Woohoo, it's finally happened

Yes ladies, after almost 2 years of marriage, it has finally happened. Congratulate me! I finally have my china and crystal put away in a dresser :) It's safe and accessible :)

Today I received another partial delivery of my bedroom furniture. Now let me explain how my china got put away in my bedroom furniture. The dresser doesn't fit in the bedroom, but I wanted it for the day when we lived somewhere that it would, so we bought it. Well it just happens to match my dining room table, so it's in the dining room and now filled with my china, crystal, and soon linens :) Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!

Tomorrow's organization goal is to tidy up the room downstairs prepping it for it's final organization when I get the last of the bedroom furniture.

100 things about me

This is my 100th post, so in tradition of the 100th, here are 100 things about me. Hubby might not even know some of these.

100 I'm between 5'9" and 5'10"
99 I have brown hair
98 I have green eyes
97 I once got blue contacts, after about 6 months sitting in an English class I realized everyone had either blue eyes or brown eyes. I was the only one with green, and I was hiding them, thinking I would be prettier with blue, within a couple of weeks of that I accidentally ripped one of those contacts, the other had a small nick from my nails that had become larger. Coincident, I doubt it, subconscious though.
96 I have long skinny feet, makes it really hard to find shoes, size 11AAAA (or 11 AAA, depends on the shoe)
95 I have a lot of birth marks, I wasn't born with them all, I was born with only 2 one on each side of my torso at the waist.
94 I was 8 pounds at birth and 24 inches. 2 feet tall already :)
93 My favourite colour is red
92 I was raised to be proud to be Canadian.
91 I love learning and experiencing traditions from other cultures
90 I love languages, but I'm not very good at them
89 I like crafts, latest ones are needlepoint and quilting
88 I used to have a navel piercing
87 My motorcycle license expired last month, never did upgrade it from a learners to a full fledged rider
86 I'm almost 34
85 I feel the biological clock ticking and after this weekend, it's even louder (sorry honey)
84 I don't like my birthmarks and wonder why they are called that because I didn't have so many at birth, or even in early childhood.
83 My favourite body part is my fingers
82 I think my toes are neat because they remind me of my fingers (length & dexterity), but they are not very attractive due to the shoe problems I have (they get squished).
81 My joints in my legs pop
80 I get a lot of headaches, but I'm trying to control them non-medically now
79 I'm a business systems analyst (don't ask)
78 I'm not thrilled with my job, it's tolerable though
77 I have a strong work ethic, which is why I want to be happy with what I do to earn money
76 I have a degree in biology
75 I also have one in environmental science
74 I can program, but not well
73 I like cooking new things
72 I like learning new things
71 I wish I was a better wife to my hubby
70 I wish I could fly
69 I wish sometimes I could see the future, but then I would have to follow it and how boring would that be to know every word and movement before they happened.
68 I wish I was more of a risk taker and adventurer
67 I wish I'd win the lottery, just 2-5 million up front please (although I would take the "win for life" too)
66 I like to swim
65 I like to walk
64 I wish I could run long distances
63 I want to get back on my bicycle, but I've never been a good rider
62 I never appreciated my mother's garden until I had a lawn of my own (it's amazingly beautiful and lush in it's simplicity)
61 If you know Meyers-Briggs I'm INFJ (Introvert, iNuitive, Feeling, Judging), but I'm also really close on sensing & thinking because I was taught that way.
60 I've been married almost 2 years, to a wonderful man that I've known for 15 years (we were friends for 9 before we realized we were meant for each other)
59 My hubby completes me
58 I like to travel
57 I want to go to Italy
56 I want to go to Greece
55 I want to go to France
54 I want to go to Mexico
53 I'm into historical ruins and architecture
52 I like visiting model homes
51 The coolest model home I ever saw had a kids playhouse built into the adjoining wall between 2 of the kids bedrooms (I was a pre-teen when I saw it)
50 I would describe my homes decor as modern but not minimalist.
49 My puppy is sleeping on his back with his feet in the air. He plays with his toys like this, like a baby holding a bottle
48 My puppy has also learned how to entertain himself by playing soccer. He holds one ball in his mouth and the other he passes from paw to paw as he walks around the living room/dining room
47 The chore I hate the most is vacuuming
46 The chore I like the best is cleaning the bathroom
45 I've worn glasses since Grade 7 (age 12)
44 I think about my breasts a lot
43 I'd like to be more comfortable with my breasts, I do think they are nice
42 I've never smoked
41 I have no desire to smoke
40 I'd like to run my own business but can't decide what I would like to do
39 I though I would be grown up by now, and it annoys me that I don't behave that way sometimes. Not that I have to be responsible and an adult all the time, but there is a time and place, and I forget myself at times.
38 I like my coffee "white" (lots of sugar and milk)
37 I prefer Coke to Pepsi
36 I prefer Crest to Colgate
35 I prefer Tide to all others
34 I prefer Second Cup to Starbucks
33 I love the Chai Latte at Second Cup (it totally sucks at Starbucks)
32 I need to take more time for myself, and recognize it as such when I do
31 I like blogging, and when I was away I missed my blogger buddies
30 I try to be honest with people
29 I try to be honest with myself
28 My favourite restaurant is One of a Kind Pasta and Grill (the salmon leaves me speechless)
27 Ruth Chris has the best steak
26 Dante's has the best pizza, Riveria comes a close second
25 My favourite alcoholic drinks are mixed drinks, both drinks and shots (like chocolate monkeys)
24 Warpie is a derivative of an earlier handle called mindwarp, I don't think my thinking is as warped as it used to be. It's time for a change
23 I like doing creative things
22 I'm glad I'm getting close to the end of this because I can't think of much more and it's taken me about an hour to write this much
21 I actually have 3 blogs :) but I've barely used the live journal one
20 Today's mood is relaxed
19 Current reading material is "Children of Dune"
18 Tomorrow I'm trying a new recipe - lentil stir fry
17 Get more new furniture tomorrow, which means more organizing!!!!!!!
16 I love animals (maybe I should find a job with animals)
15 I'd rather live in the country than the city
14 I prefer tea to coffee, but still like coffee for the sugar hit :)
13 Favourite breakfast place is Cora's (followed by Dim sum at Ruby's)
12 I don't currently have a favourite TV show since Friends ended
11 I like CSI and House
10 I don't like reality TV shows unless they are helping people. Extreme MakeOver: Home Edition makes me cry each and every time I watch it. I also like the cool things they do in the homes.
9 I cry at TV shows and movies
8 Books will make me cry too
7 Hopefully my brother is getting married this spring (destination wedding)
6 I gave the engagement rings I inherited to my bro so that he can give his intended a ring (though she has never asked for one).
5 I have a small family
4 I wish I was closer to my family at times, even though I'm not a quality time person, so perhaps that's not a wise wish ;)
3 I love my family
2 I love my dog (but would still like a cat)
1 I love my honey bunny very very much

Well past my bedtime, time to go to bed!

Cool org ideas

I like this site: http://www.getorganizednow.com/

In fact I'm trying to follow their calendar, I forgot until today that I was going to do August, so I'm 3 days behind :(

http://www.getorganizednow.com/cl-month.html

Tackle it Tuesday

Well I actually wasn't going to tackle anything today because it's so hot, and hanging shelves is hard work. Then I realized that tomorrow someone is coming over to quote a window replacement and Thursday the furnace ducts are being cleaned. So basically I want to tidy the whole house. So I cleaned up the kitchen, or at least put the bulk of the disorder where it can't easily be seen. I sanded and primed the walls where I made mistakes trying to hang the shelves. I've brought the paint colours upstairs (3 different ones), I'll see if the primer is dry in an hour. In the mean time I have the basement to tidy up, and I really really hope they won't be going into each room to vacuum out the vents. I called mom to find out and apparently they don't vacuum out each vent. Whew!

So the primer was dry so I painted the spots in question, now I'm waiting for it to dry, then I'll hang the shelves, but that will probably be tomorrow since it's almost time for bed now.

Well so much for a quiet Tuesday night relaxing at home.

Organizing

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

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!

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.

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

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

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 :)

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).

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.

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.

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).

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 :)

Karen's Baby Born

Quinn Sharon Joy Bellows was born on Monday, June 5th at 1:25am. Weighing 7lbs 9ozand measuing 50cm long.

I'm sure Karen won't be posting for at least a day or 2. (http://pddmommyof3.blogspot.com/)

Hallelujah

The Spirit moves mightly tonight, been praying for my loved ones, He's heard, will wait and see the fruit. It's coming, hope it's soon, I know the answer has been a long time coming. Think I'll spend some time in praise now, because singing gospel music at the top of my lungs is always fantastic.

Reasons I appreciate my hubby

I decided to write about why I fell in love with my hubby:

1) Because his hands are so gentle when he plays with my hair or rubs my back.
2) Because that first kiss was beautiful (5 years ago today).
3) Because being with him makes me sing
4) Because he used to smile so much when we were together that it would bring tears to his eyes.
5) Because he's very laid back and when he gets mad he doesn't yell.
6) Because he always carries the bags and packages when we go shopping.
7) Because he took care of cleaning up a major womanly accident when we were dating.
8) Because it was fun sneaking around with him before we told all our friends we were dating.
9) Because he's very patient and listens to me and I feel I can talk to him about anything.
10) Because he was my good friend then, and my best friend now.

Happy Anniversary darling. I love you.

6 Quirks about me

Julie tagged me to reveal 6 quirks about myself:

1. I make funny sing song like noises when I'm happy (hubby discovered this, another reason I knew I wanted to share my life with him).
2. I have an addiction to glassware. I like to buy cups, mugs, dishes, vases. I especially like interesting martini glasses and vases.
3. I have weird toes, they are a lot like fingers, in fact my second toe is almost as long as my pinky (on my hand, that would be weird it I meant my pinky toe).
4. I like funny clothing, my favourite article of clothing is a green hat with pompons on long strings, so I can swing them around. I see people smile at me when I wear it and it makes me happy that someone smiled at my silliness.
5. I think I'm psychic :) I had a dream about marrying my hubby about 7 years before we started dating (we were just friends at the time). I have the sense of deja vu occasionally
6. I'm a nut, or from another planet at times :)

Honey, Drake's barfing

Wouldn't it be nice if you could say that and have your spouse take care of it. I did, although I didn't expect honey to take care of it. I just needed him to help Drake, give him some water, comfort him (no one likes barfing, not even a dog). Mostly I wanted Drake to feel comforted because if there's just me, I'm afraid he might eat the barf (he hasn't done that yet, but a lot of dogs do, Drake just eats poo apparently, more on that later) so I push him away when he comes near while I try to clean it up, which might seem like he's been bad, and I can't communicate and explain to him what I'm doing and why. I wonder if he barfed because he ate an entire box of Triscuit crackers. It was the whole box, bought it yesterday and it hadn't been opened yet. Good think it wasn't "jumbo" or "bonus" size, he's probably going to have binding and bloating from the wheat and salt.

We started Drake on a pill from the pet shop that is supposed to help stool smell less, and one of the side effects is the dog is less likely to consume the stool, I figured for $12 it was worth the purchase. He's been on it for about 2 weeks and hasn't consumed any of his own stool. Yay! Although note the "any of his own", he has consumed cat stool, which apparently is like candy for them, and another animal's on a walk a few days after he started the pills (we can't see them under the snow, but he can smell them).