We’re still suffering from lack of sleep in these parts, which makes it really hard for me to get going in the mornings. I need a full night’s sleep to feel at my best and most productive. I haven’t had many of those nights for about 2 1/2 years now. So it’s been taking me a while to get moving in the mornings.
That doesn’t always work when you have a toddler running around. Or deadlines.
But fortunately, today wasn’t one of those deadline days. So I took it easy in the morning and tackled some chores this afternoon. Once again, I roasted two chickens so we’ll have meat for the week. Only this time I went a lot heavier on the spices — and you can tell. The meat was a lot more flavorful this time.
While the chicken was cooking, I chopped veggies for tomorrow’s roast. I’ll pop it in the crock pot tomorrow morning and by the time we get in that afternoon from our errands, dinner will be ready. And I’ll also start stock from the chicken bones tomorrow, too.
Here’s what works the best for my stock:
Roasted chicken carcass, after taking off the meat.
Giblets.
Skin & pan juices from the roasting.
One onion, cut in half or quarters.
A couple of celery stalks.
One carrot, or a bunch of baby carrots.
Several garlic cloves.
The cooking time varies depending on how much time I have, but I at least cook it two hours. Preferably four or more.
The chicken was done just in time for supper, so we had some of that with some brown rice and sweet white corn (cooked from frozen in a bit of chicken stock from the last time).
I also did a bunch of dishes while waiting for the oven to heat up. And before I chopped veggies. Go me!
If I could only feel this productive every day, I might have a clean house. Let’s not get carried away now. A girl can only handle so much work in one day. 
What makes you feel like you accomplished a ton that day?
Tags: cooking, meal planning, menus, nablopomo
I had planned to rest a little then come back last night. I just couldn’t do it. And it’s a good thing, too. I wound up in bed 8 pm last night. Yes, I even missed Grey’s Anatomy.
And even with going to bed that early, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I kept waking up to check on my son, who has a slight fever. Not that a small fever should be that big of a worry, but before he went to bed, he just wanted to lie down and cuddle. Which is so not like him.
So like any paranoid concerned mom, I wanted to check on him every so often. So in addition to his fever, he has this newish habit of making noise in his sleep. A LOT of noise. He’s not quite singing, not quite moaning. It’s just this ongoing uuhhhUHHHHHuuuuuUHUHuuu uuuuuhhhhhUHUHUHUUUUUHHHHHH up and down in volume. And accompanied by constant head turning. Back and forth. Back and forth. Against the side of the crib so it makes a banging noise.
Needless to say I didn’t get a lot of sleep with that racket combined with my brain being constantly “on call” to make sure he was okay.
Does it make me a bad mommy that I put my pillow over my head for a while? (Daddy was still right there, btw.)
Here’s hoping that tonight equals more rest. For all of us.
Tags: nablopomo
I’m almost falling asleep at the keyboard. This is my stopgap in case I don’t get to post something longer. I will try to get back to fix this. Honest.
Tags: nablopomo
… a little better than I have done today. I wrote a post in honor of Veteran’s Day over at my other blog. But I don’t want to repeat the same things here.
All I’ve accomplished today is print out a few pages from Organizing Your Way’s Home Management Notebook printables and fill a few of them out to stick in our family binder.
I’m especially liking the basic medical info and weekly menu plan (without assigned days).
Oh, and I cleaned off part of my desk, too. Here’s to managing my time a little better tomorrow!
Tags: Time Management
It’s sometimes tough to keep a running tally in your head of every item in your pantry. If you do it, you have a better memory than I. While I mostly know what we have on hand, I sometimes forget a small item or two that we needed. If I keep a running grocery list, though, it cuts down on extra trips to the store for those forgotten items.
I know that my mom always did this. She kept a shopping list in a drawer in the kitchen. Every time we used the last of an item (preferably next-to-last), or opened the last box of something, it went on the list. There was rarely a time where she made her shopping list right before we headed to town (we lived out in the country). It was already made for her over the course of the week.
So I’m not sure if other families do this or not (I’m sure plenty do), but it really has worked for us. And recently, instead of just jotting down an item, I tend to put it under the store where I can find it. So bulk items go under Costco or Smart & Final, while diapers and other things under Target, and smaller grocery items under Vons/ Henry’s, or wherever else we’ll go that week.
By dividing my list up this way, I can concentrate on finding the items I need at that store, instead of searching all over the list and maybe forgetting something at one of the stores. The categories really help me.
Now if only I could list my items by aisle at the grocery store, I’d really be ready to shop. But the store most convenient to us is also the most disorganized (you can read about my utter dislike of that store here) and there’s no way I’m going to try and categorize that store by aisle. I’d rather eat dirt. Or black licorice.
I miss the days when stores would publish a blank shopping list by aisle so you could just check things off that you needed. But that’s a post for another day. Right now I’m just working on getting my grocery shopping as organized as possible. And keeping a running list of what we need goes a long way towards getting me there. What about you? What helps you organize your grocery shopping?
image: sxc.hu
Our family is notorious for wandering around aimlessly in Target and Costco and Wal-Mart. We tend to treat it as an outing for the baby, unless we’re under a time constraint. But those wanderings can become expensive if we’re not organized.
It’s too easy to grab an impulse purchase or two. Or ten. Unless you have a list that you stick to. And we’re trying to start doing that. Because if we don’t, we’ll wind up doing what we did just last week: go to the store, get a few items we needed, a few we didn’t, and forget some things we actually needed because we didn’t consult the list.
And since we forgot some things, we’ll have to make another trip at some point. Wasted gas, wasted time, wasted money. We’re trying to be more frugal now that I’m working from home. We experienced a major drop in income when I left my previous job, so times are tight. Like everyone else, we need to save money.
Impulse buys do not help. So I’m working on making lists each time I remember something we’ll need, or we get close to running out of something. I keep that list in my purse so if I have time to swing by the store, I at least know what we need to get.
Let’s face it – we moms have to remember so many things. I still have that fog of new motherhood hanging over my brain. (Does that ever go away, or does it just get worse the more kids you have?) I can’t rely on my memory alone to make sure we get all that we need at the store.
I’m working on cutting out those impulse purchases by getting organized and using a list. What are you doing to cut out unnecessary expenses?
[image: stock.xchng]
Tags: frugal living, impulse buys, lists, save money, shopping
I still haven’t managed to clear the recent desk clutter. In fact, I just tossed more mail on it this morning. Ugh. And the next couple of days are busy enough that I may not have time to properly file and put things away. Maybe I’ll squeeze in 15 minutes to do some minor clearing, but I think it’ll take a little longer than that.
It wasn’t too long ago that I was so proud of clearing my desk clutter. My desk hasn’t reverted to that point, but it still needs a lot of work. I brought home some goodies from a craft party Saturday night – and they’re still sitting here.
It’s cluttered, but I can still find things. Thankfully. But if I let it go much longer, I could start losing bills and miss some payments. That would not be good. Disorganization can cost you money if you get late fees & penalties for not paying your bills.
So my goals this week are to clear my desk & get caught up on that kitchen. What are you working on this week?
Tags: nablopomo
I haven’t been feeling too well the last couple of days. Kid waking up in the middle of the night and not going back to sleep right away. Lack of sleep, plus other health things. Like allergies.
And things like that make it really hard to keep on top of things. To stay organized. My desk is starting to gather stuff. I liked it better when I cleared the whole thing off, so it’s time to purge it again. It’s a constant battle, but when it’s my command center that’s just the way it is. I have to be vigilant.
Illness – or general malaise – doesn’t help. But in spite of that, I got some dishes done today. Not a lot, but more than I used. So, yay for small victories!
What small victories are you celebrating right now? Don’t let them get by you. We all need encouragement. How are you doing that?
Tags: nablopomo
Yeah, it was bound to happen at least once this month. I went to a craft party tonight and forgot to post before I left. It sure was fun to find my inner crafting goddess. And to make the mess at someone else’s house. Ha!
Had a great time. I promise to do better tomorrow. Really.
One thing I love about my credit union – their online banking. It really helps keep me organized. Without it, I could easily miss billing due dates.
For the bigger items like our insurance and rent payment, I go ahead and set them to be paid automatically. All I have to do is enter the amount in my check register (or just import it into Quicken, which is what I’ve been doing). It’s so easy to set bills to go out for a specific time. I don’t have to remember to write a check and mail it, leaving enough time for the payment to go through the mail. And many of the payments are sent electronically, so I don’t have to worry about lost mail either.
For other bills that aren’t a regular amount – electric, phone, cell phone, cable – I just have them set up as payees. That way, I only have to enter the payment amount and due date each month. As soon as I get the bill, I schedule the payment. Otherwise, I’d put the bill aside and forget to set up the payment.
It has saved us a lot of postage and late fees.
Fortunately, with a minimum number of transactions there’s no monthly fee for using automatic bill pay. It really has been a huge help to me, especially since I prefer to have my bank send out payments, rather than letting companies debit my bank account.
Do you use online banking? Do you monitor your checking balance online? Why or why not?
