DIY Ditders

I love blogging, but I do not do well with time management. Maybe it's just that I have too much on my plate. I've tried to learn to say no, and I have been able to do it a few times, but it still doesn't happen as much as it should. 

In any event... My sister (aka Ditder) and I have teamed up to do a blog together, and she is holding me to one post a week.  Ha! So, please follow our blog... Do it Yourself Ditders to keep up with what I'm doing... maybe I'll get the itch to write about something that won't fit into our "themes" and do a post or two on here, but I think for the most part, I'll be doing all of my blogging over there....

Just a note on the title... What the heck is a Ditder?  Well, I am the oldest of three... when my brother was little he could not say sister, it came out Ditder.  Mom always said, go give this to your sister, go ask your sister, go get your sister etc... so he called me Ditder instead of Chrissy. Of course he outgrew it... but when baby sister was teen, the story was retold and she decided that it was a good nickname, so since she was calling me Ditder, I started calling her Ditder and we've been doing it ever since....

Hope you get a chance to check out our new blog... we are having a lot of fun with it, Jenn has all my creativity and a lot more time.

 

 Me and Little Ditder 1989

Adventures in Mind Control?

Yes, it's been a long time since I've posted, changes are on the horizon as you will soon see, and hopefully they will allow me more time and energy to continue to blog, because it is something I really enjoy. 

I'm going to give you some background information so you can see how I ended up in the state I was in until just a few days ago....

I've always been an overachiever, the multi-tasker, the go to person. The Adminstrative Assistant that made her boss look oh, so good, the Property Manager who was given the "big name" clients whilst also performing tasks that the accountant did not have time to complete. That was my life for over 10 years... in late 2009 it all came crashing down.  I can not even tell you when it started, but there came a point when I knew it was too much... way too much... so much so that I actually went to my boss and asked for help... help was promised, but help never came. My occasional migraines became every day occurrences... Sometimes rendering me bed ridden for three days at a time. Sometimes I was so overwhelmed I could do nothing but sit at my desk and cry.  Doctors appointments, psychiatrists, medications only kept me holding on to by thin thread. Things were slipping through the cracks....  I lost my mind, I lost my job.  It took a year and a 2,000 mile move home for me to recover... well, recover isn't really the best word, maybe function is better.  Some days I can handle two things at a time, but most days one thing is all I can handle. I can't think or plan ahead, I have to wait until the first thing is completed before moving on to something else or I am frozen in panic, indecision and confusion.  I put on a good front, most people didn't realize much was different, until recently where things started to slip on facebook.  More and more posts about being confused, lost, overwhelmed etc.   Which leads us to this past weekend...

I was at a party... someone asked me about an upcoming event... my response was something to the effect of I have no idea, I haven't thought about it, I can't think about it, I'm too confused. A friend of mine overheard and she said something about a recent post of mine on facebook to the same effect and asked me if I'd ever heard of Dr. Joyce Meyer. which I had, but have never read any of her books. She recommended "Battlefield of the Mind" which she had just finished but was getting ready to re-read as it was so good and she knew she could get more out of it the second time.  I immediately went to my Kindle, purchased and downloaded it. I began reading it that night.... Saturday, December 8th.

The very basic precept of this book is that, we are in a battle, the battle is in our mind, the devil is our enemy, he bombards our mind with suspicion, doubt, fear, confusion in a well laid plan to fill our mind with "strongholds," areas in which our thinking holds us in bondage.   God has given us weapons to tear down these strongholds. They are the Word of God, received through prayer, preaching, books, CD's etc; prayer and praise.

So, with the help this book (I'm about 30% of the way through it) a new  Bible App on my Kindle in which I have selected two reading plans, one to read the New Testament in a year, and one to read the Old Testament in two years, a notebook to write down my prayer requests, prayers and praises, and a re-acquaintance with Christian radio, I am on my way.  On my way to changing and learning to control my thoughts and tearing down the strongholds Satan has built in my mind.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Adventures in Kindess

While perusing Pinterest I've come across several ideas for spreading joy.  I am so blessed in my life that I decided to take the little things that I already do a bit further.  I'm also using some of the ideas I find to plant seeds into the minds of my Webelos Den. (For those of you not familiar with Cub Scouts, Webelos are 4th and 5th graders; Webelos stands for We'll Be Loyal Scouts.) Webelos are preparing to become Boy Scouts, and since the Boy Scout Motto is "Do a Good Turn Daily" I've been talking about the phrase I have adopted "Random Acts of Kindness."  Check out this amazing blog entry about how one blogger spent her birthday doing random acts of kindness.  How I Celebrated my Birthday (aka 38 random acts of Robyn)

While this little project is not random; I often send this particular friend little mementos to brighten her day,  I thought this idea (once again, found on pinterest) was an idea that is easy for everyone to do.  As a matter of fact, the original blogger used these for her husband and children, I also saw a pin where it was used during Teacher Appreciation week. 

The original design used a 7 day pill box, but I couldn't find one of the large ones. What I did find was a 7 bin craft organizer that is about the same size as a large pill box. 

1.  Simply fill the compartments with little treats. For this particular gift I used individually wrapped items as, in this instance, I was concerned with even the smallest germs.  For others I have planned I plan on splitting bags of Skittles, M&M's etc.  among different boxes.  

2.  On top of the treat I have placed a hand written note of encouragement. The original design had printed them out on the computer, and even had a page to download for you to print off yourself.  If I ever find the website again I will add it to this post. But I think hand written sentiments are much more personal and uplifting.

3.  Since the box is pretty see through and I wanted the contents to be a surprise, I wrapped the bottom of the box in pretty paper.  I added stickers  to the top of each compartment for the days of the week since I wasn't using a pill box.  Then I added just a bit of embellishment. 

This is going out in the mail tomorrow, but since the recipient reads my blog, I'll have to hold this post for a few days so I don't ruin her surprise.  Update: upon receiving the box, my friend opened every compartment, so I was able to post this sooner than I expected.  By the way, she loved it so much she was in tears.

I hope you take some time to do a random act of kindness soon!

Adventures in Organization

One of my biggest goals for 2012 is to get my house organized.  It seems I've been moving from house to house for 6 years, never staying in one place long enough to get truly unpacked and organized and I'm tired of living out of boxes. 

I found a cleaning agenda on the Internet (sorry I can't find the blog now) that helps you get/keep your house clean, even deep cleaned, by doing a small project every day... Here's a synopsis of the agenda.  The actual print out has more detail. Let me know if you would like a copy and I can email it to you (I downloaded it from the blog).

Monday -  Laundry Day (This doesn't work for me, I have to do laundry every day)
                 Tidy the House
                 Vacuum main room (I sweep as I have hardwood floors)

Tuesday - Bathrooms

Wednesday - Surfaces (dusting, wiping things down etc)

Thursday - Organize/Clean out something. 

Friday - Tidy the house
              Vacuum all rooms including stairs.

This seems to work pretty well, I've only been doing it for a couple of weeks and don't hit it all every week, but at least I have a goal.  Now, back to organization.  Last Thursday I started an organization project that has taken me all week to complete (mainly due to my work schedule and other obligations), but I finished it this evening and I want to share it with you.  Not only is it something everyone can probably utilize somewhere, it is very inexpensive too!

Now, this is not the first time I've used this concept, (I will show you some other examples at the end) but it is the first time I've utilized it to this extent...  You see I have this kitchen drawer; it is huge 28" wide by 20" deep.  You can't find organizers for something that size, which makes it impossible to find the utensil you need when you need it.

I was discussing the problem with my 8 year old, running an idea by him that I had come up with. A quite complicated idea that involved buying wood and building a divider.  He said "Mom, why don't you just use boxes like you did for my desk?" Thank goodness children think simply. I couldn't believe I didn't think of that myself!  So I dug through the pantry and searched the house for boxes, and even found a box at work that would work for some of the bigger items.

I placed each box in the drawer and drew lines around it with a sharpie.  (Please excuse the dye mark on my hand, I had been helping my husband in the shop that day).

Next, using a box cutter (you could also use a Stanley knife) I cut along the lines.

Then I test fit the boxes in the drawer and went looking for more boxes to fill in the holes.


In most cases you can stop at this point, but since this is a heavily used kitchen drawer, I decided it needed a little more attention. So I wrapped each box in contact paper. This step will make the boxes sturdier and make it easy to wipe them out and keep the drawer clean. If you are planning to cover your boxes in contact paper, I highly recommend and abstract pattern, I used the "granite" pattern and it worked great because I didn't have to worry about lining things up and could patch any mistakes with scraps. It took two 9 foot rolls of contact paper to complete this project. That was the only expense.



Viola! The finished project.  Now, I said I've done this before, The following drawers need a little attention as they haven't been redone since the last move and some of the boxes are missing. 

Dominic's desk is actually a computer desk without a drawer, we utilized boxes on the keyboard tray to make cubbies for all his school supplies.

We also have a hutch that has been utilized as a catch-all and TV stand in the past but now holds the vivarium for Dominic's bearded dragon, Dexter. In the past this drawer held mostly batteries and candles, and I'm thinking the batteries will again call this drawer home once I begin to organize the drawers in the laundry room.

I hope you found this idea helpful.  Stay tuned to follow me on more organizational adventures as I work toward my whole house organization goal this year!



A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Hodgepodge

Finally getting back into the swing of things by joining Joyce and friends for the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. A new Miss America was crowned on Saturday night-did you watch? If you were a contestant what would your talent be?

I did not watch the pagent, I was working, but if I had been home I probably wouldn't have watched it anyway... I don't watch much TV.  If I was a contestant my talent would be.... hmmm. Back in the days when I actually could have been a contestant I probably would have played the saxophone. Now maybe some type of target shooting. I don't really know.

2. Do you have houseplants? Real or fake?

I do not currently have houseplants, I got rid of them all when Dominic started to crawl. I didnt want him dumping them, eating them or eating the dirt.  I've thought about getting some more, but they are just so expensive and my house doesn't have much natural light.  Oh, I guess I do have one fake one... I have an antique fern planter that I have full of fake ferns.

3. When you were in school did you speak up or were you more of the hide your face, avoid eye contact, and pray the teacher didn't call on you type of student?

I'd say I was pretty much the hide my face and avoid eye contact type of person, especially in math.

4. Next Monday marks the Chinese New Year...what do you order when someone suggests
Chinese food?
My favorite entre is sesame chicken, I also enjoy egg drop soup,  crab rangoons and a good egg roll, though it is quite difficult to find a good egg roll anymore.  Ya know, I could really go for some PF Changs lettuce wraps right now... I really miss PF Changs.

5. How would you define a miracle? What would it take for you to consider something a miracle?
Something that can be explained other than through the intervention of God.

6. What's your favorite Disney song? If you're stuck you'll find a list here. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins. If you think the sound of it is something quite atrocious, you should try to spell it.

7. I should have _____________ yesterday.
Cleaned the bathrooms... I woke with a headache, Dominic was sick too... I slept most of the day then went to work.  Tuesday is my bathroom cleaning day, it's the only chore that I make sure I do to keep myself on schedule. But thats ok, I am having a good day today so I'll be able to fit them in.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Life has been crazy busy and I can't even tell you with what.  I've sorely neglected my blog and I think about it usually on Thursday when its too late to do the Wednesday Hodgepodge.  Good news is, I have a few topics rattling around in my head and as soon as those bathrooms are done, I think I have time to compose at least one.

A Fairy Tale Hodgepodge - 12/7/11

Joining Joyce and friends for the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  Will you be hosting any house guests between now and the end of December? Does that thought make you happy or crazy? Do you do anything special for your guests to make them feel at home? How long should a house guest stay?

As far as I know we will not be hosting any house guests between now and the end of December, but who knows, we may have some impromptu overnight guests while my son is on winter break.  I don't think much of not having guests because we never have had guests over the holidays, although sometimes I think it would be nice. I've always wanted to make little guest baskets, but not having guests, I've never had the opportunity to.

2. Walter Elias Disney was born this week (December 5) back in 1905 ...what's your all time favorite Disney movie? Here's a list in case you're struggling...and yes, you have to pick one.

I would have to say my favorite Disney movie is Cinderella.  You can't go wrong with a classic like Cinderella, it has to be the quintessential fairy tale of all time; poor orphan girl meets, falls in love with and marries a prince. Every girls dream. Her ball gown is what I thought prom and wedding dresses were suppose to look like until a few short years before my first prom.  I can't mention the movie Cinderella without mentioning my favorite line, which is when Cinderella says "and look, glass slippers."  Plus,  I love the mice, they always make me laugh.

3. What was the last thing you purchased that you realized was a mistake after the fact?

It happened last night as a matter of fact, an acquaintance of mine brought me 5 pounds of  locally caught, freshly smoked, salmon, which I purchased from him.  Upon getting it home, I tasted it, found it over-smoked to my taste (and my family's). Now I have 5 pounds of smoked salmon I need to figure out what to do with (I've vacuum sealed it and tossed it in the freezer for now).

4. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done online?

Very little if any of my Christmas shopping is done online. I think last year I may have purchased a few hard to find DVD's for my husband, step-dad and father-in-law. This year, we may end up purchasing another DVD for my father-in-law and possibly an Amazon gift card for my niece to buy books for her kindle. But, so far, none of our shopping has been done online.

5. Amaryllis-snowdrop-poinsettia...your favorite winter blossom?

Poinsettias without a doubt. As you can see above I used poinsettias in my bridal bouquet. (One last mention here of our 17th Wedding Anniversary which we celebrated this past weekend - yay us!)  We also spent part of our honeymoon on the Caribbean rain forest island of Dominica, where the poinsettias were growing wild all over the place.  It was beautiful. 

6. What is one thing on your personal Christmas wish list? I think we all want peace on earth so let's make this answer an actual item.

It is always so hard for me to think of things for myself, as a matter of fact, just yesterday I decided to start a board on pinterest for just this purpose.  There is one item on it so far, an immersion blender.

7. If you could only use one word today what would it be?

Love.  I firmly believe that you need to tell the people you love that you love them every day.  So if I could only use one word today, I'd have to say love.  Even if I can't say I and you, I think they would understand if I just looked at them and said love.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We usually do Christmas Eve at my Mother-in-law's house. (Pictured above is Christmas Eve 2004, a 16 month old Dominic enjoying ritz crackers and cheese) Peggy is retired and my Father-in-law is planning to retire soon.  For over 17 years I've been a part of this family and every year my Peggy makes all the food. Granted, it's snack type foods, but it's a lot for one person to take on, especially financially.  This year my niece and I decided enough was enough. We've left her two things to make and divy'd up the rest of the food between the family members, some just need to pick up a bag of chips or a box or crackers. The menu has been pretty set for years, but I suggested if someone wants to bring something new in addition to their assigned item they are welcomed to do so... I'm excited to see if any new food traditions develop... (I've got one in the works that I'm sure will be a big hit - if I can pull it off that is!)

Oh, Christmas Tree!

One thing I love about blogging, is the more blogs you read, the more topics you come up with.  I hope no one gets offended when I use their topics. Once again, this great blog topic came from Amiee. Her blog Promises and Secrets  is one of my favorites.

The Christmas tree is one of my very favorite Christmas traditions. (I mean, who doesn't love a Christmas tree!) Starting in the late 70's or early 80's my Grandma began doing themed Christmas tree's. She would change the theme every few years.  One year we spent hours poking fabric into styrofoam balls to make "quilted" ornaments.  One year it was all "sugared" toy ornaments,  toy soldiers, rocking horses etc, very cute.  The last themed tree my Grandma had was very beautiful, it was all gold and ivory, she used this for several years before she died, and when she was gone, I took over with that theme, which I kept, adding and deleting ornaments, for almost 10 years after she was gone.  The pictures above are from 2003, the last year I had the "fancy tree" (Dominic's first Christmas).  Hubby and I agreed that once we had kids, we would switch to a "fun" tree (as he called it). 

12/7/11 Revision: So while working on my next entry I pulled up the 2004 Christmas pictures and low and behold, there was my lovely ivory and gold tree.  So, now a quest to determine when we actually switched to the "fun" tree... ( I think maybe for the first few years I allowed "fun" ornaments like Star Wars ornaments etc on the fancy tree... the colored lights thing was hard for me to swallow)

We've had a few live trees,  one year, hubby even impressed the man at the Christmas Tree stand by fitting a 9 1/2' Christmas tree completely inside our tiny little Ford Festiva.  He shoved it in the hatch back, trunk first until the trunk of the tree was on the dashboard, then folded the tip top of the tree over and closed the hatch. (They did wrap the tree in one of those nets or else it probably would never have worked).  Last year, we also had a live tree (pictured above) because our humble farm house does not boast the cathedral ceilings that our house in Las Vegas had, and our 9' artificial tree would not fit.  Personally, I prefer the artificial anyway, no watering, no needles all over the floor (or in your feet). So after Christmas last year we hit the after Christmas sales and bought a smaller pre-lit tree.  We got one for Dominic's playroom too (an even smaller and not pre-lit, we paid under $10 for it.) He loves having his very own tree in his playroom,  it is pictured below.

The fun tree has retained a few fancy ornaments, but now boasts colored lights (in addition to the white lights that came on the Pre-lit tree).  Of course the most "fun" things about this tree are the ornaments. Each has its own story, which is a blog topic in itself, sounds like a good one for tomorrow.
And finally, this year's tree...

So with that, I'll leave you to begin taking pictures of some of our favorite Christmas ornaments. Merry Christmas to you and happy decorating!