tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36197521430935352782024-02-21T00:09:34.811-06:00Dailey Rants & RamblingsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-16939216769264286292013-11-05T17:18:00.001-06:002013-11-05T17:18:47.720-06:00I am terrible at this, I know.So here's the deal.<br />
1) I have been attempting to exercise on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it really cuts into the time I used to use to blog.<br />
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2) I've been called to sub about once a week for awhile now and, while that is exciting income, it really cuts into the time I used to blog.<br />
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3) There's been some other exciting things happening, like I'm about 90% certain I'm going to be teaching 2 continuing education classes for Odessa College this coming spring and we are taking the bathroom down to the studs at the end of the month and my family is coming to help, they have required a lot of work (like stretching/creating two 7-hour courses and writing proposals and creating powerpoints and I'm actually only done with one of them and the other, even though I submitted the proposal, is not actually done, and we have made several extra trips to town to get supplies and have made lists and thought out what we were doing and made sure we had enough food for extra people and...), which really cuts into the time I used to blog.<br />
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4) The new season of Bones came out on Netflix, which required I go back and rewatch a few seasons and then watch season 8 so I was all caught up and then I watched the season 9 episodes on Hulu so I'm only about an episode behind of people who watch real TV. Watching all that TV really cut into the time I used to blog.<br />
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5) Revolution came out on Netflix, and I had only seen the first 10 episodes on Hulu before the break thing happened and then I stopped watching so I had to watch all of season 1 and then R did too and we also both saw episode 201 online so now I am being good and waiting to watch the rest on Hulu with him. But for real, watching all that TV really cut into the time I used to blog.<br />
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6) But all the time watching TV wasn't totally wasted because I did get some Christmas presents done while watching and I now have an idea for all but one person on my list and there are only 6-7 other projects I need to finish before Christmas. But working on Christmas presents really cuts into the time I used to blog.<br />
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7) It took a lot more time and effort than I thought it would, but I finally got the video sound with the slides of a training I did so I could put it up on my training website. And I'm going to put it up a little later today. Working on that kind of stuff really cuts into the time I used to blog.<br />
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Honestly, nothing has really been happening that I thought was worth my time and effort to blog. I mean, a couple things have but they aren't my story to tell, and the mundane stuff I usually write about just hasn't seemed worth spending time to write about lately. Probably because I've had so much more important things to do like watch TV. : )<br />
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Blogging just really hasn't been a priority lately and I just haven't had that pull to write like I usually do. And then when I do have the pull to write, something else comes up and sucks away all my time and I just never get around to blogging. It kind of makes me sad that I have neglected to write so much, but I don't know that I would change what I have been doing!<br />
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Off to try to get stuff posted on the training site!<br />
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BranalynAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-60757059232573999602013-10-17T15:36:00.001-05:002013-10-17T15:37:14.476-05:00Starbuck, One Year LaterSo the first Sunday in October, 2012, we got a puppy. Half lab half we-don't-know-but-have-several-theories, all black but a couple of white spots on her chest. While I do love this dog, I tend to treat her like a dog (not in the figurative language phrase sort of way but in the way that I don't treat her like a person because she isn't one). Robert, however, spoils her. When he went out to buy two baby gates (to keep her contained to the utility room when she was a puppy since our fence wouldn't keep her in till R added to it and we didn't want her to be able to be in the rest of the house without one of us carefully watching), puppy food, a collar, and a leash, he also came home with a stuffed duck. We named the dog Starbuck (from Joss Wheedon's version of Battlestar Galactica...we're dorks like that) and the duck Donald. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Cq8JH7fsRRnHitn6sk35ZkDh2oF2yA1MyTGwGhw4UtoxVK3Gnweqq6z1EDTBPaNbB47kgYWWlVhviU-49dnThTcegKG6f6lqdZt4QBP-c8Wi-6-Y9jcxxtJKuCVpTDf4_aEYtvWiFNwH/s1600/Starbuck+and+Donald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Cq8JH7fsRRnHitn6sk35ZkDh2oF2yA1MyTGwGhw4UtoxVK3Gnweqq6z1EDTBPaNbB47kgYWWlVhviU-49dnThTcegKG6f6lqdZt4QBP-c8Wi-6-Y9jcxxtJKuCVpTDf4_aEYtvWiFNwH/s1600/Starbuck+and+Donald.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exhibit A of the spoiledness. I do not allow the dog on the couch. Robert does. Also, Starbuck sleeping with Donald. </td></tr>
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Starbuck loved that duck. She loved it and squeezed it...until it died...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoI7gizWgGrGSscu_z79ZPg300I33H2FOBa_J534YwxaWoN-mEVSWFZGNf_m6IN4M87OZ0EfPjh24WbG3v6wgngvLpBoUqHLpgsw6QO30shEs0G_m6BbDII0246pw6e_DkhP-Cpg7pBor/s1600/Dead+Donald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoI7gizWgGrGSscu_z79ZPg300I33H2FOBa_J534YwxaWoN-mEVSWFZGNf_m6IN4M87OZ0EfPjh24WbG3v6wgngvLpBoUqHLpgsw6QO30shEs0G_m6BbDII0246pw6e_DkhP-Cpg7pBor/s320/Dead+Donald.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That white stuff? That's Donald's innards. And this picture is fuzzy because she is shaking Donald.</td></tr>
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Donald now looks like this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpk3dU4r_QTbXlwrq5SDN0Yc5tgiIgOMW80NCriM0EhOAquLVdyJLTcfHid6Oq2qvS4o71lRXJYpPNXYyYo1xBRbTZFC5clN2alJ3-jPSYfweCSRy-2gNBTV2gEFTypI6e4K9gp4i6Tv56/s1600/IMG_1769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpk3dU4r_QTbXlwrq5SDN0Yc5tgiIgOMW80NCriM0EhOAquLVdyJLTcfHid6Oq2qvS4o71lRXJYpPNXYyYo1xBRbTZFC5clN2alJ3-jPSYfweCSRy-2gNBTV2gEFTypI6e4K9gp4i6Tv56/s320/IMG_1769.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Could I have cropped out the ironing board leg and most of the hideousness of the carpet in my craft room? Yes. But you should know by now not to come here for the quality of pictures.</td></tr>
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So, because he is such a dog-spoiler, Robert got Starbuck a belated birthday present today. I dubbed her "Daisy."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3X-V38bA3gcUOULI4ys_CDaFe7Grdf50A_oYOwDQNO1Tjy440S96uo-kfqxGL-AJvk8EA6cD97slbz2RnTUM0DvW5HM3HWLDV9h_lrJ1SX0eg2EnYlYraA4SKv_aHLAVanGWiXQ2BgRP/s1600/IMG_1774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3X-V38bA3gcUOULI4ys_CDaFe7Grdf50A_oYOwDQNO1Tjy440S96uo-kfqxGL-AJvk8EA6cD97slbz2RnTUM0DvW5HM3HWLDV9h_lrJ1SX0eg2EnYlYraA4SKv_aHLAVanGWiXQ2BgRP/s320/IMG_1774.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So sorry there's not a picture of fresh new Daisy...I didn't think that far ahead.</td></tr>
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Daisy has been carried all over the house and has already lost a leg and some "feathers."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSzqm7RnmnY_xsuzUx63d-qFQKY_K6AyW4FDCQAjh2IAS49GRD95_C1suMgPjvlxAG3z9kH4Uxh3HY72zULXH1d5OGZT5vFMv_l8UK-WPezDn-YEPtln8e8cE7spoZpNxeWGR3bF01Dx3/s1600/IMG_1772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSzqm7RnmnY_xsuzUx63d-qFQKY_K6AyW4FDCQAjh2IAS49GRD95_C1suMgPjvlxAG3z9kH4Uxh3HY72zULXH1d5OGZT5vFMv_l8UK-WPezDn-YEPtln8e8cE7spoZpNxeWGR3bF01Dx3/s320/IMG_1772.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daisy and her leg.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODhuNu_ePOwWj32MYxnMBzv5GDm-S62r7AKTeNvXOQDFcG_lhxkPhhNt7LncHNFQ308qMzHiItfV7ZdINEC6eYMDX5tY94D5lXqr23uu7LcB1snqfyFQXcmjTfO0BASi5uCd78-YJGfDV/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODhuNu_ePOwWj32MYxnMBzv5GDm-S62r7AKTeNvXOQDFcG_lhxkPhhNt7LncHNFQ308qMzHiItfV7ZdINEC6eYMDX5tY94D5lXqr23uu7LcB1snqfyFQXcmjTfO0BASi5uCd78-YJGfDV/s320/IMG_1771.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daisy losing some "feathers."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMXJOFA3SK969XNg9mfsWsgB3XwMqgm4xzTkEFVCLIHw6sco1XwGDC_2GojJ8JTMaQimDMWk_KVEqjybD85xEfbUAHTeP4segJWSD2uz95TpA8SSrD6Ucuf4Cvh26PgYupCKHNw-tboO0/s1600/IMG_1770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMXJOFA3SK969XNg9mfsWsgB3XwMqgm4xzTkEFVCLIHw6sco1XwGDC_2GojJ8JTMaQimDMWk_KVEqjybD85xEfbUAHTeP4segJWSD2uz95TpA8SSrD6Ucuf4Cvh26PgYupCKHNw-tboO0/s320/IMG_1770.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starbuck "loving" on Daisy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjda2_Ew-OiyPBME8D_KGag8V3_ZGfuPQRpMz4TaTuA54HAJIfUdPWbpdh2TSQiIMRlmbRx4dFMt-I9D_s2nV_RyUriXuaOQ_yON4XqCp5vzAKkG6xuIQA58Bfh9uooVcivSH2hOgplfYAO/s1600/IMG_1766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjda2_Ew-OiyPBME8D_KGag8V3_ZGfuPQRpMz4TaTuA54HAJIfUdPWbpdh2TSQiIMRlmbRx4dFMt-I9D_s2nV_RyUriXuaOQ_yON4XqCp5vzAKkG6xuIQA58Bfh9uooVcivSH2hOgplfYAO/s320/IMG_1766.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I put Donald out and she was having trouble deciding between them. But Daisy won.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUarJ36-ediE9R0kxGimuomSp6wnxPNepFUIb_GhF4eLHVQiw9DJP9X4Qn1Umc8IrhE9QEfV-X8moSSKxDvxgZ7v-PzSaNQiGgsT6UGz8OZnCjNffHVfq9Qsbr5KNJleW32cAS4wldpU7/s1600/IMG_1767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUarJ36-ediE9R0kxGimuomSp6wnxPNepFUIb_GhF4eLHVQiw9DJP9X4Qn1Umc8IrhE9QEfV-X8moSSKxDvxgZ7v-PzSaNQiGgsT6UGz8OZnCjNffHVfq9Qsbr5KNJleW32cAS4wldpU7/s320/IMG_1767.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinr5oT4EVMKAafMnWEzg1-gYApLzkjkgRK7u6DH4MWdrM802lyUD59FQAm0bxl9Ust8cd-0wdUqLhOXhUfsOb5PSQ9lGa5rGdgL_6uGMPtssZxHeH6RTrsrWi4nFU6rYlKz1oI7oo28rUS/s1600/IMG_1765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinr5oT4EVMKAafMnWEzg1-gYApLzkjkgRK7u6DH4MWdrM802lyUD59FQAm0bxl9Ust8cd-0wdUqLhOXhUfsOb5PSQ9lGa5rGdgL_6uGMPtssZxHeH6RTrsrWi4nFU6rYlKz1oI7oo28rUS/s320/IMG_1765.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poor Daisy.</td></tr>
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At least she doesn't have milk teeth anymore?<br />
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In an effort to come full circle, here is Starbuck sleeping with both Daisy and Donald today:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikupDhecMvC9dxnKP32hh479CmD2BH3FraIOpT6N6G2Ql6uccGZG7nD3UnNFy5i5SYWORFTuvrCOqzsvAWNlTF25VI2XFkXUZg7QQxxpq2GRqetX0kr4E65mJ08Fqqk84MMn0W84Cvv93J/s1600/IMG_1779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikupDhecMvC9dxnKP32hh479CmD2BH3FraIOpT6N6G2Ql6uccGZG7nD3UnNFy5i5SYWORFTuvrCOqzsvAWNlTF25VI2XFkXUZg7QQxxpq2GRqetX0kr4E65mJ08Fqqk84MMn0W84Cvv93J/s320/IMG_1779.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice that, as I am in charge, she is sleeping on the floor. Because she is a dog.</td></tr>
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<div>
Branalyn</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-9215607574557744402013-10-08T18:54:00.000-05:002013-10-08T18:54:23.118-05:00Where Did September Go?Remember when I went to train at the very end of August and when I landed and turned on my phone, I got notice that my grandmother's husband had died? <br />
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Well, we got back from Disney on a Sunday and that next day I got word that my great-grandmother had died. <br />
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So between my end of August trip, my Disney trip (which I do plan to share about in two different posts that I have floating in my head), and two trips to South Texas for funerals, I only had a few days here and there at home. I missed 3 Sundays in a row at church! On the few days I did have at home, I had several trips to town (nearly always an all day experience) for doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, etc. And I was able to sub a couple days last week. Though technically after all the out of town and not in September, I'm lumping it together in my nothing-got-done-at-home month.<br />
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Needless to say, I had a lot of cleaning, etc. to catch up on when I was finally home for awhile! The house is finally whipped back into shape and the laundry is beginning to be caught up. AND we are starting some work on projects around the house! <br />
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Once I get all my paint sample squares painted, I'll try to take some pictures and post them. We plan to paint and remodel the bathroom next month along with getting few other minor things done as we go. It's going to be a huge amount of work, but we are going to remove all the trim and doors in the house, strip it, repaint it, and hang it all back up. It all just has so many layers of paint that the detail doesn't show anymore. Eventually, we plan to sand and refinish the hardwoods (when we get started on this, we will remove the carpet in the kitchen; we can't remove it before though because it is glued; the kitchen is going to take A LOT of sanding). If at all monetarily possible after all that, we'd really like to replace the flooring in the "downstair" area. I say that because it's just one stair down into the two back rooms that were added in the 50s. It's concrete under the flooring so we would actually have to purchase flooring to put down and by the time we get to that, our designated fund will be long gone. We will have to see what the church is willing to do! I'm excited though, to have started on the projects and to be making any sort of progress!<br />
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I have supper started and two more things on my to-do-list left for the day, so I'm off to make sure I actually get caught up around here!<br />
<br />
Branalyn<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-24452421320256771082013-10-03T17:03:00.002-05:002013-10-03T17:03:40.018-05:00Well, Friends...I went to Disney. Then I came home and life went crazy for a while. My great-grandmother died and going to the funeral involved going to deep South Texas. I actually got called to sub at our local high school two days this week (there's a long story for the "finally" part). We had to go to town one day this week. And the house is still a wreck from all the time I've been gone. But Disney was so much fun and I really wanna post about that and some other things soon. But right now I have so much to do!!!<br />
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BranalynAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-27216528556168932832013-09-09T22:10:00.000-05:002013-09-09T22:11:23.188-05:00Almost There!THIS:<br />
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<br />
is happening!!!<br />
<br />
And I was so excited for it up until yesterday evening. When I realized how much I needed and, on top of that, wanted to do before Disney. And now I'm a little apprehensive about getting it all done. Most of the deadlines are self-imposed, though, so if I don't make them, oh, well. <br />
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One of the "need to do"s is to pack. (Well, first do laundry, then pack...) So, friends that have been to Disney World before, I'm thinking I'll need a "day outfit" that's cool (temperature wise) for walking around the park all day in the heat and then an "evening outfit" (which sound super fancy, but that's not my intent) that is maybe slightly dressier to change into when I'm hot and sweaty before we go eat supper. Thoughts?<br />
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Also I know I'm taking my new computer cuz Momma and I have some brainstorming to do and I was also thinking about a couple decks of cards just for fun. Any other ideas? That fit into the one carry on, one checked bag and backpack I'll be taking? (Southwest has 2 bags fly free, but I only have 1 Disney tag thingy so I can only check one bag.)<br />
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And I think it goes without saying, consider this the last post until post-Disney recovery. : )<br />
<br />
BranalynAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-2637466918490085342013-09-03T13:15:00.001-05:002013-09-03T13:15:29.539-05:00I wrote on the other blog today...<a href="http://branalyndailey.com/2013/09/03/now-that-thats-out-of-the-way/">http://branalyndailey.com/2013/09/03/now-that-thats-out-of-the-way/</a><br />
<br />
And don't have the time or brain power to write here, too! Go check it out!<br />
<br />
BranalynAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-9120641238146490562013-08-29T16:35:00.000-05:002013-08-29T16:35:17.579-05:00Whew!!Been gone for forever, I know. Here's an explanation and really long post to hopefully make up for it. Also, I wrote most of it on the way home last Tuesday, so the formatting may look little different since I'm copying and pasting from Word.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow! I was anxiously
waiting for August so life would slow down but August is almost over and I’ve
got my Disney trip in September and in October we have Robert’s birthday (plus
we want to re-do our bathroom at some point this fall) and November is Thanksgiving
and December is Christmas and I hope to be training with my new business and
traveling for that so slowing down doesn’t seem to be in the future… <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To recap this last week: Late last Tuesday, I flew in an
airplane (!) to be early for my training at W.E.E. School, visit some friends,
set up for the training (extra set up because we recorded it), and teach the
training. (Go to branalyndailey.com to
see the post about the training.) Then
I flew back Saturday evening. When the
plane landed and I turned on my phone, I got a text message that my grandma’s
husband had died. So we went home,
cooked supper, and I went to bed. Sunday
we went to church, I unpacked, did laundry, and did some cleaning. Monday I did some more laundry and cleaning,
re-packed (Robert worked a half day) and headed out for the funeral. We stayed with my aunt Monday night, Tuesday
attended the funeral, graveside, and meal, then stretched our legs at the ranch
for a little while before driving back to West Texas. I think I’ve racked up more miles this summer
than all of last year!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And now, I have pretty much an entire week to catch up on. One of the things to do this week is go
grocery shopping. I’ve had a couple
people question this (in real life, not here) because I go once a month and
spend $270-290 for all our groceries and HEBish items for the month. Mostly, they don’t believe me and then they
want to know how I do it. Honestly,
there are lots of blogs and Pinned ideas out there, and I did not reinvent the
wheel. But I will tell you what I
do. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, let me explain <i>why</i>
we shop once a month and endeavor to spend so little money. We live in a parsonage with utilities paid,
we own both our cars outright, have very little debt (and what we have we are
working down), and we have a set budget that’s mostly cash operated, so because
of how our lives are right now, there’s not many corners that can be cut. Groceries, however, is one place we can save
some money. We allot $270 for groceries
(including household stuff) but we often end up stealing $20 from eat out or
gas money. We do grocery shopping and “big
city” errands once a month and it is a long, exhausting, often frustrating day
but then we are done for the month!
Since we do pretty much all of our shopping in the Big City near us,
both for lower prices and more availability, we spend way less gas plus the
grocery savings when we do it all at once.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second, we pretty much eat all our meals at home, R comes
home for lunch, and our eat out money is $50, including the lunch we eat in
town when we shop, the Sonic drinks we get every Wednesday during Happy Hour,
and any eating out we do until the next month.
So really, this leaves very little room to eat out! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Third, let me say that it took quite a few months for me to
get this right and there have been some emergency trips to the (expensive,
limited selection, kinda gross) grocery store in town, but for the most part,
after some practice I think we have this down.
This method does require some discipline and sometimes creativity,
especially near the end of the month, when we have to deal with what we have
and not go running to the store for something.
You may prefer the Pinterest ideas that involve major meal planning but
I just cannot bring myself to quite do that.
I like planning and organization, but I cannot seem to plan an entire
month’s meals at one time. I feel like
it puts me too much in a box and how will I know what I will feel like
cooking/eating on any particular day a whole month in advance?! The bloggers I’ve read have said they like
planning because it takes the stress to have it already decided. I get stressed out trying to plan that much
so the following is my method!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The prep: Like I said, I don’t sit down and plan out our
meals for an entire month. But I do have
a general idea of how many meals we will be eating at home that month, and then
I have a few basic meals we repeat most months.
If we are doing something new or something different, I make sure the
ingredients are on my list. I especially
think through any company or meals I may need to take to someone or somewhere
for whatever reason. Then I buy
ingredients that can pretty much be made into most any meal. I use a free app on my phone called Grocery
IQ. I love this app because I can look
at my past lists and use them to jump off each month. It also
lets you enter specific information like grade of meat or volume of milk,
etc. and you can enter the amount you want
to buy. (This is awesome both for
knowing what I need before I leave the house and because at the store I enter
the prices of each thing as I put it in the cart so it keeps a running total
for me.) The last cool thing about
Grocery IQ is it helps you find coupons for the things on your list. I do not go searching for coupons anywhere
else and there are many months that I have no coupons at all before walking
into the store. (We shop at HEB so there
is usually at least one item that we buy that ends up having an in store
coupon.) I try to use coupons where I can
and I do buy store brand for nearly all of our items (certainly for all the “staples”)
but I do not go out of my way or scour the internet or even get a paper. Also, since we go to town the last Friday of
the month, I cannot shop based on sales, etc. I make my list at home and I shop my list
unless there is some glaringly awesome sale at the store. Lastly, I don’t buy many readymade or quick
to make items. My system works because I
buy ingredients. Nearly everything we
eat is made from scratch, which is (usually) healthier, but I mostly do it for
the cost savings. Usually, since we will
be going to the store on a Friday, I spend a few hours the Thursday before making
my list, cleaning out the refrigerator (we eat a lot of leftovers and we
usually finish them and we only buy things for one month so, usually, by the
end of the month, the larder is looking pretty bare. But it does help to have everything out
before we get home with so much stuff the next day.), making my list, finding
and printing any coupons, making sure the bags (I’ll explain this better in a
minute), cooler, cooler bag, and collapsible box thingy are in the car,
deciding what stores we will visit the next day and making sure I have the list
for each store. (The last part is because
we run all our errands that day. For
example, tomorrow, we will go to the bank, go to Tractor Supply for dog food,
go to Home Depot for a sheet of plywood-so we will have to take R’s truck to
town, and go to HEB. My HEB list will be
on Grocery IQ. Make sense?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My grocery list usually looks something like this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Beverages:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Coke (enough cans that Branalyn has one for each
morning that month…does it help if I claim it’s my only vice?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Dr. Pepper (not every month, only when R wants
some and he goes through it slow)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Bread<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Large white sandwich bread (1 package, we use it
for toast or sandwiches and we haven’t had a problem with it lasting the whole
month, if we want bread to go with the meal, I bake it from scratch)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Breakfast and Cereal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Whichever cereal R wants for that month. A box a month is about normal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Pop-Tarts (ok, I have two vices?)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Canned Good and Soups<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Tomato Sauce (29 oz. cans, usually 3, these can
be made into just about any Italian meal, are cheaper than the “spaghetti sauce”
and, as long as you season your meat, they taste better in my opinion)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Tomato Sauce (8 oz. cans, 1 or 2, I generally
get these flavored with garlic and use them for making pizza or to add when I need
sauce to stretch just a little farther)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Log Cabin Syrup (I think we’ve bought this once,
maybe twice in a year, a little goes a long way, but I think it’s worth buying
name brand and we do have breakfast for supper about once a week, though not
always with pancakes)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Olive Oil (I’ve tried several grades and really
do like the extra virgin the best, even though its more expensive, I buy store
brand unless there’s a coupon that makes name brand cheaper)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Rotel (rarely, usually to make queso in colder
months)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->f.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Tea (a big box, R drinks this A LOT, but we get
the bags and he makes his own and it ends up being extremely cheap)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->g.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Vinegar (I usually buy a gallon a month, I keep
one gallon that usually lasts for a very long time in my baking items and then I
generally have one gallon under the sink to use when I clean or make cleaning
solutions and one extra in the big pantry, its cheap, it cleans great and we go
through quite a bit)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Cleaning and Home<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Borax (every other month, maybe every three,
used to make laundry detergent and in cleaning)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Super Washing Soda (same as Borax)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Dishwasher detergent (OK, so I’ve tried several
times and I just do not like any homemade version of this…)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Charcoal (we grill at least twice a month and
buy it most months)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Lighter fluid, see above<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->f.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Dawn soap (I get a HUGE thing every 3-4 months
and use it for making my own cleaning solutions and on its own)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->g.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Downy Unstoppables (for homemade febreeze and laundry
detergent)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->h.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Jet Dry (our dishwasher needs it, but does go
through it slowly, one tiny bottle lasts at least a month and we run the
dishwasher daily)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->i.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->LemiShine (our dishwasher needs this stuff with
the way our water is, I usually have to buy at least 2 of those refill
bags. And this stuff ain’t cheap. But it’s one of those things we just have to
have.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->j.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Oxygen Bleach (same as borax)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->k.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Shout color catcher (I buy these rarely, but I like to always have some on hand)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->l.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Swiffer Dusters (or store brand when I can find
it, I have bad dust allergies and using these means I can actually dust without
getting sick or having an asthma attack so I cough up the money to buy them, I do
not buy them every month, usually every 3 months or so because I generally use one per week)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->m.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Toilet bowl cleaner, hardwood floor cleaner,
scrub sponges as needed and its rare<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->n.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Baggies (we keep a stock of freezer gallons and
quarts for meat freezing and storage gallons and quarts, though I try to use
reusable containers instead of baggies when I’m not freezing something)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Condiments<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Honey (rarely, a little goes a long way!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Ketchup (every 2-3 months)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Salsa (this is on R’s time table, I’m not sure
how often we buy it but I know I don’t eat it!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Jam or Jelly (maybe every 3 months, for R to use
on sandwiches or biscuits)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Dairy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Cheddar Cheese (usually a small bag)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Butter (2-4, depending on how much baking I think
I’ll do and how much is at home, it freezes nicely)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Heavy whipping cream (for baking or ice cream making,
any leftover gets turned into butter before it goes bad)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Italian cheese (lasagna and pizza, small bag,
not every month)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Mozzarella cheese (same)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->f.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Provolone cheese (same)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->g.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Parmesan cheese (same)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->h.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Milk (2%, 1 gallon times 4-5, R drinks this
stuff A LOT)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->i.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Milk (Whole, ½ gallon times 1, maybe 2 if I have
none in the freezer, since R drinks so much milk, I have to buy a separate fat
content just so he won’t drink my baking milk, also, I often use it for ice
cream, in which case I need the whole fat content, I buy it in half gallons because
I do not go through it very fast and whole gallons tend to go bad before I can
use them up)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->j.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Sour cream (if I’m going to make sugar cookies…
but it’s better to not have this in the house because we only ever use it to
make cookies and I have an unhealthy addiction to them when I do make them)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Deli case<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Bacon (though we buy it off the shelf and not
deli cut, this is just how its categorized on Grocery IQ, we usually get a
medium size pack that costs around $10 and divide it into 8ths at home)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Pepperoni (again, prepackaged, and only if we
are out and planning pizza that month)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Frozen food<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Ice (but at the end from the front, every month,
for the ride home)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Pizza (if we have no leftovers to eat that night
because we do not cook on shopping day!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Grape juice (you may be wondering about fresh
fruits and veggies and our once a month shopping, we eat them at the beginning
of the month, juice and canned take us through the rest, we do try to be
healthy…)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->10.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Fruits and Veggies (this really depends on the
time of year, also, see grape juice above, we are also attempting to garden for
some of this…)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Apples (no more than 4, they’ll go bad before we
can finish them)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Garlic (every month or every other, we use it
pretty much anytime we cook meat)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Potatoes (2-4, they last a good part of the
month, but it depends)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Strawberries (when in season, again, only one
package because, as much as I love strawberries, they’ll go bad before I can
eat too many)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--> Yellow
squash (seasonal, 1-2, again with the going bad)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->11.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Grains, Pasta, Sides<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Lasagna noodles (one package per time I anticipate
lasagna, usually 0-2 per month)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Macaroni and Cheese (usually 1-3 packages, one
of the few things we buy somewhat ready-made, we generally have one supper a month
that we use it for, the other boxes are for lunches if we get it)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Noodles (usually I get a package of “fun” noodles-like
bowtie or shell-and a big package of spaghetti noodles)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->12.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Meat<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Chicken (a big package we slip up)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Fajita Meat (sometimes treat)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Steak (even rarer treat)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Hamburger meat (aka ground beef, we like to get
90/10 but usually the budget dictates we settle for 80/20, I get at least 5 lbs.,
maybe 6 or 7)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->13.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Paper Goods<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Toilet paper (a huge package to last the month,
HEB brand actually is nice but we used to be snobs about this)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Paper towels (HEB brand is good but you have to
be careful and get the right ones)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Tissues (this may seem silly, but the Kleenex
Cool Care are the best tissues ever and I keep a box in every room and in my
car because I have allergies! They don’t
go bad if you don’t use them, but they are awesome to have when you do need
them. I usually end up buying 1-3 boxes
per month)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->14.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Personal Care and Pharmacy (this is another section
with some variance, but here’s what we get most months)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->R’s deodorant<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->B’s deodorant (usually more like every other
month, I guess I don’t lay it on as thick!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->R’s body wash<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->B’s body wash<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Floss (more like every 3-4 months)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->f.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Toothpaste<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->g.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Toothbrushes (2 every other month)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->h.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Epsom salt <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->i.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->R’s shampoo (every other usually)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->j.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->B’s shampoo<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->k.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->B’s conditioner<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->l.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Ivory Soap bars (laundry detergent, see Borax
above)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->m.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Prevacid (30 pills)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->n.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Razor blades (more like every 2-3)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Cotton balls (every 2-3)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->p.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Cotton rounds (every other)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->q.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Zyrtec (60 pills)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->15.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Snack Foods<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Hershey’s syrup (big bottles, 4-5, R drinks
chocolate in his milk)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Popcorn (loose popcorn, every other or so)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Popcorn oil (every other or so)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Popcorn salt (every other or so)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Tortilla chips (sometimes)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->16.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Spices and Baking (we buy A LOT on this aisle,
but most of what we buy here is extremely cheap, remember, I’m planning to make
things from scratch-bread, rolls, breadsticks, biscuits, pancakes, tortillas,
cookies, ice cream, cake, etc.-also, my trick is to make my own mixes for many
of these things)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->All Purpose Flour (1 or 2 5 lb. bags)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Bread Flour (same)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Baking soda (used for cleaning and baking, I do
this like I do vinegar above)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Baking powder (usually a can every other month)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Eagle Brand (when I am planning ice cream)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->f.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Yeast (a jar for the fridge every 3 months or
so)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->g.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Pizza yeast (a 3 thingy every 2-3 months, one
package per pizza)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->h.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Instant dry milk (I keep it on hand for baking
when R has drank all the milk, also, there’s some mixes I make that call for
it, but it’s an every other month thing at most)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->i.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Chocolate chips (when planning chocolate chip
cookies, I do like to keep them on hand)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->j.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Powdered sugar (as needed, I like to keep it on
hand)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->k.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Sea salt (I recently discovered the iodized
version and that is the salt I prefer, as needed)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->l.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Shortening (as needed, every 2-3 months
depending on how much I baked/am planning to bake)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->m.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Sugar (1-2 4 lb. bags, R uses quite a bit for
his tea and I use it for baking)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->n.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Grub Rub (greatest seasoning ever)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Italian Seasoning, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion
Powder, Cinnamon, as needed <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the store:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OK, so we both go to town on these crazy errands-and-grocery-shopping-days
and we run all the other errands first so we don’t work our cooler too hard
before we get home (when it’s not so dang hot we sometimes change this) and then
we go to HEB. We each take a basket and
one of us will end up with cold items and the other will end up with room temperature
items. We attempt to keep like things
together as we shop and put them on the conveyer together at the end, but if
there’s an actual bagger (i.e., not one of us) then this is usually in
vain. (I really don’t understand why it’s
a difficult concept for the store’s employed bagger, but whatever…) Another cool feature of the Grocery IQ app is
that I can tell it which aisle everything is on, which makes for a much easier
trip to the store. We do go down nearly
every aisle and get what we need, trying to get the cold stuff last. Then we check out. Like I said, we attempt to keep like things
together on the conveyer and if it’s a store employed bagger we make sure to
tell them we want cold things in plastic HEB bags (because these items will end
up in the cooler), meat separate (it will end up in the cooler bag and EWW!),
and everything else please put in the bags we bring in (they hold more, things
fit better in our car this way, and they are easier to take into the house-also,
when we do the bagging, we can bag by where things get put away which makes
things at home so much easier). Usually
they end up having to put some room temp things in HEB sacks (either because we
don’t have enough bags or because they do something inane like put two boxes of
Kleenex in one huge bag that we brought in…) and we put those in the collapsible
crate in the car. Oh, and we always add a
bag of ice when we check out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the car:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We put all cold items, except meat, into our cooler. It’s not a very large cooler and, with all
the milk we buy, we really could use a slightly bigger one, but it works. We put the meat in a cooler bag from SAMs and
we split the ice between the cooler and cooler bag. Then we pile in the bags we brought in and
put loose items and HEB bagged items into the crate. At this point, we usually rejoice we are
done, get gas, and go home. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the way home:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We stop and buy eggs from our friend who raises chickens.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At home:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
R takes the cooler and I take the cooler bag and we put them
in the middle of our kitchen floor. Then
I unpack the cold things while he unloads the rest of the stuff into the middle
of the utility room floor. (He will also
put things straight in their home if it’s something outside like dog food or a
tool he bought, etc.) I will immediately
freeze packages of cheese, butter, and juice concentrate. Milk and meat I will put into the fridge for
right then. Then I unpack the other
groceries while R drains and cleans out the cooler and cooler bag. We have a piece of furniture we use as a
small pantry in the kitchen where baking items go. We have a large piece of furniture we use as
a large pantry in the utility room where extra baking items and all other cooking
and cleaning items go. And we have a
rather odd but large closet in our bathroom, so bathroom items can go in there. While one day, I’d like to get to the point
where I can have a little bit of a stock pile, right now we usually buy just
enough to get through the month. Right
after shopping, things are nearly overflowing but, as I said before, by the end
of the month, the larders are pretty bare.
Once Robert has the coolers clean and out of the way, he will pour a
little out of each gallon of milk (either into an almost empty gallon or into a
cup to be drank later that night) and freeze the milk. Then he will separate the meat into meal sized
portions and bag, label, and freeze that.
Sometimes I will do this with the cheese, also, but it’s usually not any
more expensive to buy already smaller bags.
Bacon gets cut in half, then separated into fourths (so there’s actually
8 portions in the end), hamburger meat gets separated into 1ish pound portions,
chicken gets separated into 3-4 pieces per bag, and any steak or fajita meat
(rarer treats) gets separated into meal sized portions as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our general month looks like this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Spaghetti twice, eaten for lunch as leftovers till it’s gone<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lasagna once, eaten for lunch as leftovers till it’s gone<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breakfast for lunch or supper a couple times a week, usually
with homemade tortillas, sometimes with homemade biscuits, rarely with homemade
pancakes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One or two “daddy suppers”-ground beef and mac and cheese,
eaten for lunch as leftovers till it’s gone<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chicken on the grill once or twice, with squash or canned veggies
and made from scratch bread, leftovers for lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chicken in the oven once or twice, with some type of potato
side and/or canned veggies and made from scratch bread, leftovers for lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hamburgers no more than once a month-not enough leftovers!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we have fajitas or steak, it’d take the place of one chicken
or breakfast meal. Again with the not
enough leftovers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The rest of this is where the discipline and creativity
comes in. I generally refuse to go to
the store (and all our grocery money is gone anyways) to buy things unless
there is a true surprise or emergency (like last month I got sick and we bought
some cough medicine and tissues, but that was medicine money without even having
to justify it) so sometimes, by the end of the month, our meals are a little
silly. Like breakfast for supper for a
whole week. But we have never gone
hungry and we stick to our budget!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clear as mud? : )</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Branalyn</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-50794542336134441652013-08-13T14:01:00.001-05:002013-08-13T21:32:23.493-05:00Things I Was Planning To Say...This will be more of a numbered list than real paragraphs because Saturday night my nose turned into a leaky faucet and it's just gotten worse since. My sleep last night was disrupted, at best, because post nasal drip is the bane of my existence. <br />
<br />
1. I have been through three boxes of<a href="https://www.kleenex.com/CoolTouch.aspx" target="_blank"> Delightful Tissues</a> since Saturday night. They are seriously the best tissues ever.<br />
<br />
2. Last week I finished <a href="http://branalyndailey.wordpress.com/portfolio/child-development-in-the-bible/" target="_blank">the training</a> and practiced it once through. I plan to practice it again today and then I should be good until next Thursday, when I'll set up and practice again, and Friday when I present it!<br />
<br />
3. Please pray I am better by next Tuesday when I have to fly by myself. It will be the first time I've flown by myself and the second time I've ever flown. And that I'm even better by next Thursday when I have to talk for 3 hours almost straight.<br />
<br />
4. I made a dress and a skirt, each with a grand total of 3 seams and no hemming (knits), though I may go back and do some sort of wrapped hem on the dress.<br />
<br />
5. I got a new laptop (though I'm typing this with the old). The old one seems to still be holding up and living, but it was scarily not recognizing the power cord for about two days there and it has a grand total of 5 minutes of battery life. The new computer is tiny but powerful, so I named it <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Sting" target="_blank">Sting</a>. (Sting was Bilbo and Frodo's sword. They were hobbits and therefore small. The "sword" was actually a dagger or knife by normal standards. But it was very sharp and powerful and had special properties. Really, the name just shows I'm a dork and that "Mighty Mouse" was too run of the mill for me. But it's funny and makes sense if you know what I'm referencing...) It has a touch screen and the only complaint I have is that I wish the screen folded all the way back so I could hold it like a tablet, also.<br />
<br />
6. I also made a case for my laptop. I cut up an old yoga mat and some crib bumper batting to pad it. I think it turned out well but I did have to rip way too many seams and my first attempt ended up in the trash. (My mother in law gave me the bumper batting to use for the fabric baby books I made for my nephews one year at Christmas. It's a convenient size for quite a lot of things. <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=crib+bumpers+suffocation+hazard&oq=crib+bumpers+su&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.10108j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">But I don't endorse bumper pads because suffocation</a>.)<br />
<br />
7. Then I decided my dress I made was just shoulder to floor RED! so I needed some sort of broach to break it up. So I made 4 yesterday. They were really easy and I got carried away. But now I'm contemplating what to use to actually make them wearable. They have to be detachable because they will probably disintegrate in the wash. My original idea was safety pins but now I'm thinking that would just tear the knit dress or shirt I would wear it on. Magnets seem like a good idea, but I'm not totally sure how to execute that and I don't think I currently have any magnets to use.<br />
<br />
8. I had an infertility related post in my head about how stupid the government is (one of the routes we are looking into is legal risk foster-to-adopt) and also about things that people say that are unintentionally hurtful. But my head is too full of snot to remember what I was going to say and I have no desire to bring myself anywhere near tears until this head cold is cleared up. <br />
<br />
9. Thursday night is a Girl's Night for the youth girls. We are going to make our own pizzas, talk about <a href="http://www.qideas.org/video/the-evolution-of-the-swimsuit.aspx" target="_blank">modesty</a>, and play games. I tried to be as uninvolved in the planning as possible (letting a youth girl take the lead) but I have a feeling since she has started band 2-a-days, I'm gonna be way more in charge of prepping and the night than I wanted to be.<br />
<br />
10. Also, wasn't August supposed to slow down?! It has, but not quite enough for me...<br />
<br />
That's all of the randomness I can capture from my fuzzy brain today. One day, I'll get back to writing real posts. I hope. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-26166069270419371752013-08-06T14:34:00.001-05:002013-08-06T14:34:30.601-05:00I Hope You Can Stand the ExcitementReally, nothing exciting has been happening. The couple things that have happened, I don't wanna talk about here. <br />
I am still woefully behind on laundry. <br />
I've developed an unhealthy love of<a href="http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/lofthouse-style-soft-sugar-cookies/" target="_blank"> these cookies</a> but finished them yesterday and have held off from making more. <br />
I've been trying to create a <a href="http://www.madalynne.com/how-to-draft-a-front-bodice-sloper-update" target="_blank">front bodice sloper</a> and am frustrated but not giving up. <br />
When it's done, and the back, too, I'm gonna make a shirt <a href="http://reallyhandmade.com/the-perfect-summer-tank-top/" target="_blank">like this</a>. <br />
I've been working on the <a href="http://branalyndailey.wordpress.com/portfolio/" target="_blank">Child Development in the Bible Training</a> so I'll be ready for <a href="http://branalyndailey.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/first-training-booked/" target="_blank">my first booked gig</a>.<br />
I discovered this morning, while looking for new and exciting PowerPoint Templates, a "design set" that basically can be used to make all my business stuff look the same. It's pretty cool and I spent way too long downloading and then renaming everything. <br />
Also, I didn't know I had Publisher on my computer until this morning and the downloads, which is exciting. I feel I should've known something like that...<br />
The garbage truck picking up the dumpsters in the ally sounds like that monster/machine thing on Lost.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TaqbyekJHHs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Craigslist has failed me so far in <a href="http://branalyn.blogspot.com/2013/08/just-because-its-thursday.html" target="_blank">my search for a filing cabinet.</a><br />
That's all the mundane things I can think of.<br />
Let's hope this writers block goes away soon because its affecting my training making.<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-68351673489891437842013-08-01T14:55:00.001-05:002013-08-01T14:55:53.289-05:00Just Because It's ThursdayReally, I'm posting because 1) it's Thursday, so it was on my to-do list for the day and 2) the other things on my to-do list require me to get up from the computer and do laundry and prep for the store tomorrow and dig out all manner of random documents to copy because the government wants them. <br />
<br />
On those lines, anybody have a skinny, 2-drawer filing cabinet <i>with a key</i> that we could have/buy on the cheap? I will begin looking on Craigslist later but the though just occurred to me.<br />
Like this:<br />
<img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/homeoffice/1/0/-/0/-/-/hon2drawervertical.jpg" /><br />
not this:<br />
<img src="http://img.wfrcdn.com/lf/49/hash/206/388136/1/1.jpg" /><br />
I clarify because we had some like the bottom picture at work and that's not what I'm talking about. I don't need that much storage and I don't want to find room for something that wide.<br />
<br />
Anways. <br />
<br />
I still haven't folded a single load of laundry even though I've done more loads so its slowing piling up. Sadly, there's even more to do. Like a lot more. So I'm not really sure why I'm wasting time here.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-77866626822153863122013-07-30T11:53:00.002-05:002013-07-30T11:53:49.281-05:00I Am DONE With Summer!The entirety of my life, summer has been a lovely time of slower paced, more relaxed goodness. I mean its like that during school, even when you add in some camps. It was like that in college, even though I did 11 hours one summer, a wedding and 6 hours the next, and a job and 6 the last. Summer classes themselves were always more relaxed than school year classes. It was like that working in childcare, even though we were year-round. Summer was just fewer kids, fewer teachers, less of a definite schedule, more relaxed. I mean, there are stressful days, for instance when it's your first day opening on your own as assistant director and the power is out in half the building and none of the a/cs are working and you have to wait for the city to open to tell them and they say they'll have to shut down all the power and tear open your parking lot to fix it and so you have to call every single parent and have them come get their kids or tell them they can't bring their kids because no electricity means no email and also you have to use your cell phone. (Just go with that wreck of a sentence.) <br />
<br />
My point is, even though it's usually hot enough to fry an egg on the cement, I usually enjoy the slow-paced-ness of summer. But this summer didn't seem to get the memo. I am currently in recover mode from the weeks I've been gone. July has been like this:<br />
July 4-14 I was on vacation and then helping at the TBCWEA's State Conference, surprise crashing with my cousins, and riding home with a stranger (long story there). <br />
July 14-18 Attempting to recover physically and in the house (Robert was home for quite a few days when I was still gone.) while maintaining some semblance of a normal schedule and packing for camp.<br />
July 19-20 Attending classes in the big city (another long story to be told another day).<br />
July 21 Missing a class because we went to church and then left at 2 for camp.<br />
July 21-26 Camp. It was dirty and the food wasn't great and I think I got a spider bite, but it was fun. Exhausting, but fun.<br />
July 27 Attending another all-day class in the big city.<br />
July 28 Got up early, packed a lunch, went to church, did the stuff I thought someone was doing for me while I was at camp but they didn't, winged a Sunday School lesson because the week before camp I used the last one in my book and I didn't exactly have time to find another curriculum, arranged for someone to wrap everything up in the sound booth because we had to leave exactly at noon, cut out of church exactly at noon, drove back to the big city for the last class. The scheduling was a disaster and we ended up having extra time to kill before the class and it was just a big mess but it's done.<br />
July 29 Resting, doing a whole lot of nothing, unloading a load of dishes (it barely made a dent), unpacking, putting things away all over the house, sorting camp laundry, washing and drying 4 loads. I calculate about 7 loads left. Not including the clothes we will dirty between now and those 7 being finished. Or folding and putting away any of the laundry. And I did an online class for the same I'm-not-ready-to-tell-ya'll-yet reason. I've got 4 more of those. And to make up for the one I missed because I couldn't be at it and camp at the same time. <br />
July 30/Today I have a doctor's appointment at 1:30 because I'm pretty sure somewhere along the way I picked up an ear infection and I've been trying to ignore it but it hasn't gone away. I've also started another load of laundry. <br />
<br />
I'm so excited about how blank the August calendar is.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-9005905796960245852013-07-25T13:35:00.000-05:002013-07-25T13:35:00.556-05:00Mother's Day, pt. 7<span style="color: #45818e;">Part of me wants to hold out for part 7 being the post where I tell you how we got a baby because seven, Biblical numbers and all. But that would be cheating part of the story.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
Here's something I wrote a couple weeks after we had the biopsy results (with a little editing):<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">Anyways, our whole conversation led to this craziness in my head:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">He's feeling discouraged and ready to give up.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">I'm feeling discouraged but not ready to give up.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">But I </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">am </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">in full retreat mode.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">I feel like I fought a huge battle, took many casualties, got cut off from my supply line, and now I'm a little lost.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">So, I'm in full retreat, trying to find my supply line, reinforcements, a safe place to rest, whatever will help me fight the next battle.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">Because there will be a next battle. That's what is most draining (for me and at this moment) about infertility. There's no "fast" or "easy" way to go about having a baby now. It's a battle every step of the way. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">I know that even when a child is conceived in the way God planned (which leads me to another thought... I wonder if Eve had any idea how far reaching her curse would be. When God said childbearing would be painful from them on, did she know conceiving would be included? She did have to deal with one child killing another though...), everything is far from guaranteed to go well. But it still makes me mad that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">1 we paid for birth control for three years, one year of which I dealt with terrible side effects</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">2 for other people it is incredibly easy</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">3 for us it's not</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">4 we didn't know this 5 years ago. I still would've married R, but I think we would have done a few things differently. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">I'm tired. And I'm tired of fighting. And I want to give up. But I won't. I will retreat, I will rest, then I will resupply, I will reconvene my troops, and I will re-enter the battle. But I will never lay down arms. (You'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands!) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, I did retreat. I took a good four months pretending infertility didn't exist. Hiding out even when I was with people who loved me. And then we came up with a plan. A plan that made/makes perfect sense. It takes into account what I want and what R is OK with and we made a budget and a <i>plan</i>. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
And now, it seems that plan could change. </div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
We are still on the fence. </div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
We have narrowed down our choices from two to... a more <i>specific</i> two. </div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #45818e;">I really don't know when part 8 will come out. I <i>know there will be a part 8</i>. I hold onto that with every fiber of my being. To continue my analogy, we are still strategizing. Counting our supplies. Deciding where we stand and which way would be the best mode of attack. My heart is torn in both directions. So we are trying to take it one blind step at a time and trust God will lead us. <i>That's hard.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple'; text-align: start;">Branalyn</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-6693424313338154722013-07-23T13:32:00.000-05:002013-07-23T13:32:00.804-05:00Mother's Day, pt. 6<span style="color: #45818e;">It's hard for me to believe that, while we are still living this story, the details and chronology of it are already hard for me to keep straight. That's part of why I decided to lay this bare on the blog. Also, because people have already reached out in love and in commiserating grief. Thank you. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;">Here's where things start to move pretty fast.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
As I was working a job that I absolutely loved and would do until I had babies to stay home with if 8 hours wasn't a ridiculously long commute, R was working a part-time power-washing job and looking for a ministerial job. Because of some past events, I was a little reluctant but, deep down, I knew I was just fighting God's will. (And if I stopped fighting, maybe I'd get a baby!) <br />
<br />
Long story short (you are all laughing hysterically now), we moved to Podunk, West Texas. R became Youth Minister at the First Baptist Church here. He moved the beginning of August and I moved the beginning of September. Sometime soon after I got here, we went to see a new Urologist. Because we were eight hours from the old one. <br />
<br />
He looked at the files and previous tests and said the next step is to do a biopsy. <br />
<br />
A few months and about $3000 later (we have started a new Dave Ramsey snowball now and are down to one medical bill, student loans, and some savings! but we really don't worry too much about those pesky student loans right now...), the week before Thanksgiving, we found out that R is missing some cells that help produce the sperm. <br />
<br />
And just like that we are down to two choices:<br />
<br />
Sperm Donation<br />
<br />
or<br />
<br />
Adoption.<br />
<br />
I went through some real anger about this. I had given up a lot to move out here. I had followed God's will and my husband's leading. I did the right thing. We were finally able to afford for me to stay home. We had great insurance benefits. <i>Where was my reward?! Where was my baby?!</i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e;">One last part in the planned part of this series is coming soon. But, like I said, we are still living this story.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-26320949057259240662013-07-18T10:40:00.000-05:002013-07-18T10:40:00.544-05:00Mother's Day, pt. 5<span style="color: #45818e;">We left off where I began to accept we were probably infertile. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">For a year, things went on about the same. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Hope. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dashed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Resentment. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Tears. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Hope. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dashed... </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I got promoted at work. R did
too. We had everything but one credit card and our student loans paid
off. We had a sizable amount paid. The new passion became buying a
house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">That next
Christmas, we had a plan. R was going to start a new job (less hours{by
which I mean 40 rather than 60}, similar pay, benefits, weekends and holidays
off) and we were going to buy a house (that needed a TON of work) and, since he
would get benefits at his new job, if we had kids and we could get the finances
in order, I could stay at home. Things were going to fall into place.
This time, we had it figured out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Through the
politics that is the school system and the budget cuts made that year, R was
out of a job before he started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But after he left
the old one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Major decision:
beg for old job back or look for a new one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We decided he
should look for a new one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">He got a part time
job power-washing for some church friends and, while the hours sucked,
with our finances finally in order, it worked. He asked me if he could
apply for ministry jobs. I agreed but only for ones in Texas. (You
know, to stay close to family. Did ya'll know Texas is a BIG state? For
instance, one can live 8 hours {if you don't stop, mostly on the interstate,
legal speeds upwards of 70 mph most of the way} from family and still live in
the same state...) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Somewhere in all
this, R went to the doctor because he started having panic attacks
(gee, why ever might that be?). While he was there, he told the
doctor about the fact that we were having trouble conceiving. He
came home and announced he was having a test done to determine fertility.
Part of me didn't want to know. Most of me knew that knowing was
the first step to moving forward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Sitting here at
this desk, over a year later, I cannot describe the night I came home and R had
the test results. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">No sperm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">At all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Come back for more
testing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">My world fell
apart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But it was still a
very private fall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Few knew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The sadness,
resentment, fear, and bittersweet hope all got stronger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">More testing sent
us to a Urologist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Who ordered more
testing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Still no sperm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Azoospermia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The dirty word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">There was really
nothing more to know about it at this point and we just tried to absorb the hit
while continuing with our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We "came
out" to our Sunday School group and slowly to our extended families.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">People were
supportive and tried to say the right things. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">There are no right things
to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Oddly, it wasn't
the people who had experienced infertility that were the most comforting, but
the ones who had experienced the death of a child (miscarriage, still birth,
later in life). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By now, RR was
well into a pregnancy. The Sunday School group had morphed to where we
were the only ones without a baby. People were on their second and third
children. My friends from high school and college were having babies.
Each announcement got harder and harder to hear. Each "happy
face" got harder and harder to put on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I once threw my phone across the kitchen when I saw a picture of a high school friend's newborn. (The second the phone left my hand, I regretted it. It landed face down and I was scared to pick it up for a minute. Thank you God for covering my in my stupidity and temper tantrum and for giving me the foresight to buy an Otter Box.)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Honestly, how I feel is dependent on so many factors that sometimes I don't even know what will make me sad/mad/smad. Infertility truly is its own kind of grief. There are still more twists and turns to our story, and I'm not done living it. Look for part 6 soon.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple'; font-size: small;">Branalyn</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-37731993399213852772013-07-16T10:36:00.000-05:002013-07-16T10:36:00.929-05:00Mother's Day, pt. 4<span style="color: #45818e;">We left on a suspenseful cliff hanger: was I pregnant?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I wasn't pregnant. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I was so emotionally worn out and
physically exhausted that I had a very uncharacteristic argument with a coworker. A
serious argument. We considered not working together anymore. Now,
she's one of my best friends. (I know, it seems like I have lots of
those. Right now, I'd say I have 3. 3 amazing friends I can
tell just about anything and know they will still love me. And they all
live 8 hours away. All 3 are very different and none of them know each
other. But this story is across many years, so it may seem I have more friends than I do. People come and go in life. That's a free life lesson for you right there :) .) My mom was convinced I'd had
a miscarriage because I had such an emotional response to...well, everything.
At the time, that seemed totally logical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But I could not
blame hormones for my own craziness. I had set myself up BIG TIME with
hope and dreams and making plans and budgets and when it all came crashing
down, I handled it rather poorly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It has taken lots
of similar occasions (though none so drastic or dramatic) to make me see what
happened. In fact, it all just came to me now as I'm typing this novel.
I do some sort of backwards bargaining with God. Somewhere, mostly unconsciously,
I am thinking "what is the step I need to take so that God knows I trust
Him and will reward me with a baby." Like somehow, I can trick God
into knowing I trust Him, and I do. Except for with this whole baby
thing. I mean, its been years of disappointment on the baby front,
so obviously, God can take care of me, but this baby thing? That's on me.
But if I can trick God into thinking I trust Him, even with the baby
thing, then all I have to do is figure out which step of faith I have to take
in order to get the baby-reward. Right? (I know all the right answers.
I know this is theologically <i>crazy</i>. I know, I know.
But its there.) (Also, even to me, the person having this train of thought, it seems a little sick and wrong to see a baby as a reward, as a prize. I know that. I'm just laying out all the crazy here.) I'm going to continue the story now, but this
comes up again...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I had been
tracking my cycle for awhile when my annual came up. I lied to my gyno
and told her we were just letting it happen. Which was what we had agreed
the last time R and I talked, but I was beyond that. She looked at my
charts and did my exam and said things looked good. Even though we never
talked about it, I kind of think this is when R started to get serious about
having a baby. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Somewhere during
all this time, for sure by this Christmas, it suddenly seemed that everyone was
having a baby. Our church in CS seems to go through cycles of everyone
getting pregnant at once and then there's a lull. By Christmas time,
there were only two couples (that I can think of) in our core Sunday School
group who didn't have a baby (some were still in utero) (or slightly older
children). With R always working, I was beginning to feel very alone.
And very sad. And I started dreading baby showers,
pregnancy announcements, and I started resenting anyone who complained
about pregnancy or their children. <i>Didn't they know they had what I
couldn't have?</i> (Well, no, they didn't, because I put on a brave face and told nearly no one.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I slowly began to
accept we were going to join the ranks of infertility. I knew several
families who had dealt with one type of infertility or another. They all
had children. I know families who had formed through private adoption,
through-an-agency adoption, foster-to-adopt adoption, miraculous pregnancy, and
infertility treatments. These are people I know relatively well, people who I
can (and have) ask (ed) questions. (I know two families that did
international adoption, but I don't know them well.) I think God was
telling me He had it covered... I still have trouble believing that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;">So this is where we decide to go get tested, right? NO! But that's coming, too.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple'; font-size: small;">Branalyn</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-50777776461654709492013-07-11T13:23:00.000-05:002013-07-11T13:23:00.769-05:00Mother's Day, pt. 3<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Continuing in our infertility saga:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I knew I was regular so I figured there was nothing wrong with me
and stuff just didn't go arbitrarily wrong with guys like it did
girls and so I didn't talk with a doctor or anything. (Ah, naivete. How
I miss you sometimes. Of course then, I'd be no closer to having a baby.
Not that I'm any closer now... Anyways...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">A few months after
moving to CS, one of my best friends started planning her wedding. We'll
call her RR. Right around the time we were going dress shopping, I
started to think I might be pregnant. (Keep in mind, I was pretty regular
but I was still just going off of basically guess work and how I felt.) I
chose a dress that would work if it turned out I was pregnant and told her
about it, but, once again, I was wrong. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">For some reason,
though, that became a turning point for me. Still going by purely
guesswork, I started taking pregnancy tests every once in a while. In my
heart, I became a little obsessive. Very soon after RR was married, she
told me about a book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility. RR has a thyroid
condition and didn't want extra hormones messing her hormone balance up even
more than normal and was going to try charting her cycle instead of taking
medicine. She knew hormonal birth control had screwed me up and knew I
*kind of* wanted a baby so we talked about the book and she said she'd tell me
when she turned it into the library so I could check it out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Before I even
finished the book, I ordered it on Amazon. Finally, less guesswork, I
could actually know what was going on in my body, things made more sense.
(This book is awesome. Charting is not for everyone, I totally get
that. If you can use hormonal birth control without going bat crap crazy,
or if the hormonal birth control is what keeps you from going bat crap crazy,
more power to you! But even if you never do the charting, etc. its a really
awesome book to read just to know more about how your body works beyond the
basic "sex ed.") Copied some charts, bought a thermometer and
started tracking. Whenever people asked, I told them that we weren't
trying, just not <i>not </i>trying. I hid my obsession from
just about everyone. Even those who knew only knew bits and pieces. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">And I was starting
to get a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong. My charts looked
good but nothing was happening. And it had been over a year with nothing
happening. According to TCOYF, we were considered <i>infertile</i>.
But infertile is such a nasty word, and I wasn't ready to entertain that
possibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">That August, we
made the monumental decision to move in with my parents so we could save money
to buy a house. We <i>loved</i> our apartment, but we wanted to
own our own home and, while we were getting by just fine, we were never quite
able to put aside money for a house. (We had been doing Dave Ramsey for
some time and our snowball was getting pretty small. Or big. I don't
know. We were close to having stuff paid off.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The weekend of the
move, my mom, conveniently, was out of state. I was feeling funny,
A few days late (umm...stress anyone?) but I hadn't had a temperature spike,
so I decided to test anyways (because <i>what if?!?!?</i>). And
there was a faint second line. R, of course, was at work. And it
was not a job I could call him at. I took it to a friend and had her
look. She saw the line, too. I showed it to a couple friends and
family members. I took a second, digital test. It was negative.
Confused, I sent an email to a random-through-the-blogosphere-friend (who
I lost touch with after moving in with my parents because NO INTERNET), who had
dealt with infertility, about it. She said the blue dye tests (which the first
one was) has a propensity to give false positives. WHAT?! I had been told
my whole life that if the stick had two lines, you were pregnant. How
could that be wrong? Now I NEEDED TO KNOW. My brain was busy
running scenarios, debating the pros and cons of moving in with my parents <i>pregnant</i>.
And I kind of thought, really? Now? This messes up the plan.
But <i>oh my word, a baby, I really want a baby</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;">Cliff hanger, right? Spoilers: If this had been true, I'd have a 2 year old now. I don't.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-51470548808556787252013-07-09T11:00:00.000-05:002013-07-09T11:00:02.566-05:00Mother's Day, pt 2<br />
<span style="color: #45818e;">Here's the theme of my life: I had a plan and God changed it. </span><br />
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I wanted to marry young (check), have kids pretty young, probably 3 but maybe 2. For sure I wanted to at least be started before 30, if not nearly done by then. That's how my mom and grandmother did it. My grandparents were relatively young when I was little and were able to do stuff with me and play and I wanted that for my kids. Plus, there are so many statistics about how much worse your chances for blah, blah, blah are after 30. So if I was gonna be done or close to by 30, I needed to start having kids around 24, just to give myself plenty of cushion and all. <br />
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When we got married, we were both still in college so I didn't want to get pregnant right away. Plus I knew marriage would be a learning curve and I wanted to give us awhile to be "us" before babies. That's the way things are supposed to work, right? So, about 6 months before we got married I went in for an annual and talked to the doctor and left with a prescription for birth control. <i>Cuz that's what people do</i>. I started taking the pills and became progressively crazier. We all blamed it on my 18 hour semester and impending wedding, but part of me knew it was the pills. (Um, I had morning sickness. Pretty sure crazy school and wedding plans don't give you morning sickness.)<br />
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Finished the semester, got married, took summer school, took a 17 hour semester, lived in a <i>terrible</i> run down apartment, was sick all the time, and somewhere very close to a year after I started taking the pill, I called the <i>wonderful, amazing, can't say enough good things about this doctor or her nurses or her office staff</i>, doctor I had in Belton. (I seriously still miss that doctor and clinic today. I wonder if the entire staff of that clinic would consider moving to West Texas?) By the time they answered, I was bawling. I. was. a. mess. The receptionist knew I lived around the corner (small office, I was sick A LOT while we lived in that apartment) and told me to come in and they would work me in. I had myself back under control until the doctor walked into the room. I told her that I was acting crazy, <i>knew</i> I was acting crazy, but could not stop myself and it had been progressively worse since I started taking birth control. But I wasn't ready to have kids yet, I mean, I still had student teaching to get through, and R was gonna be in school even longer. She talked through a couple options and put me on an entirely different (still medicinal) form of birth control, the theory being that it was less hormones going through my whole system and would help.<br />
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And it did. I felt like myself again. (Except for those two solid months I spent on prednisone trying to breathe...)<br />
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Once, after being on one medicine or another that cancels out birth control, I thought I might be pregnant. But it was a tiny hope and not yet embedded in my heart. I was wrong, anyways.<br />
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We moved out of that apartment, I finished student teaching, I spent a summer away from R finishing the credits I needed to graduate, I graduated, and it became my duty to support us while R finished school. (Which didn't work out too well but that is a whole different messy story.) <br />
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Around the same time that I started this blog, after we'd been married two years, kind of scared to hear his answer, I asked R if I could go off birth control. Like, completely. Part of it was that this new birth control was beginning to build up in my system and I was beginning to feel a little crazy again. Part of it was I wanted a baby of my own. But it was still some small, vague desire. We decided that he was only a couple months away from graduating and (like we actually knew what we meant when we said this) we wouldn't be <i>trying </i>to have a baby but we wouldn't be <i>not trying.</i><br />
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R graduated and we moved back to CS. Near family and friends and the church that still holds our heart. A church full of children and families and pregnant women. And I started working at a childcare center. Full of babies. And we joined a Sunday School class. Full of people just slightly older than us. And I became really good friends with someone who'd had a baby at 18.<br />
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I spent each month with mixed feelings of hope and dread. And each month that I <i>wasn't </i>pregnant, the hope that I would be grew stronger and the dread that I would be lessened. Then, suddenly, it morphed. Instead of dreading <i>being </i>pregnant, I started to dread <i>not</i> being pregnant. But this was all pretty much locked up in me. People knew I wanted a baby, but they didn't know how much. <br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;">I think this is kind of indicative of me. It may seem that I will share anything with anyone, but for the most part, I keep the deep stuff hidden. I babble on about our house and crafts and stupid things I do and books and tv shows and trekking up a mountain to get to the sound booth and disastrous attempts to be a modern day Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I talked very little about my Aunt Sandy dying or about infertility or about the hurtful thing so and so said. I'm like a babbling brook that comes up out of a hidden artesian spring. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;">This? This is just the beginning of the story. Stay tuned.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-41997179686166910552013-07-03T13:07:00.001-05:002013-07-03T13:07:13.184-05:00Like a BeeRemember when I said <a href="http://branalyn.blogspot.com/2013/06/where-are-you-august.html" target="_blank">July was gonna be really busy</a>?<br />
<br />
Busy like a bee?<br />
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Actually, the bee part is new.<br />
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Also, remember when I said that I had written posts about our <a href="http://branalyn.blogspot.com/2013/05/mothers-day.html" target="_blank">infertility story</a>? But that I was waiting on the OK from some people before I posted them (or maybe I didn't tell you that part...I can't seem to find the post where I did...)? <br />
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My original intention was to spread the posts out over a few weeks or months, but since they are all already written, I'm going to schedule them to post twice a week for the rest of the month. I will definitely be checking in to read comments or fix problems but I doubt I will be writing much until the end of July.<br />
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So I'm off to finish laundry and go up to the church to get the songs and sermon on the projection software we use and edit the recording from last Sunday and then actually go to church tonight, but check back in next Tuesday for Mother's Day, pt. 2.<br />
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Also, I'm gonna write a post for my new <a href="http://branalyndailey.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">website/business adventure</a> (I'm sending you to the home page, click "Articles" to read what I'm writing today) and I'd love for you to check that out!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-60557887080199838842013-07-01T17:02:00.000-05:002013-07-02T19:53:04.259-05:00Framed FabricSo I have been reading The View Along the Way for a couple months now. I actually had a few things pinned from that blog and after reading those few posts, I was hooked! Kelly is a Southern, Christian lady with an awesome sense of humor and a penchant for decorating on the cheap-what is there not to love?! So she and 9 other bloggers have been doing this whole Summer Ditto DIY Challenge thing. And it seemed fun, but the last couple of challenges have seemed silly for me to do because I had no need for those things in my home. Then, July's challenge came-framed fabric. And this one? I've got this on in the bag! In fact, I did this one so well, <i>I did it months ago</i>!!!<br />
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Here's the thing, I have a lot of fabric on the walls at my house. None of my walls are painted, yet. It's the first house we've lived in since we were married that we'd be allowed to paint and I'm very excited to do it, but we have had some other, more pressing renos to do first. Here's some examples of my fabric "art":<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtswqvFrgaL3EvA9EZB0UdZokBBvO_kixQc66JKLOvd8nH5Ih6IAjELi1kj-OAxxkDbCzX5u4TOOte8WqaaG1yFtPnhPhhwJqeEttyqIuOx_E-NZgkn868IBckMceYXDzmNihrAQG6VkO/s1600/IMG_1175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtswqvFrgaL3EvA9EZB0UdZokBBvO_kixQc66JKLOvd8nH5Ih6IAjELi1kj-OAxxkDbCzX5u4TOOte8WqaaG1yFtPnhPhhwJqeEttyqIuOx_E-NZgkn868IBckMceYXDzmNihrAQG6VkO/s320/IMG_1175.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is in my craft room. I made it for my college dorm-black and white toile-and am now using it in my craft room which is black and white with splashes of red and is very French country.<br />
It was a plain corkboard. First I spray painted the frame and push pins. Then I covered the cork in fabric-I just stretched and stapled it to the front. Then I stretched the ribbons and stapled them to the front. Then I hot glued the trim to cover all the staples around the edges. Finally, I used the push pins to secure the ribbon at every cross and have been using it for about 8 years!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwltItOaXp3CuxmmRqu5qV9tVps-xN7UpeAC4SkMIcg_qworgGvnFZcaGoD3OHQQv2-QtPH9dz_jdS4_bqaEXesjeS41RbPCAXVCAB9a6xq0rPIo8jq05GSplSVm1TCJcbGwGaZm5VZ2u/s1600/IMG_1171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGwltItOaXp3CuxmmRqu5qV9tVps-xN7UpeAC4SkMIcg_qworgGvnFZcaGoD3OHQQv2-QtPH9dz_jdS4_bqaEXesjeS41RbPCAXVCAB9a6xq0rPIo8jq05GSplSVm1TCJcbGwGaZm5VZ2u/s320/IMG_1171.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is cheating a little, but it's a cross stitch a friend made for me. She had it framed and gave it to me as a wedding shower gift.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BnjaeMIOkyetpUvbMvWMCnrnjNm6L5BasvAmggwd39pvrBabwhVkrq-iJc2vpzRd5fjBZnF5ktNDFz4Ro2NHDujlr0Puy3CWsH6BRr4v8zlPxh0n-vk99C6E8Tdsse8Ws80jsBnNuVYD/s1600/IMG_1163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BnjaeMIOkyetpUvbMvWMCnrnjNm6L5BasvAmggwd39pvrBabwhVkrq-iJc2vpzRd5fjBZnF5ktNDFz4Ro2NHDujlr0Puy3CWsH6BRr4v8zlPxh0n-vk99C6E8Tdsse8Ws80jsBnNuVYD/s320/IMG_1163.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not exactly framed, but Momma made this. It's Styrofoam covered in a cream quilted fabric and cris-crossed with green, gold, and brown ribbons of various textures, colors, widths, etc. It goes with the greens and browns in my bedroom.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthZJuI-8oP9CVOBWdYz_jAyIT6hUqlpE11n-OVqLldFsV77VrJ_y3SJmTURs6IILe1HCzebCsM4aP4N0O-Z-qhy25ttyJ92Sq1KGhyY88MjoVjAGZupUUE8zNC8D6SM0DtkwAkUS2zzx8/s1600/IMG_1173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthZJuI-8oP9CVOBWdYz_jAyIT6hUqlpE11n-OVqLldFsV77VrJ_y3SJmTURs6IILe1HCzebCsM4aP4N0O-Z-qhy25ttyJ92Sq1KGhyY88MjoVjAGZupUUE8zNC8D6SM0DtkwAkUS2zzx8/s320/IMG_1173.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dining room table is an inherited antique. It only has 5 chairs. So, I put a bench against the wall and use it as the "chair" on one short side of my table. To make it look more intentional and chair-like, I hung this "back." Originally, I made these and two others that were blue and white checkered and hung them above my table, which was pushed against the wall at the time. They are just empty fabric bolts (like the ones fabric is wrapped around at the store) covered in some batting and the fabric. I "fussy cut" the fabric so there would be at least most of a scene featured on each one. Then I cut batting about the right size. I stapled the batting first and then I stapled the fabric. Then, so they could be hung, I used picture wire and a series of staples to make a hanging wire. The hardest part of the entire project was figuring out how to make the staples hold the picture wire. Even so, it could not have taken me more than a couple hours.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlOWa1IPEMafkub3-f_cyv1oOm_79VRfbYvXsEbxz0rLRJ59GhG4mjCYi4Vvjxf0ZWNg1C5mEbCVfG2XVmgc_R7C2s19k2c7CYjUlrjaU2pslUsowiap8liEyMsWcU03HfXhmnrXy45H3/s1600/IMG_1168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlOWa1IPEMafkub3-f_cyv1oOm_79VRfbYvXsEbxz0rLRJ59GhG4mjCYi4Vvjxf0ZWNg1C5mEbCVfG2XVmgc_R7C2s19k2c7CYjUlrjaU2pslUsowiap8liEyMsWcU03HfXhmnrXy45H3/s320/IMG_1168.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the top of my dresser. It makes me happy. I use a pitcher and bowl that is white with a green design to hold my necklaces. There's a pink depression glass bowl that holds my bracelets. And a maroon basket-thingy that holds pendents. Above, is a garage sale mirror that cost something like $25, a green cross my mom made in pottery class, two crosses made from broken transferware china (one pinkish and one green), and my earring holder. The earring holder was actually a gift but I have since made a few as gifts. Basically, you stretch hole-y fabric on a frame, staple it to the back, and hang the earrings through the holes. This fabric is a green, blue, and pink floral print. I've always used a solid color. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzX5teKgZaCBb-ZnNcXcaKNlxMr_QYc6sB3i59pOtHdRFgvOCtynKw0geKyoFRd0xAqvziP7GvzotK6LMLEc0bpNC315IUAqiiEqYm8dFz6D5ZCEa1nMbHNbi0PPkBBMARFehvRI92GZNH/s1600/IMG_1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzX5teKgZaCBb-ZnNcXcaKNlxMr_QYc6sB3i59pOtHdRFgvOCtynKw0geKyoFRd0xAqvziP7GvzotK6LMLEc0bpNC315IUAqiiEqYm8dFz6D5ZCEa1nMbHNbi0PPkBBMARFehvRI92GZNH/s320/IMG_1169.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of the earring hanger. Usually I have a couple more pairs of hoops on there and it's pretty full. Here's tip from me to you if you have one of these: Hang earrings with backs near the bottom and sides so they are easy to get off and use the top and middle for hoops and fishhook backed earrings!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDrhxJIybHcjncZVzn0AYxek1e0CvJ9JG20FkgRbutMinukLWzcXCQQrya4KCGbrOmA-WtHz6tN7rZBIOrjSBUrsdJNVVDIeG-0u1SZEzUNZOInlWa1gwCGNfqniHLZSycZKM0uSczykQ/s1600/IMG_1151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDrhxJIybHcjncZVzn0AYxek1e0CvJ9JG20FkgRbutMinukLWzcXCQQrya4KCGbrOmA-WtHz6tN7rZBIOrjSBUrsdJNVVDIeG-0u1SZEzUNZOInlWa1gwCGNfqniHLZSycZKM0uSczykQ/s320/IMG_1151.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is impossible to get a good picture of my hallway! It's too narrow to take good pictures of anything on the walls, but this may be my favorite wall arrangement in my house. The white "window" is from a boutique called "Sisters." I got a gift certificate to there as a wedding shower gift and this was one of the purchases. Next to it, is an old frame we found in this house when we moved it. In the frame is a piece of an old quilt that was falling apart. My mom cut the salvageable pieces from the quilt and we have used them for a few things. The frame was really hard to staple into, so we ended up hot gluing the fabric. Below the "window" is a frame my husband made out of salvaged wood. I honestly have no idea why he made it, it must not have been for something specific because it was just laying around. So I stretched a rectangle doily (I love the word "doily!") behind it, stapled carefully to so the staples went through the holes and not through the doily, added a hanger, and hung it on the wall! The red thing is a door knocker from Kirkland's. Originally, it had an amber door knob but 1) I didn't like the color and 2) the amber part was glued on and falling off, so I unbolted it and bolted on an antique door knob instead! The white rectangle is our thermostat. :) The circle is cream colored burlap stretched in an embroidery hoop. It's hung by a twine loop and has twine tying the keys to the burlap. The keys we bought at Lowes, hoping they'd work on our antique doors, but either 1)they are the two most popular keys and ours uses the third most popular, or (the more likely) 2)our door's locks are stuck from age and we need to take them apart and clean them for it to work. (We will take off the hardware to strip years and years and layers and layers of paint off the doors and clean the hardware before putting it back on...eventually!)</td></tr>
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But here is, at least in my opinion, the best framed fabric in my house. It's on the long wall in my hallway so it is truly impossible to photograph well, but here are several pictures trying to show you what it's like:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjMKQ39Ci-RdCyglbrbTYXJMHPetk7Vz8z16nKETa27lT_-iXCM89muM1ErQ-mC82IRDEe-esIAd-IZZIeQMtupd4sfKLy8r08OCiKpe3rlGKqTiRK5ZGSOBCVElKS_JZ1xb3mcNrL889/s1600/IMG_1162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjMKQ39Ci-RdCyglbrbTYXJMHPetk7Vz8z16nKETa27lT_-iXCM89muM1ErQ-mC82IRDEe-esIAd-IZZIeQMtupd4sfKLy8r08OCiKpe3rlGKqTiRK5ZGSOBCVElKS_JZ1xb3mcNrL889/s1600/IMG_1162.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The right side.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvfTwpMJ7zk_Y5YD1myuG4_TUbPSYlwQsCuNQlcESYryjJU9QnkP0UJC0xcftJnZ-fL0xCx-3LRr_kw4qN7aiRG3O-9wwxm2BsMlWfEGg_v2H7KZQOdjFcEOiR15s9BRGhf88gWJLd48z/s1600/IMG_1160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvfTwpMJ7zk_Y5YD1myuG4_TUbPSYlwQsCuNQlcESYryjJU9QnkP0UJC0xcftJnZ-fL0xCx-3LRr_kw4qN7aiRG3O-9wwxm2BsMlWfEGg_v2H7KZQOdjFcEOiR15s9BRGhf88gWJLd48z/s1600/IMG_1160.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The left side and middle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeQjbMqR_CQ6147in0Y3ypX_PiZ4a8P8je024QtdCwWZOgKzEAJrrHZV4HUmvYxSEkn7kWxrodM-_L0x6OBsTS0_Hl2vhjdc2a_AFvjOU1WyQux74Iusy5C34Eudj7KN00gGKrgXlf4p1/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeQjbMqR_CQ6147in0Y3ypX_PiZ4a8P8je024QtdCwWZOgKzEAJrrHZV4HUmvYxSEkn7kWxrodM-_L0x6OBsTS0_Hl2vhjdc2a_AFvjOU1WyQux74Iusy5C34Eudj7KN00gGKrgXlf4p1/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An attempt to use panorama to get it all in. Besides the odd distortion, it kinda worked.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrS6XJLG4XoaZATLGf5TqlXZuFurWnZlxxKgtvVyq83Cmem50Xh5_oPxSC-BQKwsxOcJHPvA_OH0A5UkMBYnKQP_rVo9KYX-yAuyptMBzqXH-cVV59f_HM1AuYdtP7qgKaVIkIUqwmOl_/s1600/IMG_1157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrS6XJLG4XoaZATLGf5TqlXZuFurWnZlxxKgtvVyq83Cmem50Xh5_oPxSC-BQKwsxOcJHPvA_OH0A5UkMBYnKQP_rVo9KYX-yAuyptMBzqXH-cVV59f_HM1AuYdtP7qgKaVIkIUqwmOl_/s1600/IMG_1157.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the middle bedroom.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTrEsudu0rhX5rc5JNlGzUft_gxc2O9YwfLpSHQwWsEtobbrZhf-fzcCAxFzhqAjR6XWQO0ZFwLRFY_-2BUqwuyY8-Be3lVq-JOBBiMy2ljGW7uWA5kL_VxebFu9DOpAUlV1Cj-dgym8S/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTrEsudu0rhX5rc5JNlGzUft_gxc2O9YwfLpSHQwWsEtobbrZhf-fzcCAxFzhqAjR6XWQO0ZFwLRFY_-2BUqwuyY8-Be3lVq-JOBBiMy2ljGW7uWA5kL_VxebFu9DOpAUlV1Cj-dgym8S/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also from the middle bedroom.</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhY2j07Tk8r2mPcOVL-Mwp2pd-8_CIsfP0NqFFES53RBpVBHpXBhzOguzds1NI_jlomJA8W-wzb1yHFNxCCGofCQfn6ZHUMQKsWwBlJNW0VKJZ7mwwf_qjPhCVLK6aXqv8Eibs7HQM9y7/s1600/IMG_1149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhY2j07Tk8r2mPcOVL-Mwp2pd-8_CIsfP0NqFFES53RBpVBHpXBhzOguzds1NI_jlomJA8W-wzb1yHFNxCCGofCQfn6ZHUMQKsWwBlJNW0VKJZ7mwwf_qjPhCVLK6aXqv8Eibs7HQM9y7/s1600/IMG_1149.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most of the wall-from the bathroom.</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_312349220"></span>Even though it photographs terribly, I have gotten more compliments on this wall in my house than anything else! And, personally, I love it! It was fun and easy, but not quick. First, I have to tell you that when we saw the house before we moved in, there was a giant "built in" wall of cabinets here. It had been there for awhile, as evidenced by the paint lines-someone painted the house white (by which I mean all walls, ceilings, trims, doors, cabinets, etc. are all the same blindingly semi-gloss white-I know we need to paint but there have been more pressing issues!) and didn't move the cabinet. So you can now see the paint lines because we moved the cabinet. It was way too big for the hall-the doors couldn't even open all the way and it took up like a third of the hall's width. There couldn't be a real door to the middle bedroom so it was this weird 70s vinyl slide thing (like in churches to divide up the fellowship hall, also, there still isn't a door ON the doorframe, but we do HAVE one...) It was dark and sucked the light and life out of the hall. It didn't make sens because there is actually a closet in the bathroom and what really needed storage was the kitchen. So we moved it to the utility room and it's our "pantry." This left me with a fairly large wall space and this was my really cheap and fun way to fill it! <br />
<br />
First, while I was at JoAnn's eight hours away from my current house, I laid out a bunch of embroidery hoops on the floor in the middle of the aisle until I had a shape I liked. With coupons, etc. I seem to remember all of them costing right at $20-total. <br />
<br />
Second, I was given a bunch of fabric by a friend who was cleaning out the samples at an interior design store. Basically I got a whole bunch of expensive fabric, but only little pieces of each. (Oh, and my mom gave me a bunch of doilies that trip. I used one for the other wall hanging above, several for my dining room table runner, one for this project, and have a couple left over. I also got some from a garage sale somewhere in that mix.)<br />
<br />
Third, I combined the two!<br />
<br />
Just kidding.<br />
<br />
Third, when I got home, I got some old, nasty, kinda creepy, yellowed Christmas paper out of the throwaway pile (we cleaned out the storeroom attached to our house). I used painter's tape to cover the entire part of the wall I wanted to use to make the arrangement. I ended up having two strips of wallpaper covering the wall from living room doorjamb to the corner by the middle room. There really was no scientific reasoning for starting where I did vertically. But I measured 12" down from the crown molding and made sure the top of my paper was 12" from the crown molding all the way across. Here, I drew a picture for you:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVomAz3MUMy5YD7CE0TMKTONIVRdeZ0AaxT-JXwlfVQradnuVsHhUxwqQEgdtzh9oOurJv9dzsTh4dC-A5xFT8gnt51NfNEljOg7KiuReR3_xubkfVIHHV3qfzmprPUSNSTn98YrTdVU_U/s959/wall+to+be+decorated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVomAz3MUMy5YD7CE0TMKTONIVRdeZ0AaxT-JXwlfVQradnuVsHhUxwqQEgdtzh9oOurJv9dzsTh4dC-A5xFT8gnt51NfNEljOg7KiuReR3_xubkfVIHHV3qfzmprPUSNSTn98YrTdVU_U/s959/wall+to+be+decorated.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice how everything but the floor is blindingly white?! :)</td></tr>
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Fourth, I carefully took my newly made wall template down and taped it to the floor in my living room-the only place big enough to have the template all spread out. <br />
<br />
Fifth, I put my embroidery hoops on the template in various arrangements, trying to figure out what the heck I'd done in the store that I liked so much. Take a picture in the store next time!!! Anyways, I decided I'd like the arrangement better with a few squares thrown in, so I got the old blue and white checkered fabric covered fabric bolts that I hadn't hung on the wall in this house and added them to the mix. Then, I got a little framed doily Momma had given me and a reclaimed wood square my husband had made (from the same wood as the frame from above, I don't know what he was experimenting with or for but it worked out well for me!) and threw them in, too. Suddenly, it all came together! I ended up with a left over smallish hoop (that got used in the wall vignette above, also) but I loved the shape I had going on. It was symmetrical without being too formal, it was big and wide, and perfect! I had covered the whole expanse of all with my template paper, so I knew if I was sure to center my design on the floor, it'd be centered on the wall. I used rulers, levels, measuring tapes, etc. until I was sure the design was exactly centered.<br />
<br />
Sixth, I took a picture (standing on the couch) of the design and then started tracing the shapes on the paper. I labeled each shape with a number and then discreetly wrote the number on the inside of each hoop (where fabric would later cover.)<br />
<br />
Seventh, I took my template back to the wall and hung it back up 12 inches from the crown molding. I had taken great care to center the design on the paper, so when hanging it back up to cover the wall entirely, things were centered. To make sure things stayed exact when I took the template down, I wanted to hang the hoops empty first. I wanted them empty so I could put the nail in the wall through the hoop. So, I held each hoop up to its corresponding, numbered place on the wall and, when the hoop perfectly covered its spot on the template, I hammered a nail in to hold it there. Its important to remember that since the hoops are circles, they will center themselves on any nail, so be precise with the nails. This is why I wanted to put the nails in before I put fabric in the hoops. I wanted to see what I was doing, rather than fight with the fabric. Does this make sense?<br />
<br />
Eight, I chose fabrics to hoop (and cover the rectangles). I chose colors I used throughout my house but was rather...organic? about how I chose them. I guess I mean to say I went with things that made sense but that I liked. I laid the fabric out on different hoops until fabrics near each other made sense and it all kinda...flowed. I also had to be sure that the samples fit into the hoops I meant for them to go in. The rectangles got covered with the only samples big enough to cover them, but the colors still worked. <br />
<br />
Ninth, I kinda got chicken. I loved the design but I could't commit to the fabrics. So I hooped the fabrics but didn't cut them to size and kinda tucked the fabric around the rectangles. Part of me just thought it was too eclectic to work. But a couple friends and my mom loved it, so I took the plunge! I made sure the design was just how I wanted it in the hoop and used pinking shears to cut the fabric. (Actually, I seem to remember my mom doing this...) I stapled the fabric to the rectangles over the old batting and fabric. The doily was already framed and the square got no fabric. We were careful to only take down one or two hoops at a time so we would put them back exactly where they'd been.<br />
<br />
Tenth, I did some slight adjusting. You can see in this picture below that there is a thermostat on the wall:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPO3YxnciTqmbtIumo5ba4zydndgl8PXu62oIimg4L1481dyYfaFR93bMtYtQgz9J9dER1DjrVYEDDMwME7hlqW33gcckJ5OQNCtuQPDXwBqYD4S8Q89DqNQmQ2JS4vmSZUp3tUg5cOpq/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGPO3YxnciTqmbtIumo5ba4zydndgl8PXu62oIimg4L1481dyYfaFR93bMtYtQgz9J9dER1DjrVYEDDMwME7hlqW33gcckJ5OQNCtuQPDXwBqYD4S8Q89DqNQmQ2JS4vmSZUp3tUg5cOpq/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also, you can see my finger...</td></tr>
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When the house was built, it had a swamp cooler and two gas, floor heaters. The thermostat that is a white rectangle in the other hall pictures is one we installed to replace an old circle one. It controls the A/C/Heater unit that cools and heats the whole house. But the two floor registers are still there. In the living room, we took out the round thermostat entirely and the grate is covered by the couch and trunk . In the hall, the grate is covered by a runner and the electrical wires are capped and in the wall, but I thought the thermostat was really cool so we left it hanging on the wall. I'd seen the round ones in old houses before, but the rectangle one was new to me and really cool. So, when I'd made my template, I'd cut around it with an exacto knife so that I'd be sure my design was around it. In my original design, the square and doily were switched, but it just seemed to crowd the thermostat too much so I swapped them out. Now, you have this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-26SqtBECyM-rbhsfODji_JgVRcqWJ94ljk_IQ_U5g3Ur8cdoUe5A3l3Z1hky226wN-1yQQdwwwEnmsBns24ekXjXsUrv6VtVuDd9AXkdN19fmllbA8C0yiPzv7tPc7wkA3GfqqW-KZ6/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-26SqtBECyM-rbhsfODji_JgVRcqWJ94ljk_IQ_U5g3Ur8cdoUe5A3l3Z1hky226wN-1yQQdwwwEnmsBns24ekXjXsUrv6VtVuDd9AXkdN19fmllbA8C0yiPzv7tPc7wkA3GfqqW-KZ6/s1600/IMG_1158.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">Yeah, that section of wall to the left that you think is that color because of a trick of light or the camera? It's actually a different white. There's no less than 3 shades of white on this one wall. I told you it was bad! And yes, that blue-based blinding white that's not a trick of the light on the left? That's the color that is EVERYWHERE!</span></td></tr>
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<br />
A really cool design on wall in serious need of some paint and photographed by an inept photographer on a phone camera with no room to back away because it is a hallway!<br />
<br />
Whew, that was long and involved and would have been so much better with real pictures instead of drawing and lots of words and better pictures when there actually were some!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-23246522840512113492013-06-27T11:21:00.000-05:002013-06-27T13:16:21.465-05:00Where Are You August?1st week of June: VBS.<br />
2nd week of June: Tuesday night movie night with youth, plus regular stuff, plus camp prep<br />
3rd week of June: Camp<br />
4th week of June: Monday-supper with youth who went to camp, Tuesday-movie night with youth, plus regular stuff, plus Friday's monthly shopping trip and some fixing on my car<br />
<br />
And honestly, July is not gonna be much better. It's *mostly* fun stuff, but I like my routines and regularities and its draining to be out of sorts every other week.<br />
<br />
I have a couple fairly big things planned for August-a girls' night with the youth girls and a hopeful business venture that I'll explain about in a minute-but right now I am looking forward to the normality that should return come August. Also, I finally convinced R to go work out with me in August because I went to the doctor yesterday and I did not like how much the scale said I'd gained since moving here! I'm also excited about the girls' night and business venture, though both will require quite a bit of work and the business thing is kinda scary!<br />
<br />
So... Business venture...<br />
<br />
For almost a year now I have been trying to think of things to do in our new life out here that will help give me some purpose. And now I have decided to create a training business. I conducted several trainings for W.E.E. School and, to my surprise, actually liked talking in front of grown ups! (As long as the subject was child development at least...) After several false starts in various ventures, I think, pray, and hope I have landed upon one that I will enjoy and can do--starting my own business doing trainings for childcare centers and other similar clients. (Doesn't the word "client" make that sentence sound so grown-up and formal!?)<br />
<br />
R helped me start a <a href="http://branalyndailey.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">website</a>-I will make it my own domain in August before making business cards and visiting as many centers in the area as possible to give out my card and probably some sort of brochure and/or portfolio. I also arranged to teach a training at W.E.E. again this August with the purpose of recording it. The website is still very much a work in progress-there are pages that need to be finished, pictures to be taken and added, recordings to be taken and added, two trainings I've had in my head to get out and up, plus stuff I'm sure I haven't even thought of yet! But I am quietly (for now) excited and would love any website critiques, exposure, promotions, ideas, what-have-you from the peanut gallery out there!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-34513600471494513302013-06-25T19:07:00.000-05:002013-06-25T19:07:02.777-05:00Oh, My Friends...I simultaneously want to write and want to work on another curtain project. It's a much smaller project than last time. And I'm attempting to take pictures of it so I can actually write about it the process. Also, youth kids come over in about 30 minutes to do a movie night so I'm kind of pressed for time. <br />
<br />
Anyways.<br />
<br />
Last week we went to youth camp #1. It was Super Summer, which I'd never attended, at UMHB, where I have attended. It was fun. Robert and I scandalously stayed in a room together in Beall. The girl stayed just down the hall from my old Remschel Room. The boys stayed in Stribling. Stribling is a girl's dorm! Hardy's food wasn't so bad but was as greasy as ever. The SUB has Icees now. It's a good thing they didn't have them before! The Spurs had two back to back heart-breakers. Worship was amazing. The speaker was good. The sessions for the grown-ups were good. I snuck off campus and saw my family and a couple friends. Three of our youth really came into their own as leaders (at least, I think so). And, I had the best camp idea EVER. I knew we were going to be on UMHB campus, so I took some laundry detergent and color catchers with me and we came home WITH NO LAUNDRY TO DO! That's right. Besides the clothes on our backs, there was no laundry to be done. We came home with suitcases full of CLEAN clothes and towels and sheets! It may have been like the second most brilliant idea I've ever had. <br />
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The youth that went to camp came over and ate with us yesterday and we had a good conversation about where to go from here with the youth group. <br />
<br />
Now the whole group is invited tonight for movie night. Since next week is the 4th of July, we are watching<br />
<br />
The Patriot.<br />
<br />
I know, you were expecting Independence Day.<br />
<br />
Fooled you!<br />
<br />
I still need to make laundry soap and there's several other things on my to-do list that are getting bumped.<br />
<br />
Partly because going to the doctor today seriously took up way too much of my time. But I got the refills for Advair that I needed so...<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-36781380608581006382013-06-13T16:39:00.002-05:002013-06-13T16:39:38.617-05:00I'm Having an Odd Day...I found out today something that has really frustrated me. Not in and of itself, but because it signifies one more thing I've tried to do in this town and it just did not work out. I am feeling so incredibly stuck right now.<br />
<br />
One thing I've decided to do in an endeavor to move on with <i>something</i> is to attempt to start a business training child care staffs. It will be a slow start, but as I get a website up (and by "I" I mean me and whoever I can coerce into helping me) and some things going, I'll announce it on here. <br />
<br />
Then a friend and I tried to go to a thrift store in Jal but it was closed. So we came back to my house and she helped me make some decisions about my spare room and we fixed a lamp. Like, legitimately did some electrical work. I'm not even gonna mention how many times it took us to get it right, but the lamp is all good now!<br />
<br />
This whole post is based on the fact that its Thursday and I said I'd update on Thursdays and I was VBSing last week and will by youth camping next week so it seemed like I should attempt to write something but this is really all I've got.<br />
<br />
Thank you for taking the time to read all of the randomness.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-54142185949754365102013-06-11T16:58:00.002-05:002013-06-11T16:58:30.187-05:00Typing is hard<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
without using your left pointer. And very slow. So here's lots of pictures instead.</div>
<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-spSAe2kH6xJ9fGZQUkjQ3xQVZmzRE3hyphenhyphen1b7lsPxjk1kvQrVgrzCuDj5qJ67fjQIY42cpw1oLvAqm_RAJrDhWfXAClY4QGvbZZ8QpY9e4YEu4cBTqcsa7ISUkbtqbWNhlfprSNqMAuiiT/s1600/9DBD756B-025E-4BDA-9F93-3F7FA234B697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-spSAe2kH6xJ9fGZQUkjQ3xQVZmzRE3hyphenhyphen1b7lsPxjk1kvQrVgrzCuDj5qJ67fjQIY42cpw1oLvAqm_RAJrDhWfXAClY4QGvbZZ8QpY9e4YEu4cBTqcsa7ISUkbtqbWNhlfprSNqMAuiiT/s320/9DBD756B-025E-4BDA-9F93-3F7FA234B697.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Why I can't use left pointy. Small pot. Gas stove. Lack of forethought. Sad day.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0C3NRJxaxr5FMBVejuiLNih1Nt7SIajkup-UsY2q1rcKCmbgoYiYbYFRREJ8aG9wvU0ak-f4xXkUmz8Qe1vWGIWQkDUErIUi1BmVSzWLAB8UutynkaiD2weI9O8VOmJg7R7JA_GM510L/s1600/466FECC1-2230-498C-99A6-CF24813C9CA3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0C3NRJxaxr5FMBVejuiLNih1Nt7SIajkup-UsY2q1rcKCmbgoYiYbYFRREJ8aG9wvU0ak-f4xXkUmz8Qe1vWGIWQkDUErIUi1BmVSzWLAB8UutynkaiD2weI9O8VOmJg7R7JA_GM510L/s320/466FECC1-2230-498C-99A6-CF24813C9CA3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Shirt I made Saturday. It was actually really fast and easy with my serger. And I made that skirt last year. And the shirt survived the washer!<br />
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And here are several "in-progress" living room pictures FEATURING THE NEW CURTAINS!!!</div>
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I really haven't figured out how to take pictures of the curtains without the light from outside blinding you so they end up kinda dark instead. Sorry. </div>
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Off to change my ice pack for the millionth time today!</div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-67965110602800869142013-05-28T21:46:00.001-05:002013-05-28T21:46:55.187-05:00I Had Planned......to do a post about my curtains today and the house "in progress" Thursday. But I decided to go out of town for most of last week and EEEEKKKKK next week is VBS! Exciting, but scary considering how much is left to do. <br />
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Yesterday I spent cleaning. It was Memorial Day but we went ahead and did our Bible study since it was the last one and VBS is next week. So today I spent in "trip recovery" where I totally unpacked and did catch-up laundry (well, I did catch-up laundry yesterday, too) and then I did some organization in my craft room and did a "dream with me, here" drawing/plan of the cutting table I want my husband to build. <br />
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OH, and I tried to make dishwasher soap again today before we go to the store on Friday and I don't know how it will work, but it didn't explode everywhere! I'll post more on that once I know if it works and all. <br />
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Then, I set my computer back up (because I took it with me) and printed a TON of organization printables (they all came from <a href="http://www.designfinch.com/2011/07/31/sunday-planning/">here </a>or from clicking links on the links on the original page). I always do weekly planning on Sundays but I think it can improve. So I'm testing out a bunch of pages to decide which one I should laminate and use over and over or if I should create my own. <br />
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I also spent quite a bit of time watching Duck Dynasty because I discovered it while I was gone (I know, I'm way behind the times) and loved it. <br />
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So, at the end of the day, I did everything on my list except blog about curtains. It's way too late to take pictures of them now. And I accomplished a lot more than it looks like I did. <br />
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It may be after VBS before I post again and I'm nearly certain it will be after VBS before I actually blog about the curtains or house! But the trip? It was <i>totally</i> worth it! I came home feeling much more like me. <br />
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Also, pray for our VBS. I'm a little nervous about how much is left to do and that we still need an assistant for one classroom!<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Homemade Apple';">Branalyn</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619752143093535278.post-18435554924440920222013-05-21T09:39:00.001-05:002013-05-21T09:39:30.242-05:00Mini TripIf I write any posts this week it will be from my phone and won't be the posts I had planned to do. I am planning to do them next week now because this week? This week 5 weeks until seeing "my people" seems like way too long and I am making a fast trip down to see my family and friends!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13433479698031191653noreply@blogger.com0