Pleasures of summer...

Okay well the smoke seems to have dissipated for a bit. We'll see how long it actually stays gone for. I'm still fighting my cold and am trying to get everything pulled back together from being sick and tired. The kitties are outside playing for a bit while ET(Evil Truck) is gone and I'm hoping to get a few things done before I pass out from my cold meds again. Yesterday was a great weigh in. I didn't "lose" much, but I am back to where I was before girls camp and 4th of July (I'd gone up 1.6lbs or so and am basically right back there) and being sick. I've got a few other things situated in my mind and am feeling the motivating burn inside roaring again.

Last week as I managed our budget I realized that we were spending waaaaay too much in food. We weren't really buying bad foods, stuff that we didn't need, but at the same time we weren't always using what we got or we were storing more than we needed. I also knew a great majority of money that we spent was on produce and of course half the time we go to the grocery we end up buying what's not on the list and things that really aren't needed for the week. One of my weight watcher magazines talked about always carrying a netted bag (kinda like a beach bag that's all made out of mesh netting so the sand can fall out of your stuff) so you'd always have a bag for the local farmers market. Then I realized... I'd never really been to a farmers market. I vaguely remember them doing a farmers market in Etna once that we went to and it was interesting, I don't remember buying anything but that was the only time I can remember going to the farmers market. So I looked up on the glorious net to find out where they are in sac and what their hours are (because they always seem to be when I can't go) and I was pretty sure there were a few that were regular occurrences. I found a full site with all the info I needed and as if meant to be, there is a Farmers Market at Sunrise Mall every saturday and that's really close to my WW meeting place. So I told Dave the plan and I went through the Safeway & Raleys ads on Thursday/Friday to compile my comparison price list for what I'd be interested in and went to my meeting armed and ready to enjoy the market. I made sure I had cash because I was sure (and Dave validated that) that they didn't accept atm or credit card.

I get very nervous and unsure of myself in unfamiliar situations... i think that's normal for humans in general, but I was enjoying the market atmosphere and saw Dave's uncle (dad's brother) there and I remembered that he always comes and sells his waterlilies and plants there. As far as I know that's how he makes a living. He didn't recognize me, but that's okay, we've probably only met about five or six times if that since Dave and I got married and normally I'm with Dave so he only has to recognize his nephew and not me. But that's beside the point. I saw a few deals that were comparable to the grocery prices but nothing that had me ready to figure out how to buy something yet. Then I saw them.... I've got a sweet spot for Artichokes... and they are just so darned expensive at the grocery store. The cheapest we've been getting them is 2 for $5 but normally they are about $5/each. At one of the booths ( I think it was an elk grove grower) I could get huge ones for $1.50/each and then some nice yellow crookneck squash for $1.50/lb. I watched the other folks for a bit and saw that there were two methods to it. You could tell the seller what you wanted and they'd bag it for you, or you could bag it yourself and then hand it to them and they tell you how much and you hand over the $. Simple enough as they have plastic baggies hanging up in their booths. I ended up with those, some gorgeous grapes that were about the same price (maybe a lil cheaper) as the grocery store but they looked so much better and there weren't any squishy ones in the bunch that looked like they'd been sitting around too long or anything. I also got two little baskets of blackberries that looked like they'd just been picked by the river. One batch of small ones (looked big at first) came from Auburn and then the second batch of the largest I've seen in a long time (make the first ones look tiny) from Butte county. Then I got a half flat of Strawberries for $10. So now i'm looking up the strawberry freezer jam and will probably be freezing a bunch. They work great in smoothies.

All total I ended up spending around $30 give or take and that was it for my groceries. If I'd gone to the store with the intent to by just the produce I'd probably have ended up kicking around the store a bit more just to see if there was anything i'd forgotten to put on my list, and then end up with a hefty over $50 basket of food that I really don't need more of.

Yesterday did end up being a pretty expensive day otherwise though. There was a cloths sale (40-70% off) at Kohl's and they had some cloths there that I'd like and I need to restock some tops and stuff in my wardrobe for what doesn't fit much anymore. I mainly had just t-shirts and after awhile they look crappy and need replaced anyway and there were a few different style shirts that I liked. I ended up getting a few shirts, a new pair of slacks and then Dave picked out a necklace and some earrings for me and then we got him a new shirt and a new belt and wallet. Then we bought him a headset for his cell phone considering it's now a ticketable offense for driving w/out a hands-free set. He'd got some money from his dad for his birthday and so he ended up using it for that and then we went out to Logan's Roadhouse for lunch. It was a blast and we enjoyed the atmosphere. It was kinda nice too they were playing country music and were playing Johnny Cash's "Boy named Sue" song when we came in which is one of Dave's and my favorites.

This week I'm going to try to be better at recording my food, as I've gotten lax on that and I'm hoping to be able to get back to exercising now that my cold is getting better although still bad at times. We'll see what next week brings. Dave said if the smoke is still pretty much gone next week then I'd be able to drag him out. We know we can always go to one at Denio's in Roseville but we know there's issues with parking (not sure if you can find anywhere to park and walk in otherwise you have to pay). But we'll see... for now I've got a new mission in mind.... all the shirts I bought and the slacks are wearable but not 100% comfortable. I need to lose more weight for them to fit perfect... and I want to do that :) and now I have a good way to judge my progress because once something is too big it just stays too big and you can't really see if it's gotten any bigger... but if you've got something that's a bit too small... well you will tell when it starts to get comfier. Anyway... I ramble more than I expected. :)


Below is the most recent picture I have of me at Girls Camp with Brother Palmer from my ward. We were in charge of Archery this year. He is quite the character. The arrow through his neck was his idea :)