Countdown to the Holidays! Chow Down

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

We all have extra shopping to do in December, let's help ease the burden and chow down! I challenge you to do less (regular) grocery shopping in December. Eat what you have, go 'freezer diving', get creative, and save some money!

I have the habit of putting  leftover sauce into the freezer. Plus I usually stock up on the meat that's on sale for half price at my store. I know I have another half a bag of black beans, plus a few 'cans' in the freezer. And I REALLY need to finish that box of rice I bought... too long ago.

Is your food storage in a similar state? Will you accept the Challenge?

Chow Down Challenge:

1. Wait as long as possible to go grocery shopping this month and buy as little as possible. (I'm talking about regular grocery shopping, not Christmas Dinner.)
2. Use up what you already have. Get creative. Dig to the bottom of the freezer and the back of the pantry.
3. Save some money.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown the the Holidays! Treats, no Tricks!

First of all, I am NOT saying Halloween is a holiday. It isn't. But it IS part of the busy-ness of the Holiday Season :)

I'm not big on Halloween at my place. I buy candy and turn on the outdoor lights and that's my prep. BUT for those of you who are going to be dressing up or have kids who will be dressing up, now is the time.

Sit down TODAY (if you haven't already). And decide what you will be, and ask your kids what they want to be. Then, decide if you're making or buying costumes (or if you already have something that could work). If you're making it, get started as soon as possible. If you're buying, you'll still want to head out fairly soon so there's some selection and you're not rushed.

Now is a good time to add the Halloween treats to your grocery list, too!

And remember, have fun!

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! - Thanksgiving Prep

Hello everyone!

Since I'm making Turkey Dinner for my in-laws on Monday, I'm trying to spread my prep work out so I'm just doing a little each day.

Today I turned my turkey over (hoping this will help it thaw more evenly) in the fridge. I went over my recipes again and pulled out the rest of the ingredients I needed out of the freezer so they will be thawed in time.

I got out my turkey roasting pan (which I pretty much only use for Thanksgiving and Christmas) and washed it along with the rest of the dishes. DH put the dishwasher on for me, and I'm having my normal laundry day.

I'll also have a '15 minute tidy' later on, to baby-step the whole 'cleaning the house for company' thing. It's not too bad, just needs some touch ups. :)

It's cool and rainy today, maybe I'll do some baking, too. We'll see.

Are you getting ready for the big day?

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

The Snowball is Melting!

Yep! That's right. The snowball is melting! Not so much because I've been accomplishing it (I HAVE done a bunch, and DH actually went through half a closet.) but because I'm lowering my expectations... I set the bar way too high on that one.

The original idea was to completely declutter/ rearrange half the house with the final step being setting up my craft room. The problem is, most of the stuff isn't mine. So I need to wait for days when he's off and I think of it and we feel like it. Few and far between, but we are making progress. But since I am NOT just going to throw out all DH's stuff - that's not nice, I need a new plan. (You can read more about the snowball here.)

So the new plan is 'Do what I can'. What a concept! I can't declutter DH's stuff for him while he's at work, but I can move some of it  over now that he has partially moved into his office. That will make enough space for me to move the luggage and a few other things out of my dressing room so that I can declutter my stuff and then set up my crafting area.

No worries, we will still be doing the DH decluttering, but now there's no pressure and I don't feel like I won't be able to work on learning to sew for months and months.

Wish me luck, I'm diving in!

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Do You Post-it?

Are you one of those people with stickies all over your desk and computer screen?

I used to be. Now I'm trying a system I'm making up that uses the stickies. Full disclosure! Not my original idea. I'm actually combining two ideas I saw on Pinterest. (Are you following me? It's in the sidebar.)

I have regular ones that are 2" square or so and small ones that are supposed to be book markers or something they're about 3-4" x 1". BTW, stickies is one place where you want to go brand name. Dollar store ones don't stick for more than 5 seconds.

I use the little ones on my calendar and the big ones in my book. I bought a 'sketchbook' that you're supposed to draw in and I put the stickies inside. Each page (or pair of pages) is for a specific purpose. I have (off the top of my head): Daily, Today, Tomorrow, this week, Monday, Tuesday..., Next Week, this month, monthly, and upcoming.

It's a little intensive as I'm shuffling stickies all the time, but not really. The Monday, Tuesday... pages stay 98% the same, each sticky on those pages is something that needs to be done on that day every week. Something that needs to be done THIS Friday would go on the this week page (or the tomorrow page now), not the Friday page.

About once a week, I flip around and move stuff up from the 'long term' pages, but day-to-day I'm looking at the today page and the 'Thursday' page (or whatever day it is).

I also have pages with themes that I use to corral ideas. For example, when I have an idea for a lesson, I write it on a sticky and put it on that page. Last week, when I needed to brainstorm, I just opened to that page, looked through my stickies and was able to put together another year's content!

This is a new system and I'm still figuring out the kinks, but I really like it so far

What do you think?

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Summer Fun!

The weather is beautiful, and I'm slipping into a more relaxed routine. Yay!

We 'baby-sat' a dog for 2 weeks while friends were in Finland, and because she's a little... excitable,  I kept all the 'extra' doors closed. One great habit I established was LEAVING my home office and closing the door for my lunch break and when I'm done for the day. Doesn't sound like much, but I used to spend my 'lunches' on facebook. And while I do still go on facebook several times a day, I also need to get off my butt, because I sit a LOT (for work and for play, then there's driving, watching tv...)

Anyways. I've found taking a real lunch break is beneficial to me. Getting up, standing for a bit, and getting one or two things done around the house is great. I've been getting outside, starting to do a little gardening.

I've also started doing 'spa dishes' again. I have two pairs of cotton gloves. (One I got for about $4 at a drug store, the other about $1.50 at a dollar store.) I take my rings off, put on hand cream, put on the cotton gloves, then put on the rubber gloves and do the dishes! It's great for the skin (especially with the heat of the water amplifying things) and if I do it consistently, it should save me some money on rubber gloves - My one fingernail always seems to wear a hole... now with the extra layer, the gloves should last longer. Taking care of myself, taking care of my family, and being frugal!

How is your journey towards balance going?


So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D

A Clear Space

I mentioned last time that  I was focusing on finding balance this year. And step one is a clear desk. Well, today, it's clear! I took about an hour this morning and put things away, decluttered, dusted, filed, dusted,... And now I have some nice space surrounding me.

It really is a big change. The plan is to keep it clear, and put things away as I'm done with them. The really big factor to all this is keeping a list of things I need to do and putting the object away, instead of plopping the object on my desk as a 'reminder'. And then following through with taking care of the things on my list. (That's the kicker!)

I've been trying to figure out how to establish routines when my schedule is so odd... it can make your head spin, if you're not careful. Night shift, day shift, DH having days off when I still have to work, crazy Mondays, laundry marathons based on hydro rates.... erg! So no straight-up, you-always-do-this-on-Tuesday-at-10am-type routines. Balance.

Balance..... balance.... wherefore art thou, balance? I am seeking you. :D

I need to stop thinking of my life as a calendar, and try and think more as a pie-chart. I'm going to work on that and see how it goes... a pie chart visual of my day in balance. :D


So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Have great day!

Valerie :D