Craftyminx

Spring Cleaning

Yesterday was my day off. One of the best things about my new work schedule is that I have to work occasional weekends. You would think this would be a downside to the job but I have found it to be a very unanticipated perk. You see, when we have to work a Saturday or Sunday we get a day off during the week to make up for the weekend day we are scheduled to work. While this does occasionally cause a problem for weekend plans, we are usually able to work around our work schedules since we get those a month in advance and the weekends I work are pretty standard.

library books. We have so many at any given time they now get their own place.

When I say I had a day off yesterday that means I’m working this Saturday. I see this as a perk because I have found that  I am more productive during these middle of the week days off than I ever am on weekends. This is usually because we are really lazy on weekends. We lay around with the dogs watching movies or TV show episodes on Netflix, only leaving the house to spend money we don’t need to spend or hang out with friends. We have a lot of fun spending time with each other, but we are rarely productive. When I get a day off in the middle of the week I am usually alone because Sheldon is working so he is not there to distract me and I know I only have one day instead of the customary two in a row and my brain clicks into productivity mode.

I brought this school desk into the living room from the studio. I will eventually ask my dad to cut a hole in the metal base for the wires to go through the back. Unfortunately the wires must remain in the living room because it houses the only phone jack for internet.

So yesterday I started spring cleaning. Our house was in DIRE need of this yearly deep cleaning. I could immediately tell that our house suffered a lot during my depression. I think next time I get that depressed I am calling a housekeeping service to come in weekly because not only does the house need it, but I’m sure I would benefit from a clean house during such a trying time as well.

To prove how bad it was I should tell you I only got through the living room  -- 1 down, 7 to go. I cleaned every nook and cranny disinfecting, polishing, dusting, vacuuming, rearranging, and organizing. I noticed a few big issues. First, our windows need to be replaced. I knew this but I was hoping we’d be moving before we ever had to make this update. Now I think we’ll need to do this as soon as we possibly can.  They are looking really bad, and I’m afraid some paint just isn’t going to help at this point. Second, we have way too much stuff. Again, something I knew but am definitely going to try to live by better standards for what we keep in our house. If we don’t love it and can’t find a place for it in our current home and standard of living we need to get rid of it (or even better, don’t buy it in the first place!). Third, our wood floors need to be refinished.  This is a fact I have been ignoring for far too long knowing that it would mean either moving out everything we own to do it all in one go, or going room by room shifting furniture as we go. This is not a task I am looking forward to.

Updated vignette I removed the items that I didn't LOVE. Bella's ashes now have her embroidered portrait with them to serve as a little memorial.

Recently, I’ve been really unhappy with our house. I’m ready to move and have been for a long time but I still have the urge to make our house the best it can be. I bought this little house because of its potential and I hate to give up on it. So I’m determined to stay here and do what we can with our limited funds until we have to move because of a growing family,  I’m not able to deal with my 40 minute commute any longer, or Sheldon finally gives up on our tiny kitchen. I think we’ve decided to keep the house as rental property so I see every improvement as an investment instead of something we shouldn’t spend money on when we won’t get any return on it through selling in our neighborhood.  Like I said, we’re working on the back yard right now. I’ll do a full post on this process alone, but I’m excited to get started on it. We had to wait a week to install the back door because of severe weather last weekend, but this weekend it’s happening!

Sorting. Many things are moving their way out of our home.

Tonight I’m starting the studio - the second worse room but of most importance since it is the room getting the door and it needs to be cleared out to make space for my dad and Sheldon to do their work.  FYI local people who love crafts and vintage get ready, because come May (maybe the weekend of the 11th) we’re going to have a huge and very awesome garage sale! I’m tired of the unused stuff taking over our home!

Great Spring Cleaning Resources:

• Martha’s Spring Cleaning Checklist 
• http://www.rightathome.com/Cleaning/Articles/Pages/SpringCleaningRoombyRoom.aspx
• Smead organics house cleaning checklist  (great for weekly cleaning)
• Some more helpful house cleaning schedules

Have you started your spring cleaning? What things do you make sure to do?

Librarian Wears... and other random life things.

I don't know how often I'll do this, but I decided my first weeks on the job as a librarian I would take a photo every morning of my outfit. They're not the greatest since my remote decided to stop working. But here you have it... What I wear to work.

It's funny how different my wardrobe is now that I'm not working at a desk all the time. I wore skirts all the time at my old job and now I've only worn a dress twice. It's hard to work in the stacks when you are wearing a skirt. 

Another big change is tattoo coverage. We don't have a policy against tattoos at our library, but I did move from working in an office to working with the public so I try to keep my tattoos covered for the most part so people don't judge me before they get to know me. I'd rather be known as a great librarian than the girl at the desk with the tattoos. I haven't had any problems with them, but I do sometimes notice people staring.

Also something that I randomly notice in these photos are how needy my dogs are. We're needy dog enablers. 

You may have noticed how quiet it has been around the blog lately.  I am truly loving my new job, but it is taking up a lot of my creative energy. It also takes up more time than my old job. I used to spend 9 hours a day getting ready for work going to work and coming home. Now that my commute is longer I spend about 10.5 to 11 hours a day on those things. So I basically live out of my car and spend all my spare time cooking, spending time with friends, and sitting on my couch with my feet elevated. It's a glamorous life I lead friends! 

We're currently working on our back yard makeover which is really exciting! We're getting a back door installed and will start working on a patio area, landscaping, and building a fence. It will be so nice to have another area to use for entertaining. 

I'm finally starting to miss blogging so hopefully I'll be able to find more time for crafty projects and blogging this month! 

Craft Supply Challenge Winners!!!

Drum roll please.... The winners of the challenge are as follows:

Week 1:

Robbie's awesome mod podged yarn vase

Week 2:

Robbie had the most votes again, but since he won week 1, Sarah's cute Sparkle Shoes win week two. 

Week 3:

Shary's cute friendship bracelet

Week 4:

 

Diane's really cool wooden glitter candles

A big thank you to everyone who played along and to those of you who voted! Robbie, Sarah, Shary, and Diane e-mail me (dana at craftyminx dot com) and we'll arrange your month of free ad space on the blog! 

I'm loving my job!! I thought I would have some time to blog this weekend but my mom was in town for her birthday and we did a lot of yard work. I didn't even have time to get on the computer. I went thrifting for the first time in months today. It was so much fun and I found some really cute stuff. I'll try to check in this week :)