The Unplanned Pantry Clean-out

I was in the kitchen last night about to cook dinner.  I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to cook.  I know I had some beef mince, so was thinking of doing some sort of sauce to have with pasta.

I opened the pantry doors and looked in.  I picked up a packet of pasta and noticed that it was past its used by date!  So I threw that in the bin, then I dug into the back and looked at a packet of biscuits that was behind where the pasta was and it was expired also.  I started to think about when was the last time I gave the pantry a good clean out and I couldn't remember.  I seem to mainly use things at the front, new things arrive and are placed at the front, so I use them and the things at the back, seem to get forgotten.  Well I just started picking up one thing after another and before I knew it, I had done a massive pantry clean out and I could not believe that half of the things in my pantry were off!  There was a macadamia oil, off!  Taco kit, off, biscuits, cereal and what surprised me the most was the canned food!  I didn't realise that canned food went off, well I figured it would eventually go off, but not for years.  But I found can after can of corn, baked beans, tinned spaghetti, condensed milk and more, all off!  I love baking and used to do a lot of it, so going through my baking supplies, milk, dark, white chocolate buds all off.  I have heaps of spices and dried herbs, most of them past their used by date!  So annoying!  I couldn't believe it.  I then started on the fridge, there were a few sauces out of date.

Suddenly I realised that it was getting late and I needed to get on to dinner, so after cleaning out all of the used by items I got on with dinner, yummy spaghetti (not off, LOL) bolognaise.
So next will be to take everything out of the pantry and give it a good clean out.  I ended up messing up all the order in there as I would find something that was still good and put that on the shelf above, or over the other side.

Here is the most of the pile that I ended up cleaning out of my pantry and fridge last night!  It really does feel so good having a big clean out!

Three full garbage bags of expired food!

So I recommend regular pantry and fridge clean outs.  It's amazing how quickly things go off in there if it's moved to the back and kind of forgotten.  I will post photos of the finished pantry once it's all back to it's organised look.

Well it's Karma!

I believe I have been bitten by a bit of Karma as a result of my household disorganisation over the last 12 months.

The worst room of the house is my study/home office.  It is absolutely horrendous, completely disorganised and has become a dumping ground for hiding my disorganisation from others who are coming around.  This room is closest to my front doors so is somewhere that I just throw things when people are coming over (until now, when I have tidied up the living/dining rooms).

My son's TV stopped working.  It is only 18 months old.  I took it in to be repaired and have found that it can be repaired, but it's going to be very expensive, almost better to just get a whole new TV.  My gripe is, that it has 12 months warranty and as the warranty has expired I am out of luck getting it fixed without paying.  I was a bit irritated at this.  12 month warranty of not, it should not have stopped working in such a short time. I said to the repair guy, how can this happen, he said "from everyday wear and tear"  WHAT THE????? I have never had a TV die from wear and tear in 18 months!  So I told him that and I thought it was ridiculous.  He agreed, however I completely understand that he can't do anything as he has to be paid from somebody.  He suggested that I call TEAC (the brand).  So I did!

I called them and said that it is ridiculous that a TV would die after 18 months and what was wrong with it and that under Australian consumer law, (warranty or not), that when something is purchased then it should last or serve it's purpose for a reasonable amount of time.  I also said that the life of a TV is longer than 18 months and that is not a reasonable amount of time!  So they told me to email the details to them, including a copy of my receipt, where it is in getting fixed.  Looks like they may fix it!

Now I have not been able to email the details yet as I can't find the receipt!!!!!!  I am furious!  It is in that study somewhere.  I have looked where I can, but there is just so much junk in there, it will take days to find it.  Anyway I won't give up.  I will start on that room tomorrow afternoon and try and find that receipt.  So that is my Karma.  If I was organised, I would not have piles and piles of paper in many spots in that room and I would be able to find that receipt!!!!!

I am not happy with myself at all and I have been bitten by Karma, LOL!

Playroom

Today started the massive task of de-cluttering my son's playroom and bedroom.  He has until Monday to get it all tidied up or whatever is on the floor Monday is going to charity.  I have set him up with rubbish bag, charity bag and his playroom is already full of shelves, baskets, cupboards and drawers to put everything away in.  He just doesn't seem to use these storage devices, he seem to use the floor as his storage area.

I have some before shots, but won't share those until the room is done.  It is really amazing how much better it feels once everything is organised.  Now I know my house isn't finished yet.  I still have the dreaded home office and the little room off the kitchen.  The home office is probably the scariest room, but it must be done, it must get done.  Having my laundry and closet done makes a huge difference, with the closet done it makes it so much easier to take up all of the clean laundry and put it straight away.

What is going to be the challenge is once school goes back.  I get into the routine of going of school drop off, in to work, pick up from school, take son to after school activities, home to cook dinner, clean up from dinner and I'm exhausted. Once I have the house all cleaned up I will get a cleaner in weekly.  I know this sounds ridiculous, but I can't have a cleaner in because my house has been too untidy.  Before we moved into this house we had a cleaner, I have always had a cleaner, once a week or once a fortnight and every time she was coming, I would tidy and clean the house!  What is up with that??? Does anybody else clean up before the cleaner comes?  Anyway I have not had a cleaner in the last 12 months because my house is not clean enough and I am embarrassed.  I can disguise it from family and friends to a degree, because I have the areas that will be seen all tidy and then areas that I can close the door so nobody sees it, are like a bomb has gone off.

So by Monday I should be able to do the big reveal of my son's bedroom and playroom.  Can't wait to see it myself.

Back to School

Well with schools in Australia about to return after our summer break.  I am all organised with labels and contact to get covering books.  Only problem is that we have just had an email from our school and unfortunately the all of the books were destroyed in the recent floods in Queensland as the supplier had their building up to the roof underwater, so all books and stationary has been destroyed.

My organised dining table is all clear (and tidy) waiting for the books to start the naming and covering process.

So not books or stationary will be available before school goes back.  In fact they don't actually know when they will get the stock back in as there are many many schools that are affected by this.  My labeling and covering of the books has now ground to a halt whilst we wait for the books to arrive sometime after school goes back next week.

A New Look

Well it is all finished and finally here for all to see.  My gorgeous new blog look, designed by Mommy Monologues

I am absolutely thrilled with the design and now not only am I getting my organised life back, but I now have a very organised blog.

I would like to thank Kate from Mommy Monologues for doing the custom design and installing it.  I absolutely love my new blog design and I really love my new button, which I would love anybody reading to grab if they would like too.   I can not say enough great things about Mommy Monologues.  The whole design process was so easy and super quick, I can't believe how quickly Kate had it all done and installed on my blog.

So I hope you all love my new blog design as much as I do, please leave comments and let me know what you think.

The Clean Up Begins

The cleanup has started in Queensland from the floods as the waters continue to recede.  I just went to my local supermarket and this is what I saw.

 

 

There were no fruit and vegetables!  Nothing!  There were some nuts and coconuts, heaps of garlic and a few unripe avocados.  They were bringing out the odd thing here and there and everybody would pounce on them.  But there weren't any potatoes, pumpkins, broccoli, peas, beans, corn, carrots, oranges, apples, you name it, the shelves were bare!  And this was a massive Coles supermarket.  We do not even live in a flood affected area, but this is something that is going to affect our entire state and the whole country for some time due to over 50% of our nations fruit and vegetable crops being completely wiped out during the floods.  Our fruit and vegetable shelves are almost bare. When I was there, they came in with about 6 lettuce to add to the virtually empty shelves in the produce department.  I grabbed one of those lettuce and I have to say that it was about the size of a large grapefruit and this is what it looked like.  This is sitting on a side plate, not a dinner plate.

Now I am not complaining about the quality or the size, this poor little lettuce was probably just one of the few surviving from a flood affected area and I was happy to snap it up, but it is just so very sad, very sad for the livelihood of all of those farmers who have lost all the crops for months to come, it is a massive blow to them and their families.

I have just been sitting watching the news and seeing those now moving back to their homes to see the devastation, their family photos destroyed, all of their belongs destroyed, everything in their fridge now filled with mud and sewerage and destroyed, their fridges, ovens, furniture, kids toys, everything destroyed, homes full of mud and sewage up to the roof, everything brown and covered in mud .  It is just heart breaking to see and I just feel helpless and wish I could be there to help them.

Something I Picked Up Today

Well I was visiting one of my favourite stores today and I picked up the cutest little note pad that I wanted to share with everybody.  It is another little tool that I plan on using to get my organised life back.

I have to say that I have found myself falling back into old habits this week.  One with the flood crisis that has been very shocking and also returning to work this week after a break over Christmas/ New Year.  School holidays are almost over and I really need to get on and order new labels (both clothing and book) and get my son some new school shoes.  This is not something that I am looking forward to.  Last year my son went through three pairs of school shoes and it ended up being a very expensive shoe year.  No he didn't wear them out, luckily I have been able to pass on his old shoes as they were like new, only wearing them for a term each, no, he outgrew them.  Yes his feet grew three shoes sizes last year!  It was driving me crazy!  So next week will be school shopping time!  Joy!  

 

So now back to my really cute notepad that I just found at Kikki K today and when I saw it I said to myself, "I have to have that, that is so cute!"  So off to the counter I went.  It is called the "Weekly Habits Pad"

Kikki K Weekly Habits Pad

Kikki K Weekly Habits Pad

What you do is write down your good habits or something  that you are wanting to become a habit and check it off each day and then write down what your reward is for the end of that week. It is supposed to take 21 days to make that thing a good habit in your life!  I Love this little pad.  So tonight I will sit down and write out my list of habits and check them off each day.  I will post my list of habits when I have it done up for you to see.  You can find that cute pad at Kikki K - www.kikki-k.com (Can you tell I am a fan of that store!  LOL)