The Great Upstairs Scramble

In spite of not working much on the bathroom, we ARE working.  After moving Ethan into a "big" (twin-sized) bed, what little organization and order that was left upstairs completely fell apart.  Since we started seriously decluttering last year, I have a much lower tolerance for chaos.  I can deal with a few piles here and there, but the stuff-piled-everywhere-and-no-room-to-live types of clutter really get to me.  And my hormones are screaming that I need to get busy because I only have (at most) 13 weeks left before the new baby gets here.  So, I took a few days off of work, and we've been working to get the upstairs back in some kind of order.

 So far I've gone through everything in Ethan's soon-to-be room (formerly my office) and decluttered.  While we weren't able to move everything out due to space constraints, when we are done, only his bed, a dresser, a hope chest, and a bookcase will be in there.  I'll also probably move in a bin organizer and store a few toys and books in there.  I recently purged toys, so we don't have a lot, but I want some upstairs so I can put a gate over the stairwell and have him occupied in his room while I shower. 

 We've also painted.  His room is now light green, to coordinate with his Carter's Forest Friends/Tree Tops theme.  I bought the valances and flannel receiving blankets from the set, and my aunt turned them into an adorable quilt. 

New color!

Quilt-in-progress

I have 2 additional valances for the windows, and we'll get some kind of coordinating rug and maybe some decals for the wall.  I'm really excited with the way it's all coming together.

Ethan's current room will remain the nursery, no painting or modification necessary.  My aunt is making another quilt for Baby Girl, and we'll find coordinating curtains and a rug.  We'll just set the crib back up, and we'll be in business!

The best part is that once we're done with all this rearranging, painting, and organizing, the upstairs should be pretty much done!  If the weather is nice in the next few weeks, I'll supervise sealing, staining, and shellacking the woodwork, and maybe the hallway can get finished too  :)

Almost meal planning: week 3

Amazingly, I'm still sticking to it.  I still haven't noticed having to carve out huge amounts of time to make it work, and the results have been great.  Part of having this work is that I'm making casseroles, crock-pot meals, and roasts, so I'm not spending much time slaving over the stove.  I like to cook, and I wish I had more time for elaborate meals.  But right now, the reality is that just having something nutritious on the table is more important than trying new and exciting recipes.  Also, since I know what the other meals are that I'm cooking that week, if one of them requires mashed potatoes (or a side dish that requires more than opening a can or jar), I'll just make a huge batch with the first meal and eat them for both. 

And the best part?  My fridge!! 

It's stuffed!!  Granted, we have a smaller model fridge.  It's not quite apartment-size, but it's not standard.  It was the only fridge narrow enough to fit in that space between the cupboards and the doorway to the laundry area and short enough to fit under the cabinets.  It's little.  And disorganized, since I just tossed everything from grocery shopping in there when I had a spare second.  But everything in there is edible.  Some things could be moved to smaller containers, but there are no old, crusty leftovers or anything. 

I currently have a chicken in the oven for cajun alfredo pasta and chicken pot pie later in the week.  I think it'll need to go in the freezer, while we eat our leftovers... 

Almost meal planning: progress report

Yeesh, I'm talkative lately.  I feel like there are so many things bouncing around in my head, and I just want to post to get them all out in some sort of coherent way.  And if I can unload the little stuff, maybe there will be more room to mull over the big stuff.  I mean, there can only be so much room inside your head, yah?

So...  The great cook-at-home plan.  It's working.  I'm still not sure where I'm coming up with the time, since I don't feel rushed or like I'm having to work overly hard to make this happen.  Seriously.  I've had a two mishaps where I've neglected to eat breakfast and stopped at McDonald's for a salad on my way into work.  But I took my lunch to work every single day last week.  Shayne and Ethan also had dinner at home every day.  Major accomplishment, at least in my little world!

So what am I doing differently?  Basically, planning my meals a week or so ahead and sticking to the plan.  There's some room for flexibility, otherwise this wouldn't work for me.  For example, I had planned to make chicken and wild rice soup on one of my days off, so I roasted a chicken on my first day off, picked it apart, and stuck it in the fridge.  A few days ago, Ethan had a stomach bug, so I tossed some of the chicken into some stock I had canned last year.  Add onion, celery, carrots, seasoning, and noodles, and we had chicken noodle soup.  And somehow, in spite of a sick kidlet and raking leaves, I got a lasagna on the table that night for dinner.

Then I got sick.  I fell off the cooking wagon for a few days, but we still had enough leftovers to see us through (especially since I wasn't eating anything!).  It seems like as long as I cook every 2 or 3 days, we always have plenty of leftovers and wiggle room in case something goes wrong.

But since I'm now a bit behind and we are totally leftover-less...  Tonight, I need to toss the remaining chicken into the crock pot so that we'll have chicken and wild rice soup tomorrow.  And the ground beef in the fridge HAS to be browned before it goes bad.  Even if most of it goes into the freezer (Shayne and Ethan are eating dinner at my mom's tomorrow, and probably the day after as well), at least we'll have something in reserve for the nights the cooking just doesn't happen.

Something else I've learned is to pack up leftovers into meal-sized portions, even if I'm going to toss it into the freezer.  If I have to pack a lunch for work, I won't do it.  I'm cramped for time in the morning, and that's the thing that seems to get left by the wayside first.  But if it's already "packed" and all I have to do is throw a jar or container into my bag?  I can handle that.

Almost meal planning

I feel like a champ.  I haven't spent any (ANY!) money at all this week, and we've had home-cooked food for every meal so far. I cooked a big pot of beef and vegetable soup on Monday (my last day off), then have taken it to work for lunch every day since.  I set out pasta and sauce for Shayne to make for dinner last night, then today popped pork steaks with a mushroom and onion sauce into the crockpot for dinner.  I also have bread rising in the bread machine to go with the rest of the soup.

This has not been easy, but it's been easier than I thought it would be.  I just have to remember to take meat out of the freezer to thaw, so I'm working a day ahead of myself.  I'd like to eventually get to the point where we're planning our meals about 2 weeks in advance, but even thinking a few days in advance is big progress for me.  I will probably only need to cook one more meal to get us through the rest of my working days, then I'll have my days off to plan, shop, and cook.  My ultimate goal is to cook enough on my days off that I'll only need to cook one, maybe two, meals on my working days.  This should keep Shayne from feeling like he needs to eat out for dinner (which is obviously better for both him and Ethan), plus it will give me dinners to take to work and keep me from eating out.  I don't mind eating out one day a week, but it was getting a bit ridiculous.  Last month, we spent almost $900 on food.  $900!  We should be spending half that...  I knew we'd gotten off track, since we've been stressed and our kitchen has been a mess, but still...  It's time to get back on track.

Things to make my life easier

As Ethan has gotten busier (and busier!) and takes fewer/shorter naps, I've been feeling frazzled again in the morning.  Especially when I'm trying to get out the door, I feel like I'm in a huge rush and that I'm setting a poor example for him.  So I'm going to try a few things to be a little more structured and organized during my "me" time, hoping that it will allow me to be more flexible during the time I spend with Ethan.

When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is make myself an iced raspberry mocha (Did I tell you I bought an espresso machine to save myself from my Starbucks addiction?  It totally deserves its own post, so I won't elaborate, but I am in LOVE!).  It doesn't take long at all, but trying to measure coffee while Ethan inevitably opens the refrigerator and begins to remove items (yogurt! milk! carrots!) usually results in misery when I remind him that he just ate breakfast and is probably full.  Please don't think I'm denying my little guy...  He's one of the rare toddlers that would eat all day, every day, until he got sick.  But if he doesn't open the fridge and see the food, he's completely content to play.  So I'm going to avoid it.  My mocha will be made the night before and refrigerated.  I get my coffee; kidlet stays out of the fridge, and a meltdown is averted.

The getting-out-the-door part is usually the hardest part of my day.  I always think about moving the carseat to my work car when Ethan is napping... and then I rarely do it.  I'm definitely going to make a concentrated effort to get this done, along with packing the diaper bag and taking my work "stuff" (lunch, laptop, etc) out to the car.  Then, even if I'm short on time, I won't be trying to throw things together while chasing the little one.  I usually end up getting frustrated and short-tempered, and I don't think that's a good example to be setting.

And something else that I've already started doing is to simply slow down.  I don't exactly have a busy schedule, but I don't like feeling like I'm rushing Ethan.  He's two; he doesn't get deadlines, or rigid schedules, or the pressure to go shopping, stop at the market, have lunch, and make it to work on time.  So I've decided not to live like that either.  If I don't make it to the store, or the market, or whatever other optional (though I know it doesn't always feel optional) errands and activities for the day...  I'll do it tomorrow.  Or the next day.  It's not worth rushing my little guy around.  I don't want him to grow up thinking we always have to be running from one thing to the next.  I don't want "hurry up!" to become a mantra.  I want to have time to let Ethan walk around the market - at his speed.  To play outside in the yard and not have to set a time limit on it.  To eat sitting at the table, not in his carseat.

So...  As I implement these little changes, I'm hoping that they will help me to slow down, relax, and go with the flow a bit more.  Life is too short for rushing through headlong.  I want my child to grow up knowing that there is always time to play.

More organizational ramblings

I so wish that there was some kind of magic wand I could wave and just have all the surplus junk leave my life instead of having to sort through it bit by bit.  Still, we're making progress.  We've tossed, donated, recycled, or otherwise rehomed 972 items.  Yeah, it's not even halfway there, but we're still plugging along.

Also, the appliance garage is dead!  I got a bug up my butt (where did that saying come from, anyways?) right before Ethan's 2nd b-day party, and I finally ripped the dang thing out.  And I'm soooo glad I did it.  Our kitchen suddenly looks a lot bigger.

Here's a pic of how the kitchen looked when we bought the house:

 

 And now that he appliance garage is gone (please excuse the not-so-great cellphone photo and sink full of dishes...):

 

Okay, so the pictures don't really do it justice, since the "after" shot is too close.  But trust me when I say it changed the whole character of the kitchen.  There's a lot of counter space that was freed up on the other side of the sink, since the toaster oven is now living where the appliance garage was.  And it just doesn't look as dated.  I can't quite convince myself I'm happy with our kitchen, but it's getting better.

We still have a big hole in the kitchen ceiling.  It's amazing, but I really don't even notice it anymore.  We're very close to securing the financing necessary for the bathroom remodel, so I'll be planning that with a vengeance soon.  Can't wait!

Organizing. The never-ending chore.

I've been on a major organizational bender since losing the twins.  I'm so tired of our house looking like a war zone.  I'm okay with some chaos in the rooms that we are actively working on (currently kitchen and bathroom), but the rest of it is wearing on me.  Slowly, but surely, I'm making progress.

The first major thing has been purging what I no longer use.  I'm up to 886 (plus 150 from the "before Christmas" challenge) items tossed, donated, or otherwise rehomed.  I'm a little discouraged by my lack of progress... until I think that our house has 1036 fewer items in it than this time last year.  That's huge.  When I try to imagine our house and garage with 1000 more things in it than what it has now, it scares me.  I really should have taken "before" pictures of my cabinets.

After I've purged the items I don't want from an area, the next step is organizing it.  I've been buying baskets and other containers in order to better organize the tings we're keeping.  In the bathroom cabinet, all of the medicines are in divided baskets, organized by use.  On the back porch laundry room, the laundry supplies are all in a basket up in front of the cabinet, so that if I need to access something behind, I can just take out the basket.  Same with the pet medicines, treats, and toys.  It may sound painfully obvious to group often-used-together items in a basket, but for me it is a revelation.

The place where I'm getting hung up right now is clothes.  I'm two sizes bigger than "usual", since I haven't lost all of my baby weight.  And I'm honestly not trying all that hard, since we're also trying to have another baby.  Hard exercise can affect fertility, and I don't want to push my body too hard.  Plus, I'm still recovering from blood-loss anemia.  So there's my list of excuses.  Regardless, I had to buy some new clothes so that I could get out of my maternity stuff.  I went on a Goodwill shopping spree, and even though I spent less than $50, I now have 6 new shirts and 4 pairs of pants added to my closet.  I'm also storing both my class A and B uniforms, maternity clothes, some workout/backpacking clothes.  I have more clothes now than ever before.  I've gotten rid of some things I'm fairly certain I'd never wear again, even when it fits me, but some things need to stay.  I'm still looking for a good solution to this.  In the meantime, they've moved into the linen closet so that I don't have to stare at them every day.

Still.  Today I need to tackle the laundry situation.  It's getting scary.  Then if I have time, we need to go through the bathroom again before we take everything out in preparation for demolition.

Decluttering update

As you may recall, I set a goal to remove 2011 items from my home in 2011.  I started off strong, and was over 150 items by early January.  Then life happened, and I got a little sidetracked.  But I'm still plugging away, donating baby clothes, tossing old magazines and catalogues, and sorting through my cupboards and cabinets.  I don't have a comprehensive list compiled, but I am keeping track.

I'm up to 230 items as of today.

It's addictive.  I want so much to get rid of more things and downsize further.  I want to toss all our DVD boxes and put the discs into a binder, but Shayne would have a fit I think (I'm scared to even ask).  We are going to buy a external hard drive and record all our CDs to mp3, then donate the CDs.  We ditched our $60/month cable package and switched to Netflix over the Xbox.  Just little things, but it frees up space and money.

I think it's finally starting to hit home for us that we are going to move.  Although we don't know exactly when, and we certainly don't know where, it's looming on the horizon.  And I really, really don't want to pack up all of the crap we've accumulated and move it with us.  I've done it before.  Twice.  It's not an experience I want to repeat.  The less we have, the easier the move will be, and the less we'll have to work at "staging" our house.

The basement organizing spree: Stuck

We've ground to a halt on the basement reorganization of 2011.  All of our house decorations, personal mementos, and things are organized and in bins.  Shayne's LED stuff?  Not so much.  Some of it is in bins, baskets, and bags.  Some of it is strewn on the shelves.  There are a few things on the floor.  I'm trying not to rip my hair out, because the man insists that it is organized.  *snort*

Seriously, though, it is much better.  It's not photo-worthy yet, but we have made lots of progress.  We need to figure out exactly what's going on with the "family room" portion of the room, because that will dictate where we put things away over on that side.

Progress is so slow when you don't ever have time off with your spouse.  But speaking of that... I have something in the works that may solve it.  There's a good chance that I'm going to transfer into an IT position at work and be on day shift.  I have seriously mixed feelings about this.  It will, unfortunately, take me off road patrol for a while, but the trade-off is that when I get pregnant again (this summer??) I won't have to worry about "light duty".  I'll also have a position where I can pump at work and not worry about the logistics.  I'll also have my evenings with Shayne and Ethan.  We'll be able to have dinner together, and I'll actually get to cook it!

I'm a bit sad about it, though.  I'll really miss my guys from the road.  We have lots of fun, and I missed them a lot when I was pregnant last time.  I'd also miss the feeling of directly making a difference in people's lives.  Granted, not all of them are exactly grateful for our interference, but sometimes... sometimes you know that you have truly helped someone.  Or when everything comes together and you catch the guys that held up the pizza delivery person.  Or the chronic shoplifters from a pharmacy.  Or even just a drunk driver that could have killed someone.  When everything happens just right, there's such a rush of accomplishment.  Even if you're not instrumental to making it happen, just being a part of it and knowing you're making the world a safer place is a great feeling.

I should know what's going on by March.  I guess it's already been approved for me to transfer, but we're waiting on our new recruits to be done training so that our manpower is up where it needs to be.  We'll see what happens!

More basement cleaning, decluttering, and organizing

Yikes.

While the new shelves freed up some space, I seem to have a never-ending parade of boxes and baskets that need to be stored in the basement.  Baby clothes, baby toys, more baby clothes, Christmas decorations, baby clothes, Shayne's LED stuff , etc.  We don't have a lot, but there's still too much.  I've gotten rid of more boxes and a few odds and ends, but I'm still struggling with the amount of stuff down there.  We've emptied two, almost three, shelving units, but the storage area has an odd layout because of the pipes and well pump, and it seems there is always something in the way.  I don't think we have a single wall down there that's not interruped by something immobile. 

We've decided put another wall-mounted shelf on the opposite end from the food storage that will wrap around in an L-shape.  Then we can put the Rubbermaid bins on it instead of stacking them on top of one another on a low shelf.  But for right now, I'm frustrated.  What do we do with this crap until then?  We both go back to work tomorrow, so there's no time to whip up another shelving unit before then.  Gaah!

I'm also feeling guilty for wanting to donate a set of Christmas/winter dishes that we have that I've used maybe once in the past 7 or 8 years.  I just don't want the hassle of special dishes.  But I like them, and they were a gift, and...  Sigh.  Into the Goodwill pile they go, but I feel bad about them.

Oh well.  Back to the grind...

New basement storage shelves

Shayne built me these wonderful shelves this afternoon.  They're obviously not fancy, just plywood on wall-mounted shelf brackets.  But I can store all the food on these that I previously had stored on 2 5-shelf units.  So we've freed up a bit of space in the basement, and we can rearrange so that things we use often are closer to the door to the storage area.

I eventually want to expand our food storage, so we'll need more space some day.  For now this is plenty, though, and it will help me stay organized.

2011 in 2011

In my previous post I mentioned wanting to remove 2011 things from our home in 2011.  I just started 2 days ago, and I'm already 6% there!

1.  set of stickers that came with one of DS's Christmas gifts
2.  Christmas ornament kit
3.  broken photo carousel, trashed. This one hurt.  I've been wanting to fix it for 2 years, but never did.  Plus, the photo covers are yellowed.  It was junky, but I miss it!
4 - 5.  2 straps to ??
6. ugly wall plaque
7 - 8.  2 old harddrives
9. box of envelopes (combined)
10 - 14. computer cords
15.  old Lemmings disk
16 - 17. manuals
18.  old discs
19.  crappy photo...
20 - 26.  crumpled and unusable gift bags
27.  mousepad
28.  USB card
29.  computer cord
30.  bottle of saline solution
31.  shoe insole
32.  can of ancient cherry filling
33.  unopened box of Peeps from Easter
34. 3 years of This Old House magazines
70 - 76.  books
77.  1 phone book (why did I have two?)
78 - 83.  6 bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion
84 - 85.  2 bars of soap that smell AWFUL
86. toy boat

87. greeting card organizer
88 - 94. picture frames
95. ledge/shelf thing
96. set of colored Christmas lights
97 - 100. wooden wall plaques with circus animals
101. japnese fan
102. japanese wall hanging
103 - 105. candle holders
106 - 108. more picture frames
109 - 115. random knicknacks
116 - 125. ceramic elephants (DH's. I had NO idea these were in the house!)
126. set of plastic dishes
127. set of ugly wine glasses
128. Christmas pillow
129. Eddie Bauer binoculars and multitool giftset
130 - 132. Christmas wrapping paper
133 - 134. old ceramic banks
135. desk lamp

I've realized that the more you get rid of, the easier it is to get rid of more.  I've learned that just because I like something doesn't mean that I have to keep it.  And since we've started to go through the bins in the basement, it's gotten even easier.  I now have one medium bin for all my sentimental stuff (old stuffed animals, knicknacks I'm not ready to let go of), and 1 small bin for old journals.  I think Shayne is down to 2.  We have a bin of picture frames, awaiting the day when I'm ready to start putting holes in the walls.  3 bins of Christmas decorations (1 of lights, 1 for ornaments, and 1 for our nativity and a few other figurines).  1 box of books (yet to be gone through), 1 of sports equipment, 1 of board games.  Other than that, it's just Shayne's LED-building supplies, my backpacking gear, and food storage down there.  We're getting there...

150 things out of the house!

I had originally vowed to get 150 things out of the house by Christmas, but we got a little behind.  Then I thought I'd have it done by New Year's Day.  But I was busy at work, and the baby and I got colds, and it just didn't happen.  But today, January 3, I've meet my goal!

Here's the final list:

1. dish drainer (does it count if I replaced it with a new, folding one so doesn't take up any space in the cupboard?)

2. 1 book
3. small pile of paperwork/old bills
4. box of glass votive candle holders
5. 2 stuffed animals
6. 2 pairs of shoes
7. bag of plastic bags (recycled)
8. mylar balloons from DS's b-day
9. free sample disposable razor
10. borrowed book returned to owner
11. lots of straws and plastic silverware
12. old set of dishes (given to a friend)
13. plastic outdoor table and chairs set
14. small pile of maternity clothes
15. small box of baby toys
16. sippy cups
17. little box misc junk
18. small box of baby accessories to sell
19. old hangers
20. doorway jumper
21 - 35. 15 pieces of 0-3 month baby clothing (to sell)
36 - 46. 11 newborn "gowns" (to sell)
47 - 64. 18 unneeded diaper inserts (sold)
65 - 72. 8 unneeded baby hand-me downs (to sell)
73. carseat bunting (sold)
74. fleece jacket with holes
75. OLD Gore-Tex rain jacket
76. DH's barn coat
77. 2 tiny stuffed animals
78. replaced blender with single-serving version to free up cupboard space
79. DH's old socks (about 20 pair!) that he trashed
80. serving plate returned to owner
81 - 85. another pile of baby clothes
86 - 94. 12-24 month baby clothes
95 - 100. 0-3 month baby clothes
101. 2 ruined paintbrushes
102. 2 pairs of jeans
103. a tee shirt from a musical I was in back in high school (it's only been 10 years! LOL)
104. old canning jar lids
105. old dog bones
106. lighbulb boxes (consolidated and trashed)
107. miscellaneous hardware from installing my blinds
108. nasty old rags
109. "paint-removing" sanding block that gouges wood
110. length of coaxial cable
111. telephone cable
112. lots of little odds and ends from back porch cabinets that aren't worth listing separately
113. hand-me-down dress that I've never worn
114. OLD but working electric razor that was handed down from my grandma to my mom to me (Goodwill pile)
115. Lots of boxes I was thinking I'd use to mail things. Right.
116. old dog toy
117. Video given to nephew
118. 2 old toothbrushes
119. fabric softener ball for the washer
120. backpaking fabric scraps
121. old ring
122. bead necklace that I haven't worn since 2003
123. Sauces, condiments, etc. from the fridge.
124. Baby bathtub (going to a family member)
125. Jeep baby walker
126. Baby sleepsack
127 - 129. Three new pairs of flame-resistant baby jammies (we don't wear that type)
130. 2 cans of baby "puff" snacks
131. ripped stuffsack (backpacking gear)
132. old backpacking food
133 - 135. backpacking water filters (sold on BPing forum)
136. pile of old Chinese sauces that just kept growing
137. old seed packets
138. bottle of hardened fabric softener
139 - 148. Still more baby shirts, overalls, pants, and rompers
149. Pile of baby bibs (at least 10!)
150. brand new baby shape sorter (we have 3 or 4 different types already)

I'm a little late, but I did it!

I cannot belive all the baby clothes we've accumulated.  I feel like every other week I'm amassing a pile to take to Goodwill or try to sell at Once Upon a Child.  And I still have enough for probably 2 kids.  Yeesh.  I'd like to have one more baby, so we're saving the clothing in case it's a boy.  If it's a girl... We're going to have an ebay or Once Upon a Child selling spree.  Most of the toys are pretty gender-neutral, so we can use them again regardless.

And I still even have some things I need to go through.  Like decorations.  I know we have things we'll never use, so I should probably quit storing them. 

I still struggle with the kitchen.  Part of the problem is that we do have a small kitchen.  But some things I just can't bear to part with.  We have a waffle iron that I bought at a rummage sale at least 5 years ago because it's exactly like the one my mom has.  I've never used it.  I have a pasta machine that I want to use but have yet to find the time.  And some items, like vases, mixing bowls (I have 10... But 7 can double as serving dishes too), and storage containers seem to be too useful to live without.  I'm working on paring down, though.  There are also items I use seasonally that should probably go live in the basement, like the food mill, apple peeler/corer/slicer, and canning utensils.

Sometimes I feel like I'll never get there...

Simplicity is a journey, not a destination!

The Great Purge of 2010

We have bulemia of possessions.  In the week before Ethan's first birthday party, Shayne decided to go through his boxes in the basement and get rid of everything he doesn't want or need.  I organized the dining room and bathroom.  The end result was a monster pile of trash in front of our house on trash day, plus a load of stuff for Goodwill.  Most of it was Shayne's.  I don't know what he tossed, but I know that two shelving units in the basement are now empty.  Impressive.

What has been really great is how peaceful our house feels without the clutter.  We've already started to reaccumulate junk on the dining room table again, so I'm making a serious effort to keep that area clear.  It's so hard, since it's just the natural dumping ground for mail, baby toys, or anything else that we happen to be holding when we come into the house.  But it's also the first room we really see when we come in the back door, so when it's not cluttered, it just makes the house feel more welcoming.

I still need to get rid of more clutter.  It's like a snowball effect; the more you clear out and organize, the more you realize you still need to do.  But we're getting there.

My new love

Please excuse the crappy cell phone photo, but I just had to share my newest Craigslist find...

I love Craigslist.  In case you can't tell from the picture, it's a quarter-sawn oak, Mission-style secretary.  In near-perfect condition.  I'll take a better photo when I get my camera back from my mom, but be assured that it is gorgeous.  I love how antique furniture looks so at home in this house. Whenever I get a new piece, it fits right in like it's been here forever.

I couldn't find any pictures, but this corner used to house a little "linen cabinet" that we bought while still living in our rental hovel.  It was about a third as wide and only had one drawer.  I tried to use it to organize mail and paperwork, but it was just too small.  I was able to fit everything (except the things I threw away!) inside the new desk, and it's now neatly organized.  I ended up pitching about 30 pens, which I feel bad about, but we just had way too many.  I swear they multiply.  We had pens from politicians, from businesses, and God-alone-knows-where-else.  I saved about 5 decent ones and put them in a pottery cup on the top, then tucked 10 or so more in one of the interior drawers.  That is plenty and will probably last us the next 5 years.

Saturday is going to be an organizational extravaganza.  My mom is watching Ethan almost all day, so I'm going to go through the cupboards on the back porch and reorganize everything.  I'm hoping to do the same in the bathroom.  And the "office".  And the buffet in the dining room.  Since I'll have about 8 hrs, I'm should be able to make my way through just about the entire house.  I don't have to worry about cleaning, since I've managed to keep up with housework this week, just all the other little things that never seem to get done and then turn into big ordeals.  Thankfully, I've already taken care of the kitchen, our bedroom, Ethan's room, and the basement pantry.

Shayne watched an episode of "Hoarders" last night, and told me today that he's determined to go through the basement and get rid of his junk and organize what he is keeping.  I'm amazed.  I thought he'd hang onto that stuff forever.  Maybe I should arrange for monthly viewings of the show to keep him motivated!

Living small

Every year since I was 4, my mom and I have headed "Up North" for vacation during the summer (and more recently, sometimes in the fall and winter as well).  For those of you not from Michigan, "Up North" is how we refer to the northern portion of the lower penninsula (not to be confused with the upper penninsula, which is the U.P.).  For us, Up North is the Leelanau Penninsula, the "little finger" of Michigan.  It's a beautiful area, surrounded by Lake Michigan and sand dunes, pockmarked with crystal-clear spring-fed lakes, and decorated with woods and orchards of cherry trees.  It's my favorite place in the world.

This year it's really made me examine how we live our life.

We stayed in a very cute little cabin.  It was probably built in the 1920s, and it had lots of charm and character, including a 1950s stove.  It was small, maybe 600 square feet, but it didn't feel cramped.  It was cozy, but in a good way.  It had everything we needed (except space to hang clothes, but it was a vacation cabin, so whatever), and nothing we didn't.  I wanted to stay forever.

About a week after getting home, I went to a house to take a burglary report.  This house was maybe 1200 square feet, with a very open floor plan, so it wasn't even large by today's standards.  But what struck me about this house was how calm and peaceful it felt inside.  There were comfortable furnishing, but nothing extraneous.  A few tasteful pieces of art were displayed on the walls and on a bookcase, but there was NO CLUTTER.  None. 

These two homes have really inspired me to try and cut out the clutter from our home.  I spontaneously deconstructed the kitchen one night last week and completely rearranged the cupboards and got rid of a bit of junk.  It's one of the hardest rooms to declutter, since you really have to keep some things that you only use once in a while (turkey platter, certain servingware, my big canning kettle).  But do I really need the golden retriever mug that I got when I was 12?  Not so much.  Three sets of mixing bowls?  Probably not.  I also got rid of any storage containers that were missing lids, and any lids I didn't have a container for.  And by moving some things from one cabinet to another, the cupboards look much nicer and are much better organized.  All of the food prep items are together, the servingware has a cabinet to itself, and all of the drinkware (cups, mugs, and such) are in one place. 

Of course, the floor still looks like shit after the flood.  The cheapo laminate will never recover.  There are pieces that don't fit back together because they swelled, and the edges on every plank are raised.  It looks bad.  Combined with the hole in the ceiling, we're really rocking the white trash kitchen look.  But at least my cabinets are organized! 

We're still not sure what we're going to do in the kitchen.  We're not prepared for a full remodel, but now that Ethan is crawling...  Ugh.  We're going to have to do something.  I just don't know what.

Next on my decluttering list is the basement.  I have a few boxes of stuff that I never seem to look in.  I think I'm just not going to look and trash it all.  I hate being like that, since I like to donate items that could be used.  But if I look, I know I'll never get rid of it.  And it obviously means nothing to me, since it's been boxed away since we moved into the Prairie Box.  Seriously, if I haven't looked at it in 6 years, do I really want it?  Or...  Maybe I'll limit myself to one rubbermaid container of "memorabilia".  Then I don't have to get rid of everything, but I can keep a few items that are important but not really displayable.  I think I'll try that tonight and see how it works out. 

Chilly!

It's currently 49°F here at the Prairie Box, and I'm freezing my buns off.  I'm at that lovely stage of pregnancy (the end!!) where nothing fits, not even my maternity clothes.  Since I didn't get big enough to wear maternity stuff until summer, I have NO cool weather clothing that even comes close to fitting.  I need to go steal a sweatshirt from Shayne.  Even some of those are too small.  How's that for a self-esteem boost?  I swear I'm going to have a 15 lb baby...

Last night we went to Lowes and bought a closet organizer for "my" closet in the office.  It's a modular system from Rubbermaid that should almost double the hanging space available in my 63" wide closet.  It's also supposed to be easy to install.  We'll see how that works out.  I haven't opened the package yet, but the instructions I saw on the website made it seem straightforward.  Everything hangs from a top rail so that you only have to drill 1 set of holes into the studs.  We'll install it this afternoon and see what happens.

Also at Lowes, we found pine "door jamb" planks that are the exact width of our door and window trim.  It's stain-grade pine, the edges are already routed, and they're returnable if they don't work out.  Our walls are thicker than those of new homes, so we'll have to find something wider to frame in the door jambs themselves, but these should work perfectly as trim.  That's also on the agenda for this afternoon.

As for this morning, I'm continuing my "from-the-bottom-up" cleaning and organizing blitz.  Thanks to my mom's help, the storage section of the basement is now much-improved, and we started on the dining room.  Since I've been doing some shuffling of the furniture, quite a few odds and ends have ended up homeless...  I just need to rehome or trash them, then vacuum and dust the living room.  I feel like I'm doing Apartment Therapy's "Complete Cure" in 2 days.  Thankfully I already reorganized the kitchen and bathroom, so I just need to do some cleaning in those rooms.  Wish me luck!

Another small feat of organization

Today I tackled the "back porch". Somehow, we can't seem to call it anything else, even though it's been enclosed for years, possibly originally. It's a small utility room that was tacked onto the back of the house. It has minimal insulation, no foundation, and the last bit of carpet in the whole house. It's home to a half bath, the washer and dryer, and quite a few storage cabinets. All of this in a 7' by 9' space. Sometime in the future we plan on knocking it down and rebuilding a new addition across the back of the house. This is in the 10 year (at least!) plan.

I didn't do much purging, but I did organize all of the cabinets out there, plus the one under the kitchen sink. The back porch cabinets have become something of a catch-all. Whatever project we're currently working on, the supplies seem to end up there. It's also home to cleaning supplies, pet items, and cases of soda. At least now everything is accessible, clean, and organized. And I moved the small toolbox up there so I don't have to run to the basement every time I need a screwdriver or hammer. No huge accomplishment, but it'll make life easier.

Purging

I seem have caught a case of house bulemia recently. All of the clutter and chaos is just driving me mad. I've been going into too many exceptionally disgusting homes at work lately, and it's actually made me feel worse about ours. Kind of backwards, I know. After looking at rooms with aisles through the clutter and kitchens overflowing with dirty dishes, you'd think I'd feel pretty damn good about our slight organizational impairment. After all, we still have a sanitary home!

I think my nesting instict is coming into play here also. When (if??) I do get pregnant, I want to have a clean, finished home by the time our child is old enough to start remembering it. I want to spend my days off playing, not working on house projects. I know not everything will be done in 3 years, like the back porch addition, but I'd like for the main rooms to be clean, safe, and at least 90% finished.

Yesterday I cleaned out my closet in preparation for its walling off and relocation. I sorted through my clothes and organized everything in a way that makes sense. When I move into the new closet, I absoloutely have to get something to organize my shoes. I probably have less than half as many pairs as the average woman, and 2 pairs are for hiking and 2 are work boots, but I still have enough that they seem to be taking over the closet floor.

Today I got rid of 2 boxes of books. That may not seem like a hige accomplishment, but for me, it is. I love books. LOVE books. If it's a series or book I really enjoy, I'll read it over and over. My favorite series, I've just about read into pieces. So the fact that I managed to give some of my precious books away is real progress. I still have a Rubbermaid container full of books sitting on the dining room floor, waiting until the day (soon??) that we put a bookshelf in the finished office. But the rest of them are on shelves and look pretty decent. For my next trick, I need to clear off the tall particleboard-and-laminate bookshelf in the dining room. When the books move into the office, I want a real wood shelf, even if it's from Target instead of Stickley.

Apartment Therapy Progress Report: Week 1

I'm feeling very motivated and proud of myself. Week 1 was a success, and I managed to complete all of the tasks assigned. I just bought the flowers last night, but I hadn't been to the store all week (unusual for me), and I didn't want to make a special trip. All of the floors were vacuumed at least once, and most got it at least twice due to German Shepherd tumbleweeds. There's no such thing as shedding season with that dog, it's just a year-round thing. I already use earth-friendly cleaning supplies, but I bought a fresh stock of some of the things I've been running low on. I also asked Maggie at 1901 House for a recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I have a large box for Goodwill that I will drop off tonight after work. Sitting for 10 minutes in a part of my home I don't usually sit in was difficult. Our house isn't that big, and I use it all nearly every day. Instead, I substituted a walkthrough of the entire house, taking time to study each room and figuring out what its strengths and weaknesses are. I also brainstormed for improvements. Here's what I came up with, starting at the bottom.


Basement storage/utility room

1. not enough shelves
2. too many boxes of furnishings and other items that are not ever used
3. one full wall of wasted storage space
4. kitty litter out in the open
5. items from previous owners must go (paint cans galore)!
6. love the high ceilings
7. walls and floors in good condition
8. nook under stairs perfect for additional shelving
9. lots of light for a basement

Basement family room

1. cluttered!
2. not enough storage for Shayne's electronics projects
3. need shelving or storage solution for DVDs and CDs
4. needs new carpet
5. excercise machine takes up lots of space and is rarely used

Kitchen

1. need recycling/trash area to be better organized
2. junk accumulates on top of microwave
3. good counter space
4. probably the most organized room in the house

Dining room

1. "Drop Zone" for mail, shoes, uniform items and work supplies
2. cluttered by living room furniture and furnishings
3. needs curtains
4. HATE the wall color - repaint ASAP as a temporary fix
5. excellent light

Laundry room/bathroom

1. Small and cold (or hot in summer)
2. lots of storage, but unorganized and poorly utilized
3. need solution for dog food bags
4. need curtains

Living room

1. needs to be finished!
2. love the wall colors
3. beautiful wood floors
4. lots of natural light

Office

1. least favorite room in the house
2. need new cushion for papasan chair or bring in futon to use for guests
3. new bookcase/armoire for books, magazines, and office supplies
4. wallpaper MUST GO!

Bedroom

1. need headboard and coordinating furniture
2. new fan/light fixture
3. drab wall color (very light sage/tan/gray) that I hate
4. built-in shelves give extra storage
5. needs more decoration to feel cozy

Spare bedroom

1. catch-all room with lots of clutter
2. used as ironing center
3. AWFUL wall color (bright yellow with green trim)
4. might work well as a utility room

Bathroom

1. needs ventilation fan
2. tons of storage
3. small but organized

I was surprised to find that only 1 thing in the house needs repair (the furnace ignition works sporadically), and I found 2 light bulbs that are burned out.

I've been motivated this week to start organizing. I bought a magazine file to keep in the bathroom, since both of us usually take something to read while we take baths or if we plan on spending a little time in there. There was a small pile that moved between the floor and the counter, and it's now neat and orderly. I don't really like having reading material in there, but since it ended up there anyways, I might as well make it look as nice as I can! I also cleaned and organized my nightstand, which was pretty scary. Shayne and I are both making an effort to pick up after ourselves and not leave anything laying around that shouldn't be. Training ourselves to new habits will take some time, but I'm so sick of the clutter...