Tackle It Tuesday

I haven't done one of these in a while. But this week I got two done! Whoo hoo!

No pictures though because my camera died and my cell phone takes abysmal pictures. So you'll just have to use your imagination. :)

First we cleaned out the laundry room. It's the room we first come into when we come in from the garage so it had become the dumping ground for pretty much everything. We have a foster dog, Sylvie, coming to stay with us, so we needed to make room for her crate and her food. We also had to move anything she might chew (she's still a puppy). The kids were really good about getting their stuff back where it belongs (I think the threat of having it chewed up worked well!) And I vacuumed a ton of dog hair from Charlie! Now we have a puppy-proof room (aka the puppy wrestling room since they like to play in there)!

Second we cleaned the living room, aka dumping ground #2. We had just let things accumulate since we got back from our trip to California, so there was just junk everywhere. The kids pitched in and we picked up toys, clothes, and trash, and then gave it a good sweep and vacuum. I don't know about you, but I really like clean floors.

I feel so much more relaxed now that those two areas are clean. Might even have the energy to tackle the dreaded playroom!

Click on the banner to go see what everyone else has tackled this week.

Tackle it Tuesday

Don't ask me why I started back blogging again with the topic of housework. Ugh! Anyhow, today is Tackle it Tuesday. I think the only reason I got so much done was because I was actually off work today.

So I tackled grocery shopping, banking, cleaning the bathroom, doing all the floors, and tackling that big mountain of laundry that has taken over the laundry room. "Calvin" was out of shorts yesterday so I knew I had to get something done.

Also, I took Charlie, the black beast, for a walk. We walked Sissy to the Boys and Girls club, about a mile away. And it's 81 degrees and pretty humid. He hasn't stopped panting yet. We both needed the exercise, and it ain't nearly as hot here as in Arizona. Still...I think I might reserve our walks for later in the evening. I have to admit, however, I was pretty proud of the dog. Considering I haven't been very consistent about taking him for walks and teaching him to heel, he did very well and didn't chase down any neighborhood dogs or neighbors. Yippee for us! It's not that he's an aggressive dog, he's just super friendly. But he weighs almost 90 pounds. So friendly or not, 90 pounds of Black Lab coming at you tends to put off most people a bit.

Tackle it Tuesday

I'm sorta done tackling the flu, though I have that lingering, nagging cough that I would be so happy to be done with.

Today I'm going to be out of the house running errands that have been piling up: getting dog food (the dog has to have special prescription food because he's allergic to everything else--he's so high maintenance), having lunch with a friend, getting the car inspected, shipping stuff off to sell on eBay, and going grocery shopping.

Makes me tired just thinking about it! But I know I'll be so glad when it's done. And the kids can stop whining that there's nothing to eat :)

Tackle it Tuesday

Today we have a snow day. Lots of heavy snow! I hope the power doesn't go out.

I have a lot of miscellaneous tackles, those kinds of things that are perfect to get caught up on on a snowy day, like cleaning under the couch cushions and vacuuming the baseboards in the living room.

But my big tackle for the day is finishing my taxes. Ugh! :( At least I know I'm getting money back which makes the process a little less painful.

I also put some ribs in the slow cooker with onions and barbecue sauce. I'll let you know how it turns out. The house should smell really yummy in a couple of hours.

Happy tackling!

Tackle it Tuesday

My tackle this week was to cook 7 meals in advance. I like to do this because afternoons are my low energy time. Defrosting and throwing something in the oven is right up my alley. And 7 meals can easily last us two weeks.



I use Cyndy Salzmann's book The Occasional Cook because she gives you menus, recipes, shoppings lists, and a game plan. It cuts down on the thinking for me.

For this week I made Nebraska Shepherd's Pie, Taco Soup, Barbeque Cups, Chuckwagon Quesadillas, Porcupines, Swedish Meatballs, and Sloppy Joes. All are family friendly.

I photocopy the recipes to use on the counter while I'm cooking because I'm a messy cook and I'd rather replace a splattered photocopy than a whole cookbook.

The whole thing took me 2.5 hours including clean up, which works out to about 20 minutes a meal. Quite a time saver!

Tackle it Tuesday

This is a two-parter for me. No pictures though (unless you want one of me on the phone!). We got new insurance, and we all needed eye and dental appointments. So I spent yesterday finding new doctors and setting up appointments. Amazingly enough, I got two appointments for myself today, so I'm off doing that and running errands.

This has been on my list for over a month and I'm sooooo happy to get it crossed off. Plus my eyes have been hurting so I'll be curious to see if the eye doctor says I need a prescription adjustment.

Happy Tackling, y'all!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

My New Year's tradition is to take the tree down while I'm watching the Rose Parade. When I was in high school and lived in California, I actually went to the Rose Parade. Of course since we had to get there the night before to reserve our spots on the street, and all the New Year's Eve revelry kept us up, we pretty much ended sleeping through the parade!

So my tackle for the day will be to take the tree down. Guess I don't need to post pictures since I posted earlier what my tree looked like. You can imagine what it will look like gone. :) I love having the tree up, but I'm glad to take it down, too, and reclaim some of my living room space.

Tackle it Tuesday

Not a huge tackle today. A low pressure system moved into the area and my knees are killing me.


But my dining room table has been bugging me for awhile. Does anyone else have this problem? Why is it the dining room table attracts all sorts of papers, craft projects and homework? I think in our house it's because it's the largest horizontal surface. Lately we've just been pushing stuff aside to eat. Not any more.



I notice our advent candles are a little bare looking and our candle chimneys need to be cleaned. And I wish the radio could go some place else. But at this time of year, we have to listen to it every morning to hear about school closures and delays. Ah well.

Tackle it Tuesday

I'm happy to be doing my first Tackle it Tuesday. This is the desk in my bedroom. It has become the catch-all for stuff I need to file or put somewhere else but I don't want to get lost, ruined, or messed up by the kids. But now that I have created my office out of a unusable closet (more on that later this week hopefully) and cleaned out the garage so I can get to my filing cabinets, this desk needs to be cleaned up!



And here it is clean!




I think the bedroom should be a place that's restful so it's been good to get that cleaned off. And now I can actually shut the lid like it's supposed to!