I don't think I've delved much into my thoughts on dieting and such. I am trying to change my eating habits to align more closely with Nourishing Traditions, but I am not trying to lose weight.
Not to say that I wouldn't be pleased if I lost weight. But the fact of the matter is, due to my first diet back in 1993, I cannot even consider the thought of dieting without going on a compulsive eating binge.
I did the diet thing, ate low fat and did body building, using free weights. I was about 20 pounds overweight at the time. I lost back down to 123, which was my pre-pregnancy weight, and I then proceeded to torture myself for the next four years, trying valiantly to stay on the low fat diet. Do you know that if you eat lowfat foods, they are often filled with sugars so that they have any taste to them?
To my recollection, prior to this "diet" I did not have any issues with food. Donuts didn't sing to me from their shelves, begging me to eat them. Ice cream didn't demand that I eat the entire half gallon at one sitting. These are things I began to experience when I deprived myself of food. And the GUILT. The guilt over indulging in these FORBIDDEN foods.
Finally, I came to the opinion that I had to stop depriving myself of any kind of food. As I recall, the first book I read on the "no-dieting" theory was The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim People. There are a lot out there, but I finally settled upon practicing Overcoming Overeating (not to be confused with Overeaters Anonymous -- two VERY separate theories!). I have been working on this "theory" for at least ten years now, and steadily gaining weight as each year went by.
I feel that I spent most of my life slender. As a child, I was so thin that our pastor was concerned about my health. She suspected that I had anorexia. She prescribed malted ice cream shakes for me in the evening to get my weight up. In a few years, she would manipulate my mother into sending me to live with her (indeed, for the same reason!) and once there, she tried to force me to eat as much as her adult sons who were all taller than 6 feet four inches! When I began my first job to help support her financially, I was walking many miles each evening, a housekeeper in a mall. She demanded that I eat four candy bars every single night, to keep my weight up. And these candy bars had to contain "dextrose" -- not just SUGAR, mind you, but glucose, as that is what I was deficient in, according to her. I tell you, I HATED Baby Ruth bars. They are GROSS to begin with, and they were one of the few that contain dextrose.
Under her careful supervision, I still couldn't gain over 10 pounds. I also decided that weighing 135 was too heavy for my body, as my feet began to hurt. So over the course of a year, I lost that 10 pounds, simply by eating less food at each meal. I still ate anything I wanted, and had no guilt over eating any kind of food. I maintain that I had a fairly healthy relationship with food. Up until the low fat/body building diet.
So I've spent years trying to get back my healthy relationship with food. I can eat sugar, and I can eat fatty foods without twinges of guilt.
But then I learned about Nourishing Traditions. At first it was really hard to read the book because of course, it suggests that we refrain from eating certain foods. Things I've already known all along. But the good thing is, I seem to be at a place where I am able to avoid some foods, without getting triggered and setting myself up for cravings.
Sugar of course, is very bad for our bodies. But, contrary to many popular diets, fat is not a bad thing. Some fats are, the partially hydrogenated ones, but others, like lard, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, are not. Butter is practically a health food according to NT! It was actually harder for me to repair my relationship with fat, than with sugar. But now, I can eat butter with wild abandon. One of my favorite breakfasts is a fried-in-butter hamburger patty, or a butter-fried chicken breast, a zucchini squash and eggplant cooked in that butter. MMMMMMmmm.
The really nice thing is, I am for the most part, eating whatever I want. I am not doing NT 100%, for a couple of reasons. 1) I can't yet or I'll get triggered by the deprivation 2) It's an expensive way of eating. One of the most important recommended food is raw milk, and that is one of the most difficult foods to get hold of, considering that it is illegal to sell raw milk in many states in the US. And we are raising some of our own meat. I am gearing myself up to get my garden going in the fall, gophers or not! I'm going to beat them yet.
I found Nourishing Traditions through a goat list I'm on. Some people who own goats got into goats for their health. As I'd mentioned earlier, NT freaked me out a bit at first, so I just drank my raw milk and didn't worry about much of the rest of it until I got more concerned about my thyroid function.
One of the main indicators of hypothyroidism is a low basal temperature. I take my temperature each morning at 2:30am for Fertility Awareness. So I know that my temperature is under 97.5°F more than half of each cycle. I finally worked up my nerve to see my primary care physician, who tested me and when the results came back "normal" as they more often than not DO, even when you have hypothyroidism, he determined that I was "depressed" and offered me anti-depressant drugs. AGH. I told him in no uncertain terms that I was NOT depressed, and if I were, I would see a counselor first, not just start popping pills.
That's okay, I don't want to take allopathic medications anyway. So I started looking around on the Internet and found a blog where a woman was talking about following a book called Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon. I knew who Sally Fallon was... she is the author of Nourishing Traditions. As it ended up, Eat Fat, Lose Fat is written in an easier format, and more to the general public. NT is actually a cookbook, and kind of "out there" really nutty-crunchy as we called the real earth mamas that attended the daytime La Leche League meetings. We whispered to ourselves of meeting those other mamas, who didn't shave their underarms or legs! ;-) LOL, I turned into one of them eventually.
EFLF was a lot easier for me to read. And I was desperate to help my thyroid. I started avoiding a lot of foods, and taking supplements. In the process I discovered that as long as I take 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil each day, by upper back doesn't stiffen up when I'm sleeping. I used to have excruciating pain in the morning. No longer.
So this is getting really long. I'm sure you've long since passed out there in front of your computer. At least I'm not fonting on about my puppy today. ;-)
I have learned some very important things about food. Many people don't get to eat live, nutritious foods. Our bodies need real food, some fermented, some raw. When you only eat dead food, your body pays the price for that. Here is a guy that lost a lot of weight eating by Nourishing Traditions. If you are interested, click to read more about Real Milk and Nourishing Traditions.
Until next time.
Categories: nourishing-traditions, ponderings
Friday, June 30, 2006
Overcoming Overeating
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
The flies, the flies!!!
Oh my gosh, the flies are getting so obnoxious. The flies from the dead cantaloupe fields... Yesterday, I overslept... I woke up at 5:20am. DARN. I don't like having to set the alarm clock on the days that I don't have to get up to go to work. So I don't. Usually it's not that big of a deal. Yeah, it's a good idea to milk the does at about the same time each day, but they can wait an hour or so off the schedule. What makes it worse now, is the flies!
I had decided to take milk samples for testing yesterday morning. The dairy lab picks up milk samples on Saturdays and Wednesdays, and I wanted to get those samples in for Wednesday. So I got the milk tubes, got the alcohol, the paper towels and everything else and headed out.
It was really horrible. It's quite an ordeal taking milk samples to begin with, I mean, it's not DIFFICULT, it's just time consuming. But it is something we do to make sure the milk is clean and free of bacteria so we can drink it raw (the only way to drink milk!). Because the flies were buzzing all over, the does were kicking and stomping which makes it difficult to keep the area clean and sterile. HAH. Sterile as possible when you are working outside.
I took milk samples before milking. Since it takes a few minutes to get the sample, (due to all the repeated cleansings of the teat and orifice which is necessary so you don't end up with a contaminated sample) the doe is gobbling her grain down. The does do pretty good at waiting for me to finish milking, but I try to finish before they are done with their grain. But when there are MILLIONS of flies...
Well, we REALLY discovered the difference this morning, when we got out there to milk before the sun rose, at 4:30am. NOT one fly. The does stood perfectly still while they got milked. No stomping and kicking, no spilled milk.
I guess I am going to have to start setting my alarm on the days I'm off, even if I hate the idea of it. It will be worth it though, to avoid those flies.
We have considered buying fly predators, but we usually don't have this problem. The worst time is when the fields across the street from us are filled with rotting, melting melons.
Until next time.
Categories: goats
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Hoof Trimming Event
It has been six weeks since I last trimmed hooves. Some of the does could use trimming as early as four weeks, but six weeks is about as long as we should wait.
I'm so thrilled to report that today ds2 decided to help me with this chore. He had previously said that he would take over the hoof trims altogether, but it is quite an undertaking and it's really important to do the hooves on a regular basis. I actually had asked for his assistance with banding L's buckling kid, who is 8 weeks old tomorrow. I had also expressed my frustration with hoof trims, and told him it was time and I didn't feel I had the energy to do them today, but it was time. So he held the kid while I banded, and then he asked me who needed hoof trims. Well, I'm not one to turn down help so we got started.
Our metal milking stand is such a fantastic tool. It holds from small to large goats. Even our largest goat, our herd sire, can get onto the stand. He is such a good guy! I got him from one of my friends and she did such a good job raising him. He has the best temperament.
This first picture is one of our 3 month old doelings. It is her first time on the stand. Now the next picture is one of our herd sire, her father. He's HUGE in comparison!
When I brought him out of his yard, I draped that white piece of hay twine around his neck to guide him along. He stepped right onto the milking stand, even though to my knowledge he's never been on one, at least never with us, and his back legs were on the ground and he was stretching himself across the entire stand, and had his head through the bars. He's long and tall. So far the kids he has produced grow fast and are easily large enough for breeding at eight months.
Now, if you've made it this far, you have to go to this other site and read an article written by a goat. Before you leave, let me first tell you this. There is a myth about goats, that they eat EVERYTHING. They will not eat everything, they are in fact very picky eaters. But they are healthy eaters, and one thing that is true about goats is "a hungry goat is a healthy goat". If you have a goat, and he/she is off her feed, then your goat is sick, VERY SICK - like close-to-death sick. And they actually they will gorge themselves on some foods until they die. Grain (oats/barley) being one of them. They will eat and eat and eat until they get bloat, and can die if you are unable to treat them quickly and appropriately. It's really best to just keep it sealed and locked from goats or you could be in big trouble. They do love to eat, and they are very curious and will sniff at things, and mouth things, like a baby will do. They learn what things are by tasting and feeling with their mouth. Probably someone saw a goat carrying a tin can and just assumed the goat was eating the can, and that's how that rumor got started that "goats eat everything". Goats are browsers, like deer, they like bark off trees, they like fibrous dry things, like dried weed stalks. They will eat paper bags. You would think we gave them the best tasting food in the world if they get hold of a paper feed bag. The whole herd tears into it, fighting for each morsel of it. They will eat straw, and cardboard. So they do eat some funky things, just not everything. Here's the article, and the picture of the goat is priceless. Oh, one more thing. Near the end of the article, there are two curse words. So if you are reading this to children, you might want to be prepared and change those words to something else. (For our family, it just made us laugh even harder with the use of those words).
Hey, You Got Something To Eat?
Until next time.
Categories: goats, humor
Friday, June 23, 2006
TYDSITC - Fields of Melons
Fields of lovely muskmelon... cantaloupe we called it as children. One of my maternal grandmother's favorites and it seemed like every time, without fail, when we visited her (which was often) she had a icy cold cantaloupe waiting to cut open just for us.
Unfortunately this field of melons is rotting. It happens every year out here, this will be the fourth summer we've seen it happen. The first year I was appalled, and horrified at the BILLIONS of flies the rotting fruit produced. We really don't have that much of a fly problem here, since it is so dry and dusty, and the goats produce manure that consists of compact little dry balls (goat berrries!) However, melting melons are irresistable to momma flies, just looking for the perfect place to lay their tiny eggs. Ewww. The smell... sickeningly sweet. And the waste, when people are going hungry, it just blows my mind.
When I was growing up, you could find RIPE fruit in the store. Now everything is hard and green. Many people don't have an earth connection to their food, and don't even know how to ripen the fruit. The best thing to do is put it into a paper bag, fold down the top and let it set a couple of days. Check it once a day though, for perfection. But there again, where can you find a brown paper bag nowadays?
I came to a conclusion on the rotting fruit the other day. It occurred to me in connection with our picking the ripe peaches. We picked some perfectly ripe peaches, but by the time we got home, a couple of them were already dripping and bruised and mushy (still delicious though!). So I realized with regard to the melons... I guess the workers HAVE to pick the unripe ones, so that the melons will make the trip to the store without turning mushy before they get there. Being a gardener myself, I have always waited to pick vegetables and fruit at the height of freshness, and when perfectly ripe. I guess I've assumed that farmers did the same thing. But there is that issue of transportation, and waiting in the store to be purchased by consumers.
The other thing I was thinking... back in the "olden" days, stores used to have a warehouse in the back of the store. Nowadays, the "warehouses" are the 18 wheelers that are transporting our food. I remember when the store was out of something, you just had to find the manager, or someone who worked in that area, and ask them if they had any in the back. Almost always, they did. But try that now. They will tell you everything is on the floor, already stocked. So maybe, back in the "olden" days, the unripe fruit could sit and ripen for a while, before it was made available to the public.
I actually feel that I have some energy today... well, that is before I sat here at "Time Sucker". Prior to my sitting here, I was up at 4:30 to milk -- I promised the goats yesterday that I would NOT be out at 4:15 to milk, like I had tried to be on the days I work. I told them it would be more like 5am, lol. The problem with milking later, even that early, is the flies are already waking up. That means they are swarming the milker's legs and she kicks to keep them off her. More potential to spill that precious liquid gold!
My dh had to leave early this morning; he is such a dear. He fed and watered the chickens, turkeys and cows, to save me the trouble. I like this new arrangement. I get up extra early on the days I work to help him milk, and on the days I don't have to leave for work, but he does, he feeds and waters, so that I only have to milk, feed and water the goats. This makes chores much easier, as I have come to dread having to do ALL the chores myself. Plus, I am able to bring the milk in immediately and process it. If I have to do all the chores myself at some time, because it is already so warm out, I will have to bring the milk in and take care of it, then go back out and finish taking care of all the other critters. The milk needs to be chilled as soon as possible, otherwise we'll be making something like Grade F milk, as opposed to Grade A. ;-)
Little Stupid (affectionate moniker) gave us 3.7# yesterday morning. Today she gave me 3.3#. And it only took me ten minutes to get that milk. We are milking five does each morning. It takes much less than 10 minutes for each of the other does. Little Stupid just has these really tiny teats... Teat size really does matter! If the teat fills with a tablespoon of milk, you therefore can squeeze out 1 cup's worth of milk in sixteen squeezes. If the teat only delivers 1/4th of a teaspoon with each squeeze, then you're squeezing 192 times to get the same amount of milk! [Did you follow? There are 16 tablespoons in one cup of milk. Twelve 1/4th teaspoons makes one tablespoon. And twelve 1/4th teaspoons times 16 tablespoons equals 192!]
After I milked, fed and watered, I brought the milk in to process. I changed out my kefir's milk with some of L's milk. We have begun to again utilize the alcohol/water mixture that we freeze, to chill the milk faster since we are getting so much now. The mixture turns into a frozen slush and when you put jars of warm milk into it, the warmth from the milk is literally sucked out into the alcohol/water slushy mixture, cooling the milk quickly. We are getting from 1.5 to 1.75 gallons each day now. And that is only with one time a day milking, and eight kids on their dams in the daytime!
After processing the milk, I put in a load of clothes, then tidied up my truck, in preparation for the road trip dh and I are taking tomorrow. Oh, and I also took one ride around the property with my bike! Ds2 has been fixing up all our bikes, and he has mine rideable, but he says I need some replacement parts. I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride a bike! It was still cool enough out that I could ride fast and feel a nice breeze. I haven't been on my bike in at least a year. Ds2 has been riding his bike in an attempt to get more exercise.
Until next time.
Categories: goats, tydsitc, ponderings
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Garfield A Tail of Two Kitties
Ds1 and I went to see the latest Garfield movie today. I was very pleased with the kid-friendliness of it. Kudos to the producers for not lacing the movie with sexual innuendo just for the benefit of the adult movie-goers. There is a romantic twist because Jon has planned to ask his girlfriend, the veterinarian to get married, but it is very sweet.
I remember feeling the same way about the first Garfield movie, how it was so pleasant to watch a child's movie which wasn't full of sexual innuendo. As I recall, the first movie did not receive good reviews, and from a quick glance on the Internet, neither has this one. Well, I liked it. I actually laughed out loud several times.
We used our souvenir cup and we got to the first movie of the day, so our tickets were only $6.50 each.
I flipped through one of my dog training books today, one I've had a long time, but hadn't really used. I don't have the book in front of me, but it is -- ah, no wait, here it is. I found it on half.com by looking up "obedience training". Expert Obedience Training for Dogs by Winifred Gibson Strickland. The book actually addresses training dogs for obedience competition. I was looking through it, to see what other commands I can teach to LJ. I was excited to see "sit up" is one of the commands she suggests training your dog. Her reasons are because it teaches the dog to sit perfectly square on its bottom, a requirement for competition. I also will begin working with him on "say your prayers". She says it is good for the dog to learn to trust you, because they put their head down between their paws.
It is very interesting the contrast one can find with dog training. Ms. Strickland says when you begin leash training your puppy, if he wants to hold onto the leash that is perfectly fine, do not correct him because it will make it more fun for him. In other books, it specifically says to NEVER allow the dog to hold the leash in his mouth. I was also told by a personal trainer that because LJ was doing that in the beginning, it meant he was viewing the leash as an extension of my arm and telling me to stop by grabbing the leash.
Tonight I worked with LJ. He's been getting a little slap-happy, guessing in fast motion what I'm asking him to do. For example, holding the treat over his nose, just out of his reach sometimes gets a "sit up" but sometimes it gets a frenetic sit, down and roll onto his side and a look of "How's that, surely that'll do, yes, yes, yes!?" So tonight I walked away from him, and we did some work on "come" because when he'd sit, down and roll in one quick motion I'd walk away, telling him that wasn't what I wanted, then saying "come" and then he'd get a treat. Tonight's treat was scraps from dinner's oven-roasted chicken.
I also worked with him on "shake". He is getting that I want his paw up, but he is having a hard time with my hand moving past his mouth. He seems to think he's supposed to grab hold of my hand with his mouth. So I had to modify my technique and say "shake" but hold one hand under his chin to keep him from grabbing my other hand.
Sometimes he gets really hyper when he's tired. Just like a young child. After all, he is just four months old, if you count by day of the month. If you count by weeks, he will be 18 weeks old on Tuesday. It's hard to deal with him when he gets like that. He barks loudly, and at this point I am dealing with that by ignoring him. He barks 3-6 times and then lies down and whines. Then I pay attention to him. He finally wound himself down enough to go to sleep.
Until next time.
Categories: puppy, training, movies
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Is That Your Final Answer?
Whew! I have been working for the past couple of hours on my Thisaway "Green" template, to alter the images and colors to what I would like my blog to look like. I stumbled my way through the header image, but I just found this site which tells what to do. I will post the link here and follow the instructions at another time.
Today was a busy day. We left fairly early and brought LJ with us. If you remember, I thought I might change his name to Freckles. But that is just too silly a name for this boy. I am still thinking his current name carries too much baggage. Some of the names we came up with today were "Dusty", "Fart" (don't ask, I won't tell how many times I had to roll down the windows today), which then opened up a whole new barrage of names... Breaker (for breaking wind), Gasbag, Gasman, Gasboy... oh the joys of being a woman living with all men. ;-)
LJ did great today. We went to my sister's to drop off her first goat milk delivery in weeks. LJ got to meet her three young children. He has only seen children before. My niece and nephew fed him some pieces of cat food. He behaved very nicely. Then we went to my mom's house and we went with her in her car to Lowe's, where LJ and I sat right inside the front doors. The sign outside said "Service Dogs Allowed" and I didn't want to violate any rules, so we didn't go in. He just laid down with and watched people going by. Putting his head up, cocking his ears, looking around, then laying down on his side to rest. We then had to go to TruValue Hardware, and they let us bring LJ in the store. Several employees stopped by to say "Hi" to him and to pet him.
He slept most of the way home (over an hour) and then crashed for the duration of the afternoon. He finally woke up about 7pm and went out to potty and hang out with the girls, but he's now back in and fast asleep.
So... this will be the new look of my blog for some time. I'm pleased with the changes. And I'm very tired since I've been up since 5am and it is after 9pm!
Until next time.
Categories: geek-stuff, puppy, training
Friday, June 16, 2006
Blogger Template Change Progress
If you visited my blog yesterday, it was Dan Rubin's This Away Green. In my travels, I discovered Mr. Rubin actually has a support forum for his templates.
However if you are visiting on the actual date of this entry, it looks like this:
If you visit tomorrow or another day and read this entry, it will probably look different altogether. I'm not happy with today's version, but I got my purple! I can't figure out how to change my title to be white letters, so I'm going to modify my header image for the time being.
I like the three columns... I think... I really liked all the little images that Dan Rubin uses, so I think what I might do is just use his template, but redo the colors and remake the images. Again, another maybe.
I started out this morning looking how to get my template images hosted, and found that Blogger has a blog for making templates. Oh, and that is also where you can find those "over thirty" templates that Blogger Help claims that Blogger has available. So you can have your images hosted from your own server, or you can use a free hosting server, like Image Shack.
I ended up using Firdamatic: The Design Tool for Uninspired Webloggers to make my current template. You can choose two-column or three-column.
Anyway, not too much progress today, although I do like the collage header.
Until next time.
Categories: geek-stuff
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Next Blogger Goal
Labels: geek-stuff
I really like Dan Rubin's "Thisaway" templates, but I'm craving a bit more customization. I'm longing for some purples and some different images. Soon I will do a makeover. I've written to Mr. Rubin and asked him about modifying his template, is that an acceptable thing to do. He wrote back within minutes, and said he knows of no copyright issues as far as his design, but I should check with Blogger. On Blogger help, I found this:
"How do I use my own template design? If you want to do more than just modify one of our default templates, you can even create your own from scratch, or download one from another site?"
I think that pretty much answers my question. So the first step I'm taking is I've printed out the current template. I'm identifying all the colors used, and will start making changes there. The only thing I'm unsure about is the images used and how to reproduce those. They are hosted on someplace called www.blogblog.com which says it is limited for Blog*Spot template images. Oh yeah? How would I access that, I wonder?
Until next time.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Puppy Training
Labels: LJ
I'm thinking of changing LJ's name to Freckles. You can see the obvious freckles near his nose, but he is developing freckles all along his snout.
He is doing so well with learning commands. He will be four months old tomorrow, and he knows how to sit, down, lay on his side, fetch, bring, drop. He also knows hand commands for sit, down and lay on his side.
I decided to teach him to lie on his side, because it is a submissive position for a dog to voluntarily go into. It took him about 20 repetitions before he got it. He has actually learned the hand command for lie on your side. The verbal command will be "side". I am also trying to teach him to shake paws. I have been working a little bit on the stay command.
Until next time.
Categories: puppy, dog, training
Monday, June 12, 2006
The Geek In Me - Blogger Categories
Labels: geek-stuff
UPDATE: This post is obsolete as Blogger now has labels.
I am setting up a private blog to be used as a "cheat sheet" by the moderators of an email list I'm on. I thought categories would be REALLY helpful, and so I started looking around on Blogger to see how to go about doing that. As it turns out, Blogger doesn't offer categories. But there are a few ways to add categories to your blog. I found a couple of tutorials and decided on the one that seemed the least daunting. I have noticed that often tech writers will jump from point A to D, assuming their readers know what B and C will be.
So... I spent the better part of today learning how to set up categories for Blogger blogs. I created a step-by-step tutorial that goes from Step A to Step B to Step C to Step D, etc. I tagged all six of the posts on the private blog, and tagged a few of my own blog's posts. It will be some time before I have all my posts tagged, but I like the idea of having categories!
If you have always wanted categories on your Blogger blog, but have not thought it possible, fear no more! You too can have categories by following my step-by-step tutorial. Along with each step, I include screenshots, and then I also tell you how to modify your Blogger template to include categories, links to your categories, and how to modify a post to include just one more tag (instead of starting from scratch).
Until next time.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Price of Gasoline
Labels: auto maintenance
Is the price of gas cramping your style? I calculated what we have spent on gasoline recently. In the month of April, we spent $605.00. In the month of May, $681.00. That's more than our mortgage payment! In April, $288 and in May, $442 of this was for our big gas guzzler!
We did find gas for $2.91/gallon in the "big city" on Friday.
I hope the price of gas goes down soon... I don't think our budget can handle many more months like that...
Until next time.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Lowe's - Awesome Clearance Deals
Labels: Bargain Hunting
Today my dh and I went to Lowe's. We went by Lowe's yesterday on the way home, but were just too tired to make the stop. It is ~35 mile trip back into town. With the price of gasoline, as we headed out again this morning, I mentioned that I hadn't felt like stopping either, but wished we'd just made ourselves to do it and be done with it.
We had to take a power sprayer back that had two defective parts. We ended up returning it to buy a less expensive model. We paid $564.87 for this one, and decided to buy one that only cost $199.00. Lowe's was offering a 10% off on your first purchase if you apply for a credit card, so we decided to do that, too. It is just criminal the amounts of credit they give you. LOL. They approved us for $15,000.00! This is for a personal credit card, not a business line.
Anyway, the new sprayer ended up costing $193.07.
On the way out of Lowe's... we noticed a clearance table... and saw a Sponge Bob lamp. No price, just a sticker that said 50% off. So I asked the guy who was out there, and he said "How about this?" and wrote $5.00 on the sticker, crossing out the 50% off. I thought that was great. My oldest son likes Sponge Bob, so I got it for him. I went ahead and paid for that. Then I started looking around a bit more. I wish I had thought more clearly, because I have at least two nieces who are diehard SB fans that would have LOVED a lamp also.
Now the things we ended up buying probably won't mean a whole lot to most people. But we will be able to use them -- that is if we can put them someplace so we'll know where to find them the next time we need them!!
One of the first things my dh saw was some drawer pulls. I am constantly complaining about ours in the kitchen. They have these sides that stick out and are always catching on my work dresses or my shorts, ripping holes.
In the photo to the left, the handle on the top is one of the old ones. The bottom handle is one of the new ones, Brainerd®3" Ribbon and Reed Antique Pewter Pull. Unfortunately, there were only FOUR of these pulls. There are six drawers, plus there are the cupboard door handles. But since when do I care about matching or style? I will live with it, for not having to worry about having my clothes ripped to shreds. Besides, the handles cost fifty cents each on clearance and normally retail for $6.97 each!!! So what should have cost $27.88 came to a whopping $2.00!!
The next thing I found that didn't have a price was a pack of ENERGIZER Rechargeable AA NiMH Batteries - 4 pack. I found a normal retail price at Buy.com for $9.99. The guy marked them down to FIFTY cents! Whoo hooooo!
Next we found these packages of screen door kits. We are always needing hinges for one thing or another, and each package contains two sturdy hinges, for only a quarter! But with this package, there is also a screen door spring (not sure what we'd use those for) but there is also a "hook-n-eye", screws and a door pull. So we first got eight packages, then decided to get 12... we would have got them all, but didn't want to be greedy. That left at least a couple dozen more. As it turns out, while I was examining the receipt tonight, I noticed the lady only charged us for ONE package. I found a similar screen door kit at this site and they retail for $9.49 for each set!!! So a $113.88 value for only ONE QUARTER!
Next we found these gate hinges. They are really sturdy with a spring in the middle. They actually rang up at the regular retail price, $8.98! As you can see, they were clearanced down to $0.25! The set includes 2 hinges, a handle, a hook-n-eye, and screws. $36 value, one dollar. LOL!
We found a couple more drawer pulls. One was regularly $3.98 down to fifty cents. Another was $5.88 also marked down to fifty cents. Some "Narrow Loose Utility Hinges" were regularly $4.29 marked down to a quarter.
We got two "ladder bags" which I couldn't find any on the Internet, but they are a canvas type bag with pockets and you strap it over the top of your ladder, and it holds your tools. The clearance price was $3.75. We figured they probably cost $15 or $20 at regular price.
We are planning to make a new mailbox stand, and we found house numbers that usually cost $4.98 each for only fifty cents each. $14.94 value for $1.50.
We found some tiny jigsaw blades normally $2.47 down to fifty cents. The cashier fussed a bit on this item, but let us have it.
I got a package of solid brass coat and hat hooks, found some on the Internet that looked like them, retailing for $10.49. $0.50!
And last but not least, dh found some "super pliers" advertised to cut easily through hard wire. He lost or rather, he thinks *I* lost his only pair that could cut through concrete meshing. There was actually an 8" adjustable wrench and the 7.5" Cam-Action Diagonal Pliers. Regularly $24.98, marked down to $5.00. He bought two sets.
Grand total $31.00. Regular retail cost: $329.66.
Whoooohoooo! As it turns out, it was a good thing we didn't stop at Lowe's yesterday!
Until next time.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Three Crashes
Labels: Just Stuff
I hate falling down.
It rained pretty good here on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. This morning, since the wash had gotten pretty good and wet the two previous days, dh suggested I leave by the front gate, instead of the side. He was going to follow me out and drive over to the community well and get a load of water.
I drove to the front and got to the gate first. I hopped out, and unlocked the gate. The gate is a very wide one, and pretty heavy. It has a wheel and when it rains, the gate sinks down a bit into the sandy dirt. So I gave it a push and nothing. Then I leaned all my body weight into it and gave a great shove. CRASH!! The entire gate fell down! I fell down and landed on my knees and hands. OOOOooohhh!! My knees!!! Owwwwww!!! I rolled over onto my back and just laid there moaning. My dh came running up and said, "Are you all right?!" I said I guessed I was... and he said, "Is anything broken?" I told him I didn't think so and he said, "Well, get up, before someone sees you!" LOL!! I just looked at him and said there was no way I was getting up yet. I was in too much pain. I guess it might have looked like the car ran me into the gate and knocked it down.
Then when I got to work, our IT manager came in and handed me a battery backup and said, "Merry Christmas!" and I said, "I already have one of those." He said maybe the one I have wasn't working properly, since when the power went out the other day, my computer shut off (shouldn't do that with the battery backup). So I didn't know this would cause a problem, but I flipped off the switch on the battery backup. I guess I thought maybe it wasn't connected up with my computer. At any rate, I got an error message on the screen and the computer would not boot up, even after I restarted it a couple of times. Luckily we have a good IT person now and he was able to get my hard drive reformatted and I was back to work within a couple of hours.
On Tuesday I went past an accident in our small city... a gravel truck had apparently crushed a car into a signal pole. I assume the small car was trying to make a left turn. The design for this particular area is very poor. You can only get out of this store easily to go south, by this one exit. I snapped a picture as I went by. I drew arrows on the photo where the car was crushed into the signal pole. It is just an ashy looking crumpled up piece of metal. There are lots of crosses, flowers and balloons at that intersection now. The accident damaged the pole so badly that they are having to completely replace it. If you also look to the left of the picture, you will see that there is a fireman still working and the front part of that truck is blackened. I think the cab probably exploded into flames on impact. There is a big ditch that the truck drove into. I guess it was lucky that ditch is there, because the bank right past that area would surely have been crashed into.
Until next time.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
X-Men The Last Stand - Thoughts
Labels: movies
We didn't go on Saturday, we went today.
First, how much did I spend by being stubborn? If I'd gone to Mr. Local Guy's theatre I'd have spent $12 for the tickets, $9 for a large popcorn and drink with one free refill one each. Round trip 44 miles, gas is $2.98/gallon, I get ~18 miles to the gallon. One hour travel time. $12 + $8 + $7.28 comes to $27.28.
Going into the Brand Name Theatre we paid $18 for the tickets, $8.25 for a large popcorn and souvenier cup that can be refilled all year long for $1, round trip 72 miles, so about $12 in gas... two hours travel time. $38.25.
Not too much more for getting to watch a movie without having it interrupted 3 minutes before it's over. And not having to stress out about getting there exactly at the right time, or having to wait 2 hours until the next movie starts.
I really dig these super hero movies. Spiderman II really got me, pierced me right to the heart and had me sobbing for poor Peter Parker. The angst, the pain of being a super hero because he had no other choice, because how can you not save everyone you can? Another Superman movie is coming out, too. I always loved Superman, too. My favorite Superman was Dean Cain, loved the television series!
X-Men was FANTASTIC. For the parents out there... lots of killing... a few seconds of sweaty hot dangerous romance (I felt uncomfortable for the parents sitting next to us with their three young children)... someone came back to life, some important characters died... many lost their powers due to the "cure".
I think the reason they get to me is because I can relate in some weird way. I want to make everyone happy. I take on a lot... a friend one time volunteered to give me a back rub and she commented that my shoulders are SOOOO tight. Well, that happens when you hold the weight of the world on your shoulders. I tend to be the glue that keeps things together. It's a lot to bear, holding tight to the world to keep it in one piece. After she told me that, I've been more aware of it, and sometimes when I can't get to sleep at night, I realize it is because my shoulders are so tense.
Some super heros keep their identities secret. I kind of do that... I mean, I'm pretty much OUT there with lots of stuff, but no one knows all the facets of the real me. My immediate family pretty much knows the real me... but I tend to have separate friends because it's easier to keep things straight that way. Friend 1 doesn't agree with this, so I don't talk about it, or even allude to knowing about it. Friend 2 doesn't like that, so I don't share with her. I go to Friend 3 to share one thing, to Friend 4 to share another. Having this blog... and sharing the URL with my friends (and more recently family) is a real stretch for me. Because everyone's going to find out things about me that I probably would have never told them, or at least not yet. I'm pretty good at feeling out what people think or believe, and I don't pretend or lead them on that I believe in what they do, but I tend to keep quiet and just not participate in the conversation.
I was thinking on my drive home, that I must be pretty self-centered... thinking people will even give a care about what I choose to do. They probably won't care one way or the other.
But it is hard wired into me, to be a chameleon. Adapt to whatever is around me. Don't make waves. Don't do anything to make someone not like me. I know where that comes from. My childhood... my mother loved me, but she had a difficult time with my sister born 22 months after me. She had a lot of resentment toward her, and she knows and admits this. But it affected me so strongly, the contrast. I am pretty much TERRIFIED to share some of my thoughts with some people, because then they won't like me, and then what would I do? It shakes me to the core if I think someone doesn't like me. I hate that about myself.
I wonder if one day, I just won't care. I became very aware of this deep need to please everyone when my children were younger... and not perfect little chameleons. But I did not want them to become perfect little chameleons. It is stressful trying to be everything that everyone wants. Really stressful trying to read minds and figure that out.
I have been on vacation... and have been staying home a lot. Tonight, ds1 and I went to Taco Bell. We were the only ones in the restaurant and another couple came in. Sat in the booth RIGHT behind us, and the first thing I heard the man say was, "Well, it makes you sound like a f***ing retard." I felt myself flare inside so quickly. First, my ds1 has Down Syndrome and I don't appreciate hearing the word "retard". Why did they have to sit RIGHT behind us? My next thought was they were going to sit there and fight, or rather he'd berate her. Right behind us. But nothing came of his comment, and I think I misheard him and he was talking about someone else, not the woman. I almost bolted out of my seat and asked them why they were sitting there, right behind us and excuse me, but please don't use that word around my son!
I feel like a loose cannon, although in the past week since I've been at home, I've felt a lot more calm. It's just hard being out in public.
Ds2 said I had better watch the first and second X-Men or I'd be lost. I think I've caught enough of both movies to get the gist of what was going on. I've always like Captain Picard, I mean Patrick Stewart. Star Trek TNG was my favorite of the series. Anyway, now I think I will make a point to watch both movies in the next week. We will definitely purchase a copy of this movie when it comes out.
I'm tired. It's way past my bedtime.
Until next time.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
X-Men 3
Labels: movies
The last movie ds1 and I went to see was Ice Age 2 on April 1st. I chronicled the event in blog entry Customer Service is Dead -- by the way, Mr. Theatre Owner never responded to my letter of complaint, so I will not be giving him my business again. He obviously doesn't care, so neither will I.
I looked last night to see the showings for the next nearest theatre which is another 10 miles drive (~30 one way) from the more local one, and they have X-Men 3 showing every 45 minutes from 10am to 11am. If Mr. Theatre Owner had responded with an apology of any kind, I would make a point to patronize his theatre, but since he did not, I will not go there again. Yes, it's going to cost me a bit more. It's going to cost a few more dollars to get us in, it's going to cost more for the refreshments, it's going to cost more in gasoline. But for my convenience and being treated courteously, it's worth it. At least I won't have to worry and stress about trying to make a show time start and be there one second late and then have to wait for 2 hours until the next showing. If we happen to get there late, it will only be a 45 minute wait until the next movie starts. At least we will get to see the end of the movie without a gang of theatre cleaners turning the light on when it's three minutes from over.
Ds2 tells me X-Men 3 is going to be a fantastic movie, and tells me I should watch X-Men and X-Men 2 first. I think I'll be able to keep up with the plot line.
Maybe I'll be here later with a review... on both the movie and the theatre.
Until next time.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Dumbing Us Down
Labels: Just Stuff
Have you heard the phrase "Dumbing Us Down"? I first heard it years ago in conjunction with homeschooling. John Taylor Gotto -- a public school teacher turned homeschool advocate -- wrote a book entitled Dumbing Us Down : The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. Anyway, it's getting pretty bad out there.
For example, let's discuss opening this pound of butter. Is it so difficult to figure out how to open that we need step-by-step instructions? You would think we were a bunch of morons. Wouldn't a two year old know that that TAB there, along the top, with the cut out marks would almost definitely be the way to open the package of butter? Do we honestly need instructions to recognize that?
Then, here's the really great part. Once you get the tab pulled off... hang on now... are you sure you are ready for this??? You will now see the words CARTON HAS BEEN OPENED. Yup, that's right. The act of ripping that tab away means the carton is now open! Isn't that wonderful? Now you know for SURE the carton is open. Wow. You were probably really worried about that until you saw those reassuring four words stamped on the inner flaps.
DUH.
I'm sure the butter is stamped with CARTON HAS BEEN OPENED for some legal reason. Like McDonald's having to print on their cups that the coffee is hot. I guess some person in the high ranks of the butter packaging company thought maybe they had better print that on the package, in case someone happened to buy an open container of butter. You know, someone put poison or razor blades in the butter and left it open and some dummy bought the open container and now is suing because they cut their finger on the razor blade. How could they even prove the container was open before they bought it? It doesn't make much sense and it's one more insult to our intelligence. We can't be that stupid, can we?
Until next time.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Ocarina - A Goal by Christmas
Labels: FlyLady
Boy, the things I can think to blog about when I'm supposed to be doing housework! I was standing in the kitchen making myself do dishes when I came up with a great idea for today's post.
But today I have a new strategy on my side... I'm carrying a timer with me. I have to work 15 minutes in the kitchen, then I get a 15 minute break. I think my 15 minute break is just about up. After all, I am on vacation from work this week, so I shouldn't make myself work TOO hard! On to today's entry!
I've always wanted to play a musical instrument and about a year ago I finally got my chance. However, since I got my Mountain Ocarina I have not learned much more than a couple of notes. :-(
Ds2 plays the Ocarina. He first discovered the Ocarina while playing a Nintendo game called Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He wanted me to learn to play the Ocarino, too, so we bought one for me. We also bought a couple of books with songs to learn. One of the books has Christmas songs. I had better get busy learning to play the Ocarina if I plan to play anything at Christmas.
The picture you see above is ds2 playing the Ocarina. Only his cat, Precious, HATES it. She comes running from a dead sleep when she hears it and has been known to place her paw right on the air hole of the Ocarina so that he cannot play it. Of course, playing off key is even more disturbing to Miss Precious.
So that gives me 7 months to meet my goal of learning to play the Ocarina by Christmas.
Until next time.
