Cleaned Up...

I've subbed the last two days at school, so it's really hampered the cleaning process.  Add to that a couple of ball games and things were looking dire.  But with the help of my sister, Annie, last night, I was finally able to finish up the shelves around the fireplace this afternoon.

 Don't they look good?  I think so!

I also cleaned up the other side of the living room and re-arranged all the furniture.  This is what it looks like now.  Big Daddy really likes having his chair there as he's got a front row seat to the TV.  lol

I'm so glad to finally have this room completely cleaned!!!

We're working on the dining room now.  It's almost done as well.  The same goes for our bedroom.  I'm just waiting on Big Daddy to finish up his side.  I did most of the basement on Monday while I was working on the living room, so all that's left is sweeping and mopping the floor (that isn't carpeted), cleaning the shower, and making the extra bed up for guests.  Woo Hoo!  Then Friday morning, I will just need to do some light cleaning like sweeping, mopping, dusting and wiping down the bathrooms.  :)  I'm finally on the road to thinking that I will have it all done by the time Big C and his company arrives home from college Friday afternoon.

Cleaned...

I finished two of the cleaning projects last night before heading to Queen Practice.

 The shelves by the refrigerator.  They look a lot better.

And the corner cabinet.  You can't really tell that I cleaned this out, but trust me, I did.  It's more organized, in any event.  There are certain things I keep in here that I didn't move out otherwise I would lose them.

Sometime today (probably after the queen contest), I am going to tackle our bedroom.  The living room (and fireplace area) is scheduled for Monday.

Cleaning and De-cluttering...

It's that time of year again.  The deep cleaning and de-cluttering time.  Not my favorite, that's for sure.  But it's got to be done.  With Big C coming home from college next weekend and bringing a friend (an International Student from Britian), I want the house to look it's best.

 So...yesterday I deep cleaned the kitchen.  By the time I was done, I had cleaned the stove, refrigerator, microwave, all the little appliances like the coffee pot and toaster, bleached the cabinet tops, wiped down the cabinets and the walls, and mopped really, really well.  I also cleaned out the pots and pans cabinet and the tupperware cabinet.  Those are always cluttered and a mess to get anything in or out of.

 This morning, after the visit to the beauty shop, I worked on Small T's bathroom upstairs.  Everything is cleaned up and bleached down now.  No nasty germs hanging out anywhere, that's for sure.

Small T abhors her 1970's era bathroom but honestly, retro is in these days so I've left it alone.

Now...I can't believe I'm going to share the following photos with you, but I'm doing it simply to shame me into cleaning the mess up.  You see...we're clutter hogs.  Yep.  We are.  These next four photos show what I'm getting ready to work on now.

 This is the shelf unit by the refrigerator and the hallway that leads to the bedrooms.  It always looks like this but after today...NO MORE.  I'm de-cluttering and throwing stuff away.  ASAP.

 This is the corner cabinet in the dining room and a pile of stuff that I swear needs to be left on the dining room table (which is really a lie I tell myself so I don't have to clean it up).

These next two photos are just horrible.  I'm ashamed.

 The right side of the fireplace.  Geez.  It's a catch all for everything we don't want to put away.

And the left side of the fireplace.  I will admit that it's almost all yarn stuff.  Totally my fault.

So...while the cleaning bug has reared it's ugly head, this is what will be keeping me busy today and tomorrow and probably a few more days as the fireplace area will be quite the project.

Make Your Own.....Disinfecting Wipes

You know...I really need to make these.  

Small T and I use a lot of them, especially in the bathroom and kitchen.

Go here http://blogs.cincysavers.com/diy-tuesday-make-your-own-disinfecting-wipes-more/ for directions.

All I can think of is the amount of money I would save!

The Dining Room Table

The dining room table in my house is a catch-all area. No matter how many times I clean it off, it's always piled high with papers and other "stuff". Well, yesterday, I worked and worked and removed all the debris off my end. Well, as much as I could. This is what it ended up looking like. So far, it still looks like this and it's a whole 24 hours later. If only my cleaning partner would do his end, it would be great. :)

My Partner

I just had to include this photo here. This is my cleaning partner this past Wednesday (yesterday). He's working pretty hard, isn't he?

What A Mess...and my week so far....

It's been a busy week. Monday and Tuesday found me working at the farm.

Wednesday morning, I drove my mom to a 7:30 am outpatient procedure at the hospital.

Then, I came home to clean. Yes, clean. My house was looking horrid. Especially since Big Daddy brought a bunch of boxes in the house so he could start the holiday decorating.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but this is the actual "cleaned up" photo of my desk area. It still looks a mess, doesn't it? But it's way better than it was. The only unfortunate thing is that this is where I keep all of my crafting stuff. And 99% of the time, it's a mess. It's seldom sorted and organized and lovely looking.

This photo doesn't do my cleaning any justice either. It was so cluttered with shoes, jackets, sports bags, etc. that I was ashamed to open the front door. But, it does look a lot better now.

Today, it's Thursday. I had planned more cleaning but it didn't work out that way. Big Daddy was off taking Small T to school when the phone rang. It was the school. Could I sub today. Wow! I was just sitting down to my first cup of coffee and hadn't had a shower yet, but I told them I would but I would be needing 30 minutes before I could get there. So...today, I was the gym teacher again.

Then, after school, I ran Small T home to get her suitcase, winter coat and boots. She, another girl, and their adviser are off to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a Leadership Conference. Small T has never been on an airplane before, so I really hope things go smoothly. She will be returning Sunday evening and there's a big snow storm coming in. Hopefully, my prayers will be heard and they will arrive home safe and sound.

Tomorrow, I'm subbing at the school again. This time for the teacher that is on the trip with Small T. It's in FACS class or our old Home Ec classes.

So...that's my week so far. How's everyone else doing?

I Learned Something...

I've always thought you couldn't wash and dry pillows. I've tried it out over the years and the pillows came out of the dryer all bunched up toward one end. Well, let me tell you...you can definitely wash and dry pillows. I have finally figured it out! A real TA DA!!! moment along life's road. Here's what I've learned. First, wash the pillows on the delicate cycle with two pillows per load. I know, it's a waste of water, but hey...it's not like I wash bunches and bunches of them in one day. Then, dry them in the dryer on the air fluff cycle. When you pull them out, if they aren't comepletely dry, try drying them again, or lie them out to dry on a surface suitable for it. They look wonderful. They aren't bunched up along one end or twisted or anything like that. This is going to save me a lot of money in one respect...I won't have to purchase new pillows for everyone (several times a year) unless they become to flat to be used. Even then, two pillows put together in a pillow case, will still work in a pinch. But I happen to love those flat pillows, so they would always be welcome in my bedroom.

106

This post is about hangers. You know, those things you hang your clothes on. Every week, when I'm doing laundry, I'm searching and searching for hangers. I check everyone's closets...except for Tianna's. It's taboo to enter her closet, for some reason. Well...this past Thursday, she wasn't home and I needed hangers desperately. So I opened her closet and I was astonished!!! She had half of the closet rod full of empty hangers. I pulled them all out, called to my husband to come and see the treasure I had found....and then I counted them. Guess how many there were??? Yep...106!!! No wonder I've been having trouble finding hangers when I'm doing the laundry. Now what do you suppose she was hording them for??? It makes you wonder, doesn't it? When she came home, she was very unhappy with me for raiding her closet. She wouldn't speak to me about it either, as she was upset. So she still has no idea that I pulled "106 hangers" out of her closet. LOL

Getting Organized and De-cluttering My House

I've been needing to do something for a very long time. Do you know what it is? It's getting my house organized and de-cluttered. I have to admit that it's not something on my priority list. However, I did some soul-searching and realized that I am an inner pack-rat. My whole family has a tendency towards this. So I developed a plan. Here it is:

1. Start simple. You see, I have so much to do, that I never knew where to start.
2. Ask for help. I have a husband and three kids. They can help me out. It doesn't have to be a one-woman job.
3. Keep the momentum. Once started, don't let it peter-out. Stay with the job until it's finished.

This sounds simple enough, doesn't it? I still didn't know how to get the ball rolling though. But things were taken out of my hands this week with the delivery of a new mattress and box springs for our bedroom. It's a small room and we have a king sized bed, so I had no choice but to do some serious cleaning and re-arranging with the removal of the old bed before bringing in the new. That was the beginning of my organizing and de-cluttering. Here's what happened:

Our bedroom - When the old mattress and box springs were removed from the room, I had to clean under the bed. That led to cleaning out the night stands and pulling down the curtains for washing. Since that left me with room to move around (minus the big bed), I re-arranged the bedroom furniture and in the process, cleaned behind it, plus organized Kenny's "dresser" and mine, cleaned off the little TV, dusted the walls and such, and even cleaned out our closet. I took out all of the clothes we aren't currently wearing and put them downstairs on the extra rack we have until we can go through them later on in the next week or two. I vacuumed the floors, cleaned out the extra boxes of books (boxes of romance novels) that I have accumulated over the winter and either stored them in the garage or gave them away. What was taken out to the garage will either be donated, given away or thrown away. I now have a nice, clean and clutter free bedroom to enjoy.

The guys went fishing on Saturday, which left my daughter and I at home for the day. Since it was just us two, I took her out for breakfast (coffee for me) and asked her if she would help me work on the living room that day. I told her that I wanted to go through everything in it, clean it out, and throw away or give away anything that we weren't using, hadn't used, or just plain didn't want anymore. So here's what we did:

Living Room/Family Room (upstairs) - The first thing we did was remove everything from the room that didn't belong there. That meant backpacks, shoes, etc.. It seems that the living room is the dumping point for the family when they come in the front door. My youngest son is the worst offender. I ended up getting a big basket out and putting all of the smaller items belonging to him in it and then carried it down to his room. He had a ton of stuff we had to haul down. Then we cleaned out from under all the furniture and dusted everything down. We cleaned up the fireplace area and the bookshelves on each side. I threw away a lot of magazines (and I dearly love them). In the end, I had four big black garbage bags that we took out of there. We left most of the furniture where it was since it's hard to change the lay-out with the big sectional sofa. I did the dreaded job of cleaning off my computer desk. It's always a mess since everyone uses it to put the items "they don't know what to do with" on it. It was a long, hard process, but I got it done. After running the vacuum, placing the dog kennels in another spot by the fireplace, and putting out new air fresheners, the living room looks lovely. The only area not cleaned by us was my husbands computer desk and his book shelf area. I'm not allowed there. It's his domain. So I asked him if he would take care of it some time soon. I will just keep asking every now and then until he does it. It feels so good to have a nice, clean, clutter-free area to sit down and relax in. As a side note- I ended up taking several bags of goodies to my sisters'. One was gifted with a bag of new candles, I returned a set of books to my nephew, etc.. I didn't realize how much stuff I had that either didn't belong to me, or I didn't use.

I've been pretty sickly today, but I hope to start on the dining room tomorrow. It's my next organizing and de-cluttering zone.

Tutorial on Ironing

I have not ironed clothing in a very long time. Simply because I am one to promptly remove clothing from the dryer so it doesn't have time to get wrinkled. But I find myself needing to do some ironing in the immediate future as I have purchased some clothing that just can't be worn without the wrinkles being ironed out. Even with hanging them up promptly after being dried, they still look "mussed". I have gone through and reviewed some basic instruction for ironing and I thought I would share my findings with those of you that are not "up" on the basics.

1. Check the label in the clothing. It will usually list what setting the garment should be ironed on. If it's something that shouldn't be ironed, it will also say that.

2. If the iron has a water reservoir, fill it with distilled water. Use this instead of tap water so you don't have hard water build up or deposits.

3. Set the iron on the correct setting. Sit it upright on the ironing board. Don't lie it flat. Let it heat up. Most irons have a light that comes on when it's heating up and the light will usually go out when it's at the correct temperature.
**If you are ironing more than one garment, start with the one that needs the coolest setting and work your way up to the ones that need the high settings.

4. If your ironing board doesn't have a silver cover on it, then you can place a piece of aluminum foil on the pad. This helps the opposite side of the garment to heat up as well and is like ironing both sides at the same time. This cuts down on the total ironing time.

5. If you are using spray starch, then get it out now. You would spray a small area right before ironing it, and keep repeating until the garment is ironed.

6. Put your garment on the ironing board. Start with the inside unless the garment is cotton or silky rayon. Then you would start with the outside.

7. Now you are ready to iron. Remember to keep the iron moving, never let it sit still. If you have a stubborn wrinkle, spray a bit of water on it and iron over it with steam. Begin with the large areas and work your way to the small areas and corners. If you are ironing a shirt, you would start with the side away from you and once you have it ironed, move that section off the board AWAY from your body so you will not rub up against it and cause wrinkles to form.

8. Turn the garment over and iron the right side if needed. It's actually best to iron both sides but there are cases where you wouldn't. Cotton and silky rayon shouldn't be ironed on the wrong side at all. If you are in doubt about ironing a garment, then iron the wrong side only. But only if the tag says it can be ironed. For delicate fabrics, vibrant colors, or dark colors, try to get all the wrinkles out by only ironing the wrong side. Dark colors can take on a shine when ironed on the right side.

9. Hang the garment up immediately. If you have no other garments to iron, turn off the iron and dump the water out of the reservoir. Remember to sit the iron up right when you place it back down on the board. Keep it this way until it is cool and can be put away safely.

Things to remember:
1. Clean your iron regularly. Use a soft, damp cloth. This keeps the steam vents open and unclogged.
2. If you want, you can lightly spray your garment before ironing with water. A moist garment will iron better.

FINAL TIP: The steam from an iron is HOT. Keep your hands away from it. The same goes for the bottom of the iron.

What I've Been Up To...

Well, I finally found my crochet hook today, thanks to my daughter. She reluctantly volunteered (pressured by me) to look under the sectional sofa area where the recliners are for stray socks, etc. (wonder how they get there???) and she came out from under there with my gold "G" crochet hook. Hallelujah! So I'm back to crocheting on baby afghan #4.

I also got my husband (after many days of nagging) to finally go out to the garages since the snow is finally starting to melt away and get out all the Christmas boxes so I could take down all the decorations from Christmas. This includes the tree. I know, I know....I couldn't believe we still had it up at this date either, but we've had loads of snow since Christmas and I didn't want anyone having to do a lot of shoveling just to get to the boxes. But, we now have everything down that is Christmas related, except for the lights outside. Those will have to wait until Spring when the guys can get on the roof.

I also cleaned off the book shelves on my side of the fireplace (built in shelves on both sides....one side for my husband and one side for me) so I could add a lot more books that the family got for Christmas presents or at the Jan. 1st book shopping expedition. I have to say that our personal library is expanding fairly rapidly. I may have to beg my husband for the use of some of the shelves on his side of the fireplace before too much longer.

My daughter cleaned out her closet and her dresser today and anything that didn't fit or that she wasn't interested in wearing anymore has now been bagged up (by me) to be taken to the Sheltered Workshop in the next town over.

And something else that I've done, but didn't do today, was to read these two books that I blogged about earlier in the week........from the Sookie Stackhouse series.......

All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse

My husband and I also went on an unplanned shopping trip this past Saturday to a bigger town to look for some of the clothes we will be needing on the cruise. We've got all our Cruise Formal clothing now and we'll need to work on some shorts and short sleeved shirts when they come out in the stores sometime in February. Plus I have a few other things like shoes to look for as well.

Other than that, we've been doing the normal household cleaning stuff like laundry and dishes and every now and then fitting in something else that needed to be cleaned up. Otherwise, I've been being lazy this past weekend. What has everyone else been up to?

Household Chore Day

I figured out last night that we have "nothing going on" today in regards to activities related to school, so we are going to have "household chore" day. This is not going over well with everyone, but hey...a Mom has to do what a Mom has to do in order to get the work done. In fact, I have been a bit overloaded the past two days and I fell behind on the laundry. So I can expect around 12 loads of laundry waiting on me when I venture down to the laundry area. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Plus, my husband cooked dinner last night and he said he would clean up afterwards, but didn't, so that means I will have to undo all the mess he made last night. Why do some men have to dirty every pot and pan in the house when cooking a simple meal like sausage and eggs with hash browns? It's something I have always wondered about. The house could use a simple de-cluttering after a week of being busy so once I put everyone on it, it should be done in no time at all. We had rain again so we won't be able to get the yard mowed as planned so the boy's are really lucking out on that one. Wish me luck with getting everyone motivated today....I will need it. LOL