Saturday, June 29, 2013

Gardening

So far this has been a good weekend. I went to the store and picked up some gardening supplies. Gardening is expensive lol. And I didn't even get everything I need. I just started with the basics. On the plus side, a lot of what I bought today is one time purchases like a weed eater, trowel, hose etc. I really thought about buying some flowers today.Ultimately I decided to wait until i get the flower beds cleared out so I can transfer them right away. I would hate to buy flowers and have them die.

When I got home from the store I started to weed my flower beds. I admit I forgot to take a before picture. It's not done though so I will take one tomorrow. Granted it will be kind of a half way photo but better than nothing. I worked in the yard for about 40 minutes. With how hot it is out it's difficult to work outside for very long. That and I developed my first garden induced blister. I made good progress though. It will be one step at a time. Especially since I am not used to having yard upkeep as part of my regular schedule. A drawback from being an apartment dweller for so long.

An update about weight watchers. Overall, I like the program. I basically can eat what I want as long as I say within my points for the day. I never feel hungry which is a plus. Also, there are many foods, mostly fruits and veggies that are 0. I have lost 5 pounds so far. Admittedly, I have not been trying very hard. I have been concentrating mostly on getting into the habit of tracking foods. I downloaded an app to my phone to make that easier. For people who have a hard time being self motivated and keeping track, weight watchers probably is not the program for them. It also requires planning ahead. I know that can be difficult for some people.

For me, I think this will be a good program. I am totally a planner. I LOVE my lists. No, seriously. I have a list for practically everything and I keep them up. When I was living with my brother and his family that was one of my biggest frustrations. I am a planner and he SOOOOO is not (though he likes to think he is for some reason haha). So planning ahead for meals is easy for me. I use to do this when I was in law school. Anyone who has been to law school knows there are A LOT of very long days. Often you come home after spending 12+ hours at school and internships and you really don't want to cook. You can only eat so many sandwiches so you end up just picking up something on your way home at the local fast food place. In other words, you ate like crap. I got in the habit of spending one day on the weekend cooking meals and putting them up to eat during the week. That way I could eat quickly after a long day and I ate so much better. Draw back is I have gotten out of the habit in the last year so I am getting back into it now.

I will keep you posted as I go through the program, both good and bad. I know that this program is not for everyone. I hope I can share my knowledge and help the people that this would not work for discover that before spending money. Well that is all I have for now. Pugsley and I are goign to cuddle up and watch Dr. Who now. Have a goodnight everyone!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Getting Organized

I am settling in to my new life here. I am really liking the house I am renting. It will be even better once I have enough furniture to fill it. (For those that are wondering: I need a dining room table, more book shelves, a bed for the spare room and a pantry cupboard). Not to mention I need to work on storage solutions for my bathroom. One thing I will say is my old bathroom was larger and had way more storage. Not that the bathroom in my house is so bad. It is just going to take some creativity to eliminate the clutter problem. Not to mention money.

Don't get me wrong I am getting paid (Finally!) but after coming off of a year of unemployment there are a lot of bills I am playing catch up on. I am getting there though. It will just take some time to get caught up. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to do so. I am still amazed how different my life is now compared to two months ago. Today I received my official business cards. How cool is that?? :) I feel all official now.

There are so many projects that I want to do around the house and in my office it is hard to know where to begin. I say that but honestly I will probably start by weeding and planting my flower beds in front of my house. My neighbors all keep their yards very nice and my yard is  bit of an eyesore. So much so my neighbor has been mowing my lawn for me. I don't own a lawn mower yet. When I rip out my garden and replant it I will post before and after pictures.

Closer to the topic that my blog is supposed to be about, I joined weight watchers. That is part of why I need to get things organized. I have a friend that has used that program to lose weight. Very successfully I might add. She said what is most important is to plan ahead. Though the program does allow you to still live your life and eat out, your life is much easier if you plan your home menu ahead of time and prepare your food in advance for nights you are not likely to cook. This week I am not doing so much with weight watchers except putting together my meal plans and shopping list.

I don't think this will be easy but I also know I can do it. I have been through a lot in life and overcome many obstacles. I was able to quit smoking 5 years ago and never started again. I completed law school and passed the bar. I rode the wave that is the crappy job market. And many other things I will not get into right now. I have come out a better person because of these challenges. This will be the same. With dedication, hard work and let's not lie lots of frustration I will come out on top. I have never set a long term goal I have not achieved, though some took much longer than originally planned.

When my meal plan is complete I will post it online and share my joys and challenges with you. I am going to take you on this journey with me. Partly to hold myself accountable and partly because I hope that my challenges and the lessons learned from them will help someone. Even if all it does is make someone feel not so alone then my goal is achieved.

Well that is all for now. I hope this was not too all over the place for you. Guess I am a little scattered today.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Feeling spoiled!

Today was a long day. I spent most of the day in court though I really only had a couple clients on the docket and both were set for the morning. Originally I was planning to be back at my office after lunch but then one client was moved to the afternoon docket. So to make a long story short I didn't get back to my office until almost 4. I did get to leave the office early though.

After I got home I hooked my Wii up to my new Wi-Fi. I can stream Netflix now. I am feeling so spoiled right now. :) I use to have it set up at my old apartment while I was in school. I never bothered when I was at my brother's house. I didn't think I would be there long enough to justify taking the time. Little did I know. Lol. Now that I am settling into my new place and getting back some of the things I enjoyed I feel so lucky.

One project I am going to have to tackle soon is gardening. Part of my lease is I have to maintain the lawn and the garden. Right now it's a bit....what is the best word...free-range. I don't have a lawn mower so the grass is a bit tall. Not as tall as it could be though. One of my neighbors was super nice and mowed my lawn. I have flower beds in the front yard which are more weed beds at the moment. Drawback to moving from an apartment to a house is you don't have the equipment to care for your yard.

I am looking forward to the gardening project but I am having a hard time deciding what kind of flowers to plant. I want colorful flowers but I live in a high heat area. I don't want to spend a bunch of money on flowers just to have them wilt and die. I am totally open to suggestions if anyone has ideas for what flowers would be good in high heat.

This weekend is the town-wide garage sale. Once a year here almost everyone in town has a garage sale on the same weekend. I have never been to a garage sale like this. I am hoping maybe I can find some gardening tools or cute things for my house cheap. We will see. Even it I don't find anything I want to buy it still sounds like fun. Well that is all for now. Aren't you proud of me. I updated two whole days in a row :)

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

I am back!

Sorry I have not updated in a long time. I was not able to for quite awhile because I had no internet at home. Though there is a library in town that provides free wifi, it keeps very limited hours. So I was only able to get there on Saturdays because I always worked too late during week days. Even on Saturday the library was only open for a couple hours. I am amazed how much my email piled up only checking it once a week.

For those that might be wondering why I did not check my email or use my phone for internet, it's because my cell phone got absolutely no reception here. This part of Missouri is a complete dead zone. I bought a cheap prepaid cell so I would be able to make and receive calls but it did not have internet access.

I was without internet at home for a month. I swear I was having withdrawals. Lol. The reason it was a month is because I receive my paychecks on a two week delay. They have to be processed through the main office before they are distributed to the employees. I had a good friend volunteer to put down the deposit for the internet for me but I was trying to avoid owing more people money. My first check was only a partial check so I ended up taking my friend up on the offer. Which I am very very thankful for. She is my hero.

Honestly, I know it sounds like I am complaining but I am really am happy with my situation. I found a cute little house to rent that is really close to my office. Everyone I work with has been very nice and welcoming.

Everyone loves my dog here. I still have people stop me on the street while I am walking him to say he is fabulous. Pugsley is liking it here as well. I was concerned how he would adjust. He has never liked moving. Pugsley surprised me and settled right in. There is a little min pin next door named Diesel that Pugsley loves to play with.

I am still adjusting to work. My schedule is crazy this month. This is really due to the last attorney set up my schedule for me. Once I get past June the craziness will pass and I will get my schedule back to normal.

I feel so fortunate to have this job. I cannot even tell you how excited I was to get my first paycheck. Granted it was only a partial paycheck and was pretty much spent before I got it, still an improvement over the last year. There is a great sense of self satisfaction for getting a paycheck and being able to pay my bills with it. There is a long list of things I need to buy like a lawnmower but I know things are going to keep getting better. Now that I have internet I will do my best to update more often and let you know what is happening in my world