Refresh, Renew, Reboot

SO, this time of year is alternately wonderful and hard for me. I love the renewal of the new year and warming weather, but I often (read: pretty much always) freak out around my birthday. I take stock, and find myself and / or my situation to be lacking in one or more areas. Then I fall into a pity party quagmire. It makes for a fun February. :-/

This time, I would like to preempt all of the whining and poor me-ing and just get started on the improvements and the moving forward. In order to make that happen, I am starting spring-type growth projects now.

This weekend, we broke in to the garden - the gate was sealed shut by climbing vine weeds - and started to clear out weeds, leaves and acorns. Don even started weed whacking the stepping stone path so that we can navigate safely ;-) I sorted out the seeds, drew up my new plan, and updated my spreadsheet... yes, I have a garden spreadsheet. I am a nerd who's brain reacts better if I enter information onto a spreadsheet then print it out and stare at it. I am who I am. As soon as I sort out the desktop and the printer, I will scan in this season's garden plan and share it with you. I know that you're waiting with baited breath. We still need to till, add soil revitalizers, cover the beds with hay for a few weeks to kill off weeds, and add new soil. THEN we can plant. *whew*

I have also decided on a few new projects to keep my brain occupied. I am going to make a new messenger bag for Lily Ruth - a slightly larger one that can hold her lunchbox or her ballet kit. Enlarging the awesome pattern from Craftbuds should be a good challenge for my nerd brain. I am also going to make a messenger bag (using the regular pattern) for Alec D. Yes, I know he can't carry it himself, but I need a bag of that size for his Parent's Day Out supplies, and I love to make stuff!!! Oh, sorry. I got a bit defensive :-P

Oh, and I am continuing to do good(ish) work with the meal planning. Last week, I didn't quite stick to the plan, and I didn't manage to do one big shop, but it was still very helpful. Here is this week's plan:

Monday:  Gnocchi with Sausage and Kale (didn't make it last week :-/)

Tuesday:  Pork Chops with Cheesy Skillet Rice and Green Beans (from Mel's 30 minute meals)

Wednesday:  Curried Lentils with Chicken and Potatoes

Thursday:  Jayden's Beef with Broccoli

Friday:  Family dinner night - I think that Grandmother is making chili!!

Saturday:  Post-Gardening PIZZAS!

Sunday: Let's just call Sundays "Crap Shoot Sundays" and admit that I cannot plan out that far, shall we?

I will leave you with a few images from our lives this week. They pretty much speak for themselves :-)