I've shared that this week has been a crazy-fun week of VBS at our church. My duties include acting in silly skits and taking pictures for each day's PowerPoint slide show of the story. Both of which involve . . . props. As a former Theatre teacher, and continual small-time-drama person, I love props. For years, they were a great … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2011
Curing My Writer’s Block – By Cleaning
I started this blog as an accountability/keep-myself-focused-on-my-house thing. In general, it works. It's hard to justify writing about cleaning when your house isn't clean. Hard, but not impossible. This week is our church's Vacation Bible School. It's a crazy week, but the kids absolutely love it. They're so excited that I'm acting … [Read more...]
A New Decluttering Question
In general, my two decluttering questions are sufficient. But last week, I came up with an additional question that I could use if I ever got stuck. If this item broke, would I replace it? You can probably tell from the picture above what helped me come up with this idea. After putting some dishes away, I (shocker of all shockers) … [Read more...]
Asian Salad (Slaw) Recipe
I've posted this recipe before. But it was an afterthought within a menu plan. This recipe deserves to be the star of its own post. If you're a regular reader, you know that I lived in Thailand. Which is in Asia. I don't know that I ate much salad there. I think the idea is that the flavors are Asian, not that it's an authentically Asian … [Read more...]
How I Limit My Kids’ TV/Screen Time
It’s summer. And because it’s summer (and summer is fun), I haven’t written this post that I’ve been meaning to write . . . since summer began. A big part of success in any endeavor, especially one where I’m trying to maintain routine in the midst of a lack of routine, is preparation. A few days before summer began, I realized that I hadn’t … [Read more...]
Forging a New Path (Through the Clutter)
We've been back for less than three days, and I'm a little overwhelmed. Partly by the Vacation Recovery but also by the totally full calendar that hangs on my wall. While swimming lessons are messing with my rhythm this week, next week it will be VBS, and then Cousins' Camp, followed by the Savvy Blogging Summit, and then I'm directing the … [Read more...]
If I Only Had a Maid . . .
I, along with many other chronically messy people, dream of having a maid. Someone to do all that pesky cleaning that I never seem to get around to doing. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must share . . . that I once had a maid. For the two years I lived in Thailand, I had a maid. The first year, when I lived alone, she came once a … [Read more...]
Even on Vacation . . . I’m Not Normal
Here’s the window into our room at Disney World last week. The blinds are closed. My blinds are almost always closed. I like it when they’re open, but I rarely remember to open them. I do remember to close them . . . when it gets dark outside and I start to worry that the neighbors can see our still-to-be-cleared kitchen … [Read more...]
Pizza Snowballs (A Pizza Pocket Recipe Kids Can Make) – And a Post-Vacation Menu Plan
I’m writing this as we drive home from Disney World. Before we left, we had our final picnic supper for baseball season, and the unanimously requested repeat meal was Pizza Pockets! But it’s summer, and I was packing for our trip, and I just didn’t have it in me to make even the easy-recipe dough from scratch. So I adjusted an idea I’d heard … [Read more...]