The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Let's Try Planning Again

 

In my home this week, I'm still reeling from the twist and turns of last week.  Very little went to plan.  I ended up with Caleb here three days. Another day Katie's new living couch was being delivered a week early.  I had to run pick up Caleb's toys and shove the old couch out of the way and then return when the actual delivery took place.  My plans with Millie and the boys never worked out.  They had a previously planned outing on Tuesday and today I had Caleb to look after.  

I think we've pinned his low fever to teething.  We've ruled out everything else.  He's fever free all morning, but he kept getting increasingly warm (never hot) after his nap, same as what's happened at school twice this week.  His cheek and ear were red and hot when he woke, and that cheek stayed pink as a blushing apple all afternoon long.  

Well, let me get busy planning this new week.  I'm pleased that despite everything I got the mid-season deeper cleaning of the kitchen done. I've looked ahead at the weather and my calendar.  Always the best place to start!

Work:  

Zone 2 is going to be switched up this month.  Typically, it's Living room, Dining Room and front entry, but the dust in my bedroom is looking mighty thick.  My dresser drawers were in my sites last week because they are a M.E.S.S.  I didn't get to tend to them then.  I need to straighten up my closet and get a few donations out of the door and into the trunk of my car...So yes, this week it's going to be Bedrooms and Baths.  

 I've also discovered, quite by accident, that I apparently gave John two panels of curtains for the music room window that are an exact match to those in the living room which really needs three panels per each set of double windows.  Replacing those will mean I have no need of buying curtains for the living room at present, because I'll have the extra fullness required to block heat and sunlight on those days when the sun is beating in on those windows.  I have a lovely pair of silver room darkening curtains in the guest room that I'll hang in the music room which gets full sunlight for hours every morning and afternoon.  I've a pair of handmade curtains that will do for the guest room in the meantime, since that window is shaded all day long by the Sweet Gum and Pecan trees in the back yard. I'm not unhappy about all of this as that means I can push off the need to buy curtains for a while longer.   

There's filing to be done as well that I've put off dealing with and a paper I need to find so that John can cancel coverage and we can stop an auto draft that is associated with that particular budget item.

Sow more basil.  Pot up the newest lot of rooted coleus cuttings.  Yes, they root quickly and what's more because there are four different plants in the original pot, I'm getting loads of landscaping color punch from that one basket.    I also need to re-pot a Penta I bought ten days ago.  It's in far too small a pot. I've enough soil in an unused pot to help fill a larger pot without disturbing Miss Bird's nest.

We're slated for rain every single day for the next ten days, so I won't plan to do any painting of furnishings. That's one thing I didn't get done this past week.

Rehang the hummingbird feeder.  We've yet to find a prime spot to put it.  Yes, the hummingbird was feeding well but where it was hanging is not home to a hanging basket and if the wind blew, it would bump the feeder and send sugar water down into the plant.  That lured ants to the plant, and they found a path to the feeder from there.  NOT a good thing.

This is pay week.  Bills are done last week but the totting up of the register and money allotments must be done for the month ahead.

Rework the budget.  With rising gasoline costs, a new monthly bill, an increase in another area, etc. there are enough new changes to warrant a new preliminary budget sheet so I can better see what our potential savings might be each month.

Buy some small kibble for Rufus.  Apparently, Maddie's favorite food is just not his choice. It is bigger and chunkier, but Rufus is a much smaller dog, and his teeth are not as good as Maddie's were.

We'll need to mow lawns of course.  The weather is predicted to be rainy all week long.  We'll try to get it done in the drier segments of each day if we can.

Kitchen:  

It's been terribly hot here.  It's going to be somewhat cooler, but heavily humid this next week.  I've been using the bread machine to bake our bread, not just mix the dough and trying to use the toaster oven rather than the oven, but this past week I found the toaster oven wasn't cutting it at all.  Twice I ended up taking things out and putting them in the big oven to cook.  Both should have been done in the slow cooker but poor planning on my part led to using that oven, which meant the AC worked overly hard.  Vicious cycle of waste of time and money going on and I mean to stop it this week.   I'll give myself grace on the time issue last week, as I hadn't planned to deal with a sick little boy nor a changed delivery schedule and the extra time those took, but the lack of planning initially and the subsequent lack of doing when I did make a plan to help was wasteful.

Repeat after me: Cheap store-bought cookies taste like cheap store-bought cookies.  They just do.  And a handful of them doesn't satisfy the tastebuds the way a single homemade cookie can.  Homemade cookies probably don't cost any more than the cheap store-bought ones either.  I need to make that dough and get it in the freezer.

Make bagels.  We lucked into a clearance package that John put in the buggy, and it did give me a two-week delay in having to make them, but I can make my own for about the same price as the clearance price of four.  If I'm smart, I'll get up extra early one morning and do my baking before the day heats up.

Meals:  

In no particular order but actually planned this week...

Skillet Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread   I plan to use this skillet dinner to use up four or five lasagna noodles that have been in the cabinet for a little while now.

Gramma's Fried Chicken, Mac n cheese (for Taylor), Potato Salad (for Caleb), Squash Casserole, Fried Green Tomatoes

Creamy Potato Soup, BLT's   I have Corned Beef Broth I want to use to make the soup.  I'll need to buy more potatoes though before I can make the soup.  

Chicken Strata, Green Peas, Pear Salad   I've mentioned before I like this recipe but not as a freezer meal.  I prefer it when it's cooked fresh.  It's the same basic principle as a breakfast casserole and as a bonus, it can be made in the slow cooker.  I have bread cubes and some chicken pieces in the freezer that can go into this.  

Chicken Enchiladas with White Sauce, Yellow Rice, Pico de gallo, Black Beans   I had leftovers one night and put them in the freezer. I could really use the space now that the freezer is so full.  These can also be placed in the slow cooker to thaw and reheat.

Hamburgers, Fries This is something John keeps mentioning.  We may pick them up locally as take out or I can make our own at home.

???  I'll leave this one open because I don't know what leftovers we might have to use up after the weekend.  I usually find something in the fridge that can be transformed into a meal.

Personal/Leisure

I think Caleb can make it through the coming week at nursery just fine, so I'm planning to take the three children across the field to a program at the library.   I think on Friday a repeat of the steam car program is being held at our library here in town.  I'll take just the boys to that one. It will be our last week of summer reading program, but I'll take the boys for that one.

I received my Stitch Fix box and liked the offerings very well.  It's just the boost my wardrobe needed for these warmer months.  Each piece met my criteria.  It has to fit well, feel comfortable, and most importantly be versatile and go with two or three other pieces in my wardrobe.  I'm happy to say that all of these items met those criteria so I can switch things up and get lots of mileage from them.

This week I want to take time to play with those items and see how many more options I've given my wardrobe.  I'll combine with jewelry, different pants, shoes, etc.

I'm between books again.  I think I want to finish the Mary Stewart series, but I'm liking fast reads at present, too.  I need something deeper, though.  Decisions!

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