Thirty Thankful Days - Day 10

Today, I am thankful for time to myself. I had a very rare opportunity this morning to have the house all to myself. There was NO ONE home except for me and the dogs from almost 8 am until nearly 3pm then from 3pm til around 4pm.

In that time, I was able to get a number of things done. I did some laundry, gathered dishes, gathered trash, unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded and ran the dishwasher, cleared off and wiped down all the counters, cleaned the inside of the microwave, cleaned the stove, straightened up everything in the dining room, cleared off and wiped down the bar area, cleared off a bookshelf and moved it, cleared off an endtable, wiped it down, cleared off the couch, dusted the entire living room, top to bottom, washed the living room windows inside and out (double-hung windows that both lean inwards!), cleaned the window sills and frames, dusted and wiped down the bookshelf and put new items back onto it, cleared out the kennels, cleared off the entertainment center, wiped it down, reorganized the shelves, vacuumed, hung window treatments in the living room and front room, changed out a light bulb in Oralee's bedroom. Okay, changing a light bulb may not seem worthy of sharing in a list like this but I think any light bulb change that requires a pair of slip-joint pliers gets to count for SOMETHING, thus, it gets included. And if I ever find out who designed the lighting system in this home....grrr.

So anyhow, I got all that accomplished before noon. So I treated myself to a relaxing rest. I didn't sleep though. I laid on the sofa and texted with a friend. I felt like I had worked hard for a break. But then I kind of didn't get back to it much for the rest of the day. But I feel like I have an amazing starting point for tomorrow!

I am thankful for the solitary time that I had today, for the work that it allowed me to accomplish, the relaxed time it allowed me to spend this afternoon. Sometimes things like that just have the power to rejuvenate me. I feel fired up and ready to tackle more tomorrow!

Organizing My Life - Intro

I have decided to start a new plan for myself for the year 2012. I want to start implementing a number of different things. I want to give myself a new task to incorporate each week. It will be something minor each week but little things that will help me to get and stay on track as I progress through the year.

What do you think? Does this look like something that would help you as well? I'd love to hear your feedback so that I know if this is something that I should maybe stock in an etsy shop. Also, I would love to have 3 people try it out and let me know what they think of it. I want to know if it helps you.

No matter what I do online, I have to have a physical paper version of it to really get me to stick to it. My problem with online things is simply that. They are online. Which involves me sitting at my desk (if I am using the desktop computer) or on the sofa (if I am on my laptop) where I am not exactly motivated to get whatever it is done that needs to be done.

This way, I can put it on a clipboard or inside a page protector and hang it somewhere that I am sure to see everyday. Like the wall next to my desk or in the kitchen. Shoot, even in the bathroom would work but I'm not sold on hanging it there. Unless I had multiple copies of the same sheet and hung them up in the room where each job would end up occurring so that I would be sure to see it while I was in that room. I don't know, I guess it could work. We'll see though. I'm going to start out with just one copy put up in a central location.

Who knows? If this works for me, it might even work for the kids to develop personal responsibility habits? It just might work to help them out as well.

Thirty Thankful Days - Day 9

I have been hit hard by whatever this is that has been plaguing me this past week. Today I am thankful for the ability to stay in bed all day long. I went back to bed around 10:00, I think it was. I would have to check my text history to see which was the last message I sent before falling asleep, because I can fall asleep just that fast sometimes (but never when I want or need it to happen!) and then I slept for the rest of the day, waking up sometime around 9:00pm. But I needed it. I truly did. Of course, that means that I'm up at 2:00 in the morning writing blog posts and planning and cleaning and watching TV instead of sleeping. I hope to be able to lay back down and get some sleep so that I can get myself readjusted before the kids come home from school tomorrow afternoon. It's a start...

And in the meantime, I'll just keep trying to get over whatever this thing is. The good news is that I can now eat without feeling like I am going to die. I always call that a good thing.

Thirty Thankful Days - Day 8

Today is Day 8 and it is really easy to choose what I am thankful for today. If you read my post from 11:30 last night, you can probably guess. Today I am thankful for forgiveness. I am thankful that I have the ability to mess up, to be sorry and to be forgiven. I don't try to mess up. I'd love to never mess up. But the fact is, that I do mess up. But I am forgiven. And I'm grateful!

Organized Home Challenge - Week 45 prep

Kids' Bedroom Organizing Challenge

Wow. Can my kids (and I) ever use this challenge right now! I also like the idea of doing this challenge at this point, where it is far enough before Christmas that we can weed out space for the incoming new items, yet it won't leave them feeling deprived of their purged belongings because Christmas will be coming up soon enough.

In the older boys' bedroom, they have two twin beds. We hope to change this out to twin beds or even really to this one bed I found that has a set of twin beds with an attached loft bed, creating an L-shape. I love that bed design! Three beds taking up the floor space of one! Perfect for a small room!

Anyhow, for right now, only the two older boys are sharing a room and that is the one that I am going to share with you. Their room is done up in a sort of sports theme. I wish it was more complete but it's a work in progress.

We start out with their beds. Two twin beds. We have had these beds in nearly every single configuration that is possible in this room. The way it is right now is the configuration that they have chosen. They also have their dresser and Koren's keyboard (for his music practice) and Cephas' violin and music stand (for his music practice). They also have some toys in their room as well as some storage drawers that they have inherited from my mother-in-law's garage sale pile. Well, actually, I inherited them, but then didn't need them afterall and so I offered them to the boys.

Cephas also uses an older wooden tv tray as a night stand next to his bed. I actually like this idea because it takes up less room than his old one did and it matches the wood tone of their beds. The dresser is another story as it does not match but that's something that I have just come to deal with. We bought that dresser back in the day when Cephas was an only child. And a teeny tiny child at that. Like two years old. It's been around awhile now. It definitely shows too!

But we're not here to talk about his dresser. We're here to make sure that their room is organized and functional for them. The first step to do that is to determine what this space is used for.

The first, primary use of their bedroom is for sleeping. For sleeping, they need beds. Check.

The second use of this space is for clothing storage. They have a dresser. Check.

The third use of this space is for music practice. They have their music area set up. Check.

The fourth use of this space is for playing with toys. This is one of the areas that needs some fine-tuning. They have storage and they have toys, but I think it could use some tweaking to be honest. Koren tends to be a very orderly child. He likes to have his toys separated into different bins or compartments or whatever based on what the item is. So all of his Hot Wheels are together, all of his dinosaurs are together, all of his sea animals are together, all of his stuffed animals are together, so on and so forth. Which I love! That is a child who takes after my CDO (a family joke - CDO is like OCD but in alphabetical order the way it should be).

Cephas also likes storage bins and having things organized. However, there's something missing somewhere between having the containers and keeping things organized. He also tends to be a bit on the hoarder side of things. Or so it seems. The fact that he has an old end table that we tried to get rid of and an old computer that barely functions in his closet is an indication of that.

So, that is the primary thing that I am going to be working on this week with them. Organizing their space for their toy/playing/entertainment functions. Check back at the beginning of next week to see how it turns out.

Tackle It Tuesday - November Week 2

After the weekend I had, there is plenty to tackle around here! *SOME DONE* I have a mountain of laundry that needs to be folded and put away.
I will be working on this today. Much as I'd like to not do it.

*SOME DONE* I have another mountain of laundry that needed to be washed and dried so that it could be folded and put away.
And another item that I will be working on today.

*SOME DONE* The main rooms in the house (front room, living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom) could all use a thorough and detailed cleaning.
Not sure about a thorough cleaning but a good picking up is definitely in the cards for these rooms. Hubby did a fantastic job in the kitchen late last night so there really isn't much to do in that room. Same goes with the bar area of the living room.
I did a thorough job in the dining room and a general picking up of the other rooms. It works. I always start in the dining room for some odd reason and then work into the kitchen, then to the bar area, then the living room, front room, entry area, bathroom and then the hallway. It's the way that I clean the house. I don't know why exactly, it just is.

*DONE* The shed needs to be cleared out so that we have room in there to put our exercise bike (because we don't have room for it in the house at this point...although since it is getting colder and less likely that we would be using our regular bikes, it would make more sense to have this indoors) and for our bikes and for the lawn mower.
Before this blog post even went live, Hubby went out and cleared out a large portion of the shed so that we could begin to use it more effectively. So this item is already done. The bikes and lawn mower have yet to go in there though.

There is a pile of various things out in back of our house next to deck that need to be taken over to the dumpster so that it can be hauled away.
It has been raining and is set to snow later today, so this one is not getting done for this post. Maybe next week's post?

We need to put up some new fascia on the shed so that the rain (and eventually the snow and ice) doesn't damage the wood supporting the roof.
Because it has been raining and is set to snow later today, this one is not getting done for this post either. Maybe next week's post?

*DONE* I need to put away a card table that I've had sitting out in the bar area of our living room.
Before this blog post even went live, Hubby took down the card table and put all of the things that were on it, um, somewhere? I am not sure exactly where he put the things that were on it, to be honest. Probably in our bedroom? It's kind of messy in there right now but I have plans for that room tomorrow.

We need to clear off the front porch, which has become a collecting ground of sorts. Plus, my mom smokes out there and leaves her messes out there and I don't always see it in time to ask her to clean up after herself. (Plus, I would expect that a 50-something would just know and do it, but that's another story completely)
It is unlikely that this one will be done today due to the rain and impending snow this evening. Maybe next week's post?

We need to replace some of the boards across our back deck.
Nope. This one is DEFINITELY not happening today. Maybe next week's post?

I want to put up some chicken wire on the inside of our back deck so that I can send the dogs out there to get some fresh air. They will stay on the deck on their own but it's more for their safety than anything else. The little dogs can get really rambunctious and I don't want them to get crazy while playing and accidentally knock the other one off the porch through the rail slats.
I will probably do this one around the same time as the one above, so this one won't be done today either. Maybe next week's post?

We also need to work on our storage unit, decluttering and getting rid of things that we no longer want or need.
I am a wimp and don't want to work outside in the cold and rain on something like this. Plus it would be easier to do without the kids and when we have more time available to do it. Maybe next week's post?

Both of our vehicles need a thorough clearing out. They are both so messy! Plus, mine still has lots of stuff in it from camping three weeks ago? Yeah, it's needing to be done.
Once again, I'm a wimp. I don't want to clean out vehicles in the cold rain. Maybe next week's post?

*DONE* We have also been contemplating moving a few things around and making some changes to Cephas and Koren's room as well. We are thinking about making a music area in their room for Cephas to practice his violin and Koren to practice piano (well, we have a keyboard but you get the idea!). Not totally sure where we are on this though!
This is another item that Hubby had started and which I plan to continue working on some today. This is one that will be getting done today.

*DONE* I also could clean out the front closet and get it ready for winter wear. Which means we will have winter coats AND jackets being stored in there as well as our gloves and hats and scarves.
This one has a definite possibility of happening today as I need to get it done. our weather here varies so much that it is important to keep the items that we could possibly need for the weather on hand and organized.

*SKIPPED* I also have to prepare for our Daisy Troop meeting for next week! Oh my!
This also has strong potential to get done today. I need to talk to my co-leader though. She probably thinks that I've been ignoring her. Which I haven't. I've just been VERY busy!

So, which one will I choose? Check back to see!

Struggles

They happen in real life and I'm not about to hide them. As you all know already, Oralee got sick on Friday and had shown some improvement by Saturday and Sunday. Night time was still a major issue with her and I called her in on Monday because of the rough night she had on Sunday night.

And let me tell you, that child was UPSET that I called her in too! She raged at me about it. I know she was sick and wouldn't be able to focus in school and needed a day home to just be able to recoup, but man alive! She was angry. She was talking about how she had science class and how she doesn't like science class but she learns during it and how she was going to miss it. If you followed that one better than I did, kudos to you because she lost me on it. She doesn't like it, but she was upset that she was missing it? Yeah. I don't know.

She was also completely convinced that she is never going to be able to go back to school again. You know, because she missed one day. Yep, one day out of school and now she is a kindergarten drop-out. I know, I shouldn't jest, but seriously? The child is intense.

So today, we were home and I was still feeling under the weather myself. It seems that every single time I ingest something, I have sharp, hot, stabbing pains in my stomach that last for hours. It's bad. And I have been moody today. Like chewing out the whole entire world moody. I was hurting and people kept doing things that upset me. Which is true. People were doing things that upset me. But I also had a choice in how I handled it. And needless to say, I did not handle it well.

The only thing that I handled at least moderately well was dealing with my mother-in-law chewing me out for something that I had nothing to do with. She knows that I had nothing to do with it, had no knowledge of what happened, yet still felt it would benefit somehow to chew me out for 30 minutes (on a day I am not feeling well, mind you!). Actually, I hope it helped her to relieve some of her stress because she needed it. But even still, it wasn't something that I did, had any part in doing or even knew about and I still got to spend half an hour of my day on the phone listening to her yell about it.

And actually, maybe I should have said something more than what I did (which wasn't much) but I just don't know really how to handle that kind of situation. It has been my experience for many years that when someone has their mind made up about something and they are set in their way of thinking, it really doesn't do much good to try and convince them otherwise. But in not sticking up for myself, I don't know if that indicates somehow to her that I am at fault for what was upsetting her? I don't honestly know.

And even though, we are both grown adult women, she is somehow still like an authority over me. Maybe that's just the way that I was raised. My grandmother was still very much an authority over my mother and so I can see that somewhat being the way those kind of relationships are supposed to be. But at the same time, I am now (and have been for the past 12 years) the authority figure over my mother as well. That's a whole other story though.

So today, I am struggling. My mother-in-law is mad at me, I have been horribly moody to my own family, I have been sick and in pain for most of the day. I am depressed too. I feel like there are a lot of negative things happening right now and I don't know exactly what to do about it.

Oh - and my own younger brother called me yesterday and left me a voicemail message cussing me out for not doing my mom's yardwork. You know, since I'm just sitting around all day eating bon-bons and such. He was upset because he had to do her yardwork for her, which simply was not the case. But regardless, it seems that this weekend and Monday, the only thing I was successful at doing was igniting the anger of everyone around me.

I feel like I'm not enough. Like I am somehow failing EVERY single person in my life. And I know in my head that really, that's not the case, but sometimes the way you perceive something ends up being more powerful than reality.

However, I finally finished reading a great book today on my Kindle app (for the computer) although, I cannot even begin to tell you which book it was. I'd have to go through and try to figure that out based on the books that show they have been read completely through. But there was a quote in the book that I absolutely loved. "You are not truly sorry if you are still blaming someone else for your actions." Kathryn Cushman. A Promise to Remember (p. 267). Kindle Edition. Okay, so I decided that it was worth looking for. For some odd reason, it didn't show up as me having read through the whole book but I forgot that the app had an error and closed itself down so that is probably why. I plan to do a review of this book later on, but I just wanted to share this one line from there. Incredible line isn't it?

That fact that it hit home when I read it is part of the reason that I needed to share it with you though. No matter how I have been (or just perceive to have been) wronged by others, my bad attitude today was mine and mine alone. Granted, I shared it with just about everyone. But it was MINE.

It doesn't matter that my mother-in-law was blaming me for something that I had nothing to do with. Or that my brother left me a message on me out on the phone for something that I honestly had not had time to take care of. Or that Hubby did not make sure that Cephas had violin after school on Friday yet specifically told me that he had sent him back in to get it. Or that because of said missing violin that BOTH Cephas and Koren missed their music lessons this evening. Or that housework wasn't getting done today because I was literally barely able to move from the couch today. (Seriously - I have had ONE bathroom trip ALL day long! I even ate my ONE meal laying on the couch.) Or that Hubby didn't seem inspired to help out as much I thought he should have. No matter what happens, I have a choice in how I perceive it and how I respond to it.

Today, I struggled. I took everything as a personal attack (some were but still...) and I responded in a poor manner. Those were both my choice to make. I didn't make the right one. But I am now. I was rude, short-tempered and moody. Today I struggled but I know that my family forgives me. They know I am truly sorry. I don't blame them. It wasn't them. It was me. Things like those listed in the previous paragraph happen quite frequently. Generally, they don't affect me the way it did today. But there's always tomorrow and it will be better. But for today, I am sorry.