In My Home This Week: Cue the Balloons and Light the Candles

In my home this week, we have hit the first big month of birthdays for the year.  The children's party for this weekend was cancelled and moved to next weekend while all of us grownups who have been sick recover more fully.  

How many birthdays can one family have in one month?  We start the month with John, Millie, me, a cousin of mine, Amie, Isaac, and end with JD.  In past years, we could also count my late brother, grandmother and grandfather.  The next most popular month in our family is June.  The rest are scattered over various months, but we are particularly strong in February and June.

An impromptu, surprise party showed up at my house yesterday morning to celebrate with cake and coffee for breakfast.  Sam and Bess brought in the children, (Caleb and Katie came in shortly thereafter), and the party began.  Sam made John his favorite yellow cake with Chocolate frosting and for me a yellow cake with the most delicately flavored Strawberry Lemon buttercream.  YUM!   And yes, we fed the children, and any adults who wanted some, cake for breakfast and everyone except the babies had coffee.  

Josh was trying to be tricky.   When I was cutting cake slices, he asked me "Is Grandpa older than you?"  "Yes, he is..."  "How much older, Gramma?"  "Five years...but remember he's always only 29 no matter how many birthdays we have!"   Josh laughed.  He's been trying for two years now to figure out exactly how old Grampa is.   It's a family joke though, has been since we celebrated John's birthday with us for the first time, that John is always 29.  Give Josh another year and he's going to put 5 and my age together and KNOW how old Grampa is but we'll just wait for him to figure that out all by himself, lol.

The children had their cake and then bagels and mandarins and coffee and juice, and after all that, Isaac waited about five minutes and came in with that worried look on his face, rubbing his belly, saying "I think I need a snack..." lol.  He got an apple for a snack which suited him quite well.

It was a lovely little party and then the greatest gift of all, as Samuel said, "Now the kids are all sugared and caffeinated up, we'll take them home to deal with and leave you in peace for the day...That's our real present!" 

Caleb was a pretty good little fellow after everyone left.  He does enjoy company and was glad to see everyone.  When Isaac ran to hug me, Caleb ran and hugged Isaac so we were three deep in hugs.  Josh came to sit on my lap and kiss my cheek.  I don't have a favorite grandchild, but there's something special between Josh and me.  

If they must leave Caleb, all he asks is that they wave goodbye and they did.  He didn't nap today but ran around inside the pack and play until he collapsed and then he'd get up and run a few more laps.  I finally said to myself "He's going to exhaust himself if I don't get him out of there..." so we sat and rocked about twenty minutes and then he was allowed to get down and go play once more. 

But I never got a chance to write this post at all yesterday.  I didn't even think of writing it until it was already late and I figured I'd just let it be late this week.

Work:  

This week I'll finish up our monthly budget work.  

John and I have to go to the grocery store.  I am out of catsup.  Granted I can live without it but that's just one item on a growing list of outages.  Must. make. a. list.  Must.

I've only three days of Caleb this week.  Katie finishes her class on Thursday and then I will be free for a few days in a row.  In the meantime, I've Sunday and Monday of this week to do what I can.   I'm gonna confess right now, I'm not planning to do much.  I went over last week's work list and I missed only one item on it, which I consider a victory.  It was also a blessing in disguise.  I didn't pot up the pansies.  And since we have had a sudden return to freezing temperatures overnight and in early morning, it's just as well I didn't pot them.  They'd have frozen and been killed.  I can't pot them and keep them where they are because there is no further room in that bin that acts as my mini greenhouse.

This week I shall focus my energies on the living room.  The bookcase is looking pretty bad.  Books are now stacked in front of books.  Because the shelves are so far apart, I've taken to stacking books vertically as well as placing them horizontally.  I've outgrown my bookcases, that's a fact.  I'm not interested in getting rid of any more books.  So, rearrange them all I must.  Just as well, since I know they all need a good dusting, reorganizing by authors, etc.  I also am ready to redo the ornaments atop the shelves.

I still need to do something to the mantle.  It's just not decorated.  It looks like a jumble of things and that's pretty much what it is.  Now that Caleb can reach the bookshelves, I'd like to move one set of things I've used for winter decor off the shelves and over to the mantel, which he can't reach.  

The bookcases are the BIG task this week.  I'll try to give the whole room a good dust and polish and just maybe a deep vacuum if I can get the rest done.  I can do NONE of this while Caleb is here and since we have a birthday on Sunday and plans for a day out on Monday, I'll have to cram it all into the time left between.  And if it doesn't get done?  It'll wait.  Housework always does.

Kitchen: 

 

No big plans in the kitchen this week.  I've got a few leftovers to make over into something else or to eat for lunch.   Leftovers from today's lunch and supper, some BBQ beef ribs and the broths from the ribs and the Beef Shanks I cooked on Friday.  I'm not sure how those two broths are going to mix.  So, one tentative item on my menu will be:

Beef Vegetable Soup, Cornbread   (if the two broths mix nicely.  I can't really figure why they shouldn't, but I'm going to have to experiment.  If they do well, I'll 

Buffalo Chicken Salads, Fries

dinner out

Cheeseburgers, Baked Beans, Chips

Chicken and Rice Bake, Green Beans, Tossed Salads

Hamburger Stroganoff Bake, Green Peas, Salad with Beets and Onions

???I'll surprise myself.  Either pick up something easy at the grocery or come up with something as the week goes on.  There are usually leftovers all through the week anyway, so I'm sure we'll have something we can clear out of the fridge by end of the week.

Personal/Leisure:

Although I've worked on manicure and pedicure faithfully, and have had great results, I've plenty I might do yet towards giving myself a full beauty treatment.  There's still exfoliating and face mask, hair mask and perhaps a fresh trim, etc. that might be done. 

Read, read, read.  

Again, reminding myself to make time and effort to talk with John.  It's so easy, after a long day, to retreat into my own world and say nothing, or to be unavailable by being too busy or too tired, etc.  I might make many complaints, but the finger might be pointed just as righteously in my own direction as the one who is lacking.  I bumped up against this just today when I was a little hurt by something he said. As I sat and mulled his statement over, I realized it wasn't my feelings that hurt, it was my conscience.  He wasn't being unkind but said it very matter of fact and without accusation or rancor but the truth of it was what stung, I was convicted by my own realization that he wasn't saying anything that wasn't perfectly true! 

I'm not planning any further leisure into my week.  There's plenty of it already planned in.