Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Summer Vacation

Saturday:  I've been watching leaves fall off the trees for the past week.  Yes, there are golden leaves drifting to the ground and it not even yet August.  This is earlier than usual for us.  As well, what Granny referred to as Mallow flower, have been up and looking ready for autumn for nearly 2 weeks now.  Foxtail grass has bloomed at roadside...Again an August grass, not necessarily a July one.  Katie and I both are predicting an earlier autumn this year.  Are we wrong?  The Farmer's Almanac doesn't agree with us at all.  We shall see.  There definitely feels like a seasonal change upon us even if we do have 7 weeks of summer left.

Today we drove to the foothills to that other Longhorn restaurant we discovered and had a lovely lunch.  These days really are necessary for us to keep our heads together, but just as importantly to center us as a couple. Otherwise, we get very caught up in always being constantly Gramma/Grampa and the responsible adults in the house which is rather soul sucking at times.  I say that in as loving a manner as I may, but it's very difficult to go from being John and Terri to someone who must always be the grown-up and tag team a small one.  We lose sight of one another.  After a long day we shut down in our own ways.

Perhaps it was provident that we'd just heard of a long-term marriage that was in trouble.  They are wonderful people who have had many demands on their individual lives for a long while now and there was no time to reconnect as a couple.  It hurts to hear.  So, to hear that there is suffering in that quarter makes us doubly aware that we must make our lives as a couple a priority.  Even if we are tired.  Even if we don't really feel like it. Even if we're mad at each other and everyone else in the household.

 Sometimes 'connecting' as a couple might look like us lying down on the bed together and falling asleep in each other's arms for a much-needed nap despite there being nineteen tasks we really should be completing.  Or simply to go sit quietly together on the porch with a cup of coffee.  And having these Saturday dates.  On the one hand, we've asked if we're sure we can afford them...and on the other we've decided to make this a priority.  I can trim and cut and go without in another area.  We've each sponsored a date from our own pocket money.  Sometimes it's just a ride for miles and miles along the country roads where we live, talking out all the frustrations, fears, worries and concerns, but remembering too that we need to be grateful for one another's companionship and support.   

I will add that saying "Thank you" for the smallest acts of kindness is rather key as well.  Things might look awfully uneven, one of us doing more than another at various times, but even if one has done the lion's share it's important to remember that having someone bring you a cup of coffee is an act of kindness, as is taking time to fold clothes or giving the other a break to go calm down when things are getting pretty tense.  

Just my random thoughts on the importance of our Saturday dates just now.

Summer Savor:  Banana Popsicles.  We spied these at the local grocery yesterday, the only popsicle in stock.  Suddenly it seemed the quintessential summer flavor for a popsicle, and it took little urging from Caleb to pick up the box and add it to our shopping cart.  And you know?  They still taste just like summer to me!

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I saw this book featured on a vlog this afternoon.  I thought it looked interesting.  Its basic principle is to strictly cook the main meal from the pantry and the author shares various recipes to do that.  Her suggestion is not to stock up on the recipe ingredients until you've tried the recipe out then once you know your family will enjoy it, go buy three of every item that you'll require.

We're right back to bag meals and shoe box suppers here, an idea that recycles through my blog periodically anyway.  And it's a good reminder to me that this is an area where I might spend some time working on the #everybitcounts challenge with ThreeRiversHomestead.  It's not a conventional 'harvest' but it will stock my pantry just the same.

Sunday:  Caleb has a new toy.  It's a doctor's kit.  I think I told you all that one day a couple of weeks ago, it pretended he had a stethoscope.  Then today, John brought out our blood pressure cuff and stethoscope to check Katie for whatever reason.  I don't know because I was busy with lunch in the kitchen.  Caleb pitched a right fit when John put away the stethoscope today and I don't mean a small one.  So, after she'd been out to donate plasma today, Katie went looking for a play doctor's kit and now Caleb has a toy that has him thoroughly enthralled.

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A moment ago, he gave Katie a 'dose of medicine' and then took some himself.  Katie said, "Why are you taking my medicine?  What kind of doctor are you?!" and that smart little boy replied, "I'm not a doctor...I'm a nurse!"  This made us laugh out loud.  

Now please understand I am not slandering nurses. I know many and many and many a fine nurse, male and female alike.  One of those is my own mother, and while I can fault her for this and that, she was an excellent nurse in her many years of work and devoted herself to that calling with dignity and respectability. Other family members are nurses as well.  I worked with some nurses who were excellent, and I admire them greatly.  But yes, having worked in the medical professions myself, I've met some of the other sort of nurses, as well.  So, it just struck us as incredibly funny that Caleb felt his actions were that of a nurse.

We went to Kroger today after church.  The purpose was to take advantage of a sell on butter and produce that was quite good.  And incidentally to pick up croissants for my 'vacation' breakfast mornings.  They didn't have any of the huge packets this week, but I did find two marked down 4-count packages.  

We pretty much walked the whole perimeter of the store, didn't go down any aisle, and then we were out.  It was $100.  That did include a new petunia for the back porch since the one I bought in May is looking exhausted.  I'll pinch that one back severely then fertilize it and it should put out a whole new fresh lot of growth.  And in the meantime, I'll still have a pretty petunia to help draw the hummingbirds to the porch.

I thought of vacation foods today while we were out and I'm sorry to say that aside from the croissants, nothing purchased today really qualifies as 'vacation' foods, except the small assortment of cheddars and smoked cheddars I found in the deli case for $2 each.  I chose three. One thing I do on vacation is have an adult beverage (none of that on hand either) with a small appetizer of some sort about 4pm.  We only do this on vacation, never at any other time.  

I have a few homemade recipes I'll put together: sausage balls, cheese wafers, rosemary toasted pecans.  We have that assortment of cheeses I just bought and some crackers.  We have a bag of Gardetto's snack mix.  I think those will suit quite well this week as our appetizer as none of it is too heavy.

Breakfasts typically are small and easy: cereal, fruit, and toast or croissants and yogurt, or bagels with cream cheese.  I plan to stick to that for morning meals this week.

Lunches tend to be a big salad or a sandwich/chips meal.

Suppers will be easy as well. I haven't planned those out just yet, and likely won't.  I mean typically on vacation we have burgers or steaks, purchase a whole roasted chicken (I have several whole chickens in the freezer that I could easily bake myself), or a frozen entree that I've brought from home with a salad.  I have quite a few frozen entrees in the freezer that I've set aside from meals we've had over the past few months.    That with a salad and bread will be just right, easy to manage and not time consuming.  

One advantage I have on this 'vacation' is my dishwasher.  I don't usually get that pleasure when we're really on vacation.  

Monday:  I had to remind myself that I'm on vacation after I got up to my elbows in kitchen tasks this morning.  I have bagels and bread in the oven, a Birria seasoned roast simmering on the stove top and a whole chicken in the slow cooker.  I managed to gulp down one hot and one semi warm cup of coffee.  Doesn't sound very restful, does it?  Add to that a screaming child (burnt a fingertip on the slow cooker base), too many things ongoing at once and I began to feel the very idea of vacation was foolishness.

And how did I calm myself?  By sorting out one shelf of the pantry and one basket in the big deep freezer, lol.  Work always has been my balm for upsets.  However, I assure you all I did make myself take up my book and go sit down for a bit this morning.  It was pleasant to read.  

What's surprising is how tired I feel when I'm relaxing.  I think I'm just accustomed to pushing on and ignoring it.

Katie came in from working Lyft this morning as we'd just got Caleb calmed down. He wasn't crying any longer, but he broke my heart when he looked at me with sad blue eyes and said "It weally hurts..."  I thought of how burns do hurt.  I guess I looked like I needed consoling too because John and Katie both came to give me a hug and remind me that it wasn't my fault.  

Working Lyft is not a lot of money, when you break it down to a by the hour pay rate, but as I reminded Katie if she goes out every morning, five mornings a week, she's earning a tank of gas each time she leaves home, and since her car gets great mileage, it is something earned at the end of the week, despite her operating costs.

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I've been looking at videos of new mobile homes.  Not in the market for one, not looking for anyone in the family.  It's just a little escapism through fantasy.  I've seen any number of kitchens with the same cabinets and similar countertops to what I've chosen and y'all, I'm going to really love my kitchen when it's all done!  I've seen the walls in a pale gray, a soft darker gray, and in a light blue and I loved all three equally as well.  So, I do have an idea of what colors I might want to use.  I'm leaning towards the lighter gray with a darker accent wall on the wall where the two islands will be sitting, since it bumps out into the room anyway.  I also love love the color Sea Salt from Sherwin Williams but I don't know what color accent wall I'd have or if I'd have one at all.   I think I'm going to go look at samples and sample pots and put up a few swatches of paint on the wall to see what I prefer in my kitchen which is sunny and light.

Tuesday:  Sigh.  I am trying to vacation, truly I am.  It's just that here at home, things really do need to be attended to.  It's not the light housework which I'd do even if we were at the condo.  I mean it's a lot easier when it's just two rooms but still, we do make the bed, sweep the floors, gather the trash, cook, do the dishes.  So that's pretty much normal for us.

#Everybit counts challenge August 1.  I took all the bread pieces from the freezer and cut them into croutons.  I put those in the oven. Net: 3 cups of croutons, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.

I took all the school lunch veggies from the fridge and processed those.  I blanched 2.5 cups of broccoli and cut that up to make a casserole later this week.  

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I also washed and picked over the baby carrots.  I flash froze those and ended up with a gallon bag of them.  I'll use these for stews and pot roasts and roasted veg later in the fall/winter.  Then I trimmed and washed the celery and diced most of it getting about 1/2 gallon for the freezer.  Again, this will be handily prepared for soups, stews, and casseroles and such.  I also put a full pint jar of celery sticks into the fridge for snacking.  

Why not can the carrots?  The realization yesterday that in order to get to my jars and lids, I essentially need to dismantle the pantry and I just didn't feel up to that.  I did, however, want to get those vegetables processed and put away so they wouldn't spoil.  I did lose two of the little baggies of carrots, so I got to them just in time.  

I'd also debated grating the carrots and I might with some of the larger ones I have but I felt that shredding those little carrots would be tedious.  I still have loads of carrots which are larger, perhaps 5 pounds of them, in the fridge.  

I broke down the chicken I cooked in the slow cooker. SO GOOD! I elevated it so that it didn't stew in its own broth.   We had chicken for supper last night, I made chicken salad for lunch, put up about a cup of chicken for a future pan of Spaghetti ala Diable, and have more than enough to make up the pans of Chicken Broccoli Casserole for a second dinner this week.  I think I'll still have some more left...And of course, there's the frame that was put in the freezer for future use.

When I went to boil the egg for the chicken salad, I boiled six.  I only needed one for the salad, but I thought I'd boil the rest of that carton and set aside for breakfast.

Caleb made lemonade for lunch today.  He was so proud of himself, lol.  I let him stir it with the big paddle sized spatula, and since it was in a gallon pitcher, he didn't slosh it out.

And finally, after lunch, I took the egg and broccoli water out and poured over the sweet potato and peppers.  Then I took time to water plants.  I have a second eggplant forming on another plant!  

While Caleb napped this afternoon (or at least had quiet time with his Mama), I sorted out the beef and pork baskets and the vegetable basket in the deep freezer.  Two more shelves to go...But I don't mind breaking this down into small bites.

Now I have only to put supper together tonight.  I've the main portion all prepared, just need to fix the side dish and garnishes.  Oh and do dishes...Vacation fun! Yay!

And we'll call this another easy day in my home...sort of, lol.

Wednesday:  Call it a stretch of imagination but today as we drove out of our yard, John said, "It's looking like fall.  I swear the grass has slowed down..."  And it has.  It's been nearly 10 days since his last mow, and we've had rain several times.   Then a little further up the highway I turned to him and asked, "Did you notice the golden rod stems standing so tall at roadside?  There are buds on them..."  Of course, he didn't.  He feels rather proud of himself for recognizing corn in the field and he's no idea what's growing any other place except grass.   I also noted the Rain lilies are up all over the sides of the road too, or what I presume to be rain lilies.  They are tiny yellow flowers on what appears to be a leafless stem and they are growing all along one stretch of our highway here.  They apparently spread because each year, I spy them a little further away from where I first spied them a few years ago.   All signs of the season moving onward towards the next.

My second thought for today: I think we should let toddlers name things.  Amie called butterflies, "Flutterbies" for years from about age 2 onward.  Samuel always called muffins, "Nuffins".  Isaac puzzled Bess here one day by asking repeatedly 'fer apple' and she kept telling him there were no apples.  Finally, when he persisted, she said, "If you can show me one, I'll let you have it."  He took her straight to the basket of peaches.  That's when we realized he was asking for a 'fur apple'.

And now Caleb has sent us into gales with his name for something.  One of us passed gas (please I know it is too much information but bear with me) and no one said a word...But after a minute or two Caleb took a big sniff and said, "I smell Poop seed."  And now we are all afraid to pass gas around him, lol.

Y'all would be proud of me today.  John made breakfast for Caleb and himself before I came from my room.  And I have made an easy lunch and have an equally easy supper to prepare.  The only tasks I've done today besides meals: unloaded and put away dishes from the dishwasher and I sat down to write out checks for the bills we had come in over the past couple of days.  That's it.  

We went out to drop off trash, post mail, and do banking.  Then we drove by the grocery to pick up hot dog buns and lettuce and to see Bess, which Caleb thinks is the best part of the store.  I found some absolutely lovely pork chops that I had to buy to put in the freezer.  And the clearance stuff in baskets had been filled so I got Enchilada sauce to pantry stock, Cheesy Rice A Roni, Ranch dip, also for pantry stock.  I figure if you make it a little thinner, you'll have dressing, right? 

All were being sold for really low prices.  Love that this store does so much clearance but a little sorry for these guys too because guess what?  This stock didn't expire since they opened the store.  It came to them as expired products from the distributor!  Fortunately, this is the sort of stuff that is good well beyond the best by dates but because the date on the package says it's expired, they must sell it at a loss.  Isn't that a shame for them?  I think it is, but I'm not in the least sorry to buy it and help them regain some of their loss.

Katie called to say she was in Walmart; did I want anything.  I had her check on 25-pound bags of flour.  She got me two of those, which were still $9.66 for the bag, and a big bag of frozen Tai Pei brand Pot Stickers.  We usually get two or three meals off the potstickers bag.  And of course, the flour went into my pantry.

I kind of realized today that even though I hadn't planned it that way, I'm 'stocking up' as my part of #everybitcounts.

Thursday:  Well dears, you'll never believe me when I share this.  I don't quite believe me, myself.  I have booked us into our favorite condo in St. Augustine for a 3-night stay.  Yes, I have!

I realized yesterday evening, after a rather grueling day of keeping up with Caleb that it isn't the amount of work I do, or don't do.  It's the unrelenting caretaking of a full household that is grinding me down to dust.  Now no one get upset with family.  They almost all do what they can to help out but, in another way, they are all dependent upon me to provide meals, and more or less direct them as to what should be done and when.  And then there's the just the needs of a little boy who even when he's very good, is still taxing me.  When we do get a chance to go out alone (except for Saturday and to church), we somehow end up bringing Caleb along because it's just easier than battling to get out of the door without him.  He's accepting of Saturday and church, but boy just try to go anywhere without him tagging along any other time!  

So I sat down after supper last night and thought, I could do this for a solid month and I'm still not going to feel I've rested...and as long as I'm at home, I'm not going to fully rest because I will keep getting up to do some little task followed a bit later by another little task and before I know it I've worked my way right through a routine day of sorts without any real rest tossed in to make it even out.  

And Lana made a good point when she said there was never a good time to go on vacation...I've certainly found that to be true!  

We had meant to go last fall.  But then we got Katie moved out of the town house and we couldn't really afford the added expense of vacation.  So, we promised ourselves if the house sold, we'd go then and stay a whole week.  And the house did sell, but then Katie and Caleb were living with us, and we needed to be here to care for him. Once we got him in nursery, we thought, "Now's the time to go..." but we were getting calls every other day to come pick him up.  He got sick.  Then nursery kicked him out and we were back to caring for him full time.

So, I told John last night, a little desperately, we have to go somewhere!  I'll book us in someplace for next weekend.  I thought it all out last night and figured for a two-night stay, we'd better stick within Georgia. I debated on this place and that and thought, why not go somewhere new to us. I thought of a town near the mountain area we love (which is NOT mountains, they're just tall hills there) and the places we might visit while in that area.  Little did I know that the only place I thought would be affordable, which is within 2 hours of home, actually is 'in season' and the room rates have shot through the roof.  Two nights away were going to run us an average of $500 and we hadn't had meals, nor did the rooms have kitchenettes, and we hadn't gone to see any of the 'sites' either which all charged admissions.

Then I thought I'd just go peek at the rates in St. Augustine at our usual place and I found that for just a little bit more (less than half of a third night's rates in Georgia), we could spend three nights there.  It was an extra night, true, but I checked with Katie, and she felt she could manage Caleb and her first day working from home easily from her past experiences working the same sort of job and knowing how first days generally go.

I asked John what he thought, and he said, "Do it!" So, I did!

In the meantime, am I going to start working myself to nubbins trying to do things?  Nope.  I'm going to continue to try to relax, at least through next week.  Of course, we both know I'm not going to let things go.  Easy day today has included a leisurely cup of coffee on the front porch while Caleb played outdoors.  A late breakfast, so late!  Then I made up a batch of bread dough and cinnamon roll dough at the same time and have just taken both from the oven.  We had lunch.  I loaded dishes and handwashed a few.

I would like to clear the top shelf of the freezer and corral all the broccoli packets from school lunches that I tossed up there over the summer.  I want to sweep our bathroom and tidy it up a bit just so I don't have that facing me tomorrow.  That's why I went on and made breads today.  And if John goes on and mows then I'll probably take the time to blow off the porches and patio.

Friday:  Three things.  I sat down yesterday afternoon to pay the bills that had come in and this included the material for the new shower.  Ouch.  Then I thought I'd look back over the past quarter at what I'd spent on groceries.  Oh my.  

This morning, Katie called to say she had a tire with tread showing.  And since she'd just made her car payment, she had no funds to get it replaced.   Sigh.  All happened right after I booked our trip next weekend.  And isn't that just the way things go?

Did I cancel our trip?  No.  The money for the trip was already set aside as was the funds for the shower.  It was just an ouch moment when I wrote out that check and watched the savings account dwindle.  But that's fine.  That account is meant to dwindle and swell up again.  The other savings account is meant for the hard life emergencies, not the incidental ones that pop up here and there or for temporary savings (earmarked funds).

I'll trim back on groceries this month, next month and the month after until I've got things back in balance.  In fact, I've already planned we'd take most all of our food for the trip from home.  Heaven knows I've most everything we could want on hand.  

I'm keeping a running tally of what Katie will need to repay and she looks it over periodically, so she knows where she's standing.  I know that she will repay us once she has regular income once more.  Right now, I'm just glad she's able to pay her own bills through her selling of items and working with Lyft.

We've had real rain the past 12 hours.  The plants are all standing tall and proud.  John cut our lawn yesterday which no doubt means that the yards will need to be cut again by Tuesday.  I reckon this will bring the tomatoes and additional eggplants on now and help those peppers and potatoes to grow.  I'm still thinking of getting a fall garden in, but it can wait until a wee bit later in the month.  Then we should have plenty of time for them to grow and be harvested prior to our first frost date.

We have Taylor this weekend.  Gramma's fried chicken is tucked into the freezer. I'll pull it out this evening and put in the fridge to thaw over tomorrow.  

And so ends week one of 'vacation' such as it's been...I'll definitely cut back today on work.  My back is hurting.  I think it's a reminder from my body to myself that I was meant to be resting.  I'll listen to it and give it the rest it needs.

How was your week?