So I didn't quite get everything done I wanted to, because I forgot I still had things on my list from earlier in the week, and I got distracted.
So for this week, I have to complete the things I started last week:
Finish the kitchen handles
Finish hanging the shelves
Finish reorg of the laundry room
Finish cleaning the 2 storage cupboards in the basement
Find something for the bathroom storage, because the other one didn't fit.
Cleanup
Monday, July 31, 2006
Menu planning Monday
Here's my menu plan for the week:
Monday: 2 mustard chicken, zucchini, broccoli
Tuesday: Veggie Dahl
Wednesday: Chicken Fajitas
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Not my problem, going away for the weekend!
Monday: 2 mustard chicken, zucchini, broccoli
Tuesday: Veggie Dahl
Wednesday: Chicken Fajitas
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Not my problem, going away for the weekend!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Today's Challenge
My OCD (Organizational challenge of the Day) is:
* Go to Canadian Tire and get baskets for the miscellaneous stuff, and for the makeup and hair accessories in my dresser for under the sink.
* Fill said under sink baskets.
* Start filling the miscellaneous baskets
* Clean out the old end table into the new end table so I can take the old one downstairs and put my sewing and quilting into it.
* Do the laundry
But before I do all this, I need to finish up some documentation from work, so I will do that until noon.
* Go to Canadian Tire and get baskets for the miscellaneous stuff, and for the makeup and hair accessories in my dresser for under the sink.
* Fill said under sink baskets.
* Start filling the miscellaneous baskets
* Clean out the old end table into the new end table so I can take the old one downstairs and put my sewing and quilting into it.
* Do the laundry
But before I do all this, I need to finish up some documentation from work, so I will do that until noon.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
More on the household front
I love the furniture, I absolutely love it. To me, bedroom furniture and dining room furniture are things you will probably never change. So when hubby and I were looking there were items we liked, but when I asked myself the question: "Will you like it in 30 years?" More often than not the answer was no. So needless to say it took a long time to find the furniture we could both live with, and I hope hubby just didn't decide to agree so that we'd be done with it, but I am very very happy, and glad we kept looking rather than just buying something.
Last night I did something that I've been putting off for the better part of a year. I finally changed the handles on the cupboards in the kitchen. Well almost, I still have one pair of cupboards and 4 drawers to do. It actually only took me about 3 hours to drill new holes and hang the new handles. I still have to fill the old holes and repaint the cupboards, but that's a weekend job as the paint takes 24 hours to dry and I need to do both sides of the doors and all the shelves and inside and outside all the cupboards. I'm going to wait and see how long it takes hubby to notice, it might be only until he has to pull a spoon fork or knife out of the drawer, because he'll probably do that before I get the new handles on the drawers. I also found out, that using a drill is A LOT of fun, I really enjoyed it. I was a little concerned at first about getting the drill in the right spot and accidentally splitting the melamine, but hey, it was great! (Update: it took hubby on 10 minutes to notice).
I have to say though I did clean all the cupboards before putting the new handles on, and diluted liquid TSP is a wonder cleaner. You see I've painted my kitchen -- twice. And where I put the painters tape along the top of the hanging cupboards there was a little residual glue and it got quite sticky and dirty. Well that TSP removed that gunk in no time flat. I swiped the top of each door once with the sponge, then went back to the start and wiped it again and off it came. FABULOUS! Mr Clean wasn't nearly so fast. Mind you, TSP works great on that kind of stuff, but it does leave residue, so you have to wash it again with a typical non streaking cleaner (I wrote no steaking, I must be hungry, it was hard work). I also only hurt myself twice, not bad for me because I'm such a klutz. I drilled my left thigh, and stab/scraped my thumb with the screwdriver when it slipped. I like Ikea, but they never make their holes into metal big enough, just this little hole and a big screw. So annoying, but now I can fix that with the drill rather than killing my poor hands and arms trying to turn the screw.
Here are my organizational challenges for today:
In my dresser I have 2 drawers taken up by non-clothing items, I would like to be able to put clothing in there, but first I need some way to organize these things so that it's neat and not visible.
Drawer number one contains makeup, I have a small container for my everyday makeup, but my moisturizer and foundation don't fit, also I have a few more eyeshadows and eyeliners than the case can hold. There is also the nail polish. I'd like to organize this with the items I use to remove makeup and nail polist, so how can I get this neatly into my bathroom (I only have a vanity in there, so it's all below the sink storage at this point).
The other drawer contains my hair dryer, curling iron and rollers.
Actually now I'm thinking perhaps under the sink I install 3 stacked bins that can be pulled out like drawers and put it all in there. Just need to leave enough room for toilet paper and cleaning products. Anyone have better ideas?
Then Organizing Junkie says I should make a list of things I want to organize and break it out into small pieces, so here's my list:
My underwear and sock drawer
My makeup
My beauty routine accessories
My cleaning products
My clothes
My keepsakes
The filing cabinet
The pleasure reading bookcase
The technical reading bookcase
The comic books
The computer accessories
The computers
The computer storage disks
The guest bedroom (it's currently a storage area)
The kichen pantry
The kitchen pots and pans
The kitchen baking accessories
The plates and cups
The leftover food containers (for lunches)
The first aid kits and bandaids
The china and crystal
The serving dishes
The cookbooks and other recipes
The laundry room
The electrical/storage room
The under the stairs storage
The CDs, DVDs and tapes and games
The sewing and quilting
Last night I did something that I've been putting off for the better part of a year. I finally changed the handles on the cupboards in the kitchen. Well almost, I still have one pair of cupboards and 4 drawers to do. It actually only took me about 3 hours to drill new holes and hang the new handles. I still have to fill the old holes and repaint the cupboards, but that's a weekend job as the paint takes 24 hours to dry and I need to do both sides of the doors and all the shelves and inside and outside all the cupboards. I'm going to wait and see how long it takes hubby to notice, it might be only until he has to pull a spoon fork or knife out of the drawer, because he'll probably do that before I get the new handles on the drawers. I also found out, that using a drill is A LOT of fun, I really enjoyed it. I was a little concerned at first about getting the drill in the right spot and accidentally splitting the melamine, but hey, it was great! (Update: it took hubby on 10 minutes to notice).
I have to say though I did clean all the cupboards before putting the new handles on, and diluted liquid TSP is a wonder cleaner. You see I've painted my kitchen -- twice. And where I put the painters tape along the top of the hanging cupboards there was a little residual glue and it got quite sticky and dirty. Well that TSP removed that gunk in no time flat. I swiped the top of each door once with the sponge, then went back to the start and wiped it again and off it came. FABULOUS! Mr Clean wasn't nearly so fast. Mind you, TSP works great on that kind of stuff, but it does leave residue, so you have to wash it again with a typical non streaking cleaner (I wrote no steaking, I must be hungry, it was hard work). I also only hurt myself twice, not bad for me because I'm such a klutz. I drilled my left thigh, and stab/scraped my thumb with the screwdriver when it slipped. I like Ikea, but they never make their holes into metal big enough, just this little hole and a big screw. So annoying, but now I can fix that with the drill rather than killing my poor hands and arms trying to turn the screw.
Here are my organizational challenges for today:
In my dresser I have 2 drawers taken up by non-clothing items, I would like to be able to put clothing in there, but first I need some way to organize these things so that it's neat and not visible.
Drawer number one contains makeup, I have a small container for my everyday makeup, but my moisturizer and foundation don't fit, also I have a few more eyeshadows and eyeliners than the case can hold. There is also the nail polish. I'd like to organize this with the items I use to remove makeup and nail polist, so how can I get this neatly into my bathroom (I only have a vanity in there, so it's all below the sink storage at this point).
The other drawer contains my hair dryer, curling iron and rollers.
Actually now I'm thinking perhaps under the sink I install 3 stacked bins that can be pulled out like drawers and put it all in there. Just need to leave enough room for toilet paper and cleaning products. Anyone have better ideas?
Then Organizing Junkie says I should make a list of things I want to organize and break it out into small pieces, so here's my list:
My underwear and sock drawer
My makeup
My beauty routine accessories
My cleaning products
My clothes
My keepsakes
The filing cabinet
The pleasure reading bookcase
The technical reading bookcase
The comic books
The computer accessories
The computers
The computer storage disks
The guest bedroom (it's currently a storage area)
The kichen pantry
The kitchen pots and pans
The kitchen baking accessories
The plates and cups
The leftover food containers (for lunches)
The first aid kits and bandaids
The china and crystal
The serving dishes
The cookbooks and other recipes
The laundry room
The electrical/storage room
The under the stairs storage
The CDs, DVDs and tapes and games
The sewing and quilting
Friday, July 28, 2006
Garage sale?
Well we finally received some of our bedroom furniture, and it is sooo beautiful (to me anyway). So I took the old furniture to the basement and started using it for storage, like CDs. I also purged about 25% of our CD collection. Fortunately hubby and I haven't been married for so long that I can't remember which CDs I came into the marriage with, so it's those CDs I purged. I mean I haven't listened to Stone Temple Pilots, Blind Melon, Weeping Tile, Seven Mary Three or James in 10 years. So hence the garage sale, I'm going to wait until fall so it's cooler, and I'll hopefully have purged more, in the mean time I can box these up and put them into the rafters in the garage. I'm sure I'll have lots and lots of goodies to sell once I'm done cleaning.
Here's pics of the furniture from the manufacturer. The chest will be the same dark espresso colour as the night stands and table. The manufacturer is "Lane" and the line is called "Regency".
The nightstand
The Dresser
The Chest
Here's pics of the furniture from the manufacturer. The chest will be the same dark espresso colour as the night stands and table. The manufacturer is "Lane" and the line is called "Regency".
The nightstand
The Dresser
The Chest
Jump on the bandwagon
Well with Julie's comment, I now know 3 of us keen on getting organized. Organizing Junkie, you're rubbing off on us. Perhaps we can encourage each other with what we accomplish from time to time. I know I need it because I have a long haul ahead of me :)
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Org tidbit
Here's my org tidbit for the day, admitted I saw this on "Neat" on the Home and Garden network, but I liked it.
This is for organizing your papers that you need in immediate reach (for an average household, not a business). Get a small hanging file holder, insert 15 hanging files.
The last 12 in the hanging file are the months of the year, put into these folders things you need to do each month, i.e. showers, weddings, property taxes. Move each month to the back of the group as it passes.
The first 5 folders are "Pay", "Read", "File", "Mail", "Shred". This is for your incoming mail so that you don't lose anything, and you're up to date, you just have to remember to review daily and file regularly.
Mine is actually not hanging files, it's just the first 5 and it in a magnetic holder attached to the fridge (because the kitchen is the first room as you come in the front door, and the fridge is the closest thing). OK OK, it was attached to the fridge, it's now on the filing cabinet in the office and we don't use it, I should repurpose this and start using it. Works pretty well if you have a desk and file cabinet in the kitchen... or your office is accessible (mine's not, it's on the eventual org list).
This is for organizing your papers that you need in immediate reach (for an average household, not a business). Get a small hanging file holder, insert 15 hanging files.
The last 12 in the hanging file are the months of the year, put into these folders things you need to do each month, i.e. showers, weddings, property taxes. Move each month to the back of the group as it passes.
The first 5 folders are "Pay", "Read", "File", "Mail", "Shred". This is for your incoming mail so that you don't lose anything, and you're up to date, you just have to remember to review daily and file regularly.
Mine is actually not hanging files, it's just the first 5 and it in a magnetic holder attached to the fridge (because the kitchen is the first room as you come in the front door, and the fridge is the closest thing). OK OK, it was attached to the fridge, it's now on the filing cabinet in the office and we don't use it, I should repurpose this and start using it. Works pretty well if you have a desk and file cabinet in the kitchen... or your office is accessible (mine's not, it's on the eventual org list).
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
New furniture yippee
So we're supposed to get about half of our new furniture tomorrow, I'm excited, but it means I need to do more tidying up tonight, I don't want our house to look like a pig sty when they come to deliver the furniture. So tonight I want to drop some clothes off at the donation box near the grocery store. I just need to find some bags that are big enough so that I don't have to make five trips to load it all in the trunk. Sure running up and down the stairs all those times would be good for me, but, well, I don't feel like it :)
I did go through the cabinets in the 2 bathrooms, and cleaned them out. Mostly it was moving all the first aid stuff into one place, into the powder room. Then I "organized" by putting cleaning stuff on the right and first aid or beauty products on the left. Not great organization I admit it, but it works and it's easy to maintain. Also I put a set of cleaning products into each bathroom, so now I don't have to carry all the stuff from floor to floor, it's there where I need it, and I can use it when I'm in there.
I did go through the cabinets in the 2 bathrooms, and cleaned them out. Mostly it was moving all the first aid stuff into one place, into the powder room. Then I "organized" by putting cleaning stuff on the right and first aid or beauty products on the left. Not great organization I admit it, but it works and it's easy to maintain. Also I put a set of cleaning products into each bathroom, so now I don't have to carry all the stuff from floor to floor, it's there where I need it, and I can use it when I'm in there.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Next organisation projects
I've been inspired by Mom of 2 (Mrs. Happy) and Organizing Junkie. I really do have to get my stuff collected, I'm soooo tired of not finding things, and having a hard time walking around some rooms (OK, 4 rooms to be exact, and it's only an 8 room house, I'm in big trouble). Half the problem is not enough storage, and some of that should be relieved for 2 of the rooms by the end of August. In the mean time, here are my goals by next Monday:
* Upstairs bathroom
* main floor bathroom
* basement storage closets
* laundry room
Wish me luck, I may just become a domestic diva yet.
* Upstairs bathroom
* main floor bathroom
* basement storage closets
* laundry room
Wish me luck, I may just become a domestic diva yet.
Closet cleanliness
No the title doesn't mean that I keep my cleanliness under wraps, it means I cleaned out my closet. Well, I now know to be true what my mom has been saying for a few years now, I have trouble remember things. I figured it was just remembering things she wanted from me, or maybe that there was too much stress at work, and things I needed to remember there that left no short term memory for other things. But recently I've lost my books, and it only took me a week to lose them.
Long story short, I found the books in hubby's closet, I blame 'The Bay' for losing them, and Mrs. Happy inspiring me for finding them. OK OK, I lost them. On Tuesday the aforementioned Bay phoned me to tell me my bedroom furniture was going to be delivered the next day (you have a scheduled day, so they only give you a day's warning). In my excitement and haste to get the main and top floors clutter free so the new furniture could me moved in, I was busy shoving things into closets and drawers. So I shoved my new books into my workout bag, and that bag into hubby's closet. The furniture never came, apparently, it's on back order, but also on the truck delivery manifest for that day *shrug*. I now have a new date of Aug 12, and believe me if it doesn't come the 12th we're requesting our money back and starting again looking elsewhere for furniture.
Well on the upside, I have a lovely organized closet, pens where pens go, receipts where receipts go, jewelry where jewelry goes, makeup where makeup goes. A spot for cleansers, hair accessories and various rechargers. I'm very happy, and I have a new book to read tonight, woohoo! I did take before and after pics of the closet, but the batteries were running low on the camera and the pics didn't save. That or I don't know how to use the camera properly (never had problems before, so I don't think that's it).
Long story short, I found the books in hubby's closet, I blame 'The Bay' for losing them, and Mrs. Happy inspiring me for finding them. OK OK, I lost them. On Tuesday the aforementioned Bay phoned me to tell me my bedroom furniture was going to be delivered the next day (you have a scheduled day, so they only give you a day's warning). In my excitement and haste to get the main and top floors clutter free so the new furniture could me moved in, I was busy shoving things into closets and drawers. So I shoved my new books into my workout bag, and that bag into hubby's closet. The furniture never came, apparently, it's on back order, but also on the truck delivery manifest for that day *shrug*. I now have a new date of Aug 12, and believe me if it doesn't come the 12th we're requesting our money back and starting again looking elsewhere for furniture.
Well on the upside, I have a lovely organized closet, pens where pens go, receipts where receipts go, jewelry where jewelry goes, makeup where makeup goes. A spot for cleansers, hair accessories and various rechargers. I'm very happy, and I have a new book to read tonight, woohoo! I did take before and after pics of the closet, but the batteries were running low on the camera and the pics didn't save. That or I don't know how to use the camera properly (never had problems before, so I don't think that's it).
Friday, July 07, 2006
Date night
Tonight was date night, I almost forgot! Every fourth Friday night I take my little love out on a date. We go to the pet store where Drake plays with any dogs that might be there, flirts with every cashier, and usually gets a Milk Bone from all of them, and he flirts with the customers too. I usually buy him a treat too.
I almost forgot tonight though, hubby works nights every fourth Friday, so the pup and I go to PetSmart. We had only 15 minutes in the store, but he got to greet another golden retriever, and 2 cashiers (only 1 milk bone) and every customer in the store (4 families or couples). We picked up some liver treats, his favs. I had coupons, so we got 3 packages of them!
Drake is passed out in the foyer now, because the ceramic tiles are nice and cool with the AC on. It's good going to PetSmart, it tires him out and that leaves me free to "chat" with his daddy online :)
I almost forgot tonight though, hubby works nights every fourth Friday, so the pup and I go to PetSmart. We had only 15 minutes in the store, but he got to greet another golden retriever, and 2 cashiers (only 1 milk bone) and every customer in the store (4 families or couples). We picked up some liver treats, his favs. I had coupons, so we got 3 packages of them!
Drake is passed out in the foyer now, because the ceramic tiles are nice and cool with the AC on. It's good going to PetSmart, it tires him out and that leaves me free to "chat" with his daddy online :)
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