Should I start blogging again?

I'm not even sure I can remember how...lol. I'll try.

First of all...my daughter had a little boy. I guess that was about 11 months ago now though...! He is a sweet little boy. He was born in Ontario and grandma (me) lived in B.C. so it was tough at first but now we've all moved to a small town in Saskatchewan and my sweet little guy just lives a street away! It's fun having them so close.

Yes...we move half way across the country last fall and are now living in small town, Saskatchewan.

Maybe I should add a picture? I apologize that I don't really know who to give credit to for the template and papers in this scrapbook page that I did of my grandbaby. I haven't digi-scrapped in soooo long that I just wanted to quickly give it a try again and I didn't take note of what I even used. Anyway...here's Stephen enjoying a little chocolate on Easter...

...waiting for baby news...and I won the contest ;o)

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you’re just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. - Pam Brown

And I just can hardly wait...for any moment now I shall be all-wise and prehistoric!

Weeeeeeeee!

Oh...btw...I can hardly believe it but I WON 1st place for the transformation of my laundry room (which is STILL clean and organized!). Thank you so much to Laura and all the judges. I was surprised but extremely pleasantly surprised to have won.

I still have so much more to organize in my house...but now I know I can actually do it!

I'm Doing the Happy Dance on My Laundry Room Floor

...just because I finally can!!! Well, not just because I can but also because I'm SOOOO happy that I took the challenge and even showed the world my messy room to motivate me to finally clean and organize the room that I most dreaded in my house. It is now one of the rooms that I most love! Thanks so much for the challenge
Laura (the organizing junkie)...I wouldn't have done it without you!

O.k....well there are some formalities for the contest...some questions to answer and some before and after pictures to show you. I'm so excited....heehee.

Q. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?

A. Taking pictures of my mess and showing them off on my blog was pretty difficult but I overcame it ;o) I was actually pretty paralyzed with the whole thought of this room. It seemed just so overwhelming that I didn't even want to deal with it at all...BUT...I overcame it.

Q. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?

A. I enjoy this room so much now that I don't mind being in it. Laundry is done regularily and actually folded and put away RIGHT away. It doesn't have to go up to the kids room's right away as I put the folded clothes in their individual baskets. The kids take their clothes to their rooms and put them in their dressers (which are no longer overflowing thanks to some purging we did) then they gather their dirty clothes and bring them down in their baskets and sort the clothes into the hampers. I was the clothes before the hampers get full and the whole things happens again :o)

Q. What did you do with the "stuff" you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

A. Seven LARGE garbage bags full of clothes went to Big Brothers and Sisters, One went to my friend who assures me she can use what was inside (mostly sheets I didn't need) and Three plus large bags went to the garbage...whew. I feel lighter :o)

Q. What was the biggest lesson you learned from this experience?

A. Labels and routines make life simpler.

Q. Now that you have completed the PROCESS, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?

A. I want my whole house to look like my laundry room!!! This will definately make a difference. I need to purge so much more around my house. Having less is SO much better and EASIER to keep clean. This is a lesson I've been trying to learn for a long time. I'm going to take baby steps...first my laundry room, then the rest of my house, then the world...mwahahaha!

O.k. well. Now...the moment I've been waiting for. First of all a very happy me :o)

Before and After Photos:

The view from the doorway...remember...I didn't have a door to close. I still don't but I don't care because this is what it looks like now.........

My floor is even shining :o) Come on inside...it isn't scarey anymore. I promise!

Before by my washer and dryer...yikes!

...and after. Sigh...see why I'm so happy?

A very scarey corner...

...is now clean. My 5 year old seemed surprised that we had a sink in this room. I guess he wasn't brave enough to venture past the mess to find out before.

Another scarey shelving unit.

It looks so much better now! (I'm going to get a new ironing board cover... mine looks pretty yucky. I think I'll sew one and embroider an old fashioned Ironing Day motif near the bottom)

Another view of the topsy-turvy, much-too-full shelving mess!

This has turned into one of my favourite parts of this room :o) I'm going to have to share more photos of this...hope you don't mind. My *almost* 11 year old son told me that when he sees these shelves he just wants to smile! Me too!

I spent about $20.00 and added two more shelves. The empty space is going to hold a "Donations" basket which I'm going to get the next time I go into town. I've already made the tag and I'm looking forward to have a place to put outgrown clothes. The next time Big Brothers and Sisters want to pick anything up I'll be SO ready :o)

Remember my huge collection of "lonely socks"? I vow that will NEVER happen again!!! My laundry is going to be done more regularily and any stray socks will go into this little basket and the mate will be searched for after every load of wash. There's not much room in this little basket so there can never be such a huge amount of lonely socks again...poor little guys. I kind of felt sorry for them missing their mates for SO long. I think they will be happy here until they can be reunited. I think single socks are lonely... this reminds me of a hamburger commercial...LOL.

I finally labeled my hampers! I've been meaning to do this for a long time and I finally did it...yay! I just love the way they look. I've got one for "whites & lights", one for "colours", one for "darks & jeans", and one for "towels". The kids can now sort their dirty clothes and I can put a load on before the hampers get full. Actually all the kids want me to teach them to do the laundry now. I think it's because they think they can keep the loose change they find in the pockets...LOL. Now that my room in clean and organized it'll be easy (and fun) to teach them to do the laundry... no more climbing "Mount Washmore".

Finally, the last "messy" picture that I shared when I first accepted Laura's challenge. See there IS a sink!

And the after shot!

I had to go out into my garden and bring in some sunny flowers...just to add to my happiness :o) I think if I can make my room pretty it'll stay clean longer. What do you think?

Oh...one last thing. You may have noticed an unframed embroidery picture and an empty frame in some of my before pictures. It was something I'd done 20 years ago. It hasn't been framed or hung up for years but I've always saved them. Well, I washed the embroidery and re-framed it and finally hung it on the wall. It says "Home is Where the Heart Is". It makes me happy, too :o)

Thank you SO much to my dear, sweet friend, Donna who came and helped me purge. Wasn't that nice of her? Would you have dared enter my laundry room before? And thanks to my kids for their help and excitement :o) And....to Laura for the challenge. I'm so glad I did this!

Well...that's it. Hopefully I don't have many spelling mistakes because I'm not going to check. I'm afraid I'll loose the whole post and it's taken me an hour to type all of this...HeeHee. Plus I only have 40 minutes to get my entry in for the contest. Wish me luck. Even if I don't win....I think I've already won....grand prize: a great laundry room!

~Marianne

I vow to organize my laundry room!

I can't believe I actually took pictures of one of the messiest rooms in my house...my dreaded laundry room! I REALLY can't believe I'm posting the pictures on my blog for ALL (yes all...heehee) the world to see! BUT there is a reason for my sudden burst of insanity. I'm going to join the 30 Day Organization Challenge from this great blog that I just discovered. I actually discovered it on the day that the challenge started but I put it out of my mind for a few days and now have decided to take the plunge...with my laundry room no less. I probably could have picked any room in my house right now as I feel like I'm drowning in clutter...in almost EVERY room! Sigh.

Do you know that my New Year's Resolution for 1990 was to get organized? I have since read so many organizing books. I love buying organizational books. I discovered that I'm a Sidetracked Home Executive years ago and set up a file system to do my chores. My favourite television show was Clean Sweep (gosh, I wish they'd come to my house!). I joined Fly Lady. I'm drawn to organizational blogs and have this blog's category listed under my favourites because I just LOVED how Amy organizes her home...sigh. So much inspiration and help, yet I feel like such a failure.

I LOVE the look of an organized space...I really do! I get more accomplished when my desk is clean. I'm happier and life is just so much better if my house is clean. Oh it all seems like the impossible dream to me but I know I will accomplish it...eventually.

People always think I'm organized because I have 8 children and homeschool...I just smile. My husband laughs...he knows better...poor man.

And so I take the challenge! It'll be less than 30 days for me and there will be Easter, a wedding I have to travel to, a baptism I have to travel too, homeschooling, volunteering and just life in general to distract me...BUT...I WILL take the challenge. When you (and ALL the world) see the pictures you will know why I have to. Please don't cry when you see the pictures...it'll just make me cry, too. I took these pictures AFTER I cleaned up a little and put a load of laundry on to wash.

If I could close the door I would but there is no door. This is what you see if you need to go to the downstairs washroom...yikes...close your eyes!

Wheee! I found an empty basket...I want to put the clothes that are in the wash right now out on the line. I think the weather looks good enough today. Perhaps that's crazy as it would be quicker to use the dryer but for some reason I enjoyed hanging the clothes out last summer and I really want to feel like winter is over...that might help ;o)

The other basket is full of mismatched socks. I really hate socks. I'd love to just dump the whole lot in the trash and buy new (different coloured) socks and start all over! But...as you might have guessed, I have a hard time throwing things away (even old socks). It'll be interresting to see how I deal with this, ya think?

These shelved just hang on the wall but they aren't strong enough to take the weight and sometimes things fall off onto the floor...LOL. I wish I could say "no thank you" when people offer to give me clothes. With 8 kids people are always giving me huge bags of clothes they don't want. I do try to pass things on and a few weeks ago Big Brothers and Sisters came and took away a few huge bags off my hands but I still have piles and piles to go.

The other side of the topsy-turvy shelf. If you can see on the top right I did try to organize before and put some of the baby blankets that I'm saving for my future grandchildren into plastic zip-up bags (the kind that nice sheets come in). Along the bottom are some hampers that I'd bought in an attempt to seperate laundry into different colours. I do have some good ideas (that's after over a decade of reading organizational books...LOL) but I have to follow through and label. I think labels are wonderful. That's probably why I love Amy's way of organizing her space...she's sure put her label maker to good use! I want one of those babies!!!

Wish me luck! The load of laundry has been done for awhile so I guess I'd better get busy! Now that I've committed to this and told the whole world (yes...they WHOLE world...heehee...I know everyone reads my blog) that I'm going to do this I'd better actaully DO it ;o) Can't wait to see the final results. Oh and if you feel so inclined please post a little encouragement...I might need it :o)

Defining me

Marianne -- [noun]: A person who falls into an outhouse and dies 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I found this on Stephanie's blog and I had to see how I'd be defined, too...hehe. I've always dreaded falling into an outhouse and now I know why. I tell ya...I'm going to "hold it" now until I find a proper toilet ;o)

I've been discovering the joys of Flickr. Now that I know how to check comments and such it's so much more fun (thanks Rebecca!). That's where I found Stephanie's blog, too ::waving::

So now...I've discovered I'm not just typing words that no one will ever read! How exciting. I'm expecting to see some comments now people!!! Please! Hehe.

I've been busy learning embroidery again. Fun! I'm really enjoying it...and since I don't want to blog without pictures I'll leave you with the little birdy I did for a swap that started it all....

My partner got it the other day and she likes it...she really likes it!!! Yay!

Until next time....

Marianne (who is now avoiding those dreaded outhouses!)

I'll miss him

It's been a roller-coaster of a year so far. My dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer on New Year's Eve and had various other things all go wrong with him in the days that followed. After what seemed to him like too long to wait he finally went to be with the Lord on February 11th at about 4:30 am. I was happy to be there and, although I was asleep, he seemed to wake me up when he "left". It was so peaceful and even now I have a hard time feeling really upset or sad. He was SO ready to go...I know now he must be unbelievably happy! I do feel bad for my mom though. They loved each other so and were together all the time. It will be hard for her, I know.

The funeral service was very nice and I was even able to see one of my brothers that I hadn't seen in over 9 years! My dad was truly loved by so many and will be sorely missed! I love you daddy!

He was such a hard-working, fun-loving, wonderful guy!

Mail from Raesha!

I thought I'd post a few photos of what Raesha sent me last week. It was a prize for posting a comment on her 100th blog post...thank you SO much, Raesha! I feel so special...it was such a sweet package.

She made the cover and back page of the little photo album and the sweet card, then added a couple of sheets of epoxy-type stickers, some nice lip-gloss

........AND........

These awesome hand-made earrings and keychain...aren't they wonderful!?! I just love everything that you sent, Raesha. Thanks so much for making me feel so special.

I know I'm going to have to post the wonderful swap package I received from Amy at Christmas but I still have to take pictures of everything since I didn't think of it when I got the package.

***Now that I have a blog I'm sure I'm going to be taking pictures of anythings and everything as I have to admit that I just love looking at blogs with lots of photos.***

Well...that's it for now. I shouldn't blog when I'm supposed to be making supper ;o)

'til next time...Marianne