Journals

I was looking for my planning sketchbook so that I could make some notes about fashion projects as my vaca winds down and I pulled out my 2006 "pay it forward" journal instead. I had forgotten about it.
There are so many things I want to say about it in an attempt to encourage anyone struggling in her life to provide a way to focus on others for a whole year. There was no pinterest.com in 2006, and I didn't find an inspiration for this project anywhere on the net. The idea for it comes from a collection of ideas I'd encountered, and I took my love of journaling / scrapbooking to create this unique journal.

The only guideline I gave myself was that it had to be positive and focused on others. There are entries that sometimes became a bit negative or focused on me, but for the most part, I tried to channel positive energy into others. I chose 12 people in my life that I felt had provided me support and encouragement, people who I felt I had somehow over used, people I felt I had dismissed or people who I felt a great sense of anger toward. As I just now made my list and tried to see where each person fell, I was amused to see that I had an even list of people meaning that of the 4 categories I outlined, 3 people fell into each category. I had not created the categories beforehand. As I was creating this post, I labeled them. Each person on my list was randomly assigned a month. For those whose birthday I knew, I did not assign that person to their birth month.

 Recap - I grabbed an empty journal, one of those you can get from a dollar store. I eyeballed it and divided it into 12 sections, leaving about 4 pages for the introduction.

 Let's get started - On the first page for each month, I added a divider with the month on it. For my first journal, I used reinforcements because I had them. Use what you have. On the first page for each month, add a box: friend, address, phone number, social media, etc. I made each of these boxes about 7 full lines so that I could also write down special notes for that person (favorite food, favorite beverage, etc., fondest memory). On that front page I also wrote any info about birthdays, upcoming celebrations, etc. I used this journal for my own emotional recovery, so planning ways to pray for others was essential.

 As I read back through January's entries, it took me a bit of time to actually stop dwelling in self-pity. For the proactive / pay it forward idea of this journal - reach out to the person of the month. Plan at least 2 contacts for the month. I didn't tell the people what I was doing; I just reached out. For February, I sent each of my 12 a Valentine's Day card picked for him / her.

 As I read through February's entries, my tears began to fall - I was so in love in Feb. 2006, so hopeful, and so prepared for a sweet life. And each entry transitioned to the next, I could see how old patterns of denial and disillusion cycled through, day after day. Finally, on 3/9, I shift to the original intent of the journal - others. "my proactive journal has been more successful than i had imagined; it gives me a focus - something other than my own self-depression and abysmal self-pity." I pasted in any notes, cards, etc sent back to me from my person of the month. I made notes in the journal of any special contacts made, notes, etc.

 I often reached out to more than the 12 people I'd planned, and I can see those notes tucked in here / there. As April crept in and my self-esteem seemed to bottom out, I aggressively "payed it forward" to others. I made notes about numerous Easter cards and notes sent to others. I also added several magazine clippings. I began the month taking Whitney and Kaitlyn to the park in Early, spending time watching them play.

 Then, in May, I began Co-Dependents Anonymous and began working through the steps for recovery. As I read this 12 year journal now, I can hear more of my recovered voice in the struggling of May's entries. It took a while for this journal to get me where I had hoped it would get me; but honestly working on the recovery process helped get me started. I encourage anyone needing to work through burn out, depression or grief to try a "proactive" or "pay it forward" journal and to approach it honestly. The other amazing thing that came about from this process, for me, was reaching out to a CoDA group and putting my recovery first. So many things fell into place for me in 2006 that would be necessary for me to survive the next 12 years. And I can say that I am super excited about 2019 and where I am.

Thrifty Menu: Crockpot Potatoes and Roast Beef

I had about 1/3 a pound of shaved roast beef left over from sandwiches.  It seems once we have sandwich night, no one wants to have them again for a few weeks.  I always try to purchase just enough deli meat for the occasion, but sometimes left-overs happen.

I knew I wanted to do something different, not traditional pot roast or hash.  I did some research.  What I put together was a combination of a couple different recipes. I also knew I wanted to throw it all into a crockpot.

Here's what I came up with.

Crockpot Potatoes and Roast Beef

2 medium potatoes
1/3 cup shaved roast beef
1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup butter
1/2 Tab chopped garlic
1/2 Tab flour
1/4 Tab chopped parsley
1/2 Tab mustard
salt, pepper
1/2 cup water

Coat crock pot with non-stick spray.
Peel potatoes; thinly slice.  Layer in crock-pot.

In skillet, melt butter.  Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley and salt / pepper.  Stir together and cook until onions are tender.
Add water and mustard and stir until well blended.
Add shaved roast beef and cook until covered.  If the mix is too thick, add water.

Pour over sliced potatoes in crockpot and cook on high for 1-2 hours.

Before serving, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella
or provolone cheese.

Thrity Menu: Scampi

Try finding a recipe for scampi that does not use lots of expensive ingredients, such as the white wine.  Specifically, what I wanted to find was a recipe that I could conjure up without having to buy anything special............sorta the "poor man's" version.

I realized that aside from the economical point, I also wanted a recipe that allowed me to continue to be very flexible and utilize what I already had on hand.  Living so close to a grocery store, I could walk over and buy any ingredient I did not have on hand already.

Food prices have shifted upward about 15%.  Most news reports are not showing this much of an increase, but I think the news tells the story for increases just in the product, not in the distribution.  I have kept a close eye on my regular food purchases, and I see at least a 10% increase across the board.

So, thrifty mom becomes even more thrifty.  I do not want to compromise my family's food choices.  We will have to cut back on the times we do eat out now, but I can be creative to make that happen without too much of a sacrifice.  Because I have always been very good at not throwing away a single thing, I thought I'd finally sit down and put some of these tips online for others who may be experiencing a bit of sticker shock at the grocery store.

Scampi

There are a couple of variations to shrimp scampi if you research "poor man's scampi" - using chicken, popcorn shrimp or imitation lobster chunks.  What I have on hand is some flaked imitation lobster left over from a seafood dip recipe.  I did look at shrimp at the store, but at $5 / pound for the smaller shrimp in the frozen section, it was not in my budget this week.  I have about half a pound of the flakes, so to stretch those out, I will make more of the sauce to cover the pasta.

1 cup butter / margarine
3 Tab garlic (minced, chopped, dry)
1 teas flour
1/4 teas red pepper
1 Tab basil
1 Tab parsley
1 Tab lemon juice
1/4 teas nutmeg
1/2 cup milk *

Melt butter / margarine over low heat;  add all remaining ingredients except milk.  Heat to simmering, stirring often to keep from sticking.  Gradually add milk, stirring consistently.  Add additional milk to achieve a thickness you want.  I wanted my sauce to be thicker.  Stir in imitation lobster flakes and simmer on low until heated through.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Linus Project - August contribution

August's contribution is a completely one-of-a-kind quilt that I started working on during Christmas 2012.  I had seen this calendar at Hobby Lobby on clearance for 2013 with different cupcakes.  Whitney stole my calendar, but the idea for a cupcake applique remained with me.  It took me several attempts to get my two contrasting pieces of the cupcake shape to fit together into a nice shape.  I made a dozen different appliques, and then decided to use most of them into a quilt.

The material for the quilt top is completely repurposed from other projects.  I purchased the blue floral contrast for the front piece and the Flower Power print for the back piece to tie this together.

Total Cost:  $8
Total Hours:  16

Linus Project - July contribution

July's contribution is a Shabby Chic Americana made with recycled colored denim and soft floral prints.  All the fabric I purchased at the Goodwill Blue Hanger store, most of which had stains or tears that would put most of these clothing items trashable.  I originally saw the idea on Pinterest.  I changed the inspiration directions by:  using colored denim and by leaving a slight edge when I sewed down the denim on the front so that the denim would ravel a lil' bit.

Total Cost:  $11.50
Total Hours:  20

Linus Project - April, May and June contributions

I can scarce believe I have let months go by without blogging about my Linus Project contributions.  Lots of personal issues have kept me fairly busy, but I have managed to keep up with completing each month's blanket on time....just not the blogging portion.

So, here are April, May and June's contributions.

April's is completely recycled.  The fabric is left-over from other projects.  The top is a lime green floral pattern with large flowers and squiggly vines in pink, orange and yellow.  The back is a soft yellow thin fleece.

Total Cost:  $0
Total Hours:  3

May's contribution is another completely recycled blanket.  the top piece is a thin plaid fleece that I salvaged from being thrown out..  I cut off the frayed and dirty edges and was able to save a piece large enough for a kid sized blanket.  The back piece is a black cotton left over from another project.

Total Cost:  $0
Total Hours:  3

June's contribution took a while to complete.  My mom is always on the lookout for crafting materials for me, and somewhere, she had found a small collection of blues / greys / greens that I have had for a while and not sure what to do with them.  The other colors were left-overs from a Shabby Chic project a couple years ago.  I started making granny squares that eventually morphed into June's crocheted contribution.  The only thing I had to purchase were two skeins of black yarn to tie this blanket together.  This ended up being the largest blanket in my donations because I just kept adding squares.  My daughters keep trying to steal it.  At Whitney's insistence, I kept the decorative yellow
lacey edging.


Total Cost:  $6
Total Hours:  30

Refashioning a Home

26 years ago, I was married as a young woman.  Over the course of these years, I have lived in 6 places and redecorated my home several times.  With three daughters who are now 14 - 20, the redecorating has included several bedroom makeovers.

My newest interest for home decor is Shabby Chic.  As the reality of my daughters leaving the nest in the next few years materializes, I will for the first time in my life be living alone.  As of now, I want everything to be Shabby Chic.  I have already started sketching some ideas for the kitchen and have been re-doing my bedroom and bath for the last year.

Today, I refashioned a pot holder, and the uniqueness of this project is that the original pot holder was a wedding gift all those years ago.  The crochet picture is the original wedding gift.  The checkered pot holder was a recovering 10 years ago.

The green lacey one at the bottom is the current refashion.