Purge, purge and purge some more

I had a great meeting with my fairy godmother about the kitchen yesterday.  She made me admit that I am a stacker and that my husband is a stacker and as long as we confront that issue, we can get our arms around it.  Low and behold, she told me that she and her husband are stackers (who knew?) and they too have to have a basket for mail, etc. so it doesn't do what we are doing now...cluttering up the joint.

She is coming back on Saturday to do some organizing while I am away.  God, bless her! It is a start and I am thankful. Points of entry will have new dump spots that will have to be sifted through on occasion but that is better than having tons of piles just about every where.  Hopefully the five year-old will learn from example!

Some of that fairy dust must have landed on my husband while she was around because yesterday afternoon, we spent our day off purging our bedroom closet, bathroom and sleeping area at his initiation.  Tons of magazines were sent to the recycling bin; clothing was packed in boxes for MUST ministries; and things were thrown away or shredded.  He also did a deep clean vacuuming of the floors, closet and bathroom as well as a good mopping of the tiles in the bathroom.  What a difference a few hours of team work can bring.  We still have a long way to go but it is a start.

If you are in the Cobb or Cherokee County areas and need a charity to donate to, please consider MUST ministries.  They are always in need of clothing, food and monetary donations.  We find more and more of our no-longer-needed-things going there.

A gift from the organizational goddess!

There are times where I think I know exactly how Cinderella felt when she was told by her evil stepmother that she couldn't go to the ball.  She sat there in the garden in her torn gown and tear stained cheeks, praying for a miracle to end her sorrow and helplessness.  To wash away her pain, her fairy godmother arrived.  With the wave of a magic wand and the sound of the words, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, she was transformed into a squeaky clean, beautifully put together princess.

As I stand in my kitchen, frustrated with the boxes, messy counters, small appliances I am not sure to do with and chaos in general, I want to pull my hair out and cry for my fairy godmother to come save the day.  There is still no update from my husband about the guy who is painting our wine rack to match the new cabinets.  I really, really don't want to put things away to just take them out again when we have to install this large piece of wood into the existing cabinets.

As all this crosses through my head every time I enter my kitchen, I decided to reach out to a friend of mine who I have dubbed the "organizational goddess"for some ideas.  She is so good at what she does! Everything in her space has a place.  I dream about her kitchen and its neat and tidy ways.  My gal pal is unfortunately moving to Missouri soon but has made time in her busy moving schedule to come and act as my fairy godmother.  Here is how the text conversation went:

Goddess:  I was thinking, wouldn't it be grand to have a meeting
you and me
talk about what you want
then let me at it during the day after kiddos are school
while you're at work??

Me:  Are you kidding me?

Goddess: You can come home all surprised!!

Me:  OMG! That would be so fun!

Goddess: I have you in my calendar.
I want my hands on that kitchen!!  :)



With that, the magic words were spoken and it felt like a wand had been waved.  I am still in shock but wanted to jot it down while it was fresh in my giddy-stricken mind.  Thank goodness for fairy godmothers with goddess-like organizational qualities! This should be a fun adventure and a good lesson for me!

Cabinets are done! Now how to I get organized?

The cabinets have been done for a few weeks but due to the busiest time of year at my job coupled with Spring Break, Easter and fifth year birthdays, I have not been able to slow down to take pictures of the final product.  Take my word for it though - they are BEAUTIFUL and I absolutely love them.

I am slowly putting my dishes and things back in the cabinets, however.  I am really trying to purge out the pots, pans and gadgets that we never use and put the things that we do need in a place where we are better served by them.  This includes the small appliances on our counters and decorations.  I am a tad stumped on a few itmes and just need to slow down enough to focus on it.  Also, a trip to The Container Store is in order without a doubt! the newly built drawers are smaller than a standard utensil tray and I am sure they'll have the pieces I need unlike the usual suspects like Target or Bed Bath and Beyond.  I don't want to go back to a drawer of unorganized mess but rather a space where everything has its place.  Hopefully, I'll get there before Thanksgiving!

We are still waiting on one more section to be added but that is on our own time and dime.  The cabinet folks couldn't reface the built in wine rack that was between two sets of cabinets, so my husband has found someone to handle that for us.  Once that is reinstalled, I'll feel better about putting glassware and such on that side of the kitchen.  I don't feel like putting something away that is just going to be taken back out once that section has to be installed.

So pictures soon, I promise.  Just promise me you'll look past the clutter!

Progress report

The install is going extremely well.  It will take four days instead of three days to complete but we are fine with that.  We won't be able to move back into the kitchen until the weekend regardless.  I cannot get over what a difference the lighter color makes in the rooms.  What do you think? :)

Living in a box...

Remember that 1980s one-hit-wonder, Living in a box? I woke up this morning with that song stuck in my head.  I swear, we have more cardboard boxes in our guest bathroom, dining room and the office slash soon-to-be living room room that I am not sure where to even walk.  I cringed looking at it all this morning.

The good news is that I have a way to get rid of said cardboard boxes once the refacing is complete and we have unpacked everything once again. One step ahead!

Until then, my special little song will be playing in my head:



Am I living in a box 
Am I living in a cardboard box 
Am I living in a box 
Am I living in a cardboard box 
Am I living in a box 

Ah, you've got to love the 80s!

They're coming! They're coming!

We got the call this week that our new cabinet facing is ready to be installed! I am so excited! I cannot wait to see the final product.  However, I will say it does feel like I am moving again.  We have been boxing up all our pots and pans, plates and glasses as well as other odds and ends in our cabinets and drawers.  The good news is that I am truly making myself throw things away and put odds and ends into a donation box.  Good Mews, a no-kill feline shelter that I volunteer with, is having its annual flea market in April so the timing couldn't be better.

So the box doesn't have a lot in it...yet.  But this is the year of purging! We will get this house put together.  Starting with the kitchen is a good place as we spend so much time in this room. I emptied out the spice cabinet first and got rid of tons of stuff that was old and expired.  I have a new list of spices that need to be replaced.  I also purged the pantry last weekend and did the same thanks to an invasion of weevils (or the like) in an old flour container that I thought was air tight.  So now all we have is fresh food and I won't be buying anything new until we get through some of the cans and boxes we have currently.  The refacing project will do more than make our kitchen pretty.  It will force us to get rid of somethings that we don't really need or ever use.

While I have been working on the kitchen, my husband has been working on another project - the guest bathroom that is downstairs.  It is complete with a shower that is not enclosed along with sheetrock that needs to be patched.  Did I mention it is a neon green color? It needs a lot of TLC.  We've decided on a blue from the Benjamin Moore historic color collection and that we will put high wainscoting along the walls.  He tackled the ceiling as well by giving it a new coat of cover paint.  Both the kitchen and the guest bathroom are well on their way to getting a facelift with our personal touches on it!

Vote for the Cover Girls!

In my "real" world, I work daily with elected officials.  I have run campaigns and worked for legislators to get bills passed or killed.  It is an exciting world.  But I have never envied them when they put their name on a ballot.  It takes a lot of hard work to ask for someone to vote for you.  I have always enjoyed being the staffer who pushes them along and at the end of the day, I can retire to my home and family. There, I am only accountable to them and not a massive constituency.

Then came the magazine cover contest.

My mother nominated my girl and me for the cover of a local magazine, Little Black Dress/Little Red Wagon.  It is one of my favorites because it is two magazines in one geared towards moms and their dual lives of being a hip lady and a cool mom.

In order to win the cover and all the fabulous prizes that come with it, once you are selected for the contest, you have to solicit for votes.  So here I am, hat in hand, asking you to vote for me and my child.

There are two EASY ways to do it.  If you are on Facebook, click and like here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150628222111686&set=a.10150628221956686.381029.104090731685&type=1&theater

The other way is to go to this Web site, find the picture for Amanda S. and then click and scroll down to vote.  It is that simple!

I'll let you know the results on Monday when LBD/LRW picks its winner.

Thank you in advance for humoring me!!!

Go vote! :)