The Heart of the Matter

Valentines Day is fast approaching AGAIN.  Why does it seem the older you get the less time you have?

Anyhow, with that in mind, and knowing how much I really want to get my life back to some kind of reasonable and recognizable order I have decided to start making Valentines Day crafts early.

Namely, the girls are going to start making cards to hand out to all their classmates.  It is my sincere hope this year is unlike those in the recent past where I am scrambling around like some lab mouse caught in a maze trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go and what I am supposed to be doing.  No, this year is my year to reclaim my OCD.  It has been missed and I so terribly want it back.

Starting this week I will be gathering materials and supplies necessary to create some super cute Valentines Day cards and crafts.  The girls and I will begin assembly of said crafts and cards by the beginning of February.  IF I am lucky, and stay focused and determined, then I might actually pull off my first planned craft for the year.

My first choice of valentines crafts for the girls to make was these little cuties.

Valentine Day Rings

How cute are those?  Red pipe cleaners wrapped around a Hershey's Kiss.  So simple.  Only one issue......the guys in the classes may not exactly want to be sporting a Kiss Ring.  So I searched for a suitable alternative and found these......

Valentine Day Fortune Cookies

Now we HAVE to make these!!!  Red and pink and white ones using felt circles and a pipe cleaner glued across the center of the circle.  Insert a cute Valentines Fortune and fold.  Super easy and super cute.  These are sure to be the hit of the parties !!!

And to ensure the teachers and parent helpers aren't left out I found these to make.......

Hugs and Kisses

A simply decorated jar filled with hugs and kisses.  Attach a note that says "For when you need a hug or a kiss".  So sweet.

Now if only I could get our financial situation under control we would have no problem making these this weekend.  Unfortunately things always get turned upside down just when you think you are about to make headway.

So in order to get a grip on more financial chaos I'm off to put together our annual budget and start filing taxes.

Now THAT's how you clean house.

We've had a lot of snow days lately.  I mean a LOT.  As a matter of fact, last week the girls managed exactly one half day at school.  Half.  Just one.  Friday to be exact.  Pitiful.

Follow up to that almost non-existent school week was Monday off and a half day on Tuesday.  And if the weathermen actually get tonight's / tomorrow's forecast right we may be looking at another snow day tomorrow.  I love snow days but this is getting to be slightly crazy.

However, if you are going to have snow days you might as well make them useful and productive.  So both girls and I did exactly that on Sunday.  We spent the entire day cleaning house so they could have friends over on Monday.  The house hasn't been this clean in years.  Follow THAT up with a little of my own cleaning house today and you have the makings for a pretty great week.

For far too long now I've been trying to unload some of the girls clothing they have grown out of.  With sizes ranging from 2T up to 5 I've had way too much of this stuff blocking my office entrance for far too long.  I've been posting them on Facebook yard sale sites but haven't had much luck unloading any of it.  A piece here.  A piece or two there.  But nothing significant enough to say I've made some progress in getting rid of the clutter.

Today I changed that.  After watching and observing how others were posting their kids clothing online I decided to give "lot" selling a try.  And man, oh man, did that sell.  To begin with I broke down all the clothing into sizes, then into seasons.  Each piece was sold for $.50, so if I had 10 pieces of 3T summer clothing I sold the entire lot for $5.

By the end of the day I had emptied two storage bins and cleaned off my clothes rack.  The $70 I pocketed at the end of the day wasn't too shabby either.  And now I can cheerfully enter my office without tripping over stuff or having to step gingerly around things.

I literally cleaned house.

Tomorrow I am hoping to sort through Samantha's closet and see what I can unload from her room.  Either the items will go to Jessica as hand-me-downs or I will try putting enough stuff together for a lot sale.  I would love to do the same thing for Jessica's closet as her clothes are not ones we can hand down to anyone else.  If it goes as well as it did today then I will be ecstatic.

In the meantime I have to cross fingers that my car battery holds out long enough to get to the school for Samantha's IEP meeting.  I really am not wanting to replace the battery just yet so if I can hold out until the beginning of the month that would be great.

If not, then the $70 I pocketed today will find a new home in the hands of an auto battery dealer.  Oh well.  At least it's money well earned and well spent.

My Girls Are The BEST !!!

I know some parents who think their kids are the best.  I also know some parents who should never have had kids to begin with .  But me?  I REALLY have the best kids any parent could ever ask for.

At seven years old Samantha is my angel.  Sweet and ever-so-helpful Samantha will always look for ways to help mommy.  I admit I get frustrated trying to explain things to her and I am having to constantly remind myself that she truly does not understand most of the time, but days like yesterday are worth every second.

At a mere five years of age Jessica is my fireball.  Full of spirit and a lust for life this little girl is destined for great things.  All I ever have to do is ask and she is all over it.

So yesterday when I informed the girls that today would be a play-date IF they helped me clean the entire house you can imagine the girls issuing out their normal grunts and groans of disappointment upon acknowledging that in order to receive an award they must earn it.  Well, those grunts and groans never came.  But boy oh boy did they earn today's play date !!!

We began around 10 am cleaning upstairs and working our way through the house.  By noon we managed to get all the bedrooms and master bath cleaned.  An hour long break for some lunch followed by an hour of play time and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get them back into the swing of cleaning.  By 2pm we had finished everything everything upstairs (except the playroom which I opted to do later) and half of the downstairs.

Understandably, by this time Samantha was starting to show signs of wear, as was I.  And if I was beginning to slow down I can only imagine how tired she must have been.  Jessica; however, was non-stop.  But we kept at it - granted I had to fuss at Samantha several times to get up; no sitting down on the job; we all want to stop but we're not done yet.  Another hour goes by and everything except the powder room and kitchen was done.  Well, that and washing the floor which wasn't happening last night anyway.

Of course we are now at 5pm and I have absolutely no plans for dinner.  So I pop open the fridge door and discover a bowl of sauce and meatballs.  GREAT.  Spaghetti it is.  Kind of.  We made noodles with meatballs and sauce.  Along with a huge chunk of Hawaiian bread and dinner is done !!!  Both girls devoured their entire meal.  Man, cleaning house is exhausting work.

Come time for bed and neither one gave me a lick of  problems.  They both gladly crawled into their freshly made beds with clean sheets and fell off to sleep without any hesitation.  I went about finishing the last of two loads of laundry for the night before I headed to bed myself.  By 9:30 I was out.  But I was not going to stay out.

Nope.  The neighborhood howler decided that midnight would be a good time to wake everyone.  Seriously?  I wanted to get dressed and march over to the owners house and pound on their door until I woke them up.  But my bed was so comfy and I just couldn't muster the energy to rise.

Not to be outdone by the dog waking me, John had to greet me with a 2am wake up.  What the Fuck?  I mean, I know you are wanting to work longer hours to make up lost time but 2am?  Slightly ridiculous don't ya think?  That's what I felt like; what I was thinking but I finally drag my butt out of bed at 2:30 to hobble downstairs and conjure up some breakfast and lunch for the man who busts his butt for me and his girls.  If he is going to put in the effort to go to work then the very least I can do is support him with ensuring he has something to eat.

The worst thing about getting up at 2am is I cannot go back to sleep.  Rarely do I ever go back to sleep after John leaves the house.  And today there is just enough that still has to get done prior to the girls friends coming over to play.

Here we are, January 27th, and I STILL have not taken down all the Christmas decor.  Garland still wrapped around the porch columns and the tree in the basement is all that's left but I have had little to no desire to dismantle them.  Today that ends.  The last of the Holiday decorations gets packed away and I can finally mark that off my to-do list.

Five a.m. now and all I have managed to do is walk around taking note of the things that need to get done before 9am - when the kiddos start showing up.  Suddenly it hits me.....my girls are the best.

Pretty much the entire house got cleaned, deep cleaned, by the three of us working together.  We scrubbed and polished every surface.  They never once complained or forgot what they were supposed to do.  They would play for an hour, here and there, and when I needed them to help me they came running.  Things got cleaned that hadn't been cleaned in a year or more.  By the end of the day we were all wiped out yet the girls never once argued or gave me any issues with getting things done.  All the beds were stripped and remade with clean sheets.  The bathrooms scrubbed.  Wood polished.  Floors vacuumed and mopped.  Trash emptied.  Stuff put away.  All day those two busted their behinds for me and I could not have been more proud of them.

Because of them I now have a firm grip on the condition of the house.  I am now able to rethink some of my design choices and start looking at renovations that are more in line with a family with small children.  Time to get rid of the dark and drab and bring in the bright and fab.  Now the house is clean I can relax and focus on what I really want - what kind of home decor I want my girls to grow up with.  It may take some funds to get there but now I have an overall plan that I like.  Hubs likes it too as I showed him a pic that served as my inspiration.  And the girls will finally have a happy house to go with the happy home and happy family.

All thanks to my two girls.  The best kids any mother could ever be blessed with.

Considering all the work Samantha and Jessica poured into here yesterday I need to ensure I honor that with constant maintenance and upgrades.  So while they get some much needed rest this morning I am going to throw together some banana nut bread for snacks.  While that is baking I'll finish the powder room and take down the final holiday decor.  Then its a quick run-through of the basement before headed back upstairs to my office - where it has become the catch-all for all things yard sale.  Hopefully I can get this stuff out into the garage before everyone starts showing up.

With plan in hand I am eager to get the day started.  All day long I know I will be eyeing things around the house thinking to myself   "My girls are the BEST !!!"  I really am blessed.

Ugg !!!

No.  Not those hideous furry things every tween / young adult has been hanging off their feet lately  Ugg, as in that's what I have felt like for the past two days.  UGG.

One good thing about me getting sick is I always go down fast and hard but rarely do I stay sick for long.  Just two days of feeling like I got hit by a semi compared to the entire week it took John to get over his bout.  And the girls have been sick off and on for months now.  Constant coughing and sneezing, leaking noses and headaches that just don't seem to fade over time.  Me.  Nope.  I am fine one minute and laid out like a wet rag the next.

Sunday morning started out fine.  I woke up at my usual 4am (roughly) and went about my daily activities but as the day progressed my "ugg" feeling grew to overwhelm any desire to get something constructive done for the day.  By the early evening hours I was laid out in my recliner trying to ignore the wiped out feeling that comes from being sick.  Not even a day long marathon of my DVR shows on Monday could bring me some comfort.  Most of Monday was spent snoozing off and on, whether it was in bed until 1pm (which I NEVER do) or curled up on my favorite recliner.  I just wasn't moving and had no desire to either.

Thankfully today is nothing like the past two.  John woke me up around 4pm as usual and we bantered back and forth about whether or not he was going to go in to work today or stay home.  Considering the not-so-trustworthy weather forecaster for our area is calling for 6-8 inches of snow later today, and the local school system has already decided to close in preparation for that weather front we opted to have him home one more day.  Good call on our part as an hour later hubs informs me "Belvoir is closed."

So far it has been a much more productive day than the past two and we are only five hours into it, but the dishes have been cleaned and loaded into the dishwasher; the counters have been cleaned; the table cleared and wiped down.  The glassware has been put away in the bar along with the numerous bottles of liquor.  Even managed to purge a couple of items.  With much to-do from hubs that is.  Progress in comparison to the past two day in which absolutely nothing got done in the realm of cleaning.  Not even the dishes.

My goal for today is to gut my office and re-organize it so I can get the taxes started and put myself in a better "working" frame of mind for when I actually get around to doing mom's business stuff.  That means having to take almost everything out of my office, then finding a suitable "home" for it before it gets put back.  Once I have my furniture situated I should be in a better frame of mind for putting away all this paper.  And at long last I really want to get back to using my NEAT.  That thing was a god-send for clearing out paper clutter and I always felt better when I wasn't surrounded, or rather, drowning in papers and stuff that needs to be somewhere other than my desk or office floor.

So with a goal in hand off I go to make things happen.  I'll post before and after pics later of my re-organized office.


UPDATE:

Most people have a junk drawer.  We have a junk room.  And unfortunately it has taken place inside the confines of my home office.

Hidden under all that 'junk' is a chair.  Yep.  I promise, its really there.  All that stuff in the way.  So many days spent climbing over it just to get to the computer desk.  Actually, these pics aren't the worst its been as you can actually see the desk and a somewhat clear path to it.

Although I am far from done today saw much progress in just organizing where stuff would end up at.

If you look closely at the before pics you'll notice the bottom of the drapes I had attached to the inside of the doors peeking out.   At first these drapes were meant to give me some privacy from the girls as they were always in there, or staring at me through the doors.  It drove me nuts so to stop them from constantly bothering me in there I put the drapes up.  After a while I became thankful the drapes were there - not for the privacy but for the mere fact that I could close the doors and prevent any embarrassment coming from someone actually seeing what a disaster that room had become.

One of the first things to change was the drapes.  They are gone.  No more will I hide behind the curtains, hoping to not be bothered or to use them to hide what a mess the room is.  Instead I have decided its time to open things up and make the room accessible to the rest of the house instead of being designated as the 'junk room'.

Notice I actually found the chair.  See, I told you it was there.  Buried under all that crap.  One shot I didn't get a before of was the front of the room, or the view of the doors.  Oh well.  You can guess what a mess that was before.  Here's the after shot.....

There are seven plastic containers full of yard sale items that I am trying to get rid of.  If you look through the glass doors you'll see a stand of clothing that is full of girls clothes.  These are all the things that I am trying desperately to unload.  And that's not everything.  Sitting in the dining room is more stuff to unload.  I just haven't gotten around to gathering it all together.

Like I said, it is far from done, but today gave me a great big step in the right direction.  If I can get the girls in bed before 9pm tonight (no school tomorrow so they get an extended bedtime) then I might take the time to go through the papers I managed to sort through and see what bills need to be paid and what is ready to be filed away.

Its a work in progress and I don't expect to have it completed by the end of the week but it sure would be nice.  We'll see.

If I get more done tomorrow I'll post some more pics.  Have a great night everyone.

A Leap of Faith

For years I've heard lots of people tell me "You should write a book" after listening to me retell snippets of my childhood.  Mind you, I'm no author and I have limited literature skills that would levitate me to the the status of a famed writer such as Stephen King or Dan Brown or any of the many authors who have made a name for themselves over time.  But I do so love to write.

That said I have often contemplated the idea of writing a book.  Sometimes I've considered writing a series of books.  At one point I even created a file folder on my laptop labeled "book ideas" yet I have never gotten farther than a few lines of thought typed out at a frantic pace.  Obviously I've blogged.  You know this by the mere fact this post is being read.  I'm a horrible blogger.  I can go weeks, months without posting a thing.  I feel terrible for doing so yet I continue avoiding the very thing I want to do.  Write.

I'm no author.  The mere thought of having to throw words onto a sheet of paper in such a way as to make it not only interesting but intriguing makes me mentally shrivel into the fetal position.  I adore the feeling of freely transposing thoughts into words; the freedom that comes from letting go of every detail and giving it life on paper.  At the other end of the spectrum I am terrified to write.  Petrified by the very idea someone else will read what I have written and all my secret thoughts and ideas will no longer be solely my own.  Horrified by the thought of someone else lending voice to my words.

As a child I loved to write.  I had a journal.  Kept it in my dresser or under my pillow.  Tucked inside those pages were my every thought.  Some good; most bad.  More days than not those small pages became my only friend.  The only way I could vent my feelings without getting into trouble for having those feelings.  Thinking back it is impossible to remember how I ended up with that piece of heaven in the first place.  The memory of how such a prized possession came to be mine escapes me but the knowledge that at some point in my early years I had it lingers on in the back of my mind.

Many a night I sat up taking out my anger and frustration, sadness and pain on those pages.  Many a night I scribbled thoughts of running away and/or how I would commit suicide.  Occasionally I would find a bright spot to share with my pen and paper friend, but rarely did I go to sleep without a single tear filling my eyes to the point of spilling over.  Far too many nights I cried myself to sleep with hopes the next sunrise would bring with it a new life.  One filled with happiness and love.  Those days never came to me as a child.  Nor as a young adult.  I was well into my 40's when peace, love, and happiness finally found me.

These days were hard fought for and they are treasured beyond belief.  Finally I have a loving family and the home life I always wanted.  There is just one thing missing.  My journal.  Or rather my fearless desire to express myself on paper.  

Like I said, I know I had a journal as a kid even though I cannot for the life of me recall how it came to be mine.  For as strong as the memory of having the journal is there is one memory of my beloved paper friend which is most unforgettable.  The last day I ever saw it.  The last day I wrote in it.  That memory will be forever ingrained into my soul.  And it is the very reason I have such a hard time expressing myself on paper nowadays.

The visual impression of watching your older brother emerge from your bedroom with your private journal in hand haunts me to this day.  With a cat-like grin on his face he gave voice to the words I had scribbled on those many pages.  A voice, not my own spewing my words for all to hear.  Worse yet, those words were heard by my mother.  This would not be seen as such a defining moment in one's life if it were not for the simple fact that so many of those pages were filled with the emotional rants of a child struggling to survive a roller-coaster relationship with her own family, and most especially her own mother.  

So many of those pages were filled with rants and feelings of anger and despair.  So many of those pages filled with hopes of sudden death or wishes of things never to be had.  Every one of those pages filled with thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas never intended for anyone other than me.  And yet there they were, filling the air for all to hear.  And my mother took great glory in snatching that journal from my brothers hand only to partake in lending her voice to all those pages.

My private journal was no more.  I would never see it after that day.  I would never again feel what it was like to confide every thought I could muster onto a sheet of paper without fear of reprimand or criticism.  Never again would I trust pen and paper to such extent as to reveal my every thought to it.

At one point writing was a release for me.  A way to let go of all that I was harboring inside.  A safe way to work through the issue at hand.  A masterful way of finding a suitable resolve to whatever the issue was.  But the day my brother and my mother gave life to all my writings;  that day, everything changed.

I went from having a trusted confident to feeling betrayed by my own hand.  I held paper and pen at bay for decades; refusing to "speak" to it as I had once done so freely.  School was especially hard when it came time to write papers that required opinions, personal or emotional views.  How could I trust that my words would not find a voice again and betray me given the chance to speak?  So instead of relishing the opportunity to give my words a home on paper I kept them hidden; locked away for no ones eyes or ears.  At least if I kept them inside I could avoid the impending betrayal that came with someone giving voice to my words; my thoughts.  They were mine and I would never again allow anyone to bring them to life.

Its a hard life to live when you "feel" you were born to write; born to express yourself on paper while maintaining a vow to never write again.  Its like being stabbed in the heart every time someone tells you "You should write a book".  If only they knew why I felt I could never write again.  Not because I'm lacking skill enough to do so.  Not because I have not had many a good idea.  Not because I lack funding to bring a dream to life.

I could not do so because I did not believe I would ever be at a place in life where I would feel comfortable enough to allow my words to flow freely onto paper without giving validity to the haunting thought that someone, somewhere, would emerge from a room lending their voice to my words written on paper.

Alas today I find myself standing at the crossroads of a possible dream come true if only I can let go of the past and embrace the future.  So much has changed for me.  Things I only dreamed about being possible are now a reality.  I found ways to let go of much of my childhood anger and fear, but am I ready to take that terrifying step into a future of unknown possibilities?  Am I ready to write again?  Is it possible to reach a point where one's desire to write over-shadows the fear of doing so?

I began think it might not only be possible, but highly probable.  And for the first time in decades I am finding great comfort in expressing myself on paper.  More than that, I am actually feeling the twangs of anticipation that comes from wanting, truly wanting, to write.  To embrace the release that comes from letting it all out.

Today I stood at the crossroads between my future and my past.  I examined all that was relevant and made the decision to take a leap of faith.   I am ready to move on.  Ready to let go.  Ready to not only allow, but to encourage others to lend their voice to my words.

These may be my words but they are meaningless until they are given life with your voice.

What A Day

There was a lot going on today but most of it was focused around clearing out the clutter.  I have boxes upon boxes of girls toys, and clothing, and household stuff that I've been trying to unload on Facebook yard sale sites for some time now.  Unfortunately I haven't had much luck and its not hard to see why when you are competing for the 30 second attention span of some 3000+ group members.  Considering I am a member of more than half a dozen groups you would think I could unleash more than I have but not so.

In a last ditch effort; a hail Mary attempt to clear out the clutter I put together a photo album of everything I thought I could unload for $1 and low and behold, I actually sold stuff.  Not a ton.  Actually, not even a lot compared to what one would think could be sold when everything you're offering up is $1, but still, I sold.  And that is a step forward.

A step towards clearing out stuff that has been residing in my office; stuff that has been covering every inch of John's antique car in the garage; stuff that has been lying in boxes for the past two years.  All kinds of stuff found a new home today and I am feeling better already.  Tomorrow is a new day and I'll post the links again along with some individual pics of items I am hoping to see go bye-bye rather quickly.  If I can get rid of all the girls clothes, for a mere $1 a piece, I'd already have re-cooped the monetary value of my sanity.

Tomorrow my goal is to unload more stuff on the yard sale sites.  I also need to get started on our annual budget - which I have not touch in more than two years.  Also, the paperwork in here is beginning to resemble the desk of Albert Einstein so I had better start organizing that mountain before I get lost just walking through the door.  All that and I have GOT to get caught up on laundry again.  Seems that is a never ending chore of repetition.

I could complain there are so many things to get done and I never have enough time to do it all, but honestly, who doesn't have a billion things happening at the same time with a limited supply of time?  Instead of complaining about it I'm going to look at it as an opportunity to focus my mental strengths onto my physical needs.  I love to organize and my office is in dire need of a deep cleaning.  What could be better than that?

Speak to my soul

Its a rare occasion to find someone who speaks of their life as if it is your own.  Even rarer to read that persons trials and errors and find yourself crying, not out of sorrow, but rather out of acknowledgement.  That feeling that finally, someone, even if it is a complete stranger, gets you.  Gets how hard your life is.  Gets how much you struggle every day to better who you are.  Gets how many times you have fallen flat on your face and how determined you have become to keep trying until you get it right.  Gets how insecure you truly are when all those around you remark how strong they think you've become.  Gets how much more there is to life than computers, cell phones, televisions, and other electronic devices.  Gets you.  Truly speaks to your soul.

I have found that one person.  That complete stranger who I have never met and yet I feel like she knows me so well.  Like we have had the same lives; made the same mistakes; are trying to fix the same errors.

 Rachel, from Hands Free Mama speaks to my soul.  Her journey is my journey.  That of a mother struggling to change things; change ourselves, so that our children don't suffer at the hands of our previous hurtful actions and words.  So many of Rachel's posts hit so close to my heart that I cannot stop myself from crying.  Crying because finally, someone gets me.

Sadly, nine times out of ten I am unable to finish reading Rachel's posts for all the emotions that well up inside me.  Feelings of regret.  Self-loathing.  Sorrow.  For all the things I have put my family through.  For all the times I yelled and screamed over things that were so insignificant.  For all the days I just wanted to be left alone and did all I could to shut my family out.  For all the times I felt like I just couldn't take another disappointment or another thing going wrong.  For all the times I just wanted to walk away from it all.

Thankfully I never quit - even though there were plenty of occasions where that was my weakest temptation.  Thankfully I never walked away - even though the thought of staying was just as painful.  Thankfully I had, HAVE, a family that loves me enough to let me completely fall apart.  Thankfully they were there to pick me up.  Thankfully they were there to help me change things, change me, for the better.

Thankfully I found Rachel.  For now, even though things have become remarkably improved from just a short year ago, I am discovering every day, something new that I need to make amends for.  Something new I need to strive for.  Something more I want to achieve.  Someone better I want to become.

Dread Be Gone

Day nine of my January Resolution and strangely I found myself not dreading the idea of having to clean the kitchen before crawling up the stairs and seeking the warmth of my bed.  I must admit, its been rather nice to wake up and be greeted with a kitchen that no longer resembles the collection center at the local dump.  As a matter of fact for the past two days the girls have been enjoying the use of the counter seats again.  Breakfast and homework are rather enjoyable in the morning thanks to a clean counter.

There is still plenty of stuff to go back into the cabinets and drawers but everyday is met with a little more progress and another step in the right direction of achieving my goal.  I'm actually looking forward to developing this new trend into a full fledged habit.

Although we are not quite half way through the month I am already considering options for my February Resolution.  Shall I focus on laundry, clean bathrooms, weekly vacuuming, or finally getting a grip on all this paper mess in my office?  All these are tempting choices so I am thankful I have at least another two weeks to narrow my decision.

For now its off to that warm and comfortable bed I mentioned.

Going Strong......kind of

We all experience hiccups along the path to achieving our goals .  One such hiccup occurred weeks ago, no, months ago for us.  Inadvertently, we imported some bugs from the in-laws house while trying to help them get rid of stuff.  Shortly after we started transporting items here I noticed some activity so I called out our beloved pest control services and we have been doing round after round of treatments ever since.  So far nothing seems to have worked in eradicating these tiny pest from our residence.

The New Year was rang in with these un-invited and very unwanted guests as part of our household.  Then came January 5, 2014.  The day I issued them a final eviction notice.  John, the girls, and I all abandoned ship for a few hours while chemical warfare took hold of our kitchen and bar.

We are now three days into the final eviction process and so far - no activity.  Where are these little pests hiding out at?  I would have thought to have seen at least one or two caught on the sticky boards by now.  Other than some debris accumulated over the years the cabinets and drawers haven't revealed much in the way of bug parts.  So where are they?

Anyway, having to completely gut your kitchen gives one a really good reason to downsize the stuff hiding on shelves hardly seen and rarely used.  Since the bug bomb has done little to ease my sense of having a bug free zone I am taken all precautions in ensuring every item that finds residence on a shelf or inside a cabinet or drawer is thoroughly cleaned beforehand.  It also gives me an excellent excuse ( or reason) to create a very detailed deep-cleaning list of things to do for the kitchen.

This year, now that the one time mass cleaning is almost done, I am planning on breaking the job down into workable portions to be done monthly.  That way I don't have to gut the entire kitchen all at once.

Two Days

For those who don't know just how much I hate laundry and dishes:  Waking up two days in a row to clean kitchen feels amazingly calming.  I actually LIKE my kitchen now.

Granted, there is still a bunch of stuff on the island but the mere fact that I didn't walk into the kitchen and fumble around last nights dinner dishes just to reach the coffee pot made me want to put the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher immediately after breakfast.

Two days into the new year and I'm feeling good about a clean kitchen.  Now that monster is no longer hanging over my shoulder today I can focus on other things......like the four inches of snow we unexpectedly got last night.  :)  Oh yeah.  Its a play day.  Snowmen must be made.  Sledding must be done.  Hot chocolate must be enjoyed.  I simply must be.

Later today Samantha and I are going to be working on her school business project.  As a second grader her assignment for class (learning the basics of economics) is to create a business plan and make a product to sell at school to other students.  Samantha settled on making corner bookmarks so later today she and I will venture over to Michael's and acquire some pretty stock paper.  Then we'll spend the rest of the day putting together packages of bookmarks to sell at her school.  We also have to work on her business sign and logo.

Lots to do today so off I go to get things moving forward.

Good Bye 2013. Hello Future. Part II

Happy New Year !!!

Yep.  Its another year and another chance to change all those things we so hate about ourselves and our lives.  January 1st typically is met with a plethora of New Years Resolutions that are far too often forgotten by the end of March.  So this year I've devised a plan for myself that will keep me focused on short term goals that hopefully will become habits.

Instead of wasting time trying to come up with a list of things I'll soon forget, or give up on because I'm so over-whelmed, I've decided to have a new Resolution every month.  On the first of each month I'll post something that I want to work on for the entire month.  In those short 30/31 days I'll focus on that one thing.  And if I'm lucky by the end of the 30/31 days that old thing will be replaced with a new habit.

So to start the year off right, for the month of January I'm going to resolve to go to bed each and every night with a clean kitchen.  No more dishes left in the sink or stacked on the counter for the next day.  No waiting to empty the dishwasher or dreading having to clean the counters of their towering mess.  The entire month of January I am going to ensure all the dishes are done immediately after dinner.