Decisions about Money

I've been looking at my budget and credit cards and one of my goals this year is to really get my 1 credit card as close to paid off as possible. Don't get me wrong, if there is a decent balance then there is, I am just really hoping to get things into a better spot.

I do know that getting my shower fixed is basically going to whack that hard, but whatever.

So whatever taxes I get back on going to pay off a portion of my credit card.

I really really really want to stop eating out as much as possible (last week was hard, due to burst pipes, so there is always exceptions). I just need to kick myself in the ass a little bit more and get a cracking at cooking and baking. I know that this spring/summer will be harder, but oh well. It can be hard to say no to my Kid with that, I mean, pizza out every once in a while or chinese ordered in? It just adds up :( Plus he's had a friend spend the night a couple times and who knew that boys eat that much! Oh and speaking of that, my freaking grocery bill is going a wee bit whacky. I have a feeling my kid is gonna is another growth spurt because his stomach is not getting bigger and he's eating a lot more it seems.

I was using the excuse of my classes for some of this, just not having as much time. Well, fuck that. If I end up staying up later then so be it. That is life it seems! I like cooking too, so it's not a hard leap here lol. Dishes are a pain, well, especially with the burst pipes and cold weather.

It won't hurt us to get outside and do things, pack a lunch or picnic, ya know? Once it's warmer at least :) And it won't hurt to eat a little bit less either.

And it's not going to be never eating out again. I just want it more limited for a while. It should be a treat, not a habit for us.

Well, it's a start at least :)

Relaxing Weekend and Fruits of the Garden

(previous weekend)

Chilling in the back, napping in our hammock. 

 Ahem, me (sans any make up)

And the boyfriend :)

Fruits of the Garden

This is some form of squash - definitely in the pumpkin family.

Need sharp knives for chopping and slicing!! 

 I basically cooked these in some oil and butter. They have that nutty type of pumpkin flavor, they were actually really good :)

Organic mashed potatoes (yes that is a lot on my plate, but damn they were good!!) Squash and some chicken we picked up at the store. It was a great dinner!

Fuck It Friday

You know, some days you just need to say Fuck It.

So, no slim fast this morning. This morning, it's McDonald's all the way. Coffee - Check. Egg McMuffin - Check.

I have been craving it all week. I think my memories and cravings turned it into some divine food of the gods. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was just an Egg McMuffin. I wonder if it's going to keep me going until lunch the way slim fast has been.

Somehow I gained that lovely 1 lbs back, the little fucker. And since it's Chinese food for dinner tonight, I am going to need to work on exercising this weekend and get over, once and for all, this damn fucking number.

Stupid number

Have I mentioned I hate my job? It pays the most I've ever been paid, but really, it's just not my cup of tea. I'm bored. Bored, not that there isn't things I could be doing (ahem, stupid XML for example) but because it's just not enough. I need something TO DO, that at least requires more of my attention. I don't have ADD or ADHD (gods, definitely not that one - hyper is not me)  but if the shit is boring, well the shit is boring. I just need something that's at least interesting. And granted, I have 1 or 2 reports that are interesting to me (ok, I am Data Analyst and I really do like creating reports, slicing and dicing, figuring shit out) but those don't take long.

And it's not just the construction, with it's noises, workers conversations or attempts at singing either.

There seems to be this underlining tension between 2 of my coworkers who I deal with the most. Honestly, that doesn't even bother me, there is always something going on at any work place (whether it's affairs, hatreds, religious crap, competitions or what) - I always try to keep away from that crap, because I just don't give a shit.

HONEY BADGER!!!





Some of it is management, but management is typically a crap shoot anyways. It's a job, I'm happy I'm getting paid (the only happy thought for the moment) but I hope that something else can come along and give me something to do.

Anyways!!

Saturday, I might take a drive to West Virginia, just to check out a few things. I have some calls to make, reservations (storage and uhaul) to make so that we can move out stuff out of the FIL's house. I need to cash out my left over 401K as well. Busy bee on Saturday. I want to vacuum the house as well and maybe clean the kitchen. I should charge up my headset so I can talk on the phone while I meander around.

Oh, speaking of kitchens :) I got my new stainless steel pots and pans in :) Quite excited about these, already washed them and cleaned out all the old pans from the cabinets. We even got rid of the wok (it was losing some kind of finishing on it) and so if we ever venture into learning to cook with one again, it will need to be stainless steel as well. But I don't think that will be for a short while, too much shit going on. So, another thing this weekend, will be learning to cook and not burn everything on these :) I've been reading about that, SHOCK I KNOW! and basically low to medium heat, use oil and pay attention to when you're cooking. I can handle that, I hope.

Sunday is one of our anniversary's. See, we got married twice. The first time, was legal and the on the Spring Equinox. The 2nd time was religious (pagan) and for friends/family almost a full year later. Of course, the 2nd one I was also 7 months pregnant which was fun and exhausting. But the date of the month of the 2nd one is earlier than the 1st/legal one. So, did I confuse anyone yet? heehee. We don't usually celebrate both, whichever one has a weekend closest to it.

So, Sunday - I want hibachi and a movie. The movie will probably come first so we can get matinee prices :) We're bring the Brat with us so it will be a fun family day out :^D Thinking of seeing Jack the Giant Killer. Hopefully it's a good movie...

I guess this means I should shave my legs. Ugh.

That's all for now...

Stainless Steel vs. Non Stick - Part 1

We currently have Non Stick pots and pans.

The (now Ex-)husband knows that when we need to buy new ones (which will be sooner rather than later) and I am pretty sure I want the Stainless Steel set. I have been looking into this for a quite a while now, before the holidays even.

It's a good investment since it will last a lifetime. Health wise, studies are showing the Non Stick/Teflon has fumes that aren't the healthiest, plus I hate how the non stick coating is flaking off on our pans right now.


I know some people who have mostly Stainless Steel but will keep 1 - 10" skillet that is Non Stick for things like eggs or whatever requires a more delicate cooking touch. All I wonder with that is, people 30 years ago didn't really have this Non stick option, and they were able to cook eggs and whatnot (chefs, I'm sure, did all kinds of delicate cooking miracles) so do I really need to even keep that 1 skillet?

I do have 1 cast iron skillet. Maybe I should start using that for now instead of my non stick...hmmm...

I also think I will do a little bit more research before I try to convince the (now Ex-)husband about this investment.
Here are some interesting links so far:

http://missvickie.com/howto/cooking101/secret.htm

http://www.amazon.com/forum/cooking?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx211KPGGBLHNC6&cdThread=TxYA21ALTW36NR

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/safecookware.htm