Organizing Old Magazines

My magazine piles!

I'll admit it: I hoard things.  I like to collect and I feel bad throwing stuff out.  It feels like a waste.

One thing I've always kept are magazines, which was fine when I would just pick one up here or there (I had a Martha Stewart phase a few years ago.  It started as research applying for a job with the magazine, but ended up so much more!).  But, my mother got me a subscription to Real Simple (love it!) and for the past 3 years I've been getting them every month.

I love articles about cooking, organizing and saving money and there are so many great articles that I want to reread and things I want to try to help simplify and organize my life.  The problem is that I'm not in a place where I can utilize a lot of their information.  So, I've been saving them.

This irks my husband because this is the third apartment we've had, which means he's been lugging boxes of magazines around.  He's been telling me he's going to just throw them out, which he'd never do, but its something he likes to threaten occasionally.

I always planned on pulling out the articles I wanted to save, scanning them and tossing the rest.  Now, with the awesomeness that is Pinterest, I can just find them online and pin them all!

It took me about a day, but I sat down (between my other cleaning and general baby-chasing) and skimmed each issue page by page.  Each issue has already been read, so I did not let myself reread everything.  If it looked interesting then I pulled it out.

After I pulled out everything I wanted, I sat down at the computer and went to the various magazine websites.  I did a quick search for the article and pinned each one.  Easy peasy!

Mmm... apple juice...

So, I now have an extremely heavy box to lug out to the dumpster, clean space on my desk and more storage room!

Zone Defense 4: Clothes and Textiles

This week I'm getting back on the Zone Defense train!  Woo woo!

I'm going to attempt to simplify laundry and linens.  This should be pretty easy for me.  We don't have any laundry equipment here, so no laundry room!  I do two loads a week at my MIL's and that's that.

I plan on reorganizing the linens in my closets.  We have sheets we don't use for bed sizes we don't own anymore.  I'm going to keep a full set for the air mattress, but the rest I can donate.  And I've got probably 20 baby sized towels and 20 more receiving blankets, so I'll go through those as well.

I've been planning on making a quilt out of the receiving blankets.  I originally wanted to make this I love you(r DNA) quilt, but I've just noticed that its crib sized and I'd like to make a twin.  We've got some nice crib sized blankets already and I want this to be something he'll be able to use for a long time.

So those are my laundry plans.  I'll go through the kids clothes again in September to see what we need to buy them for winter and repackage the baby clothes for storing.  Its all in old diaper boxes, which are not good to store for a long time.

The grownup clothes are set for now, aside from going through Murl's socks to hunt for holes and see if he needs a new pack.

I think I can handle that this week!

Baby Fever

I avoided thinking about the garden much today.

Wolf had a fever on Tuesday, but it went away.  We went to the park today and it returned, so he was cranky.  I had picked up more Tylenol on the way to the park, so we had it when we got home.  We also dropped Bendy Guy on the walk home and back tracked to find him.  We only had to go 2 blocks.  Its good exercise!

Bendy Guy

Wolf wouldn't have noticed, but I like Bendy Guy.

I've been really bad with my cleaning.  My goal tomorrow is to clean the bathroom.  I need to get my vinegar out of the car.  Then I'll go thru my cleaning list again for Zone Defense.  I did clean the car out!  Well, I threw the trash out, but I haven't brought anything in.  My trunk is full.

I've also decided to write more.  I'm not very good at this blogging thing, it ends up more like a diary.  So, maybe if I write more stuff for me then I can be better at this.  Who knows.

Catching Up

I should get caught up.

I've cleaned the inside of my fridge, so I'm calling the kitchen done.  I'm not moving the fridge.

I picked all the trash out of the car.  It needs to be vacuumed, but I'll have to take it somewhere to do that.

Also, I moved all the furniture in the living room and vacuumed.

We like the park.  Wolf and I spend 2 hours there the other day with the cousins.  People don't like their kids to play with my baby.  Its weird.  This woman had a little boy she was playing with in the sandbox and there was a stroller about 10 ft away with a blanket over it.  I thought no there can't be a baby in there and then I though oh no that can't be that woman's stroller.  I was wrong.  She left her baby in a stroller 10 ft away from her!

Murl leaves Saturday for Tuscon.  He and his brother are driving their late grandmother's car back for his mother to use.  They leave after Murl gets out from work, fly down there and drive back.  They should be in Monday morning before Murl goes to work.  He's going to be dead all day.

I've planned a tasty non-meat weekend.  Sweet potato burritos on Saturday and Potato Madras on Sunday.  It will save me money and I can eat foods that Murl doesn't like!

More cleaning tomorow!

Birthday Woes.

Since Sunday is Mother's Day we were going to drop Kitty off on Saturday night, instead of Sunday morning, because it would be helpful for her mother.  Now, because her mother decided to change her mind about her birthday, we are going to just meet them on Sunday.  Our lawyer said that we shouldn't be doing them any favors, which I agree with.  She is going to raise some hell for us.

Murl talked to Kitty on the phone and asked what she was doing this afternoon and she said they were just going to the park.  Apparently those were her "plans" that interfered with us seeing her after school.  Total crap.

Went back to work today to pick up some stuff.  Didn't have to see the manager since he never works on Thursdays.  It was good to see people and I got some photos printed instead.  Once I finish all my cleaning, I am going to start on my scrapbooking and Wolf's baby book.  I'm super behind on both.

My MIL is taking us to a fair tomorrow afternoon, which will be fun.  I'll need to remember to bring the camera.  Before we go I need to finish cleaning the kitchen and bring laundry to my in-laws.  I think I can handle that.  All the kitchen needs is the fridge cleaned out, the nook cleaned and the floor mopped.

Here's your daily Wolf!

This squinty face is apparently his new thing.

Party Planning

Tomorrow is Kitty's 6th birthday.  We were planning on going up to see her, since she is at her mom's on weekdays.  Murl thinks that our lawyers have been talking, because they did not answer their phone at all yesterday and today she told him they have plans tomorrow and why did he assume he could take Kitty out after school?  He asked her about this weeks ago and she said it was fine.  So, we won't be seeing her until Friday night.  We'll make a cake and finalize plans and then party on Saturday!

My MIL reserved the pavilion at the park today and my FIL is making potato salad.  I need to pick up a few things tomorrow when I shop and we will be set.  Its supposed to rain, of course, so we'll be heading to their house if it does.  At least the kids can get outside to play if it dries up.

Mr. Crinkly Face

I cleaned up most of the kitchen today.  Cabinets were vacuumed and food was rearranged.  I somehow ended up with more room for food then I had before, without throwing anything out.  Tomorrow I'll clean out the fridge and clean off the top of the fridge.  Then its just the nook and the floor and that's it; the kitchen will be done!  Its very exciting.  Yes, it was already pretty clean to begin with, but getting a whole room clean is still exciting.

Fish Kisses!

I want to try to post new photos of Wolf every day, so here we go.  We hung out inside and cleaned all day, but that's ok, because playing on the floor is still fun.

What a ladykiller!

Nom Nom!

Kitchen Organization Checklist

Here are my answers to analyze my kitchen:

1. Do you have a meal plan for each day? Yes, I use Google Calendar to plan my meals.
2. Do you follow your meal plan? About 95% of the time.
3. If not, why not? Sometimes we have "surprise" dinners at my in-laws that no one tells me about beforehand.
4. Do you ever struggle with frozen foods not thawing in time for dinner? Sometimes.  Mostly chicken.
5. Can you find recipe ingredients when you need them? Only spices, because they are all crowded on a shelf.
6. How do you feel when you open the refrigerator? Why is that? Sometimes it seems really empty and I know I need to clean it again.
7. Do you have a method for storing leftovers? Yes, I put them in plastic containers and label them with the date and contents.  I need masking tape to do this better.  And I'd like to have all glass containers, but that won't happen.
8. If so, does it work well for you or do you have multiple science experiments going on at one time? It works well.  Sometimes I find old things, but I try to clean out the fridge once every couple of weeks.  The only time its a problem is when I make way too much and Murl doesn't bring lunch to work and I have to eat it for like 4 lunches in a row.
9. Do you have a daily kitchen cleaning routine? I wipe down the counters and sink and sweep every day and usually mope every 2 or 3 days.
10. Do you have a regular deep cleaning routine for the kitchen? Yes, but I need to do it more often.  So, I guess its not that regular.
11. Do you have adequate storage for the items you currently own? Yes.
12. Do you use all the kitchen items you own on a regular basis? Pretty much.  The blender I've been using more while making baby food, so that might stop.
13. Off the top of your head, are there gadgets and appliances that are just taking up space in your kitchen? I don't think so.
14. Does clutter pile up on your counters? How come? Sometimes I put things there so I can find a place to put them later.  I also have a mug I need to glue back together.
15. What is the one thing that stands between you and a clean, organized kitchen? The size :) which I can't control.  And my laziness.  I need to get back on my weekly routine.

From the park last week.

So, tomorrow I am going to start the actual food organizing.  The kitchen is pretty clean and I think I'm pretty organized, but going through a list will be helpful.  This way I can get everything in good spaces before I go food shopping on Thursday.  It'll make it easier to put away.

I moved the bench today and threw out the boxes.  Hopefully people will use it instead of taking their shoes off in other rooms.  There's so much stuff that needs to be cleaned and organized and I'm so behind.  I'm glad this is getting me motivated to do it, but I honestly don't do much during the day.

I've been staying up really late, which means being really tired in the morning.  For the past 2 days Wolf has wanted to get up earlier than we normally do.  Its like 8am, which really isn't that early, but it is when you are up until 2.  I feel terrible, though, because I make Wolf stay in bed with me and pretty much force him to fall back asleep, then we end up sleeping way later and nothing gets done.  I promised him that tomorrow we will get up when he wakes up, so I'm going to go to bed earlier tonight.  Probably at 11:30.

Rainy Weekend

We got some new furniture this weekend from Murl's parents.  A nice bench, which will go by the stairs for taking shoes on and off, and a cabinet that I'm going to use for my craft supplies.  So, right now they're just sitting in the middle of my living room.  I was going to move them today, but I didn't feel like making space.

This weekend was low.  It was an OK weekend, but its the first weekend where I'm not working.  I spent it worrying about money instead of enjoying my time with my family.  That was stupid of me.  The one thing that I did not worry about was getting Kitty to clean up after herself before she left, which is never done if I'm not home.

It also rained all weekend (and today and again tomorrow), so there was no going outside.  We had a thunderstorm, but it wasn't a very exciting one.  We stayed inside and mostly played board games.  The dollhouse was pulled out at one point, but I don't like playing with it with Kitty.  There is a wooden cat that stays in the house and farts on everyone, which is gross and something that I'm trying to get her to stop doing.  She will also tell me how to play and get upset if I don't follow her lead, but she's always been like that.

My tomato and jalapeno plants look really sad.  Some of the leaves started falling off.  We have a huge window that takes up most of the living room wall, but it faces south.  It is awesome in the winter and was great when I first planet the seeds, but now the sun is moving more north and it doesn't come through the window as well.  I need to decide when I'm going to put them outside.  I'm afraid they are too small and would be washed away or eaten.

I was going to doing my kitchen organization questions for Zone Defense, but its late.  I'll do that tomorrow and move the furniture.  I'll throw out some boxes and make space.  We still have the crib box, which is very flat and doesn't take up space, which is probably why we haven't thrown it out yet.  Its not in our way.  Plus, people are always saying they're going to take it and burn it, but no one has.  Its going in the dumpster!

So that was mostly my weekend.  I was very tired during it.  Wolfie and I wake up around 10 usually, but Kitty is used to getting up at 7 for school, so that's what happens when she's here.  Its not her fault, school starts early, but she wakes up Wolfie and then we're up.  And, she won't nap, so I don't nap either.

Next weekend is Kitty's 6th birthday.  I need to get a headcount tomorrow and decide what to buy.  We are having a cookout at the park, which will be a lot of fun.  I'm hoping it doesn't rain.  Its rained the past few weekends.  Friday is supposed to be sunny, so hopefully that will continue through the weekend.  Otherwise we'll have too many people in our apartment and we have almost no seating.  Plus, the dentists downstairs are open and the kids will be too loud, which will result in an angry call from the landlord.

So, now I head to bed.  Murl should be done with my kindle, so I can play sudoku as I fall asleep.  He hogs it!