Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Observations of the Week...

...aka Randomness.

~I miss coffee. I thought I was going to die this last weekend...from caffeine withdrawal. I've no idea how I did it but I did. I.am.awesome!

~Cooking takes up way too much time. Like way too much. I haven't had time for yoga or stitching. I know...blasphemy!

~I had to dust off the blender, rice cooker and the steam basket for this little cleanse experiment. More gadgets than I've used in a while. And I think I may have broken the blender. The next time I go to Macy's, I'm getting one of those new fandangled immersion blender thingies.

~I have no idea how moms who work full time and cook three meals a day do it. I miss Trader Joe's!

~Buying completely fresh and organic is freaking expensive! I didn't think I could eat so much but apparently, when you cook everything from scratch, you go through a lot of ingredients. I still miss Trader Joe's.

~I also miss Fairy Moon because she hasn't seen daylight in over a week. Her update is that she looks the same as the last update.

~I can't wait for the cleanse to be over on Saturday and not because I am craving anything although I am getting a little tired of the cleanse diet. I'm really just tired of cooking. I need to find a personal chef boyfriend. This is probably not a good idea though considering what a disaster the last "personal chef boyfriend" was.

~Does anyone have any info on the Grand Cayman as a vacation spot? Not as a tax haven...everyone keeps saying that. People must think I have more money than I have any hopes of having! I wish! I've forgotten to buy the MegaMillions ticket 2x in a row and it was at super duper millions jackpot.

~I'm thinking of ordering some scroll rods and am wondering what the longest size is I would ever need. Are 30" rods large enough for most Chats? I need to do some math.

I'll be back with a post-cleanse update, which will probably contain more whining about cooking, after Saturday. Hope you're all having a good week!



Until next time...

25 comments:

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Some days I get so fed up of cooking and cleaning up too - mind you cooking from scratch can be quite satisfying to do and I keep telling myself it's healthier as well. Have you ever tried holding your project without a frame, some people swear by it.

Giovanna said...

If by Chats you mean Châtelaines :-) 30" should be enough for any of them - as far as I remember, the largest mandala is St.Petersburg, which is about 26" on 32ct.
Hope you find time for stitching and yoga again :-)

Margaret said...

Well good for you for sticking to this cleanse diet. It sounds like way too much work though. And that's interesting about the expense too. Hmmmm. I hope you feel a difference by the end. Are you going back to coffee as soon as it's over? :D Scroll rods -- depends on how big you tend to stitch in pieces. I know monster pieces could be bigger than 30" in width, but that would be rare, I think. Just remember to add 6" for borders and you will get an idea. I think most pieces fit on a fat half, right? A fat half is 27 by 36, isn't it? So yeah, maybe 30" is good. I don't know. I'm lousy at math. lol!

Katrina said...

Not sure I could do a cleanse!!!!! I am anxious to hear what you think when you finish it.

The biggest I've ever used was 24" so I would think that 30 would be good???

Erin said...

As a mom who works full-time, let me tell you that I do NOT cook 3 meals a day! During the week, daycare provides breakfast, lunch and snacks. Dinners = spaghetti, goulash, a variety of casseroles, and occasionally we have "breakfast" (pancakes and scrambled eggs). Always make enough for 2 dinners, so there are leftovers. Also, weekend dinners get recycled into either leftovers or casseroles or sandwiches during the week....
Finally, I have only ONE child. And the cooking/feeding/working stuff is part of why I'm not in a hurry to have more!

Keeper of the Crowes said...

Wow, Valerie! As I sit here with my morning cup of coffee which I plan to refill as soon as I finish with this, and plans to head out to Trader Joes, I have to say, "I feel your pain"! Congratualations on making it this far. I know you are going to feel great at weeks end.
Linda

Carol said...

You. Are. Awesome, Valerie!! That is amazing that you were able to give up coffee... Will you go back to it? I can't imagine all that special cooking with special ingredients...will be interesting to hear your final take on the whole diet.

Yes, I've been to Grand Cayman-- about four years ago--excellent restaurants, pretty beaches...can send you photos if you'd like :)

Melissa said...

Valerie, good for you for sticking with the cleanse diet! It's a change, right, and you might find some of the habits from that will carry over into "real life". I did a cleanse and it was tough but worth it. I'm thinking of doing one again now that you mentioned it. Hang in there!

I hope you get lots of benefits from the cleanse, then can get time to go back to stitching & yoga!

Kelly said...

Good for you on the cleanse. My husband/chef just moved out for a six month consulting job. I hired Seattle Sutton to do my cooking. I have only been on it a few days but so far, I like the food and I like that I am not cooking. I am a little hungry but I think that will pass with time.

I love the Cayman's. It is a great place to dive. It is expensive. Even beyond the cost of staying at the Ritz, food and everything was much higher than Chicago. If you do go and care to have a big night out, we ate at Blu which is an Eric Ripert resturant that was wonderful.

Anna van Schurman said...

My sister got married in Grand Cayman and we did some fun tourist things. Email me if you like. You get used to the cooking thing (I do cook three meals a day, but I work from home.) But I'n not sure I'd do it if I were single. I get so tired of eating the same thing day after day. Fortunately the dude eats more than his share! :)

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

I am sure you'll be glad when the cleanse is over. Good for you for sticking to it.
I use scroll rods all the time and I wouldn't think you'd need more than a 30" scroll rod very often. That is pretty darn big! THe ones I'm working on right now are about 28" or so and it's a big (to me)sampler I'm working on. 30" rods are probably big enough for most charts. You could always order extra long ones if you needed them. I will say, that I find that if they get much past 30", they are quite cumbersome.

Theresa said...

You are amazing!! I don't think I could do the cleanse thing!!!
I do not like to cook either!!!! Not the greatest chief as I have little imagination on cooking... I usually just stick to what I know, which is very limited. Luckily, my husband does not complain much.

Are you thinking of going to Grand Cayman? How exciting!!! I've never been there so can't help you much. But I can imagine it is a beautiful place.

Good luck with your diet, and please so share your thoughts with us when you are done.

Christina said...

Really looking forward to hearing how you feel after the big cleanse. My digestive 'issues' are getting worse by the day!

LoriU said...

Just FYI...no one won the last Mega Millions so its like $500M this Friday...

Handmade Redhead said...

Better go grab a lottery ticket tonight...it's obviously been waiting for you to get a ticket before it let anyone else win!

Glad you are doing well on your cleanse! I love cooking and would gladly do it for you if you'd come and do all my dishes after I am done. :P

Catherine said...

I love your random posts! Looking forward to hearing how you feel after the cleanse!

Natasha said...

Oh Valerie how I miss you LOL..1st up yes a hot chef would be cool, a goodlooking guy to cook for you with no shirt on, ya like how I throw the no shirt on part in there LOL

Next up... GIIIRRRLLL get yo' mega ticket! We did a lottery pool at work, if I win I'll get you a hot chef for a few weeks ;)

Next..... After the 14th WE ARE GETTING TOGETHER yup Im yelling but with love LOL

Havew a good night and have fun with those gadgets you never use :)

Chris said...

WOW VAlerie!
You are doing great and I hope you will be seeing the payoff soon. I know doing all this takes a lot of focus and commitment. Go! Go! Go! :)
I have to keep telling myself that with my diet too :)
Have a great weekend.

Joysze said...

It's hard to cook for one.... but you'll get the hang of cooking after you've done it awhile and then it won't take up so much done. Not something you want to hear huh? ROFL!!!

We cook 90% of the time, and my body likes that better than eating out. Eating organic is very expensive. :(

Some Chats require up to 36" rods, but these are the biggest sized ones. 30 inchers are more than enough for most everything else. :)

Deb said...

Good for you for sticking to the cleanse. I honestly don't know if I could do one of those. But I do know that eating fresh is really expensive. We tried to do the fresh thing as much as possible and our grocery bill is outrageous.

I think that 30" rods are good for Chatelaines. I've done a couple of them and that's the largest rod that I have.

barbara said...

Good cooking from scratch is indeed very time consuming and expensive. Good for you, sticking to it! I hope you'll find time for stitching, too. As for personal chef boyfriends, they usually don't want to cook at home if they've cooked at work. ;)

Julie said...

Big well done on persevering with it Valerie. Xxxx

Melanie said...

I'm sick and tired of cooking and I'm not even on a cleanse. *sigh*
Good for you for sticking to it!!! :)

Myra said...

I agree, you.are.awesome. LOL I admire you for doing the cleanse, don't know that i could.

Meari said...

"Are 30" rods large enough for most Chats?" What kind of chatting are you talking about, LOL! I think you meant "charts"? I have 26" and 28" ones and I think they're plenty big for the types of charts I do. I also have several smaller sizes, too. I don't use them a lot but it's nice to have them for when I do.

Grand Cayman was a stop on the cruise I went on in 2001. I had a great time except for when I tripped on the cobblestone sidewalk and sprained my ankle, lol.

I cook practically everything from scratch... fresh or frozen ingredients. When you say Trader Joes, do you mean you buy premade food there? Good luck with your cleanse. It should be over by now, right?