Project 365 in 2008 - Photo of the Day 8

It was a beautiful day and, of course, I wound up taking more than one photo today so I will share my favorites.

This is my photo for the day. I wanted to take a photo of my calendar to share with you. Every year I use a day runner calendar that I purchase at staples. It hangs on the side of my fridge right near my desk. I like the fact that it has very big spaces to write all my activities. Last night I sat down and transferred all birthdays and anniversaries to my new calendar using my 2007 calendar as a reference using a red pen. It makes it stand out when looking at the calendar quickly. Everything else I write in pen or pencil. If something changes I either cross it off or I use white out if I'm going to write something else in. Normally, I just have one thing scheduled for each day but then there are days that I have numerous events so I will just put a line after each event separating and noting the time. My calendar fills up quickly with all the different groups I belong to (MOMS Club, MOPS, Triplet Moms, work, school and now the gym). When I note an event I write the time, event type, contact name and phone number. When it's time to scrapbook I just look at my calendar as I know exactly where the event happened. To the right of the calendar I have the gym schedule of classes so if I decide to take a class I can look on that schedule. At the bottom of the calendar is a strip of cork board where I put event cards for the month, doctor cards, sometimes even invitations for parties. Above my calendar is a box that you can only see part of in the photo. This box I use for my outgoing mail.

Now for my other photos of the day. The weather today was 65! Can you believe in the middle of winter we have spring like weather? After I picked up the kids from school we went out in our yard to swing on the swings and use the slide. The kids posed for me on the steps.














Not only did we play in our yard but we then had our monthly play date with the MOMS Club where we went to the park. When we got home Naomi was very tired. Here she is telling me she wants to go to bed. It was only 6 pm. Bedtime is normally 7 or 7:30. I just love this photo of her laying on top of her dress up box. Yes, she's sucking her thumb. She does that when she is tired.




While taking the photo of Naomi, Victoria wanted her photo taken too. She loves when I take photos of her and then she gets to see it on the screen afterwards. Digital cameras are the best invention. I love this photo because I was making her laugh and I just love how it captured the moment. Unfortunately, she had a messy face from McDonalds dinner. Yes, you read that correctly. My plan was a crock pot dinner. I did make one but when it was time to serve it I felt that my kids wouldn't eat it. So after our play date we drove through McDonalds and got hamburgers. Do you want to know what recipe I made in the crock pot that turned out yucky? I have the "Fix it and Forget it" cook book by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good. I made the recipe on page 190 called "Chicken at a Whim". I think my mistake was putting in the pasta as it said. The meal looked so mushy! Putting a note in my book not to make this recipe again.

Which brings me again to my problem of not having a meal plan! I really need to get on track with this so I can live in peace. But where do you start? I have a million recipes I'd like to try they are in books, torn out pages from magazines, and also on my computer. I tend to search on line for recipes as well. I find searching on line quicker than looking through all my books.

My problem is I shop and pick up meats such as chicken, ground beef, steak, sausage with no plan. Then one hour before dinner time I am frantically searching for recipes to make and relying on the microwave to defrost the meat. I can't seem to come up with a plan for the week. I don't have many recipes that I can say that I made many times. Maybe only a handful. I tend to make new recipes all the time because I can't find ones that are worthy of repeating!

Yesterday I came across a blog called I'm an Organizing Junkie. She does meal planning each Monday. I'm going to give it a try. Even though I'm starting this a day late. Actually I'm going to add the 2 days I already did and continue on. Wish me luck.



Mon - Sweet and Sour Meatballs (Favorite Recipe of husband's) Posted recipe earlier this week on my blog.

Tues - "Chicken at a Whim" recipe on page 190 of Fix-it and forget it cookbook by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good (crock pot recipe). Turned out bad read above. So McDonalds was our meal.

Wed - Sliced Steak Pizzaiola (flank steak) (New Recipe) Serve with pasta and salad.

Thurs - Broccoli and Sausage Cavatelli (sausage new recipe will make with spaghetti)

Fri - "Chinese Takeout" Lemon Chicken - Food and Family magazine Fall 07 (New Recipe Chicken)

Sat - Beef Bruschetta Skillet (Beef Stew New Recipe)

Sun - Kathy's Delicious Whole Slow Cooker Chicken. (This is one recipe that I have made numerous times) We serve it over rice. It's very good. It's really the only crock pot recipe that we really liked so far!

Snacks - Marinated Feta Cheese (new recipe spread for crackers) Make ahead as it takes 24 hours to marinate.

This took me over an hour to put together. Sure hope some of these recipes are good.