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 loving these cool mornings! Our afternoon high is supposed to be around 90 degrees but when the sun goes down it will be quite pleasant again. Sounds like a great evening for some stargazing. What is your weather like? I hope it’s as nice as ours is. And I really hope we have a nice, long fall.
I’ve started watching one of my favorite series, Gilmore Girls, which so often has a fall vibe. So when I saw this playlist, I knew it would be perfect for today’s “This Week” post. Enjoy!
I’m still using up things I have on hand and can probably wait until next week for a proper grocery haul. I’ll pick up some fresh produce and dairy at Braum’s in a day or two but otherwise, I’m using what I’ve got.
MENU:
Monday…
- Curried Chickpeas – This is such a good recipe to have in one’s repertoire because it’s easy to keep the ingredients on hand.
- rice
- coleslaw – I have just a bit of cabbage left so I’ll mix up some coleslaw.
- apricots – I love apricots, either fresh or canned. For some reason, canned apricots in light syrup are hard to find in our local stores so I bought a case from Amazon. They have lots of beta-carotene and antioxidants.
Tuesday…
- Easy Cheesy Black Bean Enchiladas
- chips & salsa
Wednesday…
- spaghetti and meatballs – This will use up the last of the bag of meatballs I have in the freezer.
- salad
- garlic toast
Thursday…
Now that it has cooled down I’m hoping for dinner on the patio of a local Mexican restaurant. I’m watching the forecast for rain and we’ll choose the best night this week.
- Potrillo’s Mexican Restaurant
Friday…
- bbq chicken
- mac & cheese – I have a box of organic mac and cheese I want to use up.
- green beans
- salad
Saturday…
- leftovers
Sunday…
- French toast
- eggs
- sausage or bacon
- orange juice
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
Last week we were in Zone 3. My areas of focus were the laundry room and my office. I didn’t get much done in the laundry room although I did give the laundry sink a good scrub. However, it doesn’t really look like it. It’s a large, plastic tub sink and it’s been stained from various paint and stain projects (I didn’t do it!). David has tried to find a replacement but couldn’t find one the same size. I’m going to start my own search.
I did, however, get my office done. I shared a photo of the drafting table last week and that was my main goal – to get it cleared off. Here it is now:
Ideally I’d find another place for the books and baskets but it’s good enough for now. At least I have a nice amount of space for projects. I also gave the room a good vacuuming.
This weekend I dusted the family room, changed the runner on the antique buffet for something in warmer colors for fall, cleaned the front storm door and vacuumed the entry hall, family room, downstairs bathroom and both offices.
THIS WEEK
This week is Zone 4 – the master bedroom/bathroom. Our bedroom and bathroom are the only rooms upstairs. We also have a walk-in closet, the stair landing outside our room with bookshelves, and we have a large balcony off our room. I’d like to get some serious cleaning done in all of these areas this week.
Our kittens are about 5 months old. Three are females so I’m calling the vet to schedule spaying appointments. I don’t know if they can do it this week or next but we need to get this done ASAP. These kittens are adorable but we don’t need anymore.
WORK
This weekend I got a lot of social media scheduling done for the next few weeks. I can only schedule out 30 days on Facebook so that’s what I’m working on. I should be able to finish that pretty quickly.
As I mentioned last week, I’m working on a big fall post for the blog. The fall equinox is this Saturday so my goal is to have the post up by then.
We need to have a short Zoom meeting for our non-profit soon. I hope to schedule it sometime this week.
I had a Zoom call this morning and two on Thursday.
READING
A blogger I’ve followed for years mentioned a vintage book that sounded interesting. I found it on Project Gutenberg and thought I’d take a look. I ended up reading it all. It’s definitely old-fashioned but I enjoyed it. The title is “Living on a Little” and the author is Caroline French Benton. The premise is that a newly engaged young woman asks her older sister to tutor her in homemaking on a tight budget prior to her marriage. Some of the advice is outdated but the overall concepts are still valid. If you’d like to read it, here is the Gutenberg link:
It’s also available in paperback from Amazon:
I still haven’t finished The Well-Lived Life, this month’s LWD Book Club selection. I listened when I walked this morning and I’ll do more this afternoon while ironing and putting the clean sheets back on the bed.
This month’s artist is Leonardo da Vinci and I’ve been reading from this:
This month’s poet is Walt Whitman so I’ve been reading from this:
And I continue to read from The Living Bible – The Book of Common Prayer daily lectionary readings.
If you don’t already have Audible, you can get a free trial here. We’ve definitely been enjoying it on these long drives.
SELF CARE
The nail polish I ordered arrived yesterday but I didn’t get my toenails polished. I’ll make that a priority this week.
This is the one I ordered. Doesn’t it have a nice fall vibe?
HEALTH & FITNESS
I’m struggling to consume the amount of water I should be drinking. I usually manage 4 or 5 glasses in addition to tea and coffee but due to my kidney disease, I should increase that. Any helpful suggestions are welcome!
FUN ACTIVITIES
David and I are still enjoying our Friday night “cocktails and The O.C.”. We watched another 3 episodes this past Friday.
If it’s not raining, I hope to have dinner at a local Mexican restaurant Thursday. We’ll invite the kids to join us if they aren’t busy.
This coming Saturday is the homecoming parade for the university I got my degrees from. For the first time, they are joining up with the local high school for their homecoming. It should be fun to see both schools represented. I’m hoping for nice weather and if it is, we may go watch the parade.
HABIT OF THE MONTH (September)
For the month of September, our LWD group challenge is to take a daily walk. I’m committing to a 30 minute walk every day but if you want to join, choose what’s right for you.
I had been doing really well with this challenge but then I developed a pretty significant pain in my anterior hip. I’m not entirely certain what caused it although I suspect it might be from the treadmill. The treadmill is in David’s office and he folded it up so it would be out of the way (I didn’t even know it did that – ha!). It was up for months as we’ve been walking outdoors. But one night last week I finished my evening walk indoors because it had gotten dark. It didn’t run smoothly and kept sort of jerking. I think that may have hurt my hip. In any case, I took a few days off from walking. This morning I did one lap around our large circle drive. It still hurts a bit so I’m easing back into it. I’ll do a few more laps throughout the day and see how it goes.
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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Dee, Thank you for sharing my blog.
About drinking water: I drink a lot of water daily but I do find it starts to pale for me after the fifth glass. I like to add a bit of lemon, lime or mint to it (and sometimes ginger slices) just to increase the palatability of it. I don’t know how the lemon/lime might affect your kidneys, but I do know the lemon water is supposed to be good to help regulate blood sugars. And I don’t add loads, just one generous slice which is more than enough to add flavor.
Lemon is supposed to be good for the kidneys and I do drink a glass of lemon water first thing each morning. I don’t mind the taste of plain water; it’s more a matter of consuming that much liquid in addition to my beloved hot tea and usually a cup of coffee after lunch. Also, I’m a small sipper, not a gulper – ha!