My Own Space

Posted on June 25, 2013 by simpleijustdo

As we unpacked the house, our fourth bedroom became the dumping ground for stuff that couldn’t find a home in any other room, primarily because it was going to be our “office”, and lacked carpet. This past weekend, we finally laid some carpet down, and to do so, we had to take out all the boxes that had collected there over the previous week. This left our den (our primary hang-out spot) such a mess that it was a priority to get into that office again and start to unpack and organize. It was a daunting task, and frankly, I was dreading it.

But it needed to be done, and last night, I started sorting music, and other stuff into piles. And since I don’t yet have a job, I continued chipping away this morning. Almost immediately, I realized I needed something to house my piles. I do have a few desk drawers, but they were no match for my piles of tutoring books, teaching materials, and music. My mom and I popped over to Lowe’s and picked up a Closetmaid 9-cube storage piece, and when I returned home, put it together and put it up, and continued busting it out.

I’m almost done, and truthfully, I am now pretty excited to have my own little space. I did have a desk at the old house, but I never used it because it was in the dark, stinky basement. This one is actually a nice place to hang out, and I like it.

Ready for More Liebster Answers?

Posted on June 24, 2013 by simpleijustdo

Awhile back, I was nominated for the Liebster Award again, this time by Meredith at Looking Up With Down Syndrome. Here are a few more answers to her 11 Questions:

7. What is your favorite place and why?

I think this changes for everyone as they go through life, so currently, my favorite place is my new home. I watched this house be transformed from a not-quite-livable shell into a really nicely appointed home. I take special pride in it because The Man did all the work himself, and it’s my new favorite place because it’s already a lovely representation of us, all together now.

Gabriel García Márquez, De biografie (Photo credit: woordenaar (reading))

8. What is your favorite book?

This question is like “Which is your favorite child?” I cannot pick just one. However, I will read anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Isabel Allende, and most Scandinavian crime fiction. I love mysteries, as well as multi-generational family sagas like Greenlanders and Roots. If a writer has a knack for writing good characters, I’ll be reading them for sure.

9. You know that song that get’s stuck in your head even though you hate it – which song is that? Is it stuck in your head now? Hee hee hee.

I am very susceptible to earworms, and The Man teases me by singing the theme song to “Flipper” whenever he wants to annoy me… Grrr….

Hope you are enjoying your last week of June. I am enjoying my last week as a single lady! 😀

Moving Tips from the Flip Side

Posted on June 21, 2013 by simpleijustdo

I swear I won’t post too much more about the move, but it is a big event in our lives, obviously. And since I blog about our lives, it may have a few more appearances. In case anyone is gearing up for a move, I thought I would post some things that we did, or really wish we had done for the move.

Some things we did:

I did a moving log. Turns out, I didn’t really need this. To be fair, it got to be about a week before, and my parents were doing some of the packing, and at the very end, we resorted to putting things in the nearest box, so it didn’t turn out to be very useful at all. If you’re going to do something like this, you should start earlier than I did, and be committed to it for it to work, because truthfully, you’re not going to be looking for “books” after the move. You’re going to be looking for hardware for the bookshelf and your son’s birth certificate. Ahem.

We went cheap on the truck. And I’m not sure if I would do it again. We compared truck prices, and Budget was by far the cheapest and included unlimited miles, which is rather important when you’re moving 14 hours away. But there are definitely some trade-offs for the price. Truthfully, I could never have afforded the other companies, but using Budget was kind of a trying experience. Not terrible, but anxiety-worthy.

You are probably going to end up purchasing at least some boxes and some packing material. I found Home Depot to have the cheapest bubble wrap and paper, and Walmart to have the cheapest boxes. If you live close to the store, you can do what I did: buy what you think you need, and then go back again (and again) to replenish. If not, buy double what you think you need.

Schedule a donation pickup with Vietnam Veterans of America. They will often come with only 24 hours notice, and are very reliable about coming when they say they will. Be warned that if you have more than 25 items, you will need to schedule two different pick-up appointments.

For the final clean-out, purchase construction-grade trash bags of at least 3 mil thickness. These are great for those last minute things that you decide will not be going on the truck, and they are sturdy enough to withstand weather and animals in the days on the curb after you move.

Use Facebook and Craigslist to get a few bucks out of your bigger items that aren’t making the trip. We did a garage sale and it was rather a waste of time. I sold most of our bigger items to friends via Facebook and people on Craigslist. Be smart about it, and you can make some decent cash. We earned enough for our gas and hotel on the way down!

Some things I wish we had done:

Try to do as much paperwork as you can in advance. Just about everything is online now, and you can look up what you will need to do to register your kids for school, get a new driver’s license, etc. in advance. Do this and locate all of the necessary stuff while you know where it is. Put it in a brightly colored folder that you take with you in your vehicle, and don’t let it out of your sight. I didn’t do this, and I am stuck until I can find all the documents I need (if I had a nickel for every time I say to myself, “but I saw it just the other day!!”…).

Be ruthless about purging before you pack. I actually did quite well with this, but there always seems to be more stuff, doesn’t there? You will most likely have donations and trash before and after you move, but it’s a lot easier if you can get rid of most of it before you have to find new places for all your stuff in your new home. This is especially important if you are having anyone come to help you pack your stuff. You may know that the bin of old clothes isn’t intended for the move, but your helpers certainly won’t, and may end up packing it up for you.

Be realistic about space planning in your new home. Empty rooms seem so much larger than they really are. Make sure you are being realistic about how much stuff can actually go into a 12×10 room…

Don’t kick yourself if it doesn’t go perfectly. It won’t. And you will be just fine. Be prepared for things to go wrong, and then when they do, you can handle it with aplomb. Think of it as an adventure rather than a task on your to to-do list, and try to have fun!

I hope these tips help. Feel free to add more from your own moving experiences in the comments below!

We’re Back…

Posted on June 19, 2013 by simpleijustdo

Hello, Everyone!

I am so excited to be back! The Boy starts his summer camp today and is so excited — it is absolutely adorable (if pre-teens can be adorable). He picked out what he was going to wear a couple of days ago, even in the midst of the chaos of unpacked boxes here at the new house. I told him this morning that he needed to have his backpack today and he would need to clean it out, so he was on it within seconds!

The moving process itself was not nearly as stressful as it could have been — it really helps to have a fiance who used to have a moving business. Dealing with the landlord is still giving me a headache, but the end is in sight. I’m sure I’ll post more on that whole topic later.

Right now, I am in the midst of a brand new headache — trying to get setup with my new address. I’m stuck in a never-ending cycle between needing a driver’s license, and needing a social security card, and another form of ID… Except that I just moved here — AND I’m getting married! Of course they couldn’t make it too easy, or everyone would move here – right? 😉

Finally, we’re getting details nailed down for the wedding which is NEXT FRIDAY – Can you believe it? I certainly can’t. The Man is getting himself used to calling me his wife (introducing me to neighbors and such), and it’s still such a foreign word. But I like it. We ordered our rings, changed our venue last minute (from one free city park gazebo to another free city park gazebo), and even checked out a few restaurants downtown, looking at menus and deciding on one which would work best. All that’s left is to get the license and decide on what we’re going to say…

There are so, so many things on my list of things to do (like get a job!), but I am so glad to be back up and running here. I hope you’ve all hung in there, because this transition is going to be a bit of a wild ride. But I am so excited!

Catch You on the Flip Side!

Posted on June 13, 2013 by simpleijustdo

Today is our last day with internet and tomorrow we move, so it will be a few days before I post again.

As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll be back real soon!

A Solo Venture

Posted on June 6, 2013 by simpleijustdo

The Boy has been anxiously awaiting the opening of the pool at the big park near us, and it finally opened Memorial Day weekend. Except it was cold that weekend. And then we’ve had lots and lots of rain. So he’s been a bit focused about being able to go to the pool. I suggested we do it last week for Fun Friday, and he was all for it. And then it rained, again.

I told him we could go the next morning, so we did. We stepped outside and realized it was not altogether warm, mainly due to the wind, and there were some gray clouds looming, but I couldn’t put him off any longer.

We arrived, paid our admission, and went to get a locker and put on sunscreen. We emerged to the pool area to realize that we were the only ones there, and were rousting the teenage lifeguards from huddling in their sweats in the “office”…

I set the timer, and he gadded about, going down the slide, jumping off the diving board, all while five lifeguards looked on. And I felt kind of bad for them, and then I stopped – they were getting paid, so they could sit and watch my kid for awhile!

After a good half hour, a few more people straggled in, and then a few more. By the time we left there were maybe 11 people in the pool, but it was all good. It was warm when the sun came out from behind the clouds, The Boy had a great time, and had no problem leaving when it was time to go, except to say, “Maybe we can come when it’s warmer next time…”

🙂

Whoa, Part 2

Posted on June 4, 2013 by simpleijustdo

Have you ever heard of the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale? It’s this list of major life events (some good, some not-so-good) that these two researchers determined create levels of stress that have the ability to affect your health. And they ranked them. They have a list for adults, and another list for “non-adults”.

If I added it all up, I think it would be safe to say that with everything coming our way in the next little bit, The Boy, The Man, and I are at least at moderate risk. And I think these multiple list-entries are at the root of my mildly-erratic mood swings of late. I feel like I’m hormonal, except that I’m not.

Awareness has to count for something, though. And being a little forgiving to myself is a good thing, right? Like not getting too upset with myself that I ordered The Man’s one-way ticket the wrong way… Oops. Somehow, it will all get done. Somehow…

A Packing Tip: Necklaces

Posted on June 2, 2013 by simpleijustdo

I was a packing fiend today, and managed to get just about everything packed up in my bedroom, including my jewelry. Remember my storage board for necklaces? It was fairly simple to pack up all those necklaces using some Glad Press n’ Seal:

I put some, sticky side up underneath each set of necklaces, and arranged them so that there was some space in between every strand. Then I placed another piece of Press n’ Seal, stckiy-side down on top, pressing it into all of those spaces.

When I was finished, I slid the tops of the necklaces off of the hooks, finished pressing the pieces together, and rolled them up lengthwise to pack in a box. So easy! (and much easier if you turn the cieling fan off first, so it doesn’t blow your Press n’ Seal all around so that it sticks to itself…)

Your Most Pressing Liebster Questions, Answered!

Posted on May 31, 2013 by simpleijustdo

Well, Meredith from Looking Up With Down Syndrome nominated me for the Liebster Award, and I’m going to attempt to answer a few of her questions today.

1. Why do you blog?

I have always loved to write. If I hadn’t taught music, I would have taught Language Arts, because words are my thing. I get that from my mom. I also blog because I’m not too far from the bewilderment of getting a diagnosis of autism for my son, and also the crazy, life-altering process that is divorce. Neither experience was fun, and it was difficult to find resources at first. It still can be, even in this day and age. Writing this blog helps me to help others, all the while processing my own learning curve with autism, with parenting solo, with blending a family — all of it! In my book, it’s a win-win-win!

2. What are you passionate about?

There are so many people on this planet who have less than I do, whether it’s food, money, resources, opportunities… I know in my heart of hearts that I was put on this planet to help people, and that’s what I get passionate about. Over the past several years, I’ve come to believe that while government programs are definitely needed and have their place, nonprofits are going to have to be a part of the solution to the world’s most dire problems, because governments are fickle and changing (and usually broke). It’s going to all come down to each one of us, helping our neighbors, friends, and fellow humans.

3. Who do you admire?

I admire everyday people who stand up for others. I admire the strength of regular people who have so much to deal with on a daily basis. I admire people who think before speaking, and people who always strive to do their best. I admire people who keep their word, and people who are compassionate. I admire people who are non-judgmental, and people who are not too proud.

How about you, dear readers? How would you answer these questions?