I have nothing terribly big and booming to report but a few little things to share, so let's get to my nearly routine random post.
Downton Abbey: This is my new guilty pleasure, except that I think it is impossible to feel guilty watching something that airs on PBS. My mom-in-law recommended the show to me, and I spent a few days with a stomach virus and the iPad catching up on the entire first season. It is on Netflix, so if you haven't seen it, stream the first season and try telling me it isn't crack for us snobby TV viewers. We don't watch much TV here since losing ESPN (which left us with about three channels), so we don't have any "Oh! Tonight _____ is on TV!" moments. But I confess here and now, if it is Sunday night at 8 PM, you can bet I'll be the last man leaving the burning-down house because Downton Abbey is on. The last show I felt this connected to was The West Wing. I can't put my finger on what makes it so special, but I can tell you my heart is fully engaged in the lives of these characters. And I have dress envy.
The kids have heard me talk about Downton Abbey, so tonight Alina wandered in and curled up under my fluffy blanket with me and watched the whole two hours, which ended an hour past her bedtime. It was worth it on so many levels. When I put her to bed, she asked me to come get her next Sunday so we could curl up and watch the next episode together. It was one of those moments when God smiles yet again on me through this amazing young lady I get to call my daughter. You wouldn't think watching a TV show with your 14 year old daughter could be so sacred...but it really is.
The Weigh In: So we've started transitioning Marshall to life on the newly relocated Biggest Loser ranch (also known as our house). He is not happy. He is learning to get really excited about eating green beans, which, as my husband says, is a direct result of starvation. He really isn't starving. We are slowly cutting back his food, and the treats are now a total no-no. We have been walking each day, and we have taken longer strolls when the weather allows. We had our "starting weight" home weigh-in on the 8th. It was...confirming as I held him on the scale. I will take the numbers to my grave (or you can brave our super scary master bathroom and see it on the paper I taped up to record his weight, but I can't guarantee you will walk out of the scary bathroom unscathed), but I can report that he has lost .6% of his total body weight in five days. (Yes. That is "point six percent". Save your judgement.) It's a start.
My Latest Project: Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to cook. Well, it isn't necessarily that I don't like to cook, it's that I don't like to have to cook. If I had an unlimited food budget, uninterrupted hours in the kitchen, and people living under my roof who would eat anything, I imagine then I would like to cook. Adding home schooling to my plate has taken up so much more time and energy than I ever imagined, and I have (somewhat) subconsciously been happy to let the cooking slip. Unfortunately, that resulted in way too much eating fast food. (No. I do not know how my dog got overweight.) Mark has done a great job of helping with meals, especially since we have karate two evenings a week, but there is only so much baked chicken one can eat in seven days. My struggle comes when I have to think of meals to prepare for the week and then remember to get all the ingredients needed. I can't begin to tell you how many times I planned on having tacos only to have forgotten to get the tacos and taco seasoning mix. Uh. Oops. Last week I had it with the mental struggle of meal planning. I made a meal notebook that has about 18 recipes for meals I know we'll all mostly eat (side dishes included, and applesauce is a side dish, Angela), with a list of all ingredients, and the basics of the recipe (if needed) so I don't have to go rooting around in the sorry excuse of a recipe box I keep hidden when company comes over. Two hours of work shaved about thirteen years of stress off my life as I made last week's meal plan and grocery list, and we didn't have to eat out once. It was, for this Chef Boyardee protege, a major cooking success.
One day I hope to expand my meal notebook and cooking knowledge, but I am thinking this season of my life may not be the best time to tackle such an undertaking. Maybe next month.
This is the random in my life right now, not counting "pretty much" every conversation with Calvin (which always begins with the phrase "pretty much"). Hope all is well in your corner of the world! (Both of you.)
Downton Abbey: This is my new guilty pleasure, except that I think it is impossible to feel guilty watching something that airs on PBS. My mom-in-law recommended the show to me, and I spent a few days with a stomach virus and the iPad catching up on the entire first season. It is on Netflix, so if you haven't seen it, stream the first season and try telling me it isn't crack for us snobby TV viewers. We don't watch much TV here since losing ESPN (which left us with about three channels), so we don't have any "Oh! Tonight _____ is on TV!" moments. But I confess here and now, if it is Sunday night at 8 PM, you can bet I'll be the last man leaving the burning-down house because Downton Abbey is on. The last show I felt this connected to was The West Wing. I can't put my finger on what makes it so special, but I can tell you my heart is fully engaged in the lives of these characters. And I have dress envy.
The kids have heard me talk about Downton Abbey, so tonight Alina wandered in and curled up under my fluffy blanket with me and watched the whole two hours, which ended an hour past her bedtime. It was worth it on so many levels. When I put her to bed, she asked me to come get her next Sunday so we could curl up and watch the next episode together. It was one of those moments when God smiles yet again on me through this amazing young lady I get to call my daughter. You wouldn't think watching a TV show with your 14 year old daughter could be so sacred...but it really is.
The Weigh In: So we've started transitioning Marshall to life on the newly relocated Biggest Loser ranch (also known as our house). He is not happy. He is learning to get really excited about eating green beans, which, as my husband says, is a direct result of starvation. He really isn't starving. We are slowly cutting back his food, and the treats are now a total no-no. We have been walking each day, and we have taken longer strolls when the weather allows. We had our "starting weight" home weigh-in on the 8th. It was...confirming as I held him on the scale. I will take the numbers to my grave (or you can brave our super scary master bathroom and see it on the paper I taped up to record his weight, but I can't guarantee you will walk out of the scary bathroom unscathed), but I can report that he has lost .6% of his total body weight in five days. (Yes. That is "point six percent". Save your judgement.) It's a start.
My Latest Project: Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to cook. Well, it isn't necessarily that I don't like to cook, it's that I don't like to have to cook. If I had an unlimited food budget, uninterrupted hours in the kitchen, and people living under my roof who would eat anything, I imagine then I would like to cook. Adding home schooling to my plate has taken up so much more time and energy than I ever imagined, and I have (somewhat) subconsciously been happy to let the cooking slip. Unfortunately, that resulted in way too much eating fast food. (No. I do not know how my dog got overweight.) Mark has done a great job of helping with meals, especially since we have karate two evenings a week, but there is only so much baked chicken one can eat in seven days. My struggle comes when I have to think of meals to prepare for the week and then remember to get all the ingredients needed. I can't begin to tell you how many times I planned on having tacos only to have forgotten to get the tacos and taco seasoning mix. Uh. Oops. Last week I had it with the mental struggle of meal planning. I made a meal notebook that has about 18 recipes for meals I know we'll all mostly eat (side dishes included, and applesauce is a side dish, Angela), with a list of all ingredients, and the basics of the recipe (if needed) so I don't have to go rooting around in the sorry excuse of a recipe box I keep hidden when company comes over. Two hours of work shaved about thirteen years of stress off my life as I made last week's meal plan and grocery list, and we didn't have to eat out once. It was, for this Chef Boyardee protege, a major cooking success.
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| My little life and sanity saver. |
This is the random in my life right now, not counting "pretty much" every conversation with Calvin (which always begins with the phrase "pretty much"). Hope all is well in your corner of the world! (Both of you.)
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