new year, new strategies!

im taking the old phrase "out with the old and in with the new" to a whole new level for the first time this year. everyone starts the new year off setting goals, talking about desired accomplishment, big and small things they want to achieve and i was just like everyone else. since summer my "new year" list has been getting longer and longer and finally i have been jump started and my goals are becoming realities as i check them off my list.

our parents came over yesterday to help us clean out our basement. they still had a bunch of "junk" down there that no one really needs, things that they just werent sure how they wanted to get rid of it - donate, yard sale or just give it away stuff...

we cleared out anything that was in cardboard, made of cardboard or was as moisture retaining as cardboard. our pile of garbage is going to stretch across the width of our front yard this week. i have about 6 boxes of stuff for a summer yard sale and a box for goodwill and the consignment shop.

having a new mind set with money and how and where we spend it, has also given me a better insight on materialistic stuff...if im not using it and its not surving purpose to anyone in my house, do i really need it?? answer: NO!! why do people surround themselves with materialistic things? - because they are unhappy with some other area of their life. im guilty of it - shopping is a huge weakness for me, any kind of shopping - diapers and baby food, cleaning supplies, groceries, clothes - anything i think im getting a deal on is a huge weakness. i stock up when things are on sale and i have a coupon...but i do it everytime that thing is on sale and i have a coupon and then all of a sudden i have way more than i need at any given time. ENOUGH! im sick of spending my money before i really need to - it results in me spending more money than i actually have, which is why again this year i look forward to my tax return to pay off the stupid credit card. but this is the last time i will ever do that. this year the credit card is going to have a whole new purpose in our house and it will spend all its time locked up in the safe until there is a true reason to use it. (cant think of a good reason just yet, but thats probably a good thing)

anyway...the cleaning spurt was still in me this morning when i got home from work, so i tackeled to areas that have been driving me insane. one of which was baby clothes. i felt like they were sneaking out of every crevice in our house. there were boxes and boxes that needed to be put into storage bins and packed away. i had left a lot of stuff out while waiting to find out what kelly was having - be it a boy, she was getting all my hand me downs to store at her house until she needed them. (since riley is a girl, we need to set a plan to get the smallest sizes of the stash back here) but i did get all that taken care of and put away in the crawl space today.
and....

i cleaned out my scrapbooking area and closet. it had been another one of those places where it was easy to hide things quickly. well they were losing their hiding ability and i couldnt take it anymore. its hard to find inspiration to be creative when you cant find anything in your workspace!!

so that was my major accomplishment today - aside from the fact that tuscan has spent the last two days running around without any pants or a diaper on - our newest attempt at potty training and i think we finally found one that will work. his potty chair goes where ever he goes...its always just a few feet away. without any pants on he is paying much more attention to when he has to go and its working. so far so good...naptime is going to be a struggle - i tried a pullup today, but it didnt work and i had to put him back to bed with a diaper on, but one step at a time i guess...i swore to myself that tuscan would be out of diapers before the end of 2008, so the best i can hope for is the end of the month!! wish me luck and say a little prayer!