Review of ROTM: The Bathroom

As we near the end of October, I thought I should check in regarding the ROTM. I confess, I have not been successful in making a lot of progress in the Bathroom. I did some extra cleaning as well as changing the shower curtain but that's about it.

You know what though? It's okay. I have learned in this new Domestic Diva Adventure that October is not a good time for me to start something like this. The month looked blank when I came up with this idea, but reality packed in a lot of commitments and responsibilities that took me away from my plan to deep clean the Bathroom.

So with the new knowledge, we move on. :) My goal is still to work on the Bathroom so I can get the tasks completed. With the last week of October and into November, I am going to keep the Bathroom as my ROTM. And I've decided to make the Living Room the ROTM for December. I will need to re-work the room to fit our Christmas tree in for the Holidays so it will be the perfect time to deep clean it. I'm printing off my work sheet and starting to fill it in right now.

So how did you do in October? Did you complete your room? Do you still have more to do? Are you continuing with the same one for November or starting a new one?  

Middle of October already?!?

Unbelievable!! Somehow October is flying by and we've already past the middle of the month mark. You are probably wondering what has happened in the bathroom. Unfortunately, nothing. I have been doing other things instead. The weather was nice so I worked outside, planting raspberry bushes in the backyard and expanding our flower garden in the front. A dear friend gave me a bunch of plants and I needed to get them in the ground while the getting was good. And then, being in Canada, we had Thanksgiving weekend. Silly me volunteered to host one dinner here plus take desserts to another one. Needles to say, it was a whirlwind of cooking and baking lately.

So, I will get back to the bathroom. I have been doing my regular cleaning in there but the extra stuff I wanted to do hasn't happened yet. I have not forgotten about my plan. It just got delayed a little. I'm really glad I picked a small room to work on this month.

Are you working on a room in your home this month? How is it coming along? Did you get sidelined by other tasks like I did or are you cruising through and making progress?

October's Room of the Month

Today's the first which means it's time for the big reveal. :) The ROTM for October will be The Bathroom.

In this house, we have two, however one is in my BIL's apartment so I only have to deal with one. ;) Sometimes having only one bathroom for the four of us can be a bit much, which is why I want to take my time and make it work a little better for us.

Today I'm just starting with my checklist and filling in the four sections (purge & organize; deep clean; repairs & changes; things to purchase). I'm sure there will be more to add later on but it's good to have a starting point. And I like checking stuff off to show myself I'm making progress.

As I attack the areas of the bathroom, I'll be taking before and after pictures so you all can see how I'm doing. By the end of the month, we should have a bathroom that's working a little better for this family.

What room could you work on? Do you want to do the bathroom like I am? Make your own checklist with it divided into the four sections, then get at it. :)

Going for more

That's what I would like to do - go for more. I'm referring to what I get accomplished around here. I've got a long list of things I would like to do and changes I would like to make. We haven't done much of anything around here since moving in other than a few minor things like hanging hooks. Now that the kids are in school and our new business is taking off well, I would like to start being more productive. I've done well at everyday cleaning and keeping the place tidy. Now it's time to do more. :)

So my thought is to work on one room at a time till I get them all done. My goal is to complete one in a months time. There are three key points for each room: purging and organizing, repairs and changes, and deep cleaning. I've decided that the bathroom will be the first Room of the Month and start in October.

I've already started thinking about what needs to be done in there. The linen closet needs some tidying up (too many bottles that are less than half full). The room needs some towel bars and a toilet paper holder.

So anyone want to join me? I'm going to make a worksheet up so I can have my lists hopefully this week.

Getting the hang of it

A new school year always brings new routines. We've been at it for over a week now and I think we're starting to get the hang of it. The kids were home sick for two days so it is still kind of hard to tell. We haven't been having any issues so far and haven't missed the bus (knock on wood).

I finally got a "day" to myself too to see what it's going to be like. Guess what. I kinda like it. ;) I was able to get some extra cleaning done at my own speed and without any interruptions. How lovely! I've been out grocery shopping with out any extra little people and it's nice too.

Do you still have little ones under feet all day? Do you enjoy the freedom of spending the day by yourself? Are you getting things accomplished?

It's Fall!

Holy crap! Where did the Summer go? I thought it was going to be a long one. We didn't have much planned and we had a couple extra kids here for 6 weeks. But the time flew by and here we are... Fall. Crazy!

I think we're all ready for school. We went and did some shopping a few weeks ago. I don't have lists from the classes yet but there's always the things they need every time (like indoor shoes, back packs and lunch pails, and a change of clothes for the little ones). My daughter starts in her Grade 2 class tomorrow and then my son starts JK on Friday. Something else that's new for us is that the kids will be going on the bus. It will be interesting to not be taking kids to and from school like we had been doing.

I can't wait to get into a routine for myself. I'll be busy with our own business, taking care of the house, cooking meals, etc. I'm hoping though that I'll be able to manage my time better. There are lots of things that I've been wanting to do like expand more of my knitting into a small business, moving some plants around outside, and do some minor renovations around the house.

Plans, plans, plans... There seems to be a lot but I'm sure I'll get some of it worked out. I'm just going to take it one step at a time and see where things go. Hopefully I'll be happy with it all in the end.

Wish me luck!

Gardening? Yes, I can!

Well, this is something new for me - I have a flower garden. I've had some potted flowers outside before but at our new home, I now have a flower garden across the front of the house.

 

I haven't done anything besides weed it yet but I've been planning. My family got me a few flowers for Mother's Day which I'm going to put in there. As well, there are some flowering plants in the backyard that aren't doing to well so I'm going to try moving them to the front. Hopefully they will like it there better. In the back, the poor plants are sitting in the shade. Some of them are the same as in the front and you can really tell that they aren't thriving back there when you look at them. Plus, it's probably going to be easier to have the flowers all together. ;) I have a few rectangular pots to put some flowers in but I haven't decided where they are going yet so they are sitting empty, patiently waiting for me.

There are a couple of reasons why I haven't done anything besides weed the garden yet. One is it's been too cold again. The other reason is I've got a lot of mystery plants (like this one above that has purple flowers I think). I know I've got a couple hostas (had one at our old house) and there is a white bleeding heart coming in along with a snowball tree. But the rest I'm waiting to see what they are and what colours are out there.

 

Today as I write to you, I sit inside avoiding the rain outside and hoping my plants are enjoying the shower. Can't wait to add some new stuff in the garden. :D

Tick, tick, tick, tick....

Seriously, I don't know where the day goes! Well, okay, maybe I do. I just find it so odd that my day disappears every day. With our new schedule here, everyone is up at the crack of dawn. Hubby and DD are out the door by 7AM. DS and I have our breakfasts and  I catch up on the online world (since it never seems to sleep), then we get on with our day. I do my regular cleaning each day, I'm working on a few projects (especially the all-consuming Retreat Publications), and then next thing I know it's supper time and the other two are home. I think I'm making progress and crossing things off my to-do-list but I still have this sense of running in circles.

Where is the running in circles feeling coming from? I'm not totally sure. Could be the bigger projects I have looming and don't seem to end. Maybe it's that I'm trapped here (my truck died and I still don't have new wheels). Maybe my "normal" sense of who I am has been disrupted because some of my duties have changed. Maybe it's because I have too many ideas for the new place and don't have a plan for them yet. Maybe....

Just throwing it out there into the electronic universe. Do you get days, weeks, months like this? No feeling of direction? How do you get out of it?

Returning to the Blogging World from my new location

My dear readers! Here I am, coming to your from our new home. :) It is wonderful!!!! I'm going to put together a post about what I learned from moving but I wanted to give you a quick glance at the big event now.

Things went really well. We got the key on Wednesday afternoon and took our first loads out shortly after. The house was pretty clean and looked so different empty. We carried in our boxes and went home for some supper. Thursday and Friday were spent hauling boxes in the rain and unpacking some at the new house. Saturday morning, we were greeted with snow falling from the sky. Who would have thought it would snow at the end of April here?!? Not us! Anyways, hubby (along with some strong help) struggled to get the furniture and appliances loaded up into the cube van while a friend of mine and I loaded up our vehicles and took off to the new house. My friend and I hung out with the kids, unpacked and set up rooms as the big items arrived. It was so wonderful to have the help and the company.

We've been here two weeks now and we're well settled in. Almost all of the boxes have been unpacked and those that aren't are at least put away. Hubby's brother moved into the basement last weekend and things seem to be going well for him too. Our old garage is about half emptied into our new one and so hubby is feeling more at home. ;) The kids are loving having their own rooms and playing outside in our huge yard. We've had a little drama since we got here (my truck broke so hubby is doing all the driving and errands, and my son has had a harder time settling in) but we're managing.

That's it for now. I've been getting into a bit of routine and catching up. I'll have more for you again soon.

Crunch time!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. As you can guess, I've been busy. Still am! We've got two weeks to go till moving day. I've gotten almost through everything in the basement and started packing up the "extra" stuff around the house. These last two weeks will be everything else. Busy, busy, busy!

Once I'm in the new place, I hope to get back into a routine and will be blogging here more regularly. Miss you all!

It's on like Donkey Kong!

I can't believe it! We've got 4 weeks to go till we move. I have soooo much to do! Life has been busy and I didn't get as much packing done as I wanted to up to this point but I still have time to get it together. It is time to hunker down and get serious.

I'm finally going to start on main floor and second floor stuff. My plan is to begin packing up decorative stuff, extra dishes, etc. At least I'm not feeling overwhelmed yet, just under a little pressure. 

Oh my! March Break!

March Break came so early this year. It's definitely a week earlier than prior years, but will all the sick days and snow days we've had since Christmas Break I was shocked to see it come up when I flipped the calendar to March. I wasn't really prepared for it at all. 

My genius idea came to me when my 6 year old daughter asked me what we were going to do for her time off. I got her a pen and paper and let her start a list of things she would like to do as well as adding in my own suggestions. So far we've done a couple of things and the week is coming together. I'm getting tired though. Not used to having so many kids around all day. ;) What am I going to do all Summer?!? 

Getting Everyone Excited

I can't wait for the move but the kids not so much. Our current home is all they've ever known. Because they are so young they don't totally get it either. So I'm trying to get them excited about our new place before we get there.

March Break started today so I'm planning a few things to do with the kids. We're going to go pick out paint colours for their rooms. We've got to get some packing done while they are home as well. My daughter has been thinking about her room and what she would like in it. I told her we could start a list and watch for stuff to go on sale after our move. I'm not 100% sure what all will fit in her room. Can't really decided till we get there.

Oh, something fun that I did today was print labels for the boxes. I'm already getting tired of looking at black marker so I'm adding some colour. I printed out a bunch with names of different people and rooms that have specific colours. Now I just have to stick the label on the box and add any other notes. It's fun. :)

7 weeks to go

Wow! March 1st today. The days are flying by and I'm not getting much done. :S It's not my fault. February was just so full of other things - card games with my friends once a week, a couple round of sickness, more snow for me to shovel, volunteer work to do. I'm not making excuses, just explaining my lack of accomplishment in the packing department.

But you know what? It's not that bad. This morning I was looking at what I got done downstairs so far and it is coming along quite nicely. A lot of stuff is sorted and just needs packing for moving. There are some items I need to make decisions on and I'll have to do that soon.

So, in 7 weeks, I hope I'm ready to go. LOL 

Recipe: Hamburgers with Gravy

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced thin
1 cup beef broth
1 tbsp cooking sherry

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Form into four balls and flatten into patties.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the patties until nicely browned (about 4 minutes each side). Remove the patties to a plate.
3. Gradually mix the beef broth and sherry into the drippings in the skillet. Stir in flour and scrape beef off bottom of pan. Add in the onions. Simmer and stir over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until the gravy thickens.
4. Return the patties to the pan, cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Notes:
Serves 4.
Takes about 45 minutes.
Good with mashed potatoes.

Hit or Miss?

That is the question I often ask myself when it comes to the meal I choose for supper. Will it be a hit or a miss? My daughter and I are easy going and will both eat just about anything. Hubby will eat whatever I make but he doesn't like it all and there are certain things I don't make because he doesn't care for them. My son, well, he's Mister Picky Pants. You never know if he'll eat anything or everything.

I get extra nervous when I try a new recipe. Will anyone like it? Will it turn out how I think it should? Should I have just made something we always eat? Am I wasting my time? LOL See, I told you I get stressed out at this.

I feel the same stress when I try doing something new. I finally worked up enough nerve to try making pie crusts from scratch. Surprisingly, it was way easier than I thought. It's just a few ingredients mixed together then rolled out. It really wasn't complicated and I'm very relieved I finally tried it. I won't have to buy another pie crust again. :)

Anyways, I have a new recipe for you. Check out the next post! Hopefully your family will like it as much as mine did.

9 weeks

That's it! Just 9 weeks till we'll be packing up the last few things and moving to our new home. Unbelieveable! I'm glad it isn't htis weekend because once again it's snowing a lot! Sure doesn't feel like Spring is going ot be here any time soon. 9 weeks is feeling like a really long time away....

But, I'm making more progress. :) I spent some time in the basement last week and packed up some more stuff. I sorted a bunch and tossed a lot too. I still haven't gotten the kids stuff posted for selling so I'm leaning towards just donating it now. I don't think I really want the hassle of trying to sell it. We'll have to wait and see how the weekend goes....

I'm starting to feel like I've got too much going on. I'm tired and can't find the balance I need. Going to have to figure out what I can give up or shorten so I have the time I need to do the things I should be doing. It doesn't help with all these days off from school my daughter has been having due to illness and weather. Seems like she never has a full week of school.

Oi! Onto the weekend....

M&M Review of January

Where did January go??? I remember now, I got sick along with everyone else. Put me two weeks behind on everything. :S Here's a little review of the month gone by.

Meal Planning:
Well, so far my method is working. I didn't miss one day in January, not even when I was sick. Things, of course, changed when that happened as to what we would all feel like eating, but it worked out just fine. I definitely found it helpful to have the list of ideas on the calendar and knowing what I had the day before. Sometimes I have even been able to plan early (like chicken wings for Super Bowl Sunday).

Moving:
Things are finally settling down and coming together. We had a lot of "paperwork issues" over the last few weeks but the house is officially ours (as of April 17th anyways). It was definitely more stressful than I thought it would be. I really just tried to ignore it all so I wouldn't stress out. As for packing, not much got done. I did really well at the beginning, but then meetings and sickness got in the way of my productivity. Back at it again now though. I got some more stuff organized today and tossed and sorted a bunch more items. Feels good!

So, if January needs a mark, I think I would say B+. I did well at organizing and especially well at meal stuff but the packing didn't go quite as planned.

11 weeks

Yep, that's it. 11 weeks until we get the keys to our new house. I am SOOOOOOOO excited!!!! We went over to see it again on the weekend and I still like it. ;) I guess I should since we've bought it. It finally is all official. (What a stressful ordeal!)

Anyways, I haven't gotten much done lately in the sorting, decluttering and packing. My whole family was hit by the flu last week and a couple of us are still recovering including myself. I'm hoping to get back in gear and get some sorting done again as early as tomorrow. I have to run out to the grocery store tomorrow but should have enough time to do a little bit at least.

11 weeks... wow! I think it's going to just fly by!

Recipe: Taco Soup

This recipe is delish! It's kind of like a chili but with different flavour and not as thick.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, browned
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup water
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 to 1 pkg taco seasoning

Directions:
Simmer all ingredients together for 20 minutes.
Add as much of the taco seasoning as you prefer. The more in the spicier it will be.
Could also go in the crock pot on Low for 4 hours.