Computer room clean out 2016

This after picture is from a 2010 Computer Room Clean Out. I got rid of major piles and was quite pleased with myself.

Here is a wider angle of the whole room. After picture from 2010 also.

I did another clean out the day before New Year's Eve 2016. 

I did not think to take a before picture. But it was stacked. All kinds of odds and ends. 

These first two pictures (below) are my GO piles. The first one is a box full of dictionaries. And yes there is a religious book on top. Youngest has to go thru this box before it GOES. There is a tutoring center in town for English as a second language and I am going to see if they want the dictionaries. I kept one in case we have a no internet life again. I also kept the grammar type books. I have some very good children's ones. They were moved to the living room book shelves.

This is a GO basket that both girls have to check in case I got rid of something vital without knowing it. It is a very small basket, not a laundry basket. The main thing in this basket is weird mechanical pencils and odd pens. The kleenex box is full of them. There is a gallon size zip lock bag full too. So many.

This Chair is in the GO pile. It is cheap. It rolls too easily. The fabric is covered with a very slippery plastic and I have nearly slid out while I was also falling out, several times. It is a broken tail bone waiting to happen and it is going to goodwill.

I did a rethink on the counters as I cleaned this time.

I got rid of the file sorter and the bookshelf that were on the counter. This might seem obvious, but because they had always been there, and were needed originally, I had not considered eliminating them.

Originally I had a file for every kid and one for myself and one for parking lot and one for receipts and one for checkbook in that file holder. For many years those files reduced clutter and kept things organized. But all those times are now gone. I went through those files and cleaned out a lot. Checkbook went in a cubby. My file went in a file drawer.

A lot of maps went in paper recycling.



AFTERS 2016

The off white chair was originally my husband's father's. This is one of the things that came home in the truck after my husband's mother died in 2010. It is old. But sort of beloved. Yes, an odd shape for a counter, but it got it out of my husband's upstairs office. There are 4-6 chairs currently in that office.  (I have a bulls-eye on that office. I am chipping away at it, bit by bit.)



I cleaned the cupboards in the computer room a year or so ago.

A month or two ago, I put all the computer games in a box and put them in the top shelf of the cupboard after realizing all three kids (especially youngest) thought I should hang on to them. So the gecko on the wall is now empty, but I am leaving him there.

Middle and I cleaned all the cubbies (above the checkered bulletin board) on New Year's Eve Day 2016. Every single thing came out and was reorganized. I purged a lot. Post it notes that no longer stick went in the paper recycling bin. A box of things went to my mom's. Things went in the Goodwill box. Etc.

It wasn't even a Xmas present, it was an extra Roku that I happened to think might work well

Anyone just itching to alphabetize something?

Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Five Little Pumpkins by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat, Go Pete, Go! by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat and his four groovy Buttons by Kimberly and James Dean (book and CD)

Pete the Cat, I love my White Shoes by and James Dean (book and CD)

Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat and the New Guy by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Robo-Pete by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Rocking in my school shoes by Kimberly and James Dean (book and CD)

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin (Christmas)

Pete the Cat Scuba-Cat by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Sir Pete the Brave by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Snow Daze by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Train Trip by Kimberly and James Dean

Pete the Cat Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by James Dean

Pete the Cat The Wheels on the Bus based on writings of James Dean

As you read down thru this list, you will see where I am confused. If you would be so kind to just copy and paste (a corrected version) in comments, I would really appreciate it. If you are itching to add or delete commas, that is okay too. 

Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Five Little Pumpkins by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons by Kimberly and James Dean (book and CD)
Pete the Cat, Go Pete, Go! by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, I Love my White Shoes by and James Dean (book and CD)
Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat and the New Guy by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Robo-Pete by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Rocking in my School Shoes by Kimberly and James Dean (book and CD)
Pete the Cat, Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin (Christmas) 
Pete the Cat, Scuba-Cat by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Sir Pete the Brave by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Snow Daze by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Train Trip by Kimberly and James Dean
Pete the Cat, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by James Dean
Pete the Cat, the Wheels on the Bus based on writings of James Dean

Tracy links

Shauna gets the credit for finding Tracy originally.

I get Tracy's weekly post in pictures.
http://www.shutterbean.com/category/my-everyday-life/
I love getting it.

My husband says she has an incredible eye for photography. I also forward it on to my kids. My older two are overtly artistic. My youngest is too, in different ways. But I do not think you have to be artistic to enjoy Tracy.

She lives a very unique life (she only has one kid, her work is art, she travels, she lives in San Francisco area).

When her recipe food posts hit my inbox, I delete them without opening. I can tell by the title that it is a recipe.

Her food pictures (in her week in review) do not bother me. She takes pictures of food for a living. She also cooks things separately and cooks ahead. I have learned a lot from her about sorting, storing, labeling. So I look at her food pictures from an organization viewpoint.

So, for example, I did not look at what food she served for thanksgiving. I looked at how she did her table. I look at how she packages her pre cooking as she preps and puts it in the refrigerator too. Etc.

Alcohol is in a lot of her pictures, that does not bother me either, I just ignore it. But I just wanted to forewarn.

Blue painters tape now lives in my studio, kitchen and computer room because of Tracy. I label a lot of things. Dates, content, owners names. (When we were at our friends over xmas, I realized how much I use blue tape when she did not have any in her kitchen. Drove me a little nuts.)

She used to write another column for Homefries on organization.
http://homefries.com/category/high-straightenence/
There are some good posts there.

This post started because I was thinking about how Tracy rotates her clothes.
I had to look to remember what she calls it - capsule wardrobe.

I searched the word "capsule" on her blog
http://www.shutterbean.com/?s=capsule
And you can see past posts on that topic.

I am not suggesting following her fashion trends.
I am suggesting looking at how she thinks about her closet.
I look at all her organizational posts this way - the labeling and the sorting,
but not necessarily the content.

More gift ideas from my Amazon Orders page

Yes, these are all things I have ordered in the last couple years. Some of them I have ordered many times.

WET BRUSHES. Available at Walgreens and other local stores too. My girls have two each. One stays home, one is at school with them. These work extremely well. We have given them as gifts also. They come in different sizes.  

Youngest has a set, I have a set. I just ordered a set for middle at her request after she saw youngest's. The zipper tab is behind a cover when closed so they do not come unzipped. Two sizes in each order. 

Math or science or drafting/drawing person inyour family? I have been buying these for youngest for years. We used to get them at Office Depot. Now the only place we can find them is Amazon. The whole thing is an eraser (it is a stand alone eraser). 

Have given these as gifts (several times) to math and science type families. Maybe I should be giving them to non math and science families to get them going too.

Middle has several pairs of the girl version. My husband has these. Keen Sandals are really great. 

I cook big breakfasts when I have a house full. We tend to eat two meals per day on these weekends.  I add protein powder and extra egg to my Red Mill Waffle mix. And I make waffles for my extended family, a lot.

Space saver Vacuum bags for suitcases. Do not need a vacuum, they roll. We all use these. I have ordered many sets. 

This is what I use when I travel. I think mine is the style on the top. Middle had the one on the bottom when we traveled to England/Scotland/Wales. I put it under my clothes. Not glamorous but super practical. I put my credit card, passport, driver's licence, a little cash and some wipes in there too. All flat enough, then I do not carry a purse. 

Good family game. (We also play the card version which is called Bikini.) We love the larger size tiles.

If you have a drawing kid of any age, Ed Emberley is great. I sent one of these books with youngest to college. If she has to draw something for a project, which happens a lot, she will be able to do it with this book. Everything starts with lines, circles, squares, etc. Would be extremely good gift for kid who likes to draw and is still learning how. (When someone taught middle the ratio for where to put the features on a face, it was like someone turned on the light. So if you have a drawing kid, look up a diagram on the internet of how to draw a face too. )  I think the Green Monster book might be a story book, not sure.

Middle found this for friend who loved Winnie the Pooh as a boy. He is getting it for xmas.  Really great (true) story.

My kids all had these as children. It is how they learned to skate. I bought these for 8 year old a few years ago. 

I bought this for 8 year old for xmas this year. She opened it early at Thanksgiving. It is all one piece, it does not come apart. There is some type of mechanism in the rings, it is sort of like wheel clogs as you put your pen in it and move around the wheel (It does not work with your finger, put the pen in and it it goes).  The kid has to be able to hold the red frame stationary as they work the pen. So some kids would need a holder. Good fine motor skills art practice.

Middle and youngest each have a set of the straight ones and the round ones. 

Boye Long Loom Set and Boye Round Loom Set which Amazon does carry.

I also called the company and got extra pegs proactively. 

They have been used and used and used. I just bought another set (Good Will) of the round ones for our eight year old who will be able to do it with youngest or middle helping her. 
An artistic boy might like these too.
We buy THICK YARN so it goes faster and takes less skeins. 

Gift ideas

Footwear
Youngest has these boots and loves them. I got them for her birthday last year. I was lucky. She has other pairs of Rockports, so I knew the size. And I was confident of the style. I had to order because she is an odd size. I ordered, she loved them, it was a surprise, I think. (She wears an insert for added support. We all wear inserts or have cookies added to almost all our shoes for more support.)

Middle is considering these same boots for her birthday. They are great.

If you have a teen or young adult where shopping for them is now really hard, consider taking them shoe shopping. It works very well for my kids. But you have to be okay spending $$$ because it is going to cost. I did this for oldest for the last two years. His birthday and xmas are close. It is extremely hard to guess what he might like. Shoe shopping worked great. And he needed the shoes. I think he got new running shoes both years. Plus two pairs of work shoes the first year. Plus a pair of casual shoes the second. So, yes, major $$$ but he needed them and it worked.

FitBit
Last year middle wanted boots for her birthday all year. There was a lot of boot talk. I got a lot of boot pictures. I got a lot of boot links.  I just kept saying - that is fine, we will buy when it gets closer. Then when we were a week or two out from her actual birthday, she switched to fitbit and that is what she got. I bought the insurance. It has already been replaced once. The insurance started over the moment it was replaced. No extra fee. Best Buy. She really uses her FitBit - sleep and steps mostly. Her

On Black Friday, I bought a FitBit for youngest for this Christmas. Target. I bought the insurance. I did it online and they held it at customer service. I knew the size (small) because middle had one. I picked it up on Saturday when we were back in town. No crowd, no wait. I gave it to youngest early (now) because she will be gone for xmas. And with finals coming, she can use it. We buy the ones that track sleep and monitor heart rate (plus all the other stuff).



OTTLite
If you have someone who does a lot of handwork of any kind, an OTTLite is wonderful.
http://www.joann.com/ottlite/
JoAnns carries a variety of styles. They go on sale often. JoAnns has coupons available all the time. Our local JoAnns also accepts the 40% coupon from Hobby Lobby.
I bought one for my mother for Mother's Day. I bought one for myself for xmas. Both of ours are floor lamps. We both also have short ones too.





HAIR
Bed Bath and Beyond for these first two. If you register online, they will send you coupons regularly.
(The Hair Turban does not work for people with really, really, really thick manes of hair. It works well for both of my girls.) Youngest has three Hair Turbans, two at college, one at home. She has two Turbie Bands (one at home, one at school). Middle has a Turbie Band for herself and buys for the gift bags she assembles for high school graduation gifts. (She has two graduating this spring and she has her bags filled and ready. Painted letters, Turbie Bands and manicure sets.)

A close friend swears by the Wahl Peanut. She cuts hair regularly, the boys go thru beard phases. Sometimes they arrive for family functions, she takes one look and gets out the peanut. Groom two days before wedding, for example. I do not cut hair. But middle cuts her boy's. And we have beards here too. So I have one of these on hand. As you can see, it has not been used yet. But it will save the day on some future occasion. So this is a good gift option too, in my opinion. I bought mine on sale at beauty supply place.

Doll Clothes

The dolls are ours, they were not included in Christmas boxes, just modeling for pictures. Laney and Chrissa, I think.

These are all clothes my mom and I made for cousin's girls for xmas. I have not seen the cousin in many years. I have never met his wife or girls, but they are going through a really hard time, right before xmas, and my mom and I wanted to do something.

Note under each picture (below) with who made what.

Also included were three pairs of underwear, one pair of shoes and a pair of socks (per box).

My mother made both dresses. They are exquisite. They take her about 12 hours per dress (handwork takes a long time). The bodices are self lined. Fabric and lace was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

I made the dresses which are long sleeved, lined bodices and very simple. My mom made the jackets which are fully lined. Boots are ours, did not go in boxes. Fabric and lace was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

My mom made the black dress and apron when she was first starting on the clothes. Then she switched to more sophisticated choices. So the black dress and apron were made by my mom more than a year ago and gave us a head start for this project. My mom made the dress and apron on the right last week. I had to convince her that the check dress was okay with the pattern apron. And it is really cute.  Fabric and lace was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

Fleece. Super simple. I made both coats. I made two more for our dolls too. Looking for ultra suede tan coat at Good Will to make same pattern for Josefina.. Fleece was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

Fabric was embroidered (it came that way) so all I did was fussy cut. Vests are fully lined. Tops are knit. I made three more. Used different pants pattern for our three, slimmer cut. One set for our dolls. Two to save as future gifts. Denim and knit was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. I bought vest fabric.

We bought the hats. But I have made similar hats in the past. I made the jumpers but my mom did the handwork (snaps, we never use Velcro, too hard on doll hair). I also made the knit tops. I have another set of these cut out to make for our dolls. Putting zippers in the back of the jumpers for our two. Fabric was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

Striped blouse, flowered blouse, and khaki skirt were from my mom's previously made reject pile. My mom made green skirt last week. So this set was pretty easy. My mom is going to remake the striped blouse fabric for our dolls. We loved the fabric, but hated this blouse pattern.  Fabric was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

I made 2 sleeping bags, two pillows and 2 sets of pj's. All very easy. I now use 26"zipper in sleeping bag, pattern calls for 30" but it looks better to have zipper only go part way. Waste bands are elastic with built in lace (JoAnns). .Fabric for pj's was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. I bought the navy flowered for sleeping bag, The rest of the sleeping bag fabric and the furry pillow fabric came from friend too. I bought the lace elastic, which really made the pj's bottoms easy and special.

Yes, picture is out of focus. My mom took it. 

The fabric stash from my friend made this all possible and very inexpensive. We just "shopped" in my mom's boxes. Sleeping bags and pillows are not in this picture. Impressive volume in boxes. Really great.

Ant farm, church toddler bag

Here is post one on my church toddler bags.

Here is post two.

Super handy to keep the supplies on hand and be able to pull these bags together easily.

I keep a supply of used church board books on hand from garage sales and resale shops. I can find ones in like new condition easily. I use those like new board books in my gifts, it helps keep cost down.

And these (lunch size) bags are always a hit. They are on topic (religious theme for a baptism). They are clever/unique. They are cute. They are appreciated.

The mom opened the baby gifts at the end of the day. The dad was busy with the older kids in the yard. When he came in later, I noticed my toddler bag was the one gift she showed him, saying how cute, clever and great.

The other gifts the baby got were actually clothes. This is fourth child and they are starting over. Everything was either donated or pitched after baby #3. But I noticed she got too many of the same sized clothes. Everything was in the 0-3 month size range. So while it is great, it is going to all be out grown soon. They should have planned (her mom, two aunts and grandmother) and gotten equal amounts of 0-18 months, in my opinion.

This was baptism and two birthdays party.

I had a picture post (below) of the pj's and sleeping bag set for the girl's bday gift. She is 6. That was a hit too. Makes a great package.

I got an ant farm for the boy. He is four. A mature and smart 4. That was a hit too.

birthday gift for little girl

I was thinking she was turning 5 but she must be turning 6.

Either way, I think this will be a hit.

(My husband said "wow" and he is so used to what I make that it takes a lot to impress him).

She is getting American Girl size doll (the target brand) from her grandmother.

 The first set of pictures I took was on white background and boy did they wash out. I could not decide which picture was in better focus, so you get both.

The sleeping bag fits an 18" doll, so it looks deceptively small in the pictures.

I "shopped" in my mom's extra bedroom, she refers to it as the storeroom. We keep all the doll clothes patterns and fabric in there. It is very full.

My mom is not a fan of the checks. And the rose pattern is too large a scale for doll clothes. So, I was using up odds and ends that were not going to get used in clothes.

And this is a high present party. Two birthdays and a baptism. And then that leaves one kid left out so I am taking books for him.

It is dwindling daily

food combinations, one pot

There are several combinations I buy in the freezer section at the grocery store. I do NOT microwave them (especially not in the bag).

I chop a package of raw skinless/boneless chicken breasts and start it in a sprayed pan on top the stove.

I chop a medium onion and add it.

I stir and cook that for a bit.

Then I add two identical packages from the selection below.

I also add a package or two of frozen (plain) veggies.

I sort of layer it all in the pan. Chicken/onion on the bottom, then 2 pkg of the blend, then veggies (different combinations that seem to "go" with the medley). I put a lid on it and cook for 20 minutes on medium.

Depending on how many veggies I have added, we get 4-6 servings from that one pan. At the end of 20 minutes, I stir it so everything is pretty even and then divide it in sections in the pan. I then put it in individual glass bowls and let them cool. Lids go on each one and they go in the refrigerator.

If I have bought a huge package of chicken, I do this twice in a row. I chop/cook half the chicken and add to it, cook and then divide it. Then I chop/cook the other half the chicken and add to it, cook and then divide it.

My point in posting all this is not to promote these products. But it is to mention the food combinations. Because I am going to start doing my own medleys. Cooking my own quinoa (etc) and adding the ingredients. I am going to use the packages as combination suggestions.

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