We Are Crazy

So, with about 4 months left, we have decided to redo our backyard. Told ya we are crazy. Nuts. Insane. What are we thinking??

With me feeling better, the house has slowly gotten cleaner and back to normal. YAY! Brian wants a vegetable garden. By next week. Little ambitious, but I'll take it! I don't think it'll get done til the end of March, if it gets done at all. We have to take down the hot tub/deck/lattice and that will take several people, several power tools, lots of energy and time. And since we have feral cats that like to make a nest under it, I can't help. (Darn!)

As for me, I'm growing outward and more rapidly than weeks past, which is kind of neat and kind of scary. I'm finally working on my list of things that I've always wanted to do, but never had any real motivation... until now.

The list includes things like:
** stop buying commercial cleaning products. They are expensive, have harsh chemicals, and are unnecessary. You can clean just about anything with hot water, vinegar and baking soda (different recipes for different chores...). So the goal here - use up everything I already have/give it away and stock up on vinegar and baking soda.

** make my own laundry detergent. Same reasons.. they are expensive, have harsh chemicals and are unnecessary. I already use vinegar as a fabric softener and it gets rid of nasty smells. I'm going to use (*gasp because I think she's nuts, but she does have good recipes*) Michelle Duggar's recipe. It's 3 ingredients and will yield 40 loads of $2. Tide - 32 loads is $14.81 at Sam's. Ri-dic-u-lous!

** make my own dish washer detergent - same reasons as above. But, I have to find a recipe. The first one I ran into looks similar to the laundry detergent recipe, which kind of doesn't surprise me.

** make my own bread more regularly. I already do this, but it's just when I get a hankering for some homemade bread... otherwise, we have the store bought stuff.

** use more veggies. Until we get our garden going, we are considering joining a veggie club with another couple. It may or may not be cheaper than the grocery store, but it may expand our narrow palette of veggies we like. Also, we'd be supporting local farmers, which is always a good thing! And, if we get really lucky and they aren't lying to us, the veggies will be organic (I'm always suspicious of this since it's not regulated).

** cook more from scratch... get away from processed foods as much as possible. With me possibly (probably) becoming a SAHM, this is a must. We'll be losing an income until I can get my freelance built back up. Processed foods are expensive and honestly, if you read what's in them... gross. The good thing - My MIL cooks A LOT from scratch, as does my grandmother... so I have 2 great people to learn from.

Yep... it's official. I've entered the "nesting" phase! :-D