1928 Bungalow

meal planning follow up

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Overall, I think we did pretty well in August by planning meals and doing most of the shopping in one big trip. But toward the end of the month, I did find myself going, "But I don't want to make vegetable soup tonight!" and then my leftovers for the week (which were usually intended to go into another planned dish) ended up not existing and the whole week was thrown off. We didn't get take out very often, so in that regard we did well. And doing all the meat shopping for the month was great--we didn't run out and we actually have some left over! A pork loin, 8 boneless chicken breasts, two pounds of ground beef, and a pound or two of smoked sausage are all still in the freezer, giving us a good head start into September. We ate a ton of eggs, it seems, and even though I bought two dozen at a time, I think we went through 5-6 dozen over the month, maybe more! We did make cookies and some other unplanned treats, so that accounts for some of it. And breakfast for dinner on one night, too.

For September, I have gone through the pantry and the freezer and made an inventory list of what we have on hand--the one thing I didn't do before making last month's meal plan. So I plan to use that inventory along with my recipes to make plans for the month. I think I'll make a more generic plan for the weeks toward the end of the month, like Pasta Thursday or Meatless Monday or even Big Home-Cooked Meal Saturday, and maybe that will let us add some variety in later on. I kept thinking of things we hadn't had in a while or finding things in the pantry that I only had some of the ingredients for (like lasagna--three boxes!). We have a ton of rice and pasta on hand, so I need some good recipes for rotini and penne, like a good baked pasta. When I get my plan in place, I'll post and let you know how it's going.

adventures in meal planning

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:13:00 +0000

I remember when I was single...I'd have things for dinner like goat cheese, brie, crackers, and peppered salami...at 10pm at night....with a beer. One of my greatest fears before having kids was that my kids would starve, since I am not known for following a schedule with precision. I remember thinking, "Wow, I'll have to PLAN dinner and have it ready at a certain TIME?! And have VEGETABLES?!" The girls are two now, and dinner is at 5:30pm, maybe 6pm at the latest, and it actually seems easy compared to mixing formula non-stop or pureeing veggies, and the schedule itself has eased up as well from the newborn days. We've been making an effort to eat at home more to save money and to eat more healthily, but I've discovered unless I have a meal plan in place, suddenly it's my nightmare come true--it's 4:30pm and I have no idea what's for dinner, and everything is frozen solid. (Actually, my nightmare is that it's 10pm and I realize the kids are not only still awake, but starving and screaming. Actually, any one of those three things at 10pm is pretty much a nightmare.)

I've been doing here and there, kind of casual meal planning for a few months now. I dove headfirst into a ton of get-it-on-the-table-quick-and-cheap-and-organic-from-our-freezer-and-basement-stockpile-that-I-bought-solely-with-coupons-and-grew-with-my-own-hands kinds of books and was--of course--overwhelmed. So I picked a few things out that made sense and started there.

Plan meals for a week or more at a time
Make a list from those recipes
Stockpile if on sale and you have coupons
Make certain parts of the meal ahead (if you are baking chicken tonight, cook an extra piece for tomorrow's jambalaya and you're 20 minutes ahead of the game
Choose recipes that are easy and use ingredients you usually have on hand

This month was my first attempt at menu-planning for the whole month, taking all those recipes and making a master list for the month, and shopping according to store sales. I organized the list by food type and store layout as much as I could remember (I don't always go to the same store and it slows me down). I used a Mom type calendar that I already had (and which had a space labeled "Chow" at the bottom of each day, and used the stickers that came along with the calendar (supposedly to write things down like "Johnny's soccer practice" or "Susie's violin recital") and wrote as many of our favorite meals on them as I could think of, in multiples. So the sheet of labels looked something like this:

meat loaf
meat loaf
meat loaf
pesto pasta w/chicken
pesto pasta w/chicken
pesto pasta w/chicken
red beans and rice
red beans and rice
red beans and rice

Then I pulled off labels and started sticking them onto calendar days, paying attention to how many times we had a particular meat each week and what could be used as leftovers from one dish and turned into something else (baked pork loin turned into soft tacos a few days later, for example). This sounds like a bit of a pain, but it saves me from having to write it as I go along next month, AND it means that I can swap things around if I decide on Tuesday that I really don't feel like making vegetable soup. Swap it with Thursday and--presto changeo--we can have easy pasta tonight. I threw in a few new recipes and some old favorites, and on some days just put something vague like "Fish." I considered making it more simple and just saying Mondays are pasta night or Meatless Monday, but that didn't help me make my grocery list, although I may revisit the idea in the future.

So far the month's menu looks something like this:

Monday: Chilaquiles (a new recipe from an AJC book, apparently there is also a website!)
Tuesday: blank (family in town for dinner)
Wednesday: homemade pizza (the girls love to help)
Thursday: fish (to be announced...turned out it was frozen salmon from Trader Joe's) and spicy coleslaw (a new recipe I'd found)
Friday: dinner out (Brandon's birthday)
Saturday: linguine with slow-cooked zucchini, basil, and cream (also a new recipe)
Sunday: LO pasta (LO=leftover)
Monday: baked chicken and squash
Tuesday: jambalaya with LO chicken
Wednesday: LO jambalaya and other assorted leftovers
Thursday: homemade meatloaf with veggies, mashed potatoes (homemade), and zipper peas (fresh frozen)

I have a too-small budget of approximately $275 each month for food, household supplies, and baby supplies (we use cloth diapers but disposables at night and when out). I usually hit closer to $400, which is a more reasonable amount if we could afford it, but this month's careful planning has made me more aware of things we could cut out and things that we should buy instead. Since I didn't plan most side dishes with the meals (thinking I could play it by ear), I ended up with too many fruits and veggies at the beginning of the month and am starting to run low on some here at mid-month. I spent $250 at Kroger on the majority of the groceries, and another $48 at Wayfield (our closest store--nice staff but a limited selection) for meats. But we're already running low on fruit, spinach, lettuce, eggs, and half and half. So next month I hope to plan out a few sides and not blow my whole fresh fruit/veggie budget at the beginning of the month. I also hope to get the veggies either at the local farmer's market (first one, this weekend!) or at the DeKalb Market, which has great prices on fresh vegetables.

Side note: I buy organic when I can afford it but have had to let some things slide. We buy some organic fruit, vegetables, ketchup, etc. When I can't buy organic, I at least try to find no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, etc. We grow some veggies at home, but as the trees surrounding our yard have grown, our garden is suddenly shaded and our crop has been small this year. Next year we'll move the garden or cut some trees!

I'd love to share more, but it looks as if I need to go make tacos, beans, and rice for dinner now... ;)

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sat, 28 May 2011 16:11:00 +0000

The newest addition to the family!

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:54:00 +0000

-- Sent from the teeny tiny keyboard of my Palm Pre

updates on facebook

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Since I'm finding it difficult to update things here regularly (although I am vowing to do a better job going forward), I've created a Facebook page for 1928 Bungalow. I think this link works, but if it doesn't, let me know!

good fences make good neighbors

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:57:00 +0000

We already had pretty good neighbors, so the fence is really more to keep the kiddos inside and the random dogs (like the two pit bulls that came right up to us in the yard a few weeks ago or the crazed pug that chased my friend into a neighbor's yard this week) out. It's one of those wonderful examples of DIY goodness--my parents, Brandon's parents, and my sister and her husband all turned out to share their miscellaneous knowledge and muscle power, and the result? Better than we ever expected:


This shot shows the finished fence, including copper caps on the posts (and we added another one this weekend to the mailbox, to match). We tried to stain it this weekend but it was too soon, and the wood wouldn't absorb the stain.

I like to call this one The View from Inside Baby Supermax.

We used the existing chain link fence poles on all the corners. This weekend, we painted the metal posts brown with shiny copper caps. Hopefully they'll match the cedar stain we picked out for the fence.

We had two estimates on having the fence done professionally and they ranged from $700-1400! I've decided that nothing spurs me into physical labor like a free estimate. The fence you see ended up costing approximately $335 and two days of manual labor. The stain will probably add another $50 to the cost.

We managed to get a lot of work done on the house this weekend, although most were little jobs that we didn't want to do but that needed doing. We put a latch on the gate to help make sure the girls can't escape so easily, and finished up the copper caps on the posts. Brandon's mom came to visit and watched the girls while we climbed up in the attic to pull all of the insulation away from the eaves. We got a ridgeline vent last summer with our new roof, and ever since the a/c unit can't seem to keep the house cool when it's very warm outside. We realized part of the problem might be the fact that we shoved the insulation all the way to the edge of the roof, so we went up on Saturday morning to remedy it. There was a lot of light showing around the edges (more than I remember before the new roof, hmm...), so I'm not sure what we did actually did a lot of good, but it did feel nice and cool in the house on this relatively warm weekend, so here's hoping. We're not sure there are actually holes where the soffit vents are, so that might be the next step. We're worried that the P.O. put vented siding over the eaves but that it's solid underneath! We had a solar vent before the new roof and it worked just fine...the roof guy talked us into the ridgeline one and removed our solar vent (which we kept). And now the house is hot. Hmm.

We also noticed a spot where a support wasn't actually attached and the roof is sagging a little. No idea how long it's been that way--2 weeks or 20 years--but we don't remember it being that way before, so we'll have to look into repairing it soon.

In other news, we've turned The Room of the Visiting Family Babysitter into an office again, with lots of bookshelves and the old futon. We had a twin bed in there when Nana Reece and Aunt Kathy were so graciously helping out (we owe you forever!), but since I became a full time stay at home mom in January, we figure they can sleep on the futon when they visit.

And--you probably figured this one out already--in January I quit my job at the library and started staying home full-time with the girls. It's been wonderful and I think it was definitely the right thing to do for us. Much less stress...and much less money, but so far we seem to be doing okay. Look for future posts on exciting things like menu planning, home made bread, and meatloaf recipes. Woo hoo! ;)

snowpocalypse 2011 (aka atlantartica/snowmaggedon)

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:09:00 +0000

Although colder weather seems to have returned today, yesterday was a glorious and sunny warm (50 degrees!) day here in Atlanta. I love my family, but six days snowed in with toddlers and husband was a bit much. (More about our storm prep and photos of our yard coming soon.)

Emerson handed me a book yesterday and opened it to page 98. The book was "Yesterday's Atlanta" by Franklin M. Garrett (an autographed copy, no less) and the page had a photo of the Ice Storm of February 1905. Appropriate, no?

And I think the quote on the page nailed it: "The Ice Storm of February 1905 stopped the city dead in its tracks. Trolleys were out of business, schools closed, telegraph and telephone lines broke, trees twisted, trains and mails delayed. Suffering and inconvenience stalked the streets. Here is a view of Piedmont Avenue, between Pine Street and North Ave., then all residential." (By residential, they mean ALL TREES!)

On a side note, I told Emerson the book was about Atlanta, which is where we live. So now when you ask her where we live, she says, "Lanta!" She says that Nana, however, lives in a "hole" which I think is supposed to mean "home," so we're trying to convince her to say "mountains" instead.

Photos of Atlanta's past snowstorms can be found here, including a photo of the 1905 storm.

raising them right

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:36:00 +0000

Hadley considers her manicure before beginning.


Emerson gets involved with her work.

Always color-coordinate your tools. You can't go wrong with purple!

Check your work!

Daddy is a good helper, too.

Hadley works on the base.

A job well done!

dreaming of spring

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:57:00 +0000

Winter is not my season, folks. If not for the invention of down everything and SmartWool, I would be pretty miserable. I discovered these photos taken by a neighbor of our house and garden last summer for an East Point website, and it's given me hope that warm weather, green leaves, and flowers are not too far away.

Photos courtesy of Matthew Sweitzer.

the biggest new year's resolution ever

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 02:59:00 +0000

Nothing like ending the year in a big way...like by handing in a resignation letter to your job (career!) of 10+ years. I don't have a new job lined up, other than the--as a friend put it--"double time" job of staying home with the girls full-time. Give me a few months non-stop with twins in the Terrible Twos, and I just might be looking for a job that's not only full-time, but maybe with something along the lines of 80% travel.

We plan to see how it goes for six months or so, while I stay home with the girls and maybe try to go back to school for the few classes I need to be certified as a school media specialist. I also plan on writing to try to bring in a bit of extra money. We've cut back on expenses, but know we have a long way to go before we can survive on one salary...and we have three weeks to get there. I'm starting to see why we ate odd things for dinner when I was a kid. They never seemed odd as a kid; only later as an adult did I start to wonder why we sometimes had toast with gravy (and a bit of roast beef) or oyster stew (can you find a cheaper meal than a can of oysters and some milk and butter?!). I'm sure my parents were thrilled to find out that I didn't actually like the oysters, but was content to drink the milk part (not realizing it was milk, which I hated as a kid). At any rate, I'm now (as I consider our cheaper meal and grocery options) discovering that I like what the most frugal would consider "extras" in my food--veggies in my eggs, for example. I read cookbooks with disapproval when the ingredient list is long and includes things that are not only infrequently used in the kitchen but pricey, too.

My other New Year's resolution is to be more positive in my outlook and my actions. We'll see how that goes after a week of ramen, gravy and toast, and plain old eggs ;)

insert spooky music here

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 19:43:00 +0000

I haven't really told this story to anyone until now, but a recent incident has prompted me to share it. Many months ago, while the girls were still in their old room off the kitchen, I was up one night trying to get Hadley to go back to sleep. Most of the memory is pretty fuzzy by now, but most nights involved Brandon and I arguing at 3am over whose turn it was to go rock one of the girls back to sleep (sometimes it was both of them, which meant nobody got any sleep). One of us would go in and feed whichever baby was awake, then rock them back to sleep. Sometimes, when we'd put them down, they'd fuss and cry a bit, so we'd pat and shush them as they lay in the crib. One of those nights, I was standing over Hadley's crib, patting and shushing, when I felt Brandon--or so I thought--touch my hip as if to say, "I'm here, don't be startled." I turned around, grateful for the help--and no one was there. No one. Granted, I was pretty tired. And it's possible I could have started to fall asleep myself and bumped into the corner of the dresser that was between their beds. But...it was pretty creepy, and I can still feel that very definite touch on my hip. So for the next few weeks and months, I would sit awake in the middle of the night, rocking and shushing babies, and trying not to think about any other presence in the room.

In March, we moved the girls into their new room, and after a couple of months they started sleeping through the night. I was relieved to get some sleep, and relieved not to have to alternately sit alone in the dark or feel guilty about leaving the girls alone in the dark with whatever I was trying not to think about.

Last weekend, we were painting the girls' room that they moved into in March. The girls were napping in our room, and Dad and Brandon were out on the back porch working on the door. Brandon's parents and I were in the girls' room painting with the door closed to minimize noise. Mom was wandering around out front by herself. After a while, she came to the door and said she'd been walking back and forth through the kitchen trying to see if she could see again what she had just seen--two little bare feet and legs rounding the corner from the kitchen into the girls' old room. At first she thought it was one of the girls, then she remembered they were still asleep. Then she thought it was one of us, even though she was sure it was toddler feet she'd seen. So she waited, then walked into the room to see who was there. No one. She decided it was a play of light and shadow, and started trying to walk the way she'd come to catch it again. Nothing.

My mom's never reported seeing a ghost to me before, so it's kind of atypical behavior for her. There are stories of things my grandfather experienced (at other people's homes) but that's about it. Mom turns 78 this year, so it's possible it was a play of light or a visual trick, but when you put her story together with mine...well, it's something to think about, at any rate.

I don't like to use the word ghost, so help me think of another word to describe our possible tenant. Something cute and fun...not spooky or evil, please ;)

evolution of a room

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:43:00 +0000

Back in March, we moved the girls from their old room off the kitchen (even though days of work into making it a nursery to begin with) to the den in the back of the house. I posted something about painting "soon," which apparently meant October! Yes, we finally got it done last weekend, thanks to a lot of help from my parents and Brandon's parents. We spent the whole day painting, installing a storm door (since their room has an exterior door), and putting in a closet organizer (I won't discuss the level of difficulty this always entails, but will direct you to previous posts here and here). Brandon also caulked where the walls meet the floor and around the windows, as well as removed the pipe and patched the wall where the old gas heater pipe vented to the outside (the gas line was a dead end and had been cut before we bought the house).

I searched the blog for old photos of the den/nursery and thought it was interesting how the room has evolved over the last few years.

Next on the horizon is hanging stuff on the walls, painting the trim, and putting in some insulation in the floor and ceiling.

lena's table update

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:08:00 +0000

Brandon hasn't quite gotten it finished, but I thought you might like a preview of how it's going.

freebie

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Our next door neighbor let us scavenge through her old garage and said we could keep whatever we could salvage. Brandon found this:

A few hours later, we had it looking like this:

We removed and replaced the back with a piece that we stained with Old English furniture oil! We cleaned the mildew off, hammered a few nails back in, rubbed it down with a wood refinisher and we were done. Now we just have to find somewhere to put it...

use it up

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:39:00 +0000

I want to say that the "use it up" part of this frugal experiment--I mean, lifestyle--is my least favorite so far, but I have a feeling that the "do without" part might be worse. I cleaned out the bathroom cabinets last week in an attempt to organize and inventory and discovered we had maybe twenty bars of soap and a few bottles of liquid hand soap--scented, full of pthalates, and very un-organic--that we've collected over the years from hotels, our trip to Paris, and the ubiquitous holiday gifting of of bath items. Most of them are kept for emergencies, although we've never had a soap emergency that I can recall. What to do with them? I could Freecycle them, but the most frugal thing to do is to use them up. So...after we ran out of unscented Method hand soap last week in the bathroom, I put out the Crabtree & Evelyn rose-scented liquid soap leftover from our wedding. It was nice at the wedding, but the heavy scent of roses is a little much for everyday, and it kind of reminds me of old people. I am dreading a bit the weeks where we'll all smell like sandalwood, however. Maybe I can just Freecycle that one bar? Who bought that, anyway? (Probably me...)

I've also finally come to a comfortable place about what choices to make for chemical-free vs. frugal. I've decided that it just doesn't make sense to replace all our plastics with alternatives, especially when sometimes plastic just makes more sense (freezer storage, plates and cups for the girls, etc.). I am ridding the house of all food-based plastic that might contain BPA, which includes things marked with a 7 recycling symbol and unmarked clear plastic containers. We've slowly started replacing our non-stick frying pans with stainless steel ones from the thrift store (and from Brandon's mom, who got most of our old stainless steel stuff when we "upgraded" a few years ago to non-stick!). We have a couple of cast iron, but unless someone has a secret for using those on a glass cooktop, we'll have to limit their use to the oven or the grill outside.

So far our changes have been small but easy. The weather has finally cooled a bit so we can turn off the a/c and open the doors and windows, which is wonderful. Brandon started a trend of line-drying most of our clothes and the girls' diapers outside, and now I've started doing it as well. It saves money and ensures that we all get outside for a little while every day. Speaking of cooler weather, we did have an insulation guy out a couple of weeks ago. He wanted to spray foam insulation over the entire attic roof, as well as above and under the girls' room. All for the low price of $3800! We've decided that we'll try to insulate as best we can ourselves over and below the girls' room. We'll let the walls go for now, and see how it is once we do the roof and floor, which will be easier and cheaper than the walls anyway. We also need to install a storm door (purchased months ago but still in the workshop) and seal up the windows a bit. Hopefully those changes will make it more comfortable, and if not...I guess we'll have to swap rooms with them or dress them really warm ;)

lena's table

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:59:00 +0000

Although we love our mid-century modern dining table and chairs, we've decided that we might be better off selling the set. We're not sure its delicate lines will survive a toddler seated on either side of it, although there is a theory that mac and cheese work as a preservative when rubbed into the cracks of old wood.

A search for a new table and chairs began, long before our new experiment in frugality began. We couldn't find anything we liked in a Mission or Craftsman style that we liked, or that we could afford. Everything on Craigslist was "New!" and that just wasn't what we wanted. So I queried my cousins and sisters..."Anyone remember Grandmother's old oak table? The round one? Do you know what happened to it after she died?" Everyone remembered it, but no one seemed to remember its fate. Someone thought someone else had gotten it, but no one knew for sure. Until I mentioned it to my sister Kathy, who said that Grandmother gave the table to her, but she didn't have room for it, so she left it at Grandmother's house, where my brother and his family now live.

I immediately sent a lengthy email to my brother asking about the table's whereabouts and if we could possibly borrow it if they weren't using it. Days passed, and the response finally came. The email contained just two letters: "o k" Hooray! A few months passed as he tried to actually locate the table in the storage shed and forge a path to carry it out. Word came..."it's in pretty bad shape"..."it's missing all the veneer"..."are you sure you want this thing?" We worried but continued to assure everyone that we did indeed want the old table.

Finally, nephew Henry went for a visit and managed a few photos of the table (see below). Mom and Dad drove up last week and delivered it! Brandon's been working on it steadily since it arrived, and it's just awaiting a coat of tung oil before it's ready to move into the house. You'll have to wait to see what it looks like now that Brandon's done some work on it!

use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without (in which we bare our financial soul)

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:26:00 +0000

We are facing a little dilemma here at 1928 Bungalow. Brandon works full-time as a public school teacher, and I am a public librarian. I worked full-time until the girls were born and went part-time after maternity leave ended. Until now we've been able to avoid the cost and trauma (for me, mostly) of putting the girls into daycare. We debated over nannies and child care centers, checked a few prices, decided we couldn't afford either option, and ended up convincing my sister Kathy and my mother-in-law Patrice to take turns and come each week to watch the girls. I have an odd schedule at work and basically work a week straight every other week (told you it was odd), so it works out that each of them only has to come twice a month. But both of them drive two hours to get to our house and stay 1-3 nights each visit. For FREE. They agreed to do this for "a few months" meaning, maybe three months. That was, well, a year ago. And they still come. Yeah.

So now that we've abused their goodwill for way too long, it's time to find another solution. If I return to work full-time (which may or may not be an option) and we pay for full-time care, then I'll bring home (factoring in things like car expenses, etc.) roughly $125 a month after all expenses. This would be in addition to us getting rid of some luxuries, like cable and maybe...yes...internet. If I stay part-time and pay for daycare, we'll be losing money each month...somewhere along the lines of $300+ since I can't find part-time daycare for kids under 2 years old. If I quit and stay home full-time, we'll be anywhere from $60-200 short each month.

Our first choice is for me to stay home full-time. This will require some sacrifices, but we think we can do it. We'll have to cut back on cell phone service, cut out cable, and be stingy with the electricity. No dinners out. A tight grocery budget. Sell one of our cars. We have some debt, but if we can pay it off (not this year, but we can get started on it), we would be okay. Part of the problem is that neither of us got raises this year (teachers get an annual step raise each year because they are more experienced, and we usually get a meager 1-2% based on merit, but all were dropped last year...not to mention furlough days and unpaid holidays). Part of the problem is we didn't budget last year since we didn't sleep for an entire year and our brains didn't work.

I have a feeling posts here will take a turn for the frugal. I don't think I'll be like some bloggers who give up one thing a day, week, or month, but we will be giving some things up and I'm sure you'll hear all about it. But it will be an experiment in the old adage Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. To keep our grocery and household budget in line, we'll be exploring things like baking our own bread, making our own household cleaners from vinegar and baking soda, and moving to reusable (glass!) storage rather than Ziploc bags. I've been reading a lot of blogs, books, and articles about living with less, and what worries me is that we've already cut out a lot of those things before we even realized we were being "frugal." I've checked out some budgeting books, and all of them talk about putting money in savings or giving to charity before you deduct your household expenses, and make sure that you leave some room for emergencies and errors. Well, folks, our budget has no room for error, and with just the basics of mortgage and utilities, we'll be running short. I have yet to find a book that addresses THAT budget.

So, wish us luck and send us your frugal tips and cheapskate (but healthy) recipes. I'll continue working for the time being, and once we feel we've got a bit of solid ground beneath us...off we go into the world of one income (plus a lot of little side projects to make a bit of cash).

the warm fuzzies

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:31:00 +0000

We have lots of projects in mind (but no money!) for the near future, but one of the more pressing ones is the fact that the girls' room is poorly insulated. We got through last winter with an oil-filled space heater, but I'm guessing that before the end of this winter, the girls will be out of cribs and into toddler beds (pray for our sanity), so a space heater won't be a viable option any more. We think their room used to be an old porch, and it doesn't have a brick exterior or a basement under it; the rest of the house has both. So...what are our options?

Being a die-hard DIYer, Brandon suggested pulling down all of the drywall, installing insulation, and replacing the drywall. My brother suggested we get someone who can cut holes in the wall and spray in foam insulation, which sounds expensive, but we haven't checked yet (not even sure where to start). Brandon's mom suggests insulating from underneath and just dressing them warmly ("They survived last winter," she says, "when you didn't put enough clothes on them and they were tiny." One of those times when "I told you so" is totally warranted...as per the books we kept the girls' room at 69 degrees and dressed them in light layers to reduce the risk of SIDS. Later we realized they probably woke up so often because they were cold!)

We're open to suggestions and advice, so throw us some ideas!

*update: Here's a description and photo of what we're considering. This Old House says that foam is the most expensive, but best for air quality.

thoughts for the future

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:26:00 +0000

I've been thinking about my blogs lately and wondering if merging them together would be a good idea...sort of a mish-mash of frugal living, green living, old house DIY, and my (hopefully) humorous observations on life with toddlers. But I wonder if my current houseblog (right here where you're reading) and my baby blog (currently a bit more private) are too topic-specific to crossover well. Honestly, the DIY portion of 1928 Bungalow has been on pause, or at least in pretty slow motion, lately, so I'm not sure there's much damage I could do by talking about life with toddlers more often ;) And I have a feeling that these things mingle together in other people's lives as well. If you have any thoughts on this, let me know...

a bit of time travel

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:34:00 +0000

Love this. From a collection of Farm Security Administration (FSA) photos from the 1940s. These photos are in their original color (yes, color!) and some of them are quite breathtaking. Thanks to ThirteenEleven for alerting me to their existence!

House in Houston, TX

More info on the photos can be found here.

monkey see, monkey do

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:06:00 +0000

(cross-posted to Welcome to the Twindig, our baby blog)

Last night I was sweeping up the floor food (food that is dropped, flung, or otherwise ends up on the floor during mealtimes at our house), which is always a challenge because the girls want to "help." Usually this means they try to catch the end of the broom and try to eat food off the floor while I say no over and over. So I was pleasantly surprised when Hadley picked up the dustpan, brought it to me, and tried to hold it where I was sweeping. Adorable! And like I said, while I often try to explain to them what I'm doing, the only thing I usually say when I'm sweeping near them is "No! Put that down! Please don't eat that! No!" so it was kind of amazing to see how much they learn even when we aren't actively trying to teach them.

And because I'm thinking of it, I will share Nolan's List of Top Ten Sweepable (and Not-So-Sweepable) Foods:

1. Banana. Not sweepable. In fact, if it is not immediately removed from the floor by hand, it will melt and then harden into a sort of goopy, permanent lacquer.

2. Rice. Not sweepable, although the sweepability of this particular food (unlike banana, see above) does improve with time, but the amount of time it takes to stop sticking to your floor is kind of lengthy, and in the meantime, you might be embarrassed if you have unexpected company.

3. Broccoli. Not terribly sweepable, unless left on your floor for an unimaginably long time (like days). Even then, it just gets kind of rubbery.

4. Pasta. Some varieties of short pasta are more sweepable than others. Long pastas, such as spaghettis, should be illegal to serve without a fork, even to young children. It does become sweepable after a short length of time, however.

5. Bread, biscuits, etc. Very sweepable. Unless...it has been chewed and then spit back out. See banana above.

6. Cheerios. The world's most sweepable food! Unless...well...see bread above.

7. English peas. Even when freshly dropped, these little beauties are easily retrieved with a broom. Their sweepability improves with time; however, caution must be used to ensure stray peas do not roll into remote corners.

8. Mango and other fibrous, juicy fruits such as pineapple. These guys are not terribly sweepable, and in fact, are difficult to remove from most surfaces, including shirts, dresses, and diapers. Time actually makes these fruits more difficult to remove.

9. Milk and juice. Not sweepable, and make other foodstuffs unsweepable as well. Time is not your friend when it comes to milk and juice spills. Not. Your. Friend.

10. Blueberries. They're round and they roll, right? Totally sweepable...unless...they have been smashed in half or an attempt has been made to eat them by sticking one's finger into the center or the insides have been sucked out and just the skin is tossed aside. Otherwise, not only are they sweepable, but could theoretically be rinsed and served again. Not that I would do that, of course...ahem.

child labor

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:32:00 +0000

I recently started getting emails again from Freecycle. There are so many emails each day that I've since cancelled email notification again, but during my brief return, I lucked up on the Holy Grail of Bungalow DIY--a free pile of old bricks. A family in Va-Hi was giving them away in hopes of keeping them out of the landfill (or possibly to avoid the cost of having them hauled off). They had had their foundation replaced since they wanted to add a second story to their house and the pile you see behind the girls is only part of what was available. We made two trips (one with two cars) and on the first trip, we took the girls along. I somehow thought we could leave them in the car with the a/c on, while we quickly threw some brick into the car. Turns out they lived really close to the shops of Va-Hi, so parking was non-existent. We had to park in their driveway, which was pretty steep and the bricks were behind the house, so no chance of leaving the girls in the car. They told us we could bring the girls around to the back where there was some shade, so we did. As you can see, they weren't dressed for hauling brick, but then again, I'm not sure work gloves come in size 18 mos. At any rate, the girls decided they weren't the kind of babies to just sit around while Mommy and Daddy load bricks in a wheelbarrow, so it turned into the girls' first DIY workday. I did try to encourage them to stay out of the way, but 1) there's not a lot of reasoning you can do with a 13 month old, much less two of them, and 2) I didn't think to bring any outside toys for them to play with and it was hard to keep them off of the family's toys...since we were already hanging out in their yard, I figured we were better off letting them play with the brick. Although the homeowners were probably having a heart attack inside and waiting for us to have an accident and a lawsuit. Not to mention wondering what kind of parents haul 13 month old twins along to get brick. But whatever.

We think we have enough to enlarge our little patio in the back. When will we have time to do this, you ask? We have no idea.

old roof, new roof

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:30:00 +0000

The photos should be in order, showing various parts of the old roof, flashing around the chimney, etc. as well as the empty (and later, full) dumpster in our driveway, the roofing materials, the guys working on the roof. The last photo is somehow the only one I have of the NEW roof! I'll have to remember to take some more soon. I had planned to post old photo of chimney flashing vs. new chimney flashing, etc. but...I have twins and so you are lucky to get this ;)

Bell Roofing was awesome and Donna who works for them is amazing. They replaced over 300' of bad wood (a new record, apparently) and ended up giving us a discount on the wood since it was so much. We also had a ridgeline vent installed and hope it makes a difference this summer...especially since we just found out a few weeks ago that our AC unit isn't freezing up because something is wrong with it so much as it's probably just too small for our house. Ouch!

now we know where all the bricks came from...

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Mon, 17 May 2010 02:36:00 +0000

Brandon asked our next door neighbor if he had any old photos of our house. Tonight we got a text message from him saying that there was an old photo on the property tax database for the county. I swear I've looked at the database before but have never seen a photo. We checked, and sure enough:

So, it looks like the PO did some good things, like maybe losing the chain link fence (although that could come in handy now!) but--is that a carport?! I can live without the screened in porch (although that would also come in handy now), but I would really love the carport back. But now we know where all the bricks (cemented into the ground under the back porch) came from. It also looks like there was a tree in the front yard, which would explain the small sinkhole we now have. Sigh.

Random side note for the day: Brandon found a snake ON THE PORCH. In a planter. Ew!

stains be gone!

noreply@blogger.com (nolan) — Sun, 16 May 2010 02:33:00 +0000

Mealtimes are pretty messy in our house these days. Two babies x high chairs x finger foods x white grout = ick. But I discovered that a toothbrush will scrub banana out of the grout whether you use cleaner or grout stain! So I skipped the scrubbing with cleaner and went straight for the staining. I was surprised by the results--it pretty much looks like it should have been this way all along.

It was pretty easy and took about two hours to do the whole room. I just brushed it on with a toothbrush, doing the whole room, and then started back at the beginning with a scrub sponge and a bowl of water. I scrubbed the extra stain off the tile and it came up pretty easily. Then I went back over it with a wet rag to clean up any extra bits of stain (sort of like scraped up, rolled bits of paint). Making sure I had gotten all the bits of stain up took a while.

The first photo shows the whole floor covered in stain, prior to clean up. The last photo shows the finished floor. We do still need to cover the grout with a sealant, since the stain we used didn't have one added in.