Friday Quick 5

1. What a busy week!  I've been cleaning, getting together with people, cooking...  I had hoped by this time this week I'd have the whole house really clean, but it isn't so.  The bedrooms, bathroom, and entryway are all in good shape.  The living is good, except for a Eliza's things scattered around.  The dining room and kitchen... they need some work.  I've been reflecting this week through all my efforts how housekeeping is not something particularly suited to my talents or interests.  I hate to clean.  I hate the fact that every time I clean, I know I'll just have to do it again, and soon.  I hate that it's a never-ending round of chores where the pay-off is so limited and brief.  Many of the other things I like to pursue (reading, writing, biking), I can see a payoff that lasts.  Better and better health if I am consistent in biking, better and better writing if I am consistent to work at it, etc.  Cleaning, I'm just fighting to keep the status quo.  However, I know that cleaning is not just cleaning for cleaning's sake.  Rather, I am trying to create a comfortable home environment for my family.  That's worth fighting for.  And while I may not be naturally talented at cleaning (I often miss the details that make a good job good), I can train myself to be decent.  Maybe you can't make a great housekeeper out of a lousy one, but perhaps at least a competent one?

2.  Today, I conducted a freezer-cooking day with a friend.  We're both due to have babies next month, and so that our families will have quick and easy meals, we got together to put some stuff up for a future date.  We marinated chicken, baked meatballs, made seasoning and dressing mixes, and prepared tomato sauce.  This may not seem like a great deal on the surface, but with a few things that are best made at the last minute (like vegetables, pasta, and rice), what we cranked out today could make at least twelve different meals, easy-peasy.  It was my first ever cooking day, but let me just say, I can see how it is much easier to do with a friend!  And it was also easier because nothing we chose to put together required chopping, cutting, or peeling, or too many complicated steps.  And now, I'm happy to say I have at least 15 go-to meals or meal preps ready for when Simon comes!

3. Speaking of Simon, we're down to two weeks.  I've been experiencing a lot of Braxton Hicks and even some of the real thing, but nothing to alert the hospital over.  I keep hoping... bu I know it's good to let the little guy hang out.  Still, there are times I'm seriously tempted to coax the little guy out.

4.  Eliza is becoming quite the crack-up.  In fact, she's becoming quite the mimic.  She has begun imitating a laugh/growl her cousin Faith does.  She babbles/chatters in a certain way like another young girl we have regular play-dates with.  She and her daddy have several little routines they do together.  She's even begun imitating some of my pregnant habits in regards to my belly!  These last ones seem almost unconscious, as she does them as she walks around.  I enjoy watching her, because I'm never quite sure what she's going to do next.  And sometimes, I think she enjoys it when she catches me watching her, because we grin at each other and then she laughs before moving on.  She is just a joy in my life!

5.  In our gardening preparations, Nick has actually gone through a few different variations of software to help him plan our garden, the spacing of the vegetables, and all of that.  If it weren't for the fact that last Saturday and this Saturday have been doomed to be cold and rainy, I might be concerned for lack of a solid plan.  But we are actually supposed to receive a freeze this weekend, and planting might not be wise anyhow.  The weather and its timing really haven't allowed Nick to get out and work in the yard like he'd like to.  I'm definitely not in a position to help.  There are stumps to grind up and pull out, beds to raise and frame, bushes to whack, perennials to transplant, not to mention the planting.  Our seeds haven't yet arrived.  Our garden may be a little late this year, and we'll have to see what disastrous affects (or lack of) there might be.  Still, I'm hoping for a good enough harvest to try some new recipes, expand our palates, and hopefully take a whack at canning and preserving and pickling.  I've always wanted to try making pickles, at least.  We'll see how things go.