Pick Up Sticks

Decluttering

Decluttering is ALWAYS a goal of mine.  I always feel like I have too much clutter in my life - not only physical clutter - as in 'stuff' - but cluttered lives as well.  Too much going on - not enough time to accomplish everything - makes my life feel cluttered.

My house is tiny - and this leads to accumulated clutter very quickly.  We don't have a lot of storage - or closets in our house - so I am always looking for creative storage solutions - pieces of furniture that do double duty as extra storage - shelves, baskets, etc - that give extra space.  We just purchased an ottoman for the sunroom that has a shelf underneath as well as a small amount of storage inside - it will be perfect for magazines, the remote controls etc.  Here is a picture of it from the manufacturer.  I may look for some baskets to fit on the shelf to hide some of the items I want to store there.

I am also a big believer in under the bed storage.  My kids always had several under their beds - for toy storage or off season clothes.  I use one under our bed for off-season shoes and extra bedding.

Right now most of my house is very organized.  Because the house is tiny you can see most rooms from the downstairs hallway.  Therefore the 1st floor rooms are almost always straightened up and clutter free.  Once in a while newspapers pile up right before recycling day - I need to find a solution for this.

But our 2nd floor and the basement are out of control right now.  And it is driving me crazy!  Our 2nd floor has only two rooms.  The steps open right up into our bedroom - which is huge!  There is also a small bedroom off of ours -which has been used as a nursery as well as an office area.  Right now it is a room in transition.  It eventually will be a craft studio for me.  All my supplies are in there - some are even organized - but there are piles of other supplies as well as books, magazines, pictures and the ironing basket and ironing board.  My husband's closet is also in this room.  My goal is to switch out closets with my husband - move his stuff into the closet in our bedroom and move my clothes to the closet in the craft room - then all my stuff will be together.

Once his things are out of there I think it will be easier to organize since I won't have to share space.  I have some ideas for how I want it organized - but need to really sit down and think about what I want to do in there. All of this will most likely happen after the new year since December is such a busy month.

Each night I am trying to take a small area in the house and declutter - even if it is just one or two drawers in the kitchen or a closet.  Small steps!

Back to reality

Well my much needed long thanksgiving weekend is over.  I didn't get done as much as I would have liked, but is was a fun weekend with family.  I love having Matt home from college...he's a great kid and lots of fun.  We also saw a lot of our oldest son and his wife and their two dogs.  They came back over Sunday morning and stayed part of the day.  My hubby made a huge, greasy breakfast - which I stayed away from - and then we just hung out and watched some TV and gabbed.

But by late afternoon everyone was gone and the house was soooo quiet.  I hate the quiet...I miss my boys!

Hubby and I dragged out the boxes of Christmas dishes and packed away the Fall dishes.  I washed up all the Christmas dishes and all my Christmas linens and set my table in reds and greens.  A few years ago I started keeping my table set all the time - all year long - pretty dishes, placemats, real napkins, glassware and silverware.  It always looks so pretty - I change things up a lot seasonaly and it really deters any clutter from accumulating on the table.  Right now all I need is a Christmas-y centerpiece and it will be done.

Hubby put the lights up outside and I hung my Christmas wreath on the front door.  I still have to hang the fresh pine garland on my new porch posts as well as put up garland and lights around the new french doors on the addition...but the decorating is further along than last year.  I hope to do a little each night this week and then all that is left is the tree.

This year will be just me and hubby cutting down the tree.  The past few years it was the three of us - Matt loves to find just the right tree - but this year he is just too busy at college to get back home for a day to go get the tree.  This just makes me so sad!  But hubby and I will still go out and cut one down and decorate it...we love the smell of a real tree! 

I guess families are always changing - kids grow up and move on with their lives.

PJ Day

It is not often that I stay in my pj's all day...but yesterday - while my hubby and son braved Black Friday shopping - I was up early, cleaned my house, started laundry, and made a pot of turkey rice soup...and never got out of my pj's.  It was heaven!  After a productive morning I plopped my self on the couch and knit while watching the Food Network.  I may have even dozed off for an hour. 

My guys were home by the early afternoon and watched football until dinner...then we watched Angels and Demons.  Which wasn't half bad...better than the DaVinci Code.

Today was another relaxing day...some shopping, lunch out with the guys, leftovers for dinner and now another movie - the Echelon Conspiracy - never heard of it...we'll see...guess I better pay attention......

Observations on a Thursday Morning

*I don't mind getting up early - 5:00 is fine with me - if I can get my walk in and then find time for a little knitting and computer time before work

**The dog decided to roll around in a pile of clean towels...he has a thing for terrycloth.

***After getting yelled at for upsetting the basket of clean towels the dog then proceeded to dig a cave in a pile of pillows and refuse to leave our bedroom as I was trying to leave for work.  I usually close our bedroom door before I leave.  He was not happy to be picked up and carried downstairs.  Teeth were bared...his not mine.

****I now have dog hair on my black top...ugh!  Frantically looking for lintbrush.

*****Eating cereal out of a cup while driving can be dangerous...there was no milk involved.

******Downtown Harrisburg smelled like pizza - at 7:15 am.

*******There was a trail of french fries leading down the steps of my parking garage.

********The knitting in my purse is calling my name...is it lunchtime yet?

 

(felt the need to add a picture...I hate blog posts without pictures...not sure where I got this one but I love it)

Summer Evenings

Last night - Saturday - was a perfect summer evening.  We cooked on the grill and had a salad made with lettuce and tomatoes from our garden.  It was cool and breezy which kept the bugs away.  We ate on the patio and stayed out there after dinner...me knitting my upstairs wrap...hubby on the laptop...enjoying a beer...or two.

 

 

We then decided to out together our new tent.  We bought a smaller tent for just the two of us.  We camped often with the boys growing up.  Next weekend will be the first camping for just the two of us.  We are planning a relaxing trip to Ohiopyle State Park for 4 days...with lots of down time...some hiking...a trip to a winery...marshmallows cooked over the fire.

The tent directions said 'goes together in minutes"...well 30 minutes later it was together...the rain canopy is still on a little wonky...

Busy...busy...busy...and a pomegranate martini

Life is busy...lots of home improvement projects going on...once we finished the new room (sunroom...family room....not sure what to call it) it made the kitchen look shabby.  I like the cupboards but the flooring needed to be replaced...so we extended the cork flooring from the family room into the kitchen...which required the removal of a 300 lb radiator and the tearing out of the old wainscoting and putting in new.  So of course then we needed to repaint...the kitchen and down the hall.  It's all done.  But the change in color meant the red jelly cupboard no longer matched...so it has been repainted and will be finished tonight. We still want to replace the countertops...but that is one project that will NOT be finished before Easter.

So needless to say I am tired...two rounds of painting Saturday with a trip to do some birthday shopping for our DIL, a trip to Troeg's Brewery - a weekly event to fill our growler - RyePA - Scratch #18 - yum!!! Then lunch out with the hubby...had a great greek salad...a trip to Tar-get...and back home for the 2nd round of painting.  Today meant more painting, grocery shopping, cooking and yardwork...I am exhausted.  Plus the hubby replaced all the old outlets and light switches...it all looks great.

Saturday night I settled in with my knitting - diminished rib cardigan - one sleeve to go - and a pomegranate martini - so good!  I mentioned last night on Face-book that I was drinking a pomegranate martini...unfortunately my MOTHER is also on face-book and read it and was teasing me about it today - she's keeping tabs on me through face-book...the perfect reason that I have not "friended" my children...they don't need me keeping tabs on them!

Tonight...a little knitting...some really bad TV and off to bed...exhausted.

New Room

Our new room is nearly complete. Flooring is in – finally – this was the big hold up. It came in 3 weeks later than expected and held up lots of other projects.

Our contractor – Mark – says he will be done this week.

Can I tell you how much I love this room already? It is 16 x 20 and has 11 windows and French doors. The room faces south and gets great light. It will do double duty as a dining area and small family room area. Plus it has a nice closet – which is a luxury in our older home. We have never had a coat closet or a place to put the vacuum cleaner. This closet will be heavenly!

Because we have never purchased a brand new home we never had to make all the decisions that come with building a home. Or have a brand new space to start fresh with – not try to convert some one else’s space. It has been fun – picking windows, lighting, flooring, furniture, etc.

We chose cork flooring – which I LOVE. It is so much ‘softer’ than hardwood or laminate flooring. There is cork on both sides of the floor which seems to cushion the floor. It feels great under foot. We chose cork because we have original hardwood floors in most of our house. It was impossible to try to match this flooring. Because we will extend the new room flooring into the kitchen and down the hall, we wanted something to complement the original floors. This looks wonderful with the old floors.

We still have so many decisions to make. We did not want curtains in this room – but decided on bamboo roman shades. These need to be ordered. We need some furniture – we have a brand new table with 6 chairs – and ordered another server-type piece to match. Now we need pieces for the family room end of the room. We really don’t want it to overwhelm the room – just want 2 chairs – on the small side – with a table in between. And a TV stand – as my parents bought us flat screen TV for this room. It is so hard for me to visualize everything together when we are buying pieces of furniture.

We repainted the room this weekend.  I absolutely LOVE the color - burnished sable by Ralph Lauren.  The room glows!  We moved the table and chairs in this weekend and now I can get a better picture of how much room we have left for the 'family room' side.  The table looks great in the room.  My goal is to keep the table set all the time and change pieces out for the seasons.

Don't mind the blue painters tape or molding that still needs paint.

Lists

How come I can make lists and lists of everything I want to get done but they never seem to get done?

I have lists of things that need to be done around the house. Adding a brand new room on makes other things in your house look shabby.

I have lists of things I want to knit and tons of yarn to do it with. But I get bored with projects too easily and then start something new. Ravelry does not help this situation – there are too many gorgeous ideas.

I have lists of gardening ideas. And plans drawn out and plant lists.

I truly think I am ADD. I get overwhelmed with what needs to be done or what I want to get done and then nothing gets done.

So – my new hope is to try to make small lists – ones that are not overwhelming. My husband is helping me with this. He has gotten more involved this past year in making choices for the house and garden. In the past I planned everything and made all the choices – mostly because he was busy coaching one kid or the other in a sport. Now that we are mostly empty-nesters he has more time and we have more time together. So having another person helping out with some of my lists helps. He is also much more realistic about things than me. He can see the big picture but not need to have it all done at once like me. He keeps me grounded.

He is also very patient. Like yesterday – when I came home to our new cork flooring in the addition – which I LOVE by the way – I panicked because the color we picked to paint the walls clashed with the new floor. When we picked the wall color we did not have a sample of the flooring with us. Big Mistake! When he came home and saw the walls he agreed that we would need to change the wall color…no big deal…it’s just 2 gallons of paint and one days work. So calm…unlike me who was so upset. So tonight we will meet at Home-Depot after work and choose a new wall color – armed with flooring samples this time. Plans are to repaint this weekend as we both have a three day weekend.

New Room check list – choose a new wall color – done.

Back to Reality

Jan. 2, 2009

Well it was a rough morning getting up today and heading back to work.  After a long New Year’s Day, I struggled to get moving.  I hate to have to head off to work when my hubby has the day off – it just seems so unfair!  But he has a busy day planned.  He is heading off to Best Buy to pick up a new 42” TV which was a surprise present for our new room from my parents.  He is also installing a new faucet in the kitchen along with an under-the-sink water filter.  He is going to finish cleaning up after our party…most everything was washed and put away last night before we went to bed except two crusty crockpots which were soaking and some glassware that needs to be put away.

 

The large crusty crockpot held a family favorite – not one I’ve made before but one of my hubby’s Aunt’s recipes – Cottage Potatoes.  Actually for years she has brought it to family gatherings and I have never tasted them…they always get eaten within 15 minutes by everyone else.  My niece often makes them as well and I tasted one small bite at our family’s annual Memorial Day picnic last year.  So I decided to make them for New Year’s and doubled the recipe since they always go so fast.  Believe it or not there was one small bowl left at the end of the day – probably because our youngest son wasn’t there to eat his portion.  The recipe is an interesting mix but surprisingly good – although very fattening.

 

Aunt Barbara’s Cottage Potatoes

6-8 boiled potatoes (cubed)

1 med. onion (diced)

1/2 lb. velvetta cheese (cubed)

3 slices bread (cubed)

1/2 cup melted butter

Parsley

salt and pepper

Toss all ingredients into a greased baking dish.

Top tossed potatoes with 1 Cup milk and sprinkle corn flakes over all.

Cover and bake at 350 for 30-45 mins.

Uncover and bake 5mins or more to brown. 

We usually make this ahead of time and then put in a crockpot for family.  If the potatoes get a little dry you can always add more milk to the mixture.  They are so yummy!

 

The other crusty crockpot was my Little Dipper.  I had never used this before but saw a recipe for a Pizza Fondue/Dip that sounded interesting and was so easy.  I used 1 cup of chunky tomato sauce, 1 cup of shredded cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella, parmesan and sharp cheddar) and about 15 slices of pepperoni – diced.  You just put this in a small crockpot and let everything melt together and then serve with whatever you want to dip…the recipe said crackers, breadsticks or tortilla chips.  I sliced up a crusty baguette and people loved it...I actually made 3 or 4 batches of it through out the day – heating it up in the microwave because it was faster – and then adding it to the crockpot.  By halftime of the game we were out of baguette slices and I cut up some of the crusty rolls and people used those.  It was a hit and so super easy and adaptable to your tastes – whatever kind of sauce or cheeses you like or had on hand.

 

We have lots of fun family gatherings as my hubby’s family is large – 4 boys and 10 grandkids –also known as the “cousins” – 9 boys and 1 beautiful young lady – although the boys are quite a nice looking bunch as well.  They range in ages from 30 down to 19 – the youngest being our youngest son.  They are a great group of kids and all get along very well and are very close – which is so nice.  Now there is a mix of wives and girlfriends - and one boyfriend -  and they get along as well.  They are a protective group and look out for one another even though they are spread out across the country – from PA to OH to CA. 

 

Love being a part of this family!

A New Year

Jan 1, 2009

The New Year was brought in quietly by just my hubby and me.  We went out to dinner – braving the bitter cold and high winds – and then settled in for a silly movie and a quiet evening.  Our youngest son was in NY visiting his girlfriend and he called after midnight to wish us a happy new year.

 

New Year’s Day had us up early cooking and getting ready for a houseful of family and friends for the Rose Bowl.  The game didn’t start until around 5 pm but people started coming around noon.  Lots of good food – hubby smoked 2 roasts and some sausage (which was delicious!), my sister-in-law brought her famous wings, and my brother-in-law brought the pork and sauerkraut.  We munched away all day and had so much fun – good times!  We even used our new room – in it’s unfinished stages with only subfloor and minus some moldings and siding.  But despite the extra room people still congregated in my tiny kitchen!  Sbove is a picture of the die hards - those of us who stayed until the bitter end of the Penn State game.  We are in our new room - notice the lovely floor and other unfinished bits!

 

My plan for the day was to put out the food and then curl up on the couch and relax, visit and knit.  Needless to say I didn’t sit all day!  There were too many people to visit with – moving from room to room – drinks to fill and hugs to give and receive.  We are a hugging bunch of people – even all of the cousins – who are mostly boys and now all but one in their 20’s (our youngest is the baby of them all at 19).

 

It was also a time to reflect for our family – one nephew wasn’t there as he is in the PA National Guard and will be deployed very soon so is in Ft Dix.  One young man at our gathering is in the Air Force and learned he will be deployed to Afghanistan in March.  He dates one of my nieces and we really have enjoyed getting to know him.  My nephew Chris is in the Marines and was home for the first time in years this Christmas – with his new wife.  Another nephew is in the Navy.  So much to be thankful for that they are all safe right now – and we pray for those leaving soon – for their safety and safe return – and an end to this war.

So a great start to our new year.