I Have Stopped Doing My Quarterly Checklist

 

I quit!  I’m not doing it anymore!  Okay, that may be an overstatement.  Let’s just say I’m not going to be doing it as often.  Instead of doing my quarterly housekeeping checklist I am now doing a semiannual checklist meaning that I only do it twice a year.  It's the same list, I just don't have to do it as often.  I’d say that is progress!

 

Since I’ve simplified my home and decluttered a lot of things I was finding that most of the things I used to clean on a quarterly basis really weren’t that dirty.  I was either cleaning clean things or skipping those items until next time.  When that became a regular habit I decided to change my approach and stop running through my checklist every three months and have instead opted to do it every six months.  Because of my regular daily cleaning habits and frequent decluttering sessions I find this is working out very well for me.

 

Surprisingly, things aren’t really any dirtier either.  With this new routine I have more time to devote to getting each of these tasks done and I don’t feel rushed.  Everything is clean, organized and tidy which makes it so enjoyable to live in my home every day.  I don’t have that constant nagging in the back of my mind that something needs to be done because I am easily able to stay on top of things.

 

By switching to a semiannual housekeeping schedule I have more time to spend on outdoor projects, maintenance, etc.  I also have a lot more time for fun stuff like crafts, hobbies, the great outdoors and spending time with my loved ones.  It has been a nice change and I’m very glad I decided to do it.

Aging In Place?

 

A couple of months ago I took a tumble from my stairway and landed hard on my right knee onto the tile entry floor.  I hit so hard that initially I thought I’d broken my patella (knee cap) and the pain was so excruciating that I nearly threw up and passed out at the same time.  I’ve never felt pain like that before and it really scared me.  I was lucky this time.  Nothing was broken and within a few days I was fine, but it was definitely a wakeup call.  In my mind I think I’m thirty, but my body isn’t and I tend to forget that.  In the past year I’ve done some pretty stupid things and I keep hurting myself.  I need to slow down and pay better attention to what I am doing before I seriously injure myself.

 

With that in mind I’ve had to sit down and really do some soul searching and face the fact that I’m not going to get any younger.  I have to focus on taking care of myself, inside and out, and I need to think about living in a place where I can do that to the best of my ability long term.  As much as I love my current home it is not conducive to aging in place and I know it.  My current residence is a two story townhouse with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an eighth of an acre yard with no homeowners association meaning I am responsible for the care and maintenance outside as well as the inside of my home.  I bought it in 1995 as my “starter” home with no plans to live in it for the rest of my life.  I have been here thirty years.  This house has seen a lot of changes as I raised my family here and it has served me well, but it won’t be able to indefinitely.

 

Even though I am still young (I am 60 years old right now) I have some health issues that do affect my daily life.  At the age of twenty I had a stroke and when you are young like that you can do all the things to make your recovery have the best outcome as possible, however my weaker left side is giving me some grief as I am getting older.  Since my stroke the two things I’ve had the most trouble with are riding a bike and going up a flight of stairs.  Along with the arthritis in my joints (knees, hips, ankles, wrists, hands, elbows, etc.) I am having more difficulty with the stairs.

 

As a retired patient coordinator I had to sit down and really assess my current situation and take a good hard look at where I am at with my health, my heart and artery issues, my auto immune disorder as well as my current physical state and make some realistic assessments including a risk assessment.  I had to have the hard conversation with myself and accept that in no way is this house set up to accommodate anyone with mobility issues.  It is also a lot of work for me to keep up and maintain this house every year.  Hard fact - I won’t be able to successfully stay in my current home and age in place.

 

The time has come to start making some plans and looking at other options.  It will be much easier for me to do it now while I am younger than for me to wait until I am much older and struggling.  I’ve been doing a lot of research and brainstorming and I’m ready for a new adventure.  While it saddens me to leave this house and all of the wonderful memories it holds for me it is also exciting to think about opening a new chapter in my life.  It is going to be a big change.  HUGE!

 

I have a lot to do to prepare and get ready for what lies ahead, but I am not in a hurry.  By starting this process early I have time to get things done and make decisions and I have some pretty big decisions to make.  Because of the housing market here, this change will also include me having to move to a different state.  To do what I want to do, I will have to leave Idaho.  How about that?

 

Amazing Meals From The Pantry #7

 

This month I embarked on a two month pantry challenge.  Pantry challenges are a great way to save money, but even more importantly they help me use things up and curb food waste.  I typically will start my pantry challenge with the freezer on top of my refrigerator to do just that.

 

One of the things I did was to use up some frozen cream I had in the freezer.  A couple months ago I had a carton of cream nearing its best buy date so I had poured it into ice trays and frozen it in cubes to use later on.  I was able to stretch the quart of cream I bought at the beginning of the month by using a couple of those cubes each time I made my daily cup of Keto coffee.

 

It was time to do some meal prepping!  The goal being to use up some open packages and jars of stuff and refill my kitchen freezer with lots of nutritious meals to just grab, thaw and reheat.  I donned my new apron and got to work!

 

I had an older package of shrimp from 2023 that was vacuum sealed and was in the top freezer as well as a package of asparagus from last year, a partial package of bacon, a steak and a small package of frozen sliced onions and peppers.  I started out by cooking up all of that bacon and the rendered fat was used for the other recipes I was going to make.  I like to have already prepared bacon on hand to add to salads and other recipes.  Cooked bacon freezes well too.

 

I had extra eggs that needed to be used so I hard boiled some and the rest went into a small quiche that I baked in my oven along with a lovely coffee cake and an applesauce cake.  After it had cooled I cut this quiche into fourths and put each piece into a meal prep container and back into the freezer.

 

Next up I used all of the frozen cabbage, some onion, a grated carrot and two jars of pork sausage to make a delicious batch of eggroll in a bowl.  The day before I had prepared a cup of rice so it would be ready for my meal prepping day.  Using a cup of the cooked rice, some of the bacon and some of my eggs I made fried rice.  I added the end of a bag of peas & carrots and the rest of a bag of riced cauliflower too. I paired these in meal containers for another easy to grab and reheat dinner for the freezer.

 

I used another cup of the cooked rice, a half pound package of lean ground beef and a jar of my home canned black beans to make Fiesta Rice (recipe to come).  I was able to make this and use up an open jar of salsa I had in the refrigerator, a half pint of salsa from the pantry as well as the remains of an open bag of frozen corn.  I divided this into four dishes and plan to top each one with a bit of cheddar cheese when I reheat them.

 

All of this left my kitchen!

Next I sliced up the sirloin steak and stir fried it with the frozen onions and peppers along with some taco spice from the cupboard to make a small batch of fajitas.  I decided to just freeze this in one container with the idea that I can use it later for a quick meal with a couple flour tortillas, some grated cheese and then top with a dab of sour cream.  This should be enough for two meals for me.

 

Washing up as I go

Lastly, but certainly not least, I cleaned up the shrimp and sautéed it with the asparagus, a dab if butter and used up an open jar of pesto I had in the refrigerator.  I had enough for three dishes to serve as a side with a nice grilled steak, chicken fillet or a nice piece of salmon.

 

After cleaning up my kitchen the coffee cake and applesauce cake were cool enough for icing.  I drizzled a simple vanilla glaze over the coffee cake.  I had a half block of cream cheese in the refrigerator that I used to make a nice frosting using up the remainder of a bag of powdered sugar I had in the pantry since the holidays.  It made enough for two cakes so I froze half and frosted the cake with the other half.

 

The freezer on top of my refrigerator is now restocked with loads of delicious and easy meals to keep me going this summer and will help me and my kitchen stay cool.  I also have several servings of coffee cake and applesauce cake on hand to serve whenever someone pops by for a visit.  In the process I was able to eliminate potential food waste by using up a ton of items I already had on hand.  Big wins here!

 

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 171

 

Hello friends!  This past week began with our Independence Day holiday, a lot of good food and a very late night as our neighbors were popping off until well after midnight.  I stayed inside and kept my nervous kitties company until it was over.  Jack took refuge in the downstairs hall closet while Stella stayed upstairs under my bed.  Toward the end they came out realizing nothing bad was going to happen to them and hung out with me for another hour until all was quiet and we could go to bed.  It is safe to say I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday.  I love what it stands for, but I can do without the adverse affects it has on animals and some people, especially our veterans.

 

NY strip steaks & macaroni salad for the 4th!

The deck refurbishing project was put on hold as our weather was all over the map.  We had a two day heat wave followed by a windstorm and a duststorm and then a thunderstorm with rain.  I was happy about the rain, but it means I am going to have to do some re-sanding.  Before I could do that however we got another heat wave so I decided that Mother Nature was trying to tell me something so I acquiesced and enjoyed some downtime.  After such a busy month of June I figure I had earned it.

Clean & sanitized

Sunday was my day to wash up all of my bedding and remake the bed.  I vacuumed my mattress, gave it a Lysol spray and then turned it.  After washing the mattress cover in bleach and hot water and running it through a hot dryer until it was thoroughly dried I put it back on the bed.  Then I remade the bed with all of the freshly washed and dried bedding.  Every time I clean the mattress I’m always amazed and rather disgusted at what the vacuum cleaner pulls up even though I always have it completely covered and I regularly wash and bleach that cover.  So gross!

 

I invested in some replacement lids for my Pyrex food storage containers.  I was able to get four lids from Amazon for $12.99 which may sound expensive unless you price the containers themselves at the store.  The lids have gone up a lot in price recently, but so have the containers.  I do feel it is better and less wasteful to buy these lids rather than buy new containers, especially as I use them practically every day for meal prepping and storing leftovers.

 

Before I went into work on Monday I had the pleasure of replacing the worn out gasket on the kitchen sink drain basket.  Finding water in the bottom of my trash can a couple of times had clued me in that this task had come due.  While plumbing rates as one of the lowest on my list of fun things to do I am blessed with the ability and knowledge of knowing how to do a few things.  Long ago my dad taught me the basics – “All you need to know is $h!t runs downhill and payday is on Friday”.  I took it from there.

 

Done!

Cleaning up and reorganizing the garage last month let me also know that I already had everything I needed to complete this job in the garage.  A new gasket and some plumbers putty as well as a few tools from the toolbox and in less than a half hour I had it done, my tools put away, the sink scrubbed clean, my hands scrubbed clean and the rest of my mess cleaned up.  I was very happy to have that job completed and no more drips or water in the trash can.

 

Monday and Tuesday were my only work days last week with Tuesday being the most exciting when I took a large group of nineteen seniors whitewater rafting.  Yes, you heard that right we went down the Payette River on a big rubber raft and we had a blast.  Afterward we stopped off in a little town on our way back to the Senior Center and had dinner and it was really good.  I have the best job ever!  And they pay me to do this!

 

The storage area in the back of the closet is practically empty 😊

Even though I took in a HUGE load of donations to the thrift store a couple weeks ago I am still finding stuff!  I went through the downstairs hall closet and removed two jackets I never wear anymore and the last of my beer brewing supplies.  I went through the junk drawer and found a few items to donate and toss, went through the OTC medicine bin and found a couple more things in there to get rid of and I even let go of a few more sentimental items I realized aren’t really all that sentimental to me anymore and haven’t been for quite a while.

 

My junk drawer

In the pantry I got rid of some excess packaging and added that along with this week’s junk mail to the recycle bin.  The blue wheelie bin is full of recycling and ready to go to the curb for pickup again.  I also shredded some more papers with sensitive information on them.  Paper clutter is never ending, I tell you.

 

This guy has been getting a workout in the last month

More recycling heading out of here

I decluttered 80% of the cat toys from their basket in the living room and kept only the ones I know they play with.  I took about a half dozen toy mice and placed them inside the catnip bag I keep on the top shelf of the pantry where the kitties can’t get to it.  I’ve been giving them one each day to play with and they are enjoying that very much.  It’s been fun to watch, ha, ha, ha.

 

While dodging the heat I was able to use up some more craft and office supplies I had on hand to update my dayplanner so it now includes calendar and planning pages for 2026.  I’ve also been working on a lot of future planning as well as some 2026 vacation plans that may come to fruition.  Even though we are only halfway through this year I’m also thinking about and mapping out next year’s household budgets so I can have a good solid plan well ahead of the upcoming new year.  I feel like the better prepared I am the more successful I will be.

 

Another bag full of donations & I'm hoping to fill up this box too

And that was that!  How was your week?

 

I'm Melting…Melting!

 

That’s right and it’s not because of the summer heat right now, but rather that my body is back to proper function.  I shared with you last fall that I now have a different cardiologist and she made a change to my medication.  Primarily she took me off the medication that I was having a lot of side effects with and ultimately I ended up allergic to.  One of the side effects that I worried about the most was the steady climb in my weight.  When I had mentioned it to my old cardiologist he told me I just needed to accept it.

 

In total, over the three years I was taking that particular medication, I gained twenty six pounds.  In my mind I just couldn’t see how carrying that much extra weight was good for me, especially for my heart which is what the medication was initially prescribed for.  I also didn’t like the changes I was seeing in annual my blood tests.  It just didn’t make much sense.

 

Another complication was that my old cardiologist insisted that I not eat low carb or Keto anymore, although the Mayo Clinic said it was fine.  I did try the Mediterranean diet, as suggested, but with all the carbs I just felt like a slug and I really didn’t enjoy the food.  Once I stopped taking the medication that was giving me so much trouble I also went back to a REAL food low carbohydrate lifestyle and some amazing things began to happen.

 

The first thing I noticed right away was that I no longer felt exhausted all of the time and I stopped falling asleep in my chair at 7:00 at night.  Almost immediately I rebounded with so much more energy and endurance.  I was able to get back to doing things I haven’t been able to do all that well in the past few years.  Even more impressive is that the hives and itching stopped within a week’s time and that was a huge relief.

 

I was told that the weight would come back off, but it might take a while until I got all of that medication out of my system and that turned out to be true.  For the first few months my weight stayed the same, but at least I wasn’t gaining anymore.  I tried not to get too discouraged by telling myself it took over three years to get to this point so don’t expect it to happen overnight.  Then the weight started to steadily fall off and needless to say I am relieved.

 

Carrying that extra weight was hard on me, both emotionally and physically, because I didn’t feel good about it and I didn’t like how I looked or having to buy bigger clothes.  I also was having a lot of joint pain.  It took me about six months after I quit taking that medication before I really started to see a change, but now I’m thrilled to be feeling and looking so much better these days.  By the time I go in for my next annual visit in September I should be right back on track.  I have lost a total of twenty pounds with only five more to go.  Once I’ve lost those last pounds I’ll be back to the weight I was when all of this craziness started.  I’m almost there.

 

Finishing Up The Garage Declutter

 

Everything I have or will be bringing into my house needs to have a home because without that it just becomes stuff.  That includes the garage too.  Without a place to store our items we end up with clutter and chaos making it more difficult to do what we like to do.  We struggle to find what we need when we take on a project.  We can’t keep an inventory of what we actually have on hand so we end up buying more we didn't need.  Working in this way and living in chaos adds stress and anxiety to our daily lives.  My goal is to always work to improve my quality of life.  Regularly cleaning, maintaining and organizing my home is one of those ways I can improve my quality of life.  I want to enjoy going out to the garage, not dread it.

 

When my BFF was here during my staycation we were able to make a good dent in decluttering my garage. I got rid of a bunch of stuff I definitely did not need like a ton of cardboard boxes I had been saving just in case I needed “a good box”.  There may have been an eyeroll from someone.  I filled up my recycling wheelie bin and set it at the curb for collection.  After it was emptied I ended up filling it up a second time.  I gathered up all of the donations I had collected and got that pile dropped off at the thrift store.  I also dropped off the glass recycling.

 

Getting better

I later went out there to clean and reorganize the shelves I had decluttered.  I like to have like items with like, that is what makes the most sense to me when I am organizing.  When I was finished I was thrilled to see some open spaces.  Things were no longer jam packed.  When I have too much stuff and not enough room to store it I tend to get frustrated because I knock things off the shelves when I’m moving stuff around to get to what I need.  I had eliminated the potential for this to be a problem anymore.  Yippee!

 

Love this!  So much nicer! 😀

I ended up moving that green extension cord

A week later I made it back out there to work on the other side where I have a set of shelves that hold all of my supplies for my vehicles, the yard and garden, the house as well as all of my power tools.  After decluttering and clearing the shelves I wiped them down and then put everything back on placing like items together.  All of my supplies for taking care of my vehicles are on one shelf.  The yard and garden supplies and bug sprays now sit together on another.

 

I decided to eliminate the big bin I kept my power tools in because it had become too heavy and was getting difficult to get on and off the shelf.  Instead I emptied it out finding five worn out blades for my reciprocal saw at the bottom.  I have no idea why I saved those.  After tossing those out I placed the tools on the shelf next to my miter saw so I now have them all on one shelf and easy to access.

 

The vacuum cleaner now has a place to live on the bottom shelf.  The power washer sits next to it and on the wall right next to the shelf I installed a bracket to hold the wand and hose for the power washer.  Bungi cords become a tangled mess so I hung them up on the side of the shelf so that won’t happen anymore.  My step stool has a home when it is folded and not in use.  It now sits in between the shelf unit and the deep freezer.

 

Everything has a home

The front corner where I hang my yard tools was nice, but it could be nicer.  With a little rearranging and a few more brackets I was able to better organize them so it is much easier to access them without knocking others around or off onto the floor.  No one needs to get hit in the head with a shovel.  Well, maybe someone does, but it isn't me.  Anyway, everything has a home there too.  

 

After a break to hydrate and have a bite to eat I went back out to the garage to attack the top shelf where, yes I hate to admit it, I had more empty cardboard boxes.  For the third time I filled the recycle wheelie bin with broken down boxes.  The shelf is now empty except for one box filled with the empty flats I keep my empty canning jars in.  I’m good with that.

 

Before

Wow!

And with that my garage is officially done.  Moving forward I am going to really work hard to keep things neat, clean and tidy and not allow it to become a dumping ground out there or a place to hoard things I don’t need.  In fact, I’m hoping as time goes on to declutter more items and embrace the open spaces I create in the process.