New Year | New Faves

Now that the holidays are over, there are a few thousand of us who have in some way, shape or form vowed, resolved or set a goal that has to do with healthy eating or shedding the extra pounds that have found a home on our bums. I'm one of them.

I'll let you in on a little secret. I did this last year too. And probably the year before that.

I did manage to lose a few pounds in the early part of last year and I've managed to keep most of them off. Here are a few of my newly found faves and I've re-stocked my arsenal with them so I'm ready once again.

• 100 calorie mini bags of microwave popcorn :: perfect for an afternoon snack at work or home w/out feeling like you've given up anything


• York Mint Patties :: just enough sweet to satisfy yet has a minty taste :: one serving size is 3 patties but I find one patty to be sufficient at only 47 calories


• A&W Root Beer :: Yes, it has sugar but once in a while a girl's gotta have a treat :: Only 120 calories for the mini (8 oz) can and it's sweet enough that it cures my craving for a snack at 3pm


• Wheat Thins Fiber Selects :: 15 crackers for 120 calories and very tasty :: add string cheese and it's a complete snack


• Measuring Cup :: this tool has taught me more about portion size which has been more helpful than anything else


• CalorieKing :: a very useful resource for calorie counts, especially for restaurant foods :: also available in book form


• Almonds :: 1/4 c. with string cheese is a great snack :: yes the calorie count is high but you may find that you don't need to eat the entire 1/4 c. and they're good for you


• String Cheese :: need I say more


• Ice Cream and Fruit Bars :: we love our ice cream in this house but if we eat an ice cream bar we eat one serving vs. 2+ when we scoop it out of the container :: have you ever measured your ice cream? you might be surprised


• Exercise :: I know it's cold outside and it gets dark early but you can burn calories in your house :: put in an exercise video, do some crunches, sit-ups, push-ups, stairs (yes, on your stairway) or jump rope in your garage :: better yet, get your kids to join you and make a game of it

Have you discovered any faves or tips that have worked for you? Want to share?

Improvising

Last night we spent the evening with friends enjoying dinner, sharing the past year and looking forward to the new.

My contribution to the dinner was dessert. Chocolate fondue. We received a chocolate fountain as a Christmas gift from a family in Germany (their daughter was an exchange student here in 2006 and lived with us). A chocolate fountain is not something that I would have ever purchased for us but thought it would add a fun element to special occasions. Not only did we get the fountain, but they also sent chocolate to use in it. Really good German chocolate.

So dinner is over and I excuse myself from the table to begin the preparations for dessert. It doesn't take me long to realize there is something I forgot to consider.....the electrical plug-in. They don't operate on 110 in Germany like we do. I realized the fountain wasn't going to work. So it would be necessary to improvise.

Improvise I did and it turned out fine. Melt the chocolate, prep the fruit and cake then call everyone into the kitchen to enjoy. Mmmm. Adding a dark melted chocolate to strawberries, pineapple, bananas, pound cake and even marshmallows adds a special element.

Now to today. It's a new day and a new year. B3 had a friend sleepover last night and I promised them I would make waffles for breakfast. A late breakfast. More like a 10:00 brunch. Know what? It's 10:30 as I type this and they're still sound asleep.

Lawman and I enjoyed the breakfast/brunch without them. I realized as I was getting my ingredients out that I was out of flour. Completely out. So again it would be necessary to improvise. So I did. And, since I mentioned here that I wanted to replace refined flours with whole grains, it worked out great. I found an open bag of whole wheat flour and that's what I used. Waffles turned out great. Lawman and I liked them but the real taste test will come when the girls wake up. I'm not going to mention that I used something other than regular flour and see if they even notice.

Here's the waffle recipe.

Grandma's Waffles

• 2 cups flour (whole wheat)
• 1 T sugar (optional)
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 eggs, well beaten
• 2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. butter, melted

Sift dry ingredients together. Combine eggs and milk and slowly add to dry ingredients. Add butter; stir until just blended. Pour onto lightly oiled, hot waffle griddle and cook until golden. Serves 6-8.

With the improvising I've done in the past 24 hours, I'm wondering if that's a sign of things to come during 2009. I would say it's making do with what I have on hand and that's about keeping life simple. As Martha Stewart would say, "That's a good thing."

O'Nine Baby

I relish the thought of a new year. I like the idea of starting with a clean slate. I can do or be anything I want in the new year. And to prepare for that, I've made a list. A list of skills I'd like to learn, goals I'd like to achieve or things I may already be doing that have room for improvement.

• Be timely with mailing birthday and anniversary cards. I have the dates marked on my calendar but more times than not, I'm late.
• Spend more time doing crafty projects. I used to do crafts and I enjoyed it. This would be a great opportunity for the girls and I to do activities together.
• Shop early for gifts. This year I started way too late on my Christmas shopping but I'm also including birthday gifts here. If I see an item that would make a great gift for someone, I need to purchase it when I see it. Don't wait. This will eliminate the giving of meaningless gifts.
• Learn to bake scones. I've been meaning to do this for months. I love scones and they are fabulous for breakfast.
• Go to the ocean. Our girls have yet to see the ocean and this is something that Lawman and I want to share with them.
• Eliminate refined flours/sugars from my diet. Add whole grains. Basically, get back on the healthy eating bandwagon. Again. I'm sick of sweets and candies. Yes, I realize that my "learn to bake scones" is contradictory....
• Work my way through my stack of books. I've shared my nightstand with you and I vow to get through them all plus a few more.
• Eliminate my thoughts of perfection. There have been many times that I get ideas in my head about something I'd like to do but I don't know where to start. I have a tendency to not do something at all rather than try because I think that if I can't do it "right," why do it at all.

Are you a goal maker or breaker? What's on your list?

After the Storm

As B2 and I were on our way to piano lessons this evening, we got caught in a downpour. I nearly had to pull off the road it was raining so hard. I sat in the car and waited for her to finish her lessons. The double rainbow above is what we saw when we left the piano teacher's driveway. The photo doesn't do it justice; the colors in the bottom rainbow were so incredibly bright. God did some nice handiwork today.

Less Fortunate Gourds Find Home

Since it is starting to feel like fall, I thought it was time it started to look like fall. At least on our front porch.

The girls spied some pretty good fall decorating items while we were grocery shopping this weekend. B3 found this Indian corn and then selected a ribbon that would match.

B2 liked the unusual green gourd/pumpkin that you see below. The stem on it was broke and the pumpkin that is the scarecrow's head is missing a stem. So we decided we were the family that chose to help the less fortunate gourds! Oh, aren't we funny?

Lawman contributed as well. His old straw hat found a new home. Lawman is also the artist that graced the pumpkin with a face.

Mums are the only thing missing. I plan to pick some up this week.

I also noticed this weekend that the Christmas displays are going up. I realize that retailers are always ahead of the game but I find it so frustrating to be bombarded with all the decorations so early. I can't purchase any of them until I have a plan and know what I need. That won't happen until I pull out the Christmas decorations and that won't happen until Thanksgiving. Just let me enjoy fall.

Signs of Fall

Our buffalo grass has tasseled. That's a sure sign of the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

That's not all. Here are the other signs that I've seen this week.

1. Hot cocoa in the morning.


2. Needing a jacket before heading out the door.


3. Closing windows before going to bed.


4. Wearing socks...yes, the flip flops are in the closet.


5. Seeing pumpkins and mums everywhere.

I hope to purchase some pumpkins and mums this weekend and do a bit of decorating at our front door. Check out the cute pumpkin decorations that Amy did for her front step.

Will you be doing some outdoor fall decorating?

It's all in the Attitude

Don't ever let it be said that I'm afraid of a challenge. As a mother, wife, domestic engineer, employee and all the other job titles I wear, I muster up the courage to take on at least one challenge, if not more, every single day. Some days are harder than others.

We all face challenges. Sometimes it can be just having to get out of bed. Anything can be a challenge -- getting to work on time, being patient with your children or spouse, folding laundry, preparing a meal, committee obligations, etc.

I've found one thing that makes all the difference. It's attitude. Yep. Pretty simple. The course of my day can be determined by my attitude. I alone have the ability to make my day a good day or a bad day. It's not up to my family, co-workers, friends, or the gal at the drive-thru window.

Attitude was mentioned in our Sunday sermon. It was one of three* things that should be noticeably changed after becoming a believer. The Bible says that "Your attitude should be that of Jesus Christ." (Philipians 2:5) That prompted me to think about my own personal attitude. Can people tell I'm a Christian by my attitude?

Each day I decide what my attitude will be -- positive or negative. I've found that for my sake, as well as those around me, if I decide to 'wear' a positive attitude, it makes for a good day.

I have my bad days just like everyone else. And because of that, I'm grateful that He forgives. I make mistakes and sometimes it's pretty evident that I'm not 'wearing' a good attitude. I do find though that if I make a conscious effort to have a good attitude, it can and usually does make all the difference.

(*The other two things that should be noticeably changed are lifestyle and willingness to serve others.)

A Trip to the City

The Blondes and I took a trip to the city this weekend. We spent some time with my niece, Marcy, and her family. They have a beautiful new home and we hadn't seen it yet.

I also had another motive for going to visit.

Marcy does graphic design. She's very creative and she kindly offered to help her technologically challenged aunt.

Have you seen that new header? No? Well, scroll up and take a peak. Isn't it pretty?

I've had some questions about why I chose that scene.....it reminds me of where I came from -- the Flint Hills. It looks like home.

Thanks for sharing your talents Marcy! I love it.

And, you all check back periodically as there's more new graphics to come.

I'm Living Murphy's Law

Why is it that when you aren't pressed for time things go smoothly?

I've mentioned before that we're within days of the end of school. Blonde 2 is finishing up a biology project and preparing for a final as well. Why is it that when you have a deadline, things never go as planned?

We needed to replace the black ink cartridge in the printer. Simple enough, right? Of course not. No one in town had the correct cartridge. A salesperson at Staples guaranteed me that one they had in stock would work. Who am I to argue? I'm pretty limited when it comes to technical abilities.

Oh, and did I mention that Blonde 2 needed poster board? Well, shame on me for thinking I could purchase it at the local Dollar General. Every other freshman needed poster board too. All 300 of them. Okay, maybe not that many but as luck would have it, they were out when I arrived this evening. So I called my neighbor, who happens to be a teacher, in hopes that she'd have some. Sure enough!

So, back to the printer. Time to install that new ink cartridge. Of course, you guessed it. It didn't work.

Again, I called that teacher friend. Blonde 2 put her project on a jump drive and headed across the street. Oh but this couldn't be easy either. It required more than one trip.

Ah but finally.....project complete. Does Murphy's Law apply if you don't procrastinate?

Fine Print...Read it folks and follow through.

Customer Service - - you either love it or hate it.

Last night I decided it was finally time to make a call to Sears Customer Service Department. A call that I had put off as long as possible. Why? Most of the time I get the customer service rep who doesn't speak fluent English, doesn't want to be helpful or isn't willing to ask a supervisor for assistance.

Not the case last night.

I dialed the toll free number, entered my credit card account number and was directed to Karen.

Before I called, I pulled my statements since 01/2008 so my firing power was right at my fingertips. So I was ready -- armed and dangerous as Lawman would say.

Lawman and I had made a purchase several months back that was a special offer. You know, 6 months no interest or some such deal. Anyway, in February I had called to find out our balance in order to pay it off. See, I had read the fine print at the bottom of our statement that said, "You must pay your balance in full prior to 4/1/08 in order to avoid interest." We weren't willing to pay interest so we decided we'd get this taken care of sooner rather than later.

Balance was $103.27. With receipt in hand, I explained to Karen that I had made this payment - in the store AND in the full amount due - on February 27. (Remember this.) I have my receipt to prove it. Could I give her a transaction number or some such hoo-ha to enable her to find it? Oh yes, she tells me, she can see that on my account. OK then, why didn't it eliminate that balance due?

There's a catch, as usual. Go figure.

You see, we were in need of some new tires for our car. On February 26 (one day before I made that payment, remember?) we purchased tires. $550 worth of tires and I paid for it with our credit card. Business as usual, right? Wrong. It works like this.

When you have a "promotional balance" and "other balance", the majority of your payments on account will apply to the "other balance" because it is accruing interest. Well, guess what my payment of $103.27 went to? Yep. Tires. I can guarantee you those dadgum tires had been on that account for less than 24 hours!

The reason I called in the first place is because we received our new statement in the mail a few days ago and a line item of "Interest Accrued" appeared....$148!! That's right folks. Interest on our "promotional purchase" and it was calculated to accrue from the first day of purchase to present. That's 6 mos. worth of interest (or some such magical number) on a balance that we thought we had paid off.

Well, bless Karen's heart. I'm tellin' ya I would send this girl a canned ham for her excellent customer service if I knew how to find her.

She "re-applied" our payment (some fancy jargon for fudging the books or tricking the computer?) to the promotional balance or actually, as much of it as she could. This left a "promo balance" due of $22.00 and she got her supervisor and he eliminated the $148 in interest. How's that for customer service? So now all I have to do is pay $22 before the 25th of this month to avoid interest again on that "promo purchase."

Personally, I think the whole "promo balance" should have disappeared but I wasn't about to argue with Karen. Not after what she just accomplished on my behalf. She's the best customer service rep I've worked with. Ever. Next time I call Sears for some help, I think I'll ask for her by name.

And Karen, what kind of ham do you prefer? Smoked or honey glazed?