And the first award goes to…
My friend Shanti, who regales us with her Adventures in Paradise. I could go on and on about how cool she is – she’s petite and in the Navy and she so totally ROCKS! And she’s a knitter, too. Check out these pictures of just one day on the job with her.
Shanti may now sport this very lovely button on her blog and award it to 5 other Rockin’ Girl Bloggers as she sees fit.
Well, today is the day. I wanted to give away a brand new Over the Shoulder Baby Holder, complete with instructional video. It was supposed to be in the recycled Sonlight box over there. So I went to get it this morning…not in there. I have 3 of these slings, all brand new, left over from when I had an internet store, which I had to close when we moved to Korea. I swear they were in that box. So now I have no idea where they are and no real hopes of finding them before the end of the week. I guess that means no bloggy give-away here today. Maybe when I do find them, I’ll give them away at another time.
For this week’s Corner of My Home, I attacked the dresser in the master bedroom. In it’s current condition, our bedroom is far from the calming sanctuary that it should be. It’s more of a utility room – we sleep and get dressed in this room, we don’t spend any real time in there. For that reason, I think it’s easier to set things down “just for now” and never return to them. For other rooms in the house, I can clean them up easier as I go about the day. The kitchen and dining room get straightened while Boo and Pumpkin Girl are doing school. Cleaning up the living room is one of their chores. But the bedroom is w-a-y upstairs and I can never find time to get in there alone. If you have little children, you know what I mean.  But this is what I was looking at every day:
One thing that I have noticed in reclaiming these Corners of my Home, is that it isn’t really that hard or time consuming. As long as I focus on just one small area, I can get it done. If I was to start on a mission to tackle the whole room at once, I would be easily overwhelmed and it would never get done. But just the dresser area – that’s easy! The whole thing took only about 30 minutes and I even dusted.
Again, I really worked at putting things away, not just moving them to another area of the house. Most of the stuff I’ve been finding in our bedroom doesn’t even belong there. It’s just been there so long that I’ve kind of forgotten about it. It really is just a matter of making the time and getting to it.
Oh, and let me show you my new best friend:
I bought this Rubbermaid tote a couple of weeks ago and it’s been in use constantly. I fill it up with all the things that belong somewhere else, usually on a different floor than I’m on. When it’s full or I’m done straightening up, off we go to empty it around the house. Before, I would pile items on the floor and of course, those piles were always falling over. Or the children would come by and get into them. Or I would need to stop cleaning up and go read Harry Potter make dinner, without having the time to take care of those things. The bin holds all the stuff in one place until I can get back to it, it’s easy to carry and it’s big enough not to ignore. That last one’s very important!
So are you ready to see my newly de-cluttered dresser?
(Sorry for the funny angle.) All cleaned off and dusted!
Right next to the dresser in the “before” picture is this crate full of junk and a moving box full of books. The crate was emptied, and the books were loaded in. They are all toddler books for Bip, who shares the room with us. He can choose a bedtime book (or 4) from the crate and they don’t clutter up the place.
I found an unused candle plate and corralled up my perfumes. I’m kind of partial to the Philosophy brand, especially Pure Grace.
And look! Nothing in front of the dresser!
Once again…
Before:
After:
If you missed it, be sure to check out all my hard work on the Corners of My Home.
So I have been totally obsessing over our Disney Cruise. I bought this totally cool travel guide. If you’re planning a Disney trip of any kind, you need one of these Passporters. Trust me. I splurged and got the deluxe version because it comes with a rich Corinthian leather binder so you can add and subtract pages as needed. And a pen, lets not forget about the pen. I’ve only had mine for 4 days and already it’s filled with sticky flags to indicate that Some Important Point is made on a page. In about a week, though, they will be completely useless because all the pages with have flags. You would not believe how much information there is in the Passporter. Or out on the internet, for that matter. I have found three different forums where crazed Disney fans can plan their trips, report on their trip, help others plan their trips and dream about going on another Disney trip. I fit right in.
Meanwhile, Bip has added “Mickey” to his 35 word vocabulary.
Boo and Pumpkin Girl, on the other hand, have not been playing quietly while Mama plans their wonderful vacation. With a total lack of parental supervision those little hooligans have been getting themselves in trouble. I won’t go into detail, but let me just say that they have lost their movie/TV privileges for two nights in a row.
Let’s not talk about the Ramen noodles I scorched while researching travel bags.
And of course, there’s the passport drama. We don’t actually need passports for this cruise, but without them, we will need certified birth certificates. Who wants to fold and refold birth certificates for proof of identity all day? Boo, Pumpkin and I all have valid passports. Philip’s is expired and Bip doesn’t have one. So next week, we’re going down to the local passport acceptance office and get that all squared away. But we’re going to have them expedited and implore the aid of the Saint of Government Bureaucracy so we get them in time. Because even though we can use Bip’s birth certificate if we really have to, Philip doesn’t have one. He wasn’t born in the US or to US citizens. Of course, his parents are citizens now, and he and his brothers gained their citizenship with them. But I don’t want to even think about trying to present whatever birth certificate he has plus his naturalization papers. Cuz that won’t hold up the line or anything. So we really need his passport.
Bip took the world’s worst passport photo. I would share it, but it’s his full face and I’m all about internet safety. The poor boy lost his mind when he needed to stand on the chair to take his picture. The lady was very patient and just kept taking pictures until she got one that works. He’s crying and there’s a big ol’ tear rolling down his cheek. But he’s looking straight ahead, and that’s all that counts. I say we just let him travel on Becca’s passport. What are the chances that anyone will notice that the baby in the passport is supposed to be almost 4 and Bip will only be 2 1/2? Better not risk it, I’m having a hard enough time getting into heaven as it is.
So that’s what I’ve been doing lately. But I need to go now and check up on the Disney boards. Who knows what invaluable information has been posted in the last hour since I was there last.
Are you planning a Disney trip (Disneyland, DisneyWorld or Cruise)? Check out these helpful forums:
The Dis Discussion Boards
HouseMouseMagic
The Passporter (travel guide) Community
Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting a carnival of blog contests. How cool is that? I’ll be participating, I’ve even got the prize picked out, now I’ve just got to find it. Last I saw it, it was in a box in some Corner of My Home. Don’t worry, it’s brand new, it’s great and if you can’t use it, it makes a fabulous gift. So make sure you come back here on July 23rd to find out what I’m giving away. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, blah blah blah. All you’ll have to do is leave a comment -but not yet!- and I’ll put your name in a hat or bowl or the crab cage and let one of my children draw out the winner.
If you have a blog, you can participate, too. You just need something to give away. Click on the dog graphic for more information.
Little Boys are…
funny
crazy
sometimes helpful
sometimes not
usually playful
always huggable,
lovable,
cute
Well, at least according to Marie at Striving to Bring Light and Truth to the World Around Me. She has awarded me the Rockin’ Girl Blogger Award for inspiring her with all the decluttering I’ve been doing lately! Thanks, Marie. Now I get this cool badge for my sidebar AND I get to award it to five other bloggers.
I think I’m going to be like Sandy and not award them all at once. Instead I’ll be on the lookout for blogs and posts that just so totally rock dude that they need an award. Who knows, maybe it’ll be you?
Our Top Reasons to Homeschool
10. Great student teacher ratio.
9. No school shootings
8. Cleaning out the refrigerator can double as chemistry lab.
7. You don’t have to wear shoes!
6. If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you’re having a PTA meeting.
5. The teacher gets to kiss the principal in the faculty lounge and no one gossips.
4. You don’t have to fix lunch in the morning.
3. Children will be better adjusted if they don’t learn social skills from the street gangs.
2. No need for a pass to be in the halls or the restroom.
And the number one reason to homeschool is…
You get to go on a Disney Cruise right in the middle of the “school year!”
That’s right, folks. My in-laws are taking our family on a 7 day Disney Cruise to the Caribbean in early December. We are all so excited that we can barely contain ourselves. I just glance at my husband and he says, “Disney Cruise!” which sets me off on a happy dance. No, I won’t show you and yes, I’ll try not to hurt myself.
I see one of those expensive, custom-fit Land’s End swimsuits in my future. And since we’ll have just celebrated our 15th anniversary the week before the cruise, perhaps Philip will be surprising me with the fresh-water pearl necklace with Mickey Mouse pendant for our formal dinner night.
So if I seem more highly distractable than usual, you’ll know why. I’m busy planning our vacation…
“When in doubt, pile it in the bedroom.”
Isn’t that everyone’s idea of organization? It’s not? What are you saying exactly? That maybe that’s the reason just one corner of our bedroom looked like this…
Lovely.
An extra end table piled with books and children’s winter clothes.
And isn’t the window just a vision with it’s white mini blinds?
With a little love, the corner now looks like this:
The extra end table is gone, the books are put away, the winter clothes either went into the giving-away box or were packed away for cooler days. I left only the books and magazines that I’m currently reading on the bottom shelf. I moved the diaper pails (one for dipes, one for covers) into the space, which cleared up a different corner of the room.
And behold!
Curtains!
Wait till you see what’s crammed into the rest of the room! But as I always say, that’s a post for another time.
So did you hear what happened in Washington, DC on the 4th of July?
Our weather forecast was for scattered thunderstorms, but that itself was not cause for worry. It’s pretty much the forecast everyday during the summer, but it certainly doesn’t rain everyday. The day looked pretty decent in the morning. We hung up our flag, the kids rode their bikes, all was well. I made pasta salad for the party we’d being going to later. After lunch I put Bip down for a nap, Philip took Boo and Pumpkin Girl to the Freedom Fest on base. I snuck away from Bip and came downstairs. I happened to glance at our computer…ok, I was checking my email…and I saw that our Weather Channel alert button was blinking. Not good.
Turns out we were under a tornado watch until 10 pm! I checked the radar and it was clear, but still. I am terrified by tornadoes. I don’t like knowing that a day holds the potential for deadly destruction. I worry all day. Then the sky darkens with the approaching storm and my stomach gets in knots. The severe weather alert signals start sounding and I’m glued to the tv, watching the Super Cell of Death approaching. I watch the sky for signs it’s about to puke. I try to figure out where in my hastily built, WWII era, basement-less house I’m supposed to hide. Children? I have children? Sorry, it’s every coward for themselves.
I tend to panic during tornado watches. Tornado warnings? Let’s not go there.
By the time I met up with Philip and the children at our friends’ house, the sky had darkened and the radar was showing a couple of big red storm cells heading our way.
The other adults at the party were a little less concerned than I was, but were still monitoring the weather radio. By now a tornado warning had been issued for a county north of us and an even larger, angrier storm was coming at us.
By 5pm we decided to start grilling while we still had a grill before the storm arrived so that the kids (15 of them) could eat outside. By 5:45 a tornado warning had been issued for the country directly to the west of us, for a storm heading…East! And now the National Mall was being evacuated for the storms.
Evacuated – as in run for your lives, Big Killer Storm on the Way! OK, it was a little more orderly than that. Park police in golf carts telling people who’d staked their prime firework viewing spot hours ago to pack it up and move it out. People were put into 21 surrounding buildings to wait out the storm. They were anticipating letting people back on to the Mall by 7:30, if we weren’t all swept away to Oz, and have the fireworks display as scheduled.
As for me, I was quite anxious. Being around other, calmer adults helped. Listening to them tell their tornado horror stories didn’t help at all. Two different people separately suggested that perhaps I’d feel better with an amaretto slush.
Since everyone at the party was Catholic, we prayed a decade of the Rosary.
And then the approaching storm just sort of fell apart. It passed just north of us, hitting the abandoned Mall, but it was much smaller and we got only a few drops of rain. I’m telling you, prayers worked.
The rest of the evening passed without drama. We had a wonderful view of the fireworks from a grassy spot along the river, just 2 blocks from our house. We listened to the simulcast music on the radio and ooh and ahhed appropriately. The storm brought cooler temperatures and bit of a breeze. We returned to the party for round 3 of desserts and finally came home and put the kids to bed much too late.
Another Fourth of July not to be forgotten. I’m hoping next year will be far less stressful.
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