On My Way to an Orderly Life

Well, I am not quite there yet! I have, however, procured two tall, extra-heavy, extra-deep, what looks to me like government issue file cabinets from craigslist for $15.00 apiece. I hauled them home and borrowed the neighbor-friend's handtruck to load them into the house. I will have to tell you sometime about ALL of our great neighbors. But these heavy things were so deep I almost couldn't tip the handtruck back with my arms, I had to reach over the top of the cabinet to the front and use my chin on the curvy part of the handtruck to lift it all back, I seriously did not know if it was going to yank back and do an awful thing to my head (all while T is watching and loving the crashing noise whenever the thing would come down again!). So, these monstrous things are greatly helping with our serious paper problems. I have a lot to do before Sunday a.m.! That's when I leave for my work Conference in Milwaukee, WI. SO EXCITED! I know I am going to be spazzed out after this! And a day off to myself in Milwaukee, time to go thrifting! Oh, getting a little excited there, here's the list of things to accomplish before Sunday (if I am Superwoman):

• create complete peace and order in the sparkling clean house with a delicious home-cooked meal each night.
• order the office so the desk surface only has my current projects on it instead of past stuff trinkets and tear outs of my country living image of 'what camping really looks like' (in my dreams, that is).
• clean and press my entire wardrobe.
• buff, wax, polish and tan my body.
• prepare tonight's show well before I have to load and go, and have dinner ready
• fix the haircolor so the Cruella look isn't Crue-yella.
• lose ten pounds.
• find the right blouse dress and shoes, plus some capri's, all for 2.00 each! plus tax .
• sew my Calvin Klein bias-cut pattern in my blue washed silk-yummy for the formal awards event.
• prepare a scrumptious and impressive dessert for our friend's house on Saturday.

I am usually just sort of looking for something, trying to get throught the moment as in the shot above. On a road trip, last summer. R is starting to get into the vacation mode and snapping photos and I all of a sudden just don't feel like having fun that way because someone needs a book, someone needs a drink, and someone else is shouting for something and I probably haven't gone pee-pee in a long time! with my lifestyle in mind (the raising kids lifestyle), I will probably have these things completed before I go:

• prepare for today's trip an hour before I go


• packed wrinked clothes for trip (iron when I get there).


• grab my cutest dress and shoes for the formal event.


• polish my nails and do a biore strip or two.


• find a white blouse at Target.


• fix dinner for tonight before I go.


• spend 30 minutes a day on the gazelle and avoid being a 'dairy cow'-no grazing or eating at night.


• put away most of the house.


• work two hours in the office and leave it at that.


• buy a nice dessert at the store for our friends.

That sounds ambitious enough for me! No knitting right now, I am reading my money and leadership books, plus I plan on bringing the Canturbury Tales (summer reading) with me on the trip. It will be entertaining when I am awake, and a sleep aid when I am tired! Last Saturday at a little guy's Bday party, there was an Astrowizard!! And we were talking about Chaucer who was incidentally, a wizard! I think I will also bring Mutant Message Down Under or Autobiography of a Yogi with me for some growth reading. Just trying to take the time to not be stressed out. I am so glad school is out! There are just so many stops and starts on school days and the blocks of time pass by so quickly. I know it is going to be a great summer. Just relaxing, doing our swimming, Taekwono, Judo and a little camping! A lot of shows for me but my work is fun and should lead to good things. I won't give you any details about my work here, just my website-www.liasophia.com/cherylfarmer, I needed this outlet to help balance my creative life because I need to remember me and make time for me because I do not have to be work obsessed, the reason I started doing what I do is to have it all, and I am definitely on the right path. I will quote one of my leaders who reminds me that I do not have to obsess, "There are no JEWELRY EMERGENCIES."

Preschool's Out, and it Must Be Time to Clean Today

Today was N's last day of the year at preschool. He has had grown so much! We had a picnic and graduation at the park. I have to say it is a joy to raise him as he is so agreeable and cute. He usually minds really well and is always cute and loving. I am such a lucky Mommy!

I try and try, but the messes at home keep catching up with me. I have a few books that pertain to housekeeping and Feng Shui. Even though the one I love the best (Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston) is missing, I probably have it memorized anyway. Success is going to depend on keeping the kids occupied and not tearing up their area while I straighten up and perfect things...Hello Television! That is so sad, but they are pretty good about TV and not obsessive so a little bit a day is totally OK with me. J could go overboard because he is an Asperger's kid and will get overly drawn in which isn't good, so I am going to try a timer for his viewing. I am just trying to start living the way I want to, neat and clean and I am done with disorder and I need to process the junk everyday! School papers, artwork, forms, work stuff, toiletries, cleaning products, jewelry because I sell it! I must enjoy this clearing process because I never seem to be finished with it!

Caution Driver Knitting

Hi there,

I thought I would introduce myself by sharing a little bit of my creative life with you. I am a sewer and knitter, and a quilter at times. I consider scrapping and gardening to be the highest of Home Arts, along with cooking. Home improvement, housekeeping and organizing are my passions. I read at night and on vacations. Want to see my summer reading list? OK, I was hoping you'd say yes! In no particular order (because I am just pulling them out of my new bookbag one by one):

1. Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan-just can't seem to continue right now!




2. A House in Sicily by Daphne Phelps-didn't crack once




3. Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie-done




4. Posession, a Romance by A.S. Byatt-about 28 pages, definiety good but takes concentration to follow story line




5. The Canturbury Tales by Chaucer-this is what I read when I can't fall asleep. I actually think it is really, really funny, though, and I truly have read over half of it.




6. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper-never cracked, it reminds me of Nelson's friend Anne Marie who was reading it about 15 years ago and thought I should probably read something different.




7. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster-I think I will actually love this when I do read it, but as of yet I have not.




8. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver-about 5 chapters. Sad, depressing and ominous. I am afraid I cannot read books that decribe grief, pain or children suffering in too great of detail. I carry the sadness with me for too long, and If I try to ignore it, it just comes back to bite me later. So I left it at that.

So I guess it is a little ambitious but now that I have stated that I intend to read them I will just have to. Plus, I ended up giving the Doors book bag to Denise because she totally gets it. And me.

So, what did I really read?

Scarlett, the GWTW sequel;

SHERLOCK HOLMES;

An historical study of the Chesapeake Bay;

I wish I had more to report to you, but I seriously read Sherlock Holmes every night. I seem to forget enough about the stories to be able to re-visualize a whole new scene of the story every time once I get thought the entire series and back again!

I have a cute cottage but it is not fit for photos, I guess I could send a little demolition your way. This is from last fall and winter, which was out office and is now our two oldest's room, soon to be our middle and youngest's room. I love this color blue we ended up with; it is a little more denim-y than the hue we had before. The first photo is T in the new space, we had the walls and ceiling completely ripped out, then Rob rewired the whole thing including the end of the circuit which is up in another bedroom above (the wiring was 55 years old, cloth covered and dry as a bone, MAJOR fire hazard!) Then he redid everything and even constucted these ingenious structures to help push the drywall up to the ceiling and keep them in place while he screwed them in. Then, he leveled the sagging floor (a concrete slab) and then put down 3/4 inch plywood before laying the new wood floor. We love the results!