★ 30-Day Organize-athon | Day 7

Hi

Todays task is

Organize Your Books, DVDs, and/or CDs

 

Tonight this was a easy one as along with the living room one and the following day we sorted and organised and cleaned the DVD cabinets

The books were done recently along with the wardrobe task with the floods
We donated a whole pile of books as well
Our daughters room was the worst and now she has 1 1/2 shelves of books that we read to her regularly
They are all sort of special books

In the sons room we have a bookcase with 1 shelf of books  Since he has virtually moved out most of his books were either sent with him or donated too

In our room i have one shelf with reading books on in my series plus about half a dozen extras that get recycled on a regular basis with friends and family rahter than all of us buying the same book

The computer room no longer has a bookcase as we sold it ages ago and got rid of the books on it

We have a 60 CD stereo so needless to say most of our CD's are kept in there with the cases gone about 2 months ago at a garage sale at a friends place  We pulled our giant CD holder apart and took all the CD's out of it and it went to the garage sale as well  The CD's that we did keep all went into a small cd holder and the cases went of to the Garage sale and were put in the give away box with the rest of the stuff 

So the first week of challenges are over i have survived We have a lot less in the house It is looking much cleaner and less cluttered but we still have a long way to go

Tomoroz task for us (our own task) is to sweep and mop the whole house like we usually do on a Friday or Saturday and see how much more we can get rid of ready for the next 7 days of challenges

So far the lounge is still neat and tidy all bar todays mail and Jalans hat which for some reason is on the coffee table  The bathroom cabinet is AWESOME I went in there today to get something and it was soooooo easy to find lol

My kitchen drawer is still nice and neat  My noticeboards sort of look lonely but uncluttered and my fridge is so clean on the outside and on 2 of the shelves
Need to do the rest of the shelves in it now as well and wipe everything down
Found something in a Magnamail catalogue that i want for the fridge
It is a set of 2 slide out baskets that you can put all your condiments inside It is just the right size and you can slide them in and out an they can't fall over making a mess in your fridge

Dont these look awesome  They will soon be in my fridge cause i am going to buy some

Well thats it for me tonight so see you all tomoroz

Luv Deb

★ 30-Day Organize-athon Day 6

Hi 

Well todays task is 

30-Day Organize-athon | Day 6: Freshen Up Your Crockery & Glassware 

This was once again very easy to do as  we have recently put up a cupboard over the bench for the crockery and glassware  Not only is it now easier to unload the dishwasher but it is so easy to keep neat and tidy 

Remember the old cupboards grandma had at her place that you could open the drawers and cupboards from both sides and it had a cupboard above with glass doors   Well we picked up one of them as with the new style of open plan kitchens they often dont have cupboards on the walls The bottom of the cupboard is out in our half finished chook pen as we are thinking of recycling it into a chook house 

The top part we sanded back and painted the same colour as our walls and mounted it above the breakfast bar   Looks just like a brought one   We didnt put the glass back in yet as it is a opaque one and looked really yuck 

The cupboard looks like it was meant to be and it divides the kitchen from the dining area a little better and gives us  like a servery  

It holds all the crockery and the glasses plus a few entertaining pieces 

We have another cupboard mounted on the opposite wall above the stove and bench that came in handy when we installed the new stove with the rangehood attached to the cupboard nicely   This one holds the tea making equipment and the cups and other kitchen gadgets nicely 

So all in all a very easy task tonight finished in less than 5 minutes which then gave us time to give the kitchen benches a swish and swipe after loading the dishwasher 

Only short on this one might add a pic of the crockery cupboard later  

 Night night 

Sweet dreams 

Luv Deb 

★ 30-Day Organize-athon Day 5

Hi

Well a bit late adding yesterdays blog due to being sick last night

Todays or should i say yesterdays task was

30-Day Organize-athon | Day 5: Organize Your Household Information Center 

This was a very interesting one as  i have three notice boards plus my fridge and Jalans kindy board  

Why do i need three well the answer is simple We have our main notice board then we have the noticeboard under the calendar  then we have the noticeboard for the fridge   and also the fridge 

                                           The fridge mainly recipees

 The fridge noticeboard Used for shopping lists recipees and things we have run out of

                                        The main noticeboard where anything goes

                           Found mail and vouchers dating back 2-3 years

 The calendars notice board usually used for anything that needs to be written on the calendar like excursions and school stuff

        My monthly calendar where if it is not written on it does not happen

 Jalans school notice board where all her artwork goes This gets cleaned of either at the end or term or the end of the year  Some is saved and filed the rest goes to the green mobile filing cabinet aka The wheelie bin

                                          After:-  The main noticeboard

                             The fridge only with its magnets and calendar

                    The fridge notice board ready for use and nicely decluttered

 The calendar notice board  Now you can see our round tu it so there is no using i havent got a round tu it because we do have one
Notice now that the power board is messy lol and will have to clean it up

When i cleaned everything of the fridge side i noticed how dirty it had become but all the paperwork was hiding it so then also cleaned the side of the fridge which made the rest of the outside look crappy so cleaned it to

Then noticed the ice and water maker was looking a bit worse for wear and grotty and a little bit of what i thought was mould on it so got out my trusty vinegar and water and cleaned the whole fridge 

 In our life Jalan had her last swimming lesson for the term and we noticed how she has come so far so fast  8 weeks ago she  was happy to be in the little pool Now she is confidently "swimming" she is using her arms and her legs Just hs no breathing technique yet so cant quite put it all together but she is amazing as to how fast she has learned   we may have another Ian Thorpe or Hayley Lewis or Dawn Fraser or Lisa Curry of John Sieben hey 

 After being at swimming with Jalan Her nana came along as well  Nana suggested we go have dinner at Mcdonalds which naturally Jalan jumped at the chance 

I wasnt feeling to good by this stage and when i took Jalan to the toilet before dinner i promptly worshiped the porcelain bus and threw the contents of my stomach up then felt a lot better 

Didnt eat at all.   Then we did some shopping Came home and put Jalan to bed as she was exhausted, put the shopping away then i sat down looked at the challenge and said to the MOTH it's a easy one I will do it in the morning when i feel better so thats exactly what i did 

Luv Deb

★ 30-Day Organize-athon Day 4

Hi

Well todays task was

 Declutter Your Bathroom Cabinets

 I grabbed the MOTH tonight as he is always winging about the amount of stuff that i keep in my bathroom cabinet and told him tonight you are helping with this one 

Got him to sit on the floor and empty the bathroom cabinet for me and help me to be strong and throw out as much as possible 
For some reason he cheered at this task 

                                  Cleaning out the mess bathroom cabinet

                  Darren had already started by the time i grabbed the camera

 First bag ready for the bin  Darren tied the top and had it out to the bin before I could change my mind on anything He wasnt taking any chances

 My disgusting bottom drawer  Hardly anyone goes in this drawer so it was pretty easy to ignore

                      Halfway through returning what i am keeping in here

                       Bottom drawer finished with Guest soaps in zip lock bags

      Middle drawer after throwing away all the tattered yucky wash cloths

                                      Top drawer before decluttering

 Top drawer now all bar returning the 2 hair brushes as they accidently ended up under the no touch hand soap and set it off putting hand soap all over them

 The two brushes are sitting on my bathroom window drying at the moment but they did get a good wash

                                   The finished product in the cupboards

                                            All neat and tidy now 


Darren cleaned the first aid/medicine cabinet while i was doing the drawers and putting back into the cupboard what we are keeping 
It didn't take much as it is usually kept fairly well maintained due to having a child with Cystic Fibrosis and me who cuts herself on a regular basis and likes to know that I can find band aids and things pretty quickly 


Now thanks to these tasks we have a nice ordered bathroom cabinet and we can now find what we need rather than having to almost empty out everything each time we need something 




Apart from the task tonight today for us was pretty much a rest and take it easy day like most Mondays as we were pretty exhausted from the weekend 


I did manage though tonight to actually cook dinner for all 3 of us and we all sat at the table and ate together albeit a bit late as Darren was mowing and i was on facebook and the phone and lost track of time 


I did make up for it though as while i was cooking dinner i also finally cleared my kitchen table of mine and Jalans craft activities so that we could use the table 


Darren loaded the dishwasher and washed up what couldn't go in the dishwasher after dinner so all i need to do now is a swish and swipe of the kitchen and shine the sink before i retire for the night 


My friends daughter passed her driving test today so that was our excitement for the day
Hasta Manyana til we meet again tomoro night

Luv Deb

Extra Post for Sunday

Hi

Its me again just with a quick post and blog
Darren was in the shower and i had to go to the toilet

When i got there this greeted me

                                           Sitting just up under the rim

                               Note he has to be sitting on the only stained part of the toilet  Must have  missed that bit lol

                                                  Aint he cute

Well no way on earth i was going to the toilet with him sitting there so made Darren get out of his shower and get rid of him for me
Why he likes to come in is beyond me but as pretty as it is i wish they would stay outside

Usually i find him sitting on the rubbish bin in the toilet How he gets there i have no idea

Well night all

Luv Deb

★ 30-Day Organize-athon Day 3

Hi
Welcome back
Ok One day i will have lots of followers hahahaha

Todays task was Organize Your Kitchen Utensils 

Well I am starting to believe that she has a hidden camera in our house
To show you the reason for this i need to go back to the beginning of today

Being a Sunday i as usual decided to sleep in until i was somewhat rudely awoken by a phone call and a text message both at the same time so I can't really blame either for waking me up
Probably a good thing as it was past 10am anyway  Wasn't fully sleeping but wasn't really awake either
Mother-in-law was on the phone and my friend Mel sent the text to see if i was awake and wanted a chat

Got of the phone to the MIL and rang Mel 2 minutes into the call the beeps sounded so told Mel i would ring her back as it was MIL showing up in the caller ID part
Talked to MIL again then rang Mel and we chatted for about a hour or 2 as is our standard chats lol

Finally got of the phone and came out to the lounge and thought after the first challenge of cleaning the living room there was still more i could do here
Think it was the dust bunny that tried to eat my leg that gave me the hint

Got a bucket of water and added vinegar to it and started wiping down all the surfaces with my cloth
No sooner has i started and i looked at my cloth and it was black with dust bunnies hopping everywhere

Ok i haven't dusted for a while....like a long while

Spent about 2 hours on my hands and knees dusting then wiping everything in the lounge with my vinegar solution
Got Moth to climb up and get the filters out of the airconditioner and give the aircon a swish and a swipe with all the dust falling down onto my nice clean stereo and table Needless to say i was not happy but i dealt with it and was able to quickly wipe the dust bunnies of before they settled into their new home

The lounge is all now sparkly clean with no dust at all and the space under the stereo no longer has the WII board (now in the cupboard in the entertainment unit) The picnic baskets (now back in the car where they belong) and the 4 jigsaws(sitting in the laundry as it is the closest to the back door deciding whether to keep them and store them in the linen cupboard or to walk them another 10 steps and put them outside ready for the "garage sale/tip/lifeline bin"

MOTH got the broom and swept away all the bunnies and other paraphenalia that ends up on the floor in this house from DD 5 and the messy dog


Went into the kitchen to have a brunch/afternoon snack and commented to Darren about my utensils draw being a horrific sight but with everything else we had to do that i wanted done this was overlooked once again  This is why i believe that there is a hidden camera somewhere here as this is now twice i have commented on something and that has been our task for the day

Got Jalans curtains down and went to get the cafe curtains down as well to make a full load and realised how grotty they had gotten Sent MOTH out to put the curtains in the washing machine while i scrubbed the rods and ends so that they did not stick to anything they touched 

With the curtains down i could see where Hubby had previously cooked his chips in the deep fryer  and let the smoke blow out the window which had caused a lot of grease and grime on the window sill, sides and on the screens so up her went to clean and scrub it off  He did half then said i cant do the other side as the window is in the way of it so i promptly walked over and took the window out if its casing and leaned it up against the stove so he could do the job properly
He hadn't realised you could take them out so easy Sliding windows are magical that way
He then finished cleaning the window sill and got down cleaned the sliding one on the floor and returned it to its original position all nice and tidy
Next week hopefully we start on actually cleaning the glass in the windows

Don't know about this cleaning thing. It is actually motivating us to get up and clean cause the 5 minute tasks makes that look really good but everything else around look crap cause it is so neat and tidy

Now here are my before and after pics of tonights task

                                              My before shots

                                                 Note the mess

                                       All the stuff on the bench

                                             My nice clean empty drawer

                Found some damage to my drawer which i am not happy about

 My rack near the stove where most of my utensils hang and yes there are doubles as hubby usually cooks for him and Jalan and then when i cook the main utensils are dirty so he uses one set i use the other

 My nice neat drawer afterwards and yes i use each and every thing in this drawer on a regular basis  The meat tenderisers have different size things on their heads depending on what meat im bashing

I am happy The MOTH is happy although he wonders how long it will stay this way
I said as long as you don't mess it up a long time as the rest has been thrown out


Then cleaned the bench and sat down to say i had done my task and do my nightly blog

Realising now I probably could have done the 365 photo challenge now while doing this challenge lol have been adding pics to each blog

Thank you to the organiser of the challenge.  It is actually making me want to do the tasks and then clean extra which is so unlike me. 

Goodnight til tomoro my friends

Luv Deb

★ 30-Day Organize-athon Day 2

Hi

Well tonights task was probably the easiest of tasks for me

Day 2: Clear Out Your Hanging Closet

Step 1: Grab a large garbage bag.   
Step 2: Open up the hanging part of your closet and, quickly scanning your clothes from left to right, toss into the bag anything that:

• Doesn’t fit
• Feels scratchy or unpleasant against your skin
• Is in a shape that doesn’t suit you
• Is in a color that doesn’t suit you
• Has a neckline or hem length that doesn’t suit you
• Has negative memories or associations
• Is tatty
• Has been worn too many times
• Is tragically out of fashion
• Is not your style any more
• Makes you feel uncomfortable or unhappy
• Hasn’t been worn in the past 12 months.

Step 3: Do a second scan, left to right, for anything that needs repair, alteration or laundering. If you know you’ll never get around to the repair, alteration or dry cleaning, then pop these items straight into your first bag. Otherwise, put them aside for later attention.
Step 4: Put your bag by the door or take it straight out to the car. (Take it to the charity store or tip as soon as you can. Really good stuff should go to charity, but let junk go.)
And you’re done! 
Copied and pasted from 30 day oranize-athons page

You see I didn't even really need to do this one as a few months ago we had the floods and a lot of people lost everything
I heard people needed larger size clothes and decided to donate some of my excess clothing 
I went through my wardrobe with a fine tooth comb and decluttered alright
4 garbage bags of my clothes and 2 of Darren's 

Took out everything and then only returned what i wanted to wear or keep which really for me wasn't much


There were a couple of items that i was not sure I wanted to get rid of or not so I hung them on the curtain rod to make myself look at them and decide
After looking at them for a few days guess what....they went to  Yep i really didn't like them at all

I have lost a few kilos too in the past few months so some of the stuff was too baggy for my liking so off it went as well

As for repair or alteration well i used to put everything into a bag but one day realised I am never going to fix it so chucked the bag without even looking at it
What was in there was never going to be fixed anyway It had been sitting there annoying me for about 6 months lol 

Good thing todays task was so  easy as i am exhausted after taking Jalan to the Toowoomba Show today
We got the mates rates coupon out of the paper so it only cost us $13 to get in and then when we were in there for a few hours rides were two for the price of one so it made it a little bit better value 
Jalan was the only one having rides anyway so it wasn't too much of a big deal

When we first got there I had a go on the lucky tickets. Jalan picked them and we got a bottom shelf so Jalan got a set of Diego stickers The rest of the prizes looked like they had been picked up off the junk room floor

Went into the show pavillion and had a look at the show bags and used the mates rates coupon to purchase 2 set showbags for $5 having about $2 worth of chocolate in them
we look at the rest of the showbags and nearly swallow our tonsils   Average priced bag is around the $20 mark and that is the cheaper ones  Thankfully for some reason the showbags dont excite Jalan or pique her interest at all even though there was a Dora and a Diego one there for $25 each  Even when we showed her the good old Freddo frog bag which were 2 for $10 she just said nah i got chocolate at home

So we headed out to the rides and side show alley 



Her first ride costing $5 was on a pony so she got a extra long ride on it

                                           Enjoying her pony ride

She then had a play in side show alley on the clowns also $5 a turn and won a princess crown which she was quite excited by  Worth a whole $2 if you are lucky at the cheap shop

Tried to talk her into going on the giant slide but she wanted no part of it at this time or any other rides that we showed her
Walked around side show alley for a while and she wanted to have a go on the ducks and won  3 sets of fancy el cheapo sunglasses that will be good for decluttering next week after they are lying on the floor of her room broken
Don't you just love these "every child player wins a prize" cons  They might be worth the $5 in some alternate universe

Then we went back to the rides and Jalan wanted to go on the Super Trouper 
Ok my 5 yr old does not particularly like rides appropriate for her age group she has to go on the fast rides
We pay for the tickets using the mates rates voucher so once again it only costs $5 for her and I to go on the ride Here i am with my eyes closed hating every minute of the ride with a 5 yr old psycho screaming her delight about how much  fun the ride is
It finishes and i stumble down the stairs looking like i am rotten drunk trying not to puke up right there and then with her going Can i go on it again Can i mum 
I feel like i am going to pass out
We convince her that it is time we went and got some food and drink and headed indoors and once again used the mates rates voucher for hot chips for lunch 
The people at the hot chips place actually scribble on our voucher so it cannot be used again....absolute scums i thought as every one else let us use them as many times as we wanted

While sitting there quietly eating our food a remote control helicopter crashes into the wall beside us and comes down on our table just missing Jalan's head and eyes 
The owner comes around the wall and we had a go at him and he reckoned some kid grabbed his remote control  As far as i am concerned you want to exhibit "toys" at the show then make sure you take precauctions so other people dont get hurt 
Had we have moved the table to make a bit more room for Darren like we were going to when a few kids at the next table kept bumping him then we would have had a trip tot he hospital rather than a day at the show

After eating i started to feel a bit better and less wanting to puke after the ride we went for a walk looking at the home show exhibits 
I found a place with a really nice massage lounge chair and had a 15 minute rest while Jalan and Darren wandered around
Jalan kept disturbing me telling me about these big snakes so around i go to watch the snake display
After it we go into the snake pit and get our pic taken with a giant black head python  

Darren was pretty nervous and so was Jalan as they had never encountered a snake like this before  Got the pic taken and the snake just wanted to kiss Darren and Jalan thought it was hillarious By this stage she had calmed down and was happily patting the snake until it decided it wanted to kiss her hand

Then went for a wander through the jungle display and met some wild life

           First she encountered a dinosaur that wanted to keep her in its clutches

                                         Then wrestled a giant Iguana

                                                            And won

                                          Climbed on a giant turtles back

                                                   Sat on its neck

                                             and rode it like a cowgirl

                                             Talked to the tortoise

                                                     and gave it a kiss

                                                      and a cuddle

                                           then sat on its back for a ride

                                                  Talked to it

                                                   Then kissed it

                                              and hugged it goodbye

                                            Talked to a crocodile

                                           Had a smile with a crocodile

                                                       Wrestled it

                                                Looked for a good grip

                                                        and tamed it

                                          Had a chat with a chimpanzee

                                                Cuddled a baby

                                                  and  had a snooze

                                            Held up a giraffe for daddy

                                                 Caught a pelican

                                            Told him my story

                                           and thanked him for listening

                                                    Met a elephant

                                             Grabbed him by the tusk

                                                   Hugged his trunk

                                                And sat on it for lunch

                                             Joined a family of lions

                             Made sure the guy at the back was staying there

                                              Then caught Pumba

 Talked to some Mccaws

                                                 You don't say

                                      Nope i don't say gimme a kiss


Then i went into GP Connect display and sent Darren and Jalan of to have another ride like she wanted and I went for a health check up and scored a few freebies hehehe   But after taking my blood pressure which was low (how i dont know by this stage) and getting me to fill out a survey they decided i need to go see my doctor so put me in to talk to a counsellor as to why they thought this 
Even got questioned about how i felt about the flood and everything
Yes life has been overwhelming ah but but such is life   I do know i am overdue for my doctors visit and check up as i have been putting it off with everything else on

I then went and had a play with a few other exhibits without the MOTH hovering and tapping his foot saying that i am taking too long as usual
By the time I caught up with Darren and Jalan again they had been to a Dog show motorbike riders and bmx riders The train exhibit and a fair few other things

We then headed down towards the circus but got distracted by a Find 30 campaign once again so we went in there and Jalan did some fitness challenges  She got her little passport stamped each time and in the end was given a prize of a fancy skipping rope that actually counts your skips 
She first did some kicking and throwing a ball then a obstacle course then decided she wanted to climb the rock wall there so we stand in line waiting our turn with me and the lady behind me telling Jalan and her daughter quietly  if they were asked their ages were 6 as no one under 6 was supposed to go on it
We get to the front of the line and Jalan says pretty loudly i'm pretending i'm 6 hey mum  and i am going to climb to the top
Luckily enough the guys running the rock wall climb were distracted but a few other parents around giggled  
 She got into the harness and listened to the instructions and started her rapid ascent  4 footholds later and just past the first panel on the wall she stops and goes "I've had enough now"  Leans back and is lowered to the ground once more
She hops of saying next time she will climb to the top as i am a bit tired mum

Next she sits on a bike for the pedalling station and gets her card stamped there and then has a go at Croquet and has a fair bit of trouble with the ball and bat but tries her hardest 

She purposely misses a few of the things she is supposed to put her ball through
I asked her why and she replies "ummm i forgot but i have had enough now" hands her mallet and ball back and says "lets go to the next one"
The 6th and final station was going to be soccer but by this time it was getting late and the blow up field was once again flat so we go back to the main building and she does some exercise on the mini gym equipment designed for kids aged 5-13 along with a advertisement of the gym that has the classes for 5-13yr olds so they can exercise while mum is getting fit at the gym

Finally we get to the circus and watch it and once again Jalan loves it  After it is over we go watch some dancers finishing their show then start to walk up to the pavilion and rides once again and a tractor comes along pulling carriages so we jump on and go for a ride back to side show alley as Jalan wants just one more ride

She goes on the roller coaster $5 and once again comes of wanting to go back on again We say no and take her to the giant slide where she finally decides she will go on it  $5 for 3 slides She wants me to go on it with her and I say no but if i dont go on she can have 3 rides so of she goes happily and has her first ride

                                                         2nd ride

                                   End of the third ride landing at my feet
The thrill on her face says it all As soon as she gets to the bottom she says can i go again and i hand her the second ticket and off she runs
Does her second slide and yells i need more tickets  Grabs the ticket and off she runs again 
After the third slide she wants more but we say No its time to go watch the fireworks Jump on the tractor again and head over to the other side of the show ring and find a nice quiet picnic table where her and dad once again chow down on more hot chips
Settle down watch the 6:30pm fireworks

then stagger to the car under the weight of all the junk we have acquired over the day to head home

All in all a good fun but very exhausting tiring expensive day


See you tomoro if you haven't died of boredom with my ramblings


Luv Deb