Baa Baa Blacksheep...

Three bags full, three bags full!!  Ok, so it's NOT full of wool, but it is full of donations!  

This afternoon, in my declutter frenzy I sorted sheets & pillowcases & blankets & quilts & afghans.... oh, you get the drill.... Since we live in the backwoods of the frigid north we have summer sheets & winter sheets.  And we also have summer blankets/quilts & winter blankets/quilts. The children have finally decided that they would bring ALL of their winter bedding down.... THE WEEK BEFORE CAMP!!!  Hello?  What is wrong with these children?  Don't they know I have to get ALL of the laundry done before we go?   'Cause I'm the anal one about the laundry.... I don't want stinky, mildewy laundry when we get back from camp, on top of stinky, mildewy camp laundry!!  Gross!

So anyhow.... back to sorting.... I put all of the sets together (which I try to do normally, but it all went by the wayside this winter - I don't know why).  Then I put them in those Space Bags....  Again, something I thought was incredibly dorky... but it works like a charm.... I have an old camel-back trunk that came over from Scotland with my great-grandmother, when I was 16 my parents had it restored for me for Christmas... I sucked 6 bags flat & put them in there - you won't believe what's in there.... I've just gotta tell ya.... 1 King-sized polar-fleece blanket, 1 Queen-sized quilt, 1 Queen-sized, hand crocheted afghan, 1 Queen-sized set of flannel sheets, 3 Twin-sized sets of polar-fleece sheets, 3 Twin-sized sets of flannel sheets, 2 Twin-sized fitted flannel sheets, 1 Twin-sized flat flannel sheet and 5 random flannel pillowcases!!  ALL of that plus a zippered bag (I reuse the zippered bags sheets or bed sets come in) with 3 sets of my living room curtains and another zippered bag with linen memorabilia from when I was a foreign exchange student.   THAT people is ALOT of crap bedding AND it all fit in that old trunk! 

In the meantime, I had to declutter that trunk & get rid of some of the bedding we don't use anymore.  I got rid of doilies - I have no idea who made half of them or where they came from.  And lace curtains that I couldn't even remember putting on my windows.  But I must've, right?  Otherwise why would I have them.  Gone! Gone! Gone!  Three bags full!

The other thing I did today was to take all of my organizing baskets upstairs to my craft room.  Not that I really wanted them up there, but they were starting to pile up and get out of control.  I have enough trouble with clutter stuff getting out of control - I don't need containers to add to the problem - they're supposed to help.

So how many bags full are you getting rid of, sheep?

Bye! Love you! Have a good day, Dear!

A Whole Lot of Nuthin'

I have big plans for the summer.  I'm like one of those little kids who spend their whole school year plannin' what they'll be doin' the first day of summer... 'Swimmin' in the creek, ridin' bikes, buildin' that fort in the oak tree, fishin', playin' with their best friend, sleepin' under the stars, ice cream, watermelon & sweet corn, hot dogs & baseball games in the dust.... ahhhh the thrill of plannin' it all....

Then the first day of summer comes & you find them getting up at 10:00, eating Sugar Smaks in front of the boob-tube watchin' cartoons.....allllllllll day! 

Ok, so I didn't sleep until 10... but I did sleep in until 7:30.  My alarm is set for 7:00.  My excuse is that Bigfoot stopped by last night & stayed FOR-EVER!!!!  So I get my jammies on & tell him, I'm tired... you can lock up when you leave... the reply is 'I'm goin', Mom!.... I'm goin'!! 

The reason why he was here was because his car died & he parked it in our driveway (either a blown gasket or a cracked head)  It's an ancient old thing that was given to him for his graduation present last year from his Grandmother (on his father's side).  It's a 1990 Ford Crown Victoria - it's as old as him... lol  It was his grandfather's car before he passed away and had been sitting in the garage for the past 9+ years waiting for Bigfoot to get his license.  Anyhow, for the past couple of days it's back to being 'Mom's Taxi Service - Always reliable - Always Available - And Oh So Reasonably Priced!'

I took him to work (noon-8:30 p.m. shift) and I'll have to go back & pick him up tonight.  I'm downtown, so I might as well run some errands - the 1st Bank (in the grocery store), Staples, Drop Bigfoot off to work, Church Consignment Shop & 2nd Bank, WallyWorld, BJ's for gas, The Salvation Army, then home. 

Sooooo, all the stuff on my To Do List?..... I did 1 thing on it today.  ONE!!!  How is THAT going to get my house organized this summer?  Dang, today was a whole lot of nuthin'

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

We're all together again...

Remember that song?  We're all together again, we're here, we're here!  We're all together again, we're here, we're here.... etc.... For our immediate & extended families that's the song we seem to be singing all summer long.  In fact, King Turd says that he can't figure out why my family even has a family reunion..... we're going to see each other in the grocery store on Monday, anyhow! 

This past weekend we just went to a 'Pig-Out' at my BIL & SIL's house.  Last year two of my BILs got together & built this HUGE cooker on wheels.  It has big industrial size propane burners for cooking potatoes & beans & such.  Then behind that is a propane grill to cook smaller meats & veggies.  AND THEN BEHIND THAT is a huge smoker/grill that you can cook a whole pig in.  I have to tell you these boys (there are 5 in my husband's family) know how to cook.  YUMMY!  There was enough food for thrashers, at least 3 4'x8' plywood sheets on sawhorses filled, FILLED with salads, breads & jellos & meats & rolls & pickles.  Before that they had snacks and AFTER that they had it filled with desserts!! 

Anyhoot.... where was I?..... oh yeah, family..... Not only did we come (my BIL/husband's side of the family) but my SIL's family came.... both sides.... Her father's family - including, aunts, uncles & cousins AND her mother's family - also including aunts, uncles & cousins.  A gazillion kids!  They get together at least once a month, if not more.  MY family gets together only for bigger holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter) and once during the summer for our Family Reunion.

It amazes me about family.  How at times we can really do without them putting their noses in our business.  Then at other times we can't live without them & are so thankful they're here.  Take this weekend for example.  King Turd went out to start our camper (which he usually does at least once a week when we aren't camping) and it wouldn't start.  So while at the 'Pig-Out' he was talking to his brothers about why it wouldn't start.  They decided that it was the alternator (the thingy that recharges the battery as you use it) and that he could run it down to some auto parts place & have the diagnostics (hooking it up to some machine thingy that tells you what is messing up) checked.  Yep, they were right - it was the alternator.  Long story short.... BIL says bring it over I'll fix it....  THANK YOU FAMILY!!!

This afternoon, my mother is taking my SIL & niece to the airport to catch a plane for a 'girl trip'.  My nephew didn't want to go & decided to stay home.  Well.... this leaves him unsupervised for an hour until my brother gets home from work.  My mother asked that I check up on him & give him a call (we live just around the corner) to check up on him.  He's old enough to be left alone for short periods of time, but she's worried - so I'll call to check.... THANK YOU FAMILY!!!

Around noon today Bigfoot stopped over.... And he pulled his car around towards the back of the house.... He thinks he blew a head gasket or cracked the head (the gasket thingy is like a seal between the top of the engine - the head - and the middle part of the engine - the block)  So he asked if I could give him a ride to & from work.... THANK YOU FAMILY!!!

It's strange to watch how other families interact.  How things that are 'normal' to our family are not the same to others & vice versa.  Recently I attended a funeral & the oldest daughter did not attend.  Her father & siblings were fine with it.... She didn't want to come up with her young children in tow (she has 9) and she didn't want to leave them there.  It was odd to me.... but 'normal' to their family.... To each his own.... everyone supports (or doesn't support) family members in their own way..... THANK YOU FAMILY!!!

What are you doing this summer that will make you sing 'We're all together again, we're here, we're here......?

Bye! Love you! Have a good day, Dear!

The To-Do List

I have been working like a mad woman cleaning the living room.  It smelled doggy.... Ewwww!  I knew I wanted to steam clean the carpet & the couch.  That's why I've been MIA.  So, I've been busy... I've been focused... I've been sooooo exhausted by the end of the day! 

Here's my problem.  I get distracted.  I know that while I'm working on one thing, the rest of the house is going to hell in a handbasket!  Big Time!  I had a HUGE stack of dishes in the sink (King Turd's pet peeve is dirty dishes).  I've got a huge pile mountain of laundry to do.  I have odd pieces of living room furniture all over the place.  The kitchen table is piled high.  Not to mention all of the other places that were piled high before!  It's so out of control.  What was I saying?.... Oh yeah, the distracted thing.... well anyway... I know myself well enough that if I don't purposely focus on something I'll get distracted & it will never get completely finished.  So I'm bound and determined to finish the living room.  I told King Turd that the rest of the house was trashed (I really don't think he knew the meaning of trashed) and that the dishes were most definitely NOT done.  And he said don't worry about it because he knew I'd been working my butt off on the living room.

I made myself a list so I wouldn't forget to do something.  It had 14 things on it.... not including cleaning the carpet or the couch.  Tomorrow will be day 4 and I have 5 things left to do... almost 4.... but I forgot to dust the other side of this framey thing I have and I don't want to forget to do it so I didn't cross it off the list.  I'm going to try to clean/organize the rest of my house this way this summer.  If I stay focused on 1 room at a time & complete it fully I think I'll get more accomplished than running around & putting out fires all over the place.

What do you think?  How do you clean?  By room? By task?  By mess?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!