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).

I'm so excited (and other stuff)

I finally went and ordered and eReader.  I had been waiting for one with everything I was looking for: reasonable price, eInk, long battery life, and touch screen. Then I had to make sure I wouldn't go in to debt purchasing it.

I ordered it last night and now I am spending an inordinately excessive amount of time checking the shipping status! :-P

I am also preparing for my first 4th of July picnic (x2!).  I'm having some friends over in the afternoon and my parents in the evening.  Grilling out...good food...good fellowship. 

But lots of work.

Since it is currently the hottest day of the summer so far I have decided to spend the day inside in the a/c  (I'm turning it off tomorrow night--after the heatwave!) and pulling up the last of the carpet in my house.  Hopefully.

But that will be after lunch.

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.

A lovely weekend

Last night I slept on wonderfully fresh sheets courtesy the laundry line.  It was beautiful yesterday.  Warm enough to hang out my laundry -- the first time this year!

Nothing compares to sheets dried by the wind and sun.

Play day

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  I have tomorrow off. Yea!

I got a head start on the weekend by playing around with my blog this evening.  Yea! again.

This week the weather has been extremely nice--a little foggy--in the forties even.  Spring is definitely on the way.

Along with spring comes a list of dreadful things I need to get done.  Dreadful only in that I am dreading doing them not that they are dreadful in and of themselves.

1. Clean the basement (blech)
2. Scrape the paint off the garage & the porch awnings
3. Paint the garage & porch awnings
4. Clean out the gutters
5. Wash the siding on the house

But tomorrow is my day off so I'm not going to think about it . . . much.

Everything and Nothing

I had the day off today.  And silly me, I decided to rearrange my bedroom. 

I cleaned as I rearranged so now all the cat hair has been vacuumed up and the dust is all gone.  All the bedding is freshly laundered.

I can't wait to go to bed tonight!

About 3 pm I lost my steam so I have a some "things to do" on my list for next week.

I didn't do much the rest of the day.  Very nice day.  I accomplished something AND had the day off.

Now I'm going to start another book to add to my 100+ list.

Can I have an extra hour (or two)?

I'm reading a book right now about a group that was born in the minutes surrounding midnight who are the only ones in the world awake during the thirteenth hour--an hour condensed into a moment a midnight.

Although it is fantasy, sometimes I wish I had that extra hour.

Or maybe a couple hours.

I have some canning to do. And some cleaning to get done before winter.

I have been a little lax in my to do lists lately. I need to get back into the habit of planning my weeks a little better so I can get some things done.

No excuses

Last Friday, I had a very good excuse for not posting.

My internet went out.

Yesterday, I had no excuse. I played a game and read instead.

I'm probably going to be doing the same thing tonight but I thought I would post. Otherwise I will get into the habit of NOT posting and I just don't want to do that yet.

Tomorrow is my day off -- technically speaking -- I have some things I need to do for work and some things I want to get done around here.

HA. We will see how that goes.

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!

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 . . .

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:

I love a clean house

I dislike cleaning. But only because I put the chore off long enough that it becomes a monumental task that never seems to end.

On the other hand, I love a clean house.

• It looks nice!
• It smells good!
• And I know exactly where everything is and can get to it quickly.

Clutter seems to be my bane. But I am gradually going through items and either throwing them out or storing them for a garage sale this spring.

5 surprising things I did (or didn't) do today

1. I didn't read the day away. (This has been known to happen. Frequently.)
   
   
2. I did wash all the dirty dishes in my kitchen including the ones I had to wash by hand. (This is a most dreaded chore. I have a sinkful of pots & pans drying and my second load of dishes waiting to be run in the dishwasher. Dreaded chore.)
   
   
3. I did buy an mp3 player with my Christmas money. (I really wasn't planning on doing this today. Didn't I just mention that this was on my wishlist recently?)
   
   
4. I did clean three rooms of my house and bake bread. (I'm finishing the bread up right now. Yummy.)
   
   
5. I didn't step one foot out the door. (Some days it is nice to hibernate a little bit.)
   

In my element

I think that part of my emotional well-being is affected by my surroundings.  So the changes I want to make in this area have to do with my physical surroundings.

Resolutions for my emotional well-being:

• Clean house.  My goal is to set up a cleaning schedule to eliminate procrastination (what? who me? procrastinate? never!) and make it easier to "keep up" the cleaning throughout the year.
  
  
• Uncluttered.  My goal is to go through each room of my house and get rid of the things that are cluttering up my life.  Which means getting rid of things that have no sentimental value, are unused, and/or not needed.

Ready for the weekend . . . I think

It is crazy how busy this time of year is. I have a lot on my plate this year and it seems as if something is always buzzing in my brain.

Either I'm singing through the songs for the upcoming cantata, or I'm planning the direction of the children's program, or I'm running through my schedule for the next couple weeks. My brain seems to always be a couple steps ahead of the rest of me.

I'm not sure I will catch up to it either! :-)

On to other more impressive feats: I have complete my snow shoveling (at least until this weekend when it is supposed to RAIN and then snow some more).

Yes, yes, it only took me three and a half hours over three days to complete. And towards the end of my shoveling stint, when it seemed my body might revolt and fall exhausted to the snow covered driveway -- a kindly neighbor boy (with a shovel) helped to make the last LONG 5 minutes seem a little bit shorter.

I properly rewarded him with peanut butter cups.

---

(1) Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. (2) This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. (3) And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. (Luke 2:1-3)

Census of Quirinius : The Virgin and St. Joseph register for the census before Governor Quirinius. Byzantine mosaic c. 1315

By day, a mild mannered library aide . . .

By night, the fiercest snow-shoveler in northeast Iowa. I say northeast Iowa because I am sure there are fiercer shovelers in places like Syracuse, NY (averages 115.6 inches of snow per year -- blech!).

If you guessed that just got in from shoveling my driveway & sidewalks -- you would be correct!

Reasons I am REJOICING about that:

• This snow is light and fluffy not wet and heavy
  
  
• This snow is less than an inch deep
  
  
• I finished in less than an hour
  
  
• I had the distinct pleasure of completing my shoveling before my very prompt neighbor! (Most likely this will be the only time it happens this winter!)

My legs and ears got a little chilly, but I'm fairly certain that is unavoidable. I barely glanced at the two snow plows drive by -- indicating the level of shoveling unpleasantness. When the shoveling is particularly difficult and miserable, I stare longingly at snow plows wishing for a pity plow -- yeah, you heard me, I'm not above a pity plow. :-)

Today's shovel was not necessarily a pleasant experience but it wasn't horrible either.

---

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)

Surprise, surprise

It is amazing what I can get done when I actually DO something and not procrastinate. I got everything on my list except for mopping my kitchen floor done today!

Surprisingly enough I also had time do some of the things I would have done to procrastinate. (Namely mindless solitaire games.)

I am hoping my Wednesday goes as well as today did.

---

(16) The LORD God commanded the man saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; (17) but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat from it you will surely die. Genesis 2:16-17

"Tree of Life" -- Tiffany

More than expected

I got more done today than I expected to. Which, to a procrastinator like me, is always a blessing. That means that much less for tomorrow!

I have a lot to get done tomorrow as I will be going with my mom to pick up the sister on Saturday. I will be working some extra hours so I will have to plan my day.

That's right folks only 2 days left!

Ah . . . the scourge of procrastination

I keep putting off all my unpleasant jobs and now they are all piled up. Even if I had more time to do them (which I don't) I would most likely procrastinate them again.

I am an unfortunate lifelong procrastinator and NOT proud of it.

The sad thing is that the jobs are not that difficult -- simply time consuming.

Bah.

And now it is time for bed.

I procrastinate (again) until tomorrow.

If you don't hear from me, you will know that I am buried by Scourge Mountain.

A regular Miss Fix-it

I am not the most handy of persons. I am not mechanically minded. I don't have much practical sense.

But I can follow directions and I am quick to catch onto something I am shown how to do.

So when I am able to fix my vacuum cleaner with no assistance I consider it to be a red letter day.

Today is a red letter day!! Yeah.

Of course, for me to fix the vacuum I had to have broken it first. But I will ignore that minuscule detail and focus on the BIG picture here:

Today I unscrewed four screws from the bottom panel of my vacuum, put a new belt on to the thingy (heehee -- I never claimed to know the correct fix-it vocabulary) and then re-screwed the four screws into the bottom panel of my vacuum.

TaDa! It works.

A little joy in my day!