I’ve just been busy.

In a not-on-the-computer way.

You want to know how busy I’ve been?

I haven’t unloaded a single Christmas picture off of my cameras yet (that one up there was taken before Christmas). That never happens…I normally unload my camera memory cards every day!

But Mr. FG goes back to work today, which means the holiday lifestyle we’ve been living will be over.

So, there will probably be a real post up tomorrow morning.

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Today’s 365 post: She’s been watching me.

And no one is coming here.

This calls for a day spent in a comfy shirt and track pants.

I think the kids and I will bake and frost cut-out Christmas cookies today.

What are you doing today?
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Today’s 365 post: The pfeffernusse, they are done.

Joshua’s 365 post: Wow.

We’re all fine…I’ve just got other stuff going on this morning that trumps blogging. 

And I was busy doing other stuff on Friday night, which is when I ought to have written today’s post.

I have some fun stuff coming up this week, though…like some before and after pictures of my messy laundry room,

and a giveaway from Novica (woot!)

If you’re super bored without a regular post from me, you could always browse through all the Christmas posts in the archives.

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Today’s 365 post:You know you’re out of the baby/toddler stage when…

…I painted.

Because there is NOTHING to motivate me to finish painting like having my living room completely disorganized, with all the furniture shoved to the middle of the room.

I hate that.

Mr. FG and moved furniture, taped, and primed the living room before he went to work yesterday, and then after he went to work, I did two coats of paint.

And that means we’re done!

Well, almost.  There’s a problem with the drywall in one corner, and I’m not quite done fixing it…a little spackle, a little sanding, and a little more paint will take care of it.

I promise to take some pictures once everything is all put back together and organized.

Anyway.

All of that is to say that I don’t have a grocery report or menu plan to share with you today.  I do have a photo that I took earlier in the week, but that’s it.

And I did write up a little post last night (in between paint coats) about some lovely deals that ING has running this weekend, so don’t miss that.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and I’ll see you here on Monday (at which point I will be announcing a one-day deal on my ebook!).

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Today’s 365 post:Candy Cane Sky

Joshua’s 365 post: Chelloe?

Mr. FG had the day off yesterday, which meant that I didn’t have my usual blogging time last night, and then of course, in the mornings when he’s home, blogging isn’t exactly my highest priority.

So, I might be back with a post later today, and then again, I may not (things like school and piano-teaching may get in the way.)

But I just wanted to pop in and tell you that, in case you might worry that something has gone horribly wrong. 

Either way, I’ll have my regular blogging time tonight, so a for-real post will be here tomorrow morning.

I am not perfect.

I have never claimed to be so (Am I cheerful?  Yup. Do I try to make lemonade out of lemons? Yup. But I am not perfect and neither is my life.)

I really, really do try to share my flaws and failings.

However, based on feedback I’ve received lately, it would appear that these types of posts have somehow fallen through the cracks.

So, here’s a list of some of the posts I’ve written about my not-perfect life.

I shouldn’t be doing this (wherein I share how I ordered pizza and ate three boxes of  Hot Tamales instead of cooking a nutritious dinner)

Frugal Girl Confessions (a post comprised of my failings)

Some real-ness, in the form of a messy office

Right now, I am (in which I feel discouraged about my vision, am tired of humidity, and feel discouraged about something I’m observing in one of my kids)

Ugly Bread (two posts where I share some not-too-fabulous baking results)

Why I need Mr. FG (in which I explain that I fail at being frugal when the amount of money in question is large)

A missive from the sickbed (in which I experience my 3rd cold of the winter, can’t do a Food Waste Friday post, and have to miss a speaking engagement)

And to add to my list of flaws, I am sitting here crying from frustration and discouragement, which is clearly a symptom of me having skin that is too thin.

Please know that I’m not perfect, and I don’t want you to think that I am.  I’m a sinner, a sinner who is saved by grace.  I am an ordinary wife and mom, imperfectly seeking to help and encourage my readers and glorify God as I do so. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jesus is the only perfection there is, and I’m grateful that His performance is where my hope lies, and His grace is what will help me to press on and grow.

Simply to the cross I cling.

Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born. If you’re not a blogger but still want some food waste accountability, feel free to participate by leaving a comment.

The mushy thing on the top of my container is a pear that was beyond saving. If I cut off the bad parts, there wouldn’t really have been anything left!

And inside the container, there’s a little bit of leftover corn. Zoe would have happily eaten this, but I forgot to feed it to her. Whoops.

And lastly, a bit of milk that had gone too far south to be salvaged.

If milk is just a little bit sour, I use it to make chocolate pudding or I use it in any number of yeast breads. I just wasn’t fast enough with this milk.

For the first time in a long while, though, I feel like I have a good handle on my fridge, so hopefully next week I’ll have a bit less to show and tell.

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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the widget below. You’ll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog! And if you don’t blog, you can still share about your food waste by leaving a comment.

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Today’s 365 post: Know why these eggs are unevenly sized?

Joshua’s 365 post: The Dragon’s Food

Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Well, in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.

I wasted some beef jerky this week.

This is odd and kind of sad because my kids actually really love beef jerky and they’d have happily eaten it if I had remember it was in the cabinet.

But, I didn’t remember it was in the cabinet because I let that particular cabinet get itself into quite an unruly state.

Mess in the cabinet = waste, just like mess in the fridge.

My fridge also got to be kind of a disorderly place this week, but it’s now cleaned up and I know exactly what’s in there. The lone victim of that mess was a small chunk of cucumber and I didn’t manage to photograph that before it got whisked off to the compost bin.

Oh! I know of one other thing I wasted, and it’s totally because my fridge got messy. I have about a cup of leftover grilled chicken that didn’t get eaten, and I am not brave enough to try it at this point.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the really good (and expensive) chicken. Although if it had been that sort, it might have been more likely to get eaten because the good and expensive chicken is also exceedingly tasty.

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How did you do this week? If you blogged about your food waste, link us up by entering your info into the widget below. You’ll save money, reduce your trash output, and get a little publicity for your blog! And if you don’t blog, you can still share about your food waste by leaving a comment.

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Today’s 365 post: “But she got more than me, Mommy!”

Joshua’s 365 post: Caroline

Before we get to that, I want to tell you that the winner of the coconut flour is Molly, commenter #9. Congrats, Molly! You’ve been emailed.

I’m writing a stream of consciousness post today because I’m running late.  Why am I running late?  Because I spent too much time this morning reading a book about, um, using your time well (168 Hours).

I’m thinking of that time as an investment, ok?

I’m having kind of a love-hate relationship with the book so far, but it is making me think, and overall, I’m happy I’m reading it.  I’ll tell you more about it when I do a “What I’ve Been Reading” post.

Most of you hated the cleaner-looking font, so I’m glad I asked. I switched it back to the old one, but I made the size a bit bigger (this means I need to edit my Q&A  and Food Waste Friday blurbs so they fit properly into the space, but ignore that for now).

Are you guys good with this?

Do I sound like me again?

Would you prefer for the font size to be small like it is on my 365 blog?

Do you wish I would not be so waffly and just make decisions?

(don’t answer that)

I initially changed it the font size because I read (on a blog about blogging) that small font sizes are bad and bigger is better.

But those same blogging experts say that cleaner-looking fonts are better, and clearly, you guys don’t agree with that (probably because you’re used to the Georgia font I’ve used for years).  So, if you all lurve the small font, I’ll change it back.

I had a lovely weekend.  Because not only did I get to have a date night with Mr. FG, I also got to have an overnight with him, thanks to my parents.  Usually we try to go away for a night when our anniversary rolls around, but August was an unusually busy month for us, and we never managed to get away.

We figured a late overnight is better than no overnight, so we’d planned to drop the kids off and then go for a solo camping trip because the weather looked fabulous.  And because we bought an air mattress.

But, as so often has been the case here these last few months, the weather turned rainy.  And cold!  And we decided that a night at a hotel would be much more fun than a cold, wet night at a campground.

Fortunately, my brother works for a hotel, and they give a lovely family discount ($39/night?  Yes, please!)

It was delightful and relaxing and over too soon.

But I am happy that after 14 years, we still feel like our time together is over too soon.

The overnight was one of those happy things I was telling you about in last week’s Right Now post.  More are coming!

One of those happy things is that Mr. FG’s schedule is changing to Monday-Friday as of this week.  He’s officially done working on Saturdays.  Yay!!!

This means that we’ll be functioning on a schedule that is at least vaguely more like the rest of the world, and I am excited about that.

I also am excited that the 10 day weather forecast for my area includes more sun than rain. That hasn’t happened for a while.

I’m thinking about Christmas after reading The NonConsumer Advocate’s post  yesterday.  Though we both share a love for a less consumery lifestyle, Katy doesn’t quite share my love of Christmas (I think Christmas rocks, myself).  I’ve started writing an ebook about celebrating it in a fun, not-so-stressful, not-so-spendy kind of way, but it’s not going to get done before this Christmas.  I’m thinking about releasing it next September or October.

I’m super-excited about the things I have to share in that book, so I’m bummed I have to wait that long, but I just don’t have the time to get it done right now.  Also, I need a small break after writing Reuse, Refresh, Repurpose!

I am going to write a post about Christmas later this week, though.

And right now, I’m going to go get breakfast ready and get started on school with my kids.

Have a great Tuesday!

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Today’s 365 post: I took a picture of a tree.

Joshua’s 365 post: More Clouds and a Stop-Motion

…in a hurry because I have an early morning eye appointment to check my contacts.

…kind of frustrated because my eyes are a complicated pair and fitting them with contacts is never a simple process.

…a little jealous of people who don’t need to have their vision corrected.

…immensely grateful that I live in a time when vision CAN be corrected. I seriously do not know how I’d function if I’d been born before glasses were invented (one of my eyes is so bad I can’t even see more than a few inches in front of me.)

…remembering exactly why I pay to see a real eye doctor.  Mall opticians are not the right choice for me.

…thankful that my children can be trusted to sit quietly in a waiting room without me (the exam room is right next to the waiting room, so I am close by.)

…hoping to make a batch of applesauce today (though I’m going to do it a little differently than I did in that post).

…excited because a lot of happy things, big and small, are on the horizon.  Of course, I’ll tell you about them as they happen.

…still hemming and hawing about what to do with my dead Rebel.  Sell it for parts for $100 on Ebay?  Pay $184 to get it fixed?

…encouraged about some things I’m observing in my children.

…discouraged about other things I’m observing in my children.

…happy that I have a partner in raising them.  I wouldn’t want to do this by myself, and Mr. FG and I so often fill in what the other parent is lacking.  We make a good pair, but neither of us would be super great on our own.

…loving how excited Zoe is about school.  “Can I do more pages, Mommy?” “Time tests?  I love those!” “Can we do some other schoolbooks, Mommy?”  “Can I read some more science?”

…remembering how Joshua, when he was in kindergarten, cried because we weren’t bringing schoolbooks on vacation.

…wishing kindergarten enthusiasm didn’t wane after a few years.

…low on pictures because the days have been so dark and dark days just do not inspire me to get out my camera.

…tired of humidity, and the mosquitoes that hang around in warm, humid air.

…excited that cooler temps and some sunny, dry air are in the forecast.  Oh yes!

…happy that Mr. FG and I finally painted our crown moulding (it was his idea to do it on Monday and I was cranky about it but I’m glad we got it done.)

…anxious to get the wall paint touched up so that the project is finished and we can put our living room back in order.

…heading off to get everyone fed and ready to go out the door.

What are you doing/thinking right now?

(the super-fun-to-write Right Now post idea comes compliments of SouleMama. )

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Today’s 365 post:  Don’t have one up yet.  See the “low on pictures” part from this post.

Joshua’s 365 post: Bubbles