prepare the house for carpet cleaning

I need to get more organized so I'm trying to do a small blog post each day to keep me on track.

On Wednesday morning the carpet cleaner will be here ... so I have had this week and particularly the next two days to get the floor as clear and uncluttered as possible.

This is not happening a moment too soon as RJ is scooting along the floor at a great rate of knots.

Its not a full up on hands and knees crawl, but it gets him around ... Fast!!

A week ago he would move 360 degrees and get about 1 to 2 metres away from wherever you put him down.

Now ... if he sees something interesting across the room ... he heads straight for it.

Moves along a bit like a seal!!!

I have all of Kt's small toys boxed up in big labelled plastic containers. I don't know how it happened but last year we accumulated more toys with tiny parts than we have ever had before.

Kt is not keen for me to tidy up and organize her things when she is there ... she constantly kicks up a fuss and complains etc.

But when I do it while she is at school and she returns home to find her room tidy or her toys organized I am pleasantly surprised with how impressed and even appreciative she is of what I have done!!!

I am glad school holidays have finished and I have a chance to tackle a few of the things I have been meaning to get done for ages

christmas is coming

Today uni got all our Christmas decorations organized.

We put a Christmas tree in the lounge room and one in Kt's room.

The lounge room is decorated with beautiful new tinsel and a few old favourite decorations are scattered around the place.

After a brief nap in the afternoon, he tackled the outdoors, putting pretty lights up on the front of our house.

Suddenly it feels like Christmas time!!!

Kt and I wrapped some presents to put under the tree and I finally finished sorting out the linen cupboard.

It looks lovely and neat now ... hopefully it will stay that way.

Think I will take a photo of it so I know how it SHOULD look! LOL!!!

The sewing machine and over locker will not fit in the linen cupboard after all ... they will have to go up in the high part of my wardrobe, but that should be fine.

I still have a few sewing odds and ends to sort out ... and I still need to empty the vacuum cleaner and clean its filter and then of course vacuum the house again and empty the vacuum cleaner again ... but I think I can tackle that tomorrow.

I have found some great storage containers at crazy clarks and Kmart, and have spent a fortune buying lots of these ... but I think they will help to sort the clutter better since they are see through and each one contains specific things.

On Friday we went shopping together at Officeworks (love that place ... my new favourite store) and uni and I found a great little desk for Kt, a nice new chair to go with her desk and floor mat to go under her chair.

We also bought a filing cabinet for me to keep my records in. (I have been wanting one for ages!)

We were on our way to Super Amart next to look at getting an extra pantry for downstairs and also new cupboards for our bedroom, but were unable to enter the store as they must have had a fire. All the staff were out the front of the building and a fire engine was in the driveway.

So we came home and will postpone that part of the shopping for another day.

My tail light damage should only cost about $270 to fix and that should get underway some time next week, so things are sorting themselves out one at a time.

making room

I am on a mission.
There is nothing that is a more effective motivator for me than a deadline .. and I have one in May!

I have to look at everything in the house and decide if it really belongs where it is and whether we need it or whether something else could do the job better.

We purchased a second fridge and a freezer for downstairs. The freezer will replace the 30 year old one that we were given by Unis family. Uni remembers looking up at the freezer when he was a little kid.

Hopefully by replacing this freezer we will also get rid of the short circuiting problem that sets off our safety switch and shuts off power in the middle of the night at a frequency of about once a month.

If it doesn't fix the problem I will be going after the heaters in the fish tank as the next probable culprit.

The downstairs fridge and freezer will help us to stock up on food and store it effectively so that we don't have to keep everything upstairs in our current fridge.

At the moment our fridge is full to the brim from Sunday to about Wednesday and then slowly empties from Thurs to Saturday.

I used to get around this problem by market shopping on Sunday and spacing out my other shopping (Aldi and WW) over a couple days, but it started to feel like I was shopping all week and I kind of like having days when I don't have to go out anywhere.

I believe it will be hard and not very desirable for me to go shopping a lot with a new baby in tow ... or an older baby or even a toddler for that matter, so I think I will try to stock up on the days that I do go shopping and reduce the number of shopping trips.

Will take some organization but I think I will get there.

Uni has also suggested we buy a free standing pantry to put downstairs as well with the fridge and freezer ... because quite frankly I have been stocking up on non cold items and our upstairs pantry is a nightmare!!!

Absolutely full at all times and things are impossible to find!

I am loving the idea of an extra pantry ... maybe even two or three ... LOL!!!

I have to clear out the computer room and distribute its contents all over the rest of the house.

The linen cupboard will get an overhaul too because a lot of stuff is just stored in there haphazardly and these days any space upstairs is prime real estate and definitely not to be wasted!

In this vein of thought, I vacuumed the top of my wardrobe and will wrap up my keyboard and its stand and store them up there.

There are a lot of things I do not want to let go of, but having things out on display and ready to use at a moments notice hasn't really worked.

Uni wants me to find a place for the vacuum cleaner (I think he trips over it where it is) and I am thinking that maybe I should put away the ironing board too (at least every now and then).

Sure hope there is room for these things in the cleaned out linen cupboard!

We also have to find places for the computer and mine and uni's desk.

He wants the computer to go downstairs, that really won't suit me at all. He has suggested that we get a laptop for me. I am just not sure. More expense and I am already kind of attached to the current computer.

I don't want it to go downstairs where there is potential for flooding, Bella mischief and where I am unlikely to be able to spend much time using it (especially at night when the rest of the family will be upstairs).

I am not completely averse to the idea of a laptop .... just not sure ...although it seems to be common these days that people each have their own computer not a shared one.

Uni wants to get Kt a laptop of her own too when she is old enough to need it.

Yikes .... more expenses.....

sorting out emails

Just came up with a great way to sort out my emails and must record it somewhere or I will forget how I did it.

Ok the first step is to go into my mail click on the first email in a given month eg 1st sept then go to the last email of that month and click shift and then the last email.

This selects all the emails from 1st to last day of september ... from there I go into edit tab and click on move to folder.

I created a new folder with a title like sorting out emails
and then a subfolder within this folder called september 2009.

All my september received emails are now in this folder. I also go into sent items and do the same to my september sent emails. ie. click on the first one for september, then go to the last one for september and click shift then the last email.

Again I go into edit, choose move to folder, select september 2009.

When I have all the september emails in September 2009 I sort them according to subject so that I have sent emails and received emails on the same subject one on top of the other. I do this by going into view tab and then choose sort/then click on subject and also either sort ascending or descending.

I can now easily compare emails with the same subject and decide which one to keep so I don't have double, triple or quadruples of the same information.

When I have gotten rid of duplicates etc I sort the folder back into date order again

view/sort by/date received/descending or ascending.

Anything I want to keep in its entirety gets moved directly into my information to keep folder and all that is left in my inbox and sent items box is the current months emails!

I will still of course need to transfer July/August and September emails into my email diary, but this should be easier when everything is all in one place and in date order etc.

Very pleased with myself!

Really glad I studied part of that computer course at home. Unfortunately I didn't finish it but have got plenty out of what I did do!

temporarily cut off

I seem to be temporarily cut off from my main email addresses at the moment ... am hoping this will sort itself out on its own.

So if you have sent me any emails today or yesterday I will not have received them.

You can try my live address instead I should be receiving mail there.

I had a good day yesterday sorting through Kt's stuff. I have been purchasing clear plastic storage containers to put all her Lego, little people farm animals, etc in. These containers are small enough to slip in under her bed and each one is for one type of toy so I am hoping to restore order to her stuff and avoid having to spend hours searching in various different places to find x my little pony or y farm barn/tractor etc.

I will probably do the same for some of my stuff eg bellydancing gear etc that is not being used at the moment.

Under the bed in a dust proof container sounds like the perfect solution.

I really do find it hard to get rid of things or throw things out ... especially if they cost a lot of money in the first place, or would cost a lot to replace if I change my mind and restart an activity later down the track.

I'm not too keen to sell stuff on eBay anymore because I did tend to spend a lot of time there and would easily find other things to spend my newly made money on ... and that kind of defeats the purpose of clearing your house of stuff only to bring in new stuff!!!

Yesterday while I was out shopping for storage containers it started to pour with rain!!!

My clothes got an extra rinse out on the line ... my garden got a much needed soak ... and to my delight it rained heavily on my way home from the shops too so I was able to get my car washed for free.

It still had a fine mist of dust on it from the last two dust storms, but now it looks fabulous!

tidying and sorting

I spent the morning sorting through KT artworks from this year.

I have kept one example of each type of artwork (sometimes 2 or 3 ... as I could not help myself), but the rest have gone into and filled up the recycling bin.

I am yet to decide how best to store the pictures I am keeping ... and there is still 1/4 of the year left to go so I imagine there will still be a few more to come.

I noticed that the prep classroom has things very well organized eg labelled boxes which say what kind of item is contained within them (for things like sequins, paper chain pieces etc) and they have their bigger blocks and things in larger clear or see through boxes.

It got me thinking that perhaps we can do the same thing here eg ... all the leggo of a certain size could go into a large clear box, all the little people farm toys could go in another etc.

At the moment I just stick things into boxes with other things that are the same size, but it makes it very difficult to find things as there is no particular or order to putting things away.

I think I can store some of these boxes under kt's bed or in her new wardrobe too, so that we have more space in the loungeroom.

I was supposed to write about our holiday today but I might leave that until tomorrow.

Kt came back from her 3rd and final visit to the school dentist. The good news is that her teeth are good and they didn't have to do anything! I am very very relieved!!!

Another little boy in her class came out this afternoon and told his carer in an excited voice "i have really bad teeth" hmmmmmm as excited as he sounded I didn't want to hear the same news from KT and since she looked a bit tearful this afternoon when I picked her up I was a bit worried.

Tomorrow Kt starts swimming at school so I am off to label all her swimming stuff and do another lice combing this afternoon.....

Swimming with KT

Tonight KT came with me to swimming lessons and met Jennie.

She was really cute and really funny, so very interested in everything.  She asked a million questions while we were there ... why is there a smaller pool, why are there numbers at the end of each lane, do the lane ropes go all the way down to the bottom, which one is the teacher, are these the people in my class, what are there names, is the water cold, where will I sit, will I be able to see you, will you be able to see me, can I help you put on your flippers ....

Then when she listened to Jennie's instructions she said to me "I know what she wanted you to do, I think I could do it perfectly".   I think it is so much easier to listen and take in instructions when you are not the one in the water ... because I think the same thing when I hear her coach telling her things in the pool LOL!!!

I planned tonight's itinerary with military precision and it went without a hitch.  We took pooch for a walk at the usual time, came in and I had a shower and changed into my swimsuit, then KT had a shower after me (instead of a bath), I had promised her a hungry jack's dinner so after we were dry and dressed we drove through the drive through and bought chicken nuggets and chips for her.  While she ate them at home, I finished my preparations ... putting in contact lenses, putting my hair up etc.  We arrived at the pool right on time.

There were only 3 of us there ... last week there were 5, the week before there were 6, the week before that 7 and the week before that 5.  Hopefully people come back next week because if there are not enough consistent numbers the class may get cancelled. Apparently they need at least 4 or 5 to make it worth them keeping the lights on etc.

I got plenty of attention tonight and Jennie really focused on butterfly.  She said so much stuff and I really wasn't doing anything right ... i need time to digest the information ... but I think if I can remember everything she said and think about it and practice it I may be ok.  Lots to practice.  I really wish I had a video of her demonstrating the stroke to me ... she does all the actions for you on land (out of the water).

From what I can remember I have to lead with my head and arms, head, bottom, feet.  The head and arms lead and the bottom follows and then the feet have to follow (relax and undulate along with the rest of the body) and they actually have to come up out of the water.  She got me on the right track when she indicated I should try to lead with my head and arms as if I was trying to go into a hoop that was lying on top of the water, then the bottom follows and so should the feet  BUT you have to keep your arms straight in front and once you have undulated you have to come up to the surface of the water again ....I was going down further and further.  If your arms and hands point down, that is where you go ... so they have to come back up to the surface of the water again.

She said I had a good dolphin kick when I do 3 dolphin kicks then one breaststroke arms, but when I tried to incorporate butterfly arms things went awry.  She also does not want me to try breathing ... just try to do 2 or 3 strokes with head down to get a feel for the motion and then stand up for a breath when I need one.

I  am also not supposed to start moving my arms downward to push the water until after my whole body has completed one dolphin undulate ... ie. Head~Bottom~Feet, then push the water with arms, pushing with thumbs down, right back until past my hips and then arms over keeping thumbs in same position and rotating shoulders.

I can also try doing just one butterfly arm at a time - and when I do it I have to bring it down into the water in front of me and then extend (stretch) forward (I guess this is where the next head, bottom, feet comes in ... Then alternate to give both arms a go .... not sure if this will be easier or not ... will have to practise.

I didn't even get a chance to do backstroke tonight ... and when I did freestyle Jennie commented that my elbows come back too far and out of the water.  I need to do a full stroke back past my hip (ending with my arms straight) and then rotate my arm forward (kind of like in butterfly how your arm does a bit of a circle).

Hmmmpfff I think I'm doing great at the beginning of the lesson and by the end I am confused, kerfuzzled, tired ... but very eager to come back and get things straightened out in my mind on Friday.

I am working with the computer on my photos at the moment and working on a how to diary so that I know what the best way to work with my photos is ... which is the best program for burning CD's and DVD's etc


Ahhhh where is the spell check function on this new improved posting thing ..... help! what do I need a strikethrough function for goodness sakes WHAT ABOUT SPELLCHECK!

organization

I am being driven mad by the amount of stuff we have in and around our house. I spend hours outside tidying and prettying up the garden because I know that my efforts there will not be destroyed by a kougra hurricane every day.

This week though I got stuck into action ... enough is enough.

Kougra is home with me and we are both sick but I am determined to sort our house out one step at a time.

I have been trying to reuse and recycle and not waste things ... but it has meant that I have ended up with piles of bottles and useful containers of all shapes and sizes in assorted piles around the house.

I cleaned up a big 90L box that used to hold rainwater ... but developed a split in the bottom, and I am now using that as my useful box. Anything that I plan to keep for artworks or recycling into something else, will go in here but once I have a couple of each type of container ... or once the box gets full I will be throwing out any excess I have.

I have also started throwing out bits and peices of Kougra's things the minute I think they are no longer required.

We have also started a tidying game in the evening ... it was slow to take off but has increased in popularity now that both of us and a timer are involved.

What happens is I set Kougra a task and she gets to choose how many minutes she thinks it will take her. I set the timer and if she finishes first - she "wins". I then set her two more tasks ... ones that will have the most impact as far as tidying the loungeroom is concerned.

Then Kougra chooses 3 tasks for me to do in a certain amount of time ... and between us ... we get the living areas of the house looking pretty respectable!

I have also got piles of different things that I need to deal with, either putting things away or deciding what to do with them... I started by clearing a few of my downstairs piles and am encouraged by my success so far.