My Tireless Retirement – Week 171

 

Hello friends!  This past week began with our Independence Day holiday, a lot of good food and a very late night as our neighbors were popping off until well after midnight.  I stayed inside and kept my nervous kitties company until it was over.  Jack took refuge in the downstairs hall closet while Stella stayed upstairs under my bed.  Toward the end they came out realizing nothing bad was going to happen to them and hung out with me for another hour until all was quiet and we could go to bed.  It is safe to say I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday.  I love what it stands for, but I can do without the adverse affects it has on animals and some people, especially our veterans.

 

NY strip steaks & macaroni salad for the 4th!

The deck refurbishing project was put on hold as our weather was all over the map.  We had a two day heat wave followed by a windstorm and a duststorm and then a thunderstorm with rain.  I was happy about the rain, but it means I am going to have to do some re-sanding.  Before I could do that however we got another heat wave so I decided that Mother Nature was trying to tell me something so I acquiesced and enjoyed some downtime.  After such a busy month of June I figure I had earned it.

Clean & sanitized

Sunday was my day to wash up all of my bedding and remake the bed.  I vacuumed my mattress, gave it a Lysol spray and then turned it.  After washing the mattress cover in bleach and hot water and running it through a hot dryer until it was thoroughly dried I put it back on the bed.  Then I remade the bed with all of the freshly washed and dried bedding.  Every time I clean the mattress I’m always amazed and rather disgusted at what the vacuum cleaner pulls up even though I always have it completely covered and I regularly wash and bleach that cover.  So gross!

 

I invested in some replacement lids for my Pyrex food storage containers.  I was able to get four lids from Amazon for $12.99 which may sound expensive unless you price the containers themselves at the store.  The lids have gone up a lot in price recently, but so have the containers.  I do feel it is better and less wasteful to buy these lids rather than buy new containers, especially as I use them practically every day for meal prepping and storing leftovers.

 

Before I went into work on Monday I had the pleasure of replacing the worn out gasket on the kitchen sink drain basket.  Finding water in the bottom of my trash can a couple of times had clued me in that this task had come due.  While plumbing rates as one of the lowest on my list of fun things to do I am blessed with the ability and knowledge of knowing how to do a few things.  Long ago my dad taught me the basics – “All you need to know is $h!t runs downhill and payday is on Friday”.  I took it from there.

 

Done!

Cleaning up and reorganizing the garage last month let me also know that I already had everything I needed to complete this job in the garage.  A new gasket and some plumbers putty as well as a few tools from the toolbox and in less than a half hour I had it done, my tools put away, the sink scrubbed clean, my hands scrubbed clean and the rest of my mess cleaned up.  I was very happy to have that job completed and no more drips or water in the trash can.

 

Monday and Tuesday were my only work days last week with Tuesday being the most exciting when I took a large group of nineteen seniors whitewater rafting.  Yes, you heard that right we went down the Payette River on a big rubber raft and we had a blast.  Afterward we stopped off in a little town on our way back to the Senior Center and had dinner and it was really good.  I have the best job ever!  And they pay me to do this!

 

The storage area in the back of the closet is practically empty 😊

Even though I took in a HUGE load of donations to the thrift store a couple weeks ago I am still finding stuff!  I went through the downstairs hall closet and removed two jackets I never wear anymore and the last of my beer brewing supplies.  I went through the junk drawer and found a few items to donate and toss, went through the OTC medicine bin and found a couple more things in there to get rid of and I even let go of a few more sentimental items I realized aren’t really all that sentimental to me anymore and haven’t been for quite a while.

 

My junk drawer

In the pantry I got rid of some excess packaging and added that along with this week’s junk mail to the recycle bin.  The blue wheelie bin is full of recycling and ready to go to the curb for pickup again.  I also shredded some more papers with sensitive information on them.  Paper clutter is never ending, I tell you.

 

This guy has been getting a workout in the last month

More recycling heading out of here

I decluttered 80% of the cat toys from their basket in the living room and kept only the ones I know they play with.  I took about a half dozen toy mice and placed them inside the catnip bag I keep on the top shelf of the pantry where the kitties can’t get to it.  I’ve been giving them one each day to play with and they are enjoying that very much.  It’s been fun to watch, ha, ha, ha.

 

While dodging the heat I was able to use up some more craft and office supplies I had on hand to update my dayplanner so it now includes calendar and planning pages for 2026.  I’ve also been working on a lot of future planning as well as some 2026 vacation plans that may come to fruition.  Even though we are only halfway through this year I’m also thinking about and mapping out next year’s household budgets so I can have a good solid plan well ahead of the upcoming new year.  I feel like the better prepared I am the more successful I will be.

 

Another bag full of donations & I'm hoping to fill up this box too

And that was that!  How was your week?

 

I'm Melting…Melting!

 

That’s right and it’s not because of the summer heat right now, but rather that my body is back to proper function.  I shared with you last fall that I now have a different cardiologist and she made a change to my medication.  Primarily she took me off the medication that I was having a lot of side effects with and ultimately I ended up allergic to.  One of the side effects that I worried about the most was the steady climb in my weight.  When I had mentioned it to my old cardiologist he told me I just needed to accept it.

 

In total, over the three years I was taking that particular medication, I gained twenty six pounds.  In my mind I just couldn’t see how carrying that much extra weight was good for me, especially for my heart which is what the medication was initially prescribed for.  I also didn’t like the changes I was seeing in annual my blood tests.  It just didn’t make much sense.

 

Another complication was that my old cardiologist insisted that I not eat low carb or Keto anymore, although the Mayo Clinic said it was fine.  I did try the Mediterranean diet, as suggested, but with all the carbs I just felt like a slug and I really didn’t enjoy the food.  Once I stopped taking the medication that was giving me so much trouble I also went back to a REAL food low carbohydrate lifestyle and some amazing things began to happen.

 

The first thing I noticed right away was that I no longer felt exhausted all of the time and I stopped falling asleep in my chair at 7:00 at night.  Almost immediately I rebounded with so much more energy and endurance.  I was able to get back to doing things I haven’t been able to do all that well in the past few years.  Even more impressive is that the hives and itching stopped within a week’s time and that was a huge relief.

 

I was told that the weight would come back off, but it might take a while until I got all of that medication out of my system and that turned out to be true.  For the first few months my weight stayed the same, but at least I wasn’t gaining anymore.  I tried not to get too discouraged by telling myself it took over three years to get to this point so don’t expect it to happen overnight.  Then the weight started to steadily fall off and needless to say I am relieved.

 

Carrying that extra weight was hard on me, both emotionally and physically, because I didn’t feel good about it and I didn’t like how I looked or having to buy bigger clothes.  I also was having a lot of joint pain.  It took me about six months after I quit taking that medication before I really started to see a change, but now I’m thrilled to be feeling and looking so much better these days.  By the time I go in for my next annual visit in September I should be right back on track.  I have lost a total of twenty pounds with only five more to go.  Once I’ve lost those last pounds I’ll be back to the weight I was when all of this craziness started.  I’m almost there.

 

Finishing Up The Garage Declutter

 

Everything I have or will be bringing into my house needs to have a home because without that it just becomes stuff.  That includes the garage too.  Without a place to store our items we end up with clutter and chaos making it more difficult to do what we like to do.  We struggle to find what we need when we take on a project.  We can’t keep an inventory of what we actually have on hand so we end up buying more we didn't need.  Working in this way and living in chaos adds stress and anxiety to our daily lives.  My goal is to always work to improve my quality of life.  Regularly cleaning, maintaining and organizing my home is one of those ways I can improve my quality of life.  I want to enjoy going out to the garage, not dread it.

 

When my BFF was here during my staycation we were able to make a good dent in decluttering my garage. I got rid of a bunch of stuff I definitely did not need like a ton of cardboard boxes I had been saving just in case I needed “a good box”.  There may have been an eyeroll from someone.  I filled up my recycling wheelie bin and set it at the curb for collection.  After it was emptied I ended up filling it up a second time.  I gathered up all of the donations I had collected and got that pile dropped off at the thrift store.  I also dropped off the glass recycling.

 

Getting better

I later went out there to clean and reorganize the shelves I had decluttered.  I like to have like items with like, that is what makes the most sense to me when I am organizing.  When I was finished I was thrilled to see some open spaces.  Things were no longer jam packed.  When I have too much stuff and not enough room to store it I tend to get frustrated because I knock things off the shelves when I’m moving stuff around to get to what I need.  I had eliminated the potential for this to be a problem anymore.  Yippee!

 

Love this!  So much nicer! 😀

I ended up moving that green extension cord

A week later I made it back out there to work on the other side where I have a set of shelves that hold all of my supplies for my vehicles, the yard and garden, the house as well as all of my power tools.  After decluttering and clearing the shelves I wiped them down and then put everything back on placing like items together.  All of my supplies for taking care of my vehicles are on one shelf.  The yard and garden supplies and bug sprays now sit together on another.

 

I decided to eliminate the big bin I kept my power tools in because it had become too heavy and was getting difficult to get on and off the shelf.  Instead I emptied it out finding five worn out blades for my reciprocal saw at the bottom.  I have no idea why I saved those.  After tossing those out I placed the tools on the shelf next to my miter saw so I now have them all on one shelf and easy to access.

 

The vacuum cleaner now has a place to live on the bottom shelf.  The power washer sits next to it and on the wall right next to the shelf I installed a bracket to hold the wand and hose for the power washer.  Bungi cords become a tangled mess so I hung them up on the side of the shelf so that won’t happen anymore.  My step stool has a home when it is folded and not in use.  It now sits in between the shelf unit and the deep freezer.

 

Everything has a home

The front corner where I hang my yard tools was nice, but it could be nicer.  With a little rearranging and a few more brackets I was able to better organize them so it is much easier to access them without knocking others around or off onto the floor.  No one needs to get hit in the head with a shovel.  Well, maybe someone does, but it isn't me.  Anyway, everything has a home there too.  

 

After a break to hydrate and have a bite to eat I went back out to the garage to attack the top shelf where, yes I hate to admit it, I had more empty cardboard boxes.  For the third time I filled the recycle wheelie bin with broken down boxes.  The shelf is now empty except for one box filled with the empty flats I keep my empty canning jars in.  I’m good with that.

 

Before

Wow!

And with that my garage is officially done.  Moving forward I am going to really work hard to keep things neat, clean and tidy and not allow it to become a dumping ground out there or a place to hoard things I don’t need.  In fact, I’m hoping as time goes on to declutter more items and embrace the open spaces I create in the process.

 

REAL Food Recipe - Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

 

Recently I had purchased a bottle of cilantro lime salad dressing at Trader Joes.  It was pretty tasty, I will admit.  The ingredients were too bad, however not as clean as I would’ve like so I decided to make my own version of this dressing and see if I could replicate it.  As it turned out I think I actually like my version better. 

Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing 

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup avocado or olive oil

1 handful cilantro, leaves & stems

½ cup sour cream

1 Tbs. honey

Garlic powder, to taste 

Put all ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth.  Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking.  Store in an airtight container with lid in the refrigerator.

 

I only used a dash of the garlic powder and the rest of the ingredients as listed.  It was delicious over a bed of greens with grape tomatoes, avocado slices, sunflower seeds and some sliced rotisserie chicken breast over the top.  A perfect summer dinner salad!

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 170

 

Hello, hello!  June has finished itself up and it is now July.  Our year is already half over and looking back at my journal and dayplanner I am quite pleased with all that I’ve been able to do and accomplish this year.  I’ve done some really big things this year so far and not to boast, but I’m rather proud of myself.  Needless to say, I am feeling super charged to take on the latter half of 2025!

 

I got a few things done 😁

Unbeknownst to all of you I challenged myself to take on at least one practical project a day in the month of June, one useful project to improve my quality of life.  While it certainly did that I was surprised by how much these projects also impacted my mental health in a very positive way.  I walked away from the month of June feeling absolutely AMAZING!  I decided to continue my useful projects in the month of July as well however, I’m going to take on fewer projects, perhaps not every day and go at a much more leisurely pace.  I’m not all that good at the leisurely pace part, but I thought I’d give it a try.  We shall see how well that works out for me.

 

Nailed it!

When I did my home reset I had printed off a fresh copy of my housekeeping checklist and re-cleaned.  After six weeks I had accomplished what I normally now spread out over a six month period of time.  Plus, I did all of the additional projects and a TON of decluttering.  I made four trips to two different thrift stores to drop off donations during the month of June.  June was definitely my best and most productive month so far this year.

 

I cannot tell you enough just how much I enjoy opening my cupboards and cabinets in the kitchen and seeing those lovely and cheerful shelf liners.  It is so nice to see some open spaces in my cupboards and drawers, less jam packed.  What a joy it is to cook, bake and put away my dishes.  Who knew such a simple little thing like making those shelf liners and doing some more decluttering could make such a difference?

 

Refreshed & clean

As the month was coming to a close one of the things I wanted to accomplish this year was to give my entry way a freshen up.  Since the last time it was painted there were some dings and gouges from clarinet and violin cases heading out the door not to mention my own special touches when I moved furniture out during my first big declutter a couple years ago.  A touch of kitty activity as well.  I spackled the imperfections and then gave it a good coat of paint.  It was a bit sad to cover up some of that history, but now those memories are safely entombed for all eternity.

 

Before with a little bit of spackle work

After!  Nice!

Also on the never ending “to-do” list to complete was to repaint the wainscot in the upstairs bathroom.  I had already repaired a bit of wall damage some time ago and all it needed was a fresh coat.  I had planned to paint it before my house guests arrived, but ran out of time.  It is done and now as I sit on the potty I am no longer reminded I have an unfinished project patiently waiting for my attention.

 

I made this table matte

and a candle matte using some of the leftover pieces

I made it back into the sewing room to finish up the hanging dish towels I had stitched together.  I made myself a table matte as a nice treat to myself for all the hard work I had completed.  Everything I used to make it came from my sewing stash so I did not need to purchase anything new.  I like to make these mattes in various holiday themes to decorate my dining room table.  This new one is very patriotic and will remain on my table until I decorate for Fall.

 

"You should do something about this deck!"

The deck in the backyard has also been patiently waiting for me to give it a refresh.  I started off by power washing the entire deck and letting it dry for twenty four hours.  Over the course of a few days I sanded the entire deck and the steps.  I worked on it early in the morning while it was still cool and in the shade.  I used up some sandpaper I had that had been hanging around in the garage for ages.  I was hopeful it would be enough to get the job done, but ran out and had to go buy more.  Shoot!

 

"About time you got started on this!"

Power washed and ready for sanding.

On the way home from work on Monday I stopped in at Home Depot and picked up another package of sandpaper.  A heatwave hit us so I had to put this project on hold because it was way too hot to safely work outside, but I will get it done now that the temperatures have gone back down and then you will see pictures of the newly refreshed deck.  In the meantime have a great week!

 

4th Of July!

 

July Pantry Challenge! And Possibly August!

 

It’s that time again!  In the past few months I’ve stumbled upon a lot of great deals at the supermarkets and Costco allowing me to fill up both of my freezers, my pantry and my LTFS.  Now it is time to eat some of that wonderful stuff I have on hand.  I can’t think of a better way to really focus on what I have rather than buying more stuff and I want to make sure I stay on my set grocery budget this year so a pantry challenge it is!

 

I’ll be pulling food from my kitchen and garage freezers while I concentrate on using up anything that might have been sitting in there for awhile or otherwise could go to waste.  I’ll keep tabs too on anything that might be aging in the pantry or on the LTFS shelves.  After all, there is no point in stocking up on a good bargain if you allow it to go to waste.

 

My plan as far as shopping goes is to only buy fresh produce and dairy items and replace only the pantry items I run low or out of.  Even if I see a really good bargain on meat I’m going to have to pass on it because my deep freezer is full to capacity so I have no room to add anything else.  I also want to clear out the kitchen freezer so I can have the space back on the bottom section for meal prepping.  Right now it has been catching the overflow from the deep freezer, which is not its intended purpose.

 

Another area for me to work on is the frozen produce bin in the deep freezer as some of that is from last summer.  I’m not going to need to do as much canning this year as I did last year because the LTFS shelves are still well stocked and I’ve been using quite a bit of those jars this year so far.  It has been super handy having my own home canned soups and meats on the shelf to make a quick meal for myself, especially if I’m having a fun filled day working on projects or crafting.

 

So this is my plan for my July pantry challenge and to be perfectly honest I’m thinking it will likely extend on into August as well.  I’ve been very blessed to have been able to stock up quite a bit in the first five months of 2025, especially given the small grocery budget I work off of each month.  Watch for my post at the end of the month to see how I do.