The Week Behind: Easier but Still Busy

Saturday:  Last night's Shortcake party was a success where little boys were concerned.  Millie had her first ever Shabat with us.   Bess touched a finger dipped in grape juice to baby girl's tongue and even put a tiny crumb of our Sabbath bread in her mouth.  As they were leaving I thanked Millie for taking her first Shabat with us and was rewarded with a big dimpling smile.  Oh my heart!

Determined to take it easy today and so I did.  I didn't even make my bed properly.  Oh I smoothed out the sheets and pulled up the covers once the bed had aired, but no bothering with pillow shams and accent pillows.  

I rinsed and stacked dishes in the dishpan.  

I can't for the life of me remember what we had for lunch but it was as easy and simple as breakfast had been and no regrets about it since I'd done no prep work the day before.

Supper tonight was also easy.  I took frozen leftover Veggie Lasagna out to thaw and heat and made a salad.

Lovely day; easy, quiet, peaceful and enjoyed.

Sunday:  I woke with a mission this morning.  I began by stripping bed and bath and putting those things to wash.   Then I puttered about making the bed fresh, putting out fresh towels and clearing away yesterday's dishes which also involved running a load of dishes to wash and handwashing things.   All of this from time I got up and immediately after breakfast.  We were up by 7am by the way, so plenty of work done before I settled in the kitchen sitting area to listen to our pastor's first service for the morning.

Next I went outdoors where I did  about thirty minutes work in yard, watering plants, emptying compost and checking on flowers progress.  There are NONE in the bed decimated by Maddie, but a nice little patch of grass has appeared.  I noted very few had come up  in the bed next to the shed.  It was very humid and hot outdoors so I came back in and showered.

After hanging out clothes I got busy working on the real work for the day.  I had foods I wanted to use or preserve.  I began by chopping the strawberries I'd bought last week and adding them to the sugared shortcake berries and then put them all in a bag and froze them in the freezer.  I also washed and froze the blueberries.

I chopped up the last bits of roast and diced potatoes and onions and this made a pan of roast beef hash for supper tonight, and I made a pan of potato salad with more potatoes and onions to eat with fried chicken tomorrow. 

I chopped squash and onions and put those on to cook.

I shredded loads of cheese, for hash brown casserole, squash casserole and for our lunch dish.

I took  the leftover baked potatoes which I'd meant to make into twice baked and diced those and made a hash brown casserole which I then put in the freezer.   I mixed up the squash casserole after draining the squash well.  This is meant for meals this week.

I removed the chicken breast from the carcass and made Bbq Chicken Quesadillas for lunch (YUM!) and then put that carcass and another from the freezer on in the crockpot to cook slow all day long.

At this point I was hungry and so we ate lunch, then I forced myself back to the kitchen to clear up which John thought was ridiculous but I really wanted to be DONE and have a legitimate rest time until supper.  I guess I needed that 'legal' rest because I dozed off in my chair and slept a good half hour, got up and went to bed and dozed for another hour until I woke chilled to the bone and got up to find a jacket and a cup of coffee!

I finished off  making supper, unloaded the dishwasher, took care of supper dishes then strained out the bones and vegetables from the broth and picked over the bones.  I got about 3 and 1/2 cups of meat for us, skin and cartilage enough to feed pets one full meal once, and almost a gallon of broth.  Like Rhonda I do not salt my broth.  I can salt it when I use it and sometimes I make Maddie pupsicles from broth in the summer to help her stand the heat and I don't care to give her salted broth.

All in all, the day was full even with my taking a much needed nap!

Monday:  Irony: I forgot to turn off the pre-set alarm on my phone that was meant to wake John to go to work a shift that was cancelled last week.  That went off at 5:30 disturbing us both.  Then he got called at about 10am and was asked to come in to replace someone else who didn't come in to work...so off he went, while Josh and I did a mega load of work sheets and learning today.  

Bess came to pick up Josh to taken him to school to say goodbye to his kindergarten teacher.  I decided to make hay while the sun shone, having three hours to spare between school and need to leave for Katie's appointment.  

I used up some very ripe bananas to make a batch of Banana Chocolate Chip muffins.  I have just begun using my favorite banana nut bread recipe to make muffins and it makes a full dozen  for us every time.  These are generally used as snack food, but I will heat them for breakfast as well.  I'll likely end up sending some home with Josh on Thursday, too. and I did.

I puttered around the house, set up an outfit for tomorrow and then settled to have lunch.  I made myself a salad and odd though it may sound, a fried, diced, uncured beef hotdog leftover from Friday night was the protein in that salad.  It was so good!  Not something I'd ever have done in the past but it was crispy and just enough meat to keep me full all afternoon long.

I took my book, journal and water bottle along and read and wrote while Katie had her appointment.  I dislike city traffic and we were near a very busy five lane city street but in the lulls as the hour passed, I began to hear the sounds of the church carillion down the hill being played.  Rain came and went and it was very soothing in those moments between spurts of heavy traffic.

We went by the grocery store.  John had requested I pick up fried chicken for us and another one for when Taylor is here this weekend (that went into freezer) so little girl can have Gramma fried chicken).  I should have just skipped this because Katie also needed a couple of items and I kept putting things in my buggy as we walked aisles.  On my pantry stock list yes, but still, my money for the month was essentially spent and I did some damage to my budget.  What I really needed was the cat food.  What I really didn't was the Yorkshire Gold tea and the items bought for the pantry.  Those could and should have waited.

Came home and had a light supper.  I fixed John a plate and set in the microwave since he was due home in less than 30 minutes.  I found a new to me cooking show and watched the first episode.  Intrigued by some of her recipes.  This might well provide some of the inspiration I'm looking for!  The program is on Netflix and is called "Nadiya's Time to Eat".  Here's a sample of her style on Youtube.

John came in and we spent a quiet evening watching Narrowboat cruisers and talking about aspects of our day.   Quite nice and relaxing way to spend an evening.  We kept nodding off so went to bed earlier than usual.  No harm in that!  

Tuesday:  Woke at 7am and John was holding his phone up.  "I've been asked to come in and work again, another person is out today..."  We didn't rush.  He hadn't washed his uniform the night before and he sort of is stuck on wearing only one uniform though he has many.  So while those pants washed and dried, I packed a simple lunch, made a simple breakfast and drank most of a cup of coffee before he was showered and the pants were finished washing.   We ate in a very leisurely manner.  The material his work pants are made from dries in minutes whether in a dryer or hung on a line and within 15 minutes they were fully dry and he was dressed and ready to leave only a bit over an hour after the call in.

The house still looks pretty good from Sunday's and Monday's tidying up so there was little for me to do except sort out the kitchen after breakfast and do the dishes.  I made the bed, fed the dogs and there was the whole day before me.  I dreamed of all possibilities...

And ultimately I decided to stay home, even after chatting with John on the phone and telling him I thought I was going out.  Why?  Lots of good reasons.

I knew I had to do some transplanting of plants and I have no more potting soil.  I am not sure what sort of empty pots I have on hand, so I planned to remove the tulip bulbs since the greenery had died back and then I repotted an Angelonia that is straining to grow another year. I had two and I think I must have lost one at some point over the winter as I've seen no signs of it at all.  They've done very well for three years but this year the one remaining is really struggling.  I'm hoping it's the cooler spring weather we've had.  

I transplanted the oregano and the cherry tomato plant that has three tiny tomatoes on it in the same pot, and moved the green beans further apart and potted  a bit of forsythia that put out roots and lived even though the piece with a good portion of taproot failed to survive.    Now I know I have four good sized pots I might well plant flowers in.  I still need soil though.

I moved the Staghorn fern in the living room (that has been living in a pot in the birdcage for the past year) into the bathroom because it suddenly grew really tall and lovely.  I have a baby one I'm nursing along and I put that, an Australian fern, a Prayer plant and freshly potted English ivy into the birdcage together which protects them from little hands.

Went about watering houseplants all over again.  I just watered on Sunday but everything felt very dry to the touch.

I'd meant to go out for fish but then remembered I have a can of salmon in the pantry that John won't eat and I will.   So I'll make a fish dinner at home.

I totted up my credit card spending for this month and that sobered me a bit.  My personal portion is about one third that bill which is plenty on it's own.  Some of these things I've set money aside for already.  My portion will be paid from my allowance and that will leave me with less than I'd planned for next month.  I counted the days until our next paydays and so staying at home is a good thing altogether!  I still need to go out to purchase birthday cards and a flea/tick collar for the cat this week but aside from planned appointments we'll be waiting the next pay period before we do anymore spending beyond gasoline.  Fortunately we are quite well stocked on meat and produce and can eat canned fruits (no hardship) or frozen and I can make bread.  All else we might need is on hand.  I mean we have coffee, milk, flour and yeast so what else could we need?

I took time to set up several outfits since I have another appointment to attend to with Katie and it does seem I'm going out a good deal more.

My plans for the rest of this day: write, finish my current book (Nourished by Lia Huber), journal and plan projects and such out on paper.   Now I am off to make my lunch!

Wednesday:  I had a not as pleasant end to my day.  Ask me why my mood shifted from cheerful to churlish so quickly yesterday and I can only say that I didn't accomplish enough.  I leisured the day away.  But that just didn't set well with me in the end.  I took my moody self off to bed early again last night.  John, worn out after working two days, decided he would come to bed early, too  I don't think either of us took long to go off to sleep.  Staying asleep was a different matter.

I have shared before that I have alarm anxiety.  I knew I had to be up early this morning because Katie had another job interview come up for this morning.  I left home at 8:30 and went to pick up her and Caleb.  He had an appointment in the afternoon.

Good news: Katie got the job!  She's very pleased as well she might be.  She has a place for Caleb at the local Montessori nursery school for all but this Friday so I'll keep him that day.  

Today was stressful beyond words.   I won't/can't share why.  It is a HUGE blessing that Katie has finally found work once more and that Caleb is going to be in a local nursery, even that she was able through real struggles to stay home with him this long.  But yes, the day became very hard, with Katie and I both having anxiety issues and in turn causing John to have anxiety at home, miserable weather that was either too warm and humid or raining and plunging into cold temperatures and a day that went on for far too long.  

It was far too late when I returned and my first act is something I have come to do any time I have a horrid time of it and that is to take a shower.  It just seems to me that warm water and soap do a world of good in washing away a day that stinks.    I was weary in mind, body and soul when we returned this evening and I daresay so were Katie and John.

John and I ate a scrapped together supper.  There was still fried chicken since we hadn't ever gotten around to that meal he'd wanted.  As the evening went on I indulged in a cup of nighttime calming tea.  We both went off to bed early again tonight and slept like rocks until 3ish and then John went off to sleep in another room since he was restless and I went right back to sleep and slept all night. 

Thursday:  Our last act last night before sleep was deep sincere and heartfelt prayers.   Now I must ask this of you.  Have you ever done that at night and in the morning awakened with disappointment because no answer had appeared?  Well...I was.  Sometimes, even though no one is ill there's need for a right now answer in our lives.

So yes, I was disappointed.  It happens.  It doesn't mean God isn't answering, only that you haven't yet heard the answer.  I believe God always has a ready answer for us but sometimes we can't hear it.

I went on into the kitchen and made biscuits.  It's just as well to get on with living whether answers have come or not.   I made myself coffee and was able to drink it while it was really hot.   Have any of you seen the Ember cups that hold drinks at a constant temperature?  Jamerrill Stewart shared hers (a gift from her husband) on Instagram this morning.   Gracious it's tempting to consider one when you've set a cup down and gotten busy and come back to find it cold as often as I have...No, not tempting enough.  I'll just stick to my pretty china cups and when I know I'm going to be busyish I'll use my Yeti cup.

I poured my heart out in my prayer journal and then the biscuits were done,  and John was up.  No time to  muse over things.  Josh would be here before I knew it for his homeschool day.  So I hurried through my housework and set the dishwasher up to run

Josh came in wild and full of energy.  John told me he was running all the way here.  Josh adores running and he's really good at it.  He's got the lean frame and long legs that suit running.  The smooth grace with which he runs and the joy on his face is something to behold.  I wasn't in the room this morning when he came in but I could hear Josh's conversation.  He'd been to the doctor and they had 'drained' his blood...apparently a check up occurred.  I still chuckle over that 'draining' blood.

He worked well today and we enjoyed ourselves.  He was still running high on the endorphins from running and was antsy so every time we'd complete a worksheet I'd tell him to run two dashes.   

For years now, we've rolled the island in the kitchen to one side and let the children run from the wall in the music room through the hallway, living room and all the way into the kitchen to the other outside wall.  It's pretty much a straight open path but for whatever reason today, Josh deviated just enough and I looked up at him literally seconds before he smacked into the freezer.  He bruised his knee badly and one corner of it scratched his chest and left a bruise.  He cried, naturally, as I was doing so myself but just inside where he couldn't see.  I was grabbing up ice packs and John who'd heard the impact and resulting wails came out to check him over.  It was he who got Josh to stop and think if he was hurt really bad or more scared.  Josh told him it just scared him really bad but it hurt some and then John pointed to the freezer and said "Well you left a scar on that freezer.  We'll call that a man scar because it would take a man to leave a dent like that."   This made Josh smile.  

Well he wanted a bit of babying from Gramma and I indulged him but we went back to work, too.  Then we went outdoors and counted bubbles and subtracted the ones that burst for a little break   I sometimes sneak in a little extra schooling on him like that, lol.   We came back indoors to do some more work.  He did pretty well overall and we enjoyed our little school day.  He told me about saying Goodbye to his Kindergarten teacher and how the "Norona virus" was keeping him out of school.  The last thing he did today was go over to the freezer, pat the dent and tell it, "You're my man scar and you just remember I gave you that dent." lol  Such a joy to do this with him and how he does lighten the day!  He walked back home though.  I think that impact took the joy of running out of him for today.  It's such a natural thing for him I doubt it will hold him back for long though.

In between accident and Josh's leave taking John had run into town to baby sit Caleb while Katie went to the nursery to do paperwork.  I had a little time alone, something near an hour and I continued to pray about the one situation that was worrying us most at present (and creating a world of stress for all of us).  Immediately following this Katie called with news that one avenue had been completely shut down.  That left two possible answers which neither John now I were particularly pleased with.  Both meant sacrifice of some sort and while I knew what I wanted to happen, I wanted it to be God's answer, not me trying to fix things.  

And then, as we ate lunch, John spoke a plan that seemed so simple and so impossibly right that at first I just couldn't believe it could possibly work.  For one thing we just knew, we all had feared, that what he proposed was going to be costly, but it turns out it wasn't.  Not at all. Not even a little.  It does mean sacrifice of a different sort for us, and frankly mostly for John, but not in an unbearable way.  It's do-able.  We spoke with necessary folks about it and spoke to Katie about it and it's all settled.  In the end, that much longed for answer was right there before us but until John spoke it not one of us had seen that possibility of things, at all.  And we knew it was the right solution because instantly for all three of us there was peace.  

I made sloppy joes for supper tonight.  We had to run an errand right at supper time. I was able to throw the sloppy joe mix together and even cook french fries in the oven which we then reheated when we got back home.   I made enough sloppy joes to put some in the freezer for another day. 

I went into town to purchase the birthday cards for the weeks ahead.  7 of them over the next five weeks.   I bought hamburger buns while in town.

Friday:  Keeping Caleb today while Katie works her first day.  His place at nursery isn't open until Tuesday.    I thought it was 7:30am so I hopped out of bed, but it was only 6:30...No problem drinking my coffee in a leisurely manner this morning or in having my hot tea either.  By the way, the Yorkshire tea is quite good and I'm not at all sorry I let it be my impulse buy.

Toasted leftover biscuits for breakfast.  I split and then toast half buttered and half with a slice of cheese.  It's one of my faovirte breakfasts.

I had time during Caleb's nap to clear up the kitchen and mix up raisin bread in the bread machine.  I put chicken breasts on to cook.  Nope, not on menu today as I decided not to make the Chili Pineapple Chicken due to my lunch plans.  I used the last of a bit of homemade Italian dressing and a can of chicken soup in with the breasts and will drop in some creamed cheese later on.  I'll dice the chicken later on today and serve over pasta.

Caleb is at the stage where he likes to move about a bit.  Rolling over the mat on the floor then getting good and mad because he can't move any further ahead.  He'll shift himself about in his little sleep chair as well, so he has to be strapped in these days.  

All in all it's been a busy week though easier in many ways than last week despite the stress we felt mid-week in trying to make all the pins line up in the right places.   Still the week it is done and it wasn't a bad one.

How did your week go?