February 6 2020

My Word of the Year

It is something I begin thinking about when fall shows up for a good long stay, but sometime the  new year begins without me having chosen a word. In 2017 I chose a word of the year for the first time. That year, I chose the word FEARLESS to lead me through the year. That was a good word, the pressure was on to pick another good one. So in 2018 I chose the word CONFIDENCE to guide me. In 2019 I decided to not choose a word since nothing was presenting itself, and decided to have a depth year instead. So this year, I decided I needed a word to guide me again and began giving it serious thought. I considered the word SLEEP, or maybe even FINISH, but neither of those felt quite right.

My friend Theresa has a cool business making words into wall art called Wall to Wall Words. She gave us each the words Merry Christmas in white vinyl and the the word Believe in red vinyl as a gift. I wanted to place the red word Believe on the door to my upper cabinet at word where I had displayed my NaNoWriMo word count last November, but my theory is that as soon as I decide to stick it on there, the powers that be will decide I need to move to another desk and I wouldn’t be able to take the word with me. I am still toying with the idea of sticking it to something else that I could display and move more easily.

I had been thinking about what my word for 2020 would be when I got the gift from my friend and thought I wanted Believe to be my word but wanted more of a sign that this was the word for me. Then I found this on January 12th as we drove home from St. Louis. This was taken on one of the main streets in Casey, Illinois. No it isn’t a great photo. There was no way to take a great photo of it given the circumstances. The store was closed and I was losing the light. But it was a sign and I needed a photo of this “sign” of a sign in the store window to remind me that I need to learn to BELIEVE.

I have read the book One Perfect Word by Debbie Macomber a few times and she tells us that the word will often present itself to you. Ok, you don’t have to hit me upside the head with it. I believe. If you want to get your own copy of the book, and click on either the link or the picture of the book, these are affiliate links and I might earn a penny or two at no additional cost to you.

At the beginning of 2019, after I decided not to choose a word, I found out about My Intent bracelets. I liked the idea, but since I still wasn’t permanently employed at that point I didn’t want to spring for the bracelets. I wanted to get all three of my words of the year on the little washers and then make the three of them into something wearable, like a necklace maybe. I did make something but never completely finished it and never wore it. If I can find it I will take a picture of it for you. I knew better this year, so I did better. I ordered the bracelet which normally sells for $20, but used a discount code I got from Mel Robbins (MEL) to save 30%, so it only cost me $14. Well worth the investment if wearing it helps me to remember to BELIEVE in God, to BELIEVE in myself, and to BELIEVE that I can do anything, with God, if I make up my mind to do it. You can see it on my wrist in the photo below. I chose the one I could get with a purple cord, but that probably doesn’t really surprise you.

I have already decided that I believe in myself enough to commit to another three years of writing the blog you are reading this on. I hope you will join me by subscribing using the link at the top or the right and enter your email address so you can be notified when I post something new.

Have you ever chosen a word of the year? What word did you pick and how did it work out for you?

 

Category: Believe, Confidence, Depth Year, Fearless | Comments Off on My Word of the Year
October 31 2019

Getting Into Hot Water

How to get the hot water back on when you have a tankless hot water heater. To be fair I am mostly writing this post so that I can remember how to do this the next time it happens, especially if Hubby isn’t there to help me “fix” it. Note, we are not plumbers or professionals, so try this at your own risk.

The last couple of times the water wouldn’t get hot, Hubby just ran downstairs and did exactly what I did in the brief video shown above. That worked a couple of times but it wasn’t the right way to solve the problem, and we both knew it. It worked until it didn’t and then we had to do it right.

 

This is the top of the water heater and you have to take the screws out of the two spots on the top of the water heater. See the left pipe sticking out of the top? Well, that is where the trouble comes in.

 

Now this is the the bottom, and there are two more screws down there that need to be removed. We didn’t unplug it first, and nothing bad happened.

 

So, this is the inside after the cover is removed. See that white thing just under the left pipe we talked about earlier? Well you need to take out the screw next to it, yes, there on the right. Take the screw out then pay attention to how it comes out so you can put it back together in a few minutes. There is a screen filter on this thing and it is likely covered with spider webs and debris. Clear it off and consider rinsing and drying it before you put it all back together.

For convenience, the cover has a lip on top so it kind of hangs in place while you put the screws back in. Put all the screws back in, the one on the inside is the obvious screw to put back in first. Then all you have to do is push the reset button like I did in the video above. That’s it. It is that easy. So now the next time it happens, I will know what to do.

Category: Confidence, Depth Year, Money Saving, Reclaiming Our Home | 1 Comment on Getting Into Hot Water
September 19 2019

Menu Planning

One of the important things I do to help us keep our budget under control is to plan what we will be eating for dinner each week. If you find you are having trouble thinking of new and interesting ideas, keep track of what you eat for a while to help inspire your menu planning. Don’t have a recipe? Search online.

Now you can write your menu on a chalkboard or dry erase board, back of an old envelope or whatever works for you. A few years ago, while walking through the local Staples store, I spied this lovely little tool, and decided to get it. It now has a place of prominence on the front of my refrigerator. I try to plan out the meals for the following week over the weekend.

I usually stsart my menu planning by looking at our Google calendar to see which nights we have something happening. To be honest, once I finish the menu, I usually take a photo with my phone so I have it handy for ready reference in case I can’t remember what I was planning for dinner that night while I’m at work. The meals are all up for grabs on any given night but sometimes the meals that take longer to make are scheduled on nights when we will have more time, so moving them around doesn’t always work well.

The example above was obviously a time when I was counting calories. It is probably one of the early ones, because I can tell by how neat and thin the writing is, that it was written with the marker that came with the board, and that went dry a few years ago.

This was obviously not a great photo, but works for what we need anyway. Sometimes, I get colorful like the week shown below.

The one below is for the current week. I remembered I had taken the photo and hadn’t added it yet, so consider it a bonus. If you want more specifics, feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

The most important thing about planning meals in advance is it helps you to make a grocery list. We all know when you shop with a list and try to stick to it, you can save money. Not only will you be eating healthier, you won’t be eating out unless it was planned ahead of time. This can also save money. Lately I have been taking inventory of what we have on hand and challenging myself to use everything up and buy as little as we can from the grocery each week. Sometimes this can backfire because you run out of everything and then you have a huge stock up week when the budget is completely blown, but in theory you saved more than enough in the weeks leading up to then to cover the budget deficit for the week.

So, do you plan your menu each week? If not, how do you know what to get at the grocery. Do you have any tips or tricks to share with us? Please give us at least one money saving idea or menu planning tip in the comments below.

You can find more interesting ideas on saving time (and possibly money) in this post from last fall, Finding Time to Write NaNoWriMo.

 

 

 

Category: Depth Year, Goals, Money Saving, Planning | Comments Off on Menu Planning
August 29 2019

Cool Thing I Learned

I went to the grocery last week. I was only going to grab a few things, so I got the small cart thinking, I would spend less. Makes total sense, right?

Well, one of my super powers is packing things tightly into small spaces and getting the most into any give space. A useful talent most of the time, but not an inexpensive one. So the cart was as full as could be when I got into the checkout line and I was commenting to the cashier that I should switch to the big cart if I had any hope of getting my purchases to the car safely. She said not to worry that she knew all kinds of places to put things and we would fit them in. So I trusted her at her word and as the bags started coming off she instructed me as to where they could be placed without taking up the traditional cart space.

So here is the cart with everything contained on it.

So here is where the wondrous things take place. It starts out innocently enough. I already love the milk shelf as I think of it, just below the handle down near the back wheels, you can see it in the photo below. See the left cup holder, well you can hang a bag from that, just slide the handles over it.You can also hang a bag from the little triangle on the right side of the right cup holder after you slide one over the entire right cup holder just like you did with the left one..

See those little upside down U shapes just below the seat? You guessed it, you can hang another two bags from those!

Now, ypu know the cell phone slot between the cup holders (maybe that is meant for coupons?) If you look at it from the front, just below the handle there is another hook for bag handles.

So if you are counting, that is a minimum of six extra bags you can hang off the cart.

I have also seen those who buy bottled six packs of soda hang those half in and half out of the cart to fit them all along the top railing. We don’t buy soda any more so that doesn’t help me, but in case you do, I thought I’d pass that along as well.

So now you can see I easily made it out to the car with all my groceries without losing even one thing to the pavement along the way.

Sometimes you just have to pace yourself while shopping and rearrange things as you go to fit the most in the cart, and with these fun little hints, you will now be able to safely guide your small shopping cart safely to your cart too. Yep, I just doubled up on my blog writing again. Sorry, but a busy gal has to do what she has to do and this is the fifth Thursday of the month which means it is blogger’s choice tonight. Seriously, if you have read this far, THANKS!

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Pace
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Depth Year, Five Minute Friday, Learning | 1 Comment on Cool Thing I Learned
August 1 2019

What I have been watching…

In the past, I have watched almost entirely movies on NetFlix. One of my kids has a subscription and allows me to watch for free. Yes, I am cheap and frugal. I never wanted to watch series shows because I know my limits when it comes to stopping after an episode or two. Recently, I started watching a series because I didn’t want the time commitment of a movie, so a series seemed like an excellent alternative. So, without a doubt, you are wondering what I am watching. I saw a show that peaked my interest because I remembered a similar show from way back. I have been watching Queer Eye. I have to say I have really been enjoying the show. I like how they not only update the victim’s wardrobe, but also fix up the person’s living space or workplace, and teach them how to make a few dishes to liven up their food choices. Often, the person whose life is getting made over has issues in their lives they haven’t dealt with and the Fab 5 take turns counseling the person by using experiences from their own lives. This is cool because in the process they let the viewers get to know them a little better too.

Watching a series has been an exercise in self control. In the past, I would watch episode after episode until I had binge watched the entire series. In some cases we would check the seasons of a particular show out on DVD from the local library and need to watch them all before the 21 day checkout period was over because they were due back and we couldn’t renew them. We couldn’t just stop in the middle of a season. I like watching shows that were once on television and full of commercial breaks, but now take only 45 minutes or less to watch each hour long show with all the commercials removed. I find I can fit an episode in easily without having to stop in the middle because it is bedtime or dinner time.

As I write this post, I am in a co-working space where we meet regularly to write together. On the other side of the glass windows that divide our conference room from the lobby of the next area, is some sort of musical dancing group practicing a huge part of my childhood. I realize I am dating myself now, but you already know I am a member of the over fifty club, but they are practicing various songs from School House Rock! So far, I have heard “A Noun Is A Person, Place Or Thing”, “Conjunction Junction”, and “Elbow Room”. This seems oh so appropriate when we are sitting around a big conference room table typing away at our laptops. Here I am in the middle of writing and wanting so badly to go home and binge watch my complete collection of School house Rock on DVD.

So, what have you found yourself in the middle of lately? What was your favorite School House Rock song? What series or movie do your recommend I watch next on NetFlix?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Middle
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Depth Year, Five Minute Friday, Learning, Review | 2 Comments on What I have been watching…