Category: Food

Homemaking Goals for the Week: Prepping for Homecoming and Halloween, and other Autumn Vibes

Good morning! It’s such a good feeling to start my Monday morning off with a planning session for the week! I’ve missed this part of my routine—there’s something about having a deadline to post about my plans that makes me far more likely to make the planning happen.

Conditioning

I’ve added two new categories to my homemaking planning routine: Conditioning & Currency. Conditioning encompasses the various categories of self-care that keep me healthy: Physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social, etc.

  • Physical Goals this week: 3 swimming sessions, 15 minutes of sunshine/outdoor time each day
  • Spiritual: Pray once a day, read one article a day on LDS Circles (I’ve backslid a bit in this category over the summer and am slowly rebuilding my spiritual health habits. Slow and steady wins the race.)
  • Emotional: Go through my Morning Manna ritual each day
  • Intellectual: I am trying to transition to reading actual ink and paper books at night, rather than e-books and/or scrolling on my phone in bed. This is proving harder to do than I would have thought. So, for this week’s goal I’m going to shoot for loading my nightstand with three books to choose from in the evening when I’m tired and don’t want to think anymore: 1 fiction, 1 serious non-fiction/informational, 1 creative/beautiful. I also need to figure out where my phone is going to live while I’m sleeping.

Currency

Update my money book/register twice this week. The ultimate goal is to do this daily, but I fell out of practice over the summer, so we’re rebuilding. Everything else is pretty much automized, so yay.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan: It looks like we’re heading into some seriously autumn-feeling weather this week! Cooler temperatures and some rain means it might be time to start dipping into some soups and comfort food! Woo hoo! Yay for autumn!

  • Monday: Corn Soup with Bacon & Sage, green salad with Italian vinaigrette
  • Tuesday: Quesadillas
  • Wednesday: Baked Chicken Parm, Caesar Salad
  • Thursday: Waffles, Bacon, fruit
  • Friday: Pizza
  • Saturday: Chicken Pad Thai
  • Sunday: Chickpea & Quinoa Chili, cornbread

Clothing

The regular upkeep plus getting Rachel ready for Homecoming. It’s that time of year! I’ll need to do the autumn wardrobe rotation soon, but Homecoming prep takes precedence this week. Also need to check with the kiddos to see if they need anything for their Halloween costumes. (Are they even planning on trick or treating?)

Cleaning

I’m still slogging along with the house decluttering. We did a phenomenal job of getting the kids’ rooms done over the summer, so I’m still very proud of that. I’m currently in the process of moving my home office out of my bedroom and into my craft room, which will require decluttering both of those worlds so they can fit into one room together. It is not a fun task whatsoever. But I’d like my bedroom to be less “business” and more “sanctuary,” so I’m making this long overdue move. I’ve been hit with all the back-to-school sicknesses in the past couple of weeks, so I don’t know if I’ll make any novel gains this week because I’m just trying to get caught up on the regular cleaning tasks around the house.

Caring

  • Getting Rachel ready for Homecoming.
  • General Conference is this weekend, so it’d be nice if I could do something special for that. It’s a busy, busy week leading into it, so I don’t know what I’ll actually be capable of doing.
  • It’s Week #13 in my 12 Week Year goal cycle, so I’m also deciding and planning my goals for the upcoming Autumn Cycle. I’d like to revisit my Life Vision plan and rework it, as the last time I updated it was in 2020 and things have changed A LOT since that time.
  • Nathaniel Driver’s Ed drives and tests scheduling
  • Make optometrist appointments

Creativity

  • Rotation Project: I am currently working on Renaissance’s Christmas quilt. All the penguins have fully formed heads! Next up is the wings and bodies. It’d be great if I could complete all of those this week.
  • Scrap Project: Rainbow Coin Strip Quilt. Why am I still working on this?!?! It’s gathering dust somewhere; the goal for this week is to unearth it and put in some work on the last bits of quilting it needs before it’s done. The resistance I am feeling towards this, guys…yeesh.
  • Crafting-in-the-Van Project: I am currently working on a Christmas EPP quilt that will look a lot like, if not identical, to the Tales of Cloth “Bonnie” quilt. I should probably count how many “blossoms” I’ve completed and extrapolate how many more I have to go. It’d be good to cut up the charm pack of Christmas fabric I bought a few months ago to add to this project and make sure I have enough fabric cut for the remainder of the quilt. I’ll get an hour’s worth of work done on it while I’m waiting for the kids at Mutual this week, and I’ll also get some work done on it during a kid’s dentist appointment as well. I also need a name for this project…Peppermint Blossoms EPP quilt.
  • TV Handwork Project: Uhhh, *checks notes*…huh, I’ve decided to unearth another long overdue project that I think I started working on back in 2005? Decluttering the craft room will have you finding all sorts of stuff! The embroidery floss has long since been lost or allocated to other projects because I thought I lost the instructions to this project, but I FOUND THEM while decluttering, so I really want to finish this up and be proud of myself for finishing a thing. I need to go shopping and purchase replacement embroidery floss this week, hoop the embroidery back up, and hopefully get some actual stitching done whenever I’m watching television/movies. This also needs a name…Christmas Alphabet Embroidery Sampler.

Gardening

Yeah, work should be done out there. We’ll see. Michael went through the yard this past weekend and burned away all the weeds and it looks so nice and neat. There’s a FAT SQUIRREL that is snapping off the heads of all my sunflowers and stealing them away to his nest, so I’m leaving them up while he does his harvesting. All the herbs have bolted so I probably won’t try to save them.

Oooh, I’d also like to start up my countertop AeroGarden, probably with herbs or lettuces, because The Big Dark is creeping in and I like the extra “sunlight” that the countertop garden shines on us during breakfast and dinner time.

Celebrating

  • Put out the last of the September apple decorations that I still haven’t gotten to. (Oops.)
  • October starts on Wednesday?!?! *sighs* Alright, put out the Halloween decorations, too.
  • I’ll have to tell you more about my newest obsession when I get a chance: Whimsical Days, where I just spend a day getting ready for the next holiday/celebration. I generally have been doing them on Wednesdays, so with October starting on Wednesday this week, I’ll be focusing on Halloween this week.
  • Beginning of October means I need to send out some birthday cards to Canadian family.

Community

  • I’m not involved with a lot of stuff this year. I’m focusing on getting Rachel and Nathaniel to their various activities.
  • I am still in charge of music at church and we’ve been taking a little break after a jam-packed summer of music. I should do a debriefing on that because I’d like to do things differently next year. I need to get the Christmas Sacrament Program written up and submitted for approval. I also need to get October and November’s special musical numbers planned and organized. And get October’s sacrament hymns chosen and posted.

Top priorities this week:

  • Homecoming Prep
  • Driver’s Ed schedulings
  • Swimming & sunshine
  • Aerogarden
  • Halloween decorating
  • Church music stuff
  • Consistent time for creativity so I don’t go insane

As I look over this week’s plans, I’m reminded that homemaking is less about checking every single box and more about creating an environment where peace and progress can flourish. The lists keep me moving forward, yes, but the ultimate reward I’m aiming for is the good feeling that comes from making my home a place of care, order, and creativity. Here’s to a week of steady steps, small victories, and the joy that comes when we pause at the end of the day and see the good we’ve accomplished. Let’s get to it—one task at a time! And Happy October!

He’s Fifteen, Christ is Risen, and the Ham is Frozen

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We had a birthday this week! Can you believe that this:

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Is now this?

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Seriously, where did the time go?!?! I’m pretty sure that I just brought this child home from the hospital!

Top priorities this past week:

  • Celebrate The Boy’s birthday
  • Easter Sacrament program
  • Easter dinner
  • Try to make some progress on the Star Climber scrap quilt

Celebrating

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He’s a whopping fifteen years old now. He can start Driver’s Ed and we’re just careening towards independence with this baby of the family. It’s going by so fast.

Creating

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The Easter Sacrament program went really, really well! Everyone showed up on time and did the things they said they would do and many ward members remarked that the program helped them feel the Spirit, which is the basic goal of any of these programs. It was a lot of work and I’m trying to focus on some self-care practices this week to release the tension that’s been building in my shoulders and neck for the past three weeks.

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Easter dinner did not happened as planned because whomever unloaded the car after my Easter dinner grocery shopping trip, and it very well could have been me despite having no recollection of it, decided to put the Easter ham into the freezer. So when I went to get the ham out of the fridge yesterday to bake it, I discovered that it was not in the fridge, but in the freezer as hard as a rock. Easter dinner has been rescheduled for later this week, and we enjoyed leftover chili and mac & cheese, with a healthy helping of carrot cake.

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Didn’t make any progress on the Star Climber quilt because I was too busy with life this week. Here’s the thing—I’ve also been feeling a sense of burnout. I’ve given so much of myself to quilting and this blog over the years, but more and more I’m thinking that I might want to step back and refocus. It’s not an easy decision, but I’m starting to feel like it’s time to make room for something new. As difficult as it would be to walk away, I believe this might be the best decision for me right now. I’m ready to turn the page and embrace new things. This chapter is coming to a close, and I’m excited to see where life takes me from here.

Final Thoughts

So here we are—celebrating a milestone birthday, reflecting on a meaningful Easter, and thinking seriously about where to go next. Life is busy, beautiful, and a little overwhelming sometimes. I’m feeling the pull to slow down, breathe, and make space for what’s ahead. I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but I do know this: It’s okay to grow, to shift, and to let go of things that once filled you up but now feel like too much. Thanks for being here, for reading, and for walking this journey with me—even when the ham ends up in the freezer. (I never offered perfection…and I thank you for laughing with me over the many mishaps over the years.)

A daffodil in That Crafty Cara's (Cara Brooke's) garden

Hailstorms, Mishaps, and a Birthday Cake Colosseum

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Hello, dear friends! This last week has been a mix of progress, moments of “Whoops!”, and unexpected weather!

Caring

  • We dusted off the old tradition of holding Family Home Evening this week! Since Michael’s birthday was this week, this last Monday’s FHE was all about him—sharing favorite memories of him, letting him pick the activity and treat, and just having fun the way he wanted to have fun. He chose to have a fire in the backyard and eat s’mores and we spent one of the last normal-weather days of fake spring jumping around the backyard and stuffing ourselves with marshmallows. It was a low-key evening that was very much enjoyed by all.
  • Michael’s birthday: We did all the things and my guy has been celebrated! We had steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad, and rustic Italian bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dinner. Renaissance also made a really great Roman Colosseum birthday cake for him. We played Yahtzee and it was just a nice, calm evening at home, just the way he likes ‘em.
Roman Colosseum birthday cake decorated by Renaissance Brooke

Creativity

  • The King David’s Crown quilt post went live on Tuesday and you guys went nuts for it! Thank you so much for the comments, emails, and pinning of the post, it got a lot of traffic. That was a fun couple of days where I felt like I was able to put something really beautiful out into the world and people appreciated it. Thank you for the love! Now, to finish quilting the actual quilt so I can use said beautiful thing.
  • Cherry Twilight Socks: I am in the middle of shaping the gusset on the first sock. I wish I could show these to you right now because they look so good! It would be a dead giveaway whose Christmas present they were for if I were to show you, so vague word pictures are all you’re gonna get until after Christmas. Crafters’ lives are weird that way.
  • Midnight Lark Socks: I’m not sure how I feel about these, but they’re coming along. I’m about 2/3 done with the leg of the first sock.
  • I put in a little more time on the Star Climber quilt. I always forget how many little pieces go into a scrap quilt! The cutting for this has been more than I expected, but I sure do love the fabrics that will be used in this project. Scrap quilts are such a great trip down Memory Lane, I love making them so much!
An in-progress Woven Star quilt block being made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for her Star Climber scrap quilt.

Lowlights

  • My allergies are pretty bad this year and it’s just hard to get through my days with any energy. I feel like such a grump. My eyes itch really bad and I’ve rubbed them so hard I’ve broken a blood vessel in one. Feeling extra pretty right now. And, of course, the ward choir had a performance scheduled for today so I dragged myself into church to conduct it and then left as soon as I could afterwards.
  • All of these low energy days are giving way to a lot of introspection, which generally doesn’t make one feel great about themselves. I’m extra aware of my flaws at the moment and trying to improve. Which is the best I can offer!

Highlights

  • That moment during FHE around the firepit when it’s just gotten dark and everyone just relaxes.
  • Had a cute conversation with a fellow band parent about the Great British Baking Show and the joys that are gingham and Anglophilia.
  • The kids had no school on Friday, so Rachel decided to make brunch that day and she made the most amazing creamy chipotle breakfast burrito sauce I’ve ever tasted.
  • The delight on Michael’s face when he walked into the kitchen and realized that Ren was creating a Roman Colosseum cake for him.
  • Michael really got into directing us as we sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
  • The ward choir performance today went really well. We sang one of the newly-released hymns, #1007 “As Bread is Broken,” which Ren’s flute teacher had written a flute part for and I arranged a few of the verses to be slightly more interesting for the choir. A visitor to our service today came up and asked if she could take a copy of it home with her so her ward choir could sing it, too. High praise!

Final Thoughts

We’re just muddling through the allergies and wet weather as best we can, with more time together, some extra stitching, and good food. What else can you do? Hopefully your fake spring survival tactics are working for you as well, and I’ll talk to you again soon!

A daffodil in That Crafty Cara's (Cara Brooke's) garden

Two Weeks of Creativity in One Post: A Birthday, a Quilt, and some Music

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The past two weeks have been full of color, celebration, and music! Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to:

Birthday Magic

We celebrated Rachel’s seventeenth birthday last week with doughnuts and a tea party! We had to postpone the family birthday dinner due to last-minute glitches with the tea party scheduling, but that will happen pretty soon. She had a fun time with her friends and I tried to make things nice for her last “childhood” birthday. I can’t believe these kids are getting so old!

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Nearing the Finish Line

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The King David’s Crown quilt is nearly complete. The “finished” photos of it were due this last week, so those have been taken and submitted, but there’s still some last bits of quilting to do on it and the binding and labelling, which I’m going to do slowly because I’m really burnt-out on crafting at the moment. (Blame the Februaries…blah.)

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So Much Music-ky Goodness

The past two Sundays had a lot of music in ’em. Ren and I performed a beautiful arrangement of “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” two Sundays ago, and last Sunday the choir sang a really pretty arrangement of “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need.” Music takes a lot of work to happen, but it’s work that matters! I love the enthusiastic musicians in our ward who are always up for the next thing. Work continues on the Easter program and I also need to spend some quality with the latest batch of newly-released hymns so I can write up a game plan to get them introduced to our congregation.

Also Some Sugary Goodness

Renaissance was asked to help out at the Relief Society activity this week and showed the ladies how to decorate cupcakes in three different ways. She did so good! Yay for fun church activities!

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Up Next…

I’ve got some “finished project” posts coming soon…there’s a pair of socks that took a tub-tub this morning and currently drying on their blockers. I’ll try to get that post written up ASAP to share with you! Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

A Woven Star quilt block made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for her Star Climber Scrap Quilt.

Starry Stitches & Snowfall Wishes: A February Fresh Start

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Happy Monday! Happy February! I don’t know if you can wish anyone a happy Monday or a happy February, but here I am, trying to inject some semblance of cheer into the grayest part of the year! I found an image on the internet last week that I absolutely loved from Pippi Post, and I have been quoting it to myself over and over again ever since:

Credit: Pippi Post

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There’s a lot of stuff going on right now that is upsetting for people, it’s February and we haven’t seen the sun in months, and almost everyone I know is recovering from some bout of illness. We’re all tired and we’re all overwhelmed, so prioritizing joy is a good idea right now. I’ve been trying to avoid being a grump and it really is weird how you can just choose to be optimistic if you really put your mind to it.

Something that brings me joy is figuring out my week ahead, so here we are with a Crafting a Plan post! Enjoy!

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

  • Monday: Tuscan Meatball Soup with gnocchi
  • Tuesday: Grilled Cheese & Lunchmeat sandwiches, Salad with creamy cider vinaigrette
  • Wednesday: Breakfast Soft Tacos
  • Thursday: Costco Lasagna, Caesar salad
  • Friday: Chicken-Tomatillo Soup with Chipotle Chiles
  • Saturday: TBD
  • Sunday: TBD

Clothing

I am so caught up with laundry! It is exhilarating! I actually have time to work on rotating our wardrobes at the moment, so there’s a big upheaval with the warm and cold weather clothing. I read a fantastic book about decluttering over Christmas Break and am applying the principles to my wardrobe as I work through the rotating.

Cleaning

I’m trying to do some decluttering and it’s going pretty good. The book I read is called Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff, by Dana K. White, and it’s got a completely sane approach to dealing with decluttering that does not involve dumping out an entire anything and spending hours at a time on the process à la Marie Kondo. I’ve gone through the front entrance of the house, the dining room, and I’m slowly working on the craft room. All the background thought that goes into the process makes the upkeep of the cleaned area much easier, so those areas of my house are looking really good, even weeks later. Very good book, highly recommended.

Caring

  • Haircuts for Michael & Nathaniel
  • I need to make a vet appointment for Quesnel. She’s not looking like she’s feeling very well.
  • I need to keep an eye on spring sports registration for Nathaniel.

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Creativity

  • King David’s Crown is assembled and awaiting basting. I decided that I wanted to quilt it nicely, so I’ve ordered some quilting stencils and the company has taken forever to ship them to me. They should arrive on Thursday, despite having ordered them last weekend. Hmph.
  • I started working on my scrappy Star Climber quilt last week and I am loving it! What a great pattern for using up scraps! Love, love, love. I’m planning on this one taking all year to complete so that I don’t have to rush it. I really enjoy working with the Woven Star foundation papers* and I think I’ve picked out a great color palette for this quilt that will use up a lot of scraps from particularly overflowing scrap bins. My schedule for this quilt calls for me to complete eight blocks in February, and I’ve finished four thus far. Another two are in-progress right now and I’m hoping to have them done by the end of this week.
  • It’s quite possible that I could finish the Christmas Stripey socks this week. I’ve made it to the toe decreases, so there’s not a lot of work left on them.

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Celebrating

  • Emily just celebrated her 21st birthday. I think you’re officially old when your kids start turning 21.
  • Next up is Rachel’s birthday. How in the world is she almost seventeen years old?!?! Nathaniel mentioned that her next birthday will allow her to vote. That was not on my radar. These kids just went and grew up on me when I wasn’t looking.
  • Michael and I aren’t up for a big night out on Valentine’s Day so we’re planning a family Mario Kart tournament for that evening. Depending on how into it the kids are, there could be some cute things happening. If the cute things don’t happen, whatever; we’ll still have fun and eat tasty treats.
  • Michael’s birthday is on the horizon, but I’m not quite into planning mode for that yet.
  • Same with Nathaniel.
  • Easter IS on my mind because I’m trying to get the Easter Program together for church. I’ve got my rough draft written up and submitted for approval, so we’ll see how much the bishopric likes it. I’d also like to do some planning in regards to Easter dinner; the kind of planning that will repeat itself every year and make my life easier.

Community

  • Ren and I will be performing the special musical number in church this week because I couldn’t find anyone else to do it. We are becoming very good at throwing pieces together at the last minute! So we’ll need to figure out some rehearsal time during the week.
  • Track down some flute music for Ren for the Easter Program.
  • Compose an ending/reprise for my arrangement of “As Bread is Broken” for the choir.
  • Pick up raffle tickets I had printed for band boosters.
  • Check in on the t-shirts we’re having printed for the band’s Disney trip

Top priorities this week:

  • Vet appointment for Quesnel
  • Rachel’s birthday
  • Valentine’s Day
  • Getting the quilting going on the King David’s Crown quilt

I wish you a happy first week of February! We’re getting some snow right now and I’m really hoping it translates into a legit snow day tomorrow so we can just bum around and drink cocoa all day. I’m reeeeeally hoping for that. May you get your snow wishes granted as well, if that’s your jam.

Crafting through the Cold

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We’ve hit the third Friday of 2025 and it’s starting to feel like we’ve truly left the holiday season behind us and that we’re heading into a new, fresh year. I am really looking forward to this three-day weekend ahead of us, and really, really looking forward to the end of the kids’ semester at the end of next week with its FOUR-DAY weekend. Yay for extra days off of school during the darkest days of the year!

Top priorities this past week:

  • Progress on the King David’s Crown quilt
  • Finish the Piscis Project
  • Progress on the Stripey Christmas Socks

King David’s Crown Quilt

It’s coming along. The pattern will be released to the public in mid-March*, so you would think I have lots of time to work on this, but photos need to be submitted to Fat Quarter Shop ahead of that release date, so I’m needing to work at a faster pace to meet that deadline. The requirement is only one block to show, but I never want to do just one block so I’m doing a legit quilt at breakneck speed. My goal was to be done with 75% of my blocks this Wednesday and I was very, very far behind on that goal on Tuesday, but somehow managed to bend the space-time continuum over the next two days and I’m actually caught up on my self-imposed schedule as of last night. Woo hoo!

It’s a cool-looking block so I wanted to make a full quilt from it because it’s a little off the beaten path for me. I’m really loving the Creative Grids Starburst 30-degree ruler* that goes along with the pattern, and I have plans to re-use this specialty ruler to make all sorts of projects in the future. I’m addicted to Creative Grids specialty rulers. It’s intense.

I figure I’ll be working on this quilt for at least another four weeks, so get comfortable with looking at these fabrics. At least they’re super pretty, right? They’re a handful of prints from the Cali & Co. fabric collection by Corey Yoder.* I really wanted to make the multicolored-on-white flower dot fabric work in some capacity in this quilt, but it just wasn’t mocking up well so I went with the cherries for my background print instead because they are stinkin’ adorable. I love, love, love the periwinkle/cornflower blue of the lighter blue print I’m using and decided to incorporate that and some navy to make a subtly patriotic quilt for the summer months. I’m loving how it’s turning out.

Helpful Hint with this one: Prioritize the skinny tip of the triangle fabric pieces when you’re cutting the fabric and piecing the foundational units of the blocks. Don’t worry about the wide part of the triangle fabric pieces because you’ll be trimming those off. It’s all about the skinny tips on this one.

Piscis Project

I can’t tell you much about this because it’s a gift for someone. It is completed and it’s cute and I’ll show it to you once it is given to the recipient. It’s a small thing, so don’t get too excited about it.

Stripey Christmas Socks

A lot of knitting happened on these this week due to Rachel having two home matches this week and that’s when I’ve been knitting on them. I also knit on them a bit before Nathaniel’s band concert this week as well. I am past the heel and firmly into the foot section! And it’d be a lot more fun for you to read about if I could remember to take a picture of them while I’m working on them…hee hee.

Highlights

  • I found out at our Band Boosters meeting that we raised an extra $2000 more than we originally thought because the Square app stopped logging donations and purchases at a certain time during the Evening of Jazz and it wasn’t deposited into our account until the next morning. Whew! I was seriously bummed at the end of EOJ because our profit seemed really low for the amount of donations we had this time.
  • Lunch with friends is always a nice thing
  • Getting caught up on the King David’s Crown quilt! Didn’t think that would happen!
  • A friend’s daughter started her mission on Monday! She’s doing at-home MTC right now and it’s fun to hear the updates on that situation each day. So excited for you, Abbie!
  • We hosted our Potluck Club this past week. I decided this month’s dinner would have a “Winter Wonderland” theme and it went really well! If you’ve been thinking about organizing your friends to have dinner together once a month, just ask! It’s been such a good thing in our lives these past few months!

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Lowlights

  • I am struggling with my points on the King David’s Crown blocks. I think I’ve figured it all out, but geez…

Enjoy your long weekend if you get to have it! I hope you find some time for some craftiness, warm socks, and hot beverages!

*Affiliate links: I receive a small commission at no cost to you should you purchase from these retailers after clicking through on the link

Meals, Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Hopefully Some Sewing

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Recovery from surgery is going much, much better. I think I may be able to pull off a somewhat “normal” amount of activity this week. I’ve made the choice to stop taking Tylenol for my post-op pain because I think we’re getting close to the end and any amount of pain is a signal that I’m doing too much and that I should slow down rather than pop a pain reliever and keep going at the same pace. I know it’s a wise decision, but ugh. But hey…we are definitely getting to the end of this!

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

  • Monday: Tortellini in broth, Peasant rolls
  • Tuesday: Creamy Pumpkin Soup, European Boule
  • Wednesday: Roast Chicken with garlic, lemon & rosemary, Normandy vegetables, Rice pilaf
  • Thursday: Chili in pumpkin bread bowls
  • Friday: Taco Night
  • Saturday: Leftovers
  • Sunday: Pork & Tomatillo Stew

Renaissance also plans to make a Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie.

Clothing

I am doing laundry pretty regularly now, but I can’t lift the full baskets of clothes. It’s not much of an issue most days because there’s almost always someone else in the house with me.

Cleaning

Cleaning is still a little difficult for me, so I’m keeping an eagle eye on the kids’ chores and not letting them get away with doing half-hearted jobs. I don’t think I’m anyone’s favorite parent right now.

Caring

I’m just trying to get back in the swing of making all the meals regularly because hungry people are grumpy people. There’s also a lot of office work to catch up on, so I expect to spend a lot of time on that this week.

Creativity

I am going to try my hardest to get some actual sewing done this week. The fabric for the band fundraiser table runners is here and I’ve pre-washed it all and am in the middle of cutting it to size. I’m a little optimistic that I might get these done quickly.

I need to really, really get knitting on the secret Christmas knitting project(s). Eek!

Gardening

The tomatoes. Oh, the tomatoes. The green ones are ripening on the counter, so that’s good. We’ll be using a lot of the pureed pumpkin this week, which makes me pleased. I’m hoping we’ll get the garden cleaned out this upcoming weekend, too.

Celebrating

Happy Halloween Week! The kids have costumes, I bought candy, and there are pumpkins for carving, but I don’t know if they’ll get carved at all. There is ONE carved pumpkin, so everything’s ok in a minimalist fashion.

Community

  • Pep Band potluck this week
  • The work continues to get ready for the band fundraiser
  • Ward Choir sheet music is arriving on schedule
  • I still need to find a pianist(s) for our Christmas program
  • I need to schedule the special musical performances for November and December

Top priorities this week:

  • Halloween celebrating & traditions
  • Band Fundraiser Table Runners
  • Scheduling special musical performances for November
  • Finding a pianist for the Christmas program
  • Make some headway on the secret Christmas knitting
  • Rest when I’m tired or hurting

Feral Choir Concert Toddler

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Seeing how I posted my goals for the week on Wednesday, the chance that I’d make significant progress on them was small. It’s just been such a busy week, and with needing to still rest when I start feeling tired I just don’t have a lot of time for the extra things. It’s a frustrating place to find oneself, but nothing terrible will happen as a result. I would just like to be able to do all the things, is that too much to ask?! 😉

Top priorities this past week:

  • Processing the garden harvest
  • Ward Choir logistics
  • Band Booster everythings
  • Walks
  • Secret Christmas knitting

Caring

Rachel had her first choir concert of the year on Tuesday and it was really lovely. I love seeing how much kids can do after only a handful of weeks into the school year. Even the freshman choir sounded great!

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Unfortunately, the family that sat behind us at the concert had a free-range toddler who pulled out some of my hair, and when I turned towards whatever the heck had yanked hair out of my scalp the offender wetly sneezed directly onto my eyeballs.

Zero stars. Would not recommend. It got even worse later on when the toddler tripped and smashed its face into the back of my seat and screamed their anguish into my ear. I was very glad when the concert finally ended and I got to go home.

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Nathaniel had his last cross country meet today and he did SO GOOD. He placed TENTH in his race with a time of 20:00.0. He wanted a 19-minute-anything time so badly, but alas…ha ha ha. Considering that he ran his first race of the season with a time of 23:03.0, I think he can safely be pleased with his progress over the season.

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Garden

I think all we managed to work on after all the work at the beginning of the week was to get the last pumpkin roasted and pureed. I did go to the store and purchase ingredients to make Green Tomato Mincemeat, but the excursion made my incisions hurt, so I decided to rest a bit before continuing with my plans. Unfortunately, I started feeling crummy that evening, and I woke up Friday morning feeling awful and ended up sleeping most of the day away. I think I was fighting off whatever the Choir Toddler sneezed into my face. I needed to do a bunch of other stuff today, so I still haven’t gotten to the mincemeat.

Community

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The church Halloween party was last night and Rachel and Renaissance helped out with the face painting. Renaissance also took over getting our van ready for trunk or treating once it became obvious that I would not be attending the party due to feeling so yucky, and she did a delightful job!

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Ward Choir logistics were dealt with this week and we’ll have sheet music to sing from tomorrow as long as I remember to make copies in the morning. I also ordered all of the Christmas sheet music and expect it to arrive next week, and I could cry over how much it all cost, but if I can get everyone I want to help out with the Christmas program it will be amazing. I am very excited about the possibilities.

I did not get to Band Booster stuff, but it’s high on my list of priorities for next week. The fabric for the table runners should arrive Tuesday afternoon, so I guess I’ll start sewing up table runners on Wednesday or Thursday. (Boring! But needed.)

Health

I went on zero walks this week. Between getting over the cold from last week and dealing with the Choir Toddler flash illness this week I just haven’t had the energy to do much more than some halfhearted office-y work from the couch. I’m doing my best, folks.

Healing from my surgeries is feeling good. One of my incisions is healing a little slower than it should so I have to do some extra care for that three times a day, but it looks like it’s working and the wound is finally closing up. Grocery shopping really tired me out on Wednesday, so I’m still working towards having more energy. It’ll come back.

Creativity

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I worked on my not-secret knitting for a little while before Rachel’s choir concert. Emily and I went on a little yarn crawl together in July and I saw a skein of self-striping yarn in perfect Christmas colors and I had to have it. I’m making some adorable Christmas socks for myself from it and adding in solid red heels and toes because it’s perfect. I’m almost done with knitting up the heel flap of the first sock. I love that you can take the downtime of daily life (like waiting for a concert to begin) and use it to get further along on a project, rather than wasting that time looking at a phone. More crafting in public is needed! Join the cause!

I didn’t work on anything else due to the aforementioned ickiness that prevailed all week. I’m falling so far behind! Fingers crossed for a healthy new week!

Highlights

  • When Nathaniel came running over the crest of the hill before the finish line in his race, way before I expected to see him.
  • The huge smile on Rachel’s face when we handed her the bouquet of flowers after her choir concert.
  • How cute the van looked after Renaissance finished decorating it for the Halloween party.
  • Emily brought me Panda Express for lunch one day as she came home from running errands because she thought I’d like it.

Lowlights

  • The Feral Choir Concert Toddler :::squinty side-eye:::
  • Two illnesses in one week

Despite all the illnesses, I AM getting stronger and feeling better each week, so that’s good. Michael and I both are really excited for how much better I could potentially feel in my daily life once I get all healed up. Ugh, the amount of pain and lost days I’ve had to deal with for the past ten years is gobsmacking. And it could just be over now. Maybe. That’s incredibly exciting. We shall see…

I’ll leave you with a photo that Nathaniel texted me while he was out on a run this week. I may not be getting out a lot to enjoy this beautiful autumn weather, but my kids send me pretty pictures of it, for which I’m grateful. There’s always happy little glimmers to make one smile…

Busy with Harvesting

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Last week’s decision to have little goals to work towards each day was a great success!  I felt like I was going to be physically ill at the end of Monday and Tuesday from the effort, but by Wednesday I could do each thing each day with relative ease. Unfortunately, I caught a cold from one of the kids and the symptoms began manifesting on Thursday evening, so I didn’t get much more done after that point. I felt much better by this last Monday and have been slowly ramping up efforts yet again. It’s nice to actually do stuff again!

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

  • Monday: Pizza (Michael)
  • Tuesday: Corn & Zucchini Soup, Whole Wheat Rolls
  • Wednesday: Beef & Pumpkin Stew that turned out terrible, so I converted it into a Beef & Pumpkin Curry that was more than decent
  • Thursday: Pork & Tomatillo Stew
  • Friday: TBD
  • Saturday: Marry Me Pasta, Salad
  • Sunday: TBD

Clothing

Just trying to get strong enough to handle doing laundry again. The goal is one load a day and I’ve met that goal once thus far this week.

Cleaning

Cleaning is still a little strenuous for me, so I’m doing light tidying. The kids don’t like that I’m noticing messes now and I’m coherent enough to keep on top of them to clean up after themselves. They’re good kids, but geez, if they aren’t going to be nagged to clean, they are not going to do it. I could worry unnecessarily about this, but I was the same way when I was their ages, and I got my act together at some point.  I’ll just keep nagging and hope they sort themselves out in the future.

Caring

When I was cutting up garden vegetables for freezing, I took the time to dice up some of the green peppers, and added some onion and garlic to the bag so Michael could have a ready-to-go bag of diced veggies for when he makes roasted potatoes for breakfast on the weekends.  It’s a little thing, but I hope it makes him feel loved.  He hates chopping things because his hands are better suited for brute strength activities and not so much for fine motor things like dicing vegetables.

Creativity

I did not finish a penguin block last week because I got sick. I also realized that I’ve been having a hard time with this quilt because I’m making it out of flannel, which I’m not enjoying piecing with at all. I’d like to sit down and calculate whether or not it’s feasible to finish this quilt before Christmas decorating season this year—if it’s not feasible I might move onto something else for the time being.

Oh…I will need to move onto something else for a little while. The decorations for the band’s big fundraiser are looking more than tired and we’ve decided to replace the table runners this year, which I’ll be sewing up. I ordered the fabric today, so I don’t know when it will get here, but I’ll start working on those once the fabric arrives.

I also need to keep going on the secret Christmas knitting. I was supposed to be 50% done with one project last weekend, but I’m only at the 25% mark.  Eek. I do have a fabulous excuse, but still…I like to finish my projects no matter what.

Gardening

There was a Freeze Warning issued yesterday and I made the decision to just harvest everything in the garden, ripe or not, seeing that it’s the end of October and true freezes can legitimately start happening now. I had hoped to focus on getting caught up on office type things this week, but Mother Nature forced my hand and I’ve been processing produce for storage.  Mostly chopping and freezing things because canning feels like it would be too much at the moment. I think I will try to can up some Green Tomato Mincemeat tomorrow, though. I’ve read good things about the recipe, and there’s a lot of green tomatoes sitting on my counter. I’m absolutely chuffed over the garden’s output this year. It’s easily my best year of gardening ever; I just wish I had been strong enough to can a lot of the veggies because that’s one of my goals in life. I aspire to have the pantry full of jewel-toned jars of homemade yumminess lining the walls. It’s always such a beautiful sight.

See that huge zucchini in the box? It yielded twenty-two cups of shredded zucchini! That’s a lot of future zucchini bread!

Celebrating

The girls are helping with the church Halloween party and Renaissance cut down my corn stalks after we harvested the corn and she’s planning to tie them up nice so they can be placed on the front porch as decorations. Rachel ordered herself a costume from Amazon and Nathaniel has come up with the laziest costume that will still work for him, so we’re covered on costumes. Yay, Halloween. Should probably buy some candy to hand out.

Community

Ward Choir: We’re changing our meeting time and I’m meeting with my pianist this week to discuss Christmas music. I was not able to attend our last/first rehearsal because I wasn’t feeling well, so a friend ran the rehearsal, for which I’m very thankful. I am really hoping to be done with feeling poorly and get these Christmas rehearsals going!

Band Boosters: We had another fundraiser planning meeting this week and made a lot of decisions. So much work to do! Music programs in our schools do not happen on their own, folks! I am thisclose to creating vinyl lettering for my van’s rear window that has a Venmo QR code for people to donate to for the band. People donate to bachelorette parties, why not music in our schools? I truly wonder if that would work…?

Top priorities this week:

  • Processing the garden harvest. Ren and I have ploughed through a lot of it already, but still need to figure out what to do with the tomatoes that are over-ripe, under-ripe, and green. We also need to puree a pumpkin, and I want to oven-roast the green cherry tomatoes to have on-hand for adding a handful to soups for extra flavor, etc.
  • Ward Choir logistics.
  • Band Booster everythings.
  • Walks. They stopped happening while I was feeling unwell, so I need to get back in the habit.
  • Secret Christmas knitting, because I’m behind on it, but also because it forces me to take a break during the day and I can feel that I’m sometimes a little more tired than I should be due to the harvest processing.

I wish you all a happy and productive week! It’s so nice how good you feel when you’re able to dig in and just get some work done! Ren and I worked hard this morning in the kitchen and while we were eating lunch she sighed and said, “It’s just a good day. I did work that matters and that I like doing, and I’m eating a lunch that tastes good. That’s a good day.” I just looked at her and felt so proud. She gets it. Life is a lot of work, but a lot of the work is really enjoyable if you let it be enjoyable. Hopefully this beautiful time of year brings you numerous opportunities to enjoy the work that’s being asked of you!

Inching Along

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I’m still recuperating from surgery, but starting to feel like I might just live after all.  It’s been four weeks since my first procedure, and two and a half weeks since the second.  I have to keep reminding myself of that second date because I can easily remember the first date and I get discouraged that I’m not further along in my recovery, but then I remember the second date and I feel better about where I am.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:
Monday: Orange Chicken Bowls (Renaissance)
Tuesday: Beef & Pumpkin Stew, if I have the energy.  If not, quesadillas made by someone else.
Wednesday: Beefy Pasta (Ren or Emily)
Thursday: Pizza
Friday: TBD (Michael)
Saturday: TBD (Michael)
Sunday: TBD (Michael)

Clothing

We’ll see if I can handle doing any laundry this week.  I tried a week or two ago and could load clothes in the washer, but that was about it.  Michael’s been good about keeping the laundry caught up, but it’ll be good to take over that task from him so he has less to worry about.  Trying to fold and put away clothing will once again be a focus.

Cleaning

I’m still restricted quite a bit in my activity, so I shouldn’t be doing much cleaning.  If I have the energy for it I try to wipe down the kitchen table and counters after breakfast.  At some point that should become an easy task again, right?  I’ve also been puttering around in my craft room, putting away a thing here and a thing there. I tire extremely easily, so there’s not a lot getting done, but every little bit helps.  Maybe I can aim to clean the kitchen surfaces each morning, put away a certain number of things in the craft room each day, and spend a set amount of time (5-10 minutes) each day unearthing my office desk from beneath the mountain of paperwork that is currently camouflaging its existence?

Caring

I’m still healing, but also trying to regain energy, which is a tricky balance to strike.  I’m trying to walk further distances and/or go on more walks each day, and that’s going relatively well.  I’ve added in Stretchy Calf Raises to the end of all my walks in an attempt to fend off any plantar fasciitis that may be brewing as I’m sure my muscles have atrophied everywhere and I do not want to have to deal with plantar fasciitis on top of everything else.

I complained to my doctor about being bored out of my skull at my last check-up and he suggested I allow myself to read as much as my heart desired.  I think I read nine books and seventeen magazines last week.  I’m getting tired of reading.  Kristin Hannah’s The Women is excellent.  I can’t read anything else by her while I’m recovering though—she writes the most heartbreaking stories and I feel like I need to avoid the downers right now while my body is trying to manufacture warmth and light and healing vibes.  It’s hard to convince your cells to rejuvenate when you’re feeding your mind and heart a bunch of tension and sorrow.

I don’t have any extra space to care for others right now.  Which is ok.  Stinky, but ok.  I do need to remember to reach out to my brother on his birthday.  Which reminds me that I should get back into the habit of checking my To-Do List app each morning, if only to make sure I’m not missing any important reminders.

Creativity

I’d like to start doing some creative things each day.  I’ve got the time, and it would require me to sit and stand up, which is good for helping me regain my strength.  Major Post-Back Surgery of 2015 vibes going on here, but hey, that’s how I ended up making my Farm Girl Vintage quilt!  I would almost start another Farm Girl Vintage quilt now, but there’s a lot of other projects that I really should work on instead.

  • Complete a penguin block for Renaissance’s Christmas quilt
  • Spend 30 minutes each day doing some Christmas knitting

Gardening

There’s not a lot that I can do in the garden, which is so beautifully overgrown and ripe that it hurts.  Michael and Renaissance are doing their best to use up what we’ve got out there, for which I’m profoundly grateful.  Renaissance has processed two of the pumpkins into puree and Michael has been picking my tomatoes and peppers and cramming them into everything he cooks for us these past few weeks.  I grew a boatload of beautiful San Marconi peppers—they’re about ten inches long each and a vibrant red that just makes you happy to look at them.  We ate the purple corn I grew and it was really good—when you cook it, the purple turns black and grey, which made for excellent Halloween-ish corn on the cob.  Renaissance called up a friend who really likes making salsa and gave him four pounds of our tomatillos, which he was really jazzed about.

This may not be a great food storage year for us, but we had fun in the garden throughout the summer and we’re doing the best we can with the harvest.  Hopefully this surgery solves all the problems that have made it difficult for me to process harvests and spend extended time in the kitchen to do canning and preserving.  Losing out on this harvest is worth it if I can do the work in years to come.

Celebrating

I’m not sure what my kids are doing for Halloween.  I think Michael’s taking care of it?  And, honestly, the kids are set up with their teen accounts on Amazon and can just order a costume if they want one and I’d approve it.  They know this, so I’m not going to worry about it.  If they forget, they can throw something together from what we already have around the house.  I’m not going to stress about Halloween this year.

Community

I was supposed to resume ward choir practice this week.  I pushed it out another week because I knew I didn’t have the strength.  We’ll be starting up this Sunday.  It’s going to be rough.  I need music for them to practice, especially Christmas music.  My contact in the bishopric was released and now I need to go through whoever the new guy is.  It takes a while to figure things out.  I had hoped to do a big Christmas program this year, but I’m now leaning towards a more simplified one because I know I’m stretched too thin.  Getting caught up with life is going to take a while.

Band Boosters are chugging along without me.  Sigh.  I mean, it’s what you want to happen, and they are all exceedingly capable women, so everything is good.  I’m just sad that I’m not there with them.  I get extremely bummed out about missing out on it all, but so very thankful that they’re handling everything just fine.

Top priorities this week:

  • Complete 2 walks a day, with 10 Stretchy Calf Raises at the end of each of the walks
  • Wipe kitchen surfaces after breakfast each day
  • Clean up 10 things in craft room each day
  • Spend 10 minutes clearing off office desk each day
  • Spend 30 minutes doing Christmas knitting each day
  • Finish 1 penguin block by the end of Sunday
  • Fold and put away 1 load of laundry each day

So that’s me. Just trying to get up and moving again. There’s a lot of hope and a little bit of budding excitement that this surgery may have drastically improved my quality of life, given that my back doesn’t hurt anything like it used to and I’ve now gone a full four weeks without a pain flare-up. I just need to be careful with my recovery and find that delicate balance between enough rest and enough activity. Patience, patience…