A Little Space

My house has thrown up on itself.

Stuff seems to be everywhere. Clutter. Junk. Toys. Books.

Stuff.

I hardly have time to think a thought, much less clean more than on-the-fly. My new schedule for the school year is way too much for me. I am so hopeful it will settle down soon. But for now, I am amazed at the amount of stuff I can get done in one day. Amazed, and impressed I have not exploded into little bits.

It is the sheer volume of "to-do", but  -almost worst - it is the constant shifting from one mode to another. Lego coach mode - zzzzoop! Now make dinner! Now get lessons plans for preschool! Now teach preschool! Now run home and teach and help high school, middle school, and kindergarten. Now STOP and dust the 2 inches of dust from the piano and grab that laundry. But wait, it is time to drive a kid to a practice. But not before you pull dinner out of the freezer! Good? Good, because now it is time to get those homeschool coop lesson plans done!

My head is spinning, I am not sleeping. I am in tears. I am tired.

I was SO proud of myself. In the cleaning I did over the summer, my bedroom became trashed. Everything seemed to end up in there. I worked really hard one whole morning, and cleared about a 3ft by 2 ft space. Just bare carpet.

Gorgeous.

I am not kidding - I have gone into my room just to look at that spot. It makes me feel calm. It makes me feel I can DO it!

I found I have to haul a load of junk to and from our homeschool coop (in a bin that does not really even fit in the back of my van! Sorry about those marks on the bin, guys!). In addition to that, the suitcase of junk I haul to the coop class I teach - those now occupy my Clean Space.

It is really stupid, but it makes me so, so sad. I am determined to find another place for those things, but I am not sure where yet.

Those lost space makes me feel I will never get it all done. Dreams of a clean bedroom, newly painted - hah! That is all they are. Dreams. Those paint chips are going to hang on my wall for as long as I shall live. No one but me will clean, no one but me cares.

Sorry, guys.

This week just has me down. Way, way down.

I need my Clean Space back! Pronto!

A Week of Yummy Eating

It has been two years since I tried the the Everything Meals for a Month book. This is where you buy a whole warehouse-load of food, cook all day, and then have enough food to pretty much last you for a month.






I did it once, two years ago. We loved the meals. But, I never made the time to do a month's worth of cooking again.

Until two weeks ago, that is.

As our children have gotten older, our family schedule has become crazy-busy. I mean, I was worn out and tired when they were all little, but it was a completely different crazy than now. Now, we are go-go-go, all the time. I don't even like to be busy!

Our dinner time has suffered the most in all this. It is difficult to make dinner when you are not home 3 or 4 nights a week, or only arrive home at 6:30 or 7:00pm. Or, after a full day of teaching and errand running, the last thing I want to do is chop onions or make anything! I just want to eat!

So, it seemed like it was time to do the whole cook-for-a-month thing again.

That doesn 't even count the stuff in the fridge and freezer!

One week ago, I made my list and hit the grocery store. I spent one whole Saturday cooking. I ended up with about 20 meals. I planned a few pizza nights, breakfast-for-dinner nights, and leftover nights to bring the total up to close to 30.

I made (all from the Everything Meals for a Month book):

• Pizza Fondue (x2)
• Santa Fe Soup (x2)
• Apple Glazed Pork Roast (x3)
• Slow Cooker Lasagna (x3)
• Turkey Meatballs with Couscous (x2)
• Burgers  (x2)

Apple Glazed Pork Roast. 2 words: Nom Nom!

Everything has been so delicious! We have been enjoying eating real meals almost every night. The best part is, I don't feel that panic over, "Oh my gosh! I have to feed the family again! What am I going to doooooooo"!

My ice bath to cool things off more quickly. It was so hot, the ice melted instantly!

Now I just have to find time to do this every month!