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holiday overload

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:29pm

Before kitchen:
https://imgur.com/ls7vW3W
https://imgur.com/IjPtMaf
https://imgur.com/PVpVRZG

After kitchen:
http://imgur.com/5N7CS8C
http://imgur.com/iqs7v4m
http://imgur.com/gvuPbWi

After these were taken I built a bench for the bay window...but I'm not through with it yet... I did it kind of half-assed because I'm going to be putting on some trim on the top and bottom edges using old crown molding, as well as around the shelves, and obviously cover the plywood with paneling or something.

I didn't end up updating the counter, because we laid out the tiles we have and DH seems to think we should go with something different altogether... so I told him that I was fine with whatever and he can just deal with it. Because of this, I also haven't bothered with the cabinetry - DH says it looks good as is anyway... so whatevs once again.... so I painted SS's room isntead.

SS's room before:
https://imgur.com/2wLpQ8V
https://imgur.com/nmQ0n9B
https://imgur.com/wU3TvKp

SS's room after:
https://imgur.com/udl2AAA
https://imgur.com/TjwZymg
https://imgur.com/Rqik9nw

I did manage to cook about 40 lbs of various meats and set it up in large freezer bags with veggies and sauces so it can just be dumped into the crockpot...because now that I'm back to work, I'm doing compressed hours... being gone from the house from 6am - 6pm is tough and the last thing I'm going to want to do is cook when I get home.

I'm still working on my girls' room - I actually got heat stroke pretty bad last week so a few days were a write off. Sad

I put up 3 roasts worth of jerky, processed about 30 lbs of apples into apple chips/apple rings and apple butter, made some pumpkin butter,
set up packages to use as replacements for sidekicks / uncle ben's rice/ hamburger helper (basically the spice mixes for each along with the rice/pasta measurements).

I posted a bunch of stuff to sell on facebook... who knew that market thing was decent... like Kijiji or a garage sale... but instant... strange. Made 200$ in half a day!

I also got fed up with my kids - F E D U P. I started this new system where I told them I'd give them an allowance each week... they were thrilled... then I told them I'd be charging a maid fee... and started lsiting off the cost for things like picking up their garbage, their dirty socks, doing their laundry, cleaning the counter after them, their dishes, their poop smears in the toilet, etc..... and told them that it was up to them how much of that allowance they'd get. I also received the first notice of homework not having been turned in... so I listed off the fee for any missed homework, any tardies, detentions, etc.... as well as things like being late for curfew, forgetting to lock the doors, forgetting to turn off the lights...

Their faces totally fell... because they KNOW they'd be getting NOTHING each week!

Day 1 was yesterday, and so far only one kid lost some money.

Today is another day.

Comments

moving_on_again's picture

Submitted by moving_on_again on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:41pm

How do you have so much energy? I didn't get a thing done this weekend.

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:46pm

lol... getting dressed first thing in the morning makes me have a productive day... if I don't get dressed until after having coffee, I drag my feet all day

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:52pm

thanks Smile

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:49pm

The paint actually came out a shade darker than it was supposed to be... but it still turned out ok, I'm quite happy with it. Biggrin

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 1:43pm

They're all grey. The middle swatch is a steel color... the top color is called Iron Alloy...

on the actual walls, it looks almost navy blue.

Very strange.

The tiles are all different shades... there's grey, dark blue, rust, brown, black... various shades of each

notasm3's picture

Submitted by notasm3 on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:57pm

We have a section 8 apartment complex for seniors in our backyard. We have made some wonderful friends there. The local grocery store gives them the produce that is about to become outdated. After they take what they want we are often gifted with boxes of produce.

I preserve, can, etc what I can. If I make something into a new product I will share it with the residents - example - a fresh pineapple became pineapple chutney. I made apple butter out of boxes of apples.

I am retired so I have time - but being very physically disabled I often need help to move heavy pots, etc.

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 1:40pm

Oh yessss that's my kind of place! Well.... eventually. lol

I do tend to buy much of my fruits/veggies for canning/preserving off the discount shelves.

I've never waited for ripe bananas... I get them at a buck for 8-10 and freeze them... or make banana chips...

Farmers markets here sell their stuff heavily discounted at the end of each day... I can get a crate of roma tomatoes for 4 or 5 dollars... a few large bunches of basil for 2 dollars... even onions - 25 lbs for 5$... they all get processed.

My mother had tons of cucumbers this year... they were seriously pulling out 4 or 5 foot longs a day... I used them to make relish, cucumber chips, pickles... they also have a crabapple tree in their yard, so I made some jelly...

My next door neighbor always brings me stuff she gets for super cheap as long as I give her some of whatever I make... she brought me a couple baskets of strawberries earlier in the year - I made jam... ended up with 6 pints of it - she told me to keep 4... she's also given me pounds and pounds of zucchini... I used it all up for zucchini bread - I made 14 loaves - she told me to keep 10

LOVE IT.

strugglingSM's picture

Submitted by strugglingSM on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 1:01pm

My DH and I thought we were going to paint our living room together. Painted one wall and almost killed one another. Then DH decided that the paint color he picked is not dark enough for his liking...so, right now, we have one slightly darker wall and some trim that needs fixing. Oh well, maybe someday we'll bring a painter in to do it...

I love the idea of charging a maid fee. If SSs were my kids or were with us more often, I'd totally institute that. Now, I can't even ask them to bring their dishes downstairs or tell them that they can't eat upstairs if they don't bring dishes downstairs. DH just thinks I'm being mean to his little cherubs.

secret's picture

Submitted by secret on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 1:26pm

I'm lucky in that regard...because mine are older, I already had the ground rules like no eating anywhere but the kitchen/dining room and if they have permission, in front of the tv in the living room... and so far DH has been following my lead with that kind of stuff... once, SS had sticky fingers from jam... DH didn't clean him up so SS is walking around with jam hands... I didn't say anything, just handed DH a washcloth and cleaning spray... he's looking at me like...uhhh what? So I told him that was to clean up ss's sticky handprints on the walls, couch, table and anything else he touched... DH always made sure SS's hands were clean after eating after that... lol