So much better

So last weekend--when it was hotter than Hades--I turned on my a/c (just enough to take out the humidity and cool down a bit) and yanked up the last of the carpet in the house*.

If you have had the courage, fortitude and perseverance to read this blog from the beginning you may remember photos of the carpet that used to be in the house:

• From the room known as the Pit (yet hoping to overcome this unfortunate moniker to become the office/guest room). The carpet in here was olive green with fluorescent green flowers--YUMMY!
  
• From the entire rest of the house (less the kitchen & bathroom which were renovated just prior to me moving in and the basement which is entirely concrete). Here is the bedroom (sort of) & the living room. I couldn't find any photos of the dining room with carpet still in it--that room's was the first to go.  It looked exactly like the living & bedroom carpet.

Tada!

Ignore the little brown splotches on the floor in the second photo.  I have no idea what they are. They are not actually on the floor.  I took this photo seconds after the first so I don't think it is the lens...

The junk, behind the chair and on the piano in the background, however is another story.  That is actually there. Not an illusion despite my utmost desire for it to be.  The stuff behind the chair is actually a disassembled futon waiting for a mattress. And the other stuff is waiting for me to clean out the Pit...again.

*This excludes the 4 foot by 4 foot patch in my entry/closet area that is currently being held down by a ton of books I have yet to process from the church library (literally...well, okay, almost a TON).

Inspired... ?

This winter, my plan is to go through my entire house and PURGE.  I want to toss, recycle, donate, and set aside for garage sale as much of my possessions as I possibly can.

There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. I'm attempting to simplify my life.  The less stuff I have the less I have to clean , to put away, to store, etc.
2. I am trying to be more frugal.  I heard somewhere that the less stuff you have (even just sitting around) the less you waste--money and time.  Which makes sense--the more you have the more you have the more time and money you spend taking care of it.
3. I want to avoid becoming a dedicated packrat.  This is one of the most difficult. I come from a line of packrats--my grampa, my dad--who tend to save any and everything.  I tend to be a saver and I want to be saving only the most important things.

I'm sure I will think other reasons but those are the major ones.  As I go through rooms I will be doing some deep cleaning. Cleaning is not one of my favorite chores.  Needless to say, the house hasn't had a really good cleaning since I moved in.  I have dusted, vacuumed, etc. but I want to wash walls and clean all the nooks and cranies that don't normally get cleaned.

I have been plotting and planning the last month or so. This is to say I have been procrastinating as much as I possibly could.  I was inspired to start by a friend's post about all the things she did this week... and I have to admit I felt a little guilty that I had been lazing around and not getting down to business.

Anyway. Operation Depurate is underway.

To commemorate the first day I took some clean photos...I'm not to the point where I can force myself to post any BEFORE photos yet.  But I started with my shower.  I wanted to start with something a little easy so as to not overwhelm myself.  I tossed a lot of extras that were just sitting around because I just hadn't gotten rid of them. Then I scrubbed everything clean.  I am trying to use all natural cleaners. As I post this my shower curtain is on the spin cycle in the washing machine and as soon as I put it back up I will have completed step one of Operation Depurate.

They aren't the best photos but they capture the moment & the cleanliness.

It's a New Year

Which means Resolution time again.

Sadly, I don't think I did very well on last year's resolutions. Frankly, I don't want to even go back and read them -- I'm afraid that they will sadden me beyond redemption.


Despite last year's failures, I endeavor to try again.

I'm going to start a little slower this year.  (I have come to realize that I tend to dream big but have a harder time to finish out those dreams.)

I am going to start with two and go from there . . .

1. Blogging:  I have been a little sparse lately on updating my blog. I am resolved to update my blog at least three times and include at least one photo per week.

2. Cleaning:  I want to set up a good working cleaning schedule and do some deep cleaning this year.

That all. Nothing more.  For now anyway.

Even more organized

Okay, so I have been putting things away all week. Yea me!

And a couple weeks ago I mentioned my to do lists -- which I am still using even though this week's has not seen a whole lot of action.

Well, now I can use my calendar and my task list together! It is just like chocolate and peanut butter - - - delicious!

Garage Sale Day 1

4 pm - 7 pm



5:30 - 7 pm RAINING

:-(


Tomorrow the weather is going to be better. I just know I am going to sell out by noon!

I hope . . . :-)

Yard work

I mowed my lawn last weekend. The very first time of the season.

It already needs to be mown again. Of course the moment I had a chance to it was raining.

I hope this isn't an indicator for the entire lawn mowing season . . .

I am getting excited about planting the vegetable garden (I will be getting photos of our beautiful raised bed up soon!). We're planting onions, tomatoes (for canning and salsa, ole!), peppers, zucchini, green beans, mmm, I think that is all. No! Wait. Pie pumpkins. Yummy. I will be doing some more canning and freezing this year I think.

Maybe some jams too . . . mmm.

Rollin' along

• All my dishes are done (and put away)
  
  
• I can see my countertops again
  
  
• I actually ate at my dining room table this week
  
  
• The floors are vacuumed (except for the kitchen that is next on my list).
  
  
• My shower curtain is in the wash at this moment

The countdown to roomiepalooza has commenced . . .

Non sequitur*:

I have been craving grapes lately. I mean really craving them. I went to the grocery store to specifically buy grapes. That's not crazy right?

*Added to my locution list!

Oh April, where have you gone?

I have to say this list thing is working out for me. If I hadn't started using lists more effectively I think I would be freaking out a bit right now. What with 6 days until my roommate moves in (Hi roommate!), and 9 days until I have my garage sale.

Wait -- okay, yup -- still freaking out a bit. It seems it was only 30 days ago I still had a month to get stuff done (heehee -- thirty days? a month? -- get it? okay, I am going insane here).

I have all day tomorrow to finish cleaning up the yard. And my mom and I are going to build some garden beds for the vegetable garden out at the farm -- that should be interesting. (If I remember my camera I will have some photos next week. If I am still functioning next week, that is.)

Then the rest of my weekend is going to be devoted to making the house a little more livable so my roommate (Hi roommate!) doesn't have a heart attack when she walks in the door. That would be very, very bad. :-)

Very bad.

Catch up

I was out of town this weekend . I didn't a chance to check e-mail, read my feeds, etc. because I was enjoying visiting with a friend (more on that later).

I had a bucket load of things to go through this morning. Why, you might ask did I not start last night when I got home?

I was going to -- in fact I had the computer all booted up and ready -- until the lightning storm began. I decided to err on the side of caution and just go to bed early.

Anyway, here are a couple links that caught my fancy:

• I don't know why this post caught my eye but it did. I really don't use a briefcase or backpack everyday (only on the days I walk to work). I do only pack the essentials . . .
  
  
• This is so clever! I'm trying to think of a way I could implement it into my own gardening scheme. Such as it is. Actually it really isn't much more than weeded gravel beds at the moment. But it is weeded!
  
  
• As someone eliminating clutter in her house I found this link useful. Now I can start some recycling piles!
  
  
• Last one -- sent to me by the sister -- I already have plans to make some bagels and yogurt. Mmmm . . . doesn't that sound yummy!
  

Lists

At the end of March I started creating a weekly to do list. It would help me to focus on the bigger projects I wanted or needed to complete during the week.

I created the list on Sunday evening (or sometimes even before that) to be started Monday. As I completed each item I checked it off the list.

This list:

• helps to keep me focused on things that need to be done
• helps me to see how much I have accomplished during the week -- this is a benefit I didn't count I
• helps me plan out my week and the days in it
• helps me to get tasks done
• helps keep procrastination to a minimum (who me, procrastinate?) :-D
  

My to do list has been very helpful. Last week I missed updating on Sunday -- it really threw off my entire week. Now I am playing catch up. And I only have a day to do it. Argh.

It comes and goes

I get cleaning/organizing moods. When I get one of these moods I go at cleaning and organizing like there is no tomorrow: dishes get washed (mostly by the dishwasher), laundry gets done, clutter is put away, closets are sorted.

Unfortunately, there is a tomorrow. My life intervenes and it usually puts a damper on my cleaning/organizing mood. Despite how it may seem I do have a job that I am required to be at and other activities and obligations that take me away from organizing and cleaning (besides who wants to organize and clean every moment of the day?!?). But all those things interrupt my mood. My mood becomes a slump. A slump that is hard to pull myself out of.

I'm in a slump. Surrounded by piles of stuff: garage sale items to sort, piles of stuff in need to go through, Christmas decorations to be stored. I don't even want to think about my kitchen right now. Let's just say the dishes are not piling up and leave it at that.

Tomorrow is coming and I'm hope one of my moods is coming on . . .

Organizing

Over the years, I have accumulated a lot of junk. There are boxes here that I don't think I even opened when I moved in (4 years ago?) .

Blah.

I am planning on having a garage sale in a month or so to get rid of some of this junk. (By junk I mean stuff I have that I never look at, use, or think about.) Anything that isn't sold is going to GoodWill or the garbage.

A whole lotta nothing

Exactly what I have been doing today -- a whole lot of nothing. And I really needed it.

Although, technically, I was sleeping in and reading, checking my e-mail, etc.

However, the whole weekend will not be a bust. I have plans. And projects.

And I'm gonna start tomorrow. Heehee.

Really I am.

I am looking forward to having my dining room back.

Finally Thursday

With my work schedule -- I usually don't work on Friday -- Thursday is my Friday. And this weekend I don't work on Saturday either. So I have the entire weekend off.

I have a couple projects planned -- including going through the rest of my junk. But I plan on sleeping in and relaxing, maybe reading a little bit, as well.

I won't be spending my weekend as pleasantly the brother -- on the beach (now wouldn't that be nice!) -- but I think it will be a good weekend anyway.

Before & After

Before:



After:

Before and after photos do not show all the work that went into the "before" to get the "after."

Oh dear . . .

It amazes me some of the things on television.

I have been gradually weaning myself from television. I have dropped a couple of shows I "have to watch" and I have plans to drop some more.

It amazes me how much I can get done when I done tie myself to the television.

Take a breath and dive right in

Last week I took a little break from blogging. (I don't like to do that because once I stop I may never start again.) The next few weeks I may have some laconic* posts.

I have a busy month:

• I have started teaching my Computers for Older Adults class again
  
  
• I am cleaning out the Pit to make it bedroom-ready
  
  
• I am sorting furniture for a garage sale (to be held at a later date -- I have no time right now!) :-)
  
  
• I am priming and painting 2 bedrooms
  
  
• I am moving my bedroom
  
  
• I am moving a friend in

And those are only the activities extraordinary to my daily life!

Busyness can be a blessing, right?

One consolation . . .

. . . SPRING is almost here!

*added to Locution List

I'm moving!

Technically, I'm only switching bedrooms but it FEELS like I'm moving my entire house.

In the interest of economy, a friend is moving into one of my bedrooms. I am moving from the larger bedroom to the smaller bedroom -- otherwise known as The Pit.

In order to create an un-Pit-like bedroom, I'm going through all the clutter: tossing, storing, reorganizing, and getting ready for a garage sale.

Once all that is done, I am going to repaint and pull up the carpet (to reveal the beautiful hardwood floor).

I spent two hours working today and I am surprised at how much I got done. This is good as I only have about two weeks to finish it all!

Clutter Countdown

3 . . . bags of trash going to the curb

2 . . . bags of clothes going to goodwill

1 . . . stack of cardboard waiting to be recycled

equals

an empty closet!

Before:

After:

Baby steps . . .

"I'm baby stepping. I'm doing the work. I'm not a slacker." ~What About Bob?

I just spent the evening cleaning out my computer clutter. Or some of it anyway.

I love my google reader but I have a tendency to add subscriptions and then never read them. So I just spent the past hour deleting unread subscriptions, reorganizing, and reading.

I need to do that with my bookmarks too . . . it is peculiar how my life habits translate into online habits.

In life, I make copies of, cut out, save things that I will surely use SOMEDAY. Rarely does SOMEDAY ever come. While online, I bookmark things that I don't have time to read or think will surely come in handy SOMEDAY.

I have determined that SOMEDAY is today and I don't really need it. Besides I could always Google it and bookmark it later! :-)

Kidding.