Tackle It Tuesday

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Well, my day started off pretty well. I'd made some wonderful cinnamon breakfast bread overnight that made the house smell wonderful. After the kids left for school, I cut the loaf in half and took part of it over to my neighbors. They invited me to stay for coffee, so I came back across the street to grab the new coffee mug I'd gotten yesterday while shopping with my mom. It was the same design as one I'd had growing up, so I was thrilled to find it. On my way over, I "tackled" the front steps. Literally. So, now I have my first skinned knee in 20 years or so. It looks awful and hurts a lot. I enjoyed coffee and helped Lenore and her mom address, stamp, and stuff a bunch of invitations they needed to get out today. After coffee I came home to find the other half of the bread missing. I thought this was curious, since I'd left it way back on the counter. Apparently it was still within Dixie's reach. She was napping happily in my bed. She had "tackled" the breakfast bread. What a way to start the day!

So, I decided to get down to my real "tackle" for today, cleaning out the back room. I'd show you pics, but the batteries in the camera are dead. It's the room we avoid if at all possible. The one where everything you need seems to be hiding in the 16th box you look in. It is not good. But, it looks great now, okay maybe not great, but lots better. It will be great before the family gets home. I've filled three big boxes with clothes to go to the local clothes closet. I've found lots of great old keepsakes, and some things I've been missing since we moved in. I am so glad to finally be dealing with this mess. I'm back to finish the room of doom. Happy tackling ya'll!

Tackle It Tuesday - Back to School Preparations

Wow, today has been a busy day! The kiddos were little troopers and willingly helped me out a lot!

We did about 7 loads of laundry thus far. It's been raining here for days and days, so we were behind.

Cleaned out their dressers, organized them, and did clothes inventory. I have a much better grasp on what clothes they will need before school starts.

Started dinner in the crock pot.

Cleaned out the fridge and scrubbed the kitchen.

Browsed Ebay for a Mork & Mindy lunch box. Yes, I said Mork & Mindy. Ashley wants one so badly! She keeps telling me they look old. Who knew that 30 year old lunch boxes look old?

Gathered new recipes to try for school day breakfast and lunches. My kids are not big sandwich eaters. We found this fun, special breakfast recipe we will be having for the first day of school.

Now I am waiting for the kids I sit to get here.

Here is what the kiddos are up to:



It was a fun, productive day and I really enjoyed the time with my kiddos. I'll miss them during the day once school is back in session.

Tackle It Tuesday - Poo Happens

Warning: This tackle is not for the easily nauseated!

I went to bed with all sorts of grand plans. I had so much I wanted to get accomplished today and blissfully thought that I would. I don't think I'll make plans anymore.

3:54am I hear a high pitched awful dog howl. I grab my robe, trot to the front room, open the door, and there it was...poo. Dixie must have been feeling a little sick to her stomach and had an accident all over her kennel. My first thought is to get her outside, so I open her door, leash her up, and she shakes poo all over the living room and me. Yuck! I get her outside, drag the kennel out and wash it, hose down the dog, drag kennel back in, put dog up, mop the living room floor, vow to burn my clothes, and take a shower. About the time I get dried off and redressed, this scenario repeats itself. I suppose I should mention at this point that we do not have a fenced yard. We walk Dixie on a leash, she lives in the house with us, and sleeps in her kennel...which had worked great until now. After round two, I pack dh's lunch, make coffee, get dh out of bed, start a load of laundry, and grab meat out of the freezer to defrost. Then I deal with the pooh problem 5 more times in an hour.

The vet tells me not to worry, give her Pedialyte, keep her hydrated and cool. Dixie drinks this stuff about like my kids do, not well. At the moment, poor Dixie is laying at my feet snoozing. She looks like she feels awful. Poor baby.

So, my tackle today has been mopping the front half of the living room and the entryway/dining room seven times. I have bathed seven times. Three loads of laundry have been washed and hung out. My next project is trying to get the awful smell out of the front part of the house. It's BAD and I'm not sure why as the "mess" is all cleaned up. If I can just accomplish that, I'll be happy. At the moment, petting my precious fur baby, trying to make her feel better is all that is important.

I'll tackle all the things I intended to do today, tomorrow. Why? Because poo happens.

Happy tackling everyone!

P.S. Check out my first giveaway here!

Tackle It Tuesday - The Bathroom Cabinet

One of the things I love most about this house is this awesome cabinet unit in the bathroom.



Within the first week of being here, I had arranged and organized my HBA stockpile just the way I'd always wanted to. It was perfect! Finally room for all of it and it's all easy to find! My bubble was burst when DH suggested we might want to keep towels and wash cloths in the cabinet as well. Well, that had never even crossed my mind, I was so in awe of my stockpile storage. I felt so silly!

So today, that is what I worked on. I think I did pretty well. Here is the shelf area.

And here are the drawers.
The top drawer is empty at the moment. I can't figure out what to put there or in the upper cabinet sections, as they are so hard to access. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

As for the bathroom itself, it's coming along nicely. Here is a before pic - And here is a pic of the new floor -

It's coming along, finally! To see what others are tackling, click the Tackle it Tuesday logo above.

Laundry Madness!

I am so thankful for Tackle It Tuesday! Sometimes I feel that I'm all alone in my house working struggles. It's nice to know I'm not the only one!

Today I tackled laundry! We moved three weeks ago and have not had a washing machine the whole time. I've been making weekly trips to the laundry mat, but there is always more washing than I had the time and money to finish. So, we got a hand me down washing machine yesterday and the washing party began today. It's nice to know Dan has clean clothes to wear to work tomorrow. And I love hanging laundry up on the line! It smells so good when you bring it in! So, I did as much laundry as I could and made a pretty good dent in ti. Hopefully there will be clear skies tomorrow so I can get more done.

Our hand me down washer.

My grandmother had helped me get the laundry room in order last week. It was a wreck! It is outside the house, attached to the garage. Nanny hung the cutest vinyl table cloths on the walls as a cheap, washable wallpaper alternative. There is a matching one on the folding table in there. I think it made the room a lot more cheerful!

The view inside laundry room. Note the ancient water heater.

My clever Nanny's work!