Redecorating

I am thinking about redoing the color scheme in my family room. My kitchen is RED and my husband loves it. You can see 75% of my kitchen from the family room so they need to "go". The current scheme is dark blue, red and green with a few light blue touches. I am thinking about bringing the light blue to the forefront. replacing the dark blue curtains with a light blue/white combo, maybe kicking out most if not all of the green. Not that my room looks anything like this, but I am playing around...

Appliances

I was going to clean my kitchen appliances today but it is more daunting a task than I thought so I did the espresso machine, the toaster oven and the outside of the fridge. About a year ago we replaced our toaster oven (a cheap one from the drugstore) with a nicer one, mostly because we hadn't taken care of the old one and it wouldn't come clean. We promised to take care of the new one but we really haven't. It sits next to the stove top and gets splattered on occasion. I wipe it with a clorox wipe but it doesn't really cut the grease. I think there was also something burned to the crumb tray... I used a toan of soapy water like my Grandpa Bud taught me, but I didn't pull out the fridge, sorry dad.

Beating the heat

We have been running the ceiling fan in our master bedroom continually since, oh, about Sunday, but today I decided to dust the fan. I had heard a trick for the blades where you use an old pillow case so the dust doesn't just fall off the fan onto whatever is below, in our case a bed. As I didn't have an old pillow case, I used an old t-shirt and it worked quite well. You just encase the whole blade and pull back applying pressure along the top and sides (at least twice in my case since it has been more than a year since it has been done). I then used the shirt to wash the lights and motor area as well.

Last night we decided to use the grill for anything we might want to eat in the next few days. I cooked zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms and kielbasa and mixed them with Orzo and feta for last night. I used left over zucchini and mushrooms in a lasagna with no cook noodles for the freezer (and one for our friends who are expecting). We grilled a pepper for tonights Boca burgers with guacamole and some ears of corn because my little man loves corn on the cob (maybe a corn, avocado, tomato salad for tonight as I picked about 2 dozen more cherry tomatoes last night). I will do something with the left over kielbasa friday, perhaps breakfast for dinner.

Ewww

Today I wiped down my cabinets, well, the outsides of them. My cabinets are a light faux wood and they hide grime much better than I would have thought. I am amazed at how many little things there are to clean. I do think I need to find something other than cleaning to do. I was going to back a chocolate torte for a gathering I had last night but there was no way I was using the oven on a 100 degree day. I still need to do something to make myself feel more goddess like especially since I have been avoiding the hair dryer and make-up.

Bonus

Since it is sweltering here in the northwest, I have decided not to exercise. You could say I am on strike. This has freed up some time during my little one's morning nap. I just finished labeling my husband's dresser drawers. I love my label maker. I also love my husband. He keeps his drawers pretty neat so I only have to reorganize them every few months. When he can't find something he flips one pile onto another to look through so the items stay folded, just not in the right spots. I know I should let it be but I am the one to put things away so I like to be able to put them where he can find them (and avoid needless pile flipping and "have you seen my...?"). I thought about doing my own but since I am they only one who sees them it would be a waste of label maker tape. I brought the labeler down to my kitchen to see if anything needed labeling but got distracted by the cans of tomato sauce from Costco tucked in a corner and after putting them away I lost the urge to label.

Domesticity

Today I windexed everything that can be windexed on the first floor of my house. I even did my windows on the inside. It was hard to wipe away the finger prints and kitty noses but I know they will be back. It is surprising how much grime collects on the inside of your windows. Now I need to do the outside. I want to try the new windex product, especially since one of my windows would require a 2-story ladder. I am up before my boy thanks to heat, opened windows and the garbage man.

I looked up domesticity: Home-life or devotion to it. Hmmm...nothing about the balancing act of running a home...the cooking, the cleaning, the bills, the childcare... I do like the word devotion though. I wouldn't say I am devoted to my home as I would gladly trade it in (for a bigger one of course) but I am devoted to my husband and son, my home-life. Off to pick some zucchini. I will have to write about my garden sometime.

Day One

I have been staying home with my son for 10 months. I think I am a pretty good SAHM but as I look at my house, I find I have been neglecting to keep house. There always seems to be something better to do when I am not playing with my boy, but more often than not it is on my computer where I get sucked into a time wasting world. So, here is my challenge to myself: Do one domestic thing each day before I "log-on" and post it here. Today I dusted the crown moulding downstairs. Mmmm...boring but important. So I am allowed to post and play on my computer.

In my quest for domesticity I grabbed a book I bought a long time ago but never looked at. It is How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. I want to be a domestic goddess. After about 2 minutes I put it back. Being a domestic goddess goes so far beyond the kitchen Nigella! I think the first step to being a domestic goddess is keeping. In order to move on to cooking magnificent recipes and having dust free moulding the rest of the house must be kept. The laundry and dishes done, the bills paid and the beds made. Since those come before I can achieve goddess status, those don't count as my one-a-day... well unless I am laundering my curtains or polishing the copper bottoms of my pots.

Another part of keeping is keeping myself. I need to do the things that make me feel like a goddess. This is also part of my goal to put my needs first. I am going to schedule myself a much needed hair cut!