I've been thinking about buying something for myself like a new pair of shoes, or a new dress but I just can't decide. What about a new porch light instead! And it's on sale.
October 27, 2009
October 26, 2009
Cleaning up
It is getting dark so soon already, and I'm not ready for it. We had the first hard freeze really early this year too, so it already feels like the beginning of winter. I feel like everything is in shambles and I let it get that way. I've been using my down time to do absolutely nothing. Not even laundry, or putting away the last two load of clothes from the last time I did do laundry. That might have been almost a month ago. I don't know how the time passed so quickly. Really, I do know what happened. It's what happens every year. I'm not home but a few nights a week and when I am home I relish eating real food cooked in the oven or in the stove. I do not feel like cleaning, or even picking up my clutter, doing a load of laundry or breaking down those cardboard boxes that multiply in my dining room.
I really have to get something done though. That is why I need to start the chore-a-day list again. I had one of these when I was a kid and the chores alternated between my sister and me. Funny how those same chores that your mother made you do are equally important in your own home 20 years later.
Sunday: Laundry
Monday: Clean Bathroom
Tuesday: Clean off Dining Table
Wednesday: Clean stove top & sink
Thursday: Water house plants
Friday: Sweep/Vaccum House
Saturday: Sweep/Mop Kitchen & Bathroom
I know it might be a little pathetic to see that I can't even do these chores on a semi-regular basis. And these all have to be things that take only about 20 minutes, because often I don't have much more time that that to tackle something. A lot of days the only time to get this done would be in the ~45 minutes I have between getting home from work and leaving for the theatre and I also need to take the dog for a walk and eat something in that time.
If I could keep this up for a month I would consider myself a success. If I get half of this stuff done two times in a month, I'm still pretty impressed. I had to try kind of hard to come up with 7 different little tasks and maybe things like watering the plants, cleaning the clutter off the dining table and scrubbing the stove top are laughably easy but in my house are rarely done.
Is it a sign of organization, or weakness that I'm putting these as reminders on my Outlook calendar so I remember? One month until status report.
I really have to get something done though. That is why I need to start the chore-a-day list again. I had one of these when I was a kid and the chores alternated between my sister and me. Funny how those same chores that your mother made you do are equally important in your own home 20 years later.
Sunday: Laundry
Monday: Clean Bathroom
Tuesday: Clean off Dining Table
Wednesday: Clean stove top & sink
Thursday: Water house plants
Friday: Sweep/Vaccum House
Saturday: Sweep/Mop Kitchen & Bathroom
I know it might be a little pathetic to see that I can't even do these chores on a semi-regular basis. And these all have to be things that take only about 20 minutes, because often I don't have much more time that that to tackle something. A lot of days the only time to get this done would be in the ~45 minutes I have between getting home from work and leaving for the theatre and I also need to take the dog for a walk and eat something in that time.
If I could keep this up for a month I would consider myself a success. If I get half of this stuff done two times in a month, I'm still pretty impressed. I had to try kind of hard to come up with 7 different little tasks and maybe things like watering the plants, cleaning the clutter off the dining table and scrubbing the stove top are laughably easy but in my house are rarely done.
Is it a sign of organization, or weakness that I'm putting these as reminders on my Outlook calendar so I remember? One month until status report.
October 2, 2009
Colour Trend
It's official, the newest trendy paint color is Down Pipe (farrow & ball). It is the new go-to color for designer rooms, has been used in at least two museums for gallery space, and I like it. I know the official color of the year (according to Pantone) is Mimosa but who wants a room painted that color.
Maybe an accent piece. A chair. A lamp. A dresser. In fact it would be a great accent piece in a room painted with down pipe.
All these fancy colors though just make it harder for me to pick one and paint my rooms.
October 1, 2009
Chaos and clutter
All all the "shelter" magazines are going bust and more people are turning to blogs for ideas and inspiration, it was only a matter of time I guess before an online shelter magazine appeared. Premiering today (OCT 1) Lonny is an all online magazine. Like a magazine it still has advertising and a page based layout. It won't be the same as curling up on the couch or taking a bath while reading the newest issue but I'll take it where I can get it these days. I haven't read the whole thing, in fact I've just barely gotten past the first few pages, but already I hope it sticks around. Maybe it won't be great, but maybe it needs time to find its footing.
I'm going to save the rest of the magazine until I get home and have time (saturday maybe?) to read it full screen on the television. Big!
Speaking of computers and televisions, I had grand plans, I should have been done with building the new media center by now. But alas the old compaq case was to small to fit the motherboard. Did you know that some of the "media center" cases are hundreds of dollars! Ridiculous. My plan is to find a thrift store chase that is the right size and hopefully pay very little for it. The only usable thing from the compaq machine is the case fan which will go into the now 2-year-old "regular" computer. Since I already took everything out of the compaq case, do you think the electronic recyclers would be okay with all the components in a plastic bag then secured back in the case. It just seems silly to screw everything back in. Sadly I've given myself the expansive goal of three weeks to find a new media center case (that's when my copy of Windows 7 should arrive - pre-ordered for almost 60% off) and it would just be a waste to have hundreds of dollars of computing power sitting un-assembled in the living room for want of a metal box to contain it all.
Although it is now fall, officially and weather-wise, and the theatre season has started - I have plans. I don't know what I'll get done, but I have plans. I have plans to clean out the back bedroom; plans to paint the living room, dining room, bedroom (well I guess the whole inside of the house); plans to re-arrange the vegetable garden and plant garlic before the snows come; plans to do some knitting again; plans to do something to my office space (at work, not home). I think that's plenty of plans. I like to plan. I like to think of all the possibilities and put it all together. I like to pick colors and arrange furniture and organize a space. But you wouldn't know it to look at my house. It's cluttered and plain and nothing hangs on the walls. Books are still in boxes and things don't have a home and I live with a person who's idea of cleaning up is to stash everything in a box and toss it in the back bedroom. What will it take for me to change things?
I'm going to save the rest of the magazine until I get home and have time (saturday maybe?) to read it full screen on the television. Big!
Speaking of computers and televisions, I had grand plans, I should have been done with building the new media center by now. But alas the old compaq case was to small to fit the motherboard. Did you know that some of the "media center" cases are hundreds of dollars! Ridiculous. My plan is to find a thrift store chase that is the right size and hopefully pay very little for it. The only usable thing from the compaq machine is the case fan which will go into the now 2-year-old "regular" computer. Since I already took everything out of the compaq case, do you think the electronic recyclers would be okay with all the components in a plastic bag then secured back in the case. It just seems silly to screw everything back in. Sadly I've given myself the expansive goal of three weeks to find a new media center case (that's when my copy of Windows 7 should arrive - pre-ordered for almost 60% off) and it would just be a waste to have hundreds of dollars of computing power sitting un-assembled in the living room for want of a metal box to contain it all.
Although it is now fall, officially and weather-wise, and the theatre season has started - I have plans. I don't know what I'll get done, but I have plans. I have plans to clean out the back bedroom; plans to paint the living room, dining room, bedroom (well I guess the whole inside of the house); plans to re-arrange the vegetable garden and plant garlic before the snows come; plans to do some knitting again; plans to do something to my office space (at work, not home). I think that's plenty of plans. I like to plan. I like to think of all the possibilities and put it all together. I like to pick colors and arrange furniture and organize a space. But you wouldn't know it to look at my house. It's cluttered and plain and nothing hangs on the walls. Books are still in boxes and things don't have a home and I live with a person who's idea of cleaning up is to stash everything in a box and toss it in the back bedroom. What will it take for me to change things?