Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Junk Drawer

Today, in honor of my first official day in almost a week that I have been able to get up and move with some amount of consistently, I decided to organize the junk drawer in the kitchen.  In my opinion, everyone needs a junk drawer.  There are organized people out there who say that no one should ever have a junk drawer, closet, or room.  Blasphemy!  Everyone needs a spot to put those items that just don't quite have a dedicated home.  Thus, the junk drawer would be their new "dedicated home."  Maybe we should just rename the junk drawer:  "The I-Can't-Find-Anywhere-Else-To-Put-It Drawer."  There.  That should make the junk drawer nazis happy.  Get back on subject, Heather.

At any rate, I decided that it was long past time for my junk drawer to be "reevaluated."  Here's what it looked like:


After I took everything out of it and placed it on the counter, I had a pile that looked like this:



I then cleaned out the drawer very well.  (How did I manage to get crumbs in a drawer that I barely even use?)  And then I covered that horrendous blue liner with a nice, neutral tan shelf liner.


After fighting with the liner, and subsequently giving up on that last air bubble, I started sorting the items on the counter.  I trashed a lot of stuff, like plastic eating utensils, that I never use.  I moved some items to the craft room/office, like paint, paint chips, extra hardware that goes to my shelving unit in my office, and a couple different kinds of glue.



Lastly, I arranged some dollar store baskets in the drawer and started sorting!


On the upper left hand side of the picture, I have "coozies" for canned or bottled drinks.  Right below the coozies, are my kebob skewers.  I always keep packing tape and masking tape on hand.  In the upper right hand drawer is one of my many flashlights, my seed packets for this year's garden, and some ear plugs.  Below that are some random remotes, clothespins, Command hooks, nail clippers, lip balm, and a cell phone charger.

Doesn't it look so much better?!?  I challenge y'all to organize your junk drawers, too!

Monday, April 16, 2012

No more bedrest!

Yay!  No more bedrest for me!  I went to  my chiropractor today and he believes I have some tendon/ligament issues instead of the herniated disc issue.  The upside?  A speedier recovery!  The downside?  Nothing really helps the discomfort except for ice packs.

Today, I was able to be more active.  I went to class to take a test, came home and took a nap, paid a speeding ticket online (Did you know you could do that?  Amazing.), and went to the chiropractor.  By the time I was finished there, it was time for supper.  The moving around today has actually been nice.  I enjoyed the fresh air and actually getting to talk with people.

I have some plans tomorrow to work on my messy kitchen and dining room area, but that is about all I'm planning on actually accomplishing.  Supper will be via crock-pot.  My chiropractor advised me not to "over-do" my activity level, but he said that moving around some is better than bedrest for the tendon/ligament issue.  So, it looks like I will be working on Wednesday night!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Day 4 of Bedrest...

Today was day four of bedrest and I am going crazy!  I believe I have surfed every single website the internet has to offer.  On the upside, I have some ideas for some home improvement projects that I would like to try.  :)

Today I had yet another eye opening reason to maintain my daily, weekly, and monthly routines.  I lost...and then found...a check.  Last week, I purchased some items for my mother and she wrote me a check to pay me back.  The total was $50.  Somehow, I managed to misplace the check.  I don't know how I lost a check from Wednesday, but I did.  Not only did I lose the check but I kinda forgot about it.  (Who forgets about $50?!?)  Anyways, this afternoon I remembered that I had a check hanging around somewhere.  I looked in my usual places:  my car, my purse and wallet, the catch-all place in the kitchen and my bedroom, the trash can in the kitchen (ick!), etc.  Finally, as a last resort, I started going through all the papers on the kitchen table.  Amongst those papers on the table were:  2 Sunday papers, about 800 receipts (because I'm STILL trying to finish balancing the checkbook), my coupon binder (Penny), my work schedule, magazines and catalogs, used napkins from supper tonight, and my check.  YAY!

Moral of the story:  Don't just lay things in a place that you "won't forget."  Put those items where they go.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Day 3 of Bedrest

I have been "relaxing" since Thursday and I am so. freakin'. bored.  This bedrest is for the birds.  I want to get up and start moving around and working on the house.  At any rate, I'm getting caught up on my internet surfing and trashy romance novel reading.

Last night, my mom came over and brought barbecue and fixins' for supper.  Then, she washed two loads of laundry AND the mountain of dirty dishes that have been fermenting in my sink.  And she didn't even gag once.  (Bless her!)

Today, Frank finished working on the front flower beds.  However, we still need to buy about two more bags of mulch to thicken up the area around my new azelea bush.  I haven't seen the finished product yet but I'm sure it is beautiful.  I will upload a picture soon.

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Importance of a Routine

My lightbulb is clicking to the "ON" position.  I am finally understanding the importance of having a routine.  I have sorely neglected my Daily To-Dos (and weekly and monthly...).  In fact, I have been only doing the bare minimum for the last month or more.  I cannot explain why I have let this happen when I was doing such a good job previously.  Maybe the novelty of "getting organized" wore off.

At any rate, here I am, stuck on bedrest.  Here's the backstory:

After school on Wednesday, I came home and started spreading some mulch in my front flower beds.  I stopped after about thirty minutes because the wind was blowing so badly that I couldn't keep my weed control tarp under control.  So, I came inside and took a shower.  My parents invited Frank and I over for supper and as I was sitting down in the chair...SNAP!  My back, for lack of a better word, snapped.  I had pretty intense pain for about thirty seconds and then it was just some dull, constant pressure in my lower back.  I ate supper and for a couple of hours, I was able to do normal things.  But, over time the pain kept getting worse.  I spent all day Thursday in the bed or in the recliner.  My back hurt whether I was sitting, reclining, or lying flat.  No anti-inflammatory medication helped.  Ben-Gay didn't help.  Heating pads and ice packs didn't help.  Nothing helped.  It hurt when I moved and it hurt when I was still.

So, this morning I wake up and can hardly move.  I knew that I had to go see the doctor.  I was diagnosed with a herniated disc.  My provider told me that it would take a week for my back to feel better and that in the meantime, I should be on bedrest.  I thought to myself, "A WEEK?!?  I can't spend a week on bedrest!  I have too much to do!"  I had already missed class today and now I have to call in sick to work all weekend?  Ugh.

So, what does this have to do with routine?  Well, I will tell ya.  I would be embarrassed if anyone saw the condition my house is in right now.  It is a wreck.  The dishwasher is full of dirty dishes and the sink is overflowing with dirty dishes.  The laundry situation is getting perilous.  The litterbox is full.  I don't know when I last swept.  Or mopped.  Or vacuumed.  And I still haven't balanced the checkbook!  If I had been keeping up with my routines, my home wouldn't look quite so disasterous right now.  Sure, it might be a little messy, but nothing near the nuclear mess it is right now.

I have pledged myself this:  "I WILL get this house in order.  I WILL catch up everything that I am running behind on.  I WILL forgive myself for letting it get this out of hand.  And I WILL complete this by May 1."

Since I am on bedrest with nothing else better to do, I guess now is as good as a time as any to make a list of all the things that need to be done around this house.  I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Sorting Mail

In an effort to prove to myself exactly how little time it takes to sort mail, I let my mail pile up to this.


 Now, keep in mind that this is was done purely for investigative purposes.  *Cough*

I believe that this pile accumulated over two weeks.  Amongst this pile of paper is multiple catalogs, magazines, bills, EOBs from insurance, reminders from the vet that my cat needs her shots, junk mail, and other miscellaneous items that need to be filed or otherwise dealt with.

The first thing I do is start opening the mail.  As I figure out what it is, I put it in the appropriate file or pile.  For example, the first item I opened was a credit card statement.  I filed the bill itself in my mesh file organizer under "Bills to Pay" and tossed the rest of the envelope and inserts into the trash.


Banking papers that come in go under "Banking-Holding."  These would be statements that I need to balance...we ALL know how good I am about that!

The "Holding" category in the mesh file organizer is for anything else that needs to be address soon, but I'm not quite ready to file into archival filing.  Usually, items only stay here for a couple weeks.

If I come across a magazine or catalog, it goes in the hanging file box under the appropriate tab.  Same thing for sale papers and coupons that come in the mail.  (I'm trying to make a habit of going through the coupon file once a week and sorting the coupons in my coupon binder.  AKA:  Penny)


It seemed to take forever to open and file all those pieces of paper, but it only took:

And my trash pile looked like this:

The pink paper pile to the left is the shred pile.

Now, in less than ten minutes, I filed and handled over two weeks of mail.  Why, oh why, do I procrastinate so much?

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Folding Laundry Is Boring

I hate folding laundry.  It is not necessarily an unpleasant job, but it is mind-numbingly boring.  So boring, in fact, that I tend to wait until my "To Fold" pile looks like this:


I guestimate that this pile is five loads of laundry. 

Generally, after more than two loads pile up, I just don't see the use in even attempting to fold it.  So, I just keep piling and piling.  Then, one day when I'm searching for clean underwear, a clothing avalanche forces me to do something about it.

Today was that day.  Muttering under my breath, I moved the clothes from the laundry room to my bed and started plugging away at the pile.  The whole time I'm thinking that it will take me at least 45 minutes to completely sort, fold, and put away Mount Foldme.

Want to know how long it took?



Nice.