Odds and Ends and Efficiency

Yesterday at work, the cleaning woman came in and took out the trash, cleaned the bathrooms, and mopped all the hardwood floors. By the end of that hour, the mirrors were gleaming, the toilets sparkling, and the trash cans were gloriously empty.

Then I went home. Yikes and double yikes. An immediate scouring of the bathroom was in order. After folding what was in the dryer, loading the washing machine and taking a quick shower, the adventure began. An hour and a half later, Jefferson came home and found me in the bathroom, just finishing up.

"Wow,"  he said. "Everything in here is all sparkly and clean." It was so sad! We've been married seven and a half months now and I doubt our bathroom as seen a good deep scrubbing in that time (sad I know, but remember that I was schooling and working and had a brand-new husband and a house of my own! There are no little siblings to help out anymore, and after being the oldest girl in nine children, not having someone to help out really hit me hard. Jefferson helps, but he's working and schooling now, so it's my turn, which is why I attacked the bathroom in the first place.)

Anyway, I decided to help us keep our bathroom a little more organized that we're gonna need to break down and get a towel hanger for the back of the door and a shelving unit (the kind that fits in the corner of the bathtub) for all the shampoos and body washes that now clutter up the tub (and no, they aren't just mine, either. Jefferson is very particular about his minty shampoo and "man-wash" not to mention he now has two back scrubbers and a luffe as well.)

It's been nice coming home and having an hour or two to spruce house and cook dinner before Jefferson walks through the door and lets me know he's starving. I'm also trying to learn how to be more efficient and use what we have before we buy more. In fact, last Saturday I made my very first loaf of bread (I used a breadmaking machine, but that's besides the point). It turned out perfectly (and even tastes good) with crisp golden crust and warm moist center. We've been loving it and the easiest part was the recipe. Milk, water, flour, a little sugar, a little yeast, and a dash of salt, three hours later and VOILA! Two weeks worth of bread (yep, the loaves are huge!).

Yesterday we started running out of Hot Cocoa mixes (yes, mixes, plural, as in we had several and have been guzzling them down since November!). Well, not wanting to go out and spend money buying new ones, why not google some recipes for cocoa mix and reuse the old cans? I found this recipe (not sure where online...oops) and I'm super excited to try it out!

Hot Cocoa Recipe--
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Baking Cocoa
3/4 tsp Vanilla
Dash of salt

For More Flavor:
Add Peppermint, Almond, or Orange Extract in 1/4-1/2 tsps
Or mix Butterscotch chips or Chocolate chips and Marshmallows in 1/4 cups

Store for a week before using to let flavors blend.