Humidity makes you fat

*245*

   So do hormones, pizza, and a whole sharing size Snicker bar!  Ha! It is too hot to cook so take out was ordered under duress.

   It has been so humid the past few days. The kind where blinking makes you sweat. I hate it. I know I said I would not complain cause of all the snow we had but oh well...there it is. I dont like sweating. We had rain come through last night so it is cooler today. I am going to take advantage of this small window of crisp air to finish moving the furniture in place in my room. I cannot find any clothes because it is like a bomb was detonated in there. The dressers have not been put where they belong and there is clothes and crap everywhere. So that will happen this morning..or that is the plan.

I also have a plan to get the jam done soon. I am hoping tomorrow. The following couple of weeks will be busy and I wont have time to do it. Right now the family is jam-less. We shall see how that goes.

I am doing ok. I have good days and bad days with my head. I try to take it in stride. Some people need to realize that when I feel like crap, it isnt just a headache. It is way more.

 Short sweet post today. I ate too much yesterday, cool off, cleaning and Jam! 

BAM!

  

Dreaming of Spring

Cortlands and MacIntosh

*253*

   My dining room table has these three bags of apples on it. Macs and Cortlands. The room smells nice. I was able to get these for $5 a bag. They are each almost 20 lbs each. That comes to 25 cent a lb. I have decided to do some apple sauce but also some apple jelly. I have to see if I have any more cheese cloth. I love being able to buy something cheaply, make it into something good, and it saves money.

  But first I have to clean house. Ugh.

  I am a person that has a really tidy and well ordered house...in my mind. Yeah, not so much in reality. I have dusty window ledges. How do I tackle that when I have so much to do? It is my running theme in my life. I am a sick person who likes to live in a clean home but lives with family that has ADHD.  It is a freaking party! I try to rein in my ADHD tendencies by sticking with one or two areas of interest a day. The kitchen is always part of that list. It is always a mess in the morning. Always! I never wake up to smooth counter tops and everything put away. Today I will also tackle the downstairs bath. That is the *children`s* bathroom but it is also the one that people would use if they came to the house. It is like a fucking swamp. I leave it till I cant take it anymore. Those will be my two areas of interest. The vacuuming, recycling, mopping, dog washing, stair sweeping, dusting, laundry, and general decluttering will just have to wait it`s turn for more energy.

  Yeah, more energy. That is a funny notion. I miss the days of being able to do what I want and my body doesnt betray me.  I will need to muster up plenty of that fabled energy soon. My bestie, A, has some very bad bad back issues. She will need surgery. She is weaving through the maze of worker`s comp now. I am her friend and she will need my help through this. Rides to the Dr. Care after surgery. I have already started cooking meals and slowly cleaning her house. Cooking and cleaning for her but there are her Mother and Son living there also. Yeah, you read that right. I have two homes to clean. I am not complaining. I love her and it has to be done. I just dont know how.  If you have any ideas, just let me know. I fear that this could hurt me. I am already dealing with something neurological that I dont wanna talk about. It will have to wait cause I dont have the time or the money to afford being laid up right now.

  Positives for today are always good.  The furnace is wonderful. I have it on the low side. It is 20 something out but the house is good. You need a light sweater but we aren't millionaires.  I bought a primrose plant for 25 cents. It breaks my spend fast but I needed to see the flowers that it brings. My friend gifted me a blu ray player. I have to hook it up. Very happy about that! Hubs birthday is next week. I havent decided on the menu but he will have a Almond Joy cake. Oh yeah.I am actually starting to like my grey hairs that are popping up. I have decided I wont color. I earned every one of them!

I will post about the spending fast this weekend. While it supposedly snows.

To can or not to can. That is the question of the day

Ball half gallon canning jar

*255*<-----in the losing inches phase now

  I love that my friend had taught me a valuable lesson. Sometimes on your weight loss journey, you seem to not lose any weight even though you have cut calories and upped the movement. She told me that you lose inches instead, and then you will lose pounds. I am doing the inches thang now. I know this because all my clothes that I usually wear are either fitting looser OR are way too fucking big. I have started to dig into my stash of clothes that were on the snug side or I did not like this or that cause it made my gut show offy more. Today I am wearing a pair of purple cotton lounge type pants but they are for outside. They used to be on the snug side. I would never wear them. I am pleasantly floating in them now. Not too big, more like just right big. I am liking what I am doing. And I am loving all the *new* clothes I am venturing into.
I have to confess though that this week was a week of eating things not on the list. I ate 1/4 of a pancake with syrup. I had a burger with bun and small amount of fries, and yesterday I ate half a small bag of Lay`s. I chalk it up to my period was late and long and I have not eaten a chip in almost 2 months. It had to be done. My sugars were a teensy bit high. I am still eating well otherwise. I will be careful not to do THAT in excess.
 I always said I would never totally deny myself stuff. I have found healthy alternatives to many things but there is gonna be times when I just want it and I am not going to be denied. :)

  I found the canning jar of my dreams yesterday at Walmart. It is a half gallon jar. They come in a pack of six. I bought the last one in the store. And my pack had been opened (i guess they wanted to see how big it truly was). I did not care. I wanted them. I am hoping to find one more pack of six before the winter. I have no idea what I will do with them but I had to own them. They are usually used for people that can juices. I was thinking big jars of tomato sauce or salsa. We shall see.
 It is cooler this weekend. I am thinking maybe I will do my jams tomorrow (Sunday). I want to do regular strawberry. Then buy some more strawberries now while they are still cheaper and the next weekend make strawberry jalapeno. I have enough jars to make a shit load. I am not going to short myself this year. I want to make enough of the strawberry so that the family has enough for the winter. Then I will have extras for giving to friends. 
 So that is the plan, I think. I am going to do some yard work today. Fish for dinner. Canning tomorrow and then the man and I are going to go through our clothes to put away for winter, and get rid of anything we do not want. Full schedule if you ask me.
Oh and he gets to watch football. Lovely lovely football.

I can see me cleaning out our room on my own.

Took me awhile

No presents under there yet but soon

The tree is finally decorated. Natalie had put the majority of the ornaments on the tree but she forgot to put the beaded garland on. Too late now. I aint taking everything down to do that. The boxes of glass ornaments sat there for a week. Yesterday I finally gave in and put them on the tree. One year I was yard saling and this lady had a couple boxes full of old glass ornaments. Not just balls but Santas, a taxicab, and acorns. So many designs. She was getting divorced and the ornaments came from HIS Mother. Now she could have just thrown them away or broken them but she sold them. And now we enjoy them every year. I think we have had them for over 5 years now.  Milo has started climbing the tree again this year. He is our marmalade. He is going to realize that one day he will be too fat to do that. Oliver is trying to be oh so slick and steal a piece of bacon off my plate as I type this. Maybe I should stop now and pay attention to my brunch.

Today is definitely jam day. I totally misplaced the canner rack in the house. Fred and I could NOT find it anywhere and I used it like last month. I called around and found one a few towns over. It was a half hour drive both ways for Natalie and I. But I have the piece that is critical so that your jars don't crack in the canner from the heat. The strawberries are defrosting nicely. I think today will be the lavender jelly. Kitchen is clean. I just need to change my clothes, marinate the chicken for dinner and get moving.
 The strawberry jam and strawberry jalapeno will have to be done tomorrow because I am defrosting the shit now.
 I have to make 24 half pints for other people. Whatever is leftover out of the batches, is mine to can for us and I have a couple friends that would like some also. I have to make another batch of blood orange marmalade before the 19th but if they do not come out in the stores, I will just make orange ginger flavored. That is another 8 half pints of those for other people. I am getting compensated for my work. The money will help pay for Christmas dinner! This is my Sunday.
 I changed dinner plans last night and we had hot dogs on buns instead. Tonight will be roasted chicken breasts (on the bone) with mashed taters and string beans. It has been unseasonably warm here in my part of New England. No snow accumulations at all. I let the dogs out and it felt like early Spring. You know like late March/Early April where you still have to wear a sweater but it feels green outside. It is weird to feel that way in early December.
  Oh! I changed my post op appointment this week. I will be going on Friday instead of Tuesday. It was more economical for us to do that. It costs $25 in gas just for the trip up and back and I just wont have that on Tuesday. Plus paying the co-pay for the appointment.
Fred just came in with my 4 Sunday papers. There are two sets of coupons in each one. Two of the papers were given an extra sleeve of coupon. I have a shitload now but I know that is just a drop in the bucket. I have two objectives this week. I need to make a list of all the meals for dinner that I know how to cook and the family likes. Like a master list. I have to figure out if the printer is truly dead or did I flip a switch I cannot find (you know those printer switches that locks it when you are moving it), and I need to buy a binder and those plastic baseball card inserts. I have decided that I am not going to sort by area of the store but alphabetically. If I am looking for a coupon for Tide, I will go to the T section. Much easier for my brain.  I am also going to be meeting my niece and her family for dinner on Friday after my appointment. She is one year younger than me. The last time we saw each other was before I had Natalie. Over 20 years. I am not good with trying new things but after having been sick all year and surgeries..I think it is time for me to change. Fred, Natalie and I are going to her house for dinner. Chelsea has to work unfortunately. Hoping we have a nice time.

I also wanted to say that I have been back to weighing myself recently and it has steadily been 262. Booyah!
I know. That is a long way from being a super model of any caliber and I am not looking for that anyway. But very close to 250. I think I am going to go for a push to get to it for the new year. Once I am 250, I can fight that other 50 this year. I may be right were I am at right now in Dec 2013 OR I could surpass my goal. I just wanna be 210. That is good for me. That is all I ever wanted to be. I just need to get a good pair of walking shoes so I do not fuck up my feet again. I think that is what I am afraid of.

I have wasted a chunk of YOUR Sunday blah blah blahing along about me and what is going on. Hope you are having a great YOU today. Have a good one and enjoy the last of the weekend.
That is about it for my plans for today and the next coming days.

Busy Wednesday

*265*

  It has kind of cooled off around these parts of Connecticut. Still a teeny bit humid but I have the windows open and the AC is turned off down here. This is a good sign. I want to air out the house! I need to vacuum, and I have much canning to do.
   I have all my fruit put away in the freezer ready to go. I have to pick up pectin and sugar for it. This weekend will be all about pickles and corn though. I am going to the Farmer`s market on Friday to pick up local cucumbers and as many ears of corn as I can reasonably afford. The corn is just going to be blanched, cut into kernels, put into jars with hot water, and I will pressure can them. I will do a step by step on that for here.
 The cukes are going to be for the bread and butter pickles I have been making every year. I wanted to do some pickled beets but they did not perform well in the garden. I do not want to buy them because all the stores charge way too much. Maybe if I find some cheap ones at the fm, then I will do the beets also. That IS the plan. I have to do it because the season is drawing to a close. It will be harder and harder to find bread/butter corn (local variety) and good firm cukes. So if it gets hot again, oh well!

 Today I am going to stick around the house, get some things done and while I am at it, I am going to try a new conditioner for my hair. 

Coconut Oil!
 Chelsea has been using this handy kitchen ingredient for a couple years now for cooking. You can fry food with it. But you can also use it for your personal grooming. It is good for a moisturizer, lip balm, and leave in conditioner for your hair. My hair has been so dry lately because of the weather. I was reading that I can put this in my hair now, braid or put my hair in a bun, then wash it later on tonight. My hair will be bouncing and behaving. You take a small bit of the coconut oil, warm it in your hands and run through your hair. A little goes a long way. You can also massage into your scalp for some itch relief. I am going to do this today and I will let you know how it turns out.

Just a quick update

*267*<-----I had not been on the scale awhile!

Updates are good because sometimes you all probably wonder what the hell happened with this or that.
I will start with my ablation. May 2nd will be 2 weeks since the procedure. I still have to wear a pad. One pad for the whole day. I have been reading and I have noticed that the more that I do physically, the more I will leak. It is said that once you are done with the discharge, your basically all healed. I hope it ends soon because I am tired of it. I found out that some woman suffer back pain with this procedure. I will let him know when I have my follow up appointment..if it is still bothering me.

The Lavender Jelly is a hit. All the people that I have given it to so far love it. I went and bought more lavender today at the co-op and some more canning jars. I miss wrote how much the lavender actually is. It is actually $46.59 per pound! Now, I buy a cup and that costs me a little over $2. But that is how special this jelly is.

This is a Ball Collection Elite Wide Mouth (8oz)Half Pint jars. Last year I bought two packs of four for $4 each at Walmart. I liked them and I did not like them. They are a pain in the butt in the canner. But I love the shape. Guess what? There is a reason they are called Elite. They do not make them anymore!! So I went to Walmart this afternoon and found two packages up on the top shelf. Last two. Still $4 each. I snagged them up. I will save them for either the lavender jelly or something special. This one in the picture is for A-Gran. I have to  mail it out to her on Friday (i will have P.O. money then).

 At first I did not know if I would like the Kindle. Then Angie told me about Pixel of Ink on Facebook and I was in heaven. They post all the free Kindle books that Amazon is giving away on that particular day. I have been reading. I read one short story called 12/21/12 that was about the end of the world. That story pissed me off so much at the end, I wanted to throw the Kindle. It was confusing towards the end. WTF! Do not read that one. I deleted it from my list. I am reading a book now called Mozart`s Wife. It is really good. I got it as a freebie but I heard it is like $3 to buy. So the Kindle is good to have. I still love regular books but this will be good when I am on the train.

Speaking of the train, I am going away soon. In a little more then two weeks, I will be on the train to Jersey for four great days. I cant wait! I wonder how my family is going to survive without me?

Is there anything else? Not that I can think of. It is a nice cool and sunny Sunday. Fred and I have been cleaning. I am taking a break to be on here cause I have not been on at all today. Chelsea is out with friends. Fred and Natalie are watching the movie Hanna. I am going to make tacos for dinner.

Have a nice evening!

Fish soup and ouchy abdominals

Ocean Beach NL, CT

*269*

I just got back from the gym and grocery store. My abs are going to be screaming tonight. That is for sure. We went to the beach yesterday to go swimming. Me being Natalie, Raymond and I. If you did not know all ready, Raymond is Natalie`s bestie..not her boyfriend. We had a good couple hours until the saw a jellyfish. I came in with the tide. None of the three of  us were stung. Then we went home and changed, picked up Chelsea, and had a nice late lunch at Ocean Pizza. We do a family style thing. Big Caesar salad, steak fries, and Pizza. We all share like it is home dinner. We have done it that way forever. I got a tiny bit of sunburn on my arms but I can now say that my farmer`s tan is history!
    Today, I am going to make fish soup for dinner. It needs a catchier name cause Fish Soup just sounds so wrong. Like something that was served to the orphans in Oliver Twist. Natalie loves it and requested it for dinner. I picked up some Italian bread to go with.
It is a really easy soup to make. You get either some veggie/seafood stock or use bouillon and water to make it. I do a half and half combo. I put diced potatoes, minced onions and garlic, frozen baby spinach, spices like garlic powder, a pinch of cayenne and maybe some basil. Then I throw in 4-6 intact Tilapia fillets. I let them cook in the soup like that. After about an hour, I break up the fish. I add in some macaroni and it is done. Simple and hearty throw together soup when I only had 3 fish left in the freezer. I was going to do the Jam today but it is too fucking humid. I turned on the air conditioner down here and it has not been on for like 2 weeks. So you know my ass is hot. I will clean the kitchen, make the soup, and prepare the jars for tomorrow. I will also take out the blackberries to defrost. I think I can get two batches of jam out of that bag. Plenty of Jam to go around.
We give Jam to my Mil and Fil. We give it to Fred`s godmother. My friend Ana. The groomer. The mailman gets one. Ummm. I have enough to pass out and still have plenty to last me the winter.
 So tomorrow will be Jam day. Today is fish soup, coloring the blonde mistake in the back of my head to chocolate brown, and resting my tired ass.

Waking at noon, Pickles, 2 MORE DAYS!! and so much more.

*272*
I woke up at noon. I did not fall asleep until like 3am so that is the main reason. I had such a horrible head ache and sore throat last night. I still have a bit of a sore throat but the headache is not as bad. So it is 330pm and that is like mid morning to me. LOL This day is going to fly by quickly.
 I cut all the cukes into spears and they are in a HUGE bowl with salt and ice. I have to rinse them soon. I have to start the water in the canning pot, wash dishes, sterilize the jars (lids and collars), make the juice for the pickles (bread and butter), and can them. I am documenting the whole thing so that I can post it tomorrow. I will be posting the recipe also.  I spent $26 on 2 dozen wide mouth pint canning jars. WTF! Everyone has decided they want to try their hand at canning. I have not problem with that but the supplies are low and the prices are higher. I used to pay $6.99 a dozen last year! I got a guy in another town that has a dozen to give me for free thru freecycle. I will have the girls with me so it will be safe. I have strawberry jam to do. I have some more strawberries that I have to cut and freeze today also. Cannot forget that.
 As you can see from the picture, Oliver and Milo are fast friends. They sleep together. My last couple cats did not do that. They did not even clean each other. So I think it is sweet and nice that I have two buddy boys.  Oliver was still a young cat when MonsterFace died and he missed him so. Now he does not bug the shit out of me every morning like he used to.
  Tuesday we get the Jeep! Woot! I have been looking at Jeep spare tire covers. I have not decided which one we should get. I do not want it to be girly or masculine so we shall see. I am so excited!!
   I go back to the Periodontist tomorrow. Final check on the surgery site and then the bottom line. I got a *this is not a bill* thing from the dental insurance. It says that MY portion of the bill is over $900. I guess that means no trip to Colorado or any place else for that matter. I paid them $300 already so I still owe $600. I have $200 to give them tomorrow. That is all I have to give. I will have to just send them money each month until it is paid off. I cannot have any more dental stuff done until October. That is when the new insurance cycle kicks in. Ugh!
Wow..I have posted alot of boring fucking information. Sometimes I wonder why I even do this...

Oh..I remember! Dude! None of my Bras fit! My boobs are swimming in them! Woot! Woot! Woot!
I will get fitted again and purchase like 2 bras for now because if this is a trend, I do not want to waste money.
Smaller boobs dude!! Oh, my garden clogs are not snug anymore. Woot!

I also wanted to thank one of my readers and friends...S. She graciously offered her small AC to me because I was bitching on FB about how hot it is upstairs. I could not use it because it will not fit in my window but I asked if I could use for Natalie. Her AC shit the bed last year and she has been sick the past couple week with stomach bug. She didnt have to do it but she did and I love her for that. Strawberry jam for you my friend!!

Oh..the fleas! They were winning. So I gave up, broke down, and called the vet. $65 later and I had two vials of Frontline plus for the cats and two vials of Advantix for the dogs. They are all better. Lu is not chewing the crap out herself anymore. Hail!

Okay, gotta go. Pickles to make.

The fine art of Canning

*277*

*I have to wake Natalie in an hour to go to the gym so I have some time to chat*

 Fred and I were watching the cooking channel last night and this commercial came on. It is new, I had never seen it. I think it is cool. Really I do. I love to can foods. I have my canning supplies on the diningroom table as I type this.
I started this when we bought this house..about 13 years ago. I started with apple sauce. I was given an opportunity to buy half a peck of ginger gold apples for $5. They were seconds. They were gorgeous seconds! OMG! WTF am I gonna do with all these apples? I made apple sauce with them and canned them. It was a big hit with the family and with my friends. I did the same thing the next year but then I branched out and made raspberry/jalapeno jelly. That was good too (and I have not made that in a dogs age). A canning staple for me is strawberry jam. I start buying and freezing strawberries in May. I buy and buy until I think I have enough..which will be at the end of July and then I buy a shit load of sugar and pectin and I am ready to go.
 I scour yard sales for old canning jars that I can use. They have to be like the kind that takes collars and lids. You really cant use the really old ones with the rubber seals, not safe anymore. I use those for decoration.
 This year I have a bunch of people that want jam. I will make my bread and butter pickles. I made the sweet vidalias, and I am thinking I am going to try canning the local corn here. It is super sweet and tasty. Best in Connecticut. I want to put up a batch for the winter.
Oh yeah.. *putting up* is a term used when you can a batch of jars of goodies.
If you are ever ever ever interested in canning and need to ask a question, do not hesitate to ask me. It is not that hard once you read the guidelines and you have the instruments. That will be your biggest expense but once you spend it, you wont have to again.
Okay..I am going to drink some more coffee now