Josh is officially a toddler. At least, he can walk. he looks like a drunken cowboy, but hey, he is totally mobile. The other day I changed his diaper, but he wanted to play, so I didn't rush getting his pants back on, and then since he was so happy with his toys, I wandered off to do a few things. I realized about 45 minutes later, he had been silent a very long time, not chatter, just playing noises. So I went up to investigate. He was happily playing still, but without his diaper. I looked all over his room and found no diaper, but there were several puddles. Yuck! I cleaned him up, washed his legs, and rediapered him. I added pants this time so Houdini could not get his diaper off again. Then I cleaned up his room. But I could not find the diaper. I started to feel awful thinking how could I let him run around without one? Was I losing my mind? But then as I was getting dinner ready I found the diaper. He loves throwing things off our loft ledge, and the diaper was another casualty to his need to fling!
Oh dear, I just heard a matchbox car splash into the toilet bowl.
... And he dunked his lovey! At least the toilet had been flushed this time!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Beware the Silent Toddler
Josh is officially a toddler. At least, he can walk. he looks like a drunken cowboy, but hey, he is totally mobile. The other day I changed his diaper, but he wanted to play, so I didn't rush getting his pants back on, and then since he was so happy with his toys, I wandered off to do a few things. I realized about 45 minutes later, he had been silent a very long time, not chatter, just playing noises. So I went up to investigate. He was happily playing still, but without his diaper. I looked all over his room and found no diaper, but there were several puddles. Yuck! I cleaned him up, washed his legs, and rediapered him. I added pants this time so Houdini could not get his diaper off again. Then I cleaned up his room. But I could not find the diaper. I started to feel awful thinking how could I let him run around without one? Was I losing my mind? But then as I was getting dinner ready I found the diaper. He loves throwing things off our loft ledge, and the diaper was another casualty to his need to fling!
Oh dear, I just heard a matchbox car splash into the toilet bowl.
... And he dunked his lovey! At least the toilet had been flushed this time!
Oh dear, I just heard a matchbox car splash into the toilet bowl.
... And he dunked his lovey! At least the toilet had been flushed this time!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Monthly update
Well, I am a little shocked that it has been a month since my last post. Whoops! Where has the time gone? So the skinny on our life for the past month...
We put the house on the market and we got an offer on the house, and we accepted the offer. But we are waiting for the bank to approve the offer because we are hoping to do a short sale since the house market tanked after we bought the house. If we get the bank approval, and if they do the paperwork in a timely fashion, our closing date is January 4th. So the Pilz Family will go house shopping and move afterthe holidays.
Where you ask? What a wonderful question. We are looking at Boston and D.C. We want to be near family and are getting some really exciting job offers in D.C. and Suffolk right now, but not as many exciting ones in Boston. It is a challenge for Karl to decide what he really wants to do right now, and a bigger challenge for us as a family to decide where we are going. Naturally we a re torn. We have come to love this area, and will miss it very much. We love the weather, the community we live in, the proximity to all the comforts without as much hustle and bustle of a larger area, and all the many comforts there are to our location.
I have never been great at moving or change. I feel like a cat, clinging all paws spread wide to the bathroom door frame prior to a bath! It is not easy or fun for me to move. That is probably why we never made it overseas. I think I felt more adventurous prior to having kids, but the post-kid me does not feel so inclined. I can't help thinking that if we seem unable to take advantage of what our current areas have to offer, why would moving to another country jump start our inner tourist? But as Karl pointed out, we would have fewer responsibilities with a rental home overseas. But since we no longer have overseas job offers, I am not stressing about that any more. I do feel like grabbing the girls from school to go tour Williamsburg before we move though. I can't believe we didn't make it to Busch Gardens this summer either! I love that place, or I did when I was 14!
So here we are, trying to ifugre out the future and dodging our day to day challenges. The fun crisis-du-jour was Emily dealing with a round of lice. YUCK! I don't like pest. I pay happily for a bug spray service. This has always been lurking in the back of my mind as a childhood curse I was hoping to avoid and never experience. No such luck! Have I ever mentioned how thick her hair is? No, well, let me mention it now! Imagine all the hair on my head, and Karl's head put together, now give Emily just a little bit more than that. I saw something in her hair at a doctors appointment on Wednesday, and pulled it out to look at it. The hairs on the abck of my neck registered it as a possible disaster, but I tried to convince myself it ways nothing. I googled it at bedtime, and felt a dull thud. I told myself if I checked in the morning and found any more, well then it might be lice eggs. Yup. In the I found 5 more right away. Since Heidi had come for a visit, she was able to watch my kids while I ran to Walgreens for supplies. The combs I bought had little affect on her hair, and not wanting to dump major chemicals on her head, I began to section out her hair and pull any eggs I found out between my thumb and fingernail. Eeew! it took about 9 hours to do her head the first day. The next day took about 6 hours. I did a poison free shampoo that day to kill any adults that might be there since I never saw or found any. I still think that is weird. I have not found any eggs in the last 2 days. I am hoping Heidi doesn't find any either on her girls. Sydney and Josh and I seem to be fine. I hope we all stay that way.
Other fun things, we got denied insurance coverage for Emily's sensory therapy, but I got it back after about 6 weeks by using a new script with a different code, one that tags her as having Aspberger's syndrome. I am thrilled we can go back for the last few weeks we are here, although I am happier to report that my child has worn jeans 3 times this school year od her own free will, and 1 without any extra therapy from me! Woohoo! Major progress!
Sydney and Emily finished Little League. They stuck it out, and I am proud of them. They got trophies, and they are proud too. We may not be ball people, but Emily did get 2 runs in the season, and I think 4 total hits. Sydney at the end did quite well at bat. In the field she got better at the end, but had a habit of biting her nails and searching the ground for interesting plants.
We have started calling Sydney "Magpie" since you never know now what she will collect. The other night I could not find my phone. Karl found it under her pillow. I left it in her room at bedtime, so she popped it under her pillow. a good friend sent her a pair of cargo pants, and when she saw them, she looked at the pockets and said "wow! Mom, I could put a lot of things in my pockets!" She makes me laugh. I ratted her out at the parent Teacher Conference this week, letting her teacher know she can read. He He. Now she will have a little more challenging work to do. Crazy girl. Emily is doing wonderfully well in school and I will miss her teacher. She is awesome and the perfect fit for Emily.
A funny comment. The girls were watching Qubo, and an ad for some sort of Ab Excercise Gadget came on that promised to tone and shrink your midsection in a matter of days. Emily watched it, and turned to me and said, "Wow Mom, you could really use that! " So true! Thank you so much, I thought.
And Josh has taken his first few steps. He does it best when he is not paying attention to the moving part and just in pursuit of something. He is much more interested in the home than I remember the girls being. He loves to empty cabinets, dump spices, unstack cans, sit in pots, unroll toilet paper and dump anything he can find into the toilet. He also likes batteries. And wheels. And licking the floor. His best words are "Dis" and "Dat".
Well, we are off to decide our future! Keep you all posted!
We put the house on the market and we got an offer on the house, and we accepted the offer. But we are waiting for the bank to approve the offer because we are hoping to do a short sale since the house market tanked after we bought the house. If we get the bank approval, and if they do the paperwork in a timely fashion, our closing date is January 4th. So the Pilz Family will go house shopping and move afterthe holidays.
Where you ask? What a wonderful question. We are looking at Boston and D.C. We want to be near family and are getting some really exciting job offers in D.C. and Suffolk right now, but not as many exciting ones in Boston. It is a challenge for Karl to decide what he really wants to do right now, and a bigger challenge for us as a family to decide where we are going. Naturally we a re torn. We have come to love this area, and will miss it very much. We love the weather, the community we live in, the proximity to all the comforts without as much hustle and bustle of a larger area, and all the many comforts there are to our location.
I have never been great at moving or change. I feel like a cat, clinging all paws spread wide to the bathroom door frame prior to a bath! It is not easy or fun for me to move. That is probably why we never made it overseas. I think I felt more adventurous prior to having kids, but the post-kid me does not feel so inclined. I can't help thinking that if we seem unable to take advantage of what our current areas have to offer, why would moving to another country jump start our inner tourist? But as Karl pointed out, we would have fewer responsibilities with a rental home overseas. But since we no longer have overseas job offers, I am not stressing about that any more. I do feel like grabbing the girls from school to go tour Williamsburg before we move though. I can't believe we didn't make it to Busch Gardens this summer either! I love that place, or I did when I was 14!
So here we are, trying to ifugre out the future and dodging our day to day challenges. The fun crisis-du-jour was Emily dealing with a round of lice. YUCK! I don't like pest. I pay happily for a bug spray service. This has always been lurking in the back of my mind as a childhood curse I was hoping to avoid and never experience. No such luck! Have I ever mentioned how thick her hair is? No, well, let me mention it now! Imagine all the hair on my head, and Karl's head put together, now give Emily just a little bit more than that. I saw something in her hair at a doctors appointment on Wednesday, and pulled it out to look at it. The hairs on the abck of my neck registered it as a possible disaster, but I tried to convince myself it ways nothing. I googled it at bedtime, and felt a dull thud. I told myself if I checked in the morning and found any more, well then it might be lice eggs. Yup. In the I found 5 more right away. Since Heidi had come for a visit, she was able to watch my kids while I ran to Walgreens for supplies. The combs I bought had little affect on her hair, and not wanting to dump major chemicals on her head, I began to section out her hair and pull any eggs I found out between my thumb and fingernail. Eeew! it took about 9 hours to do her head the first day. The next day took about 6 hours. I did a poison free shampoo that day to kill any adults that might be there since I never saw or found any. I still think that is weird. I have not found any eggs in the last 2 days. I am hoping Heidi doesn't find any either on her girls. Sydney and Josh and I seem to be fine. I hope we all stay that way.
Other fun things, we got denied insurance coverage for Emily's sensory therapy, but I got it back after about 6 weeks by using a new script with a different code, one that tags her as having Aspberger's syndrome. I am thrilled we can go back for the last few weeks we are here, although I am happier to report that my child has worn jeans 3 times this school year od her own free will, and 1 without any extra therapy from me! Woohoo! Major progress!
Sydney and Emily finished Little League. They stuck it out, and I am proud of them. They got trophies, and they are proud too. We may not be ball people, but Emily did get 2 runs in the season, and I think 4 total hits. Sydney at the end did quite well at bat. In the field she got better at the end, but had a habit of biting her nails and searching the ground for interesting plants.
We have started calling Sydney "Magpie" since you never know now what she will collect. The other night I could not find my phone. Karl found it under her pillow. I left it in her room at bedtime, so she popped it under her pillow. a good friend sent her a pair of cargo pants, and when she saw them, she looked at the pockets and said "wow! Mom, I could put a lot of things in my pockets!" She makes me laugh. I ratted her out at the parent Teacher Conference this week, letting her teacher know she can read. He He. Now she will have a little more challenging work to do. Crazy girl. Emily is doing wonderfully well in school and I will miss her teacher. She is awesome and the perfect fit for Emily.
A funny comment. The girls were watching Qubo, and an ad for some sort of Ab Excercise Gadget came on that promised to tone and shrink your midsection in a matter of days. Emily watched it, and turned to me and said, "Wow Mom, you could really use that! " So true! Thank you so much, I thought.
And Josh has taken his first few steps. He does it best when he is not paying attention to the moving part and just in pursuit of something. He is much more interested in the home than I remember the girls being. He loves to empty cabinets, dump spices, unstack cans, sit in pots, unroll toilet paper and dump anything he can find into the toilet. He also likes batteries. And wheels. And licking the floor. His best words are "Dis" and "Dat".
Well, we are off to decide our future! Keep you all posted!
Monthly update
Well, I am a little shocked that it has been a month since my last post. Whoops! Where has the time gone? So the skinny on our life for the past month...
We put the house on the market and we got an offer on the house, and we accepted the offer. But we are waiting for the bank to approve the offer because we are hoping to do a short sale since the house market tanked after we bought the house. If we get the bank approval, and if they do the paperwork in a timely fashion, our closing date is January 4th. So the Pilz Family will go house shopping and move afterthe holidays.
Where you ask? What a wonderful question. We are looking at Boston and D.C. We want to be near family and are getting some really exciting job offers in D.C. and Suffolk right now, but not as many exciting ones in Boston. It is a challenge for Karl to decide what he really wants to do right now, and a bigger challenge for us as a family to decide where we are going. Naturally we a re torn. We have come to love this area, and will miss it very much. We love the weather, the community we live in, the proximity to all the comforts without as much hustle and bustle of a larger area, and all the many comforts there are to our location.
I have never been great at moving or change. I feel like a cat, clinging all paws spread wide to the bathroom door frame prior to a bath! It is not easy or fun for me to move. That is probably why we never made it overseas. I think I felt more adventurous prior to having kids, but the post-kid me does not feel so inclined. I can't help thinking that if we seem unable to take advantage of what our current areas have to offer, why would moving to another country jump start our inner tourist? But as Karl pointed out, we would have fewer responsibilities with a rental home overseas. But since we no longer have overseas job offers, I am not stressing about that any more. I do feel like grabbing the girls from school to go tour Williamsburg before we move though. I can't believe we didn't make it to Busch Gardens this summer either! I love that place, or I did when I was 14!
So here we are, trying to ifugre out the future and dodging our day to day challenges. The fun crisis-du-jour was Emily dealing with a round of lice. YUCK! I don't like pest. I pay happily for a bug spray service. This has always been lurking in the back of my mind as a childhood curse I was hoping to avoid and never experience. No such luck! Have I ever mentioned how thick her hair is? No, well, let me mention it now! Imagine all the hair on my head, and Karl's head put together, now give Emily just a little bit more than that. I saw something in her hair at a doctors appointment on Wednesday, and pulled it out to look at it. The hairs on the abck of my neck registered it as a possible disaster, but I tried to convince myself it ways nothing. I googled it at bedtime, and felt a dull thud. I told myself if I checked in the morning and found any more, well then it might be lice eggs. Yup. In the I found 5 more right away. Since Heidi had come for a visit, she was able to watch my kids while I ran to Walgreens for supplies. The combs I bought had little affect on her hair, and not wanting to dump major chemicals on her head, I began to section out her hair and pull any eggs I found out between my thumb and fingernail. Eeew! it took about 9 hours to do her head the first day. The next day took about 6 hours. I did a poison free shampoo that day to kill any adults that might be there since I never saw or found any. I still think that is weird. I have not found any eggs in the last 2 days. I am hoping Heidi doesn't find any either on her girls. Sydney and Josh and I seem to be fine. I hope we all stay that way.
Other fun things, we got denied insurance coverage for Emily's sensory therapy, but I got it back after about 6 weeks by using a new script with a different code, one that tags her as having Aspberger's syndrome. I am thrilled we can go back for the last few weeks we are here, although I am happier to report that my child has worn jeans 3 times this school year od her own free will, and 1 without any extra therapy from me! Woohoo! Major progress!
Sydney and Emily finished Little League. They stuck it out, and I am proud of them. They got trophies, and they are proud too. We may not be ball people, but Emily did get 2 runs in the season, and I think 4 total hits. Sydney at the end did quite well at bat. In the field she got better at the end, but had a habit of biting her nails and searching the ground for interesting plants.
We have started calling Sydney "Magpie" since you never know now what she will collect. The other night I could not find my phone. Karl found it under her pillow. I left it in her room at bedtime, so she popped it under her pillow. a good friend sent her a pair of cargo pants, and when she saw them, she looked at the pockets and said "wow! Mom, I could put a lot of things in my pockets!" She makes me laugh. I ratted her out at the parent Teacher Conference this week, letting her teacher know she can read. He He. Now she will have a little more challenging work to do. Crazy girl. Emily is doing wonderfully well in school and I will miss her teacher. She is awesome and the perfect fit for Emily.
A funny comment. The girls were watching Qubo, and an ad for some sort of Ab Excercise Gadget came on that promised to tone and shrink your midsection in a matter of days. Emily watched it, and turned to me and said, "Wow Mom, you could really use that! " So true! Thank you so much, I thought.
And Josh has taken his first few steps. He does it best when he is not paying attention to the moving part and just in pursuit of something. He is much more interested in the home than I remember the girls being. He loves to empty cabinets, dump spices, unstack cans, sit in pots, unroll toilet paper and dump anything he can find into the toilet. He also likes batteries. And wheels. And licking the floor. His best words are "Dis" and "Dat".
Well, we are off to decide our future! Keep you all posted!
We put the house on the market and we got an offer on the house, and we accepted the offer. But we are waiting for the bank to approve the offer because we are hoping to do a short sale since the house market tanked after we bought the house. If we get the bank approval, and if they do the paperwork in a timely fashion, our closing date is January 4th. So the Pilz Family will go house shopping and move afterthe holidays.
Where you ask? What a wonderful question. We are looking at Boston and D.C. We want to be near family and are getting some really exciting job offers in D.C. and Suffolk right now, but not as many exciting ones in Boston. It is a challenge for Karl to decide what he really wants to do right now, and a bigger challenge for us as a family to decide where we are going. Naturally we a re torn. We have come to love this area, and will miss it very much. We love the weather, the community we live in, the proximity to all the comforts without as much hustle and bustle of a larger area, and all the many comforts there are to our location.
I have never been great at moving or change. I feel like a cat, clinging all paws spread wide to the bathroom door frame prior to a bath! It is not easy or fun for me to move. That is probably why we never made it overseas. I think I felt more adventurous prior to having kids, but the post-kid me does not feel so inclined. I can't help thinking that if we seem unable to take advantage of what our current areas have to offer, why would moving to another country jump start our inner tourist? But as Karl pointed out, we would have fewer responsibilities with a rental home overseas. But since we no longer have overseas job offers, I am not stressing about that any more. I do feel like grabbing the girls from school to go tour Williamsburg before we move though. I can't believe we didn't make it to Busch Gardens this summer either! I love that place, or I did when I was 14!
So here we are, trying to ifugre out the future and dodging our day to day challenges. The fun crisis-du-jour was Emily dealing with a round of lice. YUCK! I don't like pest. I pay happily for a bug spray service. This has always been lurking in the back of my mind as a childhood curse I was hoping to avoid and never experience. No such luck! Have I ever mentioned how thick her hair is? No, well, let me mention it now! Imagine all the hair on my head, and Karl's head put together, now give Emily just a little bit more than that. I saw something in her hair at a doctors appointment on Wednesday, and pulled it out to look at it. The hairs on the abck of my neck registered it as a possible disaster, but I tried to convince myself it ways nothing. I googled it at bedtime, and felt a dull thud. I told myself if I checked in the morning and found any more, well then it might be lice eggs. Yup. In the I found 5 more right away. Since Heidi had come for a visit, she was able to watch my kids while I ran to Walgreens for supplies. The combs I bought had little affect on her hair, and not wanting to dump major chemicals on her head, I began to section out her hair and pull any eggs I found out between my thumb and fingernail. Eeew! it took about 9 hours to do her head the first day. The next day took about 6 hours. I did a poison free shampoo that day to kill any adults that might be there since I never saw or found any. I still think that is weird. I have not found any eggs in the last 2 days. I am hoping Heidi doesn't find any either on her girls. Sydney and Josh and I seem to be fine. I hope we all stay that way.
Other fun things, we got denied insurance coverage for Emily's sensory therapy, but I got it back after about 6 weeks by using a new script with a different code, one that tags her as having Aspberger's syndrome. I am thrilled we can go back for the last few weeks we are here, although I am happier to report that my child has worn jeans 3 times this school year od her own free will, and 1 without any extra therapy from me! Woohoo! Major progress!
Sydney and Emily finished Little League. They stuck it out, and I am proud of them. They got trophies, and they are proud too. We may not be ball people, but Emily did get 2 runs in the season, and I think 4 total hits. Sydney at the end did quite well at bat. In the field she got better at the end, but had a habit of biting her nails and searching the ground for interesting plants.
We have started calling Sydney "Magpie" since you never know now what she will collect. The other night I could not find my phone. Karl found it under her pillow. I left it in her room at bedtime, so she popped it under her pillow. a good friend sent her a pair of cargo pants, and when she saw them, she looked at the pockets and said "wow! Mom, I could put a lot of things in my pockets!" She makes me laugh. I ratted her out at the parent Teacher Conference this week, letting her teacher know she can read. He He. Now she will have a little more challenging work to do. Crazy girl. Emily is doing wonderfully well in school and I will miss her teacher. She is awesome and the perfect fit for Emily.
A funny comment. The girls were watching Qubo, and an ad for some sort of Ab Excercise Gadget came on that promised to tone and shrink your midsection in a matter of days. Emily watched it, and turned to me and said, "Wow Mom, you could really use that! " So true! Thank you so much, I thought.
And Josh has taken his first few steps. He does it best when he is not paying attention to the moving part and just in pursuit of something. He is much more interested in the home than I remember the girls being. He loves to empty cabinets, dump spices, unstack cans, sit in pots, unroll toilet paper and dump anything he can find into the toilet. He also likes batteries. And wheels. And licking the floor. His best words are "Dis" and "Dat".
Well, we are off to decide our future! Keep you all posted!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Battle of the Paper Tiger
We have spent the better part of the weekend in the girls room. We put the house up for sale last Thursday and I had some great pictures of most of the rooms in the house ready to go. Not because the house was clean and lovely and we took pictures that day, no, they were there because a wonderful friend helped me work on the house for her home staging class. And I almost immediately ruined all our hard work in the office and bedroom. The layout is there, the surface clutter just never really go licked completely. Only we never went in the girls room. we didn't want to traumatize them or us. too bad. I could have used her help.
So I was/am horrified at the thought of someone actually viewing the house, and especially their room. we did not have a good picture of their room to put up either. So I went in and did battle. I threw out some stuff while they were at school, and then when they got home, the girls and I worked on it a bit, and then some more Saturday. We got toys taken out of the room and put into storage, and got the shelves in the closet tidied up, and made the bins face out with labels clearly viewable, with all the bins easy to pull down and to open. I threw away lots of papers in the closet when they were not there which helped so much although emily is getting better about letting go of paper. Sydney on the other hand has just gotten the nickname on Magpie. we have been missing a bolt for a chair I bought a few months ago but never assembled. We went to assembled it 2 weeks ago and could not find the bolt we had placed on the edge of the bookshelf. I found the bolt yesterday when I stripped and made her bed. She took the bolt to bed! along with rocks, shells, stuffed animals, a spatula, and not on that night, but another night her t-ball uniform.
About their beds. I had to make a decree that there would be only 10 animal limit. It noticed yesterday while making both beds to take a pretty room picture that my decree was being ignored. Not a good thing. I have a full large pink bin of stuffed animals in the closet and another full bin under the bed and still more stuffed animals hanging on a shoe organizer on the back of their door. We might have enough stuffed animals, maybe even too many. But any time we enter a store, they seems to be able to find another one that they don't have and would be absolutely devastated not to have in their collection. The asthma and allergy doctors both girls see are not pro stuffed animals. You could even call them anti stuffed animals. It is nice to have a good reason to forbid more animals entering the house. But I adore stuffed animals myself, so I know I am the reason behind their initial collections! Oh the shame!
So after the stuff that went to storage, and the papers that went to the trash, and the scrapping of tape off the window, and removing the pencil that had wedged up the window ledge trim, and the paint & crayon removal from the desk, the room looked pretty good. I sent pictures to the realtor. they were staged a bit since I took all the extra animals and pillows and blankets off their beds. When people walk through the house, they will see them, but at least they will have seen the house online looking its best.
On another note, I am going to Physical therapy for some under developed leg muscle that really have created a lot of pain in my hip joint. I started during pregnancy and was attributed to pregnancy and Relaxin and not to a muscular problem, but since it came back, and I can safely say pregnancy is not the cause I went to get Xrays and then ultimately to PT. The exercises are painful, and they are shocked by the knots in the muscles and the tightness of the muscles. I was shocked by the lack of strength in my glutes. All this time I figured with the size of the thing, you would think there was some strength there. Nope. Not much at all! if someone asks you to do an "Inchworm" Run away. it is no fun at all! But I have decided as much as I dislike Yoga, sorry, all those who love it, I do not enjoy it much at all, but I will say it helps me stay flexible, and when I go at least weekly, I have fewer knots. and I got this foam rolly thing which is good for getting out some kinks. Hurts like crazy though. Maybe one day I will get a deep tissue massage that will help too. I would hate to scream and run off the table though.
Karl is continuing his job search. I am trying for a zen like attitude based on faith. I believe he will find a good job soon and that we will ultimately be fine no matter where that job is. It seems to be working. Prior to feeling that impression, I was a mess of worry. Right now I am just not thinking about the little yuck details like moving and leaving friends and a really wonderful area. So my blog title is coming back to haunt me. We are moving. I should change it once this move is over! Friends keep asking where we are moving, and they look at me a little funny when I saw I don't know for sure since we have no job offer and we hoe to move in 3 months. well, really 2. yikes. that really is soon. I better go back to zen breathing.
Yikes, it is late and I need some sleep. No more thinking for me tonight. Time for my stretching exercises from PT.
So I was/am horrified at the thought of someone actually viewing the house, and especially their room. we did not have a good picture of their room to put up either. So I went in and did battle. I threw out some stuff while they were at school, and then when they got home, the girls and I worked on it a bit, and then some more Saturday. We got toys taken out of the room and put into storage, and got the shelves in the closet tidied up, and made the bins face out with labels clearly viewable, with all the bins easy to pull down and to open. I threw away lots of papers in the closet when they were not there which helped so much although emily is getting better about letting go of paper. Sydney on the other hand has just gotten the nickname on Magpie. we have been missing a bolt for a chair I bought a few months ago but never assembled. We went to assembled it 2 weeks ago and could not find the bolt we had placed on the edge of the bookshelf. I found the bolt yesterday when I stripped and made her bed. She took the bolt to bed! along with rocks, shells, stuffed animals, a spatula, and not on that night, but another night her t-ball uniform.
About their beds. I had to make a decree that there would be only 10 animal limit. It noticed yesterday while making both beds to take a pretty room picture that my decree was being ignored. Not a good thing. I have a full large pink bin of stuffed animals in the closet and another full bin under the bed and still more stuffed animals hanging on a shoe organizer on the back of their door. We might have enough stuffed animals, maybe even too many. But any time we enter a store, they seems to be able to find another one that they don't have and would be absolutely devastated not to have in their collection. The asthma and allergy doctors both girls see are not pro stuffed animals. You could even call them anti stuffed animals. It is nice to have a good reason to forbid more animals entering the house. But I adore stuffed animals myself, so I know I am the reason behind their initial collections! Oh the shame!
So after the stuff that went to storage, and the papers that went to the trash, and the scrapping of tape off the window, and removing the pencil that had wedged up the window ledge trim, and the paint & crayon removal from the desk, the room looked pretty good. I sent pictures to the realtor. they were staged a bit since I took all the extra animals and pillows and blankets off their beds. When people walk through the house, they will see them, but at least they will have seen the house online looking its best.
On another note, I am going to Physical therapy for some under developed leg muscle that really have created a lot of pain in my hip joint. I started during pregnancy and was attributed to pregnancy and Relaxin and not to a muscular problem, but since it came back, and I can safely say pregnancy is not the cause I went to get Xrays and then ultimately to PT. The exercises are painful, and they are shocked by the knots in the muscles and the tightness of the muscles. I was shocked by the lack of strength in my glutes. All this time I figured with the size of the thing, you would think there was some strength there. Nope. Not much at all! if someone asks you to do an "Inchworm" Run away. it is no fun at all! But I have decided as much as I dislike Yoga, sorry, all those who love it, I do not enjoy it much at all, but I will say it helps me stay flexible, and when I go at least weekly, I have fewer knots. and I got this foam rolly thing which is good for getting out some kinks. Hurts like crazy though. Maybe one day I will get a deep tissue massage that will help too. I would hate to scream and run off the table though.
Karl is continuing his job search. I am trying for a zen like attitude based on faith. I believe he will find a good job soon and that we will ultimately be fine no matter where that job is. It seems to be working. Prior to feeling that impression, I was a mess of worry. Right now I am just not thinking about the little yuck details like moving and leaving friends and a really wonderful area. So my blog title is coming back to haunt me. We are moving. I should change it once this move is over! Friends keep asking where we are moving, and they look at me a little funny when I saw I don't know for sure since we have no job offer and we hoe to move in 3 months. well, really 2. yikes. that really is soon. I better go back to zen breathing.
Yikes, it is late and I need some sleep. No more thinking for me tonight. Time for my stretching exercises from PT.
Battle of the Paper Tiger
We have spent the better part of the weekend in the girls room. We put the house up for sale last Thursday and I had some great pictures of most of the rooms in the house ready to go. Not because the house was clean and lovely and we took pictures that day, no, they were there because a wonderful friend helped me work on the house for her home staging class. And I almost immediately ruined all our hard work in the office and bedroom. The layout is there, the surface clutter just never really go licked completely. Only we never went in the girls room. we didn't want to traumatize them or us. too bad. I could have used her help.
So I was/am horrified at the thought of someone actually viewing the house, and especially their room. we did not have a good picture of their room to put up either. So I went in and did battle. I threw out some stuff while they were at school, and then when they got home, the girls and I worked on it a bit, and then some more Saturday. We got toys taken out of the room and put into storage, and got the shelves in the closet tidied up, and made the bins face out with labels clearly viewable, with all the bins easy to pull down and to open. I threw away lots of papers in the closet when they were not there which helped so much although emily is getting better about letting go of paper. Sydney on the other hand has just gotten the nickname on Magpie. we have been missing a bolt for a chair I bought a few months ago but never assembled. We went to assembled it 2 weeks ago and could not find the bolt we had placed on the edge of the bookshelf. I found the bolt yesterday when I stripped and made her bed. She took the bolt to bed! along with rocks, shells, stuffed animals, a spatula, and not on that night, but another night her t-ball uniform.
About their beds. I had to make a decree that there would be only 10 animal limit. It noticed yesterday while making both beds to take a pretty room picture that my decree was being ignored. Not a good thing. I have a full large pink bin of stuffed animals in the closet and another full bin under the bed and still more stuffed animals hanging on a shoe organizer on the back of their door. We might have enough stuffed animals, maybe even too many. But any time we enter a store, they seems to be able to find another one that they don't have and would be absolutely devastated not to have in their collection. The asthma and allergy doctors both girls see are not pro stuffed animals. You could even call them anti stuffed animals. It is nice to have a good reason to forbid more animals entering the house. But I adore stuffed animals myself, so I know I am the reason behind their initial collections! Oh the shame!
So after the stuff that went to storage, and the papers that went to the trash, and the scrapping of tape off the window, and removing the pencil that had wedged up the window ledge trim, and the paint & crayon removal from the desk, the room looked pretty good. I sent pictures to the realtor. they were staged a bit since I took all the extra animals and pillows and blankets off their beds. When people walk through the house, they will see them, but at least they will have seen the house online looking its best.
On another note, I am going to Physical therapy for some under developed leg muscle that really have created a lot of pain in my hip joint. I started during pregnancy and was attributed to pregnancy and Relaxin and not to a muscular problem, but since it came back, and I can safely say pregnancy is not the cause I went to get Xrays and then ultimately to PT. The exercises are painful, and they are shocked by the knots in the muscles and the tightness of the muscles. I was shocked by the lack of strength in my glutes. All this time I figured with the size of the thing, you would think there was some strength there. Nope. Not much at all! if someone asks you to do an "Inchworm" Run away. it is no fun at all! But I have decided as much as I dislike Yoga, sorry, all those who love it, I do not enjoy it much at all, but I will say it helps me stay flexible, and when I go at least weekly, I have fewer knots. and I got this foam rolly thing which is good for getting out some kinks. Hurts like crazy though. Maybe one day I will get a deep tissue massage that will help too. I would hate to scream and run off the table though.
Karl is continuing his job search. I am trying for a zen like attitude based on faith. I believe he will find a good job soon and that we will ultimately be fine no matter where that job is. It seems to be working. Prior to feeling that impression, I was a mess of worry. Right now I am just not thinking about the little yuck details like moving and leaving friends and a really wonderful area. So my blog title is coming back to haunt me. We are moving. I should change it once this move is over! Friends keep asking where we are moving, and they look at me a little funny when I saw I don't know for sure since we have no job offer and we hoe to move in 3 months. well, really 2. yikes. that really is soon. I better go back to zen breathing.
Yikes, it is late and I need some sleep. No more thinking for me tonight. Time for my stretching exercises from PT.
So I was/am horrified at the thought of someone actually viewing the house, and especially their room. we did not have a good picture of their room to put up either. So I went in and did battle. I threw out some stuff while they were at school, and then when they got home, the girls and I worked on it a bit, and then some more Saturday. We got toys taken out of the room and put into storage, and got the shelves in the closet tidied up, and made the bins face out with labels clearly viewable, with all the bins easy to pull down and to open. I threw away lots of papers in the closet when they were not there which helped so much although emily is getting better about letting go of paper. Sydney on the other hand has just gotten the nickname on Magpie. we have been missing a bolt for a chair I bought a few months ago but never assembled. We went to assembled it 2 weeks ago and could not find the bolt we had placed on the edge of the bookshelf. I found the bolt yesterday when I stripped and made her bed. She took the bolt to bed! along with rocks, shells, stuffed animals, a spatula, and not on that night, but another night her t-ball uniform.
About their beds. I had to make a decree that there would be only 10 animal limit. It noticed yesterday while making both beds to take a pretty room picture that my decree was being ignored. Not a good thing. I have a full large pink bin of stuffed animals in the closet and another full bin under the bed and still more stuffed animals hanging on a shoe organizer on the back of their door. We might have enough stuffed animals, maybe even too many. But any time we enter a store, they seems to be able to find another one that they don't have and would be absolutely devastated not to have in their collection. The asthma and allergy doctors both girls see are not pro stuffed animals. You could even call them anti stuffed animals. It is nice to have a good reason to forbid more animals entering the house. But I adore stuffed animals myself, so I know I am the reason behind their initial collections! Oh the shame!
So after the stuff that went to storage, and the papers that went to the trash, and the scrapping of tape off the window, and removing the pencil that had wedged up the window ledge trim, and the paint & crayon removal from the desk, the room looked pretty good. I sent pictures to the realtor. they were staged a bit since I took all the extra animals and pillows and blankets off their beds. When people walk through the house, they will see them, but at least they will have seen the house online looking its best.
On another note, I am going to Physical therapy for some under developed leg muscle that really have created a lot of pain in my hip joint. I started during pregnancy and was attributed to pregnancy and Relaxin and not to a muscular problem, but since it came back, and I can safely say pregnancy is not the cause I went to get Xrays and then ultimately to PT. The exercises are painful, and they are shocked by the knots in the muscles and the tightness of the muscles. I was shocked by the lack of strength in my glutes. All this time I figured with the size of the thing, you would think there was some strength there. Nope. Not much at all! if someone asks you to do an "Inchworm" Run away. it is no fun at all! But I have decided as much as I dislike Yoga, sorry, all those who love it, I do not enjoy it much at all, but I will say it helps me stay flexible, and when I go at least weekly, I have fewer knots. and I got this foam rolly thing which is good for getting out some kinks. Hurts like crazy though. Maybe one day I will get a deep tissue massage that will help too. I would hate to scream and run off the table though.
Karl is continuing his job search. I am trying for a zen like attitude based on faith. I believe he will find a good job soon and that we will ultimately be fine no matter where that job is. It seems to be working. Prior to feeling that impression, I was a mess of worry. Right now I am just not thinking about the little yuck details like moving and leaving friends and a really wonderful area. So my blog title is coming back to haunt me. We are moving. I should change it once this move is over! Friends keep asking where we are moving, and they look at me a little funny when I saw I don't know for sure since we have no job offer and we hoe to move in 3 months. well, really 2. yikes. that really is soon. I better go back to zen breathing.
Yikes, it is late and I need some sleep. No more thinking for me tonight. Time for my stretching exercises from PT.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
How do HazMat teams do it?
So this has been a really gross weekend. Yesterday was a 2 header game day for Sydney, and a ball game and swim practice day for Emily. It ended with a bag when Sydney managed to run into another child on the playground during the 5 minutes Karl was helping me load Josh & the stroller into the car. Oh did I mention Emily ran into the wall swimming the backstroke at swim practice?
So Sydney ended up with a large bruise on her temple, but otherwise was quite perky. Then around 5pm, 4 hours later, she started to throw up all over the edge of the couch. We got her to the bathroom for the rest and called a friend who works as an ER doc. Possible concussion, watch for more symptoms. She fell asleep on the coach, then woke up around 7, and threw up 30 minutes later. So she went to the ER with Karl and got a CTScan. They came home around midnight, threw up some more and went to bed.
Josh who had fallen asleep at 5:30 for his second nap of the day woke up again at 4am. I was up there dreaming he was some sort of weird alien rock and I could not put him back in bed until the rock changed form. It finally changed form around 4:45. Fortunately for me, he was happy to go back to sleep.
Since it is Conference Weekend, we all stayed home to watch conference on TV. I am so glad we did! Neither girl really dove into the traditional waffle breakfast, but I didn't really think much of it. They didn't really eat a lot of lunch either. After lunch, Emily began to complain her tummy hurt. She began vomiting in spectacular fashion at 5. Same spot on the couch too, but she never made it to the bathroom for rounds 2 and 3. Never knew a kid could contain so much fluid.
So after we got her wiped down, and moved the couch out of the major pool, we tossed her in the tub with a bucket. Then we got gloves and started to clean. I love leather furniture. But seriously , no need to test the wipe-ability so much in one weekend. Plus I love my floor scrubber. But using vinegar as a natural disinfectant is a little smelly. Only the positive side, at least I didn't scrub downstairs yesterday as planned only to do it again today :) And thankfully that time, Josh was actually asleep in bed, so he didn't get in the middle of things.
So after Emily started throwing up, we began to wonder in Sydney really did have a bad concussion, or just a stomach bug and a bruise. Especially when we remembered Josh threw up on Thursday several times.
Oh well. I really don't think I could ever clean anything really gross, since this was pretty much pegging my gross-o-meter to the limit! I'm sure it's all in my head, but my tummy hurts.
So Sydney ended up with a large bruise on her temple, but otherwise was quite perky. Then around 5pm, 4 hours later, she started to throw up all over the edge of the couch. We got her to the bathroom for the rest and called a friend who works as an ER doc. Possible concussion, watch for more symptoms. She fell asleep on the coach, then woke up around 7, and threw up 30 minutes later. So she went to the ER with Karl and got a CTScan. They came home around midnight, threw up some more and went to bed.
Josh who had fallen asleep at 5:30 for his second nap of the day woke up again at 4am. I was up there dreaming he was some sort of weird alien rock and I could not put him back in bed until the rock changed form. It finally changed form around 4:45. Fortunately for me, he was happy to go back to sleep.
Since it is Conference Weekend, we all stayed home to watch conference on TV. I am so glad we did! Neither girl really dove into the traditional waffle breakfast, but I didn't really think much of it. They didn't really eat a lot of lunch either. After lunch, Emily began to complain her tummy hurt. She began vomiting in spectacular fashion at 5. Same spot on the couch too, but she never made it to the bathroom for rounds 2 and 3. Never knew a kid could contain so much fluid.
So after we got her wiped down, and moved the couch out of the major pool, we tossed her in the tub with a bucket. Then we got gloves and started to clean. I love leather furniture. But seriously , no need to test the wipe-ability so much in one weekend. Plus I love my floor scrubber. But using vinegar as a natural disinfectant is a little smelly. Only the positive side, at least I didn't scrub downstairs yesterday as planned only to do it again today :) And thankfully that time, Josh was actually asleep in bed, so he didn't get in the middle of things.
So after Emily started throwing up, we began to wonder in Sydney really did have a bad concussion, or just a stomach bug and a bruise. Especially when we remembered Josh threw up on Thursday several times.
Oh well. I really don't think I could ever clean anything really gross, since this was pretty much pegging my gross-o-meter to the limit! I'm sure it's all in my head, but my tummy hurts.
How do HazMat teams do it?
So this has been a really gross weekend. Yesterday was a 2 header game day for Sydney, and a ball game and swim practice day for Emily. It ended with a bag when Sydney managed to run into another child on the playground during the 5 minutes Karl was helping me load Josh & the stroller into the car. Oh did I mention Emily ran into the wall swimming the backstroke at swim practice?
So Sydney ended up with a large bruise on her temple, but otherwise was quite perky. Then around 5pm, 4 hours later, she started to throw up all over the edge of the couch. We got her to the bathroom for the rest and called a friend who works as an ER doc. Possible concussion, watch for more symptoms. She fell asleep on the coach, then woke up around 7, and threw up 30 minutes later. So she went to the ER with Karl and got a CTScan. They came home around midnight, threw up some more and went to bed.
Josh who had fallen asleep at 5:30 for his second nap of the day woke up again at 4am. I was up there dreaming he was some sort of weird alien rock and I could not put him back in bed until the rock changed form. It finally changed form around 4:45. Fortunately for me, he was happy to go back to sleep.
Since it is Conference Weekend, we all stayed home to watch conference on TV. I am so glad we did! Neither girl really dove into the traditional waffle breakfast, but I didn't really think much of it. They didn't really eat a lot of lunch either. After lunch, Emily began to complain her tummy hurt. She began vomiting in spectacular fashion at 5. Same spot on the couch too, but she never made it to the bathroom for rounds 2 and 3. Never knew a kid could contain so much fluid.
So after we got her wiped down, and moved the couch out of the major pool, we tossed her in the tub with a bucket. Then we got gloves and started to clean. I love leather furniture. But seriously , no need to test the wipe-ability so much in one weekend. Plus I love my floor scrubber. But using vinegar as a natural disinfectant is a little smelly. Only the positive side, at least I didn't scrub downstairs yesterday as planned only to do it again today :) And thankfully that time, Josh was actually asleep in bed, so he didn't get in the middle of things.
So after Emily started throwing up, we began to wonder in Sydney really did have a bad concussion, or just a stomach bug and a bruise. Especially when we remembered Josh threw up on Thursday several times.
Oh well. I really don't think I could ever clean anything really gross, since this was pretty much pegging my gross-o-meter to the limit! I'm sure it's all in my head, but my tummy hurts.
So Sydney ended up with a large bruise on her temple, but otherwise was quite perky. Then around 5pm, 4 hours later, she started to throw up all over the edge of the couch. We got her to the bathroom for the rest and called a friend who works as an ER doc. Possible concussion, watch for more symptoms. She fell asleep on the coach, then woke up around 7, and threw up 30 minutes later. So she went to the ER with Karl and got a CTScan. They came home around midnight, threw up some more and went to bed.
Josh who had fallen asleep at 5:30 for his second nap of the day woke up again at 4am. I was up there dreaming he was some sort of weird alien rock and I could not put him back in bed until the rock changed form. It finally changed form around 4:45. Fortunately for me, he was happy to go back to sleep.
Since it is Conference Weekend, we all stayed home to watch conference on TV. I am so glad we did! Neither girl really dove into the traditional waffle breakfast, but I didn't really think much of it. They didn't really eat a lot of lunch either. After lunch, Emily began to complain her tummy hurt. She began vomiting in spectacular fashion at 5. Same spot on the couch too, but she never made it to the bathroom for rounds 2 and 3. Never knew a kid could contain so much fluid.
So after we got her wiped down, and moved the couch out of the major pool, we tossed her in the tub with a bucket. Then we got gloves and started to clean. I love leather furniture. But seriously , no need to test the wipe-ability so much in one weekend. Plus I love my floor scrubber. But using vinegar as a natural disinfectant is a little smelly. Only the positive side, at least I didn't scrub downstairs yesterday as planned only to do it again today :) And thankfully that time, Josh was actually asleep in bed, so he didn't get in the middle of things.
So after Emily started throwing up, we began to wonder in Sydney really did have a bad concussion, or just a stomach bug and a bruise. Especially when we remembered Josh threw up on Thursday several times.
Oh well. I really don't think I could ever clean anything really gross, since this was pretty much pegging my gross-o-meter to the limit! I'm sure it's all in my head, but my tummy hurts.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Figgy Pudding
Just a note, in case anyone comes across 4 cups of fresh figs and decides to make fig cobbler, peel them first. Do not follow instructions for a recipe that do not include peeling and definitely do not serve it to company without tasting it first. Thankfully they were polite. I thought it looked pretty until I cut in and saw glob o' fig lying there. It was not a giant fig newton as I had hoped. It was just the wrong side of gross. Oh well. Maybe a fig & fruit medly, or just some fig jam instead. I think I like the concept of figs better than the reality. It is a texture thing again.
Figgy Pudding
Just a note, in case anyone comes across 4 cups of fresh figs and decides to make fig cobbler, peel them first. Do not follow instructions for a recipe that do not include peeling and definitely do not serve it to company without tasting it first. Thankfully they were polite. I thought it looked pretty until I cut in and saw glob o' fig lying there. It was not a giant fig newton as I had hoped. It was just the wrong side of gross. Oh well. Maybe a fig & fruit medly, or just some fig jam instead. I think I like the concept of figs better than the reality. It is a texture thing again.
School Days are here again!
Yippee! It's finally over. That incredibly long summer has finally ended!!! Yeah!!!!! I am so happy it is September 9th. And fortunately for me, the kids are too! Even though I missed Orientation Day due to a trip out of town, we were ok. They both got on the bus, and as far as I know, no one cried in the hallway looking for class. At least, if they did, they didn't tell me, and that is as good as it never happening in my book.
Sydney is in kindergarten and loving it, and Emily is in second grade. She also seems happy with her teacher. I hate not having met them, so I know I will just have to go in sometime soon as put a name with a face.
I am really getting involved this fall. I joined PTA again, and this time I agreed to actually do something. Yikes. I am headed up the hospitality committee. We do thank you gifts and parties. It will probably be fun. We have something every month it seems but one. What a good choice. Unless we move at Christmas time, in which case, he he. I am outta here!
Then I signed the girls up for sports. I didn't think swimming was going to happen, so we went for Softball instead, then swimming became an option, well I really wanted that, Em really wanted ball, so we are doing both. Tueday through Thursday are intense, with a repeat of insanity on Saturdays. This continues until the end of October. Oh dear! I am going to have to start using my time at home better especially on the 2 Practice day or we will not make it these next 2 months! Hello Crockpot Thursday. Emily has swimming, softball, and wait, there's more, and therapy. She is skipping 7 weeks of Thursday swimming for therapy. And then there are practice and game conflicts to sort out for 3 Saturdays.
On the other hand, Josh seemed to enjoy watching t-ball practice today for Sydney. She did not want to join since she was afraid to get dirty. I have a hard time believing that since she is out in the backyard working with mud any chance she gets, and that mud is quite messy. I think she just doesn't like not knowing how to do things. She was "forced" to go to practice today and ended up loving it. She was hunting for flowers, kicking dirt and occasionally hitting the tee and ball. She even ran from base to base when she was supposed to run, and in a straight line.
I need to find a chiropractor. Yesterday I got some sort of stomach icky-ness and today I hurt my hip/back. I think it was a low grade bug since I felt like I was getting a mild fever, and I wanted to curl into a ball and do nothing. I could not celebrate my first day of school properly. And it was pouring rain. Today was beautiful so we took the pictures today. I was grateful to see them on the bus yesterday, and the camera was in the car, and I was not about to brave the rain to get it especially not with Josh in my arms. I feel less icky today, but sore instead.
Did I mention Karl is gone all week? I am happy for him since he is spending time with our extending family and going to 2 weddings, but talk about timing! Oh well. It is my bedtime now, so off I go!
I didn't mention my trip to Ithaca, so really quickly...We (kids and I) went to upstate New York to see family & friends. took the girls tubing on the lake at my aunt & uncles. had a blast there! Went to a wedding, took all 3 kids by myself, will never do that again. Girls were great, baby was less so. Saw family, had tons of fun! Driving was a little rough, but took the scenic route through PA so saw lots of pretty stuff on the way.
School Days are here again!
Yippee! It's finally over. That incredibly long summer has finally ended!!! Yeah!!!!! I am so happy it is September 9th. And fortunately for me, the kids are too! Even though I missed Orientation Day due to a trip out of town, we were ok. They both got on the bus, and as far as I know, no one cried in the hallway looking for class. At least, if they did, they didn't tell me, and that is as good as it never happening in my book.
Sydney is in kindergarten and loving it, and Emily is in second grade. She also seems happy with her teacher. I hate not having met them, so I know I will just have to go in sometime soon as put a name with a face.
I am really getting involved this fall. I joined PTA again, and this time I agreed to actually do something. Yikes. I am headed up the hospitality committee. We do thank you gifts and parties. It will probably be fun. We have something every month it seems but one. What a good choice. Unless we move at Christmas time, in which case, he he. I am outta here!
Then I signed the girls up for sports. I didn't think swimming was going to happen, so we went for Softball instead, then swimming became an option, well I really wanted that, Em really wanted ball, so we are doing both. Tueday through Thursday are intense, with a repeat of insanity on Saturdays. This continues until the end of October. Oh dear! I am going to have to start using my time at home better especially on the 2 Practice day or we will not make it these next 2 months! Hello Crockpot Thursday. Emily has swimming, softball, and wait, there's more, and therapy. She is skipping 7 weeks of Thursday swimming for therapy. And then there are practice and game conflicts to sort out for 3 Saturdays.
On the other hand, Josh seemed to enjoy watching t-ball practice today for Sydney. She did not want to join since she was afraid to get dirty. I have a hard time believing that since she is out in the backyard working with mud any chance she gets, and that mud is quite messy. I think she just doesn't like not knowing how to do things. She was "forced" to go to practice today and ended up loving it. She was hunting for flowers, kicking dirt and occasionally hitting the tee and ball. She even ran from base to base when she was supposed to run, and in a straight line.
I need to find a chiropractor. Yesterday I got some sort of stomach icky-ness and today I hurt my hip/back. I think it was a low grade bug since I felt like I was getting a mild fever, and I wanted to curl into a ball and do nothing. I could not celebrate my first day of school properly. And it was pouring rain. Today was beautiful so we took the pictures today. I was grateful to see them on the bus yesterday, and the camera was in the car, and I was not about to brave the rain to get it especially not with Josh in my arms. I feel less icky today, but sore instead.
Did I mention Karl is gone all week? I am happy for him since he is spending time with our extending family and going to 2 weddings, but talk about timing! Oh well. It is my bedtime now, so off I go!
I didn't mention my trip to Ithaca, so really quickly...We (kids and I) went to upstate New York to see family & friends. took the girls tubing on the lake at my aunt & uncles. had a blast there! Went to a wedding, took all 3 kids by myself, will never do that again. Girls were great, baby was less so. Saw family, had tons of fun! Driving was a little rough, but took the scenic route through PA so saw lots of pretty stuff on the way.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Awkward time at the doctors
I was at the doctor's office with Emily, Sydney, and Josh two weeks ago and was really shocked and disappointed to see three young boys attacking the lovely wooden train table and ripping the pieces out of the table. Those pieces were screwed into each other and the table top so thy had tonwork hard to destroy it. What got me was that their mother was sitting in the lobby while they did this and never said anything. I didn't either though. I probably should have. When Sydney, Josh, and I came out to wait for Emily, I spent some time trying to fix the table again in full view of their mom. She said nothing to me though. She also didn't try to help fix what her children had done.
We came to the office today for another visit. The table is gone. I inquired about it and was told they got rid of it because of missing and broken pieces. Such a shame. There were older boys playing while we waited, three boys maybe 10-12. Both my baby and my 5 year old had fun with it too. But because of a few people, the fun of so many others is spoiled. Next time I see kids destroying things, I will speak up and the consequences of offending the mother are simply not worth it.
We came to the office today for another visit. The table is gone. I inquired about it and was told they got rid of it because of missing and broken pieces. Such a shame. There were older boys playing while we waited, three boys maybe 10-12. Both my baby and my 5 year old had fun with it too. But because of a few people, the fun of so many others is spoiled. Next time I see kids destroying things, I will speak up and the consequences of offending the mother are simply not worth it.
Awkward time at the doctors
I was at the doctor's office with Emily, Sydney, and Josh two weeks ago and was really shocked and disappointed to see three young boys attacking the lovely wooden train table and ripping the pieces out of the table. Those pieces were screwed into each other and the table top so thy had tonwork hard to destroy it. What got me was that their mother was sitting in the lobby while they did this and never said anything. I didn't either though. I probably should have. When Sydney, Josh, and I came out to wait for Emily, I spent some time trying to fix the table again in full view of their mom. She said nothing to me though. She also didn't try to help fix what her children had done.
We came to the office today for another visit. The table is gone. I inquired about it and was told they got rid of it because of missing and broken pieces. Such a shame. There were older boys playing while we waited, three boys maybe 10-12. Both my baby and my 5 year old had fun with it too. But because of a few people, the fun of so many others is spoiled. Next time I see kids destroying things, I will speak up and the consequences of offending the mother are simply not worth it.
We came to the office today for another visit. The table is gone. I inquired about it and was told they got rid of it because of missing and broken pieces. Such a shame. There were older boys playing while we waited, three boys maybe 10-12. Both my baby and my 5 year old had fun with it too. But because of a few people, the fun of so many others is spoiled. Next time I see kids destroying things, I will speak up and the consequences of offending the mother are simply not worth it.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Miley Cyrus letter
I am posting this letter I just wrote in the hopes that someone will stumble across this blog, and maybe send a letter of their own. I like Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. I don't like some of her current wardrobe choices, and I hope this letter might reach someone in her office and change their mind about how they proceed with her public image.
Miley Cyrus
c/o The Disney Channel
3800 Alameda Ave
Burbank, CA 915058
USA
Dear Miley Cyrus (and your Publicity/Marketing Department)
I wanted to take a moment to write to you. I doubt that this will reach you directly, but I hope my letter has an impact on someone there. I am the mother of 2 girls, ages 7 and 5. Unlike many of your fans, we don’t have the Disney Channel. We don’t watch your show, so my daughters learned about you through the Disney Radio and the through marketing campaign you have going on in stores across the nation. If there is Hannah Montana Product in a store, they will find it and usually ask for it. To give you an example, my eldest has sensory issues and is in therapy for them but will happily wear the itchy nightgown simply because you are on it. Your vitamins however are delicious.
I enjoy listening to your music and did not object at all when my 5 year old used her allowance to buy her first cd. It will not come as a shock that it was your Hannah Montana 3 cd. They also saw your movie on a Daddy Daughter Date. My husband loved it too. We plan to set up a reward chart so they can earn a copy of the movie.
Currently we are big fans, but I am concerned about the future. My girls are 5 and 7. They are still little girls. I want them to be able to see you on TV and know that I don’t have to worry to much about our standards, especially in dress, clashing with yours. I was disappointed in the outfit I saw you wear at the Teen Music Choice Awards. I only saw 2 minutes of the show, when you sang Party in the USA. I was so glad that they were in bed and not watching with me. I do not want to try to explain why we can all see your bra on TV. I object to your shorts length as well, but that is something I struggle with daily and will struggle with for many years to come. On another note, the pole might have been there for your safety, it really put the wrong spin on the song for me.
I respect the fact that you are growing up and want to break free of your current image and little kid fan base, but have some care how you do it. I would hate to see you do what other teen rock stars have done before you. Please remember that your marketing and publicity crew has made you the hero and icon for some very young children, and the mothers of those children want them to stay that way as long as they can. We heard about your concert tour, and my girls would love to go. Last week, I was considering finding a way to work it into the budget. Now, I am not eager to try and save up for tickets because I don’t want to worry about your wardrobe choices at the concert.
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Heather Pilz
Miley Cyrus
c/o The Disney Channel
3800 Alameda Ave
Burbank, CA 915058
USA
Dear Miley Cyrus (and your Publicity/Marketing Department)
I wanted to take a moment to write to you. I doubt that this will reach you directly, but I hope my letter has an impact on someone there. I am the mother of 2 girls, ages 7 and 5. Unlike many of your fans, we don’t have the Disney Channel. We don’t watch your show, so my daughters learned about you through the Disney Radio and the through marketing campaign you have going on in stores across the nation. If there is Hannah Montana Product in a store, they will find it and usually ask for it. To give you an example, my eldest has sensory issues and is in therapy for them but will happily wear the itchy nightgown simply because you are on it. Your vitamins however are delicious.
I enjoy listening to your music and did not object at all when my 5 year old used her allowance to buy her first cd. It will not come as a shock that it was your Hannah Montana 3 cd. They also saw your movie on a Daddy Daughter Date. My husband loved it too. We plan to set up a reward chart so they can earn a copy of the movie.
Currently we are big fans, but I am concerned about the future. My girls are 5 and 7. They are still little girls. I want them to be able to see you on TV and know that I don’t have to worry to much about our standards, especially in dress, clashing with yours. I was disappointed in the outfit I saw you wear at the Teen Music Choice Awards. I only saw 2 minutes of the show, when you sang Party in the USA. I was so glad that they were in bed and not watching with me. I do not want to try to explain why we can all see your bra on TV. I object to your shorts length as well, but that is something I struggle with daily and will struggle with for many years to come. On another note, the pole might have been there for your safety, it really put the wrong spin on the song for me.
I respect the fact that you are growing up and want to break free of your current image and little kid fan base, but have some care how you do it. I would hate to see you do what other teen rock stars have done before you. Please remember that your marketing and publicity crew has made you the hero and icon for some very young children, and the mothers of those children want them to stay that way as long as they can. We heard about your concert tour, and my girls would love to go. Last week, I was considering finding a way to work it into the budget. Now, I am not eager to try and save up for tickets because I don’t want to worry about your wardrobe choices at the concert.
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Heather Pilz
Miley Cyrus letter
I am posting this letter I just wrote in the hopes that someone will stumble across this blog, and maybe send a letter of their own. I like Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. I don't like some of her current wardrobe choices, and I hope this letter might reach someone in her office and change their mind about how they proceed with her public image.
Miley Cyrus
c/o The Disney Channel
3800 Alameda Ave
Burbank, CA 915058
USA
Dear Miley Cyrus (and your Publicity/Marketing Department)
I wanted to take a moment to write to you. I doubt that this will reach you directly, but I hope my letter has an impact on someone there. I am the mother of 2 girls, ages 7 and 5. Unlike many of your fans, we don’t have the Disney Channel. We don’t watch your show, so my daughters learned about you through the Disney Radio and the through marketing campaign you have going on in stores across the nation. If there is Hannah Montana Product in a store, they will find it and usually ask for it. To give you an example, my eldest has sensory issues and is in therapy for them but will happily wear the itchy nightgown simply because you are on it. Your vitamins however are delicious.
I enjoy listening to your music and did not object at all when my 5 year old used her allowance to buy her first cd. It will not come as a shock that it was your Hannah Montana 3 cd. They also saw your movie on a Daddy Daughter Date. My husband loved it too. We plan to set up a reward chart so they can earn a copy of the movie.
Currently we are big fans, but I am concerned about the future. My girls are 5 and 7. They are still little girls. I want them to be able to see you on TV and know that I don’t have to worry to much about our standards, especially in dress, clashing with yours. I was disappointed in the outfit I saw you wear at the Teen Music Choice Awards. I only saw 2 minutes of the show, when you sang Party in the USA. I was so glad that they were in bed and not watching with me. I do not want to try to explain why we can all see your bra on TV. I object to your shorts length as well, but that is something I struggle with daily and will struggle with for many years to come. On another note, the pole might have been there for your safety, it really put the wrong spin on the song for me.
I respect the fact that you are growing up and want to break free of your current image and little kid fan base, but have some care how you do it. I would hate to see you do what other teen rock stars have done before you. Please remember that your marketing and publicity crew has made you the hero and icon for some very young children, and the mothers of those children want them to stay that way as long as they can. We heard about your concert tour, and my girls would love to go. Last week, I was considering finding a way to work it into the budget. Now, I am not eager to try and save up for tickets because I don’t want to worry about your wardrobe choices at the concert.
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Heather Pilz
Miley Cyrus
c/o The Disney Channel
3800 Alameda Ave
Burbank, CA 915058
USA
Dear Miley Cyrus (and your Publicity/Marketing Department)
I wanted to take a moment to write to you. I doubt that this will reach you directly, but I hope my letter has an impact on someone there. I am the mother of 2 girls, ages 7 and 5. Unlike many of your fans, we don’t have the Disney Channel. We don’t watch your show, so my daughters learned about you through the Disney Radio and the through marketing campaign you have going on in stores across the nation. If there is Hannah Montana Product in a store, they will find it and usually ask for it. To give you an example, my eldest has sensory issues and is in therapy for them but will happily wear the itchy nightgown simply because you are on it. Your vitamins however are delicious.
I enjoy listening to your music and did not object at all when my 5 year old used her allowance to buy her first cd. It will not come as a shock that it was your Hannah Montana 3 cd. They also saw your movie on a Daddy Daughter Date. My husband loved it too. We plan to set up a reward chart so they can earn a copy of the movie.
Currently we are big fans, but I am concerned about the future. My girls are 5 and 7. They are still little girls. I want them to be able to see you on TV and know that I don’t have to worry to much about our standards, especially in dress, clashing with yours. I was disappointed in the outfit I saw you wear at the Teen Music Choice Awards. I only saw 2 minutes of the show, when you sang Party in the USA. I was so glad that they were in bed and not watching with me. I do not want to try to explain why we can all see your bra on TV. I object to your shorts length as well, but that is something I struggle with daily and will struggle with for many years to come. On another note, the pole might have been there for your safety, it really put the wrong spin on the song for me.
I respect the fact that you are growing up and want to break free of your current image and little kid fan base, but have some care how you do it. I would hate to see you do what other teen rock stars have done before you. Please remember that your marketing and publicity crew has made you the hero and icon for some very young children, and the mothers of those children want them to stay that way as long as they can. We heard about your concert tour, and my girls would love to go. Last week, I was considering finding a way to work it into the budget. Now, I am not eager to try and save up for tickets because I don’t want to worry about your wardrobe choices at the concert.
I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Heather Pilz
Monday, August 10, 2009
Little League
Today we signed the girls up for tee-ball and softball. We Officially joined Little League. Yikes. But I am actually excited for the girls. We were at a friend's house Saturday and she was catching up a storm and slamming the ball across the yard. Sydney on the other hand spent her time in the hammock and picking flowers. But since Em was doing it, she wanted in too.
Little League
Today we signed the girls up for tee-ball and softball. We Officially joined Little League. Yikes. But I am actually excited for the girls. We were at a friend's house Saturday and she was catching up a storm and slamming the ball across the yard. Sydney on the other hand spent her time in the hammock and picking flowers. But since Em was doing it, she wanted in too.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Microwave s'mores
I just made the yummiest microwave s'more for a snack. Here is what I did.
I got 1 Graham cracker, 1 marshmallow, and 2 tsps of dark chocolate chips. I placed the chips on the bottom cracker on a plate and zapped it for 15 seconds. Then I put the marshmallow on top and ran it for another 10 seconds. Remove and add the top cracker and you have a perfectly melted but not too hot treat. I think it ended up being 135 calories.
Microwave s'mores
I just made the yummiest microwave s'more for a snack. Here is what I did.
I got 1 Graham cracker, 1 marshmallow, and 2 tsps of dark chocolate chips. I placed the chips on the bottom cracker on a plate and zapped it for 15 seconds. Then I put the marshmallow on top and ran it for another 10 seconds. Remove and add the top cracker and you have a perfectly melted but not too hot treat. I think it ended up being 135 calories.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Use your own eyes!
So the girls were watching a few minutes of PBS kids while I made lunch. At various points they were prompted to point something out to the apparently clueless characters. This started to bother Sydney because whenever she was asked to help she said in a huffy voice "use your own eyes! You don't need me!" So funny!
Use your own eyes!
So the girls were watching a few minutes of PBS kids while I made lunch. At various points they were prompted to point something out to the apparently clueless characters. This started to bother Sydney because whenever she was asked to help she said in a huffy voice "use your own eyes! You don't need me!" So funny!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Fiction versus non fiction
I just spent 15 minutes trying to explain the movie industry to Emily. The sad part is that she still does not understand the concept. I don't know how else to try and get the actor not real person concept across. Is this normal or is it part of having Aspbergers?
Fiction versus non fiction
I just spent 15 minutes trying to explain the movie industry to Emily. The sad part is that she still does not understand the concept. I don't know how else to try and get the actor not real person concept across. Is this normal or is it part of having Aspbergers?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Zucchini
Almost everyone knows I hate Zucs and I would do almost anything to chuck them in the compost bin as a child. There were probably some perfectly fine zucs I deemed compostable. I do love zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini cake, but that is maybe not the healthiest option.
but....I ate some on Tuesday. Willingly too I might add. I made some wonderful zucchini pancakes. Not liking zucchini is a textural thing for me (Sorry Emily, you get it from me) and so shredded zucchini is totally different from yucky, slimy, squishy seedy chunks or slices. (sorry did my true feelings come out again?) They were totally a hit with the family too. Emily was the one protesting the most about eating them as she knows I don't like them, but she and Karl were both eyeing the last pancake at the end of dinner. She won.
Zucchini
Almost everyone knows I hate Zucs and I would do almost anything to chuck them in the compost bin as a child. There were probably some perfectly fine zucs I deemed compostable. I do love zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini cake, but that is maybe not the healthiest option.
but....I ate some on Tuesday. Willingly too I might add. I made some wonderful zucchini pancakes. Not liking zucchini is a textural thing for me (Sorry Emily, you get it from me) and so shredded zucchini is totally different from yucky, slimy, squishy seedy chunks or slices. (sorry did my true feelings come out again?) They were totally a hit with the family too. Emily was the one protesting the most about eating them as she knows I don't like them, but she and Karl were both eyeing the last pancake at the end of dinner. She won.
Monday, July 6, 2009
She was "about to" make her bed
Sydney cracks me up. She makes the funniest faces and has a quick wit. On Saturday as we were driving to a party we passed a train construction site. Emily wanted to know how long it would take to finish. I pulled a line from a recent favorite movie of theirs and said in "6 to 9 months" ala Madagascar 2. Emily fell right into the script. "69 months??? That will take forever.". Then we went through explaining how many months it would be (6,7,8 or 9). Sydney got it though and played along using parts of the movie to play off Emily and us.
The downside is she also hams it up when you want a family picture. This was from the 4th of July. I just wanted a picture of all 3 kids. In every single picture she had some facial commentary she had to make. Josh thought it was great.
Tonight she told us as she was about to go to bed, that she was "about to make her bed". It was quite late and beds are suppossed to get made right away when the kids get up. Here is the "about to made" bed. It has been in this state for about a week.
The downside is she also hams it up when you want a family picture. This was from the 4th of July. I just wanted a picture of all 3 kids. In every single picture she had some facial commentary she had to make. Josh thought it was great.
Tonight she told us as she was about to go to bed, that she was "about to make her bed". It was quite late and beds are suppossed to get made right away when the kids get up. Here is the "about to made" bed. It has been in this state for about a week.
She was "about to" make her bed
Sydney cracks me up. She makes the funniest faces and has a quick wit. On Saturday as we were driving to a party we passed a train construction site. Emily wanted to know how long it would take to finish. I pulled a line from a recent favorite movie of theirs and said in "6 to 9 months" ala Madagascar 2. Emily fell right into the script. "69 months??? That will take forever.". Then we went through explaining how many months it would be (6,7,8 or 9). Sydney got it though and played along using parts of the movie to play off Emily and us.
The downside is she also hams it up when you want a family picture. This was from the 4th of July. I just wanted a picture of all 3 kids. In every single picture she had some facial commentary she had to make. Josh thought it was great.
Tonight she told us as she was about to go to bed, that she was "about to make her bed". It was quite late and beds are suppossed to get made right away when the kids get up. Here is the "about to made" bed. It has been in this state for about a week.
The downside is she also hams it up when you want a family picture. This was from the 4th of July. I just wanted a picture of all 3 kids. In every single picture she had some facial commentary she had to make. Josh thought it was great.
Tonight she told us as she was about to go to bed, that she was "about to make her bed". It was quite late and beds are suppossed to get made right away when the kids get up. Here is the "about to made" bed. It has been in this state for about a week.
Monday, June 22, 2009
So very proud
Emily actually swam the length of the pool all by herself without stopping and breathing appropriately the whole time. I was so proud. They are both in swimming lessons right now, and when I watch the lessons, I wonder sometimes if anything is sinking in. When she is swimming in the outdoor pool in "open" water she has a tendency to careen wildly all over the pool.She also stops often to get her breath or just touch the bottom. l was thrilled to see her going straight without stopping for a change. She made it down the pool using a kickboard which she gave to me on the return trip. She did crawl on the solo trip.
So very proud
Emily actually swam the length of the pool all by herself without stopping and breathing appropriately the whole time. I was so proud. They are both in swimming lessons right now, and when I watch the lessons, I wonder sometimes if anything is sinking in. When she is swimming in the outdoor pool in "open" water she has a tendency to careen wildly all over the pool.She also stops often to get her breath or just touch the bottom. l was thrilled to see her going straight without stopping for a change. She made it down the pool using a kickboard which she gave to me on the return trip. She did crawl on the solo trip.
Updates from the Lighter side
Good news, the line of shame from yesterday is hidden because today is Monday!! That was last week's line of shame:)
But as proof of my improvement, I opened the door to the fridge today before lunch and did not (as per my usual habit) wolf down a brownie prior to lunch. I simply turned my head and gathered my healthy lunch ingredients. Tonight, I did not wolf down a brownie when I wanted to scream in frustration at my kids. Instead, I walked away. I did eat one later when I was calmer, but I enjoyed it all up, and did not go for a second one, also a usual move.
Can it be I have found the source of all my weight woes? My own giant mouth!!! If I just get a handle on that, my problems are solved!
But as proof of my improvement, I opened the door to the fridge today before lunch and did not (as per my usual habit) wolf down a brownie prior to lunch. I simply turned my head and gathered my healthy lunch ingredients. Tonight, I did not wolf down a brownie when I wanted to scream in frustration at my kids. Instead, I walked away. I did eat one later when I was calmer, but I enjoyed it all up, and did not go for a second one, also a usual move.
Can it be I have found the source of all my weight woes? My own giant mouth!!! If I just get a handle on that, my problems are solved!
Updates from the Lighter side
Good news, the line of shame from yesterday is hidden because today is Monday!! That was last week's line of shame:)
But as proof of my improvement, I opened the door to the fridge today before lunch and did not (as per my usual habit) wolf down a brownie prior to lunch. I simply turned my head and gathered my healthy lunch ingredients. Tonight, I did not wolf down a brownie when I wanted to scream in frustration at my kids. Instead, I walked away. I did eat one later when I was calmer, but I enjoyed it all up, and did not go for a second one, also a usual move.
Can it be I have found the source of all my weight woes? My own giant mouth!!! If I just get a handle on that, my problems are solved!
But as proof of my improvement, I opened the door to the fridge today before lunch and did not (as per my usual habit) wolf down a brownie prior to lunch. I simply turned my head and gathered my healthy lunch ingredients. Tonight, I did not wolf down a brownie when I wanted to scream in frustration at my kids. Instead, I walked away. I did eat one later when I was calmer, but I enjoyed it all up, and did not go for a second one, also a usual move.
Can it be I have found the source of all my weight woes? My own giant mouth!!! If I just get a handle on that, my problems are solved!
Things that should not need explaining
I would never have thought to say "don't lick the water drops of the kale on display at the grocery store because you are thirsty".
If you get the urge to pee before your swimming lesson take the suit off in the bathroom first. If you don't ( and she didn't) at least shower first before getting back in the pool. There is just no way to get a suit in in 2 seconds which makes moms suspicious.
And a useful tip for getting rid of pesky door to door salesman...
Wait until you are getting annoyed from saying no politely, then have your daughter run up to you at the door and inform you that "there is a problem with the toilet and it won't flush." Guaranteed to get of almost anyone.
If you get the urge to pee before your swimming lesson take the suit off in the bathroom first. If you don't ( and she didn't) at least shower first before getting back in the pool. There is just no way to get a suit in in 2 seconds which makes moms suspicious.
And a useful tip for getting rid of pesky door to door salesman...
Wait until you are getting annoyed from saying no politely, then have your daughter run up to you at the door and inform you that "there is a problem with the toilet and it won't flush." Guaranteed to get of almost anyone.
Things that should not need explaining
I would never have thought to say "don't lick the water drops of the kale on display at the grocery store because you are thirsty".
If you get the urge to pee before your swimming lesson take the suit off in the bathroom first. If you don't ( and she didn't) at least shower first before getting back in the pool. There is just no way to get a suit in in 2 seconds which makes moms suspicious.
And a useful tip for getting rid of pesky door to door salesman...
Wait until you are getting annoyed from saying no politely, then have your daughter run up to you at the door and inform you that "there is a problem with the toilet and it won't flush." Guaranteed to get of almost anyone.
If you get the urge to pee before your swimming lesson take the suit off in the bathroom first. If you don't ( and she didn't) at least shower first before getting back in the pool. There is just no way to get a suit in in 2 seconds which makes moms suspicious.
And a useful tip for getting rid of pesky door to door salesman...
Wait until you are getting annoyed from saying no politely, then have your daughter run up to you at the door and inform you that "there is a problem with the toilet and it won't flush." Guaranteed to get of almost anyone.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The shame of it all
I started tracking what I eat with an application on my iPhone called Loseit! It is really neat. I told it what I want to lose total and how much I want to lose each week an it gave me a calorie budget. I have only been doing it for three days, but so far I have stayed under the line. It was never by much but it was there.
Today I went over the line and not just a toe over either. I dove right line and kept right on going. There it was on the log a clear line of shame. This is probably why I usually stop my food journals in the past. I hate admitting what I have really done. I am going to try and learn from this and press on. I will just have to look at that awful red line and keep plugging stuff in my log. But just to be sure I am going to go look up the average caloric values of a few things just in case it was wrong ....hah it was wrong. I tweaked it and feel a little better but I should mention I am unpleasantly full right now.
Today I went over the line and not just a toe over either. I dove right line and kept right on going. There it was on the log a clear line of shame. This is probably why I usually stop my food journals in the past. I hate admitting what I have really done. I am going to try and learn from this and press on. I will just have to look at that awful red line and keep plugging stuff in my log. But just to be sure I am going to go look up the average caloric values of a few things just in case it was wrong ....hah it was wrong. I tweaked it and feel a little better but I should mention I am unpleasantly full right now.
The shame of it all
I started tracking what I eat with an application on my iPhone called Loseit! It is really neat. I told it what I want to lose total and how much I want to lose each week an it gave me a calorie budget. I have only been doing it for three days, but so far I have stayed under the line. It was never by much but it was there.
Today I went over the line and not just a toe over either. I dove right line and kept right on going. There it was on the log a clear line of shame. This is probably why I usually stop my food journals in the past. I hate admitting what I have really done. I am going to try and learn from this and press on. I will just have to look at that awful red line and keep plugging stuff in my log. But just to be sure I am going to go look up the average caloric values of a few things just in case it was wrong ....hah it was wrong. I tweaked it and feel a little better but I should mention I am unpleasantly full right now.
Today I went over the line and not just a toe over either. I dove right line and kept right on going. There it was on the log a clear line of shame. This is probably why I usually stop my food journals in the past. I hate admitting what I have really done. I am going to try and learn from this and press on. I will just have to look at that awful red line and keep plugging stuff in my log. But just to be sure I am going to go look up the average caloric values of a few things just in case it was wrong ....hah it was wrong. I tweaked it and feel a little better but I should mention I am unpleasantly full right now.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Zip ties, spit, and duct tape
For the past two years we have had a small 2 drawer cabinet thingy in a box in our bathroom. At first I really thought we would put it in right away so we could use it as drawer space since we had a big empty box cabinet. We even took it out of the box and tried it out, but it was made for kitchens and did not fit over the lip in our bathroom cabinet, so we put it away in the box and it has sat there since then. Mostly it was used as a magazine and book holder. Really classy huh! Tonight we installed it. Shock, gasp, wheeze!
Of course it still did not fit so Karl came to the rescue. It was worse than I thought when we looked at it 2 years ago. With the tracks mounted flush on the cabinet floor, the bottom drawer would not open and the door would not close properly. With nothing more than 2 spare strips of wood and twisty ties he was able to figure out a slightly more feasible solution. Since the back of the drawer hit the sink, he simply trimmed that part with a hack saw. Since that is just coated metal wire it was easy to do. Then when I questioned him about the two pieces that are suppossed to be joined with bolts, but were now sitting side by side to let the drawer in, I suggested welding ( he doesn't own any equipment).
We went to Plan B, twisty ties. They held it together for the fitting stage. I had to admit his pack rat tendcies were handy then. But seriously who else saves those things? When he mentioned something stronger would needed to hold it permanently and I said " what like zip ties" he got excited. Apparently submarines use them a lot for all sort of fun things and they really are strong. His exact words were "A quarter of the sub is held together with those things. "
So zip ties it was. We only found 4. We have more but can't seem to locate them. The board split so it is still using twists. This is why you pre-drill folks. When we find the rest, we will "upgrade" it. So my drawer unit may not be pretty but it is in! Yahoo! The pack rats win this round! If Karl did not collect his random bits of stuff, it would have been hard to get it all together.
Now I just have to sort through the stuff that I kept in their before and make it easier to use. I started with my makeup bin and was shocked to see makeup I bought in college. That is some old makeup! It went right into the trash.
Of course it still did not fit so Karl came to the rescue. It was worse than I thought when we looked at it 2 years ago. With the tracks mounted flush on the cabinet floor, the bottom drawer would not open and the door would not close properly. With nothing more than 2 spare strips of wood and twisty ties he was able to figure out a slightly more feasible solution. Since the back of the drawer hit the sink, he simply trimmed that part with a hack saw. Since that is just coated metal wire it was easy to do. Then when I questioned him about the two pieces that are suppossed to be joined with bolts, but were now sitting side by side to let the drawer in, I suggested welding ( he doesn't own any equipment).
We went to Plan B, twisty ties. They held it together for the fitting stage. I had to admit his pack rat tendcies were handy then. But seriously who else saves those things? When he mentioned something stronger would needed to hold it permanently and I said " what like zip ties" he got excited. Apparently submarines use them a lot for all sort of fun things and they really are strong. His exact words were "A quarter of the sub is held together with those things. "
So zip ties it was. We only found 4. We have more but can't seem to locate them. The board split so it is still using twists. This is why you pre-drill folks. When we find the rest, we will "upgrade" it. So my drawer unit may not be pretty but it is in! Yahoo! The pack rats win this round! If Karl did not collect his random bits of stuff, it would have been hard to get it all together.
Now I just have to sort through the stuff that I kept in their before and make it easier to use. I started with my makeup bin and was shocked to see makeup I bought in college. That is some old makeup! It went right into the trash.
Zip ties, spit, and duct tape
For the past two years we have had a small 2 drawer cabinet thingy in a box in our bathroom. At first I really thought we would put it in right away so we could use it as drawer space since we had a big empty box cabinet. We even took it out of the box and tried it out, but it was made for kitchens and did not fit over the lip in our bathroom cabinet, so we put it away in the box and it has sat there since then. Mostly it was used as a magazine and book holder. Really classy huh! Tonight we installed it. Shock, gasp, wheeze!
Of course it still did not fit so Karl came to the rescue. It was worse than I thought when we looked at it 2 years ago. With the tracks mounted flush on the cabinet floor, the bottom drawer would not open and the door would not close properly. With nothing more than 2 spare strips of wood and twisty ties he was able to figure out a slightly more feasible solution. Since the back of the drawer hit the sink, he simply trimmed that part with a hack saw. Since that is just coated metal wire it was easy to do. Then when I questioned him about the two pieces that are suppossed to be joined with bolts, but were now sitting side by side to let the drawer in, I suggested welding ( he doesn't own any equipment).
We went to Plan B, twisty ties. They held it together for the fitting stage. I had to admit his pack rat tendcies were handy then. But seriously who else saves those things? When he mentioned something stronger would needed to hold it permanently and I said " what like zip ties" he got excited. Apparently submarines use them a lot for all sort of fun things and they really are strong. His exact words were "A quarter of the sub is held together with those things. "
So zip ties it was. We only found 4. We have more but can't seem to locate them. The board split so it is still using twists. This is why you pre-drill folks. When we find the rest, we will "upgrade" it. So my drawer unit may not be pretty but it is in! Yahoo! The pack rats win this round! If Karl did not collect his random bits of stuff, it would have been hard to get it all together.
Now I just have to sort through the stuff that I kept in their before and make it easier to use. I started with my makeup bin and was shocked to see makeup I bought in college. That is some old makeup! It went right into the trash.
Of course it still did not fit so Karl came to the rescue. It was worse than I thought when we looked at it 2 years ago. With the tracks mounted flush on the cabinet floor, the bottom drawer would not open and the door would not close properly. With nothing more than 2 spare strips of wood and twisty ties he was able to figure out a slightly more feasible solution. Since the back of the drawer hit the sink, he simply trimmed that part with a hack saw. Since that is just coated metal wire it was easy to do. Then when I questioned him about the two pieces that are suppossed to be joined with bolts, but were now sitting side by side to let the drawer in, I suggested welding ( he doesn't own any equipment).
We went to Plan B, twisty ties. They held it together for the fitting stage. I had to admit his pack rat tendcies were handy then. But seriously who else saves those things? When he mentioned something stronger would needed to hold it permanently and I said " what like zip ties" he got excited. Apparently submarines use them a lot for all sort of fun things and they really are strong. His exact words were "A quarter of the sub is held together with those things. "
So zip ties it was. We only found 4. We have more but can't seem to locate them. The board split so it is still using twists. This is why you pre-drill folks. When we find the rest, we will "upgrade" it. So my drawer unit may not be pretty but it is in! Yahoo! The pack rats win this round! If Karl did not collect his random bits of stuff, it would have been hard to get it all together.
Now I just have to sort through the stuff that I kept in their before and make it easier to use. I started with my makeup bin and was shocked to see makeup I bought in college. That is some old makeup! It went right into the trash.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Minwax is my enemy
Staining a desk is tricky business. Before Karl left for Florida and his reunion, he was wondering why we went with the make it yourself option. he was even questioning our sanity. At the time, I thought silly Karl, This is better. While I still think it is "better" I am defintely annoyed with my project. Which brings me back to my title of the post. Why is Miniwax my enemy you ask? I have been working on the desk all weekend. It is completed and in place and looking very desk-like. It isn't however useful yet. All my office stuff is scattered about the corner of the room and josh's room. Poor baby.
If you decide to stain something, you will probably go to Lowes or Homers, and you will probably pick up a can of MinWax. It is available in a variety of lovely shades. If you buy a can of stain, you will probably want to apply it and finish your project right away. That is your big mistake. Be sure to totally disregard the drying time on the can (4 to 6 hours) hah! 4 to 6 hours my left toenail! What a load of hooey! Of course, you will be sure to wipe off the excess stain after you brush it on. If however you forget that little step like I did you will brush on the very thin coat, in all but a few spots that you just didn't realize were to thick, and you will wait for it to dry. and wait. And Wait. 24 hours after the first application I realized the sticky spots were not getting any less sticky. So, trusty Google helped me out. Wipe after applying. ooops! I forgot the on the first go round. They will just never dry. too bad. Now what. Google to the resuce.
I have 2 choice, strip it down with mineral sprits or apply another coat of stain and wipe off the excess. I went with that option 2. the second coat loosens the first and you can wipe the excess then. But since they don't really tell you at what point you should wipe, I went with after I finished the desk. My rag stuck to the desk. Yuck. Fuzz on my lovely desk. So, then after 4 hours I wiped again with mineral spirits hoping it would be dry in another two so I could sneak in a coat before bed. Denied! I have 2 coats of stain on the desk right now and after yesterdays wipe down it finally seems to be sticky spot free. Yeah!
I am going to go upstairs and apply a coat of polyurethane to the desk to make it more durable. I have to do two of those. I am hoping that the time on that can is accurate. (Again with the 4-6 hours drying time. where do they get these numbers? Sure in an air conditioned perfect ly dry workshop it might work. In a normal home, in the summer, not so much) But then there is the 24 hour curing time before use. UGH! So best case, it is late Tuesday before my computer and any other desk things are seated in their proper place.
If you decide to stain something, you will probably go to Lowes or Homers, and you will probably pick up a can of MinWax. It is available in a variety of lovely shades. If you buy a can of stain, you will probably want to apply it and finish your project right away. That is your big mistake. Be sure to totally disregard the drying time on the can (4 to 6 hours) hah! 4 to 6 hours my left toenail! What a load of hooey! Of course, you will be sure to wipe off the excess stain after you brush it on. If however you forget that little step like I did you will brush on the very thin coat, in all but a few spots that you just didn't realize were to thick, and you will wait for it to dry. and wait. And Wait. 24 hours after the first application I realized the sticky spots were not getting any less sticky. So, trusty Google helped me out. Wipe after applying. ooops! I forgot the on the first go round. They will just never dry. too bad. Now what. Google to the resuce.
I have 2 choice, strip it down with mineral sprits or apply another coat of stain and wipe off the excess. I went with that option 2. the second coat loosens the first and you can wipe the excess then. But since they don't really tell you at what point you should wipe, I went with after I finished the desk. My rag stuck to the desk. Yuck. Fuzz on my lovely desk. So, then after 4 hours I wiped again with mineral spirits hoping it would be dry in another two so I could sneak in a coat before bed. Denied! I have 2 coats of stain on the desk right now and after yesterdays wipe down it finally seems to be sticky spot free. Yeah!
I am going to go upstairs and apply a coat of polyurethane to the desk to make it more durable. I have to do two of those. I am hoping that the time on that can is accurate. (Again with the 4-6 hours drying time. where do they get these numbers? Sure in an air conditioned perfect ly dry workshop it might work. In a normal home, in the summer, not so much) But then there is the 24 hour curing time before use. UGH! So best case, it is late Tuesday before my computer and any other desk things are seated in their proper place.
Minwax is my enemy
Staining a desk is tricky business. Before Karl left for Florida and his reunion, he was wondering why we went with the make it yourself option. he was even questioning our sanity. At the time, I thought silly Karl, This is better. While I still think it is "better" I am defintely annoyed with my project. Which brings me back to my title of the post. Why is Miniwax my enemy you ask? I have been working on the desk all weekend. It is completed and in place and looking very desk-like. It isn't however useful yet. All my office stuff is scattered about the corner of the room and josh's room. Poor baby.
If you decide to stain something, you will probably go to Lowes or Homers, and you will probably pick up a can of MinWax. It is available in a variety of lovely shades. If you buy a can of stain, you will probably want to apply it and finish your project right away. That is your big mistake. Be sure to totally disregard the drying time on the can (4 to 6 hours) hah! 4 to 6 hours my left toenail! What a load of hooey! Of course, you will be sure to wipe off the excess stain after you brush it on. If however you forget that little step like I did you will brush on the very thin coat, in all but a few spots that you just didn't realize were to thick, and you will wait for it to dry. and wait. And Wait. 24 hours after the first application I realized the sticky spots were not getting any less sticky. So, trusty Google helped me out. Wipe after applying. ooops! I forgot the on the first go round. They will just never dry. too bad. Now what. Google to the resuce.
I have 2 choice, strip it down with mineral sprits or apply another coat of stain and wipe off the excess. I went with that option 2. the second coat loosens the first and you can wipe the excess then. But since they don't really tell you at what point you should wipe, I went with after I finished the desk. My rag stuck to the desk. Yuck. Fuzz on my lovely desk. So, then after 4 hours I wiped again with mineral spirits hoping it would be dry in another two so I could sneak in a coat before bed. Denied! I have 2 coats of stain on the desk right now and after yesterdays wipe down it finally seems to be sticky spot free. Yeah!
I am going to go upstairs and apply a coat of polyurethane to the desk to make it more durable. I have to do two of those. I am hoping that the time on that can is accurate. (Again with the 4-6 hours drying time. where do they get these numbers? Sure in an air conditioned perfect ly dry workshop it might work. In a normal home, in the summer, not so much) But then there is the 24 hour curing time before use. UGH! So best case, it is late Tuesday before my computer and any other desk things are seated in their proper place.
If you decide to stain something, you will probably go to Lowes or Homers, and you will probably pick up a can of MinWax. It is available in a variety of lovely shades. If you buy a can of stain, you will probably want to apply it and finish your project right away. That is your big mistake. Be sure to totally disregard the drying time on the can (4 to 6 hours) hah! 4 to 6 hours my left toenail! What a load of hooey! Of course, you will be sure to wipe off the excess stain after you brush it on. If however you forget that little step like I did you will brush on the very thin coat, in all but a few spots that you just didn't realize were to thick, and you will wait for it to dry. and wait. And Wait. 24 hours after the first application I realized the sticky spots were not getting any less sticky. So, trusty Google helped me out. Wipe after applying. ooops! I forgot the on the first go round. They will just never dry. too bad. Now what. Google to the resuce.
I have 2 choice, strip it down with mineral sprits or apply another coat of stain and wipe off the excess. I went with that option 2. the second coat loosens the first and you can wipe the excess then. But since they don't really tell you at what point you should wipe, I went with after I finished the desk. My rag stuck to the desk. Yuck. Fuzz on my lovely desk. So, then after 4 hours I wiped again with mineral spirits hoping it would be dry in another two so I could sneak in a coat before bed. Denied! I have 2 coats of stain on the desk right now and after yesterdays wipe down it finally seems to be sticky spot free. Yeah!
I am going to go upstairs and apply a coat of polyurethane to the desk to make it more durable. I have to do two of those. I am hoping that the time on that can is accurate. (Again with the 4-6 hours drying time. where do they get these numbers? Sure in an air conditioned perfect ly dry workshop it might work. In a normal home, in the summer, not so much) But then there is the 24 hour curing time before use. UGH! So best case, it is late Tuesday before my computer and any other desk things are seated in their proper place.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
More Cleaning, Sorting, and Decluttering
We are still working to declutter the house as we work with my friend on her Staging course. She has come 4 times so far, and worked with me about 6 hours each time. We have donated & gotten rid of lots of stuff. We started on the office, and that is still in progress, but is stalled until the desk is in the office. We also worked on the dining room and Living room and kitchen. We need to tackle Josh's room, my room, the closet, and finish the office. We are not doing the girl's room at this time. She does not want to make them cry when she suggest parting with some toys! I don't blame her. I did that 2 months ago, and it was pretty bad.
This weekend our homework was to make a new L shaped desk for the office. We are part of the way there. It sounded so simple in theory, but as usual, the reality is much slower. Or it is if we are the construction crew. We have all the parts now, and the 2 long pieces are glued together. And lying in the living room. We had thought about a making laminate desk, or using some premade countertop or some countertop from ikea. But in the end, we went with Birch plywood and regular plywood that we are gluing together to be one thick board and adding trim on the ends. It will be attached to the wall with cleats, and supported by our existing file cabinets. We are going to stain it a dark mahogany. We are also going to paint out lovely red file cabinets another color. Probably Chocolate brown. I hope it looks good!
It took Karl awhile to get on board with the idea, but I think he is pretty excited now. Karl and I are trading sides of the room. I get more space, but I sew, scrapbook, and use a computer so I "need" more space. I did offer to share my sewing machine though. In reality I had three desk in here already, so I am just giving up the one, and moving all my desk space to one wall. My drafting table is too cool to part with, so it is moving to the home of the sewing machine. I will still scrapbook there.
We had started clearing the room yesterday so we would have room to build the desk in here and the loose stuff went into Josh's room. Today when Emily was getting ready for bed, she looked in here and said, "Wow, That is a really clean office guys!" The floor was clean, the desk surfaces were clean. It looks pretty good in here right now. Josh's room is a little cluttered, but hey, we can fix that soon!
I am also going to try to recover my office chairs since Emily decorated them with Sharpie other unknown things when she was 2, and they have never looked the same since. I will also make a pleated skirt for the desk. That will keep it looking very tidy, and allow some smaller storage areas underneath the desks. (ie. Karl's collection of computer towers, my project basket, trash cans and such).
It has been hard going through books and such to get rid of. I love books. I have book like Little House on the Prairie that I got when I was around 8. It is an old and cherished friend. You can't give those away. And then there is my Tintin comic book collection. I love those! I can't give those up either. I did decided to share my Calvin & Hobbes Collection with Emily. I retained reading rights, and she promised to take good care of them. She said she want to keep them and give them to her kids. I did not think that was a great idea, but let it slide right then. She is a little concerned because Calvin is a naughty little guy, but since Hobbes is a Tiger, what is there not to love?? I might even let her read of a few of my treasured favorites next year.
Since our wall of books is a little intimidating to potential home buyers, I put some books up in the closet on a shelf to lessen then initial impact. They won't be seen, but they are not in the trash or donated. Maybe at some point I will be able to part with them, but not now. I was also crushed to see that a textbook from college is currently worth $.01 on Amazon. I got it for $50. The current edition is $95. Note to Self-sell upon finishing the course. I thinking about taking a bunch of books to a used book store. I would get a trade in amount for them only, not cash.
I think Karl thinks I am nuts for worrying about future buyers so much, but he mentioned tonight that we could move somewhere as soon as 6 months from now. We just don't know. Also, when am I ever going to have someone willing to give up her time to help me sort through my things. It really helps if she holds the things and I evaluate them instead of touching them myself. If I don't hold it it doesn't seem so bad to part with it.
Karl did a little dumpster diving and rescued a few things I had gotten rid of. I think he does not trust me.
Funny rescues-He resuced some sheets of beeswax-he thought they were noskid mats he could use in the garage. he he! It gets pretty hot in there. He would have nicely waxed shelving. I got rid of them again since they were not able to be turned into candles anymore. they were all creased and mangled from 5 years of storage.
Yesterday he rescued (for the second time mind you) an empty scrapbooking tape dispenser. I was shocked. I tried explaining to him, that sometimes a thing is just trash. I could not figure out how an empty tape refill would be useful. (We were taking about when to donate when to chuck) he was going on about how you could still use it by unrolling the paper. Finally I told him, look, there is nothing there, it is an EMPTY tape dispenser. (the paper had torn off the wheel at the end) He said, oh really. What is that white stuff? I explained that it was the wax paper separating the tape layers. Finally he saw the light and chucked it for the last time.
On the other hand he did rescue a crossstich kit I started 4 years ago, and I have to admit, I felt bad later about that one and wished I had donated it instead, so I was grateful to see that again. and he gave the girls a pad of paper that I had chucked. That was good too.
This weekend our homework was to make a new L shaped desk for the office. We are part of the way there. It sounded so simple in theory, but as usual, the reality is much slower. Or it is if we are the construction crew. We have all the parts now, and the 2 long pieces are glued together. And lying in the living room. We had thought about a making laminate desk, or using some premade countertop or some countertop from ikea. But in the end, we went with Birch plywood and regular plywood that we are gluing together to be one thick board and adding trim on the ends. It will be attached to the wall with cleats, and supported by our existing file cabinets. We are going to stain it a dark mahogany. We are also going to paint out lovely red file cabinets another color. Probably Chocolate brown. I hope it looks good!
It took Karl awhile to get on board with the idea, but I think he is pretty excited now. Karl and I are trading sides of the room. I get more space, but I sew, scrapbook, and use a computer so I "need" more space. I did offer to share my sewing machine though. In reality I had three desk in here already, so I am just giving up the one, and moving all my desk space to one wall. My drafting table is too cool to part with, so it is moving to the home of the sewing machine. I will still scrapbook there.
We had started clearing the room yesterday so we would have room to build the desk in here and the loose stuff went into Josh's room. Today when Emily was getting ready for bed, she looked in here and said, "Wow, That is a really clean office guys!" The floor was clean, the desk surfaces were clean. It looks pretty good in here right now. Josh's room is a little cluttered, but hey, we can fix that soon!
I am also going to try to recover my office chairs since Emily decorated them with Sharpie other unknown things when she was 2, and they have never looked the same since. I will also make a pleated skirt for the desk. That will keep it looking very tidy, and allow some smaller storage areas underneath the desks. (ie. Karl's collection of computer towers, my project basket, trash cans and such).
It has been hard going through books and such to get rid of. I love books. I have book like Little House on the Prairie that I got when I was around 8. It is an old and cherished friend. You can't give those away. And then there is my Tintin comic book collection. I love those! I can't give those up either. I did decided to share my Calvin & Hobbes Collection with Emily. I retained reading rights, and she promised to take good care of them. She said she want to keep them and give them to her kids. I did not think that was a great idea, but let it slide right then. She is a little concerned because Calvin is a naughty little guy, but since Hobbes is a Tiger, what is there not to love?? I might even let her read of a few of my treasured favorites next year.
Since our wall of books is a little intimidating to potential home buyers, I put some books up in the closet on a shelf to lessen then initial impact. They won't be seen, but they are not in the trash or donated. Maybe at some point I will be able to part with them, but not now. I was also crushed to see that a textbook from college is currently worth $.01 on Amazon. I got it for $50. The current edition is $95. Note to Self-sell upon finishing the course. I thinking about taking a bunch of books to a used book store. I would get a trade in amount for them only, not cash.
I think Karl thinks I am nuts for worrying about future buyers so much, but he mentioned tonight that we could move somewhere as soon as 6 months from now. We just don't know. Also, when am I ever going to have someone willing to give up her time to help me sort through my things. It really helps if she holds the things and I evaluate them instead of touching them myself. If I don't hold it it doesn't seem so bad to part with it.
Karl did a little dumpster diving and rescued a few things I had gotten rid of. I think he does not trust me.
Funny rescues-He resuced some sheets of beeswax-he thought they were noskid mats he could use in the garage. he he! It gets pretty hot in there. He would have nicely waxed shelving. I got rid of them again since they were not able to be turned into candles anymore. they were all creased and mangled from 5 years of storage.
Yesterday he rescued (for the second time mind you) an empty scrapbooking tape dispenser. I was shocked. I tried explaining to him, that sometimes a thing is just trash. I could not figure out how an empty tape refill would be useful. (We were taking about when to donate when to chuck) he was going on about how you could still use it by unrolling the paper. Finally I told him, look, there is nothing there, it is an EMPTY tape dispenser. (the paper had torn off the wheel at the end) He said, oh really. What is that white stuff? I explained that it was the wax paper separating the tape layers. Finally he saw the light and chucked it for the last time.
On the other hand he did rescue a crossstich kit I started 4 years ago, and I have to admit, I felt bad later about that one and wished I had donated it instead, so I was grateful to see that again. and he gave the girls a pad of paper that I had chucked. That was good too.
More Cleaning, Sorting, and Decluttering
We are still working to declutter the house as we work with my friend on her Staging course. She has come 4 times so far, and worked with me about 6 hours each time. We have donated & gotten rid of lots of stuff. We started on the office, and that is still in progress, but is stalled until the desk is in the office. We also worked on the dining room and Living room and kitchen. We need to tackle Josh's room, my room, the closet, and finish the office. We are not doing the girl's room at this time. She does not want to make them cry when she suggest parting with some toys! I don't blame her. I did that 2 months ago, and it was pretty bad.
This weekend our homework was to make a new L shaped desk for the office. We are part of the way there. It sounded so simple in theory, but as usual, the reality is much slower. Or it is if we are the construction crew. We have all the parts now, and the 2 long pieces are glued together. And lying in the living room. We had thought about a making laminate desk, or using some premade countertop or some countertop from ikea. But in the end, we went with Birch plywood and regular plywood that we are gluing together to be one thick board and adding trim on the ends. It will be attached to the wall with cleats, and supported by our existing file cabinets. We are going to stain it a dark mahogany. We are also going to paint out lovely red file cabinets another color. Probably Chocolate brown. I hope it looks good!
It took Karl awhile to get on board with the idea, but I think he is pretty excited now. Karl and I are trading sides of the room. I get more space, but I sew, scrapbook, and use a computer so I "need" more space. I did offer to share my sewing machine though. In reality I had three desk in here already, so I am just giving up the one, and moving all my desk space to one wall. My drafting table is too cool to part with, so it is moving to the home of the sewing machine. I will still scrapbook there.
We had started clearing the room yesterday so we would have room to build the desk in here and the loose stuff went into Josh's room. Today when Emily was getting ready for bed, she looked in here and said, "Wow, That is a really clean office guys!" The floor was clean, the desk surfaces were clean. It looks pretty good in here right now. Josh's room is a little cluttered, but hey, we can fix that soon!
I am also going to try to recover my office chairs since Emily decorated them with Sharpie other unknown things when she was 2, and they have never looked the same since. I will also make a pleated skirt for the desk. That will keep it looking very tidy, and allow some smaller storage areas underneath the desks. (ie. Karl's collection of computer towers, my project basket, trash cans and such).
It has been hard going through books and such to get rid of. I love books. I have book like Little House on the Prairie that I got when I was around 8. It is an old and cherished friend. You can't give those away. And then there is my Tintin comic book collection. I love those! I can't give those up either. I did decided to share my Calvin & Hobbes Collection with Emily. I retained reading rights, and she promised to take good care of them. She said she want to keep them and give them to her kids. I did not think that was a great idea, but let it slide right then. She is a little concerned because Calvin is a naughty little guy, but since Hobbes is a Tiger, what is there not to love?? I might even let her read of a few of my treasured favorites next year.
Since our wall of books is a little intimidating to potential home buyers, I put some books up in the closet on a shelf to lessen then initial impact. They won't be seen, but they are not in the trash or donated. Maybe at some point I will be able to part with them, but not now. I was also crushed to see that a textbook from college is currently worth $.01 on Amazon. I got it for $50. The current edition is $95. Note to Self-sell upon finishing the course. I thinking about taking a bunch of books to a used book store. I would get a trade in amount for them only, not cash.
I think Karl thinks I am nuts for worrying about future buyers so much, but he mentioned tonight that we could move somewhere as soon as 6 months from now. We just don't know. Also, when am I ever going to have someone willing to give up her time to help me sort through my things. It really helps if she holds the things and I evaluate them instead of touching them myself. If I don't hold it it doesn't seem so bad to part with it.
Karl did a little dumpster diving and rescued a few things I had gotten rid of. I think he does not trust me.
Funny rescues-He resuced some sheets of beeswax-he thought they were noskid mats he could use in the garage. he he! It gets pretty hot in there. He would have nicely waxed shelving. I got rid of them again since they were not able to be turned into candles anymore. they were all creased and mangled from 5 years of storage.
Yesterday he rescued (for the second time mind you) an empty scrapbooking tape dispenser. I was shocked. I tried explaining to him, that sometimes a thing is just trash. I could not figure out how an empty tape refill would be useful. (We were taking about when to donate when to chuck) he was going on about how you could still use it by unrolling the paper. Finally I told him, look, there is nothing there, it is an EMPTY tape dispenser. (the paper had torn off the wheel at the end) He said, oh really. What is that white stuff? I explained that it was the wax paper separating the tape layers. Finally he saw the light and chucked it for the last time.
On the other hand he did rescue a crossstich kit I started 4 years ago, and I have to admit, I felt bad later about that one and wished I had donated it instead, so I was grateful to see that again. and he gave the girls a pad of paper that I had chucked. That was good too.
This weekend our homework was to make a new L shaped desk for the office. We are part of the way there. It sounded so simple in theory, but as usual, the reality is much slower. Or it is if we are the construction crew. We have all the parts now, and the 2 long pieces are glued together. And lying in the living room. We had thought about a making laminate desk, or using some premade countertop or some countertop from ikea. But in the end, we went with Birch plywood and regular plywood that we are gluing together to be one thick board and adding trim on the ends. It will be attached to the wall with cleats, and supported by our existing file cabinets. We are going to stain it a dark mahogany. We are also going to paint out lovely red file cabinets another color. Probably Chocolate brown. I hope it looks good!
It took Karl awhile to get on board with the idea, but I think he is pretty excited now. Karl and I are trading sides of the room. I get more space, but I sew, scrapbook, and use a computer so I "need" more space. I did offer to share my sewing machine though. In reality I had three desk in here already, so I am just giving up the one, and moving all my desk space to one wall. My drafting table is too cool to part with, so it is moving to the home of the sewing machine. I will still scrapbook there.
We had started clearing the room yesterday so we would have room to build the desk in here and the loose stuff went into Josh's room. Today when Emily was getting ready for bed, she looked in here and said, "Wow, That is a really clean office guys!" The floor was clean, the desk surfaces were clean. It looks pretty good in here right now. Josh's room is a little cluttered, but hey, we can fix that soon!
I am also going to try to recover my office chairs since Emily decorated them with Sharpie other unknown things when she was 2, and they have never looked the same since. I will also make a pleated skirt for the desk. That will keep it looking very tidy, and allow some smaller storage areas underneath the desks. (ie. Karl's collection of computer towers, my project basket, trash cans and such).
It has been hard going through books and such to get rid of. I love books. I have book like Little House on the Prairie that I got when I was around 8. It is an old and cherished friend. You can't give those away. And then there is my Tintin comic book collection. I love those! I can't give those up either. I did decided to share my Calvin & Hobbes Collection with Emily. I retained reading rights, and she promised to take good care of them. She said she want to keep them and give them to her kids. I did not think that was a great idea, but let it slide right then. She is a little concerned because Calvin is a naughty little guy, but since Hobbes is a Tiger, what is there not to love?? I might even let her read of a few of my treasured favorites next year.
Since our wall of books is a little intimidating to potential home buyers, I put some books up in the closet on a shelf to lessen then initial impact. They won't be seen, but they are not in the trash or donated. Maybe at some point I will be able to part with them, but not now. I was also crushed to see that a textbook from college is currently worth $.01 on Amazon. I got it for $50. The current edition is $95. Note to Self-sell upon finishing the course. I thinking about taking a bunch of books to a used book store. I would get a trade in amount for them only, not cash.
I think Karl thinks I am nuts for worrying about future buyers so much, but he mentioned tonight that we could move somewhere as soon as 6 months from now. We just don't know. Also, when am I ever going to have someone willing to give up her time to help me sort through my things. It really helps if she holds the things and I evaluate them instead of touching them myself. If I don't hold it it doesn't seem so bad to part with it.
Karl did a little dumpster diving and rescued a few things I had gotten rid of. I think he does not trust me.
Funny rescues-He resuced some sheets of beeswax-he thought they were noskid mats he could use in the garage. he he! It gets pretty hot in there. He would have nicely waxed shelving. I got rid of them again since they were not able to be turned into candles anymore. they were all creased and mangled from 5 years of storage.
Yesterday he rescued (for the second time mind you) an empty scrapbooking tape dispenser. I was shocked. I tried explaining to him, that sometimes a thing is just trash. I could not figure out how an empty tape refill would be useful. (We were taking about when to donate when to chuck) he was going on about how you could still use it by unrolling the paper. Finally I told him, look, there is nothing there, it is an EMPTY tape dispenser. (the paper had torn off the wheel at the end) He said, oh really. What is that white stuff? I explained that it was the wax paper separating the tape layers. Finally he saw the light and chucked it for the last time.
On the other hand he did rescue a crossstich kit I started 4 years ago, and I have to admit, I felt bad later about that one and wished I had donated it instead, so I was grateful to see that again. and he gave the girls a pad of paper that I had chucked. That was good too.
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