AMDG My daughter's favorite boy band is The Piano Guys (thank goodness!!!). Her/our favorites: . She finds this music so inspiring b/c it is at once good, fun music and played with fun, joy, and enthusiasm. My question for you: can you point me to a person or group who plays the violin with such joie de vivre?

AMDG Just adding . . . We have our dog groomed each season or so. She gets a bath, trim, et c. I bathe her myself the rest of the time. I take her to the self service doggie wash. It's a groomer and shop but they have several rooms with an elevated tub with a hose and nozel and a long hose for drying. Mosr important of all, they do the clean up! It's less expensive than having it done but, obviously, more than doing it at home. However, it is definitely worth it for me.

AMDG I have an airedale who is an indoor dog, sleeps at my feet, with free access to all parts of the house but the kitchen. I like her to be clean and good smelling. We bathe her about 1x/month but sometimes she needs it a wee bit oftener depending on what she's been rolling in or if we're having a tough flea time.

AMDG Okay . . . If I say it, I have to do it so . . . I'm going to jump ahead and do my desk!

AMDG Closet is cleaned out! It is a small closet so there wasn't much to the organization process. I recently bought some space-saving hangers and will need a few more but otherwise . . . DONE!

AMDG Yay! I'm glad you found us and you were inspired to do something great in your house! I'm also glad you can now bless someone with your blessings to Goodwill. Wonderful! You've done a lot! Great job and keep us posted with anymore achievements!

AMDG **Chuckling!** Tiramisu, no, we didn't really meet! Years ago I had tiramisu at Olive Garden. It was watery, bland, and pretty gross. I decided at that tasting that I just didn't like tiramisu. Several weeks ago a friend made some and it was DELISH! I know I'll enjoy it for years to come, now. Tiramisu/tiramisu . . . it was just a play on your name.

why can't i post?

AMDG Yes, but then, I live in OK and my husband got an MBA and a masters in international accounting there. And we're still paying for them. Small, private, expensive. I think they boast of more Miss Americas than any other university. Small, pretty campus, imo. Not a great area. but . . . JUMP!!!

AMDG Have you considered getting one of those felt pads with the inflatable center thingy for rolling up the puzzle and putting it away? Like this one: http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogIdentifier=2&partNumber=299442&langid=-1&cid=PS:GooglePLAs:299442&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=32-294078089-2 Not sure how that would work . . . a puzzle kind of need to be left out to work on as you like but, on the other hand, you could leave it out by day (or whatever) and put it away as needed.

AMDG TUESDAY! I'm still battling the doldrums a bit. I have done so much and it's just my room and no one sees it but my family and it's cooking day and I'm feeling lazy and what I really, really, really, want to do is snuggle on the couch by the fire with my daughter and my dog and my cat and my book and enjoy a day of lazing and reading and not cleaning but . . . NO! I will do it! I Will do it! IWILL do it! Yes, I will! So, today is decluttering the closet. I'll go through my clothes culling anything that doesn't fit and cull that hideous pile of shoes. I just keep keeping the last pair of tennis shoes just in case . . . now I have an old tennis shoe mountain in the bottom of my closet. Also, I have more than a couple of pair of shoes that I thought I'd like more than I did. So, goodbye all you old shoes . . . Imelda doesn't live here!

AMDG Tiramisu, I'm so glad you'll be joining! Formal, informal, structured . . . the abstract approach to houskeeping! Whatever works is what works! I am a big proponent of divide and conquer multiplied by baby steps. This is what works for me, I have found out. I describe it again in this post. It has really been a great help to me to do it this way but, one thing I know for certain, to be successful everyone needs her own way. Figure out what works for you and Do It! Keep us posted! and by the way . . . You probably don't remember but we met a loooooooong time ago at Olive Garden. I'm sorry to say I didn't like you very much and rather avoided you after that. After meeting you again the other weekend, h*o*m*e*m*a*d*e* by a friend . . . well, let's just say I'm glad I got to know the real you and I think we're going to be lifelong friends!

AMDG Goodbye, Finals! I hope you knocked their socks off! Yes, you really should jump in! Make a plan of attack, divide it into jobs per week and further divide that into tasks per day (if that's your kind of thing) and make a huge impact over break. This post explains my modus but choose a way that works for you and hop to! On the first week I gave myself a reward b/c I just thought I ought to. Then, after really being able to enjoy the fruits of my labor, I didn't bother b/c my lovely, tidy home was reward enough. HOWEVER, now that I've moved on to my room and . . . whatever . . . blah, blah, blah . . . I may be in need of rewards this week. and chocolate is good! I look forward to reading about your plan if you do join us!

AMDG Ahhh, life's little derailments . . . the important thing is to get back on that horse, reset your goals, and meet them! Be proud of the work you did accomplish, look over it, and get stoked for the work to come. Welcome back and keep us posted. Hope everyone competed like champions!

AMDG Books in the family room . . . what a project. I hope you had a great day of success! I love your list b/c it looks like a manageable list that will lead to a nice visible accomplishment. Way to go! Keep us posted!

AMDG GREAT, Swellmomma! You know why? Because you set goals and achieve greatness! If you hadn't set any goals and hadn't done any work . . . then what? Big fat nada! I can't say it often enough, though: divide and conquer multiplied by baby steps is my mantra for this project and I've seen it work. Also a daily list helps and you are doing that so . . . Be proud of yourself and grateful for you accomplishments!

AMDG Sorry, I'd go with the easy bake oven. However, I'd only provide a couple of packets of cake mix and make more of my own put in pretty decorated jars/tins. I made the mix and put some in ziplock bags that were already decorated and some in small mason jars with fabric b/t the lid and ring and a ribbon around the lid.

AMDG great, Great, GREAT, DawnM! Great for me to have company and Great for you b/c you'll love your accomplishments! I am a great lover and firm supporter of slow. Slow and steady wins the race, after all. If you look back over the previous weeks' threads you'll see that again and again I've StRoNgLy advocated the divide and conquer multiplied by baby steps method. This is a fond relative of slow and steady wins the race. Have a great time decluttering or at least enjoying the fruit of your labor!

AMDG Yes, well . . . a slight tendency to DISmotivation to declutter leads to ruthlessness . . . which lends a certain speed to the endeavor. done.

AMDG Last week was such a success b/c so very much got done! This week is on to my bedroom. This is a challenge b/c it has a lot of clutter but all the clutter is hidden behind some kind of door or drawer: closet, above closet storage, big filing cabinet, desk . . .This is a challenge b/c it isn't visually demanding my attention and would be easy to continue to ignore. Right now, my mood is pretty strongly set to ignore. Blah, Blah, Blah . . . I've worked really hard the past few weeks; I'm tired; it's menu/shop/clean pantry and fridge day; I have a party tonight. Yeah, no end to the excuses. BUT I WILL PERSEVERE! I WILL! I WILL! I WILL! So, for this week: Sunday -- Rest up for the days to come . . . Monday -- Storage Tuesday -- Closet Wednesday -- Desk Thursday -- Bedside tables Friday -- Filing cabinet -- I would rather get this one out of the way much earlier in the week but it will require my husband's cooperation and assistance so, since he gets off early Friday . . . Friday it is. Note to self: Warn husband! Saturday -- Clean. So, today . . . Like the craft closet last week: everything out, culled, and either replaced in an organized fashion or removed to a more appropriate home. ithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkicanithinkican

AMDG It really seems a call to your father in law would be in order. You could say something like, "(Whatever you call him inserted here), I need to ask you some questions about this upcoming open house. I'll ask simple yes/no questions so we don't give it away. Don't say anything you don't want overheard!" If that isn't a choice, I'd go to a baker or Sam's or something and get a variety. I would have at least, at the very, very, least, two different items. I think a wider variety would be better. Also, I'd go with several basics and one or two nicer things. Finally, I'd drag out the nice serving plates, tier servers, et c b/c even a boughten cupcake tastes good when served prettily. I'd also have my husband at the ready in case we need a run to get more.

AMDG Saturday!!! What an enormous amount of work accomplished! That sewing room was a huge project to tackle. In fact, at about Wednesday I began to wonder if I wasn't going to have to make it a 2 week project or, at least, whittle down next week's project to a few days and borrow. However, yes, I did persevere and I did accomplish a great deal. Yay! Today I have to do the final deep clean but I did a lot of it yesterday . . . I'd say I have about half left. I got (my husband to get) some zip ties so I can attach some containers to my pegboard so I'll do that and put up the remaining stuff. I will get the transparent hole-punched envelopes today. I don't think I'll get started sorting/organizing, though, b/c today is a monthly cooking project I have. All in all, I am so grateful for this accomplishment!

AMDG THERE! That's the first time I've ever quoted myself. I'm almost done. I need more pegs and a few zip ties and then I can finish up almost everything. The thing that isn't done and won't be done by the end of this week, alas, is organizing my patterns. I decided to put them in transparent envelopes that have the 3-ring-binder holes. I don't have a zillion patterns but the dozen or so I do have need a lot of work. The punched envelopes are a couple of dollars apiece. I didn't buy them hoping I'd find less expensive ones. I didn't, so . . . I'll grab some next week.

AMDG It is CrAzY how clutter a piano can get. I decluttered mine the first week I started this thing and I really, really, have to stay on top of it. Good for you for getting it done! Couch . . . Great! Now this evening you can relax in a nice space that will bring you peace rather than chaos induced stress. Great Job!

AMDG Welcome to Friday AND the Feast of St. Nicholas! I got derailed yesterday. sigh. My daughter did make the pegs for the pegboard but not till it was quite late and until those got done, I couldn't move the stuff to the board. Instead, I did a ton of cleaning so that I would feel that I made a serious contribution to my goal anyway. So, today is to get all the sewing supplies/tools to the pegboard AND cull/organize the printer area AND figure out what I"ve missed AND do that. Plus, I hope to get to tomorrow's cleaning today.