It’s Monday and that means it’s time for our new weekly feature – This Week With Dee. This is where I share our menu, my planned household 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
This week’s background music is Outdoor Seaside Cafe Ambience. Oh, how I wish I were sitting by the sea right now! To go with the theme, I’m burning a Bath and Body Works candle called “Bikini Weather”. I suppose I should be sipping a daiquiri but I’m drinking Community Coffee with Chicory and a splash of cream.
Menu
Monday…
I’ve got pork tenderloin in the crockpot with a jar of Stonewall Kitchen Pulled Pork Simmering Sauce poured over it. This sauce is pricey but SO good!
- pulled pork tenderloin
- corn on the cob
- sautéed zucchini & squash
Tuesday…
I’ll use the leftover pulled pork for tacos. I usually serve coleslaw with these but I’m out of cabbage. A green salad will do.
- shredded pork tacos
- sliced pineapple
- salad
Wednesday…
I’ll be trying a new recipe for the chicken. I found the link on a list of Weight Watchers recipes and it looks good. The roasted veggies will include red potatoes, onion, zucchini, yellow squash and peppers. I make a huge sheet pan full and enjoy leftovers with my lunchtime salads the next couple of days.
- creamy parmesan chicken
- roasted vegetables
Thursday…
I have two huge heads of broccoli in the fridge. I’m still getting my groceries delivered and the broccoli isn’t quite up to snuff to use fresh or steamed. I figure soup is a great way to use it up. I may use Velveeta for the cheese. I bought a carton of it early in the pandemic because it’s shelf stable. It’s not something I ever buy but I don’t want to waste it.
- broccoli cheese soup
- cornbread
Friday…
Chris and I love salmon but David isn’t a fan. I’ve got individually frozen chicken breasts in the freezer so I’ll cook one of those for him instead.
- salmon
- baked potatoes
- asparagus
- salad
Saturday…
- takeout
Sunday…
I will likely have some bread to use up by the end of the week so French toast is on the menu. If not, I’ll make pancakes.
- French toast
- eggs
- fresh fruit
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
Just a quick review…
I cleaned the sink, countertop, mirror and toilet in the master bathroom. David has said he will do the bathtub (on a regular basis) because I can’t reach the upper part of the tile and ceiling without a chair. He didn’t get to it this weekend, though. On Saturday he repaired plumbing at church, as well as our daughter and son-in-law’s house. He also did a minor car repair for someone and then spent the afternoon mowing. That’s plenty for a guy who was out of town on business most of the week and put in LOTS of hours. The tub can wait.
I dusted and vacuumed most of the downstairs but didn’t mop floors. I sorted all the recent mail/paperwork in the kitchen and some in my office.
THIS WEEK
We are in Zone 4: Master bedroom, bathroom, closet.
- I have a basket of ironing I’d like to tackle.
- Dust and vacuum bedroom, bathroom, closet
- Switch Easter decor from the plastic tote it’s been in to one of the new, cloth covered storage boxes I bought for my closet.
- Declutter 5 clothing items. I’ve done quite a bit of this over the past year but I’m sure I can find a few more items of clothing to discard.
- Go through basket of magazines in the bathroom. I’d like to remove the basket altogether so I’ll need to get rid of some and move the rest elsewhere.
- Hopefully David will scrub the tub/shower and tile.
WORK
My primary work goal this week is to outline an upcoming blog series.
READING
I finished The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom and am now back to reading Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live. Chris and I had this plan to read The Brothers Karamazov together this year but neither of us have been reading it lately. I started back this morning. He read it as a teenager (no, I didn’t assign it – he chose it on his own!) but I haven’t read it before. This is meant to be my challenging book of the year.
My current “lunch book” is The Peaceful Life: Slowing down, choosing happiness, nurturing your feminine self, and finding sanctuary in your home but I’ll likely finish it in the next couple of days. I’ll let you know next week what I’ll replace it with.
I’m still reading Someday in Paris at bedtime. And An Edited Life: Simple Steps to Streamlining Your Life, at Work and at Home by Anna Newton as my audiobook. I may finish the latter this week. And if I’d go to bed earlier I could finish Someday in Paris but I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one.
SELF CARE
I finally had a night without rain for my beloved stargazing! I poured myself a little whiskey and settled into my reclining chair with a favorite Spotify playlist. I saw one shooting star and several satellites. It looks like another week of rain so I’m really glad I took advantage of a clear night.
I colored my hair yesterday (much needed!) and also colored in my coloring book a bit.
This week I’d like to finish the coloring page I’m working on and make more time to read. Even though it’s a rainy week, the temperatures will be nice enough that I could sit on the porch with a cup of tea, some incense and a book. Sounds like a good plan to me.
HEALTH AND FITNESS
I finally managed to get on the treadmill for 30 minutes yesterday. I’m going to make that my main focus this week. Of course, I’ll *try* to do all the rest – sleep, water, nutrition – but daily treadmill time is top of the list.
FUN ACTIVITIES
We didn’t do the movie or vinyl record night as planned but we had a wonderful day on Friday. Our son-in-law’s birthday was Thursday and we all took off Friday afternoon to celebrate. We met up in the city at 2:15 for a late lunch on the patio of a favorite restaurant. We enjoyed a leisurely meal together and then popped into nearby Sur La Table for a little browse. I didn’t buy anything but I did plant the seed in David’s head that I want to replace our inexpensive steak knives. One of the things I’m working on, in addition to decluttering excess, is to upgrade some things. I tend to hang onto things that were purchased or gifted long ago that are “okay” but I want to seek out better quality items over the next few years before David retires.
After we all went our separate ways, David and I decided (okay…it was my idea) to stop at our favorite OKC hotel for a drink. It was right around 5 p.m. so this was a good way to avoid rush hour traffic. At least, that’s the best excuse I can come up with. We are friends with the head bartender and always enjoy chatting with her. There were very few people there and with the high ceiling, good ventilation and being open to the large lobby, we decided this was safe enough (we are both fully vaccinated). After 14 months of doing precious little, this day was just perfect and much-enjoyed.
- It looks like we are in for rain all week but Sunday looks like it might be dry. If so, I’d like to see if a couple of friends would like to join us at a local outdoor venue for brunch.
- vinyl record night
- movie night
HABIT OF THE WEEK
This is a new category. I want to jazz up my bedtime routine. I’m going to light a candle and play music while showering and doing my skin care before bed.
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I’d love to hear what you have planned for the week. Leave me a comment below and have a beautiful week!
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Ooh, I loved reading all these categories of your daily life. Can I come over and just follow you around? The self-care items sound terrific and I love the stargazing! I like to keep track of the moon, myself. Oh, and thank you for this music list– I love the video and the ambiance. I listen to an ocean waves CD to help me go to sleep, but I love this for afternoon relaxation time. I miss the beach! I am also coming to your house for dinner…. I am so sick of preparing food! Thanks for all your efforts at putting this together. I love it!
Come on over! I could use the company. I’ll let you in on a little secret. I haven’t been getting much accomplished lately so these weekly posts are an accountability tool for myself as much as inspiration for my readers.
I understand that completely. I have taken to making a to do list of things I want to accomplish that week instead of daily lists. It’s more forgiving, but I need to take off some things that continue to make me feel bad if I don’t have the motivation to do them — studying languages and playing the piano, specifically. And yes, I can use the company, too! I would love to sit and have an in-person chat with a friend, but they are all scattered across the country. Feeling the loneliness … But now I must tackle my bathroom mirror since you mentioned doing that. It’s so huge it takes up most of the wall so I have to stand on the counters to reach the top! It does not get done very often for this reason.
Our downstairs bathroom has a mirror like that. It’s such a pain to clean that it doesn’t get done often. I really need to take down the dusty purple twinkle lights I strung around it last fall but it just hasn’t made it to the top of my priority list. I should probably ask my son to do it. He’s 36 and more agile than I.
I love this! I usually just plan meals and where I am taking people. Reading this has me thinking of things that I want to do. Thank you for this! <3
I feel as though I’ve not gotten much accomplished this past year and hope that by sharing plans here on the blog I’ll be more likely to stick to them. We’ll see!
Sounds like you had a very productive and fun week. I’m glad you were able to get in some stargazing, and get out for a bit. I hope this week is as fun and productive for you.
Last week I made some progress sorting the craft room, we got the curtain rail (and curtains) up in the living room, and I did all the housework I planned to. I even managed to get my eMails down to a manageable level. I’m still rather behind on my reading goal, and didn’t get to do any actual crafting, but I’m still calling last week a success.
As for this week:
I had some mashed butternut squash and peas left over from Sunday’s dinner, so Monday night I baked a potato, heated up the leftover veggies, made a bit of gravy to go over it, and served it with a bit of bread. It was a lovely quick dinner, which I needed for Monday, since I spent a lot of the day doing some more organizing in the craft room (I’m down to just a small pile of stuff to sort now, unless my Dad has more to bring over) and then had a Zoom roleplaying session with my Dad and some friends in the evening.
Today (Tuesday) through Thursday I’m having salad and baked potato with my Mam, because I’m going over to help her sort out the mess her spare room has turned in to, and it’s the only quick meal we’ll both eat without resorting to takeout, since the only difference in our meals will be that mine will involve vegan versions of the butter for the potato, the mayo, and any cheese we decide to add. I’ll take Logan with me, so he can spend some time with Izabel while we work, but Lilie will be staying with Kelly, since three dogs will be too much to have underfoot while we’re trying to work, especially with Mam being a little unsteady on her feet and Lilie’s energy level (Logan only gets to come because of how he pines for me when I go anywhere without him, so I like to take him when I can, and anyway he’s a low energy dog, who will play with Izi for a short time, and then both dogs will settle for naps… Lilie has more energy by herself than those two do combined). So Lilie will have some one-on-one time with her Daddy, who she loves spending time with most anyhow, and he’s thinking he’ll take her on one of the longer walks Logan and I can’t manage so well, but Kelly can and Lilie loves.
Friday is the food box run, and afterwards Mam is taking me to pick up the pills Lilie has to have for her skin irritation issue from the vet. Then I have my Zoom bookclub in the evening. I’ve not decided what dinner will be, since some of it might depend on what’s in the box. But it will definitely need to be something simple I can make relatively quickly.
Saturday is our wedding anniversary, and I’m also hoping to finish sorting those last few bits and pieces in the craft room. Plus, I have my monthly Zoom crafting session (so I’ll get to do some crafting this week, even if just during that) and Kelly has a roleplaying game in the evening. So, we’re ordering takeout for dinner.
Since I’ve got such a busy week planned, I’m planning to make Sunday a self-care day. I’m thinking a bubble bath and some quiet time curled up with a book will be called for. Dinner will depend on what’s in the box, if there are any leftovers from the takeout, and what’s in my fridge that needs using, but will probably be another, “Something simple and quick to make,” type of dinner, because I doubt I’ll have the energy for anything that isn’t quick and easy.
It sounds like you have a very full week ahead. Happy anniversary!
Thank you.