Chaos Unorganized Pt. III: No More Drawers!

The title says it all, on second thought, pictures are worth a thousand words though not necessarily good ones. This is the mess I'm dealing with this week, lucky me.


Maddy's dresser had fallen on her while attempting to extract a pair of socks from its dark recesses and D.J.'s closet was a mere replication of the Island for Misfit Toys. Clothes in the closet? Never really happened.

Until now....

Benefiting from my recent obsession is D.I., Walmart, and Steralite. Tax deductions and inexpensive plastics are wonderful! I didn't bother loading up the back of the Yukon with all the stuff I'm sending away; there's so much of it I'll just haul it in the trailer!!

The Farmers rooms aren't perfect yet, still finding new homes for whats left of their toys but I'm well on my way. With my fingers and toes crossed, hopefully not my eyes too, things will be as they should by Saturday morning cartoons.

So far I'm really liking the whole laundry issue. Even Maddy, with very little help, can put her clothes away. And rubbing off some of my self-diagnosed O.C.D. she's keeping the "pretty rainbow" her shirts make - "just like Mommy's." D.J. arranges the short-sleeves before the long-sleeves and tries to keep the colors coordinated. An A+ for him too.

Continuing in the trenches, stinky socks and all.





The Boogeyman's hideout: D.J. and Maddy's closets.




There, much better!


Chaos Unorganized Pt. II, A : Wash Your Drawers!

The laundry room.

We spend so much time in that dark, dank, and smelly place. Okay, so mine isn't so dark but it is dank and smelly. It's purely functional at this point; wash the mountain, dry the mountain, and fold the mountain of clothes that seems to grow with every load.

My current dryer squeaks, screams, eats my unmentionables and takes two and a half hours to dry a light load. The washer squeals in time with the dryer for an eardrum-piercing duet and gives an accurate demonstration of what an earthquake feels like during the spin cycle.

Deciding that he didn't want to do his own laundry, David hunkered down into some contract work and dedicated the earnings to a new washer and dryer! THANK YOU!!

I picked out my new babies from the Depot who happened to have the best deal in town for the largest capacity, HE washer and dryer available. White or Grey? I lived a little and went with grey.

As part of my organizational fever I seem to be suffering from, I brilliantly thought that painting the laundry room before they were delivered would be a good idea. Using the gallon of paint meant for Maddy's room two years ago, the room took on an eerie, sea foam green glow.

Needless to say, I wasn't going to keep it. With less than
12 hours before delivery, I made a 10pm run to Walmart, picked a color (not green) and started painting at 10:45.

Luckily it only took an hour and a half to finish.
The paint went on much easier over the satin green than the chalky flat beige I started with. Now the room is back to beige, Walnut Wash (Dutch Boy) to be exact, the trim and door are dark brown (Bear Rug, Behr).

Dave and I went tonight to purchase the stacking kit that will unfortunately take 10-16 working days to come in. Once the washer and dryer are stacked, cabinets will be installed, the bar will flip over to the wall and a new hanging rack underneath. I'm also keeping an eye out for a trash-to-treasure secretary desk or armoire to set where the bar once was. Hopefully it will work as my office, the real reason behind making the laundry room "pretty".

More pics as I progress!
(updated Feedblitz, it should work now... sorry.)
(The green-goo room)

Chaos Unorganized Pt. I: Hitch Up Your Drawers!


( My own I Spy picture page... penny, chapstick, paperclip, screwdriver...)

Junk drawers - we all have them. Drawers full of odds and ends, papers, pens, and pencils. Punches, clips, disks and bits of important stuff that gets cast into procrastination limbo with a flick of the wrist.

This is the mess that Stacey made. With the intention of organizing my pantry, which to do what I had envisioned, the cabinets needed to be in order to free up more space that lead to the junk drawer diaster and my kitchen in complete and utter chaos. It gets worse before it gets better, right?

Saturday I revamped the backside of the island (4 cabinets and drawers). The homework section had oozed over the last year and a half and had spread its infection to three cupboards. In all I filled three paper grocery bags with schoolwork to be recycled, one trash bag, and a box ready for D.I.

Monday morning I pushed up my sleeves and dug into the junk drawer and its neighbor, junk drawer overflow, who can be rightfully accused of keeping up with the Jones'. I have to shake my head and ask myself the painfully obvious, "When, how, and why did this happen?"

Deluding myself by thinking this is all part of a grand master plan of keeping better house and thereby keeping sane while living in it, when the hard-to-swallow reality of it is that within two months - if I'm lucky - my hard work will go by the way of the Farmers or laziness and I'll be back to square one. Nevertheless, the battle plan has been drawn and this one-woman army will bravely march into enemy territory in the name of all that is good and orderly.

And to think, this is only part one!

(The junk drawer isn't so junky after all.)

(It took all day to sort, file, and throw away almost two years worth of stuff.)



(No excuse of 'I can't find a pencil! in the homework drawer')

Wuv, Trwoo Wuv


D.J.'s list of broken hearts is growing. Soon Amanda will be added among his lost loves; Emma, Alyssa, Olivia, Josie, and Carly. I found the first note crumpled up in his pocket and the second taped to a plate full of half-eaten, heart shaped cookies. Smart girl, that Amanda!

For my Valentines, the Farmers included, I cooked like a prized, blue ribbon chef. On the menu was Surf and Turf; tender, round steak medallions with a home-made rub and lobster tails. Fresh roasted green beans with garlic, onion, crushed almonds, EVO and S&P to taste drizzled with Hollindaise. REAL garlic mashed potatos (recipe from the Pioneer Woman). Roasting the garlic bulbs was easy and made all the difference. Then topped it all off with an American classic, warm Dutch apple pie and French vanilla icecream. Yeah, I know the way to my mans heart or at the very least, his stomach.

Dinner must have worked some magic because the table was cleared, dishes lined up rank and file in the dishwasher, and the leftovers were tucked away in the fridge before I could scrub out the crusty, mashed tater pot.

The Farmers and I brought in Dave's Valentine present; a grinding, belt-sanding, man-grunting piece of machinery. He was very happy with his new toy and spent the rest of the evening finding it a perfect home in the garage and discovering the functions of all its buttons and levers. Its always a surprise if you don't read the owners manual.

After putting the Farmers to bed, I tinked on my piano for a while and called it a day. The kiddos were happy, the hubby was happy, my work is done. Stupid Cupid anyway.

About Me Tag

10 years ago........ I had been married for three years and the mother of two year old Devin. We were living in Logan, UT in a roach-infested apartment with a meth lab next door. Dave was working full-time but on Fridays at 2:00 we were headed to Provo so he could finish his degree. It was also sometime in Feburary that we found our first house in Newton. We've come a long way since those days....

Things on my to do list today..... Laundry, Sisters in Stiches, shopping for my Valentines, decide on a new do....

Snacks I enjoy....... Chocolate and Icecream, not in a particular order and can be - most prefered to be - together. Almond Joy or Samoas Girl Scout Cookies (had some in my Dryers). Fresh salsa and chips, veggies and dip, and sometimes a plain ol' P.B.&J. with strawberry jam.

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionare........ Help my family and friends, design and build my dream house, travel, start a charity.

3 of my bad habits........ Didn't I already answer this one? Backseat driver to my husband, on occasion I neglect housework, rudely multi-tasking while on the phone.

5 places I have lived...... Washington, Utah (5), Oregon (2), and Idaho.

5 jobs that I have had....... Ben Franklin Crafts, JcPenny's, Hardees (1 week and I quit that nightmare), Carters in Park City, UT. (the extent of my resume, blank since 1995.)

5 things people might not know about me....... Failed fourth grade because the teacher said I was 'dumb', sweet revenge saying 'Hi' to her at graduation with honors... Closet Rocker (need to be careful igniting my candle lighter, should use cell).... Enjoy hardwood skating.... Hold the family record for singing the Geuy Duck Song the fastest... and thanks to a warpped mind I can write backwards without thinking much or at all about it. This last one explained a lot, didn't it?

Okay, Tammy's it again... I suppose I should find someone else to pester. (Yeah, you know who you are... start a blog!) lol

Is It Really That Hard?



So I went to powder my nose, listening to the farmers playing loudly in the great room and capitalizing on the marginally 'quiet' moment, I was thinking about all those mundane things I still needed to do today: What to fix for dinner, whether or not I could squeeze in two more loads of laundry and if I wanted to muster the energy at 11pm to fold it, I really hate the color of this bathroom, Rice Krispie treats for breakfast probably wasn't the best idea, etc. when I saw this work of art. What's really sad about this paragraph - this post in its entirety - is the fact that powdering my nose happens to be my 'quiet' moment.

Apparently in this household, nobody but mom is smart enough to change out the roll. Yes, it does take an I.Q. of at least ten to accomplish such a sophisticated task and granted, I should be thankful for the little things; they're all potty-trained, know what toilet paper is and how to use it.

I couldn't help myself as I grabbed the camera, muttering like a Schizophrenic without their medication, "Patience is Genius... Patience is GENIUS... PaTiENcE iS GeNuiS!" Is it just me? Am I the only one? Does anyone else suffer from the insanity of precariously stacked rolls of T.P.?

Tagged, I'm It!

What is his name? David Paul
How long did you date? Three very, very long weeks!
How old is he? 34
How old are you? 33
Who eats more sweets? Stacey
Who said I love you first? He did
Who is taller? Dave's 6'3" to my 5'5"
Who can sing better? David
Who is smarter? Silly question! lol
Who does the laundry? Domestic Goddess Extrodinaire or as he calls it, 'the faeries'.
Who does the dishes? The Goddess strikes again.
His guilty pleasure? Guilt? What guilt, who's guilty?
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does currently. My side is whichever is closest to the door... so I can get the kiddos.
Who mows the lawn? Goddess with the push mower up until he got a snazzy 0-radius, done in five minutes without breaking a sweat!
Who cooks dinner? Goddess... seeing a pattern here?
Who is more stubborn? He is but I have my moments.
Who kissed who first? 'Like smooch' he said, after being denied several times.
Who asked who out first? I said over the phone, "I'm hungry, feel like Subway?" He didn't get it.
Who proposed? He did, I threw up, obviously that didn't change his mind.
Who has more siblings? He does, by two.
Who wears the pants? He would look funny in a skirt.
What is your favorite thing about him? Humor is always good and he's a wonderful dad.

Thanks Lora! Really...*rolls eyes like I'm 16 again* Anyway, Tammy's it!

President Monson


I'm passing this little tid-bit along to those of you interested. It's a free, downloadable packet all about Pres. Monson, designed for F.H.E. and kiddos of all ages. Hat tip to Lora for the 411!

Discover the Scriptures

Humanitarian Aid Quilts

Sisters in Stitches have been very busy Sisters indeed!

We've turned in 11 quilts so far this year!








Church Cancelled?


Yep, amazingly enough, the Stake President cancelled all church activities due to the snow storm Saturday night that is expected to dump even more of the white stuff Sunday. (90% Chance... I've never seen such a high percentage!)

We had blizzard-like conditions Saturday night, I was so relieved and happy to have Devin home and safe before things got too bad. Sometime early this morning the winds died down and it is still snowing.

I've discovered how bad the line of communication is within our ward. Something that needs to be fixed. Heaven forbid it was an actual emergency we were trying to contact people for. Anyway, my cell phone has melded into my ear and I've discovered that everybody has been notifyed at least four times each.

Having church cancelled couldn't have come at a better time... my kids are all tossing their cookies. (Overnight development... always at night!) I'm hoping that my carpet can recover, I'll be calling the Rug Doctor very soon!

My guess is that school will be cancelled Monday too, only the third (all this year) snow day in fifteen years! The snow has halfway buried my trees in the back and you wouldn't know there was a pond surrounded by large lava rocks either.

(Notice the drifts? The left is a lot deeper than the right.)

Klondike or Bust!

(Six person snow cave.)

Klondike this year was up a Camp Morrison near Lake Payette and McCall Idaho. Because of recent snow storms in the area, it was iffy whether or not the Scouting activity would be cancelled. Dave, Devin, and another Scout Leader, Rob, left Friday morning to set up camp. The roads were good, no problems. The rest of the boys were being brought up afterschool, however, nobody bothered to show up or at least call to let us know they had decided not to go after all. How rude!!!



(Above: Dave, Rob, Devin playing Yatzee in the Sheephearder's Tent

Below: Devin at the roofline.)

Some friends of ours, once they found out the Klondike had been a bust, took their entire family up (staying in a hotel) to see the McCall Ice Festival. They asked if Devin could join them and he enthusticastically accepted. The hotel had a pool and they brought him swimming trunks!

As you can see, there's lots and lots of snow. It was lightly snowing when they arrived and snowing when they left. Dave came home with all the gear around 1:30 in the afternoon, unpacked, showered and took a much needed nap. Devin slid in around 7:30 after spending the day sledding, touring McCall, and checking out all the 'cool' snow sculptures.

McCall Winter Carnival Photos from 2007 http://mccallwintercarnival.com/photo-gallery.php