Excessive Accumulation

Sometimes I have these super-organizing crazed fits (usually after watching Hoarders, because y'all, being buried alive by your possessions is scary!) and I'll go through various drawers and rooms of the house bagging up things in a million little bags to donate to the Methodist church's thrift store. 

One thing I've learned in a year of Mayhem- babies are not minimalists.  There is so. much. stuff. that comes with children!  All the different stages of clothes and equipment and toys!  And you can't get rid of anything because you're going to need it for your next baby.   So as the kid grows you accumulate more and more stuff and run out of space for it, but have no choice but to pack your closets and attic to the point of probably being unsafe to stand near.  Or get rid of everything and then buy it all again a few years later. 

Cue my blank/"Are-you-serious" stare over the top of my glasses.

A few months ago I read that to encourage creativity, kids only really need 20-40 toys to play with.  Sounds good to me.  I want Mayhem to be creative one day and see no reason for there to be 9,478 stuffed animals and plastic cars everywhere.  Plus see above sentence about organizing. 

So I periodically go through his things and count out 40 toys (I'm a maximum of the minimum kinda girl) excluding blocks and books.  Everything else gets tucked away under his bed and in the closet and forgotten about until I decide to do it again and swap things out.  This keeps things interesting for him I think and as minimalist as possible for me.

I've even got a few birthday presents that haven't been played with and are waiting for the right time of boredom to strike.

Did you do this with your kid(s) or were you more relaxed than me? Haha

I'm Warning You!

******Dear Uncle,


Don't read this post.  Just push that red X up at the top and go on about your business elsewhere.  You're not going to like it.******


For the rest of you still here, does your under the sink cabinet look like......

THIS?!

All you gotta do to fix this is pull everything out of there and organize it according to what stays and what goes, like so.  Keepers on the right, chunkers on the left.

Now this highly technical piece of equipment is a disposable aluminum tray used for cooking stuff not catching future possible leaks like we're using it in this case, but who cares?  Also that's a box of dog clipper pieces.  Being advised by aforementioned uncle to buy an "industrial cookie sheet" to use in place of this flimsy piece of metal, I've been hunting for months an appropriate substitute, but none has been found other than the ones that cost upwards of $20!  Yikes!

I'm a cheapo as you know, so I figured this less than $2 version would be perfect for the job.

As you can see, I didn't measure and/or think this thing through.  By this time, after schlepping this pan home from the store and not worrying about its state of affairs, it was dirty beyond me being comfortable returning it for somebody else to put their food in.  And because I'm cheap and not wanting to waste 2 bucks I decided to keep it and repurpose it, i.e., not food service.

Enter the keepers organizer!

Much better, right?

Nasty!

Over the weekend I made a little trip two blocks from the house to the local laundrymat to wash mine and Boots comforter.  The laundrymat was closed down and renovated a few months ago, but this was my first time to actually step foot inside the building.  It was nice and clean, but not air-conditioned.  The fall air was a relief blowing through the propped open door.  I just want to share some pictures of my experience.

Obviously, somebody's tried it.

This is the biggest washer they have and it costs $3 to use, but it does a good job.

Washy washy.

Maybe "washer" refers to the whole place not just a machine.

If you go, be sure to take a pocketful of quarters.  It may cost just 25 cents to dry, but it only dries for ten minutes at a time.

Shark Stik Vak

Here's my newest stalking obsession.  I'm on the hunt for the perfect vacuum for our new wood floors.  I like the idea of it because it's light and cordless, it's a stick vacuum and a handheld, plus it's battery powered.  I read a few reviews on Amazon and people seem pretty divided.  Some love it, some hate it.  The ones that hate it had problems with the battery only lasting 25 minutes (not a problem for me) or that it didn't do so well with hair (I have dirt problems) and they liked Eureka or Hoover models better, but the price of those isn't as nice as this.

Perhaps I'll try it.

***Note: This has not been a paid advertisement although I wish it was!***

How To Dust......

So begins my nonscientific, nonexperimental experiment involving the delicate (and I do mean delicate) art of rearranging your dust bunnies and/or mites without disturbing one's allergies.

Whatever, I'm dusting again, this time with the Swiffer Duster 360*.  Boots came up with the title while he was begrudgingly taking my pictures.  Thoroughly not impressed he was.

Take one box like so.

Remove the handle or fork as I like to call it.

Open the packaging and toss paper aside.

Handle + fork = duster.

Click!

Take one duster thingy.

Fluff!

Stick the fluffy duster onto the fork handle.

And get busy!

This is the delicate part.  The teardrop glass drops kept clinking together and fearing my nerves of breaking!

Nikki was taking lessons and maybe even worrying about the possible carnage of the chandy too!

The hairy fibers of the fluffy duster are most susceptible to getting caught on the delicate wires of said chandy.

In conclusion, my Aunt Gia had an excellent idea of regularly maintaining my chandy's dust particulates; however, I'm not entirely convinced that Swiffer Dusters are going to do the trick.  Perhaps the search continues, yes?

Now I Know......

At the advice of my Aunt Gia, I bought Swiffer products for the first time.  Publix had a sale(2 for $8) this week on select Swiffer things so I figured it was just as good a time as any.  Not knowing what the difference really was, I got the Swiffer Dusters and the Swiffer Dusters 360*, both in starter kits.

Her reasoning for me getting the dusters?

My chandy.  

She thinks a weekly swiping with a duster will keep him (chandy is masculine, right?) looking gorgeous for years to come and save me any heavy cleaning.  

Good idea.

I thought I'd do a little experimenting and test out the magical powers that the Swiffers hold; however, there is some assembly required before you begin.  Something like, "Click, Fluff, Dust".  Simple enough.  It was somewhere between "fluff" and "dust" that I figured out what the difference between the regular duster and the 360* duster is.

This is the regular Duster, already dirty with swiping over the tv.

360*, it ain't.  Get it now?

Magical, be it not either.  

I only dusted half of the glass shelf.  The dirty part in the front is post-duster, the dirty part in the back has never been touched.  This is the part where after seeing dust clouds floating in the sunbeams I gave up.  Let's not disturb anybody's allergies, please.  Perhaps my house is just too dusty what with all the construction going on.  Maybe these are meant for "light" dusting, like chandys (chandies?).  More on that later.  That experiment will have to wait for the Boots to wake up so he can take the pictures of me practicing the art of dusting.

360* next time.  Promise.

Gross

On the left, you have my nasty, hairy living room floor that hasn't been vacuumed in over a week.  On the right, a clean floor after one massive hairball extraction and replaced belt later. 

Leave Your Socks on the Ceiling, Boots

One of the "duties" of being a blogger is that you read other people's stuff. You subscribe, you comment. You wish.

Mostly, for some reason, I read blogs about people that have kids or are having kids or want kids. Not that I'm having kids, but I might one day and I'd like to know what people are experiencing with their kids. I subscribe to photography, gardening, and cooking blogs- all of these things I want to be better at. Recently, I've become a fan of the home management/organizing and the "make your whole house pretty" blogs.

That's where the "you wish" comes in. I wish I had a beautiful house filled with beautiful things and a beautiful garden outback. So I aspire. I set out to make my house the cleanest on the block with everything in its place and nothing out of place, fussing at my husband to pick up his socks and throw his used floss away. I plan to toil in my yard raking, burning, planting, and weeding until it is perfect.

I came home from work yesterday with an itch to rake my whole acre yard into one big pile before dark. To make a long story very short, I didn't wear gloves and gave myself a blister and three splinters, one of which hurts so bad it can't be described nicely. My finger is red, swollen, and angry. Much pain.

I'm laid up today. I can't wash dishes, can't fold clothes, I barely washed my own hair and forced myself to wash both dogs, one of which appreciated her washing so much she's wearing dirt on her nose right now! After sitting around all day going stir-crazy I really lost my cool with my bum finger after Boots left for work. I wrote in my notebook, thought about paying bills, walked circles in the house.

Thoroughly aggravated, I set fire to a barrel of sticks in the backyard and then smothered it with leaves. It took the flames a while to grow back and sitting there waiting, I had an ephipany.

I am in such a hurry to fix my house and yard, make everything beautiful! I want everything done yesterday, but there's never enough time. Why can't I be like that fire and take my time? What does it matter that I don't have fresh paint and my carpet is old? Who cares that I don't have a magazine-worthy garden? Nobody comes to visit us anyways so why can't I burn it up slowly, piece by piece?

Amen.

I Forgot Your Birthday......

So......

Last week was Eating Crow Pie's birthday (Yay! One year in operation!) and I missed it.

(I didn't do a "Happy Birthday Blog" post, haven't I violated some sort of bloggy rule?!)

In my defense, I had intentions, but when I got home I was greeted with an enormous poopy stinky pee mess that had to have my immediate attention.

Lemme tell ya, its not going to be a good night when you come home to poop, no it is not.

I suppose I was supposed to do a birthday celebration giveaway, but with the mood I was in after all that disaster cleaning it would have been was a Ziplock bag of poop shipped to you the next day.

You're welcome.

By way of forgetting to post, I also forgot to do my 100 Days of Marriage post.

Remember when I posted about my last 100 Single Days?

I accomplished #1 & 2, still working on #3 & 4, #5 is 1/2 complete I'd say, and of course, #6 is done.

You know, I do not miss that wedding planning at all, at all I tell you!

Since I'm laying it all out today, have you been remembering that I'm forgetting to finish my story of how I met Boots?

I've had you in suspense for Part 2 nearly three months now!

I'll get to it I promise.

Wouldn't it be cool if I posted that for V-day?

Yeah, that's what I'll do.

I, Rachel, curator of Eating Crow Pie, so avow to finish Part 2 of meeting Mr. Boots and post it on the fourteenth of February in honor of the love events of the day even though I do not adore the blessed commercialized love day!

(February- I cannot pronounce that word correc-it-ally.

Is it "Feb-ROO-ary" or "Feb-YOU-ary"?)

Here lately, I've been paying more attention to fashion in the world around me.

You can thank Kendi.

Hear I go, trying to be all fashion-y.

Shirt: Target $10

Pants: Target $24.99

I thought this was going to be a fashion win but it was a fashion fail.

I just felt frumpy.

Not as cute on me as it was in my head.

Oh, well......try, try again, right?

I know you're confused now.

You're probably all, "Why is she standing on the toilet?" or maybe, "Why is her counter so cluttered?" or "This is a fashion blog now?"

#1: there is no full length mirror in my house.

Yet.

There will be after Boots and I finish our bedroom; we're planning on mirrored closet doors.

Yay!

#2: I was in a hurry!

No time to clean since I had to sneak this picture without Boots seeing me and making fun of me.

#3: no.

I don't know what I am.

One day this is a comedy blog, the next day its a romantic story telling blog.

Then its a sad, gripey blog.

Some days it a cooking blog, a photography blog, and now I'm posting my clothes!

Its a hodge-podge blog--I'll write about anything!

Here's looking at you kid, Happy Birthday!

A Double Life

Last night, the Boots broke down and bought a shop-vac in an effort to not spend a million dollars in quarters the next time he wants to clean out his car.
After he was done I "borrowed" the shop vac from him and vacuumed cracks.
Cracks in the couch, cracks along the wall, all full of crumbs before but no more!
My cracks are clean!

This shop-vac thing has got me thinking: in theory, could a shop-vac double as a carpet cleaner?
Could you sprinkle stuff on the carpet and then suck it up to clean the carpet?
Does this sound dangerous?

(I've also been thinking, how many people come read my blog and never come back again because I don't post regularly?
How many potential followers have I lost?)

How can I be so motivated in my head but never get anything done physically?
I dream of exercising while driving home from work: going running in the dark with a borrowed from Boots flashlight, doing the stupid skinny Jillian tape.
I dream of cleaning: washing all the dishes in the entire house, scrubbing the floors.
When my car pulls into our carport at our house my enthusiasm blows away with the wind and I don't want to do anything but sit on the couch.
That's mostly what I do.
I wash one batch of dishes, wash one load of clothes, fold/hang up one load of clothes and collapse.
Where did the gusto go?
I am so lazy.
Is it because of the resolutions?
Because I told myself I had to?

Home is Where Your Hoard Is

Boots has been working late this week and I've been catching up on bad tv.
Have you seen that show Hoarders?
I think I could be a hoarder.
I have potential.
I keep everything.
Everything!
Gift bags and tissue paper from our wedding showers.
Pencils that are probably ten years old because the erasers haven't been completely used.
Broken purses and shirts I don't wear anymore because I might need to make something with the material.
I don't even sew!
I can't put a button on a shirt.
I have potential, definitely.
I am going to do something about it.
I'm off the next two days and I'm going to get organized.
My name is Rachel, and I'm a hoarder.

My New Favorite Bad Thing

from

I'm trying to do this eco-friendly swap on everything I can but, I have found that this is the best cleaner!

It even removes rust!!!