Stairs, Door Knobs and Chair Backs a Small Thing

Today Rachel Anne over at Home Sanctuary suggested a Small Thing. Clean these . . .

Beautiful but without the budget to have one of those nice little ladies around I sure wouldn't want one.

This is a little more my style. In fact it reminds me of the staircase in the house that we lived in when our children were young. See the arched doorway? Well ours was a door way to a closet that was under the stairs. It was the neatest closet. I stored all my holiday decorations there. I sure do miss that closet and that stair case.

But that is a rabbit and I must get back to the Simple Thing at hand. What Rachel suggested was picking up those items that you leave at the foot of the stairs. You know the shoes, toilet paper, errant books, clean clothes. All that stuff you come across during your daily activities that need to go up.

Well I no longer have a stair case. My nemesis is . . .



The backs of these chairs. And . . .

Door knobs! Yep. Door knobs.

My Cowboy has this habit of going to a dollar store and buying something for the car like windex or I don't know just stuff and he has the habit of walking in and leaving the sack hanging either on the above chairs or on a door knob.

Today I removed and put away: fix a flat, dryer sheets and gum. That was only from one door.

The bar chairs were nicely displaying the bag from the dry cleaners.

Now I can see and enjoy my lovely vintage door knobs while I count the points that I have been collecting this week by doing the Small Things. Well actually I don't have any vintage door knobs I found that cool photo on the net. But it is nice to dream.

If my calculations are correct I now have 140 points! WooHoo!

Company Girls Coffee

Welcome to My Home Sanctuary
I am glad you cam to visit for coffee it is brewing and ready for you.
Today I am joining here . . .

sitting next to my favorite chair with a glass of Pepsi. I took this photo a few weeks ago when Rachel mentioned straightening pillows.
I took the photo before they got all tidyed. The poor blanket is just tossed on the back of the chair. Guess I need to remove that silly tag.

The pillows are two of my favorites. The larger one a silk from Pottery Barn that I inherited from my daughter. The small one is a beaded pillow that I got from Target years ago. I love it. I used to only put it out at Christmas but it looks so good on the chair with the yellow walls that I leave it out all the time now.

This week I did join Rachel and began working on my schedule but I had a difficult time with it because my some big things are changing around here.

First I will only be keeping my grand baby on Mondays. I was keeping him 2-3 days a week. Man a baby takes up a lot of time! He is 20 months now and starting pre-school next Tues.

Secondly we made a decision on Wednesday about our ministry. We have been going to the Food Bank every Wednesday to purchase the food that we pass out. Wednesday is a loooooooooooong hard day for us. Just to give you an idea our truck is usually full when we return to the warehouse. Usually there are at least a dozen 40# boxes and there are usually 20 cases of milk boxes (you know the kind with the straw) they are so heavy. Anyway we are pretty much stocked up with cans of veggies right now so we are only going to be going every other week now. I think this will help alot on gas and our energy for sure. And right now we aren't going to work on Fridays because the prison units all over the state are on lock down the girls can't leave to come do community service for awhile until they make some policy changes.

So all that said I am not sure exactly how make a schedule.

So this week I have been enjoying doing minimal maintenance. The baby was my 'helper' yesterday as Rachel suggested. I know we're not supposed to enlist children under 16 but really all he did was play quietly in his bed where he is contained and I got a couple of things done. I posted photo's yesterday. He is so cute.

Another thing I got started was getting all my snowmen and women out. I usually do this the beginning of January but well I need to get that schedule done. LOL!

In my own defense it was a long hard week because we were just getting unthawed from the how many days of frigidness was it? Too many to think about. We were actually with out water for 5 days. A couple of days we had it for a couple of hours but that was all. So this week I have been catching up on laundry and dishes. Whew I am glad it is warmer!

Well that was pretty much my week. I do hope you'll come by again and visit. As I get myself organized I'll share some photo's of my home as it becomes a Sanctuary. Don't forget your invited to the other Company Girls too for coffee go by Rachel's and follow the links.
I hope your day is Blessed.

Whistle While You Work

BTW theres a really cool giveway over at Once upon a Plate. I left the link at the end of my post.
Today Here's how. . .

Today Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary's challenge was to ask for help to take on a home cleaning or organizing task.
Here's my helper.

I actually groaned when I read her suggestion because my Cowboy is gone today and I am alone with the baby. But earlier after changing his diaper I put him in the crib to take care of the disposing etc. and asked him to play for a minute and he did.

So I took advantage and did minimal maintenance on the adjacent bathroom counter. Then I even did a little more Snow decorating.
Darn I have been trying to get this task done since the day after Christmas.

Even though there was no real whistling because neither one of can I was humming while I worked. Does that count?

And I am still going to get Cowboy to help by putting away his laundry after my finally catching up after the big freeze. I have just been washing and washing and washing and drying (times 3) without putting much of it away. Now I'll twist his arm to help! I'll tell him Rachel said so.

Go over here to enter for a lovely Blue Tea Set at Once Upon a Plate.

Once upon a time . . .

Here's Rachel Anne's Small Thing suggestion for today:
"Today's Small Thing is to tell a story. You might not think you are a good storyteller, but don't let that stop you. I'll make this easy by giving you a simple subject: a favorite Christmas memory from your past."

Hmm....Rachel Anne's suggested telling a story about a favorite Christmas memory.
As I stop and ponder the first memory that pops into my head is . . . Once upon a time my Cowboy gave me a lovely total 1 carat ring. It was actually a bunch of little diamonds but they totaled a carat. We have this photo of me opening the little box. It really isn't that particular gift that is the special part of the memory. In the photo I am wearing blue sweats. That year I purchased new sweats for all of us. Each one a different color. The kids were left on the beds with a note telling them to put them on before leaving their rooms.
That began a tradition of purchasing something to wear each Christmas day. Sometimes it was sweat shirts or sweaters all matching. Sometimes it was different colors. Sometimes it was p.j.'s.
I have some wonderful photo's of that Christmas morning but I would have to dig them out. Luckily Rachel Anne didn't require photo's. Maybe one day I will dig them out and post them with a link back here.

Todays Small Thing

Sharing Rachel Anne's Small Thing today...

Are you ready for the holidays?
Me, neither. Not yet, anyway.
But with a little head start, we'll be on our way...with a festive spirit!
Even though Thanksgiving is only a few days away, there are things we can do now to insure that the day will be a peaceful celebration, instead of a frantic rush at the last minute.
Today's Small Thing do one thing ahead of time. Start by making a checklist of things to pack, things to purchase, and/or things to bake so you won't be running around like a headless chicken.
Ideas:
Check your pantry supply for baking items. I'm out of shortening and low on flour.
Purchase "extra" things like butter, eggs and milk for the extra pie or dessert you forgot to make.
Wash sheets and towels so they are ready to go before company arrives.
Wash sheets and towels so you have something clean to come home to from your trip.
Bake and store what you can, if you can keep from eating goodies ahead of time.
Clear out space in your freezer for leftovers.
Purchase storage containers so they are ready for duty after the Big Meal.
Assess tablecloth/centerpiece/serving dish situations: do you have what you need? Last year, I realized I didn't have enough glasses because I counted them up beforehand.
Polish silverware (or buy plastic ware)
Start a Christmas Planner
Ticking even one item off your list will help you relax and enjoy the next few weeks. I want to be joyful and grateful, in spite of our tight budget and time constraints, and being proactive will get me going in the right direction.
POINTS: 60 for giving yourself a head start by DOING one thing that you're tempted to procrastinate
Share your ideas! What can you do NOW that will make a difference later?

This inspired me to post here about being ready. If you have time please stop in for a visit.

Have a wonderful day

Small Thing

Rachel Anne has the coolest Small Thing today. Here's a little of what she said . . .

"Today's Small Thing is really simple, but might not be easy to pull off in one day. You'll get through Sunday to work on this one.

It's this: Have fun with your man. BE fun with him."

Here's why I think this is so cool.

This is going on at my other blog. If you Company Girl's come here and leave a link to your post or go over to my Friday Date Night at my other blog and leave a link I will include you in my weekly drawing. The concept behind Friday Date Night is for you guys to help me and the others that are having difficulty coming up with or finding time to have fun with our men.

So join me and Rachel Anne and have some fun with your man then link with us and share your stories.

The killer scarf....

O.K. Company Girls step back because as Rachel Anne says this....


to kill for.
Or at least work extra hard and log those Company Girl points for.
So this month I am officially coming out of lurking and I am officially posting my points right here. Everyday so you girls eat your heart out when you see my points ticking away.
But, because I am actually starting a week late if someone;whom I so hate! LOL; wins it I am coveting this....


I just know that my hard work this month will grant me the random generator prize of this book by Lisa Welchel. Who I think is absolutely amazing. I heard her speak at a girls conference and she is just so much fun. So down to earth. She even told a story about her son being annoyed with her and setting her book on fire. Hello is that just not down to earth! They got over the book burning though as I see she has this wonderful offering for us.
So girls beware because I am working on those points. I am even going back to earlier simple things this week and gettin' those done. Off to clean that tub. And man what a job is that because I gave the dog a bath in it! Whew.
I so deserve those points!

Simple Thing Challenge

Rachel cracks me up .... and I had to share part of what she shared today because it encourages me to share what happened to me the other night. Here's what she says....
"Dog barf is no match for the latex armor that can be strapped on in a moment's notice. Rotting trash that has been ripped open by marauding raccoons can be dealt with mightily, clogged toilets defeated, cat litter boxes exorcised and HAZMAT diapers removed swiftly and easily with the power of rubber gloves.
I love gloves for their fierce protection against the elements of cleaning products and common waste. I use the gentler versions for the dishes (cold spaghetti cannot faze me when I am so clad), but my true heroes are the tough blue guys who come out when the harshest cleaning battles rage. I'm amazed how calmly I can deal with the most disgusting of situations, like bathroom mold and toilet rings. And let's not forget wet bed-sheets or middle-of-the-night nausea."

Sunday we got home from church and visiting my mom. I noticed that I smelt something that I didn't want to smell but my husband was in the bathroom so I didn't put much more thought into it. It did linger though but only for a little while. I didn't notice it again. In fact we had a nice relaxing night then we went to bed for a peaceful night sleep. I work up in the wee hours of the morning to go to the bathroom. In the dark I made my way to the bathroom. That is when I discovered the earlier smell. I step into a dog pile, smashed it with my foot! All this while my husband and the dog are snoring peacefully. I didn't have any rubber gloves but I was able to grab diaper wipes from the babies changing table!

Here's Rachels small thing for today...
Today's Small Thing is to do one job that requires, yea even begs for, rubber gloves. Clean the inside of your kitchen trash can, scrub a tub or potty, or simply wash the dishes under the protection of your stretchy five-fingered friends and see if you don't relish the inner peace you'll find. You pick the job, but let the gloves pick the fight.

POINTS: 40 for strapping on some courage today! I think I deserve an extra 40 point for telling my story!

Todays Home Sanctuary Challenge

Today's Small Thing is to make a giant attempt at fulfilling our "required" 2-4 servings of fruit. Go over and visit Rachel Anne and join her Coffee Chat too.

Sounds easy to me just eat one of these . . .



And get some of these . ..

POINTS: 40 for eating AT LEAST two servings of fruit today.

BONUS POINTS: 20 for getting at least one family member to eat two servings also. Let's make that an additional 20 if that someone is the man in your life....if yours is like mine, you'll have to explain what fruit IS again.