It's been a long time since I have given our apartment a thorough scrub-down, so I've decided, now that the weather is getting cooler, that it would be a great time for fall cleaning. It will be wonderful to freshen the place up after the stuffy heat outside! I'll be keeping a list on the sidebar and updating it periodically over the next month. Here is the first area I plan on tackling:

Living Room/Dining Room:

1. Wash curtains
2. Dust blinds
3. Wipe down walls
4. Clean windows
5. Dust everything
6. Vacuum floors, furniture, and under furniture
7. Scrub tile and wipe down fireplace
8. Wipe down baseboards
9. Wash chandelier globes
10. Spot clean the carpet

My parents are coming to visit at the end of October (yay!), so that is my goal to have the whole thing accomplished. If there is anything I may be missing from this list, let me know!

I'm working my way through Cheryl Mendelson's monstrous book "Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House," which is the most exhaustive book I have ever seen on the subject. (But it's also the first book I have read entirely devoted to homemaking, so I don't really know what all else is out there . . . ) As I've been pouring over the pages, I have never felt so inadequate at my own housekeeping skills, and yet so excited to embrace new ways of doing things that I had never thought of before.

My greatest delight is discovering how to make a house a home, and not just a place to sleep every night. While describing the way to perform certain tasks, the author infuses meaning into what may seem mundane, from place settings to sheet folding, and keeps them from being monotonous tasks. She gives simple chores a vibrance and life that seem lacking in my own thoughts about homemaking. Reading her words gave me fresh inspiration for how I run my own home, and I'm only halfway through the book!

Being a working wife, I don't have the time and energy to keep my home running as efficient as the author seems to do. I dream of having a home where my family can gather, eat meals together, sit by the fire, and snuggle under warm blankets. A place where memories are made as we play, study, and worship together. I'm excited to one day make this a reality (Lord willing!), and I'm delighted to have read such a resource that encourages women to enjoy the art of keeping house.

I apologize that this post was a bit long in coming. To refresh yourselves on my first article, see Women in the Workforce Pt. 1. My intention with the second post in this series is to discuss my thoughts on home management while also working full time. However, since my schedule is currently in flux, I've been trying to figure out what would be best to write, so I have been slow to get it all down on the computer.

As a working wife, I struggle to find the time to work and keep home. I can't even imagine how the "Superwomen" of our culture pretend to manage this! I know I never could. I would like to discuss more about how I think the Bible addresses the subject of working women in my next post, but for now I'll just mention what my current routine looks like, and how I juggle both responsibilities.

I've been blessed to have a position in which when I come home, I'm home. I don't have to think about the office, what needs to be done, who else I need to call, etc. So when I get home, I just concern myself with my serving my husband and taking care of daily tasks. I wouldn't ever want a job where my main focus isn't my family. Someday Hubby and I plan for me to stay home while we raise children together, so now is valuable time to learn the skills I need once children come along. Even still, I find my time is tight, since most of it is presently consumed at the office. It can be very difficult to find the time to keep house.

I'm sure most every woman could say this, but I find that I just don't have enough hours in the day. I'm committed to the office from 8 to 5 (more if you count preparing to leave in the morning and commuting), so I'm left with only 5 or so hours at the end of the day before I crash at 10:30. Since those hours are precious, I'm trying to get a schedule in line to make the most of the time I have. With my indecisive nature, this schedule is always being tweaked. Many times it is also because I'm tired from a long day at work, but others it simply is because I want to spend time with Hubby. It is more important to me to have a messy house than to neglect the one I love.

Making a schedule and sticking to it as always been somewhat of a challenge for me. As I've mentioned before, I am currently in flux, transitioning from one schedule to another. I usually save one major cleaning activity for the evening, along with cooking, dishes, and laundry. Some nights I relax with Hubby, others he needs to study, so I find other projects such as my sewing when Hubby is busy. I find it too difficult to do all the chores on Saturday, since this tends to be Hubby's free day as well.

Here is a brief rundown of my old schedule:
Monday: Cleaning the bathroom
Tuesday: Decluttering and organizing
Wednesday: Vacuuming and dusting
Thursday: Cleaning the kitchen
Friday: Making the bed and meal planning
Saturday: Groceries

The problem I have with this schedule is that if I don't get something done that day, it probably won't get done until the next week. I also don't have a place for "fun" tasks, such as reading, sewing, or cross-stitching. I also am trying to transition to grocery shopping on Tuesday evenings after work, since the local farmer's market operates that day, and I would love to shop then rather than twice a week.

As I'm transitioning, I hope to put more emphasis on improving my skills as a housewife (I have no idea how to fold fitted sheets!), and I hope to create a home from the apartment we live in. If I can create a schedule that allows me to grow as a homemaker, spend time with Hubby, and be as good of a steward of my time as possible, I'll be happy.

So I've been meaning to highlight some of the sites that I especially like that are on our sidebar. These are rather recent websites and blogs I've come across, and I am eager to share them!

DesignTalk: Home Design Help
I came across this website/blog when I was looking for help with my living room, and I really like it! They answer questions about home design and have a lot of great ideas. They are clear, easy to understand, and illustrate their ideas with pictures which is nice for visual people like me.

PDF Online
Do you have a file that you need converted to a PDF, but don't have Adobe Acrobat Pro? Well this site is a great resource for you! It's fast, easy, and best of all - free. They do a variety of documents (including Microsoft Word), and there's no registration necessary. I used this service especially when I was searching for a job two years ago.

DivShare
Since I work in the printing industry, I am often having to transfer really large files to and from clients. When something is too big to email, I recommend DivShare to them. No complaints yet!

What the Font?!
With a clever name, this site has been very useful to me as a designer! I can upload an image with the font I want to identify, and they come back with their options. If you don't have an image, check out Identifont for a similar service.

ChiliTried
For those who are familiar with ChiliHead, she now has a new site with product reviews! I especially enjoyed her review of a just-for-redheads makeup brand. :-) I can imagine this site will be a valuable resource as I continue to learn about how to be a homemaker.

Number Gossip
Okay, this site is just for fun. :-) You type in a number, and it tells you all the cool things about that number. You might appreciate this more if you are a math lover.

Finding Contentment in the Suburbs
Started by Lindsey from Enjoy the Journey fame, a blog about avoiding the common pitfall of always wanting more-more-more money. This site comes at a perfect time for me, as my husband and I are approaching (albeit slowly!) that same quandary. It's not about get-rich-quick, but about being content with what God's given you.

Frugal Living Journal
While we're on the subject of finances, I have enjoyed this website which gives practical tips of living frugally. Being a good steward of God's resources and being content with what He's given to you go hand-in-hand.

Happy Tails
Animal lover that I am, I was excited to see that Mrs. B has a blog devoted just to animals! She already has posted some great advice about dogs, and I look forward to future posts. It makes me want to start a blog about my own pets...

Living in Peru
Okay, I'm not sure if ANY of our readers will find this interesting, but here is a site all about living in Peru - AND it's in English! As most of you know, I grew up as a missionary kid in Peru so I always enjoy finding resources like this. :-) You can read my 10 Things About Peru here to learn more about this beautiful country.

That's all for now! Happy reading. :-) And if you have a site you recommend, let us know!

I'm quite good at procrastinating. I find it very easy to get distracted when I have so many things going on. It's not that I'm lazy and sitting around doing nothing, it's that I find it more interesting to be reading or knitting than cleaning or organizing, so the "fun" tasks tend to be done before the more urgent ones.

As a result, my main "projects" this week have been put on the back burner. My goal was to clean and thoroughly reorganize my kitchen, but many distractions have eaten away at my time. The refrigerator has been cleaned out, but the cabinets are still in disarray and the counters are cluttered. I hope to get to them soon, but I'm sure my time will vanish more quickly than I'd like!

While only completing this one extra task has been discouraging, I noticed something about my refrigerator. A lot has gone to waste. I threw out half a pound of asparagus that I bought last week. I tossed an almost unused bag of mozzarella cheese that had turned blue. I cleaned out a storage container with leftovers that had spoiled. I think back to my grandmother's generation, where every last scrap of food is used up. And here I am, throwing out a relatively large portion of what I buy!

When it comes to food, I've got to be more purposeful with my abundance. Hubby and I can afford to eat fresh produce and meat, but I sometimes let it spoil because I forget about it, push that certain food aside to make something else, or just decide to eat out instead. I need to be more purposeful about the way I use up food. Instead of throwing out the old bananas, make bread. Instead of buying lunch, use up leftovers. Once I do that, I hope to see how much more richly God has blessed us in this area of life.

Stolen from A Gracious Home. :-)

Aprons – Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like?
I've never owned one, but I keep thinking it would be a good thing to have, especially since I usually cook in my work clothes!

Baking – Favorite thing to bake
Brownies

Clothesline – Y/N?
No, but we have a drying rack that we use all the time.

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Nope - not that ambitious. :-)

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day
Open all the blinds to get some light in my house!

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
nope, and I wouldn't have anywhere to put it if we did!

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
we have one, but I'm not used to using it because I didn't grow up with one

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
"Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House" by Cheryl Mendelson

Ironing – Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
"Hate" is a very strong word. Let's say, too lazy to do it :-)

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
Well we have "misc" drawer in the kitchen, but it's pretty organized

Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme
Creme cupboards, light wood-looking countertops, medium-wood-looking laminate floor, pretty pale peach and creme stucco-looking wallpaper... our dishes are all bright reds, yellows, blues, and green... a Mexican theme! When we move into our first house, I'll probably tie the walls into the Mexican theme, but for now I take what I can get :-)

Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Having everything clean!

Mop – Y/N?
Only when we have an un-housetrained puppy :-)

Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
I rarely wear them, but when I do I usually throw them in the washing machine

Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check?
Well I peak through the door unless it's almost done, and then I open it!

Pizza – What do you put on yours?
Cheese and pepperoni - I'm boring

Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Usually do something related to email or my blogs... I also like watching TV shows on DVD

Recipe card box – Y/N? What does it look like?
Nope, although I suspect I will get one as I start cooking more

Style of house – What style is your house?
A townhouse... How else can I describe it?

Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N?
Neither, though we do use placemats

Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland?
fairly organized - I keep most of my cleaning agents in the laundry room which is next to the kitchen

Vacuum – How many times per week?
whenever company comes over :-) (which translates to, one every couple of weeks!)

Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
Hmm I mostly do laundry whenever we are completely out of clothes, and then I do like 5 loads... but I'd like to get on a schedule for laundry and I think that would be about 2 loads per week

X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
Only in my head :-)

Yard – Y/N? Who does what?
We don't have one. The apartment complex takes care of the bit o' grass in front of our townhouse

Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Usually some tidying up and getting ready for tomorrow