Organization: Switch-a-Roo Time

February 23, 2014 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

The birds are chirping, the toads are croaking, and the temperatures are in the high 60s. Woo hoo!

Spring is peeking around the corner which means it’s switch-a-roo time.

Yep, time to switch our family’s clothing from sweaters, jackets, and pants to tank tops, capris, and swimsuits.

Though we still keep out some long-sleeved outfits for those cold mornings, I will need to start making the change in the next week or two.

To stay organized and to keep the mess to a minimum, I follow this organizational system for switching out my children’s clothing:

1. Prepare to organize my children’s clothing

2. Purge any soiled or worn clothing from winter

3. Pack up clothing and shoes to keep and any donations

4. Place spring clothes from bins into closets, dressers, and bins

5. Preserve the remaining items by putting everything away safely

As Paul and I are able to keep both our winter and our summer clothing housed in our closet and dressers year round, we do move our clothing around a bit to make getting to flip flops and short-sleeved shirts a tad easier.

In the next few weeks as you embark on switch-a-roo time, remember that extra outfit you stash in your vehicle, the coat closet downstairs, and/or the sports backpack that is sure to have a couple pairs of socks. I list these items more to remind myself as these are spots where I find items after putting everything away.

Enjoy these last days of winter as we wrap up the cold weather activities and prepare for days outside. Switch-a-roo time is coming along with warmer weather, visits to the park, and neighborhood walks. Happy preparing!

Question: How does switch-a-roo time look at your house?

Olympic Lessons: Inventing on the Spot

February 9, 2014 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: NVT Office Clips

I’m hooked! Watching the events of the Olympics’ first day, I am glued to the television. What a thrill to watch the first gold medal of these games hang on American snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg!

In an event where each participant gets two attempts, Sage had a perfect run to earn a gold medal on his first try. Of course, the other snowboarders completed their runs, but his score remained at the top.

Later, during his interview, Sage explained how he had never tried the trick he executed perfectly to win. Wow! Talk about confidence.

I’m so impressed by those who know their craft so well that they can invent on the spot even on the world’s greatest stage of competition.

Though I will not be winning any household maintenance awards, I love how Sage inspired me to know my craft, and never be so comfortable with the routine that I cannot add in a new method.

As a creature of habit, I get stuck in ruts. Doing the same routine in the same way may get the task done, but is it memorable?

For me, doing laundry, washing dishes, dusting, and cleaning bathrooms are done according to my efficient routine. But when the task is finished, it is just done. Watching Sage use his skills to try something new inspired me to add a little flare to my daily routines.

Whether I encourage a child to help, try a new product, or change the tasks order, I will add spice to my craft. Making this change won’t get me any medals, but I can bring a smile to a child’s face.

Branching out of my comfort zone to invent on the spot may spur me on to more adventures. In using time wisely, I desire to accomplish tasks efficiently and intentionally. A little flare and spontaneity is good and beneficial which is exactly what I need.

Thanks, Saga, for inventing on the spot and inspiring me to do the same. Happy inventing!

Question: What are you finding inspirational from these Olympic games?

Organization: Changing Containers

February 5, 2014 by Tracy

To say I have an obsession to organizing might be an accurate conclusion. As I clean our home, I am constantly reorganizing. Some projects are quick and simple while others are time-consuming.

My goal is always to improve the systems we have in place. As we change and our needs change, so do our organizational systems.

As I was doing yet another load of laundry in between sweeping and vacuuming our floors, I picked up 3 balloons twice within 5 minutes. These balloons that my children play with often just would not stay in the established container.

Seeing that the balloons were falling out again, I decided that something had to change. I was wasting time picking up the balloons because I did not have a space that kept them in place. As I did not need a drastic transformation, I decided to go a bit bigger by changing containers.

Going from a wide tote to a narrow tote, I was able to stack the balls and balloons into a tighter space. Having everything together rather than cascading down the hallway, I have finished 2 additional loads of laundry without tripping over roaming balls and balloons.

By spending 10 minutes changing containers, I gained at least that much time in picking up stray balloons. In using time wisely, spending a few minutes addressing problem areas saves time in the long run.

I’m thankful for this change. Though no one else in our family has noticed, I see a big difference each time I switch out the laundry.

As you recognize irritating systems in your home, stop picking up those items repeatedly. Realize that addressing how it is organized and maybe changing containers might solve the source of your irritation. Happy organizing!

Question: What are you organizing in your home?

Organization: Kitchen Cabinets

January 22, 2014 by Tracy

Sickness looms in my household. As the only healthy one, I am doing my best to isolate myself while running drinks upstairs, keeping food available, and continuing the loads of laundry.

While I was digging in a bottom kitchen cabinet for another water bottle, I was getting frustrated because the lids were all over the place.

I just needed one bottle with a matching lid. But I guess that was too much to desire because I ended up unloading the cabinet to find one. Since I already had part of the cabinet unloaded, I just decided to organize this cabinet again.

The last time I organized it was back in 2011, and we have added a *few* items to this cabinet. We also have two children in school, so we have increased sandwich containers and water bottles.

Bottom Kitchen Cabinet

As I unloaded the cabinet, I matched the lids with the bottles and containers. Trashing a cracked pitcher, 2 extra bottles, a spare lid, and a plastic container, I placed as many smaller water bottles on the top shelf that would fit.

The larger containers rested on the bottom of the cabinet, and I stacked the tea pitchers. I had a few extra small water bottles, so I needed to rearrange the upper kitchen cabinet that housed more bottles for school.

Upper Kitchen Cabinet

Reaching only the bottom two shelves of this cabinet without getting a step ladder, chair, or stool, I concentrated on these two shelves. I combined the stacks of cups on the second shelf which took less than a minute.

On the bottom shelf, I matched the lids with the bottles, added the straws to the sippy cups, and stacked the water bottles.

In using time wisely, I took about 10 minutes to organize two kitchen cabinets which will save me time later in finding a matching bottle and lid. Though I took a few minutes to get on track, no sickie was left stranded without a drink in the creation of this organization project. 😉 Happy organizing!

Question: What small project are you organizing that will save you time later?

Frozen Pipes: Yikes! No water!

January 8, 2014 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Baby, it’s cold outside is an understatement. As I took my children to school this morning, the temperature gauge read 10°F. With the wind chill, we were probably experiencing temperatures around – 2°F. Brrr!

For those of you in the northern states and Canada, you are used to this weather, and bless your hearts. However, I grew up in warm-weather Florida, and I tend to hibernate when the temperature falls below 40°F.

Last night we bumped up the heat and kept the doors open on our cabinets under our sinks. This morning all was well. We all got up, washed up, ate breakfast, rinsed the dishes, and left.

After arriving home, I left the garage door open about a foot as the door opener has not worked since Saturday. (Yes, it appears that we have a long list of items to fix around our house, and the list is getting longer by the day.)

Around noon, I went to wash my hands. As I turned on the faucet, nothing happened.

Yikes! No water!

Identifying the Source

Thinking that a water main broke in the neighborhood, I called my two neighbors. They both had water, so it wasn’t a community outage.

My next call was to our utility company, who verified that there were no outages. The representative suggested calling a plumber as it sounded as though we had frozen pipes.

Thanking her for the suggestion, I decided to call Paul. Poor guy! He has dealt with a broken garage door opener, failed radio in his vehicle, painted Mr. 8’s room with 3 colors, put together 2 dressers and an organization tower, and fixed a number of small toys over his holiday break. I felt badly calling him at work to inform him of our water issue.

Knowing that it was frozen pipes, I made the call. Thankfully, Paul was on his lunch break and looked up some solutions. Since I had left the garage door open about a foot off the floor (as the garage door opener is not currently working), we think the cold air froze our main pipes in the garage as no water was coming into the house.

Fixing the Source

Inside the House

Though the problem was in the garage, I needed to release the pressure in the pipes prior to melting the frozen blockage to give the water somewhere to go. Paul asked me to do the following:

Shut off the outside valves (which are housed under two sinks inside our house)
Turn on all faucets – sinks, bathtubs, and showers
Keep all the cabinets open to allow the heat from our home to thaw the pipes

Outside the House

Concentrating on creating heat in the garage to melt the frozen pipes, I followed Paul’s suggestions:

Opened the garage door
Backed out the van
Closed the garage door
Placed a space heater near the center of the floor

By the time I got the house prepared, it was time for afternoon pickup. Miss 3 and I left. When we arrived home, I opened the door to the wonderful sound of running water. The space heater melted the blockage, and water was coming out of each faucet.

Guess we have a stopped up sink in the master bathroom as I found the sink overflowing, the rug soaked, and water on the floor. However, after turning off the water, the sink drained. This is just another item on that long Honey-do list. *sigh*

Mopping up the floor and water overfill was an easy fix after not having water all afternoon. With the water on, I tested the hot water. There was none. I left the sink going on the hot setting for a few minutes. The water never got warm, so I turned it back to a small trickle.

By the time Paul arrived home, the hot water tank had refilled, and we were back to hot running water. Not wanting to drain the water heater with dinner and dishes, we used our January freebie from our Chick-fil-A calendar cards for dinner. With the extra time to heat the water, we were able to get baths and showers without having to call the plumber. 😀

Though I prefer snow if the temperatures will be this low, I am looking forward to some higher temperatures in the days that follow. If you find your pipes frozen, then try not to panic.

Having now been through the experience, we have a plan. In the future, we will proactively place an electric blanket on our pipes prior to temperatures falling below freezing.

Thankfully, I’m taking this year slowly. When life happened today, I dropped everything. The grocery lists did not get made, the laundry pile continues to grow, and the bills remain on my desk, but we have running water, healthy children, and a warm house. It was a great day, and I’m thankful for the investment of using time wisely.

Hopefully, you won’t find yourself saying, “Yikes! No water!” But you might find other inconveniences occurring on your pre-scheduled day. Try to roll with the punches, make the best decision you can, and focus on what you can control. Happy adjusting when life happens!

Question: How do you prepare for below freezing temperatures?

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