Dinners

I think we all know what they say about the best laid plans. There have been some rearrangements made to my dinner menus already. Last Saturday I did use the slow cook feature on my 'instant' pot and turned the roast chicken carcass into chicken stock. I cut up the chicken and put almost all of it into the stock and filled up two quart containers for the deep freezer. I figure these can become the basis of a couple of different versions of chicken soup (thinking a white bean and kale and possible a chicken tortilla soup for December).

The last container went into the refrigerator. Youngest son H's girlfriend M was in a cooking/baking mood and brought over a large container of homemade Baked Potato soup and some Hot Chocolate cookies she experimented with. Both items were delicious and it was nice to eat a dinner I didn't prepare myself.
Sunday I pulled the soup stock out the refrigerator. I brought it to a boil and added some egg noodles and this was dinner along with the brioche dinner rolls I'd picked up from Aldi. I love trying the new 'fancy' items my Aldi gets in.
Saturday I as in a baking mood myself and made a pumpkin roll as per a request from youngest son. This was dessert on Sunday.
Monday I made a chicken salad sandwich using the chicken I'd set aside from the roast for this purpose and ate this along with carrots & celery sticks in the car on the way to my night job.
Tuesday I had a hair appointment to touch my color and had enough time afterwards to run through the McD's and get a sandwich and drink off the dollar menu before going in to work.
Wednesday I unexpectedly got asked to stay at aftercare and work. I luckily had some chicken tenders left over from lunch service and paired those with carrots and celery sticks and apple slices, eaten in the car on the way to work.
Tonight I am back on my menu plans making myself some baked tilapia!
Being prepared but also flexible enough to roll with the changes is certainly a stress reducer.

Edited to include the rest of the week:
On Thursday I more or less followed my dinner plan. Tilapia it was but instead of just baking it with lemon I decided to do an old favorite, Horseradish crusted tilapia. I mixed together mayo, horseradish, parsley and bread crumbs and spread it on the fish. Toasted additional breadcrumbs in butter and sprinkled them on top then baked the fish in a 425 degree oven for 12 minutes.


And finally I was asked to work Aftercare today so a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and celery sticks await my drive into the cleaning job later on.

Menus for the rest of November

I've prioritized this because I think if I can organize this one small area of my life it will help with my stress levels. I hope I'm not just being delusional here. I am planning these meals for just myself. The sons' schedules are so erratic and their social lives so full that I can no longer count on them being home for any dinners. We have a whole week off of school the week before Thanksgiving so I will have time to make a real dinner instead of the sandwich-in-the-car meal I plan for when school is in session during that time. I've already volunteered to make the squash and a pie for the holiday spent at my sister's home as is tradition. 

11/11: Homemade chicken soup with drop dumplings (I roasted a small chicken on Thursday and last night made soup stock from the leftover carcass). Brioche rolls.

11/12: Lamb chop, parsley potatoes, peas with savory

11/13: Chicken salad sandwich (using some of the roasted chicken I set aside), baby carrots

11/14: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple slices (eaten in the car between hair appointment and cleaning job)

11/15: Slow cooker swiss steak (put in crockpot before work), steamed rice, green beans

11/16: Baked tilapia with lemon, white and wild rice, salad

11/17: Salad of spring greens, shredded carrots, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, chicken with lemon vinaigrette, roll

11/18: Mini Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts

11/19: Pork chops, homemade applesauce, rice pilaf, California blend veggies

11/20: Grilled salmon, baked sweet potato, salad

11/21: Country beef stew with veggies, dinner roll

11/22: Spaghetti with marinara sauce, salad

11/23: Thanksgiving Day

11/24: Salad of chopped kale, sliced apples, dried cranberries, blue cheese, pecans, turkey with apple cider dressing, roll

11/25: Mom's macaroni and cheese, salad

11/26:  Chicken paprikash with drop dumplings, green beans

11/27: roast beef and provolone sandwich, celery sticks

11/28: tuna salad sandwich, baby carrots

11/29: Pork adobo over steamed rice, green beans

11/30: Salad of spring greens, shredded carrots, roasted beets, goat cheese, pecans and chicken with poppyseed dressing, roll

So many things

Sometimes I feel as if I am a juggler with one arm and a billion balls in the air. There are just so many things I need to do, want to do, or would like to do and just not enough time. The looming holiday season is not helping.
I then step back and take a deep breath and try to prioritize. But it is hard because I find myself so overwhelmed that nothing gets done. 
Case in point the weekends. With working two-three different jobs from Monday to Friday the weekends quickly get filled up for me. I need to find a way to balance out the week days. Mondays and Tuesdays are a loss. I work my school cafeteria job and then immediately segue into my aftercare job followed by a short drive in the car to my evening cleaning job. The best I can do on those days is remember to take my meds and my vitamins,  make a sandwich to eat in the car for dinner and get plenty of sleep.
My goal is to organize the three hour free time window I have on Wednesdays to Fridays as well as my weekends. All I've been doing so far is using that time to make myself a meal to eat before going in to clean, sometimes unloading and reloading the dishwasher, running the vacuum cleaner, or throwing in a load of laundry while also trying to get in some relaxation in front of the tv or with a book. I've decided to start scheduling myself tasks to complete on these days. But most days? I find myself doing nothing but watching tv. Sigh. So I have come up with this plan:  Wednesdays I will vacuum and clean my bathroom before sitting down. Thursdays: I will complete any errands that may need to be run as well as give the kitchen a quickie clean. Fridays: I will do at least one load of laundry.
And now the weekends. Right now I am in the midst of a plan formulated by some family members who are insisting that despite legal advice to the contrary we clean out my recently deceased sister's home. The whole thing is fairly complicated but to simplify it a group of us as well as the attorney my remaining sister consulted feel that once anyone in the family has taken anything they need or want and we have donated a bunch of stuff as we all agreed to do we should leave the rest and let it be taken over by the bank. She left too many debts for the estate to yield any kind of profit and not a single one of us is legally responsible for any of it. However as in most families there is that one strong minded individual who thinks their plan is better and is vocal enough and forceful enough to get the person who is nominally in charge to go along with it despite themselves. That person is insisting we totally clean out the house (and believe me this is like an episode of hoarders in there) so that their friend can appraise it and see how much it would be worth to sell. Frankly it is in horrible condition. Nothing has been done to the place in years except for filling it up with everything and anything. And the debt owed on it is really going to be more than what it is worth. But here we are spending every Sunday for the last month chucking crap out of the place and it never seems to look like we are making any progress. Seriously. I've seen episodes of Hoarders with less stuff. And now the drama queens are insisting that we finish this project by Thanksgiving because they "can't enjoy" the holiday unless this is done. Whatever. So for the immediate future my Sundays are going to look like this : Church, family brunch, cleaning crap out of this nightmare (ugh), dinner and an evening spent either catching up on work I've brought home or if I am lucky relaxing and doing something I call fun.
This leaves me Saturdays to schedule in anything else relaxing and fun  as well as errands and chores. I feel stressed out just typing that sentence. I've concluded that Saturday mornings I will run any errands followed by cleaning the house. Leaving late afternoons and/or evenings to do fun stuff (fun stuff also includes collapsing in a chair and sleeping in front of the tv). Today I am going to shower and get dressed, run out to the wholesale club to pick up a case of envelopes I need for the cafeteria job, run in to Target for a couple of small items and then return home to clean house. Tonight (or Sunday evening) I may take in a movie. I want to see the new Murder on the Orient Express.
Oh and I still need to get some menus put together because meals have been really hit or miss this last week.
And I am trying to train for walking a 5K on Thanksgiving morning that I registered for. LOL. See what I mean about that juggling act?

Starting Over

It has been 15 months since I last posted. So many things have gone on and changes have been made. Last January I ended up in the hospital following an episode of chest pain. I was checked out, kept overnight and released with orders to get a stress test the following week. I failed that test miserably and ended up back in the hospital where I had a heart catherization. The good news is that my main artery looks fine. The bad news is that something is going on with my heart. After more tests and ruling out a lot of stuff my cardiologist determined that like a lot of other women I have microvascular heart disease (also called Syndrome X) which means the small vessels .off my main artery are clogging. And my cholesterol numbers were ridiculous. And I have unstable angina. So now I am on daily meds for these issues, as well as nitroglycerin for the angina attacks.  It could have been much worse and at my six month checkup my cholesterol was excellent and the meds are doing their job. My doctor was also very pleased with the 62 pound weight loss I had accomplished since starting my job at the hospital.
And that brings me to my other large change. The hospital job was increasingly stressful which led to an uptick in the number of angina attacks I was having (stress can bring them on) resulting in one large attack which left me pondering if this job was worth killing myself over. I sat myself down, did some praying, crunched some numbers and decided that it would be best to find something with less hours and less stress.
I was lucky that within a week I had another position with a different company all lined up. The good news is that it is strictly part time, M-F, no weekends, no holidays. It is still cleaning, but this time offices and mostly I just do detail dusting as well as a few kitchenettes. No pulling trash, no restrooms, no floor work. And since it is a headquarters of a fairly large company, most of the time there are no people to contend with. The bad news is it is less money and no health insurance benefits. But I am a master at belt tightening and am currently looking at insurance options.
In addition to that I have also picked up two three hour shifts at school in the aftercare program. This combination as well as what my son J donates to the household budget as well as the young lady who is renting a room from me throws in means we are doing ok.
Oddly enough I seem to do better with less money. I was wasting money like mad when I worked at the hospital. And I haven't had a single angina attack since changing jobs.
Socially I am enjoying the freedom being unattached has given me. Youngest son H and I have become movie buddies, seeing a ton of stuff over the summer on the $5 movie day as well as splurging on matinee prices. And I added Netflix to our monthly budget and the two of us have enjoyed some binge watching of various shows on that as well. It is so nice to have to time to enjoy this entertainment again. I have also increased the amount of walking I am doing and have signed up for my first ever 5K walk on Thanksgiving Day! The cleaning job and the occasional stroll on the treadmill at home are my training for this!  I had my 40th high school reunion over the summer and had  a wonderful time (spent quality time with my kindergarten BFF too) and reconnected with a high school friend who lives locally and I have seen her a couple of time since then. I am still spending a lot of time with my friend and neighbor V going on antiquing/flea market afternoons (lots of looking  very little buying) as well as just hanging out with a good glass of wine or bottle of water on her front porch in the summer and cozy living room now that the weather has gotten colder.
 I am anticipating the birth of another grandchild in March. Miss E who is already 3 is going to be getting a sibling. As a family we have been blessed beyond belief in that my special needs grandchild B recently had a surgery that is a real game changer for her, allowing her to become far more mobile than she was previously. We have had a couple of weddings, a niece and a nephew both getting married within the last year. And my brother-in-law B who is still fighting cancer continues to be with us all.  Sadly I lost my first sibling this year, my sister E passed away this October. Still struggling with this.
And now for my goals, I am getting back to blogging obviously but also  menu planning and regular grocery shopping with a list and a  budget. With my new job set up I have three days a week where I have a 3 hour break between jobs allowing me to relax a bit at home (or do errands or chores) as well as have a cooked dinner, two days a week I do the aftercare so dinner is a quick sandwich meal in the car on the way to the cleaning gig. And with every weekend off I can plan some great meals for that time. It had gotten to a point where I was eating out almost every meal I wasn't eating at the hospital or school. The occasional meal out is  now the rule. Getting back to basics here is my goal. More time spent with family and friends as well.

July Menus

After reviewing what I have on hand and thinking about it while working last night I sat down and made a list of dinner menus for the rest of the month. Yesterday I grilled one of the eye round steaks, cut it into strips and made a dinner salad with spring greens, cucumber, grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, the steak and blue cheese with a greek vinaigrette dressing. Dessert was fresh grapes.
Tonight I have a pot of Gail's Pork Adobo simmering on the stove as well as some basmati rice steaming. Some whole green buttered green beans will round this out and I will pack up my portion to take to work and leave the rest for the kids.
The remainder of the meal plans are as follows in no particular order. I have noted when it is planned for a night off from the hospital (I have 3 more this month), I am using planned overs, and trying a couple of new recipes (which I haven't done in months):
Grilled chicken breast with balsamic glaze, California blend veggies
Grilled Tuscan seasoned pork chops, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Shepherd's Pie, peas
Pasta carbonara Florentine, salad
Herbed eye of round roast, mashed potatoes, candied carrots (night off meal)
Beef stroganoff (planned overs), egg noodles, beets
Asian Summer salad, fresh fruit
Lemon Chicken scallopine with gremolata orzo (new recipe), green salad
Grilled Asian pork tenderloin (new recipe), white & wild rice pilaf, snow peas (night off)
Grilled Asian pork tenderloin salad with Asian vinaigrette (using planned overs)
Pork lo mein (using planned overs), egg rolls
Pan seared barramundi fillets, Israeli couscous, asparagus (night off)

July Groceries & Food Supply review

I did some actual grocery shopping the other day at my two favorite stores, Aldi and BJ's wholesale club. At Aldi I spent $85.92 and I brought home a watermelon, a large box of 'single origin' K-cup coffees (Brazilian, Peruvian, Costa Rican & Ethiopian), a small box of hazelnut K-cups, a box of elbow macaroni, a box of frozen Angus burgers, a pack of snow peas, 3 zucchini, a bag of breaded chicken strips, a bag of crispy tortilla strips for salads, a bag of French fried onions for salads, a bag of grapes, 1 pint of grape tomatoes, two bags of spring greens, a seedless cucumber, 2 lbs sweet onions, 1 pint mixed tomatoes, 1 bag of spinach, 1 bunch of bananas, 1 bottle of balsamic glaze, 2 quarts of lowfat cottage cheese, 1 jar dill pickles, 1 jar bread and butter slices, 1 bottle three cheese vinaigrette, 1 bottle garlic vinaigrette, 1 container of coffee creamer, 4 lbs. sugar, 1 bottle light balsamic vinaigrette, 2 boxes of biscotti, and a box of continental assortment cookies.

At BJ's I spent $65.90 and brought home a whole center cut pork loin, a whole eye of round, a porterhouse steak, a bag of mini fresh mozzarella cheese, and two large jars of peanut butter.

I cut the pork loin into a roast, a bag of pork cubes (which I am making into Pork Adobo for tonight's dinner), and 13 pork chops which I individually wrapped with plastic wrap before putting into a ziplock freezer bag. With all the coming and going around here these days this allows me to take as many as needed for any given dinner out of the bag at one time. I cut the eye round into a small roast, a tiny bag of beef cubes for shish kabobs, and seven steaks also individually wrapped like the pork chops.

Because dinners are either portable and going to the hospital with me with leftovers for the kids or just for one or two people (work schedules vary so much between us these days that I don't remember the last time we were all home for dinner together) this will last a long time. In the freezer I have a couple of bags of frozen blsl chicken breast & tenders, some bone-in chicken thighs, about 1/2 pound of shrimp, some salmon & barramundi fillets, a pork tenderloin, two racks of pork ribs, several packs of bacon, some breakfast sausage, hot dogs, chicken sausages, cheddar brats & a whole cooked smoked turkey, as well as assorted bags of frozen veggies, some frozen egg rolls, and a ton of frozen beef burritos that middle son J got for free from a neighbor who moved out and cleaned out his freezer before moving (these come in handy for lunches & a quick something the kids can make themselves). In the pantry I have a ton of canned, bottled, and boxed goods. Dinner salads being a staple of mine these days we are heavy on salad dressings of all kinds. Aldi has been offering a large variety of these items and I've been stocking up when I see them. We also have a nice variety of fresh produce still although a small stop for carrots and more spring greens will be made within the week.

What we don't have these days is junk foods (except for popcorn which I always have around). The cookies were an unusual purchase because I generally bake but youngest son H requested some and with the temps expected to peak around 100 degrees this week I bought instead of baked. Same with the biscotti.

And now for the meal planning......

Six Months

  I'd like to start by thanking Carol of Ctonabudget for her email. It has inspired me to pick myself up and get back to blogging. It has been quite a journey. I had my carpal tunnel surgeries in January and all went well. I returned to my school job right away because daughter E who was working with me could do all of the heavy work. I returned to my hospital cleaning job on the 8th of February. That surgery was a miracle. No more numbness, no tingling, no pain. As per my doctor's instructions though I continue to wear the braces while I sleep.

I signed a new school contract in May and got a raise! School starts Aug. 24th this year and my youngest son H will be my assistant this school year since daughter E is returning to school herself and H's classes are all late afternoon-evening. I also received an excellent review and a merit raise at the hospital! On the financial front things are looking up.

I also took a week's vacation in June and went to North Carolina with my friend Valerie for a few days to visit a mutual friend we sold Pampered Chef with several years ago. While there we splurged and spent a day at the Biltmore Estate (www.biltmore.com) which was fascinating. Definitely a place I want to return to.

Other than these exciting things life has been mostly work and trying to come to terms with no longer being half of a couple. My head knows this change was for the best (X was emotionally abusive, controlling & demanding & manipulative) but my heart is still sad (I loved him in spite of his flaws), especially since he has clearly moved on and replaced me with someone else. On the upside I haven't had to see or talk to him in months, on the downside his "charming" sister ( my oldest son's motherinlaw) loves to talk about him and how awesome his life is every chance she gets. I would avoid her too but I promised my son that since we share a granddaughter I will not do that. So I struggle on.

I have been making positive changes, returning to weekly Mass attendance (even though it means sitting with son's inlaws as well as son, his wife, and granddaughter), spending a great deal of time with my friend Valerie who has been a rock, spending even more time with my grandchildren who live here, reading more, watching tv, going to the movies, the zoo, the parks with the kids & grandkids. I'm even spending more time with my extended family.

My biggest change has been my appearance. Over the last 11 months I have dropped 55 pounds. I am 21 away from original goal weight. And I feel fantastic.

I hate to admit it but my organizational skills have taken a hit though. The house has become sloppy, I've stopped menu planning and I barely go grocery shopping. All things which I am determined to change. I began yesterday by de-cluttering and giving the house a complete clean (except my bedroom which remains a mess). I will be making a menu for the rest of the month including meals which I will take to the hospital with me. I grocery shopped over the weekend as well. I will do a separate post on that.

I keep telling myself one step a day forward.

Clothing

One of the downsides to weight loss is needing clothing that fits. For me this mostly meant new jeans.  College age daughter had a pair of skinny jeans that were too big for her but which fit me fine.  I also used a sale and purchased two pairs of boot cut jeans (still over $30 each) and after digging around in some attic boxes found three pairs of dressy khaki style pants. These will work fine with the pair of brown corduroy jeans hanging in my closet. Shirts can continue to be roomier for awhile.
Having a continuing weight loss goal means that hopefully these purchases will be temporary fixes.

What's been cooking

 Having been on vacation from the school and also been off several days from the hospital I have been doing more cooking at home.  I've kept it simple doing pasta with marinara sauce, grilled pork chops, soup from the freezer, etc. On Christmas eve I made our traditional dinner of pork tenderloin balsamico, white and wild rice, salad, rolls and ice cream for dessert. Christmas day I did a roast beef for son's house taking some of that along with leftover rice and salad for my own dinner .  Oldest son packed up leftover turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn, roast beef, and mashed potatoes which I made into dinners for my two weekend shifts. Monday I was off for my pre-surgery appointment and had appetizers at my friend V's birthday celebration. Tuesday was my off day and V and I went out to a local bistro for dinner. Yesterday I put together a riff on a Pampered chef recipe penne with Sun dried tomatoes, spinach and grilled chicken.  Today I made a new recipe I found on Pinterest for a honey-garlic shrimp and broccoli. Here is the link: 

http://homemadehooplah.com/recipes/honey-garlic-shrimp-and-broccoli/

New Year's resolutions

  I've never been big on resolutions for a new year. But I recently came across an article that mentioned 7 that everyone should do to lay down the foundation of a better life and decided that sounded pretty good.
The first was get out of debt. I feel I am making good progress towards this although my mortgage will not be paid off until a long time in the future. Four more car payments and that will be done leaving me with just the standard insurance and utility bills.
The second was rid your life of toxic people. Clearly I am on my way there since the greatest source of toxicity and negativity in my life is gone. I will surround myself only with those that will help me succeed in life.
The third was to continue to better yourself or get more education. I have already researched getting my medical terminology certification online and plan to take the course once I am back on my feet financially following surgery leave. Then once my year in housekeeping is over I can start applying for those 'office-y" type jobs at the hospital or one of the family health/surgery centers (where you don't work weekends or holidays) within the health care system I am already employed by.
The fourth was exercise more. I have begun this but plan to add some yoga to what I do now.
The fifth was to find happiness within you. I lost that ability somewhere along the road in the last 8 years. I am determined to get that back and never give it up again.
The sixth was to let go of grudges. A hard one when people insist on sharing all the bad details with you but one which I vow to work on diligently. Mostly because I think it will lead me to that happiness within.
And the final one was connect with those you care about. I have been doing that more but will make a concerted effort to do so even more in the future instead of letting life get in the way.
Here's to laying the foundation for a truly awesome new life.

Goodby Annus Horribilis

  As this year draws to a close I realize that it has once again been two months since I sat down and shared life. The last two months have been difficult for me. Just as I felt in a good place following my break-up word spread that the ex-Gf was not the gentleman I thought he was and despite the fact that we will have to occasionally see each other at family functions (he is my daughterinlaw's uncle) thought it would be a grand idea to trash talk me behind my back. I'm a big girl and I can ignore that kind of stuff, consider the source (someone who at all costs must be in the right & build himself up by tearing someone else down), realize that what he's saying is pure fiction, know that anyone who knows me doesn't beleive a word of it, and move on. But when it hurts my children that makes me angry. And I also discovered the reason behind the break-up. While making the deal for college age son's first car the Ex also made a deal to hook up with the seller of said car. That hurt. It still hurts. Ouch. Pain and Anger, two very bad companions I intend to leave behind in the new year. The fact that he continues to text me randomly as well as on holidays as if we are still BFFs shows me he also thinks I'm stupid. Not. Hopefully the fact that college age son and daughter both returned the gift cards he sent them for Christmas will get through to him that no one wants his charity (part of what he's saying is that he basically supported us for 8 years..clearly why I had to work 3 jobs). And this will be the very last time I ever mention him again.
Work-wise I am in a much better place. I've settled into my permanent area, Pediatric emergency and have begun to forge good work relationships with the staff there. I actually got a very high compliment from my hospital supervisor last night, she said "they love you in PEDS and it looks great" Considering the joint commission on hospitals is due to inspect us next month this is a big deal. My school job is also pretty much stress free this year. So much better than last school year!!
I have had some health things going on. On the upside as of two days ago I have dropped 30 much needed pounds due to all the walking around I get at the hospital! My blood pressure is back to normal, my heart rate is excellent, and I feel good. My cholesterol is still high but a prescription for Lipitor is getting that back on track. My hospital likes you to have all the routine tests for your insurance so I recently had my first colonoscopy and I am extremely grateful that I did. A polyp was removed and while it was benign it was also unusual so a follow up scope next year is on the schedule. I have a routine mammogram this coming week and the big one is I am scheduled for carpal tunnel surgery a week from tomorrow. The right arm first then if it is healing well two weeks later the left. The downside to this news is that I will be on recovery from the hospital job for a month and once my few days of PTO run out I will be without a paycheck. Ouch. However the aftercare director at school is going to hire me to work temporarily three  hours a day (so the business manager doesn't go crazy that I exceed the 8 hour limit) while I am on leave of absence from the hospital. I don't have to use my arm at all for that job and all the lifting etc. that is required for the cafeteria job will be done by my assistant. Paperwork I can take care of with one hand. So a little income coming in in addition to the cafeteria paycheck will cover gas & insurance costs. My oldest son has already offered to help out if I need it and of course adult son who lives at home will contribute the regular towards utilities. My last paycheck of this year will take care of the mortgage, the tv bill, and the homeowners insurance and put a little cushion in the checking account.
Knowing this was coming up I was frugal with Christmas expenses although happily it was the same 'sized' Christmas as it has always been.
I had to work at the hospital Christmas Day and I was very sad about that. But all of my children except middle daughter and her family came for Christmas Eve and I spent Christmas morning before work with Middle Daughter and her family. So all in all it was something to be thankful for.
I will be working tonight until 11:30 and then stopping at my neighbor and dear friend V's house to raise a glass to the New Year. I can't say enough good things about V. She has been my rock the last four months. Getting me out and about, listening patiently to my boo-hoo-ing, serving worms for my pity parties, and giving sage advice. When God gave her son to my oldest son as a 'brother from another mother' and best friend he also gifted me with her. A truly special gift.
So goodbye horrible 2015 and welcome what I am determined will be an awesome 2016.

The Times they are a changing.....

It has been almost two months since I have sat down and shared life. In that time I have gone through some big changes. My 8 year relationship with the GF has come to an end. Seeing as how it was totally out of the blue and he felt no explanation necessary I was quite upset at first. However it has been a month now and I find, surprisingly, that I am fine. I like my own company, I don't feel I need a man to "complete" me and I have plenty of friends to fill social occasions. I am also quite happy to focus on my own home in the limited amount of free time I have these days.
And speaking of free time it has been packed with all kinds of things, birthday celebrations, a fun Halloween night at the zoo, shopping for the house with a good friend, and just some nice quite time with said friend. A little wine, a little tv, a lot of good conversation.  I am happy and contented in this life.
And work fills in a LOT of my time. Working two jobs consumes most of the waking hours. And I am still doing the occasional Bake and Take with kids from school on nights I don't work the hospital.
I finally received the check from my two years of overtime from the school. I paid down the remaining balance of my car loan by half. The entire loan will be paid up by April if I make the usual payment, sooner if I add some extra each month.
I have also bought a few nice things for my house, some new dishes (the stoneware ones just became too heavy for me with my carpal tunnel issues), some small fall decorations, and a new vacuum after the old one totally died. And I have begun Christmas shopping with the purchase of a couple of books from the school book fair.
Not a lot of need for grocery shopping however. Most of my meals for my night job are leftovers or salads made at school. With the crazy schedule my kids have between work and school most of the time if I eat at home I am eating alone. Besides fresh produce, dairy, and some snacky items for the lunch box as well as things like laundry soap and toilet paper. This in itself is a change.
And leads to the next change. I have dropped 22 pounds since my prework checkup in August. I feel fantastic!!!! Change is good.

Settling in to my new work schedules

  I have finally gotten a handle on the new almost continual work hours. I am back at school M-F from 9-2. The hospital schedule is a bit more complicated. The work week begins on Sundays. I work at the hospital every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Beginning today I work every other weekend and when you work on Saturday (last day of the week) you also work on Sunday (first day of the week). On the week I work on Saturday I have Thursdays off (so I was off this last Thursday) and on the week I work on Sunday I have Tuesday off (so I will be off this coming Tuesday). Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Confused? You aren't alone. I actually had to put it  into my calendar to understand it. Labor Day is also my first holiday to work. You get every other holiday off, so I will be off Thanksgiving and work Christmas Day. I believe the new holiday calendar year starts on New Year's Day so I probably will work that as well. This way no one works every Christmas Day for example every year. And Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are not holidays (neither is Easter).
So on Thursday it will be 30 days under my belt. How do I like it? Well it is taking some getting used to.  I've been assigned to the Pediatric ER and the work is not demanding. Actually I would prefer to be a bit busier because the night sometimes drags but on the upside with working two jobs not demanding is a good thing.
And I have to say that first paycheck really made my bank account smile! Speaking of financial matters the issue with overtime pay at the school for the last two years has finally been settled. A deposit will be made in my checking account this coming Friday. I will pay off half the remaining balance on my car loan, pay back GF for the brake work he did on my car last month, and pay back two small loans from a couple of my kids that got us through August. The remainder will be in the savings account.
We are also saving money like mad on food. With school starting I've just been taking lunch leftovers to work at the hospital  for dinner . Adult son, college age son, and college age daughter have been fending for themselves. Now that I have a regular hospital schedule I will be able to sit down and make a modified dinner schedule for night's off and weekends. And next weekend I will do a little food shopping. We still have a ton of stuff in the freezer but do need fresh produce, dairy, and some odds and ends in the pantry.

A quickie

I am in my second week of training at the hospital and it is a wild ride. First off I have to say that my area (ER) is always busy so there is no chance of getting bored, lol. There has been a lot to learn and a lot to remember but I think I'm getting it down. Once I have access to the EVS closet and can swipe into my area all will be well. I even spent 15 minutes last night totally alone on the floor doing rooms due to a shift change and staff shortage. My one dread now is how my body is going to handle two jobs once school begins next week. I also need to get myself super organized so that I can keep up on things like laundry and meals to take to work. I had to buy a knee brace because my left knee was killing me after two days. Wearing this under my uniform is helping. I am also having nonstop lower back pain. I am doing stretches at home and wearing a back brace around the house as well as taking a hot shower when I get home from work but I think this is just something that will work itself out as my back becomes used to the movements I am now making. A reminder that I am not as young as I used to be and am really carrying around more weight than I should. However, this job may help the weight problem since by the end of the day I've been averaging just over 20,000 steps.. And that is without school starting.  I have also had to purchase a really good pair of shoes. I settled on New Balance with memory foam in them. Very comfy and was surprised when a new co-worker gifted me two pairs of clog type nurses shoes!
Training was initially supposed to be on the day shift but after one day of orientation, one day of online training, and one day of on the floor training they've switched me to my regular 2nd shift hours. This is good because it gives me an idea of how it will be before school begins. As for meals I've been creating a dinner to go just before making my lunch at  home. I will need a new plan for when school starts next Wednesday. Right now I expect to be working both Monday and Tuesday at the hospital (unless a supervisor tells me one of those will be a night off and puts me on the weekend schedule for that upcoming weekend) so this weekend which I know I won't work I will be putting together about three dinners that I can pop into the freezer for the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday after the beginning of the school year.
So far I have packed:  a roast beef sandwich (made with planned overs from dinner) with carrots w/ hummus, and a nectarine (my first online day), bought lunch (my second day, can't do that on nights because the cafeteria is closed), leftover chicken paprikash, peas, applesauce;  penne with sauce, salad, vanilla pudding; and last night a salad with steak & blue cheese on it with homemade dressing, and apple slices.
And now I am off to finish making today's dinner and have some lunch before grabbing a quick shower and getting ready to go in to the hospital!

Finally......

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/5/8/4/1402853364844279301nineteen-fifties%20people%20looking%20up%20and%20pointing.jpg After what has been a tremendously long wait it appears that things on the financial front are finally looking up! Last week I went for my job physical and strength test. I have to admit I was not optimistic about passing that test but I got the phone call yesterday that I am cleared to start my new position!! I will be working at a local hospital cleaning patient rooms after they are discharged, waiting areas, restrooms, break rooms if any on whatever area I get assigned to. It is a full time, 40 hours per week position from 3-11:30. It does mean working every other weekend and every other holiday (Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Memorial Day). The money AND the awesome hospital system health benefits, life insurance, and retirement benefits make this a winning situation for me. I will continue to work (at least this school year) at my part time day cafeteria position (9-2 M-F). It will be a lot of work but since I get one weekday off from the hospital each week I will only work both jobs 4 days a week. And there are several no-work days as well as holiday weeks off from the school. AND as icing on the cake I was notified by the powers that be that I am owed back overtime pay from the school for all the hours I worked over 8 in any given day for the last two years!! Of course those responsible for cutting this check are taking as much time as they can before doing so. Eventually though they will have to send this to me. My goal for the future is simple, I will pay off my SUV as soon as possible, making double payments. I have 13 more payments to go so I hope to have this done in 6 or less (most of the overtime check will go towards eliminating this debt). I cannot describe the relief I feel knowing that I won't have to worry constantly about where the money will come from for groceries, for gas, or for anything repairs that may need to be done around here. I feel as if I've been hauling around a huge chunk of cement behind me that I am at last getting relief from.

Summertime catch up

 Not a lot going on around here in the last two weeks. A little bit of grocery shopping where I picked up some produce and milk. I decided that we really didn't need to hang on to the two drawers and one cabinet of VHS tapes any longer and cleaned those out. I was unsuccessful at finding anyone who was interested in taking these and finally just bagged them up and tossed them in the trash can. We have curbside pickup so this cost me nothing. I then determined to use the freed up drawer space for table linens (everyday and holiday) and the cabinet for storage of serving pieces I don't use that often. This cleared up two china cabinets and two drawers in the dining room. I must say the cabinets look so much better without so much stuff piled in them.
Other than that I 've been reading and taking advantage of our free month of Netflix as well as doing the necessary housework and yardwork.


I did receive a phone call from the hospital on the job. They have made me a job offer contingent on me passing the physical and the strength test. I am scheduled for those this coming Wednesday. I have no worries on the physical exam but I am a bit concerned on this strength test. I watched the video they sent me on this and I am hoping it all goes well. After that I have an appointment at HR to fill out all the necessary new employee tax papers. IF I pass the tests then my first day of official employment will be August 10th, an all day orientation day with two weeks of daytime training to follow. School starts August 26th. This is going to be cutting it VERY close.

Remembering to count....

my blessings today. Yes I currently have $2 in my savings and $67 in my checking account but I have this twice a month cleaning gig and will be paid today meaning I can put $25 of gas in the car (which will fill it up) and get milk and still put $100 in my checking account to give it a cushion for utility bills until the next paycheck is deposited (another blessing is having my check divided into 52 weeks). I also unexpectedly found a brand new large box of dishwasher detergent in the basement, stuck in a box I looked into hunting for something else, so I don't need to buy more.  I also noticed a bottle of dish soap stuck up on top of the stand up deep freezer, another item I was low on and will not have to purchase! Financial blessings for sure.


And then there are the blessings no amount of money can buy me, good health, a loving family, the GF,  and good friends.


God is good.


All the time.

Good Eats

 With the food budget having very little in it at the moment even though I will be cleaning tomorrow (need to fill up the gas tank and get dishwasher detergent and milk with that) I am concentrating on using up what we have on hand right now. So far this week I have had:
Monday:
Breakfast: Toast with cashew butter, banana, coffee (kids don't eat breakfast)
Lunch: treated to lunch by a friend I treated to dinner last time we ate at Cracker Barrel together
Dinner: grilled cheddar brats, buttered elbow macaroni mixed with peas (off the dinner menus but adult son asked for this)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: toast with cashew butter, nectarine, coffee
Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, carrots and celery sticks w/ hummus
Dinner: Two cheese sticks, a plum, and a handful of pepperoni (all by myself and I just didn't feel like cooking anything)

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, coffee
Lunch: cottage cheese w/ homemade pineapple jam, plum
Dinner: Roast leg of lamb, beef rice a roni, salad , strawberry shortcake

Thursday:
Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, coffee
Lunch: grilled tomato-mozzarella Panini

This is my version of what used to be my favorite sandwich at Panera that they no longer offer. I took a ciabatta roll (from Aldi), split it, spread Sun dried tomato pesto (from Aldi) on both halves, topped each half with sliced fresh mozzarella, topped with slices of tomato and some sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkled it with basil then brushed the outside with melted butter and pressed in my Cuisinart 5-in-1 Grill/Griddle/Panini Press.

 This handy little tool is used so often I keep it on top of my microwave.

Dinner: Pasta Au Pistou, salad.  I've been trying something a bit different with my recipe for this. Instead of using my food processor to blend fresh parsley, fresh basil, parmesan cheese and olive oil together I am using jarred pesto sauce, mixing it with the sautéed chopped onion, canned diced tomatoes and brown sugar called for in the au pistou sauce. Just as delicious and half the work and expense.

 

Today I have had Cream of Wheat cereal and coffee for breakfast. Lunch will be leftover rice a roni  and salad

Dinner is going to be grilled pork chops, scalloped potatoes, and corn on the cob (slight change in menu plan due to having corn that needs to be cooked).

Update: Lunch turned out to be Chipotle, a treat from college age daughter for driving her around to do some errands! Dinner got tweaked a bit when I decided to make garlic & parsley redskin potatoes (at GF's house, need to use these up) and peas and carrots (another item in GF's freezer that needs using up).

 



Baking! Blueberry Muffins and Biscuits

 On my to do list today was some baking. I had a pint and a half of fresh blueberries and wanted to use some of these up in muffins. I turned to my all time favorite basic cookbook, The Joy of Cooking. On a food message board that I used to participate in there was once a discussion of the best version of this cookbook. The majority agreed that it was the early 1970s version, an opinion I sided with. My much beloved copy finally fell apart due to so much use and I reluctantly purchased the newest version which revised the version that updated the 1970s one. I have to say it is way more like the 1970s copy that I had than the awful updated one. Lots of my favorite recipes reappeared (like tuna noodle casserole).
Both the muffin recipe and the biscuit recipe are ones I have been using forever from this cookbook (which btw all my married/on their own children have received as a gift).
I used the basic muffin mix recipe and added 1 1/2 cups of blueberries (that I lightly floured to prevent sticking together).

Blueberry Muffins:
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Mixed together
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup oil
added to the dry ingredients and mixed on low until blended
1 1/2 cup blueberries
folded into the batter.
Using my handy Pampered Chef scoop in the largest size they sell  I filled paper muffin liners with the batter:

 

I had preheated my oven on the convection baking setting to 375 degrees. They baked for 17 minutes and turned out looking delicious:

 

I upped the temperature on my oven to 400 degrees for the convect bake and turned to mixing up the biscuits.

 

Basic Rolled Biscuits:

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter

I mixed the flour, baking powder, and salt together and cut in the butter using my KA mixer. I then added:

3/4 cup milk

and mixed the dough together. I turned it out onto my marble pastry board which I had lightly floured and used my marble rolling pin to gently roll the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. I used my 2 inch biscuit cutter to cut the biscuits out:

 I placed the biscuits evenly spaced on one of my stoneware baking sheets and lightly brushed the tops with melted Smart Balance:

 

I baked these for 13 minutes and am very happy with how they turned out:

 

So we have blueberry muffins to snack on (minus four which are going to a friend as a small thank you for something she did for me) and the biscuits will be served topped with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert!

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy Day To Do List

 I cannot remember another summer so rainy as the one we are having now. Last month the local weatherperson let all of us who may have been in a cave asleep know that we only had ONE day without some kind of rainfall in our area in the month of June. July actually got off to a roaring start with 5 whole sunny/partly sunny days. But our streak ended Tuesday with more thunderstorms. 
On the downside the grass is growing super fast and there is a limited window for cutting it. On the upside all my plants are getting free watering.
Today is going to be one long rain storm so I am going to focus on doing some things around the house. I intend to bake: Blueberry muffins & baking powder biscuits. I made bread yesterday (a loaf of white whole wheat) and I cut up the really ripe strawberries and sugared them for shortcake, hence the biscuits. I am also doing laundry: load one in the washer (I have used my clothesline a grand total of twice this summer and laundry needs to be kept up so the dryer it is). Drying racks are on my "needs" list if I get this job so that I can do inside drying on days like today. The basement is far too humid to hang anything down there and expect it not to smell damp. Despite fresh Damp-rid bags. All this rain, ugh.
I am also going to give the house a nice clean ( outside of the daily sweeping, swiffering, vacuuming ) and I will dust, mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, and clean the bath, the kitchen and the upstairs hallway.
Then I plan on settling in with a murder mystery before playing taxi driver for both college age daughter and college age son who both need rides to work later.
I also have more good news on the job front. I received an email asking for 5 references. Something they don't do if they are not considering you (according to my middle DD who works there). Prayers are still very much appreciated.