A Hole Punched Through My World

What we thought was a slipped disk, was not.  Our baby had a tumor invading his spine.  He went from walking to completely paralyzed in the back  legs in a matter of days.  Although he was brave and strong, we couldn't watch him be so sad and uncomfortable.  We couldn't put him through any more surgeries and treatments.  It would only have prolonged his own suffering. 

Hunter went to sleep for the last time Tuesday, March 22nd, at 6:50pm Eastern Time.

If you'd like, you can read more about him here,  here,  here and here.

There may be other posts, but that's about all I'm up to finding today.

A hole has been punched through my world.

I {Heart} Generosity & Courtesy

I was going to write a really long, boring post about my day at the pharmacy, Smoothie King, The Container Store, Trader Joe's and grocery shopping, but instead, I highlighted it all and hit 'delete'. Because really? The whole point of today was that people smiled... they were generous with their time, their patience and one person was very kind with a $5 coupon. It was a lovely four hours outside, in the sunshine and although everyone and their brother (and uncle and sister) were out of the house to break free of "cabin fever" I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of short-tempers and bad-manners.

I like those kind of days. I like them a lot. It makes me happy.

Need a Laugh?

One of my sisters shared this with me a while back on Facebook.  I didn't watch it until recently but when I did, I nearly had a little accident I was laughing so hard.  I'm sure it's not everyone's humor, but OMG, I was crying I was laughing so hard.

Check it out:




For those of you overseas who can't watch videos on YouTube, try searching on "Paul Zerdin Ventriloquist without a dummy".  I'm sure you'll find it somewhere!

I hope you enjoy.  It's always made me laugh (and I've watched it about 10 times already).

Cozy or Cornered?

For some reason, when I see this picture, this Rockwell 80's song echoes through my head, "I always feel like... somebody's watching me... and I have no privacy!"

What do you think when you see this picture?

Kai's Clean Sweep - Yelp for Help!

source

So, y'all know I perpetually struggle with clutter, disorganization (although I know where everything is and can find it easily, it's not pretty), and overwhelming amounts of fur.   If you didn't already know that, I guess you do now.  (bows head in embarrassment) Last fall, I started my "clean sweep" project.  Then, curveballs flew and not much got done.  I'm moving at a snails pace and whatever I did have decluttered and clean is now re-cluttered and not clean.

One of my sisters shared this Yahoo article with me recently.  I found some great tips (and have implemented them), but I'd love to hear from YOU.  What do YOU really, actually do to keep your house decluttered and clean?  Do you have a schedule?  Do you do certain things seasonally (like spring cleaning)?  Do you just look around and do?  How do you stay on top of things?

After you answer those questions, please give me your own personal favorite quick tip.  Quick is key.  Let me put this into perspective... for the moment and the near future, I work a full-time day job and a part-time 2nd job and my new health priority work outs, so most, if not all, weekdays I'm out of the house from 7:30am until 7pm or so.  I work that 2nd job often on Saturdays for 4-8 hours, and every other Sunday we host a friends-get-together at our house.  Honestly, Saturday nights, every other week, before those game days, is when the house is at it's cleanest.  But I'd love to not have to rush around dusting and vacuuming (a necessary thing with 6 animals, though), cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, hiding the dirty laundry and closing the kids' bedrooms off because they are so chaotic.  And recently, closing our own bedroom door because it is so chaotic.

So... tips and tricks on what I can do throughout the week and weekends to get my house clean and organized and KEEP it clean and organized are so very welcome.  However... I  don't want to give up MY things either... blogging, crafting, sewing, friend fun... and I'd like to find more time to read and write.  So...

The challenge has been presented to you:

• What is one thing you do on a regular, scheduled basis to clean/organize?  (I really am interested!)
• What is your personal best tip for quick cleaning/organizing?  (Please, no more FlyLady... as much as I admire "her", I can't get past the shine your sink tip... it just doesn't work!)
• What suggestions do you have to fit cleaning and organizing around my LIFE?

Okay. Ready?  Set. Go!