Thursday, October 21, 2010

So I haven't been updating because things have been crazy. We moved 2 towns over into a 3 bedroom apartment! The rent is a lot higher but still within our budget. I try not to hyperventilate when I think about it. LOL I'm closer to work now. And closer to children's. And Charlie's pedi is right up the street. I don't have to fight traffic for 20 minutes just to get to a decent grocery store. It's just generally a MUCH nicer area.

But first:
Charlie in Adrian's old PJ's....awww!

See?

Ok, now apartment pics!

Living room...I'm not running into furniture every time I turn around!

Charlie's bathroom! I no longer have to haul the chair out of the tub every time I want to shower. :-)

My bedroom...the smallest in the whole place...but that's ok, I don't have much stuff.

The kitchen...I know it doesn't look like much, but it's like twice the size of my old one. I had like 4 sq feet of counter space in that one. And it has my very first dishwasher EVER!

Charlie's walk-in closet...it fits everything! No more supplies taking over the house!

Charlie's room...even her wheelchair fits!

The other bathroom.

Adrian's room! It's huge! I can fit all his school stuff easily so it's not taking over the rest of the house!

I also have a dining area, but I didn't take a picture because that's where all of our empty boxes are hanging out for now.

Can you tell I'm excited? LOL I've always felt like things were just slightly out of control. I couldn't fit all my stuff in my house. I couldn't keep things organized. I could never find what I needed when I needed it. I'm not a great housekeeper and not having a house I can be proud of does NOT help matters. But now I'm REALLY eager to get things in order. I don't want to have to turn the house upside-down an hour before our WIC appointment because I can't find our WIC card!

So I've gone completely over to the dark side.

Yup, that's my Home Management Planner. Complete with colorful graphics. LOL Google it...you'll be surprised how many people feel these are necessary to keep a home running smoothly. I gotta say, I'm already feeling more in control. Before, I used to just stick everything in a junk drawer. When it came time to pay the water bill, I wouldn't be able to find it. Or I'd not have one of the kid's birth certificates when I needed it. No more!

The very first section is emergency information. Family's phone numbers, gas and electric numbers (for outages and leaks), apartment maintenance number. Children's hospital, pedi, pharmacy...you get the idea. Also a few print-outs on how to put out kitchen fires and stuff like that. Section 2 is all my apartment stuff. Lease, community policies, ect. Section 3 is car stuff...title, copy of my registration, insurance info, maintenance reminders, ect. Section 4 is meals...a list of 29 meals I can make quickly and easily using stuff I likely already have. Since I'm forever complaining that I eat the same stuff over and over. A "master" shopping list containing all the items I regularly use. I don't buy it all of course, but I can look through my meal plan, then down through the list and pick out what I need. Then a measurement conversion chart and a baking/cooking substitutions chart. And blank calanders so I can full in my meal plans. Section 5 is finances...budget, bank statements, paycheck stubs, bills, ect. Section 6 is chores...daily, weekly, and monthly with blank calendar pages. I have an "other" section with energy saving tips, our homeschooling schedule, projects I want to work on, ect. I also have a folder for odds and ends, a pouch for birth certificates and SS cards. Oh, and a pouch up front for scissors, a pencil, pen, and gluestick.

I still want to add house rules and cleaning lists by room.

I've had a LOT of fun with my 3 hole punch!

And I'm completely redoing Charlie's notebook, which is basically the same concept. It was very outdated.

My boyfriend wants to know when I start therapy. Ha!

Well, whatever. I'm soon going to be the mom all the other mom's hate because I have it all together despite being single, working, homeschooling, and having a SN child. Is it weird that I WANT to be that mom?

5 comments:

Katie said...

Awesome, congratulations! I long for a dishwasher, lol!

Sherrie Miller said...

LOVE it!

Cat said...

Wow what a place you got there! It looks like you got a lot more space there than you did.

And I have a home management binder too, I'd be LOST without mine and all the stuff in it. They are sooooo handy for when I'm unable to run things and a friend or relative has to step in and take over for a bit, they can just flip to the daily schedule and my chores lists and my monthly menu planner and recipes and just pick right up where we were at.

momtoS said...

Great new home....more room! And I must say you are a very tidy housekeeper!

Anonymous said...

Congrats so much on your new place! I know you have to be soooo excited.

(mommy-medic from c-s.org but I forgot my password, doh!)