Day 16 (-5): Satisfying but Not at All Fun

Today's theme is "A Place for Everything" -- the noblest of housekeeping goals.

I certainly have plenty of homeless clutter around the house as well as areas that are overfull and not functional in the least (unless you call "there was an empty space and I filled it" a function)

I shall take a picture of our living room console - sorta a show-and-tell:

in all its glory - and, yes, it's been this way all week

True to form, I decided to ignore the "theme" and the ever-present problem of papers (I could write a poem of woe on the topic), I returned today to another thorn in my side -- the Kitchen!

Like I said yesterday, we're "snowed in" here for the next couple of days. Today was day one, and I thought maybe since I couldn't escape . . . I made a little progress, and I'm very proud.

Haha. The little things. Basically, I moved stuff and made "stations" that worked better with my habits in the Kitchen.

I'll give one example and then just post pictures. Every morning, I make coffee. Let me elaborate. I huddle next to the coffee pot for at least 1.5 cups, propped up in the corner with one eye half open, trying to wake up while listening to the morning radio show. My Husband, comes in sporting a much better mood and cooks himself breakfast (3 fried eggs - every day).

You say, awesome, he cooks his own breakfast. Yeah. It's awesome. He even rinses his plate afterwards. However, he seems to need to occupy and use the same space as me and my coffee pot while doing so.

No good. I am grumpy and don't like being bumped around as he cracks eggs and darts back and forth from the fridge to the stove and the trashcan.

No more! I moved the coffee and accoutrements to the Other Side of the stove. I will have my own little corner, and maybe now I won't snarl at him in the morning. ;)

Rearranging things in the Kitchen is kind of like playing that tile puzzle game where you have one empty spot allowing movement. You make space just so you can fill it, and there are no guarantees that you'll be better off after the next move than when you started.

Well, I'm about half way there, and so far so good. Oh, and as a side note, please realize I only photographed what was "pretty" below. You can use your imagination regarding what lay behind the other doors :)

Coffee/tea cabinet. Found those baskets hiding in other rooms not contributing much, so I enlisted their butts into kitchen duty.

Hey, I can see all you guys at the same time!

Now the boys can get their OWN cereal bowls in the morning.

Day 15 (-5): The Boys' Closet

I just checked in on the theme of the day at the "blog zero" site. It's kids' closets.

The blogger offers up a photo column of lovely closets for our viewing pleasure. I am green with envy.

Sometime not long ago, I had one of those ideas that breed from necessity (laziness). I was transitioning my home office into the aforementioned guest room and had to get rid of an Ikea bookcase (Expedit) to make room for the bed. Rather than risk life and limb to get it down the stairs and being unsuccessful in my attempt to sell it on Facebook, I thought why not put it in the boys' closet? It would serve just as well as the awkward closet system we inherited from the previous owners, and kids like cubbies (right?).

Anyway, that's what we did. We pulled out the shelves and clothes bar and wedged that bookcase into the closet. I then proceeded to cram things into it willy-nilly, so organized it is not.

In fact, it's about as far from those precious examples of kid closet order as you can get.

By the way, we have a snow day tomorrow, so I could totally use this as an opportunity to work on that closet.

I could tell myself it's training for the big game (aka: the master closet).

I could.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Dare I enter this dark cavern?

P.S. I later discovered that Kids' Closets was the theme of Day 13 on CGIH blog. Probably, writing this post at 11:45 while lying in bed had something to do with my issues with math.

Day 14 (-5): Panic Brings Me Back

Just when you thought I'd gone dark forever, here I am again.

I spent the last few days wallowing in self pity for failing to keep my daily blog commitment. And pity brings more of the same.

You might be asking yourself what ended this cycle, and I'll give you one word - panic. (Here's a fun infographic about procrastinators and what finally spurs them to action - "the panic monster.": http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html )

While eavesdropping on my husband talking to his parents (confession: I do this all the time. I find it more efficient than wait for him to relay info later), and I heard him invite them to our house to spend the weekend.

[Ack! Ack!]

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that they will be staying with us. In fact, in the almost 13 years we've been married, this will be the FIRST time we have ever hosted them overnight.

And there you have it - my panic.

Honestly, my fear of being "found out" as a sub-par housekeeper (maybe even "neglectful." I mean my dishes collected in the sink for three days straight) is the only thing that jolts me into action.

Upon hearing of the in-laws impending visit, I climb upstairs to take a look at the "guest quarters." The bedroom looks feasible - aside from the overflowing closet (see previous post where this was pictured). I then walked through the playroom (disaster, but understandibly so) to the bathroom.

[Enter Psycho music here]

I cannot bear the thought of my in-laws using this bathroom. The paint is peeling above the shower. There are stains of unknown origin on all the walls. I have two boys under the age of six, and I don't even want to know sometimes what's going on in there.

My new project: Operation Bathroom Makeover

Oh, and between four family birthdays, Valentine's Day, and residual Christmas expenses, we have no room in the budget, so I'm doing this on a shoestring. Basically, paint and whatever supplies we already have in the shed.

I've got a week and a half.

It's GO time.

Example of "neglect." The toilet paper dispenser fell off the wall about a year ago. We just this weekend bought a stand. Maybe I'll remove that hardware now.

Day 10: Sometimes I Hate that We Have to Eat

Day 10 is supposed to be about coming to terms with an unavoidable mess because of special circumstances. Examples given were a new baby, baking with the kids because it's Christmas, etc. Sure, I get that.

But what I want to talk about is the revolving door of mess that is the KITCHEN. Ugh. I never get that sucker clean for more than 5 minutes, because as soon as I do someone has to eat again. I feel like my dishwasher and I have a dysfunctional relationship. I can't get no satisfaction. And who am I kidding? The Kitchen is never "done." I almost always run out of steam just shy of finishing the last bit. Um. That pot can soak until tomorrow. Or why put away the skillet when we'll just pull it out again in the morning?
I marvel as I watch my mother-in-law wipe down every inch of her (gorgeous, gigantic) granite-topped kitchen island after every prepared meal. Huh. I have about half that surface area in my whole kitchen, and it's lucky to see a sponge.
Let's face it. I despise the mundane. The idea that I'll be doing the exact same activity tomorrow and the next day and on and. . . makes me want to crawl into bed.
Which is where I am at this very moment.
There. That's me living with the mess.
Good night!

Day 9: Not Organized, But I Can See Everything

The end of today was pretty stressful. I won't go into the details here, but it was enough to make me almost blow off this blog thing. I was doing my usual escapist behavior when I remembered an email from my sister who had taken some time to tackle her under the sink cabinet (aka the Former Cabinet of Darkness), and it gave me the courage to try my own battle against the evils of near-empty chemical sprayers.

Mostly, I purged. But if you've been following the blog, you have already seen a "before" picture of this space. Here's an amateur "after."

Maybe I'll introduce some shelves later. A wise organizer once said, don't buy your gear before purging or you end up with the wrong stuff. Or something like that. ;)

Day 8: Nothing Happened Yesterday (on day 7)

My Kitchen got messier yesterday -- Super Bowl Sunday and all. Also, I didn't post anything, so that's why Day 7 is missing. (Get back on the wagon, girl.)

Just for fun, here's a picture of what my dining table looks like at this very moment:

(messy - for sure - but all I can think is "I hate those blinds.")

On Day 8 the blogger suggests that we compose our own definition of clutter and also possibly create a "mission statement" for our home.

Okay, I can try that:

Clutter -- any object that has no designated place or has landed outside its place within the home; appears to possess a magnetic force of its own attracting more of its kind. ex: toys, mail (MAIL), school papers, craft supplies, tools/hardware, small electronics

Home Mission Statement
This Home will be Functional by Creatively utilizing the spaces available, simply Beautiful by way of carefully Edited decor and furnishings, a Retreat in our Private spaces, and our Shared Spaces ultimately Inviting to Friends and Family.

Sounds lofty.

I want it all.

If I find a moment later today, I will make an exhaustive list of things I want/need to accomplish around the house to get closer to achieving this mission statement. Once I get that done, I will post it here:

Better get my butt in gear, eh?

Day 6! My Disordered Kitchen

If you haven't checked out the comparable post from the site that started it all, I suggest you do (here).
This girl is super frugal, and I appreciate that. Her resourcefulness is inspiring.

We'll see how far I get.

While I ponder the plan of attack, here are a few pictures of my problem areas for your entertainment: