Michelle Miles Author

Adventure Awaits

organizing

Decluttering Week 4 & 5

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Okay, okay. So I’ve been remiss in posting my decluttering post. But I have been working on getting rid of the garbage in the house. I got most of the master bathroom organized but I still have a ways to go. I had stuff that was going to be donated stacked up around the house. This weekend, I got a large bag and started putting everything in there for donations. So that’s done.

And what else have I been doing? Working mostly and trying to keep the house clean(er). Part of my decluttering plan is to at least TRY to be a better housekeeper. I’ve been vacuuming and sweeping the floors every week. It’s really hard to keep up with the mess. And every time I cook dinner, I make a mess in the kitchen. Last week, I spilled flour all over the floor. Go me.

I abandoned by decluttering plan to finish cross-stitching one of my projects. I got obsessed with it and wanted to get it finished and see the final product. I love making those small projects. They are so fun! And to see what it was, you can check out the Plotting Princess blog where I talk about it.

Decluttering Week 3

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Okay so I’m late in posting my decluttering update. I was a tad busy polishing up some chapters. While the husband worked on his project this weekend, I set about cleaning up the bathroom cabinets. We have a storage unit over the toilet and it had become cluttered on the top with tons of bottles and general crap. The open shelf below was in the same state. I had stuff in there I hadn’t used in years. Not sure why I hang on to stuff when I have no intention of using it ever.

Anyway, I cleaned off the top and got rid of bottles of old shampoo we weren’t using. Then I organized the open shelf below. Now it only holds essential things we use daily. And the top is much cleaner too!

IMG_5304I also went through kitchen linens and organized those. I have too many to fit in one drawer and rather than take up space in two drawers, I remove them, refolded and reorganized. Some went to the linen closet for storage. I’ll rotate them once a week. I put all the potholders in one drawer, too, so I can reach them easily. Though in hindsight I think the potholders need to be in the drawer closer to the stove.

I tried to organize the drawer with all the big utensils but there’s only so much you can do with that. I did manage to get all the things we use most on top but I know that will be jumbled up as we use it.

I intend to take the linen closet soon. It’s overflowing and awful. How many spare pillows does one need anyway?

Purge and Delete and Organize

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For the last few weeks, I’ve been cleaning. When you’re cramped for space, every inch counts.

I went through my son’s room and cleaned it up, rearranged the furniture, and threw a bunch of stuff away. I made him have a Donate, Keep, and Trash pile. He did fairly good. The donate items are still in my trunk, though. I really need to get rid of them. I want to give them to a placed called Arc of Texas. They have Thrift Town stores and I feel like the stuff will go to good use.

I also donated two giant bags of my clothes to Salvation Army. This week was about selling off my crappy furniture. I got rid of my two chairs that both Man and I hate (they were terribly uncomfortable). I sold off the bunk beds in my son’s rooms to a lady with two small children and one on the way. I sold the couch (which will be picked up this Friday). I made enough to put down a nice chunk on the new sofa that’s arriving this Saturday.

But this past Saturday… Man and I drove out to Arlington to pick up my son’s new bed. It was a nice afternoon drive and the wait wasn’t too bad. At least the distribution center was highly organized. And Man was happy because there was college football on in the waiting area. We watched the tail end of the LSU-Miss State game. Which was rather exciting, if I’m being honest. 😉

Anyway, got home and put the kid’s bed together. It’s fabulous! See below.

Mamoo-NewBed

I’ve already made use of the two drawers and the two side storage areas. It’s really nice to have all his junk off the floor and hidden away. Plus I now have more room for important things like socks and underwear and pajamas. And his room is CLEAN! Love that.

Yesterday, Man and I went to Wal-Mart and got two filing cabinets which we both needed. We are so organized is disgusting. I finally have a place for all that crap I needed to keep (years back of RWA contest stuff). I finally found a home for all my researching and writing files. It’s wonderful! I love getting organized! I love cleaning house! I love getting new furniture!

I also got back to the WIP. While Man and I had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday I talked through some plot problems and he helped me with them. I thought I had written myself into a corner, so he helped me figure out a way out. That night, I did more researching and I finally figured out my Dark King. Amazing what talking out loud about yoru story will do. And even though he’s not a writer, sometimes he can see the best solution. “Well, why don’t you have the queen do this and that,” he says. And it was like a light-bulb moment for me. He’s brilliant.

So I made some changes in one of the chapters and then finished writing chapter four. I think I can finally go on, now. I still want to have the draft done by December 1 and I’m fairly confident I can reach that goal.

Hard to believe October is right around the corner. Also hard to believe that is time for the State Fair. Where has this year gone?

Another good thing this weekend: my allergies weren’t bothering me as much. I doctored myself up a lot and also slept in Sunday. I didn’t get up until nearly 10 which is super late for me. I needed the rest, though.

It’s Monday, though. Another long week ahead. Here’s hoping for more productive nights on the WIP.

Whoa!

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Okay – so. I upgraded WordPress and it’s, um, different! I mean, I guess I like it and all but it’s going to take some getting used to. I guess that’s cool… It seems I have to get used to a lot of new things lately.

Friday night, I sort of got a wild hair (thanks to Sandy S!) and went out and bought a new computer system. Oh.my.stars. I love it. It’s a Dell Inspiron with a super fast processor and a HUGE hard drive. I also got a 19″ widescreen monitor and a new HP laser printer. It’s running Vista and I don’t care what the nay-sayers say…I really love Vista. It’s sleek and cool. And … did I mention cool? There’s this really awesome sidebar that you can add widget-like things. I have a Magic 8 Ball and a Virtual Flower Pot along with the temperature and a photo gallery that does a slideshow of all my photos. It rocks.

We had soccer Saturday morning and it was very cool. The high was only 58 or something like that. Plus it had rained, so the boys were muddy and dirty by the time they got off the field (we won though!).

Anyway… It took me nearly all day to get all my software loaded onto the new system and then about 3402984 hours to get all my data transferred. I was going to do it the old fashioned way – you know by copying everything on a CDs but that wasn’t working. And then CD9 got corrupted (CD9 of 12 that is) and I didn’t want to have to redo them all, so I decided to hell with it. I went back to Best Buy and got a Easy Transfer Cable. After four attempts with the cable, I finally got everything (including all my settings) over to the new machine.

Everything is GREAT.  Except for one thing. My wireless keyboard is not Vista-compatible and it absolutely WILL NOT work on the new machine. Even with the updated driver installed. Oh and it has a PS/2 connector and everything on the back of the machine is USB. So I had to get an adapter. Well, guess what? That doesn’t work either. So the adapter will go back to the store and I’ll get my $30 back. I guess I’m going to have to get a new keyboard because I can’t type on this one and I detest it. I want my wireless ergonomic keyboard with the wrist rest. Yes. I’m spoiled.

My entire office was in shambles Saturday night and I still wasn’t done getting everything put together. I finally gave up and went to bed about 11 because I knew I woul dhave to get up and start all over again on Sunday.

Which is exactly what I did. I started over with getting everything moved and organized. One thing the new system has done for me is forced me to organize and clean up my office. The new machine is so quiet. It doesn’t hum. It doesn’t buzz. The fan is so silent I don’t even know the machine is on. I.love.that. (The other machine was awfully loud.)

So Sunday morning, I got up and had coffee, ate breakfast. And when I looked around the house, I coudn’t stand the clutter. Started laundry and cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, cleaned the cat box, hung up my clothes. And finally finished tidying up the office.

Man, everything is so great in here now. It’s ROCKS. Plus I have two computer systems, now. I told the kiddo the old machine was all for him. He can play on it now and I don’t have to wait for him to get off to get work done. Hopefully now I can manage my time better.

I’m just gushy about this entire system. It’s my very first brand new computer system. Ever. Yes, ever. The ones I’ve had in the past were all hand-me-downs and I’m so thrilled to have something no one else has touched. Kinda makes me feel all warm inside. 🙂

Sunday afternoon Man #1 came by bearing gifts – a new mailbox! Mine is rusted, beat all to hell, and literally falling off the post. Nothing says romance like a new mailbox. No, seriously. He’s going to install it for me for free. And … he’s my new lawn boy too. I’m going to totally love having a lawn boy. It’ll be nice not having to mow the yard in 5000 degree temperatures. Yes, I’ll be spoiled to that, too. I, of course, told him I’d help out with the lawn. I can’t have a guilty conscious and allow him to do it all alone. I offered to edge, trim the hedges, and stuff like that. If he’ll just mow and bag it – well, that’s just fabulous.

And of course it helps he’s awfully cute. hehe

Okay, I guess that’s it for me. I think I’ve rambled on long enough. It’s time to get going to work and school. Happy Monday, all!

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