not enough hours in the day

blogging has been pushed to the bottom of my list for weeks now and I've not had a lot to say.... even on Facebook my status updates have been sparse or exceedingly dull

I have been busy and I'm happy about it.

Yes the kids have been ill off and on, right now Miss 5 has taken the last 2 days off school with a cough that won't let up. No point sending her so she's started her school hols early.

But most of my busy-ness has stemmed from helping Hubby and his business venture. Things have started moving now and he needs help and I'm the girl to do it. So far it's only running errands, trips to the Post Office, preparing orders etc when he hasn't the time but soon it will be much more and this excites me. I haven't had a "job" outside of motherhood for getting on 6 years.

I will go into more detail of what we "do" later but for now I just wanted to check in.... that is if anyone visits any more. I must confess I am not browsing the blogosphere quite as often as I used to so I appreciate that others may be the same.

My house is clean but not necessarily tidy right now, I hope next week while Miss 5 has a "holiday" with her Nan & Pop I might make some progress there as well as continue with helping Hubby. Not enough hours in the day at the moment.

I've not been so busy in ages and I haven't been so happy either. It's all very exciting.
Catch you later :)

mousecapades and other unrelated issues

Let me be up front.... very little has been accomplished with the decluttering

A short while back, I spat the dummy, I felt more like the maid around here than anything else and now that I look back I've been kind of on strike every since.

Don't get me wrong I do stuff, but I'm not busting my gut right now. I do get a bit more help at times by other inhabitants but that's something that has to be managed on an almost daily basis. Let's just say if I wrote a list of things that needed doing, they would get done.... to the letter in fact but no more, no less. I'm after a bit of initiative here but it's slow in coming. I'll keep working at it.

Anyhow, I've felt rather unmotivated (via feeling unappreciated), we've had back to back colds for some time now... only now just clearing up but now I'm getting a lot of headaches (a new bug perhaps?). We've also had a hard week with Poss teething to the extreme, her last 4 teeth to come through all decided to come through in a week. So we've had sleepless nights, worrying high temperatures and one very sooky little babe.

That's passed now, thank goodness and she's back to her bright, perky little scamp self.

We've got mice. In our roof space. (If you're my friend on FB, you'll have read about the adventures of Squeak) We've caught 2 but it's likely there are more. We shall keep setting the traps in hopes that will get rid of them all soon. It has been cause for a bit of excitement around here though.... and a learning experience for Miss 5. I didn't sugarcoat it for her and told her straight that the traps were meant to kill the mice. She insisted she wanted to see the last one we caught... all very interesting to a 5 year old I guess. She was suitably grossed out but I doubt it will give her nightmares.

Hubby and I had last weekend away, just us, no kids. It was bliss and helped with my funk of mehness. We actually went out at night.... to a nightclub even!!! It was very different to anything I went to in my very short lived nightclubbing days. Aimed at over 25's, they played cool old (and I mean old, not 80's and 90's) music, fabulous cocktails and live entertainment... a magician, go-go dancers and a very funky house band.

We also went to the Art Gallery of Western Australia.... specifically to see their latest exhibition Patricia Piccinini: Relativity, we do not go to the gallery often but when looking for things to do in the city we came across info about this exhibition and it peaked our interest. The realism of the some of sculptures is quite unnerving. It took every fibre in my being not to reach out and touch.

And that's me to date, I have vague plans of stepping up to the plate again with my game face on and getting stuck into the muddle I call home. Miss 5's room is in great need of a weeding, so I may start there tomorrow..... we'll see

teeny tiny steps: Poss' Room

Motivation has been seriously depleted over the past few weeks.... the cold and flu season has us in it's grip. No sooner do we get over one bout then another steps into it's place.

So I am tired ( so so tired) and am not in the decluttering mood

However..... Just over a week ago (when I was feeling moderately better.... must have been in between sniffles) I tackled Poss' room.  I intend painting it (in the future) and with that in mind I've been guilty of letting it go... and then it got out of hand. It became a place to keep piles of clothes that Miss 5 had ougrown and needed sorting before storing what was good enough to be kept. Suffice to say I hadn't quite got around to that bit.

Then it got to the point where Poss didn't like her play pen anymore, in fact she found she could pretty much get to where she wanted but technically still be confined by pushing it around. So we changed the pen's configuration and it is now a fence (with a gate) that separates the kitchen and dining room from the rest of the house. Now Poss can explore.... but I do like to keep our bedroom, the laundry and bathroom doors all shut so she doesn't get into to too much mischief.

But it didn't seem fair that she couldn't play in her own room... so it was time to harness the power of guilt and sort it out. Surprisingly it didn't take all that long and it was very liberating to get rid of some of the baby things we don't use anymore. We also got rid of a lot of toys that are really just too big for our small place... Poss' childcare centre did very well out of us, taking our play tent (bought for Miss 5 who got the use out of it but now with 2 kids and more stuff there really isn't any space at home) and an outdoor tunnel thingy (a friend gave it to us when her kids were done with it, it is fantastic but again so big and our yard can not accommodate it and a trampoline) among other bits and pieces. I figured at least Poss can play with those things there whereas she wouldn't have at home.

There are still some things to sort out in the cupboard in Poss' room and that will happen in due course but it is now a place for her to play in.... her room not the cupboard ;)

 mind you like all kids she's prone to dragging her things out of her room and into the loungeroom and playing there... but that's life

manners matter part 3

thank God the visitors are gone, it was not a pleasant visit at all.

I am probably taking on more stress than is truly mine but it was so frustrating watching this family in action

The child (horrendo-kid) remained badly behaved for the entire week and as she became more comfortable in her surrounds became increasingly cocky in attitude. I swear if my children acted as she has I would be horrified and would not have hesitated to bring them into line. Her mother is not of the same opinion, she made excuses for her, played down how she was acting and basically gave in every time to the child.

But then the mother was no better herself, without being clear about her intentions when she approached my MIL about staying with them, she had decided she was coming over for complete relaxation which obviously meant she had no intention of lifting a finger to help around the house, expected babysitting favours and letting her child run wild in someone else's home.

The grandmother was no better and kept saying out loud to MIL how exhausted she felt watching MIL running around all day (catering to them mind you), which infuriated MIL.

Her husband was over here for an athletic meet (he coaches) and things did not go as well as hoped for his athletes so he spent much of his time sulking when we came over for lunch one day because other people had an unfavourable opinion about his coaching performance on some internet forum. Awww diddums!

All these people took enormous liberties with my inlaws hospitality. Both husband and wife are the type who have been looked after (and spoilt) all their life and so expect it of everyone apparently. So I guess it isn't so surpising that their child has turned out the way she has.

We kind of kept our distance.... we didn't see them everyday, that would have been too much of horrendo-kid and avoidance seemed the best way to manage them plus we were still on holiday too and had things we wanted to do. I was sorry to know MIL was lumped with them so I helped out as much as I could when we did go over.

And I avoided horrendo-kid when I could, I am quite sure she picked up that I'd sussed her out and wouldn't be manipulated like most adults she is around. However I did pipe up at one point when Miss 5 came in crying, she had a big red mark on her arm and was saying horrendo-kid had hit her. Horrendo-kid had shot in to her mum as well saying she didn't so I asked her directly (in front of mum) why she had hit her, of course she denied everything saying Miss 5 was lying. Turned out in her haste and determination to be the best and "first" she'd slammed a child safety gate onto Miss 5's arm in a race to get somewhere. I was furious but what can you do when her own mother won't discipline the kid?

Suffice to say we're all glad to see the back of them. Unfortunately they are a family who we will cross paths with again. We can't go to Adelaide (when Hubby travels with us) and not see them but we have agreed that when we do, we will not be staying with any of them (last time we stayed with the grandma for a few nights but I felt uncomfortable about it once we got there) and our catch ups will be brief and under our own steam / terms. MIL has vowed they will never stay with her again.

This kind of visit may never happen again in any case but you know I can't help but think they thought it all went swimmingly.... that's the ignorant type we're dealing with GAH!!!!!

manners matter part 2

not that this post has as much to do with manners alone but I refer to my previous post and the child involved.

she's back

for a week this time

and with avengence

definitely no sign of good manners or good behaviour for that matter

she, her mother and grandmother are staying at my MIL's, I had pre-warned MIL about this little girl's previous behaviour and she has stayed true to form.... perhaps worse

MIL is extremely unimpressed and I am guessing rueing the day she offered to have them stay (all in the name of doing the right thing)

I will blog more about this no doubt but for now I will just say this... I am hurting for Miss 5. This child has effectively bullied Miss 5 and unfortunately her attitude seems to have stemmed from her mother.

MIL whispered to me last night that the mum had mentioned (making excuses for her kid's awful tantrum) that she was feeling left out because she was smarter than Miss 5 and wanted to read Miss 5 a story at bedtime (Miss 5 was staying over and didn't want to get into bed with this kid who had demanded she do it, because Miss 5 is used to sleeping upstairs with her Nan). MIL was livid and I was left unimpressed.... perhaps it was a case of a poor choice of words by the mum but what was said was said and hurtful words like that have a tendency to stick around.

Today MIL was left stuck with horrendo-kid and Miss 5 while the mum and grandma went shopping, horrendo-kid threw a few tantrums but MIL wouldn't have a bar of it (good for her) so she turned her aggression towards Miss 5. Taunting her that she wasn't as smart or bright or good as her because she couldn't read etc etc. MIL told me she saw the cogs turning in Miss 5's mind as she obvoiusly was thinking "well what she says is true, I can't read yet", it broke my heart to hear this.

These people have no idea of Miss 5's capabilities (and she already shows enormous academic promise as well as great social skills and that's not just a proud biased mum talking) and yet they have made such broad and hurtful assumptions.

Impossibly the 2 girls went on to play nice as pie again, it baffles me. Seriously!

I am infinitely glad we only see these people once or twice a year and I get the feeling later down the track when Miss 5 becomes more sure of herself she'll avoid contact with this girl. I definitely won't be pursuing or prolonging the link that's for sure.

More later...

a self assessment

we have just come home from a couple of nights down south in the Margaret River wine region, intended as a breakaway for the family. there was no wine tasting (more's the pity) but what fun is visiting wineries for kids? I remember trailing after my parents to winery after winery when we visited my grandmother in the Barossa Valley and it was not fun. In hindsight it can't have been fun for my parents either listening to whining kids... anyhoo we decided that we would focus on family oriented activities and Hubby and I took a holiday from the routine of cooking.... a lot of junk food was eaten by all.

Now we had debated at length whether we go for 2 or 3 nights, doesn't seem like a big deal does it? But factor in kids who are renowned for going off their tree when they become grossly out of routine and the answer sadly was evident to us, 2 nights would be our limit. 3 nights however lovely it sounded would leave us sitting in our apartment willing ourselves home on the last night whilst dealing with screaming kids.

With Poss it's to be expected, she still has 2 naps a day and while she can survive a few days with only one day nap and a decent nights sleep, one has to be reasonable and not push her too far.
Miss 5 isn't so bad on the out of routine thing now... to a point and then there's the general 5 year old 'tude whereby when she's had enough, she makes no bones about it and we all pay a hefty price. The price this time was giving her mum and dad lip and acting out for the sheer fact that she could. The foot stomping and pouting is extremely unbecoming.

It was disappointing and I guess upsetting to end our break on that kind of ugly note, it really made us feel like all we'd done.... the entire weekend where we focussed solely on the kids.... counted for naught (in Miss 5's eyes). Very disheartening indeed.

And as an aside... since then now that things have cooled down somewhat, Miss 5 has had a talking to and hopefully something might have sunk in. She was on her best behaviour today which is something.

So in a round about way the point of this post is this.... looking back at photos taken whilst away and how conflicts were dealt with.. I see things I'd like to change about myself.

The photos? Not going to show them here.... sorry but they provided me with one of those moments when you see yourself for how you really appear rather than how you think you look.... funny how I am remarkably slimmer in my own mind ;)
My hair, I've left too long between cuts, it's looking very frazzled on the ends and just so so sad and tired... it's embarassing.... easy fix is a trip to the hairdresser tomorrow.

A not so easy fix is dealing with my thickening waistline and my...ahem... double chin (dare not say it out loud and make it true?  eek!). A side profile photo burst any bubble of illusion I had of thinking I wasn't looking too bad.
Look I'm not about to jump on the health kick train to Biggest Loserville but I can see it's time to cut back. Enough's enough!

On the dealing with conflict thing... to quote Dr Phil quoting his father, "there's something about that person I don't like about me" I may not have gotten it right word for word but I hope you get the gist. When dealing with Miss 5 on the weekend, I wasn't entirely happy with the way Hubby reacted and then I realised I do the same thing. It's more of an emotional outburst from sheer frustration and is void of anything constructive.

And.... oddly enough.... it doesn't work... huh! who'd have thought?

So I'm looking at other ways for us to get our message and guidance across more effectively. I can see often it's more about me than her and that's when we clash big time. So while I'm still not going to let her get away with blue murder, I will be working on how I go about it.

A challenge has already arisen with our friends back for another visit (with the little girl whose manners leave a lot to be desired). We shall see how it pans out over the next week there..... I sense another blog post in the works but if tonight is anything to go by, it will be an interesting and bumpy ride. I had warned Miss 5 that she was to be on her best behaviour whilst her friend was here, in fact her holiday fun depended on it and to her credit she did well tonight. (Having said that the other little girl chucked 2 enormous wobblies for her mother in the space of a couple of hours... fun and games)

Progress

sounds promising doesn't it?

and Yes! I have good news to report

Hubby & I got stuck into it and finished painting the dining room, with the both of us working it only took the better part of a day. He prepped and sanded, I washed the walls. I did the cutting in and he did the rollering. Done in a jiffy! And it looks a million times better, that puky yellow was really bringing us down
*big cheesy smiles*

Next painting project will be the laundry, probably when school goes back from hols. We've also decided to put some cupboards on the wall in there and replace the handy homemade wooden bench with a longer, even handier and more aesthetically pleasing bench. Should look great when it's all done.

Yesterday the bobcat fairy visited us and dug out all the stumps from our pruning efforts from a while back and the his friend, the stump grinding fairy also popped in and completely anilhilated the rubber tree stump... all in an hour. It would have taken us a lifetime.

Step 2 of the garden will be sorting out the retic then I think we're going to lay weed mat before planting and we're still debating whether to have pea gravel or mulch.... this will depend largely on $$$. I meant to have a photo of our empty garden bed to display but haven't taken it yet and it's dark right now so maybe I'll do a post with a step by step in photos of it all later down the track when I've got something spiffy to show you.

Having Hubby home has it's advantages (aside of the obvious ;) He has been bitten by the declutterbug too and has been ruthlessly sorting out the shed(s). Oh man the stuff we found! The stuff we forgot we even owned!
I knew we had a few bags of toys that have needed sorting for a long time.... stuff Miss 5 had outgrown but might be good for Poss and I had to be ruthless too. We simply do not have the space for more toys... especially soft toys. My girls only have one or 2 very special cuddly toys that they are attached to and the rest mean very little to them, so off they went to the charity shop.

Man it feels good to purge all that stuff. Stuff that we simply didn't need and didn't miss. There's still so much more to do but I am pleased that we've made significant progress

*more big cheesy grins*

manners matter

it's not often that I'll stand up and spout about what I think is right and wrong in the realm of childrearing. It's not easy bringing up kids that's a given, different people have different ways of coping with their kids who are all individuals and it's sensible to acknowledge that what works for one child might not work for another.

but i do strongly believe in people teaching their children proper manners and i like to think that I have brought up my kids (well Miss 5, I'm just starting with Poss) to use manners appropriately.

if there is one thing I detest above all things it's kids who speak to adults without the correct level of respect. I do not mind children calling adults by their first name or a name of the adults choosing, different circustances call for the use of different names / titles etc.  Mrs Clutterbug does not sit with me comfortably so Shish is fine, we have some friends who have been introduced to our kids as Aunty or Uncle, others by their first name and teachers are obviously Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms.

this weekend has brought all my grievances about good manners or lack there of to a head... we had visitors, long time friends who date back to the boys going to primary school together. Their little girl is Miss 5's age, very intelligent (quite possibly gifted) and often very sweet. Her manners? Atrocious! she speaks to adults as though they were her equal. She took to calling Hubby by his nickname (something which her parents call him and have never corrected her from doing) along with answering back and dropping the "please" and "thankyou" from her requests.

I'm not saying she is a bad girl, maybe just undiciplined? Her parents are not as strict as we are (and having said that we are firm with our rules rather than unreasonable and there are consquences when the kids do the wrong thing) and while I know we are not perfect parents I think they could work at setting better boundaries for their daughter.

Now that my Miss 5 has friends over etc, I am more comfortable when I talk to other people's kids and so I found myself more than once this weekend, pulling this little one up on her manners. I couldn't help myself, if she wanted something from me she was going to ask properly. Hubby also told me he said to her (in her mum's earshot) that it was time to start calling him by his first name instead of his nickname... to her credit she did.

I feel a little bad, like this girl might have gone away thinking I was a meany. But I feel like I would be a hypocrite if I disagreed with it so much and yet sat idly by. What do you reckon?

getting back on track

oooooh er!!!
i didn't intend being away so long but life got busy

we've now experienced the joys of head lice, Miss 5 came home scratching like mad one Friday afternoon and now I am quite adept at the art of nit combing.... not that it's a skill I'll be putting on my resume any time soon.

I've been slowly scratching away at the weeds / unwanted grass in the driveway garden bed, have so far filled 2 garden garbage bags but I've a long way to go.... the weather hasn't been great for spending time in the garden, hot and humid... I only last about half an hour before I'm all headachey.

And the neighbours over the fence appear to be less than impressed (even though it was they who were concerned about the bushes wrecking the fence). A friend who pops by in the morning so our kids can walk to school together told me one morning the woman next door stomped over and stood in our driveway, hands on hips surveying the situation before stomping back home. Other neighbours have asked what happened to the trees but accepted our reasons, these people haven't said a word.

Really there's nothing to get into a huff about as far as I can see but I can feel the vibe so it's weird... you know?

This week, little Poss has been down and out with a gastro bug which she lovingly shared with Hubby and I, we were not too bad thank goodness and it appears to have gone completely now. A bug like that really throws all routine out the window though with all attention focussing on looking after the kids.

But I think we're back on track (though school hols are fast approaching bringing a whole new bag of distractions but lets not get ahead of ourselves )
Hubby starts annual leave this Thursday and I've told him we have to (HAVE TO!!!!) finish painting the dining room by the end of next weekend. We have friends coming in the school holidays and it would be nice to have at least the living areas of the house looking how I want them.

On the clutter maintenance side of things, it's been tricky.... my 'puter desk very easily slides back into chaos and I have discovered after giving my bedroom a general tidy that it makes me feel a lot better when my own personal space looks good. And it's not all my fault.... I have other people here perfectly capable of putting things away properly but who prefer to dump their stuff willy nilly. That will have to change

So many more baby steps to take, won't matter as long as I stay on the path


UPDATE:
Hubby & I are in discussions about getting someone in to clear that garden bed and sort out the retic. Perhaps not the most economical way to deal with the problem but then I never claimed to be aiming at saving buckets of money. We are not the sort to lash out all the time and this in our view would be money well spent....

motivation can come from the most unlikely of places...

on Sunday I had a visitor, our over the fence neighbour... not someone we have an awful lot to do with other than when our driveway bushes are encroaching onto his property

which they were doing and apparently breaking 3 panels on our shared fence *bugger*

he was quite amiable about it, as was I, I mean we can't exactly shirk our* responsibilities here can we?

he wanted to prune some of the bushes away from the fence and we'd sort out the fence repairs at a later date... and he wanted us to dispose of the prunings since they were ours*

*the fence is actually common property between us and the owner of the other duplex on the block, a fact I've only just found out, so technically we should share any costs... when it comes to the fence repair we might do that

the next day I decided, might be a good time to start my driveway gardening project and as it happened my dear Hubby had promised me a day of helping in the garden as part of his Valentines gift to me (despite his complete disdain for all things gardening)

I had thought it was a reasonably cool day (after our 40 degree heatwave), there was a nice breeze and I got started.... I soon realised we needed a chainsaw and that's a Hubby job

By lunchtime our driveway had gone from this....

this is actually an old photo from a couple of years ago, I forgot to take a recent Before shot but you get the idea I hope

And when we were finished with it, it looked like this....

 

By this time the forecast had been proven horribly wrong and it was turning into a 39 degree day, we were both hot, tired and verging on sunburnt so it was time to stop.

The result is maybe a tad more extreme than I had first envisaged but we really hate these bushes and hate to prune so the intention is to rake out all the crap, get rid of the stumps, then weed mat and pea gravel it and plant smaller plants that are able to survive drought conditions (cos less face it I can't remember the last time it rained here!) and won't grow into a tangled mess and push down the fence.

It probably peeved the neighbour to see us chopping the day after he had pruned, but that's life and if we don't act when the impulse strikes us then it doesn't get done. Also I don't know what the neighbour who shares the common ground with us thinks but she's never done anything to improve the garden so I guess that might speak for itself.

Either way we're doing something about it and when it's done I'm sure everyone will be happy and too bad if they're not hehehe

To Be Continued.....

The 'Puter Desk - Baby Step #2 or this procrastinator needed a kick in the butt

I have been a naughty little clutterbug, avoiding my responsibilities

so I set myself a deadline (like my new glass whiteboard for the kitchen? it's my new best friend aka 'to do list' $24.95 from IKEA)

My disaster area  computer desk -Before

A somewhat tidier After

OK so I have some filing to still do and a home to find for photos and other memorabilia but the desk looks a helluva lot better (right?). The filing cabinet contents is a task for another day when I have bought another paper shredder. At least now I can move onto to painting the walls (behind) and getting rid of that god awful curtain.

wading through the papers from my desk (still)... I have to ask myself why on earth I didn't just toss the stuff in the first place... this is ridiculous

PS I haven't been terribly dedicated in my quest to tidy the PC desk this week, lots of other things have claimed priority and now it's stinking hot here and I'm just not feeling the de-cluttering love :(

Guilty as charged

on my quest to de-clutter.... now tackling the computer desk (which is proving to be a monumental task!!!)... I have had to come to terms with how unorganised I can be for a person who considers herself a relatively organised person and how untidy I can be for a relatively neat person..... seriously I am ashamed :(

The computer area... a place I frequent everyday and can spend considerable hours is probably one of the worst problem areas in our household.... the dust I've let build up! the important papers overflowing from the in trays that I "will get to" but never do! and worst of the worst in my opinion.... the precious photos and memories I've let get mixed in with junk mail!!!

NOT. GOOD. AT. ALL!!!!!!

I have made it my mission to sort the desk and surrounding area out this week and not buy any "storage" containers etc until I have weeded out the unneccessary crap I have. I am forever stuffing crap into boxes and luring myself into a false sense of organisation. It's got to stop.

How I let it get this bad I don't know

And as I sort my sh!t out, I am chanting my new mantra (courtesy of Peter Walsh)

"Flat surfaces are not storage areas"

say it with me....

Awwww....

this was waiting for me on my puter screen.... how did he know I'd go straight there I wonder???

The Pantry... Baby Step #1 of The Big Clean Up of 2010

continued on with the pantry and got it finished today.... my main motivator being a trail of ants marching in and out..... discovered an up-ended bottle of Vanilla Essence was attracting them GAH!

anyway, it's done now and I've chucked out a lot of stuff that was old or would never in a million years be eaten.

my before and after shots... really not much to look at but still.

my next step is to make sure we make use of the foods that we have rather than  doubling up on things as I am prone to doing when out shopping and I can't remember what we have in the cupboard. It will mean drawing up menu plans for the week but I think that can only be a good thing now that we are so much busier.

the big clean up of 2010

wish this was a post full of proud boasting of how much I've done this last week, sadly it is not.

The whole family is reeling from the sudden change in routine now that we're back to school and here I was thinking how good I'd been getting Miss 5 back into routine in the last week of hols. No, nothing would have prepared us for how tiring full time school plus out of school activities (swimming lessons and ballet) would be.

I am going to bed at night with my head full of all the things I need to do the next day and it's keeping me up at night. I like to think I'm a relatively organised person and being organised is the only way to get through but I am still finding it quite trying and not a lot else other than the basics are getting done.

Add onto that my little Poss has had a temperature the last couple of days and my MIL also ill with pnuemonia, it's all a bit stressy.

So I haven't done much of the decluttering in the physical sense.... I have been thinking about it a lot, reading the notes by Peter Walsh on Oprah's website has definitely given me food for thought. More stuff to mull over in bed :(

All is not lost though.... feeling very unaccomplished today I thought I might tackle a shelf in my pantry, the top one... usually where all the tea / coffee making stuff goes, left over paper plates and other picnic / party stuff gets shoved after an event and where lollies often get hidden out of reach.

I discovered we have an obscene amount of candy canes.... none bought by us, Miss 5 is not keen on the minty ones but also struggles to finish the fruity flavoured ones and no one else touches them. The sheer volume of them makes me feel bad to bin them but if I can not find anyone else to take them that is where they'll go.

On that shelf alone, I tossed out a tonne of stuff and man it felt good! I think it's exactly what I needed to kick start me even if it was just a baby step.

It's like Oprah can read my mind

had a fantastic morning after dropping Miss 5 off to school, Baby Poss was ready for her morning nap and that gave me the opportunity to whizz around the house for a quick lap of surface tidying and cleaning the bathroom basin and tub. I figured that I could vac and mop tomorrow morning leaving my kid free Friday open for coffee out with a friend.

So that done and dinner in the slow cooker I sat down to catch up of a couple of favourite tv shows, The Big Bang Theory and Being Human over lunch while Poss cruised the furniture, she's not walking yet.... all she has to do is let go.... seriously.

Then Oprah was on and I am still quite partial to her show just not always able to sit down and watch it

Lo and Behold, it was a repeat of her series with Peter Walsh, organiser extraordinaire. Last year I saw the start of the series, Clean Up Your Messy House and loved it. Nothing like a declutter show to get me motivated.... (oh and as an aside this is where I got the clutter-bug name from, they had the cutest volkswagons named clutter-bugs)

So after watching today, I've gone and found the webiste and might just take up the challenge, anything to help keep me going

Clean up you messy house on Oprah the man has a plan so why try and invent the wheel?

the grand plan for 2010

funnily enough I write this but find myself largely incapable of putting what I speak of into practice today... the reason being my cyclone of a 5 year old daughter is home from school (the first 2 days were half sized classes to help the kids get to know their way around and the teacher better and Miss 5's day was yesterday) but we're back into it tomorrow and I tell you we all can not wait.

A bear with a sore head does not adequately cover her mood today, people talk about discovering their inner child... well my child has discovered her inner crabby old biddy! And it's all stemming from having a taste of school and then not being able to go the next day.... we're halfway through the day so the end is in sight.... it can't come soon enough.

But getting onto my grand plan.... you see the name of my blog up the top there? well that it seems is a pretty accurate description of me.... I don't like to think of myself as a hoarder, I'm definitely not in the hoarding is an illness category but I do let things pile up. And I'm not the only one in this family that lets things pile up so when we all do it things get pretty congested in our small house pretty quickly.

And that's how our house is feeling at the moment..... very congested

We're talking clothes that the kids have outgrown and need weeding out of the cupboards to paperwork that needs filing or just plain needs throwing out to kitchen cupboards overflowing with stuff. The whole house needs going over and de-cluttering. And lets face it, it feels good to live simply.

So I've been asking myself the question (as I'm sure everyone has done at some point) if there was a fire what would I take? The answer I think proves how very little we need in the way of posessions and is a good starting point for my de-cluttering expedition.

In order to make my plan work, I already know I must take baby steps.... launching into some gungho chuck fest is all well and good but I have a tendency to conk out quickly so I need to be a tortoise and not a hare.

Also there are other components to my grand plan for 2010...

I'm still painting the house, about halfway there but in saying that I haven't painted anything since October last year. It's definitely time to get back into that!

And there is the garden to tackle, I want it tidy and as low maintenance as possible. We started last year with rippig out a lot of nasty ferns that looked awful and replacing with pebbles and potted plants, now to tame the driveway bushes.... they have never looked nice so I'm thinking I will cut them all back to try and give them some shape.

All this with a view to selling the house possibly next year.....

I'm looking forward to making some chages around here :)

new and somewhat improved.... I think

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions but I found myself wanting to make changes or improvements to my life towards the end of last year.

I feel I can't hide behind the excuse of having little ones to not do stuff anymore, the littlies do take up a lot of time and I wouldn't have it any other way. At times though I do feel frustrated at how little else gets done.

Now with my big girl of 5 starting school 5 days a week this year (tomorrow in fact!) it feels right to be getting on with other things or at the very least having a go.

This blog I guess is intended to diarise my efforts, to hold myself accountable and to help me feel like I've achieved something.