The Laundry Situation: Part 3

Seriously?  Part 3?  Apparently my desire for a household with a Utopian laundry situation is never going to become reality.  I did, however briefly get completely caught up on laundry!  I packed the back of my SUV to the top with every scrap of laundry I could find and marched my butt right on down to the local laundry mat.  I'm still waiting for the thank you letter from the the owner.  I sure I put a good dent in his children's college fund or vacation fund.  I had an entire wall of dryers going at one point.  I was so proud.... but the folding and sorting part, not so fun.  It took me nearly three freaking hours to fold and sort all that stuff.  A massage or a big fat margarita was in order after all that.  I wound up settling for running a bazillion errands and changing linens on everyone bed.  Somehow that turn out to be quite the reward I thought it would be.

Of course this begs to ask... what in the world freaking happened to have a laundry situation, AGAIN so soon after having everything under control.  Snow... lots and lots and lots of snow.  So much snow that we were without power for the better part of a week... and what happens in a weeks time?  Every last towel and sheet in the house manages to find its way to becoming filthy dirty between wiping down floors, drying off freezing cold kids after a romp in the snow or hand washing the dishes.  But no, it doesn't stop there, that would be too easy.  You see I have those typical type of kids who LOVE the snow, but only for short bursts of time.  After all, snow is cold (I was completely shocked when they informed me of this phenomenon).  This means, 5-6 wardrobe changes a day. 

We finally got power on again last night (thank you baby Jesus).  What's the very first thing I did?  LAUNDRY!... and dishes and vacuumed the wood floors and turned the heater on full blast and .... OK, you get the point.  As we speak, load # 6 of the day is currently in the wash.  I would say I safely have another 6 loads to go, maybe more. 

But the fun isn't over yet folks!  An even bigger storm is set to hit us come Thursday and stick around through the weekend.  Fingers crossed that we keep the power on this time.  But because I know better, I plan to keep doing laundry until it inevitably goes out again.

As for Messy Kid's room, *sigh*  I am falling more and more behind.  I am DYING to make her headboard.  I have the fabric and the upholstery buttons are on order.  I just need to get the wood, the foam and the batting... and hope that there's power over the weekend so Messy Dad can do the heavy lifting.

One last thing.. gotta give credit where credit is due.  That uber cute picture at the top can be found at this website here.  I am such a sucker for wall decals.  It's a wonder I don't have any...........yet (insert evil laugh).

Stay warm!

Until Next Time,
Messy Mom

Anatomy Of A Do-Over aka: Plan B

I can't exactly call this a fail.  I was well on my way to executing this month's room (Messy Kid's Big Girl Room).  I was quite proud of the progress in fact.... and then, it happened.... $1500 car repair bill. 
Note to self:  Listen to the Dealership in the future when they recommend you use factory parts and a specific oil when you change your oil.  Lesson Learned.

Now, while that was a big hit, especially since we decided to pay cash, it wasn't going to totally put a halt to this months decor budget.  But new carpet was certainly off the negotiating table at this point.  However, little did we know, budget wasn't going to be our only issue for the month, no, not by a long shot.  We got a phone call a little over a week ago.  Messy Dad's Mom has cancer, this we knew.  But what we weren't expecting was to find out that she now has less than 2 months.  She lives about 600 miles away and Messy Dad is planning on bringing her up to our house to live with us for her remaining time.

At the moment, I'm not sure what room she is going to stay in.  Little Miss Messy's room would be be best, but mother-In-Law is quite particular about things and I have a feeling that she is going to insist on being in Messy Kid's room.

I have some awesome (at least I think they are) DIY projects coming up for her room.  I'm going to do an upholstered headboard, I found a cool use for egg cartons, I took a cricut class that will HOPEFULLY result in a painted project for her room, some woodworking cut outs for the wall and who knows what else.

Still with me so far?  Let's recap... Car Repairs = Sucky Checking Account Balance.  Cancer = Just Plain Sucks.

BUT.. I'm still not giving up.  Granted, my coveted kindle that I promised myself this month is kaput.  But I will carry on.  Messy Kid's room is now going to be a 2 month make-over project.  I wanted to start the kitchen next month.  But I need to be realistic with Messy Kid and her room really is key to having a smooth start to the day.

Don't give up on me just yet... this is sure to be a bumpy ride for the next few months.  But we will get through it.  I will have an organized house. I will, I will, I will.

Keep Calm, Carry On.

Until Next Time,
Messy Mom

The Laundry Situation, Part 2.

Remember last month when I said I had this brilliant idea about doing 1 load of laundry a day?  I believe I even said something along the lines of "it's only 1 load, anyone can do 1 load."  I was so proud of myself, thought I was the greatest thing since liposuction.  I made a liar out of myself.  It went great for the first week or two.... and then I completely fell behind, followed by kids with the *stomach flu* (you catch my drift here, right?)  I now have more laundry than ever.  Don't believe me?  Take a look for yourself:

I have decided to make the executive decision, exercise my right to utilize my veto powers in the house, gather everything up and head out to the local laundromat.  I figure I can get it all done in one shot and THEN I will do my (as promised) 1 load a day.... and pretend that I am awesome and on the ball with laundry. 

Since we are on the topic of laundry, I found some awesome laundry bags for only $5 each.  I figure I could get 1 for towels and 1 for whites (the loads I have to do most often and need to keep completely under control).  This way they're already sorted for me and as soon as the basket is full, I'll know it's time to do that load.  BRILLIANT!

Wish me "loads" of luck.

Until Next Time,

Messy Mom

Mission #2

I can't believe January is already over.  I thought life was going to slow down a bit after the holidays. 
Right about now, I'm wishing things were a little more like the holidays.  It has been crazy busy around here.  It's already time to start prepping my garden and get my seedlings started, yet I am nowhere ready to even begin thinking about it.

I think this months mission is going to be fun, and well deserved.  I'm redoing Messy Kid's room.  We've lived here for about a year and a half and the poor kid hasn't had her room decorated since we moved in.  At our old house, she had the coolest room.  But alas, age 6 is knocking on the door and it's time for her Big Girl Room.

Big plans are in store this month.  You see, I don't know how to sew.  But I do own a sewing machine.  And I have tasked myself with replacing her window coverings.  Now, this can either go well and I save myself a ton of cash.  Or, (most likely) there will be a lot of swearing involved and I wind up buying something after many hours and lots of agony invested.  Let's be optimistic and shoot for the best.

Now it's time for the ugly truth:

Yup, that's my beloved child's room.  It is by far the messiest room in the house.  I can't blame 

her.  It's 95% my doing.  For whatever reason, her room has become the catch all.  But no more.  

She deserves better than this and I will prove it to her with my actions.

Can't even get to her closet.  Such a shame.

There's that wandering vaccume cleaner.  It really does have

a home.  I'll make sure it gets there this month.

Believe it or not.. this is a picture of her bed.  It's drowning under all the junk.

Messy Dad made that doll house.  It's very beautiful.  And what do I do?  I make it look like it's

ready for a trip to the dump.  It looks like a real heap.

What's on tap for this month?  A complete overhaul of her room.  I'm hoping I can get it all done before the month is up.  She's getting new bedding, window treatments, lighting, rugs, accessories, wall decor, the works!  I am also going to organize and sort all of her toys so she might actually be able to play with some of them.

Until Next Time,

Messy Mom