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

I Did It!*

Yes, there is an asterisk for my completion.  Remember that flaky friend I told you about?  Yeah, he's still flakey and now the weather is literally flaking on us too.  We were all set to pick up the wood from him so Messy Dad could do the projects I needed to finish up the bathroom, and we woke up to snow, everywhere.  Oh well.  Keep calm, carry on.


Without further adieu, I present to you, my Master Bath and Closet:

Look at that clean and pretty counter top.  That, is a thing of beauty right there.

This is where the asterick starts to come into play.  The plain and barren wall on the right was supposed to have a wood carving on it.  Eh, I'll update it should our flaky friend ever deiced to be such a, well, flake.

Oops, left a brush out on the counter.  At least it's just a brush.  Vast improvement from my before shots.

This a a cool score I found at TJ Maxx  for $16.99.  They were actually decorative bowls that I altered to hang on the wall.

And now, let's go in the closet (hmmm... that didn't sound quite right):

TADA!  Look at all that room to grow!  AND, three of those baskets are empty!  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

I had no idea what to do with all those piles of clothes I had on the shelves before.  And then I found an awesome deal at Miachels in the clearance area.  These trunks were originally $30 each.  I picked them up for $9.99!  Problem solved.  I added the little chalkboards.  So easy, anyone can do it.  A little spray paint and ribbon is all it takes.

This was previously all piles of clothes and a laundry basket filled with junk.

This was a bonus I found in my closet.  Had no clue there was a painted and assembled hat rack in there.  Now to find those baseball hats of mine.

Alright, January is now in the books.  It's time to break down all the costs for this month.  Really, wasn't too bad.

Bathroom:

$83.71  TJ Maxx-  2 Leaves on the wall, 1 DKNY Towel, 2 vases on vanity, 1 silver vase on window, 1 red bowl on toilet, 1 vase on counter, 1 wicker basket on counter.

$4.00  Goodwill- 6 Frames  (3 still need to be hung), 1 organizing basket for hairbands.

$8.50  Home Depot- Primer, Metallic Spray Paint

Bathroom Total:  $96.21

Master Closet:

$49.76  Walmart-   2 Wicker Baskets, 3 striped fabric totes, 3 orange spice fabric totes.

$59.94  Miachels- 6 Green storage trunks.

Grand Total:  $119.88

I will gladly spend $120 any day to be able to get dressed and showered each day in a nice, clean bathroom.  Now I turn my head and see Messy Kids room right on the other side of the bathroom door.  Ugh, I'm going to start all over again.  But I have big plans for that room.  I'm probably going to spend a lot more money and time in there, but it is badly needed.

I've decided, after I finish Messy Kids room, I am treating myself to a Kindle .  I've always wanted one, and I think it will be a well deserved treat.

The End Is In Sight

At least for January.  I'm dying to post the bathroom pics, but because of a flaky friend, we haven't been able to get the wood promised in order for Messy Dad to make the couple of projects I need.  But I have to say, taking a shower in a clean an organized bathroom each day is WONDERFUL... of course, then there's reality again once I step out of the bathroom and into Messy Kid's room.

I have also found a new love.  I love, love, love, my Cricut.  I got it for Christmas, but had no clue how to use it and no clue what to do with it.  I finally begged Messy Kid's teacher to task me with a project so I could start figuring this thing out.  I tell you, the angels started singing.. it's so much fun.  My Mother says she has created a monster by getting it for me.  I'm pretty sure she is right.  I have now bought the Gypsy, I booked myself to take a class and I have 11 cartridges at home 7 more free with the Gypsy and 3 more in the mail.  Oh the things I plan to do with this thing in the months to come (insert evil laugh).

Oh, and this whole closet thing.. I don't hate it nearly as much as I thought I would.  Who knew a closet organization could be fun?  I was able to score an awesome deal on some storage trunks at Michael's (speaking of, this is the THE PERFECT time of year to get great deals on storage containers.  They've been in the store for almost a month now, so it's time to clear them out and mark them down).

I'm really getting excited to start Messy Kid's room.  I've got all her new bedding, a few decor items, a million ideas and the desire to get it done!

I am pretty sure this is the longest I have stuck it out with a New Years Resolution.

February is going to be awesome!

Until Next Time,
Messy Mom

A Whole Lot Of Nothing

Four boxes, four friggin boxes that I have moved to 2 different homes in the past 7 years that I did not need to move.  Remember those boxes from yesterday that were all labeled "Master Bathroom"?  Turns out, they were filled with old, half used and some leaky toiletries.  Both times we moved that was 2 trips to the moving van that didn't have to happen.  Let's face it, the fewer trips to and from the moving van, the better.

Now I'm going to have to make a trip to the dump.. yeah, just what I was looking forward to doing.  I want to puke each time I think about having to endure the smell at the dump.

Until Next Time,
Messy Mom