Calendars

Today's BabyStep: Read an essay that Kelly wrote.....about using calendars

OK, so I was a good girl and read the essay. I have a calendar (not the Flylady calendar, but a similar one that I got for 50 cents at the local card factory outlet store). I write down our appointments and events. DH actually looks at it - I have it posted on the side of the fridge, very close to where I use my laptop. Since my laptop is my office hub, it is very easy for me to remember to write down things as they crop up.

Save the Date, Day Planner Art Print

One thing I need to do is to write down birthdays. I know my families birthdays, but not very good at remembering beyond my own family. During this vacation I will make it a point to collect birth dates so that I can add them to my calendar upon my return.

I also like using my google calendar. I have been adding my menus to it, which I can see from my email screen. I have added a school calendar as well (different color tabs) so I can keep track of things I need to do for school. I have tried a planner, but that doesn't work. Since this calendar is web-based I can use it via my laptop.

More Babysteps

Today's Babystep: Find one of Kelly's Missions & do it!

Oh boy, now I'm in for it! Decluttering AND a mission? Do I have it in me to do all of this and get ready to leave for a vacation? Since this week's mission is the MBR, I just may be able to handle it. DH spent some time in there last week organizing his stuff while I was slaving away in the basement. So the MBR actually isn't all that bad. I think I can handle 15 minutes getting rid of things that don't belong there! LOL I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't declutter for 15 minutes as it is quite neat at the moment. But try I shall. Maybe I'll tackle the Drawer of Unmatched Socks (also known as the League of Unaligned Footware).

I am so close to the point of being able to completely move my clothes into my new "closet space". I shall try my rubba sweepa in the utility room as it is bare concrete. Then I should be able to move my holiday & storage tubs back into their little corner, freeing up a lot of space. So exciting! I think I may even try to find some carpet tiles to put on the floor in front of the washer and dryer - something to make it more a laundry room and less like a basement utility room :)

Le Menu

Here's this week's menu. Again, if there are any recipes your are interested in, just let me know and I will post them. Bon Apetit!

Emails - Dare I Delete?

Today's BabyStep: Delete all the emails from Flylady

Seriously? Just delete them?!?! I don't know.....what if I miss something important? What if I plan on going back and reading them later? What if my world comes crashing down because I have deleted the most important email ever? What if...what if....what if.......

OK, I psyching myself up for it. I think I can do this. If I'm honest with myself I know that I'm not going to go back and read the emails. I have a place for them, but do I need to keep them? Most likely not. So here I go.........no really -I'm going to do it this time........all I have to do is click on the FlyLady folder then hit select all & delete. Yep, that's it. That's all it takes. Right now. Do it. Now.

OK, that wasn't so bad. 155 conversations sent to my Trash. The Trash I just emptied last night, by the way. Didn't even hurt. If only decluttering my home were as easy!

When's the last time you decluttered your email? Or your computer for that matter? I have discovered a new web tool to help keep my computer clutter under control : tagfoot. Maybe your computer is like mine, burgeoning with bookmarked sites. Tagfoot is an online bookmarking site, but it is social as well. I can't claim to understand how it all works, because I've only just started using it. But so far I'm liking it. I can bookmark websites, pictures, music, videos. If I find something really cool, I can share it with one of my designated friends. If it is superfantastic cool, I can share it with all my friends. Check it out - click on the tagfoot picture in the upper left corner to see my profile page. If you like it, join so I can share all the funny stuff I find!

Control Journal: Inspirational Page

Babystep 11: Add an inspirational page to your control journal

What fun! Spend 15 minutes writing down inspirational phrases. Well, I'm a visual person so I think I'll use pictures as well. I'm not sure how to add this to my electronic control journal system I have going, so I'll do it here!

Morris, William
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. ~William Morris

I've never known any trouble that an hour's reading didn't assuage. ~Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, Pensées Diverses

I could keep going, but my 15 minutes are up! I think maybe the next time I'm feeling down I will do this assignment again :D

NEWO

I've had the NEWO Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) & No Excuses Workout DVD set since February. It's only been in the last two weeks that I've actually figured out HOW to use the HRM and begun exercising with a higher intensity. I've been working out with a trainer once a week since January (I had worked with her before pregnancy complications forced me to stop). I love J. dearly & she knows how to get the most out of me, but I need someone on my shoulder more than once a week. Because of my work with the trainer I can do a full 40 minute walking interval workout as well as complete the full NEWO strength training (modifying the push-ups to the walls because of my bad knees).

Hopefully Jonathon will be the one to sit on my shoulder the other 5 days of my workout week to keep me going in the direction I want to go!

Decluttermination

Decluttermination: when one is determined to declutter.

It seems like an accurate theme title for my summer! I am determined to get rid of all the junk that is weighing me down.

I am determined to create a home that I enjoy being in and feel comfortable bringing friends into.

I am determined to finally putting my own stamp on this home that I have lived in for over two years now!

Do you have decluttermination?

Menu

I'm trying something new! Here is this next week's menu: Menu for third week of June. Just click on the link & take a look at what's cooking in my kitchen. See a recipe you're interested in? Just drop me a line & I will post it!

Wallowing

As I write this I am feeling blue. It looks as though we won't be going to visit my in-laws after all as we don't have someone to come and stay at our place & care for the bird. I am sad for DD because we only get to see this part of the family once a year because of the distance. I am sad for my family since they miss out on so much by not living nearer to us. I know I just need to let go of my sadness & anger, but I just can't. I know I should just jump right on to Twitter and let my Twisters (Twitter Sisters) humor me into a better mood.




Spring Feeling in Blue
Kirchner, Karsten


I'm very much a "fake it till you make it" type of person when it comes to bad moods. What do you do to get yourself out of a funk?

You Can Do Anything For Just 15 Minutes!

Oh me oh my - I'm finally on Babystep #10 which is: You can do anything for just 15 minutes! It never fails to surprise me when I set my timer and get something done before the timer goes off. In fact, I usually have a few minutes left and then either struggle to find something else to do for the remaining time or just pick up a magazine and read until time is up.

I definitely need to set my timer more often. LR rescuing is a good example - maybe if I set my timer for 5 minutes several times a day I won't be left with such an awful mess to fix after DD goes to sleep :) Writing for this blog is a good example as well - I have set my timer for 15 minutes, had some extra time & went searching for a photo to jazz up the post.

If only my dryer was as loud as Big Ben - then maybe I wouldn't tune it out! Think anyone would mind if I asked them to set BB to chime every 15 minutes? LOL

DeClutter Bug

Who would think that a FlyBaby would get over-enthusiastic about a project & go overboard? While you recover from your collective gasps of shock, I'll fill you in on the details.

I was feeling a bit blue (stinkin thinkin really) about my house and that lately even with constant rescuing & decluttering, I was making no progress. Rooms would virtually explode the moment I left them (spontaneously of course!). My summer was looking like constant drudgery rather than the time I needed to devote to various projects at a leisurely & satisfying pace. The straw that broke the camel's occurred while I was washing DH's clothes (normally he does it himself but right now he still can't lift heavy objects such as full laundry hampers). I ended up having to wash all of his clothes because unbeknown to me, the clean clothes from the last load of laundry were inside the hamper and I was throwing his dirty clothes from the floor on top of them.

Now I may have mentioned this before, but we have a tiny 1941 house. We have correspondingly tiny 1941 closets but 21st century wardrobes. DH's wardrobe is very simple - work clothes & not work clothes, don't really change from season to season. Whereas I have work clothes for fall, winter, spring & leisure clothes for fall, winter, spring, summer as well as workout clothing. Do you see where I am going with this yet? It is just physically impossible to put all our necessary clothes in our MBR at the same time, especially when clothes are heaped on the floor in front of the closet making it impossible to reach. Obviously, throwing clothes from the floor into the hamper is not as helpful as I had thought, so it was time for immediate action.

A Twitter Sister had worked very hard to clean & organize her MBR. I want an MBR that is a tiny, gorgeous, restful place to be. Then inspiration struck! I was at a standstill for decluttering the basement as I needed to be able to get the holiday decorations back into the utility room. But I couldn't because the utility room was so out of control that I couldn't get them back in. Inside our utility room is a long rack where I had out of season & long clothes that wouldn't fit in our own closet, clothes I hadn't worn for too long and some costumes. By getting rid of everything except essentials off that rack, I could bring my clothes downstairs and turn the utility room into my dressing room. With a little effort & my imagination, it could be a luxurious boudoir.

With this goal in mind I was able to clear out 4 boxes + a suitcase full of clothing. In the process, I unearthed 6 boxes of clothing packed up for charity LAST year. Yesterday, we loaded up both cars and dropped them off. Last night while doing my decluttering, I found more things to send to charity. It is beginning to take shape. I have taken the before pictures already, but I will wait until the project is finished before sharing them. Yeah! I have a space I can decorate to my heart's content AND I will be decluttering and organizing my home at the same time! <3

Design Inspirations?

Day 9

Today's Baby Step: Declutter a little every day.

Well, I have it on my CJ, it just hasn't happened for some time! Maybe I should change it from Declutter 15 minutes to 27 fling boogie! With Turtle around, it is difficult to carve out 15 minutes that I can devote to decluttering. Finding 27 things to get rid of, that should be more manageable! My basement is still a shambles and I am rapidly approaching the time when it will need to be our guestroom. Yikes!

Today's BabyStep: Get a 3 ring binder & put paper in it

I may have mentioned this before, but I don't do well with paper! So far my electronic Control Journal (CJ) is working well for me. I now use Google calendar to write down my menus and appointments & I can see them from my email page. DH has a link to the calendar as well. I will be adding my school calendar so by the end of the summer I should have a comprehensive "what I need to do" thing going on! My summer to-do list is on the google Task List, also seen from my email page. Finally, Remember the Milk has wonderful Firefox extension which allows me to see my control journal tasks on my email page. I'm using different programs to keep my life organized, but they are all in one place - just like a CJ! Need to check to see if google has an address keeper function.............

On the mend

DH is home from the hospital and on the road to recovery! Everything went smoothly so I'm hoping that we will see no complications from here on out.

DD went to spend the night with Grandma for the first time. That too went smoothly and there were no meltdowns on DD's part. I used some of the "Turtle-Free" time to mow the lawn and to finish planting the vegetable/herb garden beds. Now to keep Turtle from digging everything back up!!

Now I think it is time to get back to babysteps. By my calculations, I am still on step 7: Lay out your clothes. During the school year this was not a problem, but I noticed I have been backsliding on this since I rarely have anywhere to be in the mornings now. Which means that this is a perfect babystep to pick back up with!

I'm feeling worn out, the house is recovered and there is nothing else to do but meal prep and BBR. Time to start reading my new Katie Macalister book!

Summer To-Do List

Many people have asked what my plans for the summer are. I decided to put my task list (which I can see anytime I log into my email account) here for everyone else to view. It does NOT include the time I will need for school prep or for the writing assignments I will be doing for the second RocketMoms session. I'm sure I will think of other things to add as we go through the summer! I also promise not to get mad at myself for NOT finishing the entire list :)

Make

• assemble Turtle's table
• paint table
• paint chair
• sofa cover

Declutter

• basement
• DD closet
• toys
• MBR
• utility room
• linen closet
• attic closet
  

Purchase

• curtain rods for LR
• bathing suits for myself & DD
• waterproof pad
• fabric for sofa cover
• fabric for new throw pillows
• curtains for MBR
• fabric for outdoor curtain
• clothes line for outside
• bulbs for fall planting
• sheets for new duvet cover
  

Organize/Clean

• BR
• MBR closet
• DD closet
• utility room
• basement

Miscellaneous

• finish garden planting
• fence in backyard
• inflate pool
• frost BR window
• put up kitchen wall decor
• put up kitchen shelves
• repaint garage door trim
• repaint basement walls- outside
• new avatar
• start Zazzle gallery
  

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Flying Poem

BO's, you puzzle me
For as I flit and flutter
I study you
But never see
The slightest bit of clutter

~ Inspired by Jack Prelutsky's "Butterflies"