Focus - Thanksgiving - 11/7/11 - First week

[Indiana]

Now that all our rooms are deep cleaned we can enjoy the holidays by just doing maintenance and holiday preparation as our focus.

Maintenance:

• dusting
• floors
• tidying
• erasing footprints
• cleaning bathrooms
• cleaning kitchen
• touch up where we see it is needed

Declutter:
Declutter Halloween decorations as they are put away and report in the declutter thread for November.

Decorations:
Decorate the house with Thanksgiving decorations. Declutter any decorations that are past their prime and report in the declutter thread for November.

Planning:
The most effective way I found to plan is to work backward from what I imagine the outcome to be and then put the plan in place to get there.

Picture yourself at the dinner table. Imagine the food, table setting, and décor. If you are having anything before hand picture that too.

• Take each food item and write down how long it takes to make, can it be made ahead, and what serving dish you will use.
  
• Once that list is done refine your list by writing a schedule of Thanksgiving preparation. The turkey goes in the oven at (time); the pies can be made on Wednesday, etc.
  
• Don’t forget to add 15 minutes to the turkey time to allow time for carving, a minute, or two for putting the gravy and potatoes in dishes, etc.
  
• Your list should be detailed and ready to go with little tweaking.
  
• Go over you recipes to see if ingredients overlap. As an example onion, can you chop onions for all the dishes at once?
  
• With your recipes, what part of the recipe can be prepared in advance? Celery for the stuffing? Bread cubed and drying on the counter?
  
• Using your recipes prepare a master grocery list. Break your master list into non-perishable items that you can get ahead and perishable items that you need to get right before Thanksgiving.

Invite your guests and get a firm commitment from them ASAP.

Take your "Thanksgiving To-Do" list, and schedule time for each item. You may wish to complete one or two items a day until Turkey Day. Be sure to get the help of your spouse and children - delegate! Work on your personal "Thanksgiving To-Do" list in addition to the items in this countdown.

Stock up on pumpkins and potted mums for decorations.

Check spices and toss any that are past their prime. Add to grocery list.

Schedule hair and manicure appointments if needed.

Arrange for extra tables or chairs.

[bittersweet]

Thanksgiving is over and done with here in Canada, but I definitely need to get outside tomorrow and take down my Halloween stuff!!! I also need to find the ones that have been put here and there because I was too lazy to find the right storage container at the time, and go through everything!

[blessedw2]

I have my decorations up, bought thanksgiving cards to family I won't see
wrote dsil about what I can bring.

[Indiana]

I finished my focus work for the week. I will declutter the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations Saturday when I'm in the basement.

Now that all our rooms are deep cleaned we can enjoy the holidays by just doing maintenance and holiday preparation as our focus.

Maintenance:
All the maintenance for the week is accomplished

Declutter:
I didn't use Halloween decorations this year.

Decorations:
My home is decorated with Thanksgiving decorations for this year. I kept it very simple this year. I need to get 2 mini pumpkins and some mini Indian corn. The girls decided to taste them.

Planning:
I imagined appetizers, dinner, and dessert with the food, table setting and décor.

• I wrote down each food item and how long it takes to make, can it be made ahead, and what serving dish I will use use. I especially looked at the appetizers in the oven and the heating of dinner.
  
• I wrote my schedule for Thanksgiving preparation. The turkey goes in the oven at (time); the pie can be made on Wednesday, etc.
  
• I added 15 minutes to the turkey time to allow time for carving, a minute, or two for putting the gravy and potatoes in dishes, etc.
  
• My list is detailed and ready to go with little tweaking. I use the list from previous years that has the food item, prep time, day I will make it or who is bringing it, dish, oven temp (if needed) and cooking time. I have it on an excel spreadsheet.
  
• I pulled my recipes to see if ingredients overlap.
  
• I marked what can be prepared in advance.
  
• I used the recipes to make a master grocery list and marked non-perishable items and perishable items. The non-perishable are on my grocery list for delivery tomorrow and the perishable are on my list for delivery for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Invitations All of my guests are invited and I just need to hear from dbrother if he is coming.

My "Thanksgiving To-Do" list is done and marked with what I will do each day of Thanksgiving week from setting the table, getting out the dishes, etc.

Stock up = I didn't need to stock up since I had pumpkins, gourds and corn for the Saturday of dh's service. I just needed to replace the ones dnieces taste tested. The youngest started and the oldest followed.

Check spices. My spices were checked when I did the kitchen focus.

Schedule hair and manicure appointments if needed. I did this 6 weeks ago. It wasn't deliberate it is just the way it came out that it would all be done on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I'm getting my hair colored and cut, and my fingers and toes manicured.

Arrange for extra tables or chairs. I won't need extra tables or chairs this year.

[blessedw2]

ooooh I love that you are giving yourself some wonderful "dindiana time" with the cut/color/manicure!

[Harriet]

2011 Thanksgiving and maintenance! Indiana's step-by-step Focus is a lot of clear help.

Make the house look like Thanksgiving, plan by envisioning the celebration of thanks you would like, and maintain your previous work as you achieve it!

[Nancy]

Working on this one around here did a bit of procuring supplies for turkey dinner this weekend.