Chore and Menu List Progress

My last 2 entries have been about getting our chores and our meals a little better organized.  We’ve been at it a week and I thought an update was in order.

First of all, the chores have definitely caused us to have a cleaner house.  Of course, having company last night helped also.  I’ve found that having company is a wonderful motivator for house work.  I need to have another pow wow with the boys and let them know some areas that need improvement, but all in all, I’d consider it a successful week.

The menu list has been a little harder to get in to.  I need to buy ahead so I’ll the food (especially meat) on hand when it comes up in the list.  The meals I had planned this week weren’t necessarily on sale, so I didn’t do them.  Steak was on sale and I bought enough for 1 meal.  I would normally cook it up right away, but I put it in the freezer so we could have it when it is scheduled.  On the upside of the menu list.  We didn’t eat out at all and had food for the whole week with only additional trip to the grocery store. 

W’er going try to have everything on week 2 this week.  We had pizza for the company last night and stew instead of chili this week.  I don’t know if we’ll have these again (to keep on schedule) or have the chili and spaghetti we had planned for last week. 

What does your family like to eat on a regular basis?

It’s Time To Clean The House

Along with starting my 4 week menu plan (mentioned below), I am once again trying to get better organized with house cleaning.  I’ve got 5 boys at home, 3 of which are very capable of doing anything I can do  in the cleaning area, and 1 that is always wanting to do what his big brothers do.  The youngest is still too young to be given too much to do without me being right there, so he’s my right hand man. 

I typically give each boy a room to clean, but lately (for the past couple of years), they seem to have "forgotten" how and what to do.  My plan is to post each of these lists in the kitchen so they will have no excuses.  The lists will also alleviate any "misunderstandings" about what they are expected to do. 

I plan to assign one boy to the living room, one to the kitchen and dining room (I help a lot in there), and one to the bathroom and laundry room.  The bedrooms will be expected to be done by all of them.  I haven’t gotten brave enough to assign each boy a day to do his laundry, so I’m still the main instigator behind getting it done, although they know they are to help when asked. 

So here’s my room cleaning lists:

Living Room
     
Everyday
       Straighten music
       Straighten piano music
       Straighten DVD/videos
       Straighten entertainment center
       Straighten both small tables
       Pick up stuff from floor, couches and chairs
       Straighten puzzles

    Twice a week (usually Thursday and Saturday)
       Dust all furniture
       Dust mini-blinds
       Dust window sill
       Dust light fixtures
       Dust pictures
       Vacuum all the carpet in living room and down the hall         
       Clean under couch and chairs

    As needed
       Clean tree (take outside and clean with hose)
       Clean floral arrangements (wash in bathtub)
       Clean carpet
       Change light bulbs
Dining Room
  

 Everyday
       Sweep
       Straighten green chest
       Straighten window seat
       Straighten table
       Clean table w/damp cloth

   
    Twice a week (Usually Thursday and Saturday)
       Dust pictures
       Dust green chest
       Dust window sill
       Dust light fixtures
       Clean chairs w/damp cloth
       Swiffer

    As needed
       Change light bulbs
       Sweep under window seat

Kitchen

Everyday
       Empty/Fill dishwasher
       Sweep
       Empty/fill ice trays
       Straighten counter tops

    Twice a week (Usually Thursday and Saturday)
       Wipe applicances with damp cloth
       Wipe window sill with damp cloth
       Swiffer
       Wipe inside of fridge with damp cloth
       Wipe inside of microwave with damp cloth

    As needed
       Clean inside of toaster
       Straighten inside of cabinets
       Clean cabinet doors
       Clean out fridge

  Laundry Room
    When asked
       Fold clothes
       Help Jonathan put his clothes away
       Put your clothes away
       Straighten up
       Change light bulbs
       Sweep/Swiffer

Bathroom
   

Everyday
       Wipe out sinks
       Put dirty clothes/towels/cloths in hamper
       Straighten counter top
       Check toilet tissue

    Twice a week (Usually Thursday and Saturday)
       Sweep/Swiffer
       Scrub counter
       Clean mirror
       Scrub toilet
       Scrub tub
       Wipe down window sill
       Dust pictures

    As needed
       Wash shower curtain
       Straighten linen closet

Bedroom
    Everyday
       Make bed
       Pick up clothes
       Straighten games and computer area
       Put up books
       Pick up toys

    Twice a week (Usually Thursday and Saturday)
       Straighten desks
       Straighten chest
       Clean closet
       Vacuum
       Dust furniture
       Dust electronics      
       Dust light fixtures
  
    As needed
       Change light bulbs
       Clean carpet
       Change sheets
       Straighten drawers

Menus For a Month

It’s that wonderful time of year that we can start everything new.  One thing that I have done in the past, but for some reason haven’t done lately, was to have 4 weekly prepared menus for the family.  I sat down the other night and wrote new menus that I thought we could stick with.  When I put together these menus, I don’t say we’ll this one Monday and this on Tuesday.  Instead, I say that we’ll have these 7 meals this week.  That way I have a little freedom and flexibility, which is very necessary around here. 

Now I know that there are some of you that are going to think we should be eating better food than this.  Sorry, this is what we eat.  We love our red meat, chicken and ham.  I try to fix the meals in a healthy manner, but I don’t alter them so much that they aren’t recognizable anymore.  When I say we’re having hamburgers and fries, we’re having beef patty hamburgers and frozen (usually) fried french fries from Ore-Ida. 

I don’t list vegetables and side dishes in this menu.  We usually have a 1 or 2 vegetables and if bread is not included in the main dish (pasta in spaghetti) I’ll add some sort of bread.  One goal I have this year is to try and eat more whole wheat products.  I love whole wheat anything, but I’ve got a family that thinks if the bread is brown it must have gone bad.

When I have something on the menu like meatloaf, I’ll usually quadruple the batch and freeze 3.  That way, I don’t have to make meat loaf for another 3 months.  There are several dishes I do this with.  It is really a time saver.   Hopefully there will be some left overs which will be eaten at our noon meal.  If not, we’ll have sandwiches or something similar for lunch.

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for….the Dow’s 4 Week Menu Plan:

Week 1
    Hamburgers
    Chicken/Beef Enchiladas
    Chicken/Beef Fajitas
    Ham
    Chili
    Hamburger Patties
    Spaghetti

Week 2
    Sub Sandwiches
    Lasagna
    Chicken Stir Fry
    Roast Beef
    Beef Stew
    Grilled Chicken
    Pizza 
   
Week 3
    BBQ Sandwich
    King Ranch or Chicken Spaghetti
    Sauteed Chicken w/Veges
    Brisket
    Chicken Cheese Soup
    Steak
    Tacos

Week 4
    Fried Chicken
    Mexican Cornbread
    Beef Stir Fry
    Pork Roast or Turkey
    Bean Soup
    Meat Loaf
    Breakfast
   
   

Truly a Lufkin Original

This article appeared in our local paper — The Lufkin Daily News.  It tells the history of our holiday season landmark — Rudolph the red-nosed pumping unit.  It was written by Bob Bowman, a local historian.  I bet you can’t find another Christmas decoration like this anywhere else.

 

If you drive through Lufkin during the holidays, be sure to take notice of one of East Texas’ most unusual Christmas decorations.  For decades "Rudolph the Red Nosed Pumping Unit, the creation of Lufkin Industries, Inc., the inventor of the balance-type oilfield pumping unit, has helped East Texas celebrate the season.

Rudolph, named for the reindeer made famous by the Gene Autry song,m is a fully-operational pumping unit standing about 45 feet high. For about four days before Thanksgiving, an electrician installs 1,000 seven-watt lights on a selected unit.  Another work crew spends another two and a half days putting Rudolph together at his holiday home on the parking lot of Lufkin Mall beside Loop 287 and US 59.

Rudolph is actually a full-operational Lufkin Mark 640 oilfield pump painted red for the season. At his holiday home, he is pulling a 38-foot dump trailer, also made by Lufkin Industries, carry Santa Claus and a pile of Christmas gifts. Rudolph, naturally, sports lighted antlers and a red nose.

On each Saturday before Thanksgiving , East Texans gather by the thousands at the mall, Santa Claus arrives, a local band and choir fills the air with Christmas music, and cookies and milk are passed out to the children on hand. Lufkin Industries selects a person or group each year to be the official lighter of Rudolph.  The crowd shouts out a countdown, a button is pushed, and Rudolph comes to life.

The origin of Rudolph goes back to the days when Guy Croom, a Lufkin Industries employee, heard the Gene Autry song and decided to decorate a small pumping unit with a red electric light bulb and a red ribbon around his neck.  The Christmas decoration was placed at the back entrance of a company machine shop where people driving down Raguet and Angelina streets in downtown Lufkin could see Rudolph bobbing up and down.  The site of Rudolph was often changed each year until it found a permanent home beside Loop 287 in south Lufkin.

At the end of each holiday season, Rudolph is dismantled, repainted and sold to an oil producing customer somewhere in the world. The trailer is also sold to a customer to carry goods across America. The same will happen to Rudolph this year and it’s not unlikely that he could be placed in a foreign country where Christmas as we know it, is not celebrated.