HJ Waxing Moon

This morning I was reading an article on Get Rich Slowly about Donna Freedman (the author) "jumping off the foodie-go-round." As a good title is wont to do, it drew me in because I just KNEW there was going to be some juicy advice in there, fraught with commenters with knee-jerk reactions. I'm proud that I managed to jump off the train of reading those comments before I gave myself an aneurism. A number of them were arrogant as expected, from both sides of the spectrum. Others were very much "Your Mileage May Very" attitude, which I appreciate and an attitude I am striving to achieve here at Chez Waxing Moon. On the one hand, I agree with Donna. If you are short on time and you don't care about variety, don't worry about it. However, I agree with her because of her examples, and she missed articulating a key point: She's advocating putting a VARIETY of items into a pot, and eating off it for days. There is a big difference between eating off a pot o...

My partner and I hate top sheets. Neither of us has used them since we were old enough to stop putting them on the beds. I had a tendency to kick them off in the night, while keeping the comforter firmly in place. But of course, when you buy sheet sets, they come with this huge piece of fabric. Bonus fabric! What do we do with them? Curtains: If the "head" end is sewn on the sides, just snip a couple threads and you have a curtain panel that matches your sheets. Pillow cases: A few seams and you have extra pillow cases or even a body-pillow case! Cut it up for "family cloth" or cleaning rags or whatever else suits your fancy. Face cleaning cloths! Couch covers--when you have OCD and three cats who shed badly and a flea infestation (though we got both those figured out, phew!), you want couch covers you can remove to wash easily and regularly. And my newest favorite: Bed skirt. Put the flat sheet under the mattress, on top of the box spring. If you have a f...

You can find more detailed information about grocery shopping price books at Get Rich Slowly and Organized Home (both links take you straight to their price book articles) so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, as a kitchen manager and chef, I have been sold on the concept of price books--they're imperative to costing recipes. I haven't really used them outside of work, though. Not because I don't think you should, but a) because I did it at work and didn't want to do that at home too; and b) because I have a head for numbers and am obsessed with getting the best deal, so I do very well with that without writing things down. When I moved from Michigan where I knew all my prices (and had determined that Shop At Meijer was the best way to save money) to Seattle where I didn't know the prices and had a lot of other projects on my plate, I didn't pick it up then either. Nonetheless, I think it's a good idea. I have heard a lot of peopl...

For the past three weeks, my partner (who needs a nickname!) and I have been getting ourselves together for The Big Move. As the more organized of the two of us (and the one who manages the household finances anyway), I have taken on the responsibility of a lot of logistics management. This is something with which I have a great deal of experience in my personal life and especially my career, so it comes fairly natural. "Natural" doesn't make it any less stressful or exhausting though, and it's been a struggle to keep everything together. Still, I have learned a few things that would be worth sharing for anyone trying to move longer distances. Set a date and stick to it. The best piece of advice I ever received was from the friend who helped me decide to move to Seattle. He told me to set a date, make myself financially (or socially) responsible for it if I can, then just stick to it. It helps to relieve the uncertainty of The Unknown, and a lot of plans can't...

I spent the first 18-and-a-half years of my life in one home. Then the week I graduated high school, my parents bought a house and we moved (a whole .7 miles, the trauma!). After that, it seemed I was constantly in a state of flux. I was back and forth around town between the dorms or various apartments and back to my parents' house a few times until I was 23, when I moved in with my Grandma after a bad break-up and urgent move. The plan was that I would be back out on my own pretty quickly, but who can give up living in a house where you have your own sitting room in the basement and cheap rent? Especially when it comes with peace of mind for the family that Gran was getting checked in on regularly. Well, when you feel the call of the Unknown, you go. And that's how I found myself deciding a couple days before Christmas one year that I was moving to Seattle. In three weeks. I had all the "right reasons" in the world. The Michigan economy was still tanking with no e...

HJ That's me! Heather Jean. I almost can't believe I'm using my real name on the internet, but there it is. I started using my middle name with my first name when I was in 4th grade, and a lot of family members and close friends from school will go back and forth. It just kind of stuck, and now it's almost one word. HeatherJean. Waxing Moon I admit it, this was a screen name I picked in a former life as a candle lady. But after the play on words of selling candles was gone, I couldn't help but want to keep the screen name. It spoke to me somehow, as if it had come out of the Cosmos. It's become a reminder that my life isn't over, it's not even half over. It's just beginning. Life isn't full yet. I'm still trying to fill it up. For someone who struggles with depression, it's a good reminder.