Fall Is All Around

This should probably be the title for a post filled with beautiful fall pictures.  It’s not but it was a good day anyway!

Started out at Weight Watchers.   I only lost a quarter of a pound, but that was ok.  I lost and I’m getting back on track again, which may not seem likely by something I’ll be showing later, but what the heck!

First I want to show you a protein packed dinner I made for myself last night that took 5 minutes to put together but was delicious.

I sautéed a red bell pepper, then when it was partially cooked, I added a cup of black beans, the last of what I made last week.  I mixed together 2 eggs with a little milk to thin it out and a half cup of low-fat cottage cheese.  Mixed it well and poured it over the pepper/bean mixture.  Stirred it around a bit for the eggs to cook then topped it with some Locatelli cheese.  This was so good and had 3 sources of protein.  Very filling too.  I should try for things like that more often.

Saturday morning after WW, got back into our routine and Gail, Alice and I went to breakfast.

I was feeling oatmeal and this was so good!

Ralph and I went on a mission to sell an antique platter to a shop in Mullica Hill.

Turned out that she didn’t want it because she only takes perfect pieces, this had a small repair.  It was packed away so long, I didn’t remember about the repair.  We took it to our friend’s shop and they took it on consignment, so we’ll see what happens.

Slightly bummed because of this, what do we do…

Eat Pizza!  This was really good counted for lunch and dinner, so I don’t feel too bad about it.  Now if it hadn’t tasted good…I’d be really disappointed!

So I didn’t get any work done on any sorting and didn’t find anything old and interesting.

But after a nap-still catching up on sleep from the other night-I made a crock pot full of apples!

Well…the apples were old…does that count?!  Besides, they work great for snacks and they’ll help me stay on track in the week to come.

I absolutely do feel like I’m on a roll with this sorting and packing thing.  Only took me since January when I put it on my list of things to do in 2012.  Better late than never??? 😉

Happy Sunday!!

 

 

You Never Know What You’ll Find

I’m so proud of myself!  After having gotten up at 3:30am on Friday, had my coffee and posted on BCDC…no I didn’t take a nap.  I dug right in and continued my sorting (and tossing) on my porch where my desk and computer are.

I organized a big pile of recipes that I had printed out.  I’ve been putting them in plastic page covers and putting them in a 3 ring notebook.  It makes life so much easier.  Actually, I threw out a lot of them.  Funny how something looks good when you first see it, but then later…not so much.

I got a lot done on Thursday and I felt like I wanted to keep up the momentum. I feel like I’m really accomplishing things.  I keep finding things though that I don’t know what to do with.  I’ve found 4 or 5 old planner/datebooks.  I can’t decide if I can just toss them or if I need to keep them.  They’re not journals so they don’t have much more in them than doctor’s appointments, scheduled family dinners and what I wore to work that day.  But I’m very much on the fence as to whether I should toss them.  I guess I really need to go through more carefully and see if there’s anything of more importance in them.  A job for another day.

I found lots of old cd’s for other computers so the will be living in the trash can from now on.  Didn’t find anything else that required shredding…thank goodness because that’s got a big pile of stuff on it.

That’s actually a pretty exciting pile.  Those folders hold page after page of poetry that I’ve written over the years.  Some of it I haven’t seen for years because they were in a cabinet that I didn’t look in very often.  I’m looking forward to having some time to look through and see exactly what’s in there.

I found some more photos that I didn’t realize I had.

Let me introduce Toby and Bimbo!  They are my best friend Gail’s dogs.  They’ve both passed away and I can’t wait to give her this picture!  She’s going to love it!

I found a jar full of Kennedy head 50 cent pieces.  I looked them up and the most they’re worth now is about $2.00.  I was hoping for a windfall, but no such luck!  Also found some silver certificate dollar bills.  They’re not worth much either.  Oh, well, some things are only really worth something to us.

This next thing is dumb as can be but I almost went to tears when I found it.  Lodged behind a filing cabinet, I found this…

It’s the froggy toy that was the favorite of my two kitties, Iris and Lily.  I can remember how they would fight over it and stand on their back legs while they batted it around with their front feet.  They’ve been gone for quite a few years now and this touched me.  Actually, one of the things I found was the photos that I received in the mail from the lady who gave them to me.  Tiny, tiny little kittens…Ok, I miss my kitties…

So, I’m hoping for a good result when I get to Weight Watchers on Saturday morning.  I’ve been working hard at staying on track and we will see what we see.

Happy Saturday!!  Keep on Sorting!!

 

 

On A Roll

I guess writing Thursday’s post revved me up and got me going.  I said that I felt like a slug even though I could defend my case that I was Not being a slug.  I must have kept that thought in mind because my momentum continued.

I cleared more debris from the car.  Two big boxes of stuff transferred to the basement, currently sitting on the washer.  Of course, now I have the problem of having to move them if I want to do laundry!  In a way that’s a good thing…I Have to do something with them soon, can’t just through a sheet over them and forget about them! 😉

I consolidated 3 boxes of photos into one.  That’s a good thing, too, because if I need to find something, I only have one place to look now.  In doing that I found some photos of an old friend, Bob, from high school and college who passed away. The photos are from a long ago Halloween party. The spooky thing is that Thursday was the anniversary of his passing.  34 years…yes, spooky…

That’s Bob on the left and another friend, Marlon on the right.

I also did a good job, if I do say so myself, of going through paperwork in my desk area.  I truly believe it multiplies when I’m not here and it’s all the kind of thing that needs to be shredded!   My poor old shredder certainly got a workout, but it’s finished…until more comes in the mail!!!

Why is it that this sort of activity hits me in spurts?  If I could convince myself to do this every day, I’d be well on my way to having things in order.

I’ve even putting aside doing much reading this week in favor of sorting and packing.  I’m reading The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

I’ve been wanting to read this since May when I read his book The Shadow of the Wind.  I really like how he writes and I’m enjoying it.  I finally broke down and got it from the library since I couldn’t find it at a thrift store or library book sale.  I guess I really must be serious about this cleaning out thing if I’m neglecting this book.  Good reason to get on the exercise bike…I can READ!!

This was one of those nights that I couldn’t sleep.  I’ve been awake since 1:45am.  I didn’t get up until about 3:45am but I’m sure to need a nap later.  Too bad…that’ll cut into my sorting and packing time as well as my reading time.  No matter, I’ll work it out somehow! 🙂

Happy Friday!!!

Not The Way It Is At All

I know that I’m a slug sometimes.  I take full responsibility for that.  I’ve even developed a sort of pride in my slugdom.  If I’m going to be a slug, be a very good slug.  Read a book all day and nothing else except for food and bathroom breaks.  THAT”S a slug in action…you should excuse the mixed metaphor.

But, I haven’t really been a slug this week, yet I feel like one.

I did some, admittedly not much, but some reorganizing of my closet area in expectation of putting in a new clothes hanging rack.  Of course, that has to be assembled, but one step at a time!

I’ve started to work on cleaning out my car which is more like a mobile storage unit, but still does transportation duty. 😉 I believe I’ve removed all of the legitimate trash from the car. I found 4 rain coats and 4 umbrellas…guess I’m Really worried about the rain!  Oh, yes, also a rain poncho that Ralph put in …Just In Case!!

There is still an entire box of rummage sale/yard sale/Goodwill household finds that I want for our house in New Mexico.  If I had done this before the trip in August, I could have taken them all there and wouldn’t have to worry about them now!  There’s also a box filled with books.  Some came from Florida after my trip in January.  I didn’t actually get them until April when Gail drove back.  Others again are rummage sale/yard sale/Goodwill treasures.  Some though are destined for My yard sale in the Spring.  Thank goodness!

Also found a bag full of CD’s that I used to listen to in my office to sooth me when people were driving me crazy.  I had no idea where they were and I was glad to find them.

At least I no longer have the urn with my ex-father-in-law’s ashes back there.  I was given custody for various reasons too long and complicated to go into.  He rode with me for quite a while until we figured out what to do with him.  I thought of him as my guardian angel on my long commute.  I would talk to him sometimes.  He received his proper burial about 2 years ago.  I miss his comforting presence back there.

The car is probably going into the shop today, so I need to get more of my treasures out of there.

There has of course been food in my week.  A nearly empty jar of Sunbutter made yummy overnight oats…

The day that Ralph and I spoke to the mechanic about getting the car fixed we stopped at Taco Bell for lunch.

I had their veggie cantina bowl.  This was really good. Fairly high in points, but it was tasty enough to be worth it!

Last night, I was hungry but again playing the part of the slug.  I made cous cous spiced with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime.  That’s not  much work…In the microwave, I heated some of my crock pot black beans (it’s so great when they are waiting in the fridge for me!), some frozen corn, some veggie broth and lots of Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming seasoning.

Topped it with some Locatelli cheese and in about 8 minutes…dinner was served! It doesn’t look all that appetizing (a lot of times I think that about my food!) but trust me it was delicious!

So I guess, if you total it all up, I haven’t been a slug.  Just can’t figure out why I feel that way.  Oh, well…Guess I just need to make every day productive whether it feels that way or not!!

Happy Thursday!

 

WIAW~Feeling the Fall

It’s finally starting to feel like Fall and I’m finally starting to feel the Fall and I’m liking it!  Of course this all fits into What I Ate Wednesday.  That’s the fabulous food party started by Jenn at Peas & Crayons.  Be sure to check it out after you’re finished here!

Let’s see what’s been on the food agenda this past week?

First…soup made from my leftover barbecue beans.  Just cook up garlic, onions, carrots and celery.  When they’ve softened add some water, but not too much and the leftover beans.  It is so flavorful…warm and satisfying!

I wanted something heartier over the weekend, so I cooked up some pasta and used the barbecue bean soup as the sauce.  Topped with some parmesan cheese…yummy!

Breakfast eaten on the hood of the car!  I brought breakfast to Ralph where he was camping out. This was my egg, cheese and sweet pepper sandwich.  One of my favorites…Coffee on the side of course!

One of my favorite quick breakfasts…pomegranate kefir and Fiber One.

Doing my best to stay on track by having carrots and celery ready to use as those healthy snacks that are on our minds at WIAW this month!

One of my favorite meals in quite some time.  Cous cous topped with a sautéed mix of garlic, onions, zucchini, red pepper, snow peas, crock pot black beans and cottage cheese, topped with Locatelli cheese.  This was so delicious and certainly filled me for the evening.  I love finding things that fill me up.  It’s so strange, but I almost need to eat more than I really want in order to be full and stay fill so that I don’t go looking for something to snack on.  It doesn’t seem right that I have to do that, but it seems to work best that way.  That’s why I make such huge salads…They Fill Me Up!!

That’s What I Ate Wednesday for me today.  I continue my quest to stay on track and stay full at the same time! Be sure to check out the fun over at Peas & Crayons, read some blogs, leave some comments.  You’ll love it!  Fall into the habit!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!  Stay Full, My Friends!!

The Right Topic

Wow! It seems that it really does matter what you talk about when you’re blogging!  I have many loyal readers and I’m so happy and feel so fortunate for that.  I hear from you sometimes, everybody taking turns, playing nice.  I like that too.

Boy, yesterday, everybody wanted to get into the discussion! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I do in general have more readers and when there’s a topic that people have opinions on or curiosities about, it gets them talking.

Yesterday, I talked about Natural Harvest Market in Mullica Hill. I got a number of comments about the shop.  Unfortunately, most were from readers too far away to boost their sales! (North Jersey, Canada, Great Britain!!)  But the big button pusher seemed to be Kombucha.  Seems that Kombucha is a lot like Art Deco…you either love it or hate it!

So far I’m loving it and I’m loving the fact that there are things that can really get my readers talking.  I like that…I like the fact that I can be part of spurring conversation about something.  I’m sure that there are other things I could bring up to get the conversation going…50 Shades of Grey…Politics…no, No, NO!!!  You won’t be finding them here.  Especially politics.  Won’t talk about it, Can’t make me.

The other subject that really got people commenting recently was The Giver by Lois Lowry.  So many people loved that book and I’m right there with them.  Yesterday I finished Gathering Blue which is one of the companion books.  It was a little slower starting for me but I did enjoy it.  Just started Messenger, the other companion piece.  This seems to follow some of the characters from Gathering Blue.  I’m liking it so far.

One more thing that seems to encourage comments is some of my photographs, especially my sunrises and sunsets.  There was a beautiful one yesterday.  It was clear and warm out before the day deteriorated into wet and dreary.

It makes my entire day better if I can start it with a sky like this!  I will someday have a better camera that will allow these to turn out better. But until then.  I’ll work with what I’ve got and make the most of it.

Thanks to all of you for sticking with me and making this as much fun as it is by being supportive and involved and widening my circle of blog friends.  You are all the Best.  I just have to keep offering you my Best!

Happy Tuesday!!

Reaping the Harvest

One of the best parts of spending the weekend with Ralph in Mullica Hill while he draws, is getting to go to one of my favorite places, Natural Harvest Market.  I first talked about Natural Harvest way back in January 2011.  I loved it then under the original owner and I love it even more under the new owners.

Darrol, the owner, friendly as always answering my myriad of questions!  They carry a wide variety of foods and ingredients that are not easy to come by in this area.  So many interesting things, that I couldn’t even take it all in.

 

I had a lot more photos, but for some reason they will not load properly.  Regardless, you can go to Natural Harvest’s web site to get more information on what they carry.  My focus is located right in this cold cabinet…Kombucha!  Finally found it!

Tracey, the other owner had given me a very good tutorial on Kombucha and it’s health benefits on Saturday. She is a pharmacist and a nutritionist so she knows what she’s talking about.   She also told me what a big fan she is of it and that she is actually learning to make her own.  Of course I picked her brain about that as well.  I bought one and enjoyed it enormously.  On Sunday while Ralph and I were chatting, who showed up, but Tracey!

Of course, drinking her Kombucha!  Now that I know Natural Harvest carries it, I’ll be visiting regularly because I really love it!

Since Tracey recommended only drinking half a bottle a day to start, this should hold me for the week.  I can resupply next week.

Natural Harvest carries a wonderful variety of the foods I’ve been trying to find and thought I could only get by traveling 45 minutes to shop for them.  Here in a wonderful old town, only about 15 minutes away, I can find almost everything I need.  Small but mighty…that’s Natural Harvest Market!  All of their info is on their website.  Visit them soon! Have a Kombucha! Tell them I sent you!!

Happy Monday!

Best Of Intentions…

I started the day with the best of intentions in several areas of my life.  Headed off to Weight Watchers bright and early with high hopes and written proof that I worked hard.  For my efforts I got a 1 pound gain! I realize that I had a party last Saturday night and then again on Wednesday afternoon.  That is probably responsible and I’m not actually worrying about it too much.  I know I’ll be back on track.  I’m writing everything down and I’ll be Very careful this week.  Besides, It’s still my Birthday Month so I get some flexibility! 😉

My other less than stellar performance has to do with Dewey’s Read-a=Thon. I had all good intentions to read, Read, READ in spite of the fact that I knew I would be spending the day with Ralph in Mullica Hill where he was doing caricatures.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.  There are a lot of people there who like to talk and although I could have been rude and read with other people there, I couldn’t do it.   Ralph’s used to it.  While he didn’t have a customer, he was drawing so I could be reading, but with other people there, I didn’t feel right.

I also didn’t do much photographing of the fun that goes on there, I’ll try to correct that today and I’ll share with you all tomorrow.

But I will share a couple of photos that I’ve gotten over the last few days.

During the week I had a coffee date with Ele and Kristen and I found this beautiful cloud formation outside of Barnes & Noble.

It doesn’t translate here, but in person it looked like a tornado! Very cool!

A sunset from Friday night…

I’ve been sad that there haven’t been very nice sunsets this Fall.  This certainly made up for it!

So I’m headed back to Mullica Hill for the day.  Hopefully it’s not as cold today as it was yesterday!

Happy Sunday!!

Where Is Fall?

While riding around on Friday I made a sad discovery that I had been noticing around the edges of my observations but didn’t really focus on.  Although it’s chilly and even Very Chilly at times.  There are very few trees that have started to take on their Autumn colors.  And I’m Sad…

Autumn is one of the few good things about living in New Jersey. You get to see the maple trees turn color seemingly one leaf at a time.  You get to see the oaks turn red and yellow.  Even all of the sassafrass trees in  my yard turn orange, red and yellow.

But this does not seem to be happening this year.  Maybe I’m too early, but I don’t think so.  Maybe I’m impatient and that is totally within the realm of possibility.  Whichever is the case, I’m disappointed that it hasn’t come yet.  I want the Fall to live up to it’s end of the bargain.  I’m here, so you’d better show up too! 😦

Hopefully my visit to Weight Watchers will have a positive outcome this morning.  I’ve been very happy with my results over the last 2 weeks and I have certainly been on track this week in spite of all this partying.

I’ll be spending most of Saturday and Sunday with Ralph in Mullica Hill where he’ll be drawing caricatures.  He does it every year during the Civil War reenactment that the town puts on.  He’s alway excited to do it and he’s even more excited that his grandsons come to camp out with him on Saturday night.  It’s fun to walk around there and see all of the beautiful antiques and the displays in the shops.  I’ll get some exercise!

I can’t spend too much time walking around because I’ll be participating in the 24 hour read-a-thon tomorrow.

It starts at 8am.  It should be fun.   I know it’s crazy, but I’m sure it will be fun!

Happy Saturday!!

 

The Giver and The Giving

I often arrive late to the party.  No, not the Birthday parties I’ve been talking about for what seems like weeks.

I mean The Party, the band wagon, hanging out with the popular kids. As my Grandmom would have said…A Day Late and A Dollar Short!  You know, reading what everyone else is reading!

Sometimes I make the mistake of Thinking I won’t like something or being turned off by what I presume the topic of the book is, as was the case with The Lovely Bones.  When I read it I loved it!

Sometimes it’s because I’m Certain I won’t be interested as it is with all of this to-do about 50 Shades of Grey.  I’ve made an informed decision here…I’ve read excerpts and KNOW I’m not interested and I’ve made the right choice.

The other reason is usually that I have not heard about a book.  Thanks to my sweet friend, Kristen, I’m getting into young adult fiction…The Hunger Games, The Uglies series, Divergent.  I’m loving them all, but there’s one she didn’t tell me about because she’d forgotten about it.  I had to find out about it from a stranger. 😉

The Giver by Lois Lowry.

I had never heard of it until about 2 weeks ago when I read a review of it on one of the book blogs I follow. It sounded intriguing and I put it on my to-read list.

I was at the library last week and of course I had to give a quick look at their “for sale” shelves…They have them right near the check out…it’s not my fault….they’re practically Forcing me to look!!

I happened to find Gathering Blue and Messenger which are the 2 companion books to The Giver.  I initially thought they were sequels, but they’re not. Regardless, I had to have them and they were only 50 cents each.  It meant I had to go out and spend real money (or in this case-real gift cards) to purchase The Giver.

I don’t think I’m actually ready to give a full review of this book.  It is so simple and so truthful. I finished basically in one day.  Only had the chance to read about 5 pages the first day.  If I had really gotten into it at that time, I would have been up all night!  I just couldn’t stop reading it.

It is the story of a young boy named Jonas who receives a great gift.  As he learns the depth of this gift and what others around him are missing because they don’t share the gift, he feels he has to take some drastic measures.

I don’t want to take away anything from anyone’s experience of reading this.  My suggestion is that read it you must.  We all have the gift that Jonas received.  We all need to learn to use the gift.

I’m going to be participating in Dewey’s Read-a-thon-24 hours of reading October 13.  Don’t know how I’m going to fit it into a busy day, but I’m going to try!  I’ll probably be reading Gathering Blue and Messenger then, if I don’t finish them before!!  Join in if you’re interested, it sounds like fun! I’ll be updating on Twitter so you can follow me @BCDCFran to see how I’m doing!!

Happy Friday!  Go read The Giver!!