What's Goin' On?

Okay, here I am at my new bed time, midnight. Yep. My clock has changed dramatically and I still blame the time change.

Not much new going on in my world, but here is a brief list of the week's events:

-Had lunch with my friend, Toni, today. It was so nice to see her and her girls. I think it was the first time I'd spent one on one time with her. I quite enjoyed myself.

-I completed another swim class this past weekend. It was a swimming success. :) I crack myself up. No, actually. It was. I'm going to be the next Michael Phelps. Okay maybe Michelle Phelps. I've managed to convince myself that the pools I have been practicing in are controlled settings and not deep. I can stand up whenever I want and even though I have swallowed a bit of water here and there (mostly doing the back stroke), I'm fine. Really. Yes, you heard me correctly, I'm already working on strokes. I'm astounded at myself and quite proud actually. I still may not get in a pool with you, but I will be okay by the session end with swimming laps at my gym pool. It might take me a bit longer to be comfortable with kids or other adults in the water. Have I mentioned that you should NOT get too close to me in a pool. Truth is, you've probably not seen me in a pool, except maybe waist deep or just feet.

-Sydney completed another swimming class. She's doing very well and her little class started jumping into the deep end last weekend. Oh! I was watching from a distance. I was really unhappy about it. When she saw me, I had to smile and cheer. VERY HARD.

-I've cooked several more recipes from my new Ellie Krieger cookbook (apple pecan muffins, beef tenderloin with a rosemary chocolate sauce, sauteed mushrooms and shallots, seared pork chops with a warm apple slaw, broccoli with toasted garlic, oven roasted chicken with thyme and lemon and a savory egg scramble with tomato and dill). So far, they have all turned out quite well. Although, Marc tells me he isn't sure he likes dill. The recipes, aside from the chocolate sauce, have been very friendly, extremely easy and tasty. I find comfort knowing that we are consciously eating healthier. We've always been all over the veggies, etc., but the mains haven't always been as healthy.

-New grill is in sight! I'm so excited. I think we will be finally picking up our new grill this weekend. Oh boy! I love love love grilling food. It is so nice to chillax next to the grill. It is heaven. I certainly haven't mastered the grill at all, but I do love it. It is one of my joys. Why go to a restaurant and pay $26 for a crappy steak when you can grill one ten times better at home with little to no clean up at a fraction of the cost? Seriously.

-I have picked up two books over the last week. I'm half way through both, 'Hannibal Rising' and 'Always Looking Up.' I'm happy to be reading a bit, even though it isn't as much as I would like. I am trying to fit it in here and there. Also, surprisingly, I'm enjoying the Thomas Harris novel. It has been so long since I've read fiction. I am typically drawn to non-fiction. I just found it in my closet and thought I should read it.

-I've made a very small dent in our basement. This, of course, means that I have STUFF strewn about the house. I'm attempting to organize, purge and put away the junk in the basement and in my closet. It is going to be a work in progress for quite some time. In the meantime, I'm finding all kinds of things I haven't seen for years.

-We got a second fridge! Yay! We've always had one, since we got married. It has always been so useful to have the second fridge and now, with two kids, even more so. The amount of produce we buy causes our fridge to be jammed with stuff and it is quite hard to find things. I tossed around the idea of getting a freezer, but I thought it would make more sense to go this direction. I'm afraid of the freezer trap. :) Thank goodness one of Marc's coworkers was willing to part with their old one for $50! Yahoo! What a steal!

-Yay to fresh eggs! My mom's neighbor has about twelve hens. She sells the eggs and I picked up my first two dozen late last week. If I had my wish, I would grow everything in my own back yard. I would even consider having hens myself, but no approval in this area. Also, why go to the trouble when I can just walk up the hill and visit hers. :) I'm not sure what happened to the farmer's market here. It used to be down the street. I would have thought it would have started by now. I've got to figure that out soon. That reminds me, I've got to drive to my grandfather's produce stand. It is too far for a weekly visit, but every now and then would be good.

-I have not picked up the camera this week, but I thought about it. Does that count?

-I've done load after load of laundry, but there is much left to do. :) It is a never ending cycle.

-I FINALLY purchased cloth napkins. This is something I've been meaning to do for a while and kept forgetting. I made a lot of strides to be greener last year and nearly everything has stuck. I couldn't deal with the no dry cleaners. I do wash just about everything now, with the exception of the DRY CLEAN ONLY items. I would send nearly everything to the cleaners before because I thought they did a better job, not casual clothes. Now, since I'm only working in person here and there, I get away with going to the ORGANIC cleaner once in a blue moon. I couldn't handle the dish soap or laundry detergent. Things never seemed as clean. I tried though, really hard. I finally got my compost bin up and running. Yay! I've been without that for about a year. We've made steps forward, a few steps back, and we are moving the right direction. I took Rachael's advice on the sham wows way back and it is has saved us a ton of paper towels. I'm hoping the cloth napkins will do the same.

Tomorrow will be quite a busy day. I'd better get myself to bed and try to organize in my head. Oh boy. Now, there is a job. Sweet dreams!