Monday, August 22, 2011

Zoning

Now with the kids in school I feel that I am in desperate need of some structure myself. I need to get my house in order and I found the answer on CJane's vlog. A few weeks ago she videoed how she cleans her house in "zones". I have thought of this technique before, but could never seem to solidify it. After watching her vlog I realized why I haven't been able to be successful at zoning...my house simply isn't THAT big to zone anything. So I really had to simplify and got the idea of assigning certain tasks to certain days.

My project today was determining what to do on what day. This is now my week:

Monday: Dusting, Vacuuming
Tuesday: Windows
Wednesday: Bathrooms, Vacuuming
Thursday: Clean Refrigerator and Microwave
Friday: Mop floors, Vacuuming
Saturday: Wash bed sheets, clean rooms
Sunday: Rest

Of course I didn't add Laundry, since I do that every day anyway, or dishes, since I do that SEVERAL times a day. But I feel like now I have a game plan and I feel that I can finally have order in my home.

I know, I know...it's only taken me 12 years of marriage and 5 kids to finally figure this out and I'm sure probably all my readers have their own game plan already in place. All I can say is I guess I'm a little slow, BUT now I am determined!

Before I just tried to keep my house clean according to how I saw fit....or if we were having company....but no longer! My house will be a house of Order for my family's sake and for the sake of my sanity!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Let the Learning Begin!


Another school year begins here in Alabama and another one of my kids starts school for the first time! My little Emma started Preschool today, and now I am down to 2 kids at home.

I was definitely excited about school starting, but I had no idea the wave of euphoria that would pour over me once I dropped my little angels off.

Don't get me wrong, of course I love my kids, but you have to understand my summer vacation has consisted of referring arguments, breaking up fights, popping tylenol to get rid of the throbbing headaches spurred from the incessant screaming...the high-pitched banshee screaming....*shudder*...

So you see it's not that I don't want them around I just get tired of wiping the blood dripping from my ears.

When we were in California and Tobie started Kindergarten I felt a little disappointed that we didn't have to buy any school supplies. That has always been my favorite time of the school year picking out my folders, the smell of newly sharpened pencils and finding just the right type of pen to fit my hand in preparation of hours and hours of writing. What I wasn't aware of is the cost my parents had to dish out every school year on supplies. When we moved back to Alabama I learned that lesson. This year we were particularly hit pretty hard now that there are 3 in school. In just supplies alone we spent well over $100. And that's not including the uniforms, backpacks, lunchboxes, new shoes and socks.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind going back to missing out on supply shopping. That's one bit of nostalgia that I can do without reliving.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Clean Eating

I know I haven't posted in a while, and all I can say is that I just haven't felt like it. I'm not getting paid for this, so they come when they come.

But something has come up that I felt like posting about. I'm trying to jump on the bandwagon of clean eating. Anyone who has read my various postings about exercise and dieting know that this is one heck of an uphill battle for me. But now I am declaring that I will no longer be counting calories, counting points or keeping a food journal. I'm done with measuring every grain of rice or leveling out that 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on my whole wheat bread. I'm going clean!

I was inspired by a friend's blog about an author Tosca Reno and her mission to get everyone to eat clean. I was very interested in learning to do this. So immediately I ordered her book:
It is an easy read, and she makes a lot of sense. But...I couldn't see myself eating her plan outlined in this book. It did seem a little hard core and I just want to know what to eat and what not to eat. I need it spelled out to me in black and white and also explained to me why I can't eat those things other than they are just bad for you. So I knew just where to turn to further educate myself:


Okay, before you judge...can I just say I LOVE this book! They really break it down explaining what to look for in ingredients lists and why you should avoid those things. And it has really helped me to feel even more committed to this new way of eating.

See...not only do I have weight issues that I would love to take care of, (and once all those preservatives and additives are out of my diet my body can better regulate itself I should naturally slim down to a healthy weight), Theo's side of the family is riddled with cancer. Unfortunately that means that he, along with our kids, could be carrying a gene that is easily manipulated into cancer. It actually has a name, but I can't remember what it is. They will have to be checked for cancers at an early age to make sure that if they do get cancer we can catch it early. But one of the promises with eating clean is that I will be giving them the chance to battle those mutant genes by giving them the ammunition to fight them with clean cancer fighting foods.

For example: Trans Fats. I have always been confused as to which fat was bad for you and now it seems on all nutrition labels there are 3 different types of fats. Well this is what the book says about Trans Fats.

"These fake fats, made by hydrogenating polyunsaturated fats such as corn oil, are one of the most dangerous artificial ingredients. They raise your risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer.
Because your body doesn't recognize that trans fats are artificial, they become part of your cell membranes, making the cells weaker. Consuming trans fats increases the level of LDL cholesterol (the bad stuff) in your blood. Your body easily stores trans fats but can't easily retrieve them for fuel, so they cause weight gain."

That's some pretty serious stuff. By eating clean it just means that I will be eating things that haven't been processed to death. Processed means that they take out all the nutrients so food won't spoil as quickly and then they add a bunch of fake stuff to make it taste the way it should taste before they added all the chemicals to it, and it's never as good. But they have shown that these chemicals are as addictive as hard core drugs. The problem is that you can't stop eating, you have to eat to live! Therefore the cycle continues and is passed down and each generation is getting fatter and sicker than the last.

That is why I have now decided to avoid such additives and preservatives as much as I can. I know it's going to be tough, but I'm working on gradually shifting my family's eating habits and hopefully one day we can claim ourselves as a clean eating family!