Meal plans and the week ahead

Happy belated Easter! I'm posting a day late... I haven't been on a computer at all since last Wednesday... and its been very nice! :) So anyway, here's my weekly planning post... It's going to be a fairly busy week topped out with a (hopefully) fun trip! Yesterday we went to church with my in-laws in the morning. Then we went over to my mom's house for dinner with my extended family. I don't have Zumba this week since its spring break. It'll give me more time to prep/pack for our trip. We leave Friday morning for Cleveland for the weekend. My cousin, Kyle, is going to be staying at our house while we're gone. So I want to make sure the house is nice and clean and that we have clean bedding on our bed for him before we leave on Friday. Plus, I hate coming home to a dirty house. I always have to clean, clean, clean before we leave for a vacation. I go so far as to run the vacuum one last time right before we walk out the door... I know, its crazy... but I also know quite a few other people that do the same thing, so I guess its not too crazy. :)

So we didn't work on Carson's new room at all last week. It was just too nice outside, plus Kevin ended up in Lafayette again for a couple of days. So we still do not have painted walls or doors or trim. Oh well. I'm not too concerned with it. It will get done in due time. Right now, we're trying to get as much done outside as we can before things start getting overgrown. We've been making very good progress and have one debris pile cleared and about 85% of the enormous debris pile has been cleared. We'll be finishing that up and cutting down nine trees soon, as well... at least we hope we can cut them down on our own. They're pretty huge/tall trees - 4 dead ash trees, 2 half dead pines, and 3 huge infested old apple trees that are within the fenced part of the yard (where I don't want them). And we also have some landscaping projects to tackle in the front yard in the next few weeks, as well.

Anyway, this week looks like it'll be raining most days. On the days it doesn't rain, we'll continue working outside to finish up the debris pile. If it rains as many days as it looks like it will be, hopefully we'll get at least one coat of paint on the walls in Carson's new room. My focus, though, will be packing for our weekend getaway and cleaning.

Here's what's on the menu...

Easter Sunday ~ church with the in-laws; dinner at my mom's
B: homemade buttermilk biscuits with local honey and strawberry jam
L/D: ham, mashed potatoes, corn, carrots/broccoli/cauliflower, jello salad, rolls, desserts (I brought lemon blueberry cookies and blueberry buckle)

Meatless Monday ~
(work outside)
B: pumpkin scones
L: ham sandwiches; misc. leftovers from Easter
D: spinach and sun dried tomato risotto; leftover cuke/avocado/tomato salad from Saturday; leftover meringue/whipped cream/berries from Saturday's dinner

Tuesday ~
(clean kitchen and bathroom; clean off dressers in master bedroom; clean out closet in master bedroom)
B: smoothies with peaches, mango, bananas, almond milk, and protein powder
L: leftover risotto; apple slices with PB
D: pesto cheesy chicken rolls; spinach side salads raw carrot and cucumber salads with spicy peanut dressing; corn on the cob (from freezer)

Wednesday ~
(pack suitcases and Carson's toys; dust and vacuum entire house)
B: toast with PB
L: leftover chicken and salad
D: hot dogs; mac 'n cheese; apple slices

Thursday ~
(pack the car; finish any cleaning; write out instructions for Kyle)
B: smoothies with blueberries, apples, yogurt, almond milk
L: misc. to use up stuff in the fridge
D: misc. to clean out the fridge

Friday ~ Cleveland
(change sheets on bed; wash dirty sheets; pack last remaining items in the car; vacuum)
We're hoping to be on the road by 9 so we can be in Cleveland by lunch time and hit up the Zoo if the weather still looks good.

Saturday ~ Cleveland
Depending on the weather Saturday and Sunday, this will either be a museum day (Great Lakes Science Center and Museum of Natural History) followed by a trip to one of the metroparks; or it'll be a day spent at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (hiking/bike riding the Tow Path, riding the scenic train, finding some waterfalls, etc.).