Weekend In Review/ May Goals & April Goal Re-Cap

Well, since today is the last day of the month, I decided to post my Weekend in Review with my traditional goals post. Hope my readers don't mind! :)

 Most of you know that I love a good, thrifty find. Something useful, tasteful and which has a purpose. Well, the first picture here is of a brand new set of 6 dessert plates and a cute stand for them, complete with a ribbon! I got that at Value Village for $5.60 This weekend!

 The next picture is kind of strange, so I'll explain it. It's also a Value Village find, for $7.99! I am always looking out for a fun, simple way to enhance our cozy little nook where we eat. I saw this piece, and thought that it would be great on the table! I was right - it goes very, very well with it! (The pitcher, sugar and creamer dishes are just in there to show how big the piece is). I put tea lights in the candle holders, but they were too small. I put votives in, and they just looked silly. I went to our cousin's garage sale and got some plain white votive/ tealight holders for free that compliment it perfectly! (Picture to come tomorrow, I promise!)

 I also found some great buys for Robert! I love finding stuff my husband would like, since he never really likes to spend money on himself. :) I was thrilled when I found two cookbooks ($3.19 and $2.39 for both) that I knew he'd love. The book on the left is about chocolate, and the book on the right is actually from Williams Sonoma! Awesome! He was really happy that I found those for him, which made my day. I would love to get this book as well for him someday:

Strawberry Mascarpone Filled cupcakes!

 The lighting in these last two pictures is terrible, I know. But on Friday night, our CYC meeting was held at Mom & Dad Crombie's house. We planned to have a dinner, dessert and discuss our goals for the upcoming year, our budget and everything. I offered to help Mom out by taking care of dessert. I did splurge quite a bit for it, but it was totally worth it! This is a Giada recipe, which can be found here. I love Giada! I bet you could do this with any fruit, really. I added some lemon zest to the strawberry-mascarpone mixture for added zing. Also, when I spread the frosting, I did purposefully incorporate some of the filling on the top for look and taste (I had Robert fill these from the top down, rather than the bottom up, as the recipe suggests).

If you ever watch Sandra Lee, you know she does a lot of "round 2" recipes. I borrowed that idea and used some of the remaining cupcake filling for crepes for lunch today! (Homemade crepes are SUPER easy, BTW!) It was delicious! Only took about 15 minutes, too.

I'm still drooling over this crepe pan: Oh, someday....


Anyway, my goal update for April is as follows:

Keep making the bed - Yes. As much as I could, yes. 

Stay caught up on laundry - I say no. It got washed, dried and folded, but due to the very painful burn on my left forearm I got on Friday the 13th from ironing sheets (you'd think I'd learn!), I put the ironing aside for a bit, and yeah - some of the laundry kind of hung out on our floor. 

Get caught up on all Bible reading - HA! If only! I'm re-purposing this goal now...

Get rid of old TV - It's going this weekend. I say yes. 

Plant pansies out front - Yep! 18!

Don't worry about other people so much - I have no comment. I'm not even marking this as a pass/ fail.

Find 3 hours per week for myself - Yep! (Organizing counts....right? :) ) 

Pick one book to read and start it - Yes! 

Clean off desk in my office - Yes! Bigtime!

Buy a new shower curtain liner for the guest bathroom - Oops! I forgot about it....even though I did think about it several times!

So, here are my goals for May:

Get caught up on ironing
Have a garage sale
Get back into listing on eBay again
Practice piano 1/2 hour each day
Keep flower beds looking sharp (we've been doing so good!)
Find 4 recipes for dinner and 4 for dessert to incorporate my homegrown herbs & veggies into
Pick one organizational and one cleaning task per day to achieve
Finish my one book and start another
Keep desk cleaned off in office
Buy that shower curtain liner for the guest bathroom
Organize shelves in office
Find a home for our bobbleheads (i.e., not in stacks, as they are now!)
Work on getting to bed by 10:30 Sun.-Weds.
Schedule 3 coffee dates or lunch meetings with friends
Learn how to knit! (Barbara, you have GOT to help me with this one!)
Post Spring Cleaning/ Amitions & Goals lists (yes, this is coming!)
Make the Info board at church beautiful for May
Stay caught up in Bible studies (Including Sunday School, I've got 4! 2 Ladies' Bible Studies, a small group study, and Sunday School).
Work the floor cleaning into my week more often (like, more than twice a month!)
Make my office (at work; not home) more beautiful
Organize pantry/ cupboards in the kitchen with my hubby
Take a bubblebath when I need to relax (I probably should have done that today!)


I realize this is a long list! But I know that I can do it all if I just set my mind to it. (Phil. 4:13!) I really want to aim to be the best steward I can be of the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me. (I know my husband is probably sick of hearing me say that!)

Help keep me accountable, friends! What are your goals for the month? I'd love to hear about them so I can encourage you!

Spring Cleaning Mastermind Notes part 4

This post is going to be more detailed and less of an overview.

Here are the topics I'm going to cover in this post:

• Start at the beginning, and finish fully
• Cleaning before company
• Practice makes progress
• Cleaning schedules
• Convictions on keeping a clean home

So, without further introduction, I'll dig right in with my first topic: Start at the beginning, and finish fully. 

This topic was first introduced to me by one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth George. She delves into the depths of this in her Proverbs 31 Bible Study.

Basically, it's the idea of not only starting something with every intention to finish it, but to finish whatever it is you're endeavoring to do completely and with finality.

For example, if you walk into a common area of your home, and discover a mess - how do you deal with that? I addressed some of that topic yesterday in my post about how to get started. But now, we're going to look at getting through it and finishing - fully. What's involved in that mess in your common area? Whether it's your front entry way, dining room table, or some other surface, it's not just stuff. Really think about this! Ask yourself some questions before you start:

Items out of place that need to be put away!

Lots out of place, but easy to fix if I do it right the first time!

• What is out of place?
• Why are these items out of place? (I.e., what is it that makes you think of this?)
• What needs to happen to put the mess away, clean it up, throw it away, etc.? 
• Is there anything here I don't need to keep?
• Is this a top priority?

There is no order, really, to those questions. But once you ask yourself all of those questions (like reading a recipe all the way through before you start baking or cooking),  it's time to get moving. Ignore the phone, the computer, and any other distractions! Just dig in. Your motto should never be "I do it nice because I do it twice."

The way I usually tackle a project like this is to first determine what can be tossed - whether that's recycle or garbage. Just take care of it. Do it fast, and do it now! This does a couple of things that I find very important when you're cleaning: gets rid of stuff you don't have to sort later, and if that's the only thing you get done, you'll never have to do it again!

Which brings me to a slight rabbit trail - what do I mean by "if that's the only thing you get done?" Well, let's say unexpected company drops by. It happens! Worse than that, let's say you're expecting company, and you've got stuff to get done. If someone shows up early, you're done. Stop what you're doing, and turn your focus to your guest. No matter what stage you are at your cleaning.

And that is a nice segue to my next point: cleaning before company. To be blunt, don't do it. Period. There's never really a reason for it! Now, please don't misunderstand me; there is a difference between picking up or wiping off a counter and actually cleaning. 

I believe cleaning is scrubbing toilets, cleaning floors, vacuuming, etc. But minimal picking up, tossing out, and simple straightening up tasks - those are fine to do before company comes over. Just remember - your home does not need to perfect. Ever. I struggle with this daily! It's not about being perfect. "Practice makes progress," as Michelle Duggar says. If there's no room for improvement, there's a problem.

Precisely what I'm going to focus on next. Practice does not make perfect. But any positive reading or information you do about good habit-formation and changing how you do things will reflect that it takes 30 days to form a habit. 30 days. That's not breaking it for 30 entire days, but sticking with it! (Hence, my goal to do specific Bible reading every day for a month!) Pick one or two things to focus on for 30 days, and just go. You won't be sorry. It might be humbling, but that's okay. Humble attitudes = room for growth.

To talk about my next point - cleaning schedules - is a bit tricky. Some of my readers, friends, and family think this is a silly notion. Some think it's a necessity. For me, I could never make things happen around our house without a cleaning schedule!

If you've never made one before, do not overwhelm yourself! It's not meant to be difficult! I simply use a few household chores on my schedule: vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, and cleaning floors. That's it. Maybe your chores look different, but that's the stuff that I need to be done on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I chose a few, put them on a schedule that repeats itself every week or every other week.You choose how often you need to do the chores, and then get them written down. Keep yourself accountable. Ask your family to help you remember your schedule by posting it somewhere in a common area of your home. If I don't have a laundry day (or days), or a vacuuming day (or days), those things don't get done. It seems odd to have me say that, I'm sure, but it's true. I have to have my schedule. I'm a structure-thriving person.

Here are some of the tools I use to get the jobs done efficiently:


For dusting:





 

For vacuuming: (I'm not sure if this is the exact Roomba that we have, but it's close!)


We don't use the Roomba for everything; just spot-cleaning a couple times a week. 

For hard-to-get areas, walls, doors and light switches:


And finally, convictions on keeping a clean home. This is something that you have to decide on for yourself. Ladies, ask your husbands what their priorities are. My husband truly doesn't care, but he likes a clean home. He's come to expect it, and rightfully so. It's not a demand; it's an expectation he has based on my convictions regarding how I keep the home. For those young ladies who aren't married, maybe you could ask your moms, aunts, grandmas, friends and other family (these women should be older than you, and who have been on their own for at least a couple of years), what they do to keep their homes nice. Job-shadow them a bit! Ladies who are in a position to allow for a job-shadow? Please do it! There's no better investment you could make than in the life of a young woman!


My convictions begin and end with how I feel about my home. If things are out of place, I'm not comfortable. But that's just me. That's not my husband, my friends or even my family. I'm not critical of other peoples' homes; just my own. Again, this is a daily struggle that I have to overcome. Trust me; I don't like my perfectionist qualities. But it's part of what makes me who I am. So, I just have to deal with it. Figure out what works for you and go with it.

A picture of my office when it was clean...once upon a time!

I encourage all of you to pray about your convictions regarding your homes and keeping them clean, talk to your husbands (ladies), and if you're not married, you can still put a lot of this into practice!

Again, please stay tuned for more in this series! My lists are still yet to be posted, and I'm excited to share them with you all. :)

Roomba Cleaning Tutorial

This is for Keri, who asked me to post a Roomba Cleaning Tutorial for her! :)

Spring Cleaning Mastermind Notes part 3

"What do I do about....?"

This seems to be my constant source of hesitation when it comes to spring cleaning/ organization. It's like I really desire to fix, revive, organize and clean - but I just can't figure out how. 

I have a couple of tips & tricks that I've learned over the years, and I'll share some of them here. I'd love to hear what some of my readers do, though, too! So please, feel free to comment on this blog post and encourage others by sharing what your tips and tricks are regarding spring cleaning, and the ever-present question, "What do I do about...?"

Tip #1 - Figure out what the eye sees first. This is usually the culprit of feeling overwhelmed, at least for me. I've taken some pictures of my home in the current state that it is to help illustrate my point:

 Pictured to the left first is what you'll see if you walk into my house right now. What I want you to notice is a couple of important things:
1) The papers on the end table. They are there temporarily, but this could potentially turn out to be what Fly Lady calls a "hotspot," which I do not want.
2) Everything else is in order. This is how I bless my home and my husband - by making sure that our home communicates an inviting and loving atmosphere. I take care of it to the best of my abilities.

 Moving on. This next picture is what you'll see if you walk straight into my home and look left. Again, something to note:

1) The carpet is vacuumed, with no stains or dirt on it. This is not to say that it is always this way, or that our home is perfect. It rarely is. It's just that I have company coming over today (piano lessons), tomorrow (Ladies' Bible Study), and throughout the weekend (Small Group Bible Study and family), and I want to make sure that my home is company-ready.

 Okay, moving on again!
This next picture is the entryway to the dining room through the living room (pictured first). Here we have our first glimpse at 3 of my worst hot spot areas (yes, I said 3!)
1) The kitchen table. It's usually cleaned off, but I tend to sort stuff there. It's still there from yesterday.
2) The kitchen counter. Lunches, hot water kettle, coffee mugs, etc. are usually found there.
3) The wine rack behind the kitchen table (which we just use as a shelf. It's now housing my coupon mess.

This next picture shows what you'll see if you walk all the way through the dining room and look back. The recycling bags are full and need to be taken out, but that has to wait until later tonight, since my first responsibilities - cleaning off hot spots - haven't been handled yet. See how this can all roll downhill? I am not perfect, and neither is my home! But if I don't take control of it, what happens? Tiny messes amassing!

Lastly, this is the kitchen if you turn to the left from the back of the dining room. Clutter, clutter everywhere! It would probably only take me 15-20 minutes to handle all of that fully (and by fully, I mean, throw out trash, recycle paperwork/ cardboard, put dishes in sink and sort paperwork accordingly in the office).






This is how my house looks today. No holding back. I did no tidying before I wrote this post.

A couple verses I use to motivate myself (usually in the form of sticky notes), are as follows:

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord, rather than for men." Colossians 3:23 (NASB)
"...to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God cannot be dishonored." Titus 2:5 (NASB)

I encourage all of my readers to look those verses up and do whatever you need to in order to be reminded of them - daily.

I've read, heard and been taught that it takes 30 days to make something a habit. That's why I'm trying to make a habit of getting rid of my hot spots! This is something that is on my Spring Goals/ Ambitions list! (Which I have not posted yet; please stay tuned!)

When my husband comes home from work, he does not become frustrated or overwhelmed by hot spots. If he sees them, he generally ignores them until we've had time to ourselves for a few minutes, and then we'll get up and he might ask if there's something he can do to help me out around the house. Occasionally, I will say, "Yes, could you take this or that and put it here or there, please? That would really help me!" But usually I just do it myself. Am I missing an opportunity here? Maybe. But it's not my husband's job or conviction to manage the home - it's mine. Scripture is very clear on this.

Don't get me wrong; Robert has his own jurisdictions for which he is responsible. These are (currently): dishes, recycling and outside work. And yes, I do help him with that stuff when he needs or asks for it. Just because we have our own jurisdictions does not mean that we are cut and dry about it! This home is built on the foundation of the Lord, and we'll do everything we can to continue to build it up in that way - even if it means putting aside our own jurisdictions, priorities or desires to help the other person.

A great example of this is last week, with the yard tidying projects we've been doing. I had purchased a bunch of herbs and veggies to plant (see my previous post on that here: Spring Cleaning Mastermind Notes part 2), and he had a lawn to mow and flower beds to weed. I told him (as we pulled into the driveway from working for about 3 hours at the church at a volunteer service project event), "If you'll get out the weed eater and the edging tool, I'll do that part so you can just mow the front yard and then be done with it." He considered it for a minute and said, "No, I think the more important thing for you to do is to plant your veggies and herbs and stuff. I'll handle the rest of it; it won't take too long."

You see that? Team work! I know that yard work is not my husband's favorite thing to do, and I tried to be helpful and ask if he would prefer for me to help him with it, since it was going to get done that day one way or another. He considered my thoughts, and made the executive decision (as we call them around here), to keep me doing my own thing so that together, we could be more productive. (Many hands make for light work!)

So, to wrap up this post, I'll just say this: Because I have two piano lessons to teach today, Awana tonight, and some other projects I have to accomplish around here, I probably won't get a lot of time to devote to my hot spots. But that's okay. I'll set my timer for 30 minutes that I do have, and get as much done as I can. And I will resolve to be okay with going to bed at whatever state my home is in!

Be sure to stay tuned for my upcoming posts, which will include my Spring Cleaning/ Organizing List, and my Spring Goals/ Ambitions List, and a post about my personal cleaning schedule, cleaning before company and convictions about keeping a clean home. :)

Spring Cleaning Mastermind Notes part 2

If there's one thing I've learned about Spring Cleaning, it's the fact that it can be just as overwhelming to decide on the projects that need to be accomplished as it is to actually get down into the cleaning/ organizing.

Some of my attempts at Spring Cleaning have been fruitless in the past due to the nature of coming up with my list. I've tried to analyze why that is, and I've never succeeded in figuring that out. Today, I decided that I won't analyze anymore. It takes too much time and energy. From now on, I'm just going to launch a different plan for accomplishment.

Instead of having one gigantic, impossible, and otherwise intimidating list of things to get done, I'm splitting my list into two this year: Spring Cleaning/ Organizing, and Spring Goals/ Ambitions. (I haven't finalized my lists just yet, and I'm trying to tackle the first couple items on the lists before I go public with them. But I promise to post as soon as I feel comfortable with them!)

I thought in the meantime, though I'd share with you something from my list of ambitions/ goals: My herb and vegetable garden!

A view of everything in it's starting phase

 It's not much; just a little space along our back patio. We have three planter boxes and two pots that contain our herbs and vegetables. We even have strawberries and tomatoes as our attempts at fruit!

Lemon Balm

 Today, I was doubly blessed with some free plants at work! Our campus has a plant swap in honor of Earth Day each year, and I made it early enough to get some of the only edible plants available today: Lemon Balm! I also got an Evening Primrose for the front flowerbed closest to the house, as we've had to get rid of a lot of dead plants this year.

Strawberries - don't worry; they'll come back!

In addition to the herbs I bought while I was with Mom C. and Ashley up at the Skagit Valley Food Co-Op a couple weeks ago, Robert also bought me a new tomato plant and some cilantro. Our dear friends, Paul and Bambi, gave us some strawberries to start that they had harvested from their own garden! (The picture looks bleak, but it's just because they are so dry. I've been watering liberally!) 

Shallots

So, I started with everything I bought in those little black containers. Since I didn't have time to plant until a week or so from the time I bought them, I decided to just set the black containers on top of the planter box bases and allow the sun to get to them as much as possible, and I kept everything watered. (As for the strawberries, I had to just keep those moist until I could plant them the other day).

Dwarf Snap Peas

I am being slightly ambitious and attempting to grow some Dwarf Snap Peas. Supposedly, the ones I got do not require a trellis. We'll see!

Another view of the snap peas

Chocolate Mint! Yum!

 I also planted something as a special treat for my husband! Chocolate Mint! I thought it would be so yummy in some desserts, and I knew he'd love it. I'm researching how to use it currently!

Cilantro

As for the cilantro this year, we are not starting it from seeds. There was a time that I thought the only way to grow a garden was from seeds, and that starts were a cop-out. That is not true! And this way, I don't have to coax everything along so much. No guilt!

Tomato plant - Early Girl

The tomato plant is the neighbor that shares a pot with the cilantro. I read that it's okay to do that (since you all know I don't really have a green thumb!) I am not sure how well either plant will do, but we'll see. Trying the Early Girl variety of the tomatoes this year will hopefully be better than the Beefsteak variety last year!

Green onion

I've got a few varieties of onions this year - green onion, shallots and chives. They usually do okay, but so far in my experience, not great. I'm praying it goes well this year!

Spicy Lettuce!

Something I tried from starts I got at the Evergreen State Fair 2 years ago was lettuce. I didn't take care of it properly, though. So I'm trying it differently this time, in a pot altogether with a few other varieties of lettuce - this is a spicy lettuce mix.

Arugula!

I'm trying Arugula again. The first time it failed. Completely. I believe I can keep it going from this point, as it's really bloomed a lot in the past couple weeks!

Mild Lettuce mix

I'm trying a mild lettuce mix, too. I have no idea what to do with it, so I'd welcome any input!












So, that's a few of my ambitions for this spring. Again, I welcome any input you might have that will be helpful to me and my veggies, herbs, tomatoes or strawberries. :)

Spring Cleaning Mastermind Notes part 1

Sometimes, it's really difficult for me to get moving on spring cleaning. In fact, most years, I tend to just ignore it, because I'm so busy working.

But this year, no matter how busy I am, I'm going to be getting busy on spring cleaning!

So, one thing I've started to do is make a list of things to get done. After deciding that the list itself was overwhelming, I tossed it out and started over. Now I'm working on prioritizing it.

One thing I needed to get done (which was low-priority) was to clean out the mountain of magazines in my rack. Don't get me wrong; I don't just toss out everything - just the ones I didn't like or won't look at again. So, instead of having a pile on top of a pile (still organized, mind you), I cleaned out the magazine rack last week. I tossed out all the catalogs (we don't order from those, anyway), and sorted the autumn and winter magazines into separate piles. I rotated the stock of what we've got out in the rack now, and put the oldest towards the back, and the newest up front.

There's about 20 magazines in the rack now, ranging in category from food to household and photography.

This little exercise only took me about 5 minutes to complete. And you'd be shocked to see how much better that little area of our living room looks! Robert even noticed without my saying anything that I'd purged those things. :) It's so nice when I hear from my husband how thankful he is for my efforts here! He even went out of his way to flip through and see what magazines we had out after I'd changed the stock of them. I definitely don't do things like that for his compliments, but I feel so happy that I made him happy!

An everyday task I have been slightly stressing over is the floors in our house. We do not allow shoes to be worn in our home, in an effort to keep our carpeting and floors nice. Not to mention, no shoes = way less allergens and dust being tracked in and forced into the air. :)

I generally vacuum twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. I have some reasons for choosing those days to vacuum each week:

1) If I purpose to set aside a specific day or two to vacuum, it gets done consistently.
2) The days I've chosen to vacuum are days that are less busy than others for us, and are before and after weekly gatherings we host in our home. (Sunday nights, we host our small group. Thursday nights, I host a Ladies' Bible study).
3) The feeling I get after vacuuming is so good!

Well, I've come to realize that my OCD tends to get to be too much of a burden to me when I am so focused on simple tasks like vacuuming. I've decided to let go of some of the control, and I got out one of the coolest tools I've ever owned: my iRobot Roomba Scheduler!

You can see the Roomba docked next to my front door, and beside the end table in the living room. :)

I've set it up to vacuum for me two or three times a week, and once a week I clean it out. (This is very important for optimal functioning of the iRobot). That way, if I miss one day of vacuuming, it's no big deal. It's definitely better than my worrying and obsessing over keeping my house clean, which is a huge struggle for me. (It's actually a sin issue at times, as I feel like it's something I can control, and I really don't like being thrown curveballs with my cleaning. Sometimes, the Lord has other plans for my time, and I fight back with my desire for a clean home - which can be a sin.) Not only did I find and set up 5 components of the little iRobot system, but I've been pleased with the results so far.

Today, for instance, I won't have time to vacuum before we have company over (about 12-15 adults who meet here weekly for our small group), and the little Roomba does a great job of spot-cleaning and helping me out.

There was a spot by the back door that really needed the vacuum's attention, and I just put the Roomba on "Spot," and it got everything picked up! How neat!

This also allows me to enjoy my home rather than obsess over it's appearance. :)

Don't get me wrong; I'm a firm believer that my home ought to be in order all the time. But that's not always realistic! So, in order to get a grip on my spring cleaning, I'm starting out a new system for daily/ weekly chores - find a way to get those on track, then move my way through my spring cleaning list.

Here we go!

Eating Out Our Way

Color-enhanced glimpse at "the spread"

 The idea: I got home from work, and really wanted teriyaki. Which is really strange, since the only teriyaki I ever eat is ours - homemade, with wholesome ingredients - no MSG!

I also make yakisoba and tempura and a bunch of other stuff my grandma showed me how to make (in case you didn't know, my dad's family is Japanese!)

After I'd been home and Robert and I had our time to catch up with each other, he asked me again if I still wanted Teriyaki. I changed my mind.
"No," I said, "I'd rather make that meal I fell asleep watching Giada make last week on TV!"

"Okay, how hungry are you? We have to go to the store if we're going to do fish-ka-bobs..." Robert replied.

Sigh. Well, that wasn't going to work!

So, he suggested some things, and nothing sounded too appealing, until I said I thought a veggie burger with chipolte  mayo sounded incredible!

The "spread" lol

Mine!

My hubby went straight to work!

Look at the amazing dinner we had! (Sadly, we did not eat outside - the Mariners were on tonight, and it was still a little too chilly to forge the outdoors.

Mine: grilled veggie patty with fresh lettuce, medium cheddar/ pepper jack cheese blend, chipotle mayo, BBQ sauce, and grilled onions - all between two cheddar-jalapeno buns, and a side of grilled zucchini! TOTAL YUM!

His!

His: double patty with bacon, medium cheddar and feta cheeses, BBQ sauce and finished with a knife through two hamburger buns.







Thanks, sweetheart, for a delicious home-cooked dinner "out"!

Housewife Hazards

Sigh.

Today was just not my day.

It started out well enough, with getting to sleep in (I work every day except Friday), and then my first activities being breakfast made by my husband followed by my violin lesson. In fact, the breakfast was great, and the lesson went very well.

Then I came home.

I spent some time working out in the front yard, cutting back some shrubs and one rose bush, getting rid of the winter plants in the planter box from Mom C. and replacing them with a mum and two pansies I had left over from planting the other 15 in my front flower beds, and sweeping up after myself. I also moved all the herbs and veggies from their spot on the front porch out to the back patio, because they need more sun. I thought I'd have had more time to plant them by now (which I'd normally do out front, and then just pick up the planter boxes and move them to the back patio, but I hadn't had enough time this week), but I just didn't get it done. So, they're temporarily still in their little black plastic boxes, in the base for one of the planter boxes, and awaiting their new home in the planter boxes.

After doing all that, I was sweaty and dirty, so I took a quick shower. I decided the laundry better get done today (even though it's not really a laundry day), because today is the only time this weekend I'll be able to get it all finished up. I put a load of darks in, came out to the family room to do some listing on eBay and ironing, and relaxed for a bit while I did that stuff. I went into the laundry room when I heard the washer stop, and switched loads.

This was a mistake. It's where everything tumbled downhill. The yarnball of my day completely unraveled here, completely unknown to me until 2 hours later.

I came back out, moved on to my next set of ironing, and this HUGE crash that came from next door our outside or something literally shook the house. Well, when the house shook, it just happened to be the precise moment when I was moving the sheet I was ironing. That basically meant there was nothing steadying the ironing board. Yep. It tipped. Yep, so did the iron. Yep, I have a burn.

It looks a lot redder in person. And it hurt SO bad. I got vinegar on it right away, rinsed it, did it again, soaked it in the vinegar, rinsed it off, and just in the time it took me to walk to the hallway to get the Neosporin, I was in so much pain, I started running to our bedroom to get it.

So. Back to laundry I went, after I my flesh stopped burning. (Housewive Hazard #1).


I took the first load out of the dryer, and moved the second load into the dryer. This was my next - and most serious - mistake.



Even though the iron bit me, I came back out anyway to finish up the last couple things I had left. By the time I finished and was ready to go to rehearsal, the dryer had stopped. I went back to get the laundry, and that's when the horror really began.

I took out one of my brand new hoodies - white, mind you, and I have not stained it since Robert bought it for me a couple weeks ago - and I see blue. Blue everywhere. Blue dots, blots and spots all over my brand new white hoodie. Oh. My. Word. (Housewife Hazard #2)


As I slowly start taking everything else out of the dryer, I notice that all our other whites have blue everywhere. Then I start shaking when I realize what it was. I run to the bedroom where I'd plopped the darks down on the floor by our bed (the one thing I did that saved us today, believe it or not!), and started frantically searching for the culprit.

Sadly, Robert's work pants got the brunt of the verbal attacks I launched without any other human being around to hear or defend them.

Yep, a blue ballpoint pen and cap were in the pocket.


How did this go unnoticed?! Well, it's easy: It starts with me wanting to help my husband and do laundry for him, my husband coming home between his first job and his second to help me out by picking up his dirty stuff and putting it in the hamper, and it ends with both of us being too busy with other stuff to double and triple check the pockets. Both of us were sure he checked them, and I felt everything before I put them in the wash, but somehow that pen got missed.


This is all happening 5 minutes before I have to leave, might I add.


So, I did what all grown-ups do: I called mommies. Robert's mommy and mine. I wasn't angry or anything, I was actually laughing by then (because what do you do at that point of frustration?), and I was just worried about saving Robert's work clothes and salvaging my 3 brand new shirts and hoodie and pj pants. Well, one mommy told me how to get the pen out of the dryer and salvage all the clothes I could, but advised me to just go on to my rehearsal. What was done, was done. The other mommy gave me exactly the same advice, and suggested shopping online to replace what I couldn't save.

All of the above is happening tonight.



The dryer is free from any ink, and clean as ever. The clothes/ linens that could be salvaged have been treated and are fine. (Thankfully, this includes Robert's work clothes and one of my good towels!!)


Here are some of the casualties...

PJ pants - note right leg (top) bleach stains

Brand new Aero hoodie and Old Navy t-shirt - both with plenty of blue ink and bleach stains

More bleach on my new favorite shirt :(

I think we actually saved this one! We got most of the ink back out of it!

So, anyway, I gave Robert my Old Navy coupon to go and get some new stuff to replace the few things that got ruined. He's going to go shopping for me while I'm at work tomorrow, since he totally came home to a (jokingly stated), "Do you wanna hear what went on at this house today?! While you were at yer' job?!" (If you've ever seen Bill Engvall's routine about that, you know what I'm referencing.) Robert's one request was that I write down specifically what I want, sizes and all. I totally did. :) And I'm thankful that he's willing to go for me, so I can deal with a different kind of stress: the last weekend of working tax season at H&R Block.



Oh, I forgot to mention that on my out of our development, a 3-year-old boy ran out in front of my Trailblazer. The mother watched the whole thing. I got out and told her that her child could have been killed, if it had been after school. Thankfully, I was only going about 10-12mph, and stopped in time - barely. She looked right at me and said, "He always does that. He's fine." Um, EXCUSE ME?!!! I told her that no, it was not fine that her child runs out in front of cars (they live on the corner of 108th and one of the side streets), and that she needed to teach him that it is very dangerous to do that! He could get killed! I also mentioned that a person - let alone, a small child - is no match for an SUV! She really didn't take me seriously. It will be a very sad day for her and her child when he runs out in front of a car that doesn't stop in time, or that has a driver who isn't paying attention, if what she told me is true (that he "always" does it). (Housewife Hazard #3).


Sigh. It's been a long afternoon and evening here. I'm going to bed. Happy Friday the 13th! Grrrrr.....

Entrepreneur & Proverbs 31

Last week, I was called an entrepreneur!

It really made my day. Some people aren't into it, but I've learned that I really am! I love to be busy and have fun with whatever I'm doing. They told me that I have potential being realized! WOW!

Recently, someone else told me that I truly am a Proverbs 31 woman. Me. Really? While I was honored and utterly flattered, I am having a difficult time with the incredible compliment. Please don't think the following is posted in vain. It's just what is on my heart.

I have days when I feel incredibly productive. I also have days that I'm totally exhausted with all the things I do. Don't get me wrong; I am not complaining. I love my life, and am proud of what I've accomplished, and of the life my husband and I are building together. But honestly, what am I doing? I'm working hard at my job(s), I'm teaching piano lessons, I'm selling on eBay and Etsy, and that's just what I do to help provide for my family. I won't go into extra-curriculars.

Photo courtesy Amazon.com

I guess none of it seemed that important until the person told me, "How do you not see it? You are careful in how you spend, you know what resources you have, and you use them to the best of your ability. You help your husband, family and friends, you volunteer at your church, you share your gift of musical ability with others, and you still find time for fellowship, hospitality and personal growth." Right now, the Ladies Bible Study that meets in my home on Thursdays is going through Elizabeth George's Proverbs 31 study. Really, the woman in Proverbs 31:10-31 was an entrepreneur! It's undeniable. So, I have something to strive for every day - and it's not perfection. This book - this whole study - has changed how I think, feel, act and the person that I am. And it's a good thing. :)

It's eye-opening, and amazing. I've learned more relevant material in that study than any other one in my life. But it's also challenging to me every single day. There's not one lesson in the entire book I haven't walked away from enlightened, excited about, and with a new goal. I just never thought I measured up. And that's the perfectionist in me. I was using the wrong standard by which to measure - myself.



My goal for this weekend is to try to find someone to encourage. My thinking now is that we really all are surrounded by Proverbs 31 women, who do a ton for their families, communities, and themselves, and they are desperately needing encouragement! I know I was shocked to hear someone thought that highly of me, but I so appreciated it! It really makes everything I do in a day worth it to me.

So how about you, friends? Who do you know that could use encouragement? How can you recognize their efforts?

Please take 3 minutes to read Proverbs 31:10-31. You won't be sorry :)