Housekeeping MeMe

Celeste tagged me to do this little MeMe and I must say, I'm a little scared to confess to my housekeeping details. But here goes!

APRON:
I have a couple that remain in a cabinet in my kitchen until Christmas time. I usually wear them when I decorate Christmas cookies. No idea why I only wear one then, but that just seems to be the one time when I think to put one on!

BAKING:
I like to bake but I don't do it very often because if I bake it, I tend to eat it!

CLOTHESLINE – Y/N?:
Not a formal one, unless you can consider the doorways my "clotheslines". I was taught to hang most everything and therefore when I do laundry, my doorways are blocked completely by drying clothes.

DONUTS – Have you ever made them?:
Never. I also haven't had one since I was in high school.

EVERY DAY – One homemaking thing you do every day:
Cook meals (or sides to go with leftovers) and clean up the kitchen... though the dinner time clean up has been known to be put off until the following day, depending on how busy our evening is.

FREEZER – Do you have a separate deep freeze?:
Yes. We had a medium sized one we bought used before having Amy and it came in handy for freezing meals for after she was born. Now we have a large freezer we got from my parents that I am still determined to fill. I like Celeste's idea of filling it with ice cream! :)

GARBAGE DISPOSAL – Y/N?:
Absolutely! Nothing helps make clean-up after meals go faster than a garbage disposal!

HANDBOOK – What is your favorite homemaking resource?:
Bill bought me a book by Williams-Sonoma called "Kitchen Companion: The A to Z Guide to Everyday Cooking Equipment and Ingredients" which has come in handy so many times. I also make use of the internet and my mom for advice.

IRONING – Love it or hate it?:
I hate it. Bill irons his own clothes everyday. He has no problem doing it because he was doing it long before I came into his life. So if I need something ironed, I either let him do it when he's doing his ironing, or I wear it wrinkled. I don't iron.

JUNK DRAWER – Y/N? Where is it?:
Yes, all of them. :) No, I'm not that bad. But I do have several in my kitchen that I just can't seem to get organized.

KITCHEN: Design & Decorating?:
I am inspired everytime I eat at a Cracker Barrel. I just love all of the old antique kitchen gadgets, signs, and just about anything else old you can think of that adorn the walls and ceilings of the restaurants. I currently have a bunch of old various cans arranged on top of my cabinets, though I've purchased old skillets and other antique items I'd someday like to display in my kitchen.

LOVE: What is your favorite part of homemaking?:
I just like knowing that I am responsible for holding things together here at home. For the most part, when the house is organized and clean and has that comfy feel, I made that happen. Of course, it also goes the other way. When the house is messy and dirty, that means I didn't do my job, which is more often than I care to admit!

MOP - Y/N?:
I used to do it about twice a week; now I do it when I can. Let's just say it doesn't happen nearly as often as it should!

NYLONS - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?:
I rarely wear them, but when I wash them I wash them in the washing machine.

OVEN - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?:
It depends on what I'm cooking.

PIZZA - What do you put on yours?:
I actually prefer plain cheese pizza.

QUIET - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?:
What's that?

RECIPE CARD BOX - Y/N?:
I have a binder I've started with plastic sleeves, but I have yet to convert all of my recipes into it. So I still use my recipe card box some of the time.

HOUSE STYLE:
Traditional and very open. I like it, but it's a little more open than I'd like it to be with a kitchen that's way too small.

TABLECLOTHS AND NAPKINS - Y/N?:
The kids use plastic placemats and Bill and I use woven cloth ones. We use papertowels for napkins, though I keep wanting to go to cloth ones.

UNDER THE KITCHEN SINK - Organized or toxic wasteland?:
It's pretty sad looking. I store a lot of my cleaning stuff down there (we have child locks), but it's all crammed in there and needs to be organized better.

VACUUM - How many times per week?:
Almost daily. I can get away with every other day if I don't mind it looking a little messy on the off days. We have green carpet and it shows every speck of dirt or lint or string or whatever. It's pretty carpet, but terribly high-maintenance.

WASH - How many loads of laundry do you do a week?:
I can't even count, it seems like so many. And yet I can never catch up!

X's - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?:
That's about the only way I can get things done. I'm a list fanatic. If we go on a trip, I have about 5 lists going, covering every aspect of our packing and preparation.

YARD - Who does what?:
Bill mows and trims everything. I just plant the flowers.

ZZZZ's - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?:
I guess I try to straighten up a bit, though it's certainly far from perfect when I go to bed at night. Amy still wakes several times a night and eventually ends up in our bed by the time we go to bed; so I guess my biggest homemaking task before going to bed is typically to fetch an unhappy Amy and bring her to bed with me each night.