Office/Exercise Room Redo

It has been one of the busiest weeks I've had in a while but I got so much accomplished, why stop now!?  ; )  We cleared out our sheds and cleaned, we have a HUGE pile of stuff, boxes, etc to take to the dump since I've offered it for free but a lot still remains and I'm done with the stuff.  It has been through 2 yard sales and a lot of it I've had since Alaska and HELLO that was over 3 years ago lol.  Then of course my huge magazine collection will get recyled soon.

I did a redo on our office/exercise room tonight.  I made the decision to remove all of my daughter's toys and put them in her room (somehow lol) so I can actually get to my treadmill.  After a few hours, I got it done.  My treadmill is all set up ready for me to just get on it and walk, which I plan to tomorrow.

I moved my desk to a different area - the area where my daughter's toys USED to be.  It fit nicely between the door and the closet door.

I bought a cute little drawer cart from Wal-mart for $25.  I put it together today and here is a pic of it:

I really love it and am using it for all my office/home management things.  It goes along with the colors I wanted - black, hot pink, lime and yellow.  I'm not going to get too decorative in this office/exercise room because it will one day be the next child's room. I bought this hot pink file box at Wal-mart on clearance a month or so ago for $7 and then some file folders in designs/colors I was looking for as well.  I like how I can transport it from the office to the kitchen table if need be and its lightweight.

Still so much I want to get done in the house, a woman's work is never done!  I've pulled some really late nights this week but still am not caught up.  I figured it was time to rest for a bit and then fold laundry later!  Just wanted to share.......it feel so good to not only get rid of stuff that I don't love, get rid of junk - but also to get things that I DO LOVE and get organized for better productivity in my home.  We are managers of our homes as women - so whatever to make my home run smoother! ; )  I may have some before/afters coming up if time permits.

Growing Hair Long Challenge Update #4

It's been a while since I  updated and reason being I didn't think my hair has grown but I was wrong.  I measured it today for the first time since March and it has grown 3 inches but I also lost inches from my old (2) perms breaking off.  My new growth is now 16 inches and the rest is permed and total length is 38 inches.  If my estimates are right, I lost 4 inches to breakage and grew 3 inches.  So the growth is growing quickly but my damaged permed portion is also breaking quickly as expected.  This year I have grown 5 inches of silky healthy straight hair - at this rate by the end of December the new growth should reach around 4 more inches for a total of 20 inches of new growth since my last perm!  That's also with being very sick this year from Feb-April.  Still not back to where I was before the perms at 50 inches but we are getting there! 

I've been doing my hair differently - which I don't like doing because I'm using heat on my new growth, but is it worth it?  It only takes a few strands from my top to curl and then scrunch with hair spray to get this look making my hair look curly and match the bottom.  Then today I washed my hair with clarifying shampoo to remove all this buildup and hairspray and going to wear it sleek and straight with the ends curled tonight. 

Quotes from Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?"

"However brilliant an action, it should not be esteemed great unless the result of a great motive."

"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it."

"Few are agreeable in conversation, because each thinks more of what he intends to say than of what others are saying, and listens no more when he himself has a chance to speak."

"It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible."

"Jealousy feeds upon suspicion, and it turns into fury or it ends as soon as we pass from suspicion to certainty."

"No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong."

Twitter

I have been using Twitter and really like it for my blog updates on my sidebar.  I decided to try it out for other things, so if you would like to follow my personal twitter - follow me here:

http://twitter.com/Homekeeper

Homemade Dishwashing Soap Coming Soon!

I've been experimenting for a while now and I've finally found a way to make homemade dish soap for hand washed dishes and pots/pans.  I'm working out the portions - will do a video and recipe soon! 

Monthly Energy Costs

Here are the results of the poll for Summer monthly energy costs:

$0-35	2 (9%)
$35-45	0 (0%)
$45-60	1 (4%)
$60-80	1 (4%)
$80 and above	17 (80%)

We can see that the majority spends $80 a month during the Summer months on energy costs. Of course this wasn't based on whether you live in an apartment or house or even square footage. What I was trying to get a view of was if most people spent $80 or more.

We have 1400 square foot home and our energy costs are at the most - $60 a month. It used to be higher when we lived in a smaller, 700sq foot, 2 bedroom apartment believe it or not! I have found many things to do to save electricity and also moving into a place that is very well lit, saves on having to use the lights during the day! Here some things that we do to save on energy costs:

• Switch your light bulbs to the new energy saving bulbs. We did this a long time ago and noticed the difference in energy costs!
  
• Don't use lights during the day. We have skylights and they really do light up the house! I have 2 in my kitchen and never have to use the lights during the day (except the stove light). We then have one in our bathroom and once again, we don't have to use the lights in there during the day.
• Hang your clothes to dry. I hang my delicates/dress clothes on my shower rod. You can hang your towels, linens, and other clothes outside to dry if you wish. I do use the dryer for those because our landlord will not allow a clothes line attached to the storage buildings and I haven't bought the free standing one yet.
• Don't run the dishwasher unless its full. I only run my dishwasher 3-4 times a week, sometimes not even that much. I wait until its full before starting a wash most of the time. You can keep one side of the sink half full of hot water and soap to wash dishes throughout the day. I find that it stays warm for several hours if you start it with very hot water. Constantly filling up your sink - washing dishes and then draining it and doing it all over again all day will use more hot water, which will use more energy for your water heater. Also, cold water can wash not too dirty dishes. If you are worried about germs from not using hot scolding water to wash your dishes, then simply add a cap full of Clorox to your dishwater in the sink. Also, run the dishwasher at night when energy is cheaper - same goes for the washer/dryer although I don't practice that I know it would save us even more if I did! ;)
  
• Unplug chargers and electronics when not in use. Even if you are not charging your phone, ipod, etc - the charging unit still draws some sort of energy from the outlet.
• This is for the winter months - we keep our thermostat set at 66. 65 is the optimal sleeping temperature, so keeping it on 66 is what we have found works for us and saves energy than when we used to keep it at 69.
• In the Winter do your baking/oven use in the mornings to warm the house up and then in the Summer do it in the evenings.

That is all I could think of right now, my memory may remind me of more later on and I will add them.

July 2009 Free Printable Calendar

This month's theme is Motherhood, since I'm going to be doing a series on it.  Enjoy!

July 2009 Printable Calendar