Still organizing ...

My new years resolution was to get organized. So far I've been doing good with it. I've pretty much cleaned out every closet and gone through almost the whole garage. It's amazing what you find when you start digging thru stuff.

The next part is what the heck do I do with all the stuff that I don't really want or need. Some stuff gets thrown away, some gets donated ... but the rest I have found a really great outlet for. I'm not a big fan of Craigslist because I've heard of some crazy stories and really don't want to take the risk. About a year and a half ago my sister told me about groups on Facebook. There are Moms and other groups that people buy and sell on. Kind of like a garage sale online for your local area. Everything from baby & kids things, toys and even household stuff. Pretty much anything. You would be surprised at the crazy stuff people sell. The trick I have found is: take a good picture... Write a good description... And price it like you want to sell it. The funny thing I found is that it either cells right away or nobody cares. Persistence helps... I put the same thing up 4 or 5 different times and nobody cared. The next time I put it up 10 different people wanted it... Who knows...it's all about timing I guess. Over the last year and half I've probably sold about $1,500 worth of stuff and probably have about that much more to sell. The goal is to have it all sold by December - then I can move on to a new - New Year's resolution!

Post Spring Break

Spring Break was a needed vacation. From Halloween to New Year's is insanely busy... You try to take a breath in January... And BAM... it's Spring. Exhausting. By the time April hits everyone is ready for a break. I was perfectly happy staying home ...  vacation - altho awesome - comes with its own flavor of madness that I just wasn't up for this year. Staycation was the plan! It was nice sleeping in a little ... less running around. But then there's - "What are we doing today?" and "I'm bored". My kids are not allowed to tell me that they're bored... I tell them that if they are bored, I have at least ten projects that they can work on - usually involving cleaning. Once I remind them of that ... Funny how they seem to be able to find something to do. A few excursions,  some playdates,  a sleepover and a BBQ filled up the week pretty good.

Welcome to Monday,  back to the daily grind. The first day back is always the hardest. Getting everyone to wake up early and be on time can be a task... But it's not like they didn't know it wasn't coming. I'm sure it'll take a day or two to get back in the groove of things but I'll be sure to remind them ... Summer vacation is less than 12 weeks away!

Where does the time go???

Wow!!! I am such a slacker ... right?

Between school, school activities, after school activities, homework, projects, Science Fair, music lessons, birthday parties, playdates, etc ... Yikes! And that's just the kids. I need a nap ... and I didn't even mention mommy duties ... Now would be where I insert coffee ... Lots of coffee!

I am such a list person ... I like to know what needs to be done and it's nice when things get crossed off. Unfortunately ... the list seems to grow faster than I am able to cross things off ... so frustrating. You start to do something with every good intention to continue until it's done ... but life happens. You turn around and you haven't written in your blog for over 2 weeks, the laundry you thought you finished seems to have miraculously reappeared, that empty kitchen sink you remember seeing ... not so empty ... it's a lot like groundhog day ... rinse & repeat!

All you can do is get to the end of the day ... go to bed and hope to get something constructive  done tomorrow!

Say NO to snow!

When I was 9 years old ... I decided I wanted to move to California. Deep down in my soul I knew I was a California girl. How I knew that at 9 years old - I couldn't explain. I tried to talk my dad into changing jobs so that we could move. That wasn't going to happen. So I set my mind on plan B - someday somehow head west. For those that don't know ... I am originally from Delaware. Cold half of the year - and I was kind of sick a lot as a kid. I saw California as a sunny place that I needed to be. I was super shy growing up and most people laughed at me when I said I was heading to California someday.

I made my big move in the summer of 1988. On my visits back to Delaware ... usually summer ... I would run into classmates and friends. They would wonder why they hadn't seen me in a while. It was very cool to tell them that I had moved to California. Most didn't believe me because it just didn't seem like something I would ever do ... so shy and quiet. There was college of course ... then a career ... marriage and kids.
Fast forward 27 years later - enjoying life in Southern California!
My family is still in Delaware ... as are some friends I keep in contact with. Lately ... the weather reports for the east coast ... Yikes!!! I know for a fact that I would be miserable there. I despised the cold weather then ... nothing has changed. We occasionally visit the snow (the drive is just a few hours away). The great thing is we can come home and go to the beach the next day.
Yes ... it can be expensive to live in Southern California ... But I have always said that I will happily pay not to shovel snow!

Telemarketers

My cell phone number also happens to be my business number... The number on my business cards ... The number that is publicly available to every business known to man and to every country all over the world. With that said ... I realize that I shouldn't be surprised at the amount of telemarketing calls that I get since simply having a business number is like an open invitation to anyone attempting to sell me something, get me to sign up for something or wanting to share some valuable information with me. I would say that I probably get about 20 calls a week ... And by the accent of the caller... I would say that it's evenly split between India and the Philippines. I find it hysterical that their names are Bob and Mary and Joe and Sam ... Because we all know that they're not. They are generally friendly and courteous ... for the most part ... working hard from very far away in another time zone ... almost always reading from a script. Sometimes I indulge their inquiries and sit for a while and answer questions ... Sometimes I just say no thank  - you have a nice day and hang up. It's fascinating that these people on the other end of the phone have an uncanny ability to know that you've been;  injured lately, need medical compensation, or have recently applied for a loan or have an inkling to go back to school. The best one is when they want to offer you a free trip with accommodations and maybe even airfare. Then of course they tell you that you have to sit through a "short presentation" - but its not a time share. The reality is that you will have the opportunity to sit through a three or four hour presentation so that they can try to sell you something that's ridiculously overpriced and you probably couldn't afford it anyway.

I have a business that I run out of my home and I am the only employee. So when they insist that I need "their" payroll service is the one I need, or their security system is the one for my business, or that I need their towel service (considered that one for a hot second) ... I just laugh. Half the time they don't believe me that I don't need a payroll service for myself ... like I'm lying.

It's really great when you answer and noone is there. You hear noise and talking in the background ... but noone says hello. I have a 2 second rule. I say hello ... if after 2 seconds ... nothing ... I say goodbye. If you ask to be put on their "do not call list" and they generally hang up. These days , I generally don't answer a number I don't recognize. If someone really wants to talk to me they will leave a message - telemarketers don't. I Google the # and check 2-3 sources. If a verified telemarketer ... I add it to my auto-reject list. What an awesome feature!

Just remember ... Google the number. .. don't call it back ... Some numbers are hacked and you could incur ridiculous charges without knowing it!

Parking Karma

What exactly is Parking Karma you ask? Simply defined as; one's ability to find a front parking space almost anywhere, anytime, under any circumstance.

I seem to have this uncanny knack of almost always finding a front parking space no matter where I go. Anyone that has ever driven with me gets freaked out at my ability to have such luck. Whether it's Black Friday, the middle of Christmas shopping season, at the mall on a Saturday, or just any random Thursday afternoon. I pull up and almost always there's a parking space waiting for me. The running joke is that I call ahead and make a reservation for one of the first three spaces because I can never remember where I park, so if I park up front then I will always be able to find my car. I often freak out friends and family when no matter how busy the parking lot looks ... I pull right in. I somewhat attribute it to the fact that I consider myself a courteous driver. My oldest daughter complains that I don't "honk enough" when driving. I look at it this way ... Everybody needs to get somewhere, and if somebody needs to get there faster than me then go right ahead. I've always believed that if you put good out there, then good will come back. I guess that's how it's worked out for me.

"The Bubble"

I live in a fairly close-knit community. We've been here almost 18 years ... nearly 11 of those in our current home. I consider our community small because altho it is packed with people ... it's only maybe 3 square miles. I call our little city "The Bubble". I say that because almost everything we need is within those 3 miles ... even where my girls go to school. There have been times when we joke that we haven't been outside "The Bubble" in over a week.  I call our community small ... but in comparison maybe not. Our elementary school has about 1,100 kids (K to 6th) ... that's a lot of kids ... one of the biggest in the state ... and probably 95% live in "The Bubble".

When you have lived here as long as we have and have kids who go to our only elementary school (our 7th year there) you are bound to run into people you know ... all the time. Target is practically a social gathering. I have always called Target ... The 3 Mommy Minimum. No matter what day of the week or time of day ... it is almost guaranteed that I will run into at least 3 mommys I know. An interesting observation - only Target tho ... not Walmart or the grocery store or any of our 3 craft stores ... hmmm ... go figure.

It's nice to have that kind of small town feeling. I was recently on the phone with a company based in Iowa or Idaho. The employee asked how big my town was to better determine the type of service I was inquiring about ... I said small ... like 3 or 4 square miles ... maybe 12,000 people. She started laughing ... "that's not small ... my town has 381 people ... now that's small". I laughed too ... guess it's all about perspective. We might have more than 381 people ... but they fit nicely inside "The Bubble".

Organizing - My New Year's Resolution

New Year's resolutions by definition are difficult ... So I guess I cheated a little bit this year ... Or maybe I was just trying to be realistic.

I really do love to organize - labeling, putting things in boxes or bags - neatly where it can be found. The problem is ... I live in a house with three other people ... a husband and 2 daughters. These three other people don't share the same enjoyment for organizing that I do. And therein lies the problem. Granted, maybe my enjoyment borders a little toward OCD ... but ... I don't usually spend much time looking for something because I usually know where it is. I have kind of turned Sundays into "alright - everybody pick up your own stuff and put it where it belongs" day. But as we all know ... If you wait too long, the clutter grows exponentially. Sometimes a week is too long but you do what you can. Every couple months I treat myself, my house, my family ... mostly me - to a professional house cleaning.  In less than an hour she comes in with her crew and my house is transformed ... And I'm happy to admit that I'm a little giddy on those days because there's nothing better than a freshly cleaned house... It's different than when I clean it ... Because I have to go room to room one at a time ... by the time I finish one room and move to another the first one already has issues. On these particular days the entire house is clean at the same time ... a feat that can't be done alone. To some, that may sound silly... I don't care... Cuz it's the little things in life!

Think back to when you were 23 ... Before husbands and kids. Back when your priorities consisted of college and hanging out with friends - Before sleepless nights, kids in school, volunteering, carpools, lessons ... I could go on and on. 

Fast forward to today... When simple pleasures like a clean house, not having to listen to the Frozen soundtrack 24/7, going to the bathroom or taking a shower without an audience, sharing everything you eat at every meal with whatever little person is standing there staring at you, processing a thought from start to finish without 43 interruptions from the little people in your life who feel the need to share every thought in their brain because they have no filter, any kind of shopping - alone ... again ... I could go on. Priorities change ... just roll with it ... and once in a while ... go out without the kids, shop alone ... and get your house cleaned!

Don't cry over spilled coffee:'(

If you were unsure ... let me clarify... Coffee is a must! Like most ... it has to be before a certain time of day or the coffee headache sets in, and ... Let's face it ... it's just a great way to start the day!

I'm sure I am not the only one that has a favorite coffee spot... Whether it's a green, purple, orange, blue or other color straw ... You have a favorite drink or two and a favorite location. In many cases you've been drinking the same drink for a long time and the employees at your favorite spot probably know what it is (or usually close enough). I have by-passed the drive thru from time to time and walked inside to find an equally long line. I finally get to the register and my drink is sitting there waiting for me. Sometimes they ask what I am up to that day and want to hear the answer. These days, good customer service can be hard to find. I so appreciate that little extra when people go out of their way. Everyone is in such a rush or on their phones, that they get stuck in their own bubble seemingly ignoring the outside world.

Not sure how I got off on such a tangent. So this morning, after volunteering in my daughter's class ... I went to my favorite coffee place and got my favorite drink. In an attempt to add a little more milk to my coffee ... it slipped off the table and hit the floor. Gggrrrr!!! Seriously??? I was barely 10 sips in. I was faced with two choices ... No coffee or make some at home. Since no coffee is technically not a choice, I had to make some at home. Not that I don't enjoy making my own coffee ... But as hard as you try its never taste the same as from your favorite place. It was a suitable substitute, but I was really bummed because it's not everyday that they make it exactly right ... Today was one of those days:'(   I cleaned the spill and cranked up the Keurig ... not the same but good enough!

Note to self ... Be very careful when adding milk to a cup with condensation.

Welcome to my blog!

Happy Tuesday!

It was about 3am and since sleeping was not an option (sick child ... post medicine and breathing treatment) I had some time on my hands till the meds kicked in and she was finally able to sleep. So there I was ... over-tired, under-caffeinated, time on my hands and I was a captive audience with a child using me as a pillow ... We've all been there. What was I to do ... Create a blog of course! Isn't that what every sane person does at 3 in the morning?

"Musings" ... an interesting word ... pondering, thinking, contemplating ... yep ... that covers it. Caffeine? A BIG YES ... a must ... a necessity ... nuff said. And I'm a mom - check.

So ... there it is ... The Musings of a Caffinated Mom! Who knows what's next ... guess is depends on ... ???

Feel free to join me and follow my blog!

Tracey