Nesting - big time!

It would be a bit embarrassing to have anyone over to our house right now.  Really.  I'm not the cleanest wife in the world nor was I the cleanest daughter in the world when I was living at home!  But looking around me right now... well... it's pretty bad.  I would take a picture to show you, but I think I'll wait until I get it looking at least half-way decent first! 

I am nesting.  A lot.  And to make matters worse, I'm one of those people who can only do 1 or 2 things half-way decent at a time.  (I should be preparing to teach the kids their home school lessons!)  Right now, it is decluttering the ENTIRE house for a fund-raising sale - and putting away food for the winter.  With the cleaning, I feel like yard sale season is tumbling towards me and is going to knock me down and keep on going before I ever get around to having our sale.  And with storing the garden produce, I feel like I'm a busy squirrel frantically gathering nuts for the winter so I won't have to think so hard about the menu after bringing home our new family members.

Today, as a labor of love because I would have just froze them, my oldest daughter and I canned 4 half-pints of pickled baby corn at the request of my husband... and my oldest daughter..., froze 4 bags of sliced zucchini, and made the preparations for canning zucchini relish tomorrow.  We also need to pick and can more dilly beans (I sure hope they are good!),  bake some sugar pie pumpkins in order to store the pumpkin puree, and at some point I still need to pick the basil and turn it into basil jelly...

And right now, I should be heading to bed.   My husband and I just finished sealing the grout on a small mudroom we tiled - in anticipation for the freezer chest that will be arriving tomorrow morning.  I'm actually really excited about the freezer chest.  Since I have gone on this "storing food for winter" kick, I have run out of freezer space.  My plan is to get a 1/4 or a 1/2 a side of beef to put in the freezer and then stuff the rest of the freezer full of homemade meals that I will lovingly serve on our new dishes. 

We have waited years and years to get new dishes (we just celebrated 15 years of marriage!).  For the past few years, our dishes haven't really matched.  And because I like the lightness and durability of them so much, I rescued my mom's old Corelle dishes from one of her yard sales and started using them for our own.  They aren't exactly... stylish, but they work great - which made me finally break down and order a set (different from my moms!) - with enough plates and bowls to go around for all of us, our new children, and any company we may have over. 

As it is so late and my mind is rambling a bit, I was thinking about putting some of the plates and bowls in drawers instead of the cupboard, which would make it easier for little hands to put the dishes away.  All I would have to do is find some other place for all the items in our junk drawer(s)!

Okay... before I tell too much embarrassing stuff about my lack of housecleaning skills I had better call it a night!  But first, I want to tell my husband how much I love him, how I thank God for him, and for the wonderful 15 years of marriage.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for us for the next 15 years!  Thank you for working so hard for our family and for being a great dad!  I love you!  (And now I will go put the laundry away that is piled on our bed so you can go to sleep!)

Night'

Karen