It looks like spring has officially sprung up here in the great white north. And by that I mean there are no patches of white anywhere *I* can see. We even have a few patches of "brown trying really hard to turn green" grass. OH, I'm not holding my breath about not getting another snow because, this is MN and a Final Four snow is almost guaranteed. BUT, I am attempting to enjoy the weather that is in the 35-70 range, instead of the same 35 degree swing in temperature that is -20 to 15 degrees. Same change in temp, but I like this one immeasurably more.
For those interested in our Whole30 experiment and the end results...well, I'm gong to say it was mixed. Now remember, the point of Whole30 is NOT to lose weight (yeah...right) but to recognize what you put in your body and determine if your body has issues with what might be common "allergens": wheat, legumes, dairy, sugar, alcohol, etc. Then you get to decide if you can live with how your body reacts to those "allergens". Well, I've decided...yes. I can live with it. Especially alcohol. Because...OMG...BEER. And WINE. And I went 26 days without either and if you can do math you can see immediately that NO I did not make it the full 30 days. I'd like to say that "circumstances" conspired against me. The truth is...I AM WEAK. And it was Superbowl. And after making 2 appetizers that completely fit within the rules, I caved at the mention of a gin and tonic with cucumber and lime. And yet oddly...I felt no regret. Not even a smidgen. (I think I may have officially deactivated my "Catholic guilt gene"). The mixed results: personally, I lost about 12-14 lbs (which yes, I DID track daily) and NO I didn't allow my husband to pay me the $10/lb he paid the kids. I DID start looking at sugar that is in things that I really don't think it needs to be in and have adjusted purchasing some items, even paying a higher price. I've switched over to higher fat grass fed milk (mostly because we just don't drink that much milk and I think it's worth it). I'm buying Ezekiel bread (sprouted) for everyday (and really it's not everyday) use. I'm keeping more fresh fruit and vegetables on hand. I'm trying to stay away from foods LOADED with preservatives. I'm attempting to remove canola (highly processed) oil from my cupboard and moving towards less processed oils. And I think we will probably do this again but not for the 30 (or 26) days but for maybe in 7-9 day increments instead of the full 30, but more frequently (like monthly?). Because I'll be honest with you...it was (ok, I'm not allowed to use the word "hard") "challenging" (and by "challenging" I don't mean trying to find space in a closet that just isn't big enough...because there are challenges and there are CHALLENGES) and a "challenge" that I simply wan't willing to meet EVERY DAY for 30 (or 26) days. I actually got TIRED of eggs and bacon (ok...for those who know me, it was really just the eggs...because...BACON), and the banana nut porridge failed to satisfy. By the end of day 30 (26), I really...no REALLY just wanted pizza. Like...BAD. I just haven't figured out when we're going to do it again. But I can guarantee you my last meal before starting WILL be pizza.
But back to spring. We have lots to do this spring. We (and by "we" I mean my husband) are attempting to reorganize our basement and storage area. We have two work benches, one of which is taking up prime real estate space in our basement and is used to store spare plumbing and electrical thingeys (yes, that IS the technical term) that were used when we finished our basement 12 (TWELVE) years ago. We also have boxes of college books (guilty) which have quite a bit of mileage, having been transported from Indiana, back to New York, out to California, back to Maryland and finally to Minnesota. And I can say with 105% certainty that not one of them has been cracked open since the last day that they were used (and NO, I'm not going to say when that was...figure it out yourself). We have old electrical Christmas decorations that I hesitate using because when I plug them in, they work...but they also get really hot really fast and I suspect are actually a fire hazard. But they're REALLY neat (like bubblers) and one might think..."surely they can be made safe" without having the electrical background to know where even to start. Anyway, it's been a slow process but progress is being made. And the nice part about this is even with so much of the stuff being junk, we actually have a free disposal source available to us.
See...Bloomington has spring clean up. And depending on how warped you are, you can turn the city event into nightly (usually 2-3 days before the scheduled event) entertainment. Here is how we do it. We bring items we wish to dispose of over to the in-laws and place them at the end of the driveway . Then we sit in the lawn chairs just inside the open garage door and take bets on which items will be picked up by "pickers" (people who drive around looking for stuff but not part of the Bloomington pick-up other than they pick up stuff before the Bloomington pick up picks it up) first and fastest. Bikes? OH, they go FAST. Actually, there is rarely anything left from the piles for Bloomington to pick up. Again, making the adage "one man's trash is another man's treasure" true. I'm sure other cities do something similar, but the real question is...do people figure out ways to turn the event into nightly entertainment. The end result, we get our basement cleaned out (or at a minimum, thinned out from excessive hoarding) and someone else becomes the owner/storer of an antique set of Christmas lights.
Lots of "wants/needs" will be happening with all the new space created. Next on the agenda...prioritize.
And by prioritize of course I mean, I get my way.
12 hours ago
