Days 84-85: Yummus

Little Girl and I seem to have caught some bug that's been going around (at least that's what I surmise from Facebook). Sore throat, nausea, chills, and headache lead to a lack of getting much done (including blogging).

I recently discovered my affinity for hummus (Little Girl is nuts about it too). I bought it originally at Trader Joe's as a splurge for $3. Happily, I found it at Aldi a few weeks later for $2. Even more happily, I then came across a recipe in a magazine that costs less than $1.

Unfortunately I ripped out the recipe in such a way that I can't find the magazine name to give credit. It was a gluten-free specific magazine. I get an assortment of these as hand-me-downs from a friend who works at a grocery store. She gives me the outdated issues they don't sell.

Simple Hummus

1 (14.5 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

2 Tbsp gluten-free tahini (I left this out since I wasn't sure exactly what it is)

1/3 c olive oil

1/4 lemon or lime juice

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/3 tsp salt

Put all ingredients in a food processor (or blender, if you're me) and blend until smooth.

If I can track down dry chickpeas I'm going to do away with the canned version. I didn't see any at the grocery store but I was short on time so I'll take a closer look when I have time.

Enjoy!

Day 83: Frugal randomness

I'm in need of window shades. Admittedly, I thought briefly about going to Menards. We have a rebate gift card and it would be the easy thing to do after a busy morning of cookie baking and "reasoning" with a toddler why we weren't going to go swing in the freezing rain.

However, I don't need them for another week so I decided to stop by Goodwill. I needed to drop off some stuff that had been rattling around in the back of the van, and who knows? I have certainly found the needle in the haystack on many occasions.

Unfortunately, the only thing Goodwill had in the way of window coverings was one set of very dated miniblinds.

I did pick up a Crochet World magazine and half a package of swim diapers.

I subscribe to one crochet magazine but this one had some cute patterns, it was seasonal, and not too out of date (hope nobody has a fashion conscious two month old who realizes her hat is a year behind the times) ;-)

I thought magazines were fifty cents and I was shocked to find they are actually 99. I went ahead and bought the crochet magazine, though I think they need to either lower the price or price them on a value system rather than across the board. For a pattern magazine, I'll pay a buck. For a four year old copy of Woman's Day, not so much.

The swim diapers were also 99 cents, and although I can't find anything in the YMCA handbook expressly prohibiting cloth swim diapers in favor of the throwaway counterpart, I fear the day an employee arbitrarily decides to enforce this rule. When/if they do, I'm ready with my less than a dollar stash rather than having to go out and buy some for upwards of twelve dollars a package.

If worst comes to worst and we don't need them before they're outgrown, I'll pass them along.

I also stopped at CVS to hopefully pick up some cheap milk. Unfortunately this was an off week for the sale milk. I almost bought some laundry detergent because we are almost out and they sell a brand that's as cheap as anything I've come across. Embarrassingly to my frugal/eco-friendly self, I don't use homemade laundry detergent because I have to wash clothes three times to get the sweat smell out. My cloth diaper detergent works great and has no additives but there is no way I'm using my $17 a bag detergent on all our laundry. It lasts over six months only using it on diapers.

The laundry detergent got put back on the shelf because I remembered I have a 25% off coupon for next week. Save $1.25? Yes, please.

I'm still looking for window shades or a non-tacky substitute, but I have time. I hold out all hope that I will come up with the crafty substitute of the century or stumble across some secondhand. Because Goodwill seems to like me extra special.

Day 82: Dear old golden rule days

In addition to taking vitamins and getting extra (enough) sleep, nothing helps lift your spirits like a visit to kindergarten.

I try to have lunch with Big Girl at least every other month and this was the day.

The rule is that the kid of the visiting parent can invite one friend to sit with him or her so as not to throw the lunchroom into chaos with 20+ students all competing to sit by Mom or Dad. Apparently they saw me coming through the window and Big Girl had best friends popping up like gophers. I heard later that one kid offered her "500 piles of money" if he were chosen. I'm proud that she declined. Although she is Cheapskate Jr. in the making, she is above taking bribes.

At lunch today I heard about one girl's fifth grade reading buddy who is presumably independently wealthy, as she is going to buy the kindergartner an ice castle the size of the cafeteria.

I also got asked somewhat abruptly: "Have you ever been in a Big Scary Attic?" Upon admitting my failure at entering any type of attic whatsoever, the boy continued: "I went in my Nana's attic this week. It was big and scary." In lieu of farewell, he extended me an open invitation to visit his Nana, should I feel the need to fulfill my lifetime Big Scary Attic quota.

I sometimes question my decision not to homeschool, but visits like today confirm that I made an equally acceptable choice. I don't want to say it was the "right" choice and homeschooling the "wrong" one, because I think she would have thrived as well at home if we'd chosen that. But I think she is learning valuable skills above and beyond readin', writin', and 'rithmetic. Skills like teamwork with peers, making age appropriate decisions away from parents, and dealing with personalities unlike hers.

Also, just in case she has a political future, she's learning at a young age to just say no to bribes.

Day 81: I wanna be like you

Proof that once upon a time (4.5 years ago) she did like to sweep. By the way, I sure miss that kitchen floor. That was the first DIY project we did together on our first fixer upper.

Big Girl has certain jobs she has to complete each week to earn her allowance and lately she has been dragging her feet.

The other night when she started her now familiar chorus of "I don't want to sweep the floor because I didn't make the mess!" I asked her (semi jokingly) if she'd rather trade places with me.

She perked up. "What's your job?"

"Laundry, dusting and vacuuming, dishes, shopping for groceries, cooking meals, cleaning up after meals, packing lunches--"

"I want to do your job!"

"Really? Okay, here's a container for you to put away your lunch for tomorrow."

I have been selling the girl short. Granted, she only packed her lunch and put away some dishes and leftovers but she did it with a willing attitude. Even when I ran out of things for her to do she asked "what else can I do to be Mom?" and went to bed begging to make breakfast in the morning.

Lesson one: kids are ready for chores way beyond what we think they can do sometimes.

Lesson two: don't volunteer to swap jobs with a 5 year old at 7:30 p.m. unless you are prepared to supervise a long night of activity. I think we would have been wallpapering the attic soon with all her vitality toward household chores.

Unfortunately the novelty quickly wore off. Last night she said "I think I want to go back to sweeping the floor."

Probably a good choice, but now I know she's able and (usually) willing to do more than I give her credit for. Time to start home ec!

Days 76-80: Run down

I've been feeling extremely run down lately and trying to find out the cause.

I researched vitamin supplements, only to feel the load of guilt when one individual posted that "vitamins are not natural and instead, a person should try to eat right."

Hmm. With a toddler who eats her own food in 18.3 seconds and then leaps up from her booster shouting "all done!" I have been known to eat my food in a method certain former presidents would not admit to.

That's right: I inhale. This would not be classified as "eating right."

I thought maybe it was my sleep. I counted last night that I woke up at least four times. Might have been five. This is not an abnormal night for me.

Perhaps this has something to do with my energy level during the day. Living in newborn mode was tolerable when I had--you know--a newborn. When that baby has been herself sleeping through the night since 18 months old, it's time for mom to follow along.

I tend to blame everything on gluten since it explained my 17 seemingly unrelated symptoms years ago. I had a friend call me the other day to ask details about going gluten free herself. She asked if "xyz" would get better and I told her I honestly didn't know.

"It's one of those things where you might have 100 symptoms or you might have none. Sometimes people wonder 'will going gluten free help my right big toenail feel better?' Simple answer: it might. Or it might not."

She laughed and said she'd try it anyway but that made me stop and think: is gluten becoming a catch all answer for me? Not that I want to become a hypochondriac by any means, but rather than blaming gluten as an all-purpose excuse, I might consider other avenues for feeling better when I'm not quite in shape.

Starting with some vitamins (even if they are lazy, etc.) and getting some sleep. Good night.

Days 66-75: Well!

So I painted a bookshelf. And that's about it.

Well, actually that's not IT. Maybe as far as my goals were concerned, but in addition, I:

1. Did my civic duty and appeared for jury selection. I wasn't chosen for the jury but it was an interesting experience.

2. Attended the National Hearts at Home convention. I almost didn't go because I'm not really a crowd person, but decided it would be good for me. It was. I had a great time building relationships and attending classes to encourage and inspire me to be a better Christian wife and mom.

My wonderful husband stayed with the kids for 36 hours and did a fantastic job. I knew he would, but something has always scared me about leaving my kids for the first time.

After going over two pages of minutiae that I know instinctively but helps to write down for others (Big Girl has to take a leprechaun trap to school Friday, Little Girl drinks out of this sippy cup for meals but it leaks if you put it in the diaper bag so use this other one if you go out) I was on my way out the door.

"One more thing," I said. "There's a pineapple cut up in the fridge but if you run out, you'll have to cut up the cantaloupe yourself."

"We'll just have pineapple and bananas if we run out," he said, wide eyed at the concept of one more piece of trivia to keep track of. "I don't think I'll cut up a cantaloupe."

I'll admit that on top of leprechaun traps and sippy cups it might have seemed a bit much.

When I got back Saturday night, they were all bathed and fed (there was plenty of pineapple left over). Not only that, they had played outside a good portion of the beautiful day Saturday and gotten pizza and watched Charlotte's Web together on Friday night. The leprechaun trap made it to school, and as far as I know there was no sippy cup leakage.

Goals and plans are nice, but I intend to take a page from their book and enjoy my life (ironically the theme of the convention).

Maybe I only got one thing done this week, but there's no deadline.

This week, I tentatively plan to finish painting the entry way. If I get it done, great, but if not, there's always next week.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go cut up a cantaloupe.

Days 64-65: Short term goals

This week will be crazy. I will have roughly 18.5 minutes each day that won't be preoccupied with other activities. 

Still, I'm hoping to get quite a bit accomplished toward the remodel.

This entryway needs to be painted and maybe have a picture hung. Not sure yet as I'm trying to think what I own that would fit that spot.

Also, this bookshelf needs to be transformed from a splotchy, paint drip covered piece of furniture to a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Or at least a bookshelf with a much better paint job.

I have a feeling my evenings will be quite busy.

Day 63: This old house

Those who know me may be surprised to find out that I like to challenge the norm.

For example, I think it would be awesome to put bathroom themed pictures in the living room...kitchen posters in the bedroom.

Those people would likely be surprised because this rebellion is basically all in my head. For the most part, I follow the status quo. I guess I'm not confident enough in my own quirkiness yet.

Plus, answering the question "why do you have a picture of a toilet in your living room?" might get old after awhile.

I was surprised to find out that I've apparently done the living room all wrong. I get that you don't want it to look ridiculous but I kind of have an issue with all the math involved. This is decorating: a reflection of the personalities in the home. It's not freshman algebra.

So my area rug might be 27% smaller than it should be and my lamp might be four inches off in one direction, but I decorate with what I love. So there.

Besides, at least I'm compromising. Maybe my lamp isn't quite up to snuff, but I'm not hanging a picture of a bathtub in my kitchen. Real Simple would be proud.

Day 62: The books I didn't read in high school

These aren't the ones. These are just some of the books I grabbed off my library's "featured books" shelf. The library staff puts some favorites up on display each month.

Tonight I was having a conversation with my husband about a friend of ours who has a Masters degree in Russian.

"I wonder if she has read War and Peace in the original language?" I wondered. "I don't know many people who have read it in English."

Whereupon, I began compiling the following list of Great Works I Haven't Read:

1. War and Peace
2. Anything by Shakespeare other than Macbeth and a few sonnets
3. Anything by Hemingway
4. Jane Eyre
5. The last 15/16ths of Moby Dick
6. The Grapes of Wrath
7. The Great Gatsby
8. Gone with the Wind
9. Animal Farm
10. Lord of the Rings and/or Flies

I did read a lot in high school. I promise. My mom, in both her teacher and passionate reader roles, made sure she raised well-read students. In fact, one year of my home school curriculum was based on great books. I read classics like Up From Slavery, The Law, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, and A Tale of Two Cities. Apparently no matter how well read one is, there are only so many "must read" books that can be squeezed into high school without neglecting one's studies of chemical reactions and geometry.

So, it seems it's high time for me to catch up on some reading since I've left behind the rigors of algebra and biology lo these many (14-18) years ago. Readers, any classics I shouldn't miss?

Day 61: Today I am

1. Grateful that The Compact makes it easy to discover fraudulent charges on the credit card.

"Honey, did you buy something at such-and-so?"
"Is it the grocery store or Goodwill? Nope, didn't buy it."

2. Hearing on the radio that depression rates have skyrocketed this winter due to the weather. As a two-time PPD veteran, I totally understand and I'm glad that spring is on the way to hopefully improve those statistics.

3. Curbing a huge urge to go buy something by going to the library and checking out twelve books at semi-random. When I likewise feel the urge to get rid of stuff, I can then return said books to the library. Win-win. And hopefully I'll discover a new favorite author. Win-win-win.

4. Celebrating the fact that in six days, our family of four plus dinner guests one night only made one kitchen bag of trash.

5. In a similar vein, happy that I only threw out one Tupperware's worth of leftovers (six day old oven fries that were turning brown and limp).

Day 60: What are we teaching?

What have you learned today?

I don't have to point out that there has been a lot of press about gluten free eating these days. Much of it is educational, some of it is misinformed, and some is just hostile.

From a Disney Channel show that makes fun of a gluten-free kid (a show that fortunately was pulled) to a more recent late night comedy sketch that mocked a gluten-free character, there is a lot of hostility and denial that Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity exist.

I first got sick at a dinner party. It was hugely embarrassing for me, and I'm sure for the hostess as well. The next seven years found me bouncing around from doctor to doctor in search of a reason for my mystery illness. I dropped down to the high 80's (my weight, that is--though that's actually a pretty good bowling score for me). I never wanted to go out with friends because I was pretty sure my "stomach virus" would show up halfway through the evening.

I've had people say to me "Oh, gluten-free. That just means you get a rash, right?" To which I reply: "I wish." I know I have it better than many and worse than many, but it's a daily reality for us all in some manner.

If it wasn't such an in-your-face, every day kind of thing, I might tend to believe the media. Gluten sensitivity: what's the big deal? Isn't that basically just indigestion? Add to that the fact that many celebrities are treating it like a fad diet and it seems perfect fodder for comedic mocking.

But we know better, and what are we teaching with our words?

The other day, someone made me a special pie and the first thing I said is "you didn't have to do that!"

Okay, technically, they didn't HAVE to. It was a pie. I wouldn't have starved without it. But the act of caring enough to make the pie cancelled out a lot of misinformation. It was a huge step toward compassion and understanding.

Lesson one: choose my words carefully. Don't undermine the gift. Be incredibly grateful and just say thank you.

Lesson two: find friends who make good gluten free pie. Not only will you have delicious pie, but you will also have a friend with a kind and sensitive heart.

Day 59: Do you like my hat?

Almost done with month two of The Compact (a buy nothing new movement). Hooray! I can do this...

I mentioned last week that I was busy reading No Impact Man. This book had quite a--shall we say "impact"--on me.

I was thinking last night that I wear many hats. There's the eco-friendly hat, the money saving hat, the generosity hat, and the (more embarrassing) forget-it-this-is-too-much-and-let's-just-get-pizza-for-dinner hat.

Can one person wear that many hats without looking ridiculous?

I love Go Dog, Go!

Can all your hats line up perfectly every time so that you're able to accomplish all your objectives? Save maybe the give up and get pizza one.

One look at organic blueberries can answer that question pretty easily. Sure, they're good for the earth...but frugal? Not much. You can spend time looking for coupons to make healthy things affordable, but it  can become an obsession that takes away from your family time.

NIM seemed to manage okay for awhile (but even he didn't live that way long term--if it could even be done).

So I guess the point is to do the best you can in the ways you can--and not try to be everything at one time. It doesn't usually work out.

Days 57-58: Reason behind the frugality

I've always been frugal. Having a grandmother raised during the Depression made an impact on my family's approach to waste and savings.

However, I sometimes question the purpose behind my (extreme?) frugality. Is the point to live as austerely as possible? To see how long I can go without spending any money just for the challenge of it? To squeeze all the use I can out of every cent, and in doing so, squeeze all the fun out of life?

Hardly.

While I'm a saver by nature, I'm hardly cheap. I love to find appreciative new homes for my excess belongings (and sometimes money). I don't deprive my kids of the necessities, or, honestly, of many of the things that can be an enriching part of a childhood. Big Girl took gymnastics lessons for a year and as I mentioned earlier, we are planning to join the Y.

**I don't bring this up to brag, just as a defense against the belief that you can't be frugal and generous at the same time.**

I think you can go too far in the name of frugality, IF there isn't a clear-cut purpose behind it. Yes, there may be times when the kids' activities have to go because there absolutely isn't enough money for the extras. But on other occasions, frugality can cross the line if the goal is just to be as cheap as possible.

So why am I frugal, except that it's part of my nature? Well, for starters, I'm a shopper. No, not at the mall, but at Goodwill. If I don't reign myself in with challenges like The Compact, I end up with little things "that I might need someday" or "that I can resell for a profit."

          (Sidenote: I know the Compact means "buy nothing new" but I'm trying to apply the same thought
           process to buying used as well)

Truthfully, I very rarely needed those things someday, and my reselling adventures netted me maybe a few dollars. Hardly worth the time it took to store and package things for mailing.

Also, I noticed along similar lines that I was spending all my time worrying about my stuff: cleaning it, picking it up, moving it around, wondering where I put it when I cleaned and/or picked it up and/or moved it around. The kids were playing with their favorite toys over and over and never even looked at the extras in the closet.

So what have I noticed as benefits to curbing my urge to buy? For starters, I'm a lot happier without a lot of unnecessary clutter taking over my life and without a tsunami of stuff constantly coming into the house. I have a lot more time to spend doing things that are free and don't involve packaging or upkeep (swimming at the Y yesterday, trips to the library, walks around the neighborhood--it might only be 21 degrees but a girl can dream, right?)