I really do think it's the simple things in life that make me happiest :)  Today hubby & I were cleaning, since not much of THAT has been done while everyone has been sick (and we've been sleep deprived!).  There are a few places that NEVER seem to be tidy.. one of those is our bedroom lol (but no, I did not tackle it today), another is the kitchen bench where the phone & water filter live.   I have high hopes of getting a couple of bar stools for the family room side of the counter, but the MESS that lived there would have made them pointless.  I'm kicking myself for not taking a before picture, but oh well.  There was a fruit bowl there, without fruit... but it DID hold massive piles of CRAP!   In it were: a zillion tiny letters that went to a business stamper, a WAD of christmas ornament hooks (don't EVEN ask how), and those were tangled up amongst an old mobile phone usb cord and one of those silly vertical blind chains!  Add to that many pens, a few crayons, a random spare key and more absurd little bits of paper than I cared to count.. and yeah.  It was a mess.  

THIS is what it looks like now!  The area on the right side of the counter was the offending corner.  Now there is nothing there but a phone :D    Of course, one of the boys came along just a second before I took the pic and deposited his water cup on the bench *scowl*   I left the offending bowl there, but rest assured it will be finding a new home so that it can't play black hole again, and suck in any surrounding items!  

If you enlarge that pic, you'll see my very favourite Fat Cat cookie jar... He's got a tiny crack around the rim, so he doesn't get used.  But he DOES get loved.  I have to smile every time I look up at him hehehe.  Also there are the awesomely cool medieval style wine goblets mum gave us for our anniversary.. love them!  I feel like I ought to slip into one of my renaissance costumes when I bring them out ;)  I think they definitely call for something 'wenchly', don't you? 

 This is another simple thing.  When you have 3 sickish boys, you will do almost anything to stop the whinging and make them forget about being sick... even for a little while!   Nick Jr. to the rescue!!!    As you can see it had everyone rivetted,  'cept Sam, who had to cheesy grin for me.   Oh.. and all that crap you can see on my desk in front of the boys?  THAT got decluttered today too.  Yeah, what can I say, I'm on a roll!  

The most exciting simple thing though, at least for today, was not so simple lol.  I have tried numerous times to add a related posts function to this blog but it never worked.  I've been through numerous tutorials on how to do it and could never figure out what went wrong.  Well, after attacking the kitchen AND my desk, I decided to reward myself with a little time wasted on the web.  I stumbled across another way to add related posts and grudgingly tried it.. and it worked!!!  Go Me! lol    I thought it would be neat to have so that some of my new blogosphere friends can, if they have time to blow ;),  can read other posts and get to know me and my Hobbits a little better.  

So please, have a wander around!   With that.. I do believe I'll crank out a cuppa and go reading some of my favourite blogs myself. 

But the repair dudes are useless and must put in work orders and see what their boss decides to do about our non functioning air con... while we sit here in 34C heat (HOT.. somewhere in the 90s) and wait.   My guess is that their boss decides to do whatever is cheapest and gets the unit functioning until the 'oops you are no longer in warranty' date of mid April.  If I owned this house, I would be concerned with that.. but as I do not, I just want my damn air conditioner to WORK. 

What does fung shui have to do with this? hehe  Not a great deal, except that I have picked up a feng shui book by Terra Collins, and have been Feng'ing my Shui around the house this last week (I just made that phrase up, and am hereby claiming copyright because it rocks, can I do that?)  I did some hardcore rearranging of the dining /family room (where said lump of plastic that is masquerading as an air conditioner lives) and it seems MUCH less like a bowling alley now. Here's a before and after :D 

 Before:  Behold the bowling alley... this room is 24ft long and 15ft wide., and I hated the way it was laid out as every bit of floor space was a part of the traffic path.   Lots of space and all of it useless!   There was a big space past the table, but it was a thoroughfare.  The energy of this room was of a hallway... and said 'get through here as fast as possible to get where you are going'  It wasn't the destination.

After:  MUUUCH better!  The dining table is in a bit of an unusual spot, it's against the kitchen peninsula counter.  The expedit shelving unit is forming a small room divider, because I wanted a place to put my treadmill that didn't feel like it was uglying up the whole room!   Walking through this room is now more like a leisurely stroll, whereas before it felt like an uncontrolled roll downhill lol.  It also creates several little nooks that are outside of the path of travel through the room.

Just to the right of the blue hutch is a good sized area in the corner where I want to put a small table for Merry to have an activity spot while brothers are doing schoolwork at the table.  To the left of the hutch is a nice sized area for reading or playing with small manipulatives and toys. Currently it's got a beanbag inhabiting, but I want to get a small rug and a couple of floor pillows. Just past the table is the large sliding door to our veranda and in the far corner is our ratties home.  And just on the other side of the expedit shelf, lives my treadmill.  And you can't even see it :D  So no ugly.   The art still needs to be rehung and I need to do something with the far wall and area.. I'm thinking another floor pillor or a chair for Sam to sit in while he cuddles the rats and such.  

The room FEELS so much better to be in already.  Strider & I used to take our coffee to the computer room, or the veranda .. but now we'll actually sit at the table and enjoy it because it doesn't feel like sitting in a hallway.  The energy of the room says 'slow down, relax, and enjoy' now!

Oh wait, wrong pirate!  Yesterday we made the trip to Ikea and loaded the van up with our handy shopping list from the Ikea site (and we even managed to only leave with 2 items that weren't planned!  major accomplishment really lol)   It was a lovely day out for hubby & I, we stopped off at a shopping centre to hit Border's books, as last time I was there I took a HAHA photo of a couple of books for dh's dad... and he said hey, next time pick me one up and I'll give ya cash! lol  (I'll just say they are rather specialized gardening books and leave it there ;) Scored dh a new pair of work sneakers at a reasonable price,  his were way way past their prime.  And picked up an iced creme brulee at Gloria Jeans,  my favourite coffee haunt, for the road.

Then off to Ikea for lunch & shopping.  Dh has never had their meatballs with cream sauce & lingonberry jam,  he was hooked at first bite.  Seriously tasty lunch and at least as cheap as Maccas' (McDonalds) if not cheaper!   We managed to find everything we were looking for fairly easily... and had a ball going the WRONG WAY through the showroom floor hehehe.  I defy you silly arrows painted upon the floor!  I defy you!!!!  Before heading downstairs to the markethall, I spied  a very nice dining set that I'll becoveting for a long time ;)

It was rather hilarious when we got to the self service area... DH being the master of loading up a vehicle, packed that flatbed trolley like a pro and managed to get 2 desks, one bed, one bookcase a trofast storage shelf and a mattress... all on one trolley LOL.  Steering was a bitch I'm sure ;)

DH spent the night putting the Kura bed together, and I spent the evening drinking vodka cruisers and painting a few cute themed items for the bedroom walls (ok, I shared a cruiser or two with dh.. I didn't drink 'em all!~)  And THIS is the result:

 

  

The very cute door sign and pirate treasure map, were painted by yours truly (and are awaiting a coat of varnish as the propellant is gone from the can it appears!).  The uber cool flag on the wall is courtesy of Nan who always finds the coolest stuff.  And how CUTE is that pirate doona (douvet) cover!?!?    

The boys arrived home a bit ago, and they are thrilled.  Sam just informed me 'mum if you need me, I'll be in my bed'  LOL

Now.. to convince dh that flat pack is not the devil so that he'll come build me a REAL desk!

For all my oohing and ahhing at Springs' definite arrival, it never ocurred to me that it could be to blame for my current obsession with the houses' constant state of disarray.  I know, I have three small boys, 5 rats and one husband, so I should expect SOME mess... but probably for the last week it's been driving me nuts.   Let me state in advance, what I consider a mess is not anywhere near approaching squalor levels, but it's enough to set me on edge & make me a tad grumpy to the other residents of the house.  

I didn't get a great deal done over the weekend other than laundry, because Mr. Merry was sick all weekend.  He had a horrible fever and was lethargic, and there was a bit of spewiness just for good measure.  He did s LOT of sleeping, like the entire weekend, minus about 4hours or so, but his tummy condition gave me plenty of laundry to do.  Yesterday he was finally feeling a bit better thank Goddess.  Sick kids are the pits..

Finally, with the lack of sick kiddo to tend to I gave into my frustration and made a list of stuff to be done and got stuck in.    I'm going to post it here for accountability... and so that when I forget what I was going to do I can come here to find out lol.

*hang pictures up.. we've been here 4months and had 2 things hung up in the entire house!      

*rearrange some stuff on our bookshelf in the family room to squeeze in dh's books, and fit my collection of cottages safely up top (Merry loves them a *little* too much for my liking!)              

*declutter some of our sadder looking clothing items, bring out summer stuff and put most warmer stuff away for the year in hopes of minimizing laundry!

*find a way to get my craft stuff out of boxes and out where it can be used.  I'm thinking I may ninja the linen cupboard for this and relocate the linens to the rooms where they will be used (ie, towels in bathroom cupboard, sheets in bedroom closet shelves)

*scout out affordable 2nd hand bookshelves so I can get the MANY books off of the shelves in the bedroom closets. 

*declutter toys that have fallen by the wayside, are broken, etc to make way for the holiday stuff that will descend on us before we know it.

*decorate... our house feels 'temporary' .. it's new and has no character,  must find cheap ways of adding some personality.

I think that'll just about do it for now.  I'll attempt to add a few before & after pics as I make progress.  Now, off to ebay & trading post to stalk bookshelves!  

Let the Spring cleaning begin :)

Let me start by saying I'm not loving the new layout I picked... so I'll go back to the drawing board on that one!  Needs more colour definitely, and I think I want a 3 column thingy... but not sure.

Now.. for the stuff.  I'm talking specifically about our household stuff.  Since we have decided to wait out our time to buy a house in a new rental (where all small people can have their own bedroom YAY) we are commencing THE PACKING.   We're going to hire boxes for this from these guys , for several reasons.  One, they get reused and I'm all about recycling & reusing stuff. Two, it will cost less! and Three, I can arrange for them to pick them up anytime within 3months and *I* don't have to have them hanging out in the shed/garage.  Win win situation really.    

Anyway, I was looking at the presets on their 'how many boxes will you need calculator' and was astounded to see that for 2adults and 2 children their hire history shows you will need 25large boxes, and 50 smaller ones.  Now we have 3 children so I'd guess they would suggest like 28large and maybe 60smaller ones for us.   OMG that is a lot of boxes!   We have actually looked around our house and decided we will order 15large, and 20small plus 2 'wardrobe hanger' boxes (so we can be lazy and just move our hanging stuff without unhangering it :)   Hubby is actually thinking that may be slightly too many even, but I think better to have too many than not enough! 

I was just in my bedroom (air conditioning ftw) relaxing and looking around at what needs to be packed in there.. There's my jewelry & perfumy stuff, which will go in a reuseable shopping bag and go over in the car; the contents of the night stand drawers and the altar bits on my dresser.. those can go into a small box; the top of my closet has my massive collection of craft mags & supplies... LARGE box there, except the giant bag of polyfill stuffing, which will be it's own packaging :P, hanging clothes = wardrobe boxes; folded clothes not in drawers = large box; clothes folded in drawers = will ride in the drawers.  I'm not 'packing' anything that doesn't really require it I guess.   So that's maybe... 4 boxes (2lg, 1 wardrobe, 1small)  I suspect most of the rooms in our house will be 3-5 boxes (even the kitchen) ..not counting the bathroom that's 6 rooms or at most 30boxes, WAY below the box hire guys estimates!

We live a pretty simple life but I guess it never ocurred to me HOW different my mindset is compared to the average Aussie.  I have NO need to fill my space with 'crap' just for the sake of having it filled.  Hell, it's a million times easier to clean WITHOUT all that stuff!  Granted there ARE a few things I'd really love... an expedit bookcase from Ikea (for our homeschool stuff) and a few items to use for storage in the kids bedrooms.   But I have no interest in the very latest household gadget that does one thing only.. even if it DOES do it very well ;)     I can't imagine how much money people spend on that kind of stuff!   

And know what?  I'm going to declutter more stuff before we go even, so HA! take that consumerist society! ;)

But I'm not terribly upset about it ;)  The consultant said basically that if STrider had been self employed for 2yrs or longer, lenders would be falling ALL over themselves trying to give us mortgages of what I consider ridiculous proportions (we're talkin nearing half a million bucks *faint*)  I do NOT WANT a 400k + house that's for sure!   Anyway, since he's only been self employed for about 6months, he's just not mortgagable.   She laid out the best plan for us to be as appealing as possible to the widest variety of lenders though, so in 18months we will be all set to buy just about any house we choose!  

So for now, we have given our landlords 30days notice *eek* and are shopping the rental home market.  They were raising the rent up to 295per week LMAO anyway.. sorry couldn't contain my laughter at that absurd price.  It's an older home, with termite infested trees falling all over, and plumbing that is a right pain in the ass to deal with... add in to that horrible crapet that is threadbare, lino that is peeling up around the edges (AND thru the centre of the kitchen floor!) .. the whole place is just a nightmare to deal with.    The market is looking good though, and I'm sure we'll find something great for only a little more than they want for his hole. :) 

In other much happier news.. today is Samwises' 5th birthday!  When I woke up this morning I gave him his gift which is a firefighter costume and case of firemans tools (complete with extinguisher/water sprayer and badge!.. and mega phone that I'm going to try to avoid putting batteries into at all costs lol) and he has worn it the entire day hehehe.  We went on a drive to peek at houses and Merry spewed all over the car AGAIN (i've decided he has some sort of milk issue, because this is the second time he did that after having milk.. but it had been 4hours since he drank it so it should have been LONG out of his tummy!).. and then Sam had to have a bit of a chuck when he got home as well @@  Mummy needs a nice stiff drink right about now!!

So last week on Thursday or Friday I get woken up around 7 by my dearest calling me on my mobile.   He says to me 'Lindsay and Dad both said we're idiots if we don't try to buy a house instead of moving into a larger (and more expensive of course) rental.  *sigh*  I had made peace with the idea that we'd likely never be able to afford a mortgage (or get one even if we could afford it!) and he throws this spanner in the works .. that's monkey wrench for you American sort ;)  

So I had a look online ( I love this site for browsing the market) figuring I'd find a LOT of things we just could not afford, and I did, to a certain extent.  But what I also found was a new development being built a mere 40minutes from Striders workplace, with land cheaper than I've seen in a LONG time, and entire packages that we could have for a few dollars LESS a week than what we would be paying in rent if we moved!  (that's mortgage alone, not other associated home ownership costs)  Soooo... Sunday we took a nice drive out to the lovely Brisbane Valley.  It was gorgeous.. lots of tall gum trees, cows grazing in paddocks by the roadside, and rolling hills as far as the eye could see.   The little community where the development is being built is a small country township (what's the next size down from that called? cause it may fit better there lol) with a volunteer fire dept (not to worry, it's not THAT far from the nearest real fire dept!) and everyone is all excited about the brand new shopping centre going up with a Woolworths, newsagent and more.  

The development itself is VERY new..  probably less than 40homes completed and it looks to be very nice, going on the master plan and what is there thus far.  We wandered through the neighborhood to be and looked at lots vs prices on our handy list and we found one that we love.  It's on a cul de sac with a drainage ravine (ravine might be too strong of a word, but it's a definite 'wet area' that will not be built on) at the rear, and a water run off easement on one side.  So we'd never have anyone right at our back fence.. and the easement is a bit of a buffer to the neighbors on the one side.   About this time I'm feeling us both get a little sucked in... this has turned from a what iffing, nice sunday drive... to something that feels like real, live, HOUSE HUNTING! *insert panic here* 

We drove back to the very bright green little sales centre to have a chat with Jarrod, the eager to assist rep and wonders never cease... this particular lot is kinda funky shaped, so they have already picked out THE perfect house to fit on it and flipped the plan on its side.  So now I have a house to visualize on that plot of land too.    It's not a huge house, only 19square (dunno how many square feet that is my dear American mates, sorry!) but it's got 4 bedrooms, 3 are smallish but serviceable... a separate family/meals area, which was high on my list so as to house all our homeschooling goodies... and it's got a nice kitchen with a DISHWASHER!!!  Plus a spiffy walk thru closet to the ensuite in the master suite.  

I'm totally sucked in.  So is Strider.  The possibility of owning our own home seemed so far beyond our grasp a year ago, that when our circumstances changed we didn't give it another thought.   How sucked in am I?  I have the printout of the lot shape with the house plan sited on it taped to the inside of my computer armoire  *sheepish gryn*   and we have a representative from Mortgage Choice coming out wednesday night to see what she can do for us.   Please Goddess, if you're listening, help me find a way to make this work.  I'm dreaming of my own little chunk of Australia.

ps.  Here's the object of my affections, no not Strider, the house... it's the 19square model if you clicky the floor plans page ;)  Think good thoughts for me!  Below is the little slice of Aussie that we want to make home.