The Homemaker Plans Her Week: Do It Again

Last week, I accomplished only minor things aside from the basic meals, housework and childcare.  Granted those three things I listed were enough.

What I did get done last week: visited Mama, planted three of the six plants I brought home, cleaned and deadheaded about half the flower and gardening pots, sorted out the refrigerator freezer icemaker, cleaned off the top of the fridge, removed all the excess medications from the kitchen now that colds have passed, cleaned up the last few boxes, ran vinegar through the coffee maker, refilled my canisters, cleaned the drains.  My family got busy and sorted out the crowded back entry and boxes as they'd promised they would do.    Gee, it looks like a lot more got done than I'd thought!

This week we may change zones, but you can bet we'll still be doing those basic three things all over again.  

Work:

Zone 2: front entry, dining room and living room.   Plans for this zone area this week:  Clean the storm door and front door.   Dust furniture and deep vacuum edges of the room along the walls, moving out stationary pieces of furniture.  Sort out the bookcase which always seems to look cluttered.  And why?  We keep pull-ups and wipes handy on a lower shelf but Caleb likes to arrange things to his liking so there are pull-ups shoved on top of books and 'no-wears' on another shelf and powder and diaper rash stuff out of his reach on a third shelf and then I shove books willy nilly back onto shelves just any way they will fit.  I loathe to say it, but I also need to sort out which books I am not going to keep...This is always painful.  My good intentions about re-reading certain books are not going to occur.  Some yes I will choose over and over again, but there are a few that were more acquaintance than friend...I need to let them go to a place that will appreciate them more than I.

I want to buy a basket to put all the stuffed animals in and a rug to go at the front door, so when we come indoors, we don't track dirt everywhere.

Finish planting the rest of my newly purchased plants.  Clean and amend dirt in vegetable pots and get some fall things planted.  Purchase soil if necessary. Work at deadheading more of the plants.  

Get September checkbook in order.  Write out bills and get those mailed.  Go do banking, mail, etc.

Just relax.  I've been lagging behind now forever, so why stress myself over not getting it all done immediately as I think I'd like to do?

Kitchen:

Make my first spice cake of the year...I don't know just which one, but I'll let you know when I know, okay?

Do my utmost to avoid going into the grocery store anymore this week.  I have picked up juice, a couple of produce items and bread for the week ahead. I could reel off half a dozen things I 'need' but I really don't, not just at the moment.  My expenses this weekend for groceries comes up to about $90.  

Meals:

Chinese Take Out

Ham, Hash Brown Casserole, Butter Beans, Green Salad with Apples and Pecans

Chicken and Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Pear Salad

Salisbury Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans Speaking of green beans, the last few cans I've bought were all a 'good name brand'.  No kidding ladies, I can barely feed two of us off those cans!  I'll have to open two cans to feed the four of us from now on.

Kielbasa One Pot dinner

Ham and Bean Soup, Cornbread

Fish and Fries, Coleslaw

Leisure:

I picked up an Angela Thirkell book at a musty dusty old store and I've been pushing my way through it.  I didn't realize that all her books are interconnected which explains why I kept feeling I was missing out on something.  Her style of writing is witty enough, but the paragraph long run-on sentences make it a bit difficult to keep going.  I'm trying, simply because I've always heard she was a good author for someone who loves to read older British books of the rural village type.  

I'm reading more than one book at the moment.  I'm still taking in small bites of Happy Landings by Patti Bender, started I Bought a Mountain by Thomas Firbank.

Give myself a fresh manicure.  I'm trying to do this more often as it protects my nails from breaking so often.

Time for some 'at home day spa' pampering.  Oddly I'm out of the sort of products I'd typically use, so I'll probably make up some sugar scrub for exfoliating and will deep condition hands and feet with gobs of vaseline and wear old socks on all four extremities.  

Continue to play with my wardrobe.  I keep meaning to get to this and failed to do so all week long.  I have a long list of combinations to attempt.  

Read all my September issues of Victoria magazine.  

Pull out my genealogy notebook.  One of these evenings after Caleb is in bed, I'll settle for a good long rabbit trail run.