Leaping into March

     

Image Kingsport News-Times

     Brrrr! Even though today is supposed to get near or into the 40's, our furnace decided again to not kick on as needed during the night. If I think it is cold in the house, I know it is cold in the house. I'm wrapped in my son's old comforter he used in his college dorm room 12 year ag that we keep on the end of the bed in the spare bedroom. Even my robe didn't warm me up. Three our of four year this would be March but thanks to leap year, we get a bonus day this year. I don't know anyone with any special affinity to leap year, but it is fascinating to me none the less. What to do with this bonus day in 2020?

     Well, actually nothing than any other Saturday except, my baby will be home by supper. I need to do a big grocery shop, but thought since she isn't home until later, a good purge and clean out of the refrigerator and freezer make sense before stocking up. There's the normal laundry and weekly cleaning, but with just the two of us contributing to mess, it's a quick dust, sweep, run the vacuum, straighten a few things and put things out of place back to rights and doesn't take that long. I'm debating driving a bit farther and hitting Trader Joe's. There are a few things we love from there and with this not being a true travel vacation, adding a few treats for special meals might be in order. However I know we will be out and about this week and close to one of the several TJ's, so adding another eight miles, 16 round trip, perhaps doesn't make sense today. She has a request for curry and I am happy to oblige. I'll make Turkey meatloaf for DH. Aldi should have naan, or I can get at the store by us if out, the risk of Aldi shopping, but TJ's has the frozen palak paneer that I cannot even begin to try and replicate. If anyone has a recipe for it, please share! I don't even know where the paneer cheese would be found here. I still can't find haloumi, which I thought was becoming more common.

     I didn't stop for groceries on my way home because DH wanted to go out for dinner-used part of a gift card he received from his boss. He had fajitas and I had a ginormous chicken burrito. The leftovers-more than half with just a bit of rice and beans, will be my lunch. With wanting to make sure I was completely done eating n my window, had I stopped to shop, we would have been an our later than. Weekend will be harder for me on IF as often we don't eat supper until later, especially if we are at anything social or decide to eat out. This was a push and if service hadn't been so fast, eating time would have went past 7:30. I am committed though, as so far a little weight has come off and other than by late morning I am starting to get hungry, which could be any other day in the past as well, it hasn't felt like a diet. I've been more intentionally about having a decent lunch, with protein, fruit, and whole grains-not a snacky lunch, and with no snacking in the evenings, that might be where the differences are. I know I need to increase activity so while I might shed a few pounds this way, I definitely need to tone up and get stronger. This would be beyond what I do for the PT exercises, which admittedly, I get lazy about some days.

     I have to figure out the suit DH will wear to my niece wedding and get to the dry cleaners. Neither in town do on site cleaning, so we have to budget a good four business days so I want this dropped off Monday since I'm travelling the following week before the wedding. I'm not sure he wore a suit since his nieces wedding three years ago, as the last couple weddings we went to were more casual. By style, perhaps by now he should get a new one as I think his newer suit is nearly 10 years old, but I'm going to assume he will still look fine even if slightly outdated. There's no 70's lapels! To think for the first 10 years or so, he wore suits and ties every day, rotating between three I think, plus a sports jacket he would wear occasionally with just Dockers. We'd stretch the dry cleaning out as far as we could, but while he wore suits, as a sales rep in grocery, convenience, and liquor stores, he often had to get down on his knees to look at shelving, or tag product. I used Dryel, do you remember that, for in between touch ups if I needed to.

     The March utility bills are just starting to come and we should soon be suing up whatever credit we accrue on the budget plan and they set a new one for our gas bill, based on year round use. I am pretty sure it is calculated spring to spring. I might be off a month or two-maybe it is as late as May. I hope to revisit our overall budget this week and see what our real spending has been and see if there is room to cut out any waste. I've harped on and on about how expensive the last few months have been with weddings and showers and such in the family, we also have another new baby on DH's side coming, and my sister-in-law and I will be the baby shower hostesses. We did her wedding shower three years ago, and of course the one for the niece on my side this month. The costs can add up. But if I'm going to spend extra money, isn't it nice to be able to spend it on celebrating new beginnings and new babies?

     Seeing how I'll have some time off this week, I want to do research on starting some seeds, both as a hobby for me and the girls, as well as to hopefully get access to fresh food in our own back yard. Not being a gardener but wanting a serious go this year, for our climate, when do you start seeds in side? I'm thinking cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, and tomatoes. If you garden and live in cold country, when do you start seeds? We also need some bunny proof fencing. I love that we have wildlife in abundance (Well not the recent coyote's that keep being spotted), but those bunny's and maybe it's squirrels as well, have derailed our better attempts other years at a garden. I'd also like to start a bunch of flower seeds to eventually have pots and pots of flowers on my porch, but without the cost of buying so many already about to bloom. Can I just plant them in pots indoors to eventually move outside? I am 54 and know nothing about these things, but seems like a fine time to try. Staycations are good for spending time researching and learning about things. All this rambling to just day, as February winds down, I have my sights on March. If the saying is correct, since March is coming in like a lamb, will we have a turbulent lion like entry into April? It's Minnesota, so my guess the answer will be yes.