Running out of Steam

OK, as most of my brilliant ideas go, I am losing fizzle and the time it takes to photograph and post every salad I eat is eating into my free time.  (Pun intended.)  Sooooo, I am going to keep eating or strive to eat at least 1 salad a day, but I'm not going to post them here unless they are new and exciting. 
I had romaine lettuce with tomatoes and Italian dressing twice and Catalina dressing once last week.  See?  That would be a bunch of repeat photos and I don't want to eat salad for the photos, I want to eat them for my health. 

I'll see you when I concoct something original or exciting.  :)

Mystery Salads

The two salads I am posting were not made by me, so I'm not sure what I ate.  lol

This is a Caesar salad of some sort, I think.

This is not a Caesar salad.  lol

Yikes, this is harder than I thought

Two days with no salads and 2 days with.  I DID clean some spinach and put it in a bowl yesterday, but I wasn't hungry, so thought that was dumb to eat when I didn't want food.  I am about to eat the spinach right now with some poppy seed dressing for today's salad.  Tonight we are eating at the cabin with the Blackman's and she is bringing a salad, so count that as one of my missed days.  lol  It's my rules. 

One of the two salad's was romaine, tomatoes and ham from Thanksgiving with a California Honey French dressing.

The second salad had romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers and turkey and I used an Italian dressing.

 And I am about to eat spinach for today, not fancy, but a salad, all the same.  :)

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Day 4 salad was at Los Patrones in Giddings and it was gross.  It was basically lettuce with ground beef on top and I won't be ordering that again.

 

 Day 5, 6 and 7 I ate a salad I call Nancy Rissky's Salad because that's who I got the recipe from.  It has baby mixed greens, julienne green apples, oven toasted pecans with cinnamon and sugar and feta cheese with a homemade dressing with maple syrup in it.  Yum. 

 

I will most likely eat it again today because I made a fresh bowl last night when we had our neighbors over for dinner.  There is quite a bit left.

Even though I repeated, I am still getting greens in everyday and that's what this is all about.  :)
 

Salads Galore

I am trying something new.  I read health books regularly and over and over they say, "eat your greens."  I try and actually enjoy them, but so many days go by where I don't have anything leafy at all.  Soooo, I'm going to blog about salads, with pictures, to help keep me accountable. 

I was going to try to make 365 different salads for a year and then I thought I might fizzle out on that.  I thought maybe I would try to make salads except when I went out to eat, but there are 3 meals in a day, so that's a cop out.  Then I started stressing about keeping up with it and I hadn't even started,  so I am going to try my best, without any pressure, to eat salad every day, any kind of salad as long as it's got leafy green in there somewhere.  And document it.  Here.

November 23 was the first day of my "Eat Salads Everyday Plan".  It included Romaine lettuce, spinach, red leaf lettuce, strawberries, mandarin oranges, pecans and feta cheese.  I used a Balsamic Vinegar Dressing to top it off. 

Day 2 I had Romaine lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and cucumber with a California Honey French dressing. 

Day 3 rolled around with Romaine lettuce, spinach, red leaf lettuce, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots and grilled free range organic chicken breast with a Honey Mustard Dressing. 

I am hoping my photography skills improve because these tasted a lot better than they look here.  lol  See you soon!

Child Care Woes

If you come to me looking for childcare and I try to work with you, try to make it fair and offer payment options and you keep looking for care somewhere else and not giving me an answer or even respond to my questions or friend request, if my rates aren't in your budget, but you ask me for later times and different scenarios and I try to appease you, but you still don't confirm, PLEASE don't string me along making me think I will be watching your baby.  I get excited, I get my hopes up, I start to think of the possibility of another baby joining us and when you finally do get around to tell me no, then I am in this funk like a mild form of miscarriage and it is upsetting. 

If you feel I am too expensive, even after trying to help you, have the courtesy to let me know.  If you feel a gym membership or a new car or eating out or whatever it is you do with your money is more important than good quality care for your baby, the most important person in your life, tell me and move on down the line.  You are wasting my time.

This was at the bottom of the last blog post.  I am putting it in here because this is how I feel.  And it's MY blog.  LOL

Child Care

I love babysitting.  I love caring for babies and seeing them happy, healthy, and content.  I was born to do this.  As a little girl, all I wanted was to be a Mommy.   I started babysitting at 12 years old, had my first child at 19 and at 47 years am still surrounding myself with babies. It's what I do.

I have to admit I have OCD tendencies.  I love making my daily lists of what everyone has done so the parents have no question about their babies day.   Every problem has a solution and every day has a basic structure and I love this. I feel accomplished, rewarded, loved and busy.  I love being busy.  I took 6 months off after I sold my bookstore and thought I was going to lose my mind.

I do have routine hang ups.  I want you here when you say in the morning, I want pick-up at the time you stated unless I am told ahead of time.  I want consistency, even if you have a fluctuating schedule, but most of all I want to know what to expect.

I believe what a person eats or drinks is a huge part of what makes a person healthy or ill.  It might not show up right away, maybe even 10 years down the line, but the quality of the food and water is so important.  I buy primarily organic, grow some of our own food and try to only eat meats that are humanely raised and hormone free.  I limit sweets, cook from scratch the majority of the time and blah, blah, blah. 

We eat healthy over here and it shows.  Sickness is almost non-existent and when they do catch a little cold, it is over quickly.  These are little people who have almost no say in what we feed them, they are counting on us to keep them healthy.  I LOVE feeding them 5 or 6 servings of fruits and veggies and seeing them thrive.  I just love it.  I care.

I do other little things, too.  I abhor plastic use in the microwave, I don't use antibacterial hand soaps to mess up their little endocrine systems, there are childproof latches and plugs all over my house, gates on the stairs, everyone has their own wash cloth and changing area, we don't share cups, we all have our own sleeping area and we keep to a routine.

I  feel babies need exercise and outside play.  There's something to be said for Vitamin D and fresh air and the opportunity to run crazy.  I need it, too. And if they didn't have a jacket that day and it was chilly, it's OK, I have spares for them to use.

I even like the toys and equipment..  I think nothing of buying climbing toys for the backyard, riding toys, puzzles, stacking toys, new cups, plates, bibs, blankets, playpens, high chairs, bouncers, swings, you name it.  They want to be busy, too.

I potty train, kiss their owies, scold them when they are misbehaving, teach them how to use a cup and utensils, worry when they aren't feeling well or having trouble with something, give them hugs and kisses and tickles, sing and dance with them, fix their hair, wash their faces and even wash their clothes sometimes.

You know, I act like a Mom. I treat them like I would want my children treated if I were needing child care.  

And I love them.

My rates are comparable to day cares out there, it might be a little higher than some, a little lower than others, but it's a fair rate. I'll try to work with you if your hours aren't 9-5 Mon-Fri, but I charge what I charge.  And frankly, I am worth it.  Not only am I responsible, but I love what I do.  I honestly love it and it shows in their happiness.  And the joy these kids give me is immeasurable.  They fill my heart.

I guess that's all.  lol  Now I feel like an ad, without the whining at the end.