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
Good afternoon, my friends! Here we are, halfway through October already. Can you believe it?! We are just about to enter “holiday season” with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon. Deep breath…
David changed the filters in our central heat and air system today and since it was only 63 degrees in the house, he turned on the heater for the first time this season. I’m never ready for that. It also means I need to clean the ceiling fan blades in our bedroom which has run continuously since spring. I’ll bet they are DUSTY!
MENU:
We’ve got a couple of meals out this week and then we leave Saturday morning for a business trip. David picked up a few items at the grocery store yesterday to get us through the week but I didn’t want or need to do a regular grocery order. That will wait until we return.
Monday…
- stir fried veggies
- lo mein noodles
Tuesday…
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
- tortillas, cheese, lettuce, tomato, green onions, sour cream
Wednesday…
- Vintage 22 (balcony) with friends?
Thursday…
- Taste of Ada event
Friday…
- cooked cabbage with smoked sausage
Saturday…
- out of town
Sunday…
- out of town
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
Monday…
This was a red-letter day! I did everything on my to-do list. That almost never happens.
Tuesday…
I had a Zoom call for the Retro Homemaking group that my daughter hosts. It’s always fun to connect with other homemakers and after the hour is up, my daughter and I stay on the call to just chat with each other.
Chris went to watch a baseball game at a friend’s house and since he was eating there, I got a great idea. The weather was perfect so I asked David to take me to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner on their patio. And we had margaritas, too.
Wednesday…
This was just a “normal” day at home. I made the bed, did a load of laundry, washed dishes, and kept the house tidy throughout the day. I made a “veggie” dinner for us. We had baked potatoes, salad, asparagus and yellow squash cooked with onions and bell pepper.
Thursday…
David had a couple of errands in town so I went with him. We stopped at the local nursery and I finally got a pot of mums, a nice pumpkin and a flat of pansies. I don’t dare put a plant on the porch table or I’m sure the kittens would knock it off. But the pumpkin looks cute and they aren’t bothering it. I have a lot of small pots and I’m going to put the pansies in those. I’d like to plant them in the flower bed but a couple of the kittens love to lay in it and I’m sure they’d totally squish the flowers. Instead, I’ll put the pots on the shelves by the front door. Hopefully they won’t notice them. We’ll see!
Oh, and while we were in town we decided to have lunch at Sonic.
Friday…
David and I got our updated Covid vaccines. While waiting for them to get the paperwork ready we browsed the gift area and found some very cute and SOFT pajamas for little Charlotte. Afterwards, we got lunch from the food truck which was in the parking lot. We are friends with the owner and hadn’t seen him in awhile. It was nice to say hello and the quesadillas were delicious.
This was the first time I hadn’t taken Benadryl beforehand. I figured if I were going to have a reaction I’d have done so after the other shots. I wasn’t nearly as sleepy because of this but I was a little tired. I had planned to just spend the rest of the day taking in easy. David, however, decided to tackle some household projects because he had taken the day off work. One of the ceiling lights in our bathroom has been going off every so often. I figured it was a short or maybe even just an LED lightbulb going out. He was prepared for a wiring issue or the need to replace the lights. Fortunately it was just a bad bulb. While he had it down, he cleaned the globe. In fact, he cleaned both of them!
He then cleaned the oven…bless him! I can’t be around the oven cleaner fumes so this is a task he does for me. He used to do it before the holidays each year but I won’t even tell you how long it had been this time. But it looks great now!
And since he was on a roll and we had a couple of bulbs out in our two kitchen chandeliers, he cleaned those, too. I’m not sure what got into him but I’m truly grateful.
I made a pot roast with onions and carrots in my Le Creuset Dutch oven and after browning the roast, I put it in the newly-cleaned oven to cook. I also made mashed potatoes and gravy, plus a side salad to complete the meal. It had been a long time since I had cooked a roast and it was so good!
Saturday…
David woke up with a headache. The only effect I had from the vaccine was a very slightly sore area on my arm. David’s headache went away with a dose of ibuprofen and we both just spent a quiet day resting. I was grateful for the leftovers from Friday night so I didn’t have to cook dinner.
Sunday…
David went to town to get a few items from the grocery store, drop off something at my mom’s and brought home lunch. It was pretty late by the time he got home so we finished lunch around 2:30 p.m. We just did our own thing for dinner. I had tea and raisin toast.
I did a load of laundry, made the bed, watered some of my indoor plants, made the week’s menu and scheduled some social media. And since it was National “I Love Lucy Day” I watched a couple of episodes. That’s always been my favorite show and it still cracks me up, no matter how often I’ve watched it.
THIS WEEK
David has another business trip and we’ll leave Saturday. There likely won’t be a “This Week” post next Monday as we’ll be gone through Thursday. I’ll have my laptop but I’m not sure if I’ll try to write a post.
This is going to be a somewhat busy week. I have Zoom calls Tuesday and Thursday and a virtual lecture to attend on Wednesday. David has an eye appointment Wednesday morning and I have promised to help my mom take her cats to the vet at the same time. David just found out that they will be dilating his eye so he won’t be able to drive. He’s going to ask Chris to drop him off and I’ll pick him up after I take the cats to the vet. We’ve planned to meet friends for a drink (and probably appetizers) on the new balcony of a local wine bar Wednesday after they get off work.
Thursday evening is the annual “Taste of Ada” event. There is an art auction in addition to samples from local restaurants and food trucks. We usually end up purchasing a piece of art to support the organization.
Friday will be taken up with packing and getting ready for the trip. We will be going to Kentucky and will drive through a foliage tour route on the way. I’m really hoping the leaves will have changed quite a bit by then. David has a guided fishing trip set up in Arkansas on Sunday and then we will go on to Kentucky on Monday. This is why I’m so glad our son lives in our guest house. He will be here to take care of the cats and water my plants while we are away.
I do hope to get a double batch of Oatmeal Raisin cookies made this week. I’d like to give some to my mom and have some to take with us on our road trip.
WORK
I’m not sure how much work time I’ll have this week but my focus will be on scheduling social media for the next few weeks.
READING
I finished 30 Chic Days at Home, Vol. 2: Creating a serene spa-like ambience in your home by Fiona Ferris. I always enjoy her books.
I’m still listening to Heartache at Blackberry Farm. Today is sheet washing day and I also do some ironing (pillow cases and a few other items). This is one of my favorite times to listen to an audiobook. David and I will choose an audiobook for our trip. And I plan to start this month’s LWD Book Club selection, The Echo of Old Books. I’ll have several hours to read on Sunday while David is fishing. I’m hoping for a nice, sunny day. There is a balcony outside our room at the B&B which overlooks the river. I plan to sip hot tea and enjoy my book.
I’ve just about finished a poetry book and I’ll share the link next time. Since I finished Fiona Ferris’ book I need to find another “morning book” for my daily readings.
My morning books include:
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. Shelley – poetry
4. Monet – part of the Basic Art series
If you don’t already have Audible, you can get a free trial here. We’ve definitely been enjoying it on long drives.
SELF CARE
I did get my fingernails polished but my toenails need to be re-done before our trip.
HEALTH & FITNESS
David and I are still dealing with knee (him) and hip (me) pain but not so much that we can’t walk. We are not back to 30 minute walks yet but I’m trying really hard to avoid that all-or-nothing thing. We can at least take a few laps around the driveway and that’s what we are doing. I’ve been pretty good about my morning exercise routine during the week but not on weekends. I need to keep the habit going all week.
FUN ACTIVITIES
We have a few fun things going on this week – drinks with friends on Wednesday, “Taste of Ada” on Thursday and then our little trip starting this weekend. I’ve been wanting to do this foliage tour for years and am really looking forward to it.
HABIT OF THE MONTH (OCTOBER)
The LWD October Challenge is daily meditation or prayer. I believe we all need to spend some time being still and quiet each day.
Like my morning exercise routine, I’m pretty good about meditating every weekday morning but not on weekends. I don’t want to do my whole morning ritual on weekends exactly like weekdays but I do need to create a weekend version.
If you aren’t already in the group, here is the link:
LIFE WITH DEE
I’d love to see pictures of your challenge so feel free to share them in the group or on Instagram and tag me:
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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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