I hope this doesn't cement my ill-gotten reputation for being a Domestic Diva!

I was tagged sometime ago by Catholic Mom in Hawaii, and finally I'm getting around to it!

A Homemaking Meme


Aprons – Y/N?
Yes. I even won a book in Mommylife's apron contest! I have two - both made out of towels. Because they were easy to make. You think I have time to hem?

Baking – Favorite thing to bake:
Brownies. Also favorite thing to eat.

Clothesline – Y/N?
No. We rent and don't have one. Plus, our landlord is a retired Sears appliance repairman and I think it would hurt his feelings if we didn't use all of our large machines.

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
No. Why make donuts when you can have brownies?

One homemaking thing you do every day:
I wish there was only one! Prepare meals. There is always someone to feed.

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
Yes! For the first time ever! It has three turkeys from Thanksgiving still, leftover cornbread for stuffing, and even some frozen meals. Plus meat! I'm working on going to the store every 2 weeks instead of twice a week, and I couldn't do it without my freezer!

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Yes. But you have to shove the food into it with a spoon while it grinds, so I don't know how useful it is.

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
The Joy of Cooking. My son can't have preservatives and I'm cheap, so I cook a lot from scratch. This book has a lot of how to's, and chapters on storing foods, preparing meats, what spices go with what foods, how to cook different foods. It's got recipes but it is also a cooking class.
Also, the book "Holiness for Housewives and Other Working Women" by Dom Hubert Van Zeller. Excellent, excellent little book, with short chapters.

Ironing – Love it or hate it?
I didn't realize that we forgot to pack our old ironing board until 6 months after we moved - and I needed it to iron a pattern. Does that tell you how we feel about ironing around here?

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
Kitchen. Bedroom. Living room.... plus my packrat son has one in his dresser too!

Kitchen: Design & Decorating?
Well, I try. I made coordinating trivet and grocery bag holder from leftover yarn that matches my favorite cutting board. But, again, we rent. When we moved in, the landlady told us to do whatever we wanted to the house. Pick out new paint, etc. I asked if we could paint the dark, fake wood 70's paneling in the kitchen - NO. The dark cabinets? NO. Paint over the wallpaper? No, she has fond memories of it being the first home improvement project she did with her husband. 27 years ago. So, I'm pretty much stuck!

Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Making useful things for my family. Especially by crocheting them.

Mop - Y/N?
Yes. I have the best mop!

Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
HA HA HA HA! You might as well ask me if I wash my sausage casing too.

Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?
Open the door. Doesn't have a window.

Pizza - What do you put on yours?
Sliced tomatoes and spinach. Yum! Also, plain sausage - never pepperoni.

Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Read. Blog. Read blogs.

Recipe card box - Y/N?
No. I use my internet bookmark folder; also I have a do it yourself cookbook my grandmother gave me; it is spiral bound but you write in your own favorite recipes. I'm also working on making a recipe system for my homemaking notebook - putting the basic ingredients and instructions on business card sized paper (using a template in Word), sorted by meat, which I store in baseball card holder pages. It's a work in progress, but I'm trying to get it done before the baby is born so my husband can help with the cooking. He loves to cook, but if I left it to him, we'd have Chinese food every night.

Style of house -
Ranch. No stairs! Woo-Hoo! But my thighs are not thanking me.

Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?
I own them. Does that count? Paper napkins for everyday meals. My husband has forbidden me from using placemats, no matter how much I pine for them. LOL

Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland?
The baby loves to dig under there. So, not *that* organized, but not a wasteland either. We have aluminum foil, plastic wrap, dishwasher soap, and extra plastic scrubbies, and that's about it. Occasionally the children's practical life broom/dustpan and duster makes it under there, but they are pretty much in common use. There's also many random toys that appear and disappear as Baby C puts them away.

Vacuum - How many times per week?
Twice a day. Maybe only once if we are busy.

Wash - How many loads of laundry do you do a week?
One per day, plus extra for blankets and things. Two children are still working on staying dry at night. Maybe 10?

X's - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?
I have a list/schedule in a page protector that I cross off with a dry erase. So, it's always the same list in various stages of completion.

Yard - Who does what?
I nag, and the husband and children ignore me. So we are all in it together.

Zzz's - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Start the dishwasher. We run it at least once a day, twice a day on weekends when the kids are home. Mama and husband dear always find time to snack after the kids are in bed so I wait until the last minute to try to get it all in.

Labels: Family Life, Meme