Using our pantry

My friend Mary just finished a month of *no* spending. Pretty impressive.

So Ryan and I are going to try our version this month. We are not cutting out all spending, because to be honest, we don't really spend much on superfluous stuff anyway. Instead we are going to try to limit our food expenditures for the entire month to $60! That will basically cover: milk, eggs and a loaf of bread or two.

We haven't done any real preparation for the month, because the point for us is mainly to use up some of the food we have stockpiled away in our pantry and freezer. I will be shocked if we are able to get through it all in one months time.

Also, lest anyone be worried that we will not be eating healthy, our CSA share starts next week and we will be getting 2 boxes of farm fresh in season produce during the course of the month. We may become vegetarians in an attempt to eat it all, but at least we will be healthy.

deep thoughts

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.

Rev. C.L. Dodgson
aka Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

New Year's Resolution

This year I have a couple of new year's resolutions that I am comfortable sharing.

1) finish painting our house - this is one of those things that drives me secretly insane. The main living level of our house is painting and I love the colors, our bedrooms are painted, but no where else. The crazy thing is - I have the paint - and yet my house is still builder's white. This year I hope to conquer the white walls and bring on the beige.

2) knit a pair of socks. Everyone raves about sock knitting - it is portable, practical and makes fantastic gifts. So I just ordered (<3 knitpicks.com) some small needles and a book (why they are not sold at a normal craft shop is a mystery to all) - I already have yarn thanks to my dad for my b-day last year :). I can see this as something, I will really enjoy and if that is the case - you can pretty much guess what everyone is getting as gifts this year. :)

3) complete a half-marathon. originally i had every intention of running it with my bro and sis - but i happen to be a little plumper than either of them and apparently my knees don't appreciate the extra weight, so i am planning on walking it. yay for walking.

4) job happiness. i haven't been happy professionally for a while and i am not sure what needs to happen to change that. maybe a serious change of attitude, maybe a serious change of scenery. whatever it is, i am going to go for the simplest solution first and take it from there.

The it would be nice list...
1) make the backyard more usable - fence it off, and put in pavers, cement a patio, something, and if i can manage all that plant a garden :)
2) make the front yard even and plant new grass. we kind of gave up last year, hopefully this year will turn out better.