Posted in Every Day Blessings

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth but golly we have been busy.  I just don’t know where to begin. 

I finally talked dh into having carpets cleaned (again).  They were really bad and truly need replacing but no money for that so PTL my MIL loaned us her newly bought Bisell and we are getting our money’s worth on that machine trying to do the entire house.  It is a crazy mess with furniture all over the place stuffed into different rooms but I know it will be worth it in the end. 

Unfortunately when we started to move furniture we discovered that we had a mouse problem!  ARGH - I sorta suspected it but didn’t realize how bad it was until we started disturbing their homes UCK!  Traps set and mouse problem gone we started realizing that the walls in our house were really bad too and needed cleaning.  I started scrubbing walls and quickly realized that some areas just needed paint and the areas around the central heating vents weren’t coming clean.  After speaking to a few people we realized that our vents probably needed cleaning before we painted soooooo $300 later we have some very cleaned vents LOL and we still need to paint.  But man those vents were nasty and I’m so glad we did it even though I think the kids would rather we have bought the dishwasher that the money was intended for.  Now we will continue with the plan of cleaning carpets, patching and painting walls and save some more money for that dishwasher.  I doubt that any of this will be done in time for the holidays but at least it is getting done.

As Ronco would say, but wait there’s more…

The first half of the soccer season is over and we now take a break until about February but how I ended up baking cupcakes for BOTH my boys end of season parties is still mind boggling.  So 80 cupcakes later and a cramped hand from “planting” all that green frosting grass I can officially say soccer is done for the winter (woo hoo -- I was sooo ready for it to be done).

Now we are preparing for the Flamenco dance show that also includes selling luminaries, a silent auction with donations being supplied by the scholarship parents (oh joy - we’re one of the scholarship parents) and the dance studio is moving to a new location sooooo if I’m not home you can find me with the Flamenco folks LOL

Hmm? What else?  Chess has started again and I am once again co-captain for the team (how do I ever get myself involved in these things?).  But thankfully dh helps more with that so I don’t have to go to ALL the chess matches.

We finally made some decisions about some things in the house that were taking up too much space like these huge vinyl gymnastic pillows that I had made for the kiddos when they were smaller.  They have out grown them and I tried selling them but we ended up donating them to our library so my kids can still use them at the library too LOL

We packed 12 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  That is waaaay down from the 25 we did last year but this year we had much bigger boxes and money is so much tighter.

Oh and we have gotten rid of a bunch more stuff to the goodwill and some nasty mattresses that someone gave the boys but they were so gross & worn out that I couldn’t let them sleep on them even if they were free (one was moldy!!). 

And in the mist of all this chaos and confusion I realized that I had only planned school through the end of October??? soooo I decided to sit down and get the basic plans done for the rest of the year and then go ahead and start on 2009!!!  Yes Virginia, I get very side tracked but next years plans are coming together nicely.  I hope to have those plans done & bound on Saturday (this are not indepth -- mostly calendar stuff but that is better than what I had at the end of October LOL).  We’ll see --depends on how sidetracked I get between now and then LOL. 

The RAW diet got moved around with the furniture (in other words I stopped doing it for the last two weeks).  I have discovered that I don’t like eating raw food when it is cold outside but in the last two weeks I am starting to notice some health problems returning, one of which are my 3 day migraines so I may have to figure out how to eat raw in the winter time whether I like it or not.

So that’s why I haven’t been around and yes, things have slowed down for me compared to when soccer season was around LOL

 © Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

"If you are one who suffers from forgetfulness or declining thinking skills, a diet high in raw foods will help you be more alert, think shaper and more logically. On a raw food diet you may experience the elimination of body odor and halitosis.

This diet has been tough a few times.  Interesting enough it is only when I am out of food.  I am still trying to judge how much I need to eat and how fast I eat it, so it doesn't go bad on me so it is all still a learning process.  The weather has changed on me and I think this diet will become increasingly harder as it gets colder because I really crave hot food in the winter so my education and my evaluation of WHY I am doing this will have to be a constant reminder so that I will continue.  So far I am down to 144 lbs which I am extremely happy with, but that weight is fluctuating a bit. 

Yes, weight is the main issue as to why I am doing this but I also have some health issues that were truly concerning me.  I have noticed that my gums don't seem to be bleeding as often or as bad as they were.  I have Hashimoto's disease which is an under active thyroid condition that I am told is incurable.  HA!  I have also read in several places where this raw diet completely reversed this and these people are no longer on medication which I would like to strive for.  Not that the medication is bad, I just feel like I am barely functioning.  I have no energy, no enthusiasm or get up and go and I don't want to live that way anymore.  My hair falls out in clumps because of the thyroid condition.  My skin and nails are extremely dry and my body tends to pack on the weight, both very common complaints of hypothyroidism. 

I also have a history of arthritis in my family which I am feeling the effects of, mostly in my neck and upper back.  My joints ache.  I've been told that my grandmother's arthritis is worse because of her high acid diet and I immediately connected that with what this article said.  Honestly, I have never seen anyone with arthritis as bad as hers.  Her pain must be excruciating and I don't want to live with that or have my family have to deal with that.  I think the arthritis is what is causing my migraines so rather than treat the migraines I need to prevent or slow the arthritis from advancing. 

Diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks also run in my family history so I am trying to prevent that as well with this diet.  I know if I could just get some of my energy to return then I could start running or exercising again and that would help my sleep and my overall well being.  

This was all a reminder for me to "stay the race". 

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

With the cold weather that has set in, I was hankering for something hot which I am finding a little difficult with eating mostly raw.  I haven't had much time to research the whole raw topic (beside the fact that all the library books on the topic are checked out so that is an indication of how this is diet is becoming so popular).  I am probably doing everything all wrong.  I have the basic idea down but it is a bit more work than I have time for right now.  Heck - just getting a meal on the table is tough enough for me right now, let alone trying to figure out how to do the same thing raw but it is getting there.  It was fun to try this & not bad tasting: 

Weigh-In: 145.5
Water intake: 2 glasses

Breakfast:
Coffee with honey (honey is raw but coffee is not but I probably am “cooking” the honey in my coffee when I add it so this is not raw LOL rolling eyes because some of the “raw” rules are a little ridiculous.  I’m still NOT giving up my coffee!!!)

Fruit salad that my dh made to surprise me.  A bit of a strange combination but not bad:
grapefruit, apples, bananas, kiwi, mango, & strawberries

(and for the record this was eating one of each of these fruits and about a cup of strawberries -- it is a lot of fruit)

Lunch:  I tried this raw Mushroom soup (recipe following).  It was different.  I would have liked it warmer but still not bad.  Originally I thought it was bland so added salt and then thought a dash of soy sauce (not raw) would be good so I added that forgetting that soy sauce has a lot of salt so then it was a little salty but still good.  I ate at 12:30 and I was hungry at 5:00p ~ VERY HUNGRY ~ but was away from home without a raw snack so I really need to watch that.

RAW Mushroom Soup
One serving. Makes about 2 cups, depending on how thick you want it
1 medium zucchini, chopped
5 large mushrooms, chopped
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
black pepper, to taste
1 cup water, more or less for desired thickness

Chop zucchini, mushrooms and garlic in food processor.  Add seeds, seasonings and oil. Stir it up and let marinate for at least two hours in the fridge. (NOTE:  Overnight is alright too.  At this point you could eat as a salad.)  When done marinating, blend until smooth with warmed water & enjoy!

Dinner: Not raw meal – store bought cheese tortellini with tomato sauce (no meat) & lemonade
Honestly have to say that this tasted awful.  I wonder if my taste buds are changing?

Posted in Commonplace Book

I was feeling a little down and then this came in my box: 

The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember... 

Noah was a drunk 
Abraham was too old 
Isaac was a daydreamer 
Jacob was a liar 
Leah was ugly 
Joseph was abused 
Moses had a stuttering problem 
Gideon was afraid 
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer 
Rahab was a prostitute 
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young 
David had an affair and was a murderer 
Elijah was suicidal 
Isaiah preached naked 
Jonah ran from God 
Naomi was a widow 
Job went bankrupt 
Peter denied Christ 
The Disciples fell asleep while praying 
Martha worried about everything 
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once 
Zacchaeus was too small  
Paul was too religious 
Timothy had an ulcer... 
AND 
Lazarus was dead! 

Now, no more excuses! God can use you to your full potential...

Besides you aren't the message,
you are just the messenger.

Posted in Commonplace Book

One of the producers speaking to Andy Griffith about Andy not wanting to create his own TV show because of how everyone was acting on the Danny Thomas show, "Andy, you have to understand that Danny likes to yell, so we all yell.  If you don't want to yell then don't yell and we won't yell."

The other night, I was watching a PBS show called Pioneers of Television.  Andy Griffith was telling about how he almost didn't go into the television business because of the chaos Danny Thomas created and this quote hit me somewhere deep inside (Andy Griffith first appeared on the Danny Thomas Show "Make Room for Daddy" and the Andy Griffith Show was a spin off of that show).  Yes, my family yells -- we tend to fly off the handle, a little too fast, and a little too easily.  Yelling is something I have always grown up with (hot Hispanic blood); not that I liked it, so I am constantly trying to change but it is tough when that is all you know.  Dh grew up with 6 brothers and sisters and you had to yell just to get noticed so it comes natural to him too LOL.  That's where this quote was just so profound for me -- "If you don't want to yell then don't yell .... and nobody will yell (said in a hushed whisper, almost like a secret LOL).  Well, DUH!  It is funny where and when G-d speaks to you.  Maybe G-d needs to yell at me sometimes LOL

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

Weigh In:  146
Water Intake: 1/2 (you would think more with the hike but nope)

Today we were in a hurry to get out of the house and running late because dh wanted to go on a Fall hike as a surprise (I will post pictures later).  So breakfast needed to be quick and we picked up sandwiches to take for lunch (dh packed everything else).  Since I'm the only one really eating this way it is difficult for dh to figure out what "I" am eating -- he tries though.  However, because we got such a late start, we were coming back into town late too, so we just grabbed something on the way home so not at all a raw day (which means I will try raw all day tomorrow )

Breakfast:
Egg sandwich to-go (not raw)

Lunch:
SUBWAY™ chicken sandwich (not raw)
2 apples
salsa with avocado (all raw) with baked potato chips (not)

Snack:
pudding (not raw)
carrot

Dinner:
bean burrito (not raw)

Posted in RAW food experiement

If you have at all kept up with my life then you might have noticed how busy I have been and while I tried to keep to the original guidelines of eating raw these past couple of weeks, I haven’t been quite as stringent because I refuse to celebrate a birthday without eating birthday cake LOL (there have been quite a few birthdays these past few weeks not to mention my anniversary and the Jewish Holy days that we like to celebrate WITH food LOL).  But I’ve learned a few things and PTL I haven’t gained anything back – teeter totted a bit between 148 and 145 but never going over the 148 mark so that tells me that my weight is a healthy loss.  For the record, I haven't been under 150 in about 7 years (and closer to the 160 if truth be told).  I’m currently sitting at 145.5 so I’m happy and my jeans feel baggy.  Still not where I want to be because I have a whole closet full of clothes that fit at 140 so that is the goal at least for now.  I don't know if I could carry anything below that but I'm taking it one pound at a time.  I don't care what I weigh as long as I feel good but when clothes are uncomfortably tight or I feel like I am in a tent, I'm not happy and I am reaaaaalllly hoping that my overall health gets better with this plan because frankly I am only getting older and I need to have energy and stamina for these boys to continue down the path G-d wants me to go.  I don't have that right now but I do see a slight improvement. 

Some thing I have learned is that you HAVE to think about and plan for raw, especially snacks so I have started carrying a bag of raw almonds in my purse for times I am away.  The minute my body says “HUNGRY” I have to eat something or else then I just want something either not raw or completely junk – must be that “no will power” thing that G-d is working in me LOL.  But it reality I think my body is using what I'm giving it and when it needs more it goes searching high and low and when it doesn't find what it needs it asks, if I give it the good stuff I'm fine but if I give it the bad stuff, it isn't the right stuff and it wants to gorge because old habits are hard to break.  This is a "THINKING" diet LOL

Eating raw means shopping more frequently (oh joy she said in all sarcasm “I soooo love to go grocery shopping – NOT!) and since “my” food looks different my kiddos seem to want what I am eating so that means I need to buy more for them too.  That also makes eating raw a bit more expensive and don’t even talk to me about organic --- yet.  I’m praying that we can have a garden sometime in the near future to offset all this healthiness and just maybe I will get through the holiday/winter season without a cold. 

I’m still having trouble with the water goal.  Back in January, I pledged to drink 8 glasses per day – discovered I probably need closer to 10 and accomplished that goal back in August however since starting to eat raw I’m back down to maybe 2 glasses per day and also probably why my migraines are returning   PS I’m not too keen on water but will try, try again.

I think I’m back on the original raw wagon plan now and hopefully I will start to see some more weight slide off.  I haven’t seen an increase in energy but my schedule of late has been so crazy that my sleeping schedule is sabotaging any energy that this diet might be giving me so I hope to change that as well.

So if you were wondering how it's going -- I'm still eating raw

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Commonplace Book

"I'm destroying a village to save it.  In this case, a penquin," Berkeley Breathed wrote.  "...We are about to enter a rather wicked period in our National Discourse... bad enough to make what we're in right now seem folksey and genteel.  The ranting side of my cartooning impulse will destroy the thing that makes Opus comfortable for his readers.  And me."

On October 6, 2008, Berkeley Breathed, the cartoonist best know for the synndicated strip Bloom Country, announced that he would discontinue his cute socio-political penguin cartoon of Opus.  To say I was a fan of this penguin is a bit of an understatement in that I didn't always "get" his cartoon nor did I want to kill brain cells to figure it out.  My boys had just watched the movie Secondhand Lions where it appears that the young actor in the film is playing a young Berkeley Breathed and to me, that seemed to explain A LOT as to why I didn't always understand his comic strip (however, I have found no proof either way that this is true or false).  In my curious state though I did find out that the man is a hugely private, self proclaimed atheist - possibly an agnostic, a total animal rights activists and (duh) a vegetarian.  I found it quite amusing that even this type of person would see the signs of the times a'changing and of course a person with these beliefs would see the world in such a bad state because it would seem to be an awful big mess without Jesus and without His hope.  I agree that we are headed for some awful times, if we aren't already there.  I think we (myself included) have made a huge mess of the world and it seems at least in my mind, that the only one who is left to fix it, is Jesus and not some president or penguin.  I can't even imagine putting one foot in front of the other without having Jesus so I can totally read the fear or resignation, behind Berkeley Breathed's words.  My dear Opus: "breath" and remember: 

Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you."  Isaiah 35:4 NASV 

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Every Day Blessings

but it was sooooooooooo GOOD!  My dh took me today (for our anniversary) to see the movie Fireproof and all I can say was PTL!!!! it was AWESOME (and the perfect anniversary movie LOL).  I laughed, I cried, my dh laughed and cried and we praised the L-rd for the work He is doing through Sherwood Films.  This film didn't just present the gospel but it showed solidarity in marriage and how to set aside addictions for true love.  I'm reccommending you see it at a "full pop" price because $$ is what hollywood sees and I just want this to take the world by storm.  So many need to hear it's message.  I pray that it helps our world see their need for a Savior.  So, so, so GOOD!

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Every Day Blessings

I've been working on putting up 100 lbs of apples which are far from done.  Flamenco is preparing for Christmas recital and annual sales that they do so "my" participation there has increased ten fold (my son is on scholarship so the parents are asked to do fund raising and help with all that is needed).  Piano is also preparing for a Christmas recital.  Then one of the little boys on our soccer team fell and broke his collar bone so he is now out for the season and now I'm not sure if all the work I just finished doing getting ready for the end of the season tournament was for not, including a scrimage I just set up for our boys to play a challenging team since they are currently 4-0 and nobody has scored on us -- never mind that the broken collar bone boy is one of our better players -- it is all such a bummer for the poor kid and our team but life will go on at the pace it likes LOL 

What else?  Dh found a car bumper to replace the one I hit but the nice man was still so nice that I'm just wondering if that is what I was supposed to learn from the whole situation.  Dh's birthday celebration was only so-so because the poor man is just too tired (still haven't bought the bday tennis shoes that he asked for so he didn't even get a present).  Rosh Hashanah was preped for and then dh was called into work so we just sorta talked about it without the complete celebration that I planned for.  Our week long hot air balloon fiesta is in town so that means I have tons of out of town guests staying in various places that we will visit in the next week  and I'm sorta afraid to even plan anything for our anniversary which is next weekend just knowing that something will come up, dh will be just too tired (or have to work -- he also got a new boss today so now he has to deal with that too) and I don't want to put so much effort into another something (bday and Rosh Hashanah) for it to get scratched again --- okay so I am going back to peeling apples.  Send a search party if I'm not done soon LOL

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Bookshelf

Today is dh's birthday and since he is a huge Louis L'Amour fan I am posting here where I finally found a great check-off list that I can print off and carry with me while I am searching for one he doesn't have:

http://www.louislamour.com/community/booklist.htm

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

Drum roll please..........

This morning the scale reads 145!!!! I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled!  (So just a recap:  Starting weight 152.5 - a week later 147.5 = a loss of 5 lbs. for the first week and with weigh in today of a loss of 2.5 lbs this week for a grand total of 7.5 for 2 weeks.  And from everything I have read about weight loss this is not too fast nor is it unhealthy for my body so I am doing the happy dance.  My scale hasn't seen the 140's in over a year and to be under 150 for over a week I just am ecstatic!!)

Now some observations about this week:

Well this is a busy birthday month in my family.  Between Dh's family and my immediate family we have a birthday every other day (& I WISH I was joking) soooo that amounts to a lot of birthday cake LOL.  At the beginning of the week we took my MIL out for birthday lunch at an all you can eat buffet thinking I would be okay with salad but my raw selection was so limited that I ended up eating 90% cooked veggies instead of anything raw (a VERY limited salad bar; I was kinda surprised) -- I was okay with what I ate because I didn't want to ruin mil's birthday with "my" diet and I refuse to let this run my life, so to speak.  WELL... I had NO self control and I ended up eating enough for lunch that day, dinner that night and breakfast the next morning -- I was so stuffed.  And because I ate so much cooked, I decided I needed a full raw day which was really tough but it was only the one day so I survived.  It took 3 days for my body to process that buffet and I really did feel more run down on those days. 

I can't say that I have more energy yet but the only way I can describe it is that I feel "bright" LOL almost like I am more awake but more energy just hasn't happened yet.  My dh thinks it just might be our mattress so we flipped it around last night to see if that helps.  Neither one of us ever feel like we are getting a good nights sleep or have any energy (hum..  think it has to do with 3 boys LOL).  I still don't think it is the coffee we drink since that really is the only caffine through the day (we don't drink sodas and I limit my coffee to no more than 2 cups a day if that.  It usually averages to about 5 cups in a week).  Since I am seeing a slight improvement (feeling "bright") then I will just continue with what I am doing.  I'm still learning loads about what to eat and how to prepare things so I feel like I need to give myself lots of time to adjust before I come to any conclusions.  

After sabotaging my meals a few times by cooking or offering me things that I'm trying not to eat, I *think dh is on board with me now LOL His love language is "presenting gifts" so he will often come up with an ice cream bar as a love token which is difficult not to accept.  Now he is bringing me a clump of grapes LOL

I am trying my hand at sprouting lentils.  They are just typical brown lentils from the grocery store and I am using the directions from One Hot Stove.  I might not have let them soak long enough intially so we will see how they fair in a few days.  They looked like I was already getting little leaves in the water in just 5 hours so I thought that I should get them out of the soak water.  This morning they seem smaller so I don't know if it will still work.  What I will do with them I have NO IDEA lol

I still need to include my water goal with all this because it has fallen waaaay short (as in none at all) and I made trip to the health food store for ingredients to try (barley oats).  But so far so good.  This really is a lot easier than I thought it would be and the family seems interested in eating what I am eating so it's all good. 

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Scrapping and Crafting

How fun are these?  My dh and I coach my 2ds's soccer team and we came up with this cuuuute idea for the player of the week award.  We were trying to go off the Wheaties box, like the Olympians but I didn't want to spend that much on ten players when lo and behold Kix cereal went on sale AND it fit sooooo much better for soccer players who have to "kick" the ball.  I'm just thrilled with how they turned out.  The boys LOVE them!

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

Wednesday:  The kids want my food more and more but I need to read more about this for them before they go raw with me, plus my very active boys I personally think, need more food.  I'm starting to get a little more creative with my meals too.

Breakfast -
coffee with honey (not raw and I'm NOT giving this up LOL)
honeydew melon with frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries & Marion berries - a frozen mix from Costco.  Supposedly frozen food is considered raw but I need to read up more on that; I’m counting it as raw for now)

Lunch -
Tomatoes, red pepper, green bean salad with avocado

Dinner - this was sooooo delish
ground beef spaghetti sauce (not raw)
served over sliced mushrooms (raw), shredded zucchini (raw) with the last of the bean sprouts (the bean sprouts weren't too bad in this)

We were out and about today so no snack however I really need to throw something in my purse so I always have something; maybe some almonds or other nuts.  My water was terrible as well so I need to figure out how to balance that still.

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in FLYING and HGP

I seriously hope that my thoughts on ZONING help you but in order for it to work you have to take it and make it your own by going through your own house.  Here are the steps on how to do this: 

You will need to first list all your rooms that need to be cleaned along with closets and I added my fridge and freezer to the mix.  I labeled them the same way FlyLady did in the similar zone so that when FlyLady reminds us that we are in Zone "whatever" I can go look at my list and see what needs to be done.

Next you will need to figure out what tasks need to be done in each room.  This will take some time to figure out what exactly needs to be done -- some rooms you will just need to list while you actually super clean it so you know what needs to be done and some rooms might take a few months before you see the zone work.  Thats okay you just keep adding to your list (In other words this is an on-going process as you see fit and you can change this list as life changes). 

I also have to tell you that my dks LOVE this check off.  Before I sat and figured this out, they would have to come to my brain to figure out what needed to be done.  They hated WHB because it never seemed like everything on "mom's brain list" was done -- why? because I was trying to do it ALL every Monday.  This way my boys look at the list and they divide and conquer AND they now know that what is on the list is ALL that they have to do to call it DONE.  I like it because I know that eventually everything that "I" think needs to be done will eventually get done and I don't have to keep it all in my brain.

I hope this helps even just ONE person because it was such a "ah ha moment" for me that I just had to share.

Now the problem will be to DO what is on the list but that is a post for another time -- LOL yeah like I know how to fix that HA!

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

TUESDAY:  I really need to bring my water back in to the picture of which I had NONE today -- I think that is why I had a slight headache through the day.

Breakfast:

Carrot, broccoli and romaine lettuce Freshly juiced (used the leftover broc and lettuce ribs from last night - I love fresh carrot juice but this combination was just okay)

Sliced apples & oranges

My morning came and went before I had a chance to have any coffee & I try not to drink coffee after 11am LOL

Lunch:

salad of broccoli, califlower, bean sprouts (still don't like those), green peppers, cucumbers, romaine, no dressing -- I was okay with that -- it was more like finger food than a salad.

Dinner:

a ground beef & potato mixture cooked ?? almost like a taco filling inside romaine lettuce leaves -- (partially raw meal but mostly cooked)

(& my totally this isn't in the diet nor the plan of loosing weight... English Toffee Ice Cream bar --- honestly dh brought it to me so how could I resist LOL

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in FLYING and HGP

After being a FlyBaby for almost 8 years, I think I have finally figured out why Zoning hasn't worked for me.  Now don't get me wrong, FlyLady has a good plan and I think that if you are as lost as we SHE's tend to get, then doing ANY kind of plan is gonna help.  But I just had an epiphany as to why Zoning wasn't working for me so I thought I would share.

1st-- Zoning doesn't work if you have clutter.  I knew that but somehow I just thought I could skip that step.  It is SOOOOO much easier to dust a shelf if you have a shelf that isn't stacked to the ceiling with books and such --- ask me how I know that one!  So with that in mind, you really can't do Zone work until you elimate the clutter and you shouldn't even really try.  Do 27 fling boogies until you can find a Zone.

2nd--- FlyLady's zoning plan didn't fit MY house or MY plan.  I would get sooooo frustrated because I personally don't need to "puppy mop" my floors daily but I had Mt. Washmore competing with Mt. Everest.  It seemed like I "just" wiped down my counters (because a child had spilt juice) but my microwave was starting to smell from the cooked on gunk AND FlyLady never cleaned my schoolroom!!!  You get the point.  I needed to make my zoning plan one that works for me and my house.

So here is what I did:

1st - I listed all the areas of MY house INCLUDING THE CLOSETS and I plugged those areas into FlyLadies general Zone plan:

Zone 1: Entrance, porch & dining room (added front coat closet & dining room hutch)

Zone 2: Kitchen (added Pantry closet, freezer and refrigerator)

Zone 3: Bathroom & extra room (added Laundry room, utility closet, & linen closet)

Zone 4: Master Bedroom (added master bath and master closet)

Zone 5: Living Room (rotated boys bedrooms and their closets)

2nd -- After doing this I realized that this is a monthly plan but that Zone 1 doesn't need to be done on such an often basis soooooo I made Zone 2 my tasks to do on the 1st week of every month, Zone 3 on the 2nd week and so on.  Zone 1 will only be done on the months that have 5 weeks.  (I hope that wasn't confusing).  So my monthly zones look like this:

Week 1: Zone 2 - Kitchen, pantry, fridge & freezer

Week 2: Zone 3 - Main bath area & Laundry room, linen and utility closet

Week 3: Zone 4 - Master Bedroom, bath and closet

Week 4:  Zone 5 - Livingroom and rotating bedrooms

Week 5: Zone 1 - Porch, entrance, front closet, dining area

3rd -- Then I took each room and divided up the tasks that need to be done in a table To give you an idea here is a portion of the form I created:

KITCHEN

DAILY	WEEKLY	MONTHLY	BI-ANNUALLY	YEARLY	FUTURE
shine sink
SMILE!

 

Daily Chores are just a given-- shine sink, make bed....

Weekly chores become your Weekly Home Blessing

Monthly chores are you Zone work for the week you are in that room/area.

Bi-Annually & Yearly chores are what you could do during FlyLadies Fling Boogies or HGP Spring & Fall cleanup times.  I also added Garage Boogies to my yearly chores with front and backyard work.  Those will need special times of the year to be done but when it comes time to work all, that has to be done is listed on this.

Future is a list of things you need $ for and to plan for; almost like a Honey Do List (this list is quite helpful for me in that I get overwhelmed thinking about all the things that NEED to be done but have to wait.  By putting these "waiting" chores on the list, I can focus on what has to be done instead of seeing all the things that can't be done--- it helps to not discourage me.)

The idea is to make it work for YOU, your house and your situation. 

Now with this plan I quickly realized that I have too many bedrooms.  How I will solve that for the time being is to rotate those rooms so at least every 3rd month those rooms are getting full attention but my future plan is to divide up the tasks that need to be done in each room and then give those jobs to the children living in those rooms.  So they too will have a Flying Flinging Zone planner on how to clear out and clean their own rooms and hopefully I won't have much to do in those. 

The wonderful thing about starting this Master Flying Planner is that everyone can just check off a task.  If the week is up and the Zone isn't complete then there are no worries because the next month you just start crossing off where you left off and nothing gets neglicted.  When everything is checked off you start over. 

I'm sorry if this all seemed obvious to some of you but ZONING was never that obvious to me so I hope this helped someone. 

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in RAW food experiement

MONDAY - Today was a little tough for me because dh was home and he isn't eating this way nor does he share the same determination.  I somehow managed to eat raw today but it was harder today than it has ever been I think because it is difficult when the family is eating food that looks better than yours LOL.

Breakfast 

 Raisn Bran cereal with milk (not raw we are out of oatmeal and I have to figure out what else I can eat)

 Everyone else had daddy's homemade pancakes

Lunch - we finally got to the fresh veggetable stand so I got a variety of things but I still need to get some stables from the grocery store.

tomato, mushrooms, & red peppers 

Dinner - dad sorta forgot this raw thing again and started grilling turkey burgers for everyone.  I sorta just gave up and had my turkey burger with bun piled high with lettuce, tomato, avocado and cut up a plate of cucumbers, broccoli, califlower, bean sprouts (didn't care for those) and sugar peas (all raw).  I was pretty hungry from the lack of food all day.  I did discover that I can't let myself get super hungry because then that is when I want to go for the food that isn't on the "list" of being raw.   

© Copyright 2008 Jacque Ward http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wacque/

Posted in Every Day Blessings

Posted in RAW food experiement

SUNDAY - The food from Friday has finally left the building LOL -- I find it interesting that I noticed that.  Today I was going to go get groceries but one thing after another happened so today was a bit of a mish mash.

                Breakfast

black coffee with honey (not raw and NOT giving up LOL)

100% pomegranate blueberry juice (store bought - discovered today this is not raw but I refuse to get technically with this.  Store bought juice needs to be processed and most anything processed is warmed to an unsafe temperature so thus killing some of the good stuff in the juice.  If I want to get all legal with this then I would have to juice all those little pomegranates and blueberries fresh -- NOT   )

raw oatmeal with not raw milk

Lunch  - young dear son wanted to surprise mom by making sandwiches for everyone.  He didn't remember or realize that mom eats different but it isn't like I had much of a choice.  We have food to eat just no much left that is raw.  I guess this is my cooked meal for the day.

whole wheat sandwich with turkey, cheese, pickles, lettuce, mayo

strawberry - chocolate muffin

Dinner -- oh man I was hungry LOL -- I find that curious that it comes after a "cooked" meal.

salad of lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, celery, carrots, green chile, & mushrooms but it wasn't very big and I was hungry in an hour (& we were pretty much out of veggies) so then I had a bowl of frozen corn LOL -- thanks for the "dessert tip"