WWRD?

Raechelle would have written in a damn question when her very favorite blog asked her to! But no one sent a question. So, we have no column today.

And I sure don’t have the brain power to think up a question. I have too much going on in my head. House stuff, wedding stuff, work stuff. Ack!

We’ll try again next week.

Until then, enjoy your (hopefully three day) weekend.

And this kitty picture that reminds me of me and TBFE. Except we have less fur and we don’t sleep in the sink.

WWRD?

I had dinner with Jamie last week. She just bought herself a new condo! Yay!

She was asking me questions about organization and packing, and I told her about Stephanie’s email a few weeks ago.

Steph was cleaning her office and thought, “Would Raechelle keep her printer manual on her desk, and if so, where? Or would she file it away?” She said she should just wear a necklace when she cleaned that said “What Would Raechelle Do?” or “WWRD?”

Todd took it one step further and said, “How about WTFWRD?”

Get it? The WTF?
No? Ask a 20 year old…

Anyway, guess what Stephanie got for her birthday?



I’m so good.

Jamie thought that was great (as did Stephanie) and said that should be a blog feature. What Would Raechelle Do?

I like it! And you know how I love talking about organizing and cleaning and preaching the gospel of vacuum cleaners. So, on Friday I’ll start a new feature of the blog. WWRD? Or maybe, when it’s a tough question, WTFWRD?

So use that link “Email Me!” on the right and send me your organizing or cleaning questions. I’ll pick one per week and answer it.

It’s not like I have anything else going on, right?

Why Didn't I Think of That?

It's fabulous.

A box for your RSVPs. No on one side, Yes on the other side. Alphabetized index cards to separate by name. And even matches the invitations!

Genius.


My friend, CB, says "Ridiculous. I will get a shoebox and MAKE you one of those. Much better."

But will it be covered in pretty paper?

She says, "Of course!"

I say, she's hired.

Why can't I think of this stuff before other people do? Oddly enough, this site is by the same woman who wrote my Big Ass Wedding Book. She's a pro. She knows what the crazy brides want. We want useless boxes of crap that are pretty and remind us that we're getting married!

Speaking of crazy and organizing, I got on a kick last night and organized the hell out of our white board. I've got a list of things we still need to spend money on, a list of To Do items, a list of questions for the caterer, and taped to the board, a drawing that eerily resembles a football playbook that tells me who is riding in which car to get from West Seattle to the rehearsal dinner and then who is riding in which car to get back to West Seattle/the hotel downtown/back their lodging.

There are lots of arrows.

All the while, Todd worked on the processional music and drafted up some programs. We were bustling. Today, we're emailing ideas about paper back and forth. There will be a trip to Paper Zone this evening.

Yes, it's a good day.

I Am Offended!

From The Seattle Times:

Aries (March 21-April 19): Today is a 7 -- You're doing something the hard way concerning record-keeping. It's too hard to find what you need. Get organized.

Excuse me? "Get organized"?

Just who do you think you're talking to, Ms. Universe?

Have you seen my Holy-Crap-I'm-Actually-Getting-Married spreadsheet (15 tabs!) and organizer?

I enter my receipts into Quicken at least once a week. And I have all of my blank birthday cards in their month appropriate pocket in coordination with the person I think they're good for. And our Google calendar color coordinated so that we can glance at it to see who is doing what that day (I am red, Todd is blue, Kayleigh is green and Tyler is tan). And my shoes (that aren't in storage) are still in their labeled, clear bins.

I am organized!!

Oh wait.

Are you talking about the wedding invitation I lost? Is that what you mean?

Well, I had to clean up my desk for the open houses and I put a bunch stuff "somewhere" so it would be out of the way, but still accessible, but now I can't find that pile of stuff and I finally had to email Jessica and ask where her wedding was again because I have "temporarily misplaced" the invite and this pains me more than you could ever, ever know.

She replied with, "Rae-rae! I am SHOCKED."

Sigh.

Rae-rae loses things now. It's very sad.
But, by gawd, I am still "organized"!

Weekend Update

A brief recap of our long, holiday weekend.

Friday, I made the trek to Ballard for the much anticipated pedicure, followed by some errands and a trip to Goodwill. When in Ballard….

That afternoon, Todd and I met up with our real estate agent to look at a couple more houses, one of which may be just the break we’ve been looking for. But it’s too soon to talk it about or get our hopes up.

Unfortunately, our hopes are up because we spent a few hours at Home Depot on Saturday pricing stoves, refrigerators, cabinets, countertops, flooring, tile, front doors and other fun house stuff. There may be a spreadsheet. I’m not at liberty to say, really.

Sunday was the day to try on The Dress. I picked up Stephanie and Isabella and we headed off to I Do Bridal, where Jamie was waiting for us. There was much oohing and ahhing as The Dress fit P E R E C T L Y. I’ll need to have it hemmed up a couple of inches and have a bustle put on, but other than that…..like a glove. Despite being bloated! (I love my uterus!)

To celebrate The Dress fitting perfectly, we went out for crepes afterwards. I’m bettin’ that dress don’t fit so perfect anymore. Ack.

After crepes, I took Stephanie and Isabella home, and, so as not to tempt my fiancé, I hung my wedding dress in Stephanie’s closet. In my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend’s closet. Stephanie likes to say we are so “new millennium”.

Back in January, Todd and I were talking about our wedding party and how we’re happy to only have two people standing up there with us. Todd rattled off the names of the men he could possibly have, if we were doing a large wedding party, and I rattled off three names, then hit a wall. I don’t have too many close girlfriends. But then Stephanie’s name popped into my head, so I looked at Todd and said, “How fantastic would it be to have Stephanie up there with me?!” Heads = exploding.

Anyway, the rest of Sunday was very domestic. Grocery shopping, cooking dinner, making s’mores, then doing a little more purging of some random boxes and filers. Just when I think we’re finished and have cleared out every box or bag of papers, we find another one. It’s job security, really. Keeps me busy.

And welcome to Monday.

When’s the next holiday? September?
Crap.

Weekend Update

I barely have enough brainpower to form a coherent sentence, but I’d still like to give you an update. I just don’t have a personality right now. Therefore, I give you…..BULLETS.

* First, fantastic weekend weather. Blue skies. 75 degrees. Beautiful.

* Friday, my belated birthday dinner with Jamie. Volterra. Yummy poo.

* Saturday, cleaning and organizing with Stephanie. She warned me her garage was in bad, bad shape. But I scoffed at it’s “bad shape”. Todd’s bedroom was worse. And look at it now!

* Also, I clicked a very bad link in an email and now my computer is dead. Todd installed a anti-virus thingy (a bit late, I realize) and it found 22 viruses. And I can’t even open my email. He had a buddy come out today and it doesn’t look good. But he says it’s not hopeless. Just one more reason I’ve been non-existent. And stressed.

* Saturday evening, Val’s wedding reception. Knew three people. Looked at babies. Ovaries screamed, but not too loudly. They knew better. They know the work that lies ahead for those poor mothers.

* Sunday, just wanted to relax in the sunshine and read my wedding book. But got uber productive. Re-organized the shed with all of the yard tools and did a little weed whacking. Good stuff.

* Sunday evening, dinner at Ray’s. Our one year anniversary of dating. It was a lovely time.

* Monday, Star Trek at the Cinerama with the whole family, and Miles. Lunch afterwards at Red Robin on the waterfront.

* Side Note: The movie was pretty good. I don’t consider myself a trekkie by any means now, but the movie was okay. Very entertaining. I even got a few of the references.

* Monday night, a bit of conflict. Not too bad. But enough to make me stay home on Tuesday, and get some me time in that afternoon. Shopping. Semi-productive shopping, but shopping nonetheless.

And today, well, I’m here. That’s all I got for ya.
But I think about you. Really. Life is just so chaotic right now. Looking forward to some normalcy. If there is such a thing.

Uh oh.

What if this IS normal?

Oh, good gawd, we’re gonna need more wine.

Weekend Update

Our weekend was jam packed with all of the excitement you would expect from me and TBFE. Isn’t that why you read our blogs?

Friday night was movie night. Steve, Stephanie and the most adorable child on the planet, Isabella, came over to enjoy pizza and “Over the Hedge”. Which is freakin’ hilarious, even to the adults.

Then early to bed because it had been a long, long week.

Saturday was a bit discombobulated.
Kayleigh should have marched in the St Patrick’s Day parade at 12:30, but due to a lost clarinet, the plan changed to not even go, which was a-okay because it was 35 degrees out and pouring the rain Saturday morning. And as you know, Rae-rae don’t do crowds. I did, however, buy some kava kava, which my massage therapist recommended to calm me in those anxiety-ridden situations. So I was ready!

But then the rain let up and Grandma Kit called to see if Kayleigh wanted to still go the parade so she could cheer for her girlfriends, so they were off at 11:30am. And Tyler had a meeting for Norwestcon so he was gone for a few hours.

The kids’ plans evolved and changed and changed again around us, but Todd and I held steady. In our sweats. Surrounded by paper. As we cleaned out the four drawer file cabinet. Pro-freakin’-ductive.

Kayleigh had an overnight after the parade, and Tyler was holed up playing some new video games, courtesy of a wonderful friend of Todd’s, so we came to a stopping point in our cleaning and went out for a nice mini-date. Then came home, curled up and watched a couple of movies. Freeway, which Todd had never seen and True Romance , which I had never seen. Both equally violent (well, True Romance was probably more violent) and twisted. And then to bed.

Sunday, Todd skipped his usual Sunday coffee with a friend and instead, took Tyler to see Watchmen. And I piddled around an EMPTY HOUSE all BY MYSELF for three hours (oh my gawd) until it was time to leave to go purchase The Dress.

Yes, the wedding dress had been purchased. It’s very exciting.

Unfortunately, it’s not a purchase off the rack kind of thing, so I won’t actually have the dress until August. Which is probably best. Because I could totally see myself locking myself in the bedroom to put it on and prance around. So yes, best that it’s not in my house.

After dress purchasing, Kim, who had joined me for the final try on, and I grabbed some lunch and just chatted. We haven’t been able to do much of that lately, and that makes me sad. West Seattle really isn’t that far from Ballard, but it’s far enough to make popping in on Kim-n-Tim-Milo very difficult. Maybe the summer will make it easier for all of us to get together and hang out. Barbecues, picnics at Greenlake, picnics at Alki.

Sigh.

Man, I can’t wait until the warm weather gets here.

Did I mention it snowed again this weekend? Yeah. It’s not so much fun anymore.

Where was I?

Oh, bonding with Kim.
After the bonding with Kim, I swung by the house to grab Todd and head to run a couple of errands. Then off to pick up Kayleigh and Tyler, then to Target for some house stuff, then to the grocery store for dinner, then home to cook dinner and clean up after dinner, then finishing up laundry, then picking up the bedroom, then painting my fingernails (hussy red!) then tucking everyone in and then finally, sweet sweet sleep. Ah……

I’m already looking forward this weekend.
How sad is that?

Lazy Sunday

This is what happens on days when we have nothing on the calendar.

And this is how far I can take it now because I have a LABEL MAKER.

I didn't do all of the files. Had to bring myself to a stop. Got things to do.

The kids each have an overnight, so TBFE and I are going to see Lisa Hannigan at the Triple Door, after a long, leisurely dinner at Wild Ginger. Yum.

Raechelle, The Cat

www.icanhascheezburger.com

(Late) Weekend Update

TBBE and I were a bit busy yesterday, so our apologies for not posting. I see he has just posted his weekend update, so here's my contribution.

Friday evening, Todd, Kayleigh and I went to see Bullshot Crummond. I hit my functioning limit at about 9:00pm. Home. Bed.

Saturday....uh. I'm actually having a brain fart and cannot remember what we did Saturday.

Umm. Hang on.

Oh! Pictures!
Todd's friend Ron came over and took family photos. Cause the holidays are coming and even Todd's arms aren't long enough to do a family self portrait. As much as we'd love to.

Todd put a couple of photos up on his post.

I think I was difficult. Give me a few glasses of wine and you can't keep me away from a camera. But at noon, functioning only on three cups of coffee, I don't know what to do. I fidget. I roll my eyes. I'm annoyed. Some of the photos turned out okay, though.

That afternoon, we just tinkered around the house. Unpacked some stuff, walked down to Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. Very low key.

Saturday night, I attended my friend Nichole's bachelorette party. As bachelorette parties go, it was very tame. Nichole warned me that there were to be no strippers, no phallic desserts, and no naughty gifts. I may have adhered to two out of three requests. How do you go to a bachelorette party without buy the bride some lickable massage oil or edible panties? Come on!

My gift, however, was not the worst, so Nichole is still my friend.

I excused myself early because after her ninth(?) jello shot, Nichole decided to move the party down to the hotel bar. Go Nichole! However, I knew that if I went down to the bar, I would end up crashing in the hotel room. So I announced that I need to leave, siting that I was now a mother and needed to set a proper example for my children.

The group of 15 women then laughed at me. Loudly.
Hmph.

I was home by 10:00pm.

And Sunday was just blah.

Todd had gone to coffee with Ron, Kayleigh had slept over at a friends' house, Tyler is 14 and sleeps until noon, so Rae-rae didn't wake up until 10:00am.

RIGHT ON.

But it made me very unmotivated all day. Oh, I was muy productive. I was just very slow going about it.

I treated myself to a glass of wine and a hot soakie after dinner, and read some of the new Stephen King book that TBBE bought me. It's no Twilight, but it's good.

And to start the week of right, Todd and I had a lovely dinner last night at Etta’s, since they’re participating in Dine Around Seattle. Three courses for $30. And the restaurants that participate are normally way too expensive to eat at otherwise. Wednesday evening, Jamie and I will be having dinner at The Georgian. She tells me I have to wear my pearls. It’s that swanky.

Hopefully, I will be feeling better by then. The pork tenderloin (oh, when will I learn?), mixed with throbbing ovaries and a tight back, made for a very rough night. So this morning, I’m just worn out. I would very much like to be curled up in a ball right now.

Sigh.

This is going to make for a long day....

**********

And in my defense, regarding a certain clothes rod that could not take the weight of all my very fabulous clothes - no one ever gave me a weight limit on a clothes rod. I've hung clothes on a clothes rod for years and not one has ever collapsed on me.

In hindsight, maybe putting jeans, fleece and sweaters on the same short rod was a bad idea. Lesson learned. My apologies to Todd's wall.

Alone and Productive

So, I finally finished the infamous magazine project. Whew!

Jamie gave me an expanding pocket filer Monday when we went to dinner. She asked if I needed it for anything (HA! Of course I do!) and that's when it hit me. I should put the pages that I rip out from magazines in these pockets (organized by beauty, fashion, household tips, decorating, holiday decorating, etc...... you get the idea...) rather than in the sheet protectors in the three ring binder. Easier access, easier to actually put them in the filer and the thingy zips up all nice and pretty!

In a mere three hours this evening I finished up the project. And it was just what I needed. Some alone time, in my sweats, on the couch, doing something for me. I haven't been doing a lot of that lately, have I? Yes, I'm enjoying the organizing and cleaning at Todd's and yes, that's for me so that I can get my stuff in there, but it's not really mine. This magazine project, regardless of how small and inconsequential this is, it's something I've been wanting do for two years.

And it's done.

Now what can I obsess over?

I Give You.....THE BEDROOM

So! Quite the productive weekend here at Chez Downing.

There was no time to work on Friday night - movies and pizza and friends.

And, Saturday morning, while Todd was taking the kids to meet Katherine, I was SUPPOSED to sleep in, but the excitement of cleaning made it impossible. So I was up at 7:30am, throwing laundry in, taking trash out, loading the dishwasher.

Todd got back, we went to breakfast, then on to Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond for bins and general shopping merriment.

And then. Oh.
The Bedroom.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

And in case you were wondering what a real life blogger looks like, IN THE PROCESS, wala.

Not a pretty sight.....

Aside from bedroom news:
Jamie passed her boards (WAY TO GO, JAMIE!) Now she starts her Real Job. Yay!

Todd and I made three pies at the pie party last night. Two apple and a blackberry....with rum.

And the Seahawks sucked royally today. No amount of mimosa could ease the pain. Believe me, I tried.

Busy, busy, busy....

Busy weekend, busy at work, busy weekend coming up. Life is just flying by.

Friday night:

Had a football party at Todd's. Go 'Hawks! The margaritas and good company definitely helped my crappy day.

Saturday:

Rough day. No one in the Downing household slept very well on Friday night, for a variety of reasons, so we were all pretty pooped on Saturday.

Todd and I began the day by looking at a house that is owned by Steve's girlfriend.

[chirp chirp]

Weird, you say? Nah. Not really. It's only weird because it's not weird. Know what I mean?

We met both her and Steve at her house then walked around the corner to the house that was for sale. It was very cute and in some ways perfect. But in a few ways, not so much. So we chatted with them for a bit afterward and had some good laughs standing out on the sidewalk in the sun. Steve and Todd have a few similarities so they banter back and forth pretty well. It was nice to see.

That afternoon, we went to Doug & Ann's engagement party. This was supposed to be at a park, but weather wasn't looking too stable, so they moved it to a restaurant/game room/pool hall. The kids were in game heaven and I kicked butt at pool. Apparently I don't need jack-n-cokes to win four games in a row!

After the party, we ran some errands, which included swinging by my apartment to pick up some more clothes. I had every intention (once again) of planting my heels in and staying at my apartment Saturday night, then going back to West Seattle on Sunday. But, as we know, I tend to get all caught up in the hugs and the fun, so I decided to stay with Todd Saturday night as well.

And the kids were going to their uncle's to play games so that left me and Todd....alone. For hours. Hee hee.

We went out to dinner and then swung by the Corner Pocket to play some more pool and watch football on the big screens. And I declared that the Corner Pocket could very well become my next Lock-n-Keel. Except I won't throw up in the Corner Pocket. Promise.

Sunday:

I took a giant step in the relationship. I left Todd's to go have lunch with a friend at Greenlake. Then went back to Todd's. Just like it was an average day. Like I was living there.

And I didn't panic once. NOT ONCE!

After lunch, Todd, Kayleigh and I went school shopping. Bought some supplies and some clothes. And boy howdy, did the mom in me ooze out! I was holding the pants up to her to see if they'd fit. I made her put on a button down over her t-shirt because she hates going into dressing rooms. I bit my tongue when she held a pair of jeans up and exclaimed that she loved them, even though my first thought was, "We wore those in the 80's and they were ugly then and please don't have them in her size." No, no. If she likes them, she likes them and I am not going to be one of those moms who gives their kids a hard time about what they wear. Within reason. No g-strings sticking up out of the jeans. I mean, really.

After shopping, back to the house for MORE CLEANING!

Today's task: Todd's room.

This time, I took before pics. But we're not entirely finished, so you'll have to wait until next weekend for the before/after pics. We didn't get started until around 5, so Todd worked one corner while I worked on the closet.

His waist size has decreased by a few numbers in the last year, so I got rid of his big pants and tidied up what was left over. I may have even consolidated things in order to maybe, um, make room. You know, in case new stuff needs to be put in there. Somewhere down the line. One of these days.

Ahem.

Where was I?

Right! We worked into the wee hours (7pm) then re-heated some pizza and watched some movies. Of course! Cars (by Pixar) and Raising Arizona ("I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!"), which Todd and I both fell asleep during. Pooped we were.

Monday:

Up somewhat early to look at houses. But first, Home Depot.

Ah, the smell of lumber in the morning. Love Home Depot!

We picked up a towel rack for the half bath (because the towel just gets thrown on the countertop and you KNOW Rae-rae can't handle a towel just thrown on the countertop) and a second towel rack for Todd's bathroom. Because some chick has been hanging out there a lot and she's leaving her towels over the shower curtain rod and they're just in the way. So, now she has her own towel rack.

Not panicking. Not at all.

After Home Depot, the houses. Ack. The seemingly-perfect-but-oh-my-gawd-what-were-they-thinking-with-that houses. It is amazing what people will do to a house to get you to buy it. Yes, the marble countertops are pretty and yes, it's a brand new front door, but do you really think I can't smell the smoke in here? Are you going to knock off money so that I can get the carpet replaced? And what are you thinking with that fake wainscoting? You simply glued wood to the drywall. That doesn't count. And by the way, I know you just painted a piece of wood and nailed it above the fireplace. That is not a mantle. You couldn't even sand down the end of the board? Sheesh.

So, the houses sucked.

Onward.

Back to the homestead for more cleaning. Five hours of cleaning. It was a smidge painful at times for Todd, running across mementos and keepsakes, but he was strong and determined and stated more than once that it was time to move on. I kept the piles separated (Goodwill, give to someone, trash), loaded up my car with donations and provided lots of hugs. We ended up clearing off one whole wall of boxes, and although we declared ourselves done for the day, I strayed to the other wall. I just couldn't stop. Just one more box. One more! But Todd's stomach told us it was time to get some food so we headed out for dinner.

And it was then I made the comment that I needed to go to Target to buy something to wear to work on Tuesday. Because I just didn't want to go home.

Luckily, I had a t-shirt with me that would go well enough with the skirt I had worn on Friday so no run to Target was necessary. Which is good because then we wouldn't gotten home in time for the season premiere of Gossip Girl!

Jessica doesn't stay with me anymore. I can blog about Gossip Girl all I want.

After laughing at and mocking Gossip Girl, the very productive Downings (and Marsh) went to bed.

Whew!

Are you as tired as I am?

And here we are, another week. Ah, but a short week! And you know...I don't think I have anything planned for the evenings. Well, laundry tonight, but that's about it.

Whatever will I do with myself?

Composting - A Beginner's Tale

A few weeks ago, the city distributed BioBags* to put food waste in. Once the bag is full, we can just throw that in the community compost container down by the garbage. I aspire to compost (and I'm all about appearances), so I was going to spend $40 on a pretty stainless steel countertop composter like this:

But then I thought, "I have these bags. I just need something to put the bag in." And wala!

Ugly, but functional:


Still ugly, still functional, but now with pretty green bag hanging out of it.

Only $6! I'm so smart. The only drawback is that the $40 stainless steel container has a charcoal filter to help with the smell of rotting food. My little Goodwill container's lid is one of those sealing lids so that will help, but I'll need to take the bag out pretty frequently.

Looks like the BioBags are only about $6, too (for 25 of them). Now it's just a matter of finding a store nearby that carries them. Whole Foods? PCC?

Let me know if you've seen them anywhere.

*They also have litter box liners, dog waste bags, trash bags and leaf and lawn bags. The bags are made of corn, not plastic, so they break down naturally.

Weekend Update - GO! GO! GO!

Rumor has it that Todd isn't too motivated this morning to blog, so maybe I can get this done before him. Hee hee.

Friday night - FOOTBALL. Yeah baby! Seahawks won their first preseason game against the Vikings and we had a small, but nice, crowd to yell at the TV with. And Trish and I now have every intention of making food and being the hostesses with mostestess every Sunday for the games. This big plan was decided after a couple glasses of wine, so we may need to reevaluate.

Saturday morning consisted of a full on breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, then a mad dash to Ikea for organizing gear. In and out in 45 minutes. A new world record, I'm sure. We came home with drawer organizers, bins for the office, and cargo nets for all of Kayleigh's stuff animals, which are now hanging above her bed. I personally would be afraid those things would fall on me in the middle of the night, but she's young and daring, so we'll see how it goes.

The afternoon was extremely productive, until we had to run off to dinner and "Crazy For You", a play done by Todd's theater group, Twelfth Night Productions where I got to see my man in true form as the cool popular guy. After the show, the cast was milling about, chatting with people and one after one I would hear, "TODD!" in a very high, screechy female voice. Quite popular with the ladies, he is. As a matter of fact, even last weekend when we were in Bellingham, I heard that familiar screech. In the consignment store where we were shopping. I said to no one in particular, "It's a good thing I'm not a jealous woman. This could get ugly."

And Sunday began early with a last minute dash to meet our real estate agent (after stopping for much needed caffeine, of course) to view a house. A very cool-retreat-like-would-accommodate-a-pool-table house. After that, there was more organizing and cleaning (I'm infectious, I tell ya!), then dinner, then Blazing Saddles (which, yes you guessed it, I had never seen) and a glass of wine. What a lovely way to wrap up a fun weekend.

Again, I had every intention of coming home yesterday afternoon, but for some reason, I just wasn't able to tear myself away from the big, burly man hugs, so it turned into a full weekend visit. A good sign, since I'll be spending seven straight days with the Downing clan here in a few days, doncha think?

And, Happy Monday, what did I find when I emerged from the bathroom this morning?

A latte and a croissant from The Best Boyfriend Ever (herein known as TBBE).

[insert big ol' mushy grin here]

Whew! Done!
What's the time on that, Bob?

The Organizational Junkie Strikes Again

I was keeping my scarves, hats and gloves in a little basket on the shelf in my coat closet. That got to be a major pain in my ass. To the point to where I finally just threw the basket on the living room floor, by the couch, and would sort through it there. It just wasn't worth the effort to put it back up on the shelf every time I took it down to sort through it.

And then it hit me.
A shoe organizer!


And I've organized my stuff according to frequency of use. The top slot is my walking hat and gloves, because I dig for those the most. Next couple of slots are scarves that I wear occasionally, but my everyday scarf is hanging up on the door of the closet on a plastic, adhesive back hook. I don't want to even have to dig first thing in the morning as I'm running out the door. The rest of the slots have maybe three hats in one because I don't wear them that often, so we can lump them together. Same for my foo foo gloves. And my summer hat gets it's own slot.

Actually, I was thinking a clear, back of the door shoe organizer because my cousin, Tricia, has one of those on her bathroom door and it holds her shampoo, sunblock, lotions, etc. But I didn't the the little pouches would be big enough to hold scarves. And I was right. I'm glad I went with this kind of shoe organizer.

You're impressed.
I can tell.

Bored Out Of My Skull

Ah, good to be back home.
And bored on a Friday night. How bored, you ask?

Before - pile o' tights and stockings:


After - neatly organized tights and stockings:


Labeled just like my shoes - color on the top line, descriptive term on the second line. Now I can find my fishnets without the hassel! Fantastic!

Actually, I'm quite pooped. I shopped until I literally dropped today. Got a few shirts, another pair of pants, slutty tights (mom's term, not mine) and some leather gloves. Productive day.

I thought I had plans with Cyn tonight, but since I haven't heard from her, I guess not. That's okay. I started a book, Life of Pi, and I've gotten past the hard part (the beginning) and am now officially Into It. This book was a birthday present three years ago and I've tried numerous times to read it, but just couldn't get past the first half. The four hour plane ride helped me get over the hump yesterday. I may finish the book tonight.

Next will be Eat, Pray, Love. My sister tells me I just gotta read it. Well okay fine. Will do.