It Never Fails

One project leads to another!

The basement decluttering has sent me into the kitchen. I am now working on thinning out what we have in one of our cabinets so I can put dishes that were Bob's grandma's into our daily rotation. That, of course, leads to moving some of her items to the corner cabinet in the family room, and that leads to rearranging the things on display on the tops of our cabinets. Oh well, I needed to get those cabinet tops washed off anyway.

I am guessing this project will lead to something else...LOL!!

The Great Basement Declutter

I am a "declutterer" by nature and Bob is a pack rat. Our basement is packed with things we are NEVER going to use again, but Bob was hesitant to get rid of because we might need it. I think the amount of time we have had to spend in the basement recently because of tornado warnings has opened his eyes to how much stuff is really down there. He has FINALLY agreed that something needs to be done. Woohoo!

I began The Great Declutter yesterday afternoon and have already taken a full load of stuff to Goodwill. And by full load, I mean full load -- back seats of the Blazer down and filled to the top! Had to get it out of here before Bob changed his mind...LOL!!

There is more work to do, but I am well on my way to a decluttered, organized basement.

More Organizing

Today it was the "office supply" drawer & cabinet in the kitchen. We have WAY too many pens, pencils, paper clips, highlighters, post-it notes, etc. I got them under control today (for now). I swear that stuff multiplies in the darkness of drawers & cabinets. I am sending a box of stuff with Olivia to school. Her friends will love it -- much of it was never opened.

Autumn is Coming

Even though our temps are WAY above normal for the this time of year I know the cooler weather is coming. We had a taste of it last week, but it warmed up into the upper 80s & low 90s the last two days.

Instead of being outside working on the yard like I should be, I spent the day organizing our linen closet. I love to clean and organize this time of year. We spend so much more time in the house and/or at home in the cooler months. I like starting that time out with things neatly in their places. It may sound crazy, but I find comfort in having the things around me organized.

The master bedroom closet is next on my to be organized list. That is going to be a chore because I need to get a lot of clothing out of there that we don't wear anymore. A trip to the Goodwill is in my future. I won't be working on that until later next month. ;)

It Works for Us

A few months ago we decided it was time for Olivia to have more responsibility when it comes to chores around the house. At 14, she is old enough that I shouldn't have to do it all. I wanted to come up with a list. Not necessarily just for Olivia's chores, but some sort of checklist that either one of us could follow. That was when I decided to give motivatedmoms.com a try. Yes, I paid for their printable chore planner. It was $8, but it is some of the best money I have ever spent. (If you want to give it a try, it's only $4 now!)

I changed the format and adapted the list for our family/home. Guess what -- it works! Olivia did the some of the chores on the list, and there was very little reminding that she needed to work on a few things on the list through out the day.

I am a big fan of to do lists and love seeing things crossed off so we will continue to use it during the school year. However, Olivia isn't expected to complete as many of those things during the week.

Gearing Up for 2007

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. ~ William Morris

I know I have mentioned before wanting to simplify! I have made some progress during this year, but I want to make even more next year! I am mapping out a plan for my ring-in-the-new-year declutter! First up, the basement! It will be perfect because that is where we store the tree and ornaments. So just before I take the tree down I can begin that project!

Ahhhh, Organized & Clean

I spent the day in our full bath and gave it a much needed fall cleaning from ceiling to floor. It took most of the day, but what a difference. If you don't see me for a while, I might be standing in the door way of the bathroom admiring the shining sink, tub, floor, and walls...lol!

Bob & Olivia better not mess it up! *hehehe*

As a Reminder

This is on its way to my house to be a physical reminder to simplify! It will probably go in the family room!

Oh, How I Love Cleaning & Organizing

Earlier this summer I made a plan to do a deep cleaning/organizing in the house by taking one room each week. Today while working, I was thinking how crazy I was to schedule the kitchen for a week when I only had three days to work on it. Well, just a few mintues ago I ran across the schedule, and I am not so crazy after all...lol!

Needless, to say the family room didn't get done. I can take care of it in just a couple hours tomorrow. It's a small room with only a few pieces of furniture. They are easy to move for the big vacuuming. Next week is really kitchen week. Oh well, at least now I have a good start...lol!! I got the inside of all the lower cabinets wiped out and organized as well as the drawers. I was planning to tackle the pantry tomorrow, but will hold off on that until next week. It really needs to be done. I need to move some of our less (read almost never...lol) used small items to the basement to make more room for my growing stockpile of groceries.

Speaking of groceries, would you believe I spent less than $45 on groceries this week? Almost half of that was on some GREAT Diet Pepsi sales they were running around the area. Woohoo!

Happiness Is...

1. An enjoyable lunch out with my daughter at Culver's one of our favorite places. Yes, I was a bit naughty and had some Butter Pecan Custard! YUM!!

2. Three freshly organized/cleaned spaces -- the cabinet under the sink in the half bath, the hall closet, and the garage.

3. The freshly mowed lawn

All in all it was a pretty enjoyable and productive day! Off to try to get a digital scrapbook layout done before I have to start dinner!