Author |
Message |
Serenity
Member
06-28-2005
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 7:55 am
Thanks Vee! I think I will try posting a bit more often here. I can use this space to hold myself accountable for doing my chores. I'm sure you all will be here to keep me on track! 
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 8:28 am
Serenity, your new kitchen is beautiful! I love the countertops.
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Skootz
Member
07-23-2003
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 1:38 pm
It looks absolutely awesome Serenity..thanks for sharing and you are doing a great job!!
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 1:51 pm
Serenity, I love it! Your countertop looks like it is very similar, if not identical, to mine. Aren't new kitchens just wonderful? I know the new will wear off eventually, but I find myself looking for reasons to be in mine.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 2:24 pm
Do ya'll spend a lot of time in the kitchen? I don't mean just cooking and cleaning either! Seeing all these new kitchens has me wondering. My kitchen is small, too small for even the table, so we don't spend much time there. At my sister's house though, that's pretty much where we hang out. She's got pretty much a revolving door with people coming in and out to visit. You go out there and pretty much everyone is sitting around the table talking. I realized today she probably gets it from my aunt. We were there today and the first thing we all did was head for the kitchen!
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 4:07 pm
Welcome Serenity! You and your dh did an excellent job on the kitchen redo. Love the flow of it. War, when we redid our kitchen we had to move the refrigerator out of the walk-through area and closer to the sink/stove for a good triangular work space. That meant walling the space between the dining area and kitchen, so it is now shut off from a good conversation hang-out. That isn't so bad now, because I like not having people under my feet and in the way while I'm cooking. Old habit. I definitely wouldn't mind having a great big ol' farmhouse with eat-in kitchen, though, if the kitchen were gigantic enough to keep the table conversation flowing and the cooking area clutter free! LOL Btw Vee, I only did fifteen minutes of cleaning and decluttering this morning, then spent the rest of the day having fun.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 3:26 am
*Thursday's Mission* Good for you, Grace! I love to hear that. This method is not for the chronically obsessed like I was; it's for those who want to have a life that doesn't include cleaning all the time. I didn't spend much time in the house yesterday either. I was busily tending my gardens in the great outdoors. (Would you believe that local honey is helping? I spent hours outside and I am not a walking ball of sniffles today.) Wargod, I love big old farmhouse kitchens where everyone gathers, but mine is too small to function that way. Still, I manage to spend a fair amount of time there...all by myself. My new space will open directly to the dining room and living area. I hope that it will work a lot better for us, but Grace is scaring me. NT, I just knew that you are spending a lot of time in your new space. Hi Dipo! What's new with you? Skootz, I meant to ask you what kind/brand of oven cleaner that you use? I love Mr. Muscle, but I can't find that stuff anywhere anymore. Happy Thursday fluttering!
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Serenity
Member
06-28-2005
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 6:44 am
Wargod, We never used to spend a lot of time in our kitchen, but now that it is renovated we use it all the time. It is a very small space, but we put our bigger table in it anyways. The kids sit there and do homework while I make supper. When we have friends over, we usually end up playing cards/boardgames at the table. I love it! NT, I saw the pics of your new kitchen! It's fantastic! I think you may be right about our countertops. We both have great taste!! LOL. Your Dad did a super job - I love the tin. Today I'm tackling my Mt. Washmore. I have to catch up on the laundry pile that's growing by my washer. I'm also slowly continuing to declutter.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 9:25 am
Hey Vee, thanks for asking, I haven't been cleaning much because I have been attempting a real estate transaction. I am amazed at how "tired" I am from all the stuff involved. Anyway I looked at a place on Friday and made an offer yesterday. So we shall see. That's why I have been interested in all the kitchens, LOL. It is already done, but you never know what I might want to change. Need to get back into my cleaning, I did get my kitchen straightened out this morning, I think I will scrub the counters when I get home though!
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Y2krazy
Member
09-17-2002
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 9:48 am
Maybe, I'll get a little more done tonight...DH is working today, which is normally his day off. I think DS also is working (his schedule is not at all regular), so I'll be alone...usually I can get a lot done then.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 10:27 am
The last couple days I've hardly been home. Yesterday was insane. I dropped the kids off at school, picked up my nephew and ran across town to get my youngest niece. Both of them stayed with me til about 7 last night when I took him home and then took her back across town, had two different visiting nurses go to my aunts (she doesn't like to be there alone with them so one of us has to go and my sister is back on bedrest.) Had to go to two different stores and by the time I was coming home with the kids I knew it was too late to cook dinner (almost 8 by then) and ran through and picked up happy meals for them and a salad for me. I was so happy to be home, kicked off my shoes and took a couple bites of salad when it hit me that I hadn't gone by the grocery store to pick anything up for breakfast, lol! Needless to say almost nothing has been done around here. I have done about 4 loads of laundry since yesterday with the new dryer. It's so cool to be able to dry clothes! I have a ton to do today, besides it being my aunts birthday, but I decided I really had to put some time into the house. Picked up my nephew and ran by my aunts to see if the trash company had picked up the big dumpster and then came home to clean the living room and do some more laundry. I'm waiting til my nephew goes home then I have to go pay some bills and run to the store for my aunt. Hopefully neither of those will take too long and I'll be able to get home to clean for a couple hours before I have to pick up the kids and and take them to see my aunt. We made plans to go meet Darren for dinner in Mojave tonight on his lunch break and then it's back to my aunts for her birthday party. My house will be clean though dangit!
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 10:32 am
War, I need to take a nap just from reading your post!
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 11:25 am
Oh man, I was exhausted last night, fell into bed and didn't wake up til the alarm clock went off. It wasn't everything I had to do, but driving back and forth across town all day with two kids both in car seats I kept having to drag in and out of the car. I went through a quarter tank of gas yesterday and that is usually a weeks worth of gas! I'm hoping to avoid that today with better planning on my part. So far I've gotten another two loads of laundry done today (or rather one and a half so far,) the living room is basically clean....baby stuff in there right now, and the kitchen is done. I'm waiting for little adopted sis to finish work so I can drop off the baby, go pay my bills and hit the store then I get to finish the housework!
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 6:07 pm
Sorry I scared you Vee! It's just that I am not at ease in the kitchen while cooking. In making my triangle smaller it enables me to work more efficiently alone. If I had my druthers, I would have a full time cook and never set foot in there. LOL Sitting at the table and having a great conversation would be so much more fun. Does giving the cat a bath come under home and life organization and decluttering? <sigh> It sure is work.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Friday, May 11, 2007 - 2:35 am
*Friday's Mission* Wow, Dipo! Best wishes with the offer you made. One thing I know, after following your decluttering process, any move that you make is going to be so much easier and so much more organized. Keep us updated. All this reminds me of you, Hermi. Anything new? Keeping my fingers crossed. Next time you get a nibble, consider the home staging. I've got pictures of your house all ready to go with ideas. LOL! Y2, I know what you mean! I can usually get a lot more accomplished solo as well. Anything that you can do before the weekend you're going to thank yourself for then. LOL, NT! My sentiments exactly when reading Wargod's posts. Wargod, you sound like a whirling dervish. I don't know how you do it. My fondest wish for you is that you get some down time to call your own. Thanks, Urgrace. I know that Lum warned me about an open concept, too. She might prefer to go back to a more traditional setup. We'll see here in a month or two. I'll be sure to let you know. We've actually just about run out of funds for the first phase so we'll be living with what we have in the kitchen for a while longer. But, it will still be out in the open. The worst part about my kitchen now is that it is the main walkway through the house. One comes in the back door and right past the stove first thing. Terrible floorplan. LOL about the cat...sure does come under that heading somewhere...all of life does! Hi, Vacanick, landi, Serenity, Serate! What's new with you gals? TGIF and today that stands for "Thank God I'm fluttering."
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Friday, May 11, 2007 - 5:09 am
I love Friday evenings ... after work & school are done. I love to get things ready for the weekend. Start laundry, empty the trash cans, change the towels in the bathroom ... stuff like that. Then it's a nice dinner for me and Nick then Greys and early to bed. It's all about getting ready for the weekend. TGIF
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Serenity
Member
06-28-2005
| Friday, May 11, 2007 - 6:52 am
I'm getting stuff tidy for the weekend too! We will be away most of the day tomorrow, and I want to have Mother's Day off on Sunday. Cleaning now means relaxing later. Have a great day everyone! Vee, thanks for posting the missions. I have already completed today's! 
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Friday, May 11, 2007 - 8:51 am
Yesterday's mission was pretty easy since I try to keep those areas clean anyway. Of course the toaster always has a few crumbs sneak under it and under the coffee grinder is another spot that needs constant attention. ( I've done professional housecleaning in the past, and it is amazing to me how many people don't ever move anything on their countertops to clean under or behind. Same goes for the laundry machines never being wiped down.) Immediately following my cleaning chores I did some grocery shopping. It was a very pleasant surprise to find a parking place three down from the front door, then few people shopping making my trip down the isles quick and easy. Then while I was in line to pay for my purchases the woman behind me decided to bump me with her cart - as though I was going to get done there any quicker by her pushing me! Got fifteen paper bags hauled in before dh got home, but luckily he was there to help put it away. He even folded up the bags! We recycle them. My kitchen floor is never clean! I guess we just go in there so much and the cats eat there, too, it is a constant cleaning mission, especially RIGHT AFTER IT'S BEEN WASHED. Like a magnet it gathers every crumb, drip, and speck of dirk it can find. Several phone calls from family today telling me they received their cards and gifts I sent out on Monday. My mother is on her way to Alaska. Happy Mother's Day Weekend to all of you!

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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Saturday, May 12, 2007 - 6:11 am
Oh that's so pretty, Urgrace, that I hate to post, but *here's an opportunity for US citizens to clean out the cupboard and your local mailperson will carry it away for you...today! My bag is sitting by the post box now.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 10:35 am
Happy Mothers Day! I haven't been doing anything fairly well lately, lol. The kids and I came home from my aunt's birthday party Thursday night and almost immediately I was sick as a dog! Managed to catch the damn stomach flu. I woke up yesterday and laid there in bed running over a list of stuff I needed to do. Quickly learned I was being rather ambitious, lol, the most I got done all day was taking a shower. Darren took the kids off to my sisters for a bbq for my bils birthday. They came home with flowers, cards, and a new digital camera for me for mother's day. Darren's mom called yesterday to see if he wanted to go fishing this morning. He asked if I minded and I figured why not? Caleb's already been in the shower, Dakota's in the tub now, I've managed to clean the kitchen and living room up, do a couple loads of laundry and clean my living room carpet after "not me!" spilled syrup next to the table. Once Darren gets home we'll have the afternoon to go play or whatever we decide to do today.
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 1:16 pm
Haven't had much time to post so I'm catching up. Friday was a very productive day. I had talked hubby into running around getting what we needed Thursday when he got home from work so we checked Lowe's in town for ceiling fans and vertical blinds. Then went on to Menards and Home Depot. Found the blinds I liked at Home Depot but we decided Menards had the ceiling fan I wanted so went back there. Cats let us sleep in until 6:30, very nice of them. [Actually we don't get after because they are the reason hubby hasn't been late when he doesn't remember to set his alarm or doesn't hear it. Saturdays & Sundays they don't start bothering us usually until 7:30.] Made the bed, made breakfast, then got to work. Helped hubby change out 3 light switches, and 3 of the 4 outlets. 4th one he did live as he was being a butthead so I wrangled the cats downstairs and played with them. After that we put up the ceiling fan. Lots of mumbled words about the shortcuts previous owners had used but got things working. [Since then we've found we can't use the fan until we take it back off and figure out how to make the electrical box sturdier.] Then we put up the vertical blinds. By then it was 12:30 so we went to PetsMart to get the boys a water fountain and also got them a Cat-a-Comb, Menards to get a thatching rake, then hubby took me to Maid-Rite for lunch. [One of the few pros for me moving back to Iowa - I love Maid-Rites] Went back home and cleaned the gutters then hubby started putting together a glider tete-a-tete for the front porch. I pulled off all the tape from the cove base in the dining room and cleaned any spatters off, did laundry, paid bills. When hubby was done putting the individual gliders together we took them up front and attached them together. Kinda disappointed that the porch was just a tad bit too small, but we are able to use them seperately. Kept the bars and hardware so if we ever want to put it on the back deck or we move we can put it together. Spent the rest of the evening on the front porch enjoying our new tete-a-tete less gliders. Saturday: drove 1 1/2 hours to my folks house, visited with Dad a bit then grabbed brother and drove back home. He and hubby fixed the garage door, then spent 5 hours working on the truck. Were too tired to mess with the ceiling fan. Brother told us how to check the bulging up board on the back deck, then we took him back home and came back home. Today, HUBBY MADE THE BED while I was brushing my teeth. OMG I almost fainted. Later he asked when I started being fanatical abut making the bed as I used to make sure it was made before he got home from work and that was about it. Just watching the race with hubby and maybe cooking out. One of my stepkids called to wish me Happy Mother's Day so all is well in my world.
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 4:07 pm
Happy Mother's Day Not too much cleaning this weekend. Lot's of spending time with my family. But .... my BF did get me the microfiber towels from Costco so I'm looking forward to trying them out!
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Monday, May 14, 2007 - 3:45 am
*May 14–18* *Monday's Mission* Did everyone have a good Mother's Day? I did. It was terrific from beginning to end. Yay, Vacanick, for getting those microfiber cloths. I finally found the cheap pack at Wal*mart just where landi told me to look...in the automotive department. Love those things! Serate, I hope you're not catching whatever Wargod has. You two will wear the rest of us out. I have a fun site for you to look at. It might not belong here, but since this is where I post most often. If going Through the Country Door is not your style, then perhaps you'd enjoy the tips and hints section and the recipe section is great, too. Thanks, Baby, for sharing this site! Have a wonderful Monday!
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Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Monday, May 14, 2007 - 8:54 am
Vee I don't think I'm catching Wargodfever. *L* I think I'm done for the day. Got the whole yard mowed, sidewalks & drives blowed, and 3 loads of laundry done by 11am. I really really REALLY need to get the cupboard doors off so maybe tomorrow I can prime the kitchen, paint on Wed. Yesterday I cleaned the fridge - I could kick myself for not cleaning it the day I turned it off, Or at least the next day. But I didn't so I paid the price. Went ahead and turned it on and I think we can keep water, pop, and maybe OJ in it for now. When hubby gets back from convention this weekend we'll go order the new one.
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 3:40 am
*Tuesday's Mission* Serate, maybe it's because I get that exhausted feeling reading your posts of late. Got the whole yard mowed, sidewalks & drives blowed, and 3 loads of laundry done by 11am. By 11, I had just the yard mowed. Energy: it's a good thing. Happy Tuesday, everybody!
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