Relax, you have three different types of mustard*

Spending all this time at home comes with a downside.

I find myself wishing I had more than I do:

a new kitchen floor,

new kitchen cabinets, 

better kitchen lighting,

ok, a whole new kitchen: walls torn down, windows added, complete reorganization of appliances, etc.,

new carpet on the stairs and upstairs,

or better, no carpet, and bamboo flooring instead,

something to hang on that wall where I had the #7,

a new bathroom shower...

I, unfortunately, could go on.

I love looking at design blogs/websites too and get so inspired by ideas I see but we're still in limbo about selling the house and our budget doesn't exactly match all these lofty design ideas.

They (design blog writers) kill me every time they say something like, "we found these cute vintage napkins on Etsy for $30 and were ecstatic, as they usually cost $100 or more."

OK, but you still spent $30 on old napkins.

So, I decided the one thing I can afford is to keep this home of ours clean.

Because, one uniting theme among all design sites is the cleanliness of the homes (and the ubiquity of peonies...seriously, find a new flower people. They're awesome and I swoon every spring when they come around but fo reals, pick a new "it" flower).

And so I found myself last Thursday knee deep in our garage surrounded by, well, garage stuff: boxes (whoa, A LOT of boxes), toys, books, craft supplies, fans, decorations for the seasons, wagons, bikes, old furniture we're trying to sell, and lots of bugs and dirt.

And I was happy.

So, so happy.

I found my FLOW big time.

I love organizing. 

Love. it. 

And, I've sort of been denying myself my natural urge to organize, as all respectable parenting books will tell you to let that sort of thing go and just be with your children. Because before you know it they're asking you for the keys to the car.

So I let it go. 

I stopped organizing (some would argue with me about this, but compared to how I use to be, I've become unorganized).

But it just ain't me. 

To be a happy person, and thus a happy mama, I need to feed this desire to minimize and organize. It makes me feel me.

So, then this week I took everything out of the fridge and cleaned it from head to toe. (Frigde head to toe, freezer is next.)

Check it out, looks like the day we brought her home:

I realized when I had all the contents of the fridge on the kitchen counter that I was losing sight of the abundance all around me and need to start taking inventory of all I have and not what I don't.

I mean, we have three different types of mustard. 

We're doing alright.

But, I have made a couple of life changing purchases.

This lovely site was happening on a regular basis. 

For some reason the coffee would skip the pot and leak out the sides.

(some sort of blockage that we could not detect despite our regular attempts.)

I don't know why I was so reluctant/resistant to replace it but I finally did (with this!, yes, old school baby) and it has made my morning stress-free.

I now feel I can safely leave the kitchen to rouse the sleeping babies without coming back to a coffee flood.

Although, even though I've had my new one over a month I still have the habit of checking on it as it brews. Hopefully this urge will decrease over time. 

I also bought a new salad spinner that actually spins the water off of the lettuce and is BPA-free. 

Score!

I haven't yet, but I plan to relegate the old one to art projects. 

So, not a total waste.

I have no pictures of it but I also bought a new printer.

Man, has that made an impact as well!

It's so nice when paper feeds through a printer with ease and also prints ink with words on the page.

:)

Check us out!

We're cleaning:)

So, scruba dub dub...

No one will ever offer me a before and after post on their design blog but I will continue to keep a tidy (as can be) home and poke my head in the very full fridge from time to time to be reminded of all that mustard.

*Dijon, whole grain dijon, and regular organic yellow mustard.