I'm beginning to think this one is impossible....
Take 2, Wednesday:
Made it to almost 8pm with no frustration. Then after her bath and only 1 hour before bedtime, 4-year-old daughter decides she needs to do her "ballerina dancing" before she can get her hair brushed, put her pajamas on or complete the beaded necklace she just had to make for her aunt, who we were going to visit on Thursday. Mommy lost it. **sigh**
Take 3, Thursday:
Though I'm sure I got frustrated with 4-year-old, Thursday's breaking point was while we were visit said Aunt, and Hubby was too involved watching Jeopardy! to keep the 1-year-old from crawling to and eating the dog's food for the FOURTH time. **sigh**
Take 4, Friday:
I don't even want to talk about this morning. Let's just mention that I didn't get back from Aunt's house until after midnight and the alarm goes off before 6am.
I'm going to have to think long and hard about trying this a 5th day in a row...
Friday, July 13, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Thing 4: Take 1
Thing 4: Go an entire day without getting frustrated
So I decided last night that this would be the next "thing" I tackled. By definition, it'll only take 1 day to do, right? So I went to bed last night secure in the knowledge that within 24 hours, I'd have yet another thing crossed off my list. Yeah, right!
Here's how my morning went:
5:45 am - Alarm goes off. I hit snooze. So far, so good.
5:52 am - Snooze alarm goes off. I get out of bed, determined not to be frustrated by getting out of bed, and head downstairs to make my coffee.
6:09 am - Out of the shower, getting dressed, doing hair, etc.
6:30 am - Done getting ready, I get my lunch packed.
6:40 am - Go into (almost) 4-year-old's bedroom to wake her up.
6:41 am - Begin trying to convince 4-year-old that since today is "pony rides day" at summer camp, wearing shorts and a t-shirt would be a much more practical option than wearing a dress, which is all she wants to wear these days.
6:42 am - Begin bribing 4-year -old with everything I can think of to get her to wear shorts.
6:43 am - 4-year-old begins to cry because Mommy won't let her wear a dress.
6:44 am - Go storming out of 4-year-old's room, sarcastically telling her, "Fine, wear whatever you want. Mommy's going to be late for work and it's way too early for you to be arguing with me!"
59 minutes without getting frustrated. I'm not sure if that's a long time or not. I'll spend the rest of the day trying to decide if I'll try this again tomorrow...
So I decided last night that this would be the next "thing" I tackled. By definition, it'll only take 1 day to do, right? So I went to bed last night secure in the knowledge that within 24 hours, I'd have yet another thing crossed off my list. Yeah, right!
Here's how my morning went:
5:45 am - Alarm goes off. I hit snooze. So far, so good.
5:52 am - Snooze alarm goes off. I get out of bed, determined not to be frustrated by getting out of bed, and head downstairs to make my coffee.
6:09 am - Out of the shower, getting dressed, doing hair, etc.
6:30 am - Done getting ready, I get my lunch packed.
6:40 am - Go into (almost) 4-year-old's bedroom to wake her up.
6:41 am - Begin trying to convince 4-year-old that since today is "pony rides day" at summer camp, wearing shorts and a t-shirt would be a much more practical option than wearing a dress, which is all she wants to wear these days.
6:42 am - Begin bribing 4-year -old with everything I can think of to get her to wear shorts.
6:43 am - 4-year-old begins to cry because Mommy won't let her wear a dress.
6:44 am - Go storming out of 4-year-old's room, sarcastically telling her, "Fine, wear whatever you want. Mommy's going to be late for work and it's way too early for you to be arguing with me!"
59 minutes without getting frustrated. I'm not sure if that's a long time or not. I'll spend the rest of the day trying to decide if I'll try this again tomorrow...
Monday, July 9, 2007
Thing 1: Done! + Thing 2, too!
Oh, what a feeling!! It's a thing of beauty, really... a place for everything, and everything in it's place. You can compare these to the "before" pictures a few posts down, to see the true progress.
The best part? I got to use power tools!! I made myself this rack to store/hang all my spools of ribbon. No, I'm not sure why I own all these. You think this is too many? You should see how many I donated the the arts & craft department at my daughter's pre-school!
And yes, I found the bed again, too!
I was on such a role, that I decided to tackle Thing 2, framing the tobacco leaf and flag. Once I bought the frames, it took no time at all. Not sure why I waited so long in the first place. Of course, deciding where to hang them took half the day, but alas, here they are.... in the guest room next to my beautifully organized craft closet.
I'm going to take GREAT pleasure in cross these off my list. I'm not sure of the proper "5 Things Etiquette" for cross-offs, but I personally like to be reminded of my own progress.... so I'm going to cross off Thing 1 and Thing 2 and add Thing 6 and Thing 7. Still only 5 on the list, but I can see how far I've come.
The best part? I got to use power tools!! I made myself this rack to store/hang all my spools of ribbon. No, I'm not sure why I own all these. You think this is too many? You should see how many I donated the the arts & craft department at my daughter's pre-school!
And yes, I found the bed again, too!
I was on such a role, that I decided to tackle Thing 2, framing the tobacco leaf and flag. Once I bought the frames, it took no time at all. Not sure why I waited so long in the first place. Of course, deciding where to hang them took half the day, but alas, here they are.... in the guest room next to my beautifully organized craft closet.
I'm going to take GREAT pleasure in cross these off my list. I'm not sure of the proper "5 Things Etiquette" for cross-offs, but I personally like to be reminded of my own progress.... so I'm going to cross off Thing 1 and Thing 2 and add Thing 6 and Thing 7. Still only 5 on the list, but I can see how far I've come.
Here are the two new things:
6. Finalize our wills
Funny, this should be an easy one. Hubby is a lawyer and on the very computer I'm using to type this is the software required to write our wills. On top of the very computer desk where I sit are drafts of our wills that we wrote over 10 months ago, but never proof-read and signed. I guess it's like the cobbler's kids going barefoot??
7. Install chair rail & paint downstairs
This will be a 3-part task, me thinks. First, I need to convince Hubby that installing chair rail throughout the entire 1st floor (and painting the wall below it) should be anywhere near our priority list. Second, we need to plan a weekend (or two, or three) to tackle this project, which includes shipping the kids off to the in-laws for a day or two (easy for the in-laws, hard for Mom and Dad!). Third, the easy part, will be the actual installation and painting.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Thing 1: During, Part 2
Oh... my husband says I'm never again allowed to use the words "need" and "fabric" in the same sentence.....
Thing 1: During
Definite progress, woo hoo!! I spent most of the day on July 4th pulling things OUT of the closet. Gosh, what a mess! Here's how it looked mid-way through taking stuff out:
I decided to hang a second shelf at the top of the closet, since there was a ton of dead space up there. This was no easy task, let me tell ya! Just picking it out at Home Depot, having it cut, getting it home and carrying it up the stairs was a project and a half. Actually hanging it up was the easy part! There's 14 inches between the shelf and the ceiling, by almost 11 feet long, and the entire shelf only contains quilt batting and pillow forms. **sigh**
Of course, all this stuff just landed on the bed.....
I decided to hang a second shelf at the top of the closet, since there was a ton of dead space up there. This was no easy task, let me tell ya! Just picking it out at Home Depot, having it cut, getting it home and carrying it up the stairs was a project and a half. Actually hanging it up was the easy part! There's 14 inches between the shelf and the ceiling, by almost 11 feet long, and the entire shelf only contains quilt batting and pillow forms. **sigh**
Of course, all this stuff just landed on the bed.....
It's already looking a lot better than this, but I wanted to get the "during" pictures posted. I'm on a mission to COMPLETE this project today, I've even taken the afternoon off from work to get it done. A few new storage bins, a small bookshelf, some new labels, and I'm almost there!!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Thing 1: Before
Thing 1: Organize my craft closet
They say the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. Well, here goes: Hello, my name is Kat, and my craft closet is out of control!
Yes, the doors do close, but I'm leaving them open in the hopes that seeing this mess more frequently will inspire me to clean it out more quickly! And if the closet itself wasn't bad enough, all of this stuff is also supposed to be in there....
As is all of the stuff in here:
They say the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. Well, here goes: Hello, my name is Kat, and my craft closet is out of control!
Yes, the doors do close, but I'm leaving them open in the hopes that seeing this mess more frequently will inspire me to clean it out more quickly! And if the closet itself wasn't bad enough, all of this stuff is also supposed to be in there....
As is all of the stuff in here:
Yes, and all of the stuff in here:
Strangely (??), organizing stuff is one of my favorite things to do. Problem is, I know I'll end up making a MUCH bigger mess before this closet gets organized, and I have a feeling I'll get discouraged when I realize how much money I've spent over the years buying the exact same craft items over and over again. BUT... it's on my list, and I know I'll be thrilled when it's done. Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
My Next Five Things
When I stumbled across Adam's blog one Sunday afternoon, I was immediately smitten with the idea of 5things. It took me a few hours to come up with my list, and I'm afraid that it might appear (to some) to be just a glorified to-do list. But to me, these are all things that I've been trying to accomplish for years and haven't ever put high enough on my priority list. They're all things that will make me a happier person in some small way, and who couldn't use a little more "happy" in their life, right? I've got some of my next Next Things in mind already, and they're all much bigger than these, but hey, a girl's got to start somewhere!
So here they are, in all their glory (??), my Next Five Things. I'm not putting a timeframe to any of these, but I'm looking forward to every one of them!
1. Organize my craft closet
Sounds so simple, doesn't it? The guest bedroom in my house has a huge closet, which has been over-run with craft "stuff".... fabric, batting, paints, foamies, scrapbook paper, styrofoam balls, googly eyes... stuff I don't even remember I own. I have no plans to downsize or purge anything from the closet, I just want to organize it well enough that I know what's in there and where to find it, so that I don't end up with a 13th bottle of Elmer's glue because I can't remember if I already own one or not.
2. Frame the tobacco leaf and flag
The tobacco leaf is a long story, if you're interested you can read a post on my other blog from May, called "The Power of a Ladybug." Suffice it to say, the dried leaf has been carefully packaged between layers of cardboard and newspaper for 6 years, and it's time to get it in a frame. Along with it, the flag from my grandfather's funeral.
3. Finish 1 more quilt
At the end of 2002, pregnant with my first daughter and due in August 2003, I stumbled across a message board of other August 2003 expectant moms. We've been together in cyberspace ever since, and several years ago decided on a very ambitious project to make a quilt for each of the kiddos using fabrics that represented all 25 babies. Very long story, but let's just say that years later, I still have 6 more quilts to make. This goal is to finish one more, though once complete, it'll probably be replaced by the very same goal. Hey, one quilt at a time!
4. Go an entire day without getting frustrated
This will be the most difficult of all my goals. I have a full-time job, a 120 mile/day commute and 2 small children. Need I say more?
5. Donate my unused clothes to charity
Sounds so simple, but I'm a sentimental pack-rat. I still have flannel shirts from high school, and not only did I graduate 14 years ago, but I now live in South Florida where we get about 4 "cold" days a year, and that's still in the 60's! No logical reason to have any flannel shirts, let alone those from high school. Getting the picture? **sigh**
Not sure what I'll start on first, but I'll post my progress (or lack thereof) here as often as appropriate.
So here they are, in all their glory (??), my Next Five Things. I'm not putting a timeframe to any of these, but I'm looking forward to every one of them!
1. Organize my craft closet
Sounds so simple, doesn't it? The guest bedroom in my house has a huge closet, which has been over-run with craft "stuff".... fabric, batting, paints, foamies, scrapbook paper, styrofoam balls, googly eyes... stuff I don't even remember I own. I have no plans to downsize or purge anything from the closet, I just want to organize it well enough that I know what's in there and where to find it, so that I don't end up with a 13th bottle of Elmer's glue because I can't remember if I already own one or not.
2. Frame the tobacco leaf and flag
The tobacco leaf is a long story, if you're interested you can read a post on my other blog from May, called "The Power of a Ladybug." Suffice it to say, the dried leaf has been carefully packaged between layers of cardboard and newspaper for 6 years, and it's time to get it in a frame. Along with it, the flag from my grandfather's funeral.
3. Finish 1 more quilt
At the end of 2002, pregnant with my first daughter and due in August 2003, I stumbled across a message board of other August 2003 expectant moms. We've been together in cyberspace ever since, and several years ago decided on a very ambitious project to make a quilt for each of the kiddos using fabrics that represented all 25 babies. Very long story, but let's just say that years later, I still have 6 more quilts to make. This goal is to finish one more, though once complete, it'll probably be replaced by the very same goal. Hey, one quilt at a time!
4. Go an entire day without getting frustrated
This will be the most difficult of all my goals. I have a full-time job, a 120 mile/day commute and 2 small children. Need I say more?
5. Donate my unused clothes to charity
Sounds so simple, but I'm a sentimental pack-rat. I still have flannel shirts from high school, and not only did I graduate 14 years ago, but I now live in South Florida where we get about 4 "cold" days a year, and that's still in the 60's! No logical reason to have any flannel shirts, let alone those from high school. Getting the picture? **sigh**
Not sure what I'll start on first, but I'll post my progress (or lack thereof) here as often as appropriate.
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