Taking Charge ~ Summer 2007

....later today!

Two things right now dominating to the exclusion of all others.

1. Getting the minor corrections to my thesis done. I had a little session in the library today (thank you DH, for having DD!) and should be able to get it done this evening whilst DH has a 'meeting' with some colleagues (in the pub!). Then I can get it sent off to my departmental examiner for final approval. Then get it printed, bound, sent back to Warwick. Then it's really, finally, absolutely DONE. It has to be back by 4 July, so no slacking.

2. Moving. Ugh. Less said about that the better. One tiresome little task after another. One enormous bill after another. Still, only a week to go.

Thanks for starting the thread up again Lenora

Zillah

John is at his new job today and so now we are in "adjustment" mode. He won't be home until after 6:30, so I have to make sure to have dinner ready to go when he comes home, and I will miss the extra pair of hands around the house. To be sure, we're glad of the paycheck!

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

it's so noticeable that the regulars here have all moved onto new things.

This morning it was raining so heavily I nearly called in a sickie, but that's a little hard when the boss is snoring his head off next to you and you have to get his butt out of the bed first!! He's ended up driving down to London today in a hired van because a corporate client needed an item repairing before a big trade show thing which is being set up tomorrow. I know the weather's seriously grotty and bits of motorway are closed too so it hasn't been a great day for him. I just helped the kids and friend to build a giant den in the living room. I helped because they just didn't have a clue how to do it properly!!! It's much more spacious now.

I have to get my job in order because I'm flailing a bit now my wonderful new office lady has come to take over a large chunk of my daily stuff. I know there's loads to do but I need to get my head round it and reorganise myself.

I rearranged the dining room and now have the table on a slant so that DH has more space for his chair and we can properly access all the cupboards. That one's been put off too long. Also got ourselves some decent CD storage for the living room so there are more plans afoot to improve that room, when the temporary accommodation in there is dismantled of course!

Our home office looks dreadful though because I removed my whole basket of junk from next to my chair up to the office without clearing it, just so that the living room was less cluttered. It also has our old CD rack in here which will go in our bedroom later, but I still haven't put away the winter duvets, just dumped them in corners! How bad is that.

and we're beginning the cautious hunt for a new house, though we won't put ours on the market until next April. Saw a lovely place the other day for about one and a half times what we can realistically afford, but it's not in the right place anyway and the stairs came right down to the front door which is a major no-no, so it's just setting certain standards (the kitchen was to die for!). Our current stairs do that too, but there's no entrance to speak of here - this one had a large entrance but they'd still got the stairs right in your face as you came in. I don't envy you Zillah, but at least you should be fully settled in time for baby's arrival. I assume you chose the house with at least one extra child in mind!

oh yes, and we're off to SG in Aug (10-20). Finally booked that and started buying gifts! Need to plan our other shopping list for when we get there. Honey - I think you lost out last time, but I promise to be more organised about it this time so email me with requests!

Kerri.

Summer break doesn't start for me until 23rd July, Lenora!

I am looking forward to it, though I don't have any plans yet, other than enjoying my little garden. Since I started work I have really missed the garden. I don't have time to sit in it at all, it seems I really do miss my 'old' life - I have to get over that, I know, but it's taking a long time.

DS will be 16 in July. I have to work on his birthday which I am not at all happy about, but in the evening we are having a small family barbecue.

I don't have any other news - how boring am I? Don't do anything now except go to work, come home and sleep, it seems!!

Hi to all, will try to check in a bit more often. I do miss you guys.....

Honey

Nice to see this thread again! I need to take charge of my house in a serious way. My daughter's 4 months old and growing like a weed. If we're smart we'll start our babyproofing now...or at least our cleaning preparatory to babyproofing. We've got a long way to go.

We zipped 'over the water' (as they say in Fife) to look at the three nursery schools which DD might attend. I suspect that we'll be lucky if she gets a place for next term, but they all looked fine, so any would do. She's desperate to go!

Did pretty well on the moving house jobs yesterday - paid the removal company, decided we're not going to hire a van on moving day (we have to get some stuff from DSIL's garage - too much hassle to get removal company to do it!) - we'll do it later, sent off our parking suspension request, prodded DH until he made various crucial utility service related phone calls. Made a big list. Ugg. It's so boring. Thank you for reading

The good news is that I've finished my corrections. I just need to finish the list of what I've done and I can send them off to the examiner.

One more step along the road I go . . .

Sparrow, what baby proofing have you got to do? We baby proofed when DD was that old by moving house (spotting a theme here?)! The house we rented had rising damp, so the most straightforward thing seemed to be to move. Which we did. To a three storey town house. Hello, stair gates!

Honey, for having to work on DS's birthday. I can't believe he's going to be 16!

Kerri, does your new office lady mean that you can spend less time working? Or just different work?

Lynn, hope the first day went well? We're also going to have to adjust to less DH time when we move. At the moment he's a 15 minute walk away and comes home for lunch. In a week he'll be an hour's cycle away. Very different hours

Can't wait to set up our new flat and get into a new routine. Feels like I've been just grinding on with dreary stuff for months here.

Zillah

Oh goodness, what don't we have to do? My husband has always had a bad habit of leaving little things lying around, especially screws he's taken out of something he's tinkering with. Obviously he's going to have to quit that--we really have to get a workbench set up for him somewhere. And there's junk everywhere right now since I've been busy in the garden. It needs to find homes or go away. We need guards on the fireplace, gates on the stairs, and some kind of locks on the drawers and cabinets. I think the biggest adjustment is really just going to be us getting used to putting everything away and keeping the floors clear, though. It's going to be quite a job--we're just not that neat right now.

Just awaiting new comments from examiner. Fingers crossed I can proceed to print out the final version.

More horrible moving stress involving building society, current letting agents, lawyers (of course!), bank. Hope it's all on it's way to being sorted, 'cos I can't take too much more stress.

Sparrow, it sounds like you need a dedicated tinkering room. And don't forget, whilst your DB might be crawling around soon, she won't be able to reach high shelves and the middle of tables for a good while yet. Plenty of potential for shoving things out of the way. Or that's what I found anyway

Zillah

That is so exciting. I loved getting my little bound book. (There is a famous story of a scholar -- Johnathan Dollimore? -- who had already published his 1st book, which was also his dissertation, but his university compelled him to turn it in with the standard binding, so there is a copy of his book, still in its for-sale binding, doubly bound in academic black.)

The professional organizer may get us together yet, but the Chronically Disorganized person inside me ain't going down without a fight. Sooo much paper!

Shaun
www.redseahomeschool.wordpress.com

When did I become incapable of anything productive???
Hi Sparrow! Many blessings on your sweet baby! Babyproffing isn't too bad, really. You can do it in bits and pieces, too. Baby will let you know when it's time to add! Our oldest DD never climbed on anything...ever...so moving chairs away from the table never came up...I found our second DD in the middle of the dining room table before she could walk! Live and Learn!

Honey...I'm enjoying my flowers...I didn't plant any veges this year because I knew we'd be away quite a bit at the start when they need a bit more attention.

Lynn...we are late dinner eaters...often 7:00-7:30 when DH is not traveling....of course just yesterday he got home shortly after 5:00 pm (he'd been at a customer site and didn't need to go to the office). He was, of course, starving and I hadn't even started dinner!

Plans for today include picking DD16.75 up from "Women in Engineering" camp, stopping for a visit at my parents...finding something to give DH for our wedding anniversary (tomorrow!) and...um...OH, laundry and dinner at some point, too.

DD12 and I have been pretty lazy this week...aided by a full day of just hanging around waiting for a piece of equipment to be delivered yesterday. Bleh.

We are headed to Myrtle Beach on the 5th to visit with SIL and her husband. We haven't seem them since MIL's death last fall. DH's company is changing their vacation-days-rollover policy and DH has to use up an additional 128 hours before the end of the year!

Hi Zillah and Kerri, too! I'd keep going but I have to be out the door in 25 minutes and I need to get up and tame this wild mess of dead cells on my head!

Happy Friday!
Love to all,
Lenora

Hi All -

Well, here are my summer projects:

clean garage thoroughly and organize!
redo DD's room though furniture may have to wait
scrapbooking, hopefully I will catch up
clean carpets and furniture in LR and FR
go through closets and dresses and weed out stuff

Those are the biggies!

Well, Miri's rolling from her tummy to her back and scooting by pushing with her feet, so she's now a somewhat mobile baby. A tinkering room sounds like a great idea, Zillah, but I don't know what room it could be! I really need to do some decluttering and reorganizing. Right now I'd settle for clearing out my living room, which is officially a disaster area. My 5-year-old niece even told me repeatedly, "This room is a mess!" when my SIL brought the kids for an afternoon. I had to agree with her. My husband's been bringing the mail in since we had Miri. I used to bring it right up to the study so at least the mess was more or less out of the public area, but he tends to drop it in piles in the living room. Somehow the baby is not very patient with my sorting through it all! I'll have to find time sometime soon, though. It's past the point of embarrassment.

We've got two days to go before the big move. This weekend is dedicated to tidying and organising, so at least the stuff has a chance of being in vaguely the right place when the removers put it in the new place. Shaun, I feel your paper pain. Right now I'm ignoring a massive box of paper into which I have been shoving the PhD detritus as it's been emerging. Now I'm just wondering if I can simply seal it up and put it at the back of the loft! However, I have spent the morning with the papers on my desk, so feeling very virtuous

Sparrow, out of the mouths of babes! (Or 5 year olds in this case!) I think it wasn't until DD3 was about 6 months old that I really got a grip on how to homemake with a baby. Do you have a sling? I never managed to find the right thing with DD, and I'm determined to do better with the next one. I'm sure it would make things easier.

Andrea, those are some nice big projects you've got there. Especially that garage . . . Let us know how you're going. What are you tackling first?

Happy wedding anniversary Lenora! What did you get him? And what did you do? (that you'd like to share )

Kerri, hope you're not too wet down there?

Zillah

Well, I have to confess, friends...my kitchen floor was so nasty that I actually swept and mopped it this morning before going in to clean the kitchen! I'm going to mop again when I get done. YIKES! To my credit, though...the main floor is otherwise tidied, dusted, and vacuumed, laundry is caught-up (bedding going today) and dinner is planned. In the kitchen I still need to bleach the countertops, give the cabinets a good swiping, and, of course, mop the floor again.

DD12 and I are off now to pick up one of her girlfriends who will spend the rest of the afternoon here. I'm going to water the lawn and the kids at the same time and attempt to keep them outside enough to NOT completely destroy the work I've done in the house this morning.

One can hope!

Happy Monday, friends,
Lenora

Re-learning how to keep house, that is, as well as many other things! Zillah, I do have a sling and a Baby Bjorn. The sling is an Over The Shoulder Baby Holder, and it was good for the first 3 months or so (and it'll probably be good again once she's big enough to go on my hip). After that, Miri decided she wanted to be straight as a board some of the time. Once she was in, she was happy, but since I had to bend her to get her in, that part was not appreciated. The Baby Bjorn has been better for a baby who doesn't want to bend. The carrier is very helpful, but there are still many things I just can't do while wearing it, especially when the baby in it cries if I stand still or sit! She is getting better about sitting near me instead of on me for longer, though, and that's a big help.

Paper is the worst mess, isn't it? I need to get a better handle on incoming paper and figure out a better filing system. I have made progress on the huge pile of mail and newspapers in my living room, anyway, so it looks a lot better. Still more to do in there, but better!

Lenora, I'm jealous of your clean kitchen!

...is that "clean" is always relative to time-of-day! What is sparkly and pretty at 3:30 pm is so very quickly grungy again by 6:00. Blech. DH came home early (read that "on time") and was suitably complimentary. He grilled the pork chops that had been marinating all afternoon which reduced the inevitable dinner mess a bit. The rest of dinner consisted of a huge salad to use up the random bits of greens, fresh veges, and fruit in the fridge. We're headed south to Myrtle Beach early on Thursday and will spend most of tomorrow at my parents' so I'm trying to use up anything perishable. I'll probably cook pancakes for breakfast tomorrow so I don't have to buy more milk for cereal.

I don't have much that must be done today. I have an aloe plant that needs a bigger pot and two new cacti to repot, as well. I've managed to keep a lovely planter of greens alive since MIL's memorial last fall, too (no small feat for me) so maybe I'll buy a group of pots for them all. We only have one "good" window for plants, and my newly-found skill of NOT KILLING THEM is soon going to require a new plant stand on which to keep them!

That will be the rest of my day, I suppose: repotting and repacking! It seems like I just got us unpacked from one trip and now have to pack for another. This will be an easier job, though. No extreme temperatures; no sleeping in tents; no dress clothes, either. That makes it less trouble.

Sparrow, my oldest DD would have been content to live in a sling. My second would have none of it! She wanted to be straight up and facing forward. The only time she wanted snuggled was when she was nursing and pretty quickly she even wanted to do that "on the go."

I'm off on the new-plant-pot-hunt. Have a great day, frineds!

Blessings,
Lenora

it certainly feels like everyone's as snowed under with work and stuff as I am. If Lenora's struggling too that makes me feel a little less awful (sorry Lenora, but you know what I mean I'm sure!).

My office lady is still coping wonderfully. Her arrival doesn't currently lead to me spending more time at home. I've passed over all the horrible daily logistics stuff that was clogging up virtually every hour of my day, but there were so many other things, especially longer term things, that I just wasn't getting round to, so now I have the time I need to sort out what's left. Eventually I will make my day even shorter, but remember, I don't get in to the office until about 9.30am (sometimes earlier, sometimes later) and I leave before 3pm! I'm not bringing much home these days because it just doesn't get done. I hardly touch the computer for days at a time, which is unheard of in the last 18yrs!! Of course if people need me they just call.

I think our house is much tidier at the moment for some reason. I got DS to keep his room at a very reasonable level for several weeks now. The changes in the living and dining rooms have kept them tidy too - I've been able to see the whole floor in the living room for over a week. And now the contagion is spreading to the kitchen, although I'm seriously considering replacing my oven now since finding a replacement seal could be impossible and other bits are starting to disintegrate too.

if I can gradually get it more organised (thanks Julia Morgenstern!) then i might have a hope of managing to keep it reasonably under control. Fingers crossed.

Zillah, we're very, very soggy down here (front grass cut last weekend after 2wks without, but back grass heading for 4wks now!) but not actually underwater like some areas. Looking at other parts of our region I think we've been very lucky. Hope you're doing okay too. I think I'd know if Honey was underwater since DH drives near her area quite frequently these days. Under pressure is another thing entirely though - I sympathise with all of you!

gotta run - need a bath!

Kerri.

HI all-

Guess what? I have a summer project to TADA! DH and I cleaned the garage today. We even bought various size bins to put sports stuff in, garden stuff, car stuff, etc. They are all neatly placed on shelves or next to the wall. He even hosed it out. We put together a new shoe rack also. The last things I need to do in there are clean the windows and clean a shelf in the corner (as in wipe it down). Yay! This feels really good!

Hope you enjoy Myrtle Beach Lenora! Sounds like a blast.

Hi Kerri - glad things are looking tidier around your place!
Andrea

this is not something we do regularly so the kids were a little shellshocked... we've decided not to move next summer since DD got into the school we wanted anyway. We're leaving it 2 or maybe 3yrs, perhaps DS finishes primary school in 3yrs. Instead we're going to use the time between to save up for a sensible size deposit and to whip this house properly into shape so we make a decent amount out of it and hone our skills in preparation for the next house. Maybe if DH acquires some DIY skills he'll be less determined to buy a brand new house.

so I've got myself a binder and done a little coversheet for each area of the house and hopefully you will all help to hold me to it. There are three obvious areas - decluttering, repair and decorating that need to be dealt with in order, in each part of the house. We have a LOT of things already planned, but if we're going to do this properly we will probably have to tackle each room individually for a couple of months each, with projects like painting and rewiring taking a bit longer and not being done with each individual room.

and I have to avoid burnout which is my single biggest problem with everything I ever do. The enthusiasm burns bright hot to start with and then I never see things through. This can't be just about lists and planning - it has to actually materialise too.

so far today we've cut the grass, but after the last 4wks of solid rain, believe me when I say that's progress!

Hope everyone else is finding something that gets them enthusiastic and energetic too. Zillah, I'm sure you have plenty on your plate! Honey, I think you also need to drag some of your focus away from work and back to home, force yourself to remember that it isn't either/or, that you need to have a balance of both. Lenora, I hope you're getting well-rested and rejuvenated by your break. Sparrow, the thing about little kids is that they if they grow up around something they tend to know how to be sensible - kids who grow up with a dog from birth or with spiral stairs will be better able to cope than those who have these things introduced when they're already active toddlers. So be sensible about your child-proofing, not scared witless by every conceivable danger!

I'm off to make a difference somehow...

Kerri.

Summer break is on the downswing...marching band has started for DD16...and we're already thinking ahead to the school year.

I came home from Myrtle Beach really sick and have been (still am) dealing with sinus-allergy headaches and gallons of snot. EEEEEW! My energy and enthusiasm have been pretty low...but we needed a bit of "down time" after the intensity of the first half of summer.

On my "must-do" list these days is getting ready for new carpet! That means cleaning out the china cupboard so we can move it ahead of time (the installers won't touch "irreplaceable antiques") and, of course, excavating the floors of the bedroom closets. We're doing the livingroom/dining room, the front room (computer room), the stairs, upstairs hallway, and all three bedrooms.

Kerri, making plans to "stay" can bring on as many projects as plans to "go!" We still kick around the possibility of moving south...I think everyone up here does...but then again, we'll be mortgage free in less the 10 years so...

Check in, everyone! I miss you all!

Lenora

Wow, can that be? It seems like just a couple of weeks ago the kids got out of school around here. I guess it was really middle to late June, but still. Where did July go? And how come I ask that question at the end of every month lately?

Progress around here has been slow, but there is at least a little. My husband bought and installed more sturdy shelving in our garage, so now I have a place to put the bagged-up out-of-season baby toys and clothes that are either waiting for Miri to grow into them or waiting for the next baby to come along. Maybe now there will be room to move in our living room and tiny nursery! I fogged the garage, too, so now it's just a matter of packing the things up and carrying them out (sometime when I'm not holding a baby, whenever that might be!) The garden is a month late, but growing well. I should have some tomatoes soon. My husband also got fed up enough with the state of the floors to do some vacuuming. I thanked him profusely, and he said it was really for him and not for me, but it's a big help whoever it's for! And I'm reclaiming the kitchen one countertop at a time. I figure if I can keep what I've done clean and add one counter every night after the baby goes to bed, sooner or later it'll all be clean! Now, if I could only get some sleep, too...

Hope everyone's doing well!

DD12 is finally getting some "real" furniture for her room...she's had the hand-me-down, family odds-n-ends until now. We are attempting to get the old gone and holding off on delivery of the new until after the new carpet is installed...DH is also going to paint her room this week-end...

Anyway, we emptied out her old bookcase, which was a medium width/height junker from my parents' basement...it was white back in my childhood but I painted it yellow to match DD12's room when we moved up here....

I knew it was wood and decided to see what was "under" the who-knew-how-many-layers of paint.

*GLEE!* It is the most glorious walnut! There is a brass plate on the front engraved "May 1933!"

Underneath the old-as-me white paint was a layer of avacado green. I'm using a paint remover gel right now, and will probably be able to start sanding tomorrow. The combination of the gel remover and the layers of yellow, white, and green paint have resulted in globs of scrambled egg/snot colored goo being scraped off in the garage...the neighborhood boys are fascinated! I havent decided how I'm going to finish it when I get done with all that.

Lucky me!

Lenora

My one-counter-at-a-time plan has finally worked and my kitchen is clean! Thank goodness! I may have even learned some good habits about maintaining it as I went along. Now to spread the cleanliness to the rest of the house! (Yes, it's not the quickest way to do things, but I'm doing what I can with a baby who doesn't want to sleep!)

Wow, Lenora, that sounds lovely! I don't think...OK, I know I don't have the energy for that kind of project.

...you that have to remember that I'm over a decade ahead of you in "mom age." In addition to full nights of sleep, I get project time in hours instead of minutes (seconds?)...and occasionally even get interest/assistance. It also helped that DH was gone for seven days straight, the weather was crappy, and I was bored.

As it turned out...I only got about halfway done sanding before DH came home (and the sun came out) and I haven't got back to it yet...

Yay for you Sparrow on the counters! It took me almost 5 years to "convince" my family that the kitchen counters were NOT a dumping ground. We're pretty good with dishes and such...it's all the other life-stuff that seems to get piled up. Now most of that gets dumped in the front room...but atleast I can close the door/ignore it in there!

I'm just taking a break from some much overdue yard work. I'm going to finish weeding and then we're off to the pool.

Love to all!
Lenora

Some mind-infiltrating alien/demon made me think that having a Garage Sale is a great idea and that I could pull it off for this week-end...not only did that nasty little demon give me the idea...he kept it going until after I had place the classified ad. No backing out now!

That's where I am right now...up to my dining room table in "why-in-the-world-have-we-kept-this-for-so-long" junk.

What prompted the whole thing was setting the date for the new carpet to be installed. They have a crew that can do the entire install in one day. However, while we are paying extra for them to move furniture...the furniture must be cleared of all "stuff." Not a huge deal for a couple of rooms...but we're talking the entire house except the kitchen, bathrooms and hallways (which we're doing in wood...but not until later in the fall). Think dressers and nightstands, tables, lamps, computers, tv, stereos, books (all of them!)...every piece of "non-furniture" stuff has to be moved out of the way...and we can't even move it from one room to another. I also have to empty and move the china cabinet because they won't move "irreplaceable antiques." Like I said...What the HECK was I thinking???

I've made a good start in getting everything together. I spent most of yesterday evening crying over some of my MIL's things still in the basement. We've all long since chosen our "precious pieces" to keep...what's left is just the rest, still it hurts to make the decision to put it out for sale.

DD12.5's old furniture is already in the garage and DH painted her room over the week-end. Her new furniture will be delivered the day after the carpet. She's sleeping on a bare bed frame, with her clothes in plastic storage drawers and her books and "things" in boxes in the basement.

My mom is coming up on Wednesday to help me price and place everything. She'll be back on Friday to help too.

Wish me decent weather and good business!

Love to all!
Lenora

As always you put me to shame
My whole house looks like a badly organised garage sale I don't seem to be able to deal with it at all, and every room is appallingly untidy. Worse than it has been for years really. I couldn't cope with the house before I went out to work and I certainly can't cope with it now!! We have a houseguest arriving on Friday for a few days though so I expect I will be doing the whole crisis cleaning thing on Thursday!

How is everyone? Long time since I posted, I've been on holiday,lost 17 pounds, had my hair streaked, and EVEN had a number of very nice dates with a very nice man....yes, you heard right I feel like a new woman! (but a still a very untidy one )

Honey

Who cares about "tidy" when there's life to be lived? I hope you're enjoying your holiday...it's never enough time off, though, is it? Are you ready to share details about the gentleman, yet? New romace is so....invigorating.

Well done on the "new you" changes, too! Are you actively trying to lose weight or has it been a side effect of working/dating? I'm down 15.5 pounds with 10-15 to go (I'm going to stop when my face starts to sag! I'm too vain and too old to choose 5 more pounds over fewer wrinkles on my face! )

Good to "see you!"
Much love,
Lenora

I've been going to Weightwatchers again for the past 7 weeks, but have lost most of it during the four weeks I have been dating I seem to be rushing round getting ready or getting out and not having much time to eat, which I am sure is not the sensible way to go about things but hey, it's working

As for the new man, he's 8 years older than me, Greek, good looking and very attentive. I am not sure if it is going anywhere in the long term, but I am enjoying the present very much!

Honey

So good to see you here! And yay for the weight loss!

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Awesome Honey!!! Keep us posted -
Andrea

It's over and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. I made just over $300.00 after subtracting for the classified ad so we're happy with that. The sale was Friday and Saturday...I spent yesterday Freecycling most of what was left and took a load to GoodWill this morning. I have a few more bits to post on Freecycle and a couple of things still waiting on pick-up. All-in-all we cleared out a bunch of unnecessary-to-us stuff!

I'm pooped!

Plans for this week include enjoying the weather vacuuming/washing baseboards, and prepping for DD's SEVENTEENTH birthday party on Saturday night.

My beautiful firstborn baby girl will be 17! I'm glad it's only the girls getting older....I'm certainly not! We have an appointment on Tuesday for hair highlights and a trim (gift from my sister, the stylist), Thursday is the "first" Marching Band Show of the season, Saturday is her party and Sunday she's having her Senior Pictures taken. She has Driver's Ed three nights this week, too....Senoir Year ...and so it begins!

Did I tell you that I had my hair cut OFF a week-or-so ago? Yep! I went from "bra strap" long to "just below the ear" short! Pretty dramatic!

We're off to the pool for a couple of hours! Have a great day!

Lenora

Wow, it took me some time to catch up on the TNH goings on now we're back from our holiday, so I don't have long to post!

Lenora that's good going in your garage sale. At the moment we're mainly taking apart unwanted furniture for DH to reuse. Nasty IKEA wardrobe will become kitchen storage shelves, very boring sofa will be a built in window seat from which to enjoy the view we have of the Forth bridges, comfortable but too large Habitat sofa bed is going to become a set of fold out cushions for sitting or sleeping on and undoubtedly the frame will end up somewhere. . .

Honey, that's all good fun news

We had a great time in Cornwall - wonderful weather, wonderful food, spent too much money on pottery (which we had to carry back on the train!), generally relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine. Now it's back to rainy old Fife and our still chaotic flat!

Must run and tackle kitchen disaster area.

Zillah

I mention that the Holiday Grand Plan starts on Sunday?

...o-kay, just forget I said that!

We're moving all non-furniture "stuff" in preparation for new carpeting tomorrow!

It's also DD17's birthday. We're eating pepperoni pizza at 3:30 pm in her honor. (That's exactly what I did after delivering her at 12:59 pm 17 years ago...also a Monday!)

Hopefuly I'll have time for a real update later.

Love to all!
Lenora

Lenora, although I believe in non violence I may just have to punch you

Honey.

Well Lenora, this may be my year for the Holiday Grand Plan! With our new arrival expected at Christmas, and the fact that I've just got three months research work to be squeezed in where in can, I need to get organised NOW

My Mum is staying this week whilst DH is at a conference, so I'm hoping to get some of the still unpacked boxes organised, as well as being looked after and spoilt and having a good time So my plan for this week is to reduce the box level in the flat, measure up for some curtains and get the fabric (ouch, that costs too much money), organise some quotes for a couple of replacement windows (another ouch as we want hardwood not PVC) and find the dress which I made myself during my last pregnancy for a wedding and sew it back together (don't ask!).

Lenora, hope your carpets went smoothly, and the birthday celebrations.

Anyone else HGPing?

Zillah

...my sister did hit me when I mentioned HGP to her this afternoon!

O-kay! Quick rundown of all events:

DD17's birthday party was a success. Many teens-much food-much shrieking and hysterical laughter over everything.

Carpet was installed yesterday...I LOVE it! I picked a deep sage-y green for the public spaces and a honey beige for the bedrooms. The green is gorgeous with my yellow walls and white woodwork.

DD12.5's new bedroom furniture was delivered this morning...new bedding is already on and I'm about to get out the sewing machine and sew up the fabric we bought for curtains. Her bedding came with a bed skirt that we won't use (loft bed) and I'm going to cut it and use it as a ruffle on the curtians!

My school stuff is all at school...including my new chair which I purchased with last-years' loose change (just over $90.00!) We've all got our new schedules and new supplies. The DDS' back-to-school clothes (bought with the garage-sale profits) are hanging in the closets...

Dinner is planned, but not quite started....

I didn't get the lawn mowed

Not bad for a Wednesday!

Love to all!
Lenora

Oh my. You know, I attempted this last year, and gave up. I suppose I felt it was too much for my little family, since we live far enough from extended family that we don't travel, and then we keep it small and simple. I decorate (and love it) and we have a nice meal, but I never needed those made ahead frozen ones, I didn't eat or put out most of the treats made, we gave away a lot of Christmas cookies, but did that as a family night activity and made them together too. Christmas morning was simple (although my DH spoiled me more than I thought he should have!! Oh well. ) I think I'm going with simple again. It was nice, AND even though I bought multiple gifts for the kids, they only opened one, were so excited they played with it all day, and I hid the others for later. Ha ha!