Hard to believe that today is May 3rd. Seems like this year has gone by quicker than any previous year. It hasn't been the best year for me. Sore knees and back, sleepless nights, an unemployed husband, first year of homeschooling, etc. But I am trying my best to put a smile on my face and count my blessings. I know I have been blessed and I do trust that God has a future and a hope for my family. Really, I do. It's just been difficult.
I have started packing boxes of things to clear out the dining room of dishes and crystal and all sorts of serving pieces, and that sort of thing. We are going to sell our dining room suite. I am packing up other things to make our house look picture ready for the listing. I don't want visitors who are interested in buying our house to see how we really live. Oh my! They would turn around and just walk right out. I'm not kidding. That's the thing. We live like we want to, most of the time. Prospective buyers need to see a more neutral home so they can visualize themselves living here. Little by little, day by day, it will get done. Repairs that have been on the to-do list for a long time, are slowly getting done and I am seeing progress, finally.
I was blessed this weekend with several families from church who came by early Saturday morning and worked very hard at weeding my beds and pruning my hedges and spreading mulch. It looked just like a professional team had been here. They were awesome. Then, Sunday morning, I walked out to go to church and new flowers were sitting in my flower bed out by the mail box, ready to be planted. And the flower angels came by early Monday morning and planted them for me. I feel so loved. I am so grateful for them all.
Hubby is still working in the garage sorting toys and the like. We have given several items to the little boy next door. We gave several bags of almost new stuffed animals to a friend for a medical mission trip to South America. Little children in the hospital will receive a stuffed animal from the U.S.A. It feels good to know that these pets will be loved by someone else. We still are donating a lot of things to the Knoxville Area Rescue Mission, which is one of our favorite charities. They operate numerous thrift stores in the area and a downtown homeless mission.
On Friday we are going out of town for a little while. It will be good to get away and have a little rest. We have so much to finish when we get back so we really need to appreciate this little get away. My plan is to have my friend list this house before May is over. I keep saying to myself "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."
Say a little prayer for us that we accomplish all these things in a timely manner and that my husband will be blessed with many interviews for employment and that God gives him the job that He wants for him.
Love you all!
Pam
Showing posts with label Decluttering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decluttering. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Master Bedroom update
My retreat is coming right along. I am washing and drying the mattress pad cover and sheets as I type. The room has been completely defuzzed and cleaned. My cat, Tabby, came up and explored. She gave her approval. She especially likes that I put the dust ruffle on the bed. It makes a nice hiding place for her where she can jump out and scare her brother Toby.
My husband was a big help in getting this room "spring" cleaned. I told him we shouldn't wait so long next time to deep clean. But it was really low on our list of priorities. I think if I do a better job of regular cleaning, the deep cleaning won't seem so bad. Now, I haven't gone through all our dresser drawers or closet. I will do that after the holidays and get those all sorted and organized then. You have to eat an elephant one bite at a time.
As soon as the sheets are dry, I'm going upstairs to put the bed all together. I even pulled out my micro suede duvet from the linen closet and put it over the shabby comforter. This will have to do until we have the money to buy a new outfit for the bed. At least it is all clean. The curtains match the duvet and they are nice and clean and look much better without all the dust across the tops of them. Hubby is going to hang my decorative plaques from Southern Living above the headboard tomorrow. I think they will look really good there.
Later today, I am going to finish cleaning the master bathroom. There is not one square inch on the double sink vanity that is clear or clean. I need to toss and put things away just so I can give it and both sinks a good scrubbing. We would like to replace the light above the mirror. We also have to replace our toilet. It's not working, and we have been using our daughter's down the hall. And as I mentioned in an earlier post we have new faucets to install as well. We are going to get to those projects after Christmas.
I will have hubby take a few photos for me and post them this week, as well as photos of our bathroom on the main that I have been promising you, my two or three faithful readers. lol Then in the spring when we paint and clean the carpet you will have a before and after to compare. I wouldn't dare have shown you a photo before this week. No way.
Back to the grindstone.
Pam
My husband was a big help in getting this room "spring" cleaned. I told him we shouldn't wait so long next time to deep clean. But it was really low on our list of priorities. I think if I do a better job of regular cleaning, the deep cleaning won't seem so bad. Now, I haven't gone through all our dresser drawers or closet. I will do that after the holidays and get those all sorted and organized then. You have to eat an elephant one bite at a time.
As soon as the sheets are dry, I'm going upstairs to put the bed all together. I even pulled out my micro suede duvet from the linen closet and put it over the shabby comforter. This will have to do until we have the money to buy a new outfit for the bed. At least it is all clean. The curtains match the duvet and they are nice and clean and look much better without all the dust across the tops of them. Hubby is going to hang my decorative plaques from Southern Living above the headboard tomorrow. I think they will look really good there.
Later today, I am going to finish cleaning the master bathroom. There is not one square inch on the double sink vanity that is clear or clean. I need to toss and put things away just so I can give it and both sinks a good scrubbing. We would like to replace the light above the mirror. We also have to replace our toilet. It's not working, and we have been using our daughter's down the hall. And as I mentioned in an earlier post we have new faucets to install as well. We are going to get to those projects after Christmas.
I will have hubby take a few photos for me and post them this week, as well as photos of our bathroom on the main that I have been promising you, my two or three faithful readers. lol Then in the spring when we paint and clean the carpet you will have a before and after to compare. I wouldn't dare have shown you a photo before this week. No way.
Back to the grindstone.
Pam
Friday, August 13, 2010
Visit from my cousins.
On Wednesday night, my cousin's wife and daughter drove down from Ohio on their way to Florida and spent the night at my house. I hadn't seen Verna in decades (sorry, it's true) and I hadn't met her youngest daughter either. But family is family. I was glad to visit with her, although we didn't have much time to do so. She was on her way to Florida to her oldest daughters home. Her oldest daughter Tia had just gotten married a few weeks ago and her loving momma was bring her some of her things, wedding gifts and such. We had a good visit and I look forward to visiting with her again in the future when she drives to Florida again.
Still trying to adjust to homeschooling Robyn. I just feel that she is not doing enough review of her materials before she takes the quizzes and tests. And she is just not into doing the projects. I am learning to have a lot of patience with this girl. I guess we are learning together!
Robert is about done with updating all the computers at church. He probably only has about one day left of that. Today, he is out at his Aunt's lake house taking care of few chores for her. He is still actively seeking full time employment. We still talk about selling our home and being entirely debt-free. It something I don't think he really wants to do. It will be a lot of hard work to move. We would have to sell the house first before buying another home and this may require two moves. Who knows. He just doesn't want to go there yet. Please continue to pray for him to find a job.
We will be starting up our small group again in our home in a few weeks. This time our study is supposed to follow along with the weekly message. This will be different and I look forward to seeing how this goes.
I still have my goals to have my house completely decluttered but homeschooling is taking up a lot more of my time than I thought it would. I just need to block out a space of time for that in my day, I guess. Most rooms in the house look pretty good right now. My bedroom, bathroom and closet are next on my list for a complete declutter and thorough cleaning. My craft room, the basement room and the garage, need the most attention after that. The study is really getting piled up with Robert's techno-geek items. The dining room, den, kitchen and Robyn's room look pretty good. Although a thorough cleaning would be nice, those rooms are staying pretty much picked up and in order with a little daily going over. Sometimes, I think a smaller home would be easier to clean and especially so if we didn't have so much stuff. All things to considered when we think about buying a different home.
Hope your week has been good. Hope all my readers have a great weekend.
Pam
Still trying to adjust to homeschooling Robyn. I just feel that she is not doing enough review of her materials before she takes the quizzes and tests. And she is just not into doing the projects. I am learning to have a lot of patience with this girl. I guess we are learning together!
Robert is about done with updating all the computers at church. He probably only has about one day left of that. Today, he is out at his Aunt's lake house taking care of few chores for her. He is still actively seeking full time employment. We still talk about selling our home and being entirely debt-free. It something I don't think he really wants to do. It will be a lot of hard work to move. We would have to sell the house first before buying another home and this may require two moves. Who knows. He just doesn't want to go there yet. Please continue to pray for him to find a job.
We will be starting up our small group again in our home in a few weeks. This time our study is supposed to follow along with the weekly message. This will be different and I look forward to seeing how this goes.
I still have my goals to have my house completely decluttered but homeschooling is taking up a lot more of my time than I thought it would. I just need to block out a space of time for that in my day, I guess. Most rooms in the house look pretty good right now. My bedroom, bathroom and closet are next on my list for a complete declutter and thorough cleaning. My craft room, the basement room and the garage, need the most attention after that. The study is really getting piled up with Robert's techno-geek items. The dining room, den, kitchen and Robyn's room look pretty good. Although a thorough cleaning would be nice, those rooms are staying pretty much picked up and in order with a little daily going over. Sometimes, I think a smaller home would be easier to clean and especially so if we didn't have so much stuff. All things to considered when we think about buying a different home.
Hope your week has been good. Hope all my readers have a great weekend.
Pam
Saturday, April 24, 2010
This chest and dresser with mirror was a gift from my mother-in-love, and has been in the guest room. Robyn needed more drawer space and this just fit the bill.
There's her Tinkerbell bed. We need to do some tweaking to the canopy, it's just not right. lol
We still have work to do in the room. All her things haven't been displayed on the shelf that goes around the top of her room and we have dvd's and books to put in her bookshelf and things like that. But it was "done enough" for her to have her sleepover birthday party Friday night. The girls had a blast and Robyn has so happy with her room re-do.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Daughter's Bedroom
Dear Daughter is away on a trip to Florida and the Bahamas with her grandmother and great-great aunt. While she is away we were given "orders" to paint her room. She has been wanting a change in there for some while. When she was younger we put a pinkish mauve glaze faux finish on her walls. She is now done with that and wants a nice spring green color. She also received a Tinkerbell comforter for Christmas from her Grandmother Sue and wants the walls to match it. So, dh and I are attempting to get the "junk" out of her room so that we can do this. This is embarrassing, but here is a before picture of her room.
Here is a before picture of the guest room across the hall.
Yes, I said before. This is even more embarrassing. But I'm just being real here folks. When we are sorting and getting things out of her room and making a quick pick-up before sleepovers this is where everything goes to never be seen again. Needless to say, we haven't had guests sleep over in a while. It will be so nice to have a nice fresh guest room again.
What a job this is. We are going through and getting all the missing items of clothing, some dirty, some clean. We are bagging up trash. So far four kitchen size trash bags of trash and odd and ends have been thrown out. We are also sorting through toys for items to give to our Knoxville Area Rescue Mission (KARM) which operate several thrift stores. Also, nicer items which she no longer plays with, are going to be photographed and sold on e-bay. What doesn't sell can be given to KARM. This sorting and cleaning process will take much longer than the paint job. But it needs to be done. We should have done this a long time ago. Actually, you should see our basement. There are tons of toys there too that were taken out of her room a while back. They haven't been sorted or taken to KARM and we will get to that when this job is done.
Dh's mother told us about a new Behr paint that has the primer in it. We are going to go look for that, probably tomorrow. That will save us some time and work. I think I will go simple on the window treatment and just pick up some green and purple sheers to layer on her window. Those, and pink, are her favorite colors.
When the work is all done and her room and the guest room are all spic and span and sleepover ready, I will post after photos.
Pam
Here is a before picture of the guest room across the hall.
Yes, I said before. This is even more embarrassing. But I'm just being real here folks. When we are sorting and getting things out of her room and making a quick pick-up before sleepovers this is where everything goes to never be seen again. Needless to say, we haven't had guests sleep over in a while. It will be so nice to have a nice fresh guest room again.
What a job this is. We are going through and getting all the missing items of clothing, some dirty, some clean. We are bagging up trash. So far four kitchen size trash bags of trash and odd and ends have been thrown out. We are also sorting through toys for items to give to our Knoxville Area Rescue Mission (KARM) which operate several thrift stores. Also, nicer items which she no longer plays with, are going to be photographed and sold on e-bay. What doesn't sell can be given to KARM. This sorting and cleaning process will take much longer than the paint job. But it needs to be done. We should have done this a long time ago. Actually, you should see our basement. There are tons of toys there too that were taken out of her room a while back. They haven't been sorted or taken to KARM and we will get to that when this job is done.
Dh's mother told us about a new Behr paint that has the primer in it. We are going to go look for that, probably tomorrow. That will save us some time and work. I think I will go simple on the window treatment and just pick up some green and purple sheers to layer on her window. Those, and pink, are her favorite colors.
When the work is all done and her room and the guest room are all spic and span and sleepover ready, I will post after photos.
Pam
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Nothing new here
You are probably wondering what is going on with my journey to transform my home. Nothing really new here. We have managed to keep the main floor of the home decluttered and picked up. That is because we have a small group that meets here on Monday nights and that helps us to be more intentional in our picking up and putting away. I haven't started on any house cleaning projects yet.
Today, I need to gather dd's old school uniforms and ready them for a consignment sale at school. I need to press some things and put all items on hangers along with tags marking the size, price, etc. This may take some time.
If I get time today, I need to do my grocery shopping. I didn't do any big shopping last week and we just picked up items as needed. I've noticed a trend where I do my bigger shopping every other week. It's been working for us and we spend less money that way.
My nephew is coming over later in the week to help us with some outside chores. We are going to mulch some beds and cut down some trees that haven fallen over in the woods. That will supply us with some wood later on in the winter. We still have wood leftover from the last two winters that will warm our fireplace when the temperatures turn chilly. I love burning a fire. It's so cozy. A mug of hot chocolate, a blanket, a good book, and I'm all set! I just wish our fireplace had a high hearth. Getting up and down from the floor to build a fire is hard on the old knees!
Have a wonderful day!
Pam
Today, I need to gather dd's old school uniforms and ready them for a consignment sale at school. I need to press some things and put all items on hangers along with tags marking the size, price, etc. This may take some time.
If I get time today, I need to do my grocery shopping. I didn't do any big shopping last week and we just picked up items as needed. I've noticed a trend where I do my bigger shopping every other week. It's been working for us and we spend less money that way.
My nephew is coming over later in the week to help us with some outside chores. We are going to mulch some beds and cut down some trees that haven fallen over in the woods. That will supply us with some wood later on in the winter. We still have wood leftover from the last two winters that will warm our fireplace when the temperatures turn chilly. I love burning a fire. It's so cozy. A mug of hot chocolate, a blanket, a good book, and I'm all set! I just wish our fireplace had a high hearth. Getting up and down from the floor to build a fire is hard on the old knees!
Have a wonderful day!
Pam
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