Weekly Organization Challenges Complete List

I know I should have started a 52 week organization challenge way back in January but here's the deal: I hate winter and I think it is stupid to start any new challenges in the middle of the most depressing time of the year. I know not everyone lives in a dark, cold, barren, wasteland in winter but I do. And it sucks. And the last thing I want to do is clean or lose weight or resolve to be a better person. All I want to do is eat and hibernate and watch The Walking Dead and Mad Men and American's Next Top Model.

So I consider the year to be officially started once we get out of the dead season and start the rebirth - Spring!

Spring is a great place for me to start since I usually do my big yearly spring clean in March and I am encouraged by all the new growth and flowers and sunshine around me. Plus this year I will have to begin for the arrival of The Good Baby. I know nesting instincts will kick in at some point.

So I have made a list of weekly organizational challenges, organized by room, to help me get and stay organized. I realize that I am an insane person to take this on considering I will have a newborn sometime in the middle of this project, but that's just the type of nonmedicated person I am. But please don't roast me over the coals if I fail one or two of them.

And with that disclaimer, let's take a look at the list. Feel free to challenge yourself along with me!

Kitchen March 19 - May 27

Week 1. Kitchen drawers and kitchen cabinet organization ~Organization Update~ 

Week 2. Kitchen organization: counter tops and sink
Week 3. Organize pantry, spices and food storage areas
Week 4. Organizing refrigerator
Week 5. Organizing freezer
Week 6. Organize recipes and cookbooks
Week 7. Organize coupons
Week 8. Meal planning/grocery shopping
Week 9. Create a home recycling center (plus dealing with trash)
Week 10. Cleaning supplies

Dining Room May 28 - June 10
Week 11. Dining room/kitchen eating area
Week 12. Homework area/launching pad  

Living Room June 11 - July 22
Week 13. Living room/family room
Week 14. Entryway/mud room
Week 15. Coat Closet
Week 16. Magazines and newspapers
Week 17. CDs and DVDs
Week 18. Photos

Laundry Room July 23 - August 12
Week 19. Laundry room
Week 20. Laundry baskets and hampers
Week 21. Linen closet

Bathroom  August 13 - September 9
Week 22. Bathroom
Week 23. Medicine cabinet
Week 24. First Aid
Week 25. Makeup/cosmetics    ~Organization update~

Bedroom September 10 - October 21
Week 26. Master bedroom
Week 27. Master bedroom closet
Week 28. Seasonal clothing switch
Week 29. Shoes
Week 30. Jewelry/accessories
Week 31. Purses/briefcases

Kid’s Room October 22 - November 18
Week 32. Kids' bedroom
Week 33. Books
Week 34. Kids' closet
Week 35. Toys and games ~Organization Update~

Home Office November 19 - February 3, 2013
Week 36. Home office
Week 37. Mail
Week 38. Bill paying
Week 39. Receipts/tax documents
Week 40. Filing system
Week 41. Email and internet passwords, manuals and warranties
Week 42. Addresses/contact information
Week 43. Create personal home inventory
Week 44. Crafts
Week 45. Keep a family calendar
Week 46. Organize wrapping paper and gift bags

Basement February 4 - February 17
Week 47. Christmas decoration
Week 48. Zombie Kit

Garage February 18 - March 10
Week 49. Vehicles
Week 50. Garage
Week 51. Pets

Exterior and Lawn/Garden March 11 - March 17
Week 52. Yard/garden

BotO - Bill Tracker

This is another template I created for my Brains of the Operation, aka Household Binder.

I created this bill tracker as a way to keep a record of our monthly expenses. I already have a monthly budget but this allows me to see monthly expenses for the entire year on one single piece of paper. It is very helpful for me since we do a lot of business expense write off stuff at tax time.

I was always gathering the paperwork in February and cursing myself for not writing everything down once a month over the course of a year as opposed to waiting until the last minute to get everything together.

Having your monthly expenses listed on a single page is also a great way to see how your utilities average out over the year. Is your heating bill really high in December and January like ours tends to be? There are some tips you can try to help reduce your costs, like installing a programmable thermostat.

You can now get this printable and more in my Etsy Shop!

 The Budget Checklists includes the Bill Tracker are now part of The Budget Pack and The Good Wife Home Management Pack. You can also get CUSTOMIZED printables too!

Hotdog Cupcakes

The Good Daughter loves hot dogs. I blame The Good Husband. It all started after he took her to the hardware store with him and they just happened to have a hot dog stand there. Now it's all she wants to eat.

I made this one night when TGH and I were having lamb kabobs for dinner. Unsure if TGD would eat lamb, I made these as her meat option. Needless to say, she gobbled these down and half my lamb.

At first these little guys look just like a regular cornbread muffin but... 

cut them open and see the hot dogs. 

TGD went nuts over these. She kept calling them her hotdog cupcakes.

They were super simple to make and keep well for leftovers the next day.

Ingredients: 

1 cup all purpose flour 

1 cup cornmeal 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

2 eggs 

1 cup milk 

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce or oil

1/4 cup sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon onion powder 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 

6 hot dogs, cut into 4 pieces  

Directions: 

~Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

~In a large mixing bowl mix together flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder until combines. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, milk, applesauce and sugar. Combine wet and dry ingredients, careful not to over mix. 

~Pour batter into lined or oiled muffin cups, filling 3/4 of the way full. Insert two pieces of hot dog and spread batter over top to cover. 

~Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean Remove from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.

recipe adapted from: Happy Good Time Blog found via Pinterest

BotO - Home Maintenance Log

We moved into our house three years ago this spring. It was a new construction so everything was brand-spankin' new and we shouldn't have had any problems, right? ::snort:: Sure. 

For a while we had a few minor issues that could be corrected easily by the big strong, manly men that built the house. Then, as is the case with anyone who has ever bought anything expensive, shit started to go downhill the second the warranty expired.

That included our furnace breaking twice over a holiday weekend this past winter, which just so happened to be the coldest nights of the year. That's my luck, forever. However, we were able to get it fixed relatively cheaply and easy. When I told my mom what had happened, she said, "You need to write this shit down so you know when the last time you had it fixed." I guess some work comes with a warranty? 

Thus the home maintenance log was born.

As part of the Brains of the Operation, aka household binder, the log allows you to track the servicing and repairs to major appliances. So instead of racking your brain to think of the last date you had the dishwasher repaired and only coming up with "there was snow on the ground. so November?" you can know exactly when it was repaired and what was done to it.

You can now get this printable and more in my Etsy Shop! 

The Home Maintenance Log is now part of The Good Wife Home Management Pack. You can also get CUSTOMIZED printables too!

To see other posts in my Brains of the Operations series, click here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day and there is nothing I love more than doing some cheesy holiday shit. 

Last year I made some crappy cards and a candy holder. This year I wanted to up the cheese factor by making the lamest, and by that I mean awesome-est, valentine treats ever. 

Since I didn't want to overload all the kids on candy and red dye #40, I made this treat bag with fish crackers. "You're a great catch!" LOL Get it?

To top off that bitch, I made this treat bag. "I'm bursting with happiness that you are my friend" filled with starbursts candy. Amazing.

I also made some Valentine puppy chow and threw these treats in hand decorated bags with kickass Valentines.

In short, I made Valentine's Day my bitch. I hope you have an amazing day too.

BotO - Pet Log and our new family member

This pretty girl right there is our newest family member. The Good Husband got her for me last Valentine's Day. And really, nothing says "I love you" like something else you have to clean up after. But she is a great dog considering I have never owned a pet before. Ever.

We got her from the local no-kill shelter and right off the bat she loved The Good Daughter and knew some commands but most importantly, she was house broken and crate trained. The shelter told us she was a mix of German Sheppard and Beagle. She has an amazing temperament and is very playful and loving. She really is a great dog. And she helps teach TGD some responsibility since it is her sole job to feed and water Foxy.

 

So now that I have a dog, I have to keep track of all the vet appointments and medicine we have to give her monthly. I created this Pet Log as part of my Brains of the Operation, aka Household Binder.

I included all the important information - pet name, age and breed, daily activity and food intake, vet contact information as well as a tracker for shots and heart worm medication. This helps me see, at a glance that Foxy is up to date on all her shots and if anyone were to ever petsit for us, they will know how much to feed and walk her daily. 

You can download this template for your own household binder here.

We Finally Decorated

Remember this post? My update to my cry for help to the interior design gods? I had finally decided on what I wanted above the fireplace. The Good Husband had wanted a clock. I had wanted a mirror. Then we reached a compromise with photos. But what? I had the layout decided in my head but we never really got around go commissioning the photos from our cousin.

Then a few weeks ago we were out for a night sans The Good Daughter and we happened to see these photos in  - of all places - a sporting goods store. TGH saw the top photo first and feel in love. When we asked if there were any more, we quickly found the two other smaller photos and ordered them. I second guessed the placement for a long time but I am happy with they way it turned out.

Eventually I will move most of the photos off the mantle since I think it looks too crowded. I just need to figure out where I want them and how.

And to date, we now have only 5 things hanging in our house. Yay for commitmentphobes.  

And yes, the plan is still to paint. I don't know if baby #2 will hasten or postpone that.

Family Mail Station

For the longest time there was no place to put bills and keys and my purse when you came into the house from the garage, you know, as we do every single time we come in the house. Everything would pile up on the end of the kitchen table and annoy the shit out of me. While our kitchen is large, it's just one big square with no defined spaces to designate as anything, really. 

The first thing you see when you walk into the house from the garage is the fridge. The "dining room" is to the left, the living room to the right and the kitchen straight ahead. So I thought the best place to make a mail station would be here. At first it looked like this: 

Crap on the fridge, the dog food bowels and not a great use of the space.

So, I found a mail station, moved an old end table up from the basement and ta-da! Family mail station.

Now when I come in from the garage, I can put my keys, my purse and the mail right away and it is no longer living on the end of the kitchen table and pissing me off. Since I moved the dog food bowls to the corner of the dining room where the food container was, that went where the food bowls where. The old switcher-roo.

I also got rid of all the crap magnets we had on the fridge, save the pickles. I want to replace the calendar with something like this, but that will have to wait for now.

The end table provides a great spot to keep our household binder, our home address book, thank you notes and my purse.

It is also great because now The Good Husband can put any mail we get in the "In" slot and if he were really good, would take any outgoing mail with him on the way to work in the morning. 

Eventually I would like to get a nicer table in the corner. Something like a secretary desk that will match our new buffet, but since new babies tend to strain the pocketbook, we will have to wait.

Best Smart Phone Apps for Greener Living

Since joining the 21st century at the beginning of the year and getting a smart phone, I discovered a lot of apps that help me live a greener life.

1. Dirty Dozen - This app lists the "Dirty Dozen" aka the dirties, most pesticide-filled produce in the market, along with the "Clean 15" or the least pesticide-filled produce. The information is provided by the Environmental Working Group Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. The list is updated yearly. I like this app b.c while I have most of the Dirty Dozen memorized, it is still nice to be able to check and make sure I avoid buying the most pesticide laden produce by buying organic.

2. Fooducate  - This is a great little app that allows you to scan a barcode on any food item and it will give that food a grade from F for unhealthy to A for healthiest. It will offer healthier alternatives for poor food choices. It was created by dietitians and it tracks fat, sugar, food dyes and high fructose corn syrup. It has a large database of food but the great thing is, if a food you scan isn't in their database, you can add it.

3. Honest Label Food - Similar to Fooducate, this is another barcode scanner. I have found that sometimes if one product is not in one database, it might be in the other.

4. Locavore - This app tells you what produce is in season currently, and what is about to be in season. It is depressing, for me at least, to see nothing in season in winter, but such is the case for living in Illinois.

5. Seafood Watch - This app is from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program helps consumers and businesses make choices for healthy oceans. Our recommendations indicate which seafood items are "Best Choices," "Good Alternatives," and which ones you should "Avoid."

6. Seasonal Harvest - Similar to Locavore, this app tells you want is in season as well.

7. True Food Network - This app was created to help you find and avoid genetically engineered ingredients wherever you shop. Our guide gives you valuable information on common genetically engineered ingredients, brands to look for, and look out for, and common sense tips to keep you in the know.This one actually took me a minute to find the actual guide, but if you click on the menu button on the bottom on your phone, you will have the option to view the guide. But you probably aren't as stupid as I am and figured that out quickly.

If you know of any app, let me know!