(no subject)
Ah, a spare moment for updateness.
So much going on domestically, it's rather insane.
First, the household binder is fabulous. Absolutely awesome. I really do need to rely on to-do lists to keep the house clean, and the binder is amazing for that. Some of the highlights are that I've vacuumed our bedroom once a week each of the last 3 weeks, and we've kept the stairs clean as well. The house is cleaner and nicer looking in general. I also have the calendar for Nick's school in there, and party invitations and reminders about round-up etc. It's not the most complete thing in the world, but I have high hopes for it.
I've got a list of pages to add to the binder that I need to create, and hopefully I will have time for that soon.
Princess and I had discussed moving and buying or building a "green" house, but we're not willing to suffer the $50,000 hit the house took when the market collapsed. Seeing as we're effectively stuck here, I proposed a plan for rearranging the house to use our space more efficiently. We're too spread out across the house right now, and there's too much going up and down stairs.
Basically we would be moving all of our living area to the main floor of the house, using the bedroom as a bedrooms (rather than as a playroom and a study as they currently are) and using the living room for our main living space, rather than the basement.
With our new plan, the upstairs nook (currently the craft area) would house the rabbit, and the main room would have my craft stuff and Nick's playroom, and the basement would house the computers (except a home theatre PC and a laptop) and a lab/lego building area for Princess.
Unfortunately, creating more living space is going to cut down on our storage space, so we're going to have to have to do a massive purge of stuff. One thing we decided is that we will sell the vast majority of my books and switch to an ereader. Now taking recommendations for the best e-reader out there. ^_^
We're also going to have to eliminate a LOT of clothing. I have to get rid of clothes and books, two of my favorite things to hoard. It's not really going to be fun. But I know that I need to do it.
On the clothing side, I am one of those people who keeps things I never wear and I keep like 5 pairs of jeans in 3 sizes (4, 6, 8) because my weight fluctuates so much. I also did not used to have such a good handle on the laundry, though. Now that I am dedicated to doing the laundry twice a week, I can get rid of a lot of extraneous clothes and pair down to more versatile pieces that I wear all the time. Once again, I'm really NOT excited about this, but I realize it will help simplify my living, and I'll hopefully like it more in the long run.
As for books, that will be even harder. I don't know how I'm gonna part with some of them. I like when I open up a Star Wars novel and I see my name and phone number scrawled in there in my 5th grade penmanship. I love picking up a paperback and walking around the house with it, dragging it from room to room and treating it rather carelessly. But of course, books are just things, and I should be able to let them go. We are going to keep one small bookshelf for my books that I cannot part with. Nick will also have a bookshelf in his room and I don't really plan on getting rid of many of his books.
Husband also has some things to get rid of like old car parts and cardboard boxes. But really, I'm the packrat of the family. Well, Nick is too, but he's 4 and I feel that excuses him.
So much going on domestically, it's rather insane.
First, the household binder is fabulous. Absolutely awesome. I really do need to rely on to-do lists to keep the house clean, and the binder is amazing for that. Some of the highlights are that I've vacuumed our bedroom once a week each of the last 3 weeks, and we've kept the stairs clean as well. The house is cleaner and nicer looking in general. I also have the calendar for Nick's school in there, and party invitations and reminders about round-up etc. It's not the most complete thing in the world, but I have high hopes for it.
I've got a list of pages to add to the binder that I need to create, and hopefully I will have time for that soon.
Princess and I had discussed moving and buying or building a "green" house, but we're not willing to suffer the $50,000 hit the house took when the market collapsed. Seeing as we're effectively stuck here, I proposed a plan for rearranging the house to use our space more efficiently. We're too spread out across the house right now, and there's too much going up and down stairs.
Basically we would be moving all of our living area to the main floor of the house, using the bedroom as a bedrooms (rather than as a playroom and a study as they currently are) and using the living room for our main living space, rather than the basement.
With our new plan, the upstairs nook (currently the craft area) would house the rabbit, and the main room would have my craft stuff and Nick's playroom, and the basement would house the computers (except a home theatre PC and a laptop) and a lab/lego building area for Princess.
Unfortunately, creating more living space is going to cut down on our storage space, so we're going to have to have to do a massive purge of stuff. One thing we decided is that we will sell the vast majority of my books and switch to an ereader. Now taking recommendations for the best e-reader out there. ^_^
We're also going to have to eliminate a LOT of clothing. I have to get rid of clothes and books, two of my favorite things to hoard. It's not really going to be fun. But I know that I need to do it.
On the clothing side, I am one of those people who keeps things I never wear and I keep like 5 pairs of jeans in 3 sizes (4, 6, 8) because my weight fluctuates so much. I also did not used to have such a good handle on the laundry, though. Now that I am dedicated to doing the laundry twice a week, I can get rid of a lot of extraneous clothes and pair down to more versatile pieces that I wear all the time. Once again, I'm really NOT excited about this, but I realize it will help simplify my living, and I'll hopefully like it more in the long run.
As for books, that will be even harder. I don't know how I'm gonna part with some of them. I like when I open up a Star Wars novel and I see my name and phone number scrawled in there in my 5th grade penmanship. I love picking up a paperback and walking around the house with it, dragging it from room to room and treating it rather carelessly. But of course, books are just things, and I should be able to let them go. We are going to keep one small bookshelf for my books that I cannot part with. Nick will also have a bookshelf in his room and I don't really plan on getting rid of many of his books.
Husband also has some things to get rid of like old car parts and cardboard boxes. But really, I'm the packrat of the family. Well, Nick is too, but he's 4 and I feel that excuses him.