The Prairie Procrastinator

Where to Put Stuff In My Bathroom?!

2012-02-01T16:33:00.001-06:00

Well, I don't think I am the only one who has put off putting stuff on this site, maybe even procrastinating?! Wanted to share a photo of our little bathroom solution now that I have a working camera again.

We had a bathroom with NO shelving options, no storage under the sink and not a lot of cash to make it work. It is really only used by the kids and, lets face it, they only really need their teeth supplies and a hair brush or two, sooooooo...

Ta da, a trip to the dollar store and six bucks later we have a solution for now. I think once the kids are bigger and need more we will install some cute baskets drilled into the wall like deep shadow box type shelves.

Always Mac an Rothaich

TTFN

New Supply Room

2010-07-12T16:01:00.002-06:00

Okay, so my house had three kitchens. . .

The "third floor kitchen" was used as our storage room.

Except, kitchen cabinets are just poor for storage! Which I find hilarious as, if your kitchen is anything like mine, you store a ton of stuff in those cabinets. Heaven help you, though, should you need something in the back!

Anyway, we homeschool, and I have a ton of items that I want up and away except for when we use them. And then, when I want them I don't desire to have to go through an obstacle course to get to them, nor look for an hour to find something that should be easily found.

This is what I was working with:

Okay, so obviously a big problem! On top of that, the cabinets completely blocked the light and the air flow from the small, single window in that room. I wanted something more light and airy.
And, I wanted more floor space (no obstacle course!).

So, hubby set to work and took down all the cabinetry. Of course, our house is so old, and the people before us did things so. . .odd, a good portion of the wall disappeared with the cabinets. . .

Which caused me to have to paint. And, I was only planning to spot paint, except the color in the can had changed (I think due to age). . .so I had to repaint the entire room. (Which is aggrevating as we know we have to truly rip down this room and start afresh at some point, but we were trying to just "adapt" right now.)

Then, my husband came up with a brilliant idea for storage, that would allow me to be organized and the room to be neat and tidy.

All in all, I count the effort worthwhile.

The boys helped assemble the dressers for me, and my youngest even helped me organize the drawers. . .

And, organized they are! Finally, it takes only minutes to find exactly what I need.

(Umm, I don't know why this photo is turned sideways. . .)

This clock is covering a hole in the wall that we can't currently fix. (Electrical issues. . .thus, the reason why this room will have to be completely redone at some point.) The clock has the added benefits of being similar colors and being made by my 3rd son.

The valance is "original" with the house. A dark navy blue with sunflowers. I plan to look for better fabric. . .but for right now I'm not too bothered.

Now, if only I could feel inspired to clean my school room.

I Have Corn

2010-06-29T15:24:00.000-06:00

for the record. for those who doubted me. =P but while I've been busy working here the weeds have been growing elsewhere. sigh.

Aw Shucks

2010-06-24T09:24:00.000-06:00

I've got my work cut out for me today. This is my corn patch. Never yet weeded. Sigh.

Not sure what is more daunting. The weeds or the mosquitoes. Wish me luck.

New Living Room!

2010-06-08T17:43:00.009-06:00

BEFORE
(Please note this is the only wide shot of my old living room set that I could find and we where in the process of moving in.)
I always liked my old set and had not really thought about switching it. It had a modern/retro 50s feel to it and I love anything that is kinda old or has an oldesk to it. When My husband finished the family room down stairs and announced he was moving my set down so there would be a tv room down there I realized I had better come up with something for my upstairs.
Sounded like an opportunity to de-clutter and go simpler in my main floor visiting area. It took a lot of hunting because I wanted something traditional this time. It also took a little guts to go with what I wanted but I am thrilled!
AFTER
(Please note, because we can't swing it right now we don't have a rug, coffee table or side tables at present but hope to find something reasonable in the future.)A completely different look!

P.s. You have to check out what happened with the old set! I am very very happy with our family room! It used to be a dark hole really, now it is a whole new part of the house! And yes I know it is messy but I thought I should be honest and show how it really looks, after all it is the FAMILY room and the mess shows it is already well loved and used by my crew.Coming down the stairs you find the play area.On the other side of the room is the tv/living room.

Always Mac an Rothaich

TTFN

Overwhelmed and Undermotivated

2010-03-10T08:42:00.003-06:00

Ok, Prairie Chick has got me feeling the need.

*sigh*

The trouble is, I am stagnating. I'm at that point (and I get here often, kind of in cycles) where I just don't see the point in cleaning. You know?

I spend 30min vacuuming all the floors and washing the kitchen tile, the all-over laminate, and the tiled back entryway. Three seconds after I am done someone either (1) spills juice; (2) walks in with muddy boots; (3) eats a crumbly granola bar everywhere except at the table; (4) graciously cleans out the ash pan for the wood stove but leaves a trail of ash and wood particles...or any combination of the above.

It's the same story, no matter what I do. I clean the bathroom, it's immediately dirty or messy again. I make the beds, and the boys immediately drag all their blankets and pillows into the living room. I wash the dishes and there are immediately more. I do the laundry and as soon as it is clean and put away there is yet another load ready to be washed. I organize piles of papers, and new ones immediately appear.

So I have kind of temporarily given up. I just don't seem to have the energy to keep on.

However.
Today I have decided to Get 'Er Done. So here is my accountability list of things to get done today:
1. Laundry - washed
- folded
- put away
2. Floors vacuumed
3. Kitchen tile washed
4. Laminate mopped
5. Back entry washed
6. Bathroom cleaned
7. Supper thought of and prepped before 3pm
8. Cookies baked
9. Basement family room vacuumed.

I'll report back later.

Pretty and Practical

2010-03-09T16:40:00.000-06:00

It was linen day today. Washed my whites, and took a minute to do a quick project in the bathroom upstairs. This shelf used to house three wicker baskets brimming with towels and toilet paper rolls. Stole the baskets for another project and prettied the shelf up a bit. I like it!

the "other" project

I also cleaned out my silverware drawer which had grown cluttered and crumby. I like that too!

Still need to 1) wash the dining room floor, 2)wash the kitchen floor, 3) run 3.25 miles 4)drink 500 mls more of water. (not to mention cook, read to two sets of kids, teach and art lesson, prepare a kids club lesson and, and, and... heigh-ho, heigh-ho. And yes, it's 4:30.

It's "That" Time of Year!

2010-03-08T11:45:00.005-06:00

Here's the thing. I love the idea of this blog, but I "procrastinate" on posting. Mainly because in my head it requires me taking before and after pictures which I usually don't end up doing before the fact, and then there isn't much point in taking one after the fact because nobody will know the difference anyway.

So I'm thinking that since I really like the "feeling" that comes from keeping a running "to do" list, (and by that I mean the checking it all off and saying; "Yeah! I did it!" And all the more so when you have other women on board for that added boost of accountability, motivation and encouragement....

that I'm going to try to get back in the habit of posting here on a semi regular basis.

Today is my littlest guy's laundry day and that means that I also devote 15 minutes to a special organizational or cleaning project in his room, and the room directly below his on the main floor.

That means that today I am going to 1) pull the mattress off The Pumpkin's crib, vacuum and wash underneath and wipe down the railings on his crib.

In the dining room, below, I am going to do some reorganizing in my upright freezer, as well as spray and wipe down the exterior.

I will also 3) vacuum The Pumpkin's room and 4) sweep and wash the dining room floor (possibly delegating these two tasks to my girls *evil grin*.

For the record, last week I completely organized my main floor bathroom, one shelf and drawer at a time. Feels awesome!

I am also going to 5) drink 2 litres of water and 6)get in a 20 min power walk (hopefully with my husband)

On A Dare:)

2010-01-23T13:56:00.006-06:00

I have decided I am not waiting for spring. I am attacking one room a day and giving it a serious once over! Nothing left unmoved and no dust bunny safe!What got me started?

On a dare from my sister I attacked the most forsaken room in my house, my master bedroom... With reno's half done all over the house it becomes our go to storage space and so never looks very good. I only go in to go to bed and try to ignore it. Imagine boxes everywhere and tools next to the bed! Imagine clothing stacked up because I can't reach my closet!! NASTY!

Well now that I have taken a box full of stuff out to be donated and moved the storage to a cleaned out space in my laundry room I feel like I have a proper bedroom again, my little oasis if you will. Perhaps we will finish decorating it this winter, now that we can see how nice it can be!

I encourage and challenge, if needed, all you ladies to give your master bedroom a little love this winter! A good once over, organize, decorate or RESCUE! I think it is worth it and important to my husband and I, to any adult, to have a lovely and comfortable bedroom!TTFN
Always
Mac an Rothaich

The Hall Linen Closet

2010-01-07T14:33:00.004-06:00

I am very impressed with how orderly it looks AT THIS MOMENT and, of course, I forgot to take a before picture... But I am posting this not only to boast but to ask a question.

This hall closet is a constant problem because the door was broken when removed for painting and we can't get a new door, it is on the bottom of a massive list of fix up stuff for this old house. It can bee seen from the main part of the house (the open concept living room/dining/kitchen) so I am always worried that this closet is an eye soar...

My question is do you think I should try to put everything in baskets, like the hand towels and face cloths already are, or just try to keep them folded nicely like it is now?

I am guessing I would need to find some shallow and wide baskets for this job because I want a pretty look, not just towels in cardboard boxes (been there done that and no thanks)...

TTFN
Always
Mac an Rothaich

Simple Mom's Third Key to a Disorganized and Unproductive Life

2010-01-06T12:34:00.006-06:00

Key #3. Have Too Much Stuff.

Read Simple Mom's Third Key to a Disorganized and Unproductive Life.

I dropped our look at this series as the holiday season descended upon us, but boy, am I game for picking it up again now that we've turned a new leaf on the calendar and life.

I'm proud to be able to say that I have been putting the advice provided here into practice all on my own little initiative and boy, does it feel good. When I overhauled my kitchen in December I took boxes and BOXES of stuff to the city. Extra dishes that have been sitting around from old dish sets that are mostly broken, excessive amounts of tupperware that no one family needs, baking and cooking gadgets I just. don't. use. therefore WHY keep them? I am so proud and happy of my kitchen cupboards and cabinets now. Everything fits in it's own space, makes sense and is clean and orderly, I could SHOUT for joy.

I find the too much stuff problem hits me most in the clothing/shoes/toys departments. I mean. We are seven people. That adds up to a LOT of STUFF. But I am continuously downsizing the amount of stuff we hold on to. In order to meet the cut an item must be LOVED, NECESSARY, or USED. If it is not at least one of those three, it goes in the give away box, which accumulates for one month in my schoolroom closet. The one month gives me (or my kids) the buffer of time necessary to ensure that the thing in question is indeed unnecessary.

I also find I am constantly discarding clothing, shoes and accessories that were once loved, necessary or useful but have now outlived their usefulness or been replaced by something newer. Constantly! Each child has TWO shelves for clothing, and 6 clothes hangers for good clothes. If their clothing outgrows that limit, something has to go.

I recently just organized footwear so that each child also has TWO shelves in the sun porch. Everything that didn't fit there got carried away. What a relief! Now for me to spend some time in the schoolroom going through craft/game/school materials and making sure everything has a home and is useful. This is a major underhauling!

How 'bout you? Do you feel you are drowning in stuff? Going to downsize on some stuff? Where/what are you committing to tackle?

Procrastination Pwned

2010-01-06T07:10:00.002-06:00

Okay, for those who do not yet have teens -- "Pwned" is actually "Owned" but a typical typo (as p is so close to o). This would be used, generally, in game situations where one player beats (or owns) another.

Except now the kids run around "saying" it, as if it's an actual word!

So, I'm using it, as I'm "hip" like that. ;)

*chuckle*

And yes, I haven't gotten much sleep recently.

*************************

Identifying stuff generally wipes me out and seriously depresses me. (It's an "amount" thing.)

This year, I started to get that feeling and decided to go with a different tact. So, I asked myself, "Where are you now?" or "How do you feel now?"

I'm at an unhealthy weight / size for me.
I feel cluttered.
I feel overwhelmed (lots of major projects going on at once).

And from there I broke things down. And then, I broke them down again. I even broke them down a 3rd and 4th time. (Taking a page from Prairie Chick's book.)

Suddenly, things are seeming manageable again.

So, this week:

• 5 minutes / day on the bike (it'll gradually bump up)
• 1 chapter (read & journaled) / day in Bible (it'll take me about 4 years, but I'll finally get my in-depth Bible study done)
• 1 bin / drawer / cabinet a day (or 5 days for a closet)
• 1 state map / day
• school with the little guys this week is reading and math / daily

Where I'm at:

• Doing great with the bike: haven't missed a day.
• Doing okay with Bible. Actually ahead in reading, but my journal is a sloppy mess so currently converting all notes to the computer. . . Want to get that caught up this week, then will keep up with journalling on computer.
• (Started this on Monday) - down two bins.
• Behind one map
• Didn't do reading with boys yesterday as we were out running errands most of the day. Did do two maths though. . .

I still have some other items I need to define and add to the task list. I just still need to figure out how to break them down (to fit into my daily schedule).

Co-op class curricula
Write science unit study
Input books, with appropriate tags, into LibraryThing
Input DVDs, with appropriate tags, into. . . something. . .

I know I put alot on here, but I kind of needed it for myself. Seeing it in writing is. . .well, it's concrete, at least.

Procrastination Put-off

2010-01-03T09:06:00.004-06:00

Okay, I posted a bit here.

I am currently working on identifying things that need to be done, and breaking them down into manageable bits.

I don't know that I've ever mentioned this, but I'm currently trying to write 2 books. The first book, was an intentional thought and the second one came upon me accidentally this past year.

And, I will say, I think it's completely stupid for me to try to write two books at the same time.

Well, except for the fact that we will be using them for our schooling. Which, creates a bit of a quandry; yet, at the same time, an incentive to get them done.

Worse, I have a number of "LARGE" projects that I've been wanting to do for ages (like an in-depth Bible study).

So, today, the goal is to identify and break down my project list for this year.

Procrastination Ponderings

2010-01-01T08:41:00.002-06:00

Morning all,

So the "procrastination" topic came up in conversation the other day, and I realized that while I may reign supreme as "Extreme Procrastinator", I've never given it a lot of thought.

I mean, my reasons for procrastinating.

Never dawned on me that there may be reasons. . . I assumed either laziness or. . .something else.

And those assumptions aren't necessarily wrong. . .

I like elipses. . . .

TA-DA (a lead-in)

So, I thought it would be beneficial for us to "discuss" reasons for procrastinating so that this year, possibly-maybe-it-could-happen, we can cut back on our procrastinating ways.

As I said, procrastinating was a "topic of discussion" -- and while I do tend to talk to myself, this discussion actually ocurred amongst others, so not all of these ideas are my own.

I think I'm just going to bullet point a list. . .

the project is TOO BIG

(along the lines of the above) I don't know how to break a project into smaller bits

I'm easily sidetracked (like with elipses)

Another project just got placed in my lap. . . and another, and another, and OOOh, that one too!

I have great ideas! (see project compilation above)

I do know how to break things into manageable bits, but then have to sit down and do it all at once anyway (I, personally, could have a whole discourse on this one!)

I am lazy.

I am tired.

I have other people to deal with who's plans don't align with mine and we are working at odds (hubby, kids, pets. . .)

My family is accustomed to my procrastination, and don't really hold me accountable.

My family is very good at offering excuses for me (she has 4 kids, she homeschools. . .etc.)

I'm really good at making excuses for myself (I have 4 kids, I homeschool. . . etc.)

Okay, so here's my thought.

I'm hoping for discussion to help us identify our personal issues.

I'm desiring ideas of how to alleviate our personal issues.

I'm looking for accountability from people, who also have valid excuses, to help me stay on top of my tasks.

So, anyone with me?

Core Foundations

Laundry Love

2009-11-17T14:03:00.008-06:00

ewoodsigns.com

There are elements of laundry that I really love. The smell of a freshly washed load, the joy of hanging clothes on the line in the gentle sunshine, the wonderful warmth of pulling a freshly dried load out of the dryer. Okay, that might be the extent of it. There are other things about laundry that I *detest*. The greatest one being the amount of it that is always in transit. On any given day I would have a load in the washer, a load in the dryer, a load waiting to be folded, a load folded, waiting to be put away... and more loads waiting in line to get in on the action. AHHHHHH..... That's why I was so delighted to stumble across THIS great piece of laundry wisdom.

It doesn't get any simpler or more effective than this. One load at a time. Period. Because I have a lot of laundry, I need to keep it moving, I can't leave a load sitting in the dryer, or in a basket waiting to get carried upstairs because I have another load I need to get started. So it completely eliminates the opportunity to procrastinate and I must. follow. through. on each load, and get it put away so I can start another one. YES! I've been doing this for about a month and it brings me such a feeling of delight to feel that I really am following through to the end and getting laundry washed, dried and put away efficiently. Try it!

I've even gone so far as to starting to run the water on my washing machine (not front loading obviously) with the detergent in before I head upstairs to put my current load away, and that makes me move quickly to get my next load down before the machine fills and starts churning. Feels SO good to be on top of things!

Anti Procrastination Day!

2009-11-13T11:25:00.004-06:00

I'm so excited. Today is going to be a great day. I've enlisted friends for all my children, to keep them happy and occupied, we doubled up on school this week to free up this day, and I am going to spend the whole day tackling anti procrastination projects. So be prepared to be bombarded with a few posts today to make up for all the... procrastination that has taken place in recent months. Oh.. and brace yourself. It's gonna be scary and wonderful all at once.

We begin in the Dining Room and my infamous hot spots.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

and now, since I started this post at 9 am and it is now 11:30 am and I have yet to accomplish a single thing yet this morning…. here goes!

Chore Chart!

2009-11-09T13:27:00.004-06:00

Just stumbled across this FANTASTIC free download, it's a customizable pdf file where you can insert your child's name and personalize their list of chores. I just printed off 6, one for each of my older kids, one for morning chores and one for afternoon. LOVE it! I plan to let them use removable stickers so that we can re-use the charts weekly.

Bureau Blues!

2009-09-29T15:15:00.007-06:00

Out of hangers and hoping for bureaus...

We have two dressers in a house of six people. We lost them all when we moved from Waldheim. For the last couple years I have kept the kids clothing in Rubbermaid's but every time I do the laundry and wonder again where I will put it all and how will I keep it organized I get down.( The kid's clothing on laundry day, waiting on the couch while I try to find a place for it...)

It looks bad, like we have way to much for clothing but it is just because we don't really have a place for any of it. Baby boy's change table is crammed full of his stuff and little woman's clothing are in her doll house drawer... I need better solutions...

Looking for a solution we can afford because the Rubbermaid's aren't working. The kids mess their clothing up almost as soon as I squish it into the buckets and it isn't really their fault that they can't keep it organized.

I plan to go through it all again and give away stuff but then I am hoping to post pictures soon of a more organized set up for all the clothing. Something that will make it easier for the kids to keep them orderly, easy to get stuff out and easy to keep put away.

Mac an Rothiach

Simple Mom’s Fourth Key to a Disorganized and Unproductive Day at Home.

2009-09-14T13:00:00.001-06:00

Key #4 Don’t plan your time.

Read This.

16 to 18 hours. Wow. That’s a lot. Am I the only person who only counts 14-15 waking hours in a day? And I’m pretty useless for the first one and the last three which leaves me 10-11. 4-5 hours to get school done leaves me 5-7 and so on and so forth. Those hours get eaten up REAL fast.

When is your most productive time of day? Do you use those energy surges to your advantage in being efficient and productive when you get the most bang for your buck?

Do you use a timer?

Do you menu plan?

Do you keep a housekeeping/life-keeping planner with short term and long term lists both goal and responsibility oriented?

Tsh asked;

What’s your biggest time management vice?

Why do you think that is?

Do you have a plan to “combat” it?

Do you have any tricks, tools, or ideas for being a better steward of the time you’ve been given?

and the clincher…

if you’re aimlessly spending your time at home without goals, a routine, or a plan, then you might suffer from poor time management. When it comes down to it, we can’t really manage time, because we’re all given 24 hours. We manage ourselves, and how we choose to spend time. Remember – completely finished projects never come back to haunt you. If you choose to spend time on things that don’t benefit your home, your family, and yourself, then your day at home will probably be disorganized and unproductive.

Simple Mom's 5th Key to a Disorganized, Unproductive Day at Home

2009-08-31T10:10:00.007-06:00

Key #5 Overcommit

Read Simple Mom's article here. Then come back for discussion.

Tsh asks;
In your family, is the definition of “home manager” the house cleaner,cook, chauffer, teacher, hostess, errand runner, entertainer, diaper changer,and banker – all without any help?

she also says; If your definition of being the home manager is doing all the important tasks that go into a well-run household by yourself, there’s a chance you’re overcommitted. And when you have a ton on your plate to do solo, your home is probably more disorganized and unproductive.

Finally, she asks;

are you doing too much?
Is there anything that can give?
If not, can your responsibilities be done by your kids, your husband, a friend?

I'll be back a bit later today to share my home management list and take a serious look at it to see what can give. I know I'm always surprised by the things I keep doing when there are 6 other able bodies in this house just waiting for direction. Can't wait to take a good look at this together and encourage one another to be good administrators in teaching and equipping the people in our lives to step up to the plate and help decrease our sometimes insane and work and stress load.

Simple Mom's 6th Key to a Disorganized, Unproductive Day at Home

2009-08-27T13:37:00.006-06:00

Key #6 Neglect Yourself.

Here's the Link;

it’s so easy for us to blame outside circumstances on a chaotic home, when really, it’s us – the home managers – who are causing the conflict.

Ouch. That hit home. So... let's break it down;

Neglecting Ourselves;

1. Not getting enough sleep
2. Not drinking enough water
3. Not exercising
4. Eating too much sugar
5. Eating too quickly
6. Consuming too many calories
7. Consuming too few calories
8. Not getting enough fresh air (such as going outside)
9. Not grooming ourselves and being presentable
10. Not getting quality alone time with spouse
11. Not getting quality time with friends
12. Not getting quality time with God.
13. Not getting time to refresh yourself through recreational pursuits.

Have at 'er girls. Leave your "fessions" in the comment box and let me know your thoughts and what you plan to do about it!

Hut!!! (aka Fall Kick Off)

2009-08-26T09:56:00.014-06:00

It pains me to say it, but I must admit that fall is sneaking up on us. As always, summer has lulled me into an attitude of peace and procrastination while the wheels of wanton chaos continue to rumble beneath me. Stumbling across Tsh's series on "The 6 Keys to a Disorganized, Unproductive Day at Home", I had to take a big breath and admit that, oh man... I've got that one about clinched right now.

When I reflected a little bit on Tsh's approach I had a bit of a light bulb moment. That the chaos without is only symptomatic of a root problem within. The root problem for me is lack of balance. I am so quick to focus on the outward symptoms but surely if I treat the root, rather than a selective leaf here or there, the symptoms will subside.

I thought it might be a great refresher to go through the keys together, air out our dirty summer laundry, commit to some of the simple applications and hopefully gain some momentum to pick our fannies back up off the summertime pavement and get back in the swing of life in the fast lane of fall. Anyone in?

For today, read the introduction to the series found here. Then tell me;

Could you relate to the people Tsh mentioned in the opening paragraph?

Are *you* struggling with any of the following bad guys;

clutter, disorganization, no energy, and a joyless spirit?

Wouldn't you rather feel revitalized, rekindled and rediscover the joy that is to be found by working at home? Like Tsh said;

We have a significant job! And there is pleasure and satisfaction to be found.

So who wants to join me in facing the demons and kicking some heiny? I'll post links to each key as we go as well as fascilitate some confessin' and resolvin'. Woo Hoo! Let 'er rip!

Strawberry SOS

2009-08-08T20:46:00.001-06:00

Made some good progress in the strawberry patch. About 3/4’s done. I just transplanted my plants this spring so they are still tiny little jiggers, but there were some strawberries on there and the good news (according to Prairie Girl) is that the birds couldn’t peck at them because they couldn’t see them. Ahem.

Before

After.

and now I can actually make out my tomato plants to the right!

It’s a Jungle Out There!

2009-08-08T16:49:00.001-06:00

Gulp. I need help. I’ve been really good about alot of things. I’ve been gardening, and keeping house, puttin’ up beans and peas and making jam and syrup and pie filling… I have not been slacking. On top of all this the Prairie Guy has been busy with putting up an 18 foot addition to the entire north side of our house to give us a new family and school room and has needed my help too. I’ll post pics on that another time. But today… today I’m in trouble.

Did you notice I said I had been gardening, but didn’t mention “weeding”? My greater garden is doing okay. Here’s what that looks like;

it’s a pretty happy place.

But just around the corner is a jungle.

This is also garden. Do you hear the angst in my voice? There are zucchini

asparagus

tomatoes

and strawberries in there.

lots of them.

Would you believe that that is 2 maybe 3 weeks worth of weeds?? This is THE job I have been procrastinating on and now look where it’s gotten me? This is a case where I needed to seriously be accountable, roll up my sleeves and get to work. I’ll keep you posted.

Finish The Kitchen Already!!

2009-08-07T13:45:00.005-06:00

Our kitchen was ugly...
We did a lot of the reno work before we moved in.
We did good!

Got it from this...(First picture is of the north side of the kitchen where all the cupboards and appliances are, bellow picture is of the big open space that was probably for a table.)

...to this!(Walls busted open, island type counter put in to the big open space, cupboards repainted...) but then we moved in and the walls didn't get their second coat of paint and the splash didn't get put up... weeks have gone by...

While we where away, my in-laws painted the second coat on the walls, as a birthday gift to me, so does that count at getting one of the two big jobs done??AND! Look at what my husband started on my birthday! SO PRETTY! I count me cleaning out and cleaning up the space (so he can work on the splash), as well as keeping all four kids out of the way all weekend, as being a key partner in getting this job done, so, WE should be done in a couple days (due to drying time).

I can hardly wait to put up a FINISHED picture!

Another big job almost finished!

TTFN

Tupperware Tantrums

2009-07-28T10:05:00.004-06:00

SO excited to be a home owner again! With the house came a reunion not so pleasant. My to-do list is back and laughing at me already... I decided to join this lovely blog as a way to encourage myself to work on the list and not just give it dirty looks.

My first victory appears small but it has prevented daily tantrums, on my part.I have to store my Tupperware on a very tipsy lazy Susan for now. The lids are always a mess and falling out when ever I opened the door...

Found these beauties at the dollar store and every time I reach in to grab a lid I have to smile. They are cheerful and so am I! One for 'real Tupperware' lids, one for 'wanna be Tupperware' lids and the final for all the caps and lids to cups and mugs and such.I have enjoyed watching all of your projects come to completion for ages! Thanks for letting me add my mess to the mix!

TTFN

Mac ;)

Dry Goods Cupboard

2009-07-14T13:47:00.001-06:00

Found a couple of teensy weensy ants on my cupboard. The state of my baking and dry goods cupboard had been crying for a good cleaning for quite some time now. There was spilled splenda and honey stickiness in there. I pulled everything out, gave the shelves a good cleaning, refilled and wiped down all my containers, and put them back in their proper places. Yay me. *grin*. Sorry, I keep forgetting about “before” pictures, those are the most fun part. I promise that in all fairness I will post before pictures next time.

Picture Procrastination

2009-07-08T17:32:00.002-06:00

Well, isn’t that funny. I’ve probably accomplished more big projects in the last two months than I have in the last two years, but do you see a single blog post on here that records my amazing feats of organization? Nope, not a one. Bummer. Well, I will have you know that last week before I left on holiday I spent 12 hours weeding my garden one day, 4 hours the next, and when I got home I washed 10 loads of laundry. Okay, so they are not all folded as B-Girl can attest to after viewing about four baskets of unfolded laundry in my living room… but they are all clean!

Today I took on a pretty big project and didn’t think to take a before picture, which is a shame, because it was a doozy. This “closet” in the schoolroom was the culprit. It was piled about 2/3rds high with stuff to go to the second hand store, craft supplies, oh, I don’t know what all (I do, but it’s far too broad a list of junk to spell out). Well, I will have you all know that this “closet” which is not really a closet at all but is waiting to become spare square footage in the main floor bath on the other side of that wall) is now completely empty and will remain that way from here on out. Ah…. I can sit down in this room now and actually feel like I can breathe rather than like I’m suffocating.

Tomorrow I tackle the top.

Finally Finished

2009-06-14T19:51:00.002-06:00

Copied directly from my blog post at Core Foundations, cuz I'm too lazy to write two of these.

Some things just make you wonder.

Sometimes you catch a glimpse and are pretty sure you know what's what.

And sometimes, things are revealed.

Way back in mid-April I had written a post called "Follow With Me Now" wherein I had mentioned doing some re-arranging.

I can now say I'm officially done!

So, here we go:

Tyler moved up into what had previously existed as the guest room:

(That took all of maybe 4 hours.)

Then, I put the little guys on Tyler's old bedroom floor for a week-long camp-out, complete with sleeping bags, while I dissassembled their room.

Then, what was the little guys' room became the school room:

I don't even want to re-think how long that took. . .

That led to the painting and assembling of the little boys' new bedroom (old schoolroom):

Which leaves one wondering, what on earth happened with Tyler's old bedroom?

Well, it sat like this for some time. . .

until we found the "right" furniture for it.

It's actually a lovely cherry, but for some reason is coming out terribly dark in the pictures.

I need to put up some finishing decor, but it's essentially done. And I haven't quite determined what kind of decor I want in there yet.

I also want to repaint the room, but Jay has said I "need to be patient".

And, he had that look in his eye that told me that I *really* need to be patient. . . ;)

Ahh, but as you know, any attempted project that occurs in this house always goes overboard. And this project wound up flowing into a 5th, unplanned, room.

My "pantry":

You should know that my "pantry" is twice as large as my kitchen and this is only one part.

And this is that same part after my little guys organized everything for me.

The other part is more organized too, but I forgot to take pictures of it.

You'll be "seeing" a lot of me again, as I desperately attempt to "be patient".

More Yard Work

2009-06-06T13:17:00.001-06:00

Since I finished the rock path I have been eyeing up other areas of the yard that have frustrated me each summer but that I have been too busy/lazy/neglectful to tackle.

This area was one.

There used to be a pond in this corner, but we filled it in when Berry Boy was about 1yr old because I was paranoid that he would fall in. Ever since then, it’s been a huge plot of dirt that grows really nice weeds. And it’s a huge and daunting area to tackle with the hoe.

So today, I changed it.

The rock border used to follow the grass line. I moved it in and swooshed it to follow the line of the house, in hopefully a lawnmower-friendly type swoosh.

Then I had to relocate some of my plants, so I place some of my irises here in the corner…

stuck these Dianthus-type things here at the front…

and relocated these lilies and grouped them together a bit more.

There is a huge patch of iris beside the lilies here that I will tweak later. They are too close to blooming right now so I didn’t want to disturb them. Later, we will seed some grass into the bare area, and I will add more perennials and annuals as I find the inspiration.

Next up…

This *little* flower bed. It is home to absolutely nothing except weeds and teeny tiny elm trees. We have these elm trees as a shelter belt, and every year they drop bazillions of teeny tiny elm seeds everywhere, and all summer I fight teeny tiny elm seedlings in all my flower beds. This bed is directly under the elm trees, so it gets it the worst.

I have already given the weeds and tiny elms a talking to with my Roundup jug, and we have worked up the soil a bit. I have even planted 3 little perennials in there that need a shady spot to grow (some Monkshood).

The next step will be to lay down some landscape fabric before the elms seeds fall, and cover it all with mulch. Should keep the weeds out, and keep the area looking somewhat clean. I’ll work on plants for it later, or maybe next year.

The Yard

2009-05-31T14:22:00.001-06:00

It’s been pretty quiet around here lately – either you’ve all finished up the projects that you were procrastinating on, OR you’re all still procrastinating and no one wants to confess it *grin*

I have been heartily procrastinating, and my yard is proof. But I have some motivation now, since we’re going to host our (second annual) Orchard in Bloom party this week. Time to clean up the flower beds and finish off a couple of projects.

My biggest job was the rock area we have around our fire pit. Berry Guy’s mom and dad had started a little path of stones, and when we moved onto the farm we decided that the path looked so nice that we would enlarge it…nice thought, lots of work.

It’s been pretty much done, except for this small part leading up to The Gate To Nowhere. Plus, it was more than time to clean up the dead leaves and kill the weeds.

Here are the piles of leaves that I (finally) raked up – waiting to be gathered up by Berry Guy and burned…

Here are some of the weeds that are about to have a close encounter with my jug of Roundup…

This is the unfinished portion of the path leading to The Gate To Nowhere…

Finishing this requires me to dig a hole slightly larger and deeper than the rock, heave the rock into place, find that it’s not deep enough, heave it out, dig some more, and heave it back in. Then, fill it in with dirt. My back hurts.

The path mostly finished…

and now dusted off and done…

Glad that’s out of the way.

Gettin' round to it.

2009-05-09T09:08:00.004-06:00

Okay, again. . .

So, the school room was re-located; which left me with this room, a lovely shade of yellow.
And, of course, my little guys were suddenly without a bedroom. . . .

I realize the radiator clashes, but DH said not to mess with it. A friend suggested a slip cover. . .

I think I need to find some under bed storage ideas, because, in case you didn't notice, there is a serious lack of toys to be found in this room. Not because we don't have them! Heavens no! We have way too many, in my opinion. But, I can't think where to put them. (Thus, the idea for under-bed storage.)

I think the walls need something too. . .

Additionally, I think we are finally done with the garden area. The older boys built my strawberry bed yesterday, and we planted the strawberries (long front bed). I wanted a bed to put my raspberries / blackberries in too, but the plants arrived before the boys could help me out. So they are just stuck in the ground (to the left). The current bushes are stuck in the ground too, on either side of the strawberry bed. Maybe (?) I'll come up with a decorative idea to border them.

Oh, and we've had nothing but rain from May 1 till yesterday. . .thus, the muddy look.

The two short front beds are currently empty of anything but dirt. I have two bins of compost to be worked in. But's that's a project for another day.

Core Foundations

School room org., part deux

2009-05-01T07:02:00.005-06:00

Okay some of you may recall my original post, but for a quickie refresher I was looking to organize this room:

And "transformed" it into this:

Well, actually, no. If you paid attention to the photos, you would realize I transferred all the stuff to a different room.

Which makes one wonder what will become of the "old" schoolroom???

Ah, but anyway, I just got the majority of stuff off the floor yesterday, and there are still some odds and ends to take care of in this room, but it's getting much closer.

I even organized the cabinets. (You should know that this room was a kitchen before we moved in, and these cabinets were over the sink, that Jay removed this summer. Since we've been here it's been our little guys' bedroom.)

Fitness, April 20-26th

2009-04-20T09:30:00.003-06:00

Okay.... you know if you don't see me for weeks on end that I am living up to my blog handle. Chris was astute enough to ask me how things were going yesterday and I had to confess my position was not only OFF the wagon, but that the wagon had moved on so far as to be completely out of my line of vision.

Here I am picking myself up and dusting myself off and trying again to focus. The past month or so has found me very diligent in *certain* areas of life and I'm proud of my progress in *those* areas, but fitness and health has fallen sadly by the wayside. Let's see if I can manage to pick up another plate and keep it up in the air here in this juggling act that is my life.

One day at a time. *sigh* I've decided I don't even want to focus on the weight, or the inches, just the health. Just the right choices. One day a time.

My goals, once again are;

8 glasses of water
1400 calories
half hour of physical activity a day (walking, rowing or heavier yard work (we're hauling a lot of brush these days, that counts for something.)

Ugh.

2009-04-08T23:22:00.002-06:00

TADA!!!

Oh, so much better! Just in time to make a Passover mess! And notice the CAUSE of all that mess on my island?? Yum. Got 12 jars out of the ordeal. Will be sharing them with many in the upcoming days.

UGH!!!

I am sure that tomorrow night I am going to really enjoy raspberry slush with our faux Passover meal but I am NOT looking forward to the clean up tonight. And yes, it *is* eleven pm. I’m hoping to hit the sack by midnight…. here goes.

Fitness, March 30-April 5th

2009-04-01T21:11:00.003-06:00

Hey gals, just checking in to say that those three days away totally threw me for a loop with all the good habits I had built up the two weeks prior. I'm off on everything. Exercising, water, calories... and the way this week is going I'm not sure how much headway I am going to make in gettting back in the groove. I will commit to watching my portions and making healthy choices (to make up for that Nutella fruit dip this aft....), but counting calories is not going to happen this week, I just don't have the padding time in my schedule to be able to be at the computer recording everything. I will also commit to four glasses of water for the remainder of the week and one rowing session (30 min).

Corissa, I can totally relate to what you shared about when life gets busy. I don't drink water at all and when evening comes I just want to relax and don't feel like working out. It's so much easier when life is peaceful and predictable and I am in a steady groove.

Fitness, March 23-29th, 2009

2009-03-23T10:03:00.002-06:00

How did you all do with the goals you set last week? Let's take a moment to update and make an evaluation of the week past and the week to come. Since we all seem to be doing this in the one post I will refrain from posting my progress within the post, but will make update comments throughout the week as I go (I like to do this on a daily basis to not give myself any room for slacking).

So check out my comment for accountability on the goals I set last week and a run down of the goals I am setting for myself this week.

Progress…

2009-03-21T19:36:00.002-06:00

Here’s what’s new in my neck of the woods.

New island, from Costco, on sale for TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. I consider it my birthday present from God.

It’s actually called a floating server and the drawers and cupboards open on both sides. It’s PERFECT. P-Guy is going to tile the top for me so I have a heavy duty working surface. I wanted stainless steel but he said that would NOT be cost efficient and he isn’t sure how to finish the edges (which I say boo to cause I know he could figure out something….) I may still look into stainless steel, but I am plenty happy with tile too….

Somebody mentioned Christine having a rather “aggressive” yellow so I just had to post THIS.

Which is the color of our MASTER BEDROOM. And would you believe on the opposite wall it has a just as aggressive pattern of yellow Victorian roses. It shocked me speechless the first time we walked in there, but one thing's for certain, you can’t be mad or sad in that room…. LOL! Anyway… I show you this wall in its before state to show you what ELSE is new around here.

The first proper closet in our ENTIRE house. How we have lived this long without a closet is… well… it’s the reason we have lived with so many piles and chaos. And for the record, P-Guy, in need of a new table saw, didn’t go out and BUY a new table saw. No, he didn’t even go BORROW our neighbor and friend’s table saw for a few days, he promptly built this entirely from scratch with a SKIL saw. The man rocks. Anyway, it’s still a work in progress, there is one more rod for hangers going under the drawers and the doors need to go on. They are solid pine paneled sliding doors and there will be four of them. Two wider ones on the outside edges and then two narrower ones in the centre. The doors will be done with a darker stain to match the woodwork in our house. So exciting!!!

Don’t ask me why we didn’t paint behind there before he did this… because I wouldn’t want to tell you that story. Because I really want to honor and praise my hubby and not tell tales about how he might sometimes get a bit ahead of himself and run off half cocked. But I love him, and I really love our closet.

Help! Dining Room Decor

2009-03-21T11:04:00.006-06:00

Okay, Prairie had suggested I could do this, and I'm in desperate need of ideas.

We have essentially completed the dining room renovation. Going from this:

to the following photos. (I'm going to try to post them in "panaramic" sort of view going from this corner, clockwise.)

PLEASE ignore the teeny-tiny kitchen you see in the background of these two pictures -- but understand that because of its diminutive size that's why the frig and pantry are in the dining room. Trust me, it's on our "To-Do" list!

Oh, and apparently "Batman" felt inclined to drop in for a visit during this particular photo shoot. You can ignore him too, as we don't plan to make him permanent decor.

Hmmm, middle door (stairway) is also on our to-do list. . .

Okay, this oil painting is "hiding" some eyesores. I'm not 100% sold on it yet, but it works for now. (Oh, and the "dangly" thing on the right side of the chimney, is actually the light pull in the middle of the room. Just letting you know in case you, like I, thought it was a nasty massive spider that had suddenly disappeared since this picture was taken. . .)

So. . .I need some ideas! Desperately!!!

Typically, we put family photos in the dining room. However, all previous dining rooms have had a white wall, and the color worked well. Not so, with this new combination. So, I've got that big honkin' blank wall I need to put something on, and then I need some other ideas for the other spaces.

Help? please?!

School Room Org

2009-03-21T10:27:00.003-06:00

To be perfectly honest, I'm quite sure I don't have time to work on this area. But, then again, when I look at my calendar it appears I'm "booked" for the next 3 years. . .my calendar doesn't go further than that ;). So, I want to make time.

And, we are clear that this is a trouble spot right? I shouldn't feel terribly guilty about how it looks. . .These are the "before" pictures after all.

So, starting from the doorway and then a shot of each of the four corners.

I honestly don't know why we call it the "school room", as very little "school" takes place here. It's mainly an obstacle course that's set up in a such a manner as to create havoc in any given school day. . .

I'm trying to decide how to chop it into "bite-sized pieces"; but, I will tell ya, I'm itchin' to paint!

When The Cat’s Away….

2009-03-20T19:34:00.002-06:00

The mice shall…. clean. =) P-guy is gone fishing for the weekend and I am left to occupy myself with five children and holding down the fort. No fear, I’m more than up to the challenge and have a BIG surprise planned for my darlin’ upon his return. Temps rose above 0 for the first time since fall, I went outside without a jacket on to do the chores and I ripped the winter weather wrap off the old windows in the schoolroom. I’m in total spring cleaning mode.

The before pics are what my schoolroom looked like when P-guy got home from work, the after what he will (hopefully) come home to on Sunday night.

Fitness.

2009-03-16T08:40:00.011-06:00

FRIDAY
Food: 1700 calories
Water: 10 glasses, it's growing on me.
Exercise: 100 minutes of 120 down
Weight: 4.2 of 10 lbs lost

THURSDAY
Food: 1900 calories (that brownie at skating windup and slice of banana cream pie at small group really hiked up my calorie count... )
Water: 8 glasses
Exercise: 80 minutes of 120 down
Weight: 4 of 10 lbs lost

WEDNESDAY
Food: 1650 calories
Water: 8 glasses
Exercise: 60 minutes of 120 down 240 calories burned
Weight: 2.8 of 10 lbs lost

So proud of myself today. I was STARVING most of the day despite filling, healthy snacks, so I made myself this HUGE bowl of fresh salad with lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and a sprinkling of cheese and bacon bits (the dehydrated kind from Costco), stuck it in the fridge and it was my salvation whenever my stomach started gnawing away at me from the inside out. My calorie count is a bit higher than my limit because I made this crazy fattening homemade mac and cheese dish for my fam last night since *I* wasn't going to be home but there were TONS of leftovers and so that was what we had for lunch today. I know I could have picked something else, but I don't want to deny myself completely, just learn to practice self control and moderation. I also took my measurements today and am excited to track that as I feel the daily rowing start to kick in in the muscle department.

TUESDAY
Food: 1800-1900 calories? Ate out, calculated by estimate and then added 200 calories.
Water: 8 glasses
Exercise: 40 minutes of 120 down 154 calories burned
Weight: 2.8 of 10 lbs lost, thank you water, thank you very much.

MONDAY
Food: 1400 calories (rounded up to nearest 50)
Water: 7 glasses down, 1 to go.
Exercise: 20 minutes rowing of 120; 70 cals burned
Weight: 0 of 10 lost.

Okay... I've been procrastinating on this one for a LONG time now. But enough is enough. I've been watching the scale inch up 3 more pounds in the last month and I am NOT going to close my eyes and pretend it isn't so. I know what I need to do and it is NOT easy, but I've had enough with procrastinating about it.

As of today.

I am back to counting calories, measuring my water intake and I WILL set up a regular exercise time this week.

My eating goals are;

~ 5 meals/snacks, capped at 300 cals each. (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper)
~whole grain cereal, dairy and fruit at breakfast
~greens, protein and meagre whole grain for lunch (tuna or chicken salad on toast, etc)
~raw fruit, veggies or dairy for snack
~protein and veggies for supper

My water goals are to get in 1 litre a day.

My exercise goals are to get in 140 minutes of rowing this week, however and whenever I can manage to get it in. I will not set myself up for failure by saying "so much per day" but I will just row away as I get the chance and try to reach my goal by the end of the week.

My baby step weight goal is to lose 10 lbs by the end of April.

I will update this post on a daily basis to keep track of my calories, water, exercise and weight. I am using Fitday to help keep me on track. Anyone with me?

The Pantry Problem

2009-02-25T17:19:00.002-06:00

I have a nice, deep pantry. The trouble is, it’s deep. And things get lost in the back.

I came back from grocery shopping today, and tried to put some stuff away on the top shelf of this pantry.

This is what it looked like (before I could put anything away):

The top shelf has become a catch-all for Things That Have Nowhere Else To Go. So we have a jar full of odds and ends (electrical parts, random screws, drill bits, super glue, things I can’t identify…), two kinds of paper plates, three kinds of napkins, some tea, another cup full of odds and ends, ANOTHER cup full of odds and ends (yes, that does make THREE cups of odds and ends), toothpicks, 3 containers of baby prunes, two containers of bread crumbs (which I’d forgotten I had and have since purchased an additional container of bread crumbs), nacho chips, etc etc etc.

So I emptied it out, found some things I didn’t know I had, and put half of it back in, with some of the stuff that I’d just bought:

ahhh. much better. I even have a place now to put the large juice pitcher that is too tall for most of my other spots. Less important stuff is towards the back, and more important stuff is towards the front.

I won’t show you the rest of the shelves – they are in a working state of semi-chaos…

Last Stop in the Dining Room, YAY!!!

2009-02-20T12:29:00.002-06:00

Corner Unit, another raging catch all. BEFORE.

AFTER

Top Shelf BEFORE.

Top Shelf AFTER

Middle Shelf BEFORE

Middle Shelf AFTER

Bottom Shelf BEFORE

Bottom Shelf AFTER

People In Our Hearts

2009-02-19T14:05:00.002-06:00

Remember the picture mural plan designed to give me back a tidy freezer?

Ta-Da!

Now I just need to decide where to put it.

Holy Toledo

2009-02-18T16:42:00.002-06:00

Seriously… sometimes… I don’t know how things get SO bad around here. I can’t believe I even TOOK a before picture of this corner unit. It’s like my dear friend said to his wife when she started taking pictures to post on here (she’s not here yet, but she’s comin’!) “You’re NOT posting those on the internet!” LOL! Hey… just keepin’ it real. So here goes.

Corner unit in the dining room (this pic was taken three weeks ago, it wasn’t QUITE this bad when I tackled it today) that has become another catch all for WHO knows what all. Binoculars to watch the deer out the picture window. An elastic band shot up and left hanging by my little elastic shooter. Science experiment radishes that need a sunny place… cleaning supplies, some stray laundry, empty fruit crates, the kids linen bags hung there because….. I don’t know why. And a halfway full clutter box on the bottom shelf. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

And here she is after 20 minutes of attention. Oh my goodness…. what an improvement. And somebody found a new play spot out of the deal. (kids are still dealing with the clutter boxes that live on the bottom shelf). P-Guy made this unit for me by the way… isn’t he dreamy? He made my desk too, forgot to mention that. He's the man.

I’m a happy camper. My dining room is turning from a Tornado into a sunny, wonderful place to be. Feels good.

feeling a little "happier" these days..

2009-02-18T12:06:00.000-06:00

My sweet Valentine surprised me with a bag full of goodies..

and here's where they would eventually end up.

Ehhh..

I was now motivated to decontaminate the old stuff.

Oh btw~ I didn't make the mess by myself..I had the help of a certain 3yr dd who dumped some "chi serum oil" & mixed that in with my fav eye shadow.

But with a little help from Mr. Comet & Mr.Bleach it cleaned up well.

Now if it would only stay this way..

I agree PC focusing does bring peace and beauty to mind.

Have a great day girls!

Focusing...

2009-02-18T10:10:00.003-06:00

"The Lord delights in a willing worker." I don't know if it's scripture, or just a quote from a book I'm reading... but I've been thinking about it and whatever the case I'm sure it's true. I've been trying to focus on being a willing and cheerful worker and making homemaking more about art, beauty, peace and joy than about duty, responsibility, routine and chores. It's like a breath of fresh air. Instead of looking at the destruction and chaos I am faced with, I am focusing on the beauty I can bring to a room by giving it some tender loving care. And it breathes peace into my life. It helps just to BE home. Goodness knows I have been on the run for the past few weeks and everything has suffered. The quietness of my own spirit as well as quality focused and down time with the people I love. I am hoping to get a few anti-procrastination projects thrown into the end of this week, but if I don't, I'm happy with just getting back into a comfortable routine of keeping house. How 'bout you?

The Project that took ALL day!

2009-02-10T09:44:00.011-06:00

Well ladies, since 2009 started I have been on a mission to clean out every closet in our house. Primarily because they really needed it, but also as a way to gather stuff for this huge consignment sale that I participate in twice a year, which is coming up at the end of this month.

I had done every closet except our master bedroom closet, which was by far the messiest! So that was my project for the morning yesterday while the boys were at 4K (for 3 hours). Below are the before pictures...

Lots of clutter and stuff on the shelves up top...

A huge mess down low, how could I even find my shoes?!

More clutter up top and clothes and stuff just piled up...

This corner drives me crazy... I just stash any thing here that I can not find a place for. I had 4 wal-mart bags of artwork from my kids... it is no longer in the closet, I have it set aside to pick my favorite pieces out of and then when they are not looking I will trash the rest. They get so upset if I throw anything away, but I can not keep every single piece of artwork they make, they make several a day!

I removed every single item from the closet, absolutely everything. Then I vacuumed the floor really good and cleaned the baseboards... then it was time to go get the boys! Thankfully when we got home they were happy to eat lunch and then go play out back (thanks to the wonderful springlike weather we are having!) and I got to finish this project!

No more stuff in the corner, I moved the chest we had here to another place in the closet, and now I can get to my shoes easily and our long clothes are not cramped by the chest! We have 2 baskets in our closet, one for colors, and one for whites... when they get full is when I wash (which is what I am doing today!)

This is the area above the previous picture...

This is the other side of our closet... where I moved the chest. My husband's shoes are all on top of the chest, and our sweats and sweaters are folded and stacked neatly on the shelves!

The view walking into our closet!

These pictures really do not give you the full effect... it was SO VERY MESSY, and now it just looks wonderful! I could go hang out in there for a few hours! Thanks for encouraging me to get those projects done! This feels wonderful!

Oooh, Oooh, I get to play too!

2009-02-09T19:45:00.005-06:00

The pictures following are from my little guys' room. It's sort of their bed / school / play room all in one. And, at one point in the history of this house, it was also a kitchen. The photos are done in black and white because I was playing with my new camera when I took the first ones. Thought it only right to stick with a theme.

I am only showing 2 parts of the room (school / play). The bed area is sufficiently "clean".

The boys have been driving me insane with the amount of stuff that they have. Doesn't help that you have to fight them tooth and nail to clean it up. I've been attempting, for some time, to grab some of their things and put them away (to swap out another day). However, every time my husband catches wind of this he always pulls this pouty face and says, "You're going to take their toys away?".

So, having enough of it, we went to work shortly after he did. ;)

In the picture below, you can see the remains of the kitchen sink that my husband just recently removed. (Exposed pipes, drywall, bad paint job.) I mean, you could if you could get past all those toys.

It took a couple of days, and lots of arguing, but we accomplished it.

Clean school area!

Even cleaner toy area!!! At least 2/3rds of their toys are put away for another day.

I'm also essentially ready for my trip, so please know that I am not procrastinating. . .I'm having some R & R!

Core Foundations

Desk Disaster

2009-02-09T14:42:00.006-06:00

Voila! You know what I almost like the most about tackling a mess like this? When you ask yourself, "why is this set up like this? It doesn't make any SENSE?" And you re-evaluate and make some switches. Just a silly thing but I have no idea why the speaker was on the outside of the printer, and the hand held phone was wedged between the monitor and printer. Switched that around. Yay!
I've got 30 minutes, so here goes. I'm tackling this disaster of a desk which sits in the opposite corner of our dining room to the frumpy freezer. See what I mean about this being our largest "multipurpose" room? The desk sits right at the door between the front foyer and the dining room and we pass by this area more often than any other area in the house so it becomes the "catch all" for everything. Things that are supposed to be finding their way from one side of the house to the other end up here. Ugh. Well enough chit chat. Here goes!!!

room makeover...smile...

2009-02-05T23:00:00.000-06:00

Remember this before shot...eewwww!

wah-lah...I would like a new cover for the bed and something for that ugly blank wall.....any ideas? please?

here is the other side of the room...

finally got the workout poster hung up on the wall....smile...

wah-lah, one corner of the room

My mom had given me three frames she didn't need, I agonized over what to do with them...I finally bought a 3 dollar roll of wrapping paper and framed it...so I can change whatever is stickie taped to the outside...a calendar, some photos...little notes...

okay...I am having trouble manipulating photos on here...I am used to wordpress, so I don't know the tricks of this at blogger...so I think this may come out backwards...

please bare with me...smile...

the inspiration for color came from a 40th birthday gift I got last year from a friend from jr. high...wee-waa...

These are the before...

this room has been catching a lot...workout, computer, sewing, crafts...and now dear daughter's upcoming wedding, so I decided to stop putting it off and put it here...

Frumpy Freezer

2009-02-05T15:24:00.005-06:00

I'm not sure where my text disappeared to. But here is my frumpy freezer before followed by a sleek new clutter free freezer below. I plan to purchase a nice bulletin board and display the family and friends photos on it, maybe on the wall above my desk which is in the opposite corner of this room. I have to tell you that this job did not excite me, and I didn't think I would get any joy out of the finished product. I mean, a stark freezer, even if clean, how exciting could that be? Can I just tell you that I can't help but smile everytime I look at my freezer now? It even seems like my freezer is smiling back at me. It's loverly. ETA, just found my text, it's in the comments... doh.

2009-02-05T15:23:00.004-06:00

YOU ASKED FOR ME TO SEND YOU" Mr. Kickintheheiny " PRAIRIE CHICK....WELL...HERE HE IS!!!!!!! ;-) LEANNE

laundry room cleanup

2009-02-05T11:09:00.004-06:00

Ok, first of all I want to promise you guys that I am not a COMPLETE slob... these are my worst areas that I am showing you. There are a FEW clean and neat spots in this house. :-)

laundry room before

laundry room after

I washed (almost) all the clothes, scrubbed the floors, took junk that didn't belong out of there and went to the dollar store and bought 3 baskets to sort clothes in so hopefully I can avoid this MESS in the future. I also had my husband hang a little rack that holds my brooms and mop. Whew, that feels so much better and washing clothes is actually fun when you don't have to risk your life to do it!

a nice change for some "small change"

2009-02-04T20:22:00.000-06:00

remember this post?

BEFORE:

what I'd see before and after sleep..my (achem) dresser..

So after confession I went on a thrift shopping spree.

Brought this little lamp: $8

Books on hand for a stand : $0

Box of silk roses: $3

Pink netting: found in scrap box

A special nic nak from my dad: found in storage

Our framed wedding invitation: found in storage

AFTER:

ahhh.. now that's better.

Oh and the stuff from before..totally taken care of..shelved, filed or stored! (funny thing is I found our missing car title!)

Thanks for the motivation girls!

Clutter Control

2009-02-04T16:58:00.002-06:00

We have a *few* hot spots in our house that routinely collect clutter, and to be honest I have just been letting them *go*. I just figure, what’s the point. Berry Guy and Berry Boy are absolute packrats, and I am not. However, if I am seen throwing something away, I get tons of complaints like “hey, that’s my favorite Spiderman coloring book” (Berry Boy) Umm, it’s been lying on the floor beneath a bench collecting dust for months, and it is mostly done and many of the pages are cut out; or “why are you throwing away my Boys Club badges from 1979???” (Berry Guy).

Sometimes I just want to beat my head against my desk.

Anyway, today I got motivated to do a few things. One was wash the floor – I was getting tired of trying to avoid the sticky spots, and the collection of uneaten fish crackers and raisins under Berry Baby’s highchair was appalling to say the least.

Here are the other *hot spots* that I decided to tackle today:

This is what greets us from the back entry – a mish-mash of bags, socks, summer hats(??) and clothing…

this is my eating bar in the kitchen. Note that there is no possible way that anyone could every do any actual *eating*…

and this is the trunk at the foot of our bed. Which you can’t see for all the clothes piled on top of it.

And AFTER…

phew. that feels better.

The Lady & the Cordless Drill!

2009-02-04T13:59:00.016-06:00

Well... I finally stopped a little of the procrastinating. My husband thinks I am absolutely crazy running around the house taking pictures of the insides of drawers and such, but as long as I do not spend money to print those pictures he does not care :)

Today I actually worked on some things he has been procrastinating on (hehe) and stuff I needed to do....

This is what my children do with their pajamas every morning when they take them off, and unless people are coming over, they usually stay right there on the floor until they put them back on at night... it bothers me, but I am tired of picking them up so I do not pick them up anymore.

Several weeks ago I bought several hooks at our local hardware store and told my husband I had them... but he never offered to put them up for me! So today I decided I would figure out how to use the cordless drill all by myself (for the record I did have to call him a work a few times with some questions, I think he is scared to come home and find out what I did!) I have never really had to use a cordless drill before, my dad and my husband are very handy and do everything for me, but today I was just tired of waiting...

Paul took this picture of me hanging the hook on their door... he did pretty good considering this was his 1st time ever to take a picture!

And this is the finished result! Every morning they can now hang the pjs on the back of their bedroom door! They were very excited, especially that the hook was down low so they can reach it. We will see if it works!

This is in my laundry room, the room we enter as we come into the house from the garage. I get so tired of this getting cluttered with tons of coats, hats, bags, and anything else we hang from it.

On a side note, my husband converted this into a coat rack for me. It used to hang over my window growing up. The top shelf sat on top of the window, and the bottom rack which now has the hooks was for a curtain. I was pleased with his conversion! Also, the middle picture on top is the January picture from last year's calendar... the pictures were so nice I did not want to throw them away, so I am using them in this frame. I plan to change them every month... and I just now realized that it is now February so I need to change the picture!!

Before picture of the door going into the garage....

The after picture after I used the cordless drill again and hung another hook!

Another after picture.... (I got the order of these backwards, oh well...)

The before picture....

The after picture of our receipt basket after I filed all of them on the computer... however, now there is a pile of the receipts to save that need to be filed in our filing cabinet... it truly is never ending isn't it!

(There used to be a picture here... I deleted it per my husband's request... it was of a basket overflowing with receipts!)

The before picture of our receipt basket. We keep this in a drawer in the kitchen and we place all of our receipts in it, for anything and everything, no matter how much or how little it cost. Then I try to file them on the computer at least every couple of weeks in an excel spreadsheet that we have for our budget. Early on in our marriage James kept wanting to know what we spent all our money on, so we decided to do this so we could track what we spend our money on and so we could accurately create a budget. It works well for us, but sometimes I get very behind in getting them on the computer... but for today it is done!!

I also went to the grocery story and got all the groceries put away! And there is a load of clothes in the washing machine, and the dish washer is running! I feel like I have been productive today!

Thank you ladies!! Seeing all that you had done made me want to get started on some projects... I do have some more coming up, but I think that is enough for one day!

The Procrastinator's Creed

2009-02-04T13:25:00.003-06:00

I thought this was fitting...

1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect from missing them.
5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero.
8.If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
13. I will never put off tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
14. I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (The Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

Honestly not procrastinating!

2009-02-03T18:42:00.003-06:00

(Though it is one of the few "talents" I possess in spades.)

So, I committed to this group right at the get-go and haven't gone on here since (except to read what all you wonderful ladies have been up to).

I cleaned the oven today. . .but, no pictures (don't believe in showing the innards of my kitchen appliances if it can be helped).

I'm preparing for a big trip, so most of my time and energies have been related to that.

i.e. scheduling, because DH is staying home, and wants to "do school" with the kids. Again, no pictures.

We have been doing a massive room renovation, and are in the process of finishing touches -- to the room, haven't even got to the decor. Do have pictures for that, but that doesn't quite apply to this blog's purpose.

So, I essentially wanted to get on, and tell you all that you are doing a fantastic job, and I'll "see" ya in March.

. . .not that I'm procrastinating or anything!

Procrastinating...

2009-02-03T16:06:00.006-06:00

Hey Ladies
I have committed to join you... and I will soon... I have taken a few pictures of some things I need to work on, but right now the camera is downstairs and I am upstairs... I will post those later.

We all have colds and are feeling yucky today so we are doing nothing except creating clutter and more work for me to do when we feel better! Hopefully I will check bad in a day or two with some before and after projects, you all are doing such a great job I am beginning to feel guilty for not starting anything yet... but I will!! I promise!

Pray for me to feel better and for my strength and energy to be renewed! Thanks!

I DID IT!!!!!!!!

2009-02-03T08:08:00.001-06:00

I promise it did not take me 5 days to finish my project, I've just been so busy I haven't had a chance to post the after. This was before...

And this is after...

I just decided I couldn't clean it out this month. I slapped up a curtain , called it a day and had some coffee.

I'm Kidding!!!!!!!!!!! You think I was gonna let this junkpile get the best of me?????????????? Just thought I'd see if you were paying attention. This is how it truly looks now. I was so pleased that I couldn't stop looking at it all weekend.

I gave the interior a coat of bright white paint, de-cluttered and added some drawers for storage. Now I have a place to put my vaccume and broom and steam mop which were cluttering up the painfully cramped laundry room. I sewed up a real quick , cheerful curtain and my husband was impressed and even told me he was gonna build me some shelves up top to utilize all that otherwise wasted space. I am looking forward to conquering my next project and to seeing how my fellow partners in procrastination are nipping idleness in the bud! Love you girls!

The Weekend Tornado!!!!!!

2009-02-02T13:02:00.006-06:00

Ok, Joy this is for you! You posted last week about how messy your house gets over the weekend. Well here is what happens to mine in 2 short days!!!!!!!!! Isn't this horrible!
All of this was in my PURSE!!!

Now, my purse is ALL clean!!

Look at this table!!!!!!!!!!

And this kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks like a tornado came through doesn't it!

This is after a couple hrs of work.

Play room clean again!

Wow, I can't believe this kitchen is clean now!!

Warm Apple candle burning on the clean stove,ahhh!

The table look so nice now.

Ok, I have more to do today, but doesn't it look better!!!

Kitchen Clutter

2009-02-02T12:16:00.002-06:00

MONDAY UPDATE! Kitchen Entry. I know this doesn't look like much on photo, but it was the "last stop" in my kitchen rescue... and there were a lot of loose and sticky papers up there in that stack of books that needed to be dealt with. Grittier photos to come soon as I move on into the Dining Room this week!

BEFORE

AFTER

THURSDAY UPDATE! Refrigerator Rescue!

BEFORE

TASK. Get everything off of here and put away except the basket that holds my pot holders. There is a lot of clutter in the basket and behind under the cupboards that does NOT BELONG here.

DURING

AFTER. Cleared, dusted, washed, and purdy. Yay!

It was so clean it looked stark and bare, so I had to move my cookie gal over to the wall to add some coziness!

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Games Drawer Rescue!

The catch all drawer in the island BEFORE

TASK. Go through, get rid of garbage and anything that doesn’t belong as this drawer doesn’t CLOSE right now…

DURING. hundreds of loose and mixed up cards under the top clutter. If you are wondering why we have cards in our island, it's because that is actually our games cupboard. Very tight for storage and shelving in this house!

piles of sorted cards

bottom of the barrell.... ew.

AFTER, nothing but organized cards. Yay!

Pantry Intervention

2009-01-31T12:32:00.005-06:00

Prairie Guy came home with about 400.00 of groceries yesterday and I was left with the perpetual chore of finding a place for all this stuff in our very small and limited kitchen space. I’m terrible for just shoving stuff into already overflowing cupboards, which is what I proceeded to do yesterday. Only when all was said and done, there was no home for the flat of Ginger Ale he had brought home to share with our company last night (who came over to play CARDS *GRIN*).

My first thought was to stick it… wait for it… on top of the fridge. Well, hello. So not happening after I just proudly posted AFTER pics of my fridge rescue.

Enter what I affectionately (very affectionately as it is my good and helpful friend) refer to as Mr. “Momentum Factor”. Mr. Momentum Factor is a wonderful character and the nemesis of Mrs. Procrastinator Factor.

Since I was NOT going to turn my newly cleaned fridge into a hot spot again, I needed to find a different location for the pop. Glumly I walked over to my pantry cupboard and stared at this.

Where to start. Some of this stuff really didn’t belong here, and needed to find a home here;

which didn’t look promising either. And that’s where Mr. Momentum got to work. So…. I pulled it ALL out. (Forgot to take a pic of this, it was quite scary) and what a surprise… there is a rock in the center of my cupboard. Who knew.

Kind of like finding THIS in your pot cupboard. You just never know what’s going to be lurking behind closed doors.

After all was said and done, this is what I had to show for it.

Laundry Laziness

2009-01-30T16:43:00.002-06:00

OK ~~smarty pants~~ Prairie Chick. Apparently Christmas decorations in January isn’t quite gritty enough (*grin*), so I present to you:

My Laundry Room

As you can see, there are 2 baskets full of clean unfolded laundry. There is a pile of clean, unfolded towels and dish cloths on the floor. There is recycling. There are empty detergent bottles. There is bristol board (??)

There is laundry to be washed…on top of the laundry hamper, and a blanket that keeps getting taken down and not put away.

And there is partially folded laundry on top of the dryer. I have begun to avoid this room altogether and simply shut the door to keep it out of sight.

After today, however…

The floor is (clear) and vacuumed and washed (even)…

the hamper has been washed, the garbage taken out (I kid you not, it had become a garbage can of all things) and the dirty laundry is now inside it (the cloths are hanging over the edges to dry)…

the laundry is gone from the dryer and both appliances have been wiped down…

and the laundry has been folded, sorted, and *gasp* PUT AWAY. As evidenced by the two EMPTY laundry baskets.

Phew.

And, for those of you who care and didn’t think my earlier post was too pansy, my Christmas decorations are now taken down and stored in their proper cupboard.

So there (*grin*)

Updating Your Post.

2009-01-30T01:23:00.000-06:00

In order for us to keep this as user friendly as possible, my suggestion is that when a BEFORE post is edited with an AFTER update, click on "Post Options" in the bottom left corner of your post editor window, and then update the date and time to the present date and time before you republish your post (be sure you check that you have the right designations for AM or PM). This will push your post to the top of the blog page and keep the posts in order of latest updated. I can't believe how motivating and fun this actually is, thanks for playing everyone!

Drawer Dropout

2009-01-29T15:46:00.002-06:00

From this:

To this:

Just took some sorting… seems the craft supplies, extra pictures and addresses I wanted to keep were hogging all the space…

And though I won’t post the pictures, the garland above my picture window is now ‘stowed’ in the basement.

(okay, I admit, I just threw the garland down the hole where our stairs should be, instead of crawling down the ladder)

Operation Christmas Takedown

2009-01-29T14:52:00.002-06:00

So here we are, at the end of January, and I’m still looking at this lovely garland…

and these lovely Kindergarten crafts…

and these whimsical wreaths…

and this Santa…

and this door wreath…

and while it all looks very nice, IT’S JANUARY.

I am trying NOT to have a repeat of the “Pine Garland on the Fireplace Mantle” incident of 2008. I’ll just say that I did not need to decorate the family room downstairs this year as it was already decorated from last year.

Ahem.

I will get back to you on the condition of my upstairs.

Dinner Rush Avoidance Progression

2009-01-29T13:37:00.002-06:00

On to boil…

Slice and Dice

Combining the meatloaf (not for the squeamish)

And we’re finished… including setting the oven!

(previously) To do list:

Take these ingredients:

Make supper to have in the oven before leaving for skating…(maybe this is supposed to be house-related… but supper can be a big procrastinating thing… )

Skating ends at 5:45, and who wants to come up with a meal then? In an attempt to be frugal and wonder-woman-ish… enter, meatloaf and mashed potato casserole….

And…. go!

time to clean

2009-01-29T12:05:00.001-06:00

Look what we did in 9 minutes!! The play room went from this to...
this!! A big thanks to my little boys who helped!

Bye for now, it's nap time for Rylan. Leanne

the decorating thing

2009-01-28T19:28:00.001-06:00

UPDATE:

Got to work right after breakfast (8:30am) on 2# "P" problem

started by removing everything..

including little pencil marks..(love the pen!)

Now part of the reason I had not hung anything prior was because the board needed to be sanded (excuses.. excuses)

And stained (great more work?!)

not to worry though, I had the help of a mighty Lego warrior..that kept showing up randomly.

and of course that may have had something to do with these two.

Using what I had on hand the job was done @ 11:24 am

Of course I'd love to add a vase of flowers for a job..

I think..well done. (hint hint honey..)

Now as you can see it has the symbolic's of the "Trinity"

the Crosses

the candles

the pictures

The largest Cross was intricately handmade for us from my dh's brother. The middle cross was a gift from my MIL who I'm sure will be glad to finally see me hang it ;) it's a great addition, Nana!

The little stick cross was also handmade by my oldest a few years back and I'm very proud to display these acts of love.

As you can see the stain didn't turn out to bad..( now the post need doing..that's dh job) but between my perfectionist dh and my procrastination self..I'm sure we will both be OK with it..I hope any ways.

And here's what you did for me..with all your encouraging words!

tomorrow the "not so romantic" dresser ;)

1st things first: I'm an official "team member" of the Prairie Procrastinator, YAY!

Here's how it came about:

I was minding my own business ;) making blog rounds and was pleasantly surprised to read this over at PC:

"There's no social current of energy to charge you and help carry you along. There's also no peer recognition and praise for a job well done. Now I know we are supposed to work as unto the Lord and not CARE about our work being noticed and appreciated, and that is all fine and dandy. But listen, there is nothing wrong with needing a little motivation and encouragement from people who will "get it" and be excited about the fact you cleaned your pantry cupboard. I'm serious here."

What PC didn't know was only a couple of days ago I was having my "monthly pity party" while confessing ~~whining~~ to my dh (bless his heart) in tears about the lack motivation to do the job I've been called to do with more gusto read enthusiasm then "it's time to make the donuts.." you understand, right?

Knowing this, I'm where I want to be by choice and because of the Lord's blessing however the feelings of a "job well done" or simple pat on the back from coworkers and/or peers is something I often miss as a career mom.

So when I read how this blog spot would be a motivation and give me "the stuff" I've been missing..I thought who better to share this with then others who've been there done that!

As not to discredit the family they are constantly giving me credit ..but seriously it's just different altogether when a perfect stranger compliments you!

PRAIRIE CHICK ;D Thank you for starting this and for inviting me to participate!

Now let's get this decorating thing done..

"P" problem #1

A dresser that has become a "catch all" and this is the view from my bed..can you say not romantic?!

It's the last thing I see before I sleep and the first thing I see when I wake up. Now is the time..to get creative and do something..anything will be better then this.

"P" problem #2 :

you can see the wall hangings are sitting on the piano..

another "catch all" fix needed!

Yeah..it's been my intention for the past year or so to hang them up on this very wall.

So finally with your encouraging words

and

accountability I truly needed

I will

(swallowing hard)

put holes

(breaking out into a cold sweat just thinking of it) in that wall

the same one I sheet rocked/sanded/textured and painted.

I will hang up the stuff and give my piano it's dignity back.

I think.

Now it's your turn to motivate me ;0/

@ P.S. He loves you..

Perpetual Procrastination?

2009-01-28T13:56:00.001-06:00

Anyone suffer from this syndrome? If it's not one thing it's another and I feel like I am always living in a state of perpetual procrastination about SOMETHING. Cleaning... laundry... de-cluttering...special projects... meal planning... you name it. I know, I know, this doesn't sound like me. Prologue is my place to be whimsical and romantic, philosophical and witty... this place? It's gonna be my place to get down and dirty, and I invite you to roll up your sleeves and dive in with me. Got hidden messes? Not so hidden messes? Got chaos? Got "hot spots" raging out of control? Need a kick in the pants (in the nicest "cheer-leader-like fashion) to spend more time "taking care of business" and less time avoiding it? Have a special decorating project or room re-do you've been wanting to start and just haven't had the motivation? Well... this place is going to be all about motivation.

One thing that I find a royal drag about housework and home organization is that it is really hard to work up impetus all on one's lonesome. There's no social current of energy to charge you and help carry you along. There's also no peer recognition and praise for a job well done. Now I know we are supposed to work as unto the Lord and not CARE about our work being noticed and appreciated, and that is all fine and dandy. But listen, there is nothing wrong with needing a little motivation and encouragement from people who will "get it" and be excited about the fact you cleaned your pantry cupboard. I'm serious here. That's kind of what I'm going for here. A virtual work-place camaraderie. "Eyes" that see what you're workin' on and motivate you to KEEP workin' at it. Cheers for your finished projects.

So the idea here, is if you want on board, leave me a message. I will sign you on as an administrator. This will be a group blog. Anyone participating will be able to submit their own posts with before pictures of their anti-procrastination project for the day or week. As you complete your projects you can return to your post to add "After" pics as follow ups to the Before pics. Make sense? It's kind of an accountability cheer leading group. If we want to we can also pick "zones" to work in for the week, special deep clean missions or special little daily mission projects that send you to the hidden corners and inner recesses for a 5 minute cleaning mission.

I think that we will also glean lots of great tips and ideas from each other as go, and I am excited about that. Who's on board?