It's a Deuce, Baby!

So apropos to use a Dick Vitale quote w/ March Madness beginning... Tonight at dinner, all four of us filled out our basketball brackets...I love my children, but I'm going to be PISSED if one of them wins w/out knowing diddley about stats, past game performances, and injuries. Kay actually picked some of the teams because they were fun to say...Ok, I admit it, that's the reason why I picked Gonzaga too...GON-ZAGAAAA!

Anywho, my aforementioned "deuce" is in reference to my "FORTY DAYS OF HOME IMPROVEMENT." We are on day three. And I felt the need to go strong. So I picked two areas to improve. This may be how burn out starts. But, regardless, drumroll please...

Improvement #1:

I hate coffee. HATE. IT. That said, the hubby loves it. And insists on drinking it daily. And insists on keeping a coffee maker on my countertop just eating up space that I could use for other things. My take on the situation has been to ignore it. "You left coffee in the pot? Enjoy cleaning it." "Huh, gross ground-filled filter? Have fun w/ that one, buddy." But now that we are into the "FORTY DAYS OF HOME IMPROVEMENT," it has become an eye sore. So I cleaned the sucker. The whole thing. Top to bottom. Nooks and crannies.

Improvement #2:

We, at the Ponderings household, struggle in the areas of storage and organization. SOMEONE needs to help me find a better place to put shoes and coats when you walk in the side door. Our habit has been to take our shoes and coats off and dump them in the breeze-way. We accumulated literally over 30 pairs of shoes and boots and ridiculous amounts of hats, gloves, snowsuits, and coats. So the kids and I took all of our 'non-essential' shoes and clothing and put them away in closets and cleaned. Take a look...

Now, three days in, here are some things that I have realized:

-'Before photos' would be MUCH more interesting in the comparison and appreciation of my work. They are just too embarrassing. Not gonna happen.

-I seriously may burn out at this pace, it's 8:30pm and I am just sitting down to relax for the first time all day.

-I need to figure out my multi-tasking...currently I am cleaning areas that are in the kitchen because I accomplish these tasks while making dinner. Once the kitchen is done, I'm kinda screwed. Need to figure out a plan.

But until then... "It's looking AWESOME, baby!!" Ahhh, Dick...