Progress

Apparently grief can be constructive. I promised myself I would finish the closet and I did. Aaron even started painting the bedroom. But now I can't decide whether I like the two colors of blue or not. My mother (who I do listen to, despite what she may think) likes the colors together. So I may leave them. I really like the darker blue but I think it might be too dark for the whole room.

Cleaning the closet was quite cathartic but I won't show you pictures of my bedroom, which is now an even bigger mess. Part of it is really my office so I consider that to be next month's job. I am glad we're starting to think about what we want to do in the bedroom and we have a plan, though lack the necessary finances to do all the work at once. We would love to have some sort of closet system (sorry Marie) but only because we don't have a dresser in our room and all of our clothes are currently in wire cubes in the closet. I just want drawers and a shoe rack. Nothing fancy. So now you can marvel at the before and after. Unfortunately the after pics have the hamper right in the foreground so just disregard the dirty clothes. And Aaron still needs to go through his shoe collection.

BEFORE

AFTER

Blogiday

I'm taking a little break until next week. Our beloved dog Odie passed away last night and I am sobbing like a maniac. I know it well get easier. 11 years is just such a long time to share a life with someone(thing). Thanks so much to Marie for the Kreativ Blogger nom. I'll get right on that as soon as I get back. I've never been nominated for anything (when I wasn't doing the nominating). Talk to you guys soon.

Doing More Makes Me Tired

Not much progress on the bedroom front. In fact, it's even messier than it was. Life is cruel. But I have been really attempting to stick to a schedule (Excel spreadsheets to come). All last week I made a schedule of the things I need to get done. And it is depressing to look at all of the things that don't get done. I feel like I worked my butt off (unfortunately not literally but that would be an awesome side effect) and my house is still as messy as before. Maybe ignorance is bliss and avoidance is utopia. But I am determined to get a handle on my life. One day it will all fall into place, right? Right? I have a counter full of Girl Scout cookies I need to sell and a recliner and basket full of clean clothes. My kids have been doing more chores around the house, which is great, but I can't get them to clean up after themselves. Thank God I have a blog to whine to. Imagine having to hear this all the time. You would just nod and think to yourself, "You're preaching to the choir sister," or, "Shut the hell up." We do have the paint to start painting the room. I am determined to clean the closet this week. I have a plan. And isn't that really the most important part?

I'm Every Woman

Sometimes I amaze even myself. I am not what you might term a "crafty person," in the sense that I don't do crafts well. My Machiavellian craftiness is another matter altogether. But there are times when I find something that I think I can do and I just do it. Usually these ideas come from Family Fun magazine so they are easy enough for children. But not really. They still require a lot of parental supervision. Maybe that's where the family fun comes in. This week I decided we would make cute little Valentine's necklaces for Aidan's preschool teachers. Nothing like trying to ingratiate yourself. So I used the idea from aforementioned magazine and went to work. I was a little distraught that they were all out of giant conversation hearts at Target. Who do they think they are? But I went ahead with the idea. And the teachers even got chocolate out of the deal. What I didn't realize was the dimensions were for a child's necklace so they turned out to be more like candy chokers. No problem. They can just use them as bracelets. Crisis averted. I know it's getting close to Valentine's day and I probably should have put this up earlier so everyone could copy (unless you're smart and just buy the teacher a gift). But here it is:

The Fun Part

I did end up purchasing a duvet cover from Macy's last week. They didn't have as great a selection in store as online but I found something I really like. Though it was a challenge with two young children in tow. I tried to get them to help but they just said they liked everything and then went back to rolling on the floor or trying to crawl into the cubicles reserved for comforters. It's really a wonder I get anything done. So I took the pillowcase from the set to Ace Hardware yesterday to pick out paint. We have a Home Depot and a Lowe's not too far away but I wanted to support our local business. I know Ace is a chain but they are independently owned. Such a difference in customer service. At the big chain stores I have never seen the employees come out from behind the paint counter. But not only did the Ace employee come out to help, she also stood there and picked out at least 10 paint samples and asked her boss if she could give me $5 off. I highly recommend small businesses, even if they cost a little more. I ended up with two colors (Aaron and I were having a little trouble coming to an accord). When I brought them home we decided to use both, with the darker color as an accent. I even bought paint samples we have been eyeing for the living room. So much painting, so little time without small helpers. And we did go through all of our clothes. I simply explained the logic to my husband and he agreed. So we have two bags (one for recycling and one for Goodwill) and we've moved the armoire into the loft. I feel pretty good about the progress we've made. Can't stop now.

Bedroom Intervention

I really should get started on the bedroom soon. If I wait until the 3rd week I'll be working on the bedroom until at least April. I told my husband he needed to weed out his clothes that don't fit and/or are torn. He insists that he must buy replacements for the clothes before he can get rid of them. So much for simplifying. I guess I'll have to do what I do with the children and wait until he's gone to go through his stuff. Then I will feign ignorance when he asks if I've seen his holey shorts. Except now he's probably just read my plan here. D'oh! Internets you've foiled me again. No, I plan on calmly and rationally explaining the importance of going through our crap. I mean, have you seen our bedroom? True, much of it is my crap. But if I have to do it so does he. Oh, I found a resource for something that is a nagging problem for us. A place that recycles VHS tapes. There may have been information on the Martha list but I didn't get that far. The recycling place is called GreenDisk and they accept all electronics and "technotrash." I can't wait to go through the two storage tubs of video cassettes. Or we could always give the blank tapes to our neighbors (they know who they are) who do not have a DVR and record everything on their VCR. HAHA, they're so old school.

Oh The Horror

In keeping with the tradition of before and after pictures, I have decided to show you my bedroom in all its glory. You should feel privileged (if you don't just feel pity for me) because no one gets to see the bedroom in real life. In addition to being a magnet for crap, it is depressingly stark. Not at all inviting. I envision a room where I can cuddle under my covers and watch television or use the laptop. I know people say you are not supposed to do these things in your bedroom but I want to. I answered all of my journal questions last night and brought out the measuring tape to assess the furniture situation. But doesn't it always seem like one project is dependent on finishing another project? I can't move the armoire until I have a place for the clothes and I can't move the television until I move the armoire. Vicious circle. I am so excited about the possibility of having a serene space of my own though. I spent all morning looking at bedding. My plan is to find a duvet cover I love and then pick out a color from that. I did find a king size down alternative comforter at Macy's for $99 and today until the 8th you can save 20% if you wear red. Awesome. I know you've been waiting for me to stop writing so you can see my shame. OK here it is:

Leftovers

It's February so we're supposed to move on to the bedroom. And my bedroom needs a lot of work. Luckily next month is the office, which is handy because my office is in my bedroom. I know this is not the ideal situation but it is necessary. There are still a couple of things I didn't check off my kitchen list. Maybe it's because I didn't have to start from scratch or maybe it's because I'm lazy. I'm still halfway through putting contact paper on my pantry shelves and I cannot seem to make myself do it. I should just decide I'm going to do it and dive in (like the junk drawer) but knowing me, I would make this decision when I actually should be doing something else. Which would just stress me out. And since we were on the subject of the kitchen, Aaron and I decided to tile behind the stove. We have the tile picked out. Now it's just a matter of doing it. We need a free weekend and a lot of beer. But I can't dwell on the kitchen because I have to start thinking about my bedroom sanctuary. It's my greatest desire to have a calming place I can call my own (OK Aaron can share) that is not just a storage area for all of the junk from the loft that gets thrown in when we have company. I am prepared for bliss!