Paper, paper everywhere....

So finished surface decluttering in the kitchen (well, if you ignore the clotheshorse & laundry basket full of clothes - I'll go sort them out in a second, honest).  It's only taken me a week... (I need smiley's here so I can put an embarassed one in)  I suppose that's only just over an hour if you consider I was doing it in 10 min/day increments....  I've bought a new bin (oh the glamour!), one of those twin recycling ones, which takes up the same footprint as what we had before but is one bin instead of 2 stacked up so in practice takes up less space & is actually easier to put stuff in... (the old stacking ones are currently soaking in a bleachy bath to be recycled as toy containers for the boys - I have an exciting life!!)

Anyhoo, I've moved onto the dining room/office today.  It took 10 mins just to clear the top of the boiler & another 10 mins to clear the table - which is re-cluttered already...  Which brings me to the point.  Along with dishes, another one of my (many) weak points when it comes to being a calm, tidy, organised domestic goddess is filing (or rather the lack of it)  I have so many good intentions but alas, I can never keep up with it... and I constantly seem to have a paper mountain to deal with... (if anyone has any tips, please DO NOT send a postcard, but do feel free to comment!!!)

So the reason I've re-cluttered the table after clearing it, is I'm going through some of my Avon paperwork & attempting to put that into some sort of order...  I promise that for once we'll be able to eat at the table tonight!!  (where I'm actually going to put said paperwork once I've sorted it is another matter - the stuff that's not being kept is obvious - it's the stuff that needs filing that's stumping me!!!)

Anyway, ciao for now!!

Cutting the Clutter...

OK, it's time to stand up & admit it...

My name is Terri & I'm a slob as far as housework is concerned...  I don't want to be - I'd love for my house to be neat, tidy & organised but it's not....
Maybe I'm a perfectionist (therefore if I haven't got time to do a perfect job, I won't bother at all), maybe I'm just lazy, maybe my inner teenager is STILL rebelling against the idea of tidying up, maybe it's a little of all 3...  Either way, my house is an absolute tip....  And unfortunately my boys are copying the idea.... (which doesn't help!)

But I've decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - it's time to do something about it...

I've devised a babystep-by-babystep program for myself to start getting some routines/habits down as far as changing my slovenly ways is concerned.  I'm going to add a new step every 21 days (it may be a little longer - there may well be (ok, there will definitely be) times when I need to just stop, take stock & stay where I am for a little as I get overwhelmed...  Hopefully there won't be too many of those times.

Anyhoo - first step for me is to declutter/tidy for 10 minutes a day & to make sure the dishes get done every night before bed...  I usually fall down at this stage.  I don't know what it is about dishes, but I can't get it into my head that yes, they do need to be done (although admittedly, it was a lot easier when we had a dishwasher...)

6 days into my new regime & I've actually only missed one day (yay me!)  I'm so hoping I can stick to it this time round...

I'm taking pics as well, so I'll share those when I've figured out how!!  I started the decluttering (tidying) in the kitchen (I figure that part of the whole dishes problem is that the kitchen never seems to be tidy...)  I made the mistake of not taking "before" pics till today mind, but as there is currently no cooker & it needs decorating, (plus I've only surface decluttered - the cupboards are awful) then we should still see a difference....

Anyhoo - that's me signing out for today.. I'll see you soon!

Happy New Year!!

Time for a catch up I think!!

So, when I last posted, we'd not long moved house....

Now, I have a new job (working p/t in a store cafe with very lovely, if ever so slightly nutty colleagues!) and we have a new kitten - a dark grey/black striped feisty little thing called Noodle... He's completely insane (fits in well round here then!) and has a penchant for attacking feet - ouch!

Christmas was noisy (although it could have been noisier I guess - Nikki was ill so not his usual boisterous self) but we have 4 little boys who are very happy with what they were brought by Santa, so that's all good.

As for New Year - all quiet on the Western Front here - hubby fell asleep in front of Alice in Wonderland but was persuaded to wake up to actually see the New Year in, we were permitted a "lie-in" by the kids (if 8am can be classed as a lie-in!) and we had a walk on the beach...  it's a far cry from the days BC when we'd be crawling home at 5am!!!

Ah well!  Catch ya later blog-spotters...

Well it's been a while

Since I last posted...  That's what happens when you move house!!

So, we're now in a house with a functioning bathroom (yay) but no storage.  And strangely, no temperature markings on the oven - which makes cooking interesting, to say the least!

But, it's a much nicer house (which wouldn't be difficult!) and the kids/cats are all happy!

Thank you NHS...

...for the special miracle that is my eldest child. This time seven years ago I was in a slight state of shock & gazing in a combination of awe & utter fear at a tiny little scrap barely clinging onto life, covered in tubes & wires & looking more like something scraped off the road than a baby....  It had been 4 hours between actually giving birth & being allowed to see him, but there he was, tiny but perfectly formed - just 3 months before he was meant to be here (& has continued being bloody awkward ever since.  Hohum)

And today is his seventh birthday.  He's healthy, happy (although you wouldn't think it from the drama queen tears we seem to get at least once a day) cheeky, gorgeous, extremely clever and more importantly, very much alive.

So thank you NHS.  (Although, I have to admit that some days, when he's been severely trying my patience, that does get said around gritted teeth....  but in all seriousness, I wouldn't be without him at all....)

Happy Birthday little soldier....

All hail September

The kids are back at school!!!  They were getting so bored, bless 'em so of course their behaviour was deteriorating...  But thankfully, they're back.   Of course that meant The Woo complaining about "I don't like school, I'm sleepy" this morning but his complaints didn't stop him skipping off with his girlfriend when his class were taken through...

Poor E tho has suffered rejection... When I picked them up this afternoon he told me quite sadly that "L isn't marrying me anymore because I've got brown skin"  poor bairn....  apparently he has a new girlfriend already tho!  Oh to be almost 7 when things are that easily solved!

Tidge starts nursery tomorrow - he's not old enough to be starting nursery...  It's not right I tell you.  What on earth I'm going to do when my little Bo-Bo starts in 16 months is absolutely beyond me.

Hohum.

So the results....

of the Great St Swithins Day Experiment...

(remember it was mixed weather here in South-West Wales)

So, we had 7 days of mixed weather, 10 days of rain & 23 days of dry weather.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that those dry days may not necessarily have been full of blazing sunshine, but they were dry & it was warm & there were several days where it was absolutely glorious...

So ya boo sucks to all you out there who've been trying to claim that we haven't had a summer!!!  Go away & find something else to complain about!!!