No Average Mom

Someone asked me the other day what I would become if I had my life to do over again. My answer surprised them for some reason. The truth is I honestly wouldn’t waste 20 years going to college to end up in a career I detest. Instead I would have spent time learning all I could about running a business and then spend my time making it successful. Ideally I would have bought a Subway franchise in a great location. I know this is not what you would expect from someone with 4 college degrees but right now I am not using any other them. Most of them are in very focused and highly competitive fields where making a living can be extremely challenging unless you own the business and work for yourself.

Has anyone tried Jillian Michaels “30 Day Shred” dvd? I’ve been doing it for less than a wee and can already see results!!! I’m going to do it every day for 30 days, then do it every other day after that. It’s just over 20 minutes. It’s a 3..2..1 program. 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute abs. She does 3 circuits of each. There are also 3 levels. I did level one for 2 days but felt I could handle more. Level 2 is all I can handle for now. I might go out and buy some of the Biggest Loser DVD’s as well.

It has only been in the last few weeks that I have started to feel like we are finally on a smooth path in life. The last couple of years have been full of various challenges that always seem to leave me on edge. Now that everything is out of self storage and moved into our new home it at last seemed like we were where we are supposed to be. Now our state government is sending a message that jobs are going to be cut at all levels. This is not good news at all for our single income and very modest income family. My husband works for the state and we are all very worried about what the future now holds as no clear answers are forthcoming from our governor.

Our state is facing serious budget shortfalls in the coming months. The governor has issued a statement that jobs will be slashed throughout the ranks of the state employee system. My husband is a state employee and a fairly new one. We are very worried about the coming months and how we are going to make ends meet should he be laid off. Just when I think everything has finally smoothed out and we can sit back and relax for a moment it all seem start to crumble. I just pray our nation and our leaders can find some sort of way to turn this situation around and soon.

We are all eating healthier in our house. About two weeks ago I decided that something needed to change. I wasn’t about to put my family on diet pills or anything but I knew we needed to improve our health. What we have been doing is eating tons of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. We have also incorporated healthy proteins and more natural food choices. We seem to have more energy and much less of that carbohydrate slump we all seem to have mid morning and afternoon.

Right now I don’t do OAMC, but cook extra and freeze them. I am thinking about getting more into since things around here are so hectic. As of now I do things like chicken and noodles I cook double and then put half in a freezer bag for later. Same with meatballs and cookie dough. The cookie dough I use a cookie scoop for, scoop onto wax paper and freeze, then put in the freezer bag.

Lasagnas I will assemble in the pan then cover with saran wrap, then foil, and then put in a freezer bag with the baking directions included….same with chicken noodle casserole.

My DH is also pretty picky about leftovers and “freezer-cooking”. If he doesn’t know it’s been frozen though, he never complains!

Last year we didn’t get to take a formal vacation because my husband was training for a new job. We did have one of those vacation rentals reserved but had to cancel because of the him changing jobs. This year I think we will once again try to go away for at least week. We have really enjoyed renting a cabin in the past and will likely do that again. It seems funny to be thinking about it already but if we don’t all the good cabins will be gone! I personally can’t wait to be sitting in a lawn chair basking in the sun rather than here looking out my window at 3 feet of snow!

Ok, my hubby has ” lost it “. This year he is going to try planting upside down tomatoes. He says he will plant them right side up, then after they start, he turns them over, with some type mesh on the pot to keep the dirt in place, hangs them from a heavy wire contraption. The tomatoes are supposed to grow better that way, no broken stalks, gathering is easy on the back because they are all in the air. Supposedly they produce more because the stalks are not weighed down…they are not bothered by insects and worms…the list goes on and on. Another goodie we have is ” container ” potatoes. I guess when we are ready to ” dig “, we just up end the pot onto the ground and voila! there they are. Almost everything is in containers this year to made it less of a chore to not have to weed etc. We don’t use pesticides so I guess we are ” almost organic “. The onions are also container grown. Hubby has a friend who is gardening the regular way and they are going to compare since they will be helping each other plant.