Lightening Online

APRIL

Total spend for April was $515.25.  Just a little over my goal of $500 but not too bad considering extras bought for Easter (not Easter Eggs but extra food, hot cross buns etc).

That works out to an average of $103.05 per week.  I think my days of cracking under the $100 per week mark are well and truly gone.

Still, I’m pretty happy with that result and now have $84.75 to add to my BHAG total (an update on that coming soon….).

MAY

I’ve done an inventory of the freezer and we currently have around 30 or so meals of meat on hand.  I say “or so” because some “meals” actually stretch to 2 depending on what I do with them and how much we have leftover at times.

The plan for May is to spend as little on groceries as possible and use up as much as we have on hand as possible.

It will be a challenge because I find it very hard NOT to pick up meat when it’s on special.

I want to go away with as little food left here as possible, particularly in the fridge/freezer.  I’m not sure if I’ll leave them running and fill with cold water/ ice or whether I’ll actually turn them off while we’re away.

But the last thing we want to come home to is a freezer disaster so no meat is going to be left here, just in case.

Plans And Goals For May:

• Menu Plan!!!!  I’m currently working on a menu plan for the entire month to help use up what needs to be used up.
• Buy NO meat.  Zero.  Nilch.  Nada.  Let’s see if I can make myself not buy any meat for a whole month??????
• Keep spending under $50 a week.  With 4 shopping weeks in May, that should leave me with $400 out of my $600 budget to go towards my BHAG.  How awesome would that be????

Wish me luck as I find it incredibly hard NOT to buy food.

I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a clutterbug.  I tend to worry that if I get rid of something, I might decide I needed it after all.  Not that I’d ever be able to find it if I did need it!!!  Combine that with a natural penchant to procrastinate on tasks I don’t enjoy (such as decluttering) and you can have one big recipe for disaster.

A number of years ago, I stumbled upon Flylady and that system worked for me for a while.  Then I got pregnant which left me tired, sick (I get sick all the way through my pregnancies) and ended up with post natal depression (which I actually think started during my pregnancy) and 3 kids.

Moving house helped me deal with a fair amount of clutter but we’ve been here for 4 years now and with everything else that has happened in my life, dealing with clutter has gone to the bottom of the priority list.

My goal last term was to go through and declutter the entire house.  Ha!!!!  I’m so good at setting myself unachievable goals!!!  :(  Sure, we got rid of quite a bit of stuff.  Just NOT.  ENOUGH.

On Sunday my frustration with clutter reached it’s peak.  We had a busy school holidays and the house was a disaster zone!  Staring down the barrel of Term 2 starting and realising that half my plans for term 1 just hadn’t happened and that I only have this term left to get the house to the point where I’m happy for someone else to stay in it in my absence.

*sigh*

Of course, there’s nothing like a deadline to help a procrastinator get their butt into gear. 

I’ve decided that for every week this term (what’s left of it given we leave before it actually finishes - eeek!!!), I’m going to set myself a focus/goal.

This week’s is bedrooms.

They get tidied every week but there’s tidy and there’s “tidy” if you know what I mean.

In a marked act of bravery yesterday, I actually ventured UNDER the boys beds!!!!  I found some interesting science experiments and the dust bunnies were multiplying happily!!!!

I think the hardest thing about being a “clutterbug” myself is that I can hardly expect my children to be any different.  And they’re not.  They’re hopeless at getting rid of stuff.  And then when they do decided to get rid of something, it’s something I don’t want to get rid of.  LOL.

Is it any wonder we’re struggling to conquer the clutter monster???? 

The good news is, we don’t have a very large house so we HAVE to get rid of stuff from time to time.

More stuff has been leaving this house than has been entering it of late so SURELY we have to start seeing the difference soon!!!!

If we don’t, I might just sit down and cry.  LOL.

Ever since I started working in the gym with my trainer, I have had my eye on the pink medicine ball.

With my non-existent arm strength, reaching the pink medicine ball was a bit of a far off dream. After all, I was mostly using a 1kg ball. The pink medicine ball is 6kg.

So, today we were using the pink medicine ball. And I’m thinking I’m not so keen on it anymore!!!! ROFLOL.

Actually, I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made over the past 12 months. When I was first diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, some 16 years ago (yikes!), the most noticable thing was that I had zero strength left in my arms. Which was a bit of a blow given it used to be about my only physical asset. So, to gradually get some strength back into my arms has been really good.

Today was also “pay and measure” day. I managed to lose the “Easter weight gain” just in time. LOL. Now if only I could actually LOSE some weight rather than this stupid spiral of gain a bit, then lose it again, that I seem to be stuck on.

Anyway, after having missed a couple weeks of sessions, today was pretty full on. I think I’ll sleep well tonight.

3 letters arrived in the mail today  from the Director of School and Regional Operations officially granting our children exemption from school in term 3!!!!

Yes, we were going on our Big Trip regardless but naturally we’d prefer to work within the bounds of the law.

Another thing to be ticked off the list!

Big Trip, here we come!!!

Oh, and apparently my 5 year old is in year 13.  Go figure!!!????

….it’s time to pack up and go home!!!!

When we first arrived here, I was feeling tired and wrung out and questioning how much I’m going to enjoy our “big trip”.  I guess I hadn’t really considered how busy we were before we came away and how much that had drained me.

Now, 3 days later, I’m just getting into the swing of things and now we’re packing up to go home.

I feel much better than when we arrived, even though we’ve been reasonably busy since we got here.

Instead of heading home, I think I’m ready to head off on the trip now.  :)  Mind you, as I type this, the kids are sitting in the backseat fighting.  *sigh*  I’m tempted to leave them home!!!!  ;)  I’m just bribing them with lollies to see if that’ll keep them quiet while I’m trying to type.  LOL.  Nope, not working.  Now they’re fighting over the lollies.  Aaarrrggghhh……

Anyway, the good news is that at the start of this “final practice run” I was doubting whether we should be even doing the trip,  now I’m feeling much better about it.  Better that than the other way around!!!!

Each time we use the caravan, we add a few bits and pieces that make life a little easier.  The hardest thing is that we don’t want to take too much gear away with us so we still have a few decisions to make in regards to what is coming with us and what we’re leaving behind.

The extra incentive is that I’d like to be able to do some shopping while we’re away (especially on the Gold Coast where you’re supposedly able to get discounted surf brand clothing …. would love some hints in this department if anyone knows where to go) so I have to leave some room for that. 

All in all though, I think we’re close to ready.  This trip has definitely been worthwhile (plus of course the fact that Lleyton has had some awesome tennis coaching – the actual purpose of this trip).

Just over 2 months left now until we leave.  It sure is coming up fast!!!!

Now to get the seed in the ground and the house a bit more sorted out before we go….

At the moment we’re spending a few days away in the caravan.  This will be our last trip away before the “big trip” and the opportunity to iron out any little changes we want to make in preparation.

A few things we’re still working out include:

1.  What bedding to take.

We’ve all been using sleeping bags (mostly unzipped mind you) so this trip Farmboy and I have brought our doona.  It looks lovely and homely set up on the bed.

The trick will be how much space it takes up when the van is packed up.  We won’t know this until we get home (given it just got tossed in the caravan to get up here).  I suspect it will be a lot more comfortable.  Of course, the kids are now complaining that they want their doona’s as well so not sure what we’ll do there (other than space, their sleeping bags are a lot easier when they’re sleeping on the couch – which they’re currently taking turns in doing).

2.  What table to take.

We’ve been using a camping table that has 4 chairs attached to it as our “outside table”.  I think it’s important to have something we can put outside so that we don’t always have to eat inside.  However, we are considering whether to purchase one of those roll-up camping tables instead as they take up less room.  We do have camping chairs which we’ll take regardless although I do like the camping table with the chairs attached.

3.  Do we really have to take the kids?

LOL.  They’ve been a little bit excited so far this trip and I’m not sure I can keep this up for 100 days!!!!  Mind you, it has been a busy weekend and I’m pretty tired.  I’m sure the people in the caravan next door think we’re the grumpiest parents that they’ve ever heard!

4.  What to do about internet connection

I was planning to head off and see what happens in terms of internet connection.  Now that McDonald’s have free wifi and so do most public libraries, we really *should* be able to find connections most places.  Plus, most caravan parks offer casual internet usage for a fee.  Here it is $5 for 30 minutes!!!!!  Aaarrgggghhhh.  Seems pretty expensive (I know it wasn’t that expensive when we were in Canberra).

I’ve been considering whether I should splurge on a Next-G Telstra connection that uses mobile towers.  Need to do some more exploring on that one (I know it’s about $149 for the actual USB attachment but not sure how much the fees are).  While it’s a more costly option than finding free connections, it would certainly be rather convenient.

5.  Cooking in the van

Every time we go away in it, I try to practise different meals to build up our repertoire of “caravan meals”.  Tonight was a bit tricky as it’s the first time I’ve made hamburgers and everything has to be done in stages.  The grill is tiny so only fits 2 hamburger buns at a time.  Which is fine because I only have a small frypan as well.  Dinner had to be made in shifts.  Tomorrow I’m planning on trying a roast in the dreampot.  Fingers crossed it works (if not, at least we’re not far from some take away places!).

Plenty to think about anyway but mostly the smaller details being worked out now.  The kids are LOVING every opportunity to be in the van which is great.  Hopefully they’ll look back on these times with fondness.  I’ve been keeping a log and by the time we finish with this stint away we’ll have slept 38 nights in the van already.  Not bad going given we only bought it late September last year!!!

P.S.  I think I just wrote a list post - kind of.  Those who read Lightening’s Blogworld will understand the irony of that! 

There were plenty of smiles all round on Saturday at sport.  The weather was beautiful.  Sunny with a gentle breeze that stopped things getting too hot.

Farmboy’s football team absolutely thrashed the opposition giving them a great start to the year.  The A grade also won convincingly.  After both senior teams had a disappointing year last year, it was nice to start the year on such a positive note.

Lleyton’s team lost their game but he went on to play with the Senior Colts and they won so he was quite happy with his day.  Happy but rather exhausted having played nearly 2 full games of football!!!!

He’s number 3 again this year:

He also was awarded best player for his team so he was stoked with that.

After an extended shift in the kitchen (I didn’t end up leaving at the end of my 4 hour shift as they were busy), I wasn’t sure how I’d go with my game.  In the end I was happy with how I played.  And we won our game which was a nice start to the season.

Singstar Princess had an absolute ball with her game.  I was working in the kitchen so only saw about a quarter of the game.  The opposition were quite a lot smaller (and younger) than her team and I was really proud of the way she was looking out for her opponent and helping them know where to stand.  She’s a bit of a mother hen at times. 

Here she is playing Goal Shooter.  They rotate the positions a lot so she played in 4 different places throughout the game.

All in all, it was a lovely day and we’re really looking forward to our winter season of sport.  I think we’ll even be sad to leave it halfway through when we head off on our trip.  Only until we get out of town though!!!! 

Our old Ford Tractor with the post hole driver on the back.  Farmboy actually has a sideline business putting in posts and sometimes erecting whole fences.  It has been an absolute god-send through the drought years and in more recent times, the money he has earnt fencing has been earmarked for our “big trip”.

Oh yeah, and that’s me standing next to it, pretending like I know what I’m doing. 

Here we are against the new fence.  The kids helped roll the cyclone out with the help of their quad bike.  Such hardship when you have to ride a motorbike isn’t it???? :)  Lleyton then stayed behind and rode along carrying the staples while Farmboy banged them into the posts.  I tried but it was going to take me all day to get 1 staple in!!!!

I’m not sure how well you can see it but this shot shows the old fenceline.  It was pretty much made up of iron droppers with the occasional concrete posts.  Parts of this one were completely fallen over, making it pretty useless for keeping sheep in or out.

And this shot shows a little bit of the new fence line with the wooden posts.  It should be a lot more sturdy now and will hopefully last 50 years or so.  I didn’t quite get a matching shot of the above with the new fence.

I’m writing this in Windows Live Writer as I’m having trouble loading photograph’s direct to the blog at the moment.  I’m not sure what size these images are going to end up being when this gets published – hopefully not too small.  Let’s see…