Making progress, and postponing the home tour.

In case you haven't figured it out already, I've decided to wait on doing a tour of our home. We're in the midst of doing so many projects around the home, I think it'd be better to just wait until December when the vast majority of the projects will be done, though I'm itching to do my own home tour!

Anyway...

My main focus lately has been in the living room. With all the projects we have going, one thing has to be completely done before we move on to something else. (Isn't that the way projects should be done anyway?) There are some shelves in the living room that will be moving to our bedroom and the dining room, but to do that they had to be cleared off. To do that, I had to clean out the living room closet (which I honestly don't think has been done in the 11 years we've been here). It's just a never-ending cycle. I wish I could remember to take before and after pictures, because I finished the closet project today. There are actually coats in the coat closet! Who'da thunk it? Almost all of the stuff I pulled out of the closet are going to charity or in the trash. Out of all the junk I pulled out, a small box of Christmas decorations were kept. Now, the only things living in there are: our coats, space heaters, extra florescent light bulbs for the kitchen, blankets, and a set of crutches we haven't needed since 1998 but mom won't let me get rid of because they're so expensive and "What if we need them one day?" Babysteps. Mom's getting there, though.

It's so nice to finally, after all these years, be able to talk to mom about getting rid of stuff and not being met with hostility or "That cost a lot!" or "We'll need it one day!" or "What if the other 2 we have breaks?" even if we haven't used whatever it is in years. I'm proud she's finally making progress and realizing that we don't need all this "stuff" nor have room for it. This house is finally starting to turn into a home, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Next on the project list is the dining room. There is a huge metal cabinet in there, along with a set of plastic shelves that are falling apart and a heavy wooden cabinet, all along one wall. There is a bench behind the kitchen table. There is a very cluttered TV stand that is falling apart. We're doing our family Thanksgiving this Tuesday (which is the same day we find out the sex of the baby!) because mom is sitting with her disabled sister Thursday night, so at some point next week, here's what we're planning to do to the dining room:

There is a brand new wooden bookshelf in the living room that I got Josh for his birthday. Well, my construction wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be, so it kind of leans and has to be propped up against something. There's a set of black shelves in the living room, too, that were going to go in the dining room, but since they can stand alone, they are going in our bedroom for our books and the wooden shelf is going in the dining room, since it was going to be up against a wall anyway. The china cabinet that has been in the living room since mom got it is going in the dining room. The bench is going away, and a leaf is being taken out of the table to make it smaller. The white shelves and cabinet in the kitchen are going away, along with the TV stand. We're bring a bar in to put in place of the bench... It's just going to be wonderful. We have to do it next week since the boys are going to be out of school and can help Josh with the heavy lifting. My little pregnant self is in charge of the organizing and decluttering, what I love to do anyway.

Normally, it would take us forever to get all this stuff done, but mom finally called the charity we usually have pick stuff up after we've been decluttering, and they will be here December 3 to pick up the mountain of stuff we have piled up on the front porch. I think once we get all the big stuff out of here once and for all, we'll be able to keep up with the decluttering of little stuff since we have a drop off place in town now.

I can't even begin to tell you all how good it feels to finally be making our house a home. Look for before and after pictures next week!

Home Tours

I've been reading about home tours on one of my favorite blogs, keepingthehome.com, lately. I would love to do one of our house, but not in it's current state, lol. Still, I think it would be fun. I think I'll do some cleaning this weekend and try to post a tour of our home by no later than Sunday. What do yall think? (Not to mention I really want to show off our new couch, lol!)

In loving memory of Alice.

Sometime between 11pm last night and 3:30am this morning, our kitty, Alice, made the trip to Heaven. We think she may have had a stroke sometime yesterday, and as the night progressed, she just went downhill. We did everything we could to make her as comfortable as possible, because we all knew the end was near. Though we're not sure just how old she was, Alice was an old woman. She was an old woman when we got her.

We have had Alice since 2004. She wandered in to a friend of mine's house off the street. He said he'd seen her hanging around the dumpsters at his apartment, then one day she just came in and made herself at home. He was not an animal person and was going to take her to the pound, but called me first to see if I wanted to take her. My kitty had just died the week before, and though it felt too soon to take on another pet, I just couldn't let this baby go to the pound and end up being euthanized. So, off I went to pick her up and she came home with me.

A funny story about me going to get her... I didn't have a cat carrier or a box or anything, so my mom suggested that I bring her home in a pillow case. That's how they had always carried their cats to the vet, and it seemed the safest way possible to get Alice home. When we got home, the first person Alice saw was my mom, and they were instantly 2 peas in a pod. It's a running joke in the family that Alice never liked me because I put her in a bag, lol. We all know that mom was her moma. Mom always refered to Alice as my sister. Mom likes to make a big deal about how she doesn't like animals, but she loved that cat dearly.

This was so sudden and unexpected. I spent most of the morning at work crying. Thank God they had burried her before I came home because I honestly don't think I could have handled that.

The house is just too quiet tonight. Usually, anytime you walk through the kitchen, day or night, Alice would meow "Noooooooooooooow" to you, telling you she wanted food, no matter how many times she had eaten that day. Now, with mom at her sister's and Josh at work, it's just too quiet. *sigh*

We all loved Alice dearly, and she is very, very missed. Rest in peace, little kitty. We love you.

Ta Da List 10.11.09

The last 2 weeks have been completely insane around here, and the housework has suffered greatly. I got to come home from work early today, so I've got basically an extra day off this week to work with. Hallelujah! Soooooooo much needs to get done! I'm feeling kinda green around the gills today, so hopefully once I get up and going I'll feel better. Babysteps. :) I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished. Maybe not everything on my ta da list, but it's just a guideline. It would be nice to mark everything off, though, hehe.

I've allowed myself to slip into a kind of funk this week. What with my aunt still being in the hospital (had 2 stints put in her heart on Tuesday and other problems have come up since then) and working all the time, I've barely been home. When I've been home, I've been in bed. My sleep schedule is all over the place, so hopefully I can make until at least 6 tonight without a nap so I can sleep through the night tonight. Anyway, on to the ta da list...

Bedroom
1. Clean off the desk.
2. Take out the trash.
3. Wash bedding.
4. Remake bed.
5. Clean off the other flat surfaces.
6. Put away shoes/clothes/random stuff.
7. Sweep.
8. Mop.

Bathroom
1. Wash, dry, fold & put away one load of laundry.
2. Swish and swipe.
3. Sweep.
4. Mop.
5. Put up new shower curtain.

Kitchen
1. Clean off counters.
2. Shine the sink.
3. Put away stuff that doesn't belong there.
4. Sweep.
5. Mop.

Once I get all this done, I might venture into the baby's room and see about doing something in there. That'll just be a bonus, though, hehe.

What a week... Ta Da List for 10.04.09

So I wrote the other day that my aunt was coming home from the hospital yesterday. She did, but she wasn't even home 20 minutes before she was rushed back to the ER because she couldn't breathe and had an irregular heart beat. Josh, mom and I were at the hospital until almost 11pm last night, and they admitted her again. *sigh*

We came home and I slept until 1pm this afternoon! I guess I needed it. When I woke up, Josh was up and getting ready for work. Mom's at the hospital with her sister right now, so I've got the house to myself. Mom and I went through some of the boxes of Christmas decorations that had been cluttering up the carport Friday night and now our kitchen looks like Christmas Town or something, lol. While it's quiet, I think I'll get some work done.

Kitchen
1. Wash dishes.
2. Put away Christmas items.
3. Wipe down counters.
4. Sweep.
5. Clear off the table.
6. Fold and put away clothes.

Bathroom
1. Swish and swipe.
2. Sweep.

Bedroom
1. Wash bedding.
2. Remake the bed.
3. Clean off the desk.
4. Sweep.
5. Put away clothes/random stuff.

Ta Da List 10.02.09

Hooray for Ta Da Lists! I'm finally feeling rested and am ready to get to work around the house. I'm working on stopping this cycle of cleaning every couple of days and just maintaining the cleaning. Oh, and my aunt gets to come home from the hospital tomorrow! Yay!

Bedroom
1. Take out trash.
2. Remake bed.
3. Fold and put away clothes.
4. Clean off the desk.
5. Sweep.

Bathroom
1. Wash, dry, fold, put away white clothes.
2. Swish and swipe.
3. Sweep.

I think this is it for today. Time to get to work!

Happy October!

Happy October, everyone!

I absolutely love this time of year. Here in Alabama right now, the weather is starting to turn pretty chilly. We've had lows at night down in the 40's! This is also the time of year everyone in our home starts getting the sniffles. My youngest nephew, Tylar, just got over a combination of the flu and walking pneumonia. The poor little guy was simply miserable! Josh's asthma has really been bothering him, too. He finally got his new Advair in (the 500/50), so hopefully that with his Singulair can help him not have such a rough time while the seasons change. This is one of the roughest times of the year on him when it comes to breathing, so anything we can do to make it easier on him, I'll do.

It's been a truly crazy week. Monday, we had to put my aunt in the hospital. She should be able to come home this Monday, the doctor's hope anyway. She's still being watched, though. I was luckily off Monday and was able to take mom to the hospital with her sister, since mom can't see to drive after dark, but I didn't get in bed until midnight that night. Not getting hardly any sleep+work every day=I'm exhausted! I took about a 5 hour nap today and am starting to feel better, but this not getting any sleep thing while being pregnant just isn't working too well, lol. I'm working on getting to bed earlier, and I am, for the most part. But when something like that happens, what can you do?

I'm keeping the house picked up pretty well. There's a load of laundry sitting here that needs folding, and it may not get folded until tomorrow, but hey, it'll get done. :)

I guess this was just an update on how things are going. Hopefully I can get into a routine of posting here more regularly soon!

Ta Da List 09.23.09

I took 2 days off of housework, and it's really showing! I know better than to skip my FlyLady routines. That's what maintains everything! But what I love about FlyLady is that you are never behind. You can always jump in where you are. That's what I'm going to do today. :)

Edit: I've decided to just completely scrap the Ta Da List for today. I'm listening to some FlyLady blogtalk radio shows and decluttering like a mad woman in the bedroom. Having lots of fun, too!

Our first ultrasound! & Doctor's appointments.

We had our first ultrasound yesterday, and baby's doing fine! Sorta looks like a guinnae pig, don't it? LOL!

We got down to the clinic about 15 minutes before the appointment. We saw an old friend of ours who was just completely ecstatic to see us and very excited for us. She was down there with her daughter, and they just found out they're having a little boy! Congrats, Pam!

We got our parking pass and signed in. I didn't even sit down for a minute before they called me to sign the HIPPA form and a paper giving permission to do the ultrasound. I signed them and sat down for about another 30 seconds and we were called back for the ultrasound. Josh had been saying how we were going to be sitting there all day, and he brought a book to read. He read maybe a paragraph before we got called, hehe.

We got to see our baby's heart beating! The doctor made the heart different colors so we could see it. It was simply amazing, and the baby was wiggling like crazy! Just watching it gave me peace of mind because aside from the occasional nauseousness and being a lot more tired than usual, I haven't "felt" pregnant. Mom said that's because I don't know what being pregnant feels like, and she has a point, but it still felt so, so good to see that the baby's being a little wiggle-worm and is growing normally. Josh's face while he watched the screen was so adorable. The look of wonder in his eyes amazed me. I think we both had a moment of, "Wow. This is our child!" I can't even begin to describe it.

The doctor told us that the head was to the left and the rump was to the right. I couldn't really see it until the whole guinnae pig idea came to mind, lol! I know it's a silly way of looking at it, but whatever works, right? My brother-in-law says there's another baby under there somewhere, lol. He had dreamed that I had triplets, and is very persistent about the idea, lol!

We had brought a DVD to hopefully record the ultrasound, but we needed a DVD-RW and all we had was a DVD-R, so we didn't get video, but the doctor put some jpeg's on there for us. Our next ultrasound is on November 24, and that's when we should find out the sex of the baby if he/she's acting right and lets us see, lol. We'll be sure to have the right DVD next time. Also, with this ultrasound, our due date changed from April 21 to April 23 (Terri's birthday!). Josh told me to wait 4 more days and have it on his dad's birthday like Kim did. I told him I'd do my best, lol!

All of this under 15 minutes, lol. We signed in at 8:45 and were walking out the door around 9:00. We had already cleared our entire morning, so we didn't really know what to do with ourselves, hehe.

I had another doctors appointment yesterday afternoon for my first (ever) pap smear. It wasn't as bad as everyone kept telling me it was, so I really don't know what the big deal was all about. It felt a little weird for a second and was done in about 30 seconds. No pain, no nothing, and the nurse was really, really nice and talked my ear off the entire time. That made me feel good because so far when I've been up there, I've been really nervous since all of this is so new to me, and everyone I've met so far has been absolutely amazing and friendly. It really puts my mind at ease to know that these people really care about what they're doing because you can see it while they're working. They care about their work and their patients. I love it.

So, that was our first ultrasound experience. I don't have anymore doctor's appointments until the end of October, so that's all the news I have for now on the baby front. Now it's time to get my Ta Da List together and get the house back in order. I took 2 days off from housework, and well, you can tell it, lol!

Ta Da List for 09.19.09

I wasn't even going to do a ta da list today, but my hubby got called in to work, which completely ruined our date night tonight. I can't really complain, though. I miss him bunches but they cut his hours this week, so I'm grateful for the extra hours he's getting. We were going to make homemade pizza tonight. I may still do it if I can find the recipe for the Bisquick dough, lol. How hard could it be? Anyway, on to the ta da list...

Bedroom
1. Make the bed.
2. Put away clothes.
3. Clean off desk.
4. Put away books.
5. File papers.
6. Sweep.

Bathroom
1. Swish and swipe.
2. Wash, dry, fold, put away colored clothes.
3. Fold and put away white clothes.
4. Sweep.

Mom's Room
1. Sweep.

Kitchen
1. Clear off the table.
2. Put away boxes we brought in the other day.
3. Wipe down/clear counters.
4. Sweep.

Living Room
1. Move all boxes we brought in to one corner, out of the way.
2. Sweep.

Baby's Room
1. Spend some time going through the dresser of soap supplies. (Actually do it this time!)
2. Sweep.

I'm working in 15 minute intervals today with my timer, because I'm not really motivated to do, well, anything. I had a long shift at work this morning, and we did double the business we usually do, so I'm beat. But, I have nothing else to do today and this stuff really needs to get done, so I'll work 15 minutes, break 15 minutes, repeat.

Things to do before the baby gets here.

I know it's a little (ok, a lot) early to be coming up with this list, but there is literally soooo much stuff that needs to be done before the baby comes in April that it may just drive me crazy if I don't have it all written down somewhere. I'm hoping this will be an all-inclusive list, and it's not just stuff that needs to be done, but it's life organization in general that I want to get done. With the help of FlyLady and routines, I think we'll be able to get it all done and have time to relax before our little blessing makes his/her grand appearance. I'm going to link this in the sidebar so I can keep up with our progress. :) We've got 7 months to prepare. I think we'll be fine. :)

Baby's Room
1. Finish cleaning out the stuff and sort it/find homes for it.
2. Move all furniture out of it that isn't staying.
3. Clear out the closet and find homes for the stuff in it.
4. Paint the room.
5. Paint the closet.
6. Put up a border.
7. Set up for baby.
8. Install an air conditioner.

Shed
1. Finish decluttering.
2. Declutter Christmas decorations.
3. Move out old TV, bed frame, roll away bed, and table for charity pickup/trip to the dump.
4. Sweep it out, spray for bugs.
5. Clear the path of leaves to it.

Living Room
1. Find someone to take the piano and get it out of the way.
2. Unpack Josh's stuff to display like I've been promising to (maybe on the top shelf in our bedroom?)
3. Clean out the coat closet so we can use it for, what else? Coats! And blankets and space heaters, etc.
4. Move the stuff for charity out to the front porch.
5. Declutter the knick knacks that we don't love.
6. Purchase another recliner.
7. Arrange it a little better to accommodate baby stuff.

Our Room
1. Declutter! Clothes, those Stephen King books you won't read, stuff you've been ignoring for forever.
2. Move the queen size bed in here and take the full size bed out.
3. Purchase 2 tall bookshelves for our books.
4. Get rid of the bookshelf that is falling apart.
5. Rearrange the room to better get around the bed and to accommodate a bassinet.
6. Take out the litter box since the cats don't use ours that often and just stick to the one in the living room?

Our Car
1. Get heat/air fixed so we actually have heat/air.
2. Get a seat belt extender for me because it's already a snug fit.
3. Have idling problem checked.
4. Make sure back seat belts are all working.

Finances
1. Start saving up for maternity leave. (I'm hoping to take a month off.)
2. Save to have the tree leaning over the house cut down.

I'm sure more will come up as we go, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. It's a lot, but I know we can get it done and I do love a challenge. If there's more to add, I'll add it as it comes up and mark off as we get things accomplished.

My first pre-natal appointment.

As you can see, I had my first pre-natal appointment this morning, and I feel so good! I was really nervous, but everyone at the clinic was so, so nice! That really helped to calm me down a lot.

This was basically a "meet and greet" appointment. They got my family history (that took a while: diabetes, cancer, heart disease, you name it, we got it *sigh*), and the nurse said it was too early to hear the baby's heart beat, but we were going to try anyway. :) I'm 9 weeks and 1 day today, and she said it's usually around the 11th or 12th week that they can hear it. But, I did get to hear the sounds of my own tummy plus the sounds of placental blood flow, which was just completely awesome.

Next Tuesday is going to be a long day. I've got my first ultrasound to determine the official due date at 9:00am downtown, then my doctor's appointment in Morris at 1:15, then WIC and Medicaid appointments after the doctors appointment. At least the place I'm getting my ultrasound at is right next to Burger King, so we can grab some lunch before we head to the other end of town, lol! They said if we want to, we can bring a blank DVD down there and they can record the ultrasound. We might just do that.

Despite getting blood drawn (I know, I know, get used to it), I had a really good visit and I'm kind of on cloud nine right now. After Tuesday, I won't have to go back to the doctor for 4 weeks. I asked her about my concerns about being so overweight and being pregnant, and the nurse told me not to worry, that it does not put me at any greater risk of anything going wrong. It just means that they won't want me to gain as much weight and I'll measure a little bigger. That was a load off my mind.

My appointment was at 8:00 this morning. Mom said that Joy called at 20 minutes til 8:00 to make sure I had gotten up and gone to the appointment, lol, so I called her and told her all about it. She's so excited to become an aunt!

But that's it from me for now. I didn't have anything planned to do today since I didn't know how long the doctor visit would take, but we were only there an hour, if that, so now I'm going to go figure out what to do with the rest of my day. A nap sounds fantastic. :)

Ta Da List for 09.17.09

I promise I will have something to post one day other than my ta da list, lol. Actually, that day may be tomorrow, since I have my first pre-natal doctor's appointment in the morning! But for now, you'll just have to deal with my cleaning. :) The hubby and I are both off today and tomorrow, so later we're planning on getting out in the shed if the rain will hold off and start clearing out some stuff. We did a lot of work in the baby's room the other day and now we need somewhere to store stuff, lol. The poor shed has been neglected for a very long time. We have no less than 15 rubbermaid totes full of Christmas decorations that I'm hoping mom and I will go through tonight. All this is, of course, if the rain holds off. I've got before pictures of the baby's room. Once everything is cleared out, I'll have afters, along with progress pics as we get it ready for baby's arrival. :) Anyway, I ramble. On to the ta da list!

Bedroom
1. Sweep.
2. Make the bed.
3. Put away clothes.
4. Tidy top of dresser.
5. Clean up the "computer corner."
6. Mop.

Bathroom
1. Sweep.
2. Mop.
3. Swish and swipe.
4. One load of laundry from start to finish.
5. Give the dog a bath and flea treatment.
6. Clean the mirror and window.

Kitchen
1. Wipe down counters.
2. Sweep.
3. Mop.
4. Clean off the table.

Living Room
1. Sweep.
2. Mop.

Mom's Room
1. Sweep.
2. Mop.

I think this is enough to keep me busy until hubby gets out of bed. Off to work I go!

Yay, done! Mom said there was no point in mopping today since it's supposed to rain later and mud will get tracked in anyway (and I really didn't feel like mopping anyway, so maybe tomorrow when we get home?). But, we're getting ready to head out to the shed. Pray for our souls as we enter the abyss...

Sleep is beautiful! & Today's Ta Da List

I came in from work yesterday and was just completely worn out. I layed down around 4pm, woke up at 3:00am this morning, then slept from 4:30 this morning til 10:30. I guess I was tired?

I was hoping to get an early start on the Ta Da list today, but oh well. I'll still get it done.

1. Shower.
2. Eat breakfast.
3. Wash dishes.
4. Clean up the kitchen.
5. Wash mom's bedding.
6. Remake mom's bed.
7. Wash our bedding.
8. Remake our bed.
9. Sweep the house.
10. Fold and put away colored clothes.
11. 5 minute room rescue in our bedroom.
12. Wash the baby bedding Janice brought us.
13. Spend some time cleaning out the baby's room. Finally! And we made a lot of progress, too!

09.10.09 Ta Da List

I'm not feeling very well today but I've got things to do, so I'm going to do them, lol. There's always time for a nap later.

(1) Fold and put away colored clothes.
(2) Wash, dry, fold, put away white clothes.
(3) Wash dishes.
(4) Sweep the house.
(5) Clean out the refrigerator.
(6) Spend 15 minutes on the baby's room. I decided to wait on this so Josh and I can do it together.
(7) 5 minute room rescue in the bedroom.
(8) Clean microwave.
(9) Clean toaster.
(10) Do Kelly's zone mission.
(11) Swish and swipe the bathroom.
(12) 5 minute room rescue in the living room.

*I layed down with the hubby at noon and the next thing I knew it was 4:00pm, lol. Guess I needed the nap. Now back to work!

Pregnant and loving it!

I've been away for a while, but with good reason! I recently found out that I'm pregnant!

I've taken some time away from the blog (and life, really, to be honest) just to reflect and think about what all needs to be done, etc. etc. That has gotten completely overwhelming, and I basically just kinda shut down for a few weeks.

This was both good and bad. It was good for my mind and body because when I feel under pressure, "shutting down" as I call it is my defense mechanism and it helps my mind "heal," if that makes any sense. Finding out that sometime in April next year I'm going to be a mother was quite a shock (an exciting shock, but a shock nevertheless) and I've just needed time to get in tune with me. It was bad because once I "shut down," I ignored many things that needed to be done like housework, as well as my relationships with my family and most importantly with my husband. Ignored may be the wrong word here. Distanced from, maybe. I don't know. I basically introverted myself for a while.

I've been slowly coming out of my little haze over this last week, and it's felt fantastic. I've started getting a few things done around the house and I've done some decluttering, as well as taken some time to do some little pampering things just for me. Now, my main focus is spending some real quality time with my hubby. You'd be surprised how much you can miss someone even when they sleep in the same bed.

But anyway, life so far is great. I'll have a more interesting update once I'm actually awake (I'm on my way to bed right now), but I hope everyone has a good night!

Ta Da List 08.18.09

Once again, the house has gotten out of control. I haven't really done much, though. We were supposed to go to a Nickelback concert last night, but it got rescheduled for today due to the weather. So, we've basically just let everything go. I'm off today and tomorrow, and I'm up early, so hopefully I can get some stuff done before time to get ready.

Bedroom
Put away clothes.
Make up bed.
Clear off desk.
Gather dirty clothes.
Sweep.

Bathroom
Fold and put away colored clothes.
Wash, dry, fold, put away white clothes.
Swish and swipe.
Sweep.

Kitchen
Wash dishes.
Clear off table.
Put away stuff from yesterday.
Put drinks in the fridge.
Sweep.

Living Room
Put away random stuff.
Sweep.

General Tasks
Take back library books.
Put gas in the car.
Balance checkbook.

ChaCha Goal For September

It's time for me to start getting serious about using ChaCha as supplementary income. We're doing fine money-wise but I'm wanting to really start attacking all of our old debt with a vengeance, so ChaCha to the rescue!

What I love about ChaCha is it's flexibility. You work whenever. I could never find a 2nd job that lets me do that.

Check back here to keep up with my progress! I have until September 15 to reach my goal!

Ta Da List for 08.12.09

The Ta Da List, before I forget what all needs to be done:

Bedroom
1) Put away random stuff.
2) Put away clothes.
3) Make the bed.
4) Change cat litter.
5) Sweep.

Bathroom
1) Swish & Swipe.
2) Wash, dry, fold, put away white clothes.
3) Fold, put away colored clothes.
4) Sweep.

Kitchen
1) Wash dishes.
2) Cook dinner.
3) Finish putting up stuff from cabinet.
4) De-clutter something.
5) Sweep.

Living Room
1) Put away random stuff.
2) Change cat litter.
3) Sweep.

General Tasks
1) Get AC payment ready to mail.
2) De-clutter make-up and get bag ready for Monday.
3) Make pre-concert Ta Da list for Josh. (Don't forget the batteries!)
4) Do budget for next week.
5) Balance check book.
6) Clear camera memory.
7) Print directions to VWMU and put it with the tickets.

Swagbucks Widget

This is a post just for me so I can keep up with this widget. Every once in a while, they'll publish a Swag Code only on the widget.

Kitchen Make-Over

Well, I have a lot to learn about DIY, and about spray-paint.

1) Always check the weather if you're doing any kind of project that involves paint and being outside. Everything was done and dry just as the first few drops of a storm were moving in today.
2) Invest in a sprayer for the spray paint cans. My poor fingers are crying in agony. I must look for one of these magical inventions before I do anymore painting.
3) When in doubt, buy extra paint. What you think you'll need is more than likely not enough.

All that said, I started painting at about 10:30 this morning. The entire cabinet was done at 1:30 this afternoon. For my first time doing anything like this, I'm very proud. I think it turned out good. Nowhere near perfect, but good. I ran out of both white and green paint and had to improvise and get a little creative, but...

Before:


After:

SO PROUD OF ME! Now it matches the kitchen curtains! LOL!

It looks better than I thought, LOL! Mom was here for a little bit while the paint was drying and she loved it, so I guess I'm doing good. I had to go out and buy 2 more cans of paint, and I found another one that we had hidden here at the house, so the entire cost of re-doing this cabinet was right at $11. Not too shabby.

I know I said I'd be doing the other cabinet and shelf, but I just can't today, lol. My fingers need to recover and so does the kitchen since now I can put everything back in the cabinet. I did, however, get a picture of the cute rug I got for the kitchen last night:

And now to put everything up so I can cook dinner. Mmm, lasagna...

A kitchen make-over for under $10.

Josh and I live with my mom, in a house about 3 days older than dirt (ok, not really, but you get the idea). The house is in need of some major love and care. Over the years, money has been tight and things have been put off and put off. I've got a list going of major home repairs that need to be done, but for now, I'm focusing on what I have the cash on hand for. I bring you to, one of our kitchen cabinets:

Tonight, I cleaned it out and scrubbed it down with my favorite Method cleaner (mmm, cucumber) and some SOS pads. The Method cleaner wasn't really necessary since I had the SOS pads, but I like the smell. *shrug*

Here's the cabinet with the doors closed:

I've scrubbed it out and it's as close to sparkling as it's going to get. I'm letting it dry overnight and tomorrow, I attack! I'm no artist, and I pray that this will turn out decent. What I'm wanting to do is paint the doors and shelves green, the rest of it white. My mother has a thing with green (don't ask, I don't understand it either, lol), but since I can't change it, I'm embracing it.

There is another cabinet and a shelf that I'll also be painting tomorrow. Pictures of those will come tomorrow once I get them cleaned out.

Here's the cost of this kitchen make-over:
2 cans of spray-paint $3.50 (had 2 almost full cans on-hand already)
Masking tape $1.00
SOS Pads $1.00
Cute Rug for the kitchen (pics tomorrow) $3.60 on clearance
TOTAL: $9.10

The cabinet in the pictures above is around 20 years old, if not older. It's been here as long as I can remember, and I'm 24 if that gives you any idea. I've never been much of a DIY-er but I'm willing to try anything once and I would love to give our kitchen a fresh look, for us as well as for mom, because bless her heart, she really doesn't have the time or energy to take on anymore.

Updates and progress tomorrow!

Weekend Cleaning

According to the FlyLady philosophy, you should use your routines to get major cleaning done during the week so that the weekends can be used for you and your family. You should keep up with your normal routines on the weekends (the usual clean up the kitchen, a load of laundry a day, etc.) but that's it.

I always seem to put things off until the last minute, so today I'm playing catch-up again. It's not as bad as last time, but I need to work on some routines that I can actually stick to! I plan to work on that over the next few days, but for today, here's what I'm hoping to get done (before mom gets home, lol):

Bedroom
(1) Wash sheets/comforter and re-make the bed.
(2) Scoop the cat litter.
(3) Clear off the desk.
(4) Sweep.
(5) Mop.

Bathroom
(1) Wash, dry, fold, put away white clothes.
(2) Wash, dry, fold, put away colored clothes.
(3) Swish and swipe.
(4) Bathe the dog. She won't speak to me for the rest of the day now.
(5) Scrub the tub after Bouncer's bath.
(6) Sweep.
(7) Mop.

Kitchen
(1) Put away clean dishes.
(2) Clear off the table.
(3) Shine the sink.
(4) Sweep.
(5) Mop.

Living Room
(1) Put away stuff that's out.
(2) Change the cat litter.
(3) Finish putting away things from the "put away" box.
(4) Sweep.
(5) Mop.

Mom's Room
(1) Wash sheets/comforter and re-make the bed.
(2) Sweep.
(3) Mop.

General Tasks
(1) Throw all our old mops out.
(2) Put next week's work schedule on the calendar.
(3) Pay bills for next week.

What I'd really like to do is go back to bed, but there's so much to be done!

What can you get at CVS for $1.56?

This!

I swear, I absolutely love CVS. Here's the breakdown:
(1) 3-pack CVS brand paper towels $2.69
(2) Stayfree pads $10.00
(4) Bumble Bee chicken salad $5.00
(1) Softsoap $0.99 (on clearance!)
(1) Compass $1.50
Total: $20.18

Coupons used:
$4/$20
$5 Extra Care Bucks
$0.99 Softsoap (adjusted from $1.00)
(2) $1.00/2 any Bumble Bee product
$1 any CVS brand paper towel 3-pack
BOGO Stayfree

Total OOP: $1.56
Received: $5.00 ECB (Stayfree Deal), $1.50 ECB (compass free after ECB) and a free CVS brand aspirin (which I picked up right then).

Baby Jerry came to visit!

Look who came to see us today!

Meet the latest addition to our family: 4 month-old Jerry! Jerry is our nephew (Josh's sister's child). How adorable is he? He got to come over and wake up Uncle Josh.

The entire time he was here today, he laughed and giggled and played and talked to us. He's getting so big!

Here, he had been "tasting" Uncle Josh's arm. Apparently, he's yummy. LOL! He won't suck on a pacifier, but he'll suck on Josh's arm. Aw.

Bouncer thought he was interesting, and the feeling was definitely mutual! Bouncer's never seen a baby, and Jerry's never seen a dog as big as Bouncer. Bouncer was very sweet and gave him lots of kisses, even when he grabbed her nose and wouldn't let go, lol!

Bouncer (and Wilma) were also jealous. Why was the little drooling thing getting all the atention? So, they jumped up on the bench in the kitchen and staged a protest. The result? They got some extra lovin'.

Plans for the day: Clean up the house!!!

My mother has been gone for a week, staying with her disabled sister. Whenever mom goes somewhere for a time, I always try to have the house looking great when she gets back. I've never been really able to maintain any type of cleaning, so a marathon cleaning would be done before she got back. Well, she got back yesterday. The last 2 days were completely insane and resulted in me and DH having 18-hour days with 10-11 of those hours being work, so you can only imagine what the house is looking like right now.

I follow FlyLady, and will be using her 15-minute rule of cleaning to get the house in order today. To keep myself accountable, as well as on track, I'm putting my "ta da" list here in hopes that it'll all get done.

Bedroom
Sweep
Make the bed (when DH gets up)
Take out trash
Clear off the desk
Put away random stuff that's scattered here and there

Bathroom
Wash, dry, fold, put away colored clothes
Wash, dry, fold, put away white clothes
Swish & Swipe
Sweep

Kitchen
Put away yard sale finds
Put away our other things that have ended up there
Sweep
Take out the trash

Living Room
Sweep
Put away at least 10 things in the "Put Away" box
Take potential yard sale/give away items outside
Change cat litter

Laundry Room
Sweep
Take out trash

General Tasks
Wash all area rugs

FlyLady Zone Work
Declutter the carport
Sweep

It really doesn't seem like all that much once I put it in list form, but just looking around the house can be so overwhelming. But no whining. Time to get dressed and get to work.