Top 'O the Month: June

Summer is almost here, and I absolutely love how renewed everything feels. The trees have new leaves. The little green lovelies in the garden are starting to get new shoots. There are baby birds and bunnies all over the place, and the closest farm now has calves roaming in the pasture. I love the edge of summer, and it is speaking to me metaphorically as far as our budgeting is concerned. We've had some dark moments through the winter, and we will be moving toward correcting them in the near future. We aren't perfect, by far, even though I write about money and budgets and the adoration of the Dave Ramsey. We have been slipping, and although I don't count any of my explanations as really valid (everyone can rationalize a solid excuse, right?), I think they're probably at least a little true.

Be is jobless, afterall, and unable to even seek employment currently because of the ridiculous unfortunate circumstances of his at work injury. There are far more complicated details than that which I'm prevented from talking about because of attorneys and judges and the like. I wish I could lay it all out there so others, if there are any, could know they aren't alone in the nonsense complicated process that is dealing with workman's comp disputes. This job prohibition, as I've mentioned before, coupled with my already irregular income makes for a budgeting nightmare. I can write the numbers down all I want to, but they don't really matter when the money doesn't show up when it's supposed to. There are great methods for budgeting irregular income out there, but we're in survival mode rather than a place where we can sock away a ton of savings to compensate for later shortfalls. Every minute is a darn shortfall, I swear.

When your money doesn't have a plan, it wanders off. When you don't make a plan for your money because you don't know when/if it's going to show up, it also makes a run at wandering off once you get it. It's all a big gross mess, and I cannot wait until the day we can go back to real (budgeted) life instead of this wandering craziness. That said, wacky inflow/outflow is not a solid reason for not being super cautious about spending. We have not been super cautious this month, or the month before that to be honest. I feel pretty awful about it this moment, and I'm trying to embrace the 'lessons learned' philosophy and let go of the guilt I'm carrying around for not paying better attention for the both of us.

And now, the numbers ...

EFund: $924.00
(See, I told you we'd have to use it eventually.)

Dream Savings: $0
(At least I used this first ...)

Jeep: $0
PAID OFF! YAY!

GP: $3742.14

C1: $236.02
(It's going back down at least ...)

AV: $0
PAID OFF! YAY!

VSA: $112.92
(Ah, the curse of minimum payments ... back in the snowball it goes.)

*sigh*



Simply,

Em.

Menu Plan Monday: 1-7 June

Welcome back, Menu Plan Monday. We had a menu last week, but I never got around to posting it. This week, I'm back at it and so are a bajillion others, which you can check out by visiting the Org. Junkie.

M: Dinner out for my brother's girlfriend's birthday

T: Grilled pork chops, sweet potato fries (hopefully with a tutorial later this week), and steamed carrots

W: Grill Night - hot dogs, garlic grilled potatoes, green salads

R: Breakfast for dinner - pancakes, eggs, and sausage patties

F: Crockpot whole garlic chicken,

S: Leftovers, "Survivor" Night (ie, find something on your own or starve)

U: Crockpot beef loin roast, mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus, buttered biscuits

That leaves ...

Cut pasta with Meat Sauce x2
Pasta with Meatballs
Fancy Mac & Cheese x2
Chicken Stir Fry
Ham and Cheesy Potatoes
Pork Chops x3 (this is the most popular meal we have, and the one of which the most still remains in the freezer)
Corn Tacos x2
Grill Night x3 (Hamburgers x1, Hot dogs/Brats x2)
Crockpot Whole Chicken
Creamy Chicken Stew (from leftover whole chicken)
Tip Steaks and Potatoes
Broccoli Cheese Soup with Bacon Grilled Cheese
Chicken Kabobs a la Med
Pizza x2
Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage
Sausage, Egg, and Potato Scrambles with Tortillas
Baked Ham Steaks with Au Gratins x2
Oven Beef Loin Roast
Sausage Dirty Rice Florentine x2
Leftover x2 (probably more, honestly, but we'll see ...)

What are you eating this week?

Simple Sunday: 31 May

Oh, Sundays, how I adore thee. I got up this morning and met a friend for church. We had an most amazing time. Then we hit up the local Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. I came home, checked on my pretty little garden friends, and read the newspaper. Mysteriously, my Meijer ad is missing, but having already seen the preview online, I'm none too worried. My brother's girlfriend and I watched a movie. I made some yummy spaghetti for dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and finished the dishes. That brings us to right now.

Ahhhhhhh, glorious Sunday.

The simple thing I love the most today is living life in the moment. So many times during the rest of the week, I'm distracted by 109 things other than what I'm supposed to be working on at that moment. I am guilty of the "Uh huh" in a conversation where someone would really prefer I be listening over pretending to. Most of my week is spent splitting my attention, never giving anything full strength, and being rushed around from one thing to the next. Sundays, by contrast, are "do what I want" days where I go at my own pace, getting done what I feel like getting done, and not feeling guilty about it. Letting go of that guilt for one day is the refreshment I need in a world where I'm not ready to make everyday into a "do what I want" extravaganza. I love my Sundays, my little breathers from the real world.

How about you? What simple treasure are you loving this Sunday? Feel free to comment and share!


Simply,

Em.

7 Quick Takes Friday: Vol 6

1.
This quick takes comes to you live from the university library where I am trapped before 8am on a Friday tabulating data for a research project. I do not like this library. I do not like tabulating data. I do not like 8am on Fridays. That's a lot of not liking in one paragraph. We are currently waiting for our third group member to arrive, and as the time ticks past her expected appearance time, I tend to get a little more irritated. Em does not like people who cannot read watches or plan in such a way as to not inconvenience others.

2.
"Worry does not empty today of its sorry. It empties today of its strength."
That's a Corrie Ten Boom quote, and a fabulous one at that. It came to me in an email, tucked away on a sidebar, not at all part of the primary message. It struck me the most though. I am a worrier, more so of late than usual. I get heartburn or pull a muscle in my chest, and I immediately start to get anxious about having a heart attack ... not so much in a hypochondriac way, but in an "I must evaluate and spend tons of conscious energy on every single possibility" way. I worry about our health, our money, the house, the tender little plants trying to take root in the garden, the economy, the environment, religion, relationships, burned bridges, potential opportunities, the pets, whether we'll end up with kids or not, if I'll have to walk to class in the rain again, zombie apocalypse, budgeting, aspartame, pesticide, GMOs, imperialism, skin cancer, world politics, my family, driving in the snow, and tetanus.

This is of course not an exhaustive list, but it is entirely exhausting. Corrie Ten Boom is absolutely correct, worrying zaps every bit of strength that could be better directed at accomplishing things, building relationships, loving people, and the like. I am trying to learn to give this anxiety away. Yea ... let's just say I need more practice.

3.
I'm working on changing our diet around a little, hopefully to include the increasing availability of fresh produce and whole foods as the seasons allow. I'm trying to find a balance between sustainable practice (buying locally and in season) and increasing our regular intake of fresh whole foods. I do not know how to strike this balance when it isn't summer, so any of your suggestions (from those who hail from states covered in snow for what feels like 11 out of 12 months a year) would be greatly appreciated.

4.
I am exhausted. I am not entirely positive why. I've been sleeping a solid amount, more than usual in most cases even though I've been getting up earlier. I start strong, but within a few hours I'm ready for a nap and by late afternoon I don't want to even think about moving. It's an all encompassing exhaustion ... don't even want to think about holding my head up anymore tired. I'm eating enough calories/protein. I'm sleeping ok. I've even been getting more exercise between walking and playing Farmer Em (which should increase my energy), and yet ... still completely zapped. Ick.

5.
As promised, I must include another reference about hockey. The Adored Red Wings have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The first game is tomorrow, and the coverage should be on your local NBC affiliate. Really, you should be watching ... and rooting for the Wings lest you be drug into town square for tar and feathering. I suppose you could support the Penguins ... but ... eh ... I don't know if Pennsylvanians even do that. I kid, of course ... but not really.

6.
I'm currently reading a biography of Maria Montessori (not the one linked, an actual book). Ah yes, love love love all around.

7.
I have zero plans for the weekend. This is slightly unusual, and makes me nervous that I'm forgetting something. Maybe I'll spend some time napping or reading in the sunshine (assuming we get sunshine this weekend ...). Or, maybe I'll clean the office. I don't even know what to do with myself. It's one part terrifying and one part pure excitement. Do you have plans for the weekend?


Simply,

Em.

ps, for more 7 Quick Takes Fridays, check out Conversion Diary.

Ahhhh, simple Sundays.

As the title of the blog may have led you to believe, I take a lot of pleasure in the simplest things. I love staring at blue skies. I revel in the first sweet cherry of the season. I smile about the firt smell of fall (except I don't like at all that winter follows). Also on my list of amazingly simple pleasures is the magic that is gardening.

I absolutly love watching things grow. Those amazing little seeds that can go from dried and dead looking to bountiful producer of tasty goods fascinate me. I think just sprouted seeds are exceptionally awesome as their little green tendrals work through layers of dirt in search of sun, poking out little by little, and making me constantly fight the urge to rescue them by brushing off the last few pieces of dirt. We spent all day with hands covered in dirt and compost, sunshining on our faces, putting little green bundles of potential life into soil nourished by its former incarnations. So simple, so beautiful, such a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

How did you spend your Sunday?

Simply (and with dirty fingernails),

Em

Quick Takes: Vol 5

1.
I turned down a job interview yesterday. Well, to be honest, I accepted it last week and canceled it yesterday. Although it is probably a rockin' cool job (which in my book means it directly serves the underserved and in turn makes zero monies ... haha), I had a terribly heavy heart about the whole thing from the moment I agreed to the interview. I also have another job, you see, working with high school kids. I love that job (even though it also pays something similar to zero monies ... ) in 100 different ways, and I had a conversation with the boss this week wherein he explained some really amazing expansion efforts that we will embark on in the fall. That = rockin'. This job that I love has a wacky schedule, though, one that is entirely contrary to having a regular 9-5 kind of place of employment. Every Monday and Wednesday, for example, I have to be at the high school from 3-530pm. Almost every weekend from September to February I have to leave with the kids for their weekend program at 10 or 11am. It's not impossible to make the schedules work, and it's what I did when I worked at the free clinic as well as had this high school job, but it nearly so. And then there's the guilt ... guilt about leaving one job for another, guilt about not giving the kids my full attention, guilt when my house falls apart because I'm gone 12 hours a day. Ugh.

So, I thought about it, I talked about it, and I spent a good deal of time in silence about it. The decision: Step out in faith that we will make things work some other way. I am absolutely called to work with these amazing kids, and who am I to stand in the way with my silly ideas that we have more income? Ha. Yeeeaaaa.

(ps, immediately after I cancelled, my brother whom I was unaware had applied for this position, nor did he realize it was the one I was interviewing for, got an email back from the boss indicating they would have an opening for him to interview ... niiiiiice.)

2.
We are gardening this weekend! I am stoked. Be's dad is coming over to rototill (hooray sharing resources!), and then we're heading to the greenhouse to peruse the plant selection. I know, starting seeds indoors from last year's crop would be oh-so-sustainable and frugal, but ... well ... we didn't get around to that so much this winter. Oops. The plants will come out of a mini-windfall we didn't remember was on the horizon. Usually, I take them out of the grocery budget.

3.
My father had open heart surgery a couple weeks ago, and as part of his recovery had to meet with a dietician yesterday to better plan his meals. While he was staying with us, we implemented a meal program per the instructions given by the doctor, and to keep track of all of it, I made him a handful of charts and exchange lists to make planning easier. Apparently, he took this to the dietician and she told him I "missed my calling". While I appreciate the compliment, I think my 'future dietary consulting' business would likely have to be completely by phone because I'm hardpressed to believe people take dietary advice from the ... uh ... not so svelte (fluffy? husky? squishy? well-insulated?). I'm still laughing about it.

4.
I am off school for a whole week! The classes I'm in right now run Monday and Wednesday (mornings! boooo!). The campus is closed for Memorial Day on Monday, which means we last had class on Wednesday and won't have it again until Wednesday. This also marks the halfway point in the semester. Yes!

In other school news, my project group landed a solidly good grade in a field of otherwise not-so-good grades. I'm pretty stoked about it.

5.
I don't like being undercover. Soon, very soon, I want to be able to scream from the rooftops about who I am. That time is not yet, I don't think, but any day now would be nice.

(ps, I am not a secret agent, nor delusional about being one, luckily. The vague quality is intentional ... hence, the 'undercover'. I wish to share with you soon, lovelies. Very soon.)

6.
I am kind of mad at our compost pile. It didn't do anything wrong. I mean, it's a pile of composting food ... what can it really do wrong? I'm just irritated with the method we're using (the patented 'throw all your crap in a big ole pile in a corner in your yard and ... wait'), and that as the composting endeavor has grown, so too has the gigantic pile of decomposing goodness tucked in the corner of our backyard. I also don't like the turning in order to get to the good stuff nor the winged onslaught that you have to fight through to take care of it. I would really like to shift to a tumbler system, and I have some ideas for making it pretty inexpensive. Now, to fit a 50 gallon plastic drum into the backseat of a '96 Chrysler Concorde ...

7.
I absolutely adore Be this week ... well, the last two days of it at least. I will spare you the mushy details.


What's going on in your neck of the woods?


Simply,

Em.

PS, More Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

Gratituesday: 5/19

I am grateful, every day, for something (usually many somethings). This week, those somethings are encapsulated in bullet points. I like lists a whoooooooole lot, probably more than anyone should.

I'm grateful for ...

... warm days.
... being only a weekend away from pretty green plants in pretty little rows.
... leaves! on my teeny tiny grape plants! the ones I thought I killed (somehow) over the winter!
... Barb, my 100 year old rhubarb root transplant who is now perfectly enormous and just waiting for strawberries to join her in a pie crust.
... good, dark, french pressed coffee.
... the smell of automotive degreasing hand cleaner (ok, I'm actually not at all grateful for that smell ... it wafts through my entire house and drives me perfectly crazy in its awfulness. Instead, I'm really grateful for Be and his automotive skills that keep us from having to run around finding mechanics or spending enormous amounts of money on repairs).
... Ed Dobson, whom I got to see live and in person last week, and who said the things I somehow knew he would ... in precisely the perfect way.
... pauses.
... la bibliotheque, home of the unending supply of thought provoking moments, all for free.
... you.

For more Gratituesday and all around good times, check out Laura's blog.


Simply,

Em.

Menu Plan Monday: A New Month!

I really liked having a month's worth of choices each week, so we're going to try a second run at a the Month of Menus. Planning for the entire month also helped us use up quite a bit of our freezer stash so there was plenty of room for me to refill it with great deals this past week.

Month of Menus Rnd 2 ...
Cut pasta with Meat Sauce x2
Pasta with Meatballs
Fancy Mac & Cheese x2
Chicken Stir Fry
Ham and Cheesy Potatoes
Pork Chops x3 (this is the most popular meal we have, and the one of which the most still remains in the freezer)
Corn Tacos x2
Grill Night x3 (Hamburgers x1, Hot dogs/Brats x2)
Crockpot Whole Chicken
Creamy Chicken Stew (from leftover whole chicken)
Tip Steaks and Potatoes
Broccoli Cheese Soup with Bacon Grilled Cheese
Chicken Kabobs a la Med
Pizza x2
Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage
Sausage, Egg, and Potato Scrambles with Tortillas
Baked Ham Steaks with Au Gratins x2
Oven Beef Loin Roast
Sausage Dirty Rice Florentine x2
Leftover x2 (probably more, honestly, but we'll see ...)

That means this week's menu includes ...

M: Sausage Dirty Rice Florentine

T: Cheesy Ham & Potatoes

W: Fancy Mac & Cheese

R: Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes

F: Tip Steaks and Potatoes

S: Corn Tacos

U: Leftovers

What are you eating this week? this month? For more menus, check out Org. Junkie.


Simply,

Em.

7 Quick Takes: Vol 4.

For more Quick Takes Fridays, check out the Conversion Diary. Good stuff, I promise.

1.
I am so absolutely livid this very moment that I don't know if I'm going to make it through this post. To make a long story short, an organization was supposed to pay me a very large amount of money (ok, large for me ... probably not really at all that large for the rest of the world) in a very specific timeframe. When that deposit did not appear as promised, I called them on the day it was supposed to post (they're usually early, which is even more befuddling), and was told that they "Um ... er ... uh ... forgot." WHAT?! You forgot to do your job?! Your one and only job, to pay people, and you forgot to do it?! Awesome. Great. Fabulous. I was then promised it would be fixed right away and taken care of overnight. When I checked my online bank this morning, nothing. When I used my 'bank on call' phone number, thinking perhaps my online banking was less cool or up to date than the other (uh, wrong, by the way ... desperate times, etc etc), nothing. When I called my bank's customer service line to see if they perhaps could see something I could not (a super pending, not accesible to my screen yet something) and then sat on hold for 30 minutes while they dug through a million records and places looking for the deposit, still ... nothing. Now, no bill paying, no grocery shopping, no ... anything until this deposit shows up. Greeeeeeat. Thanks.

(insert elevator music or a dancing monkey show to entertain you during the time I've gone to calm myself down before all of my 7 Quick Takes turn into bitter rants about crap I don't like)

2.
I had great fun yesterday chatting with an old friend over far too much coffee. There are nothing like solid friends, the people who know you (crazy or not), love you, and listen to your chaotic ramblings or not-so-hilarious stories. My thanks to him for the evening. It was a good reminder that even though we spend less time together than we did in undergrad, the friends made in college, in struggle, in intense circumstances, are still the best ones around. Good friends are good for the soul ... like chicken soup without the having to kill chickens part.

3.
My next door neighbors are being foreclosed on, or at least that's what we hear from their insane screaming at each other (when they aren't running their semi-lucrative narcotics selling business, that is). There are four houses on this side of the block. The one to the left of ours has been empty for months, also a foreclosure. The one on the far other end has been empty since long before we moved here 2 years ago. It is owned outright, but the foundation is crumbling under an otherwise really nicely remodeled house, and the owners decided to move rather than spend the enormous amount of cash lifing a house and repouring a foundation would take. I suspect one day it may just fall over. Now, the house between that one and ours will be empty as well. We keep talking about how sweet it would be, if we had the cash, to buy one or the other of the lots next to us so that we would have enough acreage per the township zoning ordinance to keep animals here. I wonder how low the prices will go ...

4.
Have you heard about the giant public debacle that was the 'Oprah Sends Millions of People to KFC for Free Chicken' event was? KFC stopped honoring their coupons, instead offering "rainchecks" for "later dates", which I suspect probably means ... never, because they "underestimated" the response. This is Oprah we are talking about here. When she says "Buy this (insert car, book, fashion accessory, etc)!, people do it post-haste. Did they not consider an even greater response if she said, "Go get this for FREE!"? This has spurred a hilariously wonderful selection of internet ramblings, especially between KFC and El Pollo Loco (which we don't have here ...). For your giggling pleasure ...



Oh! And!



Ahahahaha. I am endlessly entertained by corporations battling each other online. Nicely done!

5.
Be was released from the care of his surgeon on Wednesday, after 18 months. He will continue on a 'maintenance regimen' at physical therapy to make sure he doesn't regress for awhile, but the PT has written his 'permanent restrictions' so they believe it likely that nothing will change much. On the one hand, a huge sigh of relief that he has healed enough after 2 surgeries and countless thousands of hours of physical therapy that he no longer requires the constant attention of a surgeon. On the other hand, mildly difficult for him to handle because it means the status of his knee is probably as good as it gets. This is not the same as before the accident (obviously), and he is having a bit of a time coming to terms with that. When he still had doctor's appointments, there seemed to still be a chance that the knee would somehow go back to the way it was, its strength, stability, functions, etc.

This release also means a number of other implications regarding courts and trials and lawyers, but nothing I can tell you about. Big ole complicated mess, it is.

6.
The Red Wings (if you don't know who that is ... we may have to talk ...) won their series last night 4-3, meaning they move on to the conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks on their road to the Stanley Cup finals (Please note, when following that link, who is pictured holding the Stanely Cup last year ... oh yes, the Wings. Note also, the number of times they have won the Finals through the history of the cup. Yea, we rock.). Hockey is the only professional sport that I watch, because I am from Michigan, and it is required here by law that all residents watch, love, and defend the honor of our adored Red Wings. I'm more of a college sports fan, which also stems largely from being a Michigander and attending a Big 10 school. Go BLUE! As such, there will be much tension and anxiety as the Wings try to make it through to the finals. There will likely be cursing, popcorn throwing, and if we're lucky some jumping up and down. It is Stanley Cup season in MI ... it's what we do.

I just spend a solid 10 minutes trying to find you the YouTube of a hilarious McDonalds commercial that runs in Michigan which lists the things we love here. Driving cars, working on cars, snow, and our moms are all on the list. Hockey also appears ... 5 or 6 times in the course of the commerical, and is the only thing that is repeated. It's terribly funny ... er ... true .... er both, probably.

7.
Did you know the US Postal Service hates recycling? Yea. They do. No lie. Apparently, they made it illegal for you to reuse a Priority Mail box for shipping other things, even if you turn it inside out or cover all the previous markings. That's annoying. Thanks for not loving the planet, Post Office. Thanks a ton. I'd suggest we all send them letters in protest, but if the rest of your local Post Office's are anything like mine, I doubt they would ever get delivered ... to themselves. The telling of the trials and tribulations of dealing with our local Post Office will be saved for another day, probably right after the next time I stop by to mail something and they are randomly "closed" because the 1 lazy, lonely guy that works in our tiny Post Office hates 1. people, 2. work, and 3. working with people.

What's going on in your life this week? Write a Quick Takes! It's fun times.


Simply,

Em.

WFMW: Freezer Shopping

I really like a good excuse for take out.

I may menu plan and rant up and down about how we need to stay on budget, but really ... I am easily persuaded away from the menu (I'm working on it, I swear!) by the slightest inconveniences sometimes. The primary of these is the "6pm Dinner Despair" moment when I realize everything I'm supposed to have cooking is still frozen. Grr. This used to mean dinner was pushed aside in favor of sandwiches or food from a can (eeewww!) or in worst case scenarios: take out.

So often we get hung up on the same missteps over and over again. When this happens here, I like to walk backward mentally through the situation in an attempt to find the source of the problem. Then, rather than saying, "I really need to remember to defrost things in the morning" or "I wish we could get this dinner thing figured out", I can find the real whatever that needs adjusting. In this case, the problem was not taking things out of the freezer. Remembering to do this every morning, especially when my chest freezer lives in the basement of our detached garage because our ancient house's electrical cannot handle it and the washing machine, was nary impossible. Worse, in the winter. Who really wants to trek through 4 feet of snow every morning to find that night's dinner parts? Ugh, no, apparently not me.

The solution?

Freezer Shopping!

Every Sunday afternoon, after I write the menu out, I make note of what I need from the outside freezer on a sticky note, grab a grocery tote and the pair of knit kids' gloves I keep stashed in a cubby on my desk (because I always finish the menu at my desk ... logical next step location for them ... and no one else makes off with them that way), and head out to pull out the items I need. I grab everything we will need for the week, and bring it into the house. Meats go in the drawers in my fridge to defrost as the week progresses. Veggies go in the regular inside freezer because they get weird if they defrost for too long before cooking. As the week progresses, everything is at least basically defrosted enough to use when it comes time for dinner prep. I'm loving it, honestly.

Now, I will need a new excuse for take out. Any ideas ...?


Simply,

Em.

For more Works for Me Wednesday, check out We are THAT Family.