Let there be light!



Disco anyone? 

Probably one of the last features of the room I should be concerned with...but one that will take some real thought. I read somewhere that a successful lighting scheme, one that meets practical needs and creates atmosphere, plays an important part in establishing the style and character of a room. On the practical side, the right lighting provides illumination for day-to-day tasks. Decorative lighting helps to create an atmosphere, and should complement your color scheme and furnishings. Since I'm right in the middle of selecting a color scheme and creating some furnishings, lighting is something I'm only window shopping for at the moment. Trying to find just the right fixture to inspire the mood for the room and one that will compliment all of the other details that are swimming around in my head is going to be difficult. Not unlike my hunt for an area rug, the choices for lighting appear to be endless!!!

I stumbled upon a few beauties while perusing the web recently. I've often longed for a chandelier in my dining space... not a traditional one dripping with glass crystals draped from ornate brass arms embellished with strings and strings of beading. Just a simple one to add a vibe of girly sophistication. These styles bring together 2 elements I'm drawn to...chandelier and drum shaped shade. Decisions decisions decisions...

black?

 



too contemporary?



white fabric shade + dust =
potentially more to have to
keep up with in my cleaning efforts!





Watching Paint Dry...



Original 'Hooker Red' Colored Wall

Literally....watching paint dry. Because my great plans to complete the behemoth were thwarted over the weekend by Old Man Winter, I moved on to other items on my list. I had found the desire to paint (that NEVER happens) and since I could not do it outside I moved inside. Currently the the dining room is a lovely shade of 'hooker red' (thank you hubby for such a 'colorful' description). Although I had always longed for a sophisticated red dining room with lots of stark white moldings (and got that wish with this house) I didn't find the room to be inspiring enough to do anything more than cross through it on my way to the kitchen.  I have been finding the red walls to be a bit of a distraction in my efforts to envision a bright inviting room. Since I was inspired to paint I thought it might be beneficial to prime over one of the walls so I'd be working from a semi-blank canvas.

Primed Wall



OK - so that didn't really help and I ran out of time to finish even one wall before life and family came a calling. No matter. The intention was just to take the bold red out of my immediate vision so I could consider alternative color options for the room. Plus...I really wasn't planning on wasting time priming the entire room since two great friends have now informed me of the wondrous covering powers possessed by The Home Depots' BEHR Premium Plus Ultra® paint. It is is the only #1 rated paint and primer-in-one...at least that's what they say on their website.

 

Onto the next element in the room...one that doesn't involve paint. The floor. Presently the room has beautiful satin finished wood floors in mint condition meagerly covered by a hand-me-down oriental area rug. One rug in desperate need of a good cleanse and move to another location with less foot traffic. I've been on a mission to find a nice rug to ground my dining room since as far back as that perfectly colored cranberry coverlet that once so elegantly graced the cover of my bed...yes, remember the one that didn't survive the minor 'house fire' mentioned in an earlier blog (and yes...for those of you wondering I was able to find a more than suitable replacement at Pottery Barn outlet shortly after moving into my present abode 3 years ago). I've spent countless hours perusing discount websites (my favs www.overstock.com, www.ebay.com, www.craigslist.com), pillaging through discount stores (my favs Tuesday Morning, Big Lots, Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross and the like) and also making a few uninspired trips to Goodwill and the local Habitat Restore. I've found a few looks I'm drawn to but having difficulty making a choice. I struggle with the ability to pull a room together which usually results in random purchases or acquisitions of odd and end pieces that are never united into a finished space. Those items are usually exiled to the attic or garage only to be forgotten about until we run out of storage space forcing me to purge. This time there shall be no purchase without knowing precisely what role it will play in my finished space. With that said, I'm giving a preview of those rugs that have made the cut so far. This rug decision MUST coincide with my drapery fabric selection and final wall color so it is an important one to make in a short amount of time....what a busy few weeks to go...



Shall I do bold pattern simple color....simple pattern, bold color?



How about a floral with LOTS of color?



Not even sure how to categorize these; contemporary, psychedelic,  wild???

There are many things to consider when choosing an area rug. The first of which is what size is appropriate for the space you are looking to fill. One rule of thumb is that you should allow 18-36" from edges of rug to wall to create a pleasant border space so the rug doesn't over or underwhelm the room. For a dining room you should also consider the shape of  any furniture that may be on top. In my case the room itself is approximately 13" x 11" and the behemoth that will soon become my 'table' is a rectangle. For this space I will be selecting a rug that is rectangle in shape no larger than 8'x10' and no smaller than 7'x9'.

Second thing to consider is the material of the rug you are considering. All materials will require different levels of care so it is important to take note of how much time and effort you can put into caring for a rug before making a purchase. I have learned that handmade and/or wool rugs may need more delicate handling than a machine-made synthetic rugs....some even requiring a shake to clean and special spot treatment for stains. Knowing I haven't much time for anything beyond work and childcare at this stage of my life I'm looking for little to no care requirements outside of a quick run of the vacuum. There isn't much that gets 'delicate' handling with 3 kid ages 5 and under running around this house! 

Hoping for a flash of inspiration to help make this decision easier than it seems at present...stay tuned.  Until next time...

After a long…VERY LONG…work week I started the next stages of the behemoth project on Friday night with what I hoped would be a quick trip to Lowe’s. After 3 children I should have learned there is no such thing as a ‘quick trip’ anywhere…while I’m at this spot in the story I think the following must be said:

I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC APOLOGY TO THE PEOPLE OF MOCKSVILLE, NC WHO WITNESSED THE PERFORMANCE OF MY LOVELY 2 YEAR OLD AT LOWE’S HOME IMPROVEMENTS ON FRIDAY NIGHT.

What is it in the mind of a 2 year old that causes tantrums of magnificent proportion at the most inopportune times while in a public place for absolutely no reason at all???

Friday night, armed with a slab of the behemoth and an idea in my mind, I visited the paint counter where a not so talkative and extremely busy looking (although I was the only one at the counter) Lowe’s employee looked upon me with annoyed eyes and greeted me with a very hesitant ‘May I help you?’ Maybe it had something to do with the fact I had ‘The Interrogator’ draped over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes or the fact that my own husband had the other two crazies corralled into a shopping buggy and he, himself, was trying to get away from me. I was on a mission and nothing, not even a screeching flailing 2 year old, was going to stop me! I showed him my slab in the hopes that he would inform me no stripping, no sanding and no prepping would be necessary and I could just stain away ‘til the cows come home. I did learn the behemoth is made of solid oak (explains why it was heavy enough to cause a hernia) and that is only has 1 thin coat of stain at present with no sealer or polyurethane on top. With a bit of surface cleaning and maybe a light sanding with the Mouse Sander I’d be in business. I selected a water based Minwax stain in a color called ‘Green Tee’. It was a very subtle earthy green I thought would be a great neutral in the dining room. Mix her up and ready to go…but wait…here we go again with yet another meltdown by ‘The Interrogator’. This time I broke out the camera to video her in action. This little angel from birthday picture not 24 hours earlier...remember the one with the tutu and hair bows...she had now evolved into the devil right before my (and everyone else in the store) eyes!  My husband tells me this is called 'exploiting my children'.  I call it future evidence and blackmail for those dreaded teenage years. Just as soon as I can figure out how to edit the size of that video and get it off of my Blackberry you shall bear witness to the incident for yourself.

Left Side: Untouched
Right Side: Green Tea colored
Minwax waterbased stain over
lightly sanded surface



Saturday came…hubby off to work weekend tax hours and I’m home with the little monsters watching them destroy my house in slow motion. During these hours on Saturdays I find it to be wasted energy to even try something productive around the house so I use this time to think about my master plan for the dining room while making sure ‘Swiper’ doesn’t swipe and ingest something toxic and ‘Destructo’ doesn’t create the next great disaster of epic proportion in any room of our house. I end up spending most of my day dodging the never ending inquiries from ‘The Interrogator’ who feels the need to know the meaning behind each and every breath, blink, sign and movement I have through out the day. That evening I broke out the ‘green tea’ colored stain. In the can it is eerily reminiscent of a pair of  fluorescent green socks and matching scrunchie I once had in the 80's. I employed 2 slabs of the behemoth; one lightly sanded and the other wiped clean to see which would have the best reaction to the new stain. With a few brush strokes of the new green stain I quickly knew I didn’t LOVE this color. It rivals the color of green grass in the spring after a nice soaking rain. Pretty in a picture but not on a piece of furniture.  Definitely not the subtle neutral green color I was going for. There goes the first $10 spent  wasted on this project and my master plan to make quick work of the beast….ahhh…but I DO have a plan B. One I had hoped to not need. Although I LOVE painting I hate the prep work that goes into doing it the right way. I’ve spent a great amount of time searching on the Internet for the finish I was going for and found exactly what I was looking for. By the looks of it Plan B is going to take much longer than a weekend to complete.



Inspiration for the finished product



This morning I had great intentions of priming the entire beast and continuing to hunt down details of the green beauty within (need to find out just what color paints were used so I make mine an exact replica) but alas Old Man Winter just cannot let it go. It's a balmy 36 degrees now and according to the directions of use on my Kilz Primer can I should only use the product when the air temperature is between 50-90 degrees...FOILED AGAIN! Not making excuses this time...actually trying to follow directions ...proof is below. I guess that works because now I'm forced to actually do the real prep work I loathe. Here I come Mouse Sander and Vinegar (remember...a great surface cleaner). I shall prepare the beast for what will soon be several rounds of intense paint sessions.

Working on the beast during the week likely won’t happen until after tax season so I'm left to my weekends only. That's ok...as I dig more into the details of the forthcoming paint project I can focus on a few other details that require no initial physical/manual labor. Flooring and Lighting next on the list....  My goal for this entire dining room redo project is completion by April 16. Lofty right? Time is a ticking...I’ll keep you updated with each step forward. Until next time…

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Short post for today because I've got more important business to handle this evening...and as my sister pointed out today my posts are WAY too long for the average person to stay focused on...I've added that to the list of things to work on.  Today is the 'Interrogators' 2nd birthday and I'm off to "Old McDonalds" (that would be the home of Ronald McDonald for those of you unfamiliar with the world in the mind of children) followed by an intimate cake and ice cream ceremony at home. I'll share the transformation of the birthday girl just out of bed (looking eerily like a Nick Nolte mug shot) into the beautiful birthday princess...she picked the outfit out herself...what a little DIVA! 





Must be the hair???



Transformation Complete!



Meet the 'Behemoth'



Meet the 'Behemoth'



BEHEMOTH : something of monstrous size, power, or appearance…I can’t think of a better name for the monstrosity that has taken up residence inside of the garage in the place where my car usually resides. There are two sides to our garage: mine and his. When not parked in the garage our vehicles are subjected to the perils of mother nature…rain, snow, sleet, hail, pollen, bird crap…you name it and it is likely to have fallen on my own car sometime in the past year. Just since the behemoth came home, I know of at least 3 birds who are using my car as their personal toilet! Somehow I think the intentional placement of the beast on my side of the garage is hubby’s way of forcing me to address the problem I have with bringing home strays. Not strays in the typical sense, you see, this stray is one heck of a brainchild that came to me during inspired moment recently.

Back up to where this behemoth originated….About a year ago a local department store in a mall closed its doors and offered up their floor displays (you know…the ones with dress shirts and sweaters) to anyone with a truck large enough to tote them off. A few fellow coworkers made the pilgrimage to the mall, confiscated those displays they thought could be of use in our line of work and away they went. I’m still not quite positive how they got them loaded onto the rented flat bed truck but do recall it taking a forklift to get them unloaded into the warehouse located on the backside of our offices at the time.

Over the last year our employer, not unlike many in these tough economic times, had several rounds of lay offs resulting in very few staff left in a far too oversized office. Just recently the decision was made to downsize to a smaller place…a smaller place without the advantage of a warehouse for storage. As we packed up the office those humongous displays loomed over us begging for a decision to stay or go. Knowing we had no room to house them, we unloaded as much as we could to a local used office supply company deciding to donate the last standing soldier they wouldn’t take to whatever organization was willing to come pick it up. Over the course of a few days as we talked about contacting our local Habitat store my thoughts kept circling back to that lonely display and what I could possibly find to do with it. I just couldn’t bear the thought of it ending up being treated as salvage goods with the potential to be demolished down to spare parts. I made the decision to bring it home and repurpose it into something grand. Logistics and planning aside this baby was mine. I announced this plan to a friend who made arrangements to have it loaded onto his truck (with a forklift mind you) and delivered to my house. I eyeballed it thinking it wasn’t that big and surely would be a quick and easy move into whatever spot it would soon lovingly call home. I arrived home to find it parked inside of our garage in my spot.

Later that same week I was thinking the time had come to begin a rework on my dining room. I suddenly had that ‘flash of inspiration’ I’d been waiting for when bringing the beast home to my garage…the behemoth would become my new dining room table. I’ve long searched for the perfect table for that room never finding anything that I loved enough to spend money on or time on to repurpose. Remember, this is the must have separate dining room that gets used about twice a year for it’s named purpose…the rest of the time it serves as the kids toy box and our dump and run room…you’ve all got one of those, right? That room where everything gets dropped off never to make it to the proper destination. It’s like an out in the open junk drawer that you cannot close and hide.  This beast would soon be transformed into the envy of the neighborhood because not only would it make a great dining table but a multi-purpose one as well. This thing was large enough and functional enough to transform my dining room into a clean mean storage machine for all things toy, dining and/or office related.



Sliding divided drawer
in position



Sliding divided drawer
out position

First course of action was to slide it into the center of the garage so I might get my car in. Parking in the garage is important this time of year, especially with 3 kids, being that there are threats of violent thunderstorms and tornados on a weekly basis. I made the first attempt all by myself and pulled every muscle from my neck to my ankles. I waited a few days to heal up and then employed hubby to help. Surely the two of us could at least slide the beast over just enough to make some extra room. With a few grunts and groans from me and multiple expletives from hubby the beast didn’t budge. Ok…I have the solution….lets remove the cubbies that slide in and out like drawers to lighten the load and THEN it will slide with ease. Drawer # 1-4 out in a flash…Drawer 5-8 too low to the ground to get my screwdriver under and release so looks like we’re going to have to find a way to raise the beast up. By this time I could see the annoyance written all over hubby’s face. ”Lets lift from the bottom…. On the count of three…One, two, threeeeeee”…OH LORD!!!  I think hubby just busted a blood vessel in his head from straining…OH CRAP!!!…I just re-injured the same muscles previously strained during my solitary attempt to move this dang thing…don’t let it show, don’t let it show….wince, wince, wince…suck it up…tough it out….don’t cry, don’t cry…. Had I shown the least bit of defeat or pain on my face it would have been all over then and there…hubby would have called in forces to remove and destroy what he had deemed ‘the HUNK-O-JUNK’. Now what??? Ahhh…I have a jack in my car for those flat tire occasions…never used it myself but it’s there and I’m sure we can figure it out…we…wait, where did hubby disappear to? Oh well, I’ve got work to be done and the beast will NOT defeat me today. After approximately 1 hour of maneuvering that jack under the beast and getting it up off the ground high enough to remove drawer 6 & 7 it occurred to me that if we were having this much trouble lifting this thing with most of the drawers removed how the heck were we going to get it up the deck stairs and down the length of the house through the French doors (because those are the only ones wide enough for this thing to fit through) and into the dining room…and CRAP…was our floor even supported enough to handle the weight of this thing??? Yes…the things I should have thought of BEFORE having this brought to my house and into my garage where it might never leave….





And that, my friends, is where this story typically ends. You see…normally you would be able to visit me a year from now and find the behemoth in exactly the same spot it was delivered to a few weeks back  Never fear though…You would quickly be advised the project is on that mythical list of things I plan to do when I find time. I began working through the actual logistics earlier this week so I could formulate a plan by the weekend. Those logistics began with a few quick measurements which helped me determine if the fella will actually fit in the room…thank GOODNESS it will…I’d have never heard the end of it. I’ve even started looking at paint colors to try and give it a little character. Eventually I will need to make a top for it so it can actually serve as a table with storage beneath…then find chairs high enough to sit in and eat or learn to build risers for my current chairs, then those chairs would need to be covered…oh, and don’t forget new curtains and that rug (still #76 on the list)…all of this is making me tired which is exactly what typically happens when I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

The biggest part of this blog process for me is finishing precisely these sorts of projects one at a time before being distracted into starting something else. Publicly vowing to see this through is a great starting point. I’ll post a progress report by the end of the weekend.  Wish me luck. Until next time….

Special Request: Regression - Digression

This posting is an absolute regression on my part - a digression on the part of the one who made the request of me today on my drive home from work as it has absolutely nothing to do with the intention of this blog but possibly everything to do with how I arrived at this place in my life. Laying the groundwork for the relationship I have with my husband was something this person felt needed to be done so you get a good picture of the man I married...or as she put it...the man who married me. You see, I married the most wonderful, caring, loving, generous best friend a person could ever hope for in one lifetime. He's been the greatest partner and most wonderful father anyone could imagine. How'd I find him you may ask??? Cliff notes...blind date I wasn't aware I was on, a few too many adult beverages during a time in my life when I considered myself to be a bit too much of a free spirit and BAM...away we went...marriage, home ownership, babies and all the fun that goes along with building a life with the person you love. You see, for anyone who has known me at any stage in this life and not yet had the privilege of meeting this wonderful man I can tell you he is NOT what anyone would have pictured me with. I say this with confidence since it's been told to me before by long time friends who know me good and bad. He is extremely conservative and reserved, somewhat shy and awkward in social situations, not much of a talker, a maniacal planner..so much so that he even scheduled the shopping date for my engagement ring with written notice in his day planner ..he also made a note on the day he was picking the ring up and dared to leave said planner out in broad sight...well, sort of in broad sight...ok, so it was closed and YES I was being nosey. Our list of differences is so long that soon after marriage I realized we are the epitome of polar opposites...and that is what makes this so much fun.

Now that I've given a glimpse of him I'll share this story...the one that for some reason is still stuck in the mind of one longtime faithful friend so much so that she told me to put it in writing because by the time my children were old enough to appreciate the story I'd be too damned old to remember it. I've told it many times over the years so forgive me for those of you who have heard it so many times it bores you to tears...I'll tell you who you can blame at a later date since she too, will become a character in this blog of life. With that said here goes...

During our first year of wedded bliss we became home owners and there begins the journey to the never ending list of hobbies and projects. We'd lived in our house through spring, summer and fall and then winter was upon us. I'd spent the better part of those first months of home ownership making that house our home. Painting, Decorating, Furniture and all of the other elements I hoped would make my house magazine ready. During our engagement and through these first few months of marriage I set my sights on starting my master bedroom decorating foundation with a cranberry colored quilt. I searched high and low for just the right color quilt only to be fortunate enough to score one during a random trip to Tuesday Morning. Quilt and pillow shams to match. I carried my treasure home, laundered it and immediately dressed the bed. It was BEAUTIFUL and just the perfect shade of red to set off the rest of the room. Curtains were custom made, paint shade picked out to compliment and a full bedroom suit to round out the finished product. All built around that perfect quilt I was so fortunate to stumble upon.

That year Old Man Winter brought with him several bouts of snow and ice which resulted in several rounds of lost power at our house. Most of the time it was just a few hours but on one bitter cold evening we arrived home from a full day of work only to find the power had been out all day. This immediately set hubby on a downward spiral towards 'Angry Man Land'. Rather than stew about it at the house we decided to go out for diner and hoped the power would be back on by the time we returned. As fate would have it we returned to a completely cold and dark house...not only that but with a quick cell phone call to the local power company we learned the power would not be back on for at least 72 hours. I think hubby was so discombobulated by that point he had to just walk away. He headed upstairs for the bathroom (one too many chicken wings) telling me not to get carried away with the lighting of the candles around the house. I decided to stay in the bedroom and focus on our comfort for the night. In our bedroom alone I think we were in the neighborhood of 12 different styles of candle, 3 of which were on my bedside table and those are the 3 I lit first. After those were lit it occurred to me that I too needed to visit the potty...rather than take the long way around the bed to the bathroom I decided to dive over the bed for a more direct route. As I dove my foot must have caught the corner of that beautiful cranberry quilt that had so elegantly graced the surface of our king sized bed without me noticing.  I went about my business only to return moments later to see my side of the bed engulfed in flames. Remember, hubby at this time was off to angry angry land in the upstairs bathroom and I knew this would just send him over the edge. All I could think to do was 'Stop-Drop-Roll'...and there the madness began. I dove on the flames not realizing I, myself, was wearing an extremely flammable fleece pull over which instantaneously caught fire as well. Flailing about like a fish I had absolutely no regard for my own safety but was much more concerned with the stroke hubby was going to have if he actually saw this madness taking place. As the flames were extinguished (yes...that stop, drop and roll deal really does work) I stood up only to see a plume of smoke overhead. At this point I had been the fastest and quietest woman on fire you could imagine. I had already pulled the coverlet off the surface of the bed and crammed it under the bed, stripped myself of that burned fleece cramming it under the bed as well and covered the burned holes in the carpet from the hot embers that got loose so there would be no evidence of what had just taken place...and now...that plume of smoke was moving faster than I and headed straight towards the smoke detectors that had, up until this point, not made a peep. The only thing close to me I could use in hopes of dispersing that smoke was a pillow. I sped over to the smoke detectors, pillow in hand waiving it around like a crazy person but it was too late.  I quickly learned that once one smoke detector was set off in our house it caused a chain reaction and every single detector in the house, including the one directly outside of the bathroom door upstairs, where hubby had been hunkered down for quite some time now. Over the screeching of the alarms I heard a thunder rolling down the stairs and could only envision my sweet hubby having a heart attack and falling down the stairs to his doom...he didn't fall, he actually ran fearing the worst only to find me still flailing about like an idiot trying to get the smoke away from the detector so the noise would just stop. I hadn't even had time to come up with a good cover up yet and he starts in on me... 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN HERE'...I was genuinely scared for the man as he is a bit melodramatic when it comes to minor 'incidents' around the house...he very quickly took stock of the room and put the pieces together himself (one minor detail I forgot in my haste to hide the evidence...I left all those damned candles burning not thinking once to blow even one of them out). The next statement from his mouth was (sans most of the expletives) 'YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF THE DOG'...I, in all of my own drama, was already on the verge of tears and the mere thought of that poor creature probably huddled in a corner or under a bed somewhere literally scared to death was more than I could handle. My response was 'Don't say that, it's just mean and I didn't mean to do it'...to which he replied...'NO, YOU LITERALLY SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF THE DOG...HE SHIT RIGHT ON THE FLOOR BESIDE ME THE MINUTE THE ALARMS STARTED GOING OFF AND I"M NOT CLEANING IT UP!!'. To this day that dog still isn't right and cowers at any noise above a whisper...and hubby; well let’s just say I'd be willing to bet he's got the fire chief on speed dial.

So, the two of us...polar opposites. He: A diligent planner who gets bent out of shape when things don't go according to plan. He: A list maker who actually checks things off of his list when they are completed. He: the one having to cut holes in the walls to make more storage so we can house all of the supplies I've collected each time I get on a whim. Me: plan, what plan? Me: I have a list around here somewhere it just never seems to make it with me when the time comes to take action. Me: hmmm, today sounds like a good day to paint and make some new curtains but wait, I just saw a picture of a dress I think I can make myself... ohhh, wait...look what I just got on sale and saved a ton of money (I learned that works well when trying to sell an accountant on why I keep spending money)...no matter my son wears a size 5 and the jacket is a size 10...he'll grow into it right???

I'm not real sure what the story above has to do with where I am today but I'm allowing those around me to educate me on myself in hopes I get to the root of why I never seem to be able to stay focused long enough to see things through. I think the request for me to tell the above story was meant to show me how I have a tendency to lose focus on those things that are kind of important...like making sure I don't burn the house down and give my husband a stroke in the process. Until next time....

Where did the time go....

Weekend tally:
1. 14 loads of laundry - 12 of which are hanging in appropriate closets or folded in appropriate dressers, 1 of which is folded in a basket to be put away (here is where most of the laundry usually gets stuck), and 1 of which is presently in the dryer for round 2 (takes about 1 1/2 full drying cycles to get them dried to perfection...yes, I'm desperately in need of a new washer and dryer).
2.  3 loads of dishes and a 4th started this morning before work
3. 4 rounds of vacuuming tackeled but this is a task that never is complete when you have children...and a husband who snacks in every room of the house BUT the kitchen and never notices the Hansel & Grettle like trail of crumbs he leaves everywhere he goes.

Still not yet completed:
1. Bathrooms
2. Windows & baseboards
3.  Kitchen counter tops
4. Delivery of purged items to Goodwill (those are blocking my kitchen walkway intentionally so they'll be toted off...that or they'll just been maneuvered off to the side so we can get in and out like most other obstructions in the kitchen usually are)

As I finally gave my public notice of the great intention to clean the 1st floor of the house in 48 hours alas I can say I've had minimal success...I didn't win this one, not by a long shot...but I had success. Friday was a wash since I spent the time shopping for supplies with great intention of putting them all to good use. Saturday...also a wash since I spent the better part of the day writing and talking about what I was going to do. Saturday evening went to dinner with a group of fabulous women. One of them overheard my ambitious cleanse and purge plans (not having started anything at that point) and pointed out that I appeared to still be...dare I say it...."PROCRASTINATING"...and you know what??? I absolutely was.

Sunday morning came and I attacked with vengence. Before any good cleanse can commence, total destruction has to take place. WOW did I have the perfect crew for that part of the process (refer to those innocent images from Day 1 of this blog) but add a husband in the mix. By 9 AM the entire ground floor of the house was an absolute wreck! So much worse than the day before but this is what happens each year about this time. Between tax season and these darned basketball brackets getting good help isn't easy.  Around 9:15 AM my husband disappeared into the garage where he went to clean his car out....CLEAN HIS CAR OUT!!! Little good that did to touch the disaster on the inside of the house but at least I was one crumb dropper down...only 3 to go. 2 of the 3 actually understood the goal for the day was to clean the house...the 3rd one was too busy eating dog food from the dogs bowl in the kitchen to notice the rest of us (it's all natural food so don't freak out on me...and no, I didn't stop her, only moved the bowl out of reach...sad what happens by the time you get to child#3 isn't it???). Dirt be damned...here I come!

I began this cleaning journey with mop in one hand and vinegar in the other...Not because mopping makes sense as the first course of business, but because 'The Interrogator' had a list of her own. You see, no one advised me that Sunday was 'Commando' day at my house. The Interrogator isn't quite potty trained...ok if we're being honest, she's not trained at all thus we ended up starting the day with the mop. Vinegar, for those of you who aren't familiar, is the cure all for many home cleaning woes (pee on floor ESPECIALLY...dogs, humans no matter). When someone suggested I use it around the house all I could say was 'Why would I use something I eat on a salad on my floors and surfaces'...then I thought why not? I mean if it's good for the body it's got to be good for other things. In my research I learned that vinegars are made from the fermentation of alcohol products, such as red wine, rice wine and apple cider. The finished product is actually an acidic liquid that can be used as everything from a salad dressing to a hard wood cleanser. Stick with the white kind as it has no color thus it cannot stain. It is a GREAT disinfectant and deodorizer for surfaces but DO NOT use on marble or tile with grout. When mixed 1 part water 1 part vinegar you can clean bathtubs & showers, toilet (poor undiluted vinegar in the toilet to get rid of toilet ring). It's also good to get rid of soap scum and hard water stains. I've been told to use vinegar as a fabric softener (haven't tried this one just yet). Its supposed to be great for families with sensitive skin. The instruction for use with laundry is to add ½ cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. The added benefit to laundry use is that vinegar breaks down detergent residue that doesn't always get completely rinsed from clothes before they are dried. Enough about vinegar... today that vinegar was for the pee pool on my kitchen floor and before long it, and the smell, were things of the past.

In our kitchen adventures I learned something valuable. My husband does not know the difference in a nice clean crisp white monogrammed handtowel/wash cloth and a basic nasty kitchen rag! I cannot criticize else risk getting no more help putting the laundry away...he meant well. After arming each participant with a rag of their own we decided to work on the inside of the microwave and then to tackle the dishes. First comes role call: Destructo...check, The Interrogator...check, mom...check... Dad, lost somewhere in the garage....WHERE THE HECK WAS THE BABY??? Ahhh...climbed into the dogs cage and playing quietly...why disturb her...don't give a second thought to what it would look like to an outsider and move on. Open all dishwashers to asses the damage...all full to the gills but not washed...see, we have a septic tank at our house. My husband has a great fear of 'overloading' it by running our appliances all at once so his solution is to just not run them at all.  Actually, I think he has a great fear of water in general...probably stems from the pseudo-flood we had at our prior house in the basement after a hard rain but who knows....this will NOT slow me down. With 2 kids and myself staged to press the 'On' button on the count of 3 here we go....all 3 dishwashers at once...not only that but I threw in a load of laundry to boot. Septic tank be damned!

Now, you're probably asking yourself what the heck does anyone need 3 dishwashers for??? I too ask myself that question everytime I notice we've filled all 3 up and are pulling out dishes on an as needed basis rather than putting them away so we have an empty dishwasher to fill once again. See, when we purchased the house the prior owners put a lot of time and effort into renovating the kitchen into a major showplace. It is actually the reason I fell in love with the house the first time I set foot inside. What they don't tell you about all of these modern conveniences in kitchens with multiple appliances is that it is just more to clean AND, with 3 dishwashers I'm allowed to prolong the inevitable...in my case the inevitable is putting the dishes away. Something tragic must have happened in my childhood that causes me to develop full on physical symptoms just at the thought of cleaning out the dishwasher...it starts with a headache, the sweats and the shakes to the point where I have to sit down just to stabilize myself... my sister suffers from the same affliction....seriously, she does just ask her husband.

12 PM - Out of the kitchen and into the den, where I spent most of the day. It really should be called the 'Family Closet' since it is the home to all of the wayward laundry that never makes it to the appropriate home in the bedroom closets or dressers. Not today my friends...today all laundry has been banished to its appropriate abode! Around 5 PM last night when I was still folding laundry I had a terrible case of dejavu with a cute little pair of pink polka-dot leggings. I felt like I'd folded these leggings recently....  WAIT...I DID just fold these about 30 minutes ago...and the shirts and pajamas beneath them. I finally realized I had been living in a permanent state of 'Groundhog Day' for the last  few hours of my folding adventures (sorry for those of you who haven't seen the movie as that will make absolutely no sense at all). I literally sat and folded the same few loads of laundry multiple times and only realized what had been happening when I got up for a bathroom break taking my time to look back into the room as I exited. What I witnessed was 'The Interrogator' (obsessed with clothes at the age of 2) pillaging through that freshly folded pile of her brothers clothing to find the perfect pieces to play dress up with. I did get a little tickeld when she placed boxer shorts waistband around her head with leg openings facing up and turn herself into the 'Eater Bundy' (phonetic spelling of what she said).  After a good laugh I can check this one off the list....Laundry done - clothes baskets hidden. I have found that if I leave the clothes in the baskets after they're folded they end up being used just like the dishes...on an as needed basis straight from the basket which ultimately results in them never being put away! Solving that problem today by making baskets disappear until the next time they are needed for unloading the dryer.

7 PM Dining Room - otherwise known as the ground floor toy box! The dining room is a room I felt MUST be a separate room in any house I own. I have absolutely no idea why since we may eat in it 2 days out of the entire year but that is beside the point. It serves multiple purposes for us:
1. Toy Room
2. Craft Room
3. Semi-Office
4. Storage -  becuase of it's location just beside the staircase it ends up becoming home for those things we're too darned lazy to carry up the stairs
5. Catch all for those things we just don't know where to put

Toys make up about 90% of the room anymore. Even with my obsession for plastic storage bins (that way everything has a home right??) everything still ends up everywhere!!! With the resurrection of some long stored storage bins (empty ones), a few rolling carts and a LARGE box labeled 'Goodwill' I started in on this disaster. Storage bins make quick work out of this room and next thing you know I can actually see the floor...GROSS!!! What is that on the floor...hmmm...looks like....yes, it is was a banana. Hmm...haven't bought bananas in about a month...EWWWW what is that under the table??? Ahhh...and there's the peel in a state of rigor mortis. Well, at least someone was eating healthy that day but the rug has seen better days. Item# 76 on the 'To-Do' list...find a new rug!

9:30PM - my body can take no more bending and crawling around on the floor so I dive in to the final round of vacuuming. This time it's under the couches, under the cabinets, under the tables and under the couch cushions...advice, if you haven't been there and you have kids and/or a husband who likes to snack on your couches just don't go there!!! I end the evening with a photo of my vacuum treasures.... nail file, 2 Nintendo DS games, 2 socks, 1 fabric coaster, a few army men and dinosaur figurines, a Ziplock snack baggie, a Matchbox car, a piece to a sippy cup, a Bakugan ball and some orange weapon thingie that goes to a Batman something or another belonging to my son...matter of fact, most of these vacuum delights belong to him....  good old Dyson. Takes a lickin and keeps on kickin!!!

I leave you with a photo of what was on my deck this morning when I left the house as this incident will play a large role in future blogs... it is a grill tool set in precisely the same spot it was in late yesterday afternoon when it was actually being used to prepare our dinner....until next time....

A mere 48 hours

Today is the first of what I hope will be many innaugural events that leads to actual state of the 'union' updates ultimately resulting in commencement posts...in other words I'm actually going to try and finish something I start and both teach and learn a little along the way.  I'm moving towards a goal to start and finish those many undone to-do lists, projects, crafts and hobbies for which I've spent countless hours of research on and rediculous amounts of money getting prepared for only to find myself overwhelmed at the thought of actually beginning something I know I won't finish. Those days are over my friends.

Today I  begin the process of tackling the down stairs rooms in my house. That includes the 1/2 bath guests use, the full master bath in my bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room and the den....as well as the piles of laundry I've allowed to get far beyond a manageable amount.  I start this project knowing 48 hours is not enough time to even think about how I'm going to tackle this one. I'm not unlike most familes in America with children...they mess up just as quickly as you clean up. This is why I hope my images of the beast in front of me will not seem foreign to most of you, although they're embarassing the crap out of me but I'm done making excuses about why my house looks like it does. For those of you who have visited my house on one of the better days, be thankful you never had the need to open any closet doors or look under the beds. What you would have witnessed is the sheer and utter horror that is my reality. I share these images for your viewing pleasure and hope that for some, you'll see you're not quite as messy as you once may have thought.

 Now, you should know that I took the day off yesterday from my day job so I could start some projects. That day was spent once again gathering supplies to start my projects. I seem to have found a terrible obsession with cleaning supplies lately.  I have at least 4 full cabinets of supplies; some open, some new and unopened, some so old I don't think they're made anymore and others I think I inherited from a few cleaning ladies I once had the luxury to help me out a little....although it was just once every 3 weeks, that once allowed me to actually enjoy a full day of relaxation in my home without worry of how the toilets looked, how many crumbs were on the floor, how filthy the windows were, when is the last time I changed the sheets, how many more loads of laundry do I have before I see the floor...I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. All of that is in the past and with the current economic conditions all luxury items are off the table around here. Although, I bet if you added up what I've spent on supplies preparing to clean for the last month I could have had those ladies back to clean my house a few times over....don't tell my husband!

So, now you know the goal and you should know the supplies and resources I'll be using:

Destructo

 1.  Unsuspecting 'Destructo'...yep, thats him, that sweet little white haired angel who is presently creating mess# 5 for the day right in the den that was already in need of so much work!!!

The Interrogator

2.  'The Interrogator'...yep, ,that's her without pants and looking oh so innocent. As I snapped this one I had to run from the inevitable barrage of questions that all begin with 'Whats that mom'?

3. A multitude of cleaning products one of which is a homemade surface cleaning solution - 1/4 Cup Liquid Dishwashing Liquid (I use Dawn because it cuts grease), 3/4 Cup Rubbing Alcohol and rest hot water. I used on old Windex spray bottle to mix this solution and it works WONDERS on my granite, marble and ceramic tile.
4. 5 laundry baskets - 1 for each member of the house

5. Hand held steamer, and upright floor steamer mop, and my oh so dependable Dyson vacuum



The Swiper



And of course...look who woke up from her morning nap just in time to help  Looks like I've got a full cleaning crew (or demolition crew....depending on how you look at it) Let the games begin... I'll update this post on Monday once the family has headed out for the work and day care school week. Wish me luck....