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
I’m back with a “This Week” post, although it’s a on Tuesday rather than Wednesday. We returned from our trip to California late Sunday night and just didn’t have it in me to get this post finished. In fact, I’m still in road trip recovery mode. We drove over 3000 miles! And when I say “we”, I mean David drove and I played the co-pilot role. More about that later in this post but for now, let’s get the music started.
We returned the rental car early Monday morning and then I made a quick run into the grocery store to restock perishables and a few other items. I had intentionally used up everything that wouldn’t last while we were away so we came home to an empty fridge. We will be out of town this Friday through Monday so I’m holding off on a full grocery order until later next week. But we have plenty to get us through with the exception of bread and lettuce which I’ll likely have to buy again as soon as we return next Monday or Tuesday.
MENU:
Monday…
- lemon pepper chicken
- baked potatoes
- asparagus
Tuesday…
- tacos
- chips & salsa
Wednesday…
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
- peas
- chilled peaches
Thursday…
- Ham Steak
- scalloped potatoes
- broccoli/cauliflower in cheese sauce
- salad
Friday…
- out of town
Saturday…
- out of town
Sunday…
- out of town
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
We left Saturday, August 12th and returned Sunday, August 20th. We drove through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on our way from Oklahoma to California. We were fortunate to have pretty decent weather on the drive although it was quite hot by the time we got to the desert on Monday. But as they say, “it’s a dry heat”.
David’s brother’s memorial service was Tuesday afternoon. We visited family by his other brother’s pool both Monday and Tuesday nights which was nice. The memorial service was well-done, too.
The following day we drove to Santa Barbara. I was born there and wanted to see the first two places where I lived. The first was an apartment near the UCSB campus. My parents managed those apartments early in their marriage while my dad was coaching football at the university. The second place we visited was the house they had purchased brand new when I was still a baby. My dad had been the construction superintendent on that new housing addition. We lived there until I was about 3 1/2 or 4. My mom said they sold the house for $19,000. It hasn’t been resold since 1973 but the estimated value is 1.3 million (!) now. How things change!
We also went to the UCSB campus store and bought some souvenirs for the kids. Honestly, the campus buildings are not all that attractive but its location can’t be beat. David and I joked that we should go back to school and major in “Beach Studies”.
Two days in Santa Barbara was not nearly enough but it was time to start our journey home. We visited my aunt in Glendora and then drove on to Kingman, Arizona. We arrived around 10 p.m. but wanted to get that far so we could take a detour the following day. David has long wanted to see the Grand Canyon so we decided this was the perfect time to do so. It’s a couple of hours North of I-40 but oh, it was so worth it! I had seen it very briefly as a child but remember very little about the experience. It is truly awe-inspiring.
That night we stayed in Albuquerque. Originally we had intended to go only as far as Amarillo on Sunday then home on Monday. But we were both ready to just get on home. It’s a 9-10 hour drive but it was so good to sleep in our own bed that night.
I’ve been sharing some of our road trip photos on Instagram in case you are interested. There is such variety of landscape in the United States and we’ve been enjoying our trips this year.
THIS WEEK
I’m in recovery mode and it’s taking longer than I had expected – ha! But I’m giving myself grace. This Friday we leave for a few days in Kansas City, Missouri. Months ago David purchased tickets to the Goo Goo Dolls concert at the Starlight Theatre concert venue. We used to go to a few concerts a year pre-Covid and we’ve tried twice in the past couple of years but ended up selling our tickets because we just didn’t feel it was safe. Fortunately this concert is outdoors (we’ll still wear masks). The concert is on Sunday night (my birthday) and we’ll return Monday.
WORK
I’m just trying to catch up on some blog work and LOTS of email from our time away. I mean…LOTS. I did a quick skim each day we were away and handled the most important emails. But there is still a lot to go through.
READING
One of the things David and I enjoy about road trips are audiobooks. We finished The Caine Mutiny and and also listened to Of Mice and Men on this trip.
If you don’t already have Audible, you can get a free trial here. We’ve definitely been enjoying it on these long drives.
We also listened to a couple of podcasts. If you enjoy quirky, true stories, let me know and I’ll share the ones we found on this trip.
And if you’d like the link to the Spotify playlist our son made for us for the trip, I can share that, too. He makes the best playlists!
SELF CARE
Sleep. That’s all I need to focus on this week. We have a bad habit of staying up too late under “normal” circumstances but after a week on California time, trust me when I say it’s worse now. I’m going to set the alarm on my phone to go off at 9:30 tonight in the hopes we’ll actually be in bed by 10:30. Wish me luck.
HEALTH & FITNESS
The biggest challenge on a long road trip is lack of exercise and too much fast food. I’m working on getting back into my usual exercise routine this week as well as enjoying home cooked meals with vegetables!
FUN ACTIVITIES
As mentioned, we will be attending a concert Sunday. Friends are going up with us (separate cars) for the weekend and we are on the lookout for restaurants with outdoor seating. We always have such a good time together and haven’t seen them for several weeks. Looking forward to it!
HABIT OF THE MONTH (August)
I hosted a “choose your own adventure” challenge in the Life With Dee Facebook group for August. I’ve encouraged members to choose their own challenge for the month or repeat one we’ve already done.
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?
You may also enjoy…
Easy Ways to Avoid Take Out and Eat At Home
Timely Tunes ~ California Dreaming
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