In My Home This Week: Hazy, But Not Lazy, Days of Summer

This week in my home, I:

...have another busy week planned.  I worked steadily all last week and knocked out a number of the items on my July Goals.  Not all of them complete but nearly every one of them started upon in some way and many of them are complete.  I shared a lot of that in my Frugal Friday post.  It's amazing how work can be economical...How so?

Well stop and think about it now.  Work generally involves building, repairing, maintaining or creating doesn't it?  I do all of those things in some form in my home six days a week.  Even if I'm not hard at work on the house or wardrobe or yard, there's this blog to keep up.  Most all of the work, except the blog, is all about saving money for this household.  Hence my statement that work is economical.   As one enlightened young woman put it to me one time, "Saving money takes a LOT of effort."  Yup.  That's called WORK.

I happen to like work.  I think it makes life interesting.  I like to read, too, and listen to music, and sit on the porch and do nothing.  It's striking the right balance that makes it all pleasant as can be.  Boredom rarely sets in if you have the mix just right, nor exhaustion, either. 

Besides work is good for what ails you...It got me through the week without missing that little boy too much.  How gratified I felt when he asked for me the other morning, so Bess called.  Josh took the phone and ran away.  I know, because I could hear him shaking the phone as he ran but he talked to me the whole while.  He reported the cats were 'Fine' and that the house was a house.  Beyond that it was just so much jabber but it was a start to a conversation and one I enjoyed. 

I started the closing of my booth this week.  I'm paid up through the end of July and I decided to cull a few things, put up a sign advertising everything 50% off.  I'll go about this slowly, clearing out a little each week,  thinking hard about whether to donate or keep for a bit, but not leaving myself a ton of work at month's end.  I found myself not in the least sad about shutting down the booth but philosophical.  It was a season and I enjoyed it.  Now it's time to move on, to let go so that I can be ready for the next opportunity to come my way.

...plan meals

We'll have a quiet weekend this weekend.  Never fear...the next two are meant to be busy ones and so we'll take this time to recuperate and shelter from the heat which is pretty doggone hot!  105f says the weather man with the humidity index.  Crock pot meals?  Oh yes!

On my own two days this week.  I'll go out to lunch with Mama one of those days and eat leftovers the other.

Alpine Chicken Casserole (Crock pot), English Peas, Green Salad

I had leftovers of this and we'll eat it after church today.**

Baked Beef Ravioli, Green Salad, Rolls, Banana Cream Pie

I made a half recipe of the ravioli dish and I put it in the crock pot since all the ingredients were either fresh or already cooked. 

Turkey Tenderloin, Potatoes cooked with Green Beans, Coleslaw

Slaw Dogs, Chips, Baked Beans

I'll double the slaw when I make it so we have enough to top hot dogs today.  Baked Beans made in the crock pot.

7 Layer Dip, Taco Shells, SF Chocolate Pudding

I have leftover taco shells and I thought I'd do a variation on tacos.  I'll use the shells to serve the 7 layer dip which includes all the same ingredients.

**Ok...John through a monkey wrench in this meal plan by suggesting we buy steaks today.  We also have leftovers of steak and leftovers of Saturday's Baked Beef Ravioli and of the Alpine Chicken and he's working two days this week as well.  So I'm probably not cooking another meal this week, just adding sides and salads to what we already have and calling it a wonderful stretching time for the budget.  Nice way to keep the kitchen cool, right?

...plan my work week:

I did very well this past week getting the house into shape once more.  It's too hot to work outdoors besides pulling the occasional weed and watering plants...Despite this I need to clear some more things from the shed so I'll slip out there early a couple of mornings this week and sort through the things I've accumulated. 

Take a second load of things to donate.  I'll try to wait until I've gone by the booth and cleared more there.

Clean both showers.  I didn't get to those last week.

Refine the guest room clearing up.  I need to shift a few things around, pack up some things left behind by the kids, move some donation stuff from room to car...

Sort through fabric.  I have way too much and plans for only a little of it.  I don't want it to rot sitting.

I found a pattern I think I can use as a summer robe.   I'd like to try to make it up from some of that fabric I'll be sorting through this week.  I'm pretty sure I know which pieces I might use.

If I can clear out the two drawers of the armoire, I can move the craft items into those, which means I can move the plastic storage drawers out of the room.

I have a pile of old records and many of mine are badly scratched.  Badly.  The truth is some of them need to be trashed  because they are that lousy.   I'm going to take some time this week to go through them.

Two jobs left from last week:

Work on my Third Quarter Budget.

Go through my clothing, plan and set up outfits and determine what I need.  I also remembered I have several practically new shoes in the closet and since I've lost a shoe size I really need to try them on and see if they still fit!   I was gifted some money for clothing and I plan to take time out to do some shopping this week, after I've been through the closet to determine what all is needed.  I am so deeply thankful for this gift and the dear soul who thought of me.

...plan for leisure:

While I'm most certainly still deeply involved in my Frugal Boot Camp, I'm taking time too to read other books.  I'm currently working my way through the many paper back Grace Livingston Hill novels, read two last week.  Also the Miss Buncle series by D.E. Stevenson.

I'm going to work on genealogy.  I haven't been down that rabbit trail in months now and I've been missing it.  I need to reacquaint myself with facts so I can fill in blanks, so I'll likely copy notes into my notebook and better compile some of the pages into a story of the individual.  It will be a good time to write out questions about each individual so that I know where/what I should research next.