Not a Year in Review

I usually do a year in review, but this has been a different kind of year.

We did travel, LOADS of travel, out west twice and to Virginia twice to see the ponies. 22 states.  It's been a year for 2, I guess.

I started a couple things I will likely keep up in the new year.  One is learning Swedish. I am just shy of level 4, about 1500 words.  I am still flat amazed that I can remember even half, but I did a 300 word quiz on Tuesday and only missed 3.  That's a 99, or, as Chan would have once graded her own paper: an A++

The other is book reviews and listing what I read.  Not all of it, I have read some books so crappy that going BACK over it in my mind afterward would be like raking nails on my mental blackboard.  But it's been good for the brain.  With just Ben left homeschooling and him doing nearly all his own work now, I have less mental stimulation than I'd like.  It's been good for the old noggin to get some use.

I did not hike 1000 miles this year, and I am a night short of camping 30 nights.  So, neither of those happened.  But, I did work toward my goals which is more than I can say for myself some years.  Ha!

Okay, I guess I did a review.

For 2017, I have (surprise) hikes planned with friends old and new.  I am ending the year with 35 new FB friends. I'll eventually freak and unfriend half or more, but they are local (in the state anyway) and like to hike so I will see how that goes.  I need something to focus on with the kids getting older and finding people who are active seems like a better idea than some I have had.

I am planning to start the AT in April, no plan to finish it, though there's this little back-of-my-head voice that sometimes cheerfully pipes in with 'but we COULD'.  Yeah.  Right NOW the plan is to hike to the Smokies, though I have to say hiking to Hot Springs is appealing and I really want to do all of VA.  Maybe half this year?  I'll start with the first 167 miles and see.  Baby steps.

No other big travel plans yet.  Matt wants to do a long trip in the summer, J has stirred up my interest about a visit, Ben will graduate in the spring and that will change a good bit.  So lots of potentials, which is good for a new year.

Out of the House

First, something horrible happened to Ben after eating his entire bag of coal...
Luckily, he did NOT FTBA, even while his fingers grew chocolate coal foil and went for his braaaaaaainssss

My newest Channa Creation.  And earrings I made out of some worry dolls.

Today, we needed a day out.  So, we went to Huntsville.  We started out at Green Mountain and walked around the lake.  Jake and Chan downloaded the $$$ RPG maker yesterday when it was on sale at 75% off on Steam and have been head-to-head for at least 12 hours now, planning what to do with it.

They joined DIY dot org and have been plotting badges for a couple of weeks, 'make your own RPG' is the one they decided to go for first.  I was rooting for 'make a costume out of cardboard', but it's a start.

Matt wandered off first thing, Ben walked with me and Jake and Chan practically RAN the trail, talking non-stop.  There they are below, ALL the way on the other side of the lake before they realized they had left us in the dust!

They walked back to meet up with us, reaching us the same time Matt did-from a different trail altogether-and then started talking again and ZOOOMED back off.

Jake's hair...

It's Catfish!

We went off the back side of Green Mountain and stopped at Hays Nature Preserve and poked around.  Walked about 3 miles on the greenway there, too.

It may be my public school background, but I can only imagine a couple of scenarios in this 'area'

Jake and Chan waaayyyy ahead again!

 We had lunch at Moe's, stopped in at the Asian market for seaweed and rice, then I took the boys to see Riddick at the discount theater while Matt took Chandler to the fabric store for their after Christmas sale. She bought enough fabric to make a new quilt.

Riddick was good, we are pretty forgiving of the whole franchise anyway.  But Vin, he just does not age!

Here's the plot without giving anything away:
Riddick is on a planet that has a rare natural occurrence that creates a situation for a native creature to rise and feed.  No, I am NOT talking about Pitch Black.  Then, there are bounty hunters who have to team up with him or die.  Still, not Pitch Black.  This one has a zyena, which is what I am calling his HUGE zebra-striped hyena dog.  They don't call it anything!  :(
Riddick is about one zillion times tougher than I am, I noted at least 7 points I would have been dead almost immediately, after bleeding a while first.  Also, a couple of times I would have cried.  People are so mean to him.  I mean, sure, he's a killer, but it's not like he goes looking for people to off.  So far, they have all come right to him, been mean and then he's killed them.



The last bit of fun for the day was when we got home, my new camera filter turret was in the mailbox!

Straight from the photojojo dot com website

It has 18 total effects, 9 are various colored filters and 9 are various lens effects, like the one below of our Christmas tree.  It basically makes my camera into a toy.  :)  I also picked up 3 little stick-on lens filters for Matt's cell phone and my tablet, I am sure they will pop up in use at some point.  So far, I have just taken pictures of the ceiling fan light.  Surely I can come up with something SLIGHTLY more interesting.

But the main point is to get us out of this rut and start thinking of different ways to have fun and play around.  Things have been SO glum here.

But I am the one stuck living inside my head, if I want a different outlook, it's time to take a different route.

Plus, a wagon full of crap on the doorstep is not really a new concept:

Under $20 Part Two

I wrote this earlier in the month, just forgot to publish it.

Next up, hot water heater blanket.  They are $12-15 each and help not only in the winter-when they keep the heat snuggled up to the heater and not leaking through the house, but also in the summer, when they...keep the heat snuggled up to the heater and not leaking through the house.  It uses much less electricity to keep the tank full of warm water.

My other tip is free and will save money.  When you wash your hands, don't turn on the hot water.  By the time the warm water gets to your faucet, you have had enough time to wash them already-so either you are using cold water anyway or are just standing there staring at the water going down the drain until it heats up. Just suck it up and leave the hot off.  When you use any hot water, even 1/4 gallon to wash hands, the system kicks on and heats the tank again.  Think of it as good exercise for your metabolism.

That's it for this week!

Tumble

Since returning from our trip, my brain has been going 900 miles per hour.  I had so many new ideas and goals and things I WANT to get done.  I know me, I will throw myself into a project headlong and barrel until I run out of steam.  Then I will wake up the day after the steam is gone and I will have 9 things started and nothing finished and a mess to deal with.  So I have been making lists and trying to separate things into what needs to be done and when for which idea.  Then things happen, like we killed our massive TV, bluray and possibly the Wii (it was plugged into the power strip but the plug was not plugged in the back of the Wii, it won't power back on, but since the Wii was not attached to anything we hope just the power cord transformer box was zapped) .

This was a surprisingly easily shrugged off event, all things considered.  I was glad to get to move the living room around, though it is October and Jake and I usually spend the month huddled in front of the TV watching scary movies.  That will be missed.  But that TV was huge, since we got it (it was a freebie from someone who was upgrading) I had not been able to move the furniture around because I can't move it on my own and Matt HATES change, hates it.

I really did not like the whole 'worship the TV' arrangement of the seating, but the living room is 26 x 13 with 5 doors, a divider in the middle and a wood stove that is 4 x 4 jutting out 4 feet in front of the only window and a 20x30 AC return vent that can't be blocked.  There's not a whole lot of variation in arrangements that would allow viewing of the screen much less try to arrange to talk to someone.  Now at least that's not an issue.  I moved the big papasan where the TV was, so it faces the two smaller ones.  Chan took the futon for her lounge space.  Now there's room for a real couch.  If it ever makes my list.  Right now there's just some space in there, which is also nice.

My very first house goal is in less than a month.  I want to have the house all painted and the bathroom floor recovered and the bathroom in here finished out.  Outside, we need to cut more wood for the bonfire and get that drying and we need to haul some junk.

With our new business idea, I have moved ahead with ordering a small batch of products to work with, made two reservations for next summer, one at a street market and one at a festival.  I checked out several books on starting a small business and have been working on a business plan.  Matt secured a website and various other accounts and I have made a couple new contacts who may be able to help plus sent out some feelers.

What business idea you ask?  I will get into that more when there's something to talk about.  It's an idea we bounced around with Jacki and Phil last week while visiting them in Cayman and they feel it's a good one and are excited to partner up.  The trouble I am having is settling on what to work on developing, so we decided this winter, I would try as many things as I can and see what works out.  So right now, the sky's the limit for ideas and I get new ones all the time.  SO much to learn and try.  SO many ideas.

In other news, I am waiting to hear back about the potential book.  Nothing to report there, I can't do photos with no subject to shoot!   I am not stressing about that at all, it will happen or it won't.  The idea there was to team up with the author to take photos of the historical places he would be writing about. Finding photos from 'then' and putting them with a 'now' when possible.  Some of my favorite things-research and travel and photography, it's a perfect gig if it works out.  Plus, my favorite part of the world-no harm in traipsing around there a little more.

Some photos from the trip and around home:

Sunrise over the Smokies flying into Charlotte

The iron shore beach directly behind the condo we stayed in.  That ladder was the only access, that stuff is NOT for walking on!!

Kinky, one of the many blue iguanas brought back from extinction by the program established on the island. 

A shot of the new Camana Bay center.  It's not a crooked shot at all. The whole island in slightly tipped.  Really.

Nurse shark!

Amazing sunset.  One of many, there was a cold front coming in-thought it was melting hot every day.

The only shot of all 4 of us.  WHY???

A fishy morning playing around the Gamma wreck

 We mainly snorkeled the whole week:

Smith Cove, one of my favorite places on the island.  I am not alone in that opinion, it was packed!

Stingray Sand Bar

Chris's boat

Jellies at starfish point.

My jellyfish sting a week later.  Not from starfish point.

Allergies.  I mean fall flowers.

Adorable caterpunkin.

Love this idea, you read the short blurb and pick a book not by its cover.  You lay it on the pad to check it out and then  unwrap when you are ready to read something new!  Or, in our case, we had already read all of them we got.   hahahaha!  I guess we know what we like, even in 10 words or less

This church has the WEIRDEST signs

need more of these!

last-minute dinner Wednesday night.  FUN!

This.  I have spent time thinking about this.  Is it a dead baby?  A growing pumpkin skeleton that will one day be a reaper thing?  It seems creepy, yet both heads seem happy.  With their glowing eyes.  I have to wonder if it's because it looks like a male figure holding the baby figure.  So it radiates malice in some way that a female figure would not?

So, we are home and hip deep in my to-do list.  Good thing Matt has tomorrow off!  :)

Summer Day Eight: Create, Create, Create!

I woke up this...afternoon with a great idea.  The reason I slept so long is because I spent the whole night in the hammock on the porch with an idea rattling around in my head-I watched the sun come up and when it was too bright to pretend I could fall asleep out there, I came in.  The idea grew in my sleep and burst forth upon me finally waking up and some got on Chandler and now we have been sitting for  hours with pens and paper, creating a world and a back story for our characters.  I have not been this full of 'it' in a long time, that feeling that I am making something.  I am jotting notes like mad, she is drawing the main characters, I am mapping their world out, the ideas are flowing and the story is evolving and growing, it's the best feeling.

Today we are staying home, I ran errands yesterday and got us all set for the weekend so we can stay holed up for days if we want!  I picked up the hose for the van and put that on last night, I hope I can now report no more check engine light, ever again. 

We had a big huge salad for lunch and I made a batch of spaghetti and we had picked up some new goodie like a pizza roll, but made with garlic bread and stuffed with mozzarella.  THAT was a win.  The last disc of True Blood came in the mail for Matt and me to watch tonight, the boys and Matt are playing a new game together that involves a LOT of running back and forth and yelling.  I am going to set the kids up with pogo sticks to go from room to room, I think it will be quieter.

Grocery

I have finally worked out a way to save money on our bigger grocery shopping trips that only takes about an hour or two of prep and seems to work better than any other method I have tried.  I thought I would pass along the info in case it helps anyone else.

1.  Keep a list on the fridge at all times so things you are running low on can be added.  Get everyone to help with this, it's annoying when you get in from the store and your child says, "Oh, did you pick up toothpaste, we are out."  Well, no I did not KNOW you were out!  If only mind reading came with the uterine package.

2. Make your menu out at least a week ahead. If you have a store you favor, use the sale paper to help guide your menu.

3. Add more snacks than you think you will go through.  Or whatever else your family seems to plow through.  You only want to go shopping once.

4.  Gather up your current coupons, the ones you clip from packaging and get in the mail. 

5.  Go online and print out coupons for as many items on your menu and running low list as possible.

6. Make your shopping list, grouping items into where they are found in the store.  I do a general area list: natural foods, produce, canned/boxed, dairy and frozen.  Split your coupons into the same sections so you can check quickly in the store for size or type limits.  This also saves time at the check-out when you can pull out the coupons you end up not using before you are in line.

7.  Make a note by each item of how many coupons you have or how many you need to buy for the coupon to work.

Here is our latest grocery trip, the total was $258 before coupons.  We saved a total of $75.41 with the store card and coupons.

Don't get sucked in to just using the coupons, check store brands against the coupon price and go the cheaper route.
Don't use a coupon for things you don't regularly buy.  The exception to this is when you want to try a new product. 

That's enough for our family of 5 to eat for about 10 days plus extra goodies for our camping trip. 

I don't have a magical place to get all my coupons, I just google the item I want plus the word coupon. 

Get on a couple coupon e-mailing lists and subscribe to your favorite stores e-mail list for upcoming sales.

Many times when you print a coupon, you can go back and print one more at the same time.  This is helpful when it's a bulk item like cereal or pasta.

It only takes a couple of hours each trip, spread out over a few days.  Saving even $40 for 2 hours of effort is a good trade-off when you are an at-home mom.  Not many other household tasks give you back $20 an hour!

Ken Cussion

Jake has started writing a script.  Ken Cussion is a crime fighter/video game tester who looks EXACTLY like Jake, thank goodness, or they'd never be able to cast the part.

His powers were activated when he received a blow to the head from radioactive material.  That may or may not have come from outer space.

The current wardrobe considerations involve a belt of power that has so much bling, I am unsure if it's safe to wear outside.  The crows may attack.  The kids are so hyped up, I wish we had a decent video camera, but at least we have cameras with video!  It could have been a flip book! 

Stay tuned for updates on KC!  if you can handle the AWESOME, that is.  I, myself, currently have purple glitter nails in honor of the event, fingers AND toes.  And...the leg of my pants and one knuckle and also a little on the couch.

Flurr!

When I was a kid, I lived with my Daddy after the divorce and he would say, "Did you sweep the flurr?" He was capable of saying 'floor', but chore-related, it was flurr. Daddy has a dual vocabulary for many things. He is actually quite smart, he has a degree in theology and one in entomology. Bugs don't have souls.

But that is not my point, my point is, I am redoing the kitchen floor and inside my head, it is the kitchen flurr. Here are the before shots:

And here are the 'between' shots:

There is a baseboard missing, it was easier to paint with it gone.

The plan now is to seal the base layer and then have friends over to paint designs on the floor and seal those. I can't decide between a big 'quilt' and individual patterns or a tree and everyone add leaves and birds and bugs to a branch or just let everyone paint whatever they want anywhere they want. Like a big mosaic/mural. That would be best, but I can't get everyone I know in the kitchen at once to paint in tandem, it would be very chaotic and things would be stepped in and on. So maybe the squares would be easier. I would be able to seal them off as they are finished.

It's a work in progress, the only kind I seem to have. : )