This Week With Dee – where I share our menu, my planned home tasks for this week, what I’m reading, self care plans and more. I hope it will give you some ideas for planning your own week or at least a glimpse of one homemaker’s life.
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THIS WEEK WITH DEE
I haven’t done one of these “This Week With Dee” posts since the end of November. We had to put my dad in a nursing home, both of my parents got Covid and then my dad died December 17th. It’s been a difficult time and I needed to take a break.
My mom is doing better and with the beginning of a new year I’m trying to get back into a good daily and weekly routine. I wasn’t sure if I would continue this blog feature or not but finally decided to give it another go. Let me know if you enjoy these posts because I’m still on the fence about it.
But now, let’s get started. Today’s music includes birdsong, something I miss in the winter. Enjoy!
Morning Relaxing Music ~ Coffee Music & Sunshine
MENU:
Monday…
- Sushi takeout and homemade cherry pie for Chris’ birthday
Tuesday…
- tacos
- refried beans
- rice
Wednesday…
- chicken and cabbage stir-fry
Thursday…
- fish and chips
- Crunchy Broccoli Slaw Salad
Friday…
- pork chops
- Scalloped Potatoes
- peas
- cooked apple slices
Saturday…
- takeout or leftovers
Sunday…
- “breakfast for dinner”
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
Last week? I’m not entirely sure what I did beyond the daily tasks of making the bed, laundry, cooking and dishes. I’m also taking care of my mom by bringing her food and other items since we don’t want her driving or being exposed to anything right now. She’s also rather lonely so I’ve spent a LOT of time on the phone with her each day.
THIS WEEK
Today is our son’s birthday – Happy birthday, Chris! – so we are picking up sushi for dinner tonight. I’m also baking him a cherry pie, his favorite. After dinner we’ll play a game via Zoom with our daughter and son-in-law. It’s the best we can do for a pandemic party.
I have a couple of Zoom meetings this week and will do a grocery delivery on Wednesday.
I didn’t put out a lot of Christmas decor this year and only put some bows on the tree. I was a bit sad about that until it came to putting things away. It sure was a lot easier. I’m not ready to take down the tree, though, so I bought snowflake ornaments for it. I also bought white ribbon with snowflakes to make bows for the garland on the stairs. I’ll leave both the tree and garland up because I really enjoy the lights on these dark days and nights. I plan to get the ornaments and bows done this week.
WORK
I need to write up the minutes from the last meeting of our nonprofit. I still haven’t sent thank you notes to all of our sponsors for 2021 so that really needs to be done.
I have several blog posts I’d like to share in the next week or two that are timely for the beginning of a new year.
READING
I finished 2021 with 32 books read and want to double that for 2022. Chris and I are reading The Brothers Karamazov together. We are taking it slow – 2 chapters a day. I’m also re-reading my old favorite – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. For an audio book I’m currently listening to Cosy: The British Art of Comfort.
SELF CARE
I’ve been exhausted and totally lacking in motivation. I’m sure it’s related to grief and stress so I’m giving myself grace right now. David and I are trying to get to bed earlier. I’m not sure I’m really getting any more sleep yet as I’m awake several times a night. David and my kids keep trying to talk me into getting a medical marijuana card so I can try taking a gummy at bedtime. If any of you have tried this I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. Did it help?
HEALTH & FITNESS
Our family is trying to improve our health and fitness this year with some simple daily actions. More water, 30 minutes of exercise, meditation…that sort of thing.
FUN ACTIVITIES
With the explosion of Covid cases we continue to remain at home. That means we have to make our own fun. David and I did a Zoom cocktail party with friends on New Year’s Eve. We continue to have our movie nights and I usually make hot chocolate to go with them. I haven’t made popcorn in awhile but I should.
I’m spending more time reading and am also doing some courses on Master Class. We gave a subscription to Chris for his birthday and there was a 2-for-1 special which means I have a subscription, too! I did Cornel West’s philosophy course and am now doing one on Indian cooking. If you have Master Class I’d love to hear your favorites.
HABIT OF THE WEEK
I’m focusing on firming up my morning routine again. I’ll share more about that in a blog post soon.
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What’s on your plan for the week ahead? Home tasks? Menu? Fun? What are you reading?
You may also enjoy…
A Month of Cool Weather Dinners
How Much is Enough? ~ Contentment in a World of Excess
Old-Fashioned Homemaking ~ 14 Tips From the Past
Once again, my sincere condolences on the loss of your Dad.
I love the “This Week With Dee” posts. Because i have fibromyalgia, they make me feel not so alone, and always help motivate me to do things… knowing that enough will be enough. Most people who I could follow could run rings around me every day. That’s hard to want to read… or watch. ?
So, I personally hope they continue to fit into what is good for you. Because I wouldn’t want you to do them if they don’t work for your life and work. ?
Thank you for your condolences.
And thank you for your perspective. I hadn’t considered that it might be helpful to others to see how little I sometimes am able to accomplish. Good point! Like you, I sometimes feel inadequate when I read what others are doing. But we all have our own challenges and all we can do is our best.
Have a lovely week.
My sister used CBD Oil to help her sleep in 2020 after my mom passed away and found it helped. I prefered taking Melatonin, it did not make me fall asleep but it did help me stay asleep which was more my problem. I have heard the gummies can help as well. Everyone’s body reacts differently to sleep aids and grief. Give it time and continue to give yourself grace, it’s the best thing you can do for yourself right now.
Thank you for your posts. I started reading them last year and really enjoy them.
Thanks for sharing. We used to recommend Melatonin to some of our hospice patients for sleep (that was back in the 90s). I looked into for myself but I have an autoimmune disease and Melatonin isn’t recommended for me because of that. I tried CBD oil several years ago but couldn’t see that it helped me at all. I can *usually* fall asleep but, like you, have trouble staying asleep. If I could shut my brain off…
I do really enjoy your This week with Dee, always inspiring to me . I’m also trying to get back into my routines and struggling but hopeful ! Thank you for all the time you put into your blog for us to enjoy !
Good luck with your routines. I know what I want mine to look like but haven’t been very good about sticking to them lately. Maybe we will both get our acts together soon. Have a great week!
Whether you continue these posts or not is up to you. However, if it makes a difference, I enjoy these posts. But don’t just do them for my sake.
I’m sorry about your Dad (I know I already said it, but I’m saying it again) and glad your Mom has you. Happy birthday to Chris, and good luck to you on getting your routine going again.
My week involves roleplaying on Monday, Zoom calls just about every day (a lot of them related to one of the crafting groups I’m involved with, but one is a music lesson… I’ve started learning to play the keyboard) and my Dad coming over for gaming and dinner Tuesday. I also need to chase up a narrator, as well as write an article about audio book production for someone. Besides that it’s the usual day to day chores and such, with crafting, reading, and writing, thrown in when I can.
As for my menu…
Monday: vegetable soup with bread.
Tuesday: sweet & sour tofu with chips (fries) and peas.
Wednesday: breakfast for dinner.
Thursday: sweet chilli-garlic-ginger tofu, baked potatoes, and veggies.
Friday: leftovers from Thursday.
Saturday & Sunday: haven’t decided yet.
Thank you. And good luck with the keyboard! That’s really cool. I took piano lessons for about a year a few years ago. I’m trying to get back into the habit of playing a little each day.
Enjoy your week!
Thanks. I wanted to take piano lessons before, but could never find anyone willing to teach me (I can’t read music in either braille or print – even when I still had usable vision I struggled to read music in print). The Zoom lessons I’m doing are taught by ear though, so as long as you know where the notes are on the keyboard/piano (which was the first lesson anyhow) you can easily follow along and learn how to play the songs. She even sends out recordings to you if you provide her with your eMail address, so you can use them to practice by yourself later. It’s done intentionally with the visually impaired in mind via the community calls the ACB (American Council of the Blind) do, which I’ve ended up involved in despite not being in America (I’m not the only one outside the US involved though). Anyway, this way of learning is much more suited to my abilities, so it’s going well so far.
How interesting! Btw, my dad was the director of a university program for students with disabilities. They provided all sorts of adaptations for students. Years ago I did some text book reading for him to use for blind students. Our local university has had an excellent reputation in this area for several decades. My mom also drove a van for these students and walked blind students to their classes at the beginning of each semester until they knew their way. Just thought you might find that interesting.
Yes, I did find that interesting. And that’s really great that you all did things like that. I can tell you from personal experience how much those kinds of actions make a huge difference to a disabled person sometimes.
I’m so sorry about your dad, Dee. I know it’s a mix of emotions – grief but also relief that he is no longer suffering. I’m praying for all of you.
As far as the medical marijuana card and gummies – I’m the only one of our family of 4 who doesn’t have one. I can tell you it’s helped with my loved ones sleep and anxiety/depression/mental health issues, tremendously. None of them smoke, they only do edibles.
I think it’s worth trying.
Thank you, Karla. My husband really wants me to try it and he contacted a friend who owns a grow/dispensary about it.
Yes, I love your blog posts. They are so inspirational and the homemaking ideas and thoughts are right up my alley. Also love your meal ideas. Please don’t quit!
So sorry about your dad!.
Thank you, Jennifer.
I think about you so often and your daily to do lists help motivate me, along with these weekly posts and the wonderful playlists. I am with you on the lack of motivation. I don’t know if it is post holiday letdown, January Jitters, or just the mental and therefore physical exhaustion from this ongoing plague, but I wake each morning with the attitude of “what does anything I do today matter?” It’s hard some days, especially when we are dealing with health concerns as well. We must work at our own pace and be kind to ourselves. I have taken to making a list of things I want to accomplish this week instead of a daily list. As long as I can check SOMETHING off the list I feel successful. Grief, by the way, is exhausting. And yours is still so fresh. Sleep whenever you can, even if it is mid-day. Sending hugs.
Thank you, Lynne. It’s a challenging time for us all. I like your idea of making a weekly, rather than daily list. I might give that a try next week.