this, that and other

i've been absent from these parts for a long time but for good reason. the last 3 weeks have been filled with friends, family and lots of laughter. there's also been late mornings, late nights and lots of football. as of this week, routines are returning to normal, or near so anyway.

see that cup above? santa brought me two of those and i absolutely love them for drinking my tea. thinking i may have to get a couple more because i have a hard time keeping them clean so there is always one at the ready.

and reading? there's been plenty of that too by all of us. i have yet to read the book in the photo but i have read this and am currently reading this.

i spent new year's day giving the kitchen a good once-over. emptied out the pantry completely and threw away the food items that had expired or hadn't been touched in months (yes, it's embarrassing). and last week was a pantry challenge week around here whereby i used what we had. i should do that more often. it can be quite surprising how well you can eat when you force yourself to get creative. and, the family never once suspected. there was also an ulterior motive for cleaning out the freezer. we're getting 1/4 of a cow next week from my brother, the rancher. i can not wait to have beef in the freezer and know exactly where it came from. i grew up on grass-fed beef and believe me, when i was out on my own and had to start buying meat, it nearly killed me. not only was it expensive but i literally could taste a difference. so, the pantry challenge also stretched my grocery budget. i have about $140 more in my budget for the rest of the month.

the new year is always a time of resolutions and setting goals. did you make any? we've made one as a family - - running a 5k in march. there. now that the word is out, i will have to follow-thru because you can hold me accountable. i've been spending time at the gym because of it; 11 days out of the last 15 to be exact. and i ran for 13 consecutive minutes on thursday. my best so far. lawman has always told me running is mental, not physical. i'm beginning to think he might be right. we shall see.

this will be our last week to have alison home. college classes resume mid-january so she'll be returning to campus. i can see so much personal growth in her since august when she left. it truly is amazing!

well, let's call this a wrap and i hope to get here more often now that normal life is resuming.