I Really Needed A Productive Weekend

After sitting on my butt all week at my desk job I was really itching to do some stuff around the home front this past weekend.  I started out my day with a hot cup of coffee to sip while I got caught up on all the great posts my fellow bloggers put up over the past week.  It is becoming my Saturday morning routine.  I just love all the wonderful ideas they have and hearing about their latest adventures.  Getting to know people as far away as England and Australia.  Bloggers are just a great group of people.  I love it!

Next I turned a half gallon of whole milk into a gallon of "half milk" and got it in the refrigerator to chill.  I then sliced up the last of the loaf of homemade wheat bread I made last week for toast and jam for our breakfast.  Nothing tastier than a nice thick slice of toasted homemade bread with real butter and homemade raspberry jam.  I also had milk and orange juice for the girls.

I baked a potato, that was a little soft, in the microwave to give to our neighbors chickens.  After breakfast the girls took it outside and fed it to them.  They loved it, of course.

I started a new loaf of bread dough going and then started a new batch of beer to ferment in the keg.  It takes four weeks to complete a batch (two weeks in the keg and then two weeks in the bottles) so by the time it is finished the weather will be warm and perfect for enjoying a cold brew outside with friends.

After washing up the dishes the girls and I made homemade yogurt.  We haven't had any for a long time so we were excited about finally getting to make some and have it on hand.  Like bread I hope to keep this going and part of our regular stock.

Yogurt getting ready to set up.

Another round of dishes and time to do a load of laundry which actually turned into two.  I got my work clothes washed and hung to dry first and then a load of darks washed and hung to dry.  While each load of laundry was washing I helped my oldest daughter go through our craft supplies and get set up at our folding table outside to begin a huge fundraising craft project she is starting.  It is a big undertaking but I know once this girl is determined she'll make it happen.  I'll let you know more about what she is doing in a separate post.  I'm really proud of her.

The youngest grabbed her Nintendo and headed outside to keep her big sister company which left me all alone in the house.  What a perfect time to get their Easter baskets assembled.  I have been acquiring and stashing items for their baskets since February so I was excited to get them put together.  

While I was at it I repurposed the bottom of a clear round deli container I had saved to make a mini basket out of for a friend.  I used a hole punch to make two holes near the top, then twisted two pipe cleaners I already had together to make the handle attaching them to the container through the holes.  Super easy.  I also used glue and spring themed foam cut outs I had leftover from a previous project to decorate the container.  Next I carefully wadded up a piece of mint green tissue paper up and tucked it down into the bottom of the basket.  Then I placed three Russell Stover candy eggs inside.  It turned out much cuter than I envisioned so I'm thrilled.  Total cost of my little project was $1 for the candy I bought at Walgreens with a coupon.

That pretty much was the end of my productivity for the day.  We cleaned up our respective craft messes and then headed over to our friend's house to have dinner.  I took the loaf of bread with me, much to their delight.

Sunday morning I was up and at it bright and early.  I started laundry once again and then made a list of all the things I needed to get done.  It was a bit longer than I actually had time for I'm afraid.  I get rather ambitious with my lists.

I made breakfast and washed dishes, washed windows, then we finished up the laundry and I dropped my oldest off to work a lemonade stand with her friend.  They made over $20!  While she did that the little one and I headed off to pick her up a new mattress and since we were out I grabbed up a few sales items at Albertsons and Fred Meyer.

Once at home we got busy and completely overhauled her bunk area, organized the storage area underneath, sorted through all her clothes and made a pile for donations and did the winter to summer clothing switch.  I washed the walls in her bunk area, washed her curtains, repaired her almost broken curtain rod, and then we put the freshly washed cover back on to her new mattress and put her bunk back together.  This time with much less stuff to clutter it up.  She pared all her things down to fit into one plastic bin and is now much happier.

We organized her closet and drawers then ended up going through my closet and drawers to add a few items to the donation pile.  We bagged up the donations and carted them out to the car and then rolled up the old mattress and tied it up for the trash.  After giving the trailer a quick once over to tidy everything back up we folded two loads of laundry and before we knew it it was time to big up Big Sis.

After dinner I had the girls quietly do a project while I filed my taxes (they were done, just not filed yet) and wrote a check to the IRS, grumble, grumble.  Then I checked my list and found I had only done about half of what I had hoped to accomplish.  Typical.

I plan to work on the rest of the things over the coming week.  This is what I had left:

Make salad dressing.

Make another loaf of bread.

Put beans in the slow cooker for freezing.

Write a quick note and send out Easter cards.

Trim my bangs.

Write two posts.

Plant lettuce.

Set up pots and solar lights.

Update grocery and spending totals.

Start next month's grocery list.

Start next month's meal planning. 

Lots of little things to do that shouldn't take a whole lot of time.  I think I can get them done in time to make a whole new list for next weekend!  Yep, I am a little nutty that way.