Spring Breeeeeak!

So it's Spring Break for our little household.  And while it won't be a week full of bikini clad beach bunnies, booze, sex and drugs (oh drat...) it will be a week of fun.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  Okay, so maybe not at all.  I have not one, but two dentist appointments this week.  Painting to do.  Seeds to start indoors.  A guinea pig cage to clean.  Whatever the next project on Project: Simplify is.  A bathroom to scrub.  A house to clean.  And maybe a trip to Buffalo with both kids in tow and a hockey game to attend.  That's honestly going to depend on how we feel.  Which right now, is still pretty awful.

But I'm planning a delicious Irish inspired meal for Thursday.  And Saturday is our annual St. Patrick's day celebration, which will consist of good food (Corned beef and Cabbage, Guinness Cake), plenty of beer, whiskey and Irish cream, and of course, good friends.  That's the part I most look forward to actually.

So yeah, while a trip down South, where it's warm and sunny, might be really nice...all I can say is not this year, but that's all right.  John and I, plus the kids, will do what we always do, and that's just create our own good time and make the best out of any situation.

Project Simplify, week 1...DONE

Ok, so I totally failed to post yesterday.  I blame it on Lush and laundry.  We folded about 6 loads of laundry last night, and then since my Lush order arrived yesterday, I could not resist the urge to take a Phoenix bubble bath instead of posting.  Oh it was so nice though.  I've been out of Lush bath stuff since October!

So my post yesterday was supposed to be the confession that I failed to do my Project: Simplify Week 1 assignment properly.  Don't get me wrong, I did it, and I'm satisfied...but I didn't exactly follow the rules.

Before

I didn't throw much away.  I didn't give much away.  The biggest problem I have with my closet is that it's filled with clothes I want to wear but am not comfortable in yet.  And tossing them out was still not something I was ready to do, for two reasons.  The first reason is that it felt like a waste of money.  Clothes I have only worn once or twice for silly reasons...I didn't like the idea.  But the main reason, and perhaps a folly, is that many of those clothes are just things I'm one size too big to wear.  Throwing them out is like admitting defeat, like I'll never lose that one size.  I know I can do it, it's just been difficult right now.

Maybe that's what everyone says.  But I'm not some size 12 woman aiming to get back into my High School size 6.  I'm a size 20 trying to get into my 18's again.  Maybe that is just as foolish, and I'm deluding myself, but I'm just not ready to give.

So this was my plan.  I took out all the clothes I like, but couldn't wear.  (And maybe I should explain...all of these things FIT.  But not in the way I want them to fit.)  threw away a few things that were in terrible shape, or things I knew for sure I never wanted to wear.  But the rest, I took in the basement.  I will keep them down there for a year.  If, after a year, I do not fit them, I will concede, and give them away.  Not exactly what you are supposed to do, I know, but that's the solution I'm happy with.

After

For the rest of the closet, I stopped using as a junk pile and filing cabinet.  I went through the drawers (which are next to the closet, though you can't see it in the picture), throwing away stuff we didn't wear, torn socks and underwear.  I got rid of anything in excess, particularly John's 200 white undershirts that I don't think he wears.  I think I saved 10, though even that seemed like too many.  I got rid of a bunch of tank tops I wear under stuff, as well as a few pairs of PJ shirts that I never wear as well.

The bins are all divided, my underwear, my socks, my bras, and other unmentionables.  I cleared out all the stuff that was there just because it was a good storage area, and put up a bunch of books that we are currently using.  Also put the blankets in the basement.  Is it bad I'm hoping Basement isn't going to be on the list in the next few weeks?

I might move my knitting supplies to the closet- I have 4 canvas bins, a plastic drawer for my needles and a bag for the yarn and supplies I am using at the moment.  Actually, I wish I could move a desk into our room and organize that into a "work" space, although that's dangerous, being married to the unorganized professor.  I'd soon find the space brimming over with papers, and books, on top of all my crafty stuff.  So maybe not a good idea.

I think it looks pretty good- pretty simple.  I had removed the closet doors because I hate sliding doors.  I might consider putting a curtain up that matches my bedroom window curtains.  Or maybe I'll keep it as is, and enjoy the clean look it has.  Now if I could just finish the other side of the room (the side with my crafts and books!)

Sleep...not a musical.

It should be against the law for everyone in the house to be sick.  All of us have some sort of cough/head cold thing going, though Lilia is the one closest to getting better.  I felt decent most of the day, though the headache, cough and sore throat still stuck around.

As I started this, I heard a very loud crash, and a child scream.  Liam fell out of bed again, so I rushed up and comforted him.  As he dozed back to sleep, I watched how he fell asleep, sort of in awe, as I don't see him sleep very often.  My kids were really never ones to fall asleep wherever, it's almost always in a bed, or a car seat.  Once they got past that newborn stage, they hardly ever fell asleep on me, unless nursing.  It got me thinking.

My kids are polar opposite when it comes to sleep.  Lilia hoards books and toys in bed with her.  She has since we first moved her into her toddler bed.  It's almost unbelievable that anyone could sleep in her bed- she has so many books, and so many various toys in her bed.  And removing them doesn't help, since she'll just put them back as soon as you leave.

Liam, on the other hand, doesn't want anything in his bed with him.  He has a pillow, and his blankets, and if you put anything in bed with him, he throws it out.  For awhile, he had his plush Rintoo, but even that got thrown out.  I bought a cute Thomas the Train pillow/plush, and he won't take that.  The only toy he wants is a little choo-choo ring (which he throws down as soon as the light goes off) and his soother.  I don't even hear that very often anymore.  In fact, when I turn it on before I leave his room, he turns it off.

He also sleeps in the cutest position.  On his back, with both hand behind his head.  Lilia...she sleeps wrapped in blankets in whatever position seems to meet her fancy.  I have found her curled into a little ball, sleeping  upright in the corner of the little sofa in her room.

I find it amusing because John and I are also pretty polar opposite.  He sleeps on his side, with tons of pillows, like a rock.  I toss and turn, wrapped in as much blanket as possible and as light as a feather.  (Well, at least most of the night.  By morning, I'm the one sleeping like a rock.)  I guess I'll always be fascinated by the way the kids are like us without us actually doing anything to make them like us.

Wordless Wednesday

Project: Simplify: Week 1

I've been a little quiet lately.  Both kids had coughs, and I have had the joy of a TMJ flare up which has sent me to my knees in pain.  Not fun, let me tell you.  And to top off that, the germ machines made sure that I didn't walk out unscathed.  I'm now hacking a lung every two minutes.  But hey, super mom doesn't stop, so why should I?

So Simple Mom has issued the first challenge this week in her 5 week attempt to de-clutter and organize our homes.  It's actually a simple one, sort of.  The Closet/wardrobe.  This will be easy for me on one hand, since I just did a good chunk of it in the Fall.  It's will also be hard because I have a hard time letting go of a lot of clothes.  I have a good amount of "not quite a good fit stuff" that I want to keep but need to lose weight to get into.  Last year at this time, I would've had the confidence to say I'll get down to the right size, but this year has been hard, and I don't have that confidence.  I've been yelling at myself for 4 weeks now to start Phase 1 of South Beach.

There's also the problem of my "10 favorite items" being ratty, ripped, full of holes and well...better off in the trash.  But they are so comfortable!!  I really do need to invest in new clothes, but it's hard to give up those "favorites".  (And I think that's another problem, getting rid of stuff just to go out and buy more!)

But I will give it a try this week.  If anything, it'll get rid of a bunch of socks and underwear that have holes in them.  That's never a bad thing.  And besides, maybe now I can actually give you pictures of the work I did in the bedroom so long ago!

Geeky updates

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Wordless Wednesday