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Showing posts with label home stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home stuff. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Monday, January 4, 2010
Hopeful and Aweigh
Things have not normalized yet around here. The kids are tired and cranky, picking fights with one another and crying or yelling over the smallest infraction. We've attempted to move bedtime earlier, or at least we've had the intention to do so, but we find them still awake at least an hour past their bedtimes.
D is fussy and fitful, presumably working on another tooth, but she sees the things her siblings do to one another and to her and copies them as any toddler would. I can't help but point out to the big kids where she's learning these lovely activities. She's morphed into a curmudgeonly old woman at times, grunting ahg! with disdain when the item she carries slips from her grip. Just as suddenly, however, she bursts into the most delightful toddler giggles.
I've made some progress on de-cluttering the house (and hopefully my mind). It's a small dent, but a dent nonetheless. My hope is to continue to plug away at at least some small reorganizing task every day. Yesterday I cleaned Miss M's bedroom. It was not a thorough cleaning though since I didn't tackle underneath the bed or the "far side" of the bed, but I feel better about the state of her room mostly because you can actually see the floor. She has a little room back to play with her 472975 toys. I also went through several boxes of papers and miscellaneous stuff and threw away a few bags of stuff. I dug through the basket that was supposed to hold Ms. D's diapers but somehow became a catch-all for anything pertaining to her. It now holds diapers and the 2 pairs of shoes that still fit her instead of the 6 pairs that she has outgrown. There is much, much more to do but seeing the progress I made yesterday and the day before is encouraging. I can do this and get my home and my life back under control.
The holidays have passed us and it's time to get Aweigh back in progress. I'm setting the start date for January 18. More details tomorrow, but if you want to participate please send me an email letting me know, and also what you will donate as a prize.
So we enter the last week of the big kids' school break not tired of one another, but tired. The week will again go too quickly and they will be back in school and I'll wonder where the time has gone. Seven more days to try to make happy memories and just be together with these little (not so little as they used to be) people that mean the world to me.
D is fussy and fitful, presumably working on another tooth, but she sees the things her siblings do to one another and to her and copies them as any toddler would. I can't help but point out to the big kids where she's learning these lovely activities. She's morphed into a curmudgeonly old woman at times, grunting ahg! with disdain when the item she carries slips from her grip. Just as suddenly, however, she bursts into the most delightful toddler giggles.
I've made some progress on de-cluttering the house (and hopefully my mind). It's a small dent, but a dent nonetheless. My hope is to continue to plug away at at least some small reorganizing task every day. Yesterday I cleaned Miss M's bedroom. It was not a thorough cleaning though since I didn't tackle underneath the bed or the "far side" of the bed, but I feel better about the state of her room mostly because you can actually see the floor. She has a little room back to play with her 472975 toys. I also went through several boxes of papers and miscellaneous stuff and threw away a few bags of stuff. I dug through the basket that was supposed to hold Ms. D's diapers but somehow became a catch-all for anything pertaining to her. It now holds diapers and the 2 pairs of shoes that still fit her instead of the 6 pairs that she has outgrown. There is much, much more to do but seeing the progress I made yesterday and the day before is encouraging. I can do this and get my home and my life back under control.
The holidays have passed us and it's time to get Aweigh back in progress. I'm setting the start date for January 18. More details tomorrow, but if you want to participate please send me an email letting me know, and also what you will donate as a prize.
So we enter the last week of the big kids' school break not tired of one another, but tired. The week will again go too quickly and they will be back in school and I'll wonder where the time has gone. Seven more days to try to make happy memories and just be together with these little (not so little as they used to be) people that mean the world to me.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Addition-Construction Update
So it occurred to me that I never posted an update after the addition was put on the house. The structure was done back in May. We're still working on the inside. (And by we I mean Craig.) Here's the progression:
The siding is also completely done but apparently I haven't taken a finished photo of the outside yet! Whoops!
The siding is also completely done but apparently I haven't taken a finished photo of the outside yet! Whoops!
The inside has drywall up and is in the process of mudding the seams, corners, etc. Soon it will be painting and carpeting time! :)
Monday, January 19, 2009
I Have A Dream*
It is a simple dream, but a dream nonetheless.
Every morning I wake up, I nurse the baby and paw at the snooze alarm repeatedly, wishing it earlier or later—I’m never sure which. The dappled sunlight from the closed blinds begins to creep under my drooping eyelids as I drift between awake and asleep.
Finally I resign myself to the fact that I need to get up and haul the baby and myself toward the bathroom. She sits in her Papasan chair and plays while I slink into the shower.
Moments after the stream of water hits my head the bathroom door opens and at least one of my two ambulatory children enter the room. Maybe this morning it’s M, shuffling into the room with one thing on her mind: Mommy? Can I have a cheese?
Just one! I mutter through the water I’m trying to keep out of my eyes and mostly off of my face. She retreats and, as usual, leaves the door open.
Shut the door! I yell and I can see in my mind’s eye all the precious warm air that makes me luxuriate in the shower sidling out the door behind my eldest child. She returns and closes the door without additional conversation.
Moments later the door reopens. It’s K this time and he’s shirking off his sleeper pajamas as he lumbers in, leaving the door open behind him. This time I waver between telling him to shut the door and not wanting him to pee on the floor because of my interruption of his task.
I wait for the stream to end and order the door shut. Okay, okay!
He exits and the door, mercifully, closes behind him.
I feel my body start to relax again as I wind up my shower duties. It is about this time that the door reopens and M hops in, energized by the score of a slice of processed cheese.
Naturally, she forgets to close the door. The once tropical air in the room is now tepid at best.
Close the door! I utter the refrain in hopes that I won’t immediately have goose bumps when I step out the shower door.
Later, I may need to use the bathroom for its other purpose. Again, I will not be alone. Granted, I will often have the baby with me for safety reasons, but that’s just a given with an infant. It’s the 6-year-old and the 4-year-old audience I could do without. I had mistakenly believed by the time the kids were this old I might have a shred of privacy in the bathroom, but alas it does not seem to be so.
This audience often has complaints about the scent, to which I say who invited you here anyway?
On the weekends, most of the time I have a respite from the stream of inquiries while I am in the shower, but it still seems to be a popular time to use the toilet or brush teeth nonetheless.
Perhaps I need to remember to push the lock button on the door.
****************
*My apologies for the poor timing of this post and the use of Dr. King's great words for a frivolous post.
***************
Still looking for more sponsors/donations for prizes and participants for the Aweigh weight-loss challenge! Check it out here. You do not have to have a blog to participate!
Every morning I wake up, I nurse the baby and paw at the snooze alarm repeatedly, wishing it earlier or later—I’m never sure which. The dappled sunlight from the closed blinds begins to creep under my drooping eyelids as I drift between awake and asleep.
Finally I resign myself to the fact that I need to get up and haul the baby and myself toward the bathroom. She sits in her Papasan chair and plays while I slink into the shower.
Moments after the stream of water hits my head the bathroom door opens and at least one of my two ambulatory children enter the room. Maybe this morning it’s M, shuffling into the room with one thing on her mind: Mommy? Can I have a cheese?
Just one! I mutter through the water I’m trying to keep out of my eyes and mostly off of my face. She retreats and, as usual, leaves the door open.
Shut the door! I yell and I can see in my mind’s eye all the precious warm air that makes me luxuriate in the shower sidling out the door behind my eldest child. She returns and closes the door without additional conversation.
Moments later the door reopens. It’s K this time and he’s shirking off his sleeper pajamas as he lumbers in, leaving the door open behind him. This time I waver between telling him to shut the door and not wanting him to pee on the floor because of my interruption of his task.
I wait for the stream to end and order the door shut. Okay, okay!
He exits and the door, mercifully, closes behind him.
I feel my body start to relax again as I wind up my shower duties. It is about this time that the door reopens and M hops in, energized by the score of a slice of processed cheese.
Naturally, she forgets to close the door. The once tropical air in the room is now tepid at best.
Close the door! I utter the refrain in hopes that I won’t immediately have goose bumps when I step out the shower door.
Later, I may need to use the bathroom for its other purpose. Again, I will not be alone. Granted, I will often have the baby with me for safety reasons, but that’s just a given with an infant. It’s the 6-year-old and the 4-year-old audience I could do without. I had mistakenly believed by the time the kids were this old I might have a shred of privacy in the bathroom, but alas it does not seem to be so.
This audience often has complaints about the scent, to which I say who invited you here anyway?
On the weekends, most of the time I have a respite from the stream of inquiries while I am in the shower, but it still seems to be a popular time to use the toilet or brush teeth nonetheless.
Perhaps I need to remember to push the lock button on the door.
****************
*My apologies for the poor timing of this post and the use of Dr. King's great words for a frivolous post.
***************
Still looking for more sponsors/donations for prizes and participants for the Aweigh weight-loss challenge! Check it out here. You do not have to have a blog to participate!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Boring Best
The stockings were the last to get packed away. Our festive home has returned to the messy, disorganized chaos that permeates my life lately. I have plans to organize, purge, clean, even dust but when the mood strikes to get into action there are obstacles that I rarely am able to surmount.
The kind of clean and organize that I want to do takes time, a lot of time, and always results in a much bigger mess before it gets better. I need to clean like this in virtually every space in our home. It's a daunting task.
Last night I started by cleaning up my blog a little. Gone are the Best of Blog Exchange buttons from 2 years ago. The award buttons from 2008 are gone as well. I made some new buttons for the other blogs I write Midwest Parents and The Zoo Review. I didn't quite finish the review blog button, but that will be appearing soon. I hope to finish "following" the blogs that I read since I started that project several months ago. I hope to update the Zebra Roll again.
Craig and I also cleaned K's room yesterday afternoon while K had a meltdown over the fact that we asked him to clean it. K (and M and D) has been so tired lately. The holidays have taken their toll and we have been allowing the kids to stay up later than they probably should be up, certainly later than they are used to.
The kids are defiant, making poor (and rash) choices, dissolving into tears at the smallest infraction. They need more sleep. They need routine.
So this week we will work on getting back to normal. We need to get back to the boring and mundane part of life that seems dull at times but is really the very best part of life. Boring is good. Boring means we have no emergencies, no illness, few obligations.
I will start to make a regular cleaning schedule to keep up with the work of keeping a home in presentable shape. I will need to get it into presentable shape to start.
Perhaps that's where you'll find me today. Recharging our lives for the new year.
The kind of clean and organize that I want to do takes time, a lot of time, and always results in a much bigger mess before it gets better. I need to clean like this in virtually every space in our home. It's a daunting task.
Last night I started by cleaning up my blog a little. Gone are the Best of Blog Exchange buttons from 2 years ago. The award buttons from 2008 are gone as well. I made some new buttons for the other blogs I write Midwest Parents and The Zoo Review. I didn't quite finish the review blog button, but that will be appearing soon. I hope to finish "following" the blogs that I read since I started that project several months ago. I hope to update the Zebra Roll again.
Craig and I also cleaned K's room yesterday afternoon while K had a meltdown over the fact that we asked him to clean it. K (and M and D) has been so tired lately. The holidays have taken their toll and we have been allowing the kids to stay up later than they probably should be up, certainly later than they are used to.
The kids are defiant, making poor (and rash) choices, dissolving into tears at the smallest infraction. They need more sleep. They need routine.
So this week we will work on getting back to normal. We need to get back to the boring and mundane part of life that seems dull at times but is really the very best part of life. Boring is good. Boring means we have no emergencies, no illness, few obligations.
I will start to make a regular cleaning schedule to keep up with the work of keeping a home in presentable shape. I will need to get it into presentable shape to start.
Perhaps that's where you'll find me today. Recharging our lives for the new year.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Things
There are people who find no value in holding on to items and trinkets as remembrances. They toss greeting cards as soon as they're read. They donate their kids' clothes as soon as they're outgrown. They know that the thing; the memento; is not the memory or the person.
I am not one of those people. This has been cause for much consternation for my husband over the years. He's learned to ask about everything before he throws it away. Really? You want to keep the empty butter tub? He'll usually shrug and put it back where he found the thing, muttering as he goes about his business of trying to keep the house from becoming one of those places where people have things piled to the ceiling.
Okay, it's not that bad. But I do like to keep things. You never know when you're going to need an empty plastic tub for the kids to mix paint in, or to fill with water for them to clean their brushes. No, I don't have any empty butter tubs laying around right now. I'm using that as a hypothetical example.
But these are just the things that I think I might have a use for in the future. Those things, once I see there really isn't any need to keep them, I am able to part with pretty easily.
It's the mementos that really get me. And everything can become a memento it seems. I'm cleaning and reorganizing our basement and I came across some white paper streamers that I had stuck on a shelf. Really, it's just paper but I picked it up on the way out from the Blue Man Group concert so I kept it. I don't know what I'm planning to do with it. I imagine I'll just move it from place to place in our basement over the years until my kids find it when I'm gone. They'll shake their heads at each other and chuckle. Mom saved everything didn't she? they'll say as they toss it in the overflowing garbage can.
I keep some things simply because they were given to me by family members. I no longer use or display the thing, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
We're also reorganizing our bedroom to try to make room for D's crib. While dusting I found proof that I haven't dusted in there in a loooooong time. I found a prescription bottle with 7 pills in it. It was oxycodone from when K was born. Yes, more than four years ago.
What is wrong with me? Is there a pill I can take that will make me stop saving things? Gah!
I am not one of those people. This has been cause for much consternation for my husband over the years. He's learned to ask about everything before he throws it away. Really? You want to keep the empty butter tub? He'll usually shrug and put it back where he found the thing, muttering as he goes about his business of trying to keep the house from becoming one of those places where people have things piled to the ceiling.
Okay, it's not that bad. But I do like to keep things. You never know when you're going to need an empty plastic tub for the kids to mix paint in, or to fill with water for them to clean their brushes. No, I don't have any empty butter tubs laying around right now. I'm using that as a hypothetical example.
But these are just the things that I think I might have a use for in the future. Those things, once I see there really isn't any need to keep them, I am able to part with pretty easily.
It's the mementos that really get me. And everything can become a memento it seems. I'm cleaning and reorganizing our basement and I came across some white paper streamers that I had stuck on a shelf. Really, it's just paper but I picked it up on the way out from the Blue Man Group concert so I kept it. I don't know what I'm planning to do with it. I imagine I'll just move it from place to place in our basement over the years until my kids find it when I'm gone. They'll shake their heads at each other and chuckle. Mom saved everything didn't she? they'll say as they toss it in the overflowing garbage can.
I keep some things simply because they were given to me by family members. I no longer use or display the thing, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
We're also reorganizing our bedroom to try to make room for D's crib. While dusting I found proof that I haven't dusted in there in a loooooong time. I found a prescription bottle with 7 pills in it. It was oxycodone from when K was born. Yes, more than four years ago.
What is wrong with me? Is there a pill I can take that will make me stop saving things? Gah!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Organize me
I spent my weekend cleaning and organizing a bit in my home. My reasons for this attempted cleanse and purge are several.
One, I watched Mission Organization at my Mom and Dad's house on Friday and that show always inspires me to want to get organized. The trouble with that is that the urge generally wears off by the time I get home and have a few moments to actually do something like that. Apparently the urge stuck with me a bit longer so I started going through the kids' toys and picked some out to give away and some to try to sell at our future garage sale. I successfully weaned the kids of a big plastic tub full of toys. Now they only have 325,534 left. (And then we added about 6 after going to a few garage sales on Saturday...oh well.)
Two, I've been wanting to get my scrapbooking supplies more organized for a while. I still don't have an ideal set-up for it, but someday I'll figure out how I want to set it all up. I think a trip to IKEA would do the trick. I actually think I have an addiction to buying things to organize. I think I get a little high each time I bring something home and put it to use organizing. It's a sickness. Why is my house still unorganized??
Three, my in-laws are coming. And they appreciate having a scrapbook supply-free bed to sleep in for some reason. Cleaning off the bed in our basement is a huge undertaking...because the bed is such a great catch-all for all my crap. So anyway, I'm preparing for their arrival on Tuesday. I always get all tense when they visit, because apparently I am more a creature of habit than I think I am and breaks in my routine throw me into a bit of a cranky fit. My husband knows. Poor guy. And he chose to marry me anyway.
One, I watched Mission Organization at my Mom and Dad's house on Friday and that show always inspires me to want to get organized. The trouble with that is that the urge generally wears off by the time I get home and have a few moments to actually do something like that. Apparently the urge stuck with me a bit longer so I started going through the kids' toys and picked some out to give away and some to try to sell at our future garage sale. I successfully weaned the kids of a big plastic tub full of toys. Now they only have 325,534 left. (And then we added about 6 after going to a few garage sales on Saturday...oh well.)
Two, I've been wanting to get my scrapbooking supplies more organized for a while. I still don't have an ideal set-up for it, but someday I'll figure out how I want to set it all up. I think a trip to IKEA would do the trick. I actually think I have an addiction to buying things to organize. I think I get a little high each time I bring something home and put it to use organizing. It's a sickness. Why is my house still unorganized??
Three, my in-laws are coming. And they appreciate having a scrapbook supply-free bed to sleep in for some reason. Cleaning off the bed in our basement is a huge undertaking...because the bed is such a great catch-all for all my crap. So anyway, I'm preparing for their arrival on Tuesday. I always get all tense when they visit, because apparently I am more a creature of habit than I think I am and breaks in my routine throw me into a bit of a cranky fit. My husband knows. Poor guy. And he chose to marry me anyway.
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