Wednesday, July 18, 2007

*Truly a Thing of Beauty*

I had 2 things I really wanted to complete this week (bills and Cy's portfolio) and 3 things I really wanted to organize this week (toy closet, files, school closet). I didn't think I could do Lisa's Summer Clean-up Challenge because I didn't have a "room" to tackle...but I have these closets I had planned .....so I'm going to say I qualify to play. OK Lisa? ::snort::

This is the toy closet. I should point out that this closet is really big and my kitchen would be much bigger if they hadn't built this walk in closet. ::snort:: This is also the movie closet and costume closet. I want to organize all three areas of the closet. The videos are not terribly out of order. I need to continue to think of the best way to organize the costumes. The toy mess was a priority. It will make life much easier and efficient if the boys can pick things up quickly. I'm all about preparing for an easier school year next year. ::snort::
Monday, I told Nolan and Zander to go through all their toys and throw out anything that was broken. Anything they no longer played with was to go in the Goodwill box. While they did this, I balanced the checkbook and paid bills. They found a 13 gal garbage bag of broken toys. They also "organized" everything. They had 3 rubbermaid-like tubs that had become overwhelmed with the amount of toys being placed in them (See photo above!).

Today, I had all three of the youngers take every toy out of the closet again, while Stacia napped.I found a 13 gal and a yard garbage bag full of toys. We also FILLED our geocaching backpack - from cache to cache.
Then we sorted toys into categories (dinosaurs, ocean animals, puzzles...). I'd done all of THIS before...but Darshia had inspired me. I hadn't figured out how to make it EASY for the boys to KEEP it organized - and therefore I keep doing the above things every 3 - 6 months. Today, I took a picture of each group of toys. I made labels with the title AND picture of what goes into the bin. The boys know exactly where each toy goes. I know where each toy goes. Company will know where each toy goes.....AND I'm supposed to be doing lots of visual clues for Nolan's processing problem according to the therapist at the rehab center. This makes us all happy!

About those costumes....I'm wondering if something like a suit bag would work. Put a costume and it's accessories in the bag, zip it up and hang it up. What have others of you done with something like this? I currently have them hanging in the back 1/2 of this closet and have bins above on a shelf for accessories. The problem is that the costumes are always in a heap......
Shower Checklist?

Does anyone else think they need a shower checklist?

Lather Hair

Rinse Hair

Put in Conditioner

Wash all parts - begin at the top and don't stop until you reach your toes or you are sure to forget something....

Rinse soap....

WASH YOUR FACE

Did you remember to RINSE OUT THE CONDITIONER?????

Shoot - I know I'm getting old when I get out of the shower and still have shampoo in my hair - something went WRONG. Trish told me at the park today that she has a routine and then just does it. ::snort:: Well - SO DO I....but obviously I am having trouble remembering where I am IN the routine.

Maybe I could laminate it and put it up above the shower tile.....

And since I'm making checklists....how about

Do NOT put the Preparation H on your toothbrush....

Do NOT confuse the eye makeup remover with the fingernail polish remover....

Put that mascara down and make sure you put your eye shadow on!....

Dorothy.....am I joining your decrepitude club? Can I?

Camera Continuation...

I mentioned that my friend, Debbie has a Cannon PowerShot. It's really still bigger than pocket size and if I'm going bigger than pocket size I may as will take my SLR. Near as I can figure hers is a PowerShot A 350 or 450.

WHY does Cannon name all their cameras so closely? Today, another friend had her new camera at the park. IT is a Cannon PowerShot SD1000 and is small enough to fit in a purse, diaper bag, pocket. She let me try it and there was virtually no delay. I took a photo of Stacia running and it was not blurred... I didn't see a sports mode. It is new enough that she wasn't sure if she had a sports mode. Does ANYONE have THAT camera? What have you thought in the long run?

I can't remember what camera Cindy has. She showed me when we met. It was a Cannon Power Shot but I don't think it was the big one...maybe? I can't remember. I was going to search her blog but can't find a search engine on her blog....I remembered it was a gift but it didn't show up in her Christmas or Birthday post.....I know I saw a post on her camera.... LOL

The 3 a.m. hour

What better thing to do than cuddle, post an entry, and read blogs at 3 a.m.???? If I sit in the recliner and try to get Stacia back to sleep *I* will fall asleep.

Yesterday, I continued my quest to "get my house in order". I called our teacher at NARHS. Humbling. She began by saying, "De'Etta, What's going on? Your paperwork is usually immaculate and so organized?" ::snort:: I explained that Mike was deployed and other than that I don't KNOW why I'm behind. (Mike reminded me later that I'd been pregnant, had a miscarriage, graduation etc). I talked with her about Josiah's transcript/portfolio. She marked out a morning to work on his stuff and I'm mailing it off in the a.m. I'll pay for them to "expedite" his paperwork. They'll call in whoever does that to do it this summer for us and it will be done within a week instead of the typical 7. ::snort:: I finished his portfolio....his LAST one.

Josiah applied to the local university.

I picked up our new chaplain's children and we went to see Ratatouille. It was better than I expected. Stacia fell asleep - which may be why she is UP now. LOL Matt and Liz seemed to enjoy the break from moving.....their household goods were being delivered. Our children enjoyed the break from WORK. ::snort::

I placed a produce order. Shew - of the stuff we bought on Monday we've already eaten the case (small tray) of peaches, 2 lbs of strawberries, 2 lbs of grapes, 2 lbs of cherries, cantaloupe and pineapple. I need to go back to Sam's and buy a few more things...just enough to last until Friday is my goal.

Some friends are moving to Fairbanks. They had wanted to have a BBQ before they left. They waited for us to get home. Last night we went out to the lake and met with Todd and Debbie, Steve and Debbie and families. Fun, fun, fun. I took the Nikon to get good pictures. I put it in a safe spot...off the tables and on an unused BBQ grill. The boys were throwing a football and wham.....I see a small camera in my future. ::snort:: The irony is that my friend, Debbie, HAS a Cannon Powershot. She’s a photography buff and after watching the difference in our photos, and seeing what the Nikon does she’s saving for a D SLR. I told her to KEEP the small one too. LOL

I said, "no" to two appointments. LOL Josiah had the day off and ran errands for me. What a blessing!

Krista called and it was great to talk with her.

I still can't get the card reader to read, so no pictures....Josiah is going to vacum the computers tomorrow or something which is supposed to help.