Weekend Is Here

I had oh so many plans for today, lots of little jobs I wanted to get done, and some little jobs for the kids to do. {B} has gone to watch tangled with my sisterso only have {S} & {LM} at home, my poor wee sis can't cope with all 3 at once, so {B} has go today, {S} is going next week to see Gnomeo & Juliet and then she is taking {LM} to a huge play center. Unless another kiddie type film comes out my sis wants to see in the mean time.

So I had my little list of things I wanted to tackle:

• Sort out coats and bags in launchpad
• Sort out shelf and window sill in launchpad
• Clear of butchers block (it lives at the bottom end of the launchpad)
• Neaten under stairs
• Sort out shoe box

Now all these little jobs are in one area, but a comment from Kia the other day made me realise something...Kia said:

As for getting organized - one little step at a time. If you do too much too soon you burn out and then everything goes back to step 1 again (been there done that). Make a list of small projects, so rather than "do room xyz" think more like do this or that area of room xyz...

And she is so totally right. So my theroy now is to break everything down into bitesize chunks, if I complete them in one go, then great, if not, it's no bother. As long as I made a start and things are a little better than before.

Anyway, things we a little west, shall we say. I had a slight disagreement with {TH} last night, ok I confess it was a huge disgareement. You know when things bubble away and you just blow up? Yep that what me last night, the biggest issue was {TH} wasn't actually in! I sent him an email (I know gutless) but after I sent it I felt so much better. Anyway, {TH} was at his friends and when he goes there he stays over, so he can have a drink and no worry about getting. He didn't stay, he woke me up at 4am this morning. We had a heart to heart and sorted things out, so today I'm not doing anything, but spending time with him. Sneaking on to make this post while he watches the match hehe

Are You Narcissistic?

I just saw this over on Kia's blog {HERE} I can't believe how low her hubby scored!!! You know I had to take the test too.........My result?

Your score for Authority is MEDIUM

Your score for Self-sufficiency is LOW

Your score for Superiority is LOW

Your score for Exhibitionism is LOW

Your score for Exploitativeness is LOW

Your score for Vanity is LOW

Your score for Entitlement is LOW

My overall score was 7

 

No More Get Ups

..........for a whole 9 days, thats right 9 days where I don't have to be up at silly o'clock! The kids finished school today for half term. So I have until Feb 21st until I have to be up at 6:30am again. It's feels so good knowing that. The kids will still be waking me up early but not as early and I can send them back to bed hehe.

I had the 'big dig' at school today, although I hold my hands up and admit I didn't dig a single hole, though to look at my poor boots you wouldn't believe it (see below)

See what I mean? The whole school field is water logged and yucky! and I don't own wellies lol We did have fun though, watching the kids planting their tree's. Each class had one big tree and eight small ones to plant. Althought the school field is surrounded by bushes and trees we (as a school) wanted to create some different areas in the playing field and the trees are step #1 


Whoops I thought I posted this last night, obviously I didn't lol

Home Management

Making a home management binder (HMB) was last weeks weekly challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons, now I've ummed and arrred over this over the last week (or so) since I read the challenge. I am vey un-organised (hense this blog) but some parts of my life are quite well organised. 

My diary/planner - this is incredibly well organised (for someone like myself).

As you open it, it has a full year at a glance. I have gone through this with 4 different coloured highlighter pens, highlighting dates.
Yellow - College Assignment Due
Orange - Governor Meeting
Green - Birthdays
Pink - Anniversaries

 

{Click pics for larger view}

The week by week I have everything for that week written in, very srcuffily but in none the less hehe. I write in bills that are due to be paid manually, like the rent and catalogue payments and then cross them off when I pay them. Bills that are paid by direct debit are in there too, on the date they are due, I then add when they actualy get paid. Some bills change date each month just to make my life harder

Now on the calendar (that lives in the kitchen) everything is duplicated from my planner (except bill payments). My planner goes everywhere with me, so if I'm out somewhere {TH} can look at the calendar and know who has what and when. (TH}'s has his own calendar, (in the bedroom) he adds things he needs to do, such a tax and MOT dates (man things he calls them). I add my placement, college and meetings (dates and times) to his calendar so he always knows where I am or where I am due to be, also that way he doesn't double book himself to go somewhere on the days/times when he needs to be home for the kids, but I don't add the kids stuff to this one. It just isn't big enough for all the info lol

My fridge freezer is the epi-center of my home management, not only is it opposite (very almost) the calendar but it contains all sorts of notes and letters. Each friday {B} brings home a newsletter from school, that contains information on upcoming events, trips, class assemblies, important info for parents etc etc. Each week I read the newsletter. Then I highlight all the dates on the calendar (on the newsletter) that I need to be in school for whatever reason and onto my fridge it goes, replacing the previous weeks newsletter. I also have appointment cards, recipes, school holiday list, college holiday list and some other bits on my fridge. Ttechnically, I could remove all these things as they are marked on the calendar and in my planner and my fridge would be a neater place, but this system works for us, as a family. The kids can take the newsletter off the fridge and check what they have coming up, they can't reach the calendar.

Ok thats about it for being organised lol, so back to this home management binder thing 

With the burning question..........Do I need a home management binder? What would I put in it? I went to look at some of the awesome HMB you bloggers created and this is what I came up with - section wise for the HMB, most of them from Toni @ BFOL

• Calendar
• Schedules
• Cleaning
• Menu Plans
• Finances
• To Do
• School
• Medical
• Contacts
• Blogging
• Shopping List
• Take Away Menus

Now let's see, 

Calendar - Do I really need another one? Perhaps having one with everything else that could live in the HMB might be handy

Schedules - These live on my calendar, but I guess having a set schedule would un clutter my calendar an awful lot

Cleaning - yeah I do probably need this, my current cleaning schedule in on my pc, turn pc on to check it and get side tracked by emails, blogs etc

Menu Plans - I don't cook lol, {TH} does all the cooking and he doesn't plan that much in advance. He buys everything he 'thinks' he'll need when he shops and picks up other bits as and when. The most in advance he plans is a day!

Finances - I currently do this (poorly) on my pc in excel (I can't use this properly) but again, when I turn the pc to check something, I get side tracked

To Do - As above (but not in excel lol)

School - All on my fridge, but again like other stuff would be handy to have it with everything else

Medical - Have no real need for this section, no-one except myself has any known allergies and I carry an ID chain with my medical info

Contacts - This I like, 90% of these numbers are in my cell phone, I'd be screwed if I lost it!

Blogging - I don't feel I need a section for this, I blog when I want lol. Unless I have the wrong end of the stick about the blogging section?

Shopping List - I don't shop (see menu plans) sohave no need for this {TH} would NOT follow a list even if I gave him one!

Coupons - Don't have many of these, but those I do have are scattered in various locations

Take- Away Menus - Currently hiding in 'the man drawer' we don't have take away often but when we do it's a danger zone going through that drawer (I still can't bring myself to tackle it lol)

Ok so I guess I have more to put in a HMB than I originally thought.....I have to nip into town on Saturday to get a binder for college so I will garb an extra one and the bits I need and make a start on this next week. The kids are off school next week, so they can help me decorate it :), plus I need to buy a new printer as mine is broken :(

Whoopsies

I somewhat broke my blog slightly....whoopsies. I wanted a 3 column layout, but in trying to do that (which I couldn't do by the way) I seem to have reset everything else. So now I have boses round my pics and my links are the wrong colour. Right now I just cba to put it right. I've had one of those days and now all I really want to do is go to bed, which is not an option at a little after 6pm on a Thursday. 

We ({TH} & I) moved our dryer inside today, I don't remember if I mentioned I was waiting on a condenser box to arrive in the post. Quick recap - dryer has always lived in the garage, not enough room in the kitchen for it. Yet it can be a royal pain in the bum, when at 6:30am you (I) remember that I didn't take out uniforms/towels/whatever from the dryer the night before, so no matter what the weather or how grim it is I have to trapse outside in my pj's to get the stuff out the dryer. We don't have an internal door to the garage (wish we did) So we decided to purchase a condenser box, the pipe from the dryer goes into this box, along with 2 cups of cold water and stops the whole house steaming up and getting damp. The great thing was it only cost me £9.95 (inc postage) and I got 2 of those dryer ball thingie-me-bobs. With the shift round we've had these past few weeks, the dryer now has a permanent place to live, along with the hoover(s), ironing board and our wardrobe. So I (ok we) have acomplished something today, even if it is only something small. All we need to do now is get a curtain pole and a curtain to hide it all away as there is no door to where everything now lives. As soon as we get the curtain up I will share some before and after pics (before pics will contain dryer as I forgot to take them before it came in lol)

I also spoke with {TH} about the shelf in launchpad that i wanted to paint, he says that due to the amount of varnish on the shelf it would take hours of work to strip it down and probably wouldn't be worth all the effort:( but he added, that if I paint the mirror frame white (like I want to) and jazz it up (he is not impressed with my jazzing up idea but hey ho never mind lol) that, that alone will brighten the hallway up. It will also act as base coat for painting it a different colour when we finally get round to re-painting the whole launchpad area. I want to ty and do that next month, but as usual {TH} and I can not agree on a colour scheme. I ideally want to paint one wall (the one with the mirror on) a deep colour, maybe a deep pink or teal with the other walls brilliant white. Not sure {TH} is going to agree with me (he never does)I found these fabby colours on Crown, I'm sure {TH} will like one of these :)

{Click for larger pic)

I think either one of those colours, would look great down one wall with everything else white and the yucky brown shelf would have to come down and something else to drop my keys on some where else, maybe behind the door......

Oh well only time will tell :)

Quick Edit: After looking at colours for my hall I went back to the crown website and picked out colours for other rooms, you can find it up there ^^^ under Colour Scheme Ideas

So Far.....

....So good. I am plodding along at my own steady pace. I had my placement in the school this morning, which was brilliant, I had a fabby morning and learned some new things. Came away at lunch time very pleased with myself. I had a dentist app this afternoon, which I was not looking forward too. When I went 2 weeks ago, I was meant to be having a small filling behind one of my front teeth, however I broke a tooth, so that had to be repaired first, which meant today was filling day again! I do not like needles at all so having anesthetic is no fun for me. I got there and she poked and prodded a wee bit and explained that the very small hole was still very small but none the less still needed filling, she also wanted to carry out some work on another tooth, but we agreed that I could have this with no pain relief. So at last only one side of my mouth was numb. She did all the work and I coped very well, I think it helps that my dentist sings along to the radio (even if she doesn't know the right words) and really puts you at ease. She then gave me a (free) polish. So although I am only just now (5hrs later) getting the feeling back in my mouth - it was worth it.
Needless to say, this hasn't left me alot of time to get on with decluttering and cleaning the remaining rooms on my list. So all I've actually done today is hoover the downstairs. Not much but that little thing now doesn't need doing again till Friday.
Now I know that I'm not going to get anything done tomorrow or Friday. Tomorrow I have my placement in the morning again andtomorrow afternoon I am staying in school to study. Friday morning I will bein school doing some last minute studying before the kids break up and in the afternoon I have some governor/parent duties. So I don't forsee anything else getting done till the weekend.

Saturday I will see what I can do with my launchpad, but not hopeful of anything really. I have no money to buy some of the fabby things I have seen, like this shoe rack {HERE} (only in white) and matching coat hook {HERE} (again in white) and I think these mirrors are just awesome {HERE} & {HERE}. Maybe a quick spruce up with be enough :) Just thinking about it though...I have a mirror in my hall above a shelf, the mirror is pine and the shelf a dark wood, maybe if I painted them both white, and maybe something funky to pop on the mirror frame that would improve the look loads.....I wonder what bits of tat I can find in the poundshops lol

Now before I go, please check out this post {HERE} by Kia, especially if you are a fellow UK'er :)

Anyway until the weekend........

Day Three

Ok it's several (2) days since Day Two, so technically I'm on day 5, but since I haven't really done anything since Saturday (day 2) it's my Day 3, confused? Me too lol


I set myself a target today, quite a big one. I wanted to tackle the dining room, which is a dumping ground for everyone and everything. {TH}'s desk could only just be seen under all the crap, the kids crafty stuff was just dumped under the coffee table, the coffee table itself was relativley (sp) tidy, but the main table was yucky! It didn't get cleaned yesterday so was awful, last nights tea, this mornings breakfast - a delight lol


Ok some before pics for you

 {Click for larger pics}

First things first, I cleared the table off and gave it a quick wipe over. Afterall all the junk stuff from everywhere else was going to be dumped on this table, so no point cleaning it properly, I just wanted rid of the crumbs and spilt milk and juice. 

I then stacked everything from everywhere else onto the table and sorted it. I binned alot of the stuff of {TH}'s desk (he hoards some crap, let me tell you that!) I then cheked the kids crafty stuff, made sure everything was complete and the boxes were all closed propely. Onto the games, removed batteries (before they get a chance to leak) and again made sure all the bits where there and the boxes were properly closed.

Due to my dining room also being a throughfair for getting from the kitchen to the lounge I have to clean and mop in sections, for some reason I also find this easier for me. I cleaerd everything off the fire and put my VW's in the sink for a wash

Some in the middle of everything pics 

{Click for larger pics}

My melted record fruit bowl that {TH} made me ages ago, draining after a quick dip in the sopay suds

So I dragged the table away from the wall, wiped the skirting boards amd walls behind where the table sits a, swept that part and mopped it.

It was then pretty much a case of wiping everything down, polishing where needed and putting everything back where it belonged. Mopping as I went.

I ended up with this :)

 {Click for larger pics}

A nice clean room :) and now it's fully done, hopefully it will be easier to manage

52 Weeks & Kia

Kia, is my de-cluttering buddy, although until she reads this post she is unaware lol *waves @ Kia* You see, like me, Kia lives in the UK, she is also a self confessed clutter monster and I'm betting from some of her blog posts, a hoarder (like me). I can't bare (or is it bear?) to throw things away that 'might' one day be A) Useful again or B) Useful for a different purpose than which is was designed. Either way if I think that one day in the future I may use the item again I will hoard it away (you so do not want to see my garage!)
Anyway I digress, Kia is like me and she is always posting wee tit-bits on her blog about what challenge she overcame (the dust bunnies under the bed was the latest one hehe) or what plans she has to make herself, her home and quite possibly her hubby, more oranganised. She inspires me to get on and get myself more organised and have a neater home, so I don't panic when I know people are coming round. She has links to some amazing blogs and I think most of the blogs I follow now were found via Kia.
Kia's latest mission is 52 weeks of organising, which now I know is out there am going to join in with too. It's on another blog (that I MUST follow lol) and I will pop the info in another post.

I guess this post was just for me to acknowdge Kia and how she has inspired me to do what I'm doing.

Thank You Kia x

Meet Me On Monday

I know it's Tuesday, but Monday's are hectic for me. I will in future 'try' really hard to post this on Monday.

 

Questions:

1.  Did you watch the Superbowl? I didn't, I saw a snippet here and there but being a UKer {TH} doesn't like American Football, so it's not something we watch, plus it's on till 4am! and when I have to be up at 6:30am, well you get my drift there lol

2.  What is the last book that you read? and finished? that would have been Sophie Kinsella - Mini Shopaholic (loved the whole series). Am currently reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, Ross Kemp On Gangs & Cooking For Your Dog

3.  What is your favorite kind of cake? I lurve cake lol, but I think it would something like Mississippi Mud Pie orPecan Pie...I can't decide. It depends what mood I am in

4.  Do you snore? Accoring to {TH} yes, but as I'm asleep I don't know for sure

5.  Do you play an instrument?  I used to play the drums many moons ago, but haven't picked up sticks in a long time. Would love to learn and own a piano, always thought they looked beautiful. 

So that's it for Meet Me On Monday, till next week..........

linking up with Never Growing Old

Thinking

I was thinking while dishing up the kids tea, the blogs I stalk (over on the right under Stalkees) are mostly in the states. The only one I know for sure to be in the UK is Kia (A View From Here)

Why is this? 

• Are UK'ers (except myself and Kia, sorry Kia) domestic goddess'? 
• Do you all have perfectly neat, tidy and uncluttered homes? 
• Or are just to shy to tell everyone that you live in total and utter chaos? 
• That when you know people are due round you run round like a crazed wild animal hiding things in places you think (or know) people won't look?  
• Or is it a case that I just haven't found their blogs?  

I'm hoping it's the later and in time I will be able to stalk more UK'ers.

Now don't get me wrong, I love reading the blogs of my friends accross the pond, but some of the hints/tips are useless to me as I can't get my sticky UK paws on some of these fabby goods. Also with the exception of some very huge worldwide stores (like Ikea) we don't have the stores my American bloggers do....Target sounds like the most fantastic store as does Container World, neither of these stores are in the UK. So I see all these awsome bargains you buy and I want but unless I get someone in the states to buy them and ship them to me (which is going to be mega expensive) I can't have them :(

So come on all you UK clutter monsters and ex-clutter monsters come out of hiding and tell me where you are, so I can come stalk you too :)

Best Laid Plans

Just never work out how you want them too. The kids {B},{S} & {LM} decided to bring me down a load of dirsty washing this morning, despite yesterday claiming everything dirty was downstairs in the basket. I had 2 loads left over from yesterday and the kids generously gave me another 2, so I've spent most of the day washing and drying. I always leave my hot whites wash till sunday morning, I don't why, but I do. That wash alone takes close to 3 hrs, so add to that the extra 2 loads I've got and my laundry schedule as gone west.

I did manage to get a nice new pretty layout for my blog though, although it took alot longer to get it installed that I thought it would, but hey ho, I'm a happy bunny now it's all sorted. I am going to try and make my own in the near future, I know the basics of how to make one, it's just finding the right materials and putting it altogether.

So needless to say I haven't done half the things I wanted to do today. I haven't thought about what I'm going to do with my 'launchpad'. Well I have thought, I need a new carpet out there but at the moment that is not an option. It's alot more than we can afford (at the min) to replace the hall/stairs/landing carpet. That however is the only thought so far regarding this high useage area. 

I have an assignment for college due in by 8:30pm tomorrow night, it's about 75% done, so I need to spend an hour or so at school in the morning doing some more research so I can finish it off. I also have college tomorrow night, so my time tomorrow to get things done is sparse to say the least. I then have another assignment due the following Monday, so I think this week is going to be spent doing alot of studying and researching. Not leaving alot of time for me to get the house straight. Why, Oh Why did I not start this house cleanring task BEFORE I started my course???? Oh yeah because that would have been the sensible thing to do!


So this week I think I will focus on trying to do little things round the house. Maybe next Saturday/Sunday I can focus on a larger task until then it will be a little here and there

Weekly Challenge Two

This weeks weekly challenge, is the LaunchPad, this (as I found out) is your hallway. I have a very large hallway, but no doors seperating rooms. As my house is disabled friendly, there are no doors to the kitchen, small room (I will cover this room at a later date) or my dining room. So my 'launchpad' kind of merges with other rooms.
I will be working on this challenge throughout the week, along with more challenges from the 21 Day Challenge and more items from The List
I'm looking forward to this challenge and seeing what useless junk I have round my house that I can make useful again.