I think one of these days we should have a backwards week where the weekdays are the weekend and vice versa. Then we would actually look forward to Mondays. What do you think? Anyone want to start a petition, just let me know! 😉 

 

Here are today’s mentionables…

1. Organizing. I have been bit by the organizing bug! You would think a square gal like me would have her whole house (and life – LOL) organized, but I never really had any down time or the brain power during grad school/full-time work to do it. Then after the kids arrived, I just went into survival mode. 😛 But now I do (at least I’m starting to)! There are tons of Pinterest pages and sites with ideas if you don’t know where to start. Organizing your home can be quite a daunting task, but the key is to start with one room, or even one drawer, at a time. Take a look at these improvements I’ve made so far.

This is a before pic of my bathroom drawer where I keep my makeup and hair accessories. I hesitated taking this because it looked quite hopeless and it’s embarrassing to think I was so messy before! But wait till you see the after pic!

Ahh… now I can breathe again! Look at the difference some containers (in this case some old jewelry boxes) can make! 🙂

And now onto the kitchen…

We have this magnetic board from IKEA (here’s a similar version) hung behind the stove to prevent the wall from getting greasy. I had a brief moment of thinking “outside the box” and decided to give it a dual purpose. I bought these magnetic hooks from Harbor Freight (4 for $2.79!) and hung all our cooking utensils on it. Not only did doing this free up a whole kitchen drawer, it makes cooking and baking so much more efficient now!

2. Meegenius.com. If you have kids and haven’t heard of this app, it’s time you checked it out! This is basically an online store of picture books that are read aloud to you. All you do is listen and follow the words as they are highlighted on the screen. It’s great for families on the go, especially on long drives when the book reader (usually me) loses her voice after reading about six books. With Meegenius, the parent gets a break and the kids still get something educational to do. It’s a great resource for teachers and schools, too. If you’re a teacher you can get a complimentary (FREE!) subscription that gives you access to over 70 books. 

Now comes my shameless plug! 🙂 If you are so inclined, you can also buy my very first picture book, A Rainbow of Nine Colors that is available on Meegenius.com for $2.99. It is a book about a brown beetle named Beanie and his quest for significance among his more colorful bug friends. Included are lessons on mixing colors, rainbows and finding beauty in diversity. The illustrations are pretty cute, too. I am hoping to someday get paid for my writing efforts and am 1/5th of the way there already (I get paid after every $50 earned). If you could help spread the word about my book, I’d really appreciate it!