Monday Monday

Funny that I still wakeup with a bit of Monday Monday anxiety after 2 years of retirement but on the bright side it only lasts as long as it takes me to remember I can roll over and go back to sleep if I want to. Not that I can sleep after an anxiety jolt runs through my veins but theoretically it's true.

These days Monday is about balancing the budget, making a grocery list, perhaps cleaning up a particularly messy spot in the house, walking to do my errands, going out for breakfast or lunch with a friend, reading and so on. Aren't I a lucky little old lady?

Today I closed out October's budget. I am a serious zero budgeter and I ended up the month with a surplus of $1.79! I think I've got the hang of this thing. There are a variety of budget lines that fluctuate from month to month (food, gas, misc, natural gas and electricity). Everything else usually stays exactly the same with my cell phone occasionally a bit extra due to using a bit more data. That happened last month when I had to pay an extra $8 on my cell phone bill. My electricity bill came in $11 over budget as we still needed to put the central air on a few times. That being said the natural gas bill was under budget by $6 and I only spent $62 on gas for my truck as I walked to do most errands. The surplus gas $ went to my food budget as I did a massive shop at the Bulk Barn to buy a ton of nuts and seeds, dried fruit, oatmeal, quinoa, rice and other dried goods for the winter pantry. I won't need to do that again for several months.

Misc purchases included new running shoes for volleyball. I googled "best shoes for runner's knee" and the best brand was Asics which just happened to be on sale at Sport Chek. I've been using them all month and I do believe they have helped. We have celebrated Thanksgiving so I've already shelled out for turkey and wine...and more wine :) I've been to the movies, out to lunch and breakfast, bought a book on Amazon, bought some new-to-me sports wear for volleyball at my neighbourhood thrift store, new socks, and so on. I bought a Christmas gift for my brother but have forgotten about my charitable donations. Need to get back on track. But overall a good money month.

I've been fighting a virus for almost 2 weeks so have had a few No Spend days this month - that has helped to keep costs down though not in a good way :(   I really like my nursemaid though!!

Happily I am on a ten month property tax schedule so I don't pay in November and December. I also have a GIC interest injection at the end of Nov. which just gets rolled over to increase my savings for the year. I can withdraw if I need more $$ for Christmas but don't think I'll need to.

Misc spending for November looks like this: new runners for hallways on main floor and basement, furnace filters, prescription and a doorbell. The old one only rings occasionally - and I thought nobody liked me! And I'll try to finish off Christmas shopping and update my charitable givings.

Kazi's sister came for a sleepover on Friday. Hannah is a very sweet, mature and well-behaved 12 year old considering what she's been through. Kazi bought snacks/drinks and we watched a funny movie together. Saturday morning we had breakfast together and then she and Kazi made S'mores cupcakes. I could hear them laughing and carrying on.

Hannah gave me a nice big hug when she arrived and when she left. She asked why her dad and I broke up and not knowing how much she knew I told her she should probably talk to her dad about that. Kazi showed her some pictures of their dad when he was a kid and then as a young man. She said she had no photos as her mom had thrown them all away so I gave her one of her dad, me and Kazi in a Christmas photo. I think I'll scan the others I have of her dad and grandparents and get them printed for her. Apparently her mom tosses out lots of things.

Kazi asked her what her favourite movie was and Hannah couldn't state a preference. Kazi says she can never say what her favourite "anything" is, not even a favourite colour. That got me wondering if she has learned not to have preferences so as not to be disappointed. I did find out that when she was 7 or 8 her mom was supposed to pick her up after a visit with her dad and she just disappeared for several months. That was when custody got changed in favour of her dad.

Anyhoo she is absolutely lovely and I hope we see lots of her.

That's my Monday, how is yours going?

The Wacky World of Weather

I didn't think to take any "weather" photos yesterday but then it would have been near impossible what with the constant downpour and heavy winds. 

Anyhoo, it would have looked like this!

And I was a little busy once I found that the living room was drenched because I hadn't closed the patio doors. Did I say drenched..... I think I meant soaked. I was busy wiping up floors and furniture and now have a lovely display of wet towels draped around the house. I may have to run the dryer as nothing hanging up is going to dry today. Silly me. I was sitting high and dry by my bedroom window glad I was safely indoors and thinking "boy, that wind is strong" all the while not realizing that strong westerly winds were blowing in through the patio doors. 

Oh well, it could always be worse. 

Here's what southwestern Ontario looked like all day yesterday. And today. Can I just point out however, that I am brilliant (accidentally) when it comes to "timing" - I pulled into my parking space yesterday just as a few little drops started appearing on my windshield. By the time I got myself and my packages into the house all HELL broke lose!! Dodged that one...sorta....Today it's only 13c!! Once again I am sitting by an open window and the breeze is freakin' COLD!! 

However....not quite THIS cold!! This is Alberta where winter arrived in summer! They've had over 6 inches of snow and it's still coming down and so are the tree branches. It's a mess out there and I'll take thunderstorms any day over snow.  Which is a good thing I guess since more thunderstorms are forecast and are heading eastward to all my maritime family and friends! 

Watch out!  You're welcome!

Dear Diary:

Brrrrrrrrrr! It's been a long time since I've seen the sun shine and my head is starting to feel the effects of that loss - pound, pound, pound. It's a whole +13c with more rain forecast for today but at least it's not snow like in Alberta.

I got a good bunch of my shopping done yesterday before the rain shut everything down. I went out to MEC and found 2 good pairs of hiking pants - one was on sale and was for "short" legged people like me. Then I found 2 long-sleeved tops, both on sale :) I also purchased 3 pairs of sock liners which worn under hiking socks is supposed to absolutely prevent blisters. I seem to have a major fear of blisters probably due to the fact that I seem prone to getting them. And I bought a "platypus" which is a flat plastic container for water which takes the shape of a bottle when filled. Easy to pack. 

Then off to the Bulk Barn where I purchased cashews, almonds, dates, peanuts, hazelnuts and chocolate covered ginger. Plus a box of CLIF granola bars and a whole bunch of carrot/apple/ginger thingies (like the fruit leathers I used to buy for Kazi before the dentist told me they were the worst things for children's teeth EVER!! (I mixed all the nuts, dates and chocolate covered ginger in a huge bowl and then filled 14 sandwich sized plastic bags. This is my trail food and quite possibly my lunch. My plan is to eat the free traditional English breakfast and then use my trail food to get me through til supper. I need more ways to get "ginger" into my day (for pain relief) so I may take some ginger tea bags and hopefully I can make a tea at the B&Bs I stay at. 

After that was Shoppers Drug Mart to pick up an item for Annie and a couple of things for myself - they had little first aid kits on sale for less than $4.00!! so I bought one for my backpack.

Lastly was Walmart where I bought a long sleeved black top for $7.00 (it's all about layering!) a travel purse (strap goes cross body so that the purse part hangs safely in front) to hold my passport, boarding pass etc - don't want to be rifling through my backpack. Also bought a luggage tag, got a new watch battery as I'll be checking my watch a LOT to make sure I'm on time for the train, tube, plane etc. Also bought 2 sizes of plastic bags to hold my trail food and other items that I'll want to keep dry (daily maps) and to put things in that might break in my suitcase - hydrogen peroxide etc. 

Figured out with the help of google last night how to change the resolution on my camera so I can take more pictures but will also buy another SD card just in case. The one I have is 4g but I think I'll also get an 8g. I'm not a shopper, I'm a picture taker and my worst nightmare would be running out of space on my camera for more photos!!

All that's left to do is lay in supplies for Tisky and get the SD card for my camera. Oh, and laundry...and packing...:)

Quinoa - A Miracle Food for Meatless Monday

For the past month I've been following an eating plan (NOT A DIET, yeah right!) based on the Glycemic Index.  I'm including this link in case you'd like to check it out for yourself. In a nutshell, if you eat foods that are low on the glycemic index chart you will feel full longer because they digest more slowly. "Cool beans" as my daughter would say. As a comparison think of slow-cooked oatmeal (LOW G.I.) as opposed to Cornpops (HIGH G.I.), or dark chocolate (LOW G.I.) vs jelly beans (HIGH G.I.).

The proof is in the pudding so they say, or in this case the oatmeal - I've been eating oatmeal every morning at 6:30am and having NO problems making it til my lunch time (11:30am) without snacking. The chart is my bible. I've discovered things about food I never knew before.

For instance, apples are very low on the index, whereas watermelon is very high. Who knew? Not me! So guess who's eating an apple everyday for her after school snack?? YUP - me, that's who! I've been learning about complete proteins (meat, eggs and dairy) as opposed in incomplete proteins (grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes). If you're not eating meat, eggs or dairy every day you're not getting all of the essential  amino acids your body requires! Shame on you!  There are, however, two plant-based foods that are complete proteins: quinoa and soybeans. 

Since I've discovered quinoa I've been eating it almost every day! I add it to my homemade soup and put a couple of tablespoons on my salad. I really LOVE the chewy crunchiness of it and besides, it looks really CUTE!  Just look!

 Awwwww, it IS cute!!

So, it's possible to have a meatless meal (which is good for you AND the environment) and still have a complete protein! That's the good news. The great news is this link for one of my favourite quinoa recipes: Puy Lentil Quinoa. With this recipe not only do you get to enjoy quinoa, you also get another of my fave food - LENTILS!! Let's hear it for LENTILS -YAY!!  I have modified this recipe by adding any old veggies kicking around in the bin that need to be used up...like mushrooms.  So when you're browning up the onions add some diced mushrooms, broccoli or whatever. This recipe is DELICIOUS!! I kid you not.

Here's an extra benefit - quinoa and lentils keep in your pantry for a really long time. And they're CHEAP! Especially the lentils. The quinoa is costly until you look at the price spread over the length of time you have it in your pantry. I paid $17.00 for a bag of the red quinoa from the Bulk Barn back in September (the white is cheaper and there is NO difference in the quality) and I still have lots left! And NOT eating meat a couple of times a week will also save you money. Your body will thank you for it on a regular basis:)

So, quinoa is a complete protein, it tastes great, it keeps you full longer so you don't eat so much snack food, it's fairly frugal AND it's cute! What more could you ask in a food??