my simple life to date

so it has been a while since i updated all of you reading about my 40 bags in 40 days project.  things are going well.  i have posted some before and after pictures of some of the rooms, with the last being the little man's new toy story bedroom.  the kitchen is now done including the fridge and the living room is almost done.

 i have the liquor cabinet/hutch to do but i might keep that until our annual may party to clean it out (oh and that really isn't a pictures of the inside my my liquor cabinet) - aside from the hutch, toys have been donated, the art supply drawer has been cleaned out and the play kitchen has had it's own clean out job including the donating of excess dishes, cutlery, pots pans 

so far the project has been a great success.  one thing that i will pass along to you if you are doing this - give everything (that remains) a place.  the spot where it lives and let everyone know where its home is.  this way, when you go to tidy things up or someone else tidies up (does that really happen) anyhow, it is easy to put away because there is a place for it.  kitchen clean up has been really easy now that things are sorted and i haven't yet had to spend an hour looking for a lid for my lunch container.  

another thing that i recommend during a clean up is to have a basket - which i have yet to do myself but i read it on a blog and it is such a good idea. do your tidy up with a basket under your arm and collect things for each room, one at a time.  this may not apply to everyone but having two boys under six i find that if i don't do this way i am walking around in circles putting toys and clothes back in their homes.  i typically collect the items in my arms but the basket is such a better idea. i think that the gutting of the house so far has been such a great time saver.  it is easy, rather...  simple to do a clean up now a days.  and in most instances it has been a month since i have done that room so it is still working so far

with less time wasted on cleaning up i have had a chance to spend time                      

                                                      doing literally nothing 

- well not nothing but enjoying my free time.  i have been reading, playing the iphone app games that i have downloaded, which hubby doesn't like so much but he is the one that wanted me to get an iphone and an iphone only.  it's funny too because i have read on a number of sites to cut back on your cell phone games, internet and online use to help simplify life and while i no longer read the news - be it world, national or local; i do go online quite a bit from my phone and play lots of games but i am enjoying myself.  i think they are really referring to those who have it attached to their head and are constantly working when away from work.

i have spent a lot of time outside since the weather has been nice and it has been so great.  i am not stressed out as much about how cluttered the house is - granted a lot of stuff has been put to the basement in the "meantime" which is clearly a broken rule i set out for myself in the cleaning project.  

rule that was broken: don't move stuff from one place to another in the house - deal with it at that time you touch it - donate it, throw it away or give it a home.  well, i am afraid to even take before pictures of the basement.  it is a complete embarrassment on my part so there may not be posted pictures lol

i will completely admit that life has been stressful lately, my grandpa has been in hospital and my daycare arrangements for the boys flopped but i have to say that if the house wasn't as clean and orderly as it was it would have had a far worse week for me than it was.

so, i have the bedroom and bathroom and the big guy's room yet to do which is a whole lot of toys and books to go through.  the yard has been started since the weather today was a beautiful 23 degrees and sun on march 18th!  it is going to be a cruel mean joke if mother nature decides to bring the white stuff back again this year.  yard raked, sleds put away, deck cleaned off, leaves burned, deck chairs washed off.  the shed has to be cleaned out, garage cleaned out but that is relatively easy since over three quarters of it is our tent trailer.

once the house, yard and garage has been purged and gutted i will begin to tackle the home improvement projects i have - starting small - like painting, new blinds here and there, putting trim along the carpet's edge and some dry walling.

another project that has started is simplifying our finances.  i am really thinking of getting rid of the satellite or downsizing our huge plan.  i am finding i am watching less tv and really not caring so much about seeing every episode of shows i have been watching. i mean there are many i still watch but that is what the pvr is all about.  

i am working on a budget where i am setting up payments online for each pay day, that way the bills are being paid when they should be and i don't have so much to worry about.  i have gone through the bills and whatever the monthly amount i am spending is, i divide it by 4 paychecks and have the amount of one quarter of the bill being put on the bill with each paycheque.  this makes it simpler for cash flow and i know bills are being paid.  when it comes to the mortgage i divide that by 4 as well and then put the money into another account until the day it is due.  i have set up 3 months worth and i know what is going where and when.

and so it continues ~ this huge project of simplifying my life but i am so happy with the progress so far.  i have had time to do what i want to in a day and on the weekends - granted i need to get back to my running but today's enjoyment included a 5.5km walk with the boys in the wagon to see "spring happening"  as my eldest put in.  

i will have to share with you some of the things we have been doing in our joyous free time from hikes to playing at the park, beginning our rock hounding season to exploring the old nipissing trail this past weekend.  tomorrow night i begin my photography course at the local college too.  

life seems to be simply good these days

~ simply  me ~

ode to wine drinkers

for some reason i seem to associate drinking wine with images of relaxation and tranquility. for these reasons i would like to be a wine drinker but my taste buds just aren’t up to the sophistication of my brain…. yet

i remember learning from my mom that your tastes change as you age, the childhood sweet tooth fades and many of the taste buds on the roof of your mouth and on the sides die and your sense of taste fades, so things that are spicy or bitter when you are younger tend to become more pleasant tasting as you get older.

i think i may agree but am still not entire sure. i may be liking the taste of wine more and more but i admit that i am still a fruit flavoured wine or wine cooler type drinker of wines. maybe i haven’t found my wine yet. a friend of mine told me i have to start trying wines until i find "my wine". i may become an alcoholic in the process but it may be my new endeavour….  

to find the wine that takes me to that place of relaxation

to find the wine that leads to my imagined tranquility

or how about just ...

to find a wine i can sip without shuddering like my little guy
does drinking anything carbonated

heh or maybe i just stick with beer

i remember my aunt, uncle and parents sitting at the cottage drinking wine - sitting at the beach, or after dinner, or when we would hold a “just for the sake of having a party” party. their wine was so enjoyable they bought it by the box – or maybe that was because it was cheaper in bulk (insert chuckle).

maybe what i have in my mind is that there is something adult about wine. at family get togethers, my grandma used to let us have wine with apple juice in it. i am sure it was mostly apple juice, but still still, the kids were having wine in mini wine glasses that she had bought for us. just like the grown ups.

sometimes i look at myself and wonder how am i an adult? how am i a mom of two boys, who rely on me as onw of their parents when some days i really don’t feel very grown up? or maybe i don’t want to feel grown up. i make these two little people meals, pack a school bag, clothe them, bathe them all the while i still don’t quite get the fact i am the age i am.

i think it is mostly because my family is relatively young – at play, at heart and in all the things that we do. you would never guess my parents’ ages in all the things that they do – they were climbing the pyramids not too long ago, hiking “the crack” (if you have ever been to killarney), "roughing it at the cottage" and now keeping up with 5 grandkids under 6.

i am pretty young at heart too i think. with the boys we love to go play in the snow, toboggan and go tubing, play video games, play fight, colour, play playdough, build sandcastles and play on the playground equipment with them. my brother and his family are very much the same.

when i think of wine drinking right now i immediately think of cougartown and big joe (rip 2007-2010) and now big carl. too funny!  jules and the gang can always find a reason to drink wine and some of the funniest moments of the show take place around the kitchen island or the couch during a wine session.  also, there are many great drinking games that come from and can be played with wine drinking .....

penny can

and so, to start living the life stemming from the imagry i have with wine i guess i need to get myself a wine glass, a big wine glass that is, give it a name and start trying some wines. i mean, i know i will be in good company reading the world of online quotes about wine drinking …..

"wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."                                                             --- benjamin franklin

"wine is the most civilized thing in the world."

                                   --- ernest hemingway

"wine is life."

       --- petronius, roman writer

"clearly, the pleasures wines afford are transitory - but so are those of the ballet, or of a musical performance. wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living."                                                                            --- napoleon

"wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, makes weariness forget his toil."                                                                    --- lord byron

"if food is the body of good living, wine is its soul."              --- clifton fadiman

"wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized."

                                                                                                           --- andré simon

"wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic, and the serious smile."

                                                                                             --- homer

"when there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing."

                                                   --- ovid, "the art of love"

maybe i am still not convinced though lol.  i like beer...  maybe i pour the beer into my wine glass

~ simply me ~

so i broke one of my rules - well not a rule but suggestions.  do it one room at a time, which i didn't.  even my hubby pointed this out to me.  good to know he is reading my blog  LOL 

anyhow - this weekend i jumped to the little man's room instead of finishing the kitchen.  what i have to complete in the kitchen is the pantry, under the sink, the fridge and counters.

but i thought since it was the weekend and i had longer stretch of time i would change the baby room into a little boy's room.  i have to sew some curtains and a new blanket because as you can see the curtains are still pooh and there is a montreal canadiens comforter but it is mostly a blue toy story room.

~ simply me ~

some kitchen cupboard before and afters

the kitchen cupboards

the endless amount of tupperware

pots and pans and yes - more tupperware

pots and pans - got rid of the set from university finally

~ simply  me ~

days one and two .. i am tired already

well, the decluttering project is under way.  day one and day two of the actual work and not just the list making i tackled the downstairs bathroom, the mudroom and the cupboards in the kitchen. the bathroom was fairly easy, but as you can see it has some cosmetic work to be done.  tom and i renovated this bathroom - oh let's say 5 years ago now and it still isn't complete.  we aren't very good at the completing of tasks.  we always have great ideas and visions of things and start them but they rarely get finished. from here on out we either complete them in their entirety or have someone else do the work for us (probably the better option).  tom is a good demolition man but if he can't drive a sledgehammer through it or burn it in the campfire once it is ripped apart, the job has come to an end :)

since i finished working on the bathroom rather quickly i started the mudroom.  first step was the closet.  since both tom and i have lost a fair amount of weight it was pretty easy to go through all the jackets and get rid of them because most of them didn't fit anymore.  above the jackets i threw away almost everything because i haven't looked up there probably since we moved into the house 10 years ago.  things just get put up there after being used or when we are cleaning the yard for winter.  that would explain the 6 bottles of kid bubbles.  and at the back there was a box with led crystal candle sticks, candles and a c.d. which I am pretty sure never belonged to us. I think it may  have belonged to the people who lived in the house before us.  but bad me, i put the led crystal candle sticks on the hutch cause they are nice - but really?  maybe I should send them off in one of my second hand store bags.

day two of the project i took care of the shoe cubbies and what i call the pail - which you can't even see beneath the window-frame mirror for all the clutter.  the pail is where seasonal things get thrown.  in the winter it is full of hats, gloves and scarves.  come summer it is usually flip flops, plastic shovels, bugspray and suntan lotion.  and where is the pail now? you ask. well, guilty, i put it in the closet but in my own defense it is really old and i am pretty sure my mom will want it instead of me throwing it away

in the back of the shoe cubbies i found a fish filleting knife that my father in law bought for tom about 6 years ago.  it was still in its original package.  when i asked him if he wanted it first he said no, then he said yes and to put it with the fishing gear - so for now it sits in the basement with the fishing gear but the basement will be touched with my "cleaning with vengeance" soon enough.  what also sits in the basement are tom's rollerblades that i found in the back of the top cubby.  those two were originally a no to keeping but he quickly changed his mind to a yes.  those will be revisited too

after lunch today (day two) gavin asked if we could do some more on the list.  he is having a ball doing this.  while cleaning out the shoe cubbies he and his brother both wore their sandals and bike helmets that we found in there.  

and so, we put the little man down for his afternoon nap and gavin and i started to take everything out of the cupboards in the kitchen.  so what i thought was going to be a relatively short project took almost 8 hours.  and because of that i have to leave this post as it is.  my body is achy, and i need to get to bed.  tomorrow i will upload the before and after pictures from the tupperware cupboard (or plural), the glasses, the plates, the sippy cups and so forth.

good night, until tomorrow

~ simply (tired and worn out) me ~

list, upon list, upon list, upon list

the master list - so i have 12 bags in 12 days instead of 40 but i am thinking it may be 40 bags over 24 days.  i am giving myself 2 days for each room and i am thinking i am going to need way more than one bag per room lol

i have this posted on my pantry door so i can see it all the time.  i have included the lists for the top 8 decluttering tasks.  number 9 is so overwhelming i don't even want to think of it and the garage, shed and yard can't really be done until the snow melts which will hopefully be soon.

enjoy the lists.  as you can see i had some help writing some of them out.  also on these lists i put items that i want to clean and or repair/fix in each room because we have a lot of little things to do to our house. i have posted each poster in the room it goes with.

seems kind of daunting but at least i have it all out in front of my now and know what needs to be done.  and i need to think of the outcome - less stuff, less to take care of, less to clean up, more time to do the things i want to

"the ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." hans hofmann

- simply me -

declutter (a verb) - to simplify or get rid of mess, disorder, complications, ex: declutter your life

scanning through the lists of the top 10, top 60 and the 200 ways to simplify your life there is a common thread to pretty much every point which is decluttering or some aspect of it as per the definition above.  

get rid of the complicated things in life - simplify ways of doing things like household chores, daily routines, workplace requirements.  eliminate the disorder and rid your life, house, car, desktop, electronic device of mess, get rid of the disorder in your finances by creating a budge to follow

i have always loved this poster but there does come a time when the mess is a little too much - or that is how i have felt lately.  probably because when you suffer from any sort of depression you tend not to have ambition to do much of anything; especially household chores. i grew up in a house that was lived in, but it was clean, organized and tidy but it wasn't a house where you weren't allowed in rooms because they were the "formal" dining room or the "formal" living room.  they were rooms in our house - some used more than others but definitely rooms anyone could go in.

so i am going to start on decluttering my house.  last week i thought i would start with something simple - the front of the fridge.  yes i removed some of the kindergarten art projects, the business cards of people i have never called but seem to hang on to the card because some day when i may need the peterborough examiner salesperson i will have his number at hand, the year old magnet that reminds me to take my son to the dentist and so forth.  i have removed everything except some of magnets and the leap frog letters.  

~wow~ my fridge is so clean and that corner of the kitchen looks huge. i am actually thinking as i write this that i should get rid of all those magnets so i am not tempted to keep any more crap on there. 

i forgot to do the before and after picture but i will definitely start to do that from here on out in my decluttering process.

have you ever been to a solutions store?  click on the logo below and check this place out.  if anyone ever wants to get me something get me a gift certificate to this place.  

click here

i was in there on boxing day and was in heaven.  those of you who know me really well and have been to my house will know that these completely decluttered, organized shelves, closets and stuff are non-existent in my house and may seem odd to you that i want a house like this - the organization but more importantly the lack of "stuff".  

on one of the living a simple life websites i visit regularly i came across a post by a girl names stephanie that i had to share

"Present Me is tired of holding onto Future Me’s crap. Future Me will just have to deal with it."    *love it, going to live by it

~~ the plan ~~

so, how am i going to do this huge task?  i have a plan that i am going to put in place.  it is a culmination of ideas and suggestions i have read that i have adapted for me

step one - write it all down so i have something to work by.  i am going to use this idea i read about called 40 bags in 40 days where each day you tackle another project on your list of things to do and have a large garbage bag for each project.  obviously if you have more than 40 things to do you are going to have more than 40 bags.  this is probably the step too where you need to decide if your house needs to be on an episode of hoarders 

     *once i get my list written out i will upload a picture

step two - take a before picture of the space

step three - start at the door of the room and work in a clockwise direction through the room so you don't keep going from spot to spot.  don't rearrange where things are put, remember you are going to get rid of things here.  you are going to throw them out or donate them.  when looking at items ask these questions

have a throw out pile (essentially one of your 40 bags), a donation pile and a keep pile

print out this poster a few times and put it up around the room you are working in

if you need have a friend you trust help you with the process, they can put a little perspective on the items and help you decide if you really need to keep it - especially if you have a friend who is a minimalist.  i have someone in mind who i might be enlisting to help me if she doesn't mind :)

step four - clean the surfaces and vacuum as you go because then you have both a clean and decluttered area.  move the furniture around in that room now that you have more room if you feel like it

step five - take the garbage to the dump or where you put your weekly garbage bags.  take the donations directly to where you are going to donate them.  and donate your stuff don't plan to have a garage sale because you are going to just put it somewhere else in your house to wait for the day you plan to have a garage sale.  also, don't think you are going to sell it on ebay or kijiji because again, you are going to put it somewhere else until you have the time to go upload it to the site, wait for interest, negotiate and all this time store it somewhere until it sells.  just take it away while you are doing the task. 

step six - take an after picture

step seven - compare the two pictures, feel the satisfaction of what you have accomplished

step eight - come tell me about what you did or email me pictures of your accomplishment.  post it on facebook or email it to friends to brag :)

and so it begins ....
i will keep you posted ....

~ simply me ~