Tackle it Tuesday

I'm still in the basement for this week's tackle.
Remember this photo?
This was the before picture from last week.

This was the after. Still couldn't stand all the clutter surrounding the TV so I made a trip to IKEA to find something to solve that problem.

Here's the after picture. I Love my IKEA purchase but I wish that piece were sold in an oak color. Oh well.

I also bought one for the kitchen areal.

Another part of my tackle was listing all the miscellaneous pieces of furniture in my basement on Craigslist. I listed all 5 pieces on Sunday afternoon and the last of them are leaving my home today.

I can't believe how fast they go on Craigslist. The stove was gone within 2 hours of listing it. The ugly cheap computer desk was picked up a few hours later by a man who I think could quite possibly be the world's happiest man. He was entirely too happy to have purchased this ugly computer desk of mine....

I half expected him to start jumping up and down and clapping his hands. And when he called to inquire about the desk he asked if it was still available....I said "yep"....and he then says..."OMG I'm so in love with you".....those were his EXACT WORDS! Followed by a few awkward moments as I'm sure he realized what just came out of his mouth. I'm sorry have we met? What a freak! He picked the computer desk up driving an old Impala. My husband was trying to help this man force this computer desk into his car....the drawer falls out and slams on the concrete. "No problem, no problem man....I got it".... Cling cling pling,.....more metal of unknown purpose clangs to the concrete. "No problem at all I'll fix that right up...Gosh I just LOVE Craigslist you find the coolest treasures on there?" OMG are you high? This man just called this ugly computer desk a treasure? Hey, who am I to argue. A treasure it is. Where's my $10.00.

The book cases and TV stand will be making their way out this morning. It took less than 48 hours to get my junk sold. I'm done with garage sales and ebay! Craigslist is much easier.

Please Don't Judge Us!?

For this week's Tackle it Tuesday I've tackled the basement....aka the DUNGEON! I actually tackled this yesterday so I'd be prepared with before and after pictures for today. This was a group tackle...the whole family participated in this one.

Our basement is pretty large and has several different purposes. It's the play room, the game room, my scrapping/sewing/craft room, and the workout room. There's also a kitchen area and bathroom down there.

The basement gets very little attention in terms of keeping it clean because.....well.....because it's a basement. I'm horrible about making the kids clean up after themselves down there and to be honest I'm just as bad in MY section of the basement.

So, here are the before pictures....and again....please don't judge us!

That's Dreamy Smurf swinging on the rings. OK....this is going to totally gross you out....and I probably shouldn't be admitting this..... but under that blue mat below Dreamy Smurf there was actually a spot of mold growing on the carpet!

Those are actually two futons down there that are NEVER in the couch position. When the kids have sleep overs that's where they sleep so the futons never end up put back together. You can't tell but the futon on the right still has a pillow and blanket on it from the last sleep over.

This is MY section of the basement....it's no wonder I've fallen so behind in my scrapbooking! It's a little difficult to feel motivated to scrapbook when you can't even find the desk!

The kitchen hasn't been cleaned or touched since the holidays....I'm talking Christmas....not Easter. You really can't see them well in the picture but to the right of the sink are four Christmas tins with Pizzelle cookies STILL. IN. THEM. from the holidays. Hungry?

And now the after pictures. You can see the floor and all the toys are cleverly placed on shelves hidden behind curtains.

My plan for next week's Tackle is to make a trip to Ikea and find a very long storage cabinet to hide all that clutter and put the TV on.

THERE'S the desk! I think I'll do some scrapbooking tomorrow!

Smurfette was so excited to have a clean basement she said "mommy, it's so clean down here....we can even play tag if we want!"

The one area that I forgot to get a picture of was the bathroom. It was covered in cobwebs and spiders...basement bathrooms really give me the willies. It's clean now. Disinfected and debugged.

So, now, today's project will be to get the carpet cleaner out and steam clean all this carpet.....and there's alot!

Tackle it Tuesday.

Accomplishing this Tackle it Tuesday has been like unloading a HUGE monkey off my back.

This monkey has been on my back for the last five years. Pestering me. Nibbling on my ear. Pulling my hair. Poking my eyeballs.....Annoying the hell out of me.

I've been putting it off mainly because I've been too lazy to try to figure out how busy to do it. It literally took me five minutes to figure it out and now I feel foolish for waiting so long.

I've had five years worth of digital photos sitting on my computer uncopied and unprotected. If my computer crashed it would have taken along with it all my precious photos.

So....not only do I have all my photos saved on an external hard drive....

But I've also spent this entire past week (a little at a time) saving every single photo (and there's alot) onto DVD. And every DVD has a back-up. I feel so much better now!

Tackle it Tuesday

For tackle it Tuesday I'll be announcing the winner to my bloggy carnival giveaway......a previously read copy of Rebecca Woolf's fabulous book Rockabye From Wild to Child.

AND I'll be notifying the winner and making a trip to the post office to ship it! Here are some pictures of my highly sophisticated random drawing process...

I made slips of paper with the names of those that posted.....

I folded each slip of paper twice.....

I placed the folded papers into a bowl.....

I picked a piece of paper with my eyes closed....

AND THE WINNER IS........

Katie from Happy2bme!! As soon as I hear back from you with a shipping address I'll get this to the post office.

Congratulations! I'm just glancing back at the pictures of the drawing process. I originally took two pictures (I only posted one of them) of the first step of the process (the slips of paper with the names on them). I took one picture but didn't like how the little papers looked in the photo (ridiculous...I know...but that's me....get used to it)...so I felt the need to shuffle the papers up a little and try again.... and in BOTH photos Happy2bme's slip of paper was right on top....Karma.....

And on a completely different note...another quote from the fabulous book Happiness Now by Robert Holden...pg. 7....

"The faster we chase the world and the future, the quicker we appear to overlook the possibility that happiness is here already."

"Joy waits on welcome, not on time."

I LOVE that!

Tackle it Tuesday

I've seen in recent weeks bloggers doing purse posts. I've been meaning to get around to cleaning out my purse so I'm killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Today's Tackle is my purse...AKA...the black hole. Here it is...my FAVorite purse in the whole wide world....

And I'll bet you'd like to take a peak inside the black hole....

What was found in the black hole? A pile of lots and lots of receipts...(I like to shop)...

A pile of coupons (most of them expired)...

A pile of miscellaneous garbage....

The 10 lbs of change at the bottom of my purse....

Remember the Mega Millions ticket that I hadn't checked yet...I JUST checked the numbers this morning....I didn't win...but at least I was able to prolong the suspense and delay the disappointment for a few weeks...

My 2 "must haves"...my Palm organizer and my Tide to Go pen....AKA: the miracle pen

(EVERY mother should carry one)....

lip glosses, VS body spray, eye drops...

mints, gum, candy...

I really need a bigger purse!

My darling daughter says to me last night: "Mommy, I have a big surprise for you but you can't come in my room until I'm done" (Said in 5 y/o sing songy voice)

Me: "OOOO....I love surprises....I won't look. Just tell me when you're ready"

DD...10 minutes later: "K, mommy, I'm done. Close your eyes." She guides me to her room while my eyes are closed. "K, open 'em"

And this is what I found....

Spotless...all her dirty clothes in the laundry room, bed is made...and made nicely, the baby's crib that is usually over flowing with miscellaneous toys, books, and garbage is completely emptied out and dressers are clear of all clutter.

Me: "WOW! Smurfette, you did a fanTAStic job and I didn't even have to ask! Where did you put all the stuff that was in the crib and on the dressers?"

Smurfette: "On the table in the great room"....

LMAO! She's such a sweetheart!

Tackle it Tuesday!

This Tackle It Tuesday is good for the soul! Healing I tell you! I'm on a mission to get my house in order...one Tuesday at a time! Here's today's mission - my 2 bathroom junk drawers full of nastiness!

Please turn your attention to the bottom photo....notice we keep Power Bars in our

bathroom junk drawers!

You never know when you might be sitting on the pot and have an overwhelming desire for a snack. Then look at that head band resting ever so comfortably on my.........FOOT FILE!!!!

EEEWWWWWWWWWW!

Now take a peak at this ancient find below. That, my friends, is a 20 year old jar of lip goop...YES....20 years old! I bought that goop when I was in HIGH SCHOOL! And I've kept it around all these years for reasons unknown! I have no idea. I don't wear it. I don't like it. I can't imagine that there will ever come a time that I'll find this particular shade of neon, glow-in-the dark, glimmering peach attractive. Not only is it 20 years old...but it has been moved to FIVE different places of residence! College dorm room, apartment #1, apartment #2, home #1, and here...our current home. It's been packed and unpacked FIVE different times. And I HAVE NOT USED IT SINCE I WAS SIXTEEN YEARS OLD!!!! What is wrong with me...what particular kind of sickness is this? Well. No more. I have officially laid that goop to rest. It's in the garbage. Where it belongs. And I'm feeling a little sad.....LMAO! And I repeat....what is WRONG with me.

So, anyway, I'm done and it only took me 15 minutes....

ahhhhhhhhhh.....that wasn't so bad.....I feel so much better!