Fresh Start Week

Somehow, with the school year winding down, hubby starting his business, and life in general happening, I have completely lost my grip on just about everything. As the CFO/Admin/Officer/Whatever-Else-I-Am of my husband's company, I'm functioning with an office on three floors. This is what using a laptop can do to a person. I must say that it's not the most efficient way to do this job.

It's also that time of year when I am required by the homeschooling laws of my state to test my 9th grade son. I have the test. I just have not yet administered it. Speaking of homeschool, our year was up and down, which is to say that it was entirely normal. But we didn't cover as much as I believe we ought. Which is also entirely normal. So we'll be doing enrolling in Slacker High's Homeschool Light this summer. Which equates to a few hours of studies per week.

I've hung in there these past few weeks with all the chaos balls in the air, but they're starting to drop. Like ripe pumpkins. And it's kind of yucky and messy. Which does not make for a very smooth-running operation around here. Therefore, it's time for some regrouping, organizing, and purging. Or something resembling that.



To that end, here's the game plan:

Homeschool:
Give the boys a list on Monday of what they need to do for school, as well as chores. It will be up to them to manage their time. If they complete all the school work on Monday, they're free for the week. If they procrastinate, there will be no getting together with friends on Friday. Of course, being the mom, I'll offer some brilliant advice, "If you do a little each day, you'll have plenty of free time, and you won't feel overwhelmed by trying to do it all at once. It's important to learn how to balance your time." This, of course, will be rejected out-of-hand, precisely because I'm the mom.

I will also begin working on next school year's plans. As well as administering the test for ClayGuy.

The Biz:
We need a system for handling incoming repair orders, payments, invoices, and other sundry paperwork that my dear breadwinner brings home each day. Right now, he just hands it to me. This works okay, unless I'm cooking dinner, out in the garden, or otherwise detained. Additionally, I've started some files in a file tote, but we will outgrow that system in approximately the next 30 days or so. The files need a more permanent home. On a happy note, I did purchase an "entered" stamp, so I know when the ROs have been entered into QuickBooks. Cause I'm super organized and efficient like that.

Meals & Groceries:
Time to re-implement my meal planning and grocery shopping system. It works really well. When I actually use it. We eat at home more, eat healthier, and eat cheaper. But it's one of those processes where things must be done in a certain order. I don't cook much if we don't have the proper food in our house. But I don't grocery shop if I haven't created meal plans. On Wednesday, I'll be perusing the grocery store fliers and planning some meals.

The Rest of It:
There's a list a few miles long beyond these three things, but if I can complete the three before the end of the week, I'll take care of at least some of them. That's the goal anyway. And by posting here, I will have something by which to assess my week.



The photos are SOOC and come from our yard. I'd have done some editing, but I have a cake to bake. It's my mom's birthday today, after all. But it just never seems right to post without something nice to look at.

For something else nice to look at, go to my photoblog and see if you can help solve my flower mystery.

Wordless Wednesday - Bzzzz

For more wordlessness, go here and here.

The Lettuce is Growing

When we moved into this house, I was very excited about planting some veggies and strawberries in the garden out back. It's already fenced off and has obviously been used as a garden for some time. We got some seeds, soil, and little peat pots so we could start a few plants indoors while still in winter. I thought it would be wonderful to go pick our own fresh salads this summer, so we started a couple varieties of lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes. We also started some herbs.

I should probably mention here that I'm not particularly good at follow-through. I start out well, but I sure do fizzle out - a lot. I also have zero experience in growing vegetables. I manage some houseplants or flowers okay. Sometimes. Other times, I just kill them.

The garden area is fairly large (about 36' x 16'). I didn't intend to utilize the entire space this year, since I don't really know what I'm doing anyway. So I worked a small section in which I could plant my little salad. I also discovered from my neighbor that this garden plot is actually incredibly fertile and wonderful and had hosted one of the best gardens ever for many, many years. I was excited by the lush and healthy soil and stories of its abundance.

The time finally came that it seemed we should get those plants in the ground. But life happened and they stayed in the house that week. And the next. And probably another week (or two). By the time I got them out there, some were looking a little sad. Maybe getting them in healthy, fertile soil would help out. The lettuce was looking kind of dead already, but I stuck the tiny peat pots in the ground anyway. Of the four tomato plants a friend gave me, one died, two were looking good, and the other didn't look like it would make it. I planted it anyway. Either the cucs or peppers weren't going to make it - I forgot which one that row was. The other one looked good, so it made it outdoors.

So I had lettuce, cucs or peppers, and tomatoes. Not much, but it was a start. The poor lettuce - it was already too far gone. The two tomatoes were hanging in there, but the third was on its way to compost. And whatever that last row is - cucs or peppers, it's doing quite well. I think.

The cucumber or pepper:

We've had quite the abundance of rain this past week, so I finally got out there to assess the potential for our salad garden. In the course of pulling out a few weeds and checking over my veggies, I discovered that the entirely dead lettuce had new growth!! My lettuce is growing! I had no hope for the lettuce at all. Not even when I put it in the ground. But it's growing! I am SO excited!! Now the tomatoes are another story - their leaves are turning a little yellow and I should probably offer them a little better protection or something. Maybe some water walls. Not sure there. The cucs/peppers seem to be thriving, so I look forward to what that will bring.

Sorta sad tomato:

Even though we may not have a huge, bountiful harvest, I'm hoping to have a few salads here and there. And I do have plans of buying some more plants to get out there. Who knows, one day we may have a lovely garden from which we can help feed our family and maybe some friends and neighbors as well.

Fast Bread

The past couple of weeks have been a bit extra crazy. Hubby started his business, which is going quite well, btw, but it has thrown the normal routine off a bit. Not in a bad way, just a different way. A lot of this will settle down, though. Things like setting up a new bank account, getting a sales tax license, setting up QuickBooks, and having business cards printed don't land on the "to do" list regularly.

In the midst of the craziness, I discovered the coolest thing - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Bread has already been a theme here with Bread Week and its subsequent posts. I've made sourdough for a few years now and it's a pretty low-key kind of deal. But it's still a two-day process.

Artisan bread in five minutes a day? This sounded like one of those things that's too good to be true. It almost is. But in reality, it's pretty amazing!

In a nutshell, you toss your FOUR ingredients into a container, mix them up, and let it sit on the counter. Then you bake bread or put it in the frig. For up to TWO weeks!! Yes, you have bread dough available to bake bread at ANY time for the next 14 days. Sounds crazy. But it totally works. I've made three really cute little boules in the past couple of days. Quite yummy!

I don't think it can entirely replace my sourdough, because it just doesn't have that sour taste (although that is supposed to happen more if you leave the dough in the frig longer). But the ability to have a fresh loaf of artisan bread with dinner? Or bake a couple rolls for lunch? Awesome!

I was able to find the recipe without buying the book - BUT I wanted all the other recipes. I didn't want to only make the plain bread. So I got the book with a very cool Border's coupon. Then I went to my local restaurant supply store and bought a Cambro container for my dough. I'm thinking I may have to get a second one, because I'd like to keep a couple of doughs going - one for pizza, focaccia, etc. and one for either regular bread or sweet bread. The cookbook has recipes for brioches, Indian flatbread, baguettes, and SO much more. I would definitely recommend that you get it.

Wordless Wednesday - Bottles

Go here and here for more wordlessness.