When you have the time - why not?

One of the first things that I wanted to do once I retired was do a complete purge and re-organization of our pantry.  We're fortunate that we have large pantry, not walk-in large but large closet large, but it's probably been six years since the last time I cleaned it out.

This is our pantry prior to my clean out.

 

Since I now have a pretty good idea on what is used the most and least that we store in our pantry, I kept that in mind when re-organizing each shelf and to use the space in the panty much more efficiently.  I also knew that there was probably some things that could be thrown out also.

Do you see the rectangle containers with the blue lids?  Those are Tupperware containers that I purchased right after we were married 27 years ago.  They were expensive back then, but obviously well worth the money since they are still going strong after 27 years.

It took me three days off and on to get the pantry re-organized and I spent about $50 bucks on a new Sterilite 2-drawer cart from Target, some new storage containers from Dollar Tree and two new OXO turntables that I found at Lowe's.

When one of my girlfriends was over last weekend and she saw the finished product, she turned to me and said "You have way too much time on your hands".......why yes I do........{{smile}}

Stay tuned to see the results.............

It's a Keeper!

I'm married to a man who doesn't really like casseroles, stews and even most soups (except for chili and ham & bean) which makes it tough to cook something in advance for dinner or even cooking during the winter months.  That's not to say that I don't cook those things, because I do.....I like them and sometimes I hit upon a recipe that my husband says is a "keeper".

I found this recipe in an email that I get from Taste of Home and we like all the ingredients so I put it in my "to-try" basket of recipes.

Contest Winning Broccoli Chicken Casserole

It was a hit with both Fred and a good friend who came over to dinner that night.  Of course, the son wouldn't touch it, but what do you expect from someone who subsists on nothing but peanut butter, pizza, mac and cheese, French fries, cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches.

It was super easy to prepare.  I think the hardest part was roasting the chicken and waiting for it to cool in order to cut it up.   I served it with a salad and dinner rolls and there was enough leftovers for two more meals.   It was definitely reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner.

It's a great quick weekday evening meal you should try sometime.

Weekend Thoughts and Fun!

Obviously, I haven't got to the point where my week days meld into the weekends, but I have to say I like having my husband around, so there is a distinct difference there in those days.  :)

My first week off consisted of nothing more than homework, some house cleaning, pleasure reading, internet surfing (both research and fun stuff) and getting started on my upcoming garage sale.

This is the mess I'll be organizing this week along with a friend who is bringing her stuff over in the next day or so.

I'll be glad to get that mess gone so we can re-organize the garage for winter and then all three car will be able to park inside the garage.

I found a couple of great recipes this week while surfing and I'm definitely trying this one for lunch one day soon because everything is better with bacon.

Egg Salad BLT 

Husband and son do not like egg salad, so this one is all mine baby!

I also decided while watching football today that I'm use up some of the basil I have growing and make pesto.   Pretty darn easy but I wish those pignoli nuts weren't so damn expensive!

BTW - 2 cups of basil makes 1 cup of pesto and you can freeze pesto if you want, just pour a little olive oil on top of the pesto before freezing.   I used this recipe from the Food Network today for the pesto Basil Pesto ,only I used parmesan cheese rather than pecorino.   Plan on trying it out tonight when we have dinner......New York strips, corn on the cob, salad with Italian bread smeared with pesto......delish!........and then after dinner.......we're going to go see The Eagles.   Can't wait and I'll post pictures later.

~* Making Lemonade from Lemons *~

In a previous post I told you about our home owners association threatening us with legal action if we didn't remove this shed -

which by the way, is a lot nicer than a whole lot of other sheds in the neighborhood and development, but we're tired of dealing with the assholes, and that's exactly what those that sit on the Board of Directors are.....assholes.....power driven assholes (apologies to those of you that don't curse, but you might as well get to used to it if your going to read my blog), so last Sunday my brother and a friend of us came over and took it down.  I mourned it for about a day and then I said "SCREW THEM.....I'll figure out something to do with that area and there won't be a damn thing they can say to me"....so after one trip to Lowe's and scrounging around in my gardening stash, I turned that empty lonely concrete pad (which has our son's hand print from 2005 in it) to..........THIS

The potting bench was inside the shed, the small wooden bench is from my mother's porch that sat next to the shed, the terra cotta planter on the left was a gift brought back to me from Palm Springs by my Aunt and Uncle and I just snagged the bird bath on a Facebook For Sale page a couple of weeks ago for $15 bucks.....I don't like seeing the utility boxes that our shed hid from our view but this set up hides them a bit.  Next year I'll have to put my rabbit fencing all the way around the tomato garden on the right to keep those "wasskily wabbits" away!

I was pretty please with how we're using it right now and I feel like I made lemonade out of lemons.  I also feel like I'm giving the big old finger to the jerks that sit on our home owner's association board and that folks, make me smile.

What to do? what to do?

It's been an interesting first few days............

Today we had to say goodbye to our garden shed.   Because it's not made of wood, it's against the covenants of our HOA (along with at least 5-6 others) and even though it's been in our yard for seven years, the current board has threatened us with legal action unless we take it down.  My brother and a friend of his took it down and it's will be used over at my brother's friends house.  The really sad part....there's a wooden shed that sits 10 feet from ours that is in such disrepair it looks awful but because it's wood nothing it done about it....so not only to I get to stand at my kitchen sink and now look out on a empty concrete pad, I get to look at the piece of crap shed that is my neighbors.

 

 

 

I'm going to try and make lemonade out of lemons regarding what's left behind once the shed was removed and I'll share it with you later. 

 

My brother also used his big Ford 250 Extended Cab to yank out a Juniper that I had planted 10 years ago right after we moved in.  I had been trimming it over the years into a big ball, but the ball is getting too big and our cars are brushing into it when we come and go.  Here's a picture of it from a year or so ago and it was at least another three inches in diameter bigger this year.

The shrub had all but taken over the dianthus that is planted there, so I'm hoping once I finish doing what I'm going to be doing there (I'll share later), the dianthus will come back.

Coming up on my first full week as a woman of leisure and trying to decide if I'm going to tackle anything on my "To-Do" list.......there is a particular hutch downstairs in our basement that I can't wait to get started on, but I know there are a few things that need done first.

September is going to be the month of the Purge.   Say it with me......purge.

• First up....a garage sale.  I wasn't going to have one because I don't really have much to get rid of anymore but I was still hanging on to a couple totes of old Longaberger, some home décor I was tired of and some perfectly good linens, so when my good friend Diane suggested we do it together, I was game.  My friend Diane (co-worker friend who retired two years) had a bunch of stuff she wanted to get rid of, but her home is out in the country and she wouldn't get the traffic that we get here in my development, so she and her husband are bringing their stuff over next weekend and on Friday, September 12th and Saturday, September 13th, we are going to try and unload her stuff and the rest of mine.   It will be fun to sit around and gab with her while making a little cash and the sale MUST BE OVER no later than 1:00 or 2:00 at the very latest because the BIG game is on at 2:30pm on the 13th.    The Iowa Hawkeyes host the Iowa State Cyclones for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.  Diane and I are both Hawkeye fans as is her husband, so we're going to close up shop and watch the game together since my husband won't even be in town as he'll be in Kansas City for one of his geek weekends.

Once that sale is over, then we are moving on to reorganizing the garage now that the garden shed has come down and we have to make room for gardening tools and such in our garage.  We have the room, it just needs to be re-organized because we're now storing a 1992 Mustang in our 4th stall in the garage (but that's a whole another story).

Here are some of the other purging that will be going on the month of September -

• Our pantry......one word....yuck.   We definitely need to use up some food in there, purge what is no longer good and find a new way to organize it.   There are a few problem areas in there that I have some ideas on how to fix.
• My clothes.  I don't want to get rid of everything just in case life takes me into an opportunity where I might need some office apparel, but I can definitely purge what I have...some I'll consign, most I'll donate to a women's consignment store that gives it's proceeds to a local women's shelter.
• My jewelry.  I have a boat load of costume jewelry and a bunch of it I don't wear very often.  It needs to be gone through and I have a place in mind to take it to consign.

and last but not least a freezer purge.   We have a small chest freezer out in our garage in addition to the bottom freezer we have on our LG refrigerator in the kitchen that's perfect for freezer storage for the size of family we have.  WE NEED TO USE UP WHAT WE HAVE IN THERE before purchasing anything else (unless it's on super duper sale that is too good to pass up).

I'm pretty organized in the freezer department as I keep a written inventory of what we have.  I found the template online but you could easily make your own personalized for how you would use it.

My problem is not using what we have, so I've challenged myself to use up what we have the month of September so our grocery bill should reflect that challenge also.  I'll be very curious how long we can eat on what is already in both of our freezers and I'll be sharing recipes of what I make.  I'm really hoping that my time off will see us trying new healthy recipes that I'll now have time to put together rather than cooking out of convenience like we do most of the time.

Thrown in to all that this month is a concert by one of my favorite bands next weekend that we have 20th row dead center seats (never mind the ticket cost).

I also have my Wednesday night business class, the 37th Harkin Steak Fry, in which spouse and I will be seeing President Clinton and Hillary Clinton at Senator Harkin's last steak fry (more on that later), a much anticipated week long visit from my long time friend Kim and my retirement/birthday party that is bound to be a blast (more on that later),

So, that is my month of September and it looks like I'll have lots to share with you over the next month so please swing by.....I'd love your input.

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

It's a very surreal feeling to wake up the morning of your new life..........

No more 5:20am alarm clocks, no more morning commute, no more of what I've done for 27 years.

Wow.

So, what did I do?   I woke up the first time around the time I would have got up, but I went back to sleep and woke up around 8:15.....I turned the television on and watched a bit of CBS This Morning while my body caught up with my mind waking up.

It's a beautiful day and the only thing on the agenda for the day is some yard work and then I'm heading over to my dear friend Dianne's massage therapy studio Different Stoke Massages to take her to lunch and then she's going to give me a massage........heaven!

And later tonight, I think the spouse and I will be finally opening this Chocolate wine we bought last fall at the Wine Expo we attended.

Hanging on........

Right this minute I am one working day away from retiring from my job of 27 years.  I won't have to drive that familiar "auto pilot" drive every day and enter a building that I've worked in for the past 20 years, up the elevators to the 3rd floor.  I can't say that I won't miss some of my co-workers because I will...how could I not?  I've worked with these people for 27 years and I hope that we will be able to continue our friendships, but I will not miss working there.

My feelings are all over the place right now.........for the first time in 27 years I do not have a job and prior to that I had only been unemployed a total of a few weeks throughout my life.  That, is scary.  Period.  BUT, the possibilities are exciting and that takes the scariness away a bit.

Not only am I ending one thing, but tomorrow night, I'll be starting another.  I'll be attending my first class as a college student!  My fall semester class "Start Up Small Business" at our local community college is on Wednesday nights until December.  I'm excited to have this challenge.  I'm also going to be starting an online interior design certificate course in October that runs for 12 months.

I've been organizing myself the last few months with lists, goals, ideas and to-do things in my planner and I can't wait to start tackling that stuff.

I have a feeling I'm going to ask myself "How in the world did I ever work?"

7.5 days and counting

 

In just 7.5 short days, I will be retiring from my job of 27 years.  27 years of doing the same things, with the same people, in virtually the same building.  I'm bored, burnt out and it's been made pretty clear to me that I'm not a valued employee anymore and the future of the U.S. Courts budget wise isn't looking good at all, so I'm getting out while the getting is good.   It was my decision,  and it was based on a host of things and every bone in my body is telling it's the right decision. 

It's been a bittersweet journey with good times and bad times, but I'm not going to focus on what has been but rather on the road ahead of me.   It's been a long time in my life where I have been excited for what the future holds for me and my family, in fact, I think it's been a little over 18 years since the birth of our son and the excitement that change in our lives brought.

I'm re-working my blog as I'm going to start blogging more now that I have the time and I think there is an audience out there of younger retirees who are starting to navigate the next phase of their life and even if you aren't a retiree or even if you're older than I,  I hope you stick with me and let me share my journey with you.  I'll be sharing lot of different things from home projects, recycling projects, recipes, travel, to everyday ideas on saving money, decorating on a budget and crafting.

Bear with me as I figure out the new design and look of my blog as it will probably experiment with the tools I have available and need to figure out how to use to my best advantage.

I'm going to set a goal for posting to my blog at least three times a week and we'll see how that goes with my new schedule.

Thanks for hanging out with me!

My Love of Topiary & Greenery

I see it has been almost a month since my last blog post.  I've been busy and just haven't felt like putting something together.  Between work, the gym, getting dinner, watching my shows and then wanting to read, whether that be online, my nook or diving into my pile of magazines, it hasn't left my time for anything else.

After taking down our Christmas decor, I always get such a sense of renewal that I also freshen up and mix up my home accents.  One constant in our home decor are topiary.  I love topairy.....any and all sizes and shapes.  I'm always on the lookout for a good one when I'm out and around and I've found them in unusual places.  I prefer preserved topiary but if I find a good fake one, I'm not going to turn it down.

This is my most recent acquisition....not a topiary but a boxwood wreath......I adore boxwoods and I have a whole hedge of them in the front of my house that I baby and trim every year.  This wreath came from Home Decorators Collection and I added the burlap ribbon from a roll I already had in my scrap room.

 
It hangs on one side of the patio door and it brings some "life" to that spot in our house.

I use topiary on our foyer table along with a Longaberger basket, a #4 pottery crock that my mom gave me 25 years ago filled with some artificial hydrangea.

I just put out the blue glass bottles on the table and I'm seeing if they "fit".    I also have a birdcage filled with a trio of candles on the bottom shelf along with another one of my Longaberger baskets (which is sometimes used as a bed by our furry friends).

I'm going to be painting the foyer and hallway next month in the same color I painted our den last summer...Sherwin Williams Beach House.

I also use topiary on table displays through our house.  We have a ladder shelf in our family room that I use to display our family mementos and between our mementos I like using contrasting greenery and again to pull some "life" inside.

 See, that little pewter kitty cat?.......

It's one of the first things that Fred ever bought for me and the B it resides on came from a favorite home interiors store in the Amana Colonies on a favorite family vacation.

Here's another grouping that is on top of one of our bookcases.

See the theme I have going here.....  :)

I also did something a little different with Connor's senior portrait.  We had purchased several of our favorite poses in 8 X 10 and those I have in tabletop frames throughout the house, but one of them we ordered in a 11 X 14 and I framed it in a simple black frame. I wanted to display it differently than just hanging it on a wall or on a tabletop, so I used a small easel and sat it next to our fireplace in front of one of our built in bookcases.....I like it.

Thanks for letting me share my love of topiary, greenery and home decor........

My Year in Reading - 2013

2013 saw me woefully lacking in the reading department.   I read 26 books this year which is at least 10 less then I usually read.  I found that my online reading time is really taking a bite out of my book reading time and I'm going to try and change that in 2014 a bit.

I currently have 384 books on my "to-read" list at Goodreads but I'm starting to go back through my list and see if they still draw me to reading them.  My tastes and interests change up a bit and some of those books have been on the list for at least two years.

I think my favorite book I read in 2013 was "Inferno" by Dan Brown.

He's one of my favorite authors and although a lot of people didn't like it, I did.  I also finally got around to reading the third book in the Stieg Larsson series "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" and loved how the trilogy ended!

I also read my first Joe Hill book this year and I have three more of his loaded onto my nook HD and those are all high on my "to-read" list.  Those of you who might not know, Joe Hill is Stephen King's son and he's a terrific horror writer.

I've decided to lower my expectations in 2014 as far as how much reading of books I'll get done.  For the last three years I set my goal at 52 but I've not been able to read a book a week, so 2014 I'll shooting for 30 books, or 2 - 3 a month.  Much more doable right now with my schedule.