New Year's Task

New Years Eve....my big plans consist of a few glasses of wine, some leftovers and a little crochet while watching a movie.  That is how I hope 2011 will be; nice and relaxed, and easy.  I have no resolutions per se.  Just like most people they are usually never fulfilled.

I have proposed a New Year Task.  My task is to de-clutter my house and my life.  Each month will be designated to a different room in the house.  I will have the entire month to declutter-/organize/redecorate.  I figure if I spread it out over the year, the task won't seem so daunting.  If I get an area done before the end of the month, I might move on to the next or take a break.

My first room(s) will be the dining room and formal living room/library.  This may be my most complicated area.  I need to paint and buff out the wood floor.  It's the only room I haven't repainted since Joe and I got married.  Not to mention moving (4) 7' bookcases full of books.  I'm already exhausted and I haven't even started.  I just have to keep repeating: one day at a time.

Only a few more hours until the task begins.  I'll let you know how I do next New Year's Eve.

Big Wheels Keep On Turnin.....

The surprise is over. I came home from Florida 2 weeks early and I didn't tell Bryan. He always tries to make me feel guilty for missing his birthday every year. Now he can't complain. I've been so busy since I've been back I'll probably forget his birthday. I'd never live that down.

I go from nothing to do in Florida to so much to do I don't know where to start. I've been cleaning out the barn; shoveling lots of chicken poop. I have to get ready for my new baby chicks that are coming in mid April. Then there is the yard and garden that needs started. Etc. etc. etc......

I have some tires that have just been sitting in the barn. With Brad's urging I have decided to try to sell them. I checked with a local tire dealer and apparently it will be worth my while to sell them. Since they have been in the barn the chickens have used them as a laying nest. I thought I'd better clean off the poop and straw before I put them on CraigsList.

In the process of getting the tires from the barn to the garage I invented a new game. It's called "Where will the damn tire go!" I rolled the first tire out of the barn and headed for the house. There is a little hill right outside the barn so the tire took to rolling a little faster. I thought: oh good, the tire will roll to the garage and I won't have to push it. No, not good. The hill is not smooth and neither is the ground so the tire took on a life of it's own. It's started rolling faster and faster and....there is a spot where the pasture fence is broken and the tire rolled right through there, into the pasture and disappeared (it's the pasture with all of the overgrown trees and brush). I stood there at the top of that little hill by the barn thinking: what the hell just happened??? I didn't run after it because I figure it would stop before it got to the fence. Remember Newton's laws of motion? "An object in motion will stay in motion unless an outside force acts upon it." By golly that is true! It took me 10 minutes to find that stupid tire; fighting overgrown thorny bushes the entire time. Once I found it I had to push it up hill through the thorny bushes and to the garage.

Three tires to go and I'm certainly not going to make that mistake again...or am I?
This time I pointed the tire more toward the garage thinking that if it got away from me it would be heading in the right direction. Wrong again. It started off in the same direction at a little different angle. This time I started chasing it. I pushed on the tire figuring it would fall over on it's side and therefore stop. All it did was wobble a little and keep on going. I pushed it 2 more times with the same effect. It was heading for the part of the fence that was not broken. Well, it wasn't broken, but it is now. The tire hit the fence with a loud CRACK! At least it stopped the tire.

Time for the third tire. By now I have figured out that I can't let the tire get any momentum at all by the hill. So, I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping it under control but it still starts to roll faster. I was bound and determined not to let this one get away, so as soon as it started to go faster I knocked it over. It still took me two tries to push it down. I got the forth tire to the garage uneventful.

Between shoveling poop and chasing tires I am exhausted. I did more today than I have in the last month. I was so tired this evening that I drove the car to the mailbox. I just couldn't bring myself to walk that far.

I should have no trouble sleeping tonight. I just hope I can get out of bed in the morning.

I Should Have Left It Alone

Addendum to yesterday's post.

I decided I needed to finish at least some of the chores I started. I finished sweeping the carpet and the tile.

(Side note: Do not under any circumstances install white or beige or any light colored tile flooring. Unless of course you like sweeping or if you have a maid. It shows every hair and every crumb. I hate it!) back to the story....

I thought I should tackle the light fixture in the kitchen that I ignored before. The light fixture is actually florescent tube lights that are covered by a drop ceiling with semi transparent plastic tiles. I have installed a drop ceiling before so I know how it works. I figured this would be a piece of cake. I removed the tiles with no problem and cleaned them.

(Another side note: I have to sweep the floor again since everything that was on top of the tiles fell on the floor. Poor planning on my part.)

So I am attempting to put the tiles back and I get one tile in ok. I start to put in the second tile and everything fell down on my head; track and all. I got the track put back together and reinstalled and began putting the tiles back in again. This time everything fell down on my head and one of the plastic tiles broke. Perfect! Another attempt.....fell down again. On my last attempt I had three of the four tiles in and again everything fell down and another tile broke. I give up!!!!!

Now I have to drive 80 miles round trip to visit a Lowes to buy two pieces of $2 tiles. I could go to Home Depot which would shave off about 10 miles of my trip, but they pissed me off once so I refuse to shop there.

You've heard of the sayings: "let sleeping dogs lie", Leave well enough alone, If it's not broke don't fix it, and Don't a poke a skunk. Those pretty much sum up what I should have done (or not done) in regards to the ceiling tiles.

Inside My Head

I noticed that my crochet stuff was all a mess on the floor, so I decided I would straighten it up. I started straightening and noticed the flowers I had crocheted last night. I stopped straightening and started to match buttons to my flowers to see what looked good. Couldn't pick a button, but decided that I needed a hat pattern to crochet that the flowers would look good on, so I went to the Internet. Before looking for patterns I checked my email and Facebook. I figured I would check on the hat pattern later. I pick up some of the trash that I gathered from my crochet area and went to throw it away. I saw that a pan on the stove needed washed so I put down the trash (on the counter) and took the pan to the sink. I saw that the counter was dirty so I started washing it and decided that there is too much stuff sitting around so I started to put things in cupboards and I noticed that there are finger prints all over the cupboard doors. I proceed to wipe them down. I look up and see bugs in the light fixture and I decide I am going to clean out the bugs. My mind suddenly switches to the fact that I could paint the cupboards. Maybe not completely, but I could put designs on them. Maybe even paint one door with chalk board paint. I go back to organizing and I find a cookbook. I spend probably 5 minutes looking up recipes. I wipe off the bookshelf and take the talking parrot that normally sits on top and I take it outside to the deck. I play with it for awhile. Then I just sit and look out at the water. I remember I was cleaning. I start to vacuum. I get the carpets halfway done when I think of an idea for my blog. I decide that instead of forgetting it I would type it right then.

After spending approximately one hour on the computer blogging about Windows 7 and googling whether or not I was the only one that thought that about Microsoft commercials (FYI I'm not the only one) and looking up everything that popped into my head...... I never finished cleaning up my crochet, never got a hat pattern, forgot to put the trash in the trash can and never even attempted to clean the bugs from the light. The cupboards are half clean as is the floor and the pan is still in the sink. Over the coarse of two hours I never really accomplished anything except write my blog.

Can you spell ADHD.

Choices

Do we really need 15 different ways to clean our toilets? I was clipping coupons today and noticed how many different products there are to clean your toilet. You can use wands, pads, scrubbers, wipes, drops, gels, cakes, and probably many more. What happened to go 'ol rubber gloves and a little elbow grease. Way too many choices. That's my problem, I don't know what to choose. Which one works the best? Which one is the most environmentally friendly? Which one is the cheapest? Ahhhhhhhhhh! I can't take it! I go to the store with a list and the minute I walk in I am overwhelmed. No wonder I hate shopping so much. It's information overload. I want to buy a camcorder but I'm afraid. What if I pick the wrong brand? What if I don't pick the right features? My personality doesn't fit with so many choices. I have a need to try to do everything right and with so many choices it makes it difficult to maintain perfection.

As far as the toilet cleaners go, I chose scrubbing bubbles fresh brush. It has a wand with little pads that can be flushed after you are done. They are ok for the inside of the toilet bowl, but what about the rim, seat and outside of the toilet? I have to choose another product for that. This debate will never be over because just about the time I finally choose, there will be a new product available that claims to be the best ever.

Hooray For Power Tools

It's raining today which is probably a good thing. I have been working like a mad woman trying to get the yard work done and my garden planted. I have neglected the inside of my house for weeks. No one come over, I would be horrified. Joe hasn't had a good home cooked meal in awhile. We've had mostly takeout and eggs. I can't do everything I'm only one person!!!!! Yesterday I worked with my favorite piece of power equipment; the POWER WASHER! Actually it's my favorite outdoor piece of equipment. My indoor favorite is my COMPOUND MITER SAW! Who could have just one favorite when there are so many. I power washed the algae and scum off of the house and decks. I had on my rain gear (coat and pants) and goggles. I thought I was completely prepared to stay dry. What I didn't account for was the water running down my sleeve into my pants when I lifted the sprayer above my head. That was cold! Next time I guess I'm going to have to rubber band the sleeves. It's amazing to me how effective a power washer is. The dirt just melts away. You do however have to be careful. Depending on which nozzle you use, you can take the paint off of things or the skin off of your toes. (Note to self: wear shoes when power washing). You know how when you are using a regular hose and maybe you get grass and stuff on your feet and you take the hose and mindlessly spray off your feet? You can't do that with a power washer. It really hurts. One has to stay vigilant. I get carried away when I power wash. I'll be working on the house and I come by a piece of lawn furniture and I think "hmmmm, wonder if I can clean that?" I cleaned the ladder I was using and the deck box. Oh, and my shoes. One however needs to estimate the distance an object will fly when hit with the stream from the power washer. I had to retrieve my shoe from down the hill. One last piece of advice. Don't clean out the gutters with a power washer, especially after you have just cleaned the side of the house. I had gutter debris up my nose. The best part was using the jet stream to write my name in the dirt on the patio. Now I know why guys like using their jet stream that way. However, with my jet stream I could write the Gettysburg address if I wanted to. Ha, in your face!