I folded up the Christmas tree today.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The Big Clean
My nesting instinct has been telling me to clean the girls' room for weeks. But, I was scared to clean it because I was worried that what would come out would be pounds and pounds of...trash. Nesting instinct finally won, and I cleaned the room yesterday.
About halfway through the project, I started to freak out. It got so messy! It looked like my trash-laden fears were coming true.
Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to generate a whole trunk full of totally donate-able goods, a reasonable sized bag of recycling, and only generated an itty-bitty half-bag of trash.
Here are a few pictures of the finished, clean room; oooh and ahhh.
P.S. I wish the camera on my 2009 iPhone still worked well. Darn you, planned obsolescence!
About halfway through the project, I started to freak out. It got so messy! It looked like my trash-laden fears were coming true.
Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to generate a whole trunk full of totally donate-able goods, a reasonable sized bag of recycling, and only generated an itty-bitty half-bag of trash.
Here are a few pictures of the finished, clean room; oooh and ahhh.
P.S. I wish the camera on my 2009 iPhone still worked well. Darn you, planned obsolescence!
About Time
As seen: Target parking lot, Fremont Hub
"Are you reusable bag ready? Due to city ordinance, this Target can no longer provide plastic bags to our guests."
Almost Baby Day!
In preparation for the impending arrival of Baby #3, we have had to make lots and lots of little changes to stay within our 700 square foot lifestyle. One of the most important pieces of our baby prep has been to try not to buy anything new for the little one.
Here's our bassinet, now ready to serve its fourth baby (with hospital bag ready to go there on top):
That's right; we fit it in a bedroom that isn't even large enough for a queen sized bed!
And, here are baby's diapers and clothes. None are new; all are hand-me-downs. And yes, we ran the diapers for an extra bleach cycle before folding them and deeming them worthy of a new little bottom:
They ALL fit in the little bins beneath the bassinet. Once baby graduates to the girls' room, he can have a WHOLE drawer in the dresser the girls share. Yes indeed, we don't even have one dresser per child!
The final, and possibly scariest frontier was to scale car seat mountain. We love our Jetta TDI Wagon and are totally committed to the idea of clean diesel engines. We specifically bought this station wagon new to own for as long as possible (think: decades, rest of life, if possible). But, fitting three car seats across the back seat was looking bleak. We tried a number of brands and configurations before we found the magic three puzzle pieces:
1. Maxi Cosi Mico
2. Britax Parkway
3. Cosco Scenera
We had to order one special item, the "Booster Buckle," in order to avoid plunging our hands into the rough-edged plastic terrain between the infant seat and the bigger seat every time the oldest sits in her seat (because she uses the adult harness now) but otherwise, we were able to get all three in without making any significant changes to our automotive lifestyle. When I drive to work now, I'll be in the ultimate carpool machine!
With any luck, baby won't make his big debut for a few more days, and I'll have time to find the perfect diaper bag on Craigslist. I've been wanting a Petunia Pickle Bottom backpack one, and they're on sale at Nordstrom right now. But I haven't bought anything new for baby yet, and I'd love to stay true to that intention in every way possible.
Here's our bassinet, now ready to serve its fourth baby (with hospital bag ready to go there on top):
That's right; we fit it in a bedroom that isn't even large enough for a queen sized bed!
And, here are baby's diapers and clothes. None are new; all are hand-me-downs. And yes, we ran the diapers for an extra bleach cycle before folding them and deeming them worthy of a new little bottom:
They ALL fit in the little bins beneath the bassinet. Once baby graduates to the girls' room, he can have a WHOLE drawer in the dresser the girls share. Yes indeed, we don't even have one dresser per child!
The final, and possibly scariest frontier was to scale car seat mountain. We love our Jetta TDI Wagon and are totally committed to the idea of clean diesel engines. We specifically bought this station wagon new to own for as long as possible (think: decades, rest of life, if possible). But, fitting three car seats across the back seat was looking bleak. We tried a number of brands and configurations before we found the magic three puzzle pieces:
1. Maxi Cosi Mico
2. Britax Parkway
3. Cosco Scenera
We had to order one special item, the "Booster Buckle," in order to avoid plunging our hands into the rough-edged plastic terrain between the infant seat and the bigger seat every time the oldest sits in her seat (because she uses the adult harness now) but otherwise, we were able to get all three in without making any significant changes to our automotive lifestyle. When I drive to work now, I'll be in the ultimate carpool machine!
With any luck, baby won't make his big debut for a few more days, and I'll have time to find the perfect diaper bag on Craigslist. I've been wanting a Petunia Pickle Bottom backpack one, and they're on sale at Nordstrom right now. But I haven't bought anything new for baby yet, and I'd love to stay true to that intention in every way possible.
Spring Ahead
It's a little early to be thinking about the garden (we've let it go wild for the winter) but this post on Apartment Therapy caught my eye, and lit up my inspiration engine.
Although we have space in the community garden, I love these creative options for anybody who doesn't have a yard or a community space nearby.
Although we have space in the community garden, I love these creative options for anybody who doesn't have a yard or a community space nearby.
The Story of Stuff
The Story of Stuff, by Annie Leonard, isn't anything new, but it's definitely an important way to spend twenty minutes if you've never seen it before. I like to watch it once a year, right after the holiday frenzy, to re-ground myself. Anyone who shops should give it a view.
Here it is, on YouTube:
The Story of Stuff
And, if you feel like learning a little more, here's the link to The Story of Stuff website:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
How much of a hold does the Golden Arrow have on you?
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