I’m not an expert of protesting by any means, but here’s a thought. If you’re standing on the side of the road holding a sign stating your reason for protest? Write large and don’t wildly wave the sign around. It does your cause no good if I can’t actually read what you’ve written.
Thatisall.
So here’s my latest thing. We’ll see if I can keep up with it.
I’m doing FlyLady.
Haven’t we all tried this at one point in time? Has anyone actually ever stuck with it?
Here’s the deal. I have no patience. So following her exact plan is tough for me. Some days I might only want to spend 15 minutes decluttering, other days I just need to keep going until I almost literally drop just so it’s done already.
A few weeks ago, Jason had to go out of town on business, and I knew shortly after that that family would be coming to town for Kat’s birthday, and then shortly after that my Father-in-Law would be visiting for a weekend. I knew that if I didn’t bust my rear and do a full-on marathon cleaning before all the chaos started, that I’d never get it all done and I’d be hiding piles of stuff in my master closet when we had guests. Again. ;-P
So that’s what I did. I actually did a pretty good job, no half-assed cleaning here. I reorganized linen closets, cleaned out drawers and cabinets, donated and recycled a TON of stuff… and somehow I’ve managed to maintain it really well. I’ve actually surprised myself! Ha!
I decided that since I’ve not let the house go to pot, that maybe I’d put myself on a deep cleaning plan - hence the decision to follow FlyLady again. I’m actually not following anything on her plan except the “FlightPlan” where you deep clean a “zone” for an assigned couple of days. I find this pretty easy to follow, and then I do everything else (laundry, dishes, picking up toys, vacuuming, etc etc etc) on my own schedule.
So far so good! Last week was easy because it was the dining room, foyer and front porch. This week is a little harder for me because it’s in the kitchen. And I don’t know what is wrong with me, but I h-a-t-e cleaning the kitchen. I hate dishes, I hate wiping down counters 38290 times a day, I hate scrubbing food off the table, I hate cleaning out the fridge… anyway, I’ll get through it and then I’ll be able to move on to fun rooms again, like bedrooms and the family room. 
Long time no post, eh? I thought I’d brush the cobwebs off the blog and post a few random things while Kat eats her breakfast.
That’s all I’ve got for now - it took me over an hour to type just that with all the interruptions. More later! (and email replies as well, I’m WEEKS behind - I’m so sorry!)
This is going to be a loooooong, drawn-out project (like pretty much every project we do, ha!) I’ll document with posts and photos as it progresses.
First, I have to tell you a secret. The floors in my kitchen? Not wood. Nope. It’s VINYL! Vinyl that looks like wood. Okay before you groan and say “ew,” I will tell you that I can’t count how many times someone has come into our house and said “beautiful wood floors!” Granted, that’s before they actually walked on the floor. But totally fooled, so it’s always made me feel a little better about it. (The wood floor in my foyer is not vinyl however. I love it, and it stays.)
A little back-story: when we built the house 4.5 years ago, we asked for an estimate on putting wood floors throughout and actually didn’t think the number was that bad, but the real estate agent/builder’s rep (who was awful to deal with, just awful) told us it would be even cheaper to do it ourselves later. We believed her and had them put in this wood-looking vinyl in the kitchen, breakfast nook and laundry room to hold us over until we got around to getting the nice floors in. Welp, we never got around to it (ha, another typical story for us) and come to find out, it’s way more expensive for us to do than it was to have the builder do it. She was on crack. And we should have done our research. So here we are.
Okay so with that out of the way, I’ll also say that we have decided to stay in this house a little longer (and by little, I mean more than a year, less than 4 - we don’t have an exact number). Since we aren’t here for the long haul, we’ve decided now against the wood floors throughout. It’s just not worth it to us (we’ve got another idea for that money now - more on that later). So we’ve decided to replace vinyl floors with tile and replace our old, crappy builder’s carpet with new, pretty carpet.
Yay for new floors!
Um, except booo on picking out new floors! I never realized how overwhelming, exhausting and just plain NOT FUN picking out tile is. I’m not enjoying it. I’ve got a stack of tiles too heavy for me to even pick up by myself and none of them look right to me. We have different light in different parts of the room, so tiles that look good in the natural light of the breakfast nook look like junk in the artificial light of the kitchen, and vice versa. Really frustrating.
I’ve gone from darker tiles to lighter tiles; from grayish tones to brownish tones. Nothing is striking me. And I need something to strike me before I can commit to it.
Jason saw a discount/factory outlet type tile place in town, so that’s our next stop. Cross your fingers for me, hopefully something there will be perfect and maybe I’ll get lucky and it’ll be inexpensive too!
Oh and on the bright side? I *did* find carpet that struck me! Hopefully I can find tile that works in the kitchen AND coordinates with the carpet because I really love the carpet. More on that when we’re done dealing with tile!
When I was a little girl, I loooooved playing school. I loved writing on the chalkboard and pretending to give tests and grade papers. FUN! Now before you say it, no I shouldn’t have become a teacher. It takes a very special kind of person to be a teacher. A very patient person. When it comes to teaching other people, I have zero patience. Ask me about the photography forum I used to run and why it’s no longer alive. 
Anywho, Jag has started getting a good deal of homework in the last month. They’ve started having weekly spelling words and tests, and with that comes spelling homework 3 nights a week (on top of his nightly reading homework and the occasional math worksheet or project that she might send home).
As a kid, I never enjoyed my own homework. I’m LOVING Jag’s! I get to play teacher!
Every week I print up little “flashcards” with his spelling words and little descriptive pictures, and tape them to the wall next to his desk. I print up simple sentences using his spelling words so he can read and copy them on the lined paper I print up for him. I make little word games, scrambling the words for him to unscramble, or “code word” games where he has to match numbers to letters to come up with the words. I give him practice spelling tests.
I don’t think he’s enjoying the homework nearly as much as I am. Okay, I know he’s not. He grumbles about sitting down to do it most days. But you know what? He’s gotten 100% on every single practice test he’s taken (the teacher gives practice tests on Thursdays, and if they ace it, they don’t have to take the real test on Friday and instead get a special “free” time to color, draw or read). The truth is, I think he’d be getting 100% even without all the extra practice, but I’m trying to teach him good study habits. It never hurts to do a little extra work, ya know?
Enough of my blabbing - I have homework to print! Yay!
I don’t know what’s come over me, but in the last day I’ve had a strong urge to take on some sewing projects. I’m not some sort of sewing maven. I have a decent machine and thanks to my mother-in-law, I know enough of the basics to get me through most simple projects (drawstring pants, skirts, costumes, curtains, etc). Problem is, I don’t usually enjoy sewing very much. I like that I CAN sew, but I have a bad habit of putting off sewing projects because of the dread I feel at the thought of actually cutting the fabric, pinning and stitching. And then my lack of a good space for sewing - it’s a pain to have to pack everything up and put it away when naptime is over so that little fingers don’t touch sharp needles or tear patterns. It’d be so nice to have an extra room to set up and then close the door when I’m not working!
Oh, and I have a real problem with patterns. It’s the same problem I have with books. I love to buy them, but rarely get to them. I have loads of books that I thought seemed interesting, bought and then set aside for later that are now covered in dust, still never even cracked open. And I have dozens of patterns that I thought “Oh! How cute! And easy! I’m going to make that!” I buy the patterns, and a lot of times even buy the fabrics and notions too, and then it sits. Collecting dust until I finally give up and put it into a box with the rest of the abandoned patterns. Jumpers, dresses, purses and totes, roman shades, hats and scarves, baby bedding, child-sized robes and hooded towels… all neglected sewing projects.
Anyway, back to my current sewing urge. I think I’m in the mood, first, for a tote for me. Something simple and fun, like a solid with a bright pattern inside. And I’m thinking of making Kat’s curtains for her room rather than buying them (saw some cute ribbon tie-top curtains in Pottery Barn Kids and thought “I could so do that for a fraction of the price.”) And some summer jumpers and dresses for Kat, too (after I fell in love with some dresses in Chasing Fireflies that Jason would most likely divorce me for buying.)
If we weren’t all sick today, I’d be in the car on the way to the fabric store as I type this. I really want to follow through with these this time! I’m kinda hoping that because I’m typing this “out loud” that I’ll feel obligated to stick to my ideas rather than putting them off.
I saw these time out spots on Jon & Kate Plus 8 (anyone else addicted to that show? does it not make you feel like you’re on vacation with your own family?) and thought they were a brilliant idea. And so cute! I’ve been debating whether I’d buy one or try to make my own - finally just broke down this morning and bought one (the pink spot for Kat since we’re getting to the point of needing it). How dopey that I’m so excited about a time out rug! ;-P
Totally uneventful weekend here. Didn’t get much of anything done (Kat’s pink paint is still in the can, sitting on the counter in the laundry room - doh!), but I guess we got some rest. Here’s the thing - I h-a-t-e sitting around doing nothing on the weekends. It drives me crazy, I want to be out doing STUFF. Whatever, anything - just something, ya know? Jason, on the other hand, wants to lay low and relax after a long week at work. So we sort of clash every weekend. We usually compromise and spend one day out and one day in, but I’ll admit that our one day in usually leaves me really frustrated and grumpy. I’m thinking I should find a part time job one day a week - maybe I should look into assisting wedding photographers on Saturdays or something. I don’t even care about getting paid (although play money would be nice), I just want to do something fun!
Enough of that blather…
I’m going to go watch my DVR’ed Scott Baio is 46 & Pregnant, then find some motivation to get stuff down around the house this afternoon!
It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been home alone with the kids while Jason worked.
Jag had half a day on the 14th, which also happened to be the day his Aunt Sara came into town for a weekend visit. At the last minute, the kids and I hopped into the car and followed her home to Orlando to surprise my Mom. Poor Mom had been so down about not seeing the kids since April, and especially not seeing them around the holidays. The surprise was awesome. There’s video of it on my dropshots account, if you have that link. I think it’s on my Elsewhere page, if not I’ll come back and link it in the comments of this entry.
So anyway, we were in Orlando for the whole week. Got home Friday night (drove the entire 9.5 hours with 2 kids all by myself - go me!!), then Saturday morning Jason’s Dad came in for a weekend visit. Jason was off work Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue and Wednesday. So today is his first day back to work, and therefore my first day back to real life in *counting on fingers* two weeks! Eeep!
So far so good, Jag’s only been sent to his room once so far, and Kat’s already down for her nap.
For those of you who watch my flickr stream, I’ve mentioned briefly in my private photos but I’ll mention it here as well for those who don’t have access - I took all my kids and family photos private last week. Honestly, the orkut thing never really bothered me much. It was just annoying. But then I had a large, nationwide builder steal my photos, make and frame prints, and hang them in their model homes - all without asking and without paying for them. They were my personal, family photos - photos of the kids, of me and Jason, even of my Mom and her husband. That really upset me. I’m still dealing with that. And then I was alerted to a flickr account last week where someone had stolen and used pics of Jag in their stream. That was pretty much the last straw. All along I’ve been very aware that this sort of thing could happen, and I took the orkut stuff in stride. But I just got tired of worrying about it. Tired of wondering who else was stealing my pictures that hadn’t been caught yet. Flickr’s not as much fun when you keep everything private, but I feel good about my decision. Maybe later down the road when there’s not much activity on my stream, I can start sharing publicly again and keep a low profile so as to not attract the thieves.
In the meantime, I will still share some here because the general public on flickr does not know about this blog. I’ve got a smaller number of people checking in, and yes I’m googable, but I’m just not as easily found here. However, there will always be more shared for family and friends on flickr. If you are reading and would like access, and you aren’t a weirdo thief, then leave a comment here with the link to your flickr stream and I’ll add you as a friend. (or you can flickr mail me if you’d feel more comfortable)
Moving on… lots of other stuff going on too. For instance, we cancelled our Costa Rica trip. No fun, eh? Two reasons. One, Kat is still nursing, and recently she’s picked up the nursing a good bit (not really sure why)… we don’t feel good about the idea of weaning her for a vacation since she’s only 19 months old. And two, we decided that although we’d love to go to Costa Rica one day, we’d rather go to Peru first. And March isn’t the time to go to Peru. We’ll have to schedule that for another time, maybe next year during the summer months. So now we’re trying to figure out what we’ll do with our March time. Jag has 3 weeks off school for spring break, and I refuse to sit home those entire three weeks. I’m thinking of maybe renting a cabin in Maggie Valley for a week and inviting my family to come stay with us (hopefully Jason could make it too, but we recently found out that one of his employees might be leaving soon so we’re not counting on it - I guess another good reason we decided against Costa Rica, eh?)
This is getting long. I still have plenty more to say but I’m sure nobody wants to read it all in one entry, so hopefully I’ll remember to post more later. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and you have a Happy New Year!
Oh, a couple of pics!
(well, it was before 10am when I started typing this anyway… )
I’ve washed the sheets, washed the dishes and bought groceries already this morning. Woohoo for a good night’s sleep (the first in AGES) and some strong coffee! ;-P
Still trying to get back into the hang of life again. Some of us are still sick. One or more of us has been sick at all times since before Halloween, it’s getting old. I can’t wait for us all to be healthy again so we can enjoy the cool weather and the holidays.
Speaking of holidays, I’m trudging along. Jag and I put the tree up over the holiday weekend. He was such a huge help! I totally underestimated him, he did at least 1/3rd of putting the tree up (fake tree again this year, one day I’ll talk Jason into a real one) and put on more than half of the ornaments. Granted, he likes to bunch the ornaments up into spots along the middle of the tree still but he had fun and it got the job done (I went back and only moved a few, didn’t want him to notice I moved them but did want some ornaments on other parts of the tree, hehe).
I took a new route with the tree this year. I didn’t get out any of the old family ornaments. I feel kinda lousy about it, but the majority of them are breakable and I just didn’t want to fret about the kids touching (which is inevitable). So I bought all new, unbreakable ornaments. Lots of plastic, wood and paper. I did the whole thing in a theme of red, white and silver (with the occasional green ornament tossed in for good measure). It’s actually quite pretty, if I do say so myself. ;-) And it’s GREAT not having to worry about little fingers exploring the decor!
Also bought all new stockings and tree skirt. I get bored with them so easily, so buying new is a bad habit of mine. Most of the trim (silks, candles, etc) can be re-used no matter what my theme, but my stockings are usually retired every 2 years or so. This year I got cute, felt craft-style from Macy’s (I think they were from the Martha Stewart line) - ya know, for the $10 I spent on them each (on sale), they’re really very nice. Just as good of quality as my Pottery Barn stockings from the past years, if not better. Honestly! (and this after I went all over town, spent 4 hours going into 7 or 8 stores looking for stockings - I saw a lot of shapes, styles, colors and qualities)
Also finally broke down and got something to count down Christmas with. I’ve been looking at advent calendars for ages, of all different types. The little wooden houses, the calendar looking kinds you hang on the wall, etc. Ended up going with a Kaethe Kruse advent stocking garland that was probably over priced, but is just so so darling. I hung it up on the mantel already and the kids love looking at all the different little stockings. Now I just need to go out and get some little treats to stuff in them! Jag can’t wait for December 1st!
Oh and speaking of my mantel - I’m almost done. I went a bit overboard this year, it looks kind of overdone but I still love it. I’ll post a photo when I’m done, still need to add my “G” monogram letter on the mirror and still need to decide if I’m going to add lights or just leave it as greenery, berries and candles.
Welp, that’s enough rambling about my Christmas decorations. I’ll spare you the long list of things I still need to do. ;-P
One of these days I’ll type up an update on the kids. They’re doing really well, of course with the typical challenges, but still - really well.
I haven’t disappeared totally yet. Don’t want to give up on blogging. I’m just always putting it off and then I forget what I was going to blog about to begin with… and THEN I sort of get out of the habit of blogging so when I do have something to say and I do have a minute to type it up, it seems awkward and forced.
I need to get back into the habit again.
Lots of nothing going on here, at least nothing big. We’ve all been sick, Halloween came and went, Thanksgiving is around the corner (didn’t realize just how soon until a few days ago - eep!), lots of school stuff going on with Jag (meetings, field trips, etc) and Christmas is creeping up on us too.
I have to say, I’m really stoked about Christmas. As usual, I have lots of big ideas and probably won’t find the time to make them happen. Last year I gave up on big ideas without even trying. Made my life easy, but it wasn’t very much fun. So this year I’ll drive myself crazy trying to make things happen. We’ll see how it goes.
I’m also feeling very overwhelmed by a cluttered, disorganized house. I have so many things I want to do and I don’t know where to start. At this point, *everything* has become priority - our dysfunctional laundry/mud room, the messy master suite, the shove-stuff-where-ever-it-fits kitchen cabinets, the kids’ toys that seem to be reproducing in the closets at night and are slowly leaking out onto the floors of every room…
I don’t know about you, but when I’m disorganized, I feel like I can’t *do* anything. I put projects off until x, y and z are cleaned and out of the way. So to get to my Christmas projects, I feel the need to get my house straight.
Argh. Overwhelmed.
Yeah, anyway - still planning on blogging, just need to make myself do it. Watch for more posts soon!
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