So much to do, so little time...
I'm supposed to be homeworking, but it feels like that's what I'm doing all the time right now.
It's the last week before finals, so all the big "end of semester projects" stuffage is coming due, plus actually studying for finals needs to happen, and there's so much else!
My husband's grandmother passed away earlier this week, so we've been waiting to hear about service info and work out details related to school and work and finances, find airfare, etc.
Things are beginning to come together, which is a relief.
It's going to be busy, though. Last classes this week; a weekend of studying for finals; finals M-W of next week, out of state for the funeral/time with family from Th-Sunday, and then summer class begins on Monday for me. I suppose I should think about getting books for that class as well!
Keeping up with cooking (and laundry, and anything else domestic!!) has been rough lately- I feel like we're in coping mode! Thank God for such a sweet helpful husband who's been pitching in fabulously to keep up with things!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Accomplishment!
This day has been SUCCESSFUL! :D I'm so pleased!
On Friday, a friend and I ran to the store, armed with my sorted-by-department grocery list. I'd made a list of things I wanted to buy ingredients for, I'd found some coupons I wanted to try to use, and I had checked the ad so I knew what things would be on sale. A way full cart (and way more money than a usual grocery trip later!) we were on our way back.
Today, I had decided, I would plan to do a bunch of cooking, getting things either prepped for future meals, or actual entire meals prepared and frozen to be pulled out and cooked later.
I bought some convenience things (taquitos, anyone? ;) but mostly core ingredients to blend with what I had on hand.
One of the Major purchases I made was 20lbs of ground beef (I know- seriously!?), which I KNEW I would have to deal with today!
So, this afternoon, I have...
- browned (via this method) 15 lbs of ground beef
- put 10 lbs of browned beef into 1 qt bags & into the freezer
- put 3 lbs of raw ground beef into 1 qt bags (1 lb in each) & into the freezer
- made a double batch of meatloaf & put them into freezer bags & into the freezer
- browned 3 lbs of sausage for breakfast burritos
- made an Enchilada Casserole (sort of like this)
- made 2 lasagnas (both uncooked, put directly into the freezer)
- filled 2 boxes worth of manicotti (simply stuffed the pasta & then put them into the freezer; when I want to cook them, I'll add spaghetti sauce and the shells to a baking dish and bake as usual)
- filled 2 boxes worth of jumbo pasta shells (same deal as the manicotti)
I bought some frozen meatballs so we can make meatball subs sometime this week (because I didn't want to make meatballs in addition to everything else) and I have frozen chicken breasts that I'm going to cook up at some point this week, probably.. some I'm going to chop and freeze once they're cooked, just as a sweeto convenience thing, and some are going to become part of some chicken/rice and mexi/chicken/rice dishes I found.
Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to make these breakfast burritos, using the sausage I cooked up today. This should give us another way simple + cheap + good breakfast option.
I don't want to try to break that all into total meals, but it is a LOT, and the ground beef that's cooked up now will help make other meals faster to prep too! Hooray for helping to trim back our eating-out spending by having good easy meals ready at home! :D
On Friday, a friend and I ran to the store, armed with my sorted-by-department grocery list. I'd made a list of things I wanted to buy ingredients for, I'd found some coupons I wanted to try to use, and I had checked the ad so I knew what things would be on sale. A way full cart (and way more money than a usual grocery trip later!) we were on our way back.
Today, I had decided, I would plan to do a bunch of cooking, getting things either prepped for future meals, or actual entire meals prepared and frozen to be pulled out and cooked later.
I bought some convenience things (taquitos, anyone? ;) but mostly core ingredients to blend with what I had on hand.
One of the Major purchases I made was 20lbs of ground beef (I know- seriously!?), which I KNEW I would have to deal with today!
So, this afternoon, I have...
- browned (via this method) 15 lbs of ground beef
- put 10 lbs of browned beef into 1 qt bags & into the freezer
- put 3 lbs of raw ground beef into 1 qt bags (1 lb in each) & into the freezer
- made a double batch of meatloaf & put them into freezer bags & into the freezer
- browned 3 lbs of sausage for breakfast burritos
- made an Enchilada Casserole (sort of like this)
- made 2 lasagnas (both uncooked, put directly into the freezer)
- filled 2 boxes worth of manicotti (simply stuffed the pasta & then put them into the freezer; when I want to cook them, I'll add spaghetti sauce and the shells to a baking dish and bake as usual)
- filled 2 boxes worth of jumbo pasta shells (same deal as the manicotti)
I bought some frozen meatballs so we can make meatball subs sometime this week (because I didn't want to make meatballs in addition to everything else) and I have frozen chicken breasts that I'm going to cook up at some point this week, probably.. some I'm going to chop and freeze once they're cooked, just as a sweeto convenience thing, and some are going to become part of some chicken/rice and mexi/chicken/rice dishes I found.
Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to make these breakfast burritos, using the sausage I cooked up today. This should give us another way simple + cheap + good breakfast option.
I don't want to try to break that all into total meals, but it is a LOT, and the ground beef that's cooked up now will help make other meals faster to prep too! Hooray for helping to trim back our eating-out spending by having good easy meals ready at home! :D
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Easing into the final stetch
I spent the past few days snatching practice time, playing through accompaniment, spending a little more time on "rough patches," and then heading off to a high school to practice with vocal soloists. Friday night, I checked to be sure my ballots matched with the list of students I'd be playing for, and finally yesterday, I headed off to another high school and spent the day with a bunch of musically talented kids, music directors, judges, and contest volunteers (who made sure everything ran smoothly at warm-up and performance centers).
For 8 hours, I followed my schedule, meeting students at warm-up rooms, encouraging them to sing well, helping them overcome nerves and go in confidently, handing off judges' copy and ballots to the center volunteer, accompanying students, following not-according-to-the-music deviations, congratulating or encouraging once we got to the hallway, picking up music from the center once the judge was finished, checking my schedule and making sure I had ballot and judges' copy and my music and was at the right center for the next student.
I visited the teacher's lounge when I had more time between solos, chatting with directors, reading my book, always keeping an eye on the time.
It was a splendid day. It was the sort of day that makes me wish I was more involved musically all the time. ♥
Today, I'm focused on finishing up getting everything ready for the lesson I'll be teaching during a class tomorrow. The outline is done. The details aren't quite ready yet. Since my internet at home is uber filtered, I'll have to go somewhere with Real Internet to find the pictures I need (since I can't do image searches >.< I know, right?) and then somewhere to get some things printed. Otherwise, I suppose I could make it to the library super early before my 7AM class tomorrow! Perish the thought...
I have a few tests this week and am going to get a couple other projects wrapped up, but it really is feeling like the Stress and Busy are dwindling. I cannot tell you how glad that makes my heart.
In other news, I have a couple links to share:
This first is from a funny blog I just discovered called "Stuff Christians Like" (derived from the tongue in cheek "Stuff White People Like" blog). This post deals with how we perceive how God sees us. Today was the sort of day when I really needed to read it. I get so caught up in feeling like I need to perform- Like I always must do the right thing and be the best and never mess up, and then (and only then) will God be pleased with me. That just isn't true- about me, or you either.
This post from a friend of mine is similar in thought: Husbands reflecting Christ. I like it when I read things that remind me of myself :)
And finally, we have the 2010 Marriage Challenge. I only just began reading through it, but the posts so far are really good. Plus, I think the posts come across as more couple friendly than naggy-wife-who-wants-the-husband-to-Work-On-The-Relationship.
And now I'm off to discover where in the world I'll be able to make some color copies on a Sunday afternoon and not spend a ton of money on yet another school assignment!
For 8 hours, I followed my schedule, meeting students at warm-up rooms, encouraging them to sing well, helping them overcome nerves and go in confidently, handing off judges' copy and ballots to the center volunteer, accompanying students, following not-according-to-the-music deviations, congratulating or encouraging once we got to the hallway, picking up music from the center once the judge was finished, checking my schedule and making sure I had ballot and judges' copy and my music and was at the right center for the next student.
I visited the teacher's lounge when I had more time between solos, chatting with directors, reading my book, always keeping an eye on the time.
It was a splendid day. It was the sort of day that makes me wish I was more involved musically all the time. ♥
Today, I'm focused on finishing up getting everything ready for the lesson I'll be teaching during a class tomorrow. The outline is done. The details aren't quite ready yet. Since my internet at home is uber filtered, I'll have to go somewhere with Real Internet to find the pictures I need (since I can't do image searches >.< I know, right?) and then somewhere to get some things printed. Otherwise, I suppose I could make it to the library super early before my 7AM class tomorrow! Perish the thought...
I have a few tests this week and am going to get a couple other projects wrapped up, but it really is feeling like the Stress and Busy are dwindling. I cannot tell you how glad that makes my heart.
In other news, I have a couple links to share:
This first is from a funny blog I just discovered called "Stuff Christians Like" (derived from the tongue in cheek "Stuff White People Like" blog). This post deals with how we perceive how God sees us. Today was the sort of day when I really needed to read it. I get so caught up in feeling like I need to perform- Like I always must do the right thing and be the best and never mess up, and then (and only then) will God be pleased with me. That just isn't true- about me, or you either.
This post from a friend of mine is similar in thought: Husbands reflecting Christ. I like it when I read things that remind me of myself :)
And finally, we have the 2010 Marriage Challenge. I only just began reading through it, but the posts so far are really good. Plus, I think the posts come across as more couple friendly than naggy-wife-who-wants-the-husband-to-Work-On-The-Relationship.
And now I'm off to discover where in the world I'll be able to make some color copies on a Sunday afternoon and not spend a ton of money on yet another school assignment!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
It can't be over until it's begun
When I awoke this morning, after a night of little sleep and much tossing and turning, my first thought was "oh please let this day be over soon," quickly followed by the hope that whatever was going on was avoidable or reschedule-able. Thankfully, the latter was true. (The rescheduling, I mean.)
As the weeks march by, the end of the semester is drawing nearer. This is great, except it seems to be bringing along with it an unfortunate collection of Major Projects, which are stacking up, crowding each other, and all clamoring for my attention RIGHT NOW. Plus, I agreed to accompany high school kids for a vocal solo contest, which means somehow brushing up my pianisting skills and practicing accompaniment. You know, in spare minutes.
Tired and Stressed are top two descriptive words lately. So, instead of telling you any more about the horrors I'm trying to prioritize and systematically work my way through, I will share linkage instead.
Looking at our spending, we realized how much of it goes toward eating out, which happens because we are 1) busy, 2) lazy, or 3) unprepared. A lot of it is #3, but I justify it with the busyness of life. Which is lame. I have cooking and planning skills - why not unite them and manage to save a little money?!
I found this amazing site this morning called Eat At Home. The absolute bestest thing is that she puts together weekly menus, shopping lists, and recipes all together in a single .pdf file. I printed a few :) I figure I can look through them, strike the things that don't fit our preferences or whatever, and use the rest. I could write her a fan letter of grateful bliss.
P.S. Here is the link directly to the Good Part: Weekly Menus
A few other cookery-related discoveries:
- Gramma's Cookin: A collection of tried-and-true everyday sort of meals.
- Ballancing Beauty & Bedlam: There's a whole assortment of sorts of things posted here. My favorite? Tasty Tuesday, which involves recipeness and pictures and links to a bunch of different blogs, but in a manageable sort of way.
- The Pioneer Woman is a site I've visited many times. I didn't realize until today that there is a Tasty Kitchen blog AND her Cookbook (copiously illustrated) is in print finally!
- Crockpot 365 is an old standby. I ordered her cookbook a few months ago and love the ease of cooking and the convenience of so many of her recipes. Tweak freely to make her recipes fit your taste or ingredients on hand. Love her "kid-friendliness" rating at the end of each post too.
For today, that's all I've got. I really need to get back to working on this project..
One more thing - here's a post God used to encourage my heart this morning: Supermom. Thanks, Erin <3
Ok, really - the end!!
As the weeks march by, the end of the semester is drawing nearer. This is great, except it seems to be bringing along with it an unfortunate collection of Major Projects, which are stacking up, crowding each other, and all clamoring for my attention RIGHT NOW. Plus, I agreed to accompany high school kids for a vocal solo contest, which means somehow brushing up my pianisting skills and practicing accompaniment. You know, in spare minutes.
Tired and Stressed are top two descriptive words lately. So, instead of telling you any more about the horrors I'm trying to prioritize and systematically work my way through, I will share linkage instead.
Looking at our spending, we realized how much of it goes toward eating out, which happens because we are 1) busy, 2) lazy, or 3) unprepared. A lot of it is #3, but I justify it with the busyness of life. Which is lame. I have cooking and planning skills - why not unite them and manage to save a little money?!
I found this amazing site this morning called Eat At Home. The absolute bestest thing is that she puts together weekly menus, shopping lists, and recipes all together in a single .pdf file. I printed a few :) I figure I can look through them, strike the things that don't fit our preferences or whatever, and use the rest. I could write her a fan letter of grateful bliss.
P.S. Here is the link directly to the Good Part: Weekly Menus
A few other cookery-related discoveries:
- Gramma's Cookin: A collection of tried-and-true everyday sort of meals.
- Ballancing Beauty & Bedlam: There's a whole assortment of sorts of things posted here. My favorite? Tasty Tuesday, which involves recipeness and pictures and links to a bunch of different blogs, but in a manageable sort of way.
- The Pioneer Woman is a site I've visited many times. I didn't realize until today that there is a Tasty Kitchen blog AND her Cookbook (copiously illustrated) is in print finally!
- Crockpot 365 is an old standby. I ordered her cookbook a few months ago and love the ease of cooking and the convenience of so many of her recipes. Tweak freely to make her recipes fit your taste or ingredients on hand. Love her "kid-friendliness" rating at the end of each post too.
For today, that's all I've got. I really need to get back to working on this project..
One more thing - here's a post God used to encourage my heart this morning: Supermom. Thanks, Erin <3
Ok, really - the end!!
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