Mer. Meal Planning.

If I don't plan out meals we end up eating frozen pizza.

Does that happen to anyone else? Yes?

Plus we eat Blue Plate Special.

Approximately 5:30.

Yeppers, that's right. Babies, toddlers, children, and old people all eat at the SAME TIME. If dinner isn't on the table at 5:30 I pretty much have a revolt on my hands. And I'm not outnumbered.

So I need to meal plan.

I'm trying something new - I've pinned so many Pinterest recipes and I do want to try quite a few but the problem is now finding them and TRYING them.

I started a Weekly Meal Planning Board.

How this is going to work or even if it will is still something to be determined. So far what has worked for me is just putting ingredients that we have on post-it notes and then determining what I can make out of what needs to be used up. Is it perfect? NOPE. I'm hoping for more organization, more crockpot meals, more easy meals, etc...

We'll see what happens. We'll see if it sticks.

2017 Gardening Thoughts

This year there's a shit ton of stuff that I want to do in our garden - it's just that I don't have the time to do them.

I need to start seeds in April -

Peas
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Radishes
Herbs - Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, etc...

Except that I can't start seeds unless Bimmer Man is home or I have to hire someone to watch the kids. Chewie is into everything and during his naps I try to spend as much time with the Monkey that I can AND do all the housework. Bimmer Man is busy with work and his track car. SO. Seeds may not get started until mid-April. Or possibly not at all. It's been a bit of a tornado around here.

We also are getting estimates for a new fence - Chewie needs a fence so I'm not on suicide watch all the time with that kid. The south side fence is falling over and we pulled out the fence by the driveway so the backyard is currently open to the alley - and it's not like all of our neighbors have kids so a few people are pretty speedy down the alley. I'm thinking I need to put in a stop sign.

The estimates seem to be a shit show to me - $4600 for 100 feet of cedar fencing, $5600 for 100 feet of cedar fencing. GAH. That much much for a seriously small footage of fencing. I'm waiting on one bid, the third which will really tell me if one the two above is talking shit. I left a message with one person, which I'll call again today but he hasn't called me back. I'm thinking the person that referred us was kind of a dick to him and he's thinking we'll be dicks too. No, I JUST WANT A FENCE TO KEEP MY CHILD IN MY YARD.

Bimmer Man also complains about the garage - so I'm going to call a few cement/concrete contractors for estimates for a french drain in front of the garage. It can't be that expensive - just dig out asphalt, then pour concrete with a drainage ditch to go into the alley, cover it with a grate so the water doesn't go in the garage.

So that's what's going on here garden-wise.

Out of the Fog

Finally.

Last Tuesday it was about 9:30 in the morning and I suddenly felt as if I had come out of a fog.

I realized that my postpartum hormones had finally leveled off. Gone away. I felt fucking free. Like I was swimming under water and running out of air to suddenly pop up and take a deep breath again.

It's nice to be back.

I don't feel like I'm REACTING anymore - I don't feel like I'm in fight/flight mode anymore - I don't feel like I'm running all the time.

It's a great feeling to have ME back. I have no idea if that makes any sense or not - but I always tell other new mothers, that it's 40 weeks to grow a baby, and it's 40 weeks to get yourself back - not just your body but YOURSELF. If there's something that is indescribable it's really the hormones that affect you. You can feel happy, then suddenly not. You can feel irritated, then suddenly not. And you just can't describe any of it. It's weird. It's weird. It's something that mother don't talk about - but if you're affected by postpartum crap, don't worry, I understand.

So now that the haze has lifted, I'm ME again.