Ugh..I know, it's Tuesday. I meant to write this on Sunday, but I've been sick since last Wednesday. So sick that I missed classes on Thursday and I'm home again today. My Irish instructor is going to throw a fit and no matter how I feel tomorrow, I'm going to have to drag myself down to the Irish center. So..what does this all mean? I didn't do so great on my challenges for last week. I did manage to get one or maybe two boxes of books packed up and out of here, but my dishes..well, actually, while they're not all caught up (or probably even found), I did actually get the clean ones put away and some more done up. I'm going to try to drag myself to the kitchen today to work more on that.

So, for me, this week's challenge is the same as last week's challenge. Why? Cuz I clearly still need to do it..heh. For all of you, I'm going to issue a clean car challenge. Yep, the weather is getting nicer so how bout all of you go out, clear out the trash and whatever else is hiding in your cars and get them all swept out and shiny. For any of you where the weather is not cooperating, how about a nightstand challenge? Check out those night stands for things that just don't belong and throw it away, give it away or put it away.

As always, let me know. I love the comments and I love hearing how all of you are doing.

I know I've been missing for a while. I spent a week in Michigan and school has been a bit nuts. I'm back now though and what better to come back with than this week's challenge! The challenges for a bit are going to be two part..one part cleaning, one part organizing. I'm down to less than 2 months before my move and I swear you can't even tell how much work I've done. It's amazing how much I've crammed into this place.

Cleaning : Ok, my focus for this week is dishes. Since I need to start packing them soon, I ought to track them all down. With the boys, you just never know where you're gonna find a spoon. So, the challenge is to find all those dirty dishes and to get them all washed up.

Organizing: Well, I know we've already done bookshelves, but since that's my packing goal right now, I'm going to be focused there. For all of you, how about board games? I'm going to challenge all of you to go through those old games, find out which are missing pieces, which you just don't play with and which ones you just could never get rid of. Then, freecycle, thrift or donate those that you don't want anymore.

Please let me know if you're participating! I'd love to feel like I'm not in this alone.

Ack! I know! It's Monday! Where the heck did that weekend go? How the heck did all of you do on last week's challenge? I got mine done..well, I don't know about totally done, but I did box up a box of the boys toys (wow, that wasn't a redundant statement at all!) and moved that and their laundry bag worth of toys out into the laundry room..aka the launchpad of the move.

For this week, I'm going to keep it really simple. I have weekend company coming (omg I so cannot wait) so I'm going to be a busy girl what with school work and cleaning. Let's see..bookshelves. Always a good area to tackle. Now, if you're like me and never get rid of a book, well I can't blame you one bit. But, every once in a while it doesn't hurt to go to the shelf and see if there's any books there that are just kinda meh in your world. If there are, let's get them out the door!

Now, you have a few options here..as always, you could freecycle them. You could always donate them to your local library or children's program (assuming they're children's books) or women's shelter. The other option would be to trade them. Yep, trade them. I've never done this so I can't recommend a good site to use, but I googled book swap and came up with at least half a dozen different sites.

So there you go..let's see what's on those shelves this week. As for me, I'm going to be doing that as I try to reach my goal of packing up at least 2 boxes of books. We'll see how it goes!

I'm not late! Ok, yes I am, but it's because I've been deliberating forever about which one to do today. Have no fear, with some assistance, I have made my decision!

But first, how did all of you do on your cookbooks? Did you sort them? Did you just smile at them? C'mon, let me know! As for me, I got them all packed up in 2 boxes and shifted into the laundry room (where I'm storing them til the move). I left out about 8 cookbooks to use over the next few months. Oh my gosh, can you believe it's only 88 days untli graduation and that means like 90 until the move!?! Wow!

Ok, so for this coming week, I'm going into the living room. All of you..well it could be your living room, kids rooms, family rooms..or heck, just anywhere in your homes! What are we tackling? Kids toys. Even though my boys are only here for about 4 months of the year, they leave tons of stuff here when they go back to their dad's house. So, this week's challenge is to go through some of those toys (or all if there's time..it's a hectic week for me at school) and get them packed up and possibly even getting rid of a few of them. For all of you, I challenge you to go through your kids toys (or if you don't have kids, your own toys!) and sort out those that are broken or just not played with. Again, you could freecycle them or donate them to a local women's/children's shelter or a local charity store.

As always, let me know..are you participating? how are you doing on these? are you tired of me posting them yet?

So how did everyone do on their bathroom challenge? I have to say that I am darned proud of myself. I had a frantic week at school and still managed to get mine done! Did I mention that I just finished posting an entire grocery bag full of items onto freecycle? Wow! I had no idea that I would find that much in that little bathroom to get rid of. This sure will make packing a whole lot simpler. I also realized that I have no less..and I'm almost embarassed to say this...no less than 10 or 12 different bottles of body wash in my shower. And nope, I'm not freecycling those. Those will get used up. I've organized (or I'm working on it!) my bathtub/shower so that I have all the brand new never opened bottles on one end and all the opened bottles on the other. Now, I'm going to work my way through all those partial bottles til they're gone and my reward will be brand new super yummy smelling bottles! Yay, me!

Now...this week's challenge. Are you ready for this? Cookbooks. Yep, the next room in my declutter challenge (for myself..and I hope for you!) is the kitchen. I only have 4 rooms in my place so I'm starting at one end and moving towards the other. So, how many cookbooks do you have? How many do you actually use? Are you a user or a collector? Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with collecting as long as you really enjoy them. For me, I have a small bookshelf full of cookbooks and cooking magazines. I went through these when I got divorced so I don't think I'll be getting rid of many, but you never know! Plus, for me, I know I won't be using all of these in the next few months so I'm going to sort mine into 2 piles. Pack and Use. Those that I won't use in the next few months (because let's face it, I only cook for me and I'm pretty easy to please), I'm going to pack into a box, label that box and set it aside.

Anyone with me on this one? Let me know. Drop me a comment below and keep me updated on your progress. :)

Yes, yes, I am finally back! I know it's been ages, but I was out of town for a good chunk of that. I spent a pretty nice three weeks in Michigan with my family. It was so wonderful to have my boys with me again and to play Aunt Trina to 4 really great kids. After that, I had a fantabulous time in Milwaukee with one of my favorite yay me friends, Jim. We hung out, did some shopping, caught up on Season 1 of Survivor (we're working our way through the series together -- note to the movie fairy, we need Season 2!), ate soo much yummy food (we're really good at that!) and went to see Happy Days - the Musical.

From there, I kinda crashed. I admit it. I had a few things happen and it dropped me down. I'm better now though and I decided it was time to get back to our Sunday challenges. Are any of you still out there and wanting to do these? I hope so. I much prefer to do them with friends.

So...what's the challenge this week? Bathrooms!

As some of you know, I'm planning on moving back to Michigan once I graduate in May and as part of that process, I'm clearing stuff out so that I don't have to pack it. So, this week's challenge is to go into your bathroom and open up those drawers and cupboards and cabinets. Once you've done that, go through and get rid of anything expired (please make sure you check online to find the best way to dispose of chemicals and medicines). Then, go through the rest of it and sort it into keep and get rid of piles. If the stuff in the get rid of pile is worth it, list it on freecycle (www.freecycle.org for those of you who have forgotten). If it's not, dump it into the trash. Now, take what you're keeping and put it away all neat and tidy like.

There you go! By the end of the week, your bathrooms should be nice and tidy. I'd love to see before/after pics! Make sure you leave a comment letting me know how you do!

Ok, I confess that I totally bombed on my own challenges this past week! Granted, I did make a small dent in my kitchen, but the rest fell by the wayside as I handled finals and crafting like a mad woman to get stuff made for Christmas. I'm still not done with that, but I'm a heck of a lot closer.

So, for this week...catch up on any challenges that you might not have gotten to. If you're all caught up....

Charity Challenge : Help your kids (and yourself) go through old things and then either freecycle them out to a needy family or find a charity to donate them to. Make room for the new and bless someone else with the old.

Christmas challenge: Finish wrapping up those gifts. Get them under the tree so you can sit back and relax for the holidays.

I have to warn all of you that I'll be going out of town on Friday and may/may not have any access while I'm gone. If I don't, Happy Holidays to all of you and I will see you right after the New Year.

My cards went out in today's mail! How did all of you do? Did you get those cards or holiday letters done? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Now, on to this week's challenge...and I'm gonna make it a double challenge week!

Part 1 - Kitchen Clean Up! I can almost hear the groans already. Sorry folks! This is a challenge that I need and if I need it, chances are someone else does too!

I live in a 300 square foot (yes, I know how small that is!) apartment and my kitchen becomes the catch all room because it's the first room you step into. This makes it darned near impossible to cook or anything else. So, the challenge is to get it totally cleaned up and "organized." That means wiping down those countertops, hauling out any extra trash and wiping down any other surfaces there may be.

Part 2 - Ok, this one is a bit more "fun", I promise. Now that your Christmas cards are all out in the mail, we're going to move on to presents. How many of you are done shopping already? I am. I did all of mine on Black Friday and I only have the homemade gifts still to go. So, what's the challenge? Start wrapping! Start with the stacks you've already bought and once those are done, wrap them as soon as you bring them in. I want for all of you to be able to relax once we get closer to Christmas.

There you go guys! Have a great week. I have one more final exam on Wednesday night and then I'm done with school so be prepared for more posts!

Okie, first things first! An update on last week's challenge. I got an email last night from Julia who let me know that the mystery object is actually a sugar holder! Who would have guessed?!? Certainly not me. I did a google image search and look what I found over on the Crafty Passions blog! It's the very same one, except it has the little shovel with it! Amazing! Thank you, Julia for letting me know about the treasure that I found!

Now, on to this week's challenge:
Being that it is December 1st, I'm sure that most of us are preparing for Christmas. This week's challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to get your Christmas/Holiday cards ready to go out in the mail. This means:

Make your list
Buy/Make/Steal..erm...ok, just buy or make your cards
Get them all written
Get those envelopes addressed
Put stamps on them

If you make your cards, I would totally love to see them! Post them on your blog and then post a link back here so we can all appreciate them. Either way, be sure to leave me a note letting me know that you've participated! You never know when I might decide to randomly RAK a participant!