Category: Homemaking

Cake, Silks & Pi(es)

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I feel like it was a really productive week, which is always nice. My little routine of writing these goals vs. outcomes weekly posts is helping me stay on-track with what I want to accomplish each week. I’m really glad I’ve reinstituted these. Not only are they keeping me focused, but I really enjoy writing them and re-reading them, like a journal. I rarely re-read my handwritten journals, so I don’t learn as much from my writing in those. Blog posts can actually be searched by keyword, for cryin’ out loud. Wonderful.

Top priorities this last week:

  1. Michael’s birthday
  2. Garden
  3. WREF Scholarship application
  4. Prom dresses
  5. Resurrecting music practice time

Celebrating

  • Michael’s birthday went well, there was an adorable “Among Us wedding cake” made by Renaissance, and each of the kids remembered to get him a gift this year. We did not have steak and potatoes for dinner, as I predicted; he requested fajitas.
  • The potentially brewing project died a sure death this past week. I’m bummed because it would have been a cool thing to do, but I’m also relieved because it was going to take a lot of time and effort to pull off. Many lessons were learned from this experience that I can apply in the future when such a situation inevitably pops up again.

Gardening

  • Trellises are in my house, as are some other gardening items.
  • All seeds needed through the month of April have been secured.
  • Rhubarb is still small.
  • I did sow the cabbages, some alyssum, but nothing else.
  • My sweet peas are just barely starting to sprout! You really have to look for them, but tiny little tendrils are pushing out of the soil!

Community

  • Renaissance did indeed submit her application for the WREF scholarship! Oh gosh, the arrhythmias…she submitted it yesterday at 2:15pm or so, and the pop-up that came up to confirm submission stated that it was due by 4pm that day. We had planned to work on it that evening, but something came up and we moved the time to earlier, THANK GOODNESS.
  • Band Parent meeting went well and many things have been scheduled for this last push of the school year. I still have a few office-y things to do for that.

Creativity

  • At Home:
    • Fat Quarter Shop upcoming quilt: Sneak peek video was posted on Friday on Instagram and I’m aware that my videography skills/software need an upgrade. I had planned to finish piecing the top on Saturday and even cleared my whole schedule for it, but some of my children decided to mutiny against their Saturday chores and much time was lost on this quilt because it went towards dialoguing and disciplining. I’m still confused as to why that day went so sideways. As it stands, I’m about 2/3 of the way done with assembling the blocks.
    • Prom Dresses: The fabric for Ren’s dress has arrived and I am so in love with it. It’s GORGEOUS. The contrast fabric isn’t as flowy as I would have liked, but we’ll just have to make do because it was the only kind of silk they had that came in the color we wanted. FYI, Shantung silk is not flowy. Tell your friends.
  • Van Crafting Sessions™: Designing wedding shawls: Newsflash: I’ve not done this before and I’m not good at it. Yet. (#growthmindset) Time was spent wrapping my head around how to actually do this.
  • Resurrecting music practice sessions: Did not happen because I’ve had them scheduled for the evenings, but now that it’s light outside again we’re actually outside during that time as a family. I’ll need to figure out a different time of day for this.

It was a really, really busy week with a concert on Thursday, which was also Pi Day, so Emily made three pies and because we had three pies chilling at our house I invited Ren’s band friends over after the concert and we all ate pie until 11:15pm. Ha ha. I’m generally an introvert who really appreciates a solid sleep schedule and bedtime, but sometimes you just gotta spend some time with friends. It was a good choice, despite how tired it made me the next day.

I Forgot about the Prom Dresses

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I was so proud of myself last week for how well I had cleared my schedule so things could be manageable, and then over the course of one day so many projects came to rest on my plate. At least they’re all projects I’m excited about!

Happy Daylight Savings Time to those of you who are mandated to go through it. I’m feeling it! Hopefully the sluggishness wears off quickly.

Cooking:

This week’s meal plan:

  • Monday: Orange Chicken, Stir Fry veggies, Rice
  • Tuesday: CP Soup
  • Wednesday: Taco Pasta
  • Thursday: CP something, pie for Pi Day
  • Friday: Michael’s birthday dinner, which he has not decided upon yet. I’m going to guess it’ll be steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad and herbed rye rolls.
  • Saturday: Pasta/Emily’s choice
  • Sunday: CP Corned Beef, boiled potatoes, cabbage, maybe some Irish soda bread

Clothing:

  • Maybe this will be the week that I finally conquer the folding pile.
  • Keep thinking about and making plans for Easter, spring and Rachel’s travel outfits.
  • Materials and supplies are going to begin arriving for making prom dresses for Renaissance and Rachel.

Cleaning:

  • I don’t have a definitive plan set, which I would like to create. Basic upkeep for the next few weeks.

Caring:

  • I’m really struggling to remember what I’d like to do here. I blame the sleep deprivation from Daylight Savings Time. Um, I need to care for my poor sleep-deprived brain by adjusting my sleeping ASAP. I’ve learned over the decades that sleep is #1. You mess with the sleep, you mess with everything.

Creativity:

  • At Home:
    • Prom dress prep—Dates were announced last week and I realized I had no plan whatsoever for making their dresses. We strategized over the weekend, and I think it’s doable. Ohhhh, the girls have picked some lovely designs and fabric. I’m really excited about these dresses!! Hopefully my “adventurous beginner/beginning intermediate” garment construction skills are up for the task…eek!
    • Sewing on the Fat Quarter Shop upcoming quilt—Sneak peek this Friday!
  • Van Crafting Sessions™: Planning out personalized wedding shawls because I’m a person who gets things done years ahead of time

Gardening:

  • Peas, trellises, etc.
  • Seed check
  • Rhubarb watching
  • Plant delphinium
  • Use up the herb jungle
  • Direct sow alyssum, cabbage, pansies, poppies, viola

Celebrating:

  • Michael’s birthday is this week! I hounded the kids to get him gifts, so that’s an improvement over last year. Problem is, I gave them all my ideas for gifts and now I don’t have any other ideas and no gift to him from myself. Sigh.
  • After a quick text conversation with my people last week, I don’t think we’re going to be doing anything for Easter, but I’ll follow-up this week just to make sure.
  • The potentially brewing project I mentioned at the end of last week is dying a slow death. I thought it was dead for sure, but a spark of life was breathed into at the last second. I will follow-up today to find out what is going on.

Community:

  • I am nagging Renaissance about the WREF scholarship that’s due on March 17th. I do not get the feeling that it’s accomplishing anything.
  • Band Parent meeting this week—Many of my concerns from last week are resolving.
  • I was sustained in a new calling for church on Sunday: Ward Music Coordinator. It basically just means I make sure we have music during sacrament meeting. I pick the hymns, make sure the music makers know what the hymns are, and I set up and support the special musical numbers. We have Stake Conference this week, so no pressure for me this week. If I went ahead and taskified this calling, it would make my life a whole lot easier over the next few months as I settle into it. I should also resurrect my own music practice times since I know that I will inevitably have to pinch hit some musical numbers on the fly when scheduled performers cancel at the last minute.

Top priorities this week, aside from sleep health:

  1. Michael’s birthday
  2. Garden
  3. WREF Scholarship application
  4. Prom dresses
  5. Resurrecting music practice time

Much Music and Considerable Clothing Commissions

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It was a week of excess; a week that seemed overwhelming in the beginning and then ended with a smorgasbord of new opportunities on top of an overfilled plate.

Community

All the music went well. The All-District Choir Concert was really, really good; it was the first time they’ve done that concert since 2016 and it really is a special event to see every single choir student in the district performing together in one space.

Wind Ensemble (High School Band) performed at the PLU Invitational on Friday and I went along as a chaperone. They did so good! It was a really enjoyable day hanging out with some of my favorite people.

Jazz Bands (both middle and high school) performed at a swing dance last night. I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t go. Michael took good videos and everyone sounded really good.

Clothing

There was a lot of laundry folding, but I’m still not caught up.

I thought a lot about spring, Easter and choir trip wardrobes.

But then Prom was announced and I remembered that it really is a big deal to me to make the girls’ dresses for the high school dances, so everything else has kind of gone out of the window. I almost get my wish of making 1950s spring formal dresses—Rachel is eyeing a vintage Vogue pattern from the 1940s, so close enough. Renaissance’s pattern choice is a gamble that I think is going to work out. I am really excited about both dresses. Since it’s Ren’s senior year, I’ll be making hers from really nice fabrics, and Rachel will have to make do with Casa Collection satin from JoAnn Fabric. I cannot wait for the patterns to arrive in the mail so I can start cranking out the muslins.

Creativity

The Baking Doodle Cowl pattern was finally released on Friday, and there were many nice comments about my particular test knit. Always feels good to receive a compliment.

My knitting queue has been a whirlwind of indecision this week! I spent a lot of time narrowing down a new project and decided to go with finally using a gorgeous skein of spring green laceweight yarn to make a pretty spring shawl. Then I decided it’d look great if I carried a strand of self-striping green mohair with it. I was so excited, and then, after knitting the set-up chart, decided it did not look great.

Which is fine because then I realized that we are in the years where my girls can start getting married, which was brought on by receiving an invitation to the wedding of one of Emily’s friends, which led to some deep discussions about weddings, heirlooms, and traditions, and now I feel like I need to get working on wedding shawls so I can have them already made because LDS engagements are really, really short and I know that I will not have enough time to make their wedding shawls when the time comes.

So I sat down to figure out what patterns I want to use for their shawls and inevitably came to the conclusion that I really just want to design an individual shawl for each girl that weaves together meaningful stitch patterns and symbolism that will carry special meaning for them. SO…I’m going to spend the next few Van Crafting Sessions™ researching and drafting shawl patterns. Which is pretty cool.

Gardening

I accomplished nothing, NOTHING in the garden this last week. Michael and I have started watching the series “Homegrown,” which is about transforming people’s backyards into sustainable gardening spaces, so I’m technically doing research. I learned about mushroom logs! I could grow something in the shady parts of the yard! Except that my family despises mushrooms!

Celebrating

There’s potentially a new project brewing. I won’t say more because I honestly do not know if it’s going to materialize. It would be amazing if it does, but also a ton of work. So I won’t be heartbroken if it doesn’t happen. I would regret the missed opportunity, though. More on that if it gets the green light.

Caring

After months of discussing the possibility, we finally have officially started playing a weekly campaign of Dungeons & Dragons on Monday nights. Michael and I are NOT D&Ders, but somehow all four of our kids love the game. We’ve been struggling to have Family Home Evenings for years, but suddenly it’s not difficult to gather everyone. Hopefully the trend continues.

I was subbing one day last week and one of the teachers actually asked me how our family’s new game night was going. Apparently my kids are really talking about it to anyone who will listen. Whatever works, right? Turns out it’s figuring out how to battle fantasy monsters in Steampunk Victorian England. Feel free to tell your friends.

The Beginning of the Craziness that is MARCH

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It’s just one month, it’s just one month, it’s just one month…

OK, it is MARCH. Michael’s birthday is coming up, the sun is finally coming out and garden and lawn stuff is starting to happen, AND it’s Music in Our Schools Month, which means so many choir and band events. *whispers* So. Many. Concerts. This week has three huge events: An all-day all-district choir thing, finishing off with a concert that evening; an all-day band festival that won’t have us getting back to campus until 7pm or so, and a big jazz band thing that both Nathaniel’s and Renaissance’s jazz bands will be performing at that will probably not have us getting home until 10pm or so. That’s just one week. There’s so many more weeks like this.

My tendency is to get a little a lot wound up about logistics and time away from home and all that stuff, but at the beginning of this school year I had an epiphany that I could choose to worry about the stuff coming up or I could decide that I was just going to enjoy it. It’s a subtle shift, but it makes a big difference. When I find myself dreading some upcoming event, I try to remember that I’m smack dab in the middle of the years that I was really looking forward to as a parent—I looked forward to the music getting better when they were in high school, and how much easier it would be to be out in public with them because I wouldn’t have to worry about them running into traffic—and I force myself to just simmer down and enjoy this chapter. No extra worrying needed. This is the good stuff.

As far as plans go for the week…

Cooking

This Week’s Meal Plan:

  • Saturday: Meatloaf
  • Sunday: Chicken Drumsticks
  • Monday: Leftovers
  • Tuesday: Crock Pot: Pineapple Bacon Sausage Soup
  • Wednesday: Quesadillas
  • Thursday: Crock Pot: Spaghetti
  • Friday: Michael’s Choice

As always, it’d be good to bake some bread and/or desserts to throw in there, but with how busy this week is, I don’t think it will happen YET AGAIN.

Clothing

  • Laundry catch-up after last week’s full stop.
  • I need to start thinking about spring wardrobe rotations.
  • Need to start thinking about Easter outfits.
  • Start planning for Rachel’s choir trip to California in April.
  • I so badly want to sew up a closet full of 1950s spring formal dresses. There’s no reason for this, other than I want to be making pretty things.

Cleaning

  • Trying to reset the house after the full stop/basic cleanliness because it’s a busy week

Caring

  • There’s a handful of doctor appointments that need to be scheduled for various family members. It’s quite the production to make appointments with our local medical facilities, so time needs to be set aside for that sort of thing.
  • I had a nice visit with a friend last week when she drove me to the ER. (That’s a weird sentence to write.) We debriefed when I was feeling better and decided we should hang out more. So I’m going to follow up on that this week.

Creativity

  • I need to figure out my new portable project now that I’ve finished the Baking Doodle Cowl test knit. (Post coming soon!)
  • I don’t think I’ll get time to work on creative projects beyond “In the Van Crafting” this week
  • I’m thinking about abandoning the Chatsworth BOM quilt. I am just really not enjoying how the pattern designer writes his instructions and I don’t want to extend the mental effort to manipulate his instructions into techniques that work better for me.
  • I need to decide if I’m going to do a special musical performance near Easter. I kind of set a goal at the beginning of the year that I’d try to do a musical number every six weeks, and I did one in January, so the next one’s deadline is coming up. I have not been good at practicing music at all lately, so I need to tighten that up ASAP.

Gardening

  • This will be a Year of Resurrection for the garden. It’s been largely ignored for the past two years while I worked on my master’s degree. I have a grand vision of an English Cottage/Potager Garden that takes up my entire backyard someday, but this year we’ll just work with what we’ve got back there and really talk about and start fleshing out extension plans on paper.
  • I’m still working on taskifying all the various reminders and due dates of stuff for the garden, so I need to be ok with having to purchase some of my plants this year because I’ll remember that I like them and then realize I should have started them six weeks ago—like petunias. Whoops.
  • I need to inventory my trellises and poles and order more if they’re needed. It’s my hope to get them set up this coming weekend.
  • I need to do a second round of pea planting.
  • I need to check and see what seeds I need for April planting and order more if needed. (This is a great list idea that I came up with and very handy!)
  • Keep an eye on the rhubarb and start working it into our meals as soon as it start producing stalks.
  • Start more delphinium because there’s only two growing right now.
  • Use more of the countertop herb garden because it only takes two days for it to become a countertop JUNGLE.

Celebrating

  • Michael’s birthday is next week, so preparations for that
  • Easter is at the end of the month, so I’ll need to find out if I’m hosting anything and prep for that.

Community

  • Our community has a scholarship they give out and the application is due on March 17th, so I need to nag Renaissance about that.
  • Setup signup questions or something like that for the Band Booster Facebook group because I’m tired of dealing with the spam
  • Setup an embarrassingly overdue thank you note writing session for Evening of Jazz
  • Make significant progress on the Trivia Night fundraiser so I don’t look like a lazy loaf at next week’s meeting
  • Same re: Popcorn fundraiser
  • Because we have our monthly meeting next week, I need to do a lot of prep work over the weekend for that—agenda, send out reminders, etc.

It’s good to sit down and figure out priorities for the upcoming week. When I first sat down to write this post, I was overwhelmed by what I saw on the calendar, but once I sit and think about what really needs to be done, it feels much more manageable. Bonus: It also helps me realize how important it is right now to SAY NO to requests. Remember, this is an enjoyable time in parenting, so ENJOY IT. All the beautiful, all the fun, all the exciting stuff—All of that only happens if you’re willing to put in the behind-the-scenes work. I thought about this really hard last spring and came up with a great motto that I use when the work starts feeling like a little too much: I welcome the work that makes my life beautiful.

Because, darn it, I want a gloriously beautiful life for me and my family. So I’ll show up and I’ll do the work.

Have a great week!

Flare-ups Happen, It’s OK

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There’s not a lot to report for this week because I had to deal with a pain flare-up that required a visit to the emergency room early in the week and had me focused on pain management for a couple of days beyond that.  The good news is that I started feeling better yesterday and even managed to tough it out and go to Renaissance and Nathaniel’s band concert, and I was even able to go into work today.  Sigh.  Take care of your backs, people.  So many difficulties start to stem from an injury to your back.

Creativity

I always think I’m going to be able to make great strides in crafting when I’m down and out with a flare-up, but when I have to add pain meds to the mix I can’t craft at all, as crafting + pain meds never ends well.  Seeing that I’m pattern testing for other people, I didn’t want to touch those projects and potentially derail them beyond repair.  It’s something else when it’s only my time and materials on the line; I won’t risk others’ resources.

So I’m behind on my test knit for the Baking Doodle Cowl.  It’s about 50% done.  I’m planning to spend a chunk of time working on it some more over the weekend.

I haven’t touched anything else in the craft room, which is a major sad.  I did receive some packages of new materials for some projects, but haven’t even opened them.  Frustrating week!

Gardening

My little herb garden is now a jungle that will need some pruning over the weekend.  I can’t believe how fast these plants are growing!  Friendly note:  Don’t be afraid to use dill.  I cut the dill plant back to almost nothing last Sunday, it had replaced all that growth by Tuesday, and now on Friday it looks to be about three times larger than it was a week ago.  I’ve always been so afraid to use my herb plants, but this little countertop experiment is teaching me a lot about the hardiness of these plants!  The kids have been given total access to the herbs and are encouraged to decimate the plants for cooking.  I’m almost to the point of wondering if we even could kill these plants through culinary usage?  Could be a weird goal to set…ha ha ha.

The rhubarb is starting to unfurl legitimate leaves, so I believe I can start using it in a few weeks.  I’ll make rhubarb crumbles, make some rhubarb marmalade, freeze some rhubarb for making Blubarb Jam during the summer, and I also saw a recipe on Pinterest for a vanilla rhubarb jelly that looks enticing.  Which reminds me that I desperately need to clean out the pantry if I want to have any sort of room for canned goods this year.  The pantry is a complete disaster.  Oooh, I think I also have some sort of recipe for rhubarb-glazed pork medallions in a cookbook somewhere.  I like cooking with rhubarb because it has the added bonus of deep cleaning any pot it’s cooked in.  (Did you know it’s the secret ingredient in Bar Keeper’s Friend?)  I started a Pinterest board for rhubarb recipes a couple of years ago if you’re looking for some rhubarb options in the coming months!

No sprouting from the sweet peas or peas that I’ve planted.  I was supposed to plant another section of peas this week, so hopefully I’ll get to it over the weekend.  I’m doing a big experiment with planting times and starting seeds this year, so we’re going to just keep our minds open and remain curious about how things work out with these seeds.  I’d really like to establish a planting calendar that works specifically for our property, and the only way to do that is to start and experiment.

The started pansies and delphinium are doing…OK.  I need to thin them out and they’re going through water really fast, which is tough to stay on top of.  I had five delphinium sprouts two weeks ago, and now I only have two.  I struggle to get this type of plant started.  I’m going to start some more seeds over the weekend because I adore delphinium plants for their beautiful blue color and their unmatched ability to lend an “English cottage” vibe to the garden.  I think I spend about $15-20 for each plant when I buy them from the nursery, so starting my own will save me a lot of money.  AND they’re a perennial, so they come back every year!  The last ones I had were back in Utah; I haven’t wanted to spend a chunk of cash on them here in Washington.  They make me happy, so I’m reestablishing them in the garden this year.

My little delphinium twins

Celebrating

I had to drop one of the parties the kids and I were thinking about doing because I really needed this last week to make progress on it, and that didn’t happen.  I’ve made note of everything we were thinking of doing, and I’ll revisit it in the future.  The girls still want to throw a spring tea party sometime in April or May, and that is still doable with our remaining time frame, so maybe I’ll just shift focus to that.  Plans also need to be made regarding Renaissance’s graduation party, which will take place in June or July.  I still have time to get going on that; I just need to remember that it’s out there so I don’t commit to anything that will conflict.

And that’s what happened this week.  Some weeks don’t see a lot of forward progress, and that’s ok.  The nice thing about a flare-up is that they tend to occur many weeks apart from each other, so I’m looking forward to a handful of really productive weeks!

And congratulations!  We made it to March!  It only gets better from here!  More and more sunlight, we’ll just ignore Daylight Savings Time coming up in a bit, and more and more opportunities to be outside and enjoy the shift from cold to only slightly chilly!  I hope you have a great weekend and wish you all the best as you embark upon a new, hopefully sunshine-filled month.

CROCUSES!!!

Happy Homemaker Monday: August 14, 2023

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First and foremost: Happy birthday to Renaissance, who is a whopping seventeen years old now! She’s heading into her senior year of high school and I’m just so proud of her and all that she does. She’s a hard worker, she’s smart, she’s talented, and she’s kind. What more could one ask for in raising a child? I’m all sorts of sentimental as we enter into the last year of her childhood…parenting is so bittersweet. I love having children in my home and I am dreading when they all fly from the nest.

Second and next most: Sorry for skipping last week’s entry! It was just really busy and I couldn’t get to the computer for something like this. My #craftygoals update on Friday was written on my phone while my husband drove somewhere, that’s how difficult it was to get anything done on the blog!

Highlights of the last two weeks:

  • We did a lot of driving practice this week and I’m starting to see a lot of improvement and an increase in confidence. I might just turn out a driver or two after all!
  • I tried out a new bread recipe this week and it turned out really well!
  • Renaissance and I have made time to stitch together after lunch most days and I absolutely love it.
  • Nathaniel helped me with my photoshoot for the Patriotic Baby Quilt and we had fun doing that together.
  • The kids helped me update the garden and it’s looking really nice now!

Things I Wished Had Gone Better:

  • Everything’s been going pretty well. Busy, but nothing to complain about. Finishing up a quarter is stressful and not a lot of fun, but this one wasn’t crazy and didn’t have any monster/stupid assignments, so it was fine…just took lots of time to complete.

The Weather Forecast:

Oh. Yuck. But it could be worse.

As I Look Outside My Window:

I am so proud! Renaissance and I sat down on the Friday before last and hammered out her birthday party plans and I realized that letting the garden “lie fallow” was no longer an option because I’ll be hosting her party in our backyard in a few weeks. So we made plans to go find some plants that Saturday, and as luck would have it, happened upon a very good clearance sale on them. We smashed plants into the back of the van, headed home, rounded up all the Brookelets, and were done three hours later. Garden with your kids while they’re little–they become extremely efficient at it in their teenage years!

Right Now I Am:

Winding down after a busy day and smelling the air as Michael makes dinner.

Thinking and Pondering:

  • Hospitality vs. Entertaining
  • Schedule changing in order to open up time for other interests
  • What the heck am I going to do with all this free time in the next week, now that summer quarter is done?!?!

Listening to:

Evening sounds. Movement upstairs. Things being moved, air being breathed.

How Am I Feeling:

Content, and a little excited about the upcoming week and its lack of responsibility!

On My Reading Pile:

Due to two weeks ago’s devotional topic of connection, I bought a handful of books on hospitality and friendship. I’ve been reading through them and gleaning ideas. They’re scattered all over the house and I pick them up as I putter around and read a few lines here and there.

On My TV This Week:

I never really know. Maybe some stuff that requires thinking because I’ll have the available bandwidth since I’m not studying the days away.

On the Menu:

Nothing because my regularly-scheduled meal planning time was taken up with driving and picking up kids from a million things, and then all the studying. I’m just going to wing it, because it’s a weird week anyway.

Looking Around the House:

The living room is clear of Rachel’s belongings, we did it! It will be short-lived, as Michael got a bee in his bonnet about building a loft bed for Renaissance and it will have to be built inside her room because it won’t fit through her door once it’s assembled. So…yeah, Ren’s stuff will soon overtake the living room and she’ll probably have to sleep on the couch for a week or two. But loft bed/desk combo! Totally worth it.

To-Do List This Week:

  • Plant lettuce and spinach
  • Should decide if I’m going to make jam this year or not; schedule it if I am.
  • Go do a fun thing that I especially want to do–quilt museum?
  • Work on Renaissance’s birthday party stuff
  • RELAX. I always use my breaks to “catch up” or “get ahead” on stuff, and darn it, just take a freaking vacation, Cara!

Devotional:

My word two weeks ago was CONNECTION. I was so looking forward to learning more about connection and figuring out a way to connect more with people in my life, but I mostly just came to the conclusion that I am not very good at connecting with others. I am greatly inspired to become better at this skill, so I ordered some books on the subject, which I’ve enjoyed reading.

Some observations:

  • Food is often a part of connection rituals. Yet another reason to be a good cook!
  • Most people I know are just too darn busy to eat a normal meal, let alone a meal that’s meant to be enjoyed and drawn out with conversation.
  • The parent-of-teenagers stage might be a difficult time to work on connecting with others because we are just so stinkin’ busy, too. Trying to line up two families’ schedules to do anything together is near impossible.
  • Connection often begins with MY efforts to reach out, and not the other way around. If I’m sitting around waiting for someone to reach out to me, I’m going about it the wrong way.

My word for this last week was TRANSFORMATION, which was a cool one to think about.

Some observations:

  • A transformation is often preceded by a period of discomfort or feeling like you no longer belong or have outgrown your surroundings. If you’re aware of this order of events, it might make the discomfort less scary. Maybe even make it exciting?
  • Transformation is almost always a positive thing, so embrace the change with enthusiasm, even in the messy, difficult, and uncertain parts.
  • This reminds me of this last year–my Pinterest algorithm became very “academia-aesthetic” as I progressed through my master’s program, and I’d always wanted to be “that way” when I was a young girl, so I decided to just go with it this last year and it was so much fun! Embrace the aesthetic of what you’re doing! It makes it prettier and more enjoyable!
  • Transformation is less scary if you have an end destination that you’re working towards.
  • Your past, pre-transformation, is nothing be ashamed of. It got you to and through your transformation, so be proud of where you’ve come from and what you’ve overcome.
  • We often speak of transformation as if it’s a sudden and drastic thing, but it’s really not. Transformation is a process that requires a lot of patience. The only way you appear to “transform” to someone else is if they haven’t seen you in a long time. Your everyday acquaintances probably won’t notice the changes because they are incredibly subtle and spread out over a long time. That’s OK. Doesn’t mean the changes are any less transformative.

This upcoming week’s word is: Abundance. Well, as a white, married, middle-class, college-educated, mostly stay-at-home mother of four living in the American suburbs, I will freely admit that I possess a lot of abundance, and I am very, very aware of the abundance that I enjoy. I wonder how this word will shape up as a devotional?

Linking up to Sandra’s Happy Homemaker Monday!

Happy Homemaker Monday: July 31, 2023

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We’re at the end of July, y’all! Oh, I just feel like I’m not experiencing summer ENOUGH this year. Hopefully we can cram some more summer fun into these last few weeks before school starts back up again.

Highlights of last week:

  • There’s been a lot of crafty progress made over the last week, including finishing up the knitted unicorn I’ve been working on for a while.
  • Ren and I are still showing up for our workout sessions. This last week’s sessions were rough, man. Owie.
  • We finally had our family portraits done! I think the last time we did portraits was nine years ago, so it was very overdue. Bonus: We took the photos at a blueberry patch and we got to pick some blueberries to bring home, too.

Things I Wished Had Gone Better:

  • I had Ren drive once last week, and Rachel did zero driving. I have to make these practice drives happen! I really don’t like doing them because they raise my anxiety like nothing else.
  • I’d say we needed to get out more, but we got out a lot for appointments and errands and stuff. Nothing fun. Hopefully we can do something fun in this next week.

The Weather Forecast:

Definite summer weather, a little on the warm side for my personal tastes, but nothing crazy like many others are dealing with at the moment. I’ll just be thankful for the sunshine and leave it at that.

As I Look Outside My Window:

Such a dry backyard. Michael applied the weedwhacker to overgrown parts of the garden, so it looks nicer out there now. Will I actually get to doing anything with it? I don’t know. But there’s some nice garden-y things happening in other parts of the yard:

The four basil plants are nice and healthy and we’ve been enjoying the lovely flavor that fresh basil gives to our meals.

There are three tomatoes ripening on the tomato plant at the back of the house. I’m literally the only person who is excited about this as no one else in our family even likes tomatoes. However, Renaissance makes incredible bruschetta, so I make sure to have fresh basil and tomatoes growing so we can enjoy that beautiful dish a couple of times throughout the later part of the summer.

I always have a random cherry tomato bush start growing in the gravel along the back of the house, and this year’s plant has green tomatoes now! I’m excited to have them ripen!

I don’t have a picture of the front of the house because it looks just the same as always, but I did want to mention that the baby birds have flown the nest. I’m surprised they left so soon. I’m not sure they were even hatched for a full week before they all flew away. Or maybe they were hatched and we weren’t aware of it for a few days/weeks? Or maybe they all got eaten by cats during their first day of flying lessons? We did see them perching in the bushes along the front porch, and one of them even tried to return to the nest when we (accidentally) startled it, but its aim was bad and it faceplanted into the porch eaves and fell back down into the bushes below. We checked on him and he was alright, but I don’t know if they could make it back to the nest at all. We haven’t seen any of them since that day, so we’re hoping they’re fine.

Right Now I Am:

Writing up this post before going to bed Sunday night because I won’t have time to work on it in the morning. Trying to plan out the next week.

Thinking and Pondering:

  • What can I cut from my to-do list?
  • What needs to be done for Ren’s birthday?
  • What am I going to knit next? Options include a teddy bear, or Halloween decorations, or a hat I need to design first.
  • What can we do for fun this week?
  • Do I want to can up some jams this year?

Listening to:

The creak of the upstairs floor as people walk around. A kid getting a drink of water from the fridge. The hum of the fans and air conditioner. Summer evening sounds.

How Am I Feeling:

Behind on a lot of things. Michael was really tired this last week, going to bed early almost every night, which was weird. I got hit with the same feeling yesterday afternoon, so I’m dragging and worried that the tiredness will follow me through the upcoming week. Working out is feeling better, despite how sore we can be after particularly intense workouts, so that’s a positive development. And I was able to connect with friends via text this last week and that helped to alleviate some of the loneliness I was suffering from the week before. The loneliness will take care of its self once school and PTSA stuff starts back up again, no worries.

On My Reading Pile:

Hee hee hee, lots of Christmas crafting books in honor of Christmas in July last week. And some knitting and crochet books in case I want to add some projects to my gift list.

On My TV This Week:

Not much. Probably a random movie if I’m feeling tired. I’m in a cottagecore mood, so maybe some Jane Austen-y things.

On the Menu:

Saturday: Steak Quesadillas
Sunday: Super Nachos
Monday: Pineapple Bacon Sausages, Corn & Zucchini Soup
Tuesday: Picadillo Tostadas, Veggie Slaw
Wednesday: Gyros, Tzatziki Cucumbers, Yellow Rice
Thursday: Pancakes, Bacon, Sausage, Fruit
Friday: Chicken Caprese, Caesar Salad, Pasta

Looking Around the House:

Still putting Rachel’s room back together, but it’s coming along.

To-Do List This Week:

  • Emily dentist appointment
  • YW Camp preparations
  • Send last of graduation thank-you cards
  • Driving practice (Blargh)

Devotional:

My word for this last week was STRENGTH, and my readings about it mentioned a lot that strength was born out of suffering, which really bothered me because I don’t like it when people dismiss suffering by saying it created favorable outcomes. It feels like that reasoning is used to downplay the extent of the suffering and pain, and excuses the actions of the perpetrator a little bit, and I’m never ok with that. So I thought about it a lot because I know that, in regards to building muscle, you do need to damage the thing that needs to become stronger so that it can heal into a stronger version of itself. And as I sat with that, I decided that it was healing that created strength, not the suffering. And the healing is all within the realm of the victim/self. Perhaps strength is the Universe’s reward for getting through difficulties? But I never want an abuser to be able to say, “Because of the pain I caused you, you’re a stronger person,” and feel good about themselves.

Also, healing takes time, especially if the injury was extensive. We live in a society that expects instantaneous healing and strength, despite nature not working that way at all…and that impatience with our own healing and the healing timelines of others only hurts us. Strength requires so much patience.

I also think there’s two types of strength. The first one that I mentioned, which is a healing-after-injury kind of strength. I like to also call it “glue strength,” because it’s the strength that comes from putting something back together after it’s broken. The other type of strength is the preventative type: When you apply layers of protection or reinforcement to something to make it strong enough to withstand something. I decided to call it “insulating strength.” I think this is the best sort of strength to strive for, as it doesn’t require injury or pain to begin the process. We add strength to our spirits when we consume uplifting media, surround ourselves with edifying people, practice looking on the bright side and questioning the veracity of the thoughts in our heads. We insulate and strengthen our children with our love, kind words, protective measures, and efforts to make our homes welcoming and comforting. Insulating strength helps us withstand the pain and injury that life throws at us, and can sometimes makes it so that pain and suffering doesn’t even damage anything, if the insulation is thick enough.

Now both strengths have their extremes as well—extremes that end up causing weakness. If you insulate your children to the extreme and never let them experience hardship or difficulties, they won’t develop the necessary strength to withstand the rigors of daily living. (Oh my gosh, I saw a lot of this while student teaching.) And glue strength can only fix so much—there are injuries that are too extensive to heal.

Also, glue strength requires time to allow the glue to set; if you don’t give the glue time to set and then jump back into the type of situation that caused the damage, the injury will just open up all over again. (Also, maybe stop jumping into things that injure you?) Balance is required, and once again, patience.

This upcoming week’s word is: Connection. Ooh, I’m excited to ponder this one! With the last year being completely focused on getting through my Masters degree, I disappeared from my social life completely and I’m trying to figure out how I want to connect with people, and which people, now that I’m re-entering the realms of living somewhat normally.

Linking up to Sandra’s Happy Homemaker Monday!

Happy Homemaker Monday: July 24-30, 2023

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Another beautiful summer week has come and gone, busy and yet unhurried. The dichotomy of summer is interesting that way. I like having this Happy Homemaker post on my to-do list for each Sunday because it gives me a chance to reflect on the last week and firm up my plans for the upcoming week, so I’m going to personalize some of the prompts to my particular wishes this week.

Highlights of last week:

  • Renaissance and I are making good progress on our strength-training and hiking goals. We are complete newbies and starting from absolute zero, but we’ve shown up consistently 3-4 times a week for the past month for our scheduled workouts together. That’s something to be very proud of! I especially love our trail walks together. There’s just something about summer morning walks in nature that are absolutely wonderful, and I get to share it with one of my favorite people. I love that we’re doing this together.
  • Rachel’s room was officially emptied! I was anxious about this and it was so nice to complete that step!
  • I finally quilted the baby quilt!
  • Peach milkshakes
  • Planted some flower seeds just because I could. We’ll see if they’re successful come…August 1-7-ish?

Things I Wished Had Gone Better in the Last Week:

  • Workout fatigue is real. I wish it didn’t impact my days so much. I think it’s improving slightly, so at least there’s that. Until it does improve, I need to simplify evening tasks because I am just out of energy by that time of day. I know this will be worth it, but it’s hard to deal with the exhaustion while my stamina builds up.
  • Cancelled a lot of Ren and Rachel’s driving practices because I was tired or something came up. I’d like to schedule these for earlier in the day, but we just don’t have that time available in the mornings right now. Gotta make it work.
  • We didn’t get out much this past week. The field trip I had scheduled in my head turned out to be a 2.5 hour drive away and none of us were interested in 5 hours of driving that day. I feel like we’re getting bored of our immediate area and we’ve visited so much of it already. I’d like to come up with a new plan. More nature walk/hiking, perhaps? Maybe I need to move field trip day to a different day of the week so we can get an earlier start? Our schedule is going to go through some major change-ups in the next few weeks as different activities end, so it might be possible.

Alright, onto the regularly schedule HHM prompts:

The Weather:

Looks like a perfect week, temperature-wise! Last week’s forecast seemed pretty ok, but it was much warmer every day than originally guessed, so I wonder if it’ll actually be bordering on too warm this week as well?

As I Look Outside my Window:

Aww, cute little Rachel was doing her weeding for the day when I stepped outside to snap a picture. She’s been really consistent about weeding and the garden looks much better for her efforts. I really appreciate her work out there. I think the grass is starting to get a little greener as the increased watering begins to show its value? I’m hoping to plant a few more seeds just to see if they’ll work. We could have a few flowers in the autumn.

The baby birds in the nest up to the right of the swing post hatched this week! They’ve already grown a lot in the few days they’ve been out of their shells. Mama and Daddy Bird are flitting back and forth non-stop to keep the babies fed and it’s so cute to hear the babies’ thin little squeaks when food arrives.

Right Now I Am:

Sitting in my craft room typing up this blog post, listening to Rachel hammering away in her bedroom as she constructs the new shelves we ordered for her.

Thinking and Pondering:

  • I have a lot of thoughts that I’m processing right now! I’m “in the swirly place” as I call it, with a lot of thoughts and feelings swirling around that I’m trying to examine and unpack.
  • With the push to give kids more autonomy and practice with making their own choices, I’m wondering if we’ve taken it too far and are expecting behaviors above the developmental abilities of their ages? Kids aren’t great at making solid plans, coming up with an attack strategy, and following it through. They need it modelled to them and they need to be shown how to do it. Then they need to be slowly allowed to take control of one thing, then another. It’s not a “sink or swim” kind of thing.
  • A Facebook memory popped up where I shared an article I’d read five years ago:
  • Upon reading it again, I’m thinking about the importance of service and socializing. We Brookes are an achievement-oriented people and can produce a lot of dopamine for ourselves, but we’re not known for doing a lot of service or connecting with others and I’m wondering if concentrating on those two categories would improve our lives and happiness levels? (I think this article was from the Costco Connections magazine, Summer 2018? I have no other info to go on.)
  • Being self-disciplined is a solitary road to walk.
  • I think I might be a little lonely right now. Which makes sense; I’ve only socialized with my husband and four children for the past three weeks and that’s not healthy. Summer is weird like that. It feels super busy, but with everyone going out of town and the like, it’s actually hard to connect with other people.

Listening to:

Rachel hammering away on things in her bedroom. The squeak of the floor in one of the bathrooms as someone takes a shower. The clink of a spoon against a bowl in the kitchen. Morning sounds.

How Am I Feeling:

Frustrated, lonely, and tired. Not the best combo, but completely understandable given what I’ve got going on right now. The workouts and decluttering are wearing me thin. I’m going to schedule a week off from decluttering once Rachel’s room is finished because I’m tired of my living room being full of kid possessions. The workouts will continue because eventually I’ll crest this hill and feel energized. I’ve got a few feelers out to connect with other human beings in the next couple of weeks as well, so that should help with the loneliness.

On my Reading Pile:

Library books went back to the library and I just couldn’t find anything I wanted to read to check out. Perhaps I’ll check out a bunch of magazines over e-loan? That seems to be the level of reading that I’m up for right now.

On my TV this week:

I started re-watching Clarkson’s Farm 2 because it makes me happy. If it weren’t for my back injury, I think I’d like doing a lot of farm things. I’ve been inspired to get out in my garden more, so that’s good.

On the Menu:

I don’t have a menu planned for this week because there was a church BBQ on Saturday that I had to get ready for during my meal planning time and then Michael drove straight to Costco from the BBQ because he didn’t want to drive home, wait for me to plan meals, and then drive somewhere again. So we have food, but no plan as to how we are going to use it.

Looking Around the House:

I see light at the end of the tunnel regarding decluttering Rachel’s room, so that’s nice. The craft room is getting tidier, so it’s nice to be in there again.

To-Do List This Week:

  • Haircuts
  • Dentist appointments
  • Family portraits
  • Maybe figure out a way to use up the rhubarb
  • Rachel’s bedroom finishing
  • Keep planning Ren’s birthday party
  • Driving practice sessions for Ren and Rachel
  • Plant sunflowers
  • Some sort of field trip. It’s Nathaniel’s week to pick the location.

Devotional:

My word for this last week was “power,” and I really didn’t like sitting with that word and its implications. I think, in my experiences, I’ve mostly dealt with power in terms of lacking it. I’ve thought a lot this week about what it means to have power, how it’s decided who gets the power, and what should one do when they either have or lack power? These were not warm and fuzzy ponderings.

One thought that I liked was that there is power in cultivating good character. You can be poor, you can be unwell, and you can be victimized, but you still have power in choosing the right. I had some experiences during my student teaching this last year where I saw the importance of always choosing to have good character and how easy it is to let one little blip of a bad moment absolutely ruin a reputation of goodness and how far-reaching and difficult it was to recover from that blip. There is immense power in maintaining your good character that will serve you well once ugliness and meanness come to their full fruition and everyone realizes how terrible the situation was. You keep your power when you refuse to stoop down to levels of spite and aggression. You are powerful when you are honest, when you are trustworthy, and when you calmly assert what is right and true and fair, even if it doesn’t benefit you.

This upcoming week’s word is: Strength. What is strength? What is not strength? Is there such a thing as too much strength? How do we become stronger physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually? Is it ever OK to choose weakness over strength?

Linking up to Sandra’s Happy Homemaker Monday!

Happy Homemaker Monday: July 10-16, 2023

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(Note: I wrote this yesterday [Sunday] because my weekdays are super busy and I’ve no time for blogging on Monday mornings.)

I came across the Happy Homemaker Monday link-up last autumn and earmarked it as something I wanted to do once I got done with grad school because I’m still a homemaker at heart who loves to make my home comfy and beautiful. I love reading through Sandra’s thoughts and her enthusiasm for taking care of her home and family, and it’s hard to find blogs like that these days. So here’s my first, of hopefully many, Happy Homemaker Monday posts:

The Weather:

We have some lovely summers here in the Pacific Northwest, and we are in the middle of some great weather right now. It was pretty warm last week, so this little bit of cooling is welcome. It will make our afternoon activities much more bearable.

As I Look Outside My Window:

  • We are “allowing” the garden “to lie fallow” this year because I was too busy with school to get out into it during the spring, but it’s making me a little squirrelly to see it be so fraggly. The kids have their weeding chores and the weeds are slowing being eradicated, so that’s good. I just have to keep telling myself that this is a not gardening year. ((shudder))
  • I did go buy some basil plants and a tomato plant because it’s just not summer if there’s not basil and tomatoes in my garden. I now visit them every evening after Michael and I get back from our after dinner walk. Makes me happy.
  • I missed the window for harvesting my lavender. I was going to try my hand at making lavender wands this year, but alas. Oh well, it’s still very pretty to look at.
  • I love our super shaded front porch so much. The kids and I have been spending a lot of time out there eating ice cream, drinking drinks, working on hand projects…it’s a great little spot that doesn’t get sunbaked and is hidden from the view of people walking by on the street.

Right Now I Am:

Waiting for my Lime Curd Bars with Coconut Crust to cool on the counter so I can bring them to church for our “Linger Longer” after meetings are done. Michael is giving one of the talks in sacrament meeting today, too, so I’m thinking about ways to make it better.

Thinking & Pondering:

  • Renaissance’s birthday party
  • How to explain/teach goal-setting to teenagers
  • I’d like to throw a Mother/Daughter Halloween tea this autumn
  • How in the world will I organize Rachel’s bedroom after I gut it this week?
  • Do I just quilt the Patriotic baby quilt on my regular machine, or do I go forward with cleaning off my cutting table to make way for the Big Boy sewing machine with the super throat that I bought last summer? I think a cutting table clean-off would require gutting the craft room, and I can’t gut more than one room at a time or my house will burst into flames and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The kids’ bedrooms are the priority right now, so I think I have to quilt on my regular machine, which I’m not very excited about.

Listening to:

My main man, Claude Debussy, as I try to keep the energy chill in the house on this beautiful summer morning.

How Am I Feeling:

Last week was a huge disruption to my routine, as most holidays are, and I still feel a little off-kilter. Sleep hasn’t been great for various reasons. I’m hoping this all evens out in the upcoming week. I’m excited about the improvements I’m making in the house. I wish it wasn’t such hard work, but it is definitely worth it.

On the Breakfast Plate:

I used to be much cooler, breakfast-wise. Now it’s just a protein bar, pills, and caffeinated water before yoga, followed by a protein shake after yoga. Renaissance makes me an egg sandwich on the mornings that we work out together.

On the Lunch Plate:

I still hate lunch. Dumb lunch, interrupting my work flow. However, I’ve been grilling up a few chicken breasts every other day so the kids can add chicken to whatever they’re eating and up their protein intake. I’ve been noticing that they are ingesting very carb-heavy meals and I’m trying to curb that tendency.

On the Dinner Plate:

(Sunday) Michael will make tacos tonight!

What I’m Wearing:

My favorite pink gingham shirtwaist dress, which I wear to death and will eventually need to reverse engineer to recreate a million more.

On My Reading Pile:

On My TV This Week:

Hopefully nothing; I like to keep my television watching to bad weather days. I did binge-watch some Clarkson’s Farm last week when I wasn’t feeling well.

On the Menu:

I meal plan on Saturday mornings, so my plan started a couple of days ago:

  • Saturday: Italian Sloppy Joes
  • Sunday: Tacos
  • Monday: Spaghetti, Green Beans, Caesar Salad, French Bread
  • Tuesday: North Carolina Pulled Pork (new recipe!), Corn on the cob, Broccoli Slaw
  • Wednesday: Steamed Buns, Stir Fry Veggies, Marinated Cucumbers, Rice
  • Thursday: Leftovers
  • Friday: Cedar Plank Salmon, Baby Potatoes, Caesar Salad, Rolls

Looking Around the House:

We’re in the midst of decluttering the kids’ bedrooms. I’m pretty much finished with Emily’s and Nathaniel’s room, but some of their stuff is randomly strewn about the house. Everything’s messy after a year of grad school, but this summer is the antidote to that messiness and we’ll crawl out from underneath the weight of the clutter by the time school starts back up.

To-Do List This Week, beyond the obvious laundry and like:

  • Start gutting and deep cleaning Rachel’s room. Oh, this is going to be a BIG job.
  • Move forward with plans for Renaissance’s birthday party
  • Go to the DOL and renew Renaissance’s driver’s permit
  • Driving practice sessions for both Renaissance and Rachel
  • Maybe plant some seeds in the garden for autumn crops?
  • Get graduation cards and thank you cards sent out

Devotional:

I’m experimenting with a new spiritual practice of choosing a word each week and pondering on what that word means to me, character-wise and in practical application. This week’s word is “energy.” I’ll report on what I came up with next week.

This last week’s word was “sunshine,” and I didn’t spend a lot of time with it because I was feeling crummy. But I do love that it’s a word that describes something tangible and also can be applied as a positive adjective.

What does it mean to me to embrace sunshine in my life?

  • Physically: Getting as much of it as I can during these summer months and being oh-so-grateful for it because I know I’ll miss it dearly come January, February, and March. Being careful with it because too much of a good thing can be very harmful indeed.
  • Emotionally: Making the choice to look on the bright side of things. The last few years have been an interesting experiment of watching people become what they fixate upon. I am more and more convinced that focusing on the negative just breeds more negativity in one’s life. You don’t have to scream about all the bad things in the world all the time in order to change them. Better to stay calm, be cheerful and cordial, strive to make things beautiful and lovely, AND work the proper channels to fix what’s wrong. Screaming doesn’t help things, but writing letters, voting, and contributing funds to important causes does. Better to do those things quietly and live your daily life gracefully so you can be a bringer of sunshine to yourself and those around you, rather than making people dread interacting with you and avoiding the causes you’re passionate about because you’ve soured them towards them with your ranting and seething. I accomplish much more positive change when I’m calm, collected, and cheerful, and our home is such a lovely sanctuary from the stress of the world when Mama is content. My husband and children deserve a safe place to land each evening.

Well, that’s everything. What a delightful exercise in noticing what’s going on around me and contemplating my actions for the upcoming week. I enjoyed writing this post! I wish you all a beautiful and productive week ahead!

An Organized House: Thoughts on the House & Holiday Plan

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Years upon years ago, I discovered the Houseworks Holiday Plan, which would later be renamed the House & Holiday Plan. It was originally published on the OrganizedChristmas website, which has since shut down. Since I’d printed out all of the schedules, checklists, and printables in 2011, I was still okay to continue with my tradition of following the plan each autumn, which I’ve attempted to do every year.

I’ve never completed the entire plan. I think I’ve been attempting to complete it since 2005 or 2006, and I’ve never made it all the way through because there was no way to complete those room-specific decluttering and cleaning tasks in the one week allotments when you’ve got four children and you’re dealing with back-to-school activities. I was thinking on this predicament during one of my planning periods during the last week of teaching school this year and realized I could just start the plan earlier and schedule extra time for decluttering the kids’ bedrooms. Don’t you just hate it when you have such a simple idea that really should have occurred to you, like, a DECADE ago?!?! Ugh.

The house is destroyed, which was the expectation after spending a year studying and student teaching, so at least things aren’t worse than originally planned. Regardless, there’s a lot of work to do to get things back in shape around here. I hit the “go” button on the House & Holiday Plan this last week and will use the extra time to get things reorganized over the summer. I’ve allocated two weeks to each kid bedroom, my bedroom, and the craft room for a total of ten weeks of decluttering, deep cleaning, organizing and, hopefully, a little redecorating and prettying up.

I started with Nathaniel’s and Emily’s shared bedroom this week because: 1) It’s got the most stuff in it, and 2) We never did a thorough clean out/declutter when Emily went off to college in the fall because she decided at the last minute to live on-campus and I actually packed up her stuff while she was at class before dropping it off that evening. Yeah, I packed up my kid in less than twenty-four hours. (Last summer was super stressful!!) I was too busy to deal with the leftovers and it’s been waiting for me for almost an entire year to get back to it. Well baby, I’M BACK FOR IT.

I like to completely gut a room when I’m doing a deep clean–take out every last thing, physically touch everything à la Marie Kondo and decide if it’s going to be kept, donated, or thrown away. This means that my living room is currently holding every physical possession of Nathaniel’s and Emily’s. So, another mess in order to deal with the original mess. *mirthless chuckle*

But, man, does it feel good to empty out an engorged room, rearrange the furniture, deep clean that sucker, and then judiciously bring things back in. *satisfied sigh*

So that’s what I’m up to right now, and I plan to come back next Friday/weekend and show you some pictures of something organized. I do much better when I have deadlines, so there it is–let’s get a bedroom put back together and prettified.