dindiana's maintenance focus week one thanksgiving

[blessedw2]

From blessed: Can you focus on one LITTLE THING A DAY to get ready.. I.E. clean 1/2 of a shelf (no more) of the fridge
or take down one room of Halloween and put it away?

"Focus - Thanksgiving - 11/4 2012 - First week
by 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."

[blessedw2]

I don't have Thanksgiving but bring food, and we also go shopping the day after Thanksgiving shopping.

so for me and dd's hair cut and hair dye appointment for me and dd's
eye brow appointments
walk daily to be ready for day after shopping
make sure meds are filled
gas in car the day before thanksgiving
ideas for christmas as we exchange names on thanksgiving
pull recipes for meal - have food, wine and pop, juices and water ready to bring
have car cleaned out
what cloths (and extras do I have) for all of us
mascara etc.
shower and do hair the night before
get ready for shopping: money, budget for each person (hard for someone like me which gets me in trouble),list

[blessedw2]

I am going to try to have 1 goal a day in the focus department:

today: bring all the Halloween items I took down to crawl space for storage and store correctly so no mice who wonder in (D kitties are doing their job) can get into the boxes

[Nancy]

I have a couple of trays on the table full of this and that I need to sort declutter and then will have that done yea for progress this weekend!

[blessedw2]

start looking at menu's for sides etc. today

cleaned 3 side shelfs of fridge

[Nancy]

Yea we are not having turkey day here this year for a croud but still plugging along at getting the kit. dining area presentable. Have delt with one more pile ho-rah!

[blessedw2]

I am happy for you on two counts dnancy: not having thanksgiving this year AND getting an area cleaned up!!! wonderful

my thanksgiving step by step today (choosing one a day - maybe 2): clean the bottom main shelf in refrigerator - maybe go to shop and get dsil present for thanksgiving from all of us

[Nancy]

In my "pretending" to do thanksgiving prep. I bought sweet potatoes, and got some pumpkins they have been prepped and cooked up some for us and some for the chickens.

I have one more tray of stuff to sort on the table.

[blessedw2]

it's a great idea to get into the Thanksgiving mindset; great idea! dnancy

cleaned next shelf in refrigerator (have 3 more to go so tomorrow another shelf) I tend to feel overwhelmed if I have to do it at the same time.
bought new baking powder and baking soda toss the old

[Nancy]

Last night I brought in the pumpkins and squash that were decorating the door step so they would not freeze we have a cold snap heading our way.