Thursday, January 28, 2010

life in my world

That's really just another way of saying that I have more miscellany to report, but since I already did a miscellaneous post on Monday, I had to switch it up a little. (I'm tricky that way.)


Eva and I made dinner today at 10:00 a.m. It's thrilling to me to have dinner taken care of in the morning! Yeah, I'm pretty easy to please. I have so much more energy mid-morning than I do in the late afternoon/evening, so I'm trying to make things work with my natural rhythms.

I found it funny that Eva was a great helper, even though she finds meat and sauce revolting and will in no way eat the lasagna that we made.

I went to the dentist to get my broken tooth checked out. Of course it needs a crown, and they can't fit me in until Monday. Bummer.

On the bright side, my dentist pretty much made Eva's day. He is the father of Ashleigh from So You Think You Can Dance, and has photos of Ashleigh and Ryan displayed in his office. Eva told him that she is taking dance lessons now, and that she wants to be on SYTYCD like Ashleigh. He was tickled that Eva knew who Ashleigh was and had seen her on TV. He got kind of teary when he told us that her dance performances over the years were his greatest parenting moments. Then he indulged Eva by watching some of her new moves, and encouraged her to stick with it and practice hard. So cute.

(A bit of interesting news for those of you who follow the show: he said that after the show ended, the dancers were so completely exhausted and weak from the grueling schedule that when they made an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres show, they had to have i.v.'s and vitamin shots. Seriously! Also that it took 4 weeks after they came home for their bodies to recover.

And apparently Ashleigh and Ryan are being heavily recruited for Dancing with the Stars. I don't watch that show, though.)

I went to Dollar Tree yesterday to see if they had any plastic dishpans to help with my organizing efforts. They did, and in black, to boot! Sweet. I am now ready to turn shelves into drawers.

How I wish I had taken a "before" picture of all of these stupid kid plastic cups! They have been driving me insane for a long time. Every time I would open the drawer, they would shift and fall over and generally just be a big mess. But now they are corralled in a bin and they will move no more! This made me so very happy. (And, come on, why didn't I think of that years ago?!)

Again, I really should have taken a "before" photo, with my tea towels stuffed into the cupboard every which way. I could not even believe how many I had when I took them all out! And I found some really cute ones in the way back that I had completely forgotten about and never used. I wish I would have counted them, it's kind of ridiculous how many I have.

Ta-da! Eva helped me sort and fold them all. We put holiday ones in one bin and the rest in another. (I discovered I have 7 Halloween tea towels. Really?) Now I can just pull out the bin and find what I want -- this is revolutionary for me.

These are the ones I'm tossing. I'm estimating around 20 of them. Do you think I have a tea towel problem?

I'm baby-stepping my way to being more organized and am finding it very satisfying. Told you I'm easy to please!

18 comments:

crystal said...

I'm sorry about your crown! Be brave til Monday!; does it hurt?

Update on my broken tooth: root canal today. Ugh.

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

I do love order and it is so fun to see yours. I'm glad you've made so much more room for yourself.

I'm like you, my morning energy runs circles around my night energy. Your lasagna looks so good.

Jill said...

I love it when I make dinner early in the day, it makes the rest of my day feel like I'm getting away with something.

That's crazy about the dancers needing i.v.s and vitamin shots but not surprising because I really don't understand how they're able to sustain that level of activity for so long.

How did you think to go to Dollar Tree to get those dishpans? I never would have thought to go there, what a genius idea! I need to do this too.

I always knew you had a ton of tea towels, but it's cracking me up that you have so many that you can weed out 20 of them and still have two bins full!

Barb said...

Black plastic dishpans from a dollar store, that is a perfect find.
I also am more productive in the morning, in fact tonight I was thinking that I would really like to increase the productivity of my evenings.

Amy said...

Your toss pile of dishtowels looks better than my in the cupboard supply! ha! You had a seriously large pile...I own 7 (one for each day)...I do laundry so much anyways & like to keep them fresh.

Those cups would have driven me crazy too. Can not wait till we outgrow them.

Kathleen said...

Hi. My name is Michelle and I'm a tea towel-aholic!
Your stash is so cute!
I hate all the kid cups, too. I put them in a bin years ago but I have stupid cupboards so they still end up everywhere. Luckily I'll be moving soon so I won't have these stupid cupboards anymore!

Anne said...

I can't wait to tell my husband your insiders scoop on Ashleigh and Ryan. He loves those guys!

Amy said...

Wow, Michelle! I'm totally impressed with your productivity. I should have gone to that class with you! Your cupboards look great! And all those tea towels! Quite the collection!

Holly said...

Thanks for the insider update on Ashleigh and Ryan. That's very cool her father is your dentist and took time to encourage Eva. How kind!

I recently purged our kitchen and it totally envigorated me--which is a huge surprise because I usually avoid tasks that overwhelm me. Congrats on getting your kitchen drawers under control! I must check our our Dollar Tree for dishpans--thanks for that tip.

We share an addiction to tea towels. It's bad, but so good at the same time. Hate to see that polka dotted one be tossed--very cute.

Natasha said...

When I did not work outside the home I loved to make dinner in the morning and be done with it. I wish that was stil an option. Now that I am mainly eating raw food that really makes it hard to cook ahead and freeze since I don't take my food cooked.

Holly did a kitchen organizing post and I realized when I saw it that I need to get on the ball. I think I am an organized person in general but my kitchen drawers and cabinets are NOT.

Price Cream Parlor said...

I can't believe that Ashleigh's Dad is your dentist! That is so funny! CRAZY to think how worn out they are at the end of the show! LOVE that show!!

Oh the best day ever when dinner is done and that thought is pushed from my mind so early in the day!

Your cupboards look fantastic! Great idea!

Melinda said...

Those wash bins are such a great idea. I love taking drawers and organizing. I need to redo it at my desk. I did my kitchen this summer and tossed 4 garbage bags full of stuff to di. It was quite liberating.

Denise said...

Can I claim that polka-dotted one of top of the discard pile? I, too, am a dish towel freak and have SO many, but that never stops me from picking up a few more at Tuesday Morning or HomeGoods.

Making dinner early in the day is seriously the best gift I could ever give myself, yet I rarely do it. Perhaps it's because I'm hardly ever home during the day. Huh.

I sure wish I could come to that organizing class with you! I think I'll head out to the dollar store to search for black dish pans.

Rebekah said...

I really, really wish I could take that organizing class. Man alive...you and Jill are really running with this information!

Drawers instead of shelves, duh! Why do I need someone else to point out all the simple fixes in life?

Oh, plastic cups and tupperware are so obnoxious to store. I think it must be because they are so light weight that they upend and fly all over the place with even the smallest nudge.

emily said...

I hope to achieve a tea towel collection as magnificent as yours someday. I got some cute ones over the summer, but they have had a rough year. My roommates frequently use them as dish rags.

I'm so sorry about your broken tooth. Dentist work is such a hassle and frustrating expense. I would so much rather spend my money on more dish towels!

jenn said...

Sorry about the tooth. I hate going to the dentist. (I originally typed that I hate the dentist but that didn't seem fair or right, especially after he was so kind to Eva and since I don't even know him personally.)

I'm trying to not sink when I read about your productivity which is so awesome!! I don't know what the road block is for me but I can NOT move forward with this. I kind of want to scream.

Amie said...

Excellent. I love those black tubs at the $1 store. Everything is better in a confined space. I love all of your cute tea towels!

shannon said...

I took your lead and went through my old dishtowels as well...but after assessing the ones I had in my keeper pile, I realized that your throwaways were nicer than my good ones! (sigh!)

That's so interesting about your dentist being Ashleigh's father...I think I would be looking for teeth troubles just to have an excuse to go in and talk to him...

That's crazy about them needing i.v.'s and vitamin shots...I guess it makes sense though...they do some pretty amazing things on that show...I can't believe that I haven't always been a fan! I love that show now!!

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