My Splenda free.....ooh look, shiny!

When I first came here today, I was going to comment on my first Splenda free day. It was probably going to be something short and sweet and then done. However, I got sidetracked, which of course is one of the hazards of being online. Before posting, I wandered over to MyFoodDiary's forum and read a recent post on the "Giving Up White Sugar" thread. In one of the posts was a link to the blog My Years Without Sugar. This blog follows the journey of one person who chose to give up white sugar as a New Year's resolution for 2008. The posts are very interesting and reinforced what I've been learning about white sugar - it's toxic. From there I followed a links to other blogs such as A Life Less Sweet, Farty Girl and Food Politics. These are all interesting blogs and I read several posts in each. The blog that really ate up my time was Small Footprint Family. I think I spent a couple of hours reading the various posts. It was fascinating and sobering. First, I must reassure you that I DO realize that most blogs are comprised of a whole lot of opinions and just a little bit facts. With that in mind, I was still intrigued by the message of this blog. First, it demonizes, or at least taints, my precious agave nectar. It's not necessarily the healthy natural sweetener it's made out to be. Although it's low on the glycemic index scale, it's high in fructose which, in concentrated forms such as agave nectar, comes with a host of health concerns.

Other "facts" I learned from wandering around the Small Footprint Family blog:

-Polyunsaturated fats are bad
-Soy is bad except when it's fermented, such as tofu
-Canola oil is bad (polyunsaturated fat)

From Small Footprint, I followed a link to Food Renegade where I learned that saturated fats are good for you?! Huh! Talk about renegade! Although this is a little more out there than I'm willing to go, (for now) the truth is, I've heard similar ideas before. The concept isn't as fringe as it used to be and frankly, it makes some sense. Humans evolved on a diet of mostly foraged vegetables, nuts, fruits and of course, hunted animals. Our bodies know what to do with saturated fats. Our bodies do not know what to do with trans fat or polyunsaturated fat since these are man made, processed fats. I'm not ready to run out and purchase lard or beef tallow but perhaps I'll allow myself some bacon tomorrow morning.

My journey today has given my a lot to think about and possibly more to look into. One the tree level, it reinforces my belief that food should be simple and the less processing, the better. On the forest level, it reminds me that the internet is a strange maze of opinions mixed with facts and ideas.

Oh and I went an entire day without Splenda in my iced tea.

House Hunters

I've been watching "House Hunters" on HGTV lately. For those who don't watch it, the home buyers look at 3 homes, usually one is within their price range, one is usually well above their price range and the third is either slightly above or below the price range. First of all, "price range" is basically how much financing the buyer can get. It doesn't neccessarily mean what the buyer can afford. The viewer gets to watch the buyer look at each property and then in the end find out which home the buyer chooses.

What I've learned from watching this show is that people have an amazing ability to talk themselves into more than they need. I'm always silently telling the buyers to go for the lower priced property. In most cases, the cheaper property is fine but there might be a few areas that will need some attention such as new carpet or new cabinets. Inevitably the more expensive property is chosen. The buyers have committed themselves to a mortgage payment that they will barely be able to afford because they didn't like the carpet and wanted a place that was "move-in ready". I wonder how many of them really purchased a "bankruptcy ready" property?

I am a home owner and if I could magically go back in time and counsel my younger self, I would tell myself to not buy this house and instead focus on eliminating credit card debt. I bought too much house for just me but thankfully I have two roommates that help out with the mortgage. I CAN afford all of my bills without their help but my debt elimination would come to a slow crawl. I'm fortunate that I have two roommates that trust. They help me with my mortgage and they get to live pretty cheap. However, despite my current good fortune, I still think purchasing a home when I did was a poor decision. The thing is, purchasing this house is part of the process that got me to a point where I FINALLY realized that I needed to make a change in my spending habits. If I hadn't bought this house, I would be in a completely different place in my life. Perhaps I would still be renting, perhaps I would still be racking up credit card debt. Hindsight is 20/20 but only for the exact set of circumstances that occur. Hindsight should be about preparing for the future, not wallowing in regret. So although I feel that purchasing this house was a bad financial decision, I'm better off financially now, because of that decision.

For those people on "House Hunters"...I really do wish them the best. I hope they are happy in their new homes and are able to really enjoy their life without the constant worry of how they are going to afford their lifestyle.

$828.86

So I was sitting at my desk at work (clearly not working very hard) when I decided to look at my Choice balance online since I knew my payment just went through. I've known since last month that this was the month that my balance would finally go below $1000 but somehow actually seeing it had a big impact. It was loveliest number I've ever seen, $828.86. I sat there and just stared at the screen. I actually got a little teary-eyed realizing how far I've come and how close I am to paying off my first credit card. It was a wonderful realization.

Here was my view. I'm hoping Citibank will forgive me for taking a screen shot of their website. :)

Typical Sunday Evening

Up until about 6pm this evening my major accomplishments for the day were: waking up...twice...I took a nap at 4:30pm, eating and working out. In my own defense, I kicked my own ass during my workout, hence the nap, but considering how much I still needed to get done, I wasn't off to a great start. Luckily I found some motivation and since 6pm I've showered, done 3 loads of laundry (folded and put away,) made a loaf of bread, made granola bars, washed dishes, taken out the trash and put the trash can on the curb. My glaring omission, for the whole weekend in fact, is, I haven't studied. It's stupid, I should be studying. My excuse, I'm too distracted to study at home. Of course that's BS, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to focus myself for 45 minutes at a time, several times during the day. That's all it would take but I'm not doing it. I'm really bad about putting things off until the last minute, today is a great example of that. The bad thing is, I can usually pull it off and be successful, today is a great example of that. One of these days, I won't be able to be successful with last minute activity and it's going to bite me in the ass. Hopefully that won't be the case with my upcoming personal training exam.

Goal: $0 by 28 Feb 2010

Hmmm, apparently I found a way to battle my frustration with inactivity (see previous post.) I've given myself the goal of paying off my first credit card ($1129) by February 28, which will be my 2 year anniversary with the Women In Red. I believe it's doable and it's given me a plan of action so I don't feel so...inactive.

BTW, it's also a SMART goal. According to the ACE Personal Trainer Manual, a goal should be:

Specific - Pay off Citi credit card
Measurable - This will require $1129 plus finance charges, probably around $40.
Attainable - Yes, with my regular payment plus money from roomies and a little extra from paycheck.
Relevant - Hell yes! This is an important step to eliminating credit card debt and it's very relevant to my piece of mind.
Timebound - Yep, February 28, 2010

(Sweet, I just did that off the top of head. Hopefully it will be on the exam.)

Wow, that feels great. I have a plan of action AND I was able to throw in some of my personal training knowledge. :)

Inactivity

I know I've commented on this before, but I'm finding the inactivity of debt reduction to be frustrating. Unlike weight loss, debt loss seems to be more about what you don't do than what you do. When I was losing weight, if I splurged, I could help negate the splurge by being active; go on a walk, run, lift weights, whatever. With debt loss, my success comes from not being active; not going out for breakfast Sunday morning, not splurging on a Starbuck's iced tea, not going out with friends. There's also so much waiting; waiting for my next paycheck, waiting for the next statement. I'm sick of the inactivity and I'm sick of waiting.

Part of my frustration comes from the fact that it's been a couple of months since I've been able to really focus on debt loss. I had car issues in November and then with Christmas, I held back on extra payments so I could purchase gifts. Now I'm saving money for my trip to Florida. Although I'm looking forward to going on vacation, I'm also looking forward to getting back to being more aggressive with my debt loss. I'm hoping that I've over-saved for Florida and once I get back I can put that extra money directly to paying off my first credit card. Hopefully I will also have a second job as a personal trainer! The extra income will go directly to debt. This is the year I will become free of my credit cards, I just want it to happen sooner than later.

99 Butternut Squash in Debt

99 Things to Do

I feel like blogging but I don't really have anything that interesting to share or comment on so I've decided to get things going by giving an update on my to-do list. Here are my completed items so far:

8. Go through files and shred old stuff - completed 1/2/10
48. Clean shower curtain - completed 1/1/10

49. Clean shower liner - completed 1/1/10

59. Update address book - completed 1/2/10

86. Get salt from shed - completed 1/3/10

I also got a good start on, 42. Use the 3 butternut squash that are living in pantry

I made some yummy butternut squash soup earlier this week that used up one of the squash. In fact, I think I'll share the recipe.

*******
Baja Butternut Squash Soup (From the January/February 2009 issue of Eating Well magazine.)
1.5 lbs (1 small to medium) butternut or other winter squash

1 tsp canola oil

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 small onion, diced (I omitted this, onions are evil)

1 carrot, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground chipotle chile (I cut up a chipotle chili into small pieces and then put it in a coffee grinder.)

1/8 tsp ground cloves

6 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth.)

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

2 tbsp snipped fresh chives or chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cut squash in half and seed. Place the halves on a baking sheet, cut-side down. Bake until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Scoop out flesh when cool to handle.

3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, onion and carrot and stir to coat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the squash flesh, cumin, chipotle to taste and cloves. Add broth and simmer, covered until the vegetables are very tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or a regular blender (in batches) until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with a drizzle of yogurt and sprinkle of chives or parsley.

Makes 10 servings, about 3/4 cup each.

Per serving: 60 calories; 1 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 12 g carbs; 2 g protein; 3 g fiber; 532 mg sodium; 249 mg potassium.

******

Debt
Once again I'm back to obsessing about debt. I'm frustrated because I'm SO close to paying off my Choice card; it's just $1129. However, since I'm saving for my trip to Florida in February, all my spare cash is going to the scuba fund. Even after I'm done saving for Florida, I still owe my $200 deposit on my annual June scuba trip. My credit card debt would probably be gone by now if it weren't for my scuba trips. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to being able to throw everything I can at my credit cards again. I so want that first $0; it's been such a long time coming. It's like in the movies - I can see the door at the end of the hallway, but the hallway keeps stretching so the door keeps moving away, just out of reach.

Current Credit Card Debt - $8767

GULP!

I just signed up for the ACE Personal Trainer certification exam! I'll be sitting for the exam on Friday, January 29 at 9 a.m..

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I'm pretty please with 2009, it was a good year for me.

2009 Highlights

* I paid off $11,919 of credit card debt. That's 44.5% in one year.

* I started my second year of maintaining my weight loss.

* I started studying to get certified as a personal trainer.

* I earned second place and two honorable mentions in a photo contest.

* I've drastically reduced that amount of white sugar I ingest. I've avoided all candy and desserts since October.

* I had sex. That alone makes 2009 noteworthy.

* I've read a lot and learned more about the impact the food industry has on our economy and our health, both of which are toxic. I believe I'm making better choices for my health.

2010 Goals
*Pay off all credit card debt!!!!!! This is a huge one and it's gonna happen.

*Stay away from physical therapy. No more injuries!

*Run Dam to Dam.

*Celebrate debt payoff by purchasing a Kitchenaid Mixer complete with food grinder and pasta maker attachments. I want one in Surf Green but I'm not sure it will be available by the time I'm ready to buy it.
*Get certified and get a job as a personal trainer!!! This one is really important to me.

*Continue to maintain my weight loss.

*Continue to move towards a healthier diet.

I need to revist some of my goals to make them more specific but for now I just wanted to get them posted.

99 Things in 99 Days Part 2

Ta da! Here is my next list of 99 things to do in 99 days. It starts January 1 and goes through April 9. This list was tough to come up with since I really didn't want to commit to many outdoor, gardening items since the weather is so unpredictable. I categorized items this time hoping that will keep me organized.

Debt/Financial

1. Pay off Choice
2. Balance transfer to Choice from Chase
3. Close Chase
4. Get taxes done by end of February
5. Create will
6. Create a living trust
7. Create an advance directive and durable power of attorney for health care
8. Go through files and shred old stuff
9. Use more coupons, watch for sales

Health/Fitness
10. Start training for Dam to Dam
11. Lose 2" from waist while maintaining muscle tone
12. Contact Flex account regarding online access
13. Call insurance about new primary doc
14. Get mammogram
15. Talk to doc about getting Cortisone shot for elbow

Gifts/Cards
16. Birthday card to grandpa ONTIME
17. Thank you card to Uncle Rich
18. Birthday card for Lisa
19. Birthday card for mom
20. Birthday gift for mom
21. Write grandparents
22. Christmas thank you cards

Career
23. Pass ACE exam
24. Get job as a personal trainer

Kitchen
25. Finish trim on kitchen cabinet
26. Add hooks to kitchen cabinet
27. Paint kitchen cabinet
28. Price primer for kitchen
29. Price paint for kitchen
30. Clean ceiling fan in kitchen
31. Clean oven
32. Get new drip pans for stove burners
33. New rugs for kitchen
34. New dish towels for kitchen
35. New dish rags for kitchen
36. Fix wall in kitchen
37. Clean shelves in kitchen cupboards
38. Clean drawers in kitchen
39. Clean pantry
40. Try two recipes from Eating Clean magazine
41. Fix paint mistakes in kitchen
42. Use the 3 butternut squash that are living in pantry

Bedroom
43. Spackle bedroom closet
44. Dust bedroom blinds
45. Clean bedroom ceiling fan
46. Hang headboard
47. Clean wall behind headboard

Bathroom
48. Clean shower curtain
49. Clean shower liner
50. Get new shelves for shower
51. Re caulk tub

Office
52. Dust shelves in office
53. Clean ceiling fan in office
54. Do something with iPAQ
55. Do something with 1880 census CD's
56. Do something with HP calculator
57. Backup files from portable HD to DVD
58. Dust office blinds
59. Update address book

Living Room
60. Sand video cabinet
61. Paint video cabinet
62. Dust and clean front window
63. Clean coat closet

Garage
64. Empty and dispose of small propane tanks
65. Purchase ladder
66. Wash car
67. Vacuum car
68. Get oil change
69. Use punching bag

Basement
70. Vacuum intake on dehumidifier

House
71. Get carpets cleaned
72. Furnace filter - January
73. Furnace filter - March
74. Plot house for feng shui
75. Move title to safety deposit box

ebay
76. HP calculator
77. 3 mil wetsuit
78. Bridesmaid dress

Indoor Garden
79. Re pot hibiscus
80. Re pot philodendron
81. Re pot croton
82. Grow basil
83. Plant rooted plant cutting
84. Start seeds

Outdoor Garden
85. Take garden pots to Kay for plant sale
86. Get salt from shed
87. Clean out shed (if weather allows)

Miscellaneous
88. Get rid of 14 magazines
89. Finish mom's photo album
90. Finish study abroad scrapbook
91. Get estimate for jewelry repair
92. Check on new cell phone
93. Use gift certificate from Lisa
94. Take clothes to consignment shop
95. Check to see if laptop is still covered
96. Finish "Duma Key"
97. Get a pedicure
98. Buy new bras
99. Hang photo from contest

99 Things in 99 Days Deadline!

99 Things in 99 Days

I didn't complete my list. However I did accomplish a lot. So instead of focusing on what I didn't do, I'm going to list everything I did get done.

1. Get snowblower fixed - my roommate worked on it and had it running. Of course for the first snow, it didn't work. I'm still counting it.

2. Put bridesmaid dress on ebay - didn't sell.

3. Put jeans on ebay - sold!

4. Put black leather jacket on ebay - sold!

5. Put brown leather jacket on ebay - didn't sell, donated it.

6. Enter Silos and Smokestacks photo contest - received a second place and two honorable mentions.

7. Enter APTA photo contest - entered but haven't heard anything yet.

8. Plant buck rose - hope it survives the winter.

9. Take in yard waste.

10. Finish egg shaped flower garden.

11. Finish floor by front door.

12. Fill holes on kitchen wall.

13. Weed flower garden along south side of yard.

14. Weed flower garden along back of house.

15. Read about dishwasher maintenance.

16. Clean coils on refrigerator.

17. Weed garden by garage.

18. Mulch garden by garage.

19. Donate glasses.

20. Recycle ink jet cartridge.

21. Fill holes in living room.

22. Clean bathroom window.

23. Weather strip bathroom window.

24. Clean bedroom window.

25. Weather strip bedroom window.

26. Put light weight coat on ebay - didn't sell, donated it.

27. Divide geranium one.

28. Divide geranium two.

29. Move garden pots to shed.

30. Move hose to shed.

31. Buy place tickets to Phoenix.

32. Recycle cell phone battery.

33. Purchase cable hangers.

34. Install cable hangers.

35. Price new baseboards for kitchen.

36. Clean refrigerator.

37. Clean office window.

38. Weather strip office window.

39. Use up frozen veggies in freezer.

40. Hang window frame.

41. Replant geranium.

42. Clean sliding doors.

43. Put 3 mil wetsuit on ebay - didn't sell.

44. Exchange hood.

45. Borrow ladder from Eric and Lisa.

46. Remove front screen and install glass door.

47. Make path in back garden.

48. Change furnace filter - September.

49. Change furnace filter - November.

50. Empty gas from lawn mower.

51. Take cutting from house plants.

52. Buy birthday gift for dad.

53. Use Jax gift card.

54. Clean dishwasher.

55. Call Allstate about roadside coverage.

56. Call Mediacom about lowering cable/Internet bill - monthly bill reduced $50!!!!

57. Check on books at Firehouse books.

58. Get oil change.

59. Get car door fixed.

60. Clean intake vent in hallway and living room.

61. Clean rags at laundromat.

62. Clean out dehumidifier.

63. Clean off garage work bench.

64. Dust bathroom blinds.

65. Fix baseboard by tub.

66. Purchase Christmas gifts.

67. Go through 14 magazines and get rid of them.

68. Vacuum car.

69. Write AND send Christmas cards.

70. Scrape paint from laundry room window.

71. Clean laundry room windows.

72. Dispose of fire extinguisher.

73. Clean under refrigerator.

74. Clean under stove.

75. Get rid of matches.
76. Check with NWA about miles to Phoenix.

Some lessons learned regarding a list such as this. First, I typically do well with short term goals such as this. I find that the challenge keeps me motivated and focused. So even though I didn't complete my list in the designated 99 days, I will definitely be doing this again.

Second, I really need to put more thought into what goes on the list. Rather than hurrying to create the list in 30 minutes because I thought it would be cool to come up 99 things to do in 99 days on 9/9/09 and I started the list at about 11:20pm, I really need to think about what's important AND realistic.

Third, I should really try and group items together. Again, if I put more thought into the list to begin with, I should be able to group like items together so they're easier to find.

All in all, this was a good experience and I'm proud of what I've accomplished. Some of the items I completed have been bugging me for months (years) and it feels great to finally be done with them.

I think I will work on a list to start on January 1.

4 Digits

I just made it below the $10,000 on my credit card debt!

Current credit card debt - $9055!

Snow Day!

I work for a transit system in the midwest and for the second time in the 18 years (omg that's depressing) that I've worked there, we didn't run service due to weather. So how did I spend my day off? Obviously I did a little shoveling, just enough to get cars in/out of the driveway. There's still a lot of snow to move but we're not snowed in. Most of the day, however, was spent cleaning. For some reason, my unexpected day off motivated me to tackle a couple of projects that I've been meaning to do. In fact, I can check off a few items from the To Do list.

Cleaned the refrigerator - pulled out shelves and washed them.

Cleaned refrigerator coils.

Cleaned under the refrigerator.

Cleaned the microwave.

Cleaned under the stove.

Cleaned the kitchen trash can lid.

Cleaned the intake vent covers in the hallway and living room (as in removed them and washed them.)

Swept the kitchen and bathroom.

Mopped the kitchen and bathroom.

Vacuumed.

Did laundry.

I probably got more done at home than I would have at work.

Turkey Trot

At about 11:30pm the night before Thanksgiving, I decide to see if there is a Turkey Trot close by. Sure enough, there's one at 8:30am the next morning. So I set my alarm for 6:00am so I have enough time to drive there (it's about a 35 minute drive) and get registered. My alarm went off at 6am and despite the fact that I slept like crap, I manage to get up, get ready and go. Now you need to keep in mind that I'm, a) not a morning person, b) really dislike being cold, c) not a morning person, yet somehow I still got my butt out of bed to go pay someone else so I can go run, in the cold, at 8:30am.

I arrive at registration with plenty of time. I fill out the form, check off the 5K, pay my money, get my number and timing chip and start to head out to claim my t-shirt. As I'm walking over to the t-shirt table, I notice the bottom of my number reads "5 Mile". WTF! It's a 5 mile run not a 5K. I head back to the registration to let them know I registered for the wrong race. They were very nice and explained that both the 5 mile and 2 mile races have the same start time and follow the same route for the first mile. All I need to do is simply follow the 2 mile route when the two races split. I also didn't need to worry about getting a new number, I can just use the one I already had for the 5 mile. The registration cost was the same for both so I wasn't out any money.

I left the registration desk again, feeling a little relieved that it was so easy but also a little disappointed because 2 miles wasn't really that long. I really wanted a nice 3.2 mile run. The 2 miler simply wouldn't burn enough calories to properly prepare for the upcoming food of the day.

So the race is about to start and I'm dutifully way in the back with the rest of the 2 milers. When the race starts, we all slowly make our way up to the start line and officially begin the race. After just under a mile, I can see up ahead that the two routes are about to split. The whole time I've been running I've been going back and forth in my mind about which race to follow. Finally when I get to the point where I have to chose, I look at the people who are running the 5 mile race and realize I can keep up with them. They weren't all hardcore runners. In fact, quite a few were walking.

My official time was 54:38. I just barely made it into the 10 minute mile range (10:56).

99 Update

O.k., so I injured my freakin elbow a couple of months ago. I officially have "tennis elbow" in my right elbow and of course I'm right hand dominant. I'm not sure what caused the initial injury but I know I aggravated it more by doing a bunch of yard work and exterior painting in late September when I was all gung ho about completely the items on my to do list that required nice weather. With the injury, all activity came to a halt and I got to enjoy physical therapy again.

My elbow is finally starting to feel better and I'm slowly adding in more activity. However there are some items on my to do list that simply aren't going to get done by December 16 so I need to make some substitutions so I can still complete 99 items in 99 days. Even with modifying the list to accommodate my elbow, it will be a challenge to complete the list since I'm behind.

Here's what I have to remove from the current list do to injury and cold weather.

Paint trim around garage
Sand paint by front door
Finish painting around patio
Mulch flower bed along south fence (backyard)
Clean out shed
Add rock to flower bed along garage

Train for Run for the Roses 10K - This has come and gone and I didn't run. It had nothing to do with my injury.

Indoor items that likely won't get done because of injury.

Finish molding on kitchen cabinet
Install hooks in kitchen cabinet
Sand DVD cabinet
Paint DVD cabinet
Prep kitchen walls to be primed
Prime kitchen walls

These are items that aren't going to get done simply because it's not going to happen by Dec. 16.

Take sale items to Linda G.
Take plastic garden pots to Kay
Get carpets cleaned - I need to put this money elsewhere in December
Take and pass ACE certification exam - I'm not going to be ready by December

That leaves 17 new to do items that I need to have to maintain the 99 items in 99 days.

Some of the items on the list below are already completed however I'm going to go ahead and include them since they were things that I thought of after my original list was created. They became my "extra credit" items that I'm now going to use to maintain my grade. :)

1. Clean dishwasher and remove hard water buildup around door - done
2. Take garage and paint rags to laundry mat - done

3. Do a balance transfer from Chase to Citibank
4. Close Chase account
5. Clean out humidifier
6. Clean off garage work bench
7. Dust bathroom blinds
8. Call Allstate about roadside coverage
9. Call Mediacom about lowering bill or cancel
10. Hang photos from contest
11. Check with NWA to see if miles from PHX trip were credited to my account
12. Check with Firehouse Books about selling books
13. Get an oil change - done
14. Get car door fixed - done
15. Clean intake vent cover from hallway and living room
16.
17.

18. ebay - bridesmaid dress
19. ebay - jeans
20. ebay - black leather jacket
21. ebay - brown leather jacket
22. ebay - winter jacket
23. ebay - fall/spring jacket
24. ebay - 3 mil wetsuit
25. ebay - 7 mil wetsuit
26. Get an estimate to repair jewelry
27. Contact CSA about taking pictures
28. Contact Northern Prairie Chevre about pics
29. Contact Picket Fence Creamery about pics
30. Fix baseboard paint by tub
31. Get estimate for tree trimming/removal
32. Change furnace filter - November
33. Repot hibiscus
34. Repot croton
35. Repot philodendron
36. Purchase Christmas gifts
37. Go through 14 magazines and then get rid of them
38. Vacuum car
39. Do album of pics from mom
40. Finish study abroad scrapbook
41. Use gift certificate
42. Dust shelves in office
43. Write AND send Christmas cards
44. Scrape paint from laundry room windows
45. Clean laundry room windows
46. Spackle holes in bedroom closet
47. Dispose of fire extinguisher
48. Clean refrigerator coils
49. Clean refrigerator
50. Plot house for feng shui
51. Price primer and paint
52. Pay off Choice card

I've completed 47 items and I still need to come up with 2 more new items.

Hot Chocolate

I made this tonight and won't ever go back to instant hot chocolate. It's easy, tasty and satisfies my sweet tooth without being over the top rich.

In a glass measuring cup, heat up 1 cup of milk (I used skim) in the microwave until it gets to your preferred temperature.

In the cup you will be enjoying your hot chocolate from, mix 2 tbsp of hot water and 1 tbsp cocoa powder.

Add warm milk to cup and immediately add 1 tbsp of agave nectar. Mix and enjoy!

...update...

I am lonely.

Music Review - The Black Keys

My new favorite band. A friend sent me a link to a video and as soon as it started playing, I noticed this amazing music playing in the background and although the video itself was, ahem, "stimulating," it was the music that I was obsessed with. As with all videos on the internet, there was a place for comments. I took a chance that someone would mention the name of the band playing in the background. There among the critiques of the video and it's content, was the name of the band and the title of the two songs that played for the duration of the video. Yee Haw! After a quick google, I was at the band's website and listening to some of their music on MySpace. The song I really like is "Girl Is On My Mind." It's the first song on the video and is also on their MySpace page. I don't remember the name of the other song on the video but I do know it's not on MySpace. I could go back and look at the comments but I would get...distracted...and forget why I was there. :)

They are a two man band. Their music is largely self produced and has a wonderful, low tech, basic sound. When I first heard them, I immediately thought of delta blues being played in some backwater place. It's not flashy, it's just really good. Go have a listen and let me know what you think.

Carefree Beauty

Any Buck rose fans out there? If you're from Iowa and enjoy roses you've at least heard of them. They're the best roses for this zone. You can treat them like perennials, no fussing, no tipping, no protecting, just plant them and you're good to go. Apparently, the hard part for me is the planting part. I've had a Carefree Beauty sitting in it's original pot for 1.5 years. I bought it in May 2008. It managed to survive last winter sitting unprotected in my garage. Once it warmed up, it once again, sat patiently in it's container, on my patio for another summer. Today, it finally hit the dirt. After 1.5 years I finally got around to planting the damn thing. It's probably a death sentence. I have no idea how it will do since it won't have a whole lot of time to establish itself before winter and of course, I keep hearing "hard winter," as if the past two winters weren't cold enough. Ugh. I'll probably try to add some more leaf mulch later this month to give it a little more protection for the winter. I hope it does well.

Today was a productive day, in addition to planting the rose, I mowed the lawn, did poop patrol, took a couple bags of the mulched up leaves and grass clippings and put them around the plants I divided and replanted last weekend. I cleaned the outside of my office, my bedroom and the bathroom windows and cleaned the outside of the sliding glass doors. There is also new weather stripping on my office and bathroom windows. Tomorrow morning I will do my bedroom window.

Yesterday, I hauled out the ladder I borrowed and cleaned out the gutters. Yuck. I had my dad nearby to hold the ladder until I was comfortable with it. I really like this ladder and will definitely be buying one for myself. It's a Little Giant knockoff (Werner) so it's less expensive, although still pricey. It's also heavy! I don't need as tall of a ladder as the one I borrowed so hopefully the one I end up getting isn't as heavy. I was surprised at how well I did on it. I'm not a fan of heights, but it was nice and stable and I didn't freak out.

Also made applesauce yesterday. I had a bag of apples that I bought at the farmer's market last week. The first few were ok, but then I just wasn't really enjoying eating them. I'm not sure if it was the texture or what. I decided to try them as applesauce instead. I remember my mom mentioning how easy it was to make applesauce. I googled recipes and found that most of them called for very few ingredients. I ended up using peeled, cored and quartered apples (maybe 10?) the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 2 tbsp of cinnamon. I added the apples and lemon juice to a crock pot and cooked them on low for a few hours. I then added the cinnamon and stirred. By this point the apples were already well on their way to becoming sauce. A few hours later along with some stirring and mushing, I had chunky, yummy applesauce. It's really good. Tonight I even used some in a banana-blueberry bread I'm making. It's still baking. I'm eagerly awaiting my chance to sample some. I found the recipe online by googling "banana whole wheat flour agave." There were several recipes that came up. I chose to try the recipe with blueberries because 1) I have some and 2) I love blueberries! It's a vegan recipe so there's no eggs. Hmm, now I'm wondering what role eggs play in baking? I might have to reference my food geek book "On Food and Cooking" later to find out more. If you're interested in the recipe it's from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog.

Still no word on the Silos and Smokestacks photo contest. I did get frames for two of the prints though. Actually, the frames are basic black frames so I can put any of the prints in them. I currently have "The Scenic Route" and "Butterfly" in the frames. Now I just have to figure out a place for them and get them hung up.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention, in case you weren't keeping track, I finished 8 items on my list today.

Plant rose
Mulch garden by garage
Clean office window
Seal office window
Clean sliding doors
Clean bathroom window
Seal bathroom window
Clean bedroom window

I'm also going to count "paint trim around bedroom window" as completed. It really needs a second coat but I don't think it's going to be warm enough to paint again. It's been primed and has one coat of paint so it should be fine for the winter. The rest of the painting goals probably aren't going to happen either. I really should have thought through my list a little longer when I came up with it. There's simply not enough time left to complete everything. I'm ok with that though, just making the list motivated me to get so much more done than I would have without it. If it weren't for the list, the Carefree Beauty most likely would have spent another winter in my garage.

Another Photo Contest

The annual "bitching about the weather" has come early this year. I have a friend that lives in Florida (one of my 3 readers) and each winter I whine to him about the weather here. It's 11:30pm (Iowa) on SEPTEMBER 29 and it's 46 freakin degrees out! I refuse to turn on the heat in September.

All of the entries to the Smokestacks and Silos photo contest are online. I assume this means the judging will commence soon. After looking at the other entries, I feel a lot better about the photos I submitted. There are some gorgeous photos, but there's also a lot of snapshots or photos that were entered into the completely wrong category. Snapshots are fine, but for a photo contest I was expecting high quality photos from everyone, thus making me nervous about my own, novice attempts. However, I now realize I entered decent photos and didn't embarrass myself.

Speaking of photo contests, I sent in my entries to the APTA (American Public Transportation Association, a.k.a. "bus geeks") photo contest. This was one of the items on my to-do list.