Day #16 ~ The Fridge

I had this done a while ago, but just hadn't had the time to post it. The rest of the challenges, as of now, are still undone. I am working on the mail station, which is actually turning into organizing all my files, which might take another two decades. So yeah, progress has slowed a bit.

It was definitely time to clean and organize the fridge. There were Kool Aid spills, unidentifiable lumps in Tupperware containers, and lots of bags and bottles holding things like half a tortilla or two drops of ketchup taking up valuable space.

Here's the before, complete with yet another one of the furry critters helping me "clean." This one lives for food, even if it's dried and stuck to the bottom of the fridge.

Here's the door; I think 90% of the bottles had less than one serving left in them.

One of the teens-in-residence decided to reenact a Sasquatch sighting behind the fridge door. I didn't even notice him until I pulled up the pics on the computer.

I cleared the shelves one at a time (didn't want to have all the food out on the counter at once) and thoroughly cleaned them, along with the sides, bottom, and inside the door. I don't even want to know what half the stuff was that I wiped off the surfaces in there.

I put things like cookies (which we have to keep in the fridge cause of ants) in Tupperware that made it possible to reach in a grab a few without simultaneously spreading another fine layer of crumbs on the shelf.

I took fruits and veggies out of their plastic bags so they're more accessible and less likely to turn into gray, liquidy, lumps.

I threw out a lot of the bottles, random candy, and other food that was being forgotten "saved." This gave me a lot more room, and made it look infinitely better.

Unfortunately I think this is going to have to be a weekly project, as the other Sasquatches in the house don't have "keep fridge clean" as their highest priority. But it does sure look purdy right now!

Day #14 ~ Under the Bathroom Sink

Today the challenge is actually over and I'm only on Day #14. (Well, I actually finished Day #15 and 16, and I'm part way through 17, but I'm slow with posting.)

It's not that I've lost steam, it's just that many of the remaining challenges take more than just an hour to complete (which is pretty much the only amount of free time I have each weekday).

I am going to try and complete them by January 31st, though. That's the official catch-up date.



So.

There are three bathrooms to choose from, but the master bathroom was by far the worst, so I tackled that.

Left side:

The usual crap.

Right side:

The garbage bag is left over from when Ralph broke his leg and had to tape up his cast every time he got in the shower.



I didn't realize I fit that much crap under there.

Notice the handy dandy coat hanger that we use for getting my insane amount of hair out of the drain.



I purged a bunch of stuff and found some containers I had around the house to corral the leftover crap necessities.

So far so good. And since I've purged a lot of cleaners, etc., from under the kitchen sink and other places, I don't think we'll see them creep into this one.

Unless they've been breeding and I didn't eradicate the babies.

Day #13 and #15 ~ The Medicine Cabinet and Medicine

I combined these two since I had already organized most of our medicine previously and I had only a little bit of cleanup in the medicine cabinet. Kill two birds with one stone and all.

We have three medicine cabinets in the house, and I just organized the boys' a little while ago. Ours in the master bathroom just needed wiping down, so I did that and then tackled the one in the downstairs bathroom:

Why is there masking tape in there?

We don't use this one a whole lot; it's more for things that we just need once in a while. That's probably why there so many expired products in there. I threw out expired cough syrup, pink-eye drops, and some band-aids that had all but turned to dust. [I also found a Gerber forehead thermometer that I never realized was in there. I've never seen it, and assuming it was only used when the boys were really small, it's been there for at least 10 years. Hey, my mom's medicine cabinet still had diaper rash cream even after my brother and I had already started college.]


I just straightened up everything else, making sure the labels were turned towards the front so the boys know what everything is for, and corralled loose nail clippers and scissors.



The everyday stuff like lactose pills, pain relievers, and vitamins we keep in one of the kitchen cupboards. (All of these we take with food, so it only makes sense). I had just recently thrown out all the old boxes and put stuff in a basket that's easy to pull down and sort through:

I write the "name brand" on certain things for the boys because Tylenol® is much easier to read/pronounce/remember than acetaminophen.

I was happy to be able to knock out two challenges in one shot!

Day #12 ~ The Spice Cabinet

Whoo boy am I behind!

A funeral + a cold + real life = a pretty full schedule. The thing I've been realizing is that, as with anything, daily life WILL get in the way of organizing (if you let it). So often I feel like I don't have time to organize/do a craft project/breathe because I am so busy. But when faced with something like this 21-Day-Challenge, where I HAVE to get stuff done, I find that I'm able to carve out a few minutes here and there to tackle a project. And I have to say, if that's the only thing I take away from this challenge, it will be worth it.

Okay, the spice cabinet. I am a very un-spicy person. Salt and garlic are about the only things I use to flavor my food, and neither of those falls in the spice category. My husband, on the other hand, likes to mix things up and try new spices as well as keep staples in stock.

Here's what we were working with:

A narrow, deep cupboard that's not really easy to access.
Even though I had a plastic tub to try and organize it, most of our stuff was just thrown in there.



This is just some of it, although the cup and the remote control were already on the counter, not in the cupboard.


I started by weeding out doubles and putting them in a box that I can keep at the back:

We had doubles of everything from vanilla extract to cayenne pepper.


I hunted down another plastic tub for the bottom shelf, and then wrote labels on the tops of the bottles, as we are looking down at them when we pull them out.

For bottles with black tops, I just wrote on a piece of paper and then covered it with clear contact paper.
It took a lot less time than I thought, and hopefully it will at least keep us from buying more doubles.

I totally forgot to take an after picture of the cupboard, but basically it's just a plastic tub on each shelf. Easy to pull out, easy to see.

Day #11 The Freezer

Yeah, I'm still behind, but this freezer challenge got me caught up. Luckily, our freezer doesn't have too much random stuff in it. That's because when you have to feed three teenage boys, you have to have a lot of meat around. I need freezer room to house all the dead carcasses. And boy, does it empty fast!


Looking at this picture, I realize we only have three types of food in here: meat, veggies, and ice cream.

Oh, wait, there's a box of waffles, too.

I put the bags of veggies in the door and moved the meat to the upper shelves. Ice cream pretty much stayed where it was.



I just realized I didn't really "fix" this photo at all. It was late and I had just finished the laundry room. Anyway, how fancy can you dress up a freezer door?


Nothing earth-shatteringly exciting, but still nice to have a bit of order in there. I like the idea of having cute baskets in there, but it's hard to shove a package of 18 frozen pork chops into the size basket that would fit on the shelf.

Day #10 The Laundry Room

I have to admit, I've gotten a bit behind and a bit sloppy with this challenge and the next (freezer). This week I had three classes at night, so going to those combined with making dinner and doing the regular necessities took up a lot of time.

Oh, and did I mention I just finished cleaning up Christmas stuff yesterday?

So... I did take the time to organize, but it might still need a little cleaning. And I apologize for the horrible pictures. It was at night, I was tired, and I was kinda over it.

Here's what it often looks like when one of the teenagers in the house is "doing laundry." To them, doing laundry is doing one load, leaving it in either the washer or dryer, and then leaving the hamper of the rest of the dirty clothes in the middle of the room. For three days.




The cupboards hold the regular laundry stuff as well as rags for wet dog feet and other nasty cleanups. They're pretty old and ragged, which means I don't feel bad throwing one away after cleaning up vomit off the floor. (Six furries running around people. Six.)




The corner of the laundry room houses the mops and broom, etc. We end up buying replacements for a lot of stuff in our house because we have a dog that is part goat and eats everything in sight.

And more teen clothes, uh, "waiting" for the washer.

Basically I just had to put the brooms back in their wall hangers. I straightened the cupboards and put some of the supplies in other parts of the house. (Heavy duty bathroom cleaner? How about keeping it in one of the bathrooms? Duh.)




I used to have labels like "small rags," "large towels," and "dust masks," but the teens seemed to overlook them even when they are plain as day.

Teen: Which one of the cans do I use?
Me: The one that says Laundry Detergent.
Teen: Which one is that?
Me: The tall one.
Me: (to self: SERIOUSLY??)

(I swear they know how to read, honest. I think it's more a matter of *cough*laziness*cough.*)

So, labels? Yeah, not so much. I just have to put everything in sight so there's no excuse for not dusting the living room. ("You are able to dust. Use one of the dust masks. No, I don't believe that you can't find them.")

Better:

The window in the room is frosted and needs to be closed most of the time due to the aforementioned dust, so I decorated it with placemats using one of the Nester's mistreatment ideas, and then hung some vintage hankies below for a more feminine feel.

I was even too lazy last night to fix that hanky in the middle.
At that point of the evening I was all, "Meh. I'll get over it."

It is nice to have it done, though.

Day # 9 Toy Organization. Or Not.

Today's challenge at a bowl full of lemons is toy organization.

Hrmmm....

There do exist toys in this household but the idea of chasing and wrangling teenagers, hog tying them and then forcing them to help me organize their crap is beyond my capabilities right now. I need either extra reinforcements or serious cash for bribing, and since I don't have either, I'm not gonna touch that with a ten foot pole for now. Or maybe ever. My current solution is to make them put stuff in their rooms or the Man Cave. At least it's not everywhere. At least not all the time.

Toni suggested an alternate to toys which was a hobby area to organize.

Yuck. I can't even blame the teenagers for this one. There are a few craft piles hidden around the house, but I decided to start with this one, as it's the one I go to most.





Extra fabric hidden in baskets beneath the coffee table.



I took everything out and realized that I don't even use half of this stuff. The donation truck for the Vets is coming tomorrow, so I donated a lot of the fabric, ribbon, and scrapbooking stuff.




I basically got myself down to one shelf, after putting things like the glass jars away in other places. I mostly just have staples like glue and crochet hooks now. And some spray paint.



For some reason I have about 50 frames that been crammed on the top shelf with the rest of the crap. I organized them, but looking at this picture makes me realize that I will never need that many frames, as I don't have a ton of pictures around the house. I guess I'm just not the picture type. Some of those will be donated, too.


That is the nice thing about this challenge; you see the stuff that you've been hanging on to for years but is just taking up space. As much as I love crafting, I just don't have a whole lot of time to devote to it. I'll probably weed some more of this stuff out and just keep the things that I know I'll use. (I think I'm pretty crocheted out right now, so some of the hooks will be going to someone who will love them deeply.)