Fall Cleaning

Well, Fall Cleaning around the Simple House mostly consists of cleaning up Outside instead of Inside.  Because, you know, pretty soon, we will have plenty of time cooped up inside when we could clean :)  In theory, of course.  :)

So this weekend, while it was still quite warm (in the 70s!) we did what is supposed to be our annual Fall garage clean up, but it has been at least two years since we had done it.  At least.  And boy, did it show.  We took everything off all the shelves and emptied every container.  And made sure that we were actually using the things that we were storing in the garage. And that like things were stored by each other, for the most part anyway.  We tossed LOTS of things that should have been tossed long ago.  And we finally took out the broken freezer.  Hopefully, it will be replaced by a new(ish) freezer in the spring, but I think we will keep it inside instead of the garage. 

And we put things up for the season - we hung up the bikes and put away the canopy/chairs/cooler from summer swim season.  We took the swings off the playset. We put the lawn tools away. 

Speaking of lawns, we also did some other outdoor work besides cleaning the garage.  Mr. Simple cut the grass one last time, and I weeded and cleared the beds and put mulch down, so they will be all ready come next spring. 

It was actually supposed to snow last night, but it didn't.  Still, it got down to the 20s, and I fear that most of the temperatures for the rest of the fall will now be considered "cool." 

But I'm glad that we "made hay while the sun shone", as Laura Ingalls Winder might say. 

Well, when it is cold, I cook

And when it is hot, I don't! LOL

But yes, one thing that I do love about cold weather is the FOOD.  (Is it any wonder that I emerge every spring a little heavier than I was at the beginning of fall? I'm trying to avoid that this year with my daily gym work outs - cold or not - but we will see!) 

Anyway, I was sitting down today with a bunch of recipe books, and I made up a list of 50 fall/winter dinners.  Maybe some cold evening I'll type them up on my recipe blog and link them up, but until then, here is the list -

1.  Sweet Potato Gnocchi
2. Grilled Polenta with Vegetable Ragout
3. Autumn Wild Rice Salad with Chicken
4. Smoky Yukon Gold Potato Chowder
5. Asian Vegetable Spring Rolls
6. Warm Two Potato Salad
7. Roasted Root Vegetables with Creamy Polenta
8. Farmer's Market Pot Pie
9. Spinach Fettuccine with Gorgonzola Sauce
10. Sweet Potato Enchiladas
11. Garden fresh Pizza Primavera
12. Corn Chowder
13. Squash Lasagna
14. Roast Chicken
15. Baked Parmesan Risotto
16. Chicken Broccoli Ring
17. Inside Out Lasagna
18. BBQ Beef Brisket
19. BBQ Beef Stew
20. Harvest Cream Soup
21. Lemon Greek Chicken
22. Pasta Roll Ups
23. Chili Bread Bowls
24. Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake
25. Polenta Lasagna
26. Cheesy Chicken Chilaquiles
27. Apricot Chicken and Couscous
28. Grilled Fish Tacos
29. Pulled Pork Sandwiches
30. Homemade Mac & Cheese
31. Zesty Meatball Chili
32. Lentil Stew
33. Chicken Tortilla Chili
34. Butternut Squash Soup
35. BBQ Pork Chili
36. BBQ Bacon Meat Loaf
37. Easy Chicken Pot Pie
38. Cider Braised Pork Loin
39. Burrito Bake
40. Sweet & Sour Shrimp
41. 3 Cheese Mac & Cheese
42. Pasta Primavera
43. Potato Leek Soup
44. Glazed Korean Short Ribs
45. Maple Pork Chops
46. Grilled Bacon Meat Loaf
47. Cherry Chipotle Ribs
48. Asian Glazed Chicken
49. Jamaican Jerk Drumsticks
50. Chicken and Potato Wedges

OK, I'm trying really hard to find some November Love

It is hard though - November is usually one long month of grey.  And grey is DEFINITELY NOT one of my favorite colors.  And then the greyness just lingers for months after November too.  Until April at least.  So when I see it on the first few mornings of November, I know that it means all the loveliness of Fall that I love is over.  And now all the leaves will fall off, it will get dark so early, and it will be cold.  And grey.

Thankfully, I've got fall vegetables to cheer me up! LOL I love roasted vegetables like nobody's business.  And soups.  Love all kinds of fall soups.  Love the taste of the fall vegetables in the soup plus I love how soup just warms you up from head to toe.  My personal fave is probably potato leek soup, but I love squash soup, broccoli and cheese soup, cream of celery soup, cream of chicken.  YUM.  I'm getting hungry, just talking about it.

We did our annual trying on of winter clothes early this year, so I already knew that the girls needed new winter coats.  I'd been really trying to get something decent at a thrift store, but happened on a sale, and managed to get them some very nice NEW coats.  We rarely do new clothes around here, so it was a special treat.  The girls both picked two different styles of black coats, but I know that we will have some trouble with them figuring out which one is theirs.  I had been encouraging them to get a different color than each other, but they didn't like the other ones.  So black it is.  And then, we get home and I'm hanging them up in the coat closet, and I started giggling.  I had bought myself a new winter coat last year at the end of season.  I had picked up, what we call around here, a "sleeping bag" coat for only $10! I forgot about it until I went to go hang up the girls' coats and guess what color it is? BLACK! LOL

Year round swimming continues for Super (8) and Jelly Bean (10).  We just finished a swim meet this past weekend.  They both did great! I joked to Mr. Simple that it is much more fun to sit at a swim meet for 5 hours when the kids are swimming well than when they aren't! And Flower (13) is still enjoying all of her activities - drama club, scholastic bowl, piano lessons, youth choir.  She is having some 7th grade "drama" of her own (not her, but some situations at school.) Junior high is certainly something that you couldn't pay me to go through again, but I'm trying to help her navigate her way through it without being too imposing.  A bit of a tough line to walk. 

My job situation is still complicated.  I'll elaborate on another day.  I'm feeling a bit defeated about it all today.  On the other hand, I am still working on a short-term contract until the end of November, so that is a blessing.

Back to November.  I am trying to remind myself that one thing that I do like about the cold evenings is that we spend more time together - playing games, doing art, reading, handwork.  That almost makes up for the grey.  Almost.

Fall finds a way

I was bemoaning the fact that we haven't been doing many of our fall traditions this year and it was making me sad. 

But then the kids said things like:

"You know Mom, even though we didn't go to that one festival, the leaves still changed anyway. And aren't they so pretty?"

"Remember that perfect day last week? A little breeze and 65 and sunny with big puffy clouds?"

"I love how Fall means you wear shorts one day and need a scarf the next." (This can be true most of the year in Illinois LOL)

Or

"I loved seeing the combine harvester on the drive home last weekend."

"You make the best applesauce ever, Mom." (They really did say that.  I'm not just lying or bragging.  I don't know if it is the BEST,  but I'm glad they love it!)

"Our scarecrows are way better than skulls, don't you think?"

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And it made me feel much better. 

But still, I'm going to do my best to make it out to more of our fall favorite things next year.  I need as much fall love as possible in my weather basket to make it through winter!!!!

Daybook: October 27, 2012

I have been awfully quiet on this blog in the past few months.  For lots of reasons.  Partly because I've been busy.  Partly because I just haven't felt like writing here.  Partly because our lives are different than it used to be in a lot of ways.  But I want to start back.  I miss it. 

So as a way to ease back in, I am doing a daybook. 

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I am thankful for… I've been able to get two full-time technical writing contracts since June.  It has been nice to work in the field that I got my degree in, and to make some good money for the first time in years. 

At work… My first contract was producing some process documentation and job aids for a client.  My current contract is creating a SharePoint site and creating templates and rebranding numerous documents for a client.  And I'm working with a recruiter to get a long-term contract.  With benefits. 

From the kitchen… Pizza and cinnamon sticks. 

I am wearing… my Halloween costume.  :)  We are going to a Halloween Party tonight.  Mr. Simple is going as Gregory House, M.D., and I'm going as a patient. 

I am creating… some salsa.  And some strawberry jam.  I don't even have close to enough jam for this year.  :(

I am going… to a swim meet next weekend.  We are in the midst of the busiest part of the school year period of swim meets.  We have had a meet every two weeks since the beginning of September.  But if they are travel meets, they are within 45 minutes, so nothing too dreadful.

I am reading…The Kitchen House.  I'm a little over half way done.  It was the October book for my book club and I didn't finish it before our book club meeting, but I do want to finish it.  And I want to finish it before I move on to our November book. 

I am hoping… that I get a long-term contract, although it will require revamp our family's schedule, and I already have a hard time getting things done some days. 

I am hearing… the kids are playing with legos and the nerf gun downstairs.  In the last year, they do a lot more things together.  I guess Super doesn't seem like such a "baby" anymore.  I guess, probably because he isn't.  He just turned 8 in September.  You can't even call an 8 year old a "little" kid. Sigh.

Around the house… my house is really cluttered.  How does that happen? My kids go to school all day.  I work from home.  But yet, every flat surface in my house is covered.  I haven't vacuumed for at least a week.  I have been keeping up on laundry and dishes. But everything else? Not so much. 

One of my favorite things… is Fall.  I wish I could bottle it up and open it on a cold, miserable winter day, when it has been cold and miserable for weeks.  Or on a hot, miserable summer day, when it has been hot and miserable for weeks.  If I could have my perfect weather, it would just be Fall all year round. 

Just so I don't have just one post for August

It has been a busy summer.  Busier than most since I started working in mid-May, although my contract is set to end after tomorrow, so I may have some free time coming up soon. 

It has been nice to be working full-time again.  Especially money-wise.  And it has been nice to be working in my field again.

But it has been really hard too.  It is hard to get the grocery shopping done.  And the laundry, and the dishes.  And the garden has been neglected. And now it is preserving season, and I've only done a little bit so far because I'm so swamped with work.  I didn't see my kids much this summer. 

School started last week, and so far things are going well.  Super is in 2nd grade, Jelly Bean is in 5th, and Flower is in 7th.  They all like their teachers and have classes with their friends.  I think that this is the best start to a school year that we have ever had.

Both Super and Jelly Bean are on a competitive swim team this year and that keeps our evenings busy.  Flower is doing piano, and they are all in Youth Choir again.  Oh, and Flower has Drama Club and Team Quest (scholastic club) again. 

Mr. Simple is still painting, although he recently applied for a full time job in his previous field.  We are sort of hoping that he gets it.  I'm looking for another contract or a full-time job.  It would be great if I could get a part-time contract again, but I don't see that happening.

I have a birthday type of post (it was my birthday on the 27th!) but it isn't done yet.  Maybe next week. 

You've got a friend?

When I was a child, I was the type of kid who got along with everyone, but only had a couple close friends.  When I was a teenager, I still got along with everyone, but I rarely did anything outside of school with anyone but the 9 other people in my group of friends.  I went to school, and mostly hung out with my roommates, but we weren't really "close" friends, and we would always lose touch after the year was over.  I started working and again, I got along with others, but I never did anything with anyone outside of work.  I got married.  And then mostly did things with Mr. Simple. 

I do have about 175 friends on Facebook.  People that I've known from past jobs. People that I've met in the past 10 years. People from childhood. 

But, at least 50 of the people on Facebook that I am friends with, I have NEVER met in person.  Most of them, I "met" online many, many years ago.  It was early 1998, and I had just had my first miscarriage.  I didn't know anyone in "real life" who had gone through a miscarriage, besides my mother, and so I went searching to find if there was anyone out there.  And there was.  And the women that I met under sad circumstances then, well, we have watched each other's lives over the past 14 years as we had more children, got divorced, had medical problems, had spouses die, etc.  I've asked for advice and given advice over the years.  My friendship with these women has been/is very important to me. 

But then there is my real life. 

I've gone in waves with "real life" friends.  When I had my first child, but I was working full-time, I had very few friends.  When I started teaching preschool in the morning, and had my afternoons "free", it made my schedule much more flexible.  I could do the park, I could do playdates, I could do the museum, etc.  I had more friends, but it was often just women who had kids the same ages as mine. 

But my kids started growing up.  We were homeschooling and I didn't see other moms at school. I was doing daycare, and couldn't really get out to other activities.  So my circle of "moms with kids" friends grew smaller.  Last year, my kids all went back to public school and so I do have some women that I've met because of that, but only one or two that I've done things outside of school, and that was because my child had been friends with their child since Kindergarten, etc.

Also, for most of my life, I was very involved at church.  And there were many opportunities at the church we attended to be with adults, particularly women. I enjoyed talking to these women about all sorts of things - church things, kid things, fashion things LOL I had a large-ish group of women from church that I would do things with outside of church - baby showers, girls night out, movies, that sort of thing. I had been hanging out with some of them for over 10 years.

And then, we decided recently, for reasons that I will NOT be going into on this blog, to stop attending this church. And it has been difficult, at best, to maintain friendships with these women, if for no other reason, because I am not attending many of the same activities as they are anymore.  So my circle of "women from church" friends has greatly diminished. We are attending another church, and the people at the new church are nice and friendly, but there has only been one woman who I have really talked to at any point outside of church. 

When I was doing preschool and daycare, there were plenty of days that talking to the parents would be my only form of adult conversation that I had that day, outside of conversations with my husband. But then I decided to quit last March so that I could focus on my Simply Living In The City business and my freelance writing and training business.

And now, I meet people through my Simply Living In The City business, and that is great, especially since I love talking about Simple stuff and hearing about how other people are trying to live that way, but for the most part, it has not led to any sort of friendships that involved getting together outside of a Simply Living In The City class or whatever. 

I meet people through my freelance writing and training jobs, and that is nice too.  But when it is at home/offsite work, it is really difficult to have much interaction. And when it is at a client site, well, work is busy, and I just have never felt comfortable in establishing friendships with work colleagues outside of work anyway.  So I don't have (and never really have had) friendships with people that I met at work. 

Which means, right now, I have very, very few "real life" friends.  At least the kind that you could say "Hey, I don't have anything going on tonight, do you want to go to a movie?" or "Let's take the kids to the pool today" sort of friends.  Or "I just need to vent about something" sort of friends. 

I know that friendship, in general changes, over the years.  As an adult, with children, with work, with a spouse, etc., time to do things with friends is usually quite limited.  That is true for me, and most people that are around my age.  I know that your relationship with your family is and should be more important than your relationship with friends. 

But sometimes - well, to be really honest, I'm on a roll, so I might as well keep going LOL - Often, I miss having "real life" friends.  I miss the days of going to movies, going to dinner.  I miss the days of hanging out with our kids at the park, at the pool.  I miss talking about church. I miss talking about parenting.  I miss talking about fashion.  I miss just talking out loud about life to someone besides my husband.

And trust me, there are times when Mr. Simple really wishes I had someone to talk to about life besides him.  :)