New Year’s day

I don’t do parades, but I did catch up on some of my favorite YouTube channels for the morning.  I decided, however, that I needed to get busy on the condo.  I am running more laundry, but I managed to repurpose the metal magazine holders (I got rid of the magazines last year).  I had already used two to hold plastic wrap and aluminum foil in my kitchen (along with boxes of Ziplock baggies), but I’ve now used the rest of them to hold my empty - and not so empty - packing cubes in my closet.  It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.  With that, my suitcase is now light enough to lift it and set it on the shelf in my closet.  Yay!  I can now reach the back of my closet to put clean winter clothes away and actually walk in my walk-in closet!

With that, I was able to get a few of Mom and Dad’s things put in their new homes and with that and the repurposing of the magazine holders, I’ve cleared out two plastic bins and two office boxes!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I’ve been getting caught up on the basic cleaning, trash, recycling, laundry, dishes, which has now allowed for me to tackle a few needed things to do.

1.  Mom and Dad’s funeral and probate stuff are now in each of their own boxes in the closet.  I will need to go through them again, as I now have a bag started for stuff that needs to go to the safety deposit box at the credit union.  I’m so thankful I had the foresight to rent the box myself and make Mom and Dad signers.  This meant I didn’t need a court order to be able to get to the contents of the safety deposit box to get much needed documents.  If you are in this position, please make sure that the person renting the box is the person who will be handling the estate.  Others can be made signers on the box, which means they have access to add and remove as needed.  This is what I did with Mom and Dad and it saved me when each of them passed away.

2.  Getting the laundry done means that I’ve been able to empty out the filled laundry baskets with the laundered items now put away where they belong. This means the hallway is now dryer sheets free, the trash can for the dryer sheets is now emptied with a fresh bag to start anew.  I’ve also gotten the storage bin with some of my treasures that I want to keep has now been put back in the closet where it belongs.  I still have a lot more to go, but it’s getting there.

3.  I’m also now reclaiming the bedroom linen closet for what it was meant for.  There is still a lot of go through there, but I’ve already filled one bag with a comforter that hasn’t been used in years, and needs to go to a new home where it will be loved and cherished.  :-). Some of the laundry that is still in the guest bathroom (located next to the washer/dryer combo) will go in this closet, or will be added to the donations bags.

Swedish Death Cleaning

I had never heard of this before, but it completely makes sense.  It's the decluttering version of creating an Estate Plan.

I am also a survivor of someone who didn't do this, and yes, I paid for it.  I have the pictures to prove it.

A few thoughts:

I got help in getting some of the big things out, namely the furniture that belonged to my sister and I.  For the rest of it, I took out of the house things that were indicative to my memories of Mom and Dad.  Papers.  A lot of papers that I will need to go through.  The rest, however, can be replaced.

I didn't get everything out, there wasn't enough time as the buyer wanted to close earlier than had been arranged, but it's okay.  I have pictures of the rooms with the furnishings that didn't make it.

Furthermore, I have the memories of spending time with my parents, which cannot be bought.

I Could Use Someone Like This!

I have a balcony that I have no idea what to do with.

A Different Way of Looking At A Hotel Room

I love Robeson Design.

Personality In Home Decor

Future Book Read: Zero Waste Home

This is one of my goals, I'm slowly getting there, but will be able to hopefully implement more fully once I'm debt free.

Interior Planning

Pattern & Texture

Add some spice to your life!

For those of you living in apartments, there is a new way to get around those white walls...

The Rules of Lighting In Your Home

I'm learning a lot from these videos, how about you?  Who knew there was more to lighting than flipping a switch?

The Use of Colour In Your Home

Yeah, I need to do something with these white walls in my home, but I also need to start from the top (my HVAC unit) and work my way down.  First, though, I need to pay off as much debt as I can.

No April Fool's jokes here, enjoy.

Spring Break

This week is Spring Break for me, so that means less away from the house, but more work around the house!

Needless to say, based on my kitchen, I have A LOT of work on my hands!

The Use of Space Within Your Home

I love this series.

Household Hazardous Waste Load

More progress in my home!  I am not only getting rid of a few no longer working items, but I'm also getting rid of old halogen bulbs and getting some of the toxic chemicals out of my home, replacing them with natural ingredients to try to improve not only what gets cleaned but how it gets cleaned.  It also reduces the dependency on man made chemicals to solve cleaning issues in my home.

Needless to say, I left with a deep sense of accomplishment!

Scheduling

There are a lot of blogs and vlogs that go into schedules.

Some are monthly (which bills get paid which days of the month), some do weekly (it's Wednesday, what household blessings do I do today?) while others do daily schedules.

While I do some monthly scheduling for bill payment, my daily schedule is usually determined by meetings, deadlines and what emergency am I taking care of today.  There are days when I'm balancing work with doctor appointments for Mom and myself.

The main schedule that I keep for myself is actually a weekly schedule and usually consists of one or two words.  Which opportunity is scheduled for each day of the week?

Monday is fueling up the car and grocery shopping.

Tuesday is snail mail and finances.

Wednesday is recycling.  Recycling can also mean donating.

Thursday is trash day.

Friday is dishes.

Saturday is laundry.

Sunday is rest and catch up on other stuff not done previously.

The reason I do this is to try to make it so I'm not running like a crazy person on Saturday and Sunday, as I've done some basic upkeep during the week.  I do need to start on a routine in the evening, though, of spot cleaning I could do for 15 minutes per day.  The big problem is ether remembering to do it, or just simply exhaustion and sleep deprivation.  We'll see how things go in the coming months.

Household Hazardous Waste Days

In Arizona, several cities host a day (usually a Saturday) where items that are unfit for trash or recycling can be turned in for proper disposal.

In Mesa, it's called the Household Hazardous Waste Program.  Mesa's is next Saturday, Feb. 4th.

In Tempe, it's called Zero Waste Day.  Tempe's next Zero Waste Day will be held in April.

Goals For 2017

I've been watching so many people posting their resolutions or goals for the new year, I thought I would do something a bit... contrarian.  I'm going to give you my goals, by stating what I will not be doing this year.

1.  I will not become the healthy fitness nut this year.

I just went to the doctor with a sinus infection that I've had since mid-December.  Sorry, but I'm not interrupting my break by trying to get an appointment - when most likely my doctor was already booked.  Today's appointment was scheduled as a follow up from the swollen legs, vertigo and other assorted junk I had back at that time.  Now my legs are fine, the vertigo has been remedied (many thanks to the department head at my job who mentioned she had it and found out it was from vitamin D deficiency) with vitamins.

Additional vials of blood were drawn today to check how my 50 year old hormones are doing, as I've been having hot flashes the last few weeks.  The doctor thinks it actually might be fevers caused by the sinus infection.  We'll see in about a week or two which it is.

2.  I will not have a spotless home this year.

While the amount of stuff has been significantly reduced, there is still a long way to go, and some of the organization requires remodeling in my home, which isn't going to happen this year.  Goal #1 is to get out of debt as quickly as possible.

3.  I will not be debt free by year end.

I honestly don't know if this statement will ring true on December 31st or not, but there are two credit cards I am working and budgeting to pay off this year.  I will be scrimping and saving, however, to pay down as much of the third and last credit card as possible.  Will I make it?  Time will tell.

4.  I will not always be the "cheerful one", whether at work, while spending time with Mom, at Church, around friends.

I will, however, try to be a bit more sociable this year than I have in years past.  However, if I don't join in on movie nights or other assorted outings that require money, please know I'm trying to keep to a tight budget.  To everything there is a season, this is my season to get out of debt.

My best wishes to everyone out there, good luck on whatever goals you have for 2017.

Recycling Load #2

I made it out a little earlier today, so the picture is better.

3 bags of plastics and cans, 2 boxes filled with cardboard boxes.  Also 3 of the boxes that the Hipce storage units came in.

Prior to this trip, I fed the cats, unloaded clean dishes out of the dishwasher and started up a load of the cat food dishes.  Getting an early start on these means I'll have time to get a final load in before I go to bed tonight.

Progress!

The Other Major Goal For 2017

With the advent (and expense) of bed bugs last year, it meant a lot of my furniture had to be removed and disposed of.

The two queen sized beds in my home?  Gone.

The couch and upholstered rocking chair and ottoman?  Gone.

Office desk and two upholstered desk chairs?  Gone.

In order to have space for the extermination process (four visits), more had to be removed and placed into an offsite storage unit.  One that had full sunlight access in the middle of the Arizona summer heat, which would kill any bed bugs that might try to travel.  It worked.

I've since moved the boxes back in December, and sprayed everything down with 91% alcohol, which kills any surviving bed bugs on contact.

Needless to say, they are now gone.

But, where to start?  

I've got a whole mess of boxes in various places around my home, and now it's getting cleaned up and either found to a new home in my home or donated.

The other mess of boxes that now sit in my office, however, are a litany of papers dating back to high school and probably even before that.

In light of this, I've made an investment into a ScanSnap Document Scanner, identical to the kind used at my workplace, in order to scan in what I want to keep and shred the paper copies.  Some will need to be kept, due to legal or tax purposes, however there is a lot here that can be shredded.  I had already purchased a shredder at Costco a few years back, it's still sitting in it's box. Between these two machines, I plan to eliminate mountains of boxes.  

The video below will give you an idea of what can be done.

And, as last month was Christmas with the document scanner I have been wanting was on sale...

I already have the shredder and purchased a box of 500 clear plastic bags to use with it, the time has come to get organized!

Why do I need to do this?

This is just the recycling:  Eight bags, plus cardboard boxes and a box that is filled with paper recycling.

And these boxes are filled with papers dating back to the 1980's to now.  And these are just the ones in my office.

Recycling Load #1

You can't see from the picture, but there are SEVEN kitchen trash bags, but they are not trash.  RECYCLING!!!