Party Punch

We had our party Saturday, and it went really well.
Everyone enjoyed the food and drinks.

I made this non-alcohol sangria juice and it was such a hit with the guests that they drank all 4 jugs of the drink I made.  ( my camera is charging, I will add the photo later today)

Here is the recipe if you want to try it this summer.

Sangria Juice - makes 1 jug

1 Cup Orange Juice
4 cups Grape Juice
1-2 cups Sprite or Spritz-up pop to top it up to your liking.
1/2 fresh lemon, sliced thinly
1 peach sliced thinly ( or an apple)
1/2 small orange or clementine finely sliced.
a few strawberries, thinly sliced
A handful of blueberries

Mix together the orange juice and grape juice in a serving container such as a jug or a punch bowl.  Add approx 1-2 cups of Sprite or Spritz-up pop.  You just want to get some nice fizz in the drink.
Drop in the berries and serve in an elegant glass!

Note:  If you are using club soda instead of pop, you might want to add about 1/4 cup sugar.

My guests just loved this drink and you will too!

Party Plan - GO!

It's crunch time, the party is tomorrow.
I am away with the ladies at my church all day tomorrow too.  We are off to a rural Menonite community to shop and enjoy the company of women.
For sure I will be bringing home some honey, sausages and cheese!

This means that the house preparations and party planning must be most of the way done today.  I can't leave my hubby to do it all while I am gone.

Here is a picture of my party list.  It includes the attendee's and who is confirmed or declined.

The menu and drink plan is there also.  From here I will build the grocery list and buy the supplies for the party.

Being organized is what allows us to make special times and enjoy them too.  You don't want that pit in the stomach feeling that comes with being unprepared or rushed.  A very important part of organizing is learning to adjust and re-organize when life messes up your best laid plans.

The painting project this week.  It has swallowed most of our week.  Sometimes by the evening we were just so tired we relaxed and watched a movie as a family.  I honestly thought the painting would be done by Tuesday, and it took until Thursday.  We still have a few areas to touch up where the paint needs a second coat on the edges.  The hubby says he will take care of that.

So now I have a choice to make, I can get upset that my "to do" list for yard work, gardens, tidy up etc isn't where I wanted it, or I can adjust to the new situation.  In the past I must confess, I would be in a total flap.  Now I am learning that part of being organized to to adjust your plan to a realistic pace and then WORK THAT PLAN.

Today we will concentrate on making the yard look nice and inviting, get everything swept and those weeds pulled that seem to like to torture us by coming back with a vengeance.  They seem to come back almost overnight, and weed killing products have been outlawed here, so we just have to keep pulling. 

Remember this blog was started because I am not a "born organized" person.  I have been learning the value and payoff's that being organized brings.  The rewards are many.  Anyone can become organized and re-write this part of their character.  You can do it and so can I.  You must be kind to yourself when journeying to organized and remind yourself of the areas you have done well already. 

Do you get discouraged that it isn't all done already?  Go now and open that drawer you have sorted and remind yourself that it wasn't that way last week, but it is now.  Like penecillin working through the body a bit at a time, your organizing will work through your life a bit at a time.  Drawer by drawer, room by room, social by social, calendar even by calendar event etc. 

Well, I have to go now.  I'm off to WORK MY PLAN as I finish the cleaning, shopping and party preparations so that my organizing will allow me to really enjoy a special party with my friends.

Still Painting

Sooooo many paint cans!  There is so much work to painting.  We have not painted these main rooms in so many years.  It has been a big project.  We also lost almost all of Tuesday to running errands and celebrating our anniversary.  We will finish up the painting today and resume with planning for the party on Saturday.

I can't wait to tidy up the room and post pictures of our before and after!

Here are a few basics for an organized painting job:

1. Plan your colour scheme first.  Be sure to evaluate how these colours you want to do will flow with the rest of the house.  Unless it's a powder room bathroom that is very separate from the other parts of the home, everything should have harmony.  If you were to walk through your house and pull a paint swatch from every room in the house and line them up together, they should all match or be harmonious together.  

2. Gather all supplies needed to paint.  Drop cloths, paint, brushes, trays, tape, wall repair mud, sandpaper, screwdrivers (to remove outlet and light covers), ladder etc.

3. Move furniture and paintings to the middle of the room.  We did this in stages as it is such a busy room of the house.  

4. Tape wall, ceiling and baseboard edges to cut in with paint.  Unless you are like my husband who can cut in without the use of tape.  I am not so skilled with the 2" brush....I need the help of the painter's tape.

5. Cut in your edges with the paint and brush.

6. Paint with roller.  I trust you know to not paint in perfect straight lines...it will show.  You need to spread the paint out, think of a v type pattern.

7. Wait for it to dry and apply second coat of paint all around.

8. Clean up and return things to where they belong.

Notes:  When washing the brush you need to rinse and rinse until you see no more colour in the water.  then your brush will dry properly and be ready to use again.

- You can buy paint tray liners, or tape a garbage bag into the paint tray, and then cleaning up is a snap.

- If you need to stop painting and return to the job the next day, take a white kitchen bag or other bag of similar size and remove the roller from the apparatus, and place the roller in the bag and wrap it up securely and fasten with a bit of tape.  This will keep for a few days or even up to a week and you can resume painting and not have to purchase a new roller.

I look forward to showing you the finished results.  Be back soon!

A Lifetime of Love

This will be a short entry.
We are still home this week and STILL  painting the house.  I has turned out to be a very large project to move everything, repair all the bumps and scratches that happen to walls that have not been painted in 11 years, and then paint, and put everything back in place again.

Wow....it is all encompassing.

We celebrated 19 years of marriage in the midst of this organized chaos.
I feel privileged to still be with my guy and our love is strong as ever.

We organized a VERY nice dinner at home (beyond the painting! LOL!)  we ate outside on the patio.
We enjoyed some marinated chicken breasts, marinated shrimp, corn on the cob and large baked potatoes with all the fixings!  We cooked everything on the bbq's (one full size and 1 travel size bbq).

Then we watched a romantic movie called The Vow, and it was a perfect night.

Today we are back to the reality of finishing the painting in our living room and in Mom's living room. (Mom lives with us).  This means 2 living rooms with tv's, desks, books, heavy furniture.
My party planning details will be on hold until tomorrow, which will require even greater organizing as the time leading to Saturday closes in.

I look forward to posting the pics of our finished work!
Happy Day!

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