Holiday Grand Plan, Anyone? - Page 5

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by meandk0610

darn! i forgot about the freezer meal! does anyone want to share what kind of meals they're making? i'd like some new ideas!

i'm not doing this part of the HGP as i don't freeze meals, ever. we aren't fans. i'm home all day long so i have plenty of time to throw dinner together....no matter how busy we get.

as for our progess......

well, our simple 're-paint the foyer/entry' project has turned into a 'rip out all the plaster on the walls/ceiling and drywall, refinish the trim, paint and replace the light fixture' project. my dh will take any opportunity to do demo!

so i will continue with the HGP, but will have to just finish up that week on a different week. my living room however looks fantastic!

[transformed]

Originally Posted by vm9799

i'm not doing this part of the HGP as i don't freeze meals, ever. we aren't fans. i'm home all day long so i have plenty of time to throw dinner together....no matter how busy we get.

as for our progess......

well, our simple 're-paint the foyer/entry' project has turned into a 'rip out all the plaster on the walls/ceiling and drywall, refinish the trim, paint and replace the light fixture' project. my dh will take any opportunity to do demo!

so i will continue with the HGP, but will have to just finish up that week on a different week. my living room however looks fantastic!

laughup

And over your LR.

[SuzyLee]

I am making bean burritos (freeze individually)

I am also making individual chicken pot pies- I found little tin pans that I will make them in. I think they are supposed to be disposable pans but I will wash and reuse until they get holes.

DH and I don't really eat the same freezer meals, so I try to freeze them in smaller portions so that neither or us have to eat the same casserole for a week straight.

I got the stairs vac'ed last night and de-cobwebbed. Now I just need to clean the couches. I also have 2 sewing projects want to work on this week (start a quilt and do a project for my sewing business).

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by transformed

laughup

And over your LR.

thanks so much!

[Valian]

vm9799 I really love your living room and decorations.

SuzyLee how did the b-day party go?

Well, so far Dh is doing GREAT with the HGP. Last week in the living room he:
-washed baseboards, floor, screens, windows
- removed our nasty old carpet and cleaned up that giant mess
-removed all the clutter (and I think disposed of it properly)
- took all the clean laundry off the sofa and put it away
Ds hung two decorations (those static window stickers).
I managed to vaccum the sofa and helped move it a bit.

This week, for the entryway, I did some work a few weeks ago weeding out extra coats. We still have too many but I am not sure we're going to part with anymore just yet. Our entry is about 3 feet by 4 feet including a small closet. In addition to the suggested cleaning we have to:
1. Replace the vinyl tiles on the floor (we bought the replacement tiles 12+ months ago
2. Install new light fixture (Dh started this but it didn't work right away; 2nd atttempt soon)
3. Declutter the shoe rack and donate extras (my job)

Next week is master bedroom and we've been working on it but upkeep seems to be our downfall. I am super worried about the master bathroom (its our only bathroom) week because we need to paint, install light fixtures and do a really deep clean in there. Although, since really this has been all Dh so far, I suppose I shouldn't get too anxious myself.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by Valian

vm9799 I really love your living room and decorations.

thank you!

well, our entryway is a disaster right now. dh has all the plaster and lathe off all but 1 small wall and the ceiling. he asked me last night if i'm interested in doing any built-ins or sconces, etc. while he has everything down to the studs. soooo......decisions, decisions. and i need to make them fast.

next week is the master bedroom?? *whew* that's an easy room around here.

[SuzyLee]

Valian the b-day party is this coming saturday so I will update then.

Other progress- i harvested my back garden yesterday. That is all. oh well. tonight I am working on a sewing project and maybe putting together a freezer meal.

DH did my CD laundry today, and agreed to spot clean and vac the couches on friday, yay!

I am feeling pretty good about things even though working full time is sucking the life out of me right now. I didn't realize how good I had it working 4 days/week.

[Charmie981]

Sigh. I feel so far behind. I'm still working on getting the goodwill stuff out of my living room and I haven't gotten any of the cleaning done and I'm supposed to be moving on to something else already. Heavy Sigh.

I'm going to work on the living room more this afternoon and evening.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

Sigh. I feel so far behind. I'm still working on getting the goodwill stuff out of my living room and I haven't gotten any of the cleaning done and I'm supposed to be moving on to something else already. Heavy Sigh.

I'm going to work on the living room more this afternoon and evening.

i just responded to your comment on my flickr account but wanted to encourage you to please post photos of your home! we're all here to help one another with these things and if i can be of any help at all, but all means shoot me off a private message! i'm happy to help! you can do this!

[Thalia]

Well, haven't made much progress on the living room or the questions from last week. I'm running training sessions at work right now and DD has been staying up really late lately, so haven't had much time. I did manage to declutter a big stack of papers that DH had specifically mentioned was driving him batty, so that's good.

Haven't even looked at the assignments for this week, either!

I'm going to try posting a photo of our living room soon if DD stays asleep.

[Charmie981]

I finished up my living room cleaning today. There's still some stuff to be done, but it is at least clean and I decluttered both the corner cabinet and the dresser last week sometime. Today I vacuumed under all the furniture, wet dusted the hard wood, cleaned and vacuumed the leather, had DH hang a new curtain rod, and vacuumed the baseboards. DS2 wet dusted some of the baseboards, but then got in trouble at got sent to his room, which was a real bummer because I was planning to pay him for helping me clean--he enjoys it and is the only one in my house who has the potential to be as anal about stuff as I am. We actually get along when we're cleaning together, which is nice.

Still to do:
*Take stuff to Goodwill
*Buy staples so DH can staple down the speaker wire
*Decide if it's worth hanging anything else on the wall since we'll likely be turning this room into a 5th bedroom and 3rd bathroom before March.
*Patch loveseat leather and make slipcover for bottom cushions of loveseat (I just want to do this before we have holiday company, no big rush on it)

I would really like to paint the walls, which are so yucky and are painted with mismatched paint thanks to our builders. But given the impending remodel, I don't really want to put forth the effort, I don't think.

[pinecone81]

: Hope its not too late to join.

[Valian]

Originally Posted by SuzyLee

Valian the b-day party is this coming saturday so I will update then.

Whoops! I guess I read the posting dates wrong so I'll stick to good luck!

Welcome to the party pinecone81!

Dh and I decided yesterday that we deserve an award for the skill and speed with which we can completely let a room fall apart. The living room is a total disaster. It was clean for approx. 72 hours and now it is a complete shambles. There are fewer dust bunnies, but I do not exaggerate that you can barely walk for tripping on stuff! Ugh. The good news is that Dh put in the new floor tiles. Now the molding goes back in and then the closet can be reset.

I need your help. I have several pairs of adult and kids shoes to donate. I prefer a place close to our house that gives clothing away free. The thrift stores here have really ramped up their prices. Grrrr. But, the free store only takes seasonal clothing so they wouldn't want these sandal/summer shoes for months yet. I could hold on to them and donate later at the place I want or I could get them out of my life now. Rationally, I know that just getting them out the door is better now for my family. Someone else tell me to just do it.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by Valian

Whoops! I guess I read the posting dates wrong so I'll stick to good luck!

Welcome to the party pinecone81!

Dh and I decided yesterday that we deserve an award for the skill and speed with which we can completely let a room fall apart. The living room is a total disaster. It was clean for approx. 72 hours and now it is a complete shambles. There are fewer dust bunnies, but I do not exaggerate that you can barely walk for tripping on stuff! Ugh. The good news is that Dh put in the new floor tiles. Now the molding goes back in and then the closet can be reset.

I need your help. I have several pairs of adult and kids shoes to donate. I prefer a place close to our house that gives clothing away free. The thrift stores here have really ramped up their prices. Grrrr. But, the free store only takes seasonal clothing so they wouldn't want these sandal/summer shoes for months yet. I could hold on to them and donate later at the place I want or I could get them out of my life now. Rationally, I know that just getting them out the door is better now for my family. Someone else tell me to just do it.

i'll do it! get them out of your life now!

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by vm9799

i'm not doing this part of the HGP as i don't freeze meals, ever. we aren't fans. i'm home all day long so i have plenty of time to throw dinner together....no matter how busy we get.

That's the one part I'm skipping too. I never freeze meals either.

Cute decor in the living room, btw!

Our pumpkins aren't doing so well in our garden but I am ripping up the old corn stalks this weekend. I bind those with rafia and put them around our door, near the fountain. I need to hang the wreaths on our front doors too.

I'm definitely doing a modified plan

[Charmie981]

Yeah, I always have meals in the freezer anyway, so I'm not really working to add any to it. I was pleasantly surpised today when I was working on my HGP binder (I bought a red binder to put it in!!) to see that even though I didn't do much last week, I'm not that far behind since this week is entryway and I don't really have one. The only thing to do in our entry area is to get the goodwill stuff gone. I'm keeping a running list of the things I'd like to do but can't afford to/don't have time or energy to, so that later I can have a conscise list of what needs to be done in each room. It's complicated a little by the fact that we're about to undergo a huge remodel, which we didn't know we were going to do when I decided to do the HGP this year. I think more of my work is going to be in the decluttering an cleaning side of things than in the beautifying/improving, which is fine, but not really what I'd expected.

The good news it that today I can go buy my big, huge potted mums for the front porch . Now, if I could just get DH to finish painting and install the new front door, I'd be thrilled!!

[wombatclay]

i have a lot more stuff ready but i keep worrying about going over the stupid IRS "prove it" limits. i'm taking pictures; i hope that's good enough.

If you ask, the charity will provide you with a receipt for the stuff you donate. You do need to itemize any bags you want receipts for (like "three adult sweaters, two pair children's shoes") but other than that I've never had a problem getting "proof". The receipts "live" in a ziplock baggie in our IRS box (with all our random tax time stuff) so if they ever want proof, there it is!

[crukai]

Originally Posted by vm9799

i'm not doing this part of the HGP as i don't freeze meals, ever. we aren't fans. i'm home all day long so i have plenty of time to throw dinner together....no matter how busy we get.

as for our progess......

well, our simple 're-paint the foyer/entry' project has turned into a 'rip out all the plaster on the walls/ceiling and drywall, refinish the trim, paint and replace the light fixture' project. my dh will take any opportunity to do demo!

so i will continue with the HGP, but will have to just finish up that week on a different week. my living room however looks fantastic!

I love how you strung the fall leaves along the front of the fireplace! We have very similar colors in our living room and I am officially going to steal your idea Very nice!

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

That's the one part I'm skipping too. I never freeze meals either.

Cute decor in the living room, btw!

Our pumpkins aren't doing so well in our garden but I am ripping up the old corn stalks this weekend. I bind those with rafia and put them around our door, near the fountain. I need to hang the wreaths on our front doors too.

I'm definitely doing a modified plan

thank you! you can't see them very well, but in the lanterns i have these gorgeous iridescent orange-y mosaic votive candle holders that sparkle when the candles are lit. i will have to take a photo to show them off a bit. i'm also hoping to replace the other mosaic candle holder (on the mantle) with something more interesting to fill that space....just haven't 'found' anything yet! i love the look of corn stalks by the front door......i love this time of year.

Originally Posted by crukai

I love how you strung the fall leaves along the front of the fireplace! We have very similar colors in our living room and I am officially going to steal your idea Very nice!

thank you! and steal away! our mantle is actually concrete (it's painted, obviously), so my dh installed permanent hooks underneath it for seasonal garlands and christmas stockings. makes decorating so much easier.

[mamaveggie]

I just found this thread and I am jumping where you all are and I am going to try to backtrack when I get a chance.