Tackle It Tuesday… May 13, 2008

It’s Tuesday and I’m grabbing it by the broom handle! Spring hasn’t really completely sprung here yet. I’m ready to be able to pack up the winter clothes and pull out the summer clothes, but the weather just is *not* cooperating! It’s only 56 degrees here today and breezy - which makes it a bit sweatshirt-y out there! Something I’d like to pack away, but when you want a sweatshirt EVERY day and are still wearing jeans it’s a bit hard to put those things into storage. Let’s talk about this global warming thing again, eh? I think maybe I’m going to start leaving my lights on all the time and maybe running empty appliances for a while. Maybe that will warm things up around here?

Anyway, I’ve decided that I’m going to tackle Tuesday anyway. And I’m going to use “Life Skills” as a reason to make the kids help and incorporate it all into schoolwork for the day (they are done with their curriculum, just trying to fill these last few days with “legitimate” activities). So, we’re packing away things like winter jackets and snow boots (because if we end up needing snowboots again, I *will* most certainly need some serious Starbucks therapy). We’re going to clean the living room, dining room, office, kitchen and bathroom today. That will take care of the entire downstairs.

And I’m going to make those kids of mine WORK! And work hard. My theory - and mind you it’s only a theory - is that if they WORK hard to get things clean, then maybe they’ll actually want to *keep* it clean for more than 20 seconds? They’ll be singing that “Cinderelly” song by the time I’m done with them and wishing for a far off prince to wisk them away (or a princess for the boys).

So, what are your plans for the day?

GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL…. March 7, 2008

Ok, I’m not much of a soccer fan. Enough to know that it’s not a goalie, it’s a keeper. But the extent of my soccer knowledge is that you’re not supposed to let the ball past the keeper into the goal.

Those aren’t the types of goals I’m talking about anyway. I’m talking about the goals that I set for the year. For the month of February even. I’m going to try and keep updates going monthly. Guess I could add that to the list of goals, eh? Right now I’m three for three so we’ll see how I do on that one.

1. I’m doing fairly well at not feeding my husband and kids a bunch of processed foods, but I could do much better. I’m working on it. It’s a goal for *next* month though. My goal for this month is to have a plan in place and to work out the kinks before April starts.

2. We still don’t have a budget, but we do have a better idea of where our money is going. Which is a step in the right direction.

3. I’m opening a savings account on Monday. I didn’t get it done in February, but it will be done on Monday. Chip and I are going to have to discuss how much to put into it though. And whether it should be a real savings account or an interest bearing checking account that would give us easier access to it.

4. Not only do I have the start to one book, but I’ve started 2. I started working on it when inspiration hit me and I couldn’t get past it. So, I started the other one. The thing is, I think I like the idea for the second one better than the first. They say that the book you end up with isn’t the book you start with. I’m barely started and that is already ringing true!

5. I’m doing MUCH better at keeping the house clean. It helps that my body is starting to recover and it doesn’t hurt to do everything anymore. I am reading more “organizational” blogs though, does that count? I read somewhere that there is a blogger roundup to clean out our offices next Tuesday. Maybe I’ll join in? If I can find where I read that at! ROFL

 So, all in all, baby steps are seeing me on the road that I want to be on. I’m on track to meet all of these goals by the end of the year.

Christmas decor… December 13, 2007

We’ve been busy decorating the house for Christmas. I’ve still got a bit left to do and some to do at the church as well. I’ve realized that I’m not much of a decorator. I enjoy the decorations, but not so much the actual putting up of the decorations and definitely not the taking down and putting away.

This year, my big decision has been whether or not to move my Willow Tree figures off the mantle and replace them with my snowmen. I’ve collected several metal snowmen lanterns over the past few years. And while I like them, I really do like my Willow Tree figures more.

So, I’m trying to make a decision. Do I put my snowmen on top of the china cabinet or on the mantle where they’ve sat in years past? Either way, I think I’m going to get an LED rope light to intertwine with whatever sits on the mantle. From what I’ve read, they are a bit “greener” than regular Christmas lights and they shouldn’t get hot like regular Christmas lights do.

So, now that I’ve made the decision on what  kinds of LIGHTS to put on the mantle, I guess I just need to decide what decor I’m going to put on there. Any suggestions?

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition… November 7, 2007

First, do they even have the regular Extreme Makeover on anymore? So why the need to continue calling it “Home Edition”?

But I digress, because that’s not really what we’re talking about here.

The holidays are quickly approaching (Kait’s birthday is a week from TODAY! EEK!) and the closer it gets, the more I see that needs doing around the house.  And I hate that right now I’m completely unable to do any of it.

The first big project that I want to tackle is the downstairs bathroom.  This is the room that everyone uses.  It’s the only shower in the house and the only bathroom on the main level.  The only time the upstairs bathroom is used is for those middle of the night trips and apparently, judging by the constant mess, it’s a fun place to play because there are always toys in there.

I’m rambling, I know.  I’d really like to get the downstairs bathroom done before Christmas.  I’m not sure that’s going to happen, but I sat down this afternoon to do a bit of research and see how much it was going to cost and how much of the work we’d be able to do ourselves.  Ideally, I’d put in slate flooring and it doesn’t look like it would be too hard to put in. The hardest part will be convincing Chip that the bathroom needs to be redone before the hardwood floors in the rest of the house. But it’s getting to a point where *I* hate going in there.

But it’s just one more thing on a growing list of “honey-do” items around the house. This car accident couldn’t have come at a worse time. Thankfully we’re both starting to get around a little bit better than before, but I feel like we still have a long road ahead of us. But redoing a bathroom, can’t be too hard, can it?