Organize & Simplify -CD's

If you're like me, you have a plethora of CD's that you really don't use anymore.

Right? Right.

Maybe it's because you don't like the artist anymore, only like three songs on it, or maybe because you've already uploaded the album to your iTunes account and downloaded it to your iPod.

All of the above applied to me and it was high time I did something about it. A couple weeks ago I hauled out our dusty file box full of compact disc's so that I could upload our (once favorite) albums to our iTunes account.

This isn't even a speck of the discs we had.

In the dusty file box was an empty case that I had purchased many years ago and decided to finally use. Disc by disc I would remove the insert and throw away the plastic case (including the back insert). After I uploaded each disc I would decide if I wanted to throw it away or keep it in the new case.

It was very time consuming uploading all the discs, but worth it to finally simplify a file box of compact discs into one zippered case.

CD Storage Options:

If you do not want to get rid of the plastic cases you can purchase cardboard CD boxes to hold your collection. I've searched for inexpensive and attractive containers, but these seem to be the best option.

IKEA KASSETT CD box w/ lid $3.99/2 pack

Happy Organizing!!!

Basement or Bachelor Pad?

Chaos has been a daily part of my life since the day after the last day of school. If you're keeping track, that's seven weeks today. Amazingly, I'm still alive. I have yet to pull my hair out, but I will admit that I've:

*Lost my cool with the kids more than I will care to admit.

*Cried a few times because I was so frustrated.

*Yelled at my husband because the kids were driving me crazy. It's his fault ya know!

*Wondered what I could do to get me arrested for the weekend. A 72 hour hold would be a vacation, dontcha think? Three meals, adult conversation, no lego's to trip on...

*Devoured a few Dairy Queen chocolate ice-cream cones.

*Developed several charts (behavior, cleaning, reward, etc) and none of them have worked.

In our house we have 5 bedroom's. Brenden & Braden share a room, Casey & Caleb share a room and Chloe has her own room. Rob and I have the Master and the last room is my craft room. I have grandiose plans to make amazing things in there, but I'm always too busy. Everybody's room is messy, including mine.

Since the beginning of this year we have decluttered and organized not one, not two, not three, not four, but five times. Five times that I've blogged about, I might add. That means I've spent the majority of this year contemplating and stressing about clutter and being unorganized. That's simply not okay.

It is pouring like mad outside right now. It's 12:31 AM, everyone is asleep and it's quiet (finally) except for the loud thunder, pelting rain on the windows and the waterfall coming from the front porch gutter. I love the rain...and the quiet...

But, I digress. The first thing I did this morning, before getting out of bed, was to pep talk myself into going downstairs. I knew what I would find, no matter what the kids said. It would be a huge mess, a disaster, broken promises, bold-faced lies and disappointment. I am never prepared for this, but I really didn't have a choice. I was down to my last pair of panties and I had no clean clothes left.

The basement (lower level where the boys rooms are, a bathroom, dance room, laundry room and living room) is my biggest nemesis. I hate going down there. Mostly because no matter how much I implement cleaning and laundry schedules, they never seem to get done. I've even stopped going downstairs to tuck the boys in or say goodnight because I just can't take it. Yep, that's me, avoiding the problem.

After hitting the bottom step I forced myself to look around the corner. I was shocked at the mess. I guess it's good that I was shocked (I still have hope), but that could mean I suffer from early onset dementia. I'm not sure which it is and I'm not ready to find out. The basement was worse than I thought and I could feel myself start to boil. I yelled for the twins to wake up and for the rest of the kids to come downstairs. I then yelled for Rob to come and see the mess. I wish I had taken pictures because you would have been absolutely horrified. There was laundry all over the place. We have tons of baskets and the kids had told me they sorted out the clothes. They had not. There was food, bowls, plates and cups hidden here and there. When we moved the sectional pieces food fell out. Animal crackers, chocolate chips and wrappers fell all over the floor as well as itty bitty Lego's. Burrito wrappers and napkins (at least they used those) were stuffed in the cushions. I was disgusted for several reasons:

1. We had just gone through this whole scenario a little over a month ago. We disciplined the kids, took away privileges and had a nice discussion about helping out and finishing chores. It stayed that way for a week or so, but then the kids destroyed it again.

2. Our major rule is that we only eat and drink in the kitchen and yet a few of my children are quick to not comply.

3. I had a busy week and I trusted that they were doing their chores. I was tired and did not follow through with checking on what they said, but at 15 and 13, I shouldn't have to. They lied to me and I allowed them to do things I wouldn't if I knew what the basement looked like.

I was just too tired and lazy to follow through. Partly because I knew what I would find and I didn't have the energy to deal with it at that moment and partly because I wanted so badly to trust that their word was good. I was disappointed in myself and them. More myself though.

So, today (a Utah holiday) was a fruitful day. After my inital freak out session, Rob and I gathered the kids in the basement and put them to work. Casey, Chloe and Caleb were sorting out all the clothes and Brenden and Braden were helping me re-organize the living room. My mom bought us a used sectional when we moved in here last August, but the kids have distroyed it. I'm so glad we didn't spend the money on a new couch! They, mostly the twins, are just hard on couches and I don't know why. Anyway, I asked Rob nicely if he would mind getting it out of the basement. It's uncomfortable to sit on and takes up so much room. The twins and Rob moved each heavy piece out to the garage so we could try to sell it or give it away. We moved our smaller couch into place, dusted all the furniture and sorted all the DVD's.

All of the boys cleaned their rooms and organized their belongings. The twins even changed around their bedroom and I was pleasantly surprised. They did a great job! They straightened up the bathroom, too. I told them they should look at everything that is in their room and ask themselves these things:

1. Do I really want to save this?

2. Do I want to clean it every week?

3. Is this trash? Clothing too worn out/holes?

They listened to me. I didn't even have to stand over them and hound them about every little piece of trash. I did have to tell them they couldn't go out with some friends to a skatepark because they wasted the day away when they could have been cleaning their room. I told them they could either do it right or they could just wake up Saturday morning and start with the room. They knew I meant business, but I didn't imagine they would really clean and organize! Maybe some of me is wearing off on them. Hey, I'm only thinking about my future daughter-in-law. I will raise son's who are willing to get up in the middle of the night with a crying baby, ready to cook a meal, clean the house and do the laundry. I will.

I've been able to venture downstairs many times today and, believe it or not, I was happy. I didn't have fears of possible anxiety attacks and that is a good thing. I wish my children would understand how much energy I have when things are clean and picked up and how miserable I feel when things are messy and overwhelming.

When the big cleaning fest was over, I was able to get six loads of laundry done. Today (Saturday), we will wash the remaining clothing/towels/sheets. This will put us back on track for Monday morning when our previously defunct laundry schedule will be resurrected once again.

Laundry Schedule

Monday- Casey & Caleb Tuesday-Brenden & Braden Wednesday-Chloe Thursday-Mom & Dad Friday- Make up day so we can remain a little flexible. Saturday- Sheets, towels, blankets.

My first set of schoolers will head off to school in just three and a half weeks. That's not long. We have tons of things to do (swim, bbq's, pay school fees, etc) before then and I am going to try hard to make this schedule work. Again. So, unless I want to live off anti-anxiety meds I need to start crackin' the whip. On me!

No more being lazy! It doesn't take long to check if chores were completed.

Check the basement each day, no matter what.

Follow up on what needs to be done, redone. Don't let it go!

Issue proper restrictions if needed.

Keep at it! It will get better!

How to make the other shoppers jealous.

This evening I went shopping for fruits and veggies at Sunflower Market while Rob had the kids at church for Jr. and Sr. High activities.  While standing in the check-out line a woman approached me and excitedly asked, "Where did you get those bags?"

She told me I should sell them after seeing the bag I made to store them in.  

As far as selling them, I'm sure she doesn't realize I have five children and I work four days a week outside of the home.  Plus, I'm an Irish Dance mom and that's, you know, my life. 

However, after some reflection, I realized I could make the changes I want to the bag*, stuff it with the mesh produce bags and give one away on my blog.  How about that for generosity?  I'm really not about selling things.  I'm more of a gift giver, but who knows what will happen.  I do have lots of dental work to pay for.  

*The colorful bag in the photo was my first try.  I've since exhausted every creative bone in my body to come up with a much nicer one.  You would be impressed!  Well, you know, once I find time to actually sew it.

Is anyone even remotely interested in using reuseable produce bags?  If you are, just leave a comment and you will automatically be entered into the drawing. 

Good Luck!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

(Chloe's present to two of her dance friends was a pedicure.  It was a first for all three of them and they enjoyed every relaxing and ticklish moment.)

My sweet baby girl turned ten years old on Mother's Day.  Gamma gave Chloe exactly what she wanted...a shopping day.  We took her to the mall to buy a summer outfit and ended up at Aéropostale.  Hmm..I wonder if she had this planned out all along?  This is Chloe's favorite store even though she doesn't have any of their clothing.  I figured the shirts would be a little long on her and there was no way the shorts would fit, but I was okay letting her get the shirts. We found a few items and sent her into the dressing room.  Alone.  I wish I would have remembered my camera. It was such a precious milestone to see her model the clothing for us.  Nothing could compare to the huge smile she had on her face when she realized that she did fit into the size "00" pants and "xs" shirts.  I was shocked, she was estatic and there we were...my only daughter beaming and me, well....I fluctuated between being proud of my little big girl and fighting back the tears because it's obvious she is growing up right before my eyes. 

(slightly over exposed, ya think?)

Chloe is a Prizewinner Irish Dancer and will be going to her second Oireachtas this Fall.

  

She loves Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Zoe Girl. She excels at English/Spelling/Grammar and loves to read & write stories. I am grateful that I was chosen to be her mother.  She's has such an amazing spirit and her compassion runs deep within her.  She is a true friend and while she seems to be popular in her class, she tells me about the friends she makes that the other girls don't like.  She doesn't want them to be left out and quite frankly, she thinks they are "nicer than the others anyway".  She marches to her own beat and doesn't do anything she doesn't want to.   She is a rule follower (like her mommy) and can't quite see beyond the black and white for those *sometimes grey areas.  If anything she bends the rules to be more strict.  Huh?

How did I raise this child?  I was extremely self conscious, fearful of others not liking me, afraid to do or say the wrong thing.  I didn't like myself, didn't think I was pretty and didn't feel I was worth anyone liking me, anyway.  So, how did I raise this confident child?  She is very tender hearted and cries instantly if I raise my voice to her.  She has her sassy and extremely sassy moments, but we love her all the same.  

Here's a little organizing tip for you moms of girls out there!!

Chloe had a few American Girl (AG) items, and then was gifted an amazing amount of AG stuff. 

The trunk is full to the brim with actual AG accessories and clothing, so we needed a small space to hang some of those cute (and expensive!!) outfits.   I didn't want to throw everything in a plastic tub and shove it in the closet, so I had to be a little more creative.  Chloe would use her bookcase for everything that didn't have a home or anything she didn't want to find a home.  Books were rarely found on her bookcase, but I would always reorganize it to find some room.  When we were spring cleaning her room this past March we ended up going through all of the AG items.  Then, it hit me.   I was staring at the perfect spot the whole time.  Chloe and I took an IKEA towel/hanging basket rod ($1.99) and attached it to the bottom of one shelf. It made a perfect wardrobe for her AG dolls.  

You know what I learned in the process?  Bookcases aren't necessarily just for books. 

 

Saturday & Sunday-Full of Organizing

In a impluse attempt to be more organized, like my mom, I purchased the Joy's filing system about two years ago.  At the time, I had really good intentions of becoming paper organized as soon as it arrived in the mail.  However, I got as far as putting all the filing tabs on the hanging files and assembling the binder before stuffing it back in a box and trying to forget I even knew what paper was.   

Saturday, after dance lessons, I parked my tushie on the front room floor and surrounded myself with approximately six boxes full of files and papers that I haven't been organized enough to go through.  Box by box I would sort the papers into small piles around me.  The paper shredder was right next to me so I didn't have to move and my kids were just a hollar away when it needed to be emptied.  They're such good helpers!!!

Jill, our kids Irish Dance TCRG,  came over to give me a CD as I was in the middle of all the chaos and you should have seen the look on her face. Hehe...it was too funny.  Seven hours later I was done..at 8:00 PM. Well, I had one file box left of stuff I just went through, but didn't want to spend any more time filing.  Plus, my tushie was quite sore.  Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.  I had trouble getting up and I highly doubt it was good for me to sit on the floor that long only moving my legs to stave off the annoying sensation that my foot was going to sleep.  

I didn't just happen upon these six boxes of papers, manuals and the like.  It's been a work in progress for several months.  Just check out this post I did at the beginning of this year.  There was a mental process I had to go through before I could even attempt going through the dozens of boxes we had accumulated over the 16+ years of our life together.  There was the basement storage room, the boxes in the garage and of course the one room of house where we stuffed everything that didn't have a place.  Especially when I finally cleaned out those other storage rooms.  This was my basement living room during the storage room clean out.

You do know that the reason I even wanted to tackle this much junk was because I wanted my pine tree's to be in a neatly organized and clean place, right?

Of course, all the stuff that couldn't fit into the storage room was either given to charity, shredded or put in here....

The garage was the next project we tackled and this room looked significantly worse than in this photo.  Yeah, that's been my mission in life.  To move junk from one room to the other. It's my husband's mission in life to hide it all so I don't go through these phases. 

The mental change I had to go through allowed me to finally get rid of things I didn't need.  For instance, I allowed myself one plastic tub to keep my dad's memory items in and one to keep his engineering and AAAD/MAAD books in that I just can't part with.  I even tossed a dozen of his sweat stained baseball caps that had mold growing on them.  I'm very sentimental and while it may be easy for others to have thrown that stuff out years ago, I had to hold on to it.  I couldn't let go.  This time I had to keep reminding myself that he wouldn't want me to keep his old moldy hats. I had to do this with everything I've kept.  Cards, kids papers, etc. 

Getting that organized led to Sunday being productive, too.  I even skipped church, but I'm sure God understands.

My new desk!!!  I've almost finished labeling everything and I actually feel giddy because I FINALLY have a room to be creative in.  It's not just mine though.  In order to talk hubby into splurging on the IKEA furniture, I had to sell him on the idea that this would be a place where the kids could do their homework and be creative, too.  SOLD!

*Cutting table with three drawers that hold almost all of my sewing accessories.

*Blue basket holds various IKEA containers that still need to be hung *somewhere*.

*File box-my last file box that I'll get to sometime this week/weekend.

*Plastic box holds various organizing containers for drawers, etc.

*Black magnetic strip will hold more round containers with sewing supplies. I have one over my desk that holds office supplies like paper clips, tacks, staples, etc.  

I just had to mention that I am using Lazy Organizer's Organzing bags.  I love them, love them, love them!  I would love more, but I think I'm cut off for awhile. Not by Lara, but by hubby. IKEA has seen me too much in the past couple months.  This small organizing bag contains my son's Nintendo DS, games and charger.  It still has tons more room, too. 

The closet filled with various frames and wall hangings as well as boxes of scrapbooking supplies that I so desperately want to sell.  The boxes are the loooooong ones.  They take up most of the closet.  Only problem is, I do not want to go through them and figure out what each item is worth.  I just want to sell it all and hopefully have enough to make the camera I want not look so far away.

That's it.  I've made good progress this weekend and I couldn't be more thrilled.  Knowing what lies ahead is maintenance, laundry,  Spring yard work and having more time with my kids is giving me goosebumps. 

And last, but not least...

PLEASE keep praying for Stellan.  He was doing a little better, but is now having more SVT breakthroughs.  His poor mama & family. They are looking into a second opinion.  

Twitter. Twitter. Twitter.

I have finally started Twittering.  

Like alot of bloggers, I don't have the time to post an entry every day, so I decided to join Twitter and I love it!  

I can hop on my cell phone or computer and post a tiny tid-bit of what I'm doing.  It's fabulous.  

Scroll down my sidebar until you find my twitters.  Underneath the updates you can click a link to follow me or you can just read them here.  It's up to you.  

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I'm back to Spring cleaning.  Wednesday night didn't go as planned, nor did Thursday day or evening, but I have a goal to finish several rooms today.

*Master Bedroom &  Bath

*Hallway

*Coat Closet

*Front Room

*Main Bathroom

*Kitchen

I should be able to get all of those rooms done today if I can just stay off the computer.

We have Casey's play tonight and then Rob will take the older boys to Spring Fling (a lock-in at a rec center).  I will be home with Caleb since Chloe will stay the night again at Gamma's. 

After dance tomorrow morning, Chloe will need my help doing her bedroom (she's living it up at Gamma's house. Lucky girl!) and if everything I hope to get done today actually gets done, I can head out to the garage and straighten up the left over's out there.  

I'm so excited at how much I am simplifying everything.  It's a great feeling.  

Spring Cleaning

Sorry I don't have pictures for this post.  I'll post some another day.  Promise.

Last week, for all of our Leprechaun stuff, we experienced 65-74 degree sunny days.  After several months of snow and cold sunny days, I had this fantabulous idea where I would take a week off of work and Spring clean my entire house. 

One thing you should know about me is that I try not to start something without making a list.  The list keeps me on track and helps me feel like I'm accomplishing something when I get to check off a little box.  If I wasn't too cheap to buy little gold stars, I would.  

On Monday morning I woke up to what felt and looked like the middle of winter.  I knew I would wake up to snow, but I figured it would be minor.  Not so.  It was a blizzard.  Hmmph!!  A far cry from last week's balmy 70 degrees, but no amount of snow was going to ruin my motivation.  I pulled out my lists, my new Method cleaning supplies and got to work.  

I decided to start on my basement since that is where the laundry room is and fifteen plus loads of dirty laundry waiting to be washed. 

Monday:

*Washed all the basement walls & baseboards

*Moved furniture around

*Vacuumed

*Finished several loads of laundry, fold/hang, put away

*Deep cleaned bathroom, shower.

*Mopped floors

*Washed stair walls, baseboards & handrail

*vacummed stairs

*Directed the twins with their room (they washed walls, baseboards, cleaned out drawers, dusted and vacuumed)

Tuesday:

*Rob took a personal day to help get the worst room in the house organized. Muscleman!!

*We went to Starbuck's for coffee, registered the twins in High School and went to Great Harvest Bread Co. to pick up a loaf and get a free loaf.  YUM!

*Rob and I moved everything out of the craft/office room.  

*Decided we needed to buy a storage unit from IKEA

*Went to IKEA to buy the unit and a table top desk that attaches to it.

*Went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch

*Came home to put it together

* I washed the walls and baseboards in the room

*Had the boys bring up a bookcase from the basement

*Had the boys bring in all the heavy plastic tubs full of books from the garage

*Organized books

*Went through the many boxes that were once in the craft/office room.

*Did more laundry

*I went to sleep very easily.  I think I even fell asleep before Rob did!  

Wednesday:

*Made my younger two Cinnamon Burst french toast with the GHB we bought yeserday.

*My back is hurting today.  It feels tight and now that the boys are home they can walk on me.  

*Currently I have 1 more load of laundry (whites) to wash and 3 more to dry.

*Finished sorting DVD's and VCR tapes

*Mopped the dance floor, washed the dance room walls & baseboards.

*Went to Panda for lunch 

*Organized all the little stuff in the basement.  

*Simplifying!!!!!!!!!!  

*Went through more boxes from the craft/office room

*I need to take the boys to youth when the elementary kids get home from school.

*I might stop at IKEA to pick up 2 boxes.  I got an idea from the STORAGE magazine I was thumbing through last night. 

Currently we are organizing all the big boxes into little boxes. 

*Bathroom articles

*Office supplies

*To be filed

*Irish Dance

*Tools

Once we finish all of that it will be easy to take the box where it needs to go and begin organizing it from there.  

Later this evening I will be finishing up the craft/office room and hopefully clean the bathroom and maybe the front room (where I am sitting right now).  

Thursday the kids have half day off school, so I am going to start bright and early with the kitchen.  It should go pretty fast because I just cleaned it a few weeks ago (even the fridge).  I'll have to pull it out to sweep and mop behind it, but it's been done twice already since August 2008.  Easy-peasy!!  I'll let the oven self clean while I empty all the drawers onto the *covered* kitchen table and organize from there.  The pantry was cleaned out a few weeks ago, too, but I'll go back over it.   Once I'm done with the kitchen I will finish the front room and move on to the Master Bedroom and closet.  If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time you'll remember that I just cleaned and organized this bedroom & closet not too long ago.  Again...this will be Easy-Peasy!!  

To Be Continued.......

A laundry wall?

Several weeks ago I mentioned my new laundry wall, or so I thought.  Maybe I  just thought I posted about it.  That happens sometimes.  A little more often than I'd care to admit though.  I was all set to link back to that post where I had promised pictures and such, but um.....it's not there.  So I guess the whole following through thing didn't quite happen this time around. 

Several weeks ago I went to IKEA to check out the Antonius system.  I had several pieces in my old laundry room.  Basically a shelf with a hanging bar, fold-out drying rack, iron holder, small hanging ironing board, and a cross bar with hooks.  

Back in this post, I mentioned my unfinished laundry room and how I would just have to live with it.  ::big southern belle dramatic sigh::  Then I thought to myself, "Self, why not make the best of it and use the wall in the dance room to hang your clothes?" When I talk to myself, or my self talks to me, we can usually come up with some pretty neat ideas.   

So what does any self described obsessive organizer do?

Repeat after me.....

"You take a vacation to IKEA!"

I am lucky enough to have one close by and having been to IKEA too many several times, I know the in's and out's of the store.  I don't go through the entrance anymore, I head straight through the EXIT doors, through the check out lines and go straight to "As Is".  After I'm finished checking it out, I go backwards through the store.  Unless I want ideas or swedish meatballs, I rarely make it upstairs.  On this particular shopping/idea trip,  I just had to make my way to the laundry section, which is right across from all the storage containers and organizing things (giggle).  They had a pretty neat set up and I was immediately inspired.  I took some pictures with my phone to send to Rob for his thoughts.  Then I grabbed the booklet and started adding up all the pieces and designing it right there.  I went back to the loading area and bought the pieces I needed sans a few pieces they had on backorder.  

After a few days and several trips to IKEA for the missing parts, we started putting it all together.  Here is the final result.

Don't you just love it?  I do!  I now have many places to hang dry clothing and a place to actually fold.  I love that my sorting basket fits nicely under the table and my kids still have a ton of space to dance.  

I recently started hang drying most of our clothing because I feel better about saving the energy.  I'm not opposed to using the dryer, I still do, I just try to lessen the amount I do use it.  I would love an outdoor line, but for now I'll cheerfully hang dry what I can.  

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I'm very eager to let you all know that Casey will be in his first play next month.  He is so excited and of course we are very proud of him.  He will be playing "Puck" from A Midsummer Night's Dream.  He has been practicing very hard.  It's difficult for him to read and much more difficult for him to actually comprehend what he is reading.  He's doing a remarkable job working out his left brain and I see more confidence in him.  It can often feel discouraging and sad as you watch your child struggle with educational and cognitive delays.  Casey is a natural born actor.  He wants to be a movie director, actor and Broadway performer one of these days. You know what?  He will be one, if not all, of those.  I know because I have a mother's intuition. I just know!

Casey 02/2009

Talk About: My Pantry Door

Click on the link above to see more Talk About Tuesday posts & The Lazy Organizer.

This is my pantry door.

In August 2008, when we moved into this house, I was a little shocked at how skinny and narrow my pantry really was.  Things just seem to look bigger when they are empty.  We're a family of seven, so I need to keep as much cabinet and pantry space available as I can.  I didn't want to use a cabinet shelf for spices since I always end up moving everything out just to find what I need.  I wanted a simple space where I could easily find everything, so I did what all crazy organizers do.....

I went on a vacation to IKEA. 

Did you know that when someone who is even mildly obsessed with organizing enters the hallowed doors of IKEA, the angels sing hallelujah and the planets allign?  No!  Well, then you must not be obsessed with organizing.  Either that, or your iPod is turned up too loud.  

Anyway... no longer do I have to buy expensive baskets or whole rack systems that I cannot customize to suit my specific needs and space.  I now have IKEA and all it's glory.    

I found these metal baskets in the kitchen section at IKEA. They ranged from $1.99 to $2.99.  Each comes with a removable handle so you can either hang it on a bar or attach it to a wall.  They also come with a removable tray which I love! I plan on getting a couple more for the lower sections of my door at some point, but the baskets suit my needs at the moment.  

To start off this week.....

It's raining and snowing today.  I'm happy to be in my warm cozy house, but not happy that I am sick.  Late last night, I started to feel a little scratch in my throat and I had a headache.  This morning I woke up to what felt like a ball stuck in my throat.  Realizing that my tonsils have been removed, I knew this was not a good sign.  It's hard to swallow and I still have a slight headache.  I'm thinking it's just a virus and hoping it's not strep.

We just found out last week that our insurance co-pay's were increased, so now we pay twenty-five dollars instead of ten to see the doctor.  Obviously, it makes me a little less eager to make an appointment.  I'll just go with the "wait and see" approach.  

When I'm sick it's hard for me to just stay in bed.  I have all these things I want to do....like:

Organize this closet.

or

Begin the daunting process of organizing what is supposed to be my craft/sewing room.

This room has been organized once before.  It was almost finished when I decided to destroy the downstairs storage room so that we could actually walk in there. One of my biggest pet peeve's is when you have to take everything out of a room just to get in there.  I just can't stand it.  This is a room I just shut the door on.  I'm really going to need a tremendous amount of energy to tackle this room.  Does anyone want to help?  

Eh..I didn't think so.  

I bet you're wondering just how bad the storage room was to make my previously organized craft room look that way.  

This wasn't even half the trash we hauled out of the basement.  It's absolutely ridiculious that we have accumulated and carried around so much junk in the past 16 years.  We still had manuals from the twin's carseats and at least a garbage bag full of manuals of stuff we have not owned for a decade.  It really felt good to go through all of those boxes though.  

This is what part of the basement looked like after I cleaned out the storage room.  It was a complete mess for over three weeks.  That's how long it took me to go through everything.  Unfortunately I do not have any before pictures of the storage room, but this is most of what was in there.  There are about 6 boxes that are not in this photo.  

During the three weeks the basement was in shambles my youngest son, Caleb (7), had no where else to play LEGO's. Of course, to a seven year old, making a mess among the mess is the perfect spot to build his creations.  

To his credit, he didn't have any other place to play because his own bedroom was in disarray while we took apart the bunkbed's and made two separate beds, but didn't actually finish making them two separate beds for a few weeks.   Procrastination at it's finest.  You see, Rob thought the two beds that were still in bunkbed form (one low with rails and two footboards, one high with two headboards) looked fine. And I, with gnashing of teeth, disagreed until the beds were put together right.  Who in their right mind.......?  Nevermind.

We ended up moving the LEGO's back to the bedroom once the beds were complete because those teeny-tiny pieces, that are extremely expensive pieces of plastic, do not fare well in dark brown deep-pile carpet.  My vacuum loves to gobble them up.  Caleb has keen hearing and can tell the distinct sound of the vacuum devouring his treasured pieces.  I, however, refuse to dig through the bag to recover the lost pieces, so Caleb has now learned he had better pick them up by the time I'm ready to vacuum.  There's nothing more precious than the sound of your child running at the speed of light while screaming "WAIT!  WAIT!  Don't let the vacuum eat my LEGO's!!!"

This is what the finished storage room looks like.  

When you open the door you see this.  There is a shelf with duffle bags and other various bags. Sleeping bags are neatly stacked on the top shelf.  Hard suitcases are neatly stacked in the corner. 

As you can see there is still a walk-way towards the back of the storage room.  The shelf you see with the Life game is actually our game shelf. 

The shelving unit in the far back holds Christmas boxes and other holiday items.  The two craft tree's do not collapse so this is how they will be until next Christmas.  I will put plastic bags over them to keep the dust off.   The second shelving unit has items we might need to get into at some point, but things I didn't want to throw in the trash.  Most of it is sentimental.

It was very motivating to go through the storage room and make it accessible.  

Now I'm off to organize the hall closet and do some laundry.  Or, perhaps, I'll just make myself some tea, wrap up in a warm blanket and read a good book.  

Organizing the Love Nest

Yesterday was a productive day for me. Instead of going shopping or sitting at the computer all day, I decided to focus on one room of the house. I'm in a major decluttering mood lately, so I chose the most important room to me. 

The Master Bedroom - BEFORE

This room is, sadly, the one place where everything seems to get dumped. 

Like you hadn't noticed.  

It feels like a junk room, at times, rather than a place of comfort and intimacy rest. Sorry...I couldn't resist. 

This plastic drawer system was used to hold whatever.  A couple of the drawers only had one thing in them.  What a waste of space.  Plus it just looked weird out in the open.  Oh, everyone say "Hi Lilo!" 

Yeah...that's a cleaning spray bottle in my closet.  I probably set it down in one of my many ADD moments.  Anyway....we already had the hook from IKEA.  In fact, we have two.  One for ties and one for belts.  They've been great and are only $4.99 each.

To be completely honest, I had taken the brown boxes that are on the floor down from a shelf in the closet before I remembered to grab my camera.  I am Semi-Organized,  you know.

The Master Bedroom - AFTER

I decided to stick the plastic drawer bin in the closet, though I'm still not sure what to put in there.  The bottom drawer holds my cloth pads, which I am very proud of and thankful I was brave enough to choose cloth over paper.  That's a whole other post though.  You really wanted to know all of that, didn't you?  

I already had the shoe holders and put them to good use. I found them when I was cleaning out the basement storage room a few weeks ago.  It's always nice to re-use things you have.  In fact, the only thing I bought for this organizing spree were some pant hangers for Rob's work pants, we already owned everything else.  

This whole system is from IKEA.  I bought them all in the "AS IS" section for a fraction of what they sell for new.  The utensil organizer is also from IKEA and was "As Is" for only $6.00.  It was sitting on the shelf in our closet since we moved in.  I dusted it out and thought it would make a nice place for Rob's sporan, watch & wallet.  My jewlery (which is not much) is on the other side. 

This drawer was full of junk.  I cleaned out TWO drawers that Rob was using to stuff things like; dead batteries and used movie tickets.  This utensil holder is also from IKEA and was "As Is" for only two dollars.  It makes a really nice holder.  Can you tell I love IKEA?  

Here is the other IKEA hook that holds our belts.  Love it!

This is a pile of bathroom items that haven't had a home for a long time.  I finally got them all organized.  

Bottom Shelf:  The shelving unit, woven divided basket and glass jars are from IKEA.  This shelf is for various items, but mostly things we use more often than others.

Second Shelf: This shelf is filled with baskets of sunblocks, shaving items, pedicure items.

Third Shelf: This shelf holds four plastic divided containers.  The dividers are removable so you can customize the spaces you need.  They are from IKEA and sell for $3.99 each.  I have them separated into four categories:  Owie's, Cold/Flu, Allergies (includes creams, benadryl, etc) and prescription medications.   

I know that I'm missing a few more "After" pictures.  As soon as the kids got home from school yesterday we were out the door for doctor appointments.  I didn't have time to wash the sheets or make the bed.  I don't know when I'll actually get the chance to do laundry.  Hopefully this weekend because I really hate sleeping on the mattress without a sheet.