Not Lazy, Just 34 (almost 35) Weeks Pregnant!

Working on the sales floor of a giant retail store means being on my feet A LOT. By a lot, I probably mean too much. But hey, I start maternity leave in 24 days (not that I'm counting or just as excited about that as the actual baby or anything). When I come home or have days off I just want to sit. No matter how much stuff needs to be done around the house, or dinner needs to be cooked, or the dogs need to use the bathroom.
While I am not the most motivated person on earth (a change I have been desperately trying to make), I do like to be productive every now and then. So I started a list.

Chores I can do sitting down

• Fold Laundry
• Thank you notes (still need to get this one done from the first shower, and I have another in a few weeks)
• Sort through paperwork
• Pay bills
• Work on household notebook
• Plan meals
• Pet and play with the animals
• Sort through boxes/ organize
• Finish the second dog bed (made one of fleece, but never finished the second)
• Work on one sister's cook book (a wedding present I forgot to bring her last October, so I want to add more recipes)
• Also send her Christmas present (this is what happens when you live in separate states)
• Think/buy/make Mother's Day gifts
• Online shopping :)
• Sew Addy's wipes (bought tons of flannel for homemade diaper wipes.. I've made 3)
• Blog :)
• Enter HGTV's Green Home sweepstakes (you can enter 2x daily!)
• Look up vet information and call them

Wow. I made this list last week, and have yet to do almost any of them.  I slack. I did start the laundry today! Finally washing some of Addy's things.

Any other chores I can add to the list?

5 Things I Can Live Without Thursday

5 Things I Can Live Without: Thursdays are posts where I let the world know what I am getting rid of in my quest to minimalism/ preparation for baby.  The title was taken from The Dehoarding Diary.

Somehow the cleaning products have made lots of cleaning product babies, and there are 1/2 used plastic bottles full of chemicals all around the house. I really enjoy just using vinegar and water, and the others in the house use it the majority of the time as well. Since reading up on more natural cleaning products and reading Clean Start: Your Guide to Natural Home Cleaning, I don't know why we keep the other cleaners. So I asked Dad to go through some of them, and we're getting rid of the ones we no longer want. So far here is what we're giving away: 

Once I get to cleaning the basement and garage there will be more. I know they're hiding down there somewhere!

The plan was to bring the unwanted bottles to my baby shower and let the ladies take home what they want. However, as usual, I did not get the task done on time. A friend really wants some of these cleaners, so she can pick them up whenever, and I will find someone else to take what she does not want. I love actaully acting on my beliefs/ wanted lifestyle and getting rid of these toxins!

How is everyone else doing? Any awesome changes?

Minimalist, I'm Not: More Cable

*A series confessing my minimalism gone wrong and/or things I refuse to give up.*

So, it's no secret that the past few months I have been trying to give up so much TV, and wish for no cable in the future.

Well, thank you so much AT&T U-Verse for dashing these dreams!

A salesman came by a couple of weeks ago to let my husband and dad know that U-Verse is now available on on our street. So now we have higher internet speed, DVR control in 3 rooms, and way way more channels including some movie channels for apparently less than with the previous provider. More for less is a good thing, if you're not trying to break the addiction to TV.

I am extremely proud I have not been watching TV as much. Re runs bore me, One Tree Hill is no more, and most of our shows are either done for the season or done for at least a few weeks (Come back, Once Upon A Time! I miss you so much!).

We have added yet another TV drama to the mix, Touch. This was my doing. Oh well. I can work on minimalising in other areas for awhile.  :)

Pretty Awesome Deal

 http://life.yourway.net/2nd-annual-simplify-your-family-life-sale/

I cannot wait to start reading these books!

I apologize for not posting about this sooner.

House Management Notebook

I feel a little nerdy about this, but I am going to start a Home Management Notebook (Or House Management Notebook or Family Organizer).

Links for ideas and more information:

http://www.household-management-101.com/household-notebook.html
http://simplemom.net/home-management-notebooks-are-a-great-idea/
http://organizedhome.com/household-notebook

I haven't quite narrowed down how I will use it besides the calender and cleaning schedule yet, but as each website suggests, it will take time to learn what works for our family and adjustments will continuously be be made.

My goal is to get everything on the computer eventually, but the Household Management 101 site is right.  I better make sure it works and get it going before filing everything on the computer and setting up that system.  Maybe after we fix the battery and I can actually take my laptop to different rooms! (imagine that... a portable computer!)

Plus, I haven't done anything creative in awhile.  Pictures and more posts coming soon. I have actually been semi productive, had good blog thoughts, and still need to write about my reflections on the 24 Unplug experience.

Wish me luck!