FreezeFest 2012

Last year, our friends, the Bickels had their first 'FreezeFest'. They decided the month of January was a good time to reflect on their spending habits as a family. During the month of January, 2011 the Bickel family put a self-imposed no-spending restriction in place. They liked the results, and this year asked if we'd wanted to join them. Sure! We decided FreezeFest 2012 would run from February 1-29. What does this mean for the Family Stro?

• no going out to eat. PERIOD. No after-church brunches, no Friday-night Tomaso pizza feasts, no Brewed Awakening coffee stops after Saturday morning basketball games
• no RedBox or Family video rentals, no early-show movie theatre trips
• no entertaining ourselves at Barnes & Noble with treats and a few books, or picking up the next chapter books for Willa and cooking mags for me at 1/2 Priced Books
• no lunches out or on the way back from the gym for Jamey
• no stops by Brewed for Monday Mocha (or Tuesday's latte or Wednesday's latte...) for me

We're in our third week and we've done pretty well. By far, it's had the most impact on Jamey and me. Jamey was typically eating out or picking up lunch 3-5 times a week prior to FreezeFest. A tray of sushi from the big HyVee or a Blimpie's sub on the way back from a noon workout were very common. Taco Tuesday at El Super Burrito was a standing date. For me, my theory of just one or maybe two coffees a week had lately turned into four-ish, or maybe five or six counting weekends. And by coffees, I mean the $4 cups consisting of a little coffee steamed up with lots of frothy milk, whip and syrups. 

Willa has expressed her dislike of Freezefest on several occasions, mostly when we've had to remind her why we aren't going out for pancakes after church or coffee after basketball. What I hope we're instilling in her with this little exercise (and ourselves) is that going out is a special treat and privilege. We'd become reliant on ordering a pizza or picking up meals from China Express on a night that seemed too busy or too tired to come up with our own meal. Now we're excited to remind ourselves what a nice treat it is to head to Tomaso's for a Detroit Deep Dish Mombo Combo.

I'm In!

The Pig is full. The Pigman Sprint Triathlon has already registered 900 participants. I'm one of them. Registration opened in December and filled within five weeks.

Let the training begin!

Music

It's time for a new workout playlist. This is the play list I've been running to since sometime last spring. I love it because:

• the acoustic version of "Babylon" by Sublime makes me feel like I'm going out for a run with some friends
• just when I'm getting a little tired, KOL pops on and kicks me up with "Genius"
• Charles Bradley gives me a cool down after a 5K, the Decemberists pick me back up and Mighty Mouse makes me feel like I could "float on" through the end of the workout.

+Missing:"Every Morning" by Keb 'Mo and  "Genius" by Kings of Leon 

On Coffees

For much of the hot summer my drinks of choice at Brewed Awakenings have included iced vanilla lattes and the cappacino smoothie (so delicious...really closer to desert than anything!).

This morning there was a breeze, a slight chill and the feeling that fall creeping in. I ordered a skim white chocolate mocha; not even my hot coffee regular! But the first drink, feeling the warm coffee and milk slide down my throat was like a warm welcoming hug from an old friend.

Just the idea of hot lattes and mochas makes ending summer seem not quite so bad.

Countdown

The countdown to school is on. Here are the things that will occupy us until the week of August 22:

1. Soccer Conditioning Camp: four intense nights of cconditioning for Willa.
2. Prepping for new faculty orientation and prepping for podcasting workshops at Coe
3. One more long weekend of fun with the Bickels at Treampealeou, WI

Summer Project No. 2

This is our newest seat for the front deck. I'm so bummed I didn't get a before picture! I'll try to describe it:

This was a freebie: neighbors Joe & Sylvia moved into a condo and randomly gave away little pieces of furniture and knick knacks. This particular piece was covered in approximately 20 coats of random paint splatters. Obviously a painting stool for perhaps all of the 32 years Joe & Sylvia have lived on A Avenue.

I contemplated leaving it as is and just applying a coat of poly. Paint splatters ranged from 1970s avocado and grunge gold to brick red, multiple shades of whites and a bit of brown. Instead, I spent a few hours with a sander trying to sand off enough layers to make the seat smooth.

After painting a base of chocolate brown, I gave red, orange, yellow and turquoise paint and free reign on design. A neighbor girl helped, and this is their creation. I love it! It works perfectly for an extra seat on the front deck.

Cost breakdown:

• stool: FREE
• paints: $4.99 for brown based, polyurethane and the other colors were already on hand

First Summer Project

I have a long list of projects for the summer. It usually carries over from one summer to the next; I think I've got items on this list that originated four or five years ago.

This is a bedside table project for Cam's room. I finished it in early June (but am late getting it posted!).

BEFORE:

 

Materials:

• Night stand: $10 on Craigslist
• Paint: free (found leftovers from other home projects)
• Hardware: re-used original hardware with a fresh coat of hammered nickel spray paint (also on hand from another project)
  

AFTER:

Cam is very happy with his new table. He stores lots of things in the drawer: marbles, stickers and various little cars. Every night, after we turn out the light, he reaches over in the dark and grabs a car out of the drawer.