Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Organization Can Be a Gift

I have never been known to be neat or organized in general, but parts of my life have been at times. Sometimes, it is because an endeavor is new and there is not much to keep track of and other times because I need to find something. Well there is now a third way, when you are forced to pack stuff up quickly a slow unpack can help.

The sewing room was packed up quickly a few weeks ago due to plumbing problems. Since that time I have been slowly reorganizing and sorting as I unpack. There is some stuff that I have not seen in years. Some of it has gone, other things are inspiring new projects. The sewing room is taking on some new purposes.

Art and I do a podcast on Geocaching. See CentennialStateGeocaching.com for more information. Each podcast we do takes a modest amount of time to set the equipment up in Studio D (the dining room table.) We all know that time is money so I need to clear space to have a new Studio D (D for Den this time.)

The pack up fast episode also had me moving some of my pantry out of the laundry room. I have now begun to realize that there is stocking up and there is non-sense. My family will eat soup once a month. So why do I have 40+ cans of soup? I have also begun to make homemade soup more often than not, it is greatly preferred. The question becomes where to store excesses like this. My pantry has shown me that I have a lot of good intentions, I just need more focus.

The current project is organization. It is accompanied by a notebook to keep track of the projects and plans for life in our household. I believe this will assist us in saving more money and other resources in the future.

So tell me how are you planning life in the future?

Monday, May 4, 2009

What 2 Weeks Can Do

Yesterday I blogged about part of what happened last week but I failed to tell you why.

Two weeks ago when I realized that for the most part my teenagers will be gone for the summer I started to think about what to accomplish this year. We have an out of commission 3/4 bath downstairs, that has been for over 5 years. I had taken to using this room as a closet as all the fixtures and flooring had been removed. It bothered me every time I saw it.

I had that talk with my darling hubby about fixing the eyesore and having a basement bathroom back again. Knowing that the drain there always ran slow, that was to be the first task for a plumber. Read yesterday's post under www.coloradorainbowarts.blogpot.com to see that a slow drain became replacing all below ground piping in the house.

This weekend we revisited the talk about that bathroom. I realize that since last week's project was not inexpensive it likely will not happen soon. With this knowledge in hand I am not going to make the error I did before by turning it into a closet. Only the parts that will eventually make it a bathroom are allowed there. What do you know, we will end up cleaning out a portion of the garage!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

There Are Downfalls

This past week I had the misfortune to have a terrible cold. It was one of those colds that you do not want to touch anything that the rest of the family is going to use, for fear of infecting them, much less cook for them. The problem has come in the preparation of fresh foods for each meal.

In the past I have had a freezer full of quick to reheat meals for a variety of reasons. But in the efforts to cook more and fresh I had abandon that idea. I found that I really enjoy my cooking and need to preserve more of it for times being under the weather. In the past week not only were the meals poor imitations of what I would have presented they cost a small fortune. My loved ones are not able to replicate what I cook.

Several nights were devoted to take out. I often find it too salty for my taste. The Manicotti from Costco was good but pretty pricey. Canned soup and sandwiches is usually a fail unless there is great desperation.

I guess I have now learned that I need to Invest in meals for my freezer. A day or two of Investment Cooking is a good investment in my family.