This Week With Dee – where I share our menu, my planned home tasks for the 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
Isn’t this the coziest scene? Click here and join me in listening to the relaxing sounds of an English bookshop and cafe.
I didn’t do “This Week With Dee” last week despite several people saying they do want me to continue this series. David left last Monday on a long business trip and I got busy getting our offices switched and set up since he’ll be working from home. What a job! But the rooms are looking really good. I’ve moved to the guest room (we gave away the bed) and he is taking my old office. I’ll share some photos at the end of this post.
David will be back late Thursday night. Chris picked up Mexican food from a local restaurant for dinner tonight. We had been talking about how it sounded good and we hadn’t had it ages. I told him Monday would be a good night for me not to have to cook because I knew today would be busy.
MENU:
Monday…
- Mexican food take-out
Tuesday…
- Macaroni and Cheese with Caramelized Onions
- candied carrots
- salad
- fresh apple slices
Wednesday…
- Cheesy Cabbage Casserole
- salad
- pears
Thursday…
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- tortilla chips
- fresh orange slices
Friday…
- Creamy Artichoke Pasta
- roasted California mixed vegetables
- garlic toast
Saturday…
- leftovers
Sunday…
- French toast
- bacon
- eggs
- orange juice
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
Last week was a whirl of busy-ness as I worked on our offices. The wall of shelves and the closet in the guest room were still full of my daughter’s things as that had been her room before she married. I sorted, consolidated and got rid of some things (I sent her pictures and asked what she wanted to keep).
I moved the white dotted Swiss curtains from my old office to the new one and ordered navy blue valances for David’s. He kept my desk because it’s big and very heavy and no one wants to move it. Ever again. We bought me a white desk from IKEA and drove to Texas to pick it up the weekend before he left. It took us three solid hours to put it together but it looks good.
I’m really happy with how the offices have turned out and look forward to having David working from home. Our offices are across the hall from each other so we can talk to one another from our desks if needed.
THIS WEEK
Today I ran errands. A LOT of errands. I had filled my car with donations and spent the afternoon dropping them off at various places in town. I also took a non-functioning DVD player to Staples to recycle, picked up a few groceries and stopped by the florist to get flowers for our desks. I thought it would be nice to welcome David home and to his new office with a couple of red roses. And while I was there, I figured I deserved a couple of pink roses for my desk. 🙂 I also got gas in my Prius so I should be good for a few more weeks – ha!
WORK
I’ve done very little on my blog the past 10 days or so as I’ve focused on the offices. But I should have it all wrapped up in another day or two and will then buckle down and get to business. I have so many blog post drafts I’d like to complete and post for y’all.
READING
Today, while running errands, I finally finished the audiobook I started some time ago. It was the first in a series:
War Clouds Over Blackberry Farm by Rosie Clarke
Now I want to start the next one:
I’m also re-reading The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I read a chapter or two in bed each night. And then there are my morning books:
1. The Road to La Papillon: Daily Meditations on True Contentment by Shannon Ables
2. The Living Bible – The Book of Common Prayer daily lectionary readings
3. Blake: Poems (Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets Series)
4. Daring to Be Yourself by Alexandra Stoddard
SELF CARE
I’ve let this slide the past week or two. I’ve been staying up WAY too late while David has been away. That’s my primary self care goal this week – an earlier bedtime.
HEALTH & FITNESS
I haven’t done a whole lot of my usual exercise routine but I must say, my step count and activity level has been way up as I’ve been working on the offices. One day I clocked over 7500 steps just working in one room. I’ve climbed the step ladder many times and walked all over the house putting things away.
I did get back to my regular morning exercise routine today. David and I are planning to develop exercise routines that will work with our new at-home work schedules.
FUN ACTIVITIES
I made sure that I kept my drafting table clear in my new office. Previously that was the only place for my easel (with the legs folded) but I now am able to keep it set up. I’m planning to use the drafting table to draw house plans (for fun) and as a place to color in my adult coloring books. I do need to get an adjustable height stool, though.
I also plan to watch this month’s classic film selection, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
HABIT OF THE WEEK
I’m still not drinking enough water so I’m going to focus on that this week.
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Each week I share my menu here on the blog. I have been making weekly menus for years and find that it makes my life so much easier. But I’ve heard from some of you that you struggle with creating a menu. Well, I’ve got a great resource to share!
Eat At Home Meal Plans have taken all the struggle, guesswork and misery out of meal planning even if:
– You have picky eaters.
– You are trying to feed your family a more wholesome, nourishing diet.
– You aren’t the world’s best cook (or you hate doing it!)
– You need to get dinner on the table in 15 minutes.
Click this link and check it out!
Eat At Home Meal Plans Sale
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What’s on your plan for the week ahead? Home tasks? Menu? Fun? What are you reading?
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Here are few pictures of David’s office. The valences look black in the pictures but they are navy blue. I bought them from Amazon and was VERY pleased with them, especially since they were only $5.99 each. I used two on each window so they would look nice and full. He has a couple more pieces of art for this room but I decided to wait until he can help me. One is kind of heavy and it probably needs special drywall hangers.
And here is my office:
Congratulations on accomplishing the offices! I enjoy these little Peek in the Week posts. I ordered the Simple Abundance book after seeing it here, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy Simple Abundance as much as I do. 🙂
I’m sure I’ve told you this before, but my friend Nancy comes from a Hungarian background, and when she and I were very young, her grandmother and great-grandmother would come visit. I was invited to dinner, and made the effort to learn a few Hungarian phrases, since her great grandmother didn’t speak English. (Or claimed she didn’t, I’m not sure I believe that. ) but, the bottom line was I impressed her, and so she decided to teach me to cook “her” dishes. I loved Helushka, but she made it by cooking a pound of bacon, then cooking the cabbage and onion in the bacon grease. Now, I have no problem with cooking the full pound of bacon, pouring off the grease, and adding a couple of tablespoons back into the pan to sauté the veg, but not the remains of the whole pound!! She also taught me to make Chicken Paprakash, with homemade spaetzl. You make the dough, then take a butter knife and scrape tiny bits of the dough into boiling salted water. I KNOW there are specialty makers, and ricers, but it’s hard for me not to make it the way I learned it. When they are done, you drain them and pour them into sauce left from cooking the chicken. It’s a huge pain to make, but oh my goodness, SO good. And such wonderful memories of days gone by. Hard to believe that was more than 45 years ago. Hope you’re doing well! I miss you!!
How wonderful that you had that experience! Miss you, too!
De-cluttering and reorganizing seems to be a big theme right now. Doing some of it myself. When we’re done, we’ll have a whole lot of stuff we don’t really want or need out of the way, and hubby and I will also have our own offices (mine is doubling as my craft room, and his is doubling as his art and figure gaming room, but they’re our own spaces to work or whatever, while still being nearby if we want/need each other).
I think it’s so nice to have our own spaces and yet still be close by.