Meal plans and the week ahead

What amazing weather we have had these past two days! We have been busting our tails working outside. Yesterday, I got all of the front and side flower beds weeded, as well as one of the back flower beds. I also planted a few new perennials, moved some existing perennials, and planted a good deal of annuals in the front. Our front yard looks so nice this year! Our big landscaping project last year has really paid off and made a huge aesthetic improvement! Now we are trying to get the backyard caught up. We have a long way to go, though. It will be a multi-year project, I think. I'm also making progress on getting the veggie garden planted. I'll be working on that a lot this week (I hope... if the rain holds off or as long as its at least decent in the evenings). I've also been working in the orchard and berry patches. We have a lot of projects. Once the garden is planted, I won't feel so overwhelmed, though.

Today we are headed to church in East Lansing. My friend, Mohammed, is participating in the baptism of a fellow Iraqi and invited us to witness the blessing. So we'll be going to his church. Afterwards we're going to have lunch at Woody's and then will be meeting a guy to sell some rims and tires. Then we may go downtown to check out the East Lansing Art Festival if the weather is nice... although I think I'm more inclined to get home so we can get some more work done outside.  It looks like the weather will be pretty great again today... but every day for the next week is forecast to rain.  So I think we should make the most of our time outside today if we can. 

Monday I might meet up with my friend Robin to walk or bike, but that is weather dependent.  Tuesday evening I am attending a reception at MSU for a work-related function.  Robin and I will try to walk or bike again on Wednesday if the weather cooperates.  Thursday is Kevin's and my anniversary.  We'll celebrate our 5th year of marriage and our 13th year together.  Well, I'm not sure when or what we'll do to celebrate, but hopefully we can do something soon.  I will also be dropping our milk jars off at Dianne's. And Kevin might go biking if the weather is decent. Although it might be a little muddy for his mountain biking if we do get all the rain forecast this week.  I'm so over this rain.  I thought May was supposed to be nice and sunny and beautiful... like yesterday.  What's up with all this rain!?  :o)

Friday is my flex day. Carson and I will be meeting up with our friends Kati and Anthony in the late morning. Again, hopefully the weather is nice. We're thinking about going hiking at Stony Creek Metropark and/or walking through Kati's huge neighborhood, stopping at all of the playgrounds. If the weather isn't nice, we'll meet at a mall and do some walking and shopping there. We may have dinner with them, too. We'll just see how the day goes. We don't have any plans on Saturday. We're hoping to get a lot of yard work done again... if the weather is nice. We're hoping to cut down a few more big trees in the back and maybe get our bridge across the creek finally. We really need to cut down a few more trees, though. Then we can schedule the stump guy to come out and grind out the stumps and have some dirt delivered so we can really get going on the backyard landscaping project.  Let's cross our fingers the weather people are wrong about all the rain this week! 

Here are my thoughts on meals this week:

Breakfasts:
Fried eggs and bacon
Breakfast cupcakes
Yogurt with fruit
Smoothies

Lunches and snacks:
Leftovers
Tuna salad with avocado
Lettuce salads
Deviled eggs
Sliced cheese
Raw bell pepper and cucumber slices
Apples with almond butter
Hard boiled eggs
Fruit leather
Crispy nuts

Dinners:
Grilled steaks; sweet potato fries; green beans; applesauce
Primal pizzas; asparagus; peaches
Meatloaf; peas; carrots
Chicken souvlaki; asparagus; side salads
Ham steaks; green beans; cauliflower; applesauce
Crustless quiche with ham, broccoli and swiss