I Should Have Grocery Shopped Before I Decided to Not Spend Money This Week

I am now more than halfway through my challenge of spending no money for the week.  It has actually been fairly easy.  Thanks to some already scheduled events, I have rarely had to provide my own dinner.  Saturday I had a wedding (Maggiano's Little Italy), Sunday I babysat (Papa John's Pizza), and  Monday I babysat (leftover pasta, watermelon, and whatever else I snacked on from the fridge).

Last night is where things got interesting.   I had planned on trying a new Pinterest recipe for dinner last night.  I had two chicken breasts left over from my bonfire which had been sitting in the freezer since Friday., and I conveniently had all the ingredients for the marinade I wanted.  I always have pasta on hand, so it seemed like dinner was going to be a no-brainer.  Unfortunately, once I thawed out the chicken and started to cut it, I realized there was definitely a "DO NOT EAT ME" odor coming off the chicken. I'm a little concerned about that since I just bought it less than a week ago and it has been in the fridge or freezer the entire time, but regardless, I trust my nose.  Into the garbage went my dinner.  My next thought for dinner was a zucchini and bell pepper quiche.  I happened to have a pie crust left over from some earlier quiche, so I figured I was good to.  As I began to unroll the pie crust, it stuck to itself and then crumbled into lots of little pieces.  Upon checking the date on the box, I found out I should have used my pie crust about a month ago.

At this point, I almost broke the challenge and went to Subway.  The only meat in the house is some bacon and some frozen shrimp.  There in no Pasta-Roni (which is what I usually eat my little shrimps in). Fortunately, when googling recipes for zucchini quiche, I came upon a recipe for a zucchini scramble.  Thankfully, dinner was saved.  Half a zucchini, three eggs, some shredded cheese, and three slices of bacon later, dinner was served.  Good thing it tasted good, as this meal will be repeated tonight.

Anybody want to take me out to dinner on Thursday???

A Week Without Buying Anything??

One of my challenges is to go an entire week without buying anything.  I am about to run out of money on my Publix gift card, and I'm low on spending money, so I figured I might as well try to take on this challenge this week.  It will be an interesting challenge. For one, it's the first week of summer.  I now have long days looming in front of me, and I tend to fill my days by running errands.  None of that this week!  Also, my fridge is not exactly well-stocked at the moment.  I have been eating out a lot lately and haven't really stocked up on groceries, so I will be eating pretty basic meals this week.  Fortunately, I had my bonfire last night and several people left their grilling leftovers behind to help me survive the week.  This is definitely doable.

Now, there are a few ground rules.

1. I will buy nothing.  This includes using gift cards to make a purchase.

2. I am still allowed to pay bills.

3. I need to send James a care package full of items he needs, so the cost of shipping with not be counted against me.

4. Other people are welcome to buy me things :)  I just can't buy them for myself.

5. If anything sells from my Etsy shop, I am allowed to pay for shipping of those items.

6. The challenge began this morning at 12:01 am and will end next Friday at 11:59 pm.

Wish me luck, and don't invite me out to eat!

Getting Ready for Rally

Milo complete his 6 week rally course today, and he's now (almost) ready to compete!  Rally is a dog competition that is somewhat of a mix between obedience and agility.  At the novice level (where we are), there are something like 35 possible signs.  Each sign has a different command (left turn, 270 right, sit your dog and walk around them, walk in crazy patterns around these cones, etc.).  In any given course, there will be about 15 signs.  The dog and handler walk the course in order, following the directions at each sign.

One of my adventures while James is gone is to compete in a rally competition.  Now that I know a little more about rally, my goal now is to actually qualify in a rally competition. Rally is scored out of 100 points.  You start with all your points, and you lose them as you go mistakes such as having a tight leash, messing up a stop, touching your dog, etc.  To qualify, you must have a score of 70.  If you qualify, you get a green ribbon.  That green ribbon is my goal!

Milo has now learned all of the signs, and he is pretty good at most of them.  There are a few we still have more trouble with, but he is capable of all of them.  Before he can compete, he has to be AKC certified.  Since he is a mixed-breed, he will be registered as an ALL-AMERICAN DOG.  I think it makes him sound much more dignified that he really is.  Once that's done, he is ready to compete.  There is a competition in July, and according to his teachers he is ready to compete, so hopefully I'll have a (real) update about rally in a couple of months!

Project 365

Day 64: Hanging out at Nicole's hot tub

Day 65: Laura sure was hungry

Day 66: Lauren and Joe's wedding

Day 67: Fun in the tub

Day 68: The bizarre summer weather has begun

Day 69: Beth looks like a giant next to Tamara

Day 70: Milo with his teachers on his last day of rally class.  He's ready to be a champion!

Project 365

Before the pictures, I promise there will be an actual adventure post coming up soon.  There are 3 days left of the school year, followed by 3 post-planning days, and then I will have all the time (unfortunately, not all the money) in the world for my adventures.  But for now, here is over a week's worth of photos.

Day 55: Homemade lamingtons for my kids to enjoy tomorrow as we study Australia for International Day

Day 56: A student teaches us about Poland for International Day...Needs to work on how to hold the poster while presenting

Day 57: Statham Stampede 2012

Day 58: I got excited when the UPS guy delivered a box of flowers, only to find out they were for my roommate

Day 59: Rainy garden tour for Mother's Day

Day 60: Love letter from Kuwait

Day 61: Hilarious class picture from field day

Day 62: Must put down Kindle and go to sleep

Day 63: Stocked up for my class's awards tomorrow

Puzzling Puzzles

As of my last update, this is all that was finished

I am making tremendous progress on my 1,000 piece Yosemite puzzle, and I'm hoping to cross that off my list soon (and frame the puzzle to hang on my wall).  I finally suffered through a couple hours of tedious work while I tried every possible piece of the sky, until finally that section was complete.   

That part was so terrible, that I then ignored the puzzle for several weeks.  I recently swapped the office and the guest bedroom, requiring me to move my puzzle.  Seeing my puzzle reminded me that I should probably finish this project at some point. I suffered through another couple of hours and was able to complete the tree portion.

All I have left is the part I really don't want to do.  I have the rocks in the water and all that reflection, and I'm pretty much putting that off as long as possible.  I need the desk back so I can work on my Etsy project, so I'm sure I'll finish eventually.  If anyone is looking for something to do one afternoon, let me know and you can come work on my puzzle :)

Project 365

Day 50: Ice cream party at the end of a scavenger hunt

Day 51: Our shoes after the muckrun.  This photo doesn't do justice to how gross they were!

Day 52: My first care package to James in Kuwait

Day 53: Twins! 

Day 54: After reading a story about a lost animal, Bailey leapt out of his cage to come find me.  What a sweet bunny!

Project 365 (Trying to stay on top of this for once)

Day 45: Got to hang out with my boys tonight.  I love these two!

Day 46: After several days of sleeping in my bed, this buddy is back in his own space

Day 47: Jeep ride to DQ with Tamara

Day 48: Skyline at the dog park

Day 49: Dirty clothes after a very warm run with Tamara