What goes up, must come down

Just like the old Blood Sweat & Tears song and Newton's law of gravity, the Christmas decorations that go up must eventually come down.

When do you take yours down?  I have friends who have them down in the twinkling of an eye, pretty much as soon as Christmas dinner is finished. 

As for me, I let mine linger a bit.  We start our decorating later than most, and I'm just not ready to put it all away on December 26.  But I do make sure it's down shortly after we've ushered in the new year.

Every year for several years, I have vowed to go through all the Christmas bins and straighten them out.  This year, I made good on that promise.  No excuses - the walk-in attic is adjacent to our bonus room, so I had the perfect staging area to spread out all my tubs and really organize them.  I also did a little "Santa's Workshop" repair on a few items that needed re-gluing.

Today marks the 12th day of Christmas (see note), and I'm happy to say my decorations are down and tucked away, and I've even made a little headway on decorating the dining room for the winter months.  Den and foyer are next.

There were two distinct approaches I could take to stowing away my Christmas decorations:

1. Room-by-room (kitchen, dining room, UT stuff for the bonus room....)
2. Like-goes-with-like (garlands, ornaments, lights, nutcrackers, Christmas village...)

I chose...both.

For example, the kitchen tub contains everything I need to set up my kitchen for Christmas:  tree decorations, Christmas mugs and linens, even my party paper goods (of which I have enough to last the next 30 years.  Okay, maybe just the next two or three, but it seems like a lot.)  Next to it is the box with next year's gift mugs for my 3rd graders.  I picked them up on clearance, and it's one less thing to worry about.

Yes, the caroler's book is upside down

On the other hand, my nutcracker collection stays together (albeit in one large tub and two wine boxes - they are the perfect size for storing them.)  I store them as a group even though some go to the sunroom, some to the kitchen, some to the den and some to the foyer.  I always shuffle them up, so each year I can pull them out and decide who-goes-where.  Ditto for the garlands and wreaths.  But the light strands and ornaments are separated in tubs for specific trees: dining room, big tree, UT tree.

I also tucked in some reminders for next year to make decorating easier - you know, those things you tell yourself, "next year, I'll do it this way instead" and next year, you remember it too late?  Yeah, me too.  Maybe my notes will help next year - we'll see.)

Of the stuff I didn't use this year, I designated one tub for Santa Claus decorations, and another for snowmen and the cream/gold ornaments. When I get the urge to switch from silver to gold, or do a Santa or snowman theme, I can "shop" from my own inventory first.

After everything was in tubs and I had tossed all the irreparable, melted, discolored or otherwise unusable stuff, there remained two large bags of "haven't-used-in-forever" (or maybe never) stuff.  I'll take pity on the Goodwill folks who are dealing with the year-end glut, and keep them until early next fall to drop off. They're set aside in one corner, visibly marked for their final destination.

The only remaining to-do is to get some shelving up in the attic so when I need the tub on the bottom of the stack (isn't that always the one you need?) I don't have to offload all the other tubs to fetch it. But that's a task that can wait for a warm Saturday so we don't get frostbite in the process.

Even though Christmas is officially over and the decorations are down, I think I'm going to be vacuuming up glitter and pine needles for a very long time....

Happy cleaning,



P.S.   A big thank-you to Mr. Kurek for setting me straight on how to count the twelve days of Christmas. I'm just glad I was a day ahead, instead of a day behind!

Home improvement is harder than it looks

The following is a true story.  I haven't changed any names or details to protect the innocent. It happened earlier this week when I decided I would knock out two trouble spots before fall break.

The first hot mess was this plasticware storage cabinet in the kitchen.  It started out fairly neat when we moved in, but every time we pulled something out or put something away, it got a little messier.

Fetching a plastic tub for leftovers was a form of torture.

The second wreck was this under-sink cabinet area on my side of the bathroom.  Like the other one, it started out neater when we moved in but daily use took its toll.

This is the mess I faced each morning and night.

So I asked myself, just how hard could it be to bring some organization to bear?  I mean, reality TV shows can make over entire rooms in half an hour.  Surely this wouldn't take more than a few minutes, maybe an hour of my time, right?

(Insert hysterical laughter here.  Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.......)

A little background:  when we bought the house, someone had installed a wire two-tier pull-out thing in my bathroom cabinet, seen in the picture above.  (Curses to the builder who skimped on drawer space in the master bath to begin with. I know a base cabinet with only two tiny drawers is cheaper than one with a tower of drawers, but really?  You couldn't figure out how to squeeze a few more bucks out of the budget and upgrade the cabinetry to a reasonable amount of drawer space when the bathroom is bigger than most bedrooms and some apartments we've lived in?)

Ahem. Deep, cleansing breath.  In case you didn't pick up on it, a lack of drawers is a pet peeve of mine.  Well, really it's the disorganized chaos that stems from lack of drawer space that is the thorn in my side.

But anyhoo.  This cheesy little wire thing just wasn't cutting it - my jewelry was a slippery tangled hodgepodge, the hair dryer cord was always flopping over the edge and preventing the cabinet drawer from shutting.  And it looked a mess, no matter how neatly I arranged the bottles and containers of stuff.  Painfully messy.

For several months, I searched the stores and the internet for some decent shelving or drawer unit to insert in there, to no avail.

I finally resigned myself to plastic stacking drawers and tubs.  Gritting my teeth the whole time because I really, really dislike the plastic stuff:  it's flimsy, wobbly and otherwise prone to rapid failure.

But the wire pull-out thing would work great to corral the kitchen mess, and I needed to find something to organize my bathroom mess in order to free up the pull outs for the kitchen - it's a process.  Here is what I mentally sketched out beforehand:

1. Take all the stuff out of the wire unit, dump it in a laundry basket to temporarily hold it
2.  Move everything back in, using the plastic drawers and a bin or two.
3. Install the wire pull-out drawers and organize the plastic-ware.


1,2,3, easy as do-rey-me, right?  Errrm, not really.  I quickly realized why these two items had gone undone for so long.  For starters, the laundry basket was full of unfolded clothes.  For shame. No problem - dump them on the bed and fold them when I was done, right? Sure. Except the bed wasn't made either.  (WHERE are the laundry and cleaning fairies in my hour of need????)  This is how it really went:

Day 1:
1. Make the bed and dump the clothes out of the laundry basket.
2. Fill the basket with bathroom stuff and remove the wire pull-out unit.
3. Install the plastic containers.
4. Cringe and groan because I still hated how it looks - see what I mean?

This was the "after" picture.  Ugh.

5. Move on to the kitchen and install the wire drawers and organize the plastic ware.
6. Move the unfolded clothes back to the basket for the night.

Day 2:
1. Make the bed, dump the clothes back on the bed.
2. March into the bathroom in the cold light of day and take measurements.
3. Visit Target and find a shelf unit that could be cut down and re-tooled to work, plus baskets to optimize the storage space.
4. Pull out the plastic drawers and bins, and fit the new shelf unit around the plumbing (this involved screwing, unscrewing, sawing, re-screwing and installing. And a little glue.)
5. Return to Target to exchange the original baskets for others, because "optimize" does not always mean "biggest size they make."
6. Move everything from the plastic drawers to the new baskets.
7.  Move the unfolded clothes back to the basket.

Day 3:
1. Make the bed.
2. Fold the now seriously wrinkled clothes and put them away.
3. Return the plastic drawers to the store for a refund.

So instead of a few minutes, this became a project that spanned three days.   All of that, just to organize the contents of two cabinets. But on the bright side, I can now say:

The plastic ware is now neatly organized and accessible.

The bathroom cabinet is organized and functional - I make a happy sigh every time I open the cabinet doors now.  

My makeup and jewelry are in the shallow larger basket on top, easily accessible.  And my everyday jewelry is no longer in imminent danger of dangling or tangling.

The hair dryer has its own bin that is deep enough for the cord to stay neatly inside; cotton balls and swabs and other items have their own little cubby, too.  The other two cubbies hold everything else - lotion, contact lens solution, sunblock, razors, jewelry cleaner, and on and on - it's a lot of stuff stowed out of sight but within reach.

The clothes are folded and put away.

The bed is made.

An investment of about four hours over three days, including two trips to town, one $10 shelf and five $15 baskets equals peace of mind.  Which is priceless.

The end.


Happy organizing,



P.S. Please tell me...do your home improvement efforts go the same way mine do? Even if they don't, just tell me they do.

The recipe collector: one year later

A year ago, I expressed angst over the decrepit state of my recipes here.

Remember? 

I gathered notebook, sheet protectors and everything I needed to finally get them organized and usable without worrying about more spatters and drips defacing them.

I gathered up everything I needed.  Except the resolve to actually follow through.

Yes, it's true. I moaned and groaned and then put them away. And kept tugging them in and out of a shelf in my kitchen hutch...loosely stacked, in that miserable, torn folder, for almost a year.

Finally one day last month, I decided it was the last time I was going to gently coax the slippery stack of papers and slips of paper out, plop them on a flat surface and frantically look for the proverbial recipe-in-the-haystack.

No more.

Enough.

Finis.

Done.

I started out slow. (Don't want to pull a muscle or anything.) My first act was to go through the stack and pull out the recipes I use the most. Those were tucked into their own sheet protectors and loosely organized according to cookbook etiquette: appetizers, soups and stews, main course, side dishes, yeast breads, quick breads, desserts, cookies, candies and miscellaneous. (Who decided that was the proper sequencing of cookbooks, anyway?)

After the heady rush of success at my minor accomplishment, I took a Sunday afternoon and spent a  few hours going through my somewhat organized (but very dated and floppy) binders, pulling out favorites from there. And rediscovering some recipes I forgot I have - many of them I have tried, others I still want to. (Chantilly Carrot Cake, coming up!)

I would definitely say this is a "work in process" - I still have a folder (much smaller) of loose recipes.  They are untried (but high potential) recipes, grouped together by subject; you can see them at the top of this photo. Yes, they fit in this slim and trim holder, with room to spare!

And -tucked away out of sight are my old notebooks, which I think of as a "bone pile" - I will continue to pick over them until everything is either test-driven or passed over so many times I finally have to accept they are rejects.

I know I could organize my "keeper" recipes electronically, and that would probably be better, considering that the entire world is slowly migrating to to e-reading.

But there is something very appealing about touching and seeing paper recipes, especially when they are hand-written or original clippings from newspapers, magazines and food labels. I'm not quite ready to give up that sensory experience, even for the sake of efficiency.  Having them encased in sheet protectors means it is very easy to keep this notebook handy and if splatters or spills happen, it only takes a swipe with a damp cloth to clean them up.

So how's your recipe collection?  Organized, or not?  Online, or not?  Do tell.  Inquiring minds want to know!

Happy organizing,

The pasta lineup

Many of my formative years were spent immersed in a melting pot of Italian and Mexican culture and cuisine.  And I've always been a macaroni girl (it's as patriotic as Yankee Doodle, right?  I mean he stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni...)

Anyway.

Apparently the pasta thing really stuck.   It's why low-carb diets and I are star-crossed and doomed to fail.

In my pantry at any given time, you will find - without fail - several basic dry pastas, including elbow macaroni (big and/or small), spaghetti, fettuccine, lasagna and penne pasta. These days, the last three are whole wheat or tri-colored as we try to eat a little healthier. With those staples (plus a few cans and jars of tomato products) at hand, I know I can throw SOMETHING for dinner no matter what.

Then there are the seasonal pastas: ditalini in the colder months (for pasta e fagioli) and rotini or fusili in the summer, for pasta salad. The other day I found squiggly radiatori for BLT pasta salad since true fusili (spiral not corkscrew) is rare in these parts.

Occasional guest stars include bowtie, shells (big and small), linguini, mezze penne, mostaccioli which means "little moustache" and is a little hard to get these days); gnocchi, large egg noodles and Amish noodles (small and big), orzo and manicotti.

For whatever reason, wagon wheel pasta has never been on my list of go-to pastas.  Maybe because most of my encounters with it have been mushy.  But I hear Barilla has a miniature version of rotelle or ruot, so maybe I'll have to give it a try one of these days.

In case you're wondering if I skipped it, no - ravioli is not  found on my pantry shelves, ever.  Not since my kids outgrew canned pasta, and they sometimes ate it despite my groans.  I'm a snob when it comes to ravioli - it must be fresh (or frozen) and preferably homemade.  Occasionally I'll pick up a package of fresh tortellini.  Most of the fillings aren't quite what I'd put in my own, but I'm too lazy to make it myself.

I guess you can tell, we love our pasta, in pretty much all shapes and sizes.

While typing this post, I took a peek in my pantry.  And this is what my pasta shelf (yes, I have a shelf of pasta - doesn't everyone?) looked like.

The "just-moved-in" look

Oh dear.

I confess, I can get a little gung-ho about pantry organization. Surely it didn't look like that when we moved in a few months ago, did it?

But daily use does tend to wear off that just-moved-in, everything-in-its-place look.  A box or container comes out, then goes back in; new boxes come home and get tucked in wherever they'll fit.

Before you know it, it's a jumble.

After I got a look at it through the objective eye of the camera lens, I did a quick assessment of what I had already, determined the number of various sizes I would need, and made a dash to the store to pick up 6 or 7 canisters to put everything in its own matching stackable storage container.

Now it looks like this.

Having everything matchy-matchy isn't particularly frugal or necessary.  But before you dismiss it as frivolous (and a little OCD), consider these reasons for using a set of mix-and-match modular storage containers:

• This is front-and-center when you open my pantry.  It needs to stay tidy, regardless of how I do it.  Otherwise, I can't find what I'm looking for and wind up buying a second or third box of this-or-that.  Been there, done it.
• These stacking modules by Rubbermaid are designed to create tidy and accessible pantry storage.  Everything is the width of the shelf and can be stacked.  No more peeking and peering around the front row to see what lurks back behind.
• Aesthetics and accessibility aside, with everything out of boxes and sealed up, if critters should appear in one tub of pasta, they can't easily migrate to the others.  (Unless you cook your pasta almost as soon as you bring it home, you are bound to encounter some hibernating stowaways at some point.  Gross, but true.)
• I can even argue for cost-effectiveness.  A box of pasta can run anywhere from $1 to $6, depending on brand, type and size.  The containers were a one-time investment of about $4 each.  Cutting down on accidental over-buying and eliminating the risk of having to clear out all the pasta if it gets buggy can pay for the containers over time.  (That's my rationale, and I'm sticking to it.)

So now that you've seen mine, do tell:  what are your must-have pasta shapes? And what do you store them in?

Happy cooking!

Loose Ends - No End in Sight

The more I look around, the more loose ends I find.  I think this is going to be a very busy summer.


Saturday afternoon, we tied up some ends, but in the process created a new loose end.  We took down my greenhouse and hauled the pieces to the new house, where they are now stowed in the shed - thus creating a merely relocated loose end.  I'm going to need a few replacement pieces in order to reconstruct it, but I have set a deadline for us:  UT has a bye week September 23.  That sounds like the perfect date to rebuild the greenhouse, just in time for fall and winter. So I just need to get those parts ordered BEFORE that date.  And I need to figure out WHICH parts to order before THAT.  We'll see.

Monday I tied up some tangled ends:  I pulled four charger cords from my car, and tossed all by the one for TomTom - the rest were leftovers from cell phones that have been replaced - not all were mine, though.

Tuesday, I finally cleaned off my kitchen/office desk and restored it to its pre-move status.  (Now that the initial tsunami-size wave of SBV stuff has ebbed away I don't need to use the upstairs office.)  Bad timing - I also made cookies that day. It is beyond my ability to sit within arm's reach of fresh-baked cookies and not eat one.  Or two. Or more.

I also finally updated our TomTom - it was only a couple years out of date.  Maybe the next trip to Florida will not involve "Tom" wigging out and thinking we're driving on the beach for a 30-mile stretch of new(er) highway.  As much as I enjoy irking "Tom," the novelty of that prank has worn off. 

Since I was on a roll, I cleaned up the three bar stools that had been stored for the past decade-plus, and tucked them along the eating bar on our kitchen island - it was like they were made to fit there. 

Thursday morning saw middle child and I traipsing off to the old house bright and early, and hauling back the recyclable pots and flats out of the now-dismantled greenhouse.  I saved a few to keep, and the rest are now on their way to wherever recyclable plastics go.  At least it's not to a landfill.

Friday I mailed out 70-some invites to a get-together we're planning for later this month.  Yes, that ties up a loose end - the invitations have been sitting here since we moved in.  It was high time to get them in the mail so people can hopefully make it to the party!

Several more loose ends are now on my radar screen.  Some of them involve the drill, a pencil and a level.  Others involve heavy-duty gloves and a big brush. Stay tuned...

Happy tying,

If you can't use it, re-use it.

I love when I can re-use and re-purpose things I already have. It tickles my frugal bone (which I'm pretty sure is located next to the funny bone.)  Here are a few of the items I'm reusing so far - most of them are in my dining room. (Just wait until you see what ELSE I'm doing in the rest of the house!) .

1.  The Rug. I had the perfect rug right under my nose, literally. The rug in this room was picked up on an Old Time Pottery sale, but rejected for the dining room in our last house (the colors were wrong - several people told me so.)

But I got it so cheap and I really liked it, so I hung onto it and put it in the bonus room/office even though it didn't really fit in there either (but what DOES go with orange walls anyway?) When I started pulling together the blues and browns for the dining room, it was right there, beaming at me. And it fits in that color scheme like that glass slipper fit Cinderella. AND it's a trellis pattern, which will echo the chair cushions...once I get the fabric ordered. (One of those loose ends, ya know?)

2.  You say credenza, I say buffet. We bought this lovely piece of furniture a few years ago for the den. The new den has built-in bookcases and entertainment center, so it was redundant in there. But now it has new life as a buffet and holds my china, crystal, silver and linens.

Best of all, I can now GET to my "good" dishes without hauling out a stepladder and delicately balancing plates, cups and saucers from a deep cabinet over the refrigerator and then back again after each use. (That would explain part of why we didn't use them often. The other half of the explanation is that they are blue, and I didn't have anything blue in my dining room. Now that problem is resolved, too. The china should definitely be getting a better workout from here on out.)

3.  Curtain stuff The curtains flanking the French doors were in constant and imminent danger of getting caught in the door, but I had two brushed nickel tiebacks I had leftover from an old decorating scheme in Swimmer Girl's room.  When I found them, I felt positively lucky!  They work perfectly!

I went a-searching for center brackets for the curtain rods (note:  if in doubt, always buy a size bigger curtain rod - you won't be sorry.)  And then right under my nose I found exactly what I was looking for - some brackets from an unused rod are right here.  As soon as I can spare a minute, I'll screw in those brackets will make the curtain rods nice and straight, instead of saggy in the middle (yes, another loose end.)

Some other re-uses I found during this move are less visible, but still incredibly useful.

In our old house, I used a bamboo display rack to hold my Fiesta lunch-size plates. In the new house, those plates now sit proudly on a cabinet shelf. But the holder is perfect for holding my pan lids, which were always falling and jangling around in the cabinet.  Now they're always within reach and there's no clattering of lids every time I need a pan or a lid.

A wall cabinet we removed from our former master bathroom a few years ago is now holding cleaning supplies in our laundry room, thanks to middle son's help. He and I hung the cabinet and he used a trusty hacksaw to cut the wire shelving to fit .  (Note to self:  get a new hacksaw blade.  A dull blade can really make you hacked off.)

The powder room came without a mirror.  Call it karma: I removed the mirror from the powder room move-before-last one.  Fortunately, I still had that mirror and it has been used here and there and everywhere for a while, until it found its new home where it fits perfectly.  The picture reflected in it was one I had hung in my office years ago, and found while I was cleaning out the linen closet a few weeks ago.  

Last but not least, I found a use for some of our old VHS cartridges. My Fiestaware bowls above the cabinets needed a little boost (kind of like the way a short girl needs serious heels) to be seen above the crown molding. I thought about using my old hardback and paperback books until I came across a box of old VHS tapes.  Mr. Official is having some serious separation anxiety about his VHS tapes of old UT football games, even though we do not have a working VCR - and haven't had one for several years. Nor has he watched any VHS tapes for years before that.  Problem solved. The books were better served by being donated to Friends of the Library, to be read by another avid reader.

And I can reassure him I didn't just toss his tapes.  They are getting a second life "elevating" my bowls and he can console himself with the knowledge they are at-the-ready if he wants to round up a VCR and watch one. (Mmm hmmm.  Like that's gonna happen.)

I'll share some other re-purposed items soon.  We live in an age of planned obsolescence and disposable items but there's a satisfaction and contentment that comes from knowing at least some of our possessions can be used and reused, instead of just used up and thrown away. 

Happy re-using,

My wild goose chase

Not literally, although with our quasi-farmlife now, that is always a possibility.

No, this is about a skirmish in my never-ending quest for organization.

In the old house, I had a nice wall-mounted ironing board. Very handy and folded away when not in use. This laundry room is not configured in a way that lends itself to another one of those, so I'm back to a regular ironing board. I went so far as to haul my original one out of the shed, but it is almost 30 years old. The rubber leg covers are dry rotted and it's rusty. Time for a new one.

So I bought one around the date we started moving in. And as I recently realized, it has sat unused - in its plastic wrap! - for a few weeks now. But I'm sure some day it will get used and in order to keep it neat, I really need (yes, need) one of those organizers that holds both the iron and the ironing board. (I'm sure my iron is on pins and needles, waiting for a new home, else it would have been over here weeks ago.)

I went looking for a wall-mounted holder, specifically one with a metal or silicone plate back so a still-hot iron can be placed in it without scorching the wall while it cools. What I found is that such a creature is nearly impossible to find locally.

I tried. I really tried. I went to four stores (three in one trip just for this object), and came home empty-handed:

WalMart - nope.
Home Depot - nada.
Lowe's - had one but it was not worth the price.
Target - has one online, but locally, nothing.

True to form, off to Amazon I went. Found this model by Brabantia.  (I have two of their stainless steel trashcans, and love them. Here's hoping this is as well-designed and sturdy.)

Who knew this would be so difficult to find?

Question:  Why is it so hard to find a selection of ironing board holders these days?

Possible answers:
A. More people using the built-in or over-the-door ironing boards, and don't need them.
B. When it comes to ironing, more of us are opting for wrinkle releaser whenever possible.
C. More of us just don't iron at all.

Hmmmm.

Happy chasing those wild geese,

Tying up loose ends

I have issues with ends and endings.  Run-on sentences that don't end?  Guilty.  Crying at happy endings? Again, affirmative.  Split ends? I don't want to talk about it, but thanks for noticing.

But mainly, loose ends.  You know, those projects that get *almost* done?  Everything except one, (usually tiny), final step.  I tell myself I'll get around to that last bit...tomorrow.  Or eventually.  But I don't. Which is how we wound up living with unfinished trim in our bonus room for two (or was it three?) years.  It's why I am hauling several tubs of half-finished (or never-even-started!) craft projects out of the attic of the old house, and trying to decide what to take and what to leave.  (Well, donate or throw away.  I wouldn't actually LEAVE them in the old house.)  It's why I'm STILL hauling stuff out of the old house, even though we officially moved three weeks ago.

New house, fresh start, new resolve.  It's time to start finishing things before I start something else.  To that end, I am dedicating this summer to tying up all the loose ends of moving and settling in.  By the time Labor Day (and football season) rolls around, I hope I can pronounce them all finished, as far as the eye can see.  So every week this summer, I'll update you with my efforts...successful or not.

I figure it's good to start with baby steps - something fast, easy, and almost fun.  Like hanging a wood blind.

When we were preparing to move into this house, all window blinds were hung, except one.  (Apparently the former owners were had "loose end" issues, too.)  "How hard can this be?" I thought as I snagged some brackets on a trip to Lowe's.  Harder than I thought - the blind is bigger than the brackets I bought.

Undaunted, I went online and discovered the world of "high profile" vs. "low profile" blinds.  I got sidetracked and it wasn't until a few weeks had past that I remembered to order the brackets (sidenote:  if you need blind parts, check eBay; wayyyy cheaper than the blind replacement specialty e-tailers.)  And a few days later, they showed up.   Thank goodness eBay sellers and mail carriers follow through, even when I forget what I ordered.

Before: window clear, floor covered

Before I made this resolution, those brackets would have sat around for several days, eventually shuffled into a junk drawer or tucked away in some obscure location, never to be seen or thought of  again.  Not this time.  As of yesterday, the blind is hung (thanks to middle son for his help.)  Yes, that's the valance leaning up against the bookcase.  No, it's not hung. (The clips I ordered were for the wrong size - gahhh!  But  I have contacted the seller to arrange for a return and exchange.)  And in the interest of full disclosure, after I took these before-and-after shots, I had to locate a tilt wand. They're not as easy to find as you might imagine. Fortunately an extra old blind at the old house had one that was the right size.  But I did, and I got it installed - another loose end tied tight.

While we were in the bonus room/man cave with ladder and screwdrivers handy, I also re-attached the fan canopies and air duct vents that we loosened so we could paint this room before we moved in.

(The more I think about it, the more I am convinced this "loose end syndrome"  is a debilitating affliction, perhaps a disability.  It's definitely a congenital defect, as our children suffer from it, too.)

After:  window covered, floor clear

Since we were on a roll, I also put away the boxes we used to hold files during the move (yeah, I know how many days ago that was) and tidied and vacuumed.  The man cave is not finished yet, but it definitely looks better than it did before we hung that blind!  What a difference tying up just one little loose end can make.

I'm not sure what my next loose end(s) to tie up will be...probably whatever has me at my wit's end and fit to be tied.  Stay tuned!





Here's to a summer of happy tying,

Time to lighten the load

The move-in date is upon us.  This week has been a frenzy of back-and-forth trips getting bathrooms, kitchen and closets set up and ready to move into.  The furniture gets moved tomorrow.   After that, I will have to look at the remaining stuff and make tough choices. I'll be honest, the urge to purge is upon me.
I have torn away my clutter blinders and I'm looking with clear eyes at all the S.T.U.F.F. we have accumulated since we moved to Tennessee almost 11 years ago. Added to the moving van load o'stuff we hauled here with us. It's embarrassing to consider how much stuff we have.  (At least we never broke over and permanently rented a storage unit.  But that's only because we let it pile up in attics and the shed.)

But enough is enough - it's not all coming with us.  The new shed is smaller.  The new walk-in attic is fanTABULOUS, but it is not big enough for all this stuff.  And even if it were, WHY would we take it all? My vow is we are going to move lightly (figuratively speaking of course.  Because all that pottery is heavy!)

I have two litmus tests I am administering to decide what stays and what goes:
1.  If it is not loved and/or used at least once a year, it's not going.
2.  If we haven't used it since we moved in here, it is absolutely, positively, not going.  

The superfluities can be sold, given away, recycled, tossed in the trash, burned...I don't care - but they cannot enter our new abode.

Of course, every rule has exceptions, and since there were two rules, we have two exceptions:
1.  My wedding dress, although I'm even debating that one...swimmer girl is not keen on its 1980s style; and
2. Mr. Official's baseball cards.  I just hope he doesn't rupture a disk hauling them down and up the stairs from one attic to the other.

Happy moving,

Moving: into high gear

I've circled May 6 on the calendar as our targeted move-in date.  Between now and then, there's a lot to do:  painting, putting up window treatments, cleaning and of course moving in and organizing a new home.

How many times do we get to watch someone else agonize to organize? Or see real-life do-overs on rooms, rather than the magical makeover that happens in a single 30-minute segment of HGTV?

Well, here's your chance to peer over our shoulders and watch our progress as we paint and pack, and repeatedly answer the question, "what am I gonna do with THIS?" (whether it be a location that needs a little something, or a something-or-other that needs a spot to call home.)  All those questions of what-goes-where in the new space must be answered.  Your input is - of course - welcome.

So stay tuned. Starting today, bedrooms are changing colors.  Later this week, the dining room is going to get a color transformation, too - red walls and green-ish window treatments are just not me, and definitely not a good backdrop for my violet china or my good dishes.

In the meantime, the bathroom shower has already gone from fiberglass and peeling paint to stud walls:

Later this week, if all goes as planned, it will be finished in tile and stone.  

Next week will be the all-important arranging of the kitchen, moving my beloved Fiestaware, figuring out a new (smaller) pantry system, and generally getting kitchen and bathrooms in working order.  Then there will be decisions on furniture placement for the living areas and bedrooms.

Last but not least is the conversion of the bonus room into a bona fide University of Tennessee man-cave, and picking out a sectional sofa and other accouterments after we get fully moved in.

The scene still makes me shudder...

And at some point, we will have to deal with the wire closet shelving in the closets. (If they were filming Mommie Dearest in 2011, I suspect Faye Dunaway's character would be screaming "no more wire shelving!!!" and worry about those wire coat hangers later.)


Not to mention getting my greenhouse taken down, put back up, and new gardens and plants installed in the landscape here.

Yeah, this is gonna be a fast, furious and fun few days.  Strap in and hang on tight - it could be a bumpy ride but it promises to be a pretty fun adventure!


Happy home-making,

A house of cards

When I cleaned out the coat closet, one of the organizers held gobs of new (okay, we'll go with "unused," since some of them are almost vintage) cards. Birthday, mother's and father's day, anniversary, random holiday cards, get-well, congratulations, sympathy cards, thank-you cards, invitations, personalized cards, and blank cards.  All occasion, every occasion, if there's a card for it, I've probably got one.  Somewhere. And this doesn't include the boxes of Christmas cards I gathered up and placed in one of those six tubs that will transfer to the new coat closet.

After the closet cleaning was done, I took that teetering stack of cards and plopped it on my desk. I then dug around in two other hidey-holes I knew of, and came up with even more unused cards. 

I confess: I am a card fiend. Hallmark has my number, and all card stores issue a siren's call I can't seem to resist.  I buy the cutest cards and then I often lay them on my desk where they stay until it's way too late to send them.  I wonder if this is a recognized addiction?  Hopefully this process was a DIY intervention...

The next step was to sort through them and toss any that were wayyy outdated. The remaining cards are now organized so I can rifle through them at a moment's notice and find an appropriate card for the occasion. They are going in a box along with the other select few items destined for my new desk and drawer space.

My promise to myself (which I am making publicly today) is that I will use up these cards first before buying any others. And I will look for opportunities to send a card. (If I spent $2 or $3 on the card, surely I can cough up four bits for a stamp to send it, right?)

Who knows? I might actually meet the goal of sending my Secret Sister at least one card each month this year.

Too bad I didn't find a stack of moving announcements.  Guess I'll just have to break over and order some.  (And uhhhh, SEND them.)

Happy card-ing

Ta-da! My to-do's are now da-da-da-DONE

We're down to less than a week until we close on the new house. While waiting, there's only so much you can do - you can't pack everything when you aren't going to move for a few more weeks. (Well, I guess I could pack it ALL up, but that would hamper our ability to eat, dress, and take showers and baths. No bueno.)

However, I set out some to-do's for myself for this week, and I'm proud to say they are now moved to the "done" column:

1. Drapes for the dining room (they're here already!)
2. Drapes for bedroom (they're on their way!)
3. Drapery hardware for bedroom and dining room windows (snagged the rods at half-price, to boot! Woot!)
4. Tile for the shower - picked out and ready to be picked up.
5. Paint colors for the dining room walls and ceiling.  (Have rollers, brushes and rags ready to go.)
6. Fabric for dining room chairs is picked out; just need to order it soon.
7. Coat closet is cleaned out; linen closet is slated for purging today.
8. Shower curtain for upstairs bathroom.  (Bonus: also have fabric for new window seat cushion.)
9. Carpet stretching is lined up for the day after closing.
10. Insurance is ready to go into effect.

Next week, I'll offload the bookshelves and box those items up, and help my beloved offspring prepare their closets for moving along with a few more pre-move tasks.

Happy Friday!

Out of the closet

Oh my. The stuff I found while digging deep into the small-but-bottomless coat closet. Well, for better or worse, it is (or was) all out of the closet and sorted.

The toss pile started with a lot of old gift wrap. (Most of it was brought with when we moved here in 2000. WHY I moved it is beyond me...a few were end-of-rolls even then. Geesh.)

Also gone are the old Christmas cards. Reallllyyyyy old cards. I kept last year's cards (it helps me double-check my list next year. And then - I solemnly promise in front of God and everybody - they'll be tossed, too.)

And half-used, dog-eared old notebooks and pencil nubs without erasers. (Who puts this stuff in a closet?)

Gone are all the widows and orphans in the mitten tub. Which means we're now mittenless for next year because there were no mates in the tub.

The giveaway/sell pile.   Several cute (but just not me) girly gifty things, probably from those wild Bunco parties. Spa slippers, lotions, tea lights...  They're all destined for our church's Missions with Mommy ministry, which makes up gift baskets for our older shut-ins.

Unused coats and jackets are likewise going to a ministry that gives away coats each fall. We can't wear more than one coat at a time, and the coats I'm giving away have not been worn in at least a couple years. Far better to let them bless and warm a stranger's body next winter than hang here, unused and useless to us.

A small stack of sell-able items are ready to put on the upcoming garage sale.  I'm on a roll and if I'm going to have to throw it or haul it to Goodwill, I'd rather do that now than later.   So the garage sale stack is limited to things that I really think are likely to sell.

The "going elsewhere" pile:

• A small stack of usable school supply items is destined for swimmer girl's new room since she's the only one who will use this stuff. 
• Two organizers - one will go to my new office, the other one to Mr. Official's soon-to-be office in his man cave.
• A box of picture frames I'm sending to the attic for future use. 
• Two tubs with school pictures, wedding photos, and a few other pictures that I don't have copied in albums somewhere around here.  (I even dug through the never-opened end table and culled through the pictures and albums in those areas.)  They're semi-organized and headed for the new attic.

The remaining items now comprise a small, elite group - just a few coats, now on sturdy, new matching hangers.  (I figure if I limit the number of hangers, we'll limit the number of coats that accumulate.)  And a half-dozen clear tubs filled with:

• scarves and hats
• emergency gifts
• gift bags, tissue paper and curling ribbon
• Christmas cards, stationery, to-do list and last year's cards
• seasonal colored candles, and the January-September front door decorations.  (They could go in the attic, but the candles would melt and I'm more likely to use the decorations if they're near the front door.  Otherwise, my Easter door decoration might still be up until the fall wreath comes out.)

Whew. I now declare that chore done.   Mission accomplished.  Finis.

I promised some photos, and although I am completely embarrassed by this "before" shot:

This is why you NEVER open closets in someone else's house.

I am pretty pumped about the after-effect ("Hi, my name is Terry and I am a transformation junkie.")

No special effects - this is really all that's left in there.

This closet is now ready to receive its marching orders in a couple weeks. On to the linen closet.

Happy closet-cleaning!

The "right" way to clean house?

Is housecleaning like algebra?  One right answer, and only one way to get there?

Setting aside Flylady's methodology (do a little every day, focus on one room each week to gradually get it clean through and through), I am curious:  how do we decide the "best" way to clean a house? And why do we think that's the best way?

I am not convinced there's only one "right" way to clean a house or a room.  But I agree with the principle that some ways are more effective and/or efficient.

Personally, I am a room-by-room cleaner.  I guess I could dust the entire house, then vacuum the entire house, then mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, then deliver lightbulbs and extra toilet paper where needed, but why make all those passes over the same terrain?  Is it efficient?  Probably.  Is it effective? That depends on how you define effective.

I confess I am a transformation junkie:  I like seeing a room (or closet or drawer or cabinet or refrigerator) totally cleaned and organized before I move to the next target zone.  Getting one area clean motivates me to tackle the next one. So my method has effectiveness going for it, but I'm not sure how it ranks on the efficiency scale: I find myself carrying an arsenal of supplies with me as I make my way through the house.  My typical entourage includes:

• the vacuum and the microfiber duster with the telescoping handle to get under the beds and couches;
• a plastic tote full of bathroom cleansers and scrub brushes, disinfecting air sanitizers, furniture polish (allergen-reducing and multisurface) and LOTS of clean rags and microfiber cloths (yes, it's a big tote);
• paper towels and Windex and a magic eraser for smudges;
• extra trashcan liners, lightbulbs and spare rolls of toilet paper

That's a lot of stuff to haul around, but I do because I'd rather not scurry back-and-forth to the laundry room every time I need one of these items.  Efficient?  Or effective?  All I know is it works for me.

In our single-story house, I start at one end - usually our bathroom and work my way to the other.  If i get sidetracked, a same-day re-start is highly unlikely, so I block out enough time to knock it all out in one fell swoop. I've also learned from FlyLady some tips on not getting sidetracked.  Major closet cleanouts or desk organizing are tactical missions and I don't attempt them on a whole-house cleaning campaign. I don't want to get bogged down in one room and not have the time or energy to finish the rest of the house.

In each room, I start to the left or right of the door and work my way around the room.  I know I probably should clean top-to-bottom:  dust first, vacuum last - but I don't always do that.  Sometimes I vacuum, dust, then vacuum a final time.  With two long-haired pets and a family with allergies, my Dyson, microfiber cloths and dusters, and allergen-reducing furniture polish are my cleaning day BFFs.

The wet areas (kitchen and baths) are handled differently.  I spray the toilet to start it soaking, then start with the least-dirty area and move to the most-dirty areas:  sinks, shower, then toilet, buff them down and clean the mirrors, change lightbulbs, replenish the toilet paper, remove trash, sanitize the trashcan, add a liner, then finish with a hand-mopping of the floor.

The kitchen starts with a sink full of hot, soapy, bleachy water in which I soak the sink mats, strainers, and dog bowls.  When they're clean, I run a fresh sink of hot soapy water and wipe down everything, clean the oven, straighten drawers, remove smudge prints, and otherwise clean.  Mopping sometimes coincides with the rest of the cleaning, other times it is an independent operation that occurs randomly on quiet afternoons.

All the while I'm cleaning, I'm also running the washer and dryer.  It's nice to have a break every hour or so to stop and fold a load, and start another one going.  By the time the house is done, the laundry is usually close to being finished.  Final step is to clean the Dyson so it can air dry until the next use.

When we had our first few apartments, cleaning and laundry took a couple hours.  With each larger home, more time has been required.  Now it takes pretty much my entire Saturday to thoroughly clean this house from one end to the other (not counting the kids' rooms since they are old enough to clean - or not - their own space.)  And we're buying a larger house?  Hmmmm.  Do they come in self-cleaning models these days?

So how do you clean your house? Tips? Advice? Ideas?  Share, please!  'Cuz I'm going to need them soon!

Happy cleaning,

Moving: From house hunter to home buyer

It's like Andy Rooney's quip about life and toilet paper:  the closer to the end you get, the faster they both seem to go.  Tomorrow may be April Fools' Day, but this is no joke.

The first week of our adventure as bona fide home buyers (rather than house hunters) has flown by in a whirlwind of to-do's:  looking through the house as future owners, rather than contemplative buyers, a flurry of emails and calls between the mortgage company, our Realtor, the sellers and their Realtor and us; signing, scanning and sending paperwork hither and yon, calling the utility companies, scheduling the home inspection (this afternoon), and then getting an appraisal.  (Fingers and toes and everything crossed that the inspection and appraisal processes go smoothly...those are the two biggest hurdles.)

When we signed off on the bank's counter offer, we agreed to move up the closing by a weekend, so instead of having four full weeks (and weekends) before we close, we have just 21 days and counting. It's quickly becoming decision time on some things:

• Are we going to re-tile the master shower before we move in, or wait?  I vote for sooner than later.
• Are we going to paint the dining room and bedrooms ourselves, or have someone else do it?  (Am I even ready to pick out paint colors?) 
• Can we match the paint color in the den and hallways, and simply touch up the smudges?  
• Who can we get to stretch the carpets?
• If we clean the carpets after the painting is finished, how long do we need to let them dry before we move in? (Can I reasonably expect them to remain clean after we schlep through the house with umpteen boxes?)
• On moving day, will we need to rent a U-Haul, or will we move a little at a time, with my SUV and our trusty old Chevy pickup (aka "Big Red")?  
• Can we find someone willing to move just the super heavy stuff like the piano and credenza?
• What type of internet service is available at the new place?  Working from home means we're moving my office as well as our personal belongings. And moving out to the country means no more Comcast until they decide to remedy the dead zone we're moving into.

And that's just the tip of my iceberg.  I realize these are all VERY good problems to have to solve, and there's no real rush - we don't have to be out of our home by a set date.  But seeing the closing date get closer and closer tends bring out the list-maker and worrier in me. I don't want to drag out the move longer than necessary, so there is some pressure to quickly plan out what needs to happen, and in what order.

Once we get the home inspection report and the appraisal finished, then I can start scheduling painting and tiling and carpet cleaning...oh my!

Happy countdown!

My tips for easy vacations

Spring break is over, and now there's 60-some days until summer vacations begin in earnest.   For those of you who --like us--don't always stay in condos or cabins, I hope this information is helpful if you're planning a summer or fall trip.  I'll probably be printing it out as a checklist when I start planning our fall break.

After a few years of renting beach homes and mountain cabins instead of hotel rooms, I think we're finally getting the hang of vacationing in a home-away-from-home. I love having the extra space to sprawl out, and the ability to prepare some of our meals, which is better for our waist line and bottom line, versus eating out every meal.

With each trip, I realize (too late) there are some key things that can really add to our comfort and convenience.   Here's my list of most important hints and tips I wish I had known from the very first trip to the beach:


1. Plan your meals. You probably won't eat out every meal, so it's helpful to decide ahead of time how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners you will eat in and plan something for each meal.  It doesn't matter if you precisely determine each day's menu, just jot down enough meal ideas to cover all your bases.  I print out a flexible menu and put it in a plastic protective sleeve to lay somewhere in the kitchen (note to self: a refrigerator magnet would be a good thing to bring along.) Not only does it help everyone see what they can choose from, it helps the cook remember what to fix with what!

The menu also helps me create a grocery list, which I divide into things to bring and things to buy when we arrive.  (It makes that first-day grocery run MUCH faster and cheaper to have a list of everything we need for the stay.)

2. Bring or buy?  I've learned that just like packing my clothes and personal items, some items are worth bringing, others are not. My SUV does not have huge storage capacity, especially once Mr. Official's golf clubs are loaded and our bags are packed in.

For that reason, I'm pretty judicious about what I tote along for the kitchen, versus what I will pick up when we get to our destination.  But I've found that bringing the following items saves at least $100 on our weekly bill, and makes the vacation a lot more pleasant for everyone. If things go according to plan, I usually bring back far less than I took.  Here's my baker's dozen of must-takes that I fit into two insulated grocery bags (also a good thing to have along):

• Seasonings.  After lugging home the umpteenth pair of S&P shakers, I started leaving them behind, usually along with other abandoned pairs left by former occupants.  I now bring small jars of coarse pepper and Kosher or sea salt, which we prefer anyway.  Depending on the menu, I also pre-measure spices and seasonings. (For example, this garlic lime recipe makes an easy dinner, especially if I premix the spices and put them in a small bag.)
• Oil.  A half-cup of olive oil in a small container makes baked potato skins crispy and yummy, seasons pans for sauteing, etc.  A small container of canola or vegetable oil is good for baked sweets (e.g., brownies, cookies and breakfast muffins and coffee cakes.)
• Ziplock quart and gallon bags and aluminum foil.  They take up very little space and are handier than a pocket on a shirt for marinating stuff, storing leftovers and having a foil-lined pan makes cleanup a breeze.
• Pasta.  Whether for a salad or side dish, I can tuck in a small box and know it's fresher and cheaper than what I can buy locally.
• Sugar. White and brown.  Easy to carry a small amount in heavy-duty bags or containers, and take just enough for sweet tea, bacon seasoning, etc.
• Mixes. Muffin, brownie and cookie mixes are easier to transport than refrigerated dough, way cheaper (and tastier) than packaged sweets, and a cinch to mix up for breakfasts and desserts or snacks.  Along with a 3-pack of microwave popcorn and we've got nighttime snackage for the week.
• Tea bags, coffee and filters.  Depending on how many are in our group, 1-2 tea bags per dinner are usually sufficient.  Coffee and filters are usually much cheaper to buy and take than to pick up locally.  (Extra filters are also good for disposable "bowls" for popcorn, chips, etc.)
• Silicon.  As in hot pads and muffin cups.  Six muffin cups nest together and take up almost no room (not every condo has a muffin tin, I've discovered.)  Most condos only provide only one hot pad, but a couple silicon hot pads take up little room and protect both fingers and counters.
• Lighter and a few votive or citronella candles.  Most of our vacations are to warm-weather destinations and we have a screened porch or balcony with dining table and chairs.  Sunset dinners are much nicer if you have a candle on the table.   Charcoal (and even some gas) grills require a lighter.  I don't know how many cheap (but expensive) lighters I've bought and carried home over the years, but it's a bunch.  Yes, we eventually use them up, but why keep buying them when you have a handful at home?
• Flashlight and batteries (from AAA to D) will make beachcombing or just walking in a dark place a little easier.  Buying batteries in a local store is not only expensive, but--depending on how far off the beaten path you are--their batteries could be older than your kids.  And be sure to tuck in converters and chargers for every electronic device: cell phones, cameras, e-readers and computers.
• Soap.  Dish, dishwasher and laundry all require detergent or soap.  Unless you don't cook (much or at all) during your stay and you do only one load of clothes, the courtesy packages are not near enough for a full week of clean-ups.  A few tablets of detergent and a small container of my favorite dish soap makes these chores much easier. (And with my family's eczema, using our usual fragrance-free laundry detergent can prevent a sudden outbreak.)
• Kitchen trash bags.  Condos never provide enough, and they take up very little room to tuck in with your bring-alongs.  Count on at least one per day for every 6 people.
• Sanitizer.  A can of Lysol, Oust, Neutra-Air or Febreeze can eliminate any musty odors on arrival and keeps things much more pleasant during the week.   Just sayin'.

3. First aid kit, plus.  As most moms know, it pays to bring plenty of bandages, Neosporin, over-the-counter pain relievers and allergy meds along.  Anti-nausea/diarrhea and a few doses of severe cold meds can be a lifesaver.  Having a child prone to carsickness, I keep a tube of Dramamine chewables in my car at all times, but if you don't - let's just say it can come in handy.  Other items we usually wind up buying at a local drugstore (read;  I really should bring them along):  feminine products, Q-tips, and a bottle of after-sun lotion (stick it in the fridge.)

4. Get the deals the locals get.  This year we used Groupon and LivingSocial to check out local deals for several weeks before heading out.  (Love them at home, they work great for most of the areas we travel to as well and provide better deals than the coupon books you can pick up locally.)  It can be worth it to sign up for at least one of the local grocery store loyalty cards, too - I carry one I use once or twice a year when we're in the mountains, and it saves a big chunk of our grocery bill when I do.

Happy vacationing!