30 December 2019

Happy Homemaker Monday - 30 December 2019


Happy Homemaker Monday for the last Monday of the month..the year...the decade! Join me and other bloggers at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for our Happy Homemaker Monday posts.

It's still that funny time, between Christmas and New Years, with no school and very few commitments. What day is it? Should I be awake? Do I need pants? A whole new set of issues I could really get used to. And yesterday we had unbelievable fog - all day long! You could never really tell what time of day it was, and as I told my daughter, it looked like a perfect day to be living in a zombie movie!

I've still got the rest of this week off of work, but I think hubs goes back January 2. We just this morning made plans for New Years' Eve (tomorrow night) - my favorite kind of plans. Low key, hanging out with neighbors and enjoying lots of munchies. Only time will tell if we even make it til midnight to ring in 2020.

::the weather outside is::


Headlines are promising snow tomorrow to get people all fired up. The reality is maybe 1 - 2" around here, and the possibility of 2 - 4" in the northern part of Michigan. Which is to say, no snow worth speaking of. I'm totally onboard as I hate driving in it and feel trapped once there's snow on the ground.

::right now i am::

Finishing up the last of a mini-loaf of cherry bread a co-worker made for me. Great breakfast, for someone who usually works through breakfast. Also finishing up the last piece or two of delicious cocoa fudge before the kids' friends come over in an hour or two. I don't want to say I don't like to share, but....

::thinking::

My brain is like all over the place lately. I'm going to bring down the stickers and do some decorating in my 2020 planner. I'm thinking through what regular posts I want to do for my blog next year, and deciding on a format for book reviews, since I want to do them on my blog as well as posting them as a guest reviewer at Books I Think You Should Read.

::on my reading pile::

Just started reading First Cut by Judy Melinek & T.J. Mitchell.

After I finish and review this, I'll probably go do a read of one of my daughter's Middle School Battle of the Books books. I haven't read any of them yet, and want to finish all of them by the battle in early February.

Once I get one of those out, I've got a couple more on my list with January publication dates.





::on my tv::

Hubby and I have been really enjoying the new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

::favorite blog post this week::

I'm really loving watching the best books posts on blogs and on GoodReads by all of my book bloggers and reading friends. You can find my best of list here (and everything I've read this year here). Next year I want to figure out how to do the really cool collage of book covers.

::on the menu this week::

Monday - Ravioli with white sauce and garlic bread (the garlic bread because it's the only thing my eight-year-old will eat from the meal. LOL)
Tuesday - New Years' Eve! I'm bringing some chicken dip with chips, shrimp dip with wheat thins, and monkey bread. Grocery shopping (i.e. payday) is tomorrow, so I may grab anything else that looks munchie and good too.
Wednesday - Everyone usually likes tacos
Thursday - Boy child does love some city chicken (mock chicken legs)
Friday - the first pizza and a movie of 2020! Also lots more good munchies, since my daughter is having two friends to spend the night.

::on my to-do list::

  • write a blog post with 2020 goals
  • finish writing review for Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg (4 stars!)
  • keep working on my office so I can work comfortably there
::what i am cross-stitching now::

Still the same owls :) I haven't forgotten about them, but I usually use my time to crank out more reading/reviews instead.

::homemaking tips::

Live alone. LOL 
If my children would take a homemaking tip to heart, I would LOVE if they would put things away when they're done. And if my husband would take care of things that he didn't use, if he's doing something there anyway (he puts his dishes in the dishwasher, but overlooks any left in the sink).

::looking around the house::

Today we're just clearing as much clutter as possible, since the cleaning people come tomorrow. Later this week we'll get all the Christmas stuff back to the basement. I'm over it now, but everyone else wants it up past New Years.

::from the camera::

My camera is so boring now. I've taken a picture of the tag in my good work jeans (so I could get more, but Old Navy doesn't make their 'Original' style anymore. Jerks) and my Essie nail polish collection (so I could get a new color to wear this break, but ran out of money anyway). Last weekend I had a picture of my daughter's favorite make-up primer sample (so I could get her more for Christmas - done!).


4 comments:

Jean said...

Your cocoa fudge sounds just like the fudge my mom used to make. And I wouldn't share it either if I were you :) What exactly are mock chicken legs? I have some picky eaters over here as well so I may need this information! Hope you have a wonderful week and a very Happy New Year! (Also, I can't quite figure out how to find you on GoodReads but I'm on there as well and would love to follow/friend you as it looks like you pick out some great books).

Becki said...

City Chicken is pork/veal, but it's cubed, breaded and on a stick, so it was supposed to look like chicken legs for the poor in the city during the depression. I think it's originally a Polish recipe. I buy the mock chicken legs from the meat counter (I like them from Meijer better than Kroger), brown them, then simmer them in chicken broth for an hour.

Shellie Almond said...

Becki I Really enjoyed stopping by! You cracked me up about the cocoa fudge! My Mom made it for us when we were kids and it was amazing we would all sneak into it as often as we could! I know you said you really don't care for the snow! So you can send it to NC. It feels like spring here! I laughed out loud for real when I read your homemaking tip of the week! Well enjoy the rest of your time off! I hope you have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I reviewed book for a company before, and just got the book free, but lacked the time to read them. I had to bow out of that. Happy New Year!