Room Arrangement Update

Thanks to the great feedback I got from other mommas on facebook, I am going to leave the crib and chair where they are now. As much as I might think being able to see the baby will be comforting to me, I'll probably feel better if I just get up and peer over the crib ledge and check up close that she's breathing. Hopefully my nerves about this will calm down after a few weeks, but I'm okay with the idea that I might be doing this for a while.

Meanwhile, I found a home for our change table and hung a storage bin thing beside it. The storage bin thing is the type you get to put shoes in and it hangs in your closet. I've half filled it with cloth diapers and left room for cloth wipes, receiving blankets, etc. I think it's a lot more functional than having to open the cupboard doors on the change table and bending down to get out a diaper when the baby's lying on top of the table. Now I just need to figure out whether to hang the wet bag on the wall beside the change table, or in the adjacent bathroom where the diaper sprayer will be attached to the toilet.

Did I mention how much I love organizing things?

Cleaning House

Admittedly, you probably don't want to read about the enormous task of cleaning my house top to bottom. Fair enough - I don't really want to write about it either! What I am trying to work out is how to make house cleaning easier. I figure that if our house is de-cluttered and everything is organized (as in everything has a place to be put back to) then cleaning would take less time and we would be less likely to avoid it.

Much easier said than done. For some reason I started the de-clutter and organize process with our junk drawer. Big mistake. It is mainly tools and loose nails and screws. It took forever to clean out, but now I am left with a bunch of things that clearly don't belong in the same drawer. Worse is that I have nowhere else to put them right now. So, they will sit on the floor beside the drawers until I can get to the store for some much needed items.

Here is my de-clutter and organize shopping list:

• hooks for hanging bags (ie. our dish cloth/towel laundry bag)
• small containers for collections of small things (ie. coin rollers, batteries, etc.)
• medium containers for collections of larger things or larger quantities of things (ie. candles, first aid supplies/medications, etc.)
• large rubbermaid totes for those larger items that never seem to have a place (ie. Adam's fishing gear, my craft supplies, pet supplies that aren't in use, gardening supplies that aren't in use, etc.)
• more 'under the bed' storage bins for seasonal clothing items or camping items
• baskets
• a magnetic container we can attach to the fridge to store spare pens (I remember having something like this for my locker when I was in school)

I think that's it. It sounds like a lot, but it will really help to have all surfaces de-cluttered and organized so things don't get left sitting on the coffee table for months for a lack of somewhere better to put them. 

Spring Cleaning Madness

If your closet looks like this, and you live in Victoria, this post is for you!

It's that time of year - Spring is practically already here and it's time to refresh, rejuvenate and clean out those closets! I'm asking all my lovely lady friends to go through their clothes, shoes, purses and accessories and sort out what they no longer need or what no longer fits! Anytime between now and the end of March, I will pick up these donations and they will all go to Sandy Merriman House.

Sandy Merriman House, as operated by the Cool Aid Society, provides 25 shelter beds for women, meals, basic needs, crisis intervention, counseling, referrals, medication and general support. It is also open throughout the day for drop-in services. It serves 3,768 meals annually and provides services to 4,117 drop-in clients.

Although I am not affiliated with Sandy Merriman House, my mother is an employee and sees the need of these women first hand. Donations are always needed and always appreciated.

All types of clothing is appreciated. Dress/work clothing is kept at the shelter and lent out to women so they have clothing to wear to job interviews and meetings with potential landlords. When there is enough available, this clothing may be given to the women as well. Winter clothing is always in need, so if you have extra mitts, scarves or hats, don't worry that it's Spring now, they will still be accepted.

If you'd like to make further contributions, you can also donate such items as toiletries, makeup, hair and body products, and of course, cash. Cheques can be made to Sandy Merriman House and you can choose to deliver them yourself, or I will pass them on for you.

Thank you for all your help & happy closet cleaning!

Hoarding

Yesterday was our day to tackle the accummulation of 'stuff' in our shed. It felt like an episode of that tv show called Hoarders! There was a bunch of random stuff left over from a fundraiser garage sale we had a couple years ago, an abundance of car parts and tools, a billion spiders and spider egg sacks (even typing that made me feel like gagging and running away), boxes that had pretty much started to disintigrate from the moisture and a small portion of good, usable 'stuff' - like our camping equipment and mini barbeque.

In an attempt to be as systematic as possible, we created three piles (donate, keep and recycle) and had a bag handy for the rest of it (garbage). After sorting everything, we returned the keepers to the shed, took out the garbage and sorted out the recyclables. Next, my fiancé (Adam) made a run to the thrift store to get rid of the donations while I looked up where to take the recyclables. Then Adam took the recycleables away too!

It feels so good to know that when we move, the junk won't be coming with us due to last minute panic/running out of time to sort things! It also feels pretty weird to be constantly sorting through our stuff and purging things we don't need, while also accummulating a ton of wedding 'stuff.' It will probably be a relief to purge the wedding stuff someday too!

I should also give credit where credit is due. Due to the 'billion spiders and spider egg sacks,' I mostly supervised while Adam did all the moving things around. What a trooper!