Tomorrow I start weight watchers. It's being offered where I work, and I am looking forward to the support of other women who are trying to accomplish the same thing I am. I need that motivation, that push to my goals. I need someone to take that chocolate bar out of my hand...actually, it's not chocolate I crave, but bacon.
If you've been a reader of mine for a while, you know how I eat. I source most of our food from local sources. I cook from whole foods and avoid processed at all cost. I sweeten with syrup and honey. I use olive oil and real butter. And I eat real bacon and eggs. I LOVE bacon and eggs. In fact, when I was deciding what my last pre-weight watchers meal would be, I thought I would cook up my favorite comfort dish: eggs from a local farmer scrambled with local cheddar cheese and a big pat of butter. On the side would be a homemade hash made from multi-colored potatoes, peppers, and onions saved from my garden last fall. Over the top of it all? Bacon. A big slab of brown sugar cured bacon sizzled and chopped. Mmmmmm! So delicious. And my whole family likes it. Of course, my kids like it best with a big splash of ketchup on top...
Then, I hesitated. After a long day at work, what I really needed tonight was a big glass of red wine. Something to sip slowly while I read on my nook. Something to calm my nerves and help me sleep. With a big breakfast, I usually make a steamy cup of coffee or cocoa...I suppose if I was adventuresome I might have juice with a splash of champagne or white wine. But, tonight I really needed red wine. Or bacon. Wine. Bacon.
Oh, heck...I'll just have them both!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Retrospect
At the start of every new year is the tradition of making new year's resolutions. Last year, my resolution was to simplify our family life. In retrospect, I'm not quite sure I accomplished it, but I can say that things are definitely different now:
1. I managed to grow or obtain from local farms enough vegetables to sustain us through the growing season and into the winter. I still have a full deep freezer and a shelf of root cellared winter squash to go! I eliminated as many processed, non-food foods as I could from our daily meals. I shop mostly at local markets with a few purchases at the grocery store to obtain a few ingredients here and there. I cook with mostly whole foods and keep them in as natural a state as I can (and have them be edible!). I only use real butter or extra virgin olive oil. I eliminated artificial sweeteners and sweeten mostly with real maple syrup and local honey (I have the same 5 pound bag of sugar that I bought LAST January!).
2. I am slowly but surely going through and eliminating "stuff." The girls have fewer toys, I have tried to clear out the clutter on my desk, and Jeremy...well, he has his own space for his stuff. I have a long way to go in this area. I still need to find a better system for organization, but I'll get to that later.
3. I got a new job. At the start of the year, I was actually planning to find a way to go part time. I was only buying things I couldn't make or grow. I saved money, and I had more time to sew, cook, and bake. Yet, I wasn't able to give up my work and still cover our family's insurance needs. I worked 3-4 nights a week, but my sleep schedule was erratic at best. In June, I got a promotion working better hours but 5 days a week. It has left me wondering how to live like a normal person, but I have more time each day with my family. Before, I wasn't eating dinner or putting my kids to bed half of the nights each week. Simple? Yes and no. I haven't quite figured out how to work a full day and not be so tired. All the hobbies I once had have been moved over to make more time for sleep.
4. I decided that simple isn't always simple. Some months, I am more than overwhelmed with planting my garden, harvesting and preserving, or cleaning out the closets. Other months, I seem to have more time, but am still catching up on my sleep from the previous months. A job with fewer hours per day seems great, but more days a week leaves me scrambling on the weekends. And clearing out the clutter is not as easy as it sounds.
So, with my plan for living the simple life well under way, it's time to move forward. Time to see how I can keep the simple life going while keeping it all in perspective. And I'm hoping to find a balance in the way all the pieces of my life fit together.
1. I managed to grow or obtain from local farms enough vegetables to sustain us through the growing season and into the winter. I still have a full deep freezer and a shelf of root cellared winter squash to go! I eliminated as many processed, non-food foods as I could from our daily meals. I shop mostly at local markets with a few purchases at the grocery store to obtain a few ingredients here and there. I cook with mostly whole foods and keep them in as natural a state as I can (and have them be edible!). I only use real butter or extra virgin olive oil. I eliminated artificial sweeteners and sweeten mostly with real maple syrup and local honey (I have the same 5 pound bag of sugar that I bought LAST January!).
2. I am slowly but surely going through and eliminating "stuff." The girls have fewer toys, I have tried to clear out the clutter on my desk, and Jeremy...well, he has his own space for his stuff. I have a long way to go in this area. I still need to find a better system for organization, but I'll get to that later.
3. I got a new job. At the start of the year, I was actually planning to find a way to go part time. I was only buying things I couldn't make or grow. I saved money, and I had more time to sew, cook, and bake. Yet, I wasn't able to give up my work and still cover our family's insurance needs. I worked 3-4 nights a week, but my sleep schedule was erratic at best. In June, I got a promotion working better hours but 5 days a week. It has left me wondering how to live like a normal person, but I have more time each day with my family. Before, I wasn't eating dinner or putting my kids to bed half of the nights each week. Simple? Yes and no. I haven't quite figured out how to work a full day and not be so tired. All the hobbies I once had have been moved over to make more time for sleep.
4. I decided that simple isn't always simple. Some months, I am more than overwhelmed with planting my garden, harvesting and preserving, or cleaning out the closets. Other months, I seem to have more time, but am still catching up on my sleep from the previous months. A job with fewer hours per day seems great, but more days a week leaves me scrambling on the weekends. And clearing out the clutter is not as easy as it sounds.
So, with my plan for living the simple life well under way, it's time to move forward. Time to see how I can keep the simple life going while keeping it all in perspective. And I'm hoping to find a balance in the way all the pieces of my life fit together.
Starting Over
Copied from my last blog...
Have you ever felt like it might be better just to erase it all and start over...well, me too. At least as far as blogging goes. I'm not planning to erase this blog, but I'm thinking of ending it here and starting again. Yes, my life has become more simplified, but at a cost to other parts of my life. I've had to re-evaluate and think about what I'm really striving for here.
Most people see me as a granola mom who tries to keep the kids playing outside and the food in the house wholesome and organic. Other people will say they never see my without my big pink cup of coffee (preferably from Starbucks or Holland Farms!) in one hand and my iphone in the other.
I sent my kindergartener to school with specially packed lunches for months and then, suddenly realized that for only $2 a day, she could learn to make her own choices and eat more variety. I spend lots of time trying to instill in my girls the value of reduce, reuse, recycle, and then I plop them in front of the TV so I can play on facebook.
I love to garden, and I love to cook. Due to lack of time, though, I find that most of the time I'd rather order out. And the lure of pre-chopped veggies is sometimes more than I can resist to the ones I have to harvest, wash, and prepare (although, the taste is usually second rate).
I'd love to say I walk everywhere within a mile of my house, but I'm usually packing the kids in the SUV just to drive down the hill a block to my parent's house. I preach that kids are overscheduled these days, but I overschedule myself to the very limits of my capability.
So, I've decided. What I need for 2011 is not more simplification, it's BALANCE. So what if I'm gardening with the help of an iphone app. Who cares if my daughter orders lunch at school when she's in love with fresh fruit? My youngest eats a diet that consists mostly of salad and candy. Both my daughters know how to express themselves artistically and they know almost all the words to the Glee Christmas special.
The one thing I want to express here is my true self. So, as soon as I've come up with a new blog name, feel free to join me...you may see me contradict myself, but you'll always get one thing...the truth!
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