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Archive for September, 2016

DD 23/24 - Thinking About a Dehydrator

September 29th, 2016 at 03:54 am

Still going strong on no soda. Smile

The light duty person has been diagnosed with per-diabetes and high cholesterol, so we have been doing a lot of talking about diet, etc. She's a big meat eater, so I suggested she may want to try cutting back on meat by using it as a condiment to her meals, as well as cutting out/back on dairy and eggs.

I've been doing fairly well with the DD. The one item I'm having trouble with is getting my greens.

That's partly why I'm thinking about getting a dehydrator - so I can make Kale Chips (maybe spinach ones too?) Then I can use them to dip in my homemade hummus. Taking care of greens and beans! Smile

I'd also like to do dried apples like my dad's friend Pete does. Every time I go out to CA, I come home with bags of died apples. So addictive. Smile

I found one on Amazon for $50 I like, but plan on checking Craig and FB first. DH thinks that's a good idea in case I end up not really using it. Smile

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I got an email from the Achievmint app today telling me how many points I'd earned. I've been ignoring them because I thought that I'd earned the max number of rewards. But today I decided to see why they kept sending me emails.

Well, I guess they restructured their program so that even people like me (who earned $200 from them) could continue to earn rewards in $10 increments. I'm halfway to the next $10! Guess I'll start tracking my water again. Smile

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Also last night I decided to look at the Bounts store ... and was able to snag a $10 CVS card! I tried to get a second one, but it wouldn't let me add it to my cart.

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I stopped at a Dollar Tree yesterday (Tuesday) and was disappointed to find that most of their frozen vegetarian selections weren't available anymore. Frown At least they had a good selection of frozen fruit.

I also bought 4 plastic canisters to put rice/beans/quinoa, etc. in. I need to buy some more, and also find my sharpie so I can label them. Smile

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I got a reply back from N e l n e t. They didn't answer whether they accept 3rd party checks or not, but they told me here to send a payment ... So, I guess we can try and see?

DH needs to recertify for the IBR plan. If it's based on 2015 taxed income, he should be okay still. By next year when it'd be based on both of our incomes together, we'll already be in student loan repayment focus so it won't matter. Right now we are focusing on the medical debt.

(Citi gives the option of sending rewards money to either a student loan or a mortgage. Otherwise, I'd send it to the medical debt. The medical debt has no interest, but the interest on the student loans is negligible, and the mortgage isn't bad either. I just want the medical debt gone first. Even if it doesn't totally make financial sense. Smile )

DD 21.22 - Vegas Out, etc

September 27th, 2016 at 01:27 am

Now I am at 3 weeks of no soda!

I got home from grocery shopping on Sunday, and then went out for a walk. Just as I was getting to the house, DH calls me to find out where I was.

We ended up going to check out some more cars around town, and in Home Depot to check out week whackers, etc.

By the time we got back home, the majority of the time I'd planned for cleaning/cooking was gone.

So ... DH cleaned out the kitty boxes (bleach) while I got dinner on and did a few of the cleaning tasks I'd planned.

Dinner was eaten about 9 p.m. That's not late for DH, but is way late for me.

After dinner/cleanup/conversation, DH asked me to help him figure out the blood glucose meter. Yes, the thing I had gotten him nearly six weeks ago.

What a bizarre and un user friendly contraption that thing is! Finally about midnight DH had had enough and decided to try to find some youtube videos to figure it out. I was beyond exhausted.

Today I managed to get my lunch put together, and breakfast made, so that they were both within the DD guidelines.

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Why is the Vegas contest idea out?

Well, on Sunday before I went grocery shopping, I stopped by the gym to do my initial weigh in and to ask some questions I had from the packet.

The guy who I talked to had no idea what was in the packet. For example, the packet stated that you could another facility, but would just need to have proof of that. He told me you could ONLY work out there.

So today I emailed the main contact person to clear up the confusion. He said the same thing! Even though the packet contradicts that.

This, plus a few other things, led the light duty person and I to agree to forget this whole thing.

I am thinking about joining Planet Fitness, which would only be a short distance out of my way on the way home from work. And only $10/month. DH thinks this would be a good idea as well.

DH also suggested that maybe I could go use the gym membership I already have (and have to pay til March) on the weekends when traffic wouldn't be such an issue. He's got a good point. Now, just to do it.

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I'm probably going to go to bed not too long from now. I've a massive sinus? headache, probably partially triggered by the short night's sleep.

DD 20 - updating budget / Habits

September 25th, 2016 at 05:52 pm

DD 20 (Saturday) was a bit of a wash. I had my regular morning smoothie and toast ... but then had a craving for pizza and chocolate ... and gave into it. Didn't get much other of the DD (daily dozen) foods in.

Today is a new day. Smile

-

I spent a little time updating the budget last night. I was thinking that we were going to be getting kind of close to the limit on our groceries, but even after double checking that all receipts were entered, I found that we had nearly $140 left! No way we would need to spend that much in the next 7 days.

So, I moved $70 of that to paying for the Trans Siberian tickets (my birthday category only had $15 in it ... the tickets were $108. Needed to whack some moles ...) I found a few other places I could WAM (move money) from, and fully covered that category.
I would have waited to buy the tickets until I had them funded normally, but by buying them when I did, I saved $40.

I can hardly wait for November 17! Smile

I've had a pretty lazy start to the day so far. After DH woke me up coming home this morning (4:30 a.m.) I managed to go back to sleep til nearly 9. I love Sunday mornings. Smile The cats weren't so happy about my staying in bed til 9 ...

In a little while I'm going to go to the gym to do my initial weigh in for the Vegas Trip Contest, and then go do some grocery shopping. Probably Aldi's, HyVee and SuperSaver.

Then I need to clean/bleach a couple of the litter boxes, sweep, vacuum, clean the bathroom, mop the laundry room ...

I'm planning on doing a simple dinner tonight I think. A Chef Boy'r Dee pizza with a side of broccoli and beans. That'll make DH happy and me happy too. (And won't take 3 hours of prep time.)

I'll bake some sweet potatoes for my work lunches this week, and portion out some of the beans I made last week. (How long are cooked beans okay in the fridge?)

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I read an interesting post on the blog No Meat Athlete about how to really make lasting habit changes.

Text is http://www.nomeatathlete.com/limitless and Link is
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/limitless

I don't believe personally in meditation/mindfulness, but I would like to get back into the habit of spending time daily reading/thinking about the Bible. Usually when I go for my walks, I listen to the podcast Brian Hardin's Daily Audio Bible, but it's easy to let my thoughts wander (especially when he's on the chapters with long lists of names ...)

Ten habits I would like to incorporate in my life:
1. Daily Bible reading (physical book) Start with 5 minutes, and slowly increase to 30. (Read Sabbath School quarterly??)
2. Memorize one Bible verse a week. (Use Memorise?)
3. Play the piano daily. (Start with 5 minutes, and work up to 30.)(Purchase iPad piano app?)
4. Practice Spanish. Start with 5 minutes, and work up to 20 minutes using Duolingo or other sources.)
5. Wake up an hour earlier. (Start with 5 minutes ...)
6. Daily flossing (much better about this, but could be even better.)
7. Practice releasing stress through other means than chocolate. --Say "Oh Well" -- Chew gum --- .....?
8. Spend time daily doing something to make the house more home like (other than daily cleaning the litter boxes) Start with 5 minutes, work up to 20.
9. Average 7,000 steps daily. Or, 30 minutes of movement daily. (Start with average of 4,000 / 5 minutes movement and work up.)
10. Make contact with one family/friend (other than Grandma) 2x a week. (Start with 2x a month, and work up.)

Habits 1 and 2 kind of go with each other, so I think I'll make those my focus for September/October.

What are some habits/small changes that you might like to focus on?

DD 17 - 19; Short Road Trip, Vegas Contest

September 24th, 2016 at 03:32 am

I'm still managing to stay away from soda. I'm finding out again, like other times I've managed to go more than two weeks avoiding it, that it gets to where I'm not sure why I wanted it in the first place. I'm at that point now - where a sip of DHs Cherry Coke doesn't even tempt me.

As far as the Daily Dozen - I'm still doing fairly well with it. I think I may modify it a bit ... such as making beans a 1/2 cup per day UP to 3 servings. Eventually I may work up to 3 servings daily, but most nights all I want is something simple like a bowl of cereal and maybe some fruit. When it gets colder, it'll be easier too ... soup or a sweet potato w/beans, etc.

DH didn't like the spaghetti squash too much. We have 3 mo I'm going to try making a spaghetti squash "pizza" and see if he'd go for that. I had lots of leftovers to eat this week because DH wasn't too keen on any of what I made on Sunday. I'm going to have to toss some of it, because I couldn't even eat it all.

One thing going to work on this weekend is coming up with a meal plan mainly using what we already have on hand, but using it in a different way (to make it more palatable to DH.) He was mentioning to me that he thought we shouldn't be buying more perishable items until we used up what we have. (I didn't say that if BOTH of us were eating them ....)

*Exercise - Fallen a bit short on this this week, due to 2 days of evening meetings and a road trip. Got in a 30 minute walk today though!

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DH may have found his winter vehicle - just an hour away! Thursday when I got off work DH called me and asked me if I wanted to take a road trip to O city to see the car. Although I was pretty tired and really wanted to get a walk in, etc., I said yes.

It's a 98 Subuaru - not sure how many miles - $1400. Needs new tires and a driver's side mirror and the windshield replaced. DH was supposed to call the dealer today to talk to them - I forgot to ask him if he did or not.

I really hope this car is workable. A 1 hour road trip is much preferable to a 12 hour roundtrip!

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One of our local gyms is running a contest starting on Monday for a trip to Vegas. You enter as a team of 4, and earn points based on exercise, tracking food, weight loss, participation in nutrition events, etc. You get free access to their gym for the duration of the contest.

The winning team of 4 gets a 3 day/2 night trip to Vegas. Airfare and hotel only.

So ... I got the light duty lady to agree to partner up with me - we'll be assigned two more people.

Doubt we'll win, but it'll be fun anyway. Smile

(This contest is mainly a marketing gimmick to get people to join their gym - it's a new company taking over the locations a defunct gym.)

It's free. Smile (Although you can earn more points by buying stuff at some place, or also by scheduling a chiropractic consultation / visit (sponsors).) I may go ahead and do the chiropractic thing - check to see if a visit would be covered under insurance. Smile

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I ended up getting 6 hours of overtime this week! Two meetings from 5 - 7, and then a 3rd meeting I wasn't supposed to be at initially, from 3 - 5. Due to my union contract, that 30 minutes of OT HAS to be 2 hours. Big Grin

2 of the meetings had about 125 people each, and one had 49 .... lots of twiddle the thumb time at that one.

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I received my signup bonus for the AE Charge card - 25000 points plus another 1000 for my "purchase." (paid medical debt) Let's just say I'm underwhelmed at the choices.

Most likely we're going to go with using it as Amazon credit. 26,000 points translates into $182 at Amazon.

Or we may keep it around in case we do some traveling, and then we could use it on a more dollar for point basis at hotels com.

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I'm going to try contacting N e l n e t again tonight to see if they accept a 3rd party check. I've already sent them two emails through my husband's account (that I set up for him online ...) with no response. (student loans)

DH and I agreed that if we don't get a response within two weeks this time, that we'll send the $600 in rewards from Citi to the mortgage instead. That'd be more than a one-month payment. (The mortgage company responded to my inquiry within about 6 hours!)

Once that finally clears out the rewards points, then I'm going to check into having that card changed into the Double Cash back card (that doesn't have an annual fee.)

DD 16 - Houston, there's been a delay

September 21st, 2016 at 03:22 am

No Soda. About an 80% on the daily dozen. Chocolate bought and consumed.

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The day didn't start well. I tossed and turned more than slept. Then when DH got home he tells me he's decided his car is "safe" for a 6 hour shift, so wouldn't be using mine. After a 2 hour "discussion" he promised to come straight home and change cars if he had the slightest hesitation about the wheel bearing. (DH got home about 3:20 a.m.)

As soon as I turned the lights on at work, I had a customer - one of the agencies. I later found out that I gave them the low income version instead of the full fare. I was blurry eyed and a bit foggy AND had two calls on hold before I'd even logged in. uGH.

After lunch I found out that the route changes are being postponed til November 1. Citing that the city budget has not been passed.

This is a mixed blessing. On one hand having more time to finalize prep will be very helpful. On the other hand, we have spent a massive amount of time advertising an Oct 3 start date. Now we get to explain that there's a new start date...

BTW - if anyone has an interest in bus driving, we are looking for drivers. ASAP.

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I helped out the first open house about the new routes tonight. 120 people showed up! Less than 7% sounded disgruntled, and of those, most of them we were able satisfy them.

It was actually kind of fun. Tomorrow I get to do it all over again. 4 hours overtime, thanks much. Smile

DD 15 - DH Saves the Day! , etc

September 20th, 2016 at 02:42 am

Day 15 of no soda.
Had a Kit kat gifted to me by the lady doing light duty. I'm a milk chocolate gal - rarely dark.

I think I got an 87% today. Lots of leftovers from dinner.

I think DH and I are both getting tired of roasted veggies. I need to come up with something else. Not salad. He won't eat salad. Veggies have to be cooked.

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So, how did DH save the day?

Well last night I was afraid I had fried my blender and my InstaPot. The blender would be a horrible loss due to daily use, and the InstaPot, I'm just starting to figure out what to do with it.

I'd tried everything I could think of. DH had me try plugging the blender in another outlet, and it worked! So then we thought that the outlet went bad.

But when I plugged something into it, it worked!

So, we thought maybe just the IP had fried.

But then DH made the wonderful discovery (which he will tease me about forever) - the removable plug in cord was NOT plugged in to the back of the pot!

Crisis averted. Wooh!

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Of course, on the other hand .. since DH hadn't made an appointment to get his car looked at (the wheel bearing fixed) and had just let it go and go (he did buy the needed parts ...) he tells me on Saturday he needs my car.

It probably will be most of this week before it can get fixed.

Ugh.

And of course this week just so happens to be when I have two evening meetings in a row after work.

Thankfully my boss said she'd be ok with me riding with her to the meeting, and taking me home on Tuesday. Wednesday won't be an issue since DH doesn't work til 9 PM.

But still... Ugh.

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I needed a few stamps to mail something, and since after I got home, DH had the car, I walked to the next closest gas station which sold stamps. (I called first!) Got a good 35 minute walk in too.

On my way home, a lady that I've seen quite a number of times on my walks was in her driveway unloading groceries with her son? She said hi to me and asked me if I lived in the area. I told her that I lived just around the corner. Smile

She then told me that if I ever wanted a walking partner, just bang on her door after 3 pm and she'd throw on some shorts and go! COOL!

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Something else pretty good. I got a call from my doctor's office about my blood work. They said that my platelets had improved a good bit, and to stay on the iron supplements - they seemed to be working!

I need to call back and make an appointment for another retest, and also ask what the numbers were. I hate how they don't give you a copy of the results unless you ask. It's so annoying. I want to track these things myself!

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So, I've been pretty frustrated with one of my paid to exercise apps - bounts. It works fine, but I haven't been able to redeem for a reward in a LONG time. I have enough points for at least $15 worth of rewards.

But they are all out of stock. Except one - Crutchfield. A $25 reward. I need another 2k points or so for.

I had been wondering why I'd even want that. But then I got a catalog in the mail today (or I should say DH did) and it was for ... Crutchfield! I browsed through it and at first thought everything was WAY out of my price range and nothing I'd really want.

Then ... then I saw it. A little device you plug into your stereo which works to make your stereo bluetooth compatiable. That just means that you can listen to your iPhone music without any cords connecting to your speaker system. $50.

This is a goal I can work towards. Smile

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Something else I forgot!
DH agreed to go to a real concert with me! Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Nov 17. It'll be an early birthday celebration for me. Smile Thank goodness the guitarist he likes is in this particular group (I guess they divide the group into two to cover more territory.)

Now I just need to buy the tickets! Big Grin

DD 14 - Cooking disaster and other fun

September 19th, 2016 at 12:57 am

I had my first real test today regarding soda... DH got a Mountain Dew from Runza while we were out looking at car lots. I was thirsty, but I had water with me. Not even a sip. Smile

So today is going to be difficult to assess.

This morning when I got back from my walk, I didn't want to just make a smoothie. I wanted something a little different. So I decided to make "ice cream" using my usual smoothie ingredients, except less liquid and more cacao powder.

Unfortunately. I way overdid the cacao powder and no matter what I added, I couldn't get rid of the bitter taste. I managed to eat maybe half of it, one painful spoonful at a time.

Like my husband likes to say - Laura, taste and add, taste and add. Ugh.

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My great northern beans turned out pretty good I think. 25 minutes in te Instant Pot. Smile My hummus is ok, but I really need to find my food processor so I can make it smoother/creamier.

Another disaster - I put a spaghetti squash in the IP to cook for 6 minutes. When I cut it open, I realized it needed more time. But .... the outlet isn't working anymore! I tried resetting it, but did no good.

Hopefully when DH wakes, he can figure it out.

I have tofu "steaks" marinading right now, and probably should get the veggies in the oven for roasting.

I would have gotten more done today, but DH woke around 11 and wanted to go around the car lots. A ride with DH is much more appealing than cleaning. Smile

We found one vehicle he liked, but it didn't have a price tag. I'm betting it'll be way out of our price range. We'll see I guess.

Post 2 - DD 12 and 13- Legumes & Healthy $$$ Mortgage!

September 18th, 2016 at 02:43 am

Today makes 13 days sans soda. I don't really miss it that much.

I did buy and eat some chocolate on Friday, but much less than normal. I actually ate an apple instead of eating the chocolate right away .... Smile

I'd say Day 12 was about a 85% and Day 13 about a 65%. I had leftover pizza for lunch today (from Thursday Little Ceasar's) and it wasn't all that appetizing.

I was going to go on the Saturday afternoon hike with some fellow church members today, but after I finished my earlier post and started to get ready, I realized I just wasn't up to it.

Instead, I took a 90 minute nap.

Even after getting up from my nap (to see DH off to work) I still wasn't feeling very good. So, no walk today. Frown

I'm really hoping I'm feeling better by the morning because I'm way behind on cleaning, and I need to get food ready for the week. Tuesday and Wednesday will be late evenings for me (helping explain the new bus routes to people) and I don't want to derail my healthier eating.

I'd really like to hire someone to come in and assist/push me to get the cleaning done. Maybe some organizing too. Also have someone help me figure out how to make the house smell better ... Sigh.

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I did some grocery shopping the last few days. DH agreed that if I made a big pot of Great Northern Beans, that he would eat them throughout the week. (This was after I read to him the section on how people were able to eat 1/2 cup of legumes daily on top of their regular intake, without it causing weight gain. In fact, it caused the opposite. Plus helped to regulate the blood sugar, etc.)

The beans and chickpeas have been soaking since Friday night. I am going to take them out of the water in a few minutes. Maybe use the Instant Pot for the GN beans so hubby can start eating them. Smile

I bought from our local "Farmer's Market" store - almond milk, spaghetti squash, eggplant, red onions, apples, oranges, 2 lbs of Great Northern beans, 1 lb of chickpeas (going to make hummus and roast some too), 1/2 lb of Brazil Nuts (eat 2 a day to help with thyroid, plus heart health), two Medjool Dates ($$$$$$) and some other things I can't remember. $26.xx

From HyVee, 3 candybars (3 for $1), red seedless grapes, ?? $13.xx

From Dollar Tree - multiple bags of frozen broccoli florets, frozen asparagus, a couple spices, etc.

$9.89

From another local grocery store (Russ) -
bananas, ten different spices/herbs (ground mustard, bay leaves, chopped basil, ground ginger (to keep at work), sesame seeds, ....

$14.40

I also looked at buying Chlorella and liquid B 12 ... but couldn't stomach the cost. I was thinking about buying some fresh kale too, because the fresh/non-bagged stuff was on a good sale, but I didn't know for sure what was the kale I wanted (3 varieties) - I wanted to try making Kale chips. So I didn't get any.

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I'm about halfway through How Not to Die taking notes. Some of the recommended stuff is SO expensive. I'm thinking I'll stick to the recommendations that are a reasonable cost, and then IF something happens to me, then I can go for the more expensive stuff (like Chlorella ...)

A part of me is really frustrated that I'm feeling so poorly even with having been eating much higher amounts of fruits and veggies for nearly two weeks, and little junky food.

I'm not giving up though. Something has to work to get me feeling energetic again. Maybe if DH sees it working for me, he'll be more willing to expand his choices as well...

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Redeemed a $25 Walmart gift card today from SBs.

Also used a $30 Petco gift card I earned last month by setting up "repeat delivery) to order some grain free cat food and more litter. Cost after rewards and gift card - $6.86

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Almost forgot! The mortgage FINALLY posted to my credit reports! I got a call from the fraud alert place my company uses that there were two alerts - one that the mortgage had been added, and one about the inquiry from Chase.

I'll Join In .... :) My List

September 17th, 2016 at 09:43 pm

Later I'll post another one, but only have a few minutes right now.

Let's see:

1. I'm 40 years old, and will be 41 in December
2. I have furkids, featherkids, and shellkids only. Too many of all of them.
3. I am a newleywed - married April 24. DH is why I am mom to so many non human kids.
4. I was an elementary teacher for 8 years, a tutor for two, and an elementary school librarian for 3 years at a mission school for Navajo children.
5. I live in Nebraska. Nebraska is something like state #13? for me.
6. In January, I will have been blogging at SA for 12 years!
7. I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. Far from perfect, but trying. I would NOT have voted for Ben Carson if he'd somehow gotten on the ticket.
8. I am a vegetarian. Currently I still will eat eggs and cheese and ice cream ... however ... I am trying to wean myself off of all those things.
9. If chocolate could be my main food source, I'd be a happy woman. Sigh.
10. My DH and I met the first time online in a SDA dating website in 2004. We dated a few months, went our different ways. In March, 2012? I called him. In May we saw each other again, and have been together since (except for a short stint ...)
11. I have family in Texas, Tennessee, California, Ohio and Egypt.
12. One of my dad's younger brother's and his wife have lived more of their adult life in the Middle East than in the US. They started as paid missionaries, and now are sponsored by various organizations to do a health ministry.
13. Walking is my favorite form of exercise. Especially walking outside.
14. Lifting weights is my second favorite form of exercise ... although I don't do it consistently.
15. I love to read, although between keeping up with various forums, blogs, etc., plus taking care of my non human kids, have not left me much time to do much reading lately. Frown
16. Music is like an elixir to my soul. Listening to it (most types except heavy metal/punk/rap) and singing loudly off key are two of my favorite ways to enjoy it. I did not inherit my mom's singing ability. Nor my brother's.
17. I have one younger brother (35) who lives in CA. He's a pretty awesome dude all around. I'm very lucky to have him.
18. I've had the opportunity to meet several SA bloggers in real life. MonkeyMama, LookingForward, ThriftyRay and another one (sorry, brain disturbance ...) That was a blast!
19. I feel so blessed that nearly 12 years ago I came across this website. It's not just a blog site to me, it's part of my family. DH doesn't quite get it, but he humors me when I talk about my blog friends. Smile
20. Ok, I must really get going. I am going to be late for the afternoon "hike"

Later!

DD 11 / DHs Appt / Work etc

September 16th, 2016 at 01:01 am

Day 11 of no soda consumed.

Chocolate was consumed, but only one piece. (a Hershey Nugget - so very small piece - leftover from yesterday)

Was hungry waiting for DH to wake up (still waiting ...) and had an apple and some triscuits w/hummus.

Had Little Ceasar's for lunch ..($10). DH wanted it, and I felt like going for it since he hadn't eaten in more than 24 hours ... I have two slices left for either dinner or lunch tomorrow. Mushrooms and pineapple (my usual toppings)

Depending on what we end up doing for dinner, I'm at about 60% today. I'm okay with that since it wasn't a normal day. Smile

-----
DHs appointment - His colonoscopy went well. It was pretty quick overall once they took him back. The nurses were great - one of them was someone he went to high-school with! DH was a little embarrassed to have her see him in the procedure.

My appointment - For some reason the lady who usually sticks me in one shot, had to really dig around today. Ouch.

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So between the two appointments, I went to work for about 2 1/2 hours.Busy busy busy. Wow.

Our new route maps came in, and I got to help move out the old boxes and move in the new ones ... in my dress work pants with my hair down.

So, even though I didn't go on an actual "walk" today, I think I probably burned as many calories. Sure sweated enough!

I really like the lady who is doing light duty. She's really trying. She used my computer a little bit today (I'd shown her the basics yesterday.) She told me that I need an assistant.. Big Grin

The phones are pretty busy due to the new routes. Complaints, people wanting to know when they can get the printed schedules, people wanting help figuring out their kids new routes, etc. etc. But lots of complaints. Plus the normal calls of course.

DD 10 / MN trip

September 15th, 2016 at 02:38 am

Today I scored 91% on the daily dozen.

Mainly lost points due to only walking 30 minutes.

I also ate chocolate. Mainly because I had some left from yesterday's purchase.

Must only buy single serving sizes. Must not keep extras in house...

I finished listening to the book this morning on the way to work. After work I stopped at the library and picked up the hard copy. I plan on taking notes on it tomorrow while I wait for DH's procedure to finish.

I tried a cup of water with ginger and a bit of honey tonight. Not too bad. I might buy some ginger to keep at work in case I feel one of my bad headaches coming on.

Someone told me that possibly they *could* be migraines, even though they don't last more than 6 or 7 hours (the worst part at least) and are helped by sleep, dark and a cold cloth.

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I'm kind of looking forward tomorrow - most of the day I have off from work. In the morning accompanying DH to his appointment, then go to work for two hours, then go to my own doctor appointment (getting my iron retested.)

I'm really curious to see what the retest is going to show. I still am not a ball of engergy, but I do feel like I have a little more energy than I did before.

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DH found a car he thought he wanted (winter delivery car) in Minneapolis. He decided since he was going to take Wednesday night off from work anyway (knowing he was going to need to be near a toilet ...) he decided to drive out there to check the car out.

So, this morning around 4 a.m. he headed out. He hadn't asked me to get cash out for it, and was bemoaning how frustrated he felt not having cash on hand to just go buy a car if he found one.

I told him I'd be okay with taking out a certain amount of cash that was already budgeted for car replacement to keep in the house. It wouldn't affect our interest earnings *that* much.

He seemed happy with that.

However, we still had to figure out how he was going to pay for the car.

I didn't want him to put it on our daily use card, because that would put us close to 60% utilization. So I tried to set up the new Chase card which actually has a higher limit than our Citi card. ???

The phone activation system didn't recognize the card number. The website activation didn't recognize the card number. Finally, I called the customer service number and got the car activated.

DH got on the road. He got back home about 6 p.m. and told me that he ended up NOT getting the car.

Sigh. (of relief partially ... wasn't looking forward to driving to Minneapolis and back on Sunday ...)

So, he's back on the hunt.

Friday I'll probably go ahead and take out the balance of the car fund to help alleviate DH's frustration.

It's a small thing to compromise on. Smile

DD 8 and 9 - Getting Ready for DH's Appt

September 14th, 2016 at 03:08 am

Going on 9 days of no soda! I almost gave in to temptation today, but told myself that no, I didn't need it. It was just habit - in CVS, get a couple of sodas ...

Day 8 I had about 79% of the Daily Dozen, and today I had about 98%.

I tried adding a 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 1/2 cup of black beans to my smoothie ... Hmm... interesting. I will have to experiment with how much liquid (was too thick.)

In listening to the book when I went on a 40 minute walk in the rain this afternoon, he was talking about the health benefits of ground ginger.

Headaches/Migraines, Menstrual cramps, PMS symptoms, etc., etc. I'm wondering if it would help me with my sinus headaches ... Doesn't hurt to try, right? Smile

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I hadn't spent any money this week since Saturday (ok, did buy some stuff from Amazon yesterday - silicon baking mats, a cookbook for the InstantPot and Miso)

This afternoon though I had to stop at CVS to pick up my DH's prescription for preparing for his colonoscopy. $50. Ouch.

I'm really trying to keep myself out of there unless there is a *really* specefic reason to be in there (like picking up a prescription)

I managed to get out with just buying a *little* bit of chocolate (which, yes, I ate ...)

I'm almost finished with listening to How Not to Die and now am waiting for the hard copy from the library. There's so many things I want to take special note of, but he goes so fast sometimes, or my "person" who tells me how long I've walked, etc. cuts in for 20 seconds+ ...May end up buying a copy ... (if I can find it used)

Day 7 Daily Dozen / Actiivity

September 11th, 2016 at 09:03 pm

Although it is only 2:40, I already know what I'm eating the rest of the day, so I figured I'd go ahead and record it here. Smile


++No soda consumption
++No chocolate consumption (ate it all last night ...)

Beans (3 servings) ...........3/3
Berries (1 serving)...........1/1
Other fruit (3 servings).......2/3
Cruceferious Veg (1 serving)...1/1
Greens (2 servings)............2/1
Other Veg (2 servings).........2/2
Ground flax (1 serving)--------1/1
Nuts (1 serving)---------------1/1
Spices (1/2 tsp Turmeric)------1/1
Whole Grains (3 servings)------2/3
Water (5 servings)-------------5++/5
Exercise ......................65/45

I went for an approximately 65 minute walk/jog this morning - about 3.6 miles. When I got back I had my fruit smoothie -frozen mango/berries and a banana with flaxseed, chia, protein powder and my new additions of turmeric and cinnamon ... and an incident with the black pepper. OOOO Lesson ... do not remove the spice container lid, especially not black pepper.

Let's just say that even though I attempted to remove most of what went in, judging from the taste, I was not altogether successful. (Seeing as how I'm not a big fan of black pepper in the first place ... but am trying to like it more ... Yech.)

I'm going to snack on some broccoli and hummus here in a little bit to tide me over til we get back from the Wills and Trust meeting.

I marinated and then baked a bunch of tofu "steaks" for dinner, and am roasting a pan full of bell peppers/onions/broccoli/eggplant/butternut squash/spinach right now. I'm also baking some sweet potatoes for my lunches this week.

In a bit I'm going to cook some brown rice to also add to lunches this week.

I'm also soaking some cashews which I'm going to blend with some nutritional yeast flakes to make a "cheese" sauce for the roasted veggies/tofu steaks.

Hoping DH will like this .. trying to change it up a little. Smile

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I finally figured out a good solution for my dust mop /bucket issue. A dishpan! I put a good dose of murphy's oil in the dishpan and some water and stirred. Then got mopping (and scrubbing ... of course by tonight there will be new cat chuck spots to take the place of the ones I scrubbed up ...) Worked perfectly. Smile

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Got our bi-monthly water/sewage bill. It was nearly $24 more than the last one. Yelp. I had to massage a number of categories to fund it, but I found the money. I will probably just set aside $50/month for it from now on, rather than just $30. Then once I have the actual bill, I can reassign the money to other places. Smile

Day 6 - Daily 12 / Received Chase card / Katrina

September 11th, 2016 at 04:41 am

+++
No soda consumed
2? servings of fruit

Checked on Google to find out what Dr Greger's Daily 12 consists of - had heard him mention it in the book, etc., but I'm not there yet. Smile Only on Chapter 12.

Apparently there's an app to help you track it too ...
The Daily 12 is a list of things he feels important to get in ... daily. Smile (Dr Gregers Daily Dozen)

Beans (3 servings) ...........0/3
Berries (1 serving)...........0/1
Other fruit (3 servings).......2/3
Cruceferious Veg (1 serving)...0/1
Greens (2 servings)............0/1
Other Veg (2 servings).........0/2
Ground flax (1 serving)--------0/1
Nuts (1 serving)---------------1/1
Spices (1/2 tsp Turmeric)------0/1
Whole Grains (3 servings)------1/3
Water (5 servings)-------------3/5
Exercise ......................10/45

Saturday Score: 17/67 ~39%

Not my best day to start scoring ... wasn't feeling very good and didn't eat terribly good for me stuff, other than at my first meal (cereal w/banana, watermellon, whole wheat toast w/pb)

We won't talk about my "dinner" .. except to say that chocolate and pizza ...

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I went to a local grocery store tonight (partly to get a Totino's ...) but also picked up some more hummus, snap peas, oranges and ground ginger. Spent about $15

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Sunday we are *finally* meeting with my church's wills and trusts guy. This is our third appointment - both of the previous ones were missed because of me ... (spaced the first one, was during house buying process ... had to cancel the second one due to coming home from work early sick)

I'm realy curious to see how this works. DH and I spent some time discussing who we'd want our executor to be, and who'd be an alternative, etc. We both alreaady know what we want done if we die (cremated and ashes spread to the wind) but probably need those wishes written down somewhere in case we both go at the same time.

I'd like to set up a trust of some sort for animals, maybe have it go to the local no-kill cat shelter or something. DH probably would like that too (this is if we both go at the same time.)

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I got my Chase Rewards Unlimited card in the mail today. Just need to activate it now, and send a $500 payment to DHs medical debt. Then probably by next statement will have the $150 cash back. Smile Which will then be put towards the medical debt as well.

Anyone know how long it should take for a mortgage to show up on your credit report? My credit scores all still say "No recent installment info" ...

I've had the mortgage since June...

I'm also looking for a good sign up bonus for a card DH could qualify for. He has some dings on his report in the last few years (before we got back together)

I probably need to wait awhile before opening another card (looking at the Citi Double Cash back card ... though I wonder if they'd switch my current Citi card (with an annual fee) to the Double Cash card (with no annual fee) ... Hmmm.... with no credit pull.

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I was reading something on the MMM forum on Friday that got me intrigued about some of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I checked a few books out from the library, and have put a few more on hold. None of them though seemed to deal with what happened in the stadium those few days - the rumors I heard about that seemed the most horrific ... so was kind of curious to see if anyone had written about the reality of it. Will have to see though.

Day 4 and 5; Job ? Update

September 10th, 2016 at 04:58 am

+++
Day 4
No soda bought or consumed
Got in 4 servings of veggies/fruits

Day 5
No soda bought or consumed
Got in about 8 servings of fruits/veggies
Tumeric/Cinnamon/black pepper in smoothie

- - -
Day 4 and 5
Too much chocolate bought and consumed. Frown

Am thinking that I am going to keep the focus just on eating lots of fruits and veggies and no soda. Not worry about the chocolate intake for now.

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Thursday when I got to work boss pulled me aside and basically told me what I'd planned on saying to her .. Wink That it made the most sense to put the extra person at the extra desk/table rather than me.

The phone didn't start working properly til today - after a bit of magic by the phone/IT guy.

Extra person I think hadn't caught that the plan had NOT been for us to be sharing desk/phone space. At first she was wondering if I'd had an issue with her invading my space, or if my boss had a problem with her.

I told her that no, it had been the plan from the beginning to have her at a separate phone/space, but that we hadn't figured on "retired" person being here doing training and using that extra desk/space.

She seemed to accept that ...

So, essentially I guess this isn't that big of a deal. Maybe more of a miscommunication between my boss and I.

I can deal with the situation as it is now for the next 4 or 5 weeks. Hopefully with less chocolate intake then the last few days ...

Thank you everyone for your thoughts/comments/suggestions. They all are greatly appreciated.

Day 3, Work Question (What Would You Do?)

September 8th, 2016 at 01:17 am

++++
30+ minute walk
Smoothie with cinnamon/tumeric
Got in about 7 servings of fruits/veggies
Didn't buy or drink soda

--
Ate chocolate (bought yesterday)

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So ... I like most things about my supervisor. There is just one thing that has slightly irritated me over the past two years. Almost every time I come back from taking a vacation of more than I few days, I find my office space / work supplies rearranged.

I get told that this is done because the way I have things arranged don't make sense to my supervisor and she can't find anything.

(When I am gone, she basically does my job as well as her own. Just she isn't logged on to the information line, so there are somewhat less calls to answer.)

So ... I sort of get this. I get used to the changes, put some things back where I prefer, and move on.

Only to have it happen again the next time.

Oh well. Not a big enough issue to bring up.

But ... a month ago or so I'm told that one of the bus drivers is going to come in and do "light duty" by answering the phone. She would wear my earpiece and I would still sell passes, etc. I was also told that I would "get" to sit at the extra desk.

Um... ok. I didn't like this idea very much (other than not having to answer the phone constantly) but I decided that if it was only for a few days, then I would just deal with it.

It turns out, that it didn't happen.

Until yesterday.

I had a lot of mail in orders that came in over the holiday weekend, needed to enter the work order reports for August, and a few other things - which I needed my computer for. Also, with just a few hours of listening to the light duty person answer the phone, I realized I needed to be there..

Plus, the extra desk is presently occupied by our "retired" accountant who is training our new accountant.

My boss was gone yesterday. So, I stayed put at my desk in my office space. There were multiple times where both lines lit up, and I tried to explain to her how to hear that, and how to deal with that ... but she for some reason couldn't hear the beeps ...

So today my boss comes back and is wondering why I'm sitting at my desk with her. I explain why and she's fine with it.

Then a little while later she comes in and tells me that the others in the back were complaining about the phone not being answered. Um ... not much I can do about that!

So the IT guy attempts to install a second phone line towards the back of my office space, by the lost and found cabinets. I'm told that this phone will be for me. That they'll set up a table or something for me there to work on. Um .. okay.

So .. the person who has no computer skills and is doing what comprises 50% of my work most days, will be sitting by MY computer and using my earpiece. While I will be sitting in the back of my office space with just a phone and a table.

No. Sorry, that just isn't going to work. Not only would I be bored to tears, but there are multiple things I do as part of my job where I NEED my computer.

The phone isn't working yet, so I'm still at my computer. But ... this person is talking like she's going to be here for at least the month of September.

If it was just for a few days .. I could deal with it. But for an entire month? NO WAY JOSE!

I already feel like I get the short end of the stick with absolutely no privacy in my office space. People are constantly walking back and forth in the back of my office space (to the conference room area, lunchroom, bathrooms, etc.) I don't mind this, really. But because just by virtue of being at my desk, anyone walking into the lobby assumes I'm available to help them, I can't make personal phone calls at my desk, eat lunch at my desk, etc. I HAVE to do that in the lunchroom.

I feel kind of ... maybe, disrespected? Like they think I shouldn't care about giving up my space for someone else. Like they can make changes to my space without asking me if I'm okay with it - it's more important for the space to make sense to them - people who spend less than five hours a week in my space.

I'm seriously, seriously irritated right now. I want t approach my boss tomorrow about this, but I'm not sure how best to do it.

We have a pretty good relationship overall, but still, I want to be careful.

I thought about asking her how she'd feel if she was told that she was going to be given an assistant, who was going to do half of her work, and be given her desk space, while she would be relocated somewhere else without all the tools to do her other 50% of the work. Or, how would she feel if she came back from vacation to find that someone had decided to redesign her office for her - to make that space work better for the person redesigning the office.

I'd really like to ask her if they're trying to get me to quit. But I don't really think that's the case. I think she's just not getting how this is sounding/feeling to me. (There's very little that makes this job tolerable. Putting me at a table with just a phone and no computer will drive me beyond bonkers with boredom.)

Please SA, your words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Day 2, Cable Companies ...

September 7th, 2016 at 03:26 am

So .. Day 2.
++
Did'nt buy soda.
Put tumeric and cinnamon in my smoothie..
Had a total of around 8 servings of fruits/veggies.
Got in a 30+ minute walk

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Bought and ate chocolate..
Had queasy stomach all day.
Had headache all day - maybe allergy related.

Keep forgetting to tell you all about the allergy appointment - was told that I'm ONLY allergic to a couple types of grasses. Makes no sense at all to me.
Sigh.

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Got a surprise bill from former Internet provider. I'd looked into keeping their service at out house, but was told the fancier service with TV wouldn't reach our house, and we'd have to get Dish TV. Said no thanks!
Apparently something triggered in their system and I got sent a bill for service in September - $120 AFTER $40+ in "credits."

Uh .. no.

Spent about 40 minutes on the phone. Wrote down name of rep and confirmation number. Hopefully is taken care of.

Then called current Internet/Cable company. TWC. My 4th call regarding the "deposit" they charged me.. Supposedly I have been given a $50 credit. We will see. Name and rep# written down.

After the phone calls I went to Walgreen's and used my $10 credit (from connecting my fitbit to their walking program) - bought chocolate and an Amy's meal.

Then to HyVee where I got some bananas, tofu, and veggies.

Then to Aldi's where I returned an impulse purchase, and bought a couple cartons of Almond Milk (DH likes it.) and some peanuts for DH.

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I don't know if the pherenome / felliway thing is helping at all. It says it can take 30 days ... My miss Kari seems to be getting worse ... Frown

How Not to Die AKA How to Not Have Lots of Medical Bills + Fender Bender!

September 6th, 2016 at 03:43 am

So last weekend I saw the book How Not to Die (by Dr Greger of nutritionfacts.org) mentioned in a couple different places. I put the audiobook on my library reserve list, and picked it up on Saturday.

Wow. I have to say I'm super impressed so far. And I'm only about 6 chapters into it.

One thing I already plan to do is add 4 brazil nuts each month to my diet. I also am adding a teaspoon of tumeric to my smoothies - I'd already been using tumeric on the roasted veggies, etc., but after hearing all the things it can do ... Yeah, a teaspoon in my smoothies! Probably will add cinnamon too.

My mom and my brother have both agreed to read/listen to it and then we can discuss it together. DH is a little bit more reluctant ... Smile though he did somewhat patiently somewhat listen to me talking about it this afternoon. Smile

So.. I am officially giving up soda. 100%. Not even a little sip of DH's at a restaurant. I also am limiting myself to no more than $2/week on any kind of junk food. Been spending way too much fun money on it/ eating WAY too much of it.

This is Day 1. Maybe I'll try to update a little like CB - though probably not daily. Smile

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in preventing the top 15 diseases that kill you ... Smile And saving money on medical stuff.

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So DH called me tonight and let me know that he got into a fender bender. His fault. Low speed. He's fine - but the person he hit (beater of a truck) appears to be claiming injury. Sigh.

This will be interesting to see what happens.

Now to figure out where the $150 ticket/court costs will come from.

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Almost forgot! I actually got ALL of my thank you notes written tonight!! Some of them are even addressed!

Now they are on the counter waiting for DH to add his signature, and a short note of his own on some of them. Then I'll get them addressed and stop at a post office.

Woo hoo! Finally will have that albatross off my neck! Smile

August Financials & Another Budget Meeting & Interest is Weird

September 3rd, 2016 at 10:10 pm

August was a spendy month in a number of categories - due to car repairs on DH's vehicle, and changing some grocery habits (i.e. buying more fresh produce since DH is actually eating it now!)

So ... the numbers: (expenses only == lots of money was put in various holding categories)

Mortgage/Extra - $0 (Was a month ahead in payments, so decided to distribute this money elsewhere.)
Natural Gas - 41.86
Electricity - $0 (paid August's bill in July ... Smile )
Phone - 60.67
Internet/Cable - 55.35
Groceries - Fast Food - 8.86
Groceries - 347.30
Car Fuel - 223.09
Tithe - 130
Giving - 30
Car Maintenance - 474.04
Clothing - 85.71 (mostly DH replacing jeans, shoes, belt)
Household General - 263.69 (bedframe, misc., piano bench)
Medical - 139.38
Pets-cats=food/litter - 59.10
Pets -cat-medical - 102.26
Pets - non cat - food.shelter - 70.34 (chicken cage, food)
DH birthday dinner - 40.84
Date Night = 17.30
Student loan - 53.51
Medical Debt - 1000

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DH requested that for the next budget meeting if it could be done on the iPad laying down he'd appreciate it. So thankfully YNAB's iPad app has much more functionality than the iPhone app..

We did our September budget meeting on the iPad while lounging on the bed. Smile We had about 500 more to work with this month due to DH not having any nights off for packing/cleaning his old apartment, etc. Still ... the money went fast!

We may be purchasing a vehicle for DH this weekend. He needs something that is good for delivering in the snow. The car replacement category and the car repair category got the most money for September.

For the medical debt, I'm looking for another credit card offer with a good sign up bonus. I have about 600 available in that category to make another large payment. Are there any spend $500 get $100 deals out there? Big Grin

We also bought DH a new phone - he found a used replacement for $10 on eBay. He currently uses a Keocera flip phone ... Smile He joked that he wanted an iPhone. I told him sure, if he could wait a few weeks til the new model comes out, then the iPhone 5's will be an absolute steal. Would be a good starter smart phone. Smile

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Ok, so bank account interest is weird.

In July we had just slightly less money spread between two accounts. Both qualified for the 2.5% interest. We earned a total of $28.50 between the two accounts.

This month all but about $1.5k was in one account. Only one account qualified for the 2.5% interest. We earned $41.86 in interest.

I really don't get how we earned nearly $12 less in interest having nearly the same amount spread between two accounts (maybe a difference of $900 in ending balances)

The amount we earned in interest this month is about what I'd figured we should have earned last month. So ...???