Playing With Fire

I just spent the afternoon *designing some new Organizing Bags and I thought of a WFMW tip that some of you might not know about.

Usually the seams in gym bags and backpacks are left unfinished (that means they are left with the raw cut edge) and they can start unraveling with washing or wear. Especially if it is thin fabric.

If that starts happening, all you have to do is scorch the edges of the fabric (especially the cut end of zippers) with a lighter to melt them slightly and they will never unravel again.


I risked my life to take this photo for you. I had to hold the lighter with my left hand while holding the camera and taking the picture with my right hand and hope I didn't burn up the bag or the entire house in the process. If I was a little smarter I might have figured out how to set the camera down while taking the picture. Next time.

Look for organizing tips in my sidebar.

*You can find my original Organizing Bags at laragallagher.com/bags/.

Zip It

You can find my original Organizing Bags at laragallagher.com/bags/.

* I would really like your help with something so I'm thinking about having a fun little contest. Start thinking of ways you could use each of these bags and what you would put in them. I'll give more details later.


I've known for several weeks now that I am running out of bags. I need to order more but the perfectionist in me wants to put it off for as long as possible. I want to design the "perfect" bags and since that can never happen then I might as well not even try. Kind of like how my house will never be perfectly clean so I'd better sit down and eat a bag of Cheetos instead. Being a lazy perfectionist is a very fattening combination.

I finally got tired seeing "design bags" on my to-do list so today was the day. It was a very dangerous job but I had a lot more fun than I thought I would. I got to use my very cool super charged industrial sewing machine that sews through zippers and can break your finger off if you're not careful. Ask me how I know.

I played with fire

and I got to scavenge the house looking for items to fill up my new bags. So fun!!!

Lovely had just as much fun dumping them out again. And filling them up, and dumping them out until she moved on to the next bag. That's how it is when you're almost two and in spite of your family refusing to ever teach you how to un-zip a zipper, you figure it out all on your own. You spend many happy hours getting into every single treasure that you have seen locked up in those mysterious bags these last two years. Your family spends many hours crying over this new development.

This is almost as sad as the fact that you are no longer taking four hour naps. We really miss all those hours of sitting around waiting till you woke up so we could see your sweet smiling face again. Fortunately two hours of rolling around in your crib is still plenty of time to get that nappy hairdo that we all find so attractive.

I made my large Organizing bag just a little bit larger so that a file folder will more easily slide in and out, 11 1/2" X 13 1/2".

I made an extra large sized bag for bigger projects and toys, 12 1/2" X 16".

I made my small Organizing Bag larger to fit a box of travel wipes and 3 diapers and I added a handle, 11 1/2" X 7". Isn't that the cutest little diaper bag? (Don't worry; I will still keep the original small bag as well. I love that size!)


Then I decided it still wasn't big enough so I made it even wider, 11 1/2" X 8 1/2". Now it's also the perfect size to fit a couple of the kid's chapter books. I have them keep their books in an Organizing Bag inside their backpacks so the books don't get smashed and bent or wet from their water bottles. These bags are pretty water resistant.


I took a small Organizing bag and made it even smaller, 5" X 6 1/2".


Then who could resist the tiniest bag of all with a little wrist strap to keep their peas in? You never know when you are going to need a snack so why not keep one handy at all times?


If you are really boring you could just keep your credit cards or pocket change in it, 4" X 5".

Oops, I almost forgot the giant daddy baggie, 16" X 24". You could stuff your pillow in there to take to camp if you wanted to.

I still have a few more bags I want to get to this week. I'll let you know how they turn out. Do your have any ideas for me?

Missing You

*Updated

I lost my pants. I have no idea how I managed it. It’s not like losing a flat piece of paper or a microscopic MP3 player. I don’t know how they could have just disappeared like this. My desk has gotten pretty cluttered lately but I got that cleaned off on Saturday and nope, no pants.

At first I thought they might have gotten mixed up with my son’s or husband’s jeans by mistake but I didn’t find them “with their clothes”. I was going to say, “in their drawers” but that sounded a little funny and plus it reminded me of the time Stranger mistakenly tried to wear a pair of my pants. The missing pants have to be in this house somewhere right? It’s not like I could have worn them somewhere and come home without them. Right? Let’s pretend I’m right.

Losing pants might not seem like a big deal for most of you but I only own two pairs. You thought they looked familiar didn’t you? I have to defend myself by saying when you’re 6-1, it’s pretty difficult to find pants that are long enough. It’s not like I can walk into Target and come out with anything below my calf, unless it’s a scarf and I’m not skinny enough to pull that off. No. The only place I can buy jeans is at the Gap and someone who lives for garage sales doesn’t get excited about spending $60 for a pair of pants.

I’ve been wearing the same two pairs of jeans since I had my baby almost two years ago and they were on sale when I bought them. At the same time I bought two more pair in the next size smaller. You know how dreamy you are after you’ve had a baby? You’ve been pregnant for so long that you are positive you are going to work out 5 hours a day and live off pizza fumes until you get back to the same size you were when you were ten. Besides, in 3 more seconds my skinny pants will be out of style even for a home-schooler. I’ve been eyeing them for two years now but every time I try to get too close they disappear into the skinny side of my closet like a mirage in the desert. I can see them but I can't quit reach them.

With diminished options yesterday morning I spotted a pair of those skinny pants and got them to hold still long enough for me to try them on. I was shocked that I could actually get them past my butt! Not only that but if I squeezed the fat really hard I could button them up!!! Doesn't that sound sexy? I’m guessing that if I lost another five pounds I would have two new pairs of pants to wear and I wouldn't need a belt to keep them hitched up like I did with the missing pants.

So now what do I do? I really can’t get to the gym more than 5 days a week and I was just recently considering cutting it back to three. I’m definitely not going to starve myself. My only other option appears to be plastic surgery. That seems like less of a hassle than finding another pair of jeans that fit.

* "Follow the Bouncing Ball. All clues lead to Grandma Robbins." This was a bizarre comment left by Stranger this morning. I had no idea what it was supposed to mean until he reminded me of our all time favorite family joke. A couple summers ago the family was at my parents home for a BBQ in the back yard. Everyone was picking up the mess and getting ready to go home when one of the grandkids asked, "Where do these balls go?" Someone else casually answered, "In Grandpa's pants." I'm not sure but it might have been Grandma herself. Some of us thought this was a very rude thing to say until we found out that she had sewn a big bag to store all the balls in the garage and she had made it out of an old pair of Grandpa's pants! So yes indeed, the balls do go in Grandpa's pants. If my parents weren't in Alaska for another six months I might have suspected Grandma in the case of the missing pants!

Smart Habit Saturday

Welcome to Smart Habit Saturday! If you’ve been thinking about joining our carnival I really want to encourage you to do it. This experience has been wonderful for everyone, the participants and the readers. I know I’m not the only one who feels like they are getting their life back in simple and small ways that really add up. Not only am I working on my own habits but I find myself working on everyone else’s habits as well. If you feel up to it, please join us so we can be inspired by you too!

Getting Started with SHS - Please don't forget to link back to this post so your readers can find out more about SHS. Oh, and I loved everyone listing their name and habit in their link. It made is so much easier to keep track of everyone. Please do that again, thanks!

I hope everyone had a fabulous week with their habits because I sure did. I was amazing. Ok, so I picked an easy habit! I found that reviewing my planner every morning and evening really went along with the habit I started two weeks ago of personal prayer. I took that time to kneel down and open my planner. I was able to pray about the things I had coming up in my life or things that had already happened and I stopped to write down any impressions I received while I prayed. I’m so excited about the way these two habits are changing my life! Wednesday morning I kept putting off my prayer and planner time and guess what? In my typical absent minded fashion, I forgot about my son’s scout meeting. It’s a good thing Rosie called an hour before to remind us! Thanks Rosie!

So what should my habit be this week? Do you think I should pick something more difficult? I’ll tell you one that I’ve been considering but I don’t know if I have the courage to follow through. It’s going to bed without snacking. How about if I let myself have a snack two nights a week? Would that be fair? I’m going to think about this some more and maybe give it a try if I can find the courage. In the mean time I’m going to add a different habit.

Week #4 - My habit this week will be keeping my desk cleared off. I clear it off and things just pile up again. I keep waiting to deal with the mess when I get cabinets installed but that’s not going to happen for a while. We want to rip out the window that’s in here and put in a bigger one. Like that’s going to happen any time soon! In the mean time I need to find a solution that works to control the clutter.

Week #3 Planner review - This was easy but it was also important. I'm still working on it but I think it will very quickly become a habit.


Week #2 Two personal prayers and one family prayer every day - I did really well this week but it's not quite a habit yet.


Week #1 Clean the toilet once a day – Getting it done. Not a habit yet. Any minute now!

Loving Joe's Goals!

*Important - Please link to your individual SMART Habit post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste it into Mr. Linky.

Organize Your Measuring Cups

I keep measuring cups in my baking supplies so I don't have to wash them every time I use them because I don't know, I'm lazy? I always use a 1 cup for oats so that's what I keep in my oat container. A 1/2 cup works in my brown sugar, granola and rice.

I keep four sizes in my flour and sugar drawer and use them for both.

I even have room to keep my sifter right in my flour container. Looks like there's room for more flour in there too!

Don't even think about it.

Just buy some extra sets of measuring cups from a garage sale or thrift store. You could even buy them new since they're not that expensive. I usually use the cup and the 1/2 cup. You can give the extra 1/3 and 1/4 cups to your kids to play with in their kitchen, sandbox or bathtub. You definitely don't want to clutter up your baking center with them like I did! If you use this method you do not need several sets of measuring cups. One set in your baking center is plenty. If you use your 1/2 cup but you need it again for another ingredient, guess what? You can wash it out and use it again or you can pull one out of your flour bin and use that.

Have fun organizing your measuring cups and don't forget to join us for Smart Habit Saturday this week!

I'm addicted to WFMW. I wish I had time to read and comment to every post because all of your ideas are so great!

Joe's Goals

Updated- Look at that! My tracker is working after a visit from Joe himself. I needed to give each goal a score. Thanks for your help Joe! I don't mind being a little dumber than stupid, as long as it's working.

"I built Joe's Goals to make it stupidly simple to create, track, and share your personal goals."

Becky suggested we might enjoy using Joe's Goals to keep track of our habits. I set mine up and it was fun!

Unfortunately my tracker isn't working so I took a snapshot of my chart. I couldn't get it to upload any bigger but can you see at the bottom of each day my total is 0? I wonder if that is why my tracker isn't working. Hmmmm.

I have my three habits on there, clean toilet, prayer, and planner. Plus I added exercise. That's already a habit but I thought it would be fun to keep track of it here. I made it four times last week. I have an excuse for missing Friday and Saturday, really I do! I did great with my toilet cleaning but look how many prayers I missed. I'm going to get three every day this week, I promise!

Smart Habit Saturday

Can you believe it is time for another Smart Habit Saturday? The weeks are flying by so fast! I want to thank everyone who is participating. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time to help motivate me to change and I’m so happy that all of you are feeling motivated by it to! If you are new and you want to take charge of your life by developing positive habits then feel free to join us.

Getting Started with SHS
First Week
Second Week

I want to remind everyone to start small with your habits. Choose ONE thing to work on each week and you will have more success. If you have a bad week, don’t give up. You may want to keep working on your habit or you may decide that you’re not ready to tackle that habit in your life right now. Go ahead and start fresh with a new habit.

I have been pondering the fact that there are 52 weeks in a year. If I start one new habit every week this year, that is a lot of habits!!! Do I even have time in my day for that many changes? If I’m choosing things, like cleaning the toilet, that take 10 seconds then yes, I can fit 10 minutes worth of new habits into my day this year. If I’m choosing things like exercise that take 30 minutes or more each day then no. But consider the fact that some of my habits might actually save time in my day.

If I choose to go to bed every night without snacking then I am saving time. If I spend 15 minutes a day getting more organized then I am saving time in many ways. I will be more organized so I won’t be wasting time looking for things, my cleaning schedule will be easier because I won’t be trying to clean around the clutter, I won’t be out shopping for an item that I couldn’t find or an item that was ruined because the baby got a hold of it and destroyed it. See my point?

No matter what, I am going to be a better person at the end of 2007 than I was at the beginning! Here is my habit status:

Week #1 Clean the toilet once a day – The first week I forgot to do this a couple times but this week I cleaned the toilet every single day. Give me another week and this will definitely be a habit!

Week #2 Have two personal prayers and one family prayer every day – I had a hard time remembering to do this. A couple days I remembered all three prayers but most days I only managed one or two of them. I found that my morning prayer was the hardest to remember. I want to just jump out of bed in the morning and start my day without acknowledging the two people who make it all possible, my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Luckily I have a brand new week to work on this so I’m going to keep trying!

Week #3 My new habit for this week is going to be reviewing my planner every morning and every night. At night I will take notes of things that happened that day and in the morning I will check my appointments and make a list of things I want to accomplish for the day. I think a little bit of planning will make my days run smoother.

What new habit are you going to work on this week? I thought it would be very organized if everyone included their habit in their link below. So if I were posting a link I would type “Lara (review planner)”.

*Important - Please link to your individual SMART Habit post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste it into Mr. Linky.

About Exercise

Do you apologize about your home every time someone stops by for a visit? Check out my article at GNMParents and see what others have to say about it.

A lot of you have chosen exercise as as one of your Smart Habits. The best way to stick with an exericise program is to do something you enjoy, start off slowly, do it with friends, and find a time that works with your schedule. If you haven't already, check out my review of The Ultimate Fit or Fat. It's a wonderful book to get you started with an exercise program.

I enjoy almost any kind of workout but I will continue working out at the gym until my kids are older and we can get outside more. They have a wonderful nursery and a Junior Lounge with movies, games and art projects for the older kids. Or they can play basketball, raquetball, tennis, golf, run or swim. The kids never get tired of going to the gym so if I don't feel like going then they make me! If you want your kids to learn to exercise then you need to start now by setting a good example. My Mother always did.

I have found that the best time for me to exercise is right before dinner. Since I homeschool and my husband is always out of town it's a nice time for the kids and I to get a break from each other and let off steam. We work out, come home to eat dinner and then get ready to read and go to bed. Working out in the morning just makes me tired for the rest of the day.



For those of you who have inquired about my health I will fill you in. I spent many high school and college years as an athlete. I never once injured myself although I watched my fellow teammates dropping like flies around me with their injuries. I think the secret to my success was that I was very lazy and I didn't push myself too hard! I try to listen to my body and push it as far as I can without pushing it too far.

In spite of my great care to work out safely, I found myself injured last weekend. Did I trip over a bar bell and break my foot? Did I tear a muscle doing dead lifts? Did I sprain my ankle falling off a stair machine? No, nothing like that. I woke up Sunday morning with a stiff neck that worsened until I couldn't even turn my head or stand up without agonizing pain!

Apparently I am at risk of injury if I hold still for too long. Seriously! Six years ago I had major problems with my neck because I decided to take up piano and all those hours sitting at the piano practicing were just too much for me. I spent weeks in physical therapy and finally had to give up my dreams of becoming a concert pianist. Isn't that a sad story? Even now I have to be careful to do stretching exercises when I'm sitting at the computer or my sewing machine.

A couple sessions with my physical therapist fixed me back up this time. I think my neck problems really go back to my years of high jumping and repeatedly landing on my back, neck, and head. It looks something like this. Sometimes I wonder if it may have caused a little brain damage too.

Sleep Training

*Updated

She’s sleeping through the night and let me tell you, it’s about time!!! I know sleep training can be a controversial subject between Mothers but I had to do something. She was cranky and tired all day. Naps helped a little bit, when she took one. If she was able to fall asleep for a nap, everyone had to be perfectly quiet or she would wake up and be even more irritable than before. Night after night of her waking and not being able to put herself back to sleep was really taking its toll on the entire family. I had to do something. I needed some sleep!

Lucky for me, Stranger came home with the perfect cure just a few months ago and it has worked like a charm. Why couldn’t I have discovered it 10 years ago with my first baby? Just think of all the years of sleepless nights that I have suffered. At least there won’t be any more. Thanks to stranger I am finally able to put myself back to sleep when I wake up at night. Um, I mean SHE is.

Ok, it’s me. Lovely has been sleeping through the night since she was a week old. Well, why shouldn’t she? She doesn’t have to worry about library book fines or how to keep chickens from pooping on the front porch. She’s never built a house and lain awake at night wondering why the builders would put a door where the bathroom window was supposed to be and why the plumbers thought she wanted handicapped toilets.

I used to be a good sleeper. I spent my high school and college years traveling with sports and music. I could fall asleep anywhere and any time; on a bus sitting straight up or on a cold gym floor at the sidelines of a volleyball game. All of that changed when I got pregnant with my first baby. Suddenly my ears developed super human sensitivity to sound. Suddenly my brain refused to turn off for 8 hours in a row. Suddenly the night time hours turned into nights of sleepless horror with every tick of the clock. I dreaded the sun going down because I knew I would have to spend another exhausted night trying to sleep while my body refused to cooperate.

A few months ago Stranger brought home an MP3 player after I had mentioned it might be nice to have one to use at the gym. Of course it was on sale! You didn’t think he would just buy one out of love for me did you? It originally cost $100, it was on sale for $60 and then it came with a $40 rebate bringing the price down to $20. Apparently 80% off is almost as good as free to Bruno who was happy to show me how much he loves me while at the same time getting a good deal.

That is my WFMW. I have used my MP3 player to re-train myself to sleep through the night. I have a play list on it called Sleeping that plays thirty minutes of soft mellow music and I leave it ready and waiting right next to my bed every night. If I wake up in the middle of the night or even just an hour before I want to get up in the morning, I can put the ear phones in without disturbing Stranger, turn it on and fall blissfully back to the land of all you can eat cheesecake and kinder, gentler librarians who are actually delighted to share their sanctified books with you. I can dream can’t I?

My new Sleep Trainer works for naps, sleeping in hotels or visiting the cousins with their crowing roosters and crying lambs. I even took it to my physical therapy appointment today and took a 15 minute nap while I lay on a table undergoing some kind of wonderful shock therapy treatment. So in my usual way of overstating my point, get yourself an MP3 player, if you don’t already have one, and start dreaming again.

*Go visit Ann Kroeker. She has another great tip for using your MP3 player.

Here is another little detail for effective sleep training. If I'm using my player to fall asleep at night or to go back to sleep in the middle of the night then I set it to play through my 30 minute sleeping list once and then it turns off so I don't waste batteries. If I wake up an hour before I want to or if I want to take a nap in the afternoon then I set it to repeat one song over and over until I wake up and turn it off. The reason I do that is because the repetition of the same song keeps me sleeping when lights or other sounds would otherwise wake me up.

Can you tell that sleep is a very valuable resource in my house!

I Love My Day Job

One of our favorite family hobbies is to turn everything we do into a business. I don't know why we do this because it's all talk. My husband and I both have full time jobs, him as an engineer and me as a Mother. We do it so often that the kids have picked up on it too. "Mom, I'm going to sell this (dumb cheap plastic five cent) McDonald's toy on E-Bay. Do you think I'll get $20 for it?" I reply, "Considering the fact that 20 billion other children all have the same toy and they got it for free, I don't think so."

The kids did actually have a prospering business a couple years ago. It was called the Big Candy Wagon. They sold candy to poor unsuspecting children as they got off the bus once a week, children who where just itching to get rid of their extra lunch money. My kids were making up to $30 a day but they were forced to go out of business when they started eating more candy than they sold and their mean Mom wouldn't buy them any more inventory.

Persistence is going to open her own restaraunt so she can cook and be a waitress whenever she wants and Victor is planning his own party/entertaining business. He has already mastered the art of balloon animals, mime, juggling and yesterday he was perfecting his magic card handling act.

My husband has opened more restaurants, car repair shops, construction companies and private schools in his imagination than I can even count. I've published several self-help books, designed numerous lines of clothing for tall women and even started my own construction company in my mind. We have very busy brains in our family.

Interestingly enough my whole Organizing Bag business wasn't planned in any way. It just happened or rather I was forced into it. I made the bags for myself and then everyone else wanted some and there you have it.

This is a conversation that Stranger and I had while driving in the van the other day.

Me – Do you think I could make a business out of building closets for people?

Stranger – No.

Me – Why? You don’t think I could make enough money to make it worth my time?

Stranger – Well, what happens the first time you drill into electrical wires and burn their house down?

Me – Ya, I would probably do something like that wouldn’t I?

Stranger – Yes, or you might drill a hole through their sewer pipe and flood the basement with stinky sewer water.

Me – Hey! That was one tiny little hole and a small puddle of water isn’t a flooded basement! If you could have smelled sewer water it wouldn’t have taken us three months to find the leak!

Hmmm. I guess I'm going to stick with my day job.

Smart Habit Saturday

How did everyone do with their habits this week? If you are new and you want to take charge of your life by developing positive habits then feel free to join us. Thank you Kara for our fun new banner and thanks to everyone who joined in! I didn't see anyone volunteer to bring snacks so I'm doing them again this week but someone had better sign up for next week or I'm going to have to start calling on people!

SMART Habit Saturday is all about making one small change in your life at a time. Pick one daily habit that you want to start, post about it (please link back to The Lazy Organizer) and then leave your *link here so that we can all check up on your progress and give encouragement! Next week you can post an update and a new SMART Habit or just keep working on this week’s habit for 21 days. Don’t forget it takes 21 days to make a new habit so you’re not off the hook at the end of one week. Keep working on it!

Last week I picked cleaning the toilet every day before I shower as my new SMART Daily habit. I did ok but I wasn’t perfect. I cleaned it the first day and then the second day I forgot so I posted this on the shower door:


From then on I did really well and one day I think I even cleaned it twice because I showered in the morning and again after my evening workout! Then I forgot again yesterday. Apparently my friendly little reminder doesn’t work if I don’t notice it. I need something in neon! I did learn this week that I like having a spotlessly clean toilet, especially with the Potty Monkey that hangs around here. I’m going to keep working on this over the next couple weeks while I begin a new habit.

After all your hard work this week you deserve to take a break and enjoy this tasty Bruschetta that I brought for everyone to try. Let me know how you like it!

It is so difficult to pick just one habit to work on because there are so many areas of my life that need improvement but if I try to do it all at once I am sure to fail. This week my new habit is going to be Prayer which has been hit and miss for me lately. My goal is to have personal prayer every morning and night and family prayer once a day. This is something I really need in my life so I can't keep putting it off. I have to make room for it now!

I’m going to start keeping track of my habits in my planner so I can look back and see how I’ve done. I’ll write a T on the days that I clean the toilet and P for prayer three times a day.

I’m as scared to commit to daily prayer as I was to commit to cleaning the potty last week. I survived didn’t I? I’ll survive this week too. I don’t know why making changes is such a challenging thing for most of us but change we must so let’s have a great new week!

*Important - Please link to your individual SMART Habit post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste into Mr. Linky.

Bruschetta

These are so yummy I like to serve them on their own so I can eat more than one! My kids gobble them up. This recipe is good with or without the vinegar and/or onion.

Bruschetta

6 medium tomatoes, cubed
fresh mozzarella, cubed
7 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup purple onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
French bread loaf, sliced 1/2" thick
olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine cubed tomatoes and mozzarella, chopped basil leaves, garlic and vinegar in a bowl and let sit for an hour or two in the fridge. Brush both sides of French bread slices with olive oil and toast them in the oven on a cookie sheet or fry them on a griddle. Top with tomato and cheese mixture and salt and pepper. Serve as a light lunch or as a side for your Italian pasta dinner.

*Variation - Prepare topping without the mozzarella cheese. Slice the cheese and layer it over the tomato topping. Broil in the oven until the cheese melts.

Organized Girls Closet

Were you just dying to find out what exciting thing I was working on last week? I knew it! I needed to get started on another project so I picked the girl's closet. I didn't feel like tackling the entire closet all at once so I began with one wall and lots of my favorite things (hooks) that work with my other favorite things (Organizing Bags).


The entire project took less than three hours. I cut and hung and caulked the boards one night, the next morning I applied two coats of paint and that afternoon I installed the hooks. I put one row down low. Another row up a little higher where Persistence can reach but Lovely can't and then a third row way up there for long term storage. It's still waiting for some hooks.


I added some cork board to hang jewelry on and we made labels so the girls would have a spot for everything.

While I was at it I put up two rows of hooks in our bathroom so we finally have a place to hang our towels by the shower. Ahhh, the small luxuries of life!

See those chrome hooks? Everyone grab your wallets and run to Target because I bought them in the dollar section at four for $2.50. That is cheap!!! Ok, they look a little cheap but they are great if you don't want to spend a lot. I wish I had found them before I put the hooks in Persistence's closet. I paid $2 each for those hooks. I'm going back to Target tomorrow to buy up their entire stock so you had better beat me to it if you want any!

The funnest part of the project was when someone left the bathroom door open and this little twerp found the paint bucket. After dipping my tools and her body in the bucket and flinging paint all over the bathroom, she wandered down the hall to show me how much fun she was having. Do you think it is possible for a one year old covered in paint to walk across the house without touching every single thing she passes? The answer is no.

Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad

Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer is hosting an Eating Well edition of Works For Me Wednesday and I had to play along because I love new recipes even though I do not eat diet food. If I try a recipe that calls for low fat sour cream you know I will be using the real stuff, just ask my butt. Besides, people eat twice as much food if it’s low fat and that’s a scientific fact! Or at least it should be.

It’s also a scientific fact that lemon juice cuts grease. So if you ever eat anything high in fat then all you have to do is drink lemonade with your meal and it wipes out all the fat. True story.

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I know I always say that but come on. Food? There is so much good stuff out there and so little time! I can never pass up anything that has fresh basil in it. I never measure the ingredients in this recipe. Just buy everything you need and start throwing as much as you want in the bowl. It will be good.

Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad

3 cups skinned and boned chicken breast, cooked, cubed
3 cups penne pasta
2 cups romaine lettuce
1 1/2 cups cherry tomato (I usually just use chopped tomatoes.)
1/2 cup basil, fresh, thinly sliced
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1/3 cup fat free (ha!) Caesar salad dressing
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine ingredients in a large bowl; toss well and serve immediately.

Have you decided what your new goal is going to be for this week’s SMART Habit Saturday? I think I have mine all figured out and let me tell you, I have one clean toilet!

About Shoes

Thanks to everyone who joined me in my new SMART Habit Saturday. Everyone had such wonderful goals and habits to work on and even my seven year old joined in! It's been three whole days and I've already had some ups and downs with my habit. More about that on Saturday. Keep up the good work Smarties!

I've been spending some quality time organizing my side links. I hope you'll find something helpful there.

My good Organizing friend Laura posted a very kind review about my Organizing Bags last week. She always has so many great ideas! Go check it out and tell me what you think. Laura also has a wonderful Menu Plan Monday that everyone should join in. Then read this inspiring post and get your junk drawer organized. It will stay that way for at least three days, I promise. Mine always does!

I have wanted to post a poll on my site for some time. That's what that "Question" link is for over there in my sidebar. You were wondering about that weren't you? I love polls. They are so fun! Go ahead and tell me your deepest darkest shoe secret.

Updated - My husband informs me that there is no zero on my shoe poll for him. The only reason he has zero extra shoes is that he wears each pair until they disintegrate into dust. If anyone else has zero pairs of shoes they don't wear then please leave a comment about the organized miracle that is your life! Confess!

Welcome to the very first SMART Habit Saturday!

SMART Habit Saturday is all about making one small change in your life at a time. Pick one daily habit that you want to start, post about it (please link back to The Lazy Organizer) and then leave a link here so that we can all check up on your progress and give encouragement! Next week you can post an update and a new SMART Habit if you want or just keep working on this week’s habit for 21 days. Don’t forget it takes 21 days to make a new habit so you’re not off the hook at the end of one week. You have to keep working on it!

Important - Please link to the individual post instead of your home page or my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before; Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to, click “Copy Shortcut”, and then paste that into your link.

I’m excited for all the positive changes we have ahead of us, aren’t you? Now if we have fun doing this who is going to be in charge of making us a very cool banner? We’ll also need people to sign up for refreshments. I brought my favorite Marshmallow Brownies this time which are completely sugar and fat free so go enjoy. Who wants to bring refreshments next week? Ok, now on to my SMART Habit!

I have a very difficult time doing once a week jobs. “If it’s ok to wait a week, then waiting two weeks should be fine. Heck, three weeks isn’t going to kill anybody is it? Then I might as well just do it once a month.” When you’re lazy, that’s how your brain works. Pretty soon it’s been three years since you’ve cleaned your shower and you decide moving is really your only option at that point.

I’m much better with daily jobs, especially things that I do at the same time every day. I floss my teeth every night before I go to bed. I make my bed every morning when I get up. I go to the gym every weekday afternoon at 4:00. If I try to go three days a week I am doomed. Pretty soon three days a week turns into two and then one and then never. Five days a week is the only way I get it done.

I’m going to start with my very least favorite thing to do; cleaning toilets!

Potty Monkey

If I start with a clean toilet, how difficult will it be for me to clean it? Not difficult at all. If I don’t clean it every week or every other week or even once a month then how hard is it to clean? VERY DIFFICULT! So why do I like to make my life more difficult by not cleaning my toilet once a week? My mind is so deep and complex that I'm afraid I will never be able to understand it. Or maybe I'm just a lazy good for nothing procrastinator. Whatever.

If cleaning my toilet once a week is going to make my life easier then I’m going to make it even easier and clean it every day. Ten seconds is about as long as it is going to take. Every day before I get in the shower I am going to scrub my toilet bowl with a brush and wipe it down with a baby wipe. Why a baby wipe and not a disinfectant wipe of some sort? Because I already have baby wipes and I’m all about making my life easier not disinfected.

I have to confess that I am very nervous about this. I’m having a panic attack just thinking about cleaning my toilet every day. What if I fail? What if I’m the worst toilet cleaner that ever lived? What if I have to post about my toilet cleaning failure next week and you all say, “We thought you were only joking about the lazy thing but it turns out that you really are as lazy as you claim to be,” and then you never speak to me again? What if I DO make it a habit and then I still hate it so bad that I have to make a new habit to stop cleaning my toilet? I’m taking a deep breath.

Now it’s your turn!

Get Ready For The Big Day

Don't forget to get your posts ready for SMART Habit Saturday tomorrow! See you there!

The Lazy Planner

Plan? Me? It’s an astonishing thought but I do own a small planner of my very own and every once in a while I actually look at it! I am not an expert in planner usage although I’ve tried many different types, beautiful and expensive, yet the one I have now, not expensive and so not beautiful, is working for me. When I use it. Which is the important thing. Finding one that works for you AND using it!

I don’t have a problem writing things down. If I run out of something, I write it in my planner. If someone tells me about a great book to read, I write it in my planner. It has taken years but I have finally learned to say, “I need to check my planner first,” before I schedule anything. I don’t know why I always feel like a dummy when I say that but I do. Like I’m supposed to remember each one of the three things I have planned that week! What do you expect people? I guess it’s kind of sad that a woman who has a schedule comprised mostly of “Clean the house” and “Go to the gym” can’t remember what’s on her agenda that week.

I don’t have a problem taking my Lazy Planner everywhere I go. I keep it in the Tomato except when I’m working out and then it’s in my gym bag. Why would I need my planner at the gym you ask? In case I have to re-schedule tennis or tumbling for the kids, write down a class I want to take, or I run into someone who wants to hire a sweaty Organizer to host a new segment on TV. That could happen!

So here’s my good thing goin’. My $4 planner. I got it all dressed up for its internet debut.

For some reason I just couldn't get excited about the puppies

and Lovely is far more likely to leave it alone without them. Those puppies were just irresistible! I was inspired by a member of The Lazy Organizer's club, Rosie. She came home with the same adorable puppies and took things into her own hands. She kept asking when I was going to cover mine but I just couldn't picture myself ever making it to a scrapbook store to buy cute paper. She told me to use my fabric instead so I did!

First I write birthdays in it. Not that I send anyone a birthday card or even call them on their birthdays. But at least I like to think about them on their special day. Then the next time I see them I can say, “Hey, I was thinking about you on your birthday.” I think that makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

If you happen to lose your planner or you want to upgrade midway through the year then you might want to go with a Student planner that runs from July-August. That’s what I did this year because I needed something a little different.

Cutting the corners off the pages as I go makes it easy for me to find the page I’m on.

I like to use sticky notes in the front of my planner so I don’t clutter it up with shopping lists.

Again, I write everything down. EVERYTHING. Here are some of the things I compulsively write in my planner besides appointments.

• What we ate for dinner.
• What all the girls wore to church - so we don’t wear the same thing four weeks in a row. There is no way I can remember that on my own. I can’t even remember what I wore yesterday.
• Important calls that I probably won’t ever make.
• Errands that I don’t want to run.
• Books that I don’t have time to read.
• Library due dates. Just kidding! I always forget that one but I’m going to start remembering, I swear. In fact I'm going to do it right now!
• I write down when I lend a book or movie to someone and then I’m too embarrassed to ask for it back.
• I used to make a note when I owed my kids money but now I just tell them to write it in their checkbooks. You really have to try my checkbook system with your kids. I works!!! And Mary? I just can’t say enough about Mary.

What kind of planner do you use? What do you write in your planner?

Check out PocketMod for the Stranger in your life who uses a piece of paper as a planner and has a rubber band for a wallet. (I kid you not!)