It's so good to be back here at HomesteadBlogger, where I feel that I have more in common with the bloggers here! I really liked the little poem above and hope that I'll make some new friends here. I am also really looking forward to this week. Last week was horrific, but the problem was me - I was not working from a good schedule that kept everything straight for me. So, tonight I will be working on a schedule for myself and limiting the hours that I work each week so that I have time for everything else that needs to be done.

First off, I am going to be sure that I make time each morning to walk with my dog. These cooler mornings are wonderful and I so enjoy getting out and enjoying the cooler weather that is moving our way. This will give me and Shadow at least 30 minutes of exercise, too. After that, I'll come inside and take care of some housekeeping tasks. Then I'll take care of my work as needed, limiting myself to 5 hours max. This will leave me some time in the afternoon before the kids get home from school for errands, chores, menu planning, etc. Once the kids get home, I need to be available to help them with their homework. After dinner, another 30-minute walk with my husband and daughter (and maybe the dog again!). Then, I hope to spend some time each evening with my hobbies or reading a book. I hope that this basic schedule will work for me. Some days I may need to work more than others, but averaging around 25 hours weekly is something that I can manage.

Going gluten-free means spending A LOT more time figuring out menus and recipes. I'm glad I have lots of cookbooks here at the house, but that doesn't mean I'm completely gluten free yet. I still need to check on my make up and other hygiene products that I use. I've eaten gluten free for several days, but something set me off today and I don't know what that is . One thing that I am going to do this week is deep clean my kitchen, vacuuming up crumbs, etc. I'm still trying to decide what to do about my grain mill. I've used it to grind wheat, so I shouldn't use it to grind beans or other grains that I can use in GF cooking. But I really don't want to buy a SECOND grain mill, so I'm going to try to figure out if there is a way to clean it so that I can use it. If I can grind beans and pop corn, then I can make my own flours and it'd be cheaper than buying what is in the store!

So, those are my plans for the week ... getting my behind in gear, getting organized and establishing a good daily schedule for myself each week.