Stuff On My Plate (Nothing exciting)

On Monday I was super-productive, which I’ve followed with two days of “eh.” But here are a few things that have been happening that I haven’t had time to write about.

  • I’ve been trying to remake and redo some things. For example, I had a black Federal-style mirror which my mom bought for my first apartment. mirrorbeforeThe bedroom had a ledge which ran the length of the room and it was perfect. When we moved into the house, I was afraid it was too heavy to hang and it didn’t really go, so it’s been sitting in the garage. I couldn’t bring myself to donate it because I loved it, but then set a deadline. Either I was going to bring it in the house or let it go. So I spray painted it gold. mirrorafter (Technically the color is “champagne mist” which is a little more muted.) It’s now propped up on my repurposed kitchen cabinet-turned-bookshelf.
  • Several years ago my parents gave us their old Ikea coffee table.  I still love it, but it bored me which made it perfect for a paint job. I painted the white bottom with red chalk paint and stained the top darker. It’s not done because for some reason the stain won’t dry and I need to put a coat of wax over the chalk paint. I read that the solution for sticky stain was to put on more stain, and wipe it off. So that’s another task for my list.newcoffeetable
  • Since today’s the first day of fall, I’m thinking about for winter. In 2011 we had a snowstorm a few days before Halloween, and I remember picking Emma up from daycare and rushing to the mall because she didn’t have a heavy coat. Last year it snowed the day before Thanksgiving. So as much as I put off certain things, I’m always on top of weather-related planning. Emma’s new winter coat arrived last week. Her hat and gloves, purchased two years ago, were snug, so replacing those are next on my list. Then I need to drag out and wash our stuff.
  • I’m volunteering in the library with Emma’s class tomorrow. Since I’m working again, I really thought I wouldn’t be able to volunteer this year. The potential for craziness is high because I have to go to work a half hour earlier so I can leave earlier, so I have to be ready when Emma leaves for the bus. Usually I have about a half hour after I put her on the bus. I was really on the fence about volunteering because I’m trying to simplify! But I thought I should do it while I can because in the future it might not be possible at all.
  • Budgeting and finances are things I think about, but haven’t really included in my project. But I do want to simplify this area too. I stumbled across the TODAY show’s page and saw that Suze Orman is offering her online class for free until September 25. I thought I’d share. I signed up and it looks useful though I didn’t look too closely at it yet.
  • I also read this article today. The entire thing is inspiring, but there’s a nice little success story about decluttering, as well as a shout-out to this month’s book, Switch by Chip and Dan Heath.

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