90 minute To-Do List Rehab

A couple years ago it must be now, I realized I could use wet and dry erase markers on glass. I saw a suggestion somewhere to put pretty fabric in a frame and use it like a white board. An idea was born.

Months later, I found myself building a home office, and I needed a dry erase board to keep track of my project list for the business. I went to the thrift store and bought a frame, but since there were three more to match it, I bought them all in case I wanted more space for some reason. Boy, am I glad I did!

This blog has featured my white board A LOT. I've wanted to upgrade to something nicer, but without a safe space to hang something with glass in it (since the white board lives on the pantry door), I hadn't done it yet. This week we moved our To Do list into our bedroom, right next to Mr. Moon's side of the bed. The 'Rents weren't using it, it allows more space for the menu AND for each day, and it allowed me to put some more personal notations on it that I didn't want available to the public. Thus, this project was born. Bonus, when it's the end of the day and time to arrange the to-do list for tomorrow, even if I'm exhausted and in bed and DONE for the day, I'm right there and we can adjust it while looking at the list instead of having it in the kitchen.

• For this project I used four 10x14 frames. They need to have the glass front (for writing on), cardboard filler, and a back with hanging mechanism. 
  
• You need some sort of paper or fabric for the backing. 
• You also need some sort of adhesive--spray or tape, up to you. 
• You MAY want to print off something to put in the frame, as I will show you later, or you can use it like your average dry erase board and just have a nice neutral backing where you can read what's written on the glass.

To Do List:

1. Decide on your To Do List style. 
2. I made a print-off that has the daily tasks for each day, and the weekly tasks that are assigned to each day, and formatted my page so that I had two days per sheet, side-by-side. Since I had some awesome rainbow-patterned printer paper from the dollar store, I made sure to keep my margins such that it wouldn't interfere with the pattern at the bottom of the page.
3. Each day has daily chores stuff: Breakfast, empty dishwasher, garden (10 minutes, just enough to water and maybe pull some weeds and get any additional tasks scheduled), and the night time routines like scooping the litter box, sweeping and mopping the kitchen, and making sure every dish is clean. 
4. Each day also has some weekly chores, which are assigned to days just like we had it. Monday is bathrooms, Tuesday is vacuuming, etc. 
5. At the top, each day has a goal. It could be a simple as "survive" or "smile" when it's going to be a rough one. It could be a complicated as "get the storage unit done." This is the one thing that, even if we have to sacrifice some daily routine to do it, we really want to accomplish. The hardest part is going to be trying to keep it from always being about chores, or letting ourselves let the routine slide to get the goals done. It's supposed to be the focus of the day, or maybe the thing you get when everything else is done. Whatever works for you, or in our case, whatever we need that day. 
6. There are empty spaces between the morning routine and the night routine for adding tasks. Errands to run, projects to work on, laundry day, work shifts, job hunting tasks, whatever else we need to add that doesn't happen every day or even every week or at least not on the same day every week. 
7. There are spaces to check things off when they're done. Mr. Moon is really motivated by being able to check things off, he says it feels like getting a gold star by his name in kindergarten. 
8. There is a reminder at the end of every day to check tomorrow's to do list. Oh shoot, I didn't get the vacuuming done today, add it to tomorrow's list. Hey it looks like we have some place to be at 11am, we should have a plan for breakfast. That sort of thing. 
9. There is a reminder right after breakfast to check the dinner plan and get any prep done we need to do. 
10. The list is in roughly chronological order, in that morning stuff is at the top, night stuff at the bottom, with the empty spaces in the middle of the day. But it's not a rigid schedule. 
11. Since there was an empty half page, the last one is a spot for weekly, monthly and yearly goals. They're not allowed to be housework- or chore-related, these are LIFE goals. Priorities that our daily lists should be working toward. It's nice to have them right there to keep us focused. 
12. Made columns, made the list, got it printed on pretty paper. Yay!

Prep:

1. Separate the parts of the frames. 
   
2. Figure out your pretty backing pattern, if there is one. I used scrap fabric, and ended up making sort of a rainbow pattern. 
   
3. Adhere the backing to the cardboard. If you can avoid going over the sides at all (like the purple on the right), great! If not (as I have in the yellow one on the left), you'll have to tape or glue it down all the way around (which is a pain and I don't recommend it!). 
   

Assembly:

1. Place the frame face down on the table. Add the glass. 
   
2. Add the filler paper (with your checklist) if you're doing that part. You may want to tape to your cardboard piece. I didn't and a couple are a little off-center. 
   
3. Add the cardboard and foam backing (if you have that, one of mine didn't but it's definitely more stable with it in these frames). 
   
4. Add the final back piece. 
   
5. Repeat steps for all the frames you're going to do and Voila! 

To Hang: 

If you've got more than one frame to hang like I did, there are a number of ways you can get them hung evenly. This is mine:

1. Decide how much space you have total and how much space you want between frames. 
2. Find scrap piece of yarn that is long enough to do the whole line of frames. 
3. Tape one end of yarn to the wall. Use a level to make sure the line is straight, then tape the other end. 
   
4. Figure out how you're going to hang these buggers. Mine were heavy enough that I didn't want just one picture nail holding them in place, but the usual picture hanging parts in my kit didn't work either with the backs of my frames. My best bet was to use two nails, placed close enough together that there was some wiggle room in my placement so I didn't have to measure too precisely, and could adjust for leveling a bit. 
5. Measure how far in you want the hanging nails, and add that number to the space between frames. The spacing between my frames was 4 inches, and I needed the first of two picture nails 5 1/8 inch into the framed area, then another 3/8 inches or so later for the second one. So since I was using the door frame as the starting point and keeping my frames 4 inches apart, my total measurement was 9 1/8 inch. 
6. Measure along the yarn line to the first (or only) nail and tap in place. Eyeball the second one and tap in place. I tapped the nails into the wall immediately below my yarn line, for reasons which will soon become clear in step 8. You can go right above it too if your angles work better that way, just pick one or the other and don't go through it. 
7. Hang pictures on nails. Adjust for leveling. Step back and make sure it looks right, adjust anything as necessary. 
8. Remove the yarn by untaping from one end and sliding up (or down) from behind the frames. Now you don't have to take your pictures down or wrestle with unwinding yarn from picture nail heads! 

Step back and admire your work. 

Now we just need to decide a way to keep the wet erase markers by these, and the project is complete. Day 1 is a success, Day 2 is a success in progress. But as Nony says, it's when the newness wears off that we will see how successful it really is. 

Menu: June 3-9

The wedding we went to last week was lovely. Just my luck, lack of sleep and allergies combined to make me absolutely miserable, and we almost didn't stay past the grand entrance. But by the time we'd said our goodbyes, the toasts were starting so we stuck around for that and the first dance. But we made it home safe and sound, no sleeping on the freeway, and got home to rest.

With our new lounge area up and running, we've had to set some ground rules. Such as "no video games after 10pm," or else we just end up staying up all night. We may need to set a rule of "no screen time" after 10pm, instead, but we will see how this goes for now. As counterintuitive as it sounds, and contrary to our meal plan, we've been eating through some of our junk food last week so that this week we can focus again on better eating habits. The problem with me driving Mr. Moon around on his job hunt is that even if the job hunting takes only as much time as any job he could get, I'm used to using the time that he's working to rest so that there's any chance of getting things done together when he's home. Instead, that's more energy than I have to just get him around, and I have nothing left in me by the time we get home. We are working on getting him a driver's license sooner rather than later. But it's resulted in some lunches out that could have been avoided if we'd planned a picnic of sorts, and then we haven't had it in us to prep a lot of food for lunches OR dinners. Not helping. And of course it means there was extra wasted food last week that was purchased or leftover from the week before and never eaten. It's very frustrating!

This week I didn't even have it in me to do a menu plan. I don't know if it's allergies or the continued effects of a night of not sleeping or what the problem is, but I woke up at 1pm and took a nap from 3-5pm and then another one from 9:30-10pm! I don't see how I can possibly expect to sleep tonight. We got the To Do list done, but when it came to meal planning, I was just too overwhelmed. Still am, really. We have a rib roast thawing that we will cook tomorrow, and otherwise we are just going to play it by ear this week. We have fresh fruit and vegetables for snacks. That's as much as I'm planning today.

Maybe sometimes we just need a break, and without his parents here I'm not feeling pressured to have a plan because we have the time and ability to decide when we're home for the day what to eat for dinner, which would be later than we'd have to be serving his parents. Not having to have dinner on the table between 5 and 7pm helps us be a little more flexible. But I don't want to get into a habit of this, either! I expect within the next couple days I'll sit down and scratch some ideas out. When I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed and exhausted.

Menu: May 20-26

The job hunt continues. A week without the 'Rents around was both relaxing and productive. They leave again on Monday for three weeks! Mr. Moon is focusing on efficiency, and we are currently on a mission to figure out where we are spending time cleaning things too often, or not often enough. With two people in the house instead of four, we can cut back on our cleaning schedule a bit for the duration of their vacation, and focus a bit more on projects we want to complete. Cutting back a little will help us have time to focus on Mr. Moon's job hunt, as well. Crossing fingers!

Lately I've been suffering from an EXTREME lack of appetite the likes of which I've experienced only once before. It's perturbing, to feel hungry yet be unable to eat. To know I NEED to eat but be physically incapable of putting food in my mouth. It means a lot of our meal plans have been falling by the wayside, and creating more waste than I'm comfortable with. Still less than the average American by far, but that's a skewed scale.

In any event, our meal plans this week have to accommodate: The 'Rents being home and their preferences; a busy, yet necessarily flexible schedule; separate meals for myself to accommodate my preferences, needs and this newfound lack of appetite. Actually now that I say that out loud, that's pretty much our list of goals every week, even if I don't think of them quite so consciously. It's just that instead of making, say, individual lasagnas for everyone where I use whole wheat noodles and meat but for the 'Rents I use refined noodles and olives, I might be making myself a sandwich or some soup instead. Plus we really need to keep our focus on making sure we have handy foods for job hunting days so we aren't so tempted to purchase lunch while we're out.

So without further ado...

What's on the menu?

Breakfasts: Eggs & Sausage (cooked last week, just cook eggs and reheat sausage); bagels (toast from frozen, less waste); muffins and smoothies (also from frozen for less waste); yogurt and granola.

Lunches: Buffalo chicken wraps (chicken cooked and shredded already, just need to assemble); Chicken Salad wraps (bacon or curry, still not sure which); BCuTs (BLTs with cucumber instead of lettuce; need to pre-cook bacon); turkey sandwiches for Mr. Moon in the next couple days.

Snacks: Veggie snacks; cheese snacks; hand-fruit (apricots and apples).

Dinners:
Monday: No 'Rents. Lots of leftovers to get through. Aqua Yoga in the evening.
Mexican! How would you like your beans and rice arranged? [Leftovers]

Tuesday: 'Rents will be home at some point. I have an appointment in the afternoon, and Mr. Moon has a working interview in the evening, so we won't be home to cook dinner at the 'Rents' convenience.  Lasagna [vegetarian; leftovers; casserole; pasta]

Wednesday: Free day! Unless there are job interviews or in-person applications to manage. Otherwise it's just cleaning the kitchen, and aqua yoga in the evening.
Cottage Pie [beef; casserole; freezer]

Thursday: Morning appointment, afternoon interview, and perhaps the ability to work that night if the interview goes well. Have to account for plans that change after we leave the house.
Carrot Soup with veggie stock we are simmering now [soup; vegetarian; crockpot]

Friday: Always horrible for job hunting, but most especially on a holiday weekend. Working on some projects around the house, and helping the 'Rents get ready for their next trip.
Brats and Chunk Salad [pork; grill; American; freezer]

Saturday: Finally some nice weather, so we are going to work on reorganizing our storage unit and perhaps putting an extraneous couch in it. Don't want to commit to being home at any particular time, so it's something that gets junk food out of the freezer and that Mum can cook easily enough:
Pot Pies [processed; freezer; easy]; I'll probably end up with spaghetti or something else entirely, I can't really tolerate the store-bought pot pies. Someday I hope to start making my own.

Sunday: On Your Own [OYO]

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What's on your menu this week? Need planning ideas? I'll be linking up at orgjunkie.com, if you need other ideas!

Menu: May 13-19

Mr. Moon showed up to work early last week to discover his job had closed down the night before and no one had told him not to show up for work. Fortunately we'd been able to get a jump on job hunting, and so we scrapped the to-do list for the week and focused on that. Of course, especially with restaurant work, there are only certain hours of the day you can do any in-person job hunting, so Mr. Moon worked on edging the garden beds. More about that later.

This week marks the beginning of three trips the Parental Units are taking over the next two months, leaving us behind to mind the homestead. I discovered once again the hard way that I have let slip my red meat consumption to a negligible level, and have started suffering the beginning stages of anemia. I have been surviving on a lot of the 'Rents' leftovers and easy foods, junk food even, because I have been too depressed to cook for myself. Not feeling welcome to use my own kitchen because of the tension and awkward conversations, my food being blocked off from me accessing it, and having both of the 'Rents sleeping in the living room/kitchen area most of the time really puts a damper on eating healthy foods. So while they are gone, I'm going to focus on getting back to the healthy foods I prefer. We have set some new behavioral boundaries about blocking off my food, and I'm researching make-ahead plans for such things as being able to have smoothies in the morning that don't require the blender.

Mr. Moon and I are also considering doing a Big Monthly Prep (cook) once we've cleaned out some of the older meat products that need to be used. By this point we know what casseroles and soups the 'Rents will eat, so even if we don't say, make a giant batch of split pea AND clam chowder AND tomato AND mushroom barley soups, we COULD chop/sauté/portion enough mirepoix for a few soups, roast and shred some chicken and pork, and chop some beef into chunks for any number of meals. It means that when I DO make split pea soup it's super easy, and I can make those in batches still to save only a few extra servings at a time. We are also going to make some lasagnas, broccoli macs, and other such casseroles for easy, make-ahead meals. And some meatloaf, as soon as we get through the batch I made for Christmas vacation that Pops didn't like. That's on the menu next week, in fact. But right now, we're more interested in this week!

What's on the menu?

Breakfasts: Mr. Moon has waffles, cottage cheese, and eggs & sausage on his list. I'm all about the leftover steak hash, smoothies and muffins.

Lunches: Pasta salad (whole wheat penne, hot brats, creamy "alfredo" sauce, green onions and peas); Roast beef sandwiches on pretzel rolls; buffalo chicken wraps.

Snacks: Lots of job hunting this week, so go-snacks are really necessary: Jerky, cheese, almonds, as well as some chopped watermelon, hardboiled eggs, and applesauce for home-snacks.

Dinners:
Monday: Bathrooms. Swim class or Yoga (depending on mood) at 11am. Mondays are a big job-hunt surge, so no other plans that day besides helping the 'Rents get ready for their trip. It's job hunting and yard work every day this week!
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup which got bumped from last week. [vegetarian; light; soup; freezer (soup)]

Tuesday: Bedroom vacuuming. The 'Rents leave for a week!
Lasagna with lots of back-ups for the freezer. [vegetarian; pasta; casserole; batch; freezer (marinara, ricotta)]

Wednesday: Kitchen. Swim/Yoga, 11am.
Teriyaki Chicken legs with Fried Rice; roast off extra legs for shredded buffalo chicken wraps. [chicken; brown rice; freezer (chicken, veggies)]

Thursday: Trash, Dining room, Laundry room, Lounge. Oh, will the job hunting ever end?
Sicilian (large) meatballs, wrapped in onion, and served with marinara over sautéed mushrooms. [beef; low-carb; Italian; crockpot; freezer (meat)]

Friday: Swim/Yoga 11am. Fridays are bad for job hunting, but always worth a look at the boards.
Broccoli Mac, plus extras for the freezer [vegetarian; pasta; casserole; batch]

Saturday: All the yard work! All the time! Also a project to fix a shelving unit so we can unpack our gaming cabinet.
Leftovers if we have them. Fish as a backup. [leftovers]

Sunday: All the yard work! All the time!
Leftovers is we have them. Fish as a backup. [leftovers]

PREP:
Today (Sunday) is going to have to be prep day, due to the nature of the week's schedule. Here's what's on our list.

• Pasta salad: Cook off brats and pasta, chop onions, mix together. 
• Citrusade (AKA homemade sport drink): Juice whatever citrus we have in the house into the gallon server pitcher (limes, lemon, orange and grapefruit), melt some honey in warm water, add a little salt, and fill the pitcher with water. Store in fridge and drink throughout the week. Great potassium content and a little natural sugar. Great for hot days and working out. 
• Watermelon: Just peel and chop into bite-sized pieces. 
• Sausage: Bake off breakfast links for easy breakfasts--they can be reheated in the toaster oven, the microwave in a pinch (blech) or eaten cold if it comes down to it. 
• Thaw: Marinara & ricotta. 
• Grate cheese: Cheddar, mozzarella.
• Slice cheese: Cheddar, for sandwiches and cheese snacks.
• Hard boil eggs. 
• Chicken stock: Wednesday night/Thursday.

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What's on your menu this week? Need planning ideas? I'll be linking up at orgjunkie.com, if you need other ideas!

Garden Update & Menu: April 29 - May 5

Spring has been a hard season for me. I started doing physical therapy for my knees, neck, shoulders, and upper back. Trying to keep up with even half of my treatment plan took all the time and energy I had outside of menu planning and keeping up on chores.

We finally got the garage 80% converted to our Lounge area, which we are calling the Bat Cave. It is now at about the level of completion of the rest of the house, which is both thrilling and a little depressing. It's been nice to have another place to hang out besides my bedroom and still have some privacy, plus fresh air. And being able to play video games hasn't been bad, either. 

Speaking of depression, I'm not sure if it's a Vitamin D issue or just the nature of the disease, and certainly some of it is circumstantial, but Spring was bad for me this year. It's almost May and I never even got a bunch of my seeds started. Now I think I'm going to have to go through my seed stash to very carefully select what I'm going to try to accomplish for this year, and what I'm going to let go for next year. Mostly this Spring has been an exercise in self-care and grace for me, learning to be gentle with myself and trust that my body is telling me what it needs--and then give that to it. 

Mr. Moon and I have been discussing the concept of a few different things: upgrades to the house that are desperately needed, attention to our hobbies and goals that have fallen off the priority list, and carving out free time in the schedule. After a year of projects and chores, just trying to get the house under control a little bit at a time, we have finally caught up enough in the main-target areas that we can scale back our chores somewhat. The bathrooms no longer need much more than a wipe-down every week, the kitchen no longer gets as out of control as it was, and we've even started skipping the vacuuming at least once a week. We are focusing on streamlining daily routines, and starting up some other projects that had been shoved down the to-do list in favor of others. But most importantly, finding Mr. Moon some quality Free Time for relaxing, both together and apart. 

It was discussion of that possibility that lead to me saying I'd like to make sure he gets one day a week that is totally OFF. No chores, no projects, no work outside the house, nothing. We weren't sure it was even possible. Then the schedule just happened to settle in this week that Free Day is exactly what happened. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can stick to the list well enough that Saturday won't become "catch up on all the missed chores" day instead, but I am hoping that the promise of Free Comic Book Day and a picnic in the park will be enough to keep us motivated. 

What's on the menu?

Breakfasts: Bagels, muffins (apple spice muffins in the freezer), waffles (corn meal, homemade in the freezer), yogurt and granola.

Lunches: Roast beef sandwich, Tuna sandwich, Grilled cheese.

Snacks: Cheese, salami, veggies and dip.

Dinners:
Monday: Sunny, cool.
Bathrooms. weeding, Mr. Moon works the evening shift.
The 'Rents: Leftover split pea soup. Mr. Moon and I: Leftover Tortellini and Hot Brats pasta salad. [Leftovers; vegetarian; meat;]

Tuesday: Sunny, cool.
Vacuuming, bedroom. Pool in the morning, an appointment in the afternoon, and in the late afternoon we have some folks coming by to take some crab-apple trees out.
Curry Chicken Salad sandwiches for everyone, plus a side of sautéed swiss chard for myself and Mr. Moon. [chicken; sandwiches; fresh from the garden; freezer]

Wednesday: Sunny, warm.
Kitchen. Mr. Moon works the lunch shift, then grocery shopping and kitchen cleaning afterward and date night in the evening.
On Your Own Night. Mr. Moon and I are having Tikka Masala for date night. [OYO; chicken; Indian]

Thursday: Sunny, warm.
Dining room, laundry room, and Batcave. Pool in the morning, Mr. Moon works the evening shift.
Lasagna. [Vegetarian; pasta; casserole]

Friday: Sunny, warm.
Bedroom, Living room, laundry day, vacuuming (from Saturday). Mr. Moon works the lunch shift.
Baked Whitefish and sides. [fish; traditional; freezer]

Saturday: Sunny, warm.
Somehow we ended up with an entire day off with no plans, no work shift, one chore, and some good weather on the horizon. We are going to take advantage of it and find something to do. Outside. Even if it's just grabbing subs from the store and having lunch in a park. Adventure time!
On Your Own Night [OYO]

Sunday: Sunny, Warm. Cinco de Mayo!
Mr. Moon works the lunch shift, then we are having some friends over for Taco Bar and Mexican Beer Night.
Carnitas Taco Bar [pork; tacos; freezer]

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What's on your menu this week? Need planning ideas? I'll be linking up at orgjunkie.com, if you need other ideas!

Quick & Dirty: The first lawn-mowing of the season!

The lawn! It's been cut! I know it seems silly to be so joyful about something so simple, but the lawn had gotten OUT OF CONTROL the last two weeks. It drew quite a bit of attention to the fact that our front yard is half overgrown with clover and moss, when the grass was getting a foot high in some places!

But, finally, FINALLY the rain had stopped for a long enough period of time at the same time Mr. Moon had time off work, and he was able to get out and hack the top off the greens, making them at least all the same height out there. It's still a bit long, and will need to come back a bit more later in the week, but it's bad to cut the grass too much in one go so he left the mower at the highest setting which seems to be about 6 inches. I know. Shameful.

The back was and still is worse, and the flower beds have had so much grass-creep that they look horrible. Looks like edging the beds is going to have to be our highest priority project.

The day even started early today and we got some time in at the gym, taking advantage of more than just the pool this time. Gym, lawn mowed, grocery shopping done, food prep in the works, I'm calling that a productive day! We didn't get the bathrooms done which is today's chore, and we were supposed to fold the giant pile of clean laundry that's been hounding me since last week. All in good time, I suppose. All in good time.

Menu: April 15-21

Mr. Moon and I will be celebrating our three-year anniversary this week! His parents will also be celebrating their 36 years wedding anniversary this week (the day before ours, in fact). Three cheers!

Last week was busy busy busy with getting the garage set up as a lounge space for Mr. Moon and me, so we have some space to entertain without bothering his parents. It has been a year in the making, and still has a couple more smaller projects to go before we take the "After" pictures, but it is now in a state of functionality that makes me extremely happy. Soon enough it will even be warm out there! Ha ha.

As of tomorrow, we are past the last frost date in our area, so I will be planting seeds outside on Tuesday. I'd wanted to get them planted indoors prior to now, but Life works in mysterious ways, and we had other priorities. Now our schedule happens to include some days off that are sunny, our seeds came in, and we've gotten to the nursery for potting soil, so plantings are in the works. I just wish we had a bed edger, as that would be much easier than edging the beds by hand.

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What's on the menu?

Breakfasts: Same as last week! Hash, eggs benedict, cottage cheese, waffles.

Lunches: Turkey sandwiches, tuna melts, and mediterranean salad.

Snacks: Fruit, cheese and crackers.

Dinners:
Monday: Sun Showers, 57 degrees.
Day off! Swimming, Grocery shopping, Food prep for the week, folding the existing clean laundry, maybe planting seeds.
Mexican Rice Casserole [vegetarian; mexican; casserole; batch]

Tuesday: Sunny, 58 degrees.
Parents' anniversary! Coffee date in the afternoon, Mr. Moon will do Wednesday's chores and works the evening shift, maybe planting seeds.
Pork Roast Dinner with mashed potatoes and carrots. (I'll be taking leftover pork for pulled pork sandwiches when Mr. Moon and I eat dinner later.) [pork; traditional; freezer]

Wednesday: Sunny, 59 degrees.
Moon's-iversary! We Are Taking The Day OFF!!! Swimming in the morning, then No cleaning, No cooking, maybe a walk on the beach and definitely dinner out somewhere. Hmmmm maybe if we get up early enough it would be worth it to drive to the ocean?
On Your Own Night [OYO]

Thursday: Sunny, 61 degrees.
Mr. Moon works the day shift, after which he will be MOWING THE FREAKING LAWN! It's gotten wild but it's been too wet to mow. After a couple days of sunshine, it should be safe to get out there.
Mushroom Swiss Chicken Sandwiches, Salad. [chicken; sandwich]

Friday: Rainy, 57 degrees.
Day off, Laundry day.
Seafood Lasagna [fish; pasta; casserole; freezer]

Saturday: Sunny, 62 degrees.
Mr. Moon works the day shift, more yard work?
Spaghetti soup (marinara, veggies, noodles, broth)--or maybe just spaghetti? [vegetarian; soup; pasta; freezer]

Sunday: Sunny, 66 degrees.
Mr. Moon works the evening shift.
On Your Own [OYO]. I'm thinking about ribs and greens, for myself.

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What's on your menu this week? Need planning ideas? I'll be linking up at orgjunkie.com, if you need other ideas!

Project Progress: Garage Lounge

Mr. Moon and I have been working for over a year on a project to turn the garage into a lounge area, second living room, game room, whatever you want to call it. We have a name all picked out, which will be revealed when we have AFTER pictures.

We agreed to take a futon from one of his aunts who is moving out of the area, and somehow we ended up getting obligated to take a second couch. Not sure where the misunderstanding was, or if that was the couch Mum was going to use to replace the one in the living room she doesn't want, or what exactly happened that we have more furniture than I'd originally planned in there. All I know is that with the couch we found on the side of the road in the subdivision, and the futon and couch from the Aunt, we were supposed to be fitting three couches in this garage. Which would be fine, without the chair that Mr. Moon insists on keeping, and the massage chair that will not be gotten rid of so long as it works because the thing is delightful. Or without the formerly-kitchen table that got moved out there. Or the giant TV that we stumbled upon at a garage sale and couldn't pass up. Did I also mention we have two filing cabinet/end tables and two coffee tables? Though one of the coffee tables is in our bedroom at the food of the bed right now. Oh, and we have a set of glass shelves that's going to be our bar if we ever have room to put them up. Plus of course the CDs, DVDs, and records, and the beer fridge.

We were able to get some of the shelves cleared off and moved out, so that I can now have the herb garden on shelves by the back door, and get a cover for it to make it a green house. So that made some extra room. At least six car loads of STUFF has been donated elsewhere. A number of things have been moved to the shed since they're outdoor gardening or camping gear anyway. One of the coffee tables will either get donated or stay in our room, though I was hoping to clear the area at the foot of our bed for easier physical therapy exercises for my knees. But that will never happen so having the coffee table there gives a nice shoe pile area without tripping over them, and a nice place for the pile of extra blankets and pillows.

As it stands, we have two sets of shelves holding the tools and building hardware that won't be going anywhere, but I'm really impressed with how organized and pared down it is. There's Pops' work bench for his Ham radio and computer projects, which has all those supplies and equipment on it (though organizing it is a project for a different day!). There's a freezer and two shelving units full of dry food storage. For the lounge, we have an area with the table for cards/tabletop gaming, and an area with the TV for video games or watching movies.

One of the other sets of shelves will be cleared out and put into our storage unit for easier storage access. 3/4 of the things on that unit are for the bar anyway, so that works out fine. We might get rid of one of the three couches (including the futon), or be able to convince Mum to put one in the living room in place of the one she wanted to get rid of, but we shall see how that goes. I also had the idea to put the futon laid flat in front of the couch that faces the TV, with a couple trays on it for hard surfaces to be used as a combination ottoman and coffee table, but then we could sit it up to either have conversation-area seating, or a second row of movie-night seating.

What I need more than anything in there is an area rug. Preferably one I can throw in the washing machine. Which means it would have to be a few area rugs I suppose.

Running To Do List: April Quarterly Update

A nice, updated list after the first quarter of the year has gone by. I highlighted our highest priorities in red, the things we are working on now or will be in the next few weeks.

Everywhere, first step:

• Get before pictures!

Front Yard:

• Replant container bed by front door.
• Remove the rose bush that is creeping into the walkway.
• Re-edge the existing beds, and refill with wood chips as needed--not buying more though!
• Prune roses. All the roses. Possibly use the pruned bits to grow roots on new plants, potentially even to replace the existing ones that aren't in the best shape. 
• Fill the beds with flowers. What we have now leaves most of the yard bare most of the time, I'd like to landscape in such a way as to have something blooming most of the time and not ever have to look at a bunch of rotting yuck. 

Back Yard:

• Plant the toilet planter or get rid of it. (Half done.)
• Prune the roses along the shed, re-trellis them, or get rid of them.
• Remove the tree by the patio, and the one by the compost.
• Remove most of the plants (and wood chips) along the back of the house and re-plant that whole area with usefulness and patio parties in mind. 
• Re-edge the existing beds. 
• Break down firewood. 
• Hang eye bolts on the hanging planter rail. 

Vegetable Gardening:

• Pull out existing plants. Cover beds with newspaper and cardboard. 
• Build compost bin.
• Build raised beds. 
• Plan and execute vegetable gardening plan! 
• Install rain barrels. 

Outside House:

• Power wash siding, concrete, windows.
• Repaint wheelchair ramp. 

Garage:

• Clean out garage.
• Donate tools and such. 
• Put away the final boxes that need moved into their homes.
• Pick up two couches from an Aunt.
• Arrange garage as lounge area. 
• Related: Move to a smaller storage unit if possible. 

Inside House/Hallway:

• Paint all the things! Every single room needs a paint job.
• Scrub hardwood in entryway and seal it. 
• Replace some/all of the flooring (esp. kitchen and bathrooms, also dining room, hallway, living room).

Kitchen:

• Replace chandelier with globe light. 
• Bolster the small appliance shelves.
• Sand and refinish the countertop edges and backsplash.
• Install a tile backsplash behind stovetop.

Dining Room:

• Clean, reorganize bookshelves.
• Sand and refinish the tabletop. 
• Replace curtains.

Living Room:

• Replace/Dye curtains.

Office:

• Sort, scrub, and reorganize. 
• Set up Mum's computer. 

Master Bedroom:

• Install more lights.

Small Bedroom:

• Put DVDs in garage.
• Unpack records.
• Unpack books.
• Dust everything. 
• Put up my jewelry and hair stuff. 

Laundry Room:

• Sort cleaning supplies and store properly.
• Move toilet paper and paper towels inside.

Cooking:

• Lacto-fermented veggies
• Kombucha
• Sourdough and whole grain everything! Pretzels, pancakes/waffles, cookies, who knows what else
• Yogurt and sour cream
• Perfect the mozzarella recipe
• Roasted chickpea snacks
• Sprouts
• Mr. Moon wants to get more into baking in general, and I want to get into baking with soaked & sprouted grains
• CANNING! 

Menu: April 8-14

What's on the menu?

Breakfasts: Hash, eggs benedict on english muffin bread, cottage cheese, & pineapple, waffles.

Lunches: Tacos/quesadillas, turkey sandwiches, mediterranean garbanzo bean salad.

Snacks: Apple & almond butter, oranges, cheese and crackers, pears.

Dinners:
Monday: Recovery from our trip to Seattle, lots of laundry and the usual chores.
'Rents: Baked beans and ham; Mr.: Lamb curry stew; Me: spaghetti [leftovers; freezer]

Tuesday: Grocery shopping early, Mr. Moon works and the 'Rents have afternoon appointments, so a crockpot meal is in order.
Mushroom Barley Soup [vegetarian; soup; crockpot]

Wednesday: Big push day in the garage, but Mr. Moon will be home to be able to cook a dinner-to-serve for the 'Rents.
Sesame Chicken drumsticks with leftover orange glaze from the ham (which is on the same salty-level as soy sauce) and pineapple, coconut rice, and stir-fry vegetables [chicken; Chinese; leftovers; freezer]

Thursday: Early shift for Mr. Moon, Date Night! On Your Own night.
Mum and Pops are going out to dinner, Mr. Moon and I will be having mushroom swiss burgers [OYO; burgers]

Friday: Mr. Moon works the late shift, so a crockpot or freezer-soup meal is in order.
'Rents: Clam Chowder; Mr. Moon and myself: Tortilla soup [seafood; soup; freezer]

Saturday: Hoping to have people over for a game night in our new lounge.
Chili (vegetarian) & Hot Dogs (for me! Not sharing my hot dogs) [vegetarian; soup; pressure cooker]

Sunday: Mr. Moon works the late shift. On Your Own night.
Mr. Moon and myself: Baked pasta. [OYO]

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What's on your menu this week? Need planning ideas? I'll be linking up at orgjunkie.com, if you need other ideas!