Last Weeks Results

Ok, I'm a horrible blogger. But I swear, I'm going to get better! Now that Dad has finished his radiation treatment, I have more time in my day and can better organize my schedule.

Last week I decided I had to get my Christmas list together. Just making a list of who to buy for and what to buy would be too simple. You see, I have this tendency to buy gifts throughout the year with no idea who the gift will be for until this time of year. For example, I found two quilt stands, new in the box, on sale at a thrift store for $10 each over the summer. So, anyways....I had the majority of gifts inside 1 tote and stacked on top of it in my attic space. When I opened the attic door, I discovered Jordan had stacked Kris' belongings right inside the door. Add the garage sale stuff, assorted Christmas decorations and other crap, and I had a job in front of me.

I began by pulling out everything:



Okay, I didn't pull out everything. I did leave Kris' bed, luggage, a kitchen chair, cat carriers and the Christmas tree. But I did organize all of that stuff. Then, I began condensing the other stuff. First and foremost was Kris' belongings, followed by Christmas decorations. Once I had that crap put away, I just had to make a list of the gifts I had already purchased. Here's a lovely picture of Jordan's room after everything was put back in:



Jordan had made mention that he wanted his desk (in the back right of his room) moved out so it was usable.





Now that the attic space was clean and organized and Jordan's room was all set, I decided to attack Jordan's closet too! I wish I had this much energy every day! You'll be shocked at the difference of before/after...and it only took me about 30 minutes to do!!! Trust me, it was bad! It looks fabulous now!!!





The rest of the week SUCKED! Dad's radiation was supposed to end Wednesday, but they extended it for yet another day, just in case. That just depressed the hell out of me! Then Friday came with no trips to radiation but a boat load of homework to do. All weekend I played catch up.

It's now a new week. The plan is a little cleaning and a lot of homework every day.

Today: I ran errands shopping for deals at Walmart and Walgreens, you can find those on my personal blog. I busted my butt trying to clean as soon as I got home, and then started homework. Let's hope the rest of the week goes as well!

Blog Catch Up

I have no excuses for not posting the last couple of days. I've not only done some pccx work, I've even remembered to take photos. I've made goal every day this week and will reach my monthly point goal today. So, why does posting seem like SO much work? It's sad when you'd rather scrub the bathroom down then post a blog LOL

So, here's a little catch up over the last few days. I did a bit of cleaning in the boys room, which is just Jordan's room now. It's time to pack up Kris' belongings that he didn't take with him when he moved earlier this year and put into the attic until he has room to take them. I stopped at Walmart on Tuesday and purchased 2 totes (only $4 each, a great buy!). Here's the before and afters of the boxes stacked in the corner (in front of the closet and attic doors, making it difficult to get into either):




I do plan to get this into the attic space, just as soon as I'm prepared to clean out the attic so this will fit LOL Getting into the attic also means I'll be going through the tote of gifts I've purchased throughout the year and putting them into my file so I know who has gifts/who needs gifts still. Overall, I'm probably 50% done with my shopping. Maybe I'll attack that tomorrow....

Then on Wednesday, or was it Thursday...whatever, ONE of those 2 days, I did start working on the bathroom. I decided to start with the bathroom organizer, which wasn't really organized at all. The first drawer was a bit of a mess of this and that stuff that didn't go anywhere else and oral care. The 2nd drawer was a combination of cosmetics and hair care. Most days I had trouble shutting the stupid drawer and would have to push things around so it would shut again. The third drawer was travel kits. I decided to just do one drawer at a time, removing everything and then scrubbing it inside and out before putting stuff back in. Now, the first drawer is cosmetics, second drawer is hair care, and the third drawer is oral care and razors.

Here's some of the after shots of the bathroom organizer (I do plan to get the before shots in here, but having sizing issues):













My new college classes begin on Monday, but one benefit of an online class is that the professors generally open them a week early so you can get a head start on work, which is exactly what I've done. Not a lot, but at least 15 minutes a day I do something. Dad's radiation treatment ends on Wednesday, so I'll have a LOT more time to work on pccx. Granted, its only 2.5 hours out of my day, but its during prime energy time...and who wants to start cleaning after that long of a drive?

I don't think I'll be able to finish pccx, but I will put a good dent into it so that when we start again in January, I'll be in much better shape!

Monday Mania

Yesterday went off pretty well. I got the majority of the house in order enough that if someone came over, I wouldn't be totally embarrassed. I didn't get around to vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, etc but I could live with that for a day. I'm hoping to accomplish all of that this afternoon after Dad's radiation appointment. I did get through a LOT of paperwork and sold my college books back to Barnes and Noble and got them packaged for shipment to the post office.

It's 9:45 a.m. and I've already dropped them off at the post office - not bad for only getting 4 hours of sleep LOL I don't know why, but I just was not tired last night. Maybe it had something to do with the chocolate that I ate around 8 p.m. (I'm referring to an entire bag of Hostess chocolate doughnuts, yes I ate the entire bag). I'm giving up on my weight loss efforts until after Dad's radiation is complete and I have time to get back on the treadmill. So shush....

I didn't get to clip newspaper coupons yesterday, which really bummed me out. While the lack of the job saved me a lot of time, I really like clipping my weekly coupons! From now on, I'll make sure I get to the store much earlier than 2 p.m.

Today's plans:

Post office - Done
Dad radiation
Maple syrup farm
IGA for Totinos pizza rolls sale
WHB (Weekly Home Blessing)
At least 30 minutes of pccx - room to be determined later. I'll post before/after pics of whatever job I choose.

The Calm Before the Storm

I know I haven't been good about posting my blogs as well as I should. But, I have a really good reason: I'm swamped!

Friday I finally completed two of my classes: Geography and Psychology. Last week I had 2 projects to complete as well as 3 tests and other miscellaneous assignments, so I was on a major deadline and everything else had to wait. I did just enough housework so that the house didn't look like a F5 tornado hit it, now its more like an F3.

I'm still taking Dad to radiation (a 2.5 hour loss of prime time energy each day) but he should wrap up his treatments around the 28th of this month. Nearly 8 weeks of radiation is just cruel. I want to cry every time some new person comes in and only has 3 weeks of treatments.

Today will be basic house cleaning, laundry and shopping. Fortunately I don't have major shopping to do, so it won't take too long. As I stated before, house cleaning and laundry will be a huge effort.


So, my new classes don't begin until the 26th (Business Ethics and Chemistry). Which means more time to clean this week. I'll be working super hard - as in trying to do a room every day or two. I will post daily...

A New Month Begins

Yesterday was just a horrible day for me, I couldn't concentrate. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep...

New goal: Get to bed by midnight. HA! That's gonna be a hard one!!! But, I'll at least try taking a sleeping pill for about a week and see if I can change my circadian rhythm and go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Like everyone else in the world, I'm wondering how its October already. The good news is that October means that we're getting closer to the finish line of Dad's radiation. At least, that's what the doctors are saying for now. Yesterday the oncologist increased the number of sessions from 35 to 38 and says a couple of additional may be needed on top of that, but we won't know until we're near that point. Yesterday was session #20. Originally we were told 30, so we'll see. October also means I'm nearing the end of the 2 classes I'm currently taking and 2 new ones will start. Which is excellent, because I'm already tired of these classes LOL It'll be nice to have classes and not lose 3-4 hours a day because of Dad's radiation/drive.

Looking forward to the season premiere of Private Practice tonight and encourage all women to watch the new show "The Middle" with Patricia Heaton on ABC. Check their Web site at http://www.abc.com to view the show online - its hilarious!

Off to the daily grind...

Kim's Introduction

We can do it, yes we can! Wait, what are we trying to do? Optimism is great folks, but I don't want to overextend. We're...what? Wait, really? We're trying to do ALL of Fall/Holiday PCCX? Umm...ok, I guess I can try.

Wait....WHAT?!? FINISH??

It's official, Amanda has lost her mind!

Why must Amanda decide to do this when I have full-time college classes and taking care of my father while he's suffering from oral cancer? Because she's cruel and insane and optimistic...all the reasons why I love her ;)

Anyways, I'm Kim from Michigan. Old at 39, married (to Eric for 9 years), 3 boys (Kelly 22, Kris 19 and Jordan 15) and also an adorable granddaughter (Bryanna, 2). Unlike most in the group, I don't have diapers to change or toddlers to deal with. However, I do have a very sick father that we live with who is suffering from oral cancer and is a type 2 diabetic. A good part of my day has become being caregiver for him.

So, it looks like my day will look something like this:

3 hours of driving/radiation therapy
2 hours psych homework (this will change in October to another class)
2 hours geography homework (this will change in October to another class)
1 hour regular housework

• 1 load of laundry minimum daily
• Rumbles daily
• 1 hour cook/eat dinner
  

3 hours television - HEY! I like my escape, okay? Prime time is looking awesome this year
30 minutes of pccx and maybe a little during commercials of tv viewing
30 minutes of cardio daily because I really need to lose at least 25 pounds before 2010

It looks like my youngest son Jordan will be helping quite a bit LOL I don't have time for other appointments and such, but I'll figure it all out somehow!