Happy Homemaker Monday

 Today I am starting off the week with another round of Happy Homemaker Monday, which is a blogger connection hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Since homemaking is my day job, it makes sense to have a regular update in which I discuss all things homely.

The Weather:
 Even though it was in the eighties last Friday and in the seventies last Saturday, we won't see any temperatures above sixty-five for this week, which depresses me, as I really enjoyed walking around without a coat and putting Owen in just a t-shirt. I hope it warms up soon, because the beginning of spring is Wednesday.

Right Now I Am:
 Sitting on our enormous, brand-new-to-us couch! We needed a new couch for our larger living room and managed to get a free one from my father-in-law's co-worker. The couch only cost us thirty dollars to rent a u-haul to pick it up. It is not a beautiful couch, as it is obvious it should not be sold to anyone for any money, but it has no rips, bugs, weird smells, or suspicious stains so it is perfect.

Thinking:
 I am beyond excited about the NCAA Tournament this year, which is not good, since UNC is not fielding the best team, so I have a horrible fear we will be out of the tournament early. But I have been feeling homesick lately and the excitement of March Madness takes me back to North Carolina for just a few minutes.

On My Reading Pile:
 I am getting ready to start The Mine by John Heldt, which is a book that I will be reviewing in three weeks on 300 Word Book Reviews. I need to read this book in order to write the review, but I am struggling to not blow everything off and download Catching Fire, after finishing The Hunger Games last week.

On My TV:
 We still don't have our television from Hawaii, so the only television I have been watching has been the ACC tournament on my computer and Thunder games at my in-laws. But Clifton is keeping a running list of TV shows and movies that have appeared on Netflix since we moved that must be watched, including a new season of Archer and The Goon.

Favorite Blog Post:
This week I wrote a funny short story about my experiences at a local Episcopal Church which I hope makes fun of my social awkwardness more than anything else, called The Time I Was Scared Out of Church.

Something Fun to Share:

From Our Little Coup a la Louis CK

On the Menu For This Week:
(I need to go grocery shopping.)
Broccoli Sausage
Hamburger Macaroni
BIRTHDAY OLIVE GARDEN

On My To-Do List:
- return toddler bed rail to Walmart
- buy new, shorter toddler bed rail
- buy Owen fancy socks shoes at Target for photo shoot and Easter Sunday
- get tickets for movie on Tuesday
- write book review on Mansfield Park

What I Am Creating:
 I have been making all sorts of organizational crafts around the house, one of which is pictured below:

The pantry for our apartment is in the hallway, so it is a bit of a pain to always bring out the essentials of cooking, like spices and oil. Fixing the spices problem was a cinch with the addition of a hanging spice rack, but the oils took a little thinking. Here is my solution. Two small oil bottles, one for my olive oil and the other for my sesame seed oil. One large oil bottle for fresh vegetable oil. A large open-mouthed container for used vegetable oil. All four containers are held in a plastic drawer organizer, which should prevent oil messiness above the refrigerator, where the oils are atop.
A simple solution for only seventeen dollars.

Homemaking Tip:
 Make a housekeeping schedule! Now that I am living in a new apartment with new things to regularly clean, I have crafted a new housekeeping schedule. I will post about my new housekeeping schedule later on next week, after I have been trying it out for a week.

Looking Around the House:
 Right now there are only TWO camping chairs in our living room, since we have an enormous couch to sit and lay on. We still are using two large shipping boxes as coffee and kitchen tables, but we now have a new bookshelf in the dining room and a new desk in our bedroom. Everything is a lot more clean and organized since last week, now that I have finished doing my deep cleaning and am now just maintaining our house until our furniture arrives, when the chaos will begin once again.

From the Camera:

On My Prayer List:
 Natalie Goins-Plummer was my aunt when she was married to my uncle Marc, but now that they are divorced she is a family friend whom I keep up with on Facebook. We are expecting baby boys at the same time, but her bun in the oven is having major heart development issues. I cannot imagine the emotions she, her husband, and my little cousins are handling, so I pray that God takes them all in hand to lead them through this time.

Daily Verse from An Anglican Prayer Blog:
 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he spoke this parable to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:2-7)