Brain matter.

Just when I was starting to feel better, Hubster brought something home from work and decided to share. Enter Cough, Cough, Whiz, Whiz Part Two. I've been sputtering and wheezing all week. Let's just say it's been a really, really long week. And I'm really, really thankful for the cough suppressant abilities of honey. It's the only thing that really even seems to work. Now I just have to heat the bottle up in some hot water, so I can get it to come out of the bottle again! Making a mental note to put it on the grocery list, so we're not out of it next time we get sick.

In spite of the fact that I feel worse in some ways, I am better. My mind is clearer than it's been in quite some time. But part of that is the brain spatter all over the hallway walls. 

Ok. It's not technically brain matter, but it feels like it in ways.

I took some legal sized card stock I've had for a few years and made several lists. I made a list for each of us, so I can make sure nothing slips through the cracks as far as our medical, dental and vision appointments. I also made a list of what I intend to do in Scooter's room when I get around to painting it and finally finishing it up. I have a lot of ideas, and I just don't want to forget any of them. I also have lists with other projects that I have on  my mind as well as a master list of gifts that I want to make and give. 

All in all, I have 7 or 8 lists hanging in the hallway. So far. And although it feels like my mind is exposed for all to see, I can't tell you what a huge relief it's been! By having them on the wall vs in a notebook, I see them every day, I won't lose them, and best of all, I can add to them, as I need to. In fact, I have a couple other lists floating around in my noggin that I need to get out, so I'm sure there will be a couple more hanging up by the end of the weekend.

Somehow getting the thoughts out on paper like that is so helpful. I know I'm not going to forget anything, and I'm no longer carrying it all around in my head. As a result, I have been able to get more done in the last week than I have in the last couple or three months! 

Now, if I can just get rid of this cold, I'll be golden!

Ok. So maybe not golden, but at least I won't be lead!

 

Carpe Diem

I've been doing a deep spring cleaning in the kitchen the last few days. I've slowly been surely been organizing things, cleaning out cupboards and finding permanent, easily accessible homes for things I've never known quite where to store. I've been dehoarding as I go along, as well, and I've learned a lot about myself once again.


Several years ago, maybe 20?, I came across some spare Tupperware lids for bowls that I didn't have. They were old when I got them, although I'm not sure how old. I don't remember where I picked them up, but I came to the conclusion I don't need them. I think at the time I acquired them I thought they were hanging onto, because they had a lifetime warranty. It made them worth something. If I were to donate them, they would likely go in the trash, so I just tossed them and saved someone else the work. I did keep a couple of the newer ones, because I think I still have a bowl or two to go with the ones I saved. If I never come across the bowls, I'll throw the lids at some point in the future.


I came across several things that I realized I'd never used, because I attached some sort of special meaning to them, and they seemed too special to use. None of them felt so special that I would have grabbed any of them to save, if there had been a fire. But there was thought put into picking them out for the girls or for us, and I set them aside to use at a special time, so I would remember them. Instead, they ended up in the trash.


One thing was a gingerbread cookie Mom had gotten for the girls. For some reason, we never used it while she was down here. It was over a year old, and there's no way it would have tasted good after all this time, in spite of the fact I'd had it in the refrigerator until a week ago. I pitched it.


Then a few years ago, Hubster picked up some adorable marshmallow treats that are made like Peeps, although I don't recall, if they were made by the same company. They were shaped like Veggie Tales, and they were adorable. But the girls don't care too much for that sort of thing. I put them up thinking I'd let the girls use them in a cup of cocoa, but I just kept setting them aside over and over again. I needed the space in the cupboard more than we needed to keep them, and I know Hubster will understand. They went in the trash, too.


The other thing that comes to mind that I came across was given to us several years ago for Christmas. My friend had given us a little jam jar of vanilla sugar she'd fixed up for us to use in teas or on toast with a bit of butter. She put little red and green sprinkles in it. It was really cute and such a thoughtful gift. We did use it several times, but I think I stopped using it, because I wanted the feeling it invoked to last. The jar was only about half-full, but I knew there was no way it was good anymore. I dumped the contents in the trash and washed the jar. If I don't find anything to put in the jar in the next few days, I'll throw it in the trash as well.


It was a great reminder for me to live in the moment and not for moments in the future. I've done this my entire life. I've saved the girls' special clothes, so they wouldn't ruin them, and they ended up outgrowing them instead of wearing them. Fun food I've picked up to do something special with the girls has gone bad, because I've put off using it until the circumstances were 'just right'.


I've got to learn to give myself permission to use things, even special things, every day. I have to learn that 'special' doesn't mean 'too good to ever use' or 'too good for me to use'. It means that someone thought enough of us to give us something they thought we would enjoy. They didn't give it to us to put on a shelf or in a box and never see it again or to have to throw it away, because it went bad. 


I am going to have to remind myself that using and enjoying gifts shows my appreciation and love for the person who gave it much more than just putting it up to keep it safe. My friends and family mean more to me than that. I know they want more for me than what I've allowed myself, and I'm going to do my best to seize the day...


each and every day.

Goodbye?

Our household was hit by a stomach bug Hubster brought home from work. Yesterday was the first time I'd felt almost normal in a week, and I took full advantage of the improvement. Scooter is feeling better this morning, and her coloring is a bit better, so hopefully she's on the mend as well. 

Even though I still need to finish Hopper's birthday gift, I worked in the kitchen/dining room yesterday. I'm hoping to finish up in there today, and I'm encouraged at the changes in there. 

Awhile back, I put a shelf in the baker's rack, because we're so limited for storage in the kitchen. The shelf allows for double decker storage, and it's made a big difference in how things are working out in the kitchen. It's helped tremendously. And we did put the credenzas down int he laundry room, so we had the extra storage down there for the overflow from the kitchen as well. I just hadn't gotten around to taking the cake pans and baking dishes down there until yesterday. So I washed the dust out of them and took them downstairs.

1 10x14 glass cake pan, 

1 11x15 ceramic baking dish

1 6" round ceramic baking dish

1 glass pie dish 

1 silicone heart cupcake pan

1 silicone heart cake pan

1 2-piece set silicone birthday cake pans

1 tin of Christmas cookie cutters

It's amazing how much more room there is on the kitchen counters and table without all that stuff in there. There has never been enough storage room for the stuff that we use regularly in the kitchen, let alone all the extras that we don't use as often. I have been known to store the extras in the oven, but as soon as I get used to using the oven for storage, something is left in there that that melts when I turn the oven on without checking it. If I left them in sight, at least I wouldn't have smoke billowing out of the oven. Now it won't be an issue. Yay!

I didn't get out of the house very often when we first moved to Colorado 18 years ago. Between Scooter's constant hospitalizations and my own health problems, I was fairly busy and just didn't have the time. On one of those rare occasions when everyone was well enough, we went for a walk as a family. There was yard sale on the street over from where we lived, and we decided to browse. 

A black iron plant stand, shaped to fit in a corner, caught my eye. It was about 5ft tall and had some pretty scrolled iron on it. I've always had a thing for wrought iron and things that look like it, so in spite of the fact we didn't have a lot of extra money at the time, Hubster told me to splurge and spend the $5 they were asking for it. I have used it in the kitchen ever since. It has been such a big part of my life for so long that it came as a slight shock for me a couple of weeks ago when I realized it was no longer working for me. I needed something more functional than decorative.

I window shop on Craigslist from time to time in the off chance I can find a solution for a specific need, and a couple of weeks ago was no different. I came across a tall narrow cabinet that was just what we needed. It wasn't intended to be used in the kitchen, as it's more of a tall skinny desk thing, but thankfully, the kitchen police haven't come around and told me that I'll be cited for using it in the wrong room.

There is a cabinet area with a door at the top with 2 adjustable shelves. Just under it is a docking station where one can hide a power strip and the power cords for cell phones, etc., so they are conveniently available to charge small electronics at any given time. Directly under the docking station is an open area for storage. One one side of the upper cabinet is a section of 4 mail slots and the other side has a place to hang keys that will be perfect for hanging the aprons.

The bottom portion of the cupboard is deeper than the top. Toward the top of the lower section is a small board that pulls out for a writing surface followed by a shallow drawer. There is an open space that follows with holes for adjustable shelves, but there wasn't a shelf included, which is fine. I don't know that we'll need one there anyway, and if we do, I think I have something that will work.

The bottom of the tower ends in a rather large drawer. I'm not sure, if it's supposed to be a file cabinet or what. There aren't any supports in it to hang files on, but it doesn't really matter. I'm not going to be using it for a filing cabinet anyway. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to store in it just yet. I may store lids to the plastic containers, aprons, cake decorating supplies, or kitchen towels. I haven't made up my mind just yet. It will come to me, but I know I will not be using it for files.

The flash or regret over not having the beloved iron shelf in the corner of the kitchen holding plants has been quickly replaced by delight at having something so practical. 

For years, I've struggled with having a place to put the weekly pill boxes where they are out of sight, but where we will still remember to use them. I've also never quite figured out what to do with the large bottles of vitamins that I used to fill the boxes. I've carted them around in boxes or baskets from one room to another never knowing exactly where to store them. They now have a permanent home in the cabinet at the top of the tower stored neatly with the weekly pill boxes. 

I'm not sure what I'll do with the plant stand. I'll figure it out eventually. In the meantime, I'm the closest I've ever been to a completely organized kitchen, and I can't express the relief this small change has given me. 

It's taking awhile, but I am slowly but surely getting there.

Wherever 'there' is.