Yes, I'm Still Here

You know that it's getting bad when your readers begin to leave comments on your blog like, "Are you ever coming back?" Yes! I'm alive! I'm back! I'm ready to BLOG! And I have missed you all so much! I have to share my last week and a half...I didn't intend to be MIA for this long. Maybe a day or two tops, but I even missed my own Take 5 Friday post for cryin' out loud!

My husband and I dove head-on into a home improvement project that turned into about ten. First, we tore up all of our carpet in our living room and the vinyl from the kitchen. Then, we proceeded to put my knees and legs through sheer torture as we installed wood laminate flooring. While my husband is used to this type of work on a daily basis (he owns his own handyman/home improvement business), even he felt the wear and tear of an extra long weekend and late nights moving furniture and laying flooring.

Because I was the "low man on the totem pole" I had the all important task of prying out staples from the sub floor. (Next time I get to be the boss!) Well, they do say the basis for any good job is in the prep work, so I guess I can take most of the credit for the floors turning out as nice as they did.

I think the hardest part was just finding space to temporarily house things. Even though I thought I planned it all very well, I still felt like my life was in turmoil as we moved our belongings from room to room. Most of the time we had rain or threats of it, so we couldn't really take advantage of using outdoor space to move things. Although, our stove was on the back deck for a few days so I did manage to get out of cooking! At least there was that welcome break.

Well, we finally got everything back to rights and I could take a breather in my new, wonderful space...until...da, da, dum...he decides he has this past weekend free, too. So, we might as well get started on the floors in the lower level. Sure! Why not. I'm finally beginning to move my legs freely again. No sense in letting them get back into their pre-stretched state. Then I'd have to go through all that pain again.

Next, it's painting and carpeting in the upstairs and tile in the baths. So, if I go missing for several days, come find me. Chances are I'll be stripping wallpaper and pulling out more staples. If you want, I can put you to work, but you'll have to start, you know, at the bottom.

Talk About Tuesday - Tote Bag

Finally! I've been waiting to post something on The Lazy Organizer's Talk About Tuesday blog and I finally have done something worth talking about! Keep in mind, I am not a seamstress by any means. I've sewn some pillows, some curtains, some other small crafty-type stuff...you know, things that barely require a somewhat straight line. But this was a first for me. It's a reversible tote bag. I found the instructions over on Chocolate on My Cranium. I wanted mine a "little" bigger so I could use it to tote stuff to and from the van.

So, I just made some adjustments to the dimentions to get the size I wanted.

Yep, that looks about big enough!

Head on over to The Lazy Organizer to see what everyone else is talking about!

Sparkbook- Organizational Inspiration

I can't take credit for this idea. It was on Home Made Simple's website, but I wanted to share it with you. It's called a Sparkbook. It's not your typical to-do list or planner. It's a tool to help you visualize the things that you want to accomplish, a place to jot down inspirational stuff, goals, ideas and more. I made mine with things I already had at home and it took me all of 15 minutes. (That's mine, there on the left) I used paper from my scrapbooking supplies to make the tabs and printed clear labels to make for nice, neat dividers. I used a blank book I'd picked up awhile back because I liked the color, so I knew I'd enjoy using it.

You can customize your's with tabs that suit your own needs, including things like: Home, Family, Personal, Career, Inspirational, Financial, etc. I'm going to include pictures of things that inspire me as well. Kind of like a portable visualzation board without taking up the wall space!