Day #5: Getting Organized Challenge {Under the Kitchen Sink}

Alrighty, Day #5.  If you want to see some awesome organization ideas, go back to that link right there, because she has some great organizers!  Unfortunately, we can't screw anything into our cabinet drawers (including toddler proofing locks, yikes!), so my change isn't anything very dramatic.  I keep a few cleaning supplies in there, but for the most part, my vinegar and dishwasher detergent always lives there as well as my trashcan... annd... that's about it.  Besides the fact that Anni could get in there if she wanted (she used to be obsessed with it in our last apartment), our last apartment had a leaking issue, so we stopped keeping much of anything under the sink just by habit. 

For the most part, everything just needed a good scrubbing, especially the cabinet itself and the trash can.  Kind of embarrassing, but it's just not an area of priority,  so I'm lucky it was on this list so I could take care of it.  There was some clutter behind everything, a couple of bins from Anni's hospital stay that we don't use anymore and the bag that the trash bags were in.  I ditched all of that, gave everything a good scrub (there are a lot of marks that won't come out, but it's clean) and oi-la!  Under my sink is complete.

We actually did do some other organizing throughout the apartment today.  Hubby had a snow day (the highway up the mountain was actually closed part of the morning!), so in between work, we cleaned, sorted, set up some cubbies that had been waiting for us and vacuumed the whole apartment.  I love a clean place, I feel like it's just a little easier to breathe (plus, what mom/wife doesn't feel just a little better about herself with a clean house?). 

Again, head back over to A bowl full of lemons for some really great tips on organizing this space for yourself!

Just a little bit of everything...

Lest you think I am spending all my time on the organization challenge, be assured, I'm not naturally organized enough to spend  more than a few minutes a day cleaning out and then a fewish minutes once Anni is in bed dealing with it all.

Soon after we got home from our jaunt to Wichita, Anni realized she was kind of sick of having only mommy, and proceeded to cry great big, toddler screams as she lunged at the door when Daddy left for work.  Mommy is no substitute for Daddy, because Daddy makes up for the time he missed while we were gone by being full of energy and generally hilarious, something Mommy isn't the best at in these days of fatigue and general blah-ness.  Thank goodness for Daddy! 

She later imitated the laundry basket races with her baby... she thinks it's hilarious to see herself having fun on video!  (As she said, "'gain!  'gain!" as in, play it again!)

There was bed jumping that I couldn't watch for the most part; my heart nearly stopped every time she stepped even remotely close to the edge.

We had some friends over (and skipped a day of organizing for a day of frenzied scrubbing and cleaning of all of the places visitors could see).

Nonna came over, too, which was good, because Anni had been requesting various family members with fervor since we left.  (It tends to go something like this, "Tinie?  Tinie?  Uncle Tinie?  Dimmy!!  HI DIMMY!  Gramma?  Taweeeeeeee.  Nonna?  Papa?)  Since Nonna and Papa actually live nearby, she got some good cuddle time in with them both.  When she wouldn't eat dinner, brush her teeth or lie still to put jammies on?  Nonna was able to get her to do all of the above (and do them well)!  It was all very impressive.  I need some of the extra grandma sweetness she saves for her Nonna and Gramma!

And when my sweet friend Sarah came over to do crafty things and discuss art and beauty, Anni pulled out the cuddling again.  I've been surprised at how willing she was this week to go to people other than Daniel and I (like I said, just a wee sick of momma I think, until today, today she was thrilled with me again).

Oh!  And I guess we've officially entered into Lent at this point, but we celebrated Mardis Gras with a homemade pizza and some fun snacks.  Anni and Daniel were going to hang out with some friends ("Don Paul!  Don Paul!" was the name shouted throughout the house all day today.), but unfortunately, "Don Paul" wasn't feeling very well, so we had to drown that sorrow in making pizza.  Anni was quite adept at cheese sprinkling, and I slowly worked off the coat and boots she had had on in preparation for her play date without too much sadness.

Onto Lent!  I'm actually pretty excited for it, I think there's a sense of freedom in relearning self-control in areas that are difficult.  Happy Day, friends!

Day #4: Getting Organized Challenge {The Linen Closet}

Okay, so I've mentioned I live in an apartment right?  So, the term, "linen closet" in this challenge will be a little misleading in what you see.  Anni's sheets etc are kept her own little closet, so the few things we have are here.  Except, we have some blankets out in the storage closet, etc, etc... you get the idea, right?  Linens, cleaning supplies, maybe my husbands poker chips...  You can see what it mostly looked like before - as you can see by the green sheets on the ground, Anni decided she was going to help empty everything out. 

I'm not sure if it's obvious by the pictures, but it really is much cleaner, things have their place and that was the goal.  Despite the fact that it will leave us without the "two extra sets" rule, I decided to donate the black sheets.  They're nice and soft, and I bought them on a whim as extras right before or after Anni was born, but then realized that they show everything.  Lint, spilled milk (I used to pump a lot in bed), they just always looked dirty, even when they were perfectly clean.  The other extras are a bit worn, but they'll do until we can replace them.  I even kept the set for the air mattress that is now gone, but if my brother lives with us this summer, we'll have to replace that (nothing but the finest for you, brother, dear).  The sheet piles are a bit clunky, because I stuffed them into their pillowcases so they aren't as easily pulled down and apart by an adorable little toddler I know, but I like them nice and contained.  I think maybe I should add a little yellow bin for all those miscellany things you see on the second shelf.

Whew, okay... sorry, my OCD kicked in and I to go do it and then prove that I had done it.  Yep.

 I realized as I cleaned that I had a ton of cleaning products... some of which I use and some I've been phasing out.  I decided to keep them all for now (I'm not sure what the proper way to dispose of some of these is) and kept the ones I use more on the lower shelf for easy access and the others a little more out of reach.  Keep in mind, I'm doing this challenge on an almost zilch budget.  Because we're going to Ireland, there's just not extra money elsewhere for cute organizing.  I bought a few bins at the beginning at Big Lots, but that's probably going to be it, so I'm sure you can manage much cuter things if you try!  (Speaking of which, those cleaning cloths would look so lovely in a little cloth basket... someday.)  

There you go.  Day 4: dominated.  (Can I say... this was way my least favorite.  I hate cleaning randomness, and this closet is a whole lot of that!)

Day #3: Getting Organized Challenge {The Messy Tupperware Cabinets}

Alrighty, getting to the organizing stuff in just a moment.  But first, thank you for all your understanding and sweetness.  I'm thankful for all of you!

And... on to organizing.

Day three's challenge wasn't too bad, really.  It was to organize that tupperware cabinet... and lucky for me, I haven't accumulated that much plastic ware during our marriage.  Here's the before:

Mostly, it's just a mess.  The tupperware really only takes up half the cabinet, but there wouldn't be room for anymore, thank you little apartment kitchen :).  It's never going to stay perfect, because my sweet 21 month old loves to help in the kitchen, or bring them to her little kitchen to "cook" with.  If it makes her happy and keeps her involved, I'm all for it.  That being said, it was time to restack and re-organize.  There were a few pieces in there and we don't use a lot, so we set those aside to donate. (I'm saying we, but I was really the only one working on this.  My hubby has dish duty, so we was plugging away at those.)  And the after - all stacked and ready to go.  And yes, the bowls did multiply, as I said, my hubby was working away at the dishes.   Oh, and nothing was said in the challenge about keeping Nugget's magnetic letters off the ground... so, just focus on the lack of clutter okay?  Focus :).  

PS Can we ignore that there are canned tomatoes and other possibly embarrassing things stored in the background?  I promise we're working our way away from them... we've found a great alternative in Pomi, but I'm still weeding out the cans and trying to find a steady supply of the other. 

Sometimes... I don't know what I want

After another run-around on my tests (I'm always having to remind people where they need to send these things, for some reason), I talked to my doctor today.  He told me I had had some kind of an infection which caused the hormones and that I shouldn't need medicine.  He'd see me in two months.

um... okay?

See, at this point, I was disappointed.  While it's great that it shouldn't be a long term thing, what about all those symptoms I was attributing to the thyroid issue?  The relief I felt that maybe I'd feel better than I ever had?  Kind of dashed some hopes there.  I mean, when I go back, there could still be an issue, but it could also mean that the anxiety, depression, fatigue, weight gain, etc etc were all just that.  Their own issues that I need to figure out from square one.  I think I was most disappointed that I couldn't solve all of my problems in one disease.   I think I was a little disappointed that the specialist didn't take a moment to say "and if you still feel like ... poo... we should look into this further" or explain things.  Yes, I should have been my own advocate and asked more questions, but I get a little stunned and over polite when I talk to people who are smarter than me that hold my medical records.  My mom, being the dear, sweet, super smart nurse that she is, spent pieces of her day researching for me and coming up with a little nugget that often they still treat the symptoms until the virus is all cleared up.  She told me I could/should call back and figure some of these things out, and she's probably right (my mom usually is, she's good like that), but I'm not sure if I have the guts yet.  Maybe I'll just start feeling better?  I'm seeing fruit, dance parties and a whole lot of cleaning in my future to try to bully myself into a better attitude.  Anyway, this is a whole lot of rambling, but I figured I could say it, and you could read it if you want. 

and if you skip ahead to the cute picture, I don't mind one bit.  Sometimes I do it, too.