And I thought my landlord was bad...

San Francisco landlords charged with tenant terror

• tried to illegally evict the tenants
• Cut the support beams to one tenants floor
• turned off the utilities
• cut phone lines

Kip Macy is accused of three felony conspiracy charges, three burglary charges, two stalking charges, two grand theft charges and one felony count of shutting off service, related to cutting Morrow's power. He also faces one misdemeanor vandalism charge.

Nicole Macy faces three conspiracy charges, three burglary charges, two stalking charges, two grand theft charges, one charge of cutting phone service and one count of misdemeanor vandalism.

Gak!

We picked up the keys at 10:30 and hung around the house for a bit checking things out. (Will Christian's loft bed fit in his room? - no. Do the bedrooms have overhead lighting? - yes.) The lawn guys were there, so we decided to wait a bit before we took stuff over to give them time to finish.

We waited three hours. It turns out that the landlord owns three houses in a row and ours is the middle one so they parked in our driveway. We parked in the driveway of the empty house next door... and then Christian noticed things in the back yard. Turns out? He rented the place sometime in those three hours and the people were already moving in. Ok, I know he didn't rent it in those three hours because believe me, this guy went over our credit report and references with a fine tooth comb, and as everyone knows, fine tooth combing takes three days, minimum.

So Marty and I run to the store for more cleaning supplies and while we were gone the new neighbors came home. I am sure they wouldn't want us parking in their driveway, so we circled the neighborhood. Lawn guys still there. Circled again. Still there. Four circles later, they were gone.

Marty and Ethan headed back to the apartment to pick up boxes while Alex, Christian and I stayed to clean. We got everything done except for the hardwood floors, basement floors and the basement bathroom. I am not sure who is going to clean that bathroom, but it isn't going to be me. The upstairs bathroom took me 2 1/2 hours. No, I am not kidding.

The upstairs bathroom has these lovely (gak!) pink tiles half way up the wall. I am willing to be that they haven't been cleaned in a year - or more. One bottle of cleaner later, and they were done. I still need to do the grout, though. Want a quick tip for dirty grout? Paint it. Yup. Just mix your paint with water (2/3 paint, 1/3 water), use a foam brush and run a quick line of paint over the grout. If the grout was sealed (which I doubt or you wouldn't need to repaint it) just sand it lightly. I can not even begin to tell you what a difference painting the grout makes.

Marty is going to head back over there tonight after work with a mop bucket and giant mop. Once the hardwood floors are clean we can start really moving things in. Let's just hope that he doesn't run into the carpet cleaners that are there sometime today.

Turns out? The previous renters? Chimneys. Yuk.

Keys

We are picking up the keys tomorrow. Luckily, Marty is off tomorrow so we can spend the day cleaning the new place and taking some of these boxes over there. Wait. Did I say luckily? I totally meant unfortunately.

We are going to rent a moving truck Wednesday the 7th and move the rest of the big stuff then. Once that is done we will come back here and clean. Good times. Good times indeed.

So, my to do list for the week is:
1) Finish packing
2) Clean new place
3) Move boxes
4) Continue to work on my German - Have I mentioned lately how bad my German sucks?
5) Possibly start to work on the new yard
6) That pesky school thing we do

I have all of this to do so of course I am sitting here playing on the computer. Not playing. Reading really important things. Yeah... that's it!

Picture from flickr

Weekly Menu - Grillin' & Chillin' Edition

This week is the last week we have to get ready to move, so it is all about quick and easy. Quick and easy around here means grilling, however uninspired it may be. I don't care if it does snow on Monday, my butt will be out there grilling.

Ok, I do care if it snows. If it does, rest assured that I will be in the corner in the fetal position weeping like the baby that I am.

Everything served with a salad, veggie and fruit.

4/27- Sunday
Dinner out - We went to a friend's First Holy Communion Mass, and then joined them out for dinner. He did great, by the way! :o)

4/28 - Monday
Italian Sausage, pasta (for those who can eat it)

4/29 - Tuesday
BBQ chicken

4/30 - Wednesday
Burgers - Maybe I will make one of these?

5/01 - Thursday
Smoked sausage

5/02 - Friday
Grilled chicken salads

5/03 - Saturday
Brats

Picture from flickr

Ack!

I am so done with this move. I just want to do it, already. If only there were people that I could pay who would be willing to come into my house, pack all of my crap and then move it. What a dream world I live in. Ha!

Packing is moving right along. Apparently, some of the boxes we grabbed were of the fuzzy bunny variety, because now you can't get through my garage. The van is full of them, too.

One of the puzzle ladies delivers a stack of newspapers each night. She goes around the complex gathering them from the other puzzle ladies.

We don't have that much stuff, people.

We are at that phase of a move where you have packed all of the stuff you can live without for a while... and then promptly wonder why you are keeping it. I mean, if you can live without it for 2-3 weeks, do you really need it? But I digress.

I broke down and packed the school stuff yesterday. For the next few weeks, we will be doing math and reading only. The boys were devastated, I can assure you.

I won't even tell you what my house looks like. I don't want to shatter the illusion that I am the Martha Stewart of mid-Michigan.

We are supposed to have thunder storms all weekend, so even more of a reason to stay home and pack. Unfortunately, I still have to take my happy butt to the clubhouse and workout. Why can't I just be one of those people who is perfectly happy being fat? Really. Nice self esteem. Thanks mom.

Tomorrow we are going to video archery (archery and video games all in one. How could they not love it?) and a first communion. And packing. Always packing.

I want my money - and I want it in 21 days?

One of the greatest things about living in a small town is just how fast the mail gets here. Nothing else moves fast, so why not?

We went to court on Tuesday and bright and early Wednesday the order of judgment was in my mail box. Basically, they have 21 days to pay me, or we go back to court. First, we file a Discovery Subpoena, which means that they have to come to court and tell the court the address (of corporate headquarters, I assume), what assets they have, where they are located, where they bank and any other information that the court deems necessary. Blood type? Astrological sign? I can only imagine...

After we get that information, the court will issue a Writ of Garnishment. Fourteen days after the writ is issued, the courts will take the money out of their bank account and hold it for 28 days, to allow for the defendant to object. Then, we get the money. All of this time the courts will charge the defendant interest, too. They would also have to pay our filing costs again. (The judgment was for damages + court costs.)

So now we wait. The popular opinion around here is that they will wait as long as they can to pay, and may even make us go for the garnishment, just to be jerks.

I think it is crap that they have 21 days to pay me. They lost. Waiting 21 days isn't going to do anything but make interest pile on. They should have been required to write me a check right then and there, but that is just my opinion.

So far, I have had three people ask me for copies of the pictures we took to court, so that they can file their own lawsuit.

As a side note, the maintenance man has been working his butt off since we went to court. Also, suddenly there were painters at the clubhouse today, painting what has needed to be painted for two years. We will see how long this lasts.

Back yard

I need your help!

Our new back yard is soft... very, very soft. So soft that I am willing to bet that and table and chairs put there would be swallowed up in a matter of days. If we want to use the back yard, we need to do something.

My brilliant idea was to build a deck. Not just any deck, mind you. Oh no! My deck is portable! Yup. When we move, we can just flip it over, un-carriage bolt it and load it into the truck.

Our 12x12 deck will be built in four separate 6x6 sections that will be carriage bolted to each other, for the full 12x12 deck. Four 6x6 panels are a lot easier to move than a 12x12 panel, that's for sure.

We priced it out at the only two lumber yards in town, Home Depot and Lowe's. (Lowe's beat Home Depot by quite a bit, by the way.)

So our 12x12 deck will cost us $446.45, including tax. Not bad for a deck that will last for years if properly sealed. Which by the way... did you know that you are supposed to wait a year or so to seal pressure treated wood? I sure didn't.

We priced 12x12 pavers, and just for the pavers it is $215. So we can spend just over double that and have something that we can take with us.

I am still not done, though. I am going to call a few concrete companies and the city to find out what they do with their big chunks of old concrete. You can make something thatlooks very much like flagstone using pieces of old concrete. If I can get my hands on enough, I might use it for my beds, too.

As for the gazebo. There is a nice one at Wal-Mart for $200 that we might purchase. I really want to make one with an idea I saw years ago, but have no idea where to get what I need. Wait... let me find a picture.

OMG! Look what I found! A picture of the gazebo and a broken concrete walkway.

So we have to decide... money or time? We can spend the money to buy the gazebo and supplies for the wooden deck and be done with it in a weekend. Or, I can spend time looking for concrete and a satellite dish, digging up the yard and laying the patio and then building the gazebo. Probably a 3 weekend job, assuming that I find the concrete and satellite.

The deck is $460 and totally portable. The patio, is gas for picking the concrete up + between $50-$100 for the supplies needed - and not portable at all.

The Wal-Mart gazebo is $200 and goes with us. The satellite gazebo would have to be sold or given away if we moved long distance because I am not going to even try to stuff a 10 ft. satellite into a moving truck!

So, my question is... Considering that we rent and have budgeted for the Wal-Mart purchases, what would you do?

I have decided to just repaint my current wrought iron patio set. It is comfortable, and I like it. The only complaints that I have are 1) the table top is mesh, so to do school out there you need something to wrote on and 2) there are only four chairs. I can repaint it with a few cans of Rust-Oleum and buy a darn extra chair that kind of matches.

I need boxes!

Someone jumped the gun on packing. I have exactly five plates, bowls, spoons, forks, knives and cups in my cabinets. God help you if you come to my house and want a drink. While I couldn't bring myself to do it yesterday - on Earth Day of all days - today I am headed to Wal-Mart to pick up some *gasp* disposable.

This is the first move in eight years that isn't long distance, and let me tell ya... I love it! I love the thought of just throwing crap in the back of my van and heading over to the new place. Since my box suppliers are falling down on the job (read: Marty's cooks keep throwing the damn boxes away!) that is probably a good thing.

So today was supposed to be spent packing, but since I am out of boxes I will just have to find something else to do. The boys keep asking if we can pack the school books, but of course those will be the last thing tossed into the van on moving day.

We Won!

Court was today. The closing statement from the magistrate who heard the case:

"The landlord has the obligation to maintain the property. That obviously wasn't done in this case. Sure, you might have to wait for parts, but to wait 6 month for a part? I don't think so. To wait 6 months to dry a wall before you can patch it? I don't think so. This is just inexcusable. Even if it does take that long to get a part, accommodations need to be made to the tenant, and that didn't happen. The bottom line Ms. X (the representative from our complex) is that they did not get what they paid for."

Weekly Menu - Moving and grilling edition

Most of my kitchen stuff is packed, so this week is all about the grill. Let's just hope it doesn't rain! I am also using up what I have, because even though we are only moving across town, the less I have to pack, move and then unpack the better.

Everything served with a salad, veggie and fruit. Boring, huh?

4/20- Sunday
Taco salad - Leave out the chips for those of us who can't eat them.

4/21 - Monday
Grilled pork chops - yum.

4/22 - Tuesday
Pizza pool party - I will make a small pizza for myself.

4/23 - Wednesday
Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki - I loved the pork souvlaki, so why not with chicken?

4/24 - Thursday
Key West crab cakes

4/25 - Friday
Parmesan chicken nuggets - This is the recipe from pork chops Parmesan, just using chicken instead. The boys loved the pork chops, so I figured we would try it.

4/26 - Saturday
Burgers on the grill

(Picture from flickr)

Packing and Moving

I love moving. Really! I love the newness and the excitement. It is just the packing and unpacking that I dislike. Oh, and the actual move its self. Not nearly as much fun as figuring out where to put the furniture and searching for the perfect curtains.

The plan is to pick up the keys at some point after next weekend. We will all head over there and spend a day cleaning, and then on spend a week of so moving the small stuff there. On one of Marty's days off we will rent or borrow a truck and move the big stuff.

I priced out the deck. It will be around $400... which isn't bad for something that we can take with us. See, I am a genius. I came up with the idea of making four 6 x 6 decks and lag bolting them together. That way, we have a 12 x 12 deck, but it can be broken down and moved with us. So... A new deck and planting beds for the the back, and I think only big planters for the front.

You might remember my stunningly artistic rendition of my plans for my front yard? Well, now I am not so sure that I want to do that. I think I might just use some big planters, so that they are portable. I just don't know how the landlord would feel about be digging up his front yard. I suppose he wouldn't mind if I used all perennials, but that would be expensive. Maybe I need to find a cheap flower supplier. Hmmm...

Today we are painting the door I bought at a yard sale last spring to use as a headboard. I really jump on projects, don't I? Once that is done we will be back to packing.

You know you messed up when...

You post on the Stella Style message board "What am I doing wrong?" and George Stella himself feels compelled to answer you not once but three times! I really think I need to do more reading. I read New Diet Revolution, but I guess I need to read it and the Stella books again. Sheesh I messed up. lol

House pictures

The house

This is what I want to do in the front. (Except that I think I want curvy beds and I can't do curvy lines.) The green in the back is where I was thinking of doing the herb garden.

The back yard, looking at the house from the back corner.

Looking at the back corner from the house. The perimeter is lined with small planters but I have no idea what is planted in them.

The "man cave" in the basement. We already picked up a freecycled couch, and have found a place to buy cheap carpet remnants. The boys want a refrigerator, but that isn't going to happen!

Mrs. Cunningham's kitchen.

The eat in part of the kitchen. I want to put shelves below the windows (but cover them so that it doesn't look junky.

Living room/ dining room. This is standing in the living room part looking at dining room. You can see the steps up the the upstairs bedroom.

Living room/ dining room, looking at the living room part. The little alcove type thing on the left is for the tv. The doorway in the back leads to the master bedroom and another. The door behind the tv alcove thing is the small bedroom... which is the only room in the house that is carpeted.

I won't bore you with pictures of the bedroom, but will show you the wall of closets with a built in dresser in the master bedroom!

The pictures are so bad because I had to take them with my phone. I have a lot of plans for the back yard, so once I get them on paper, I will post them here. The great thing about most of my plans are that they require just some hard work and very little money.

Anne

I am trying to email you and for some reason they have all come back as undeliverable. I replied to your email and even tried just using my address book. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. lol

The email about Tana? That sounds like a great idea! We will chat more about it when my email starts working again. :o)

The Limping Gazelle

Lately I have felt like a limping gazelle. We are still paying off debt... just not as quickly as we were. I feel guilty about that, but at the same time I feel guilty that my kids haven't gone on a real vacation in years. (Going to Ohio to visit family is great, but...) I feel guilty that we don't have as much crap as some of their friends. I feel guilty that I contemplated not going back to Ohio for my grandpas funeral because being there with him while he was dying cost us a lot of money and the thought of spending more scared me. I feel guilty about it all.

In totally embarrassing news: We bought a bed the other day. No, that's not the embarrassing part. I got a top of the line, $2000+ mattress at the scratch & dent section for $450 ($650 including frame and delivery.) I wrote a check. That felt good. When they came to deliver the bed and take my old one away, the guy said "I have been in the mattress business for 20 years and have never seen a mattress this bad! I am saving this and putting it in an ad!" They then proceeded to talk about the commercial, and even asked me if I would be in it. (I declined.) We all had a good laugh when I showed them where I had tried to fix the metal bar thing that runs around the outside and had poked through the material with zip ties. We all felt a little bad when I told them that my 2 year old niece cut her leg on a spring that was poking through the side. I laughed at them when they took pictures of my old mattress in the back of their truck with their cell phones, so that they could send the pictures to people who didn't believe them. (Still not the embarrassing part.) The embarrassing news is that the mattress has been like that for 3 years, easily. We didn't replace it because we wanted to put that huge amount of money towards debt. We could not bring ourselves to spend that much money on ourselves when we owed so much money. I only bought a new set once it got to the point that it hurt me to get out of bed inn the morning and Marty couldn't sleep.

So. I have been thinking a lot lately about this debt repayment thing. We owe less money total than a lot of people owe just on credit cards. We are not going to starve, we are not in danger of being homeless, we are not going to have utilities shut off. Paying just the minimum payments, our debt would be paid off in two years, anyway. Once we move, I am planning to get a job (We will be within walking/biking distance of the busiest street in town. dozens and dozens of places to apply). Marty is getting a descent raise, we are moving to a less expensive house. We will be ok.

I am just not so worried about it any more. We are not incurring new debt, and our debt should be paid by the beginning of next summer.

I am also thinking about buying new lawn furniture and one of those matching gazebo things. All told, it will cost about $450. Ours is old, but I could probab;y still sell it for $50 at a yard sale. (Not bad considering that we paid $200 for it 12 years ago! Gotta love wrought iron.) We need a new gas grill. (I know... define need, right?) I am taking my kids to Germany next summer. Heck... we might even take a vacation this summer.

I am thinking of bumping our emergency fund up a bit (maybe to $2500?) and then paying regular payments towards debt. Once I am working, half of my paycheck will go to debt, the other half to our trip.

Christian is 16 (17 in December.) We only have two years before he can move out, and I don't want what could be our last two years with him living here to be nothing but mom and dad working their butts off and worrying about paying off debt.

Maybe part of this comes from the fact that Christian is 16, and I was 16 when my dad died. Having a parent that died when I was so young always instilled in me the fear of working my butt off my whole life and then being too sick to enjoy it... or worse, dying before I can enjoy it. Maybe with Christian being older and "that age", it really hit home that life is short. Life is just too damn short.

So now I am a limping gazelle. And I am ok with that.

The compact - on hold

It is almost time to move. We pick up the keys in two weeks, and then will spend the month of May moving.

When I wrote our pledge at the beginning of the year I knew we were going to be moving, so I almost included moving as an exemption. I decided not to because we were planning to move from a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath apartment to a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath apartment. I wouldn't need anything. Now we are moving to a four bedroom house with a giant rec room (the "man cave") and a huge yard that I can garden in.

So anyway, I know that I am the only one that will make myself feel guilty for buying curtains to hide our nakedness (for example), but in the interest of full disclosure, I wanted to let everyone know. Of course, we will still continue to look for things used before we buy new, and of course, the Compact will only be "on hold" for those things we need for the house.

The sad/funny thing is that all of the things I need to buy are things that we Freecycled when we moved from our house in Detroit to our current apartment. Doh!

In the mean time - Anyone got a lawnmower they don't need? lol

Cross posted at Mamas on the Compact

Weekly Menu - When will the rain stop?! Edition

Seriously! We had better get some awesome May flowers for this. There is a chill in the air that just won't go away. I do love a good thunderstorm, though.

Alex asked to go back on SCD. I think instead of doing SCD with him I am going to just do the low carb thing. Over the years I have figured out what his trigger foods are, so we will just avoid them. If that doesn't work, we will go back to strict SCD. I am about 99% sure it will work, though. We had been doing pretty much low carb since stopping SCD and he had no problems. He was convinced that he could eat anything, and had no problem letting everyone know that. So I fed him pasta. I feel bad that I did it, because I knew it would make him sick, but he realized within minutes that he can't eat just anything. I am glad he was able to figure that out at home, instead of at a friends house, or a restaurant.

4/13- Sunday
Meat Lasagna (pg 114 LLC) - Basically lasagna without the noodles. People just rave about this so I just had to try it.

4/14 - Monday
Picnic pork roast - I have never in my life cooked or eaten one of these, but for 79¢ a lb. I couldn't pass it up. The butcher said he brines it with a little liquid smoke and then roasts it, so that is what we are going to do.

4/15 - Tuesday
We will have food at archery (last meeting) but I will have pizza (pg 58 LLC) at home just in case. The pizza crust made with soy flour, so it won't kill Alex. The jury is still out on me and soy flour, so this may be the deciding recipe.

4/16 - Wednesday
Mojo Chicken (pg 127 SS)

4/17 - Thursday
Pork chops Parmesan (pg 122 LLC) - I love Parmesan chicken so I can't wait to try this!

4/18 - Friday
Teriyaki Ginger Garlic Chicken Satay (pg 76 LLC),

4/19 - Saturday
Taco salad - Yum. Leave out the chips for those of us who can't eat them.

Gardens and Gardening

Now that we have a huge yard and a landlord that is ok with gardening I am ready to go. I love, love, love me a potager garden so of course that is the plan. A potager garden is basically a French garden that combines food and flowers. Over here we call them kitchen gardens, but potager sounds so much better.

So i have spent every extra second today online looking for potager ideas and I found the perfect plans! For free! W00t!

How to Build a Kitchen Garden

I am going to do the 4x4 beds because, you know, I know nothing about gardening. It is going in the back yard, as soon as I find a nice sunny spot.

There is also a spot right next to the kitchen door steps that I am going to turn into a mini-potager. I have no idea how big it is, but I am guessing 3x3? Of course, it is probably nowhere near that size.

If my camera hadn't decided to quit working, I would take a picture of the front of the house and show you what I am planning to do there. Basically I am going to wake a wavy border like Jeannine's (for those of you who know Jeannine) and possibly line the walkway with a wavy border. We will see how many plants I can get my hands on!

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I did it and just as promised, they deposited $25 into my account.

So for your free $25, click here:

Rotating Barrel Composter

Look at this!

Want to make one of your own? Rotating Barrel Composter

It looks like it could easily be built with scrap lumber but if you aren't lucky enough to have some hanging out just waiting to be used, it should be pretty cheap to buy.

Now I just wonder where you would get a food grade 45 gal. drum?

Indonesian Recipes

Here is what we had last night. I typed these as written, so if something doesn't make sense, let me know. My notes are in red.

Peanut Sauce for Sates
Peanut Butter - 1/2 cup
Lime Juice - 2 T
Hot Water - enough to thin the peanut butter to "dipping" consistency
Butter - 1/2 stick
Tobasco Sauce
A little brown sugar if desired

Cook - like gravy.

Fried Rice
Brown beef (diced) - 1/2 lb. Double amounts for dinner.
Add onion (small), 1/8 tsp. paprika, 1/8 tsp. Java Root, 1/8 tsp. salt, pepper, 1/8 tsp. Kemiri, 1/8 tsp. Sambal, 1/8 tsp. Ulek, (We left these things out) (Coriander powder if desired - just a pinch), 1 T. brown sugar, (garlic if desired).
Mix well, simmer.
Add cooked rice (cooked per instructions below), 1/2-1 cup shrimp, 1/2 cup green beans (French cut. Canned is fine.) 3 green onions (tops included). Mix thoroughly. Add 1/4 stick butter.
Mound on large plate or platter. Garnish with browned diced onions, omelet, surrounded with sliced cucumbers and wedges of tomatoes.

Instructions for cooking rice: Cook rice in coconut milk.

Coconut Milk
4 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 c finely shredded coconut (Shredded sweetened coconut from the baking aisle is fine)

Combine milk, water, salt, coconut in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook ten minutes. Strain. Yield - 6 cups.

(When you cook rice, you use 1 cup rice per 2 cups liquid, so for 6 cups of coconut milk you would use 3 cups of rice. You need to cook it on low heat, or the milk will scorch.)

Sates (Kebabs)
1 1/2 lb. beef (we used sirloin) - cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Put 5 or 6 cubes on each bamboo stick. (Be sure to soak the skewers first so that they don't burn.) Marinate for several hours in:

Soy Sauce - 1/2 bottle plus
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lime juice
1/8 t. garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 or 3 dashes Tobasco sauce

Grill kebabs.

Fried Cabbage
1 head of cabbage
2 or 3 tbs. salad oil
2 medium onions
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. sugar
soy sauce

Brown onions in oil, add spices, stir, then add cabbage, cut in strips, and keep turning it over high heat. When all the cabbage is moistened, turn down heat and simmer for about 5 minutes till flavor is well distributed. Soy sauce can be added to taste.

We got the house!!

The landlord was so impressed with us that he went to Marty's work this morning to let him know in person that he would be happy to rent to us! We are going to sign the lease next week and will move in sometime in May.

I can't even begin to tell you what a relief it is.

Ha!

ht to Carin

Good News!

The landlord for the house we applied to has called all three of our references (old landlord and two personal). He told one of them that we seem like the kind of family we would like to rent to, and told another that he had a very nice conversation with us and that we seemed like we would be good tenants.

Let me tell you about the house:

• 4 bedrooms (!!)
• Finished basement with a huge rec-room. The basement has a separate entrance, so we could use it as anything.
• Huge fenced in back yard that he doesn't mind if we garden in.
• Garage that we can use our garage door opener in.
• A 3 minute walk from the Community Center.
  
• Across the street from an elementary school, so there are play structures for when the girls visit and fields for the boys to play ball in.
  

So keep your fingers crossed!

Indonesian Food

Well, if it tastes half as good as it smells, I am hooked! We have everything prepped for tonight and will just need to grill the kebabs, assemble the rice and cabbage and fruit tray.

I would love to post pictures tomorrow but for some reason my camera just decided that it didn't want to work any more. You will just have to use your imagination.

I will post the recipes tomorrow.

Update about apartment

So, we got the court date moved to 4-22. I called the court and asked if we could move the date up. She said now, and when I said "Ok, thanks. I was hoping to because I am suing my apartment complex and they say that they won't fix anything until after court." She said "Really?? Hold on!" and came back a few minutes later having bumped the date up.

In my phone conversation with the complex manager I explained to her that she was using flawed logic. I took legal action because they weren't fixing things, and to say that now they aren't fixing things because of the legal action just didn't make sense.

She said "What is it you want from me, Krista?" I I said "I want you to do your f-ing job, Monica!" I shouldn't have said it but I was just so mad.

I explained to her that it was ridiculous that they treat their residents like this. Most of the people who live here are elderly and are afraid to say anything for fear of being asked to leave.

I also asked her why in the hell they think it is ok to treat people like they do. I told her that if I lived in government housing they couldn't treat us this way, and she sure as hell shouldn't do it now.

But you know, it is really pointless to argue with a $6 an hour apartment complex manager. She has already made it crystal clear that she doesn't care by lying to the guy from corporate. She told him that she was unaware of any maintenance issues. Right.

Anyone in Midland, Michigan looking for a place to live? May I suggest Birchwood Pointe Apartments?

Why yes! Those are uncapped wires with live current running through them. And yes! They are hanging from the ceiling in the pool area.

Nothing says home like this mess. This is under the light fixture that had the uncapped wires.
What? Your pool doesn't have a window falling out of the wall that birds come in through? You just don't know what you are missing!

I know you want some of this black mold we have. Isn't it great?

All of this and more can be yours for the low monthly fee of $1039. Oh, but don't forget your $10 longevity discount!

Nice

I just spoke with the complex manager and she told me that they will fix nothing in my apartment because we filed a lawsuit against them. Nice.

I was told that I have to wash my dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, and that the maintenance man said that my toilets do not run more than they are supposed to. Funny... he hasn't stepped foot into my apartment since the problem started.

The girls and their boat

My brother took the new boat out for the first time yesterday.



No good boat trip is complete with out a baby doll and Dora life jacket!

Weekly Menu - A funny thing happened on the way to healing - Edition

Ahem. About the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I am no longer following it... kind of. You can read all about it here, if you are so inclined.

Everything served with a side of vegetable, side of fruit and a salad.

4/06- Sunday
Jamaican Jerk Chicken, brown rice (for everyone else), black beans (w/ tomatoes, onions, cilantro and other good stuff) - Another winner from last week. I will be using breast tenders this time, so I think it will be even better.

4/07 - Monday
Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki - From Stella Style

4/08 - Tuesday
BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches (bun for them, nothing for me)- Archery night, so this will go into the crockpot

4/09 - Wednesday
An Indonesian feast! - One of the elderly couples that live here spent many, many years teaching in Indonesia and as a result brought back quite an array of recipes. About 15 of us are going to get together on Wednesday and Marty, Emily and I are going to cook us all dinner using Myrtle's recipes. (There is no way I am letting a 93 year old woman cook for that many people!) I have no idea what we are having, but I know it will be good! Pics and info ASAP.

4/10 - Thursday
Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce, brown rice (for them)

4/11 - Friday
Grilled Marinated Flank Steak - A repeat from last week. It was so good that I just had to make it again. Of course, when I tried to buy wine this morning at the cashier looked at me like I was an idiot and said "You can't buy wine until noon on Sunday." I almost abandoned the plan. Doh!

4/12 - Saturday
Grilled smoked sausage

A funny thing happened on the way to healing

Except for the vanilla debacle Alex and I were completely symptom free since we started SCD. Something I can say hasn't happened to me in 31 years. After almost a month of strict SCD'ing, I accidentally ate an illegal. And nothing happened. Hmmm... So I tried to eat a potato. And nothing happened. I slowly added things back into my diet. You guessed it... nothing happened. (Until I ate pasta. Nasty, nasty stuff.) So where does that leave me? I now have a list of things that I know I can't eat and if I avoid them, I am completely symptom free. Basically, no bread, pasta, soy, flour products, rice, sugar... you know, SCD without the fanatical adherence that is required.

Alex, by the way, has successfully added everything back into his diet without problems, as long as he sticks with moderation.

So while I can no longer say that I am following SCD, I am following SCD without having to worry about all of the hidden stuff so much. I can buy garlic powder in the store instead of making it. I can use splenda. I can eat pork injected with concentrated lemon juice (although, why would I want to? lol)

I don't know if whatever was/is wrong with me is "cured." As far as I am concerned, SCD is a lifesaver. I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to be able to eat at a restaurant without having to worry that it will cost you a day in bed, too sick to move. I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to be able to plan a big trip for next summer and not have to worry about a repeat of the last time I visited this place. (Yeah, I know. Cryptic. I will explain later, once plans are finalized.)

As a side note, I lost 12 lbs the first stinking week that I did SCD. How is that for a nice bonus?! Maybe there is something to this low carb thing... (Actually, I know there is. I know a handful of people who have had great success with weight loss through low carb. Not the old everything wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese low carb, but more like Stella Style or Atkins New Diet Revolution. Lots of fresh vegetables, lean protein, and not feeling deprived.)

Anyway, so that is where we stand now. The amazing thing about the human body is that it evolves and is an amazing healer. As long as this way of eating works for me, I will stick with it. I don't know how long that will be, but one thing I can guarantee is that I will never go back to being sick again.

Enough rambling. Time to celebrate!

Wonky Eye

For some reason my eye sprung a leak on Monday. Not sure what is going on but it keeps leaking and nothing will make it stop. At first I thought I was getting pink eye, but it never turned a horrid shade of red and doesn't goop up. Well, this morning it was a little goopy, but I think that was just because I wasn't wiping the leakage away. Not a clue. I tried non-drowsy allergy medicine last night and that didn't work, so tonight I tried regular old Benadryl and now I am ready for bed.

We filed our suit against the apartment complex on Monday, and got the notification today. Our court date is scheduled for May 6th. I know that they were served today, so we will see if they even bother to show up.

Speaking of my apartment complex, they are having all kinds of problems. Two people quit this morning, one a pool attendant and the other was one of only two office people. I guess they both left notes on the complex managers desk saying that they were quitting, and the office lady went in this morning long enough to grab her stuff and get the heck out. No notice, no nothing. Something is going on, but I have no idea what.

Other than that, it is business as usual. Everyone in town is on spring break... except for us. I have had 9million kids knocking on my door asking when the boys can come outside, and when I say that they aren't done with school I hear "But it is vacation!" Um... not here it isn't. Yes, I am that mean.

March Progress Report

Woohoo! Bought nothing new, and found everything that I needed used.

In March I found:
Plates - Have needed new ones for a while, and I wanted the white utility looking ones that Marty uses at work. We could have ordered them at any time but he forgot to in 2007, and of course in 2008 we couldn't buy them. A church must have gotten rid of theirs because my local thrift store had about 100 of them - 4/$2.40. I bought 12.

Juicer - On SCD I can't use any concentrated juice and we have been using a lot of fresh, so I wanted a juicer. Found a barely used one (might even be new, but since I bought it at the thrift store, I assume that it is ok...) for $4.50. Love it!

Lid for my Kitchenaid - You know... the Stand Mixer Bowl Cover thingy that they charge $15+ for? Found it at the Goodwill, rubber banded to a bunch of other things, and without a price tag. I helped the manager find the stuff that the other parts belonged to, so he gave it to me for 29¢! Score!

The Ugly Chair - Walking out of the thrift store yesterday I found my dream chair. A big, comfy, sink into it with a book chair. No price, so I walked in telling myself that I wouldn't pay more than $25 for it. (The really ugly chair next to it was priced at $49.99, so I was pretty sure I was going home empty handed.) When she said "How about $4.99?" I am pretty sure I giggled like a schoolgirl.

The picture does not do the chartreuse justice (Traditional chartreuse, not web chartreuse, thankyouverymuch.)

Even better than finding what I needed used is the big box of stuff ready for a yard sale or thrift store.

This post is cross posted at Mamas on the Compact

February Progress Report

Well, I am not sure why I didn't post this here on March 1st, so here it is.

Happy leap month! February was a good Compacting month. With the exception of the yogurt maker, there were no new purchases in this Compacting house.

We just got back from a week in Ohio (we live in Michigan) visiting family. Our niece turned four while we were there and her gift was a Compacting success story!

How many times can I say Compacting in this post?? Ahem... anyway.

Before

Take one $10.90 thrift store table and chair set, one 99¢ thrift store table cloth and what do you get? A funky table and chairs just made for a 4 year old!

After

How is everyone else doing?

Books I read in March

One of my 101 106 in 1001 is to keep a running list of the books I read for a year.
January's list
February's list

And I Don't Want to Live This Life: A Mother's Story of Her Daughter's Murder - by Deborah Spungen
More than enough : the ten keys to changing your financial destiny - by Dave Ramsey
The ultimate cheapskate's road map to true riches : a practical (and fun) guide to enjoying life more by spending less - by Jeff Yeager
The year of living biblically : one man's humble quest to follow the Bible as literally as possible - by A.J. Jacobs.
Lucy's Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ Cookbook - by Lucy Rosset
Eating Stella Style: Low-Carb Recipes for Healthy Living - by George Stella
1 Dead in Attic - by Chris Rose

Yeah, I know. Two are cookbooks. I am so counting them.