First on the Resolution Agenda: Cleaning Out

Tired of hearing about me organize and purge? Then don't read on, I'm talking about it again. I got the wonderful opportunity to meet up with a couple of girlfriends after Christmas -part of my "girls" that I often road trip with and do my girl get-aways along side. We met up to eat and then go for a showing of New Moon. (I promise this isn't going to talk at all about New Moon) I remarked that my dad and I stayed up and watched an episode of Hoarders, on A & E and we were horrified by the conditions people would allow themselves to live in. That the majority of these individuals, although they may seem normal to meet them, clearly had mental issues that were causing this destructive and often dangerous behavior. I remarked that while watching, I just couldn't wrap my arms around how you get to the point where you are on a show like hoarders. Watching things like that show and Clean Sweep, make me want to go home and refine my purging and organizing. My girlfriends laughed and said I should create "Hoarders of Indiana" and single handedly organize one person at a time. While that seems pretty awesome- and I am flattered - for right now I'm just purging my kitchen.

I was amazed that within two hours I got it all ship shape - I make no secret that I hate my kitchen, it's ugly, the cabinets are warped, the drawers don't always work and the only redeeming thing in it is my refrigerator and the fact that my stove (not my fav) is new. One day I'll have that new kitchen, with the gleaming counter tops and cork flooring, but until then I deal with my sweet 80's kitchen. Living in this kitchen has been a good exercise I think because it has taught me to live within a small cabinet space. I have condensed my kitchen down to what I actually need and use, verses holding on to utensils, plates and cookware that rarely, if ever sees the light of day.

I also took some time to go through my recipes - I was the recipient of my grandmothers and my mothers recipes. Some I remember, some I couldn't read and some I wouldn't make if I had a gun to my head and a knife to my throat. I cleaned out those and condensed so that they fit in the containers I have. I also found a few of duplicates of my grandmother's favorite recipes in her handwriting -I am sending those to my cousin - who is also a fabulous cook, to have - I think I might frame mine - especially my Yia yia's banana nut bread - she made it every single week. You never left her house with out a loaf of banana nut bread out of the freezer - it was her signature. The recipe I have is so loved and stained, I couldn't possibly banish it to the recipe box - so I will matte it and hang it where I can see it and enjoy it every day.

So yesterday was a refinement of my current possessions - we are getting to a point where we no longer need children's silverware. My kids are capable of using the big people stuff. We are getting close (although not there yet) to not needing the plastic kid dishes or at least all of them. Same thing with cups - we're down to a few sippys for morning milk for Penny, but other than that we can all wield a cup. It makes me happy, but a little sad that we are moving into that next phase. I will say that once those items are no more I will free up yet another part of a cabinet. My goal ultimately is to have open shelves for my plates and cups - the quintessential organized space in my opinion.

Next up is my dining room, there isn't much there, but I need to go through the linens, the napkins, the place mats I don't use, serving pieces, etc. I've hosted a few holidays now, so I know what I use and what I don't. It's won't be a big project because I've done this in the past. But like a well-visit to the Doctor, I'm just doing a check up.

I think that is where most people probably struggle the most. They work so hard to clean out and to organize and then they leave it and live. I mean you're done right? Sure you are, but unfortunately we accumulate "stuff" through out the year - pictures from or of our kids, drawings, bills, paperwork, a gift, a great bargain, a hand-me-down, etc. before you know it you're back where you started - but you're organized, right? Contrary to what you might think, I'm not OCD, I don't follow people around with a dust broom and I don't compulsively give things away for fear of hoarding, but every year once or twice I get the urge to go over what I have and clean out. I figure once my kids are older, this won't happen as frequently because they won't be going through these "phases" - like needing plastic plates and silverware or toys or giving me 10 drawings a day because they love me. At some point I will have pared down to my perfect place and my cleaning out will be an annual spring thing. One of the reasons I really like to do my cleaning out now is that I'm taking Christmas down and cleaning anyway, so why not do a really, really good job? One day this will be it, it makes me excited and a bit bittersweet at the same time.

I've got quite a bit to blog about so stay tuned - I may even talk about more organizing and purging! (Aren't you excited?) I have a painting to post, two more that I am starting and I am getting my large ass in gear and will be hitting the workouts hard. I discovered pictures of myself after I had Jon, when we were renovating our last kitchen. I was disgusted at the difference. Although I need to consider the fact that it was 6 years ago, I've had two more kids, cared and lost mom and had a husband that has had jobs that have taken him away for periods of time - this all just irritates me and I've hit my breaking point. So I will be chronicling that journey as well. We've also switched web hosts, so I'll be redoing my website, recreating my blog through Wordpress and more. So stay tuned - we've got lots going on at the Page household and for Penny Pickles. Thanks again for reading and take care!

and the winner is...

So I went to random.com and used their true random number generator and I wanted to put it on this page, but had an awful time of it, so trust me the random number between 1 and 14 (representing the total comments) was 6. My 6th comment and winner is:

Farrah said...

I always love a good contest...I think it's a great and ingenious method of advertising!! You gotta love word of mouth marketing!!! Ok so I would use it for cat toys!!! Hope I win....

August 13, 2009 9:27 PM

Well Farrah, you did! Thanks to everyone who dropped by and left a comment. Farrah - email me (ann@pennypickles.net) with your address and telephone number and the color bin you would like - I will forward it on to CSN.com. Thanks again and have a great weekend!

Give away and Review....a must read!

I always find it interesting when I look at my statistics each month for who comes and goes on my website and blog. I really don't understand most of it, I'm a bit of a web-doofus when it comes to things like that - but I occasionally get hits from sites that baffle me. That brings me to today's post. I received an email a few days ago from a company, CSN Office Furniture. CSN Office Furniture sells everything from home office furniture to office accessories, storage options, shelving, craft desks, craft kits and so much more. When I got the initial email the contact person said browse our website, so I did. For hours. Then days. It was crazy - of course it was like an organizers fantasy with all the storage options (some women dream about hot men, I dream about storage solutions). They contacted me because they like my blog content - hilarious. I mean I have friends who read this, and a few strangers I am sure, but companies - ridiculous. I still think it might be part of a prank, but I love a good prank, so I'll nibble.

So I chose a product that a. I would use, and b. I would like to give away. I could have picked out something more expensive for myself to review -but I'm a giver by nature, so what would be the fun in that? I chose a collapsible bin from Skip Hop, I own a diaper bag from this company and knew their quality was top notch! It comes in a variety of colors and its uses, well I could come up with at least a hundred. For my short attention span friends, I will only include a few - I may have already lost you at this point. The obvious first use is for baby things - that is one of the pictures they show in the description on their website. For me, I have no little baby things anymore (yahoo!) so I immediately thought this could corral hair thingys for Penny. (You've all seen her hair so you know what I'm talking about.) Then I thought I could use this by putting crayons, pencils, pens and paper and take it with us to dinner, football practice, soccer practice, football games, soccer games, PTO meetings, in the car, at boring play dates (oops did I say that?), you get the point. We are B-U-S-Y and having something handy to grab and take with us to entertain the two kids not participating at the event we're attending would be great. Not to mention keeping my car from becoming a total and complete dump. (can you tell I cleaned the car out recently and am appalled at the nastiness also known as my backseat?) As a mom in the car a lot more than I would like and having a great van with a crappy center console, I can also use this to put my things, like my phone, to do list, snacks, directions, and the things I need to do, but ultimately forget to do because my kids are fighting and I am looking for the nearest cliff to drive off. I also see myself using this for around the house. My kids are in a serious love affair with legos. The have been banished to their bedroom in an effort to keep them contained. However legos have a tendency to "walk" and have known to be found in other rooms of our house. The kids blame it on gnomes, I'm not so convinced. So having a go-to bin to house "to be put away later" items is priceless. That and my phone - some how it too has developed legs and at least once a day I have to hit the find button to retrieve it from closets and bathrooms. It can stay in my bin, now if my coffee mug only had a find button...

On to my contest. Because I love you all so much, I chose this bin so that I can not only review it, but give one away to you! So here's what you do - you have to leave a comment today and tomorrow - you actually have to say something, not just hit "comment." If you don't have a blogger account, then just leave a comment anonymously, but please put your name in the comment box. You can comment as many times as you want. I will leave this open until tomorrow - Friday, August 14th at 2pm eastern standard. I will do a random drawing from all the comments. (I'll figure out some complex sorting system, or einy, meny, miney, moe) The winner will chose their color bin and I will submit their shipping information to CSN to ship directly. See win, win!

And just like that you can be a winner...

Thanks and happy commenting!

back to my simplicity stuff

You might remember a few months ago I did a series on simplicity.  One of the topics I touched on was buying local.  I had the pleasure of interviewing the owner of my much loved The Wild Bookstore for my blog on the Indy Star.  Now, I'd like to think I'm a pretty friendly gal, someone that is pretty easy to talk to, so I have known for some time that things haven't been all sunshine and puppy dog tails over on the square.  After discussing things with Jane today, I am saddened more than I can express. While business is picking up slightly (and I use that word delicately) it isn't where it should be, and unfortunately many of our beloved stores on the square have closed. At least 10 to be exact.  

I'd like to take a minute to attach a blog post from Jane emphasizing the need for shopping local, not to leave it up to other people and get caught up in the convenience of the superstores.  We all like the idea of independently owned businesses, but are we really doing our part?  I spoke with my cousin today that lives in Cicero and she had the misconception that because it is more of a specialty store and independently owned that it must be more expensive.  That isn't the case - sure you can't get a 4.99 Bakugon, but you can find some great books, crafts, art supplies and more, something of much, much more substance for your kids and not break the bank, at all! So please check out Jane's blog - I will be doing my Indy Star blog about her and her store this Friday and next week I am going to delve into whether or not our fine City of Noblesville is doing enough to retain and assist these independents (I'll tell you right now they aren't, but I get into more of that next week).  Thanks for tuning in - I've shipped out my latest jumper so by the end of the week I should be posting a new blog with pictures! Thanks!

Simplicity: Shop Local

Today I had the rare delight of being able to meet up with a friend for lunch. You see Thursdays ALL of my chickens are at school - preschool or otherwise.  Usually this day is reserved for running around like a crazy woman - doing every errand I can think of that would be delightful to not have kids in tow or have to juggle car seats for a two second turn around visit.  While I had errands to run, it was my turn to work the book fair at Drew and Penny's preschool and most of my day was taken.  I purposely didn't over schedule myself today-knowing I'd be starting with a handicap.  So, I met my wonderful friend Leslie for lunch and a quick visit, since we've both been excessively busy and not had much time to gab.  And boy can we gab.  We decided on lunch at a restaurant on the square here in Noblesville, since I had to pick up my kids first - lucky Leslie gets an extra hour and a half at her school!  We met at a wonderful sandwich, soup, salad shop that has become my usual stop on my day of choas, otherwise known as Thursday.  As we were sitting in the shop eating our sandwiches and soup and salad, it got me thinking about buying local and how this terrible economy is really strangling not only the big dogs you hear about on the news, but the little guys that you come to love just right around the corner. Today my topic is shopping local - if you have to do it, do it local. Sounds like a t-shirt motto...

Now my friend Leslie is the knower of all things, she knows everyone, she knows where all the greatest shops and restaurants are and she is a wonderful source of knowledge (she reminds me a lot of my mom), so when I came up with a restaurant that she'd never heard or suggested going into a shop on the square that she'd never been, well I felt like a puffed up peacock!  So we met at the Logan Street Marketplace and had our fab lunch and then went to The Wild children's bookstore to show off their goods and introduce her to Jane the owner and Pages the store cat (whom has decided he loves me, which is hilarious because he is SO cat, so don't tell him I told you!).  In this world of big box stores that even I am guilty of shopping at, I find myself continually drawn to eating out, getting coffee or finding that perfect gift - right in my backyard.  Maybe its because I started my own little business that these other ones (that are big dogs compared to me!) have become so dear to me.  One of my other stomping grounds is Noble Coffee and Tea - let me just tell you as a coffee snob (I typically grind my own beans and prefer my own brew to coffee houses) I love these gals.  They make a mean cup of joe and everything they have to offer is just perfect, not burnt or taste-sensory overload like some of the more common coffee shops.  I even sport a bumper sticker, which I am normally not a fan of, but a friend gave it to me at Christmas.  It says "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks." So, so true.  What I love about this coffee shop is not only the fact that everything tastes awesome, but you can get every flavor of Republic of Tea, teabags AND the girls know you buy name.  I tell Ryan all the time, my highest aspiration for retirement is to work at Noble Coffee and Tea and on the weekends sit with my crones and talk about the old days.  That's how much I love it.

                

I have stated my love for The Wild children's books store before, we purchased all of Penny's birthday gifts there and most of Jon's and Drew's.  At Christmas time they are one of my favorite stops, but I realize (and Ryan explains to me as he does our finances) I can't solely keep them in business.  It breaks my heart though when I walk into the store and there is no one shopping, it continues to break my heart to hear that business is down, not just for our adorable bookstore, but also for all of the businesses on our square.  We have a beautiful square, with some really great shops.  It makes me sad when I see one of our stores close. I pray that my beloved Wild or Marketplace doesn't fall victim.  If you live local, you need to take the time to come to our square and enjoy what all we have to offer.  

It isn't just our square, its square's all over the country - falling victim to keeping up with the suburban shopping strip malls.  As a former planner, I can tell you that too many squares have succumbed to becoming nothing more than antique malls, being antiques themselves.  I consider myself lucky that ours is still thriving, struggling, but fighting to stay a float.  It isn't just the shops either, I have our insurance guy on the square, our investment guy on the square, our dry cleaners on the square and had my clock repaired at the clock shop, we need some screens rescreened, so I'll take them this spring to our hardware store to be redone.   I consider myself blessed that our main street has so much to offer.  But it can only offer its goods and services if people continue to patronize them.  I realize that times are financially straining for everyone, but it felt good when I went to purchase Penny's kitchen at my favorite store and I didn't spend anymore than I would have if I had gone to Toys r' us, but I know that my purchase directly benefitted my LOCAL economy.  Sure I didn't have all the choices, but that made the choice easy.  Think about that next time you decide to go to Borders for a book or if you are lucky enough to have a local bookstore, or restaurant, or coffeeshop, well you get the point.

I could go on and on about some of our other amazing places along the square - but the bottom line is -shop, live and love local - thanks!

my best pulled-back-hair-no-make-up paris hilton pose

Simplicity: Home Organization

I was made aware that my skoy cloth link didn't work the other day, then upon further inspection I realized that their website is different - so here is the updated link - sorry about that!  

Today it is hard for me to get enough motivation to do much of anything.  I normally am not so effected by the weather or the time change for that matter, but both have rendered me a bit impaired.  I am tired, very tired, and when I get tired, I get sick.  So that, coupled with the fact that our weather went from 75 yesterday afternoon to a crisp 30 right now, has officially slammed me on my rear.  I normally don't feel the brunt of atmospheric pressure in my head, but there is always a first and never say never.  Of course today would be my craziest day of the week with grocery shopping, dry cleaning, bank, 2 yo well visit (Penny's, not mine) and then finishing up cleaning my house for our weekend of celebration for Jon's birthday and then on to the preschool open house, where as a board member, my presence is necessary for directing traffic.  So today is NOT the day to be feeling less than perfect, but less than perfect I am so there you go.  

My topic of home organization is near and dear to my heart.  As I explained in earlier posts, I was the dork who would go to friends houses and ask to organize their closets on a play date.  Seriously.  So it doesn't come as a surprise that I love to organize.  Again, like most of my other philosophies, it isn't rocket science. Everything has a home or home base if you will.  Be it a space on a shelf, a bin, a basket, etc.  You get the point.  If your stuff has a home you will be more tempted to put it there, if you are tempted to put it there then you won't have stuff all over and you won't lose things.  It's a beautiful cycle.  I also think that organizing goes hand in hand with purging.  For example - my linen closet.  Everyone  in our home has two sets of sheets, one winter, one rest of the year.  I wash them weekly or more frequently as necessary and just put them back on the bed.  It's less for me to store and it airs out the mattresses.  When the boys were in twin beds I had two quilts that I had gotten on clearance  for their beds.  Well now that Penny is in a twin we decided to move Drew to a double and needed to get bigger bedding.  I was able to get the same sheets that he had in the twin, but obviously the quilts were history.  When it came to those extra sheets and quilt, I obviously didn't need two sets, so I gave a set to our cousins whose little boy is about to transition into a big boy bed and his room just happens to have all the right colors for my stuff to match.  Kismet! Part of organizing is paring down so that you can make sense of what you have.

Kids - this could quite possibly be a topic unto itself.  I will try not to drag it on too much!  My kids have never wanted for toys, between my folks and Ryan and my old toys, we've always had plenty to go around.  What I have always done though is that EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING has a bin.  That way when we are done playing, it goes back into that bin.  Most of ours are IKEA bins that cost next to nothing and you can write on them with crayon and wipe it off with magic eraser.  What doesn't fit into an IKEA bin fits into these mesh totes from the container store.  Now my kids aren't perfect and we do have the occasional mexican stand-off when it comes to cleaning the toy room, but our toy room is picked up EVERY night and everything goes back into its place.  That way tomorrow I don't have to face, "Mommy, where is my spiderman with the web slinging fingers?"  Our friendly neighborhood crime watcher will be in his bin, where his other friends are located.   We also clean out the toy room on a monthly basis.  Things break, that is inherent with children, so we clean those out, markers that are dry, pencils with no lead, fully colored coloring books, etc.  This keeps things as minimal as we can with our kids.  I am amazed when I hear parents say, oh I just want a basement to put all their stuff and just close the door.  While that is a nice luxury, it doesn't really provide the teaching opportunity of respecting ones things so they last and how to clean up after themselves.  I may be a stay at home mom, but I'm not a stay at home maid.

Now before you think that I am this crazed lunatic when it comes to picking up, I'm not, not really anyway.  My goal is to keep up with it during the day, but the bottom line is it is done by the end of the day.  Now that isn't to say that the basket at the top of the stairs to our basement isn't filled with miscellaneous toys to be put away or a laundry basket of clothes waiting outside a bedroom for the next day - that happens, a lot, but the bottom line is that it is a constant. If you don't find a system and try to keep it up, you'll be drowning in excess linens and fisher price vehicles before you know it!  

I think this post will end for now, I'll talk more tomorrow about organizing paperwork and crafts and such tomorrow or the next. Aren't you proud of me?  I'm simplifying my posts, you've got to start somewhere!

Thanks!

Simplicity: Eating at Home

So it struck me last week when we decided to do a DQ run that it costs my family $18 to go to DQ!  If I take my kids to, horror of horrors, McDonalds it is $15- minimum and that is with me getting nothing. (not that I need it!) So while we're all trying to tighten our belts up a bit, I realized the best way (and generally the healthiest way) is to eat at home.  Now when we were younger and the kids were younger we ate out a bit more - we'd be pooped or have a taste for something and out we went.  As we expanded our family, it became less of a habit and now - we'll its just a couple times a month at most and one of those is pizza take out or Ryan and I on a date.  

My Yia yia was a great cook - she was a true Greek woman - feeding the masses at a moments notice.  I think about how back when she was a young mom you didn't have fast food, take out, big box grocers or heat and eat meals.  I try to think about that - women at that time truly spent their WHOLE day in the kitchen.  I try to keep that in mind when I feel like I'm spending most of my day in MY own kitchen.  It got me thinking though - you cooked EVERYTHING from scratch - no boxed noodles, nothing!  It was a better time, a healthier time.  I mean you could still be eating fried chicken, but people didn't get it from KFC, it was homemade, people just didn't eat the quantity of food that they do now.  While I want to embrace the everything from scratch lifestyle - I think I may still buy boxes of rice pilaf and couscous  and steam-in-bag veggies for a quick lunch.  

My new goal is to strike eating out from our budget, not entirely, but maybe once a month.  I enjoy cooking and I realize to cook more, means doing other things less - it is a sacrifice I think it is worth making.  I love making homemade dough - we make homemade pizza every Friday or Saturday night.  It has become our family tradition - I use my great-grandmother's Sicilian pizza bread recipe - and damn it if it doesn't turn out awesome EVERY time.  I also realized that as much as I love DQ, it is an expense that is totally unnecessary.  My dad bought for us a few years ago a malt maker - I think it was a guilt purchase because growing up we always had one that was from my grandfather's bowling alley. It was a professional grade and it was such a treat to have dad make us malts. Dad decided to give the original to Steve and I have the newer model.   My kids love when we make malts - so why the hell should I spend $20 at DQ when I can spend $5 on supplies and make malts for at least two weeks?  It's the simple things that I think stick with us and I want that for my kids.  

I've always been pretty organized with my grocery shopping and meal planning - I just can't wing it - I can wing it when it comes to cooking, but I need supplies. I also have been embracing the shopping style of "perimeter" shopping - it isn't rocket science, but shopping the perimeter of the store will generally provide you with the healthiest, freshest options.  It helps you stay away from all those preservatives (I can't give up goldfish though - sorry!) and God forbid HFC!  It can get expensive if you don't watch it - which is why buying some frozen fruit and veggies can save you a bit, not to mention keeping longer than fresh.  

This spring I plan to finally join the local produce co-op and focus on in season veggies and fruits - not to mention expanding my own garden (another post!) and I've recently gotten in touch with an old co-worker and his wife and they own chickens!!! So I will be buying my farm fresh eggs from them - for much less than the grocer -and not to mention far fresher and healthier than their store counterparts.  I also am going to start making bread - I had a neighbor in my old neighborhood that made homemade bread everyday - it was AMAZING.  Oh do I miss it!  So I am going to start making bread, once a week - that's my goal - it isn't hard and it's cheap as can be, far cheaper than the loaves at the store!  

As far as snacks in our home, that was a purge I did long ago - my kids get smooshed fruit  instead of fruit roll ups, there are tons of healthy chip/cracker/cookie options - and fruit - well, my kids love fruit, so I've done something right. If I am lucky enough to have to take them to the grocery store (yes, that is in my most sarcastic tone) then I let them pick out some fruit or veggie that we've never had - we picked up yellow carrots our last trip to Whole Foods - I was nervous I will admit, but they DO taste just like their orange brotheren.  We also have always done water or milk as our drink options in the house.  That isn't to say that my kids don't get the occasional lemonade in the summer or a glass of soda with pizza on a Friday night, but it's milk or water in this house and I am happy to report that my kids actually like water.  Really, I swear!  So I hope that by providing these healthy choices to them, but not being a nazi when it comes to the occasional less than healthy option that comes their way, that I set a good foundation.  Balance - I like to make sure that my kids know their are other options, that you can have them once and a while, but generally you need to eat good to keep your body from head to toe.  So far so good!

Thanks for checking in - I am amazed at how interested people have been - really.  I promise I DO have Penny Pickles stuff coming soon.  I just finished my first jumper last night, I have a second one to start, but is cut out (a baby one no less-yikes!) and I have a multi-tile name that I am about to start!  So we're busy as can be here at Penny Pickles, which is why this morning came a bit earlier than I expected and I've had a very S-L-O-W day. I hope everyone has a great week - I think next up will be home organization - since I'm in the midst of redoing much of mine!

Take care!

My 100th post - simplicity

While I feel bad taking Gabriella's place, I feel this sense of urgency to post about something that has been weighing on me for a while - simplicity.  It has been coming to me in small waves the need to have less, the desire to do more, to shift my focus from things that don't matter to things that have the utmost importance.  Today I just need to share them, publicly declare them, make them more real.  

I feel a bit like this..

Purging:  

No not THAT kind of purging, but if you know me at all I am constantly purging.  How can you constantly purge?  Well, honestly I don't know, it is amazing how "things" have importance one day and then two weeks later they don't.  When Ryan and I first graduated from college and moved in with one another we had A LOT of stuff.  Things that we have accrued while at college, furniture, portfolio stuff, high school memorabilia, childhood things, clothes, you name it - not to mention the stuff WE finally had the money to buy - nicer clothes, a few things from Pottery Barn, some antiques. When we moved from our modest sized home to our current home that in my opinion is pretty big, it was a whole new game.  Our house is deceptive in size from the looks of it, but we have over 3500 sq feet in this house and all but about 500 of it is finished. That is a lot of house in my opinion.  It is easy to want to fill the spaces- furniture, things. We've done well, but after mom moved in and all of the things she brought with - it gave us a whole new challenge.  Now that mom is gone, it has been harder than normal to purge some of the things in this home.  I try hard to keep the words of my Yia yia in my mind, "it's just stuff, it doesn't bring people back" when I look at things I want to donate.  These prophetic words from a woman who left Greece at age six and had to leave her favorite pet goat forever to come to America!  She knew what she was talking about! 

My mom was a keeper, so as you can imagine I have had (still have) a lot of stuff to go through. I've done well, pictures and memorabilia are the hardest because my children are so young - they won't really know who their yia yia was as a person throughout her life.  Sure I will tell them, but nothing beats holding her cheerleading letter in their hands, just as it is for me to hold the amateur boxing program and see my grandfather's name in it.  So I try as I may to simplify everything - I am the keeper of generational memories and fortunately and unfortunately I will undoubtedly pass this legacy down to my children.

Not to leave you with thinking I am a hoarder, I have passed most of these memory items, pictures and such on to my cousins, aunts, uncles and extended family.  I try to only keep what is really important to me and generally what is really important to me I hang on my walls (thus I have the butter paddles of my mom's on the wall in my kitchen in a shadow box with other items that were parts of my grandfather's life as a launderer).  Ryan and I both have the philosophy that if something means something to you, that you put it out, hang it up and display it so that you can enjoy it and share it.  What good does it do in a rubbermaid tote? That is also why in Penny's room she has two shelves filled with antique dolls of my mom's.  I have my grandmother's suitcase that she always used to travel filled with more doll clothes and things to fix antique dolls - this has been downsized from THREE containers to one - so I am pretty proud of my organizing skills.  

the living room

I try to loosely embrace the idea of Feng Shui - not to the core, but the idea of having so much STUFF that it clogs up the energy flow of your home, yourself.  I believe it - now I am not a supporter of having a home devoid of all things but we try to generally have our rooms pretty simple - seating, a table  and some pictures on the walls.  Our bedrooms are generally a bed, nightstands and a bookshelf or dresser.  Penny's room is the most filled because her doll things are there, but even then it isn't too bad.  Our bookshelves are our one case where they are filled to the brim with books - but I think those bring their own positive energy into an environment. 

I love the feeling of sitting in a uncluttered room or when I've just dropped off a few boxes to goodwill or the local shelter.  It feels like freedom, peace - knowing that I have removed something I don't need, and gave it to someone who could use it.  I try to think about individuals around the world from the most basic to even our European counterparts. I love watching house hunters international when their in Europe - England in particular.  They are looking at these 600 sq ft flats that cost as much if not more than my home and they are thrilled with the space!  Wow - that is an eye opener.  So if you take anything away from this way too long, rambling post - take this - that its okay to have things but have them where you can see them, use them, because an item loses its value if it has no use.  Look at the boxes in the closet, garage, attic - if you don't know what's in them, you don't think you'll use it - get rid of it, purge it and feel the freedom!

Thanks for humoring me on my spree - we'll see what tomorrow brings!

I had intended to cover a few more items here, but realize that this post would go on FOREVER, so I will save them for each day this week.  Gardening, Eating at home, Home organizing, Greening the Pages and Family time will have to wait. I think with the light at the end of the tunnel of winter shining brighter, and the fact that for our family of five to go to Dairy queen costs nearly $20, I felt compelled to get all my thoughts lined up so I can be more organized heading into spring.