Making My Own Stuff

My home made granola! (recipe)

There's something satisfying and self sufficient about making things instead of buying them over and over. And, it comes in very handy during Frugal February! For the past year or so I've been making my own granola and yogurt. I also recently started making flavored syrups for the soda machine (ginger orange is my favorite so far, followed by the basil flavor). As I run out of cleaning supplies I've been trying to find simple, home made replacements. That has led me to making citrus vinegar cleaning spray, make up remover, dishwasher soap, foaming soap (a great success!), stain remover, "windex", and this weekend I finally got to make laundry detergent which I'm really excited about! So far everything has worked really well, except for the dishwasher soap, I'll try another recipe once I use this one up. Other things I'm going to try my hand at are fabric softner/dryer sheets, shampoo, and deodorant (yep, I'm going there). What pleases me the most is how much I've reduced the amount of packaging I bring into my life. Oh, and it's pretty frugal - the laundry soap ends up costing about $2.00 for 140 loads!

Use it Up

my daily reminder, on the inside of my bathroom cabinet

When I was planning my move from a 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment I knew I would have to scale down. I thought I had been careful and selected just what I needed to live my new life alone. Now that I've been in my new space for a year I realize that I still have too much, I have things that I don't use, that I am waiting for the right time to use, that I need to find so I can use, that I need to fix before I can use, or that I forgot that I had so I bought another one to use. So, live it up and Use it Up is my theme for this year.

My challenge for February is that I'm not purchasing anything that isn't gasoline or food. Friday I drove from Austin to Dallas and thanks to my challenge I realized that I make little impulsive purchases when I'm on the road. Mostly I buy snacks and drinks whenever I fill up with gas. I also like to buy postcards sometimes, and little trinkets from travels. Of course the drive from Austin isn't exactly "travelling" so that wasn't too hard to give up, and since it was Day 1 of the challenge I wasn't tempted to buy any snacks or such. Not that I had thought ahead, but I did happen to have a bag of deliciously sweet tangerines from a roadside stand in the Rio Grande Valley.

Saturday was my friend Libba's 60th birthday and I made her a necklace with 60 different beads - I had the chance to USE UP 60 different beads AND one of the many many cards I have stashed away. I have so many it would take years to give them all away, I better get to writing! And, I had my first slip up - I purchased a $3 car wash. I really didn't feel like I was cheating because my car was filthy from the road trip to Corpus/McAllen/Austin. Since I'm purchasing household cleaning products, if I need them, I kind of see my car as an extension of my household and it needed cleaning badly. 

Then today I went to the grocery store and bought enough food for breakfast, lunch and dinner all week. I have a standing breakfast meeting with my two staff members on Wednesday morning. Instead of eating out, I'll be inviting them to eat breakfast with me at my place. Not sure if that will exactly be a cost savings for me, but it will be a nice change of pace.

The World's Slowest Blog Returns

Ok, so I was back for about a minute in 2011 and then lost the thread of this blog again. In my defense, a lot has happened offline in the last few years. When I came back to the blog it was poignant to see the last entry was about my parents 50th wedding anniversary. In the two years since their anniversary I got divorced, moved to Denton, Dad got cancer, and sadly died almost exactly one year after his diagnosis. Any one of those could bring a person to a place of introspection - all of them together have taken me through many emotions and moments of deep reflection.

In this spirit of reflection I've undertaken my first ever new year's resolution. I've never made resolutions, not that I didn't believe in them, just never found one that really caught my attention. Mostly I've always hated unfinished projects, and resolutions just seemed like unfinished projects in the making. But I do love me some reflection, and have always wanted to find an inspiring resolution that would challenge me. I've long admired my friend David for setting a theme for himself each year. When I read the Happiness Project books I liked how she detailed her intentions in monthly challenges to herself.

Over the holidays I thought about intentions, inspirations and motivational words that I'd like to surround myself with. I've always loved quotes, poems, and, inspirational writings and thought it would be fun to have little notes tucked around my apartment that could remind me of what I feel is important in life. The first one that came to mind was "Use it Up" - which I wrote on a slip of paper and put on the inside of the cabinet door. After seeing it every morning for a week I realized it was the perfect resolution / theme for the year.

I took the month of January to really think things through and figure out my monthly challenges. The more I thought about it the more I felt excited about the possibilities, and the more this theme really settled in. I'm so glad to truly get started now in February with the first monthly challenge. It's "Frugal February" - yay for the shortest month of the year :) where I will be spending money only on gas and groceries (well, other necessities such as toilet paper and rent too).

Happy Anniversary!

It's been ages since I posted on the blog - am baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!! So much has happened, but I'll catch us up a little....Let's start with April 7, 2011. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary - wow! It's so admirable to know people who have been married to each other for 50 years. It's extraordinary to know a couple who has not only maintained their marriage for so long, but still clearly enjoy each other's company. They still laugh at each other's jokes. They miss the other when they've been apart for a few hours. They come up with new nicknames for each other. Last summer my mom was "Mamakutsi" and Dad was "Ra" all summer because they listened to the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency stories on tape on their drive to Wyoming. I've tried many many times to take their pictures, but my Dad always looks like he's mad and my mom looks like it's a mugshot. This time (above) I snuck up on them - with a big daddy lens borrowed from my friend Shawna. I was standing about 50 feet from them which allowed my Dad to pretend he didn't see me taking a picture of him, and my mom is basically thinking "what is she doing?", SNAP!

Cambodian New Year

Cambodian New Year
Originally uploaded by carladallas

For years we've been fortunate to be invited to the Cambodian New Year celebration at a local Cambodian Church. It's a joy filled, delicious, fun event with so many great memories for the girls. This year Sofia brought her boyfriend Elliott and they all participated in various games and activities and enjoyed the great food! I'm so grateful to my dear friend Sophana Kim for always including us in this wonderful Spring celebration.

Crawfish Town USA

Crawfish Town USA
Originally uploaded by carladallas

I went to Louisiana for a conference and added a weekend with my family--it's the first time in years and years I'd gone alone. I had a great time visiting with my friend Renee and family in Baton Rouge, then with everyone at "home" in Lafayette. On my drive to Lafayette, from Baton Rouge I stopped at CRAWFISHTOWNUSA! May I say, it was absolutely delicious--I ate a super fresh fried crawfish po'boy, and drank an ice cold beer, woo hoo! It's the Henderson exit, 1/2 mile off the highway if you ever get the chance.

Our personal college tour

Our personal college tour
Originally uploaded by carladallas

My parents were in town this weekend. We had a chance to spend some time together so long as we worked around the busy social calendar of two teenage girls. On Saturday morning, before the girls could slip off we took a little drive to see UTDallas and walk around the campus. We pulled up and it looked SO different from what it was when I took classes there. It seems a lot less "commuter school", especially now that they are building a dorm, 700 freshmen will be moving in to the state of the art residence hall in Fall 2009--including my little girl. We're so proud of and happy for her--UTD offered her a 4 year full tuition and fees scholarship, and $2,000 on-campus housing allowance. It will be nice to have her close by, yet on her own too. May will be here before you know it!

Thank You Mom and Dad!

I'm not much of a shopper. About the only time I dedicate to shopping is during the holidays. Once I'm out and about though I seem to find all sorts of goodies that I'm secretly hankering for. It was so much fun to go back to one of my favorite stores after Christmas (Whole Earth Provision Company rocks!) and buy something for moi! No heels, no pointy parts, just earthy crunchy comfortable cuteness! May I add that they are very warm and pretty much match everything I own!!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Book with Wings

Book with Wings
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

I got a bunch of books for Christmas!!!! I already finished the first one, The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. All this free time after Christmas allowed me to do a lot of relaxing, ie reading. Shawna gave me two books, I've already started one...it's about a knitting club and I'm totally into it already! All you booklovers, check out the website goodreads.com, and if you enroll let me know and we can add each other as a friend. It's a cool way of learning about new books, rating books, seeing what your friends are reading, etc. www.goodreads.com/review/list/902823?shelf=currently-reading

I did make time last Sunday to have an art date with myself. I went to The Modern Museum in Fort Worth, where I snapped a pic of one of my favorite pieces there (Book With Wings, Anselm Kiefer). I've been getting out and about snapping pictures, and enjoying the cool weather.

To see my most recent pics, as well as shots of the girls, family, etc. check out my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlamarieweir/

THE HALLACAS ARE READY!

THE HALLACAS ARE READY!
Originally uploaded by Shawna:)

Yesterday we had an Hallaca marathon--from 9am-2am this morning we were knee deep in plantain leaves and hallaca makings. The hallaca heroes are Sofia and her friend Kim, who worked from dawn til dusk! The final count was 107, including 12 vegetarian ones and 15 "bollos". The bollos as the hodge podge of what's left of the ingredients, made into a mixed up batch at the end. We had helpers in two shifts and really appreciated everyone coming out to lend a hand! Today Gloria came to clean the house and we're officially ready for the party tomorrow. All we have left is to buy the champagne and make the chicken salad. My goal for tomorrow is to enjoy the evening outside, by the fire. It should be a perfect and chilly evening. Happy New Year everyone!

Reconnecting

Reconnecting
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

One of the things I love about the holidays is seeing people you love, who live far away or you don't get to connect with often enough. Ricardo called the Baques when we were in Lafayette and we had a nice visit with them on Christmas day. It had been over 20 years since Ricardo saw them. He and his sister Lica were sort of adopted by them when they were in college. In fact, they were the ones that took Ricardo out for a celebratory meal after attending his college graduation. All those years past and when we went to visit it was as if it was only yesterday, that's when you know the friendship is genuine. I also got to visit with Renee and her family in Baton Rouge. I did have a regret though, our neighbor Judy LeJeune died after Thanksgiving. She was one of my "grownup friends" during high school, the kind you could talk to and know she would give good advice without judging. I hadn't see Judy in years. Over Thanksgiving I thought about her one day while walking the dog around the neighborhood, but we were only staying two days and I knew time would run out, so I thought "I'll visit with her over Christmas". When we were leaving the Baques and I heard Ricardo tell Don and Cookie, "Thank you for your friendship. It meant so much to me when I lived here." I thought of Judy and how I never made the time to tell her that.

Traditions in Transition

Santa Returns
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

Merry Christmas everyone! Like everyone else, our Christmas traditions, like everything in life, have evolved over time. Some of the things we used to do when the girls were little have kind of fizzled out (stockings, Santa's gifts Christmas morning), or morphed into something new (they used to make gifts for their "tias", ie. Janet, Renee, Shelley, etc.--this year Hannah has been crocheting a bunch of really cool scarves for her friends). And then there's the cooking. It just wouldn't be Christmas without turning our kitchen into a major restaurant operation. Last year we made Hallacas for the first time, MAJOR, and Sofia and Ricardo really really want to make it again so we're foregoing the traditional deboned turkey in favor of making over 80 Hallacas, yikes! Speaking of last year, my brother made very clear to me over Thanksgiving that if we forgot the girls' gifts this time I was "on my own"--I still cannot believe he drove me to Dallas and back in one turn....so the girls would have their gifts under the tree.

This year we really simplified gift giving and house decorating. It seems the whole world is scaling back. It just doesn't feel right to be lavish this year. I was reading one of my high school journals the other day and found my description of the gifts I received: a sweater from my parents, a set of hankies from my best friend Veronica, lotion from her sister Victoria. Even I was surprised by the modesty of our gifts. Christmas has become this massive shopping operation, well...not here, not any more. Now that I've scaled back, I know I won't go back, it just doesn't make sense!

Parranda 2008

Santa Gets His Groove On
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

Our Parranda Venezuela Christmas season is winding to a close. As always, it's been a huge part of our life, starting in October with weekly practice, through the jam packed holidays with presentations up to 3 times in one week. This is the second year that I've taken more of a back seat, no longer singing and serving as just a contact and supporter (and enjoying it as an audience member). This gives me a chance to be the group photographer. Hopefully in January once I take the little workshop on my camera (a year after buying the camera...) I will learn some lighting techniques that will help me take better action pictures.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and Happy 2009!

Taking your picture for my phone

Taking your picture for my phone
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

“Why are you wasting time reading that book when you could be checking your Facebook?” I bet you don’t imagine yourself asking that question! Trying to control your teen’s seemingly endless opportunities to chat, IM, text, call or email is mission impossible. And now for the good news, maybe it’s ok that they can text faster than you will ever type.

According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy “Teenagers who spend hours online socializing are sharpening their ability to handle 21st-century communications”, based on a new study by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago.

“It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it’s on MySpace or sending instant messages,” said Mizuko Ito, who led the study of 800 young Web users for MacArthur. “But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They’re learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.”

Let that sink in...shortly afer our seniors in high school were born practicallly everyone had cell phones, before DVD’s, CD players in cars, a computer in almost every home or wifi / internet in coffee shops! The shocking pace of technological changes is normal to them.

In their reality--you don’t have to memorize anyone’s phone, that’s what caller ID is for. You can watch what you want, when you want with TiVo, DVD’s and 24 hour cable. To them, life without cable is like a combination of child abuse and lack of indoor plumbing--cruel and untenable (parents MUST be lying when they say that they only had 3 networks growing up and that their parents got to choose what the family watched on their one TV).

So, next time you tell them “you spend too much texting/surfing/emailing” go ahead and add “and don’t make that face, it will freeze that way”-- even though neither may be true you’ll be upholding a long tradition in parenting.

(Article written for the PTA newsletter, TAG High School)

Fall in Wyoming

The Mamas
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

I'm visiting Wyoming for a few weeks. Sneaking in the summer vacation I didn't get to have this summer. This fall visit may become an annual visit though. For one thing, I'm closing down the cabin for my parents. Yes, this is the first year I'm going through with the full close out on my own. Another reason, the fall is a spectacular time to visit. It's full of dramatic weather turns, cloudy one moment, snowing the next, and then beautiful and warm sunshine. It's a pleasure to see such familiar views under light dusting of snow. The quality of light is different, and of course the vegetation and animals look different too. Lastly, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet around here, without droves of rv's, cars and motorcycles barrelling down the highway in front of our cabin. It is hunting season right now so there are a lot of orange hats, but that doesn't really affect me much other than a crowd at Dirty Annie's, otherwise they get up so early and are up on the mountain all day, way off the roads.

I brought Apra with me, to keep me company and give her the opportunity to see another part of the US she's never been to. My parents were here for a few days before we arrived so they two mamas got to spend some time together, swapping stories, recipes and bragging about their children.

Taking your picture for my phone

Taking your picture for my phone
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

I feel so old saying this...things were SO DIFFERENT when I was a kid! I know that I was constantly on the family phone when I was a teenager, it's part of the family lore--especially the time when my dad left for the office one Saturday morning walking over me sprawled on the floor, talking to my boyfriend...and returned many hours later to find me exactly where he left me. Still, I wasn't CONNECTED to the phone in such a personal way. The girls stress out if they don't have their phone on them at all times, and are constantly checking messages, sending texts, taking pictures... we even have (way too many) rules about phone use, in an effort to curb its overwhelming presence. 1) no phone at the dinner table, and no I don't care who is calling, 2) no phone after 10pm, and no I don't care who is calling, 3)if you don't answer MY calls, I'm taking up your phone.

Cupcake Madness

Cupcake Madness
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

We were going to have a nice birthday get together last Saturday, but the hurricane-like weather prognosis made us decide to cancel. When the weather turned out fine, we decided to have a mini-get together of just us Virgo's...in this case Kim, Sofia, Tristyn and myself. I sold a picture and bought myself a cake pan that makes ONE GIANT CUPCAKE, as a birthday present to myself! Our first try was a bit of a disaster because I was not very patient in letting the cake cool. You can see how we have a ribbon tied around it to hold the thing together...It was DELICIOUS though, and the cupcake was perfect for this little team of Virgo's.

The Sophomore and SENIOR!

The Sophomore and SENIOR!
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

It's going to be a VERY BUSY YEAR around here! I can't believe I'm the mother of a 16 and 17 year old, the parent of a senior, and drivers! Yikes, what happened? Here are the girls on the first day of school. For the first time ever, Daddy got to be the one taking the traditional picture on the front step of the house. This year I had a meeting I could not get out of, and had to miss the first day of school. I'm pretty sure I was way more upset about that fact than the girls were. Luckily Ricardo figured out a way to get to his school super early (a very busy day for him as you can imagine) and then rush back to the house to snap the pic and take them in to school. Don't they look beautiful?

Sunset on Summer

Waning
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

School starts on Monday. There's a flurry of socializing and listmaking going on around here. Somehow, even though staying in Dallas was supposed to make summer last longer, it still flew by and now it's over....

Hannah starts her senior year, and Sofia is a sophomore. We've been reading up on various colleges, and even took a drive to New Orleans this summer. Somehow, even though it seems inconceivable, between now and Spring it will be decided...where Hannah goes to college! Yikes....

Drive or No Drive

Drive or No Drive
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir

The girls are taking drivers ed this summer. As usual, they are so different in their approach to any task! Both of them want to know how to drive, but only Sofia wants to *learn* how to drive. After the first few days Sofie had pages of notes, and Hannah has a really accurate drawing of the teacher, and funny quotes from his "lectures" ("if you need to ligurgitate pull over"), perhaps this is a helpful hint for drinking and driving? I'll have to look up "ligurgitate" though, that's a new one.

We have no plans to purchase a car for these fabulous up and coming new drivers. For now, the girls of the house will be sharing one cute little volkswagon beetle...although I do have my eye on a vespa....