Getting A (Standing) Ablation

Yes, I know the title is spelled oddly. I'm not talking about getting applause; I'm talking about matters to do with my lady parts, so if you are squeamish, or don't want to read about my body's natural functions, this is your opportunity to step off the bus.

My Journey Of Hope: Bathroom Drawer Disaster - Before and After!

Being a busy bee means that sometimes, those little tasks that need doing get pushed by the wayside. And sometimes, those little tasks become big, messy, nasty monsters that roar at you every time you open the drawer. Well, this was one of those times.

I had joyfully organized Tertius and Quarta's bathroom drawer, with the full intention of doing the same for Hubby and I. And then summer came. And I picked up more work. And there were outings, and visits, and time with friends and family. And it didn't get done.

Here's how it looked:

Are you sure there's a toothbrush in there?

Whilst shopping this afternoon, I said to Hubby, "I'm going to pick this office drawer organizer up for the bathroom. He looked skeptically at me, likely because I hadn't pre-measured the drawer, and because it was an office supply. But I was confident that it would fit. And it really was high time that our drawer started looking as nice as Tertius and Quarta's.

Hubby set to work making dinner (from-scratch Beef Stroganoff), and I started emptying out the drawer. I pulled out the skid-proof liner, as it looked like it had seen better days. After three years in there, it was ready to be retired! I wiped out the drawer, tapping any residual dust out off of the back deck. The new organizer fit like a dream, with just enough room to tuck my flat iron in front of it!

And now it is a little piece of calm in our bathroom. Any time the counter seems too chaotic, I can always open my drawer, smile and take a deep, calming breath.

Here's how it looks now:

A little job at a time can accomplish mighty things!

Planning In Secret Out In The Open

Hubby and I desperately want to take the kids on a real vacation. We've been to Seattle a couple of times for a few days at a time, but we're talking about a two to three week drive down the I-5 to Anaheim, LA, and San Diego.

With one real income, that's just been out of the question. But now that I'm working (very) part-time doing housecleaning, I suddenly have a stream of income that we don't rely on for the day-to-day necessities.

I have this huge plastic jar that used to hold Winnie the Pooh cookies many moons ago. We cut a notch out of the lid, and it's been our savings jar for years. Right now, it has a piece of paper in it that says, "Van Fund". Now, we *are* saving for a van; we have money from income tax set aside for that, and are hoping to have another bit of money coming in soon so that we can go van shopping. We've let the kids know that the primary concern is replacing the van, to be followed by replacing Hubby's vehicle, and then we can start saving up for a vacation. And as far as the kids know, this jar is being used for that, in that order. In reality, this jar is solely for saving up for a family vacation. We'll take stock at Spring Break to see how much we have saved up, and that will determine the kind of vacation we can take.
                                                                                                                                                                    So what we've committed to is this:

- all money I earn from housekeeping goes into the jar
- all money I earn from selling my crafts goes into the jar
- all money we receive from D&D meals goes into the jar
- every time we have money come into the house (payday, child tax credit, GST, what-have-you), anything smaller than a $10 bill in our wallets/pockets goes into the jar
- any money I find in the dirty laundry goes into the jar

In addition to this, with the child tax credit increasing in July, we will have $350 more for both July and August, then when Quarta turns 6, we'll have $270 more each month, which will be immediately funneled into our long-term savings account (the home of the van fund at the moment, but will also hold replacement car and vacation money).

And once we've taken stock at Spring Break, we're planning how to surprise them. So far, the idea is to buy a new scrapbook, and do exactly one page for it - the title page. I already have a lovely, sparkly sticker that says, "Disney Vacation". Then we'll tell the kids that I bought a new scrapbook to put our vacation photos into, and ask if they want to see it. I think we'll need Uncle Jakk over here to take video of them freaking out :)