I feel like all I ever do is work, eat, sleep, and repeat.

I apparently haven't posted in two years, but feel like putting this "on paper" (so to speak), and do not feel like putting it in a google document.

I feel boring.  I feel depressed.  I feel frustrated.  I feel like all I ever do is work, eat, sleep, and repeat.

I need something to do with my time outside of work that I can think about and get excited about and be energized by.

Here are the things I think want to do.

1. Fix up my road bike/ buy a new road bike and begin riding to work at least 3 days a week
I did this quite a bit last year until I fucked up my shoulder.  I was riding my mountain bike, which is very difficult.  I want the road bike because want to glide.  Mountain bike is difficult to pedal ALWAYS. I want to enjoy the natural therapy the exercise and cold morning hours provide.  Riding back home is stressful and hot, but there's no way around not also riding home.  This allows me to have a good excuse to get exercise, leave work on time, and just be by myself.

2. Doodle Therapy?
This is an idea I've been tossing around for a while.  I enjoy the twitch streaming but am becoming less and less interested in wasting my time playing video game after video game.  I enjoy doodling with the fancy liquid gel pens I bought at Sams Club.  Why not turn this into a thing where I doodle for a few hours, listen to music, and hang out with chat (if anyone joins me).

3. Make the house somewhere I want to be
I hate owning a house.  I hate the house we bought.  I feel trapped by it.  I feel suffocated by the stuff we own.  I (apparently) need to take ownership of the house and make it somewhere we want to be.  I don't think Moose cares that much, at least not enough to take action.  Do things like:  making the outside gardens look nice.  Repainting rooms (walls are so scuffed and dirty now).  Replacing the trim/ugly ass 70s woodwork, carpeting, etc in the dining room.  Cleaning.  Decorating.  Decluttering.  Sperging over curtains and couches and pictures to hang on the walls.  Things Moose and I never ever do because we don't really care.  Maybe this would make the house feel like somewhere we want to be...

4. Make music again
This one is daunting.  I can't go here lightly.  I have to go all in and not get discouraged.  Ten years ago, I was a musician.  I could sing, I could play the violin, I had working knowledge of the guitar,  I knew how to read music and knew a lot of music composition and theory...  Now I'm just a boring 30 year old that claims I used to know these things.  I have entirely given up on a huge part of what was my life.  I need to force myself to at least play violin again.  Ideally, actually learn a software program and record/create music.  (I'll need a new midi keyboard as mine doesn't work anymore)  It is something to do on the computer, anyway...

5. Stop spending money on stupid shit
We buy stuff.... and it never even leaves the package.  Stop buying things, you stupid fools!  This just clutters the house and we never even use the stuff.  Don't be afraid to throw things away.

6. Stop thinking about it (the future)
This may sound off.  Stop thinking about the future?  I am 30 years old and I am hitting the panic stage.  I've had my job for 6 years.  I've been married for 2 years.  We've "owned' our house for 3 years.  Nothing interesting has happened/ nothing has changed for a while.  Now what?  Is it time to just keep on keeping on until there is no more keeping on?  What's next?  What do I do now?  When are we going to be comfortable?  Are we going to have children?  How the heck would that even work?  Why do I care so much?  Why can't I just focus on now?

*sigh*

2014 Body and Wallet Diet - Week 13

Finally back at it after the wedding...

Crock pot clam chowder (sans potatoes and flour)

Velveeta Rotel Main Dish 

2014 Body and Wallet Diet - Week 4

This week (week 4):
Moose: Crustless Spinach Quiche with Turkey Sausage - $22.07, 10 servings at ?? each

Dri: Bacon Explosion with Cauliflower - $26.34, 10 servings at 385 calories each

2014 Body and Wallet Diet - Week 3

This week (week 3)
Moose - Chicken Stir Fry - 10 servings for ~$20, 250 calories each

Dri - Comforting Ground Beef and Cabbage Casserole 10 servings for ~$18, 450 calories each

2014 Body and Wallet Diet - Week 2

Last week (Week 1):
Moose- Shepherds pie (10 servings at 369 calories a piece) = $25.71
Dri- Spicy chicken and spinach casserole (10 servings at 418 calories a piece) = $23.10

Ran into some issues last week.  Something in the shepherd's pie made me sick all week, had to make Moose give me his spicy spinach casserole.  Oh well.  Hopefully this week is better.

This week (Week 2):
Moose- Grilled chicken breast with asparagus and Parmesan cream sauce (10 servings at 525 calories a piece) : $29.01
Dri - Mushroom and Goat Cheese Meatloaf (10 servings at 511 calories a piece) = $32.71

Up a bit on calories, up a bit on cost, but still about on track.  We should try to aim for 400 calories, but this week, we ended up a little higher.  Still pretty good, though!

We still ended up spending about $125 at the store total.  We did buy some other things like toothpaste, etc at the store this week, so hopefully we can still get the bill down as we get used to this new eating plan.

2014 Body and Wallet Diet - Week 1

Moose and I have decided to diet before our wedding in February.  In addition, we've decided to attempt to keep to a real budget.  Turns out we spend a lot of money on food.  Like a lot.  We buy full groceries, eat out a ton, and end up throwing leftovers and unused food away.  We had some success last year with a diet that involved making casseroles and portioning them out.  So, combine the two and you've got the bulk-food body and wallet diet.  Goal is to make two meals with 8-10 portions each on Sundays, keeping the week's food cost around $50-75 at the grocery store.  We're still going to do our traditional Monday night dinner with friends, but hopefully we can make enough to eat lunches and dinners through Friday, and perhaps Saturday.

Goals (listed cleanly):
1.  Go grocery shopping Sunday.  Buy only what is needed for the week and keep it to $50-$75
2.  Sunday afternoons, make two meals with 8-10 portions of each, making enough for lunches and dinners through at least Friday.
3.  Lose weight.
4.  Save money.


Week 1 recipes

Low Carb Shepherds Pie

Low Carb Spicy Chicken and Spinach Casserole

I think I know what I want

I think I know what I want.

I want to work at Graco until I have kids.  I don't want to have kids until I have my car loan and student loans paid off.

I want to be able to have the option of being a stay-at-home mom for a while, only a few years.  We'll see.

Then want to go back to school at the U and get a Master's in education, like what Adam did.  2 summers and 1 full year of teaching.  You get a Master's in education and you get a teaching license.  Maybe I'd even be able to squeeze in a few tech classes I wanted to take before.

Then I want to get a teaching job where I teach kids basic electronics and basic software.  Think EE1301.  Start with binary and basic circuits.  Do cool labs with LEDs and logic circuitry.  Do some assembly on microcontrollers, do some C on microcontrollers, do some HTML5 or Java on a computer (of course, I'd have to learn this too).  HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?  I wonder if there is a technology magnet school somewhere in town where I'd be able to do that.  Or maybe do it for home school groups.

I know Moose wants to go back to school at some point.  Maybe he should do that sooner rather than later and I could support us for a few years.  Hmmm... hmmmm.

Anyway, I just wanted to post that here because I think it's neat.