So January was carpet for the living room. I thought we were progressing hugely when I spontaneously painted the living room.
Carpet though, has stalled. It is crawling forward at a snails pace and it isn't really my fault! Nope, I can't take the blame on the January goal.
First off Home Depot took forever to get here for our quote. Then AB signed us up for a Costco quote - and then they showed up at the wrong time and begrudgingly rescheduled us. Unfairly begrudgingly so, IMO, because I would have not scheduled the appointment during one of my recurring weekly meetings at 11am. In fact, I specifically recall talking to the scheduler and saying "oh how nice it will be to be home at 2pm, a full hour and a half before my kids get home!"
So then Home Depot gave us our quote and AB balked. Ok, so I balked too. Way higher than we thought - and when you look at the quote we kind of wonder exactly how much waste they were planning on having? Our room is 18.5 x 19.5. And they wanted to order 49 linear feet of 12' wide carpet. WTF? Why do they need 13 feet extra? To make up for the free install deal? Shadey much?
So yesterday AB decided to sign us up for quote #3 that came in about $800 cheaper than the Home Depot for the highest end "can't possibly ever stain this carpet". So anyways, getting the last two measures and final quotes this coming week and then the carpet is special order. We will be lucky to have it done by the end of February, early March more likely. I guess that's ok. Gives us a few more weeks to trash the current carpet.
My current February goal is my sewing "nook". Shelves just need to be cut (AB...) and installed (AB...) and then I can put all my sewing stuff in. Looking at a ribbon rod (where did I get all that ribbon?) and a thread rack. AND AB is talking about adding onto one of the shelves a custom flip up sewing table. Really!!
Unless I want my February goals to suffer a similar delay fate as January I need to figure out how to dangle the carrot. I was thinking if I moved all the fabric into our bedroom - and put it on AB's side of the bed... I keep telling him it's no big deal, just show me how to use the multitude of saws in our garage. I can do it!
So I am already thinking about March. And I have a March must do that came to me today as I plugged my phone in and tried to back it up to the computer.
I succeeded about 5 hrs later after deleting random programs and crap my son has put on the computer. But truly, the vast majority of the space on the computer is from photos. My photos file is out of control.
I am not sure how to tackle it, but I need to sit down and organize the computer. Remove photos that suck. Create a file to save my favorites. (For eventual insertion into a photo book... when the kids are grown, I expect.)
So there, March goal is on deck. Organize and reduce the memory of the computer that I really, really do not want to replace right now.
Showing posts with label March goal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label March goal. Show all posts
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Sunday, March 27, 2011
March Goals Wrap-Up
My goals for the month of March included cleaning out our closet and with that, organizing the closet and donating a bunch of stuff. I always have better intentions than actual follow through when it comes to clothes. I wish I could stick to that rule that "if I haven't worn it in 6 months to get rid of it".
I don't know what happens but I start flipping through hangers and one or two things actually fall into the pile. This time around I pulled out jeans I will never wear again for a variety of reasons - mostly style issues - and dumped them in the stack. Then I sacraficed one or two shirts and called it good. I did hit the closet hard with organization though. My closet rocks now.
The quilt was number two. And while I never actually did any sewing, thanks to a very, very busy month of March and my sewing machine being held hostage by a little red-haired girl requesting pretty dresse, I did make some decisions about the path forward on my quilt. I need to put the border on it and then haul it down to the Quiltworks store with the backing material I bought on sale at JoAnn's and the batting I bought also on sale. Then I will part, momentarily with the quilt, permanently with $200 and come back to retrieve a beautifully quilted quilt for our bed.
We have done surprisingly well at clearing out our freezer as I discovered today when I went to the freezer to scrounge for a protein for dinner. I moved a few things, but only a few, to reach to the bottom of the freezer to retrieve a flank steak. Much of what is left is pot pies and spaghetti sauce and a few random chili containers. Note to self, when freezing chili, be specific. I need to indicate if I or AB made it (we have very different chili styles) and particularly if AB made it I need to know the cuts of meat, whether there are beans and the color (because once frozen, green and red are remarkably similar in appearance).
Next weekend starts the month of April. My quilt tops the goals for April. Though also on the list is my laundry room and my coat closet. Low hanging fruit really - in hopes that it will push me to devote the time to the quilt.
Our laundry room appears to have been an afterthought in the house. Our washer and dryer barely fit. And as the theme for the house extends to the laundry room, there are shelves and cabinets all over. Untapped storage space. I need to clean out and label the fabric storage boxes I do have on the shelves and just organize the rest of the area.
Then my first floor coat closet is a few hours job at most. I need hangers. Must buy hangers. And I need four storage boxes to split up the gazillions of gloves and hats and ski goggles and snow boots and scarves and earbands out of the one big laundry basket they are currently occupying.
I have the spring cleaning bug, this shouldn't be an issue to do these two things here very soon.
I don't know what happens but I start flipping through hangers and one or two things actually fall into the pile. This time around I pulled out jeans I will never wear again for a variety of reasons - mostly style issues - and dumped them in the stack. Then I sacraficed one or two shirts and called it good. I did hit the closet hard with organization though. My closet rocks now.
The quilt was number two. And while I never actually did any sewing, thanks to a very, very busy month of March and my sewing machine being held hostage by a little red-haired girl requesting pretty dresse, I did make some decisions about the path forward on my quilt. I need to put the border on it and then haul it down to the Quiltworks store with the backing material I bought on sale at JoAnn's and the batting I bought also on sale. Then I will part, momentarily with the quilt, permanently with $200 and come back to retrieve a beautifully quilted quilt for our bed.
We have done surprisingly well at clearing out our freezer as I discovered today when I went to the freezer to scrounge for a protein for dinner. I moved a few things, but only a few, to reach to the bottom of the freezer to retrieve a flank steak. Much of what is left is pot pies and spaghetti sauce and a few random chili containers. Note to self, when freezing chili, be specific. I need to indicate if I or AB made it (we have very different chili styles) and particularly if AB made it I need to know the cuts of meat, whether there are beans and the color (because once frozen, green and red are remarkably similar in appearance).
Next weekend starts the month of April. My quilt tops the goals for April. Though also on the list is my laundry room and my coat closet. Low hanging fruit really - in hopes that it will push me to devote the time to the quilt.
Our laundry room appears to have been an afterthought in the house. Our washer and dryer barely fit. And as the theme for the house extends to the laundry room, there are shelves and cabinets all over. Untapped storage space. I need to clean out and label the fabric storage boxes I do have on the shelves and just organize the rest of the area.
Then my first floor coat closet is a few hours job at most. I need hangers. Must buy hangers. And I need four storage boxes to split up the gazillions of gloves and hats and ski goggles and snow boots and scarves and earbands out of the one big laundry basket they are currently occupying.
I have the spring cleaning bug, this shouldn't be an issue to do these two things here very soon.
Monday, March 14, 2011
If only my whole house could look this nice...
I just have to say that I still – a few weeks after finishing it off – walk into my half bath just to look and obtain a sense of calm. I still love it! And it is kicking some serious motivation into me to make the rest of my house pretty.
Insert my husband’s eye roll.
This weekend I cleaned my closet out. I split it up – my side on Saturday and AB’s side on Sunday. As always happens with this type of organization project, I envision that it is going to take days, maybe even weeks! I look at the daunting mess and worry about getting lost in there and no one finding me.
I was wrong. It took me an hour on each day and this includes hanging hooks, piling up trash, piling up Goodwill stacks and actually bringing stuff into the closet to store. AB gets up before the crack of dawn and he tends to go back and forth from the dresser to the bathroom and closet. I emptied about 1/3 of his dresser out into his shelves. I KNOW my husband well and so I KNOW that these shelves will become messy quickly. He made mention of possibly putting cupboard fronts on the faces of the shelves, but I don’t think that will work easily and I think his time will be better spent just folding and not stuffing stuff on the shelves. Or *my* time will be better spent finding a few low tray like baskets to hold the small loose things. We will see.
In the meantime I have belts, bags and scarves all separated and on their own hooks.
I had to walk in the closet a few times today just to look around and admire.
Our house was a parade home once upon a time. So little details were paid attention to. We have loads of shelves in our closet. I love that. My bank of shelves doesn’t hold clothes. It holds shoes. And I took a little ribbing about the sheer number of shoes on my shelves. Oh well. I can deal.
The last thing I need though is a step ladder to just put in and keep in the closet. A very tall person built our house. Many of these fabulous shelves are up high and I need to be able to utilize them without going to get a ladder. If I can do that then my closet becomes so much more effective at its job.
----------
The other part of my goals that I am working this month is tackling my quilt.
I packed it up and went to the local Quiltworks store that I heard had a long arm machine and could likely quilt my quilt in a very short time. And yes, they can do it, and yes, it will look fancy and fabulous when finished. For only $240.
Sigh.
AB heaved a big sigh and said, “what?”
Then I ignored him and pulled out the three fabrics I found – two for a double border and one for a dress for Skadi.
Quilt – zero progress.
Dress? And matching dolly dress? Done! Skadi had found a pattern for a dress in my stacks of my mom’s sewing stuff. I am sure she bought it intending to make the dress for Skadi at some point (or for Celeste before this). (See I DO get this affliction from someone.) So when I saw the cute fishy fabric I knew I had to have it.
Skadi was a bit disappointed that little mice didn’t come out to help us sew and that flinging the fabric into the air didn’t magically create a gown. But she was very interested in watching me sew and “helping”.
Once the dress was nearly done I needed to sew the shoulder straps on. Skadi squealed, “wait!” And she ran up to her room and found her little baggie of cute buttons from my mom and pulled out two smiley faced orange buttons and handed them to me. Instead of sewing the straps on and putting a zipper in the back, I sewed up the back and put buttons on.
I know my mom was looking down smiling.
Anyways… back to my issue. I have a decision to make. Try and tackle quilting a king sized quilt myself. Pay the local shop's price. Finding a less expensive place online. Or deciding that it is just worth it to try and quilt it myself. Or – and as a quilter, I can’t believe I am thinking this – tie it?
Insert my husband’s eye roll.
This weekend I cleaned my closet out. I split it up – my side on Saturday and AB’s side on Sunday. As always happens with this type of organization project, I envision that it is going to take days, maybe even weeks! I look at the daunting mess and worry about getting lost in there and no one finding me.
I was wrong. It took me an hour on each day and this includes hanging hooks, piling up trash, piling up Goodwill stacks and actually bringing stuff into the closet to store. AB gets up before the crack of dawn and he tends to go back and forth from the dresser to the bathroom and closet. I emptied about 1/3 of his dresser out into his shelves. I KNOW my husband well and so I KNOW that these shelves will become messy quickly. He made mention of possibly putting cupboard fronts on the faces of the shelves, but I don’t think that will work easily and I think his time will be better spent just folding and not stuffing stuff on the shelves. Or *my* time will be better spent finding a few low tray like baskets to hold the small loose things. We will see.
In the meantime I have belts, bags and scarves all separated and on their own hooks.
I had to walk in the closet a few times today just to look around and admire.
Our house was a parade home once upon a time. So little details were paid attention to. We have loads of shelves in our closet. I love that. My bank of shelves doesn’t hold clothes. It holds shoes. And I took a little ribbing about the sheer number of shoes on my shelves. Oh well. I can deal.
The last thing I need though is a step ladder to just put in and keep in the closet. A very tall person built our house. Many of these fabulous shelves are up high and I need to be able to utilize them without going to get a ladder. If I can do that then my closet becomes so much more effective at its job.
----------
The other part of my goals that I am working this month is tackling my quilt.
I packed it up and went to the local Quiltworks store that I heard had a long arm machine and could likely quilt my quilt in a very short time. And yes, they can do it, and yes, it will look fancy and fabulous when finished. For only $240.
Sigh.
AB heaved a big sigh and said, “what?”
Then I ignored him and pulled out the three fabrics I found – two for a double border and one for a dress for Skadi.
Quilt – zero progress.
Dress? And matching dolly dress? Done! Skadi had found a pattern for a dress in my stacks of my mom’s sewing stuff. I am sure she bought it intending to make the dress for Skadi at some point (or for Celeste before this). (See I DO get this affliction from someone.) So when I saw the cute fishy fabric I knew I had to have it.
Skadi was a bit disappointed that little mice didn’t come out to help us sew and that flinging the fabric into the air didn’t magically create a gown. But she was very interested in watching me sew and “helping”.
Once the dress was nearly done I needed to sew the shoulder straps on. Skadi squealed, “wait!” And she ran up to her room and found her little baggie of cute buttons from my mom and pulled out two smiley faced orange buttons and handed them to me. Instead of sewing the straps on and putting a zipper in the back, I sewed up the back and put buttons on.
I know my mom was looking down smiling.
Anyways… back to my issue. I have a decision to make. Try and tackle quilting a king sized quilt myself. Pay the local shop's price. Finding a less expensive place online. Or deciding that it is just worth it to try and quilt it myself. Or – and as a quilter, I can’t believe I am thinking this – tie it?
Sunday, March 06, 2011
A brand new half bath
The last touch to the bathroom was finished this past week - crown moulding! I loved the way the hotel room we stayed at in Palm Springs used dark crown moulding at the intersection of the walls and the ceiling. So I stole the idea for my bathroom makeover.
The crown moulding at Home Depot - you know the stuff labelled crown moulding was wide. Too wide, in my opinion for my little half bath. So I found some trim I liked instead and painted it.
Then I bought some new accessories - towel and soap pump shown here and finished the room off. I love the mirror in this room - it came with the house.
The crown moulding at Home Depot - you know the stuff labelled crown moulding was wide. Too wide, in my opinion for my little half bath. So I found some trim I liked instead and painted it.
Then I bought some new accessories - towel and soap pump shown here and finished the room off. I love the mirror in this room - it came with the house.
This is an awful crooked picture below, but it shows the toilet paper/flower pot thingy that I bought (that AB laughs at). You can also see the green color that has to go at some point.
Yay! I am really happy with how the half bath came out. February goal was a success!
I can't say much for March yet... I bought a few hooks for the closet to hang my belts and shawls/scarves. We will claim 10% complete on the status of the closet. By the end of the day if I am lucky I might be able to see the floor. I can't claim any status on the quilt - not even a trip to the fabric store to buy the supplies. Though we are slowly working our way through the freezer... last night we had both sturgeon and salmon from the freezer - and it was delicious.
Tonight we are having paella... of which nothing came from the freezer. Oh well.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Goals Update
I spent this past weekend working on my February goal. I am actually really, really pleased with myself. It is not 100% complete. But I have a very good chance of it being completed on time and within budget by the end of the month.
I, with the help of a good friend, painted my little half bathroom on Saturday and finished it up on Sunday. It took about an hour to tape it all and get it prepped. She came over and manned the roller while I crawled around the floor painting around the toilet and sink and chatted away. Normally AB does a lot of the painting with me, but it was nice to have a friend to help.
My little tiny bathroom went from blah white to elegant and spicy! (If I may say so myself.) I am really, really happy with the bathroom. I had to run to Michael’s on a secret errand this weekend and ended up buying a few decorative elements for the bathroom. I haven’t been happy with this little cabinet I have in the bathroom that sits on the floor that I use to hold the TP. So I got a tallish metal cylindrical vase thing and stacked the TP in there. Ok, so AB thought this was about the most ridiculous thing ever… But I like it. It looks stylish. I think.
AB loves the bathroom and commented that it looks like it belongs in some other house… not our house! It really did change the feel of the bathroom.
The one thing I have left is to paint the crown moulding and have AB install it. He is pleased about this revelation of mine that I suddenly “need” crown moulding in the bathroom because it lends credence to his long standing claim that he “needs” an air compressor and nail gun.
When we were in Palm Springs last week I loved the look of the black crown moudling in the hotel room. I opted for “espresso” to match other elements in the bathroom and the furniture we have in the front lower level of the house.
Once the crown moudling is in and I have bought a few hand towels that match the bathroom better than the ones I presently have… and a new valence… and a soap dispenser… then I will be done!
Which brings us to the topic of March.
March is going to be multi-faceted.
I want to finish the quilt I started (yes, the one I swore would only take me 3 weeks to do the top, and then the dog killed the sewing machine…). I want to finish that for spring so that I can pull my duvet off the bed and have smooth lines of a pretty quilt. My biggest issue is trying to figure out how to “quilt” a king sized quilt. It may be that hand quilting – which I HAVE done before (a long time ago) – may be my best option. Yikes. Not sure a month is long enough for that.
My closet has recently fallen to absolute disaster levels. Not only does it need cleaned out, but I need some more hooks for accessories and I need a good purge of the clothes I no longer wear.
The last one that AB has challenged us to? Eat our freezer to the bottom. This isn’t entirely possible. Because I am NOT eating the four or five chicken pot pies I have saved in there. And I think we probably have 15 containers of spaghetti sauce. I have seriously like 3 weeks of food if we only ate chicken pot pies and spaghetti sauce. I have a tortierre from a friend that I am saving for a special occasion to savor in there too. All the other stuff? The meat and such that we have purchased and not cooked? Bring it on.
The other tasks on my list for 2011 are (in no particular order):
Patio for the backyard (we may opt to take the backyard remodel that we want in steps and just start with getting a nice concrete pad out there).
Hardwood flooring for the office and formal dining room.
Paint the foyer/dining room/office.
Master bedroom… just take my word for it, it needs a serious overhaul.
I, with the help of a good friend, painted my little half bathroom on Saturday and finished it up on Sunday. It took about an hour to tape it all and get it prepped. She came over and manned the roller while I crawled around the floor painting around the toilet and sink and chatted away. Normally AB does a lot of the painting with me, but it was nice to have a friend to help.
My little tiny bathroom went from blah white to elegant and spicy! (If I may say so myself.) I am really, really happy with the bathroom. I had to run to Michael’s on a secret errand this weekend and ended up buying a few decorative elements for the bathroom. I haven’t been happy with this little cabinet I have in the bathroom that sits on the floor that I use to hold the TP. So I got a tallish metal cylindrical vase thing and stacked the TP in there. Ok, so AB thought this was about the most ridiculous thing ever… But I like it. It looks stylish. I think.
AB loves the bathroom and commented that it looks like it belongs in some other house… not our house! It really did change the feel of the bathroom.
The one thing I have left is to paint the crown moulding and have AB install it. He is pleased about this revelation of mine that I suddenly “need” crown moulding in the bathroom because it lends credence to his long standing claim that he “needs” an air compressor and nail gun.
When we were in Palm Springs last week I loved the look of the black crown moudling in the hotel room. I opted for “espresso” to match other elements in the bathroom and the furniture we have in the front lower level of the house.
Once the crown moudling is in and I have bought a few hand towels that match the bathroom better than the ones I presently have… and a new valence… and a soap dispenser… then I will be done!
Which brings us to the topic of March.
March is going to be multi-faceted.
I want to finish the quilt I started (yes, the one I swore would only take me 3 weeks to do the top, and then the dog killed the sewing machine…). I want to finish that for spring so that I can pull my duvet off the bed and have smooth lines of a pretty quilt. My biggest issue is trying to figure out how to “quilt” a king sized quilt. It may be that hand quilting – which I HAVE done before (a long time ago) – may be my best option. Yikes. Not sure a month is long enough for that.
My closet has recently fallen to absolute disaster levels. Not only does it need cleaned out, but I need some more hooks for accessories and I need a good purge of the clothes I no longer wear.
The last one that AB has challenged us to? Eat our freezer to the bottom. This isn’t entirely possible. Because I am NOT eating the four or five chicken pot pies I have saved in there. And I think we probably have 15 containers of spaghetti sauce. I have seriously like 3 weeks of food if we only ate chicken pot pies and spaghetti sauce. I have a tortierre from a friend that I am saving for a special occasion to savor in there too. All the other stuff? The meat and such that we have purchased and not cooked? Bring it on.
The other tasks on my list for 2011 are (in no particular order):
Patio for the backyard (we may opt to take the backyard remodel that we want in steps and just start with getting a nice concrete pad out there).
Hardwood flooring for the office and formal dining room.
Paint the foyer/dining room/office.
Master bedroom… just take my word for it, it needs a serious overhaul.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June Goals Update
So you may recall that I took a low-key approach to getting back to my monthly goals. As the month is nearly 2/3 over, I thought I would update.
My plan was to copy my routinely used recipes onto recipe cards and put them in some sort of filing system. I bought a cute little cupcake binder with divider tabs (that I later discovered were all dessert oriented - lame). This weekend I picked up an inexpensive recipe box as another option. Those tabs were only slightly more useful lumping together "main dishes", for example. No breakfast tab, go figure.
I thought I would start this by keeping a stack of recipe cards on the counter. (Done) And then when I make a recipe from my scary folder of recipes, I would write it on the card as I made it. Slowly but surely this way I would work my way through the scary recipe folder.
It is the 22nd and so far I have written...
TWO recipes!
My Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe. Or I guess I should say Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe (which is to die for).
As well as my puff pancake recipe.
Yay me!
Ok, so I suck.
This Friday when AB and I sit down to watch a movie on our brand new TV, I am bringing my scary recipe folder and cards over and I am getting busy.
But really, somewhat like my March goal with the cross stitching, a huge part of the goal is to set up "the system". Get the recipe cards, storage options and all and get them ready to fill so that when I have a recipe that is deserving of its very own card, it has a place to go! (Do not ask me how much of The Orange Tree I have cross stitched.)
July?
Decide on a color scheme for the front entryway/office/dining room part of the house. I didn't say act on this. Nope, no painting. Just decisions. And convincing my husband that *my* color scheme trumps anything that he may come up with in retort (because he never likes mine right off). Because he will do this. He fancies himself somewhat of a designer - but don't tell him I told you this.
My plan was to copy my routinely used recipes onto recipe cards and put them in some sort of filing system. I bought a cute little cupcake binder with divider tabs (that I later discovered were all dessert oriented - lame). This weekend I picked up an inexpensive recipe box as another option. Those tabs were only slightly more useful lumping together "main dishes", for example. No breakfast tab, go figure.
I thought I would start this by keeping a stack of recipe cards on the counter. (Done) And then when I make a recipe from my scary folder of recipes, I would write it on the card as I made it. Slowly but surely this way I would work my way through the scary recipe folder.
It is the 22nd and so far I have written...
TWO recipes!
My Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe. Or I guess I should say Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe (which is to die for).
As well as my puff pancake recipe.
Yay me!
Ok, so I suck.
This Friday when AB and I sit down to watch a movie on our brand new TV, I am bringing my scary recipe folder and cards over and I am getting busy.
But really, somewhat like my March goal with the cross stitching, a huge part of the goal is to set up "the system". Get the recipe cards, storage options and all and get them ready to fill so that when I have a recipe that is deserving of its very own card, it has a place to go! (Do not ask me how much of The Orange Tree I have cross stitched.)
July?
Decide on a color scheme for the front entryway/office/dining room part of the house. I didn't say act on this. Nope, no painting. Just decisions. And convincing my husband that *my* color scheme trumps anything that he may come up with in retort (because he never likes mine right off). Because he will do this. He fancies himself somewhat of a designer - but don't tell him I told you this.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Ready for the weekend!
Oh wait. You mean it is over?
I would like to order another day please.
This is one of those days where if I had loads of vacation time - I would be staying home tomorrow to recover.
It has just been one of those weekends. It started with two minor household chores that each turned major in their own right.
Part of the February-March goal was to get and install a pull out spice rack. After much deliberation and measuring the cabinet - at least four hundred fifteen times - I placed the order. If you ever want to put pull-outs into existing cabinets I have to recommend you look at Rev-A-Shelf. Really nice quality. And you don't have to replace the entire cabinet like Home Depot started out telling me we had to do.
All you need to do is yank the door off, remove the shelves and hardware, attach your door to the front of the unit, then screw it into place in the cabinet!
Sounds easy right?
We had thought about everything - like even that the knob on the adjacent corner cabinet would have to be moved. And that it would be the only cabinet in the kitchen with a funky placed knob - but we could deal with that when we were talking about the bigger picture - a fancy pull out spice cabinet!
A little wood putty will fix that...
Remember when I said we thought about everything?
Yeah, I was wrong.
We did NOT think about the hood.
Ah well. Lessons learned I guess.
That little shelf in there just houses those little used spices (black sesame seeds anyone? fennel seeds?).
We still love the pull out, though a little disappointed at neglecting that one detail. But if we had it to do over I am not sure we would have changed and done anything different.
------------
The next task this weekend was to replace the coveted instant hot water tap. I never had one of these before moving into this house, but I have become freakishly dependent on the silly thing.
Perfect French Press Coffee in 4 minutes flat. Top Ramen for the kids in 3 minutes. Starbucks Via in as fast as you can dump the packet in the cup and fill the mug with water. Tea? Your steeping time is all. Instant oatmeal for the kids? Only as long as it takes the oatmeal to cool to edible temp.
Yes. I fell hard.
So when it cracked and emptied itself all over the bottom cabinet a few weeks ago it was a no brainer that as long as it was under $300, it was getting replaced.
I found one for $130 and pounced.
If you don't already have one, it would be a pain to install as you need the hole in your countertop. But replacing one? Also a no brainer.
Ha.
Famous last words.
I took Leif to a birthday party and came back to find the heater sitting still in the middle of the kitchen floor. Turned out that the one I bought was ever so slightly bigger than the one we pulled out. Making installation in the same position impossible thanks to the placement of the garbage disposal.
We went to work debating the next move.
AB's plan was to cut a hole in the cabinet and mount it halfway in the pie shaped empty area between the cabinet and the neighboring drawers.
I cringed at that and pushed for mounting it in a different under the sink spot that would only require a copper tube extension.
Easy peasy, I told AB.
This is my thing, I reminded him. See you just need connector compression fittings and a length of copper tubing.
And I added on that it would take me seconds to do in my lab and I had all the equipment there. Though that was just anecdote to boost my method because no way was I driving all they way out to work to do use the tools in my lab OR to "borrow" the necessary fittings. Dang lab rules.
Instead Skadi and I ran to Ace to grab copper tubing and fittings. And then we bought a tube cutter too... since the Ace dude had NO idea how to cut tubing and I knew the edges would need to be cleaned up before installing ferrules.
$33 later...
Hooked it up and it worked!
Then I walked upstairs all full of myself to change laundry around, pulled open the dryer and saw my wet clothes sitting there.
Wet clothes.
As in not dry.
I pushed the button.
Nope.
Once AB confirmed that I was not being a dork with the dryer and that it was not the breaker, I pulled the clothes out and hung them on the banisters.
Then I pulled the clothes out of the waher and hung those on the banister.
Then I pulled AB's work cell phone out of the bottom of the washer.
Yeah, one of those weekends.
I would like to order another day please.
This is one of those days where if I had loads of vacation time - I would be staying home tomorrow to recover.
It has just been one of those weekends. It started with two minor household chores that each turned major in their own right.
Part of the February-March goal was to get and install a pull out spice rack. After much deliberation and measuring the cabinet - at least four hundred fifteen times - I placed the order. If you ever want to put pull-outs into existing cabinets I have to recommend you look at Rev-A-Shelf. Really nice quality. And you don't have to replace the entire cabinet like Home Depot started out telling me we had to do.
All you need to do is yank the door off, remove the shelves and hardware, attach your door to the front of the unit, then screw it into place in the cabinet!
Sounds easy right?
We had thought about everything - like even that the knob on the adjacent corner cabinet would have to be moved. And that it would be the only cabinet in the kitchen with a funky placed knob - but we could deal with that when we were talking about the bigger picture - a fancy pull out spice cabinet!
A little wood putty will fix that...
Remember when I said we thought about everything?
Yeah, I was wrong.
We did NOT think about the hood.
Ah well. Lessons learned I guess.
That little shelf in there just houses those little used spices (black sesame seeds anyone? fennel seeds?).
We still love the pull out, though a little disappointed at neglecting that one detail. But if we had it to do over I am not sure we would have changed and done anything different.
------------
The next task this weekend was to replace the coveted instant hot water tap. I never had one of these before moving into this house, but I have become freakishly dependent on the silly thing.
Perfect French Press Coffee in 4 minutes flat. Top Ramen for the kids in 3 minutes. Starbucks Via in as fast as you can dump the packet in the cup and fill the mug with water. Tea? Your steeping time is all. Instant oatmeal for the kids? Only as long as it takes the oatmeal to cool to edible temp.
Yes. I fell hard.
So when it cracked and emptied itself all over the bottom cabinet a few weeks ago it was a no brainer that as long as it was under $300, it was getting replaced.
I found one for $130 and pounced.
If you don't already have one, it would be a pain to install as you need the hole in your countertop. But replacing one? Also a no brainer.
Ha.
Famous last words.
I took Leif to a birthday party and came back to find the heater sitting still in the middle of the kitchen floor. Turned out that the one I bought was ever so slightly bigger than the one we pulled out. Making installation in the same position impossible thanks to the placement of the garbage disposal.
We went to work debating the next move.
AB's plan was to cut a hole in the cabinet and mount it halfway in the pie shaped empty area between the cabinet and the neighboring drawers.
I cringed at that and pushed for mounting it in a different under the sink spot that would only require a copper tube extension.
Easy peasy, I told AB.
This is my thing, I reminded him. See you just need connector compression fittings and a length of copper tubing.
And I added on that it would take me seconds to do in my lab and I had all the equipment there. Though that was just anecdote to boost my method because no way was I driving all they way out to work to do use the tools in my lab OR to "borrow" the necessary fittings. Dang lab rules.
Instead Skadi and I ran to Ace to grab copper tubing and fittings. And then we bought a tube cutter too... since the Ace dude had NO idea how to cut tubing and I knew the edges would need to be cleaned up before installing ferrules.
$33 later...
Hooked it up and it worked!
Then I walked upstairs all full of myself to change laundry around, pulled open the dryer and saw my wet clothes sitting there.
Wet clothes.
As in not dry.
I pushed the button.
Nope.
Once AB confirmed that I was not being a dork with the dryer and that it was not the breaker, I pulled the clothes out and hung them on the banisters.
Then I pulled the clothes out of the waher and hung those on the banister.
Then I pulled AB's work cell phone out of the bottom of the washer.
Yeah, one of those weekends.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Goals update
AB suggested that his cleaning the carpets in the playroom should count as a monthly goal.
Ok, sure, I can add steam cleaning to the list.
Yes, I AM one of those people that will add something to a list just so I can cross it off.
March is only about half way through and I have accomplished my goals. Mostly. Pillowcase dresses are made. Cross stitch is started. Spice cabinet needs to be remeasured and ordered. Then done! (OH and the steam cleaning is done!)
This has of course, raised the question of what's next.
In an ideal, money laden world, AB wants to start an outdoor living area. We have ideas kicking around. But alas... I just don't see it happening.
So AB has relented.
Office? Playroom? Master Bedroom? Downstairs bathroom? All good options, but the one screaming for attention. The one where boxes have recently landed.
The office.
The big need for that room is book storage. Or book purge.
And file cabinet purge.
And maybe a spash of paint...
Ok, sure, I can add steam cleaning to the list.
Yes, I AM one of those people that will add something to a list just so I can cross it off.
March is only about half way through and I have accomplished my goals. Mostly. Pillowcase dresses are made. Cross stitch is started. Spice cabinet needs to be remeasured and ordered. Then done! (OH and the steam cleaning is done!)
This has of course, raised the question of what's next.
In an ideal, money laden world, AB wants to start an outdoor living area. We have ideas kicking around. But alas... I just don't see it happening.
So AB has relented.
Office? Playroom? Master Bedroom? Downstairs bathroom? All good options, but the one screaming for attention. The one where boxes have recently landed.
The office.
The big need for that room is book storage. Or book purge.
And file cabinet purge.
And maybe a spash of paint...
Sunday, March 07, 2010
March Goals Update
This month is good for me mentally... pretty much. Ok, the trip to Home Depot yesterday wasn't exactly good for me mentally... more on that later.
I have always loved crafting - of certain types. I enjoy creating a lot, though as a working mom, I don't often get the opportunity to do this. I needed a month for me, a month not centered around improving our home.
My Orange Tree cross stitch is started and I have been working on that a few evenings a week. I enjoy cross stitching a lot, though not a huge fan of the single stitches. I like to put a color on and move across the fabric. Not do one stitch. Last night I had two colors on the entire page (one page of twelve), I found a single stitch of each color. Not a huge fan of that. But oh well, I can deal and with these huge works of art, this IS to be expected.
Yesterday we went to Home Depot to the kitchen design center where we sat in front of a woman and her book of pull outs.
No, we don't know the brand of our cabinets.
Don't tell me that I have to know this for pull outs, I have found plenty of sites that sell non-custom pull outs.
No, we aren't going to replace the CABINET we want a pull out in.
No, we aren't going redesign our kitchen based on a single pull out. (?!?!)
I went about 10 steps back yesterday from everything I had looked up on the internet with regard to pull outs. Finally she pulled out a catalog from the exact website I had scoured recently, "oh yes, I guess this one company DOES make generic pull outs to install yourself". When I saw that all they are going to do is order it from the same website and put in a Home Depot adder, we left.
I will get the pull out ordered here soon.
Today I tackled the pillowcase dresses.
I estimated I could make one in under 2 hours the other day.
Wrong.
I can make three, including coming up with my own pattern and making loads of mistakes on the first one in under 2 hours. 1:45 to be exact. And I showed you the prices of the ones I found online right? $89 and $98 respectively.
Well I paid $8.99 for the pink flowers pillowcase from Pottery Barn Kids (it IS actually hard to find the *right* pillowcases for this. The pattern has to be oriented correctly and I don't need sheets with it.) Then I bought the white pillowcases for practices on clearance from PBKids for $1.99 each.
Ribbon spools of 5 yards for $1.99 each color from JoAnn's. Shiny, sparkly thread was the big expense at $5.99.
Proof:
They are a touch big on her. (Glad I didn't try to do this last year.) But that means she can have them for a few years! They are quite adjustable too.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
February Goals - Nearing the End
As February winds down I am looking back on my goals progress. The primary goal to get a pull out for the spice cabinet is not completed only because we decided before ordering online we should really make a pass at Home Depot. They might also have some alternate suggestions to consider and can offer advice on fitting a pull out for our extra tall top cabinets. (Height of the cabinet hadn't really dawned on me until it came to measuring twice.)
We did however get the cupboard reorg completed and are very happy with the outcome of that. Someday I expect I will relearn where my measuring cups are now.
The wine closet wasn’t one we planned to tackle, but as luck would have it we obtained a great wine rack and put it to use. Now I can tell exactly when we are getting low on white wines (like we are now).
So the spice cabinet pull out will extend into March, which is fine. March is going to be a bit of a relaxing month for me with goals. I have two things planned…
See this dress? It is a pillowcase dress.
And it is $89.
See this one? It is $98. It is lined and has an M on it, so it is $9 more.
I am POSITIVE I can make one in two hours. I just know it.
March goal is to find an adorable pillowcase and make Skadi a dress.
My second goal is The Orange Tree. I special ordered the fabric I wanted – black 18 ct Aida – could not believe you can’t just find this stuff at craft stores… And the black 14 ct Aida isn’t sold in a large enough sheet at my local craft stores. So it was going to be a special order either way.
Ordered two weeks ago…
Apparently all cross stitchers are procrastinators?
Or maybe they had to weave it from cotton fibers?
Whatever the reason it is on its way here and should arrive before March 1 in time for the new goal!
I won’t finish it… I will be lucky to get one tenth of it done during the month of March. But getting started is often half the battle.
I am leaning towards an April goal of the library. I have boxes stacked randomly, a lamp to hang and I just discovered the perfect under the window shelf/seat combo unit that will go perfect. Paint? Just maybe...
We did however get the cupboard reorg completed and are very happy with the outcome of that. Someday I expect I will relearn where my measuring cups are now.
The wine closet wasn’t one we planned to tackle, but as luck would have it we obtained a great wine rack and put it to use. Now I can tell exactly when we are getting low on white wines (like we are now).
So the spice cabinet pull out will extend into March, which is fine. March is going to be a bit of a relaxing month for me with goals. I have two things planned…
See this dress? It is a pillowcase dress.
And it is $89.
See this one? It is $98. It is lined and has an M on it, so it is $9 more.
I am POSITIVE I can make one in two hours. I just know it.
March goal is to find an adorable pillowcase and make Skadi a dress.
My second goal is The Orange Tree. I special ordered the fabric I wanted – black 18 ct Aida – could not believe you can’t just find this stuff at craft stores… And the black 14 ct Aida isn’t sold in a large enough sheet at my local craft stores. So it was going to be a special order either way.
Ordered two weeks ago…
Apparently all cross stitchers are procrastinators?
Or maybe they had to weave it from cotton fibers?
Whatever the reason it is on its way here and should arrive before March 1 in time for the new goal!
I won’t finish it… I will be lucky to get one tenth of it done during the month of March. But getting started is often half the battle.
I am leaning towards an April goal of the library. I have boxes stacked randomly, a lamp to hang and I just discovered the perfect under the window shelf/seat combo unit that will go perfect. Paint? Just maybe...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Goals Progress
I have to admit that my February goals haven't seen nearly the activity that my January goals did. I kind of went nuts last month and will not meet the same level of deliverable this month.
You may recall that one of my debates last month was whether or not to tackle the wine or the kitchen. It was buy some wine storage, or buy some pull outs for the kitchen. The pull outs won. But, one of my good friends also read my blog and said, "so I have this wine rack... and we don't really buy wine... and it is covered with flour... take a look!"
They had pulled the 110 bottle wine rack out of their house when they bought it and were using it as a divider in their garage. And amazingly enough it was about exactly what I was looking for to fit the spot we have!
Wa la!
That also means that I didn't really start the kitchen goals until this weekend - halfway through February. It is a lot of just organizational stuff. When we moved in, it seemed that in order to get IN, stuff was just placed randomly. I had intended to place things just right, and some things did. However, other drawers and cabinets suffered.
AB isn't always a huge fan of my goals because he sees them as potentially a lot of work for him. February he wasn't terribly opposed to - "what, you want to organize the kitchen cupboards? GO for it!"
I organized Friday evening while AB was putting the kids to bed, the desk and the cabinets and drawers around the desk in the kitchen. It isn't my favorite part of the kitchen. Not a terrible big fan on the desk in the kitchen concept. I would rather have actual usable counter space because I am a self declared stacker. I won't stack stuff on my usable countertops, but I sure will on a desk.
AB smiled when I showed him the results of him putting the kids to bed and then we watched Big Love.
The next day I moved the baggies/foil/saran wrap drawer. I turned the old one into the baking notions drawer and filled a large drawer with lunch and packaging stuff.
I am not sure I have seen AB so excited in awhile! He raved!
And then he was so thrilled by this he came into the kitchen and helped me finish up the rest of the drawer and cupboard switcheroo.
Organized! Sensical organization! It is mine!
With one exception... what do you put in a base cabinet, corner lazy Susan? It shouldn't bother me that it is nearly empty, but it does. I just don't know what to put there.
My next step was to start working on the pull out spice cabinet. I found some resources on a few websites and some decent prices, until it dawned on me that I should also look at the height... these were made for 23" tall upper cabinets and apparently I have freakishly tall upper cabinets at 40". And a 23" pull out would make for a lot of wasted space.
I have found tall pull outs, but I haven't full commited yet. AB has suggested a trip to Home Depot and see what we can see in person. Probably a good idea.
I have gotten a jump on my March goals. My floss is bought, I am putting it on my floss bobbins and I special ordered the cross stitch fabric I want. I should be set to go by March! Now I just need to find a pretty pillow case to make the pillowcase dress.
I am debating April goals... it may be to start on plans for the outdoor entertainment area... or it may be something like organize my online photos... or figure out what to do with all my books. Who knows!
You may recall that one of my debates last month was whether or not to tackle the wine or the kitchen. It was buy some wine storage, or buy some pull outs for the kitchen. The pull outs won. But, one of my good friends also read my blog and said, "so I have this wine rack... and we don't really buy wine... and it is covered with flour... take a look!"
They had pulled the 110 bottle wine rack out of their house when they bought it and were using it as a divider in their garage. And amazingly enough it was about exactly what I was looking for to fit the spot we have!
Wa la!
That also means that I didn't really start the kitchen goals until this weekend - halfway through February. It is a lot of just organizational stuff. When we moved in, it seemed that in order to get IN, stuff was just placed randomly. I had intended to place things just right, and some things did. However, other drawers and cabinets suffered.
AB isn't always a huge fan of my goals because he sees them as potentially a lot of work for him. February he wasn't terribly opposed to - "what, you want to organize the kitchen cupboards? GO for it!"
I organized Friday evening while AB was putting the kids to bed, the desk and the cabinets and drawers around the desk in the kitchen. It isn't my favorite part of the kitchen. Not a terrible big fan on the desk in the kitchen concept. I would rather have actual usable counter space because I am a self declared stacker. I won't stack stuff on my usable countertops, but I sure will on a desk.
AB smiled when I showed him the results of him putting the kids to bed and then we watched Big Love.
The next day I moved the baggies/foil/saran wrap drawer. I turned the old one into the baking notions drawer and filled a large drawer with lunch and packaging stuff.
I am not sure I have seen AB so excited in awhile! He raved!
And then he was so thrilled by this he came into the kitchen and helped me finish up the rest of the drawer and cupboard switcheroo.
Organized! Sensical organization! It is mine!
With one exception... what do you put in a base cabinet, corner lazy Susan? It shouldn't bother me that it is nearly empty, but it does. I just don't know what to put there.
My next step was to start working on the pull out spice cabinet. I found some resources on a few websites and some decent prices, until it dawned on me that I should also look at the height... these were made for 23" tall upper cabinets and apparently I have freakishly tall upper cabinets at 40". And a 23" pull out would make for a lot of wasted space.
I have found tall pull outs, but I haven't full commited yet. AB has suggested a trip to Home Depot and see what we can see in person. Probably a good idea.
I have gotten a jump on my March goals. My floss is bought, I am putting it on my floss bobbins and I special ordered the cross stitch fabric I want. I should be set to go by March! Now I just need to find a pretty pillow case to make the pillowcase dress.
I am debating April goals... it may be to start on plans for the outdoor entertainment area... or it may be something like organize my online photos... or figure out what to do with all my books. Who knows!
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Ignore, unless you cross stitch.
Ever since posting about cross stitching the bug has set in. I pulled out my Orange Tree pattern and swooned once again. I looked at all 19 pages of the pattern. I silently appreciated how there were 6 pages of thread information. Three pages with codes and stitch information and a separate three pages listing off numbers that I would need. Yes, these are 8.5 x 11 inch pages. Full pages.
Then just by coincidence when we cleaned the garage this past weekend (yes, you read right, we CLEANED the garage this weekend!), I ran across a big Rubbermaid tub that said “Cross Stitch” on it. AB hurried it upstairs and put it up high in the walk in closet in the guest room on the top shelf.
Then on Sunday I hurried upstairs while AB was at a birthday party with Skadi and pulled it down off that high shelf and lugged the thing downstairs again.
When I opened it I fell even deeper head over heels.
This particular box is box two of two. I had one box originally, but then AB’s grandmother did something fantastic about seven years ago. She packed up every little bit of her cross stitching stuff and shipped it to me.
Getting that box was like Christmas all over! She had boxes of threads, cute little scissors, many different sizes of needles and pages upon pages of patterns.
She was an avid cross stitcher. The main difference between she and I is that she worked on 22 and 24 count fabric mostly, while I tended towards the standard 14. What this means in lay terms is how many stitches are in an inch. I do the big old squares where I get 14 stitches in a linear inch, or 196 stitches in a square inch. Donna stepped it up a notch and walloped me with between 484 and 576 stitches in a square inch.
She did beautiful work with incredibly fine detail. I remember standing in her house outside Wasilla, Alaska astounded with the detail of her stitching. Someday I told myself.
While Leif played Wii the other day, and AB and Skadi were at a birthday party I went through her bin and pulled out cloth. I was looking for black for my Orange Tree pattern and found a perfectly square, taped off piece of black 22 count. It would be perfect. Almost like she had cut it and taped it specifically with my pattern in mind.
I sat there and contemplated the concept. Could I make those itty bitty, tiny little stitches?
Then well… I chickened out.
I decided to take my first step towards it by buying 18 count fabric instead of 14 this Saturday at Michaels.
Then I realized if I was going to Michaels to buy fabric, I should also have some idea which thread I am going to need. So last night I sat down with the three clear plastic thread holders and started pulling skeins out that correspond to the numbers on the list. I became a little concerned when I started noticing that some of the skeins had way old price tags on them. Fifteen cents a skein? Not to mention “price tags”… who uses those anymore!
Then it dawned on me that it has been seven years since she sent the bin and probably years before that since she has cross stitched. And concern filled my head. What if the colors have changed? What if number 319 is no longer Very Dark Pistachio Green (and for the record *I* have never seen pistachios that dark)?
I have done my best to push concern out of my head and to think about the positive side of not having to buy all new skeins, and doing a somewhat tribute to AB’s grandmother by using her materials for my next pattern.
Oh and yeah, this was the March goal, wasn’t it? And it is only February. Correct-a-mundo. It’s that bug thing. Bug has dug.
Not to mention that I do have the foreknowledge that it may take me a full month to prepare to start on the Orange Tree given the three pages of DMC numbers that need to be obtained, sorted and unrolled and rerolled onto bobbins. I have a need to approach my cross stitching in a very methodical manner. Everything must be just right so that when I sit down and start, I am ready to go.
Also, for the record? The pillowcase dress has not fallen off my radar either… I am looking for the perfect pillow case!
Then just by coincidence when we cleaned the garage this past weekend (yes, you read right, we CLEANED the garage this weekend!), I ran across a big Rubbermaid tub that said “Cross Stitch” on it. AB hurried it upstairs and put it up high in the walk in closet in the guest room on the top shelf.
Then on Sunday I hurried upstairs while AB was at a birthday party with Skadi and pulled it down off that high shelf and lugged the thing downstairs again.
When I opened it I fell even deeper head over heels.
This particular box is box two of two. I had one box originally, but then AB’s grandmother did something fantastic about seven years ago. She packed up every little bit of her cross stitching stuff and shipped it to me.
Getting that box was like Christmas all over! She had boxes of threads, cute little scissors, many different sizes of needles and pages upon pages of patterns.
She was an avid cross stitcher. The main difference between she and I is that she worked on 22 and 24 count fabric mostly, while I tended towards the standard 14. What this means in lay terms is how many stitches are in an inch. I do the big old squares where I get 14 stitches in a linear inch, or 196 stitches in a square inch. Donna stepped it up a notch and walloped me with between 484 and 576 stitches in a square inch.
She did beautiful work with incredibly fine detail. I remember standing in her house outside Wasilla, Alaska astounded with the detail of her stitching. Someday I told myself.
While Leif played Wii the other day, and AB and Skadi were at a birthday party I went through her bin and pulled out cloth. I was looking for black for my Orange Tree pattern and found a perfectly square, taped off piece of black 22 count. It would be perfect. Almost like she had cut it and taped it specifically with my pattern in mind.
I sat there and contemplated the concept. Could I make those itty bitty, tiny little stitches?
Then well… I chickened out.
I decided to take my first step towards it by buying 18 count fabric instead of 14 this Saturday at Michaels.
Then I realized if I was going to Michaels to buy fabric, I should also have some idea which thread I am going to need. So last night I sat down with the three clear plastic thread holders and started pulling skeins out that correspond to the numbers on the list. I became a little concerned when I started noticing that some of the skeins had way old price tags on them. Fifteen cents a skein? Not to mention “price tags”… who uses those anymore!
Then it dawned on me that it has been seven years since she sent the bin and probably years before that since she has cross stitched. And concern filled my head. What if the colors have changed? What if number 319 is no longer Very Dark Pistachio Green (and for the record *I* have never seen pistachios that dark)?
I have done my best to push concern out of my head and to think about the positive side of not having to buy all new skeins, and doing a somewhat tribute to AB’s grandmother by using her materials for my next pattern.
Oh and yeah, this was the March goal, wasn’t it? And it is only February. Correct-a-mundo. It’s that bug thing. Bug has dug.
Not to mention that I do have the foreknowledge that it may take me a full month to prepare to start on the Orange Tree given the three pages of DMC numbers that need to be obtained, sorted and unrolled and rerolled onto bobbins. I have a need to approach my cross stitching in a very methodical manner. Everything must be just right so that when I sit down and start, I am ready to go.
Also, for the record? The pillowcase dress has not fallen off my radar either… I am looking for the perfect pillow case!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Looking ahead
Awhile back… ok, years ago… Vargasgirl got me into cross stitching. It had always struck me as an old lady type of thing to do. But when I saw the things she was making and the options for patterns out there, I quickly became interested. They weren’t all cutesy scroll country kischey things! There were some really nice contemporary patterns out there.
I started in slow, became hooked and then quickly had more patterns on my hard drive then I knew what to do with.
I started on Chat Noir.
Then I had Leif. And Chat Noir went on the shelf.
I have this great desire to get back to crafting of some type.
Two areas constantly pull at my heart. Sewing and cross stitching.
I want to make my daughter a pillowcase dress before she grows too big and laughs at me for even suggesting she wear a pillowcase.
And have you even seen those summer dress patterns out there? I am way too sure that the fabric for those dresses are even cuter. But I wouldn’t know since I am not allowed in fabric stores. Self imposed ban and all.
I foresee my February goal getting my house to a point where I need to stop for awhile because the next step would entail large sums of money that I am not envisioning having at that point. Additionally I envision March being a busy month with it being our 10th anniversary month and Skadi’s birthday.
I am thinking I am going to take a side trip for the month of March and explore a personal goal…
Start sewing…
Or tackle The Orange Tree…
I have this great desire to get back to crafting of some type.
Two areas constantly pull at my heart. Sewing and cross stitching.
I want to make my daughter a pillowcase dress before she grows too big and laughs at me for even suggesting she wear a pillowcase.
And have you even seen those summer dress patterns out there? I am way too sure that the fabric for those dresses are even cuter. But I wouldn’t know since I am not allowed in fabric stores. Self imposed ban and all.
I foresee my February goal getting my house to a point where I need to stop for awhile because the next step would entail large sums of money that I am not envisioning having at that point. Additionally I envision March being a busy month with it being our 10th anniversary month and Skadi’s birthday.
I am thinking I am going to take a side trip for the month of March and explore a personal goal…
Start sewing…
Or tackle The Orange Tree…
Monday, June 02, 2008
Getting back to the goals
So back about the New Year I decided that my goal for the year was to go through every room in my house and purge, organize, repair and replace. To make this daunting task not so unbearable, I decided to tackle one room a month. For the first two months this went quite well. The library was organized and still looks halfway decent. Leif's room has the storage options it needs and the guest bath (small and so lumped into the other rooms) is still organized as well.
Then March hit.
March was supposed to be Skadi's room.
And it was about 75% done. The remaining percentage was a consequence of her not living in her bedroom. Her dresser was in there, but her crib, changing pad, and pajamas were in our bedroom. Her toys were scattered between the living room and Leif's bedroom. She loves Leif's room and he doesn't mind her playing in there (yet). In fact, so far he prefers she play in there. There was this problem of the queen sized guest bed being in this room and no real place to put it other than to get rid of it.
Really, truth be told we are growing out of this house in a way. If my formal dining room could somehow be relocated and turned into a guest room... it would make a difference for our longevity in this house. But it can't be relocated and more storage won't just appear when I twitch my nose (I tried) and a real walk in pantry is for now just a dream. The kitchen that six years ago I thought I couldn't fill has reached its max. Oh and those looming apartment buildings won't just go away either.
Anyways, I ended up stopping short of finishing March and went straight to April which was to organize and clean up the yards. This was done to my satisfaction about 80% of the way. The remaining 20% I will just not say one word about because it will launch me into this little fit of sorts. Our yards have been well maintained since then due mostly in part to our hiring a lawn service to mow and trim.
May was going to be my Master Suite.
Then May was going to be my Master Closet and Master Bath.
Then "the summer" was finally deemed to be the Master Suite "month".
I have settled on this.
We finally had a weekend with no real major plans. We had friends cancel on a dinner party thanks to puking kids (on their end) - which I wanted absolutely no part of given our fragile nature this spring with viral crud. So instead of tackling food prep and guest readiness I worked on my goals.
My March goal is 95% complete. Skadi's crib is in her room. I have resigned myself to leaving the queen bed there. It makes her bedroom tiny, but truth be told, she doesn't spend time in there. And I would rather have the guest bed for that day when we do buy a new house and have a guest room (everyone I know tells me how comfortable this bed is and how well they sleep in it).
To finish off her room, I need to put up the foam flowers and ladybugs I bought to "girlify" the blue and green room. But that won't happen until she learns not to peel them off and eat them. And I need to go through the stack of outgrown clothes in the closet and box them up. I should also put the breastpump up and since I bought a nice, new ,sleek, travel oriented, "wasabi" colored, umbrella stroller (that should arrive any day now) put the big honking, broken latch Zooper either in the garage or the attic for storage. Once I get those things done, my March goal is finished (hopefully in June).
Since the crib was moved out of the Master Suite it gave me room to get things organized. It feels really good to return our bedroom to a room occupied by adults. Really good actually. As much as I love having my kids in our bedroom for their first year of life and I do believe it adds something to their security and well being, it is always nice to move back to having our own space and giving our children spaces of their own. It is a bittersweet step.
I cleaned out my closet and nearly every time I walk past it I have to stop and pat myself on the back. I have a list of organizational things to get in the next week to really make me happy about my closet. I am going to get some sweater boxes for the top shelf, some hooks to hold belts, purses and bags. I used the hanging sweater organizers I bought last November (and never installed) as shoe organizers for AB's shoes. I had tried to use normal sized hanging shoe organizers, but his shoes were too big. When I was trying to figure out where to hang the sweater organizers it hit me - they are the perfect size for his big honkin' shoes! I also need to buy a storage bench type thing for in there. AB suggested something with cubbies he can "stuff" his sweaters into. Well I have other plans. I can live with his desire to not hang up his jeans and to have them folded on a small table - but "stuffing" things in cubbies isn't going to work. Nice decorative boxes instead.
The one thing that I haven't done and I may or may not get to is purging clothes. While looking for hangers I did pull off a few things that I knew I would never wear ever again. And things that AB should not wear ever again. And put them in a stack for Goodwill. But I didn't go in depth down this path.
I also started on the Master bath and cleaning out the vanity. There I did purge. Old makeup, creams, gels, lotions... gone. And plans for new organizing bins for my counter tops. My house cleaner will love me.
My organizing bug didn't stop in the Master Suite... I did a couple drawers (the bottles and breast pump stuff ones), the fridge and my spice rack in the kitchen. Things that were bugging me.
Maybe the real accomplishment this weekend was getting AB to agree that my monthly goals are a good thing and even suggest that each room should be revisited every year.
Sunday evening I felt quite accomplished with myself.
Then March hit.
March was supposed to be Skadi's room.
And it was about 75% done. The remaining percentage was a consequence of her not living in her bedroom. Her dresser was in there, but her crib, changing pad, and pajamas were in our bedroom. Her toys were scattered between the living room and Leif's bedroom. She loves Leif's room and he doesn't mind her playing in there (yet). In fact, so far he prefers she play in there. There was this problem of the queen sized guest bed being in this room and no real place to put it other than to get rid of it.
Really, truth be told we are growing out of this house in a way. If my formal dining room could somehow be relocated and turned into a guest room... it would make a difference for our longevity in this house. But it can't be relocated and more storage won't just appear when I twitch my nose (I tried) and a real walk in pantry is for now just a dream. The kitchen that six years ago I thought I couldn't fill has reached its max. Oh and those looming apartment buildings won't just go away either.
Anyways, I ended up stopping short of finishing March and went straight to April which was to organize and clean up the yards. This was done to my satisfaction about 80% of the way. The remaining 20% I will just not say one word about because it will launch me into this little fit of sorts. Our yards have been well maintained since then due mostly in part to our hiring a lawn service to mow and trim.
May was going to be my Master Suite.
Then May was going to be my Master Closet and Master Bath.
Then "the summer" was finally deemed to be the Master Suite "month".
I have settled on this.
We finally had a weekend with no real major plans. We had friends cancel on a dinner party thanks to puking kids (on their end) - which I wanted absolutely no part of given our fragile nature this spring with viral crud. So instead of tackling food prep and guest readiness I worked on my goals.
My March goal is 95% complete. Skadi's crib is in her room. I have resigned myself to leaving the queen bed there. It makes her bedroom tiny, but truth be told, she doesn't spend time in there. And I would rather have the guest bed for that day when we do buy a new house and have a guest room (everyone I know tells me how comfortable this bed is and how well they sleep in it).
To finish off her room, I need to put up the foam flowers and ladybugs I bought to "girlify" the blue and green room. But that won't happen until she learns not to peel them off and eat them. And I need to go through the stack of outgrown clothes in the closet and box them up. I should also put the breastpump up and since I bought a nice, new ,sleek, travel oriented, "wasabi" colored, umbrella stroller (that should arrive any day now) put the big honking, broken latch Zooper either in the garage or the attic for storage. Once I get those things done, my March goal is finished (hopefully in June).
Since the crib was moved out of the Master Suite it gave me room to get things organized. It feels really good to return our bedroom to a room occupied by adults. Really good actually. As much as I love having my kids in our bedroom for their first year of life and I do believe it adds something to their security and well being, it is always nice to move back to having our own space and giving our children spaces of their own. It is a bittersweet step.
I cleaned out my closet and nearly every time I walk past it I have to stop and pat myself on the back. I have a list of organizational things to get in the next week to really make me happy about my closet. I am going to get some sweater boxes for the top shelf, some hooks to hold belts, purses and bags. I used the hanging sweater organizers I bought last November (and never installed) as shoe organizers for AB's shoes. I had tried to use normal sized hanging shoe organizers, but his shoes were too big. When I was trying to figure out where to hang the sweater organizers it hit me - they are the perfect size for his big honkin' shoes! I also need to buy a storage bench type thing for in there. AB suggested something with cubbies he can "stuff" his sweaters into. Well I have other plans. I can live with his desire to not hang up his jeans and to have them folded on a small table - but "stuffing" things in cubbies isn't going to work. Nice decorative boxes instead.
The one thing that I haven't done and I may or may not get to is purging clothes. While looking for hangers I did pull off a few things that I knew I would never wear ever again. And things that AB should not wear ever again. And put them in a stack for Goodwill. But I didn't go in depth down this path.
I also started on the Master bath and cleaning out the vanity. There I did purge. Old makeup, creams, gels, lotions... gone. And plans for new organizing bins for my counter tops. My house cleaner will love me.
My organizing bug didn't stop in the Master Suite... I did a couple drawers (the bottles and breast pump stuff ones), the fridge and my spice rack in the kitchen. Things that were bugging me.
Maybe the real accomplishment this weekend was getting AB to agree that my monthly goals are a good thing and even suggest that each room should be revisited every year.
Sunday evening I felt quite accomplished with myself.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Goals
So if you haven't been keeping up, my goal for 2008 is to not only get my house organized, but to get it ready to sell in 9 months to a year. My plan has been to address one room a month, every month. January was the library, February was Leif's room and the guest bathroom (since it is small), March was Skadi's room.
Skadi's room, for all intensive purposes is 95% done. My sewing table needs to be replaced by her crib, and we need to do something with the queen sized bed in that room.
But finishing her room has been put on hold. Meanwhile, Skadi's crib sits in our closet - where she sleeps so that we don't wake her up (me reading at night with the light on, AB snoring...). Our crib seems to be on its last legs and AB fears moving it very much. So given that my mom and stepdad are coming out in a few weeks, we have put off moving Skadi into her room for our own ease. So that also means that her room will remain at being 95% done beyond March (i.e., tomorrow).
So the next question became, which room is next? I was leaning pretty solidly to our Master Suite - to include the bathroom.
AB, despite all his whining about my goals that he thinks have become his goals, had another suggestion yesterday. We need to treat outside as "a room".
He is right. April is the perfect month to get our backyard in shape. As long as it quits snowing freak snow showers on us and warms up. In theory we will be able to plant the garden in a few weeks. Plus, I want my patio to be in good shape for when my mom and stepdad visit... sitting outside with a gin and tonic or glass of wine, eating BBQ, is always a favorite activity for us all when they visit.
The indoor rooms can wait until it is too hot and miserable to go outside and work. And it is a chance to switch things up a little. And when my husband starts whining about "my goals", I can remind him that this one, was his idea.
The "to do list" includes coating the patio with an epoxy resin so the two cement slabs become one that is much more appealing to the eye and to tender bare feet. Clean out the awful corner that is the bane of my existance. If I ever feel like I need to complain to my husband about something I just walk over to the west side of our house. Where my brow immediately furrows...
I need to clean out my flower beds front and back. I pruned my roses last weekend. And we need to plant the vegetable garden (broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, a tomato or two and mostly room for giant pumpkin rearing).
The goal is set!
Skadi's room, for all intensive purposes is 95% done. My sewing table needs to be replaced by her crib, and we need to do something with the queen sized bed in that room.
But finishing her room has been put on hold. Meanwhile, Skadi's crib sits in our closet - where she sleeps so that we don't wake her up (me reading at night with the light on, AB snoring...). Our crib seems to be on its last legs and AB fears moving it very much. So given that my mom and stepdad are coming out in a few weeks, we have put off moving Skadi into her room for our own ease. So that also means that her room will remain at being 95% done beyond March (i.e., tomorrow).
So the next question became, which room is next? I was leaning pretty solidly to our Master Suite - to include the bathroom.
AB, despite all his whining about my goals that he thinks have become his goals, had another suggestion yesterday. We need to treat outside as "a room".
He is right. April is the perfect month to get our backyard in shape. As long as it quits snowing freak snow showers on us and warms up. In theory we will be able to plant the garden in a few weeks. Plus, I want my patio to be in good shape for when my mom and stepdad visit... sitting outside with a gin and tonic or glass of wine, eating BBQ, is always a favorite activity for us all when they visit.
The indoor rooms can wait until it is too hot and miserable to go outside and work. And it is a chance to switch things up a little. And when my husband starts whining about "my goals", I can remind him that this one, was his idea.
The "to do list" includes coating the patio with an epoxy resin so the two cement slabs become one that is much more appealing to the eye and to tender bare feet. Clean out the awful corner that is the bane of my existance. If I ever feel like I need to complain to my husband about something I just walk over to the west side of our house. Where my brow immediately furrows...
I need to clean out my flower beds front and back. I pruned my roses last weekend. And we need to plant the vegetable garden (broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, a tomato or two and mostly room for giant pumpkin rearing).
The goal is set!
Monday, February 25, 2008
The start of a rock collection and more
I have two rocks in my coat pocket. This is hugely reminiscent of being 5 years old and collecting rocks. I had a great collection that I still wish I had. A few arrowheads in there, a large chunk of quartz and some fossils were also in there.
We were out for a hike up a local hill Sunday afternoon and Leif found a "rock with holes" he liked. I showed him there were lots of rocks with holes around and they were called "lava rocks". He picked me out one, kept his and we continued on our walk. A little while later he told me he was tired of having the rock in his pocket, but he wanted to keep it.
He handed it to me with strict instructions, "don't throw it away mommy, I want to take my ava rock for show and tell".
I think Leif needs a box for his rocks.
We had a good, quiet weekend. Swimming on Saturday where I dropped a sizeable chunk of money on registering both kids for the next session. Skadi loves the water and is getting far more interactive with the experience, even to the point of crawling to the pool edge and making every effort to get herself in the water. It became a game with daddy on Saturday.
Saturday afternoon we went to the birthday party from hell. It is worthy of a post unto its own. But though I have tried I just can't write the post. Ok, I can write it just fine, it is the posting of it that I can't seem to do. So the succinct version has a mom who calls her husband names, a drunken dad, a very unruly child who has to be pulled off of other children by guests because dad can't do it, mom is inside making it all perfect and the dad's "special friends" (aka hoochie mamas) are parked at his side. Yeah, birthday party from hell. We got in the car and I haven't heard AB be so vocal about other people and their childrearing... ever.
Sunday we were disappointed at the turn of the weather that put our morning hike on hold. So instead when Skadi went down for a nap late morning I started on the guest room... which consequentially meant that AB started on the guest room too.
He kept commenting that he liked how he constantly gets roped into *my* monthly goals. Of course with a smile on his face most of the time. I reminded him we were cleaning out the guest room so HIS mother had a place to stay when she arrives in just under three weeks. I had to recruit him to put all the Christmas decorations, Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations, itty bitty baby stuff, outgrown Skadi clothes, too boyish for a girl clothes and other random stuff into the attic.
It was about this point where AB said, "can we just go buy a new house WITH storage instead". And I think he was only partway joking.
Once all that stuff was out I was amazed at what an easy job the guest room will be to get ready for our houseguest. Give me a few hours in there and we will be set. Then once my MIL leaves let the fun decorating begin for it to become Skadi's room.
This is where AB and I are at odds. There is a queen sized bed in there. It is a comfortable queen sized bed or according to most everyone who has stayed in our house has told us.
I want to get rid of it.
AB doesn't.
We don't have storage for it, we aren't going to pay for a (badly needed) storage unit. It is an old bed. Why save it?
Because we might want it for a guest room again someday. Or because we could haul it to Shelton (somehow given we don't have a trailer either) and have a decent bed there to sleep in. One that doesn't skeeve us out or isn't a big mushball.
So in the meantime... before we either go to Shelton again and can rig someway to haul a queen sized bed 5 hours to the cabin, get rid of one of the beds at the cabin by hauling it somewhere, get this bed up into the attic sleeping area... or before we buy a new house that actually has a guest room... what should we do with it?
According to AB it stays in Skadi's room. She has a tiny room. The crib and bed will fit, but no rocker. I have to have the rocker in there. AB suggests we lean the queen bed against the wall.
Lovely.
And oh so safe for a baby's room.
Moving on...
Sunday afternoon the weather improved a little and we hiked our hill and Leif did a fantastic job. This was where he found his ava rock. We got back to the playground and he admired a child's size Specialized bike. He needs a two wheeler. Bad.
I looked online today and found the same bike... a mere $190. Not going to happen. But bike shopping is in our near future.
We went home and after being home for about 20 minutes, Leif and Skadi were standing at the coffee table.
Which one falls?
Leif. No idea how but he whacked his chin on the coffeetable, bites his lip and puts one tooth through the lip, the other only halfway through. Blood everywhere.
AB got him calmed down enough to look at the gaping wound. I made phonecalls where I was told they won't stitch a puncture wound of the lip, to watch it, keep it clean and don't let him pick at it.
AB suggested we stick a ring in it and get him started early.
To which he endured seething glares from me.
Oh and the keeping him from picking it? Not working. This morning he came in to see me in the bathroom and told me his owie was gone, he bit it off. Yep, the scab was gone, and it was oozing again.
Ick.
We were out for a hike up a local hill Sunday afternoon and Leif found a "rock with holes" he liked. I showed him there were lots of rocks with holes around and they were called "lava rocks". He picked me out one, kept his and we continued on our walk. A little while later he told me he was tired of having the rock in his pocket, but he wanted to keep it.
He handed it to me with strict instructions, "don't throw it away mommy, I want to take my ava rock for show and tell".
I think Leif needs a box for his rocks.
We had a good, quiet weekend. Swimming on Saturday where I dropped a sizeable chunk of money on registering both kids for the next session. Skadi loves the water and is getting far more interactive with the experience, even to the point of crawling to the pool edge and making every effort to get herself in the water. It became a game with daddy on Saturday.
Saturday afternoon we went to the birthday party from hell. It is worthy of a post unto its own. But though I have tried I just can't write the post. Ok, I can write it just fine, it is the posting of it that I can't seem to do. So the succinct version has a mom who calls her husband names, a drunken dad, a very unruly child who has to be pulled off of other children by guests because dad can't do it, mom is inside making it all perfect and the dad's "special friends" (aka hoochie mamas) are parked at his side. Yeah, birthday party from hell. We got in the car and I haven't heard AB be so vocal about other people and their childrearing... ever.
Sunday we were disappointed at the turn of the weather that put our morning hike on hold. So instead when Skadi went down for a nap late morning I started on the guest room... which consequentially meant that AB started on the guest room too.
He kept commenting that he liked how he constantly gets roped into *my* monthly goals. Of course with a smile on his face most of the time. I reminded him we were cleaning out the guest room so HIS mother had a place to stay when she arrives in just under three weeks. I had to recruit him to put all the Christmas decorations, Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations, itty bitty baby stuff, outgrown Skadi clothes, too boyish for a girl clothes and other random stuff into the attic.
It was about this point where AB said, "can we just go buy a new house WITH storage instead". And I think he was only partway joking.
Once all that stuff was out I was amazed at what an easy job the guest room will be to get ready for our houseguest. Give me a few hours in there and we will be set. Then once my MIL leaves let the fun decorating begin for it to become Skadi's room.
This is where AB and I are at odds. There is a queen sized bed in there. It is a comfortable queen sized bed or according to most everyone who has stayed in our house has told us.
I want to get rid of it.
AB doesn't.
We don't have storage for it, we aren't going to pay for a (badly needed) storage unit. It is an old bed. Why save it?
Because we might want it for a guest room again someday. Or because we could haul it to Shelton (somehow given we don't have a trailer either) and have a decent bed there to sleep in. One that doesn't skeeve us out or isn't a big mushball.
So in the meantime... before we either go to Shelton again and can rig someway to haul a queen sized bed 5 hours to the cabin, get rid of one of the beds at the cabin by hauling it somewhere, get this bed up into the attic sleeping area... or before we buy a new house that actually has a guest room... what should we do with it?
According to AB it stays in Skadi's room. She has a tiny room. The crib and bed will fit, but no rocker. I have to have the rocker in there. AB suggests we lean the queen bed against the wall.
Lovely.
And oh so safe for a baby's room.
Moving on...
Sunday afternoon the weather improved a little and we hiked our hill and Leif did a fantastic job. This was where he found his ava rock. We got back to the playground and he admired a child's size Specialized bike. He needs a two wheeler. Bad.
I looked online today and found the same bike... a mere $190. Not going to happen. But bike shopping is in our near future.
We went home and after being home for about 20 minutes, Leif and Skadi were standing at the coffee table.
Which one falls?
Leif. No idea how but he whacked his chin on the coffeetable, bites his lip and puts one tooth through the lip, the other only halfway through. Blood everywhere.
AB got him calmed down enough to look at the gaping wound. I made phonecalls where I was told they won't stitch a puncture wound of the lip, to watch it, keep it clean and don't let him pick at it.
AB suggested we stick a ring in it and get him started early.
To which he endured seething glares from me.
Oh and the keeping him from picking it? Not working. This morning he came in to see me in the bathroom and told me his owie was gone, he bit it off. Yep, the scab was gone, and it was oozing again.
Ick.
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