels. He's been using my camera to take screen shots. He wants me to help him print them out for his game guide book. I wish I knew how to hook up the computer to the game. The screen shots would look much better. You see there is no cheat guide for the version he's playing so he's decided to write his own. He wants Nintendo to buy it. Now I know this won't happen, but he's learning through this process. Its not about making it to the end goal. I'm sure at one point, he'll realize Nintendo won't buy his book, but that itself is a life lesson. What can I do differently next time? I'm not about to squash his drive by telling him, "No one will buy your book."

DS12 is excited he's been invited to a laser tag birthday party. I'm excited he's mixing it up with new friends.

The Posse Rats are now an endangered species. I had banned them from the basement boycave after the eldest rat turned on our cable and had everyone watching an inappropriate horror movie. They played outside for awhile but now its dropping off. DS12 told me they are acting obnoxious.

"How so?"

"They are always talking about sex."

"Um.... What do you mean?" -trying to maintain a calm voice.

"They say stupid stuff like, 'Look at so and so, he's got a boner!' and they just try to act cool. They aren't being themselves anymore."

I'm a proud mom! I hope DS12 can continue to recognize the peer garbage that is starting to happen as we enter the middle school years.

As the calendar turns over to June, I'm more aware my big day is coming. I still don't know what I'll do to celebrate. I was going to dye my hair, but to be honest, these past few weeks I'm starting to like the gray. Now that there is more of it, it looks like highlights. The tattoo idea is out. The smoking my first joint idea is out. Skinny Dipping is probably out. No to sky diving, bungee jumping- anything having to do with heights. A day at the spa? Too typical. Break a law? I'm not that old yet. What does a nerd like me do to celebrate her 40th? I need suggestions people!

I have to get up now. I think Wii Fit is looking for me.

"Coming my darling!"

Have a great weekend!

Wii Fit

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Video Games
Genre:	Family
Console:	Nintendo Wii

We finally got around to trying this out after the stomach bug left our house. I knew I wouldn't like my BMI, but its very cool the game figures this out for you. What I didn't expect was for the game to automatically change my Mii to reflect my true BMI!! That was kinda funny. We all had a good laugh watching our Miis change shape. (A Mii is your Wii avatar.) I'm going to have to figure out a way to show you my Mii.

DH teased me about choosing the male trainer. You can choose to follow his moves by watching his front or watching him from the rear. LOL!

The more time you play, the more moves/games you can unlock, so you are rewarded for working out. It also tracks your progress and allows you to set goals.

When you first begin you do a body check test. My balance was already pretty good standing still, but when I try to do the moves I'm all over the place! The game of course knows when you step off the board.

My Wii Fit age is 2 years younger than my actual age. That made me smile! DH was older by 5 years. Hee hee! Actually he's in better shape than I am. Its the balance thing where I have him beat.

My favorite games so far are the running games. You don't actually use the Wii Fit board, but with the Wii remote in your pocket it picks up your steps like a pedometer. It was fun watching my Mii run in the game world, chasing after other Miis. I could definitely feel my heart rate increase. That's what's missing! Too bad the Wii remote or fit board doesn't pick up your heart rate.

I believe my entire family will benefit from this game. DH even suggested we present this as a science fair project next year in our homeschool group. YIKES! That means I better bring down my BMI by then!!!

Book Store Bliss....

One of our favorite used book stores had a sale this weekend. I only made it half way through the place before my family was hungry and ready to leave but I did manage to score these titles for .80 cents each!

Games To Go by Jim Gladstone - Chock full of games to play while riding in the car & games to play using only pencil and paper or a coin or two.

What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning & Literacy by James Paul Gee - I'm only one chapter into it and I'm already impressed with this author.

The Joy of Juicing Recipe Guide by Gary & Shelly Null - Now that my kitchen is uncluttered, I'm bringing out my juicer!

Organizing From The Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern - A friend of mine just recommended this book to me. When I saw it on sale for .80 cents, I took it as a sign I was meant to read this book.

Secrets Of Fat-Free Baking by Sandra Woodruff - I love to bake and the recipes in this book were all healthy and easy.

Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002 - I don't get the magazine but would like to. The book itself is a little on the large side, but my family was nagging me to leave. I figured for .80 cents I could take a chance, review it at home and if it isn't worth storing this book on my limited shelf space, I'll donate it.

I wonder what the second half of the store would have had waiting for me. I told DH I want to save up a book shopping spree fund. We'll leave the kids at home and spend hours browsing, and then go out for supper. Then I'll need several days to just sit and read! Sounds like the perfect next "Stay-Cation."

30 Days of Night

Rating:	★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Horror

Maybe my standards are too high. I haven't read the graphic novel. I'm sure it must be better.

The premise for this vampire flick sounded awesome. The earth's seasonal tilt creates 30 days without sun in northern Alaska. Vampires move in for 24 hour dining.

The vamps look very creepy and all, but the shaky camera shots I can't stand. Maybe I'm just old, but can't directors rise up and create tension through story telling? Why must we always shake the camera?

The movie focuses more on the gore than the horror of being trapped for 30 days, trying to hide from bloodsuckers. Well, they're more like blood munchers. These vamps don't have typical fangs.

I also question how the vampires could actually find hot lunches after cutting the humans power sources. Everyone should have been Popsicles!

Changes

My nest seems to be recovering and I'm in power clean mode. My focus today is my kitchen. It was getting too cluttered, and I want it to be a comfortable place to prepare and enjoy healthy meals.

I'm going to make more stuff from scratch, going back to baking our own breads and only using whole foods. I'm even ready to try making yogurt! (Thanks for the recipe Mommycore!)

We don't have a health food co-op in town, and I don't want to drive the 40 mile round trip anymore. I try to buy what's on sale at our local Piggly Wiggly. Yesterday I scored buy one get one popsicles which will help out my recovering offspring. Watermelon finally went on sale for $2.99 so I grabbed one. Its not the sweetest yet, but not bad either. DS9 loves melon, but I can't afford to pay $7 for one.

I'm drinking more water, and I'm back on tea instead of coffee and diet soda. Being sick and having to start over really helped me drop those expenses.

We're not heading out of town for our holiday weekend. We are taking a "Stay-Cation", as I saw the term coined on the morning news. There really is plenty of fun right here at home and hiking in the county park just south of town is enough for me. We can skip traveling to the state parks.

I keep praying God will see our family through. Living paycheck to paycheck is sobering, but he's gotten us this far. I know I have to show him I can do my part by making changes in our spending habits. I've always felt he helps me work through my problems better when I quit whining and start taking action.

An update....

All is not well in my nest. As you know, I got sick on Saturday. Sunday I was down for the count. Monday I tried crackers. Tuesday I limped through work with crackers and ginger ale. Yesterday was the first day I could say I was honestly feeling more like myself and had somewhat of an appetite. Then I came home from work and discovered DS9 had a belly ache.

He threw up twice before falling asleep. Then he woke at 3:00am. He spent his time, in the bathroom, on the couch, in the bathroom, on the floor, before he finally ended up on DH's side of the bed. My poor little man! I feel his pain!

I'm feeling really bad. He most likely got this from me. I've been trying to wash everything up, but doing my research I've learned the Norovirus can be spread by "exposure to aerosolized vomit."



Nice. I've also learned it could take 2 weeks to completely get out of your system.  I'm sure the rest of the nest will fall soon as well.

I told my family I had changed my mind about getting Wii Fit. They had already spoiled me on Mother's Day, plus feeling under the weather, I wasn't looking forward to exercising.  They were out shopping last night and found one. Now that its here, I guess I'll let them keep it!

We haven't tried it yet, given our current wellness status, but I'm a bit nervous since I saw it calculates BMI! Do I want to know this?!! Actually I'm sure this will be a great tool for our family to improve our fitness.

I have vowed to get back on track with my wellness goals. Having this virus, (or whatever it truly was), has given me the opportunity to start fresh. Being sick meant I actually went days without eating cookies and treats! My stomach has shrunk I'm sure, but I wouldn't recommend to anyone getting sick. I'm just determined to turn this unfortunate experience into a positive.