I know, I know...I'm late again and I am very sorry for it. I'm just having one of those weeks where I don't feel much like being around technology. Does that ever happen to you? It just seems like technology is not being friendly.

It all started with Dell and continued to where I saw something last night that my brain can still not accept that I even saw. I won't get into the second one because well, it is not family or even user friendly in my book. As for Dell, let's just say it's a long story that had better have a happy ending or I will never purchase or recommend them again.

Now, I would also like to mention that I'm posting this using I.E. which I never, ever do and now I can see why I never do. It just does not like blogger. So, if this whole post turns out looking like rubbish, blame it on that and not me, ok?



Over at Sunday Shutterbugs, the theme for this week was Drip. Wow, that is a seriously hard task for someone like me. I know how to point and shoot with my camera and the girls over there took these amazing photos that I wouldn't even begin to know how to get. So, after some pondering, the above is my offering for this week. That's my new water bottle, which I totally adore. It keeps things lovely and cold (or hot) which is great since I drink about the speed of a snail. It's really something I'm working on and having my shiney water bottle is helping.

Well, that's it for this post. I'm going to hit publish and write up my Thursday post. I'm not adding in the MckLinky for this week because nobody seems to be signing up on it. If I do get a couple of requests for it, I will bring it back this week.


Edited because IE messed up the layout and it looked baaaaaaad.

And here we go, writing Tuesday on Tuesday. It's a good feeling to be caught up at least in this. I have a bit of a chasing my tail feeling right now. You know, when you feel like you've been working and working and working but just aren't getting anywhere? It's not just the house but also finances. Ugh. Well, no use fussing over it here. I'm doing what I can and that's all that I can. I need to focus on what I can control versus what's just sucking right now.

So, I bet everyone thought I was going to say the wall is my tackle for today. Well, you'd be partially right. I will be moving in there soon to get to work on it. My main tackle today was to make some phone calls and to catch up on my blog posts. This post will get me all caught up so, yay me! on that. I've already made my phone calls so that's done as well. I had to call my former university to see why they hadn't mailed me out my tax form. They claim it's because they didn't bill me in 2009. Ok, just because you mailed me the bill in 2008 does not mean I didn't pay you in 2009 for the Spring semester of 2009. Sheesh. So, they're going to mail that out to me tomorrow. I also had to call the mechanic and get the estimate on the van. We're looking at $75 for the tie rod and then another $59.95 for the front end alignment. Yick!

If any of you are looking to donate to a worthy cause, you should check out the : Help Katrina Get Her Van Fixed So She Might Actually Get A Real Job Fund. It's not tax deductible, but it is a fine and worthy cause. *grins*

So, my tackles for today are really done which opens me up to do some more cleaning and organizing. Which reminds me, I gave you guys a day off for Valentine's and another because I just didn't show up...This means I need to give you a really good challenge for today. Hmm...let's see....

How about junk drawers? Do people still have these things? I don't because well, up until now I've had a junk room. How about junk closets? See? I know that a lot of people have these spaces that they shove things when unexpected company is coming or just because it's convenient or because they don't know where else to put it. It might be your basement, a hall closet, a drawer in your kitchen or really just about anywhere. I want you to take 15-30 minutes and just start to go through whatever area this is for you. During that time, just pull out anything that is clearly trash or something that can find a new home. That's it. Don't over do it. I want you to actually set a timer and stop when it goes off.

That's it, folks! I'm off to battle another section of "The Wall" while I listen to some good music. I need noise today. See everyone later!

Ok, I told you I'd be back with photos and I am. Now, I know I worked in "The Wall" last week but ugh, by looking at the photos, I just can't see it. I'm starting to have serious doubts as to whether or not I'll even come close to finishing this challenge. I only have 11 days left and in those 11 days, I have to spend hours at the mechanics and (in theory), go into Hastings and spend a day there. Ugh! Well, I'm not giving up even if I am feeling beaten at this. If it's not done, well at least it will be closer to done, right? Right. So, here we go..."The Wall"....


The Wall from the doorway, looking in. You can see I got the table clothes on both of the tables and am starting to organize them.


This is the PC corner. The desk is still covered with items and there's a pile of things to the left of the chair.


This is the crookedly hung wall rack over by the PC. I've been using the ribbon holders to hold various cords as I find them. I have no idea what a lot of these go to but I hope to figure it out soon.



The wall rack that is hanging by the door to the room. This one is hung straight and is slowly filling up with a variety of items.



This is what will be my crafting table. I got a lot of the core pieces into place but it's covered with the corkboards that I somehow have to get hung up behind it. Sometimes I wish I were 6 inches taller so I could actually reach. The box on the corner of the table is actually freecycled items that should be picked up by noon tomorrow.



And this folks is what has me paniced. This is the floor by the two tables. The space under the tables is full and it's flowing out from under both tables. I know that I have to cut this amount down to at least half, if not more, for it to fit into this space. That's a lot of tough decisions to make and like most emotional packrats, it's tough for me to do this but I know that I have to.

Yep, I know it's Tuesday, but life got the best of me yesterday and I decided to enjoy the time with my boys instead of posting here. I hope y'all can forgive me for that. I know you can because you're just fabulous, understanding people.

But, today is another day and the boys are back at their Dad's house. I'm trying to not let hormones and them being gone dictate my day, but you know it's awful hard sometimes. Sometimes you feel as if the world is just out to trounce you. The thing is, you have to keep going. As they said on Meet the Robinsons - Keep Moving Forward. That's what I'm going to try to do today and I'm going to start by creating a menu plan. My cupboards are getting pretty bare from a trip to the IGA plus that scary tie rod issue. I'm hoping to get the tie rod fixed on Friday but still no big driving because then it will need a front end alignment and the budget can't really handle one, let alone both. So, I'm hoping to get back to the IGA (I never thought I'd say those words.) on Friday after the trip to the mechanics.

Monday - Mac n Cheese w/ tuna and peas
Tuesday - Sizzle steak sandwich w/ tatos & veggie
Wednesday - Chicken w/ rice
Thursday - Hamburgers
Friday - Omelettes
Saturday - Sloppy Joes w/ leftover hamburger from Thursday
Sunday - BBQ Crock Pot Ribs

See you back in a bit with the pictures I took yesterday. I can't see much of a difference, but maybe you can!

Happy weekend, everyone! I hope you're all having a great one. Over here, things are going just great. Nothing seems to be going as planned, but we're having a great time together, just being a family. I love that as fast as Roger is growing up, he's still my little boy who can get excited about little boy things. I love that both of the boys like to just sit and have family time talking. In fact, they quite often ask if we can do it. I think it helps them handle the changes that are happening in all of our lives.

So how is the weather where all of you are? Winter is still very firmly in place up here in Michigan and I have been working on keeping all of us warm. This is an old house and pretty drafty so I think that we feel that 68 degree as cooler than it really is. It does keep the heating bill down though and it's why I've kept all of our blankets while doing various purges.

Speaking of heating and energy bills (great transition, huh? lol), I'm going to just give you a few more quick tips on how to keep those bills down.

1. Install efficient shower heads
2. Fix leaks - Did you know that 1 leak of one drip per second can cost $1 per month?
3. Improve your window shades - Keeping room darkening shades on your windows can keep warmth in during the winter and heat out during the summer.
4. Change your television display. - Did you know that most televisions are defaulted to showroom settings? If you lower the display setting down to home or the equivalent, you'll extend the life of your television and lower the amount of energy it needs to run.
5. Watch television as a family. - In most households, more than one tv is now the norm. Instead of everyone going and watching multiple tvs, have a family tv night or movie night.
6. Turn the tv off. - Bring back the family game night. Dedicate one day/night a week where the television remains off and you do something as a family. Play cards or board games or go hang out at the local park.

All of these seem like such little things, but a dollar here and there adds up to multiple dollars over a course of a year. These are all things that we can all do. Now, since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I'm going to give you a really simple challenge. I'm pretty sure I haven't done this yet for our 28 day challenge, but if I have, I expect all of you to let me know.

Valentine's Day is all about love and it's not unusual for us to wear a little something special on that day. I want all of you to go to your "unmentionables" drawer and sort out anything that you wouldn't want a hot new love to see. That's right. I want you to get rid of all those panties/boxers/underclothes that have holes in them. I want those mismatched socks or holey socks gone! Make sure that your drawer is only filled with things that when you put it on it makes you feel sexy. That's right, even if you don't have a special someone in your life, you deserve to feel sexy. Sexy is empowering. Did you know that your underwear can actually increase your confidence level? I know that when I want to give myself just that little extra boost, I put on something that makes me feel really good. I want you all to experience that so get rid of anything you don't love so that every day can be Valentine's Day for your panty drawer.

And...it's Friday! Wow, what an adventure Thursday turned out to be. I had this great plan of everything I was going to get done. It all fell by the wayside when the woman who was coming to pick up a round of Freecycling knocked on my front door. It turns out that her transmission burst a seal right in front of my house. She had left her house without a coat, without her phone and without her debit card. I loaned her a jacket and walked with her up to the hardware store and bought her a quart of transmission fluid in the hopes it was just a leak and this would get her home. No suck luck though. It poured right back onto the snow, so all we did was dye the snow pink. I invited her into the house (trust me, I winced doing it but I couldn't leave her out in the cold) and loaned her my phone so she could call her hubby. Well, it turns out she had taken his keys which had the only key to their second vehicle. Luckily, he could borrow a car from a friend and came out to pick her up. We pushed the truck totally off the street and they headed out. The only problem was that this whole thing took about 3 hours. Right after they left, Peter pulled in with the boys and I needed to make dinner and then instead of a movie, we watched the first half of the Survivor premier together.

What does all that mean? Everything that didn't happen yesterday is getting rolled onto today. So, my finish projects for today: rebox the books that got knocked over and get them out to the porch for freecycle pickup, change the cat litter, kgb work and work more on the wall. I also need to study with the boys for upcoming tests and maybe make some cookies.

So, what does all that mean? A busy day for this girl. It's ok though because I have my boys with me and they'll help me out when/where they can. We also did homemade pizza tonight for dinner so tomorrow night we'll be making up a lasagna. They're the official cheese sprinklers when we make pizza or lasagna or anything that requires sprinkled on cheese.

Now, I know you're all anxiously awaiting your challenge. We're going back down to the kitchen. Well, it's down in my house because the two bedrooms are both upstairs. I was talking with Jim tonight and he mentioned boxing up and storing his Kitchenaid stand mixer because he never used it. As I've been telling all of you since Day 1 of the challenge, if you don't love it or use it, set it free. Don't let it take up valuable space in your home that could be used for something you want. So, that's your challenge. I want you to go through all of those small appliances and figure out just which ones you actually use. If you don't use it, let it go! I'm personally going to be looking for a new home for a couple of the appliances that are living in my kitchen. Not only do I never use them, but I need to make room for a stand mixer! I'm a lucky, lucky girl and Jim has decided to give it to me because he knows I will love, love, love it!

I'm off to get some rest before I start finishing up my to do list for today! I can't wait to see what all of you get finished off of your lists!

Thursday already. Another week whipping by and I hope I'm making enough progress to get that room done by the 28th. I guess we'll just have to wait and see and in between, I'll keep plugging away at it.

Peter will be bringing the boys tonight so it's really easy to decide what my time for me is going to be. I'm going to cook up some homemade lasagna so that it should be ready not long after they get here. Then, I'm going to cuddle up with my boys and watch a movie of their choosing. It's one of my favorite things to do in the whole universe. I can't wait until they get here!

As for all of you, I'm going to make it quick and easy. Your challenge for today is to go back upstairs to your bedroom and clean off the other nightstand. Now, if you only have one in your room, then go into your guest room or your kids' room and do the stand in there. If you don't have a second one anywhere in your house, well then I guess you're challenge free for today!

Once that's done, I want you to take at least 15 minutes and just relax. Then, write all about it and come back here and let us all know that you did it!