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At church today, someone asked me what I did this weekend and I replied, “Nothing. It was wonderful.”
Then I started thinking about what my “nothing” looked like, and I thought I’d share ever so randomly, so I can get back to doing nothing. Yes, I’m in a silly mood.
Hot, fresh, delicious carbs whispered my name before I ever got out of bread bed, so I whipped up a new recipe – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Trust me, for those of you who are still afraid to try my ever so easy, homemade French Bread recipe, this one is for you – no kneading involved. (Yes, recipe to come.)
Since the girls woke to the fresh bread already made, my daughter was disappointed she didn’t get to help, and requested homemade brownies, but she wanted to make them…by herself. This new recipe called for unsweetened chocolate squares, which I knew I had, but it required digging in the baking cabinet, which is never good.
That led to cleaning out shelves, reorganizing spices and discarding out of date items. My daughter complained, “But, Mom, I just want to make brownies, not clean.”
Eventually, dreams do come true. (Yes, recipe to follow.)
I checked my standing for the Hillshire Farm Most Wanted Sandwich Competition and realized I need to pace myself. There are so many more weeks of voting to make our Compassion International trip dream come true.
Somewhere during the day ( the time line may not be 100% accurate, it’s a blur), I learned more about broken noses than I ever wanted to know. To save you from self diagnosis – noses bleed a lot, black and blue shines through, and noses swell extremely easily, but…alas, the nose was not broken.
Friday night, I cheered loudly for two of our sons during their basketball game. They lost by a point. It was a nail biter, for sure.
( I didn’t have my camera with me, so this is an old pic.)
I jotted down notes about the dangers of debt – all kinds of debt, and contemplated how the lack of wise financial stewardship destroys marriages, businesses, governments, and even friendships. I then pondered if there really is any kind of “good debt?” (Yep, enjoying my “easy reading” types of thoughts.)
I then went to brush my teeth, looked in my “personal items” drawer, got completely sidetrack by noticing my scrunchies for the first time in years, and was again drawn to clutter control. “Why in the world do I still have them in there?” Accessorizing is one thing, but these things went out in the 90’s and should have been thrown away years ago. So, I donated them to my favorite store…Goodwill, and then felt guilty because no Frugal Fashionista should be wearing them, even if they were cheap. 🙂
Lest you think I didn’t lose my temper in there at least once, I would be glossing over the truth. How is it possible to train productive boys and yet towels stay on the floor so many days in a row? With three boys, taking three showers in a row, with three towels and three sets of clothes, you’d think by now they would get the idea.
But don’t worry, a Clutter Control blog series is on the docket, and I solved the answer to this hideous problem. 😉
So now, I type for just a few minutes to tell you about my weekend in which I did nothing. And I turn off my computer to this…pure relaxation, if only for a few minutes.
As I read Karen Kinsgbury by our roaring fire, I tell the children I love them, but to help themselves to the fridge if they’re hungry.
Join me and share about your “Nothing” weekend. What did you do? Honestly, I wish I could have a few more of those right now.
LOVE Karen Kingsbury … which book are you reading?
@Kathy, I’ve read every single one of them, and was feeling desperate, so I am rereading one in hopes that I don’t remember all the details from five years ago. 🙂 Our church library carries them all, so I can check them out. This one is – Even Now.
Totally love it! This is our second “done nothing” weekend in a row!!!
You’re so funny Jen! I love Karen Kingsbury too!!
Hey u did things that made u feel better (mostly) and tho that’s a lot of things, it made u comfy enough to close the kitchen&prop up your feet. Atta girl! And I can literally smell that bread picture-it’s my fave scent, can we bottle it&make a zillion bux? -s-
PS-tickled silly 2 get ur EZ french bread recipe, but did I miss the 5min Artisinal Bread Recipe or are u teasing us til TastyTuesday? =)
Your nothing weekend sounds very similar to mine, but you are so fantastic to get a great blog post out of it…I always feel like I need something “interesting” to blog about…but those recipes you shared are pretty great, thanks! Look forward to the Artisan Bread recipe…you had me at no kneading involved!
I can also relate to how a simple brownie baking request can lead to a complete cabinet overhaul & kids asking, “Can we please bake now, Mommy?”
Oh, and those scrunchies, wow, total blast from the past, but yeah they were a bit overdue to donate! LOL!
Happy week ahead! And I’m looking forward to your series on clutter control!
yes, it suddenly hit me this evening that the weekend was basically over and I had to wonder for a moment where in the world it went, for I, as well, had done absolutely nothing. Then I realized that I had done quite a few things, I just managed to not be in the house for long enough to be “house productive” and the weekend is gone, but now looking back, in all of my running errands, going to rehearsals, going to a video shoot for my daughter and seeing friends it WAS a productive weekend – it gave me joy. It gave my family joy. If that’s not productive, I don’t know the meaning of the word. : )
I haven’t had one of those weekends in quite awhile either and this was my day to do ‘Nothing’. I slept in until 9… drank my coffee & read the paper… watched my children play Guitar Hero on the Wii while I knitted on my new fun thing – a Knifty Knitter…. I got rid of about 100 emails…. played a few computer games…. straightened my desk…. curled up on my bed with my knitting again & watched DVR’d episodes of Private Practice…. all while my husband & kids watched movies, played the Wii and snacked all day!!! It was sooooo refreshing. 🙂
I often say I’m a lot like the mouse in the ‘if you give a mouse’ series of books! One thing leads to another! For me, my ‘do nothing’ started with a simple desire to clean the oven. While putting the racks in the garage, I noticed the bag of dog food which reminded me I wanted to deodorize the living room carpet. But before I could do that, I had to pickup an unusual quantity of scrap paper that was everywhere, thanks to the spark of creativity that my son experienced all week. In doing so, I discovered I hadn’t even LOOKED at the Sunday paper from last week so it was time to file the coupons. Filing the coupons reminded me to make a grocery list. The grocery list reminded me to clean out the fridge. That made me hungry so we had lunch and that’s when I finally sat down to watch a few cartoons. Yes, all this before noon! But something about sitting down at all, even for a moment, feels very much like ‘doing nothing’ and even if its only for a moment, it’s divine!
@christy williams, I LOVE this…it’s so true. We are definitely mice. 🙂
Hi! I just had to share about my deal I got at Food Lion. The Febreeze candles that are in the coupon insert today are on sale/clearance at Food Lion. I cut my 5.00 coupon out and then bought it tonight here in Madison, NC . I was thrilled. Also thanks for the candy coupon notice-they had the Valentine Message Lollipops for 2.00 so I got them for a 1.00 with my coupon you told us about.
Thanks again,
Jennifer
I meant to add they were 5.84 so I got it for 84 cents…yipee
@Jennifer, YEA!! Love hearing the deals. Plus, so fun that we’re practically neighbors. 😉
Nothing doesn’t exactly describe my weekend… although it sure sounds nice! We shipped the kiddo off… wait let me re-phrase that. My dear in-laws wanted to take the little man for the weekend, so we were able to get a lot done. Office re-do part #1! I blogged all about it too. I’d be honored if you’d check it out!
I’m so glad you enjoyed your “nothing” weekend, and I think now is a great time for me to shut off the computer and do the same… but I might add chocolate cake… mmmm cake…!
~Kristi
@Kristi G, Ha…so glad you
let” grandma take the little guys. I won’t tell that you said, “Shipped him off.” haha Off to check out your office. 🙂
Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day……Thanks for posting a picture…I need to reach above the stove and dig that book out! You have inspired me. 🙂 We will be having fresh bread with dinner tonight.
Your nothing sounds like my nothing! Baking bread, cleaning, baking a treat, laundry, an outing, and on and on = nothing. I love it!
Great post! It’s amazing what we do on a “do nothing” weekend! (haha..now, when GUYS do nothing, they do NOTHING..)
Good book…
I cannot believe you still had scrunchies! haha!
Ahh…. that’s what my life is missing right now- a “Nothing” weekend. 🙂 SO jealous!! Looking forward to your solution to the bathroom towels + floor+ 3 boys problem.
Love your blog! You inspire me to be and do better! Have you read Terri Blackstock? I really think you would like her! Thank you so much for all you do!
Isn’t it funny? The more kids we have, the more we can do and still call it nothing!! LOL!!
Our nothing weekend really was almost nothing–we sent off two of our adorable children to aunts/uncles… The remaining 19 year old knows to stay out of the way. For our 23rd wedding anniversary, we enjoyed the quiet house, napped, went to the movie and ate out several times. 🙂 The laundry and toilet repair we just wont talk about. 😉
Ok, Jen – since you didn’t give the recipe for Artisan Bread in 5 minutes I was “forced” to click the link to your Homemade french bread last night as I was finishing up the soup that had been working on the stove all day from the chicken the day before . . . of course by then it was 5pm and what hopes did I have of making bread by dinner time?!?!? I was almost resigned to the fact of taking those hamburger buns on the counter and turning them into garlic bread under the broiler in five minutes, but after my girls (10 and 8) and my little boy(4) watched your video there was no going back!!! 🙂 So by 6:30, we had homemade french bread that my husband declared the best in the world!!! And he insisted that I be sure to write and tell you so. My girls thought it was funny as you would say how you like to cheat and are impatient so you force the rise – they said that I am just like you! 🙂 Thank you for the wonderful recipe! It will be turned to again and again! As well as many others I’ve gotten from your site and the Tasty Tuesday posts! Thank you!