Lights, Outlets, and Closet Clean out!

This weekend we enjoyed a visit from Mom and Dad B. Thanks for coming!! It was great having you!

Of course, no trip would be complete without a bit of shopping and attacking a few projects. Sadly...hanging my curtain rod in the guest room could not be done. More on that another time.

Here's what was accomplished!
Lights were added to the basement. It's like daylight down there now! I'm not sure that we needed that many, but someone is VERY happy with the new additions and that's enough to make me happy about it!


Some outlets were added:


The lights even have outlets! Smart thinking!!


Our electrical panel is now labeled. What a relief to have that out of the way. We've only been talking about doing that for about a year. I'm not sure why it wasn't done when it was installed, but it is now!


As many of you have heard Verizon went on strike this weekend. Unfortunately for us...this affects Michael. So for the foreseeable future we will be cutting back on some things. (Perhaps I'll have to return some of the new items we bought on our little shopping spree the day before....perhaps.) The first thing to get cut was going with Mom and Dad B to Sturbridge to visit some friends. It would have been fun, but this way we got to spend the maximum amount of time with Mom and Dad B before they headed home.

It also meant that I had the afternoon free to get to a project I've been meaning to cross off my list for a few weeks. It was a really stormy afternoon so it was the perfect day to listen to some music and attack this "little" project!

Closet Clean Out!

I've been getting really frustrated every morning trying to figure what clothes I can wear and how to make an outfit out of the options I have available.

Let's just say I have more flexibility with my tops than I do my bottoms. I think I can only wear about 1/8 of my usual bottom options.

The solution is to remove things that don't fit and only leave behind solid options! Makes perfect sense...it's the getting it done part that's really annoying and time consuming! I mustered up my motivation, turned on some music, and got to work trying on everything I owned (except dresses-I didn't get to that yet!) My level of motivation definitely dropped with each item I decided had to be relegated to the "pack away for next year" or "donate" pile. I suppose that's to expected and hopefully only temporary.

Here are those piles...

Pack Away for Next Year:


Give Away:


And then I reorganized all the things that I can wear...or think I'll be able to wear for a little while longer.

Only the viable options remain...Gym clothes, sweat pants, sweat shirts, purses, and winter gloves and scarves. (As my pile-o-sweat pants becomes more and more alluring...I've made a little pact with myself. I have no problem wearing gym clothes out and about to do errands but I draw the line at the sweat pants. These are for home wear only! Make me stick to that! Ahem-I'll be the first to admit that the sweat pant pile is my first stop when I get home after work these days. Sad, but true.)


I can find my shoes now...


I have space for new (necessary) clothes...for the future. And on the right are the remaining sweaters I should be able to wear in the coming months. I held onto the longer sweaters, and those that had zippers or are meant to be left open in the front.


And here's what remains! Not a whole lot...


I commandeered the guest room closet a while back for my boot storage. It's now become my boot storage along with clothing that I hope to wear next year. Truth be told...I never wore much of this to begin with so I really paired it down during my clean out. Since I began working at the gallery years ago I've gotten away with less formal work attire in exchange for me fun/fashionable outfits. You'll also notice that I've kindly allowed Michael to store his motorcycle gear in this closet as well! How thoughtful of me! It's the least I could do after I stole half of his big closet to store my dresses! Hey-it was necessary since we keep the laundry baskets in my closet, there's no way my dresses will fit over them! Not to mention that anyone who knows Michael knows that he owns about 5 articles of clothing that require a hanger! ;)


After I completed most of this project I took a little gym break, with a stop at Home Depot to buy a couple storage bins to put my "put away for next year" clothes in. Too bad the piles are still sitting on the floor of our bedroom. Well at least phase one of this project is complete!