[meal planning :: Week Two.]

So - last week went off without a hitch.  MAN - for me??  Having a planned meal schedule gave me the gift of time.  No panicking.  And - the kids loved going to the fridge and see what they were getting in their lunchbox or what was for supper that night.

Worked like a charm.

How do I do it?  Well ... on Saturday night, I start the plan.  After church on Sunday, I go over it with my hubby and then I head off to do the grocery shop.   By 1pm on Sunday, I'm all done and if I need to do an additional produce shop, I do it right by my children's school.  So great.

This week?  Well - a little less adventurous in the kitchen, unfortunately.  My hubby will be away on business two nights this week, and next week - four.  That makes meal planning tricky, because he's the "eater" in the family ... not my 4yr old little girl *grin*.

Ah well ... maybe the week after that I can try Homemade Ricotta Gnochhi ... a recipe I can't WAIT to surprise him with ...  

On a side note - I set the alarm early this morning (before anyone in the house was up ... ) and went for a 3.5km run.  Showered.  So after I dropped the kids off at school, I could actually DO something ... instead of just using that time to get ready ... brilliant.  My plan is to do that Mon/Wed/Fri ... three runs a week so I can use the time while Katia's at preschool to actually get something accomplished.

That's manageable, no?

Well.  Until it rains LOL.

And I also wanted to say that I've had a "lightbulb" moment this weekend ... I realized how much RHP I do, and it needs to be balanced.  I work, literally, 7 days a week late into the night - and that's just plain wrong.  So.  I've decided to protect two days a week where I do NOT work, and be IN BED by 11pm every week night ... so I can get up and be healthy in the morning.  I actually feel a sense of relief from this epiphany.   Again - just trying to do better and be wise with the time God has given me. 

Ok - enough ... here's this week's meal plan.

MONDAY

B ::  baked crescent rolls with nutella (don't judge me ... LOL)
L ::  ham and cheese buns, pretzels, grapes
D :: sticky baked chicken, baked yams, steamed broccoli

TUESDAY

B :: hard boiled eggs and buttered toast (I do the eggs the night before)
L :: Mac N Cheese (made the night before), cucumbers and ranch dip, apple sauce
D :: spaghetti and sauce, caesar salad, ice cream for dessert

WEDNESDAY

B :: cinnamon toast
L ::  pizza pinwheels, apple slices, carrots and dip, pretzels
D ::  Tex-Mex Wraps (hamburger, black beans, avocado, tomatoes, cheese)

THURSDAY

B :: pancakes and maple syrup
L :: cheese quesadilla, apple sauce, snicker doodle cookies
D ::  Thai Peanut Noodles,  jello for dessert *smile*

FRIDAY

B :: Land Of Nod Cinnamon Buns
L :: Applesauce muffins, carrots and dip, fruit snacks
D :: Chicken and egg-drop soup

Have a great one!

[meal planning :: Week One.]

I always start September with a BANG ... and then it fades by week three - can anyone relate??  But I DO know this about myself - if I take a few minutes and organize, than I can accomplish pretty much whatever I set my mind to.  If I get overwhelmed and DON'T do it?  CHAOS ... and I usually gain about 5lbs in two days from emotional eating.

*grin*

So ... this is for ME.  I do this for ME.  For MY sanity and for MY calm.  If it helps you, then that blesses me ... but please do not think that this is normal.  It's September ... let's see how many weeks it takes for me to fall of the wagon *wink* ... 

My plan, for those who are interested, is to connect links to my "Make By Homemakingirl" site - where the recipes will be located.  Again - this is for ME.  So, instead of losing the list of meal-planning-paper that my children have inevitably turned into a robot somewhere, I can come here and find EVERYTHING.  This works ... again.  For week one, anyways *grin*.

Here's this week ... 

MONDAY

Dinner ::   Egg-Drop-Chicken-Noodle soup with veggies and dip

TUESDAY

Breakfast :: hard boiled eggs and toast
School lunches ::  pizza pinwheels, sliced apples, snicker-doodle cookies
Dinner ::  Crock pot Chicken Cordon Bleu, steamed broccoli, brown rice

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast ::  pancakes with maple syrup
School lunches ::  ham and cheese buns, carrots and ranch dip, fruit snacks
Dinner ::  Crock pot Garlicky Pork Tenderloin, oven baked yams, peas, salad

THURSDAY

Breakfast ::  cereal and milk
School lunches :: macaroni and cheese (thermos), apple sauce, cucumbers and dip
Dinner :: Wraps with Ground Turkey

FRIDAY

Breakfast ::  Land of Nod Cinnamon rolls
School lunches ::  pizza rolls, pretzels, grapes
Dinner ::  OUT

Have a great one!

[talk: she's four.]

I don't EVER do this ... but I've chosen to post some pics that I recently took of Katia on my RHP blog.  Today is her fourth birthday - and these pics are to document that.  My RHP blog displays images so much better than here ... 

So, if you're interested - click HERE.

Have a great one!

[vacations: Oroville, WA.]

For the last number of years, we've headed south to Oroville, WA for some family-time away.  As we bought our current home last year, we thought that we would skip the reservations that were needed to be made last year, and bow out this year.  But - with my hubby's Italian family arriving this summer, we decided to join the entire gang ... 

The water tramp was a hit ... more-so with the men, than the kids.  Obviously.

So, during the day, we were at our rented cottage on the lake with the large group of cousins and friends there.  And in the evenings, we headed up to our Zio and Zia's place for family dinner ... where the rest of the family were staying.  

They've done a lovely job over the last 5 years.  Zia and Zio now have a pool, a garden - even a vineyard.

The craziest thing that happened, was when we were all sitting watching the storm one evening - and the lightening struck the mountain directly behind us.  Within an hour, that one spark began a massive fire ... 

It was crazy.

So the next day, the firefighters purposely burned a line at the bottom of the mountain.  This would protect the homes below should a fire ever happen again.  

While fires were burning ... we were eating brick-oven pizza made by my bro-in-law and sis-in-law, and my father-in-law and mother-in-law.  That's a lot of "in-laws" to type ... 

our angel-bean.

After dinner?  A whole bunch of bug spray and a volleyball game.  With only a little bit of violence.

During on of the afternoons, the guys decided to prove their manhood through a friendly swimming competition.  

It was Mattias' birthday - so we got, um, three cakes *grin*.

My handsome hubby ... with hair that's got a mind of its own ... 

Hey Josiah ... would you like some cake?

Or maybe you should just go to bed?

Well ... there are a million pics on my IPhone - but you get the idea.  Good times.  And hey - I can cross documenting this off of my "to-do" list today *grin*!!

Have a great one!

[talk: Buh.Bye.Prime.]

Here's the truth ... the last few years have been lovely.  Wonderful, in fact ... I've never felt healthier, stronger, smarter ... even pretty.  Yes.  I've even felt pretty.

Now, before I get into all of this - this is pretty personal stuff.  So why blog about it?  Because I know I'm not alone ... and honestly?  I kinda wish someone would've told me about their journey like,  eight months ago.  Now, yes - it's personal.  And I say that, because if you're a guy - go away LOL.  Obviously - you need not know about my cycle and the issues I've been having.  Hopefully, just saying "cycle" has made you click the "x" off of this page ...

Ok.  Basically, this is my story.  I got pregnant with Mattias after being on the pill for 5years.  We had zero issues with conceiving, really, with any of our kids.  I think the longest was 2 cycles.  I never went back on the pill after having Mattias - and so because I was having no issues with getting pregnant, I never really kept an eye on my cycle.

I did my best to try and get my "body back" between each pregnancy - but I have never gotten down to pre-pregancy weight.  EVER.  Even after running my half marathon ... nope.  My wedding weight was 124lbs, my pre-preggo wieght with Mattias was 128lbs.  The lowest I've been since then has been 131lbs, I believe.

But whatever, right?  Age, muscle mass ... yada yada yada ... there are all kinds of factors.  

After Katia's birth, I knew she would be my last and I really wanted to be in the best shape of my life.  I started running - which was a miracle, really, if you knew how much I had despised it in high school.   I did the half marathon - but all during this time, my cycles were spuratic and inconsistant.  Pretty typical for a long distance runner, right?  Right.

Fast forward to November 2012.  At this point, Katia was just over 3years old, and I'm thinking that my cycles should be more regular.  I went to my doctor and explained my symptoms and he said, "Keep track of things, and if they don't change by spring - we'll get some testing done."

So we went away to the South Pacific, came home, January, February, March, April ... then, in May I decided to ask a few of my girlfriends if any of my symptoms seemed strange to them.  They all kinda looked at me like I was a bit off my rocker - and one of them said, "um - have you seen your doctor?"  Oh right ... it's past Spring.  I should get on to that ... 

I made an appointment with my doctor and we had a long chat.  Here's where things get personal, so please forgive me - but I feel that this is important to someone who may read this ... my symptoms:  hormonal fluctuations - like CRAZINESS.  Without getting into details - let's just say that my husband is a lucky guy *wink*.  But, the downside is that my body keeps producing these masses of hormones - and it's a very frustrating thing.  VERY frustrating.   On the hormonal surges, I am the energizer bunny - go go go go goooooooooo.   But when they stop, I'm exhausted, unmotivated - and disappointed in my lack of ability to do anything.  I noticed that I was eating sugar during these low hormone times - to try and perk myself up.  It would work for an hour or so - but then I'd crash.  Thus the weight gain, I think.  Almost 10lbs since January.   

My skin is all over the map ... cystic acne that is painful.  And it's like it spreads like wildfire.  And the scarring ... the scarring is enough to make me cry.  Black  splotches that cannot be covered up - I have NEVER in my life had issues like this before.

And my cycles ... they are sometimes 12days long, and happen every 14-17days.  I have gone out to events, and had to leave because I wasn't prepared for my body to set things in motion that day.    For who knows how long now, they've been starting for 2 days - then stop for three or four - then it comes back with vengeance for 7-9days.  It's craziness.

The truth is - is that for the last 8 months of my life, I find that I only feel "normal" for about 9 days a month.  NINE DAYS. 

I relayed all of this info to my doctor ... and a few appointments were scheduled.  First, my blood work.   Each one of my hormones was checked.  My thyroid for weight gain was checked.  My iron was checked.  I can't even remember everything else that my doctor went over with me - but it was thorough.    And it all came back fine.  I was told that my hormones were all in balance (gah!!) - but that's a good thing, because I'm not pre-menopausal, and my balance indicates that my ovaries and such are in good working order.  I'm not planning on using them *grin* - but, that's still a good thing.

The second thing that I had done, was an internal ultrasound.  It's about as yucky as it sounds, but whatever.  I've had four kids ... I'm over all that yuckiness *smile*.  The strange thing, is that it was done in the EXACT room that we found out about Shalom's anencephaly in.   That was weird.

The results from that ultrasound showed a couple of things.  One, I have a benign tumour at the top of my uterus called a polyp.  Very common.  And apparently, polyps can cause excessive bleeding.  Check one from my list.  Next, they found a fibroid ... another type of tumour that causes excessive bleeding, clots and prolonged periods.  Also very common.  Check two from my list.  

So.  I got some answers, and I feel good about that.  My next step is to visit my new friend - the gynaecologist, with whom I have an appointment with on Monday.  I've been told by my doctor, that it is most likely that I will have to have a DandC - which doesn't sound like a lot of fun.  Basically, I will get Roto Rooter-ed out ... And yet - it's probably a good thing to do.

My hope is that IF I have the surgery, that it will stop the crazy cycles and that my body's hormones won't be all over the map.  If I can get that under control, I feel like I will be "winning".  I can then feel stable and hopefully not feel the need for sugar to feed my body what it thinks it's missing.

My doctor also took the time to go through a lot of "non" medical things with me.  He told me to hold back on long distance running - not like I've been motivated to do that with these RIDICULOUS cycles I've been having.  But he said that long distance running can cause women's cycles to be inconsistent, and even stop entirely.  He's advised to do 5-7km as a max for now.  Secondly, he talked about sleep.  HA!  If you know me - the nights are when I work ... usually from 9pm-midnight or later.  He said that had to stop.  My body was confused and needed rest.  Third, he talked about water intake.  I was dehydrated, according to my blood pressure - which actually made sense to me.   He said that my weight gain seemed to be water retention, more than anything.  So - if I started upping my water intake, the numbers should change.

I should also say that this lovely man told me that I was not over weight.  Bless his soul.  I know I am, but he was saying that I was strong, healthy, and he even used the word lovely.  He wanted me to not worry about the scale, while he tries to manage what the real issues are - the bleeding.  What a great doctor.

So.  There you have it ... my journey.  Is my "prime" over?  Is it all downhill from here? Is my skin going to sag, and my age spots start growing, and my hair start thinning out?  Probably - it's inevidable, right?  

But for now, I'm going to just try and get this stuff under control - and not worry about the lines on my face.  And I will keep you posted - if you're interested.  Again, I really hope this wasn't offensive to anyone.  In fact, my prayer is that it will HELP someone. 

Ok. That's it.

Have a great one *smile*.