In between the arm breaking and fall festival shopping craziness, things still did get done around here.
I got a plastic dresser from the clearance rack at Wal-mart (bright turquoise) for Greg’s closet and got his stuff moved over and Ben’s moved down. Now they have a shared Treasure Drawer and Ben has three drawers for clothes and so does Greg. I’d show you a photo, but it’s kind of boring in there.
I made my lunch drawer happen, even though it wasn’t on the Official List. Nick and I had a discussion about the plastic ware and where it needed to live (my answer: Goodwill. his answer: in the kitchen) : it’s gone into the top cupboards with the regular stuff. Some of the stuff was removed from several categories and will be making its way to Goodwill this week: mugs we didn’t care about, bowls that didn’t fit our needs, lunch drink containers that ended up not being as leak-proof as advertised.
A tall bookcase arrived for David’s room, so he has room for the books that came out of my room (for his age and interests). We still need to get that moved in and the top of the old shelf arrangement mounted on the wall above his dresser for his Lego creations. The old shelf may go to its forever home in the garage.
I have plans for the garage. Oh yes. Plans that are not fully envisioned yet. But I did start work on making it tidier for the present. (For the future, I would like to take in half the garage and make a “project” room or -even bigger dream- the whole garage and move the master bedroom over there and let each kid have his own room. Nick would like to think on these further. Poor Nick.)
Last, but not least, I got my lovely, lovely, lovely electric teakettle for a feast gift from my sister-and-brother-in-law. Isn’t she gorgeous?
You know what? I thought I’d post more once I got out of my hectic-working-two-part-time-jobs-and-pta-president lifestyle. It turns out that I just don’t. I want to, and I mean to, but then things just go on and it doesn’t get done because it’s not on my calendar of things to do.
So what have I been doing? Here, let me show you:
First I made a weekly schedule of all our extracurricular activities, then added in the housework and stuff I need to do at home, then I put it into Excel and made a handy-dandy worksheet for the fridge and my family binder.Then I made a template for our meals and snacks. Nick and I still work on the dinner menu together in a two week format for the fridge, but having this here one week at a time gives me a better way to figure out what snacks and lunches go best with the dinner plan we’ve already come up with.Finally, after looking at a bajillion planners online, I realized that I wasn’t going to 100% love any of them and I’d better just make my own. So here we have it. I loved the idea of a TOP 3 for my week and I loved breaking down what I needed to do not by day, but by for what/who. My text/call/email/snail mail list is awesome, too, because I can do those things whenever I have time for them.
If you zoomed in on those pictures, you saw that I have time to clean, time to work out, time to eat… some of the schedule still needs tweaking. I forgot to put important things like laundry and Bible study time in there. But I also have time set aside for “Special Projects” which is super fun. So far “special projects” has really meant “in-depth house cleaning and reorganization.”
If you follow me on facebook, you’ve seen this one. I cleared off my grandmother’s desk and rearranged my art (adding some new pieces and repainting frames) and added back my desk tray. I even found my label maker and labels! 🙂Ben & Greg’s room got the next treatment. We took down the bunk beds that were causing musical bed nights (the kids take turns sleeping with the puppy and she couldn’t be on the top bunk). Ben has a light he can reach now and he can look out the window at the pink crepe myrtle trees outside while he’s reading.We’re reusing the ladder as a magazine rack (though it’s moved into a different place since this was taken) for Boy Magazines (Lego, Cobblestone, Kind News, Boy Scouts, etc), and Greg has room for his side table and music stand & guitars in there as well.During the desk cleanout, there was also a cleanout of the Giant Filing Bag of DOOM (a queen sized-comforter bag filled with old papers and file folders). I spent a solid day and a half sorting through papers, shredding, recycling, labeling folders, and filing. I have four of these bins now living in my closet on shelves.Change of seasons: I do this every year, even when the house wasn’t clean. I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like school is back until I’ve put up my fall decorations. There’s more than this, of course, as we’ve got a few things in nearly every room of the house. This is just my favorite view. 🙂I hesitated to post this. I’ve been feeling private lately, which may be why it took me so long to blog at all. Anyway, this is my bedroom. You would not even believe how awful it had gotten in there. My room used to be the dumping ground for everything any time anyone came over. NO MORE.Yes, I actually TOOK OUT a bookshelf from our bedroom. I didn’t get rid of the books. I just sorted them out into two categories: 1) appropriate for boys in the near future and 2) things the boys will probably never want to read or if they do, they have to wait til the far off future. Anyways, this made the hugest difference in my room. I really cannot explain how big a difference; it has to be seen in person. Anyway, the room looks twice as big now.Organized liquor cabinet. Yes, this is all some sort of scotch or whisk(e)y. It is nearly all earmarked for some special occasion or other (each of the boys turning 21, anniversaries, special whisk(ey) tastings). I made Nick move it all out of the kitchen so I could put kitchen items in the cabinet there. *gasp* I KNOW, right? Anyway, it looks much better here.Bins for Morning Snacks (we got notes this year from all three kids teachers that lunch is much later than usual and to PLEASE send healthy morning snacks) and Outdoor Toys that Live Indoors. A weird combination, I know. This is a temporary location at best. What I’d really like is a part of the kitchen cabinet set up as Lunch Making Central and a cabinet outside in the back for Things That Are Outdoor Related, but Shouldn’t Get Wet. But I have neither of those things at the moment, so we have bins sitting here. At least all the boxes of snack food in front of this shelving unit have a home now (scroll down for the next picture).This used to be the liquor cabinet. Now it stores the aforementioned Sam’s Club sized-boxes of extra snack items (yes, Ramen is an after-school snack for starving middle school boys), a few Need to Be Used Soon alcoholic beverages (that I don’t actually recognize, so maybe they’re just THAT old), oddly sized boxes of baking gear, and of course, the special-from-London chocolate I don’t want the kids to get their hands on (it really does taste better than the ones you buy here.)
What’s next on my list?
Moving the shelves from Ben’s closet to the front hallway closet and the bins from that closet to his closet.
Sorting through the last two boxes left in my closet.
Tidying the hallway bathroom closet.
Rearranging storage boxes in David’s room’s closet so stuff he needs is below and stuff he doesn’t is above.
Getting a second dresser for the younger kids clothing.
Tidying up the last bits of the garage (things get dumped there now that they’re not being dumped in our room).
Those are all small projects compared to the ones I’ve already tackled, so I’m going to do those on evenings and weekends as the year moves on.
So what’s really up next? Finishing the novel I started last year. I’m nearly there, I just have about a dozen scenes to finish and some segues to throw in between things I’ve been rearranging this week. When I need beta readers, I will tell you and if you’re interested, I’ll send it your way. 🙂
And now I’m off to do laundry. Because it’s Thursday, and regardless of the wrongness of the above (now corrected) chart, that means it’s Laundry Day.
I realize that there are bigger issues I should be worried about, but this gigantic pile of papers I had to fill out really is getting to me. Every year the school sends home one page of info about my kids, already filled out, for me to correct and send back. They also send me more than a dozen pages asking the SAME info over and over again that I then must sign and sometimes have my spouse also sign and sometimes even my little second grader. I have three kids and there’s about an hour per kid to fill out. I did two last night and one this morning. I have no idea if my kids ate or put good things in their lunches or brushed their hair or teeth…not just this morning, but last night, too. It is all-encompassing, this paper duty.
Yes, I know it’s not just “the school” sending these things. Some of it is from the not-associated-legally-but-still-at-the-school after care program, some of it is from my kids extracurriculars, some of it is from individual teachers. But the stuff in the district packet, that stuff? I shouldn’t have to write my kids name and particulars on every freaking page. The first page has all the details, I corrected them, the rest should just be a page of tick boxes: can we take your kids photos? are you living in temporary conditions? do you need federal aid for lunches? And then send those forms that legitimately need info home with the kids that need them later. This waste of paper and waste of our time needs to stop.
Well, the first week of summer week has come and gone. SO.VERY.FAST!!
Day One (which was Monday. I don’t count weekends.): Rain, with a side of rain, some more rain, swim lessons, and some instrument shopping.
Day Two: Library Time, instrument trials, and new muffin recipes. We are already tired of summer. We’ve not done a single fun thing I’d planned on doing this week. Themed days thrown out the window due to swimming-lesson-induced exhaustion. School bridge activity books ignored in favor of books from library. I am too tired for words. The kids seem…fine…actually. So, success?
Day Three: Swim lessons are really fun!
Day Four:
New plan: kids ASKED for return of the responsibility chart, dailies & rewards list. Apparently they like that better than a timed schedule. Also made dailies list for the mama & dad, so everyone can feel equal, and also get stickers (Greg insisted we needed them – maybe we do). So we printed those out and immediately people got their morning lists done without me asking. Interesting. And now the planned activities are a list they can chose from at random when boredom strikes (which we’ve done before & they said they hated, but now want again). Interesting. I’m just rolling with it. If things get done, good. If not, good. The chore chart request is still cracking me up.
Day Five: We´ve been in the backyard watching lightning bugs tonight. They’re coming way closer to the house than they used to. Here, Nick has caught one for the kids to look at closely.
So I only slept about an hour last night and have been living on coffee this morning. The kids are saying things like: “MOM, YOU ARE SO HYPER!!!” and “STOP DRINKING COFFEE!” and “WE ARE CUTTING YOU OFF!!” (while drinking coffee themselves, of course.)
Oh my goodness. The morning just keeps getting better (she said sarcastically). Rose got out and we were already running late to school and I was chasing her down the street with my wild hair and inappropriate footwear and yelling for David to come help (she’ll go to him) and this sweet walker lady was trying to help and David was not coming out. Oh, it was delightful. He finally came and walked the dog back home, so we drove around the block on our way out of the neighborhood and saw the walker walking into her yard & stopped & thanked her & now she probably thinks we’re stalkers. Got back home and David was curled up in a ball on the couch moaning. He’s got the stomach virus the rest of us had last week and it’s his last B day of school and he’s insistent that he “has” to go to school. I am sure I need more caffeine now.
Note to self: being sarcastic about the morning does not make it better.
PS. I am NOT bringing cookies to the Fifth Grade Graduation tonight. No one needs this stomach virus.
I’m not even bothering to catch up. 🙂 I am having an unanticipated quiet day at home, due to lost keys. I’m listening to the DVD of yesterdays musical adventures and cleaning up from all the fancy dinners.
Here’s an untitled poem from another quiet day this year:
So it’s four days until payday, I promised the kids muffins, and I’m out of everything I need. Items subbed: brown rice flour for regular white wheat (made them crumblier), yogurt for milk (made them tangier), baking soda+cream of tartar+corn starch for baking powder (I didn’t notice any difference), butter for oil (yum), and mini loaf pan for muffin pan (fun!). They practically aren’t muffins at all! But they’re yummy anyways. 🙂 BTW, I went here for help with the substitutions. Love that site!
Getting back on The FlyLady bandwagon and getting my house/life/sanity under control. Spring Break was fabulous, but the cleanup is going to take a while. Have had a nice last few days at home. It is so good to finally be at home and get things done that need doing. I’ve updated my household notebook and finally put some of my lists in sleeves so I can use the dry erase marker on them. I love technology, but somehow my brain does not equate checking something off a digital list with crossing something out on a paper list. My brain wants paper. What can I say?
Also had a fantastic time having coffee with a sweet, uplifting friend of mine. Have I mentioned how much I love having coffee with people? And that I will continue to call it “coffee” til the end of time regardless of whether or not actual coffee is involved? Oh yes I will. BTW, I need more people to coffee with. I am available during the day and will even make time for coffee with dessert in the evenings for all you working gals because I still love you even though you’ve gone off and left me during the day (boo hoo. sniff-sniff.)
Lisa Holcomb 