Potential Yard Plan

Bad picture...still gets the point across

I've spent the last little while working on this: the plan for the front and back yards. I finally got it to a point where I'm pretty happy with it now.

There are different elements that will be part of the yard. Here are the different parts, along with the supplies that I expect we'll need:

-Bark. This will make up a fair amount of the yard. It will line the edges of the fence on the north and west sides. There will be patches of it in other places as well, potentially with shrubs and stuff planted. Needed supplies: weed barrier, bark.
-Rock. This will cover a lot of the front yard. Needed supplies: weed barrier, rocks.
-Grass. Trying to keep this to a minimum so we don't go crazy trying to maintain it, but we do want a little in some strategic spots. Needed supplies: topsoil, grass seed OR sod, sprinkler system.
-Dirt/soil beds. For areas with flowers/plants/garden/etc. Needed supplies: topsoil, organic matter, rocks for border, plants.
-Gravel. For areas where nothing needs to grow and should be kept very low-maintenance. Needed supplies: gravel, weed barrier (possibly).
-Dirt/gravel path. We'll probably just leave it as dirt for now, then add gravel to it later on. Needed supplies: gravel.

Next project is to estimate how much each project will cost...

Skinny Snickerdoodles

Oh my giddy goodness.
Amazing. So amazing.
Found a recipe for Skinny Snickerdoodles from Chocolate-Covered Katie, the Healthy Dessert Blog. Because I don't have a lot of patience, I didn't bother to refrigerate before cooking. I also just added some cinnamon to the dough instead of rolling the dough balls in cinnamon/sugar mix. Amazing.

State of the Garden Address

Ok, so as of today here's how things are progressing.

Seeds I've Started Indoors (and how they are doing):
Tomato, Gourmet Heirloom Blend: 3/4 sprouted. They seem to be doing quite well :)
Tomato, Bonny Best: 1/2 sprouted. Doing okay :/
Pepper, Golden Treasure: 0/2 sprouted :(
Pepper, Sweet Golden Cal Wonder: 0/2 sprouted :(
Eggplant, Black Beauty: 2/3 sprouted. Only 1 seems to be thriving, however. ;/
Lettuce, Salad Bowl Red: 7/12 sprouted/thriving...originally more sprouted, but they dried out. Still, the majority are doing well :)
Pumpkin, Orange Smoothie: 2/2 sprouted and thriving...I think starting this indoors was a mistake since they are already big-ass sons of guns. Doing great :)
Winter Squash, Delicata: 0/2 sprouted...they may need more time? :(
Melon, Casaba Golden Beauty: 4/4 sprouted, 2 of which are already thriving :)

Seeds I've Started Outdoors (and how they are doing):
Pea, Dark Seeded Perfection: Planted 16. These have finally, just BARELY, started showing their lovely little faces! About three little sprouts are now visible, so I'm quite joyful :) I'm going to try to keep them pretty wet and hope they keep on growing like a boss. :/
Carrot, Danvers Half Long: Can't remember how many I planted...but regardless, nothing yet :(

So far, not too bad, right? If nothing else, I've got tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkins, melons, and peas to look forward to! Next step is, I think, to move the thriving/larger plants to bigger containers, and soon I'll start hardening them off.

And the results are in!

Here's how I did today diet-wise:

So now I have a basic idea of how I eat on any given day. To be fair, though, I think I ate a lot more sugar than normal. I know I eat a lot more sugar than I should...but today it seems like I went way overboard...like 5x more than I should have had (!). I am also concerned with the amount of fat I ate. I don't think I typically consume that much. Maybe I should try this again tomorrow, then kind of take the average of the two days? Or maybe I should do it a few more times...I'm not sure yet.

"Red Flag" foods that I ate today:

*Winco Cranberry Almond Mix (26.6g of sugar)

*Bridge Mix Candy (61g of sugar...oops)

*McDonald's Hot Fudge Sundae (48g of sugar)

Good Food Choices I ate today:

*1/2 Turkey Sandwich (lunch)

*Baby carrots

I dropped the ball today. I may have come in under 2000 calories, but I sucked at how I chose those calories. Clearly I need to set some boundaries for sugar and fat consumption. Maybe I'll start with that--reduce sugar and fat.

I'm making a tentative goal here: eat less than 50g of sugar and less than 65g of fat each day for the rest of the week. We'll see how I feel.

Once I get my diet "on track," I'd like to revisit this and see how I'm doing then compared to how I did today. I really hope that I'll be pleased with the results.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to ward of Wilford Brimly and insist that I'm not in the market for diabetes testing supplies yet.

Organizing Jewelry

Looking for a cheap but visually-appealing way to organize your jewelry? Years ago I discovered that a simple mug rack:

could be easily transformed into this:

with just a few nails or tacks in the wall.

I love it!

Dialogue

Brain: Hey stomach! We're going to lose weight.
Stomach: Whatever. I don't care as long as I don't have to do anything.
Brain: Well, actually, that's part of the plan...
Stomach: Screw that.
Brain: Look. If you'll just try to enjoy healthy foods instead of junk, I'll do my best to supply the willpower to make this possible long-term.
Stomach: But I like junk food! I LIVE for junk food! In fact, me getting junk food is one thing that makes YOU happy, remember?
Brain: Well, yeah...for a few minutes. Then I'M the one that's stuck living with the guilt later on! And what about YOU? You just keep stretching out and then you want MORE food and I just feel worse and worse!
Stomach: Well, you over-analyze everything.
Brain: YOU DON'T SAY! That's my !@#$*&% JOB YOU !@#$ GUT!
Stomach: .....
Brain: .....
Stomach: I'm not speaking to you anymore.
Brain: I didn't even think it was possible for us to speak.
Stomach: .....
Brain: .....


THE END.

. . . . .

Sometimes you just feel like a cow.

I kind of wish that the above WERE just some silly thing I came up with, but there is some real truth to it. I want to lose weight, but it's quite difficult in part because I've grown up using food as a band-aid. It's like, "I feel upset. I'll have some chocolate because I deserve it since I'm upset. Then I'll feel better." And I do. For a few minutes. How long does it take to A.) be excited with the anticipation of the chocolate; B.) actually enjoy eating the chocolate; C.) feel content because i just ate chocolate? Not very long. And after that comes the guilt where I wish there was more chocolate, then realize I should never have eaten it at all because of how caloric/fatty/sugary it was, and soon I wish I could un-eat what I'd eaten to make me feel "better" in the first place.

It's a bad system, worse paired with my recent sedentary lifestyle. I don't work cleaning or running around a warehouse or anything like that anymore--I am sitting or standing most of the time. I do try to get some exercise in daily, but that's not enough. And since I live in the middle of nowhere, getting to a gym or whatever is a pain because it takes time to get there and it costs extra gas money. Thankfully I've been getting into walking/jogging outside with D. since the weather got nice. BUT...I think there needs to be more, and losing as much weight as I want will start with figuring out what I'm doing wrong NOW and get rid of it, for starters.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to keep track of everything I eat. I am also going to check my gym/rec center options again and just make some comparisons. It seems like it will be super inconvenient to change anything, but most major things don't come about without a bit of change and sacrifice. Right?

Truth

This is pretty much how I feel about gardening. And sometimes about life in general.