Well, let's get right to what you want to hear about, OK? Because there's no use pretending that you're all that interested in the good.  You'd rather hear about the bad and the ugly, admit it. Well you're getting 2 for 1 with the following pictures of my latest (perhaps last?) DIY project. They are indeed both BAD and most definitely UGLY. So ugly they are now in the trash. (No green comments, please. You'd have to see them to realize how unrecycleable they are...)

Maybe first you should see my inspiration. I am not super creative, but I am usually a first-class copycat. So I googled 'painted curtains' and found this post. I have the same Target curtains, and the pictures looked exactly like I wanted mine to look - so I had my willing "craft assistants" tape all NINE of my family room curtain panels for me. (Winston on the right, and my visiting son-in-law Nathan on the left.... Nathan loves doing projects for his favorite mother-in-law...especially if it's the night before he leaves...and very late at night!)

I went ahead and splurged on 3 bottles of fabric paint because, after all, I did have 9 panels.



It took every last drop to get ONE SINGLE PANEL painted. It might have been because I used disposable foam brushes, which the never-wrong-internet said would be perfect for the job.






Here are the other 8 panels hanging in  my carport, expertly taped and waiting their turn. My plan was just to do one after the other until I hung them up in my family room later that day - my family room which would eventually be as gorgeous as this one.  (Note that she sewed her stripes on... Which means she obviously has more discretionary time than me....Or a lot more smarts! Most likely the latter.)



I don't have a picture of Alex, my painting assistant, but he did mention to me that he thought the paint was going to show through the back of the curtains. (Alex is smarter than his mom.) It definitely showed through, but I figured we could line them (next year...or the year after...). Plus they are on the back doors that line our pool deck, so maybe I wouldn't care. And it was dark when we put them up so my biggest concern was just whether the yellow/gold was too much with my green walls (It was...)

 Turns out my biggest concern shouldn't have been the color... cuz when daylight came, we noticed a bigger concern. You can see every doggone paint stroke from the blasted, paint-eating foam brushes.











Moral of the story? Next time I get that creative urge (sometimes confused with discontent...) I will just do something cheaper and fail-proof, and more temporary.  Like move furniture.



I realize no one will be able to muster even an ounce of sympathy for me when I say that my living room is too big (whine, whine..) but it has been very difficult to figure out how to place my furniture in this room. But I keep trying. Because my husband enjoys the thrill of never knowing where the couch is. (This is especially fun in the middle of the night!)

My pictures are grainy (I need you..and your camera...Lea!) but you can see my idea was to try to create little "areas" within the big room.















It feels good to be blogging again. Even if my impetus was to vent over the stupid striped curtains.

And did you notice I didn't even try to make any excuses for my continued absence? I'm tempted to blame it on a visit from these guys... (but they were only here for four short days, so I guess my multi-month sabbatical is not wholly their fault.)

My friend Christina, from Jonesville (which I believe is the made-up name of a town, sort of like if I said I was from Pittmansburg...), is hosting her 3rd annual Homeschooling Blogging Conference.  I "met" Christina through my oldest daughter, Brite, and even though I'm most likely old enough to be the grand matriarch of her pretend blog city, she lets me hang out over there.  I'll be guest posting tomorrow - and don't you worry your pretty little heads, I'm more than happy to be your personal secretary, ready to send you right back over there tomorrow so you won't miss anything important.

 And go on over there today to 'register' (sort of like your cyber name-tag) and introduce yourself. And read her first post. She's hilarious and witty in a totally effortless sort of way. So even if you don't homeschool, you'll enjoy reading about her life and times.

(This post is linked to Kristin at Works for Me Wednesday but I'm too techno-dumb to figure out how to put her cool logo here, but you can go there and see it. It's a very nice logo.)

Yep, it's me again. Posting, pretty much on the heels of my last post. No biggie. I'm just super consistent like that.

Oh, and a big shout out to my new followers. I'm on my way to getting that blog re-do thanks to you. I am so sick of whatever that green 'border' is by the donuts on my header. And my pictures aren't crisp (which I'm sure has nothing to do with my camera...)

Hundreds Many of you asked me to elaborate on how I've revolutionized my time management skills by refusing to put off doing anything that takes 2 minutes or less. Well, first of all let me just tell you that many tasks take much longer than 2 minutes.....in your head. But actually Doing Them takes much less time.

For example, this week it took me less than 2 minutes to:


~ Go through the home school card pack that came in the mail, keep the one card I might actually use and throw the rest away.  I have now thrown even that card away. Mail is a no-brainer. The whole process should never take more than 2 minutes.  You either file it (to be paid, to be answered, etc.), can it, or put it on your husband's desk :)

~ Hang up my clothes. This actually takes nano-seconds, not minutes...unless you never do it, and are a 19yo girl living in my home..then it would definitely take 5-6 of your precious minutes.




~ Make my bed. I started doing this years ago, even before Flylady. In fact, I'm pretty sure she got the rule of not even going to the bathroom until your bed is made from me.  Makes for some mighty fast bed-making in my small-bladder household; MUCH less than 2 minutes - and that includes a duvet, four pillows, a European sham, and 3 decorator pillows. (YouTube forthcoming?)

~ Empty your amazon cart. This may cost a lot of money, but it's very quick :) 

~ Delete some emails. The 2 minute thing really works for me here. I can take out about 5-7 emails in 2 minutes (2 seconds if they are forwards.)   The goal is to see each email only once, just as if it was a piece of paper. File it, delete it, print it, or click unsubscribe. Simple Mom, who writes on productivity for home managers, has a good blog post up today bemoaning the size of her inbox and giving some suggestions on how to tame it. For a gal with no vowels in her name she has some great advice :)

~ Comment on someone's blog (sorry...couldn't resist! But it's true...It takes so little time and gives such warm fuzzies to the blogger.)

~ Take my pills. Again if you're 30something, you might be saying, "What pills?" But the older you get the more challenging it becomes to get them all swallowed, rubbed in, or chewed in less than 2 minutes. And then, for the love of all things decent and orderly, Put them Away. No one likes to walk into a bathroom and know your whole rash history.


Speaking of Things that Work for Me - Here's a picture of my sweet boys giving my "new" kitchen chairs a make-over. Winston (who is going to be a super-duper handyman husband...in about 20 years) sanded them and painted them a glossy black. Then Alex cut the black toile fabric using the old covers as a guide.  Here's a picture of the two of them stapling and nailing and pleasing their grateful mom.

I think they're wonderful! .....The boys and the chairs :)









 P.S. My friend, Lea, is coming over later today. Lea is creative, and smart, and funny (and she thinks I'm funny...which makes her even more funny) and she has an amazing camera, which she uses brilliantly. She's going to take some pictures of some non-2 minute projects I've been working. Can't wait to show them to you!

I wasn't going to blog today (shocker!), but I knew some of you might be having some serious laundry-post withdrawal so I put my selfish writer's block (aka laziness) aside to come over here and link to this. jewel.

Of course, my motivation was higher since she said such nice things about me. (Please note the title she gives me. And use it when you speak of me in the future, please.)

I love success stories, don't you? And I'm amazed at how seemingly small things (...and I confess, I was worried when she first emailed me pictures of her too-small-for-my-family laundry bins)
can make all the difference in how we view our daily tasks.

Seeing Kristin's success (almost) spurs me on to continue my Making It All Work series. I've implemented about 2% of the system, but it's transformed my calendar and my to-do list.

More later. (Do I say that a lot?)

P.S. Can I get a witness to Kristin's offer to come clean my shower stalls? Do you think she does tubs, too? (Do you think she remembers I have 7 sons?!)

P.S.S. Kristin is a new blogger - but you'd never know it from the way she writes. And wait until you see her amazing revolving slide show of her gorgeous children. No sinful, coveting, blog envy here. Just the facts.

Some Moms Who Should Definitely Know are sharing about laundry systems, and I couldn't help but jump right into this 'agitating' discussion. This is one (and about the only) area of homemaking I have down to a sweet smelling, neatly folded science. 


 And I'm sure  now that I've proudly stated that fact, I'm bound to wake up tomorrow morning to a house full of wet bunkbeds (and it wouldn't be the first time, I can assure you of that.)


Here's the link to my previous post on laundry - complete with cutting-edge pictures of my family's amazing, individually labeled, (white, plastic) laundry bins. After you read that post, be sure not to miss the sequel. Because just like everything else in a large family, we needed more than one (booths in a restaurant, pews in a church, carts in a grocery store, refrigerators in a kitchen. It always takes two.)


 I'd write a new laundry post but why should I?  Don't need to.  My system is still working like a charm. Seriously. The only time it gets slightly out of control is after a Boy Scout campout, when my 5 Scouts come home stinkin' to high heaven. (And if that's what high heaven smells like, I'll be completely happy to stay in the lower part, thank you very much.) 


Maybe I should start a new blog called Pioneer Woman Washes
and Dries. 


This just in - One of my favorite, and more attentive, blog readers just reminded me of the sequel to the sequel laundry post. In this post I tell about the dot system - and get an award for Bravest Blogger (and most embarrassing mother.) I'm so proud of me!




After you've had your fill of my laundry solutions, be sure you get all the dirt from these gals.

Sixteen is definitely an age that causes rejoicing. Although it makes me a little sad.

I've always loved that bumper sticker. But it doesn't really fit here because I want you to follow me.


Even though I rarely blog. 


I mean...Should a blogger really have to blog in order to have followers? Obviously not.


 And I have four new followers since I last checked. In fact, they've been here more recently than I have. Which is pitiful, I know. But why would I keep coming here when I know there's nothing new. (just kidding...)


 But, I bet you get tired of me apologizing for my inconsistent blogging. Well, too bad.  It makes me feel better. Plus, it may be the last time you'll ever hear it because of what I'm about to tell you.


I've been listening to a book (isn't it cool how you can do that?) called Making It All Work. It's the sequel to Getting Things Done, The Art of Stressfree Productivity (GTD), which I recently read half of, then immediately started touting to all my friends....only to find out the book was a best-seller.... about 10 years ago.... and everybody on the planet, 'cept me, has already read the book.


(Although I was too nice to mention this to my so-called friends, but wouldn't you think if they had actually read a revolutionary book about Getting Things Done - even if it was behind my back -that I might have noticed a little stressfree productivity going on in their lives? If you get my drift ....)


 Anyway, if you've been in a cave for the last 10 years and have not yet read GTD, don't read it. 


Just get the sequel, Making It All Work, in which he spends the first few chapters telling you how GTD has revolutionized the known world. (Apparently,...Learn Humility, was not one of the things the author was trying to Get Done. But then, the book has sold a trillion copies - A trillion + 1 now that I finally bought one.) He also summarizes everything from the 1st book in the second book. So it was almost worth waiting the 10 years for.


Because I'm super-smart (if not up-to-date on best sellers), I questioned why one would need to write a book called Making It All Work, if indeed one had already Gotten It All Done. But who am I to question a trillionaire?


So, like I said. Don't get the first book (even though it's dirt cheap everywhere...bein' that it's so old news), get Making It All Work. 


Or don't get it. Just wait and see if it all works for me. (And btw, if you follow me, you'll be the first to know...)


One concept from the book that I've already implemented is the idea of Mind Sweeping. 


Do you ever feel like your mind is full of dirt? (Don't answer that.) 


 Mine. is. full.  I needed an industrial size dust pan to sweep it all up.


 The idea is to 'sweep up' all the stuff that's clogging the corners of your head. When all that fuzz is scattered around, whispering Guilt and Overwhelmed-ness at you, you end up discouraged - maybe even paralyzed. So you just try to put it all out of your mind and go have a bowl of ice cream instead. (The author didn't mention that, but I know that's what you do.)


But when you've gathered everything that is making claims on your attention- things you haven't completed or have procrastinated starting on - you'll sleep better, be nicer to your kids, make more money, and be well on your way to establishing world peace. Or at the very least you'll realize you have too many things vying for your attention. No wonder you're not experiencing stressfree productivity! 


 When I did my mindsweep, not only did I sleep better, but I decided about half the stuff in my dustpan needed to be thrown out. My mind was being cluttered up by a lot of stuff I was never going to act on. Some of the ideas in there weren't even reasonable. But they were mixed in there with all the stuff that really needed acting on. And the two were all mixed up like breadcrumbs in a meatloaf (We've been working on similes this week. Isn't that a good one, kids?)


The point of the mindsweep is to take all that stuff you obsess over; the projects, the errands, the books, the chores - and re-locate them to a place where they can be rationally sorted and acted upon. 


Want to try it? Just get out a single piece of paper and a pretty pen, set a timer for 10 minutes, and begin writing. Think about what David Allen calls "open loops" - everything in your mind that's not closed/finished/done. Start with the easy stuff. The project you're behind on. Anything with a deadline. Every thought that makes you "cringe, groan, pause, ponder, or exclaim."


It may take a couple of sweeps to get everything collected. And then you can start processing it.


But if I tell you how to do that right now, you won't need to follow me, now will you? :)


Just go make your list. World peace is waiting on you.

Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.  ~Mark Twain



I think Mr. Twain was referring to bad habits needing to be coaxed down the stairs, but if he had kids like mine, he might have been commiserating over the basic process of trying to help them decide on one cotton-pickin' habit to put down on their 100 Day form.  


See my last post for the great idea my BFF Ann(e) came up with. 


 The great idea that is taking the national Blog World by storm.


The great idea that is so simple, yet is making a positive impact on women and children far and wide.


The great idea I'm pretty sure I thought of before she was even born. 


Mine was exactly the same as hers, except I called mine an Encouragement Chart. And mine had a few more than 3 boxes to check. And mine was connected to an intricate system of rewards. And mine was written in fat, black Sharpie with no quotes or cool fonts. And mine had things like "Keep your fingers away from your nose" and "Sit like a lady" on the ones I made for my kids. And there were about 20 things for each child to work on each day - for a year.


Other than that, my idea was identical to Ann(e)'s. (I've always been a little before my time. It's a curse, really.)


But I'm super happy to have Ann(ie) take international credit, us bein' kindred spirits and all. 


 Personally, I had an enjoyable and easy time choosing which 3 habits I would work on for the next 100 days - my only problem was trying to narrow it down to 3.  Leaving so many areas off the list felt akin to saying that there were only 3 things about me that need improving. That seemed too proud for an exceptionally humble girl like myself. But I'm a rule-loving/form follower, so I did what Ann(e) told me to do.


And I had high hopes that my good example, coupled with the lengthy, eloquent instructions I gave, would make the process easier for my own, dear, badly-in-need-of-some-reformation children.


So, I optimistically sent them off to be alone with their form and their God. I patiently waited, with visions of post-100 day children who cleaned under their beds, no longer cracked their knuckles, and looked for ways to make life easier for others/me.


My boys eeked out a grand total of 1 each - and even that 1 seemed negotiable - since they weren't completely convinced it would take anywhere near 100 days to cement their new habit.


Such is the male ego.


I'm just sayin'.


(With threats of no lunch until I saw 3 Mom-Approved habits on the dang miracle form) We ended up each completing our assignments. 


Phew! Now the easy part.  Doing our three new habits each day for the next 100 days.


It is my intention not to check my children's progress daily. I really want them to take ownership and responsibility for this character-building project. (Plus, I don't have time to check on them each day, and it would make my #2 below a little harder.)


Here are my 100 Day Habits
  (1) Drink 6 glasses of water each day - preferably before dinner (for the sake of helping my husband sleep through the night...)
 (2) Publicly praise my husband and children - preferably heart-felt
 (3) Delete 10 emails a day - preferably read first


There were a few things in my top 10 that I easily eliminated because I knew I would have the motivation to do them without the form. Scripture memory - because we're doing it as a family (and the embarrassment when my kids pass me will be enough of a motivator...); exercise (jiggly fat and tight jeans make a form unnecessary) - and there were a few things I realized I wasn't ready to be committed to; daily journaling and no sugar. The beauty of 100 days is that when your 100 days is over, you can choose 3 more things....and then 3 more, all within 2011. That Ann, she is brilliant!


 I've heard from a few of you about things you're trying to put off/put on in this New Year. How's it going? Anyone else take Ann's (originally mine....) challenge? Did you find it easy or hard to limit yourself to 3?