The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Ready? Set... Go!

 

Hello lovelies.  It hit me midway of last week.  I was ready to start afresh in my home.  I could see a dozen or so tasks I longed to start tackling and as the week went on my energy rose higher and higher.  Small confession.  I started by getting a few blog posts under my belt.  I'm by no means well ahead as I was at this time last year, but I'm started.

Now I'm ready to get started in other areas of my life as well.  Are you ready?  

I thought I'd just combine the menus and work posts once again.  It's just a good way for me to see at a glance what I mean to do during the week.  I'm not planning heavy this week.  I'll save big projects and such for September.  In the meantime, let me just rev my engine a bit...

Work:  

Typically, this time of month, I'd take the fifth week to work on the shed or to get lots of yard work done.  Not going to happen this month.  For one thing, it's hot as I'm writing, and glancing ahead at my weather station, it's going to be hot all this week.  I am not a heat seeker.  I like looking cool and comfortable.  I can work up enough sweat right here inside the house without going outdoors to labor.

What my plans are for this month is to continue to ignore zones but take time to go through each room and refine them a bit, clean them a wee bit more deeply than I've done all month long.  Do a little more than just routine maintenance.  I'll focus on one room each day.

Monday: Kitchen.  Tuesday: Dining Room.  Wednesday: Living Room.  Thursday, Front and Back Entry.  Friday: Our bed and bath.  I plan to dust, wipe, mop, clean the myriad little fingerprints that are spread over each room, declutter surfaces or segments that are particularly bothersome, etc.  I'll give just one day to each area and no more. It's not meant to be a full fall cleaning either.  It's just a little deeper cleaning than maintenance chores so that I can look at a new month with a home that is fresh and ready for the deeper tasks I hope to do in September.

I'll be keeping Millie on Thursday and that's why I decided to focus on entry areas then.  Both are small and need only minor amounts of work.

Kitchen:  

I've done little baking, little making of much these days.  It's too hot to cook!  But I do make bread weekly and this week I need to make sure to make a batch of bagels.  I know we're out of them.  

I'm going to try and put together some sort of cooling pie.  I'm thinking of an orange pie.  I have an idea of one I'd like to try my hand out.  I don't even have a recipe for it.  I'm adapting another recipe.  It requires NO baking except the graham crust and that can go into the toaster oven.  

Menus:  

Meal plans over the last month were based solely on how I felt, what I wanted, and how hot it was each day.  We've still got the heat and that means that meals are going to be different than they might look come the end of the month or even in October.  Believe me, I'm longing to cook that turkey breast that I have in the freezer, but I have zero desire to put that in the oven to cook for hours.  

The last few weeks, I've picked odd items from the freezer or pantry and tried to incorporate them into meals.  You know those little things that you bought with one recipe in mind but had too much for just that one, so you shove it in the pantry or freezer and there it sits?  Or the 'good intention' items that we thought we'd eat but in reality, we don't like as well nor think of nearly as often as we might?

This week, I want to eat some things from the freezer that I put up in Spring.  I'd love to believe that food, once frozen, stays good forever.  I'm here to tell you, it doesn't.  Every item has a window of freshness and then taste is compromised.  Ditto for certain pantry items.  Chips will go stale...Ask me how I know.  I'll be focusing on using items that we've had in storage for a good bit.

Tuna Salad Plates, Crackers, Orange Cream Pie.

One of the frozen entrees from the freezer, Green Beans, Salad.  I have about eight casseroles in the freezer and some of them are getting pretty old.  I don't know which one I'll choose just now, but the sides will work with any of them.  

Baked Potato and Salad Bar.  I'll have bacon bits, cheese sauce, steamed broccoli etc.  I have pickled beets, feta, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, etc.  I'll set out a variety of things and everyone can build their own.

Soup, Corn Muffins, Peach Cobbler.  I have several containers of soup in the freezer, I'll chose one or two of those to thaw and heat.  No, apparently I have only chili in the freezer.  But I have a variety of things I might make soup from.  It's just a matter of determining what we want to have: Chicken Noodle or Vegetable?  The peaches are from last summer and really need to be used.

Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad, Garlic Toast.   Meatball Subs, Pasta Salad I have containers of sauce and two different recipe portions of meatballs in the freezer.  

Turkey Meatloaf, Butter Beans, Coleslaw.  I bought ground turkey on a great discount and used some, but I have one package left.  Why didn't I use it?  I found the flavor less than stellar.  I can season a meatloaf to disguise that.   

BLT's, chips.   I like to keep meals simple for Friday evening or Thursday if it's been a tough day with little ones.  I'll see how long I have to keep Millie on Thursday.  Last week it was a longer day.  This week?  Not sure.

Personal:

I should be getting a box in from Stitch Fix.  I know what I'm getting this time, as I picked it.  The moment those things are tried on, I'll go ahead and try to assemble four outfits, accessories and all.  

I need to go through my closet this week, anyway.  I have a few things I'm not wearing.  I know why I'm not wearing them.  One or two tops are sleeveless, and I don't have a suitable lightweight covering to wear over them.  Some might be worn come Fall when I can put on a sweater.  One or two just don't fit as well as they might and I'm going to set them aside until I lose five or six pounds.  Then I'll revisit them and see if I like them better.  I have pants that need to be hemmed.  Time to get that done.   

I'm by no means ready to pull out sweaters and coats, etc.  But I know I've got a couple of heavy winter coats and I want to try them on and see if they fit, or if I even like them.  I've made up my mind that hating a coat and having it hanging in my closet isn't good enough.  I want coats I'll want to wear when it's cold rather than being miserable because I've gone without it when it's freezing or because it's ill-fitting or a loathsome color.     

I've been doing a lot of window shopping online for various clothing items and I plan to keep on.  I need some fresh costume jewelry pieces, scarves, kimonos, athletic capris for next summer, etc.  I won't buy things all at once.  I'm going to keep window shopping this week and possibly place an order or two.

Read.  Color.  Remember that I'm not working myself into the ground...I've just gotten rested up!                                            

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