HJ Waxing Moon

Whew! Our first week back from weddings & vacation, and we're heading right back into the swing of things. We do much better when there's a bit of routine, a bit of organization to our lives, so we're right back to our checklists & menu planning. One thing that concerns me is the new(ish) system we're trying. We have had this sheet for a couple months now, and it got us through the crunch of final wedding planning, but frankly we were ignoring most of our chores by that point and we weren't menu planning at all for most of this year. This system allowed for that, so I'm not sure it's sustainable long-term. But we're going to try it. Because having the things that are the same every day written out for each day made it harder to see what was different about "today." We're cracking down on chores timing. 20 minutes for the "weekly" chores, and no more (not including laundry, of course). Whatever gets done in that tim...

We have been using outdated checklists since we moved into our new place, just because everything has been so dysfunctional in our lives. I think there is a point at which routine & organizing is impossible, and then a point at which routine & organizing will help you get the rest of the way to where you want to be. There's definitely a tipping point, just as there is with menu planning. I think we've finally hit that tipping point. Finally today I've got our checklists updated and ready to be printed. One of the nice things about living in a place before updating the lists is that we can see what's been missed and make sure to get it on the list. So that's helpful. Bright side, right? I have to tell you though, don't skip getting the shopping list white board up on the wall as soon as you move in. Forgetting that rice vinegar was on the list for over a month was torture when I kept re-discovering for three whole weeks that I was out. Or the day we f...

The Living Room - 0% done -  View from the door View from that hallway doorway  Damage on the door from previous tenant. :( Damage in the carpet from previous tenant :( The nice thing about this living room is that it is BIG. South-facing windows let in a lot of natural light, but also a lot of heat. I will be surprised if we ever have to turn the heat on in here or the kitchen. That doorway you can see on the left of the top picture is the hall that leads to the bedroom and bathroom and closets. The doorway at the right of the bottom picture is toward the kitchen and dining room. To Do: EVERYTHING--This room has all the boxes, and most of the furniture. It will be the last thing finished. But that's OK! The Kitchen/Dining room - 60% done -   Dining room   Kitchen with gross-orange-wood cabinets.  Aren't these liners just to DIE for?   At least the cabinets don't waste any space. All the headsp...

Moving was a fiasco. The sticker idea didn't work, the stickers were too small. Next time, use the tape.  Very detailed labels are a lifesaver. It takes an extra few seconds to write roughly everything that was in the box, and those seconds add up. But at least include anything specifically important, like NIGHTSTAND FAN or LOCK BOX or what pieces of kitchen equipment are in each box.  The idea of packing things with clothes worked awesomely. Do that!  Have someone in charge of packing the truck who is well-rested, patient, and good at real life Tetris.  Take lots of breaks. It is OK to sit down! Sitting down to pack something doesn't count as a break.  Make sure everything is packed into boxes before the day you pick up the truck. Leave as very little as you can get away with until the last minute.  Standard-sized boxes are a life-saver. Even if you are using non-standard sized boxes, as long as you have a LOT that are the same size and shape, th...

A nice, updated list after the second 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. Deleted the old Done list, what's crossed off is done since our last updated To Do list in April. Front Yard: 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.  Mum has decided to hire contractors to relandscape the entire front yard because the project has gotten too big to manage. I approve! Back Yard: Plant the toilet planter or get rid of it.  (...

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 ...

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...

Between my vacation and the subsequent recovery, somehow it is February. I never got new "before" pictures of the house and yard, and I never made a new To Do list that I just realized hasn't even been updated since SEPTEMBER! This is the perfect opportunity for me to make excuses or beat myself up about not meeting my goals. But I'm in a really good place today, so I'm just going to acknowledge both the fact that this is the situation as well as my feelings of surprise at this being where we are now, and move onto accomplishing the goals I set out to begin with. So without further ado, a fun little list of ideas of what we want to accomplish in the coming year, sorted by area of the homestead. 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...

After a couple weeks of menu planning but not posting it, I'm back to blogging and excited about the new white board set-up. The white board has been working great for Mr. Moon and myself, but we were running out of space to get our WHOLE to-do list onto it. The 'Rents still don't really look at it, but having to communicate with other people in the house while they're not there isn't exactly something they've had to do for years. Organizing meal plans and chores, from the look and sounds of it, isn't anything they've ever done. So it's definitely an adjustment for them. We rotated the board! We had a lot of wasted space in the shopping list section, removed the project list. It's now a piece of paper in a sleeve on the back that we slip out for project planning, but right now the focus is pretty much all yard and garage work anyway. We added a section for things that need to be retrieved from the garage (which was actually ages ago, I just...

Five things we accomplished in September that are really kind of big: We got on a schedule of chores, and even managed to stick to it in this very busy week.  We had fun on some cheap dates, and got to spend more time with friends than we have any other time since we moved down here. We pinpointed some trouble areas with the housekeeping and started making strides to combat them in a manageable way.  We dove down the rabbit hole with gusto, starting on such projects are sourdough pancakes, waffles, yogurt, mozzarella, and possibly soon into sourdough bread. We managed to keep the sideboard in the dining room CLEAN and clear of clutter for the better part of a month, and still going!  It wasn't entirely intentional, but we spent the month working on building good housekeeping habits. If October has a theme project, I think it needs to be the garage. We got behind on cleaning that out and missed both of our self-imposed deadlines, or we will because the second o...

SUCH! An exciting week this week. Well, ok, not so much, but I try to be upbeat as much as I can.  Hours for Mr. Moon are still few and far between so there's a lot of work being done around the house. It feels like we're getting nowhere sometimes, because we keep getting behind on some of the chores. Still getting used to them, I guess. And I think we need a second "firebomb the kitchen" day. Or something. It just keeps getting out of hand and Mr. Moon and I feel like we're in there ALL THE TIME. The worst thing is, by having a scheduled list of chores that DO get done as often as they do, it's actually illustrated how they do need to get done as often as they're scheduled. Like sweeping the kitchen, which keeps getting missed and then done at completely inconvenient times because it NEEDS it--but never more often than scheduled. Or the bathrooms, which having been kept up on for three weeks in a row now still need cleaning when we get back to them. ...

Finally, no more tweaks to the white board this week! With this cold or allergy attack (who knows?) hitting me, I'm grateful for the break we had this week, not having to cook for everyone, but it seems like it was rough on Mum even if she won't quite say so. So once again we are focusing on cleaning out the freezer, good healthful meals without a whole lot of hassle, but trying some new things. --------------------- What's on the ToDo list this week?  We are still getting used to the daily chores being a little more structured, and catching up on some of the things that got a little out of hand. Bonus, Mr. Moon has more shifts and I have a doctor's appointment, so I scheduled a light week on projects. Sunday, 9th: Today is a vacation day! Much deserved. Season opener for the Mariners er, Seahawks (the football guys) is on right now, and we have a date tonight with some friends going bowling. Well, Mr. Moon will be bowling, I will be watching, pointing, heckli...

This is a running to-do list, written in April 2012 and including everything accomplished on the house so far since moving in with the 'Rents. The goal is to update it each month, adding new projects and crossing off the old ones, so we have a memoir of all the things we've accomplished. I will make a brand spanking new one every January, carrying over the un-done stuff and leaving behind the finished projects so it doesn't get too cluttered. This is what's been done since the beginning of July! Garden/Landscaping: * Dig out veggie beds / containers and prep for planting. * Plant veggies and herbs in beds and containers, including hanging planters. * Install lattice for nasturtiums. * Dig out/replant geraniums from front container bed. * Replant front container bed. * Buy /Plant Heather & some sort of bush (we picked azaleas) for garage yard. * Plant lilac bush. * Prune butterfly bushes. * Prune rose bushes at back of house. * Remove 6 rose bushes ...

When I was a kid, laundry day was whenever someone ran out of underwear, or the laundry pile in the hallway got so bad that it was difficult getting to the bathroom. Whichever came first. So suffice it to say that while DOING the laundry was something I learned young, keeping up on the laundry wasn't a skill I was taught. As a result, I've struggled most of my adult life with this task. I have tried the "load a day" thing. Only really possible when you have laundry on-site. Mostly I found that doing so I tend to forget I've put something in the washer and it gets nasty before I get back to it. I've tried the "laundry day" thing, where one day a week I devote to laundry--mostly this has been more successful, especially when I could go to the laundry mat and do any number of loads at once: no matter how many loads I had, it took 3 hours. This was certainly successful, but I hated having to carve out 3 hours as a block in my week. And also, laundry ...