Oops!

I made a Booboo today. And I am really feeling sorry for it. It was just a small stupid thing, but those are the things that can lend us the most grief sometimes. It all started with not being awake and letting my tongue speak before my mind had processed. My DH needed help finding some paperwork this morning.  No big deal. But this was before I had my coffee, cuz i was sleeping in.

Now DH needs finding paperwork often. That's cuz I am the one who puts it up. And while I do try to put it away in the same spot so he can find it, sometimes it gets laid on the table with other junk and forgotten about. So he asks where is such and such and I tell him the table, 2 seconds later he tells me he does not see it. So I get up, shuffle into the kitchen, and wa la produce said paper work. Now here is where I open mouth and insert foot. I told him he does not think about where things are.  Doesn't seem that mean now does it? It probably wasn't even taken that way. But I still feel bad about sending him out on his day with my telling him he doesn't think over a stupid piece of paper. And then I can't help but think about how this was in a way my own fault.  After all who didn't put the paper work back? ME. Who let the table get all junky again? ME . Who could have gotten up early or at same time as hubby so that she would have coffee in her system so that she felt like a normal human and thus could function like a normal human? ME. Way to go Amanda.

So there is my lesson for the day. I screw up and say the wrong things. I will try not to let this little incident cannon ball my whole day, but press forward instead. In fact this only goes to show that I really need to finish the filing system I have been meaning to getting around to finishing for a few weeks now. I think that will become today's project!

Have an excellent day everyone!

Our Command Center

Hello everyone!

How are we doing today? Have you been crazy weather for January too?  This past week we have had rain for 3 days that melted off all the snow, then it turned around and froze then snowed! Everything became slick, and quite hazardous for everyone but especially to pregnant women!  However one thing I do love about this kind of weather is how it motivates me to bake and organize! Maybe its because the weather makes you want to stay indoors and those two activities are perfect indoor activities!

Well I have been working on cleaning off my dinning table again! I have known for some time now I really need an efficient command center. A place for things to land instead of on my table. Its a pet peeve of mine to have things piling up on my table and then the hubby is always wondering where things are. I wish I could blame him fully for the state of all this, but he is usually pretty good about getting things in a spot once I have asked him to put it there.

SO this one is all on me. I have not set up and introduced an effective command center, so naturally everything gravitates to the table, a solid open space.  I have put off getting a command center and organizing other things because I keep thinking I don't have all the things I need yet to make the project work... clearly a procrastinating technique and a poor excuse.  What I keep failing to realize is I have been planning this whole get organized thing for ages now.  Every time I have been at the store and saw something helpful and just the right price I would pick it up.  I actually have a ton of organizational stuff floating around my house that just needs to find a home and be put to use already!

Well no more excuses! Time to get this bad boy done! I started pinning command centers that I liked for inspiration. Here are a few that I really liked:

I really loved this one

I knew that baskets or slots and a big board of some kind were going to be important to me based off of the pictures I chose.  I kept worrying about making this all work though. I guess in a small way I was intimidated. Look at these pictures! They are perfect! So functional. I was afraid I couldn't get mine to turn out that way.  All that kept running thru my head was, How do I organize it so that it flows with what we do? I finally had to tell my self to just do it, try it, and you will figure it out. Some times I really hate how I think. I like to have things fully formed before I get them going to know the end result. But clearly I am delusional and need medical help, because how many times in life do things come fully formed before you give them a go? Like NEVER.

 My goal to completing my command center was to use things I already had in my house. I did not want to go to the store and buy a thing! I found a large cork board that we had bought over a year ago...

 And wall hanging file bins...

I love Target

After hanging these guys up I knew I wanted a coat rack to go below them. I had this long board on hand and some extra coat hooks lying around. They just needed a little paint.

So in just one afternoon... it didn't even take me all day I don't know why I put it off for so long...I had a Command Center!

I love how it looks! And remember this?

Well I moved him from his place over my dinning room window to over the cork board to tie in with the coat rack! Its perfect!  It still needs some tweaking. Obviously the cork board is empty for now. I need to see how notes go up there and see how its best to make sections on the board. I am thinking of buying some Washi tape and using it to make sections.  One of the bins will be used to coral mail. the other I am thinking I will make up some files for bills to be kept in.  I will have to update you on all that later. In the mean time I can scratch  a command center off my list of To Do's. And now maybe my dinning room table can stay clean!

Have you finished any much needed projects around your home that you were procrastinating needlessly on doing?  Hope you have a great day

Till Next Time,

Amanda

Not Blogging. Not Doing Alot of Anything

Hello Everyone!
Here I am again... I have not been blogging. Ugh. I know. I left you in such suspense with my last post and I have not followed thru. Bad Amanda. Bad.  Just so you know I have been mentally writing to you this entire time. My Evernote account is full of notes that I have jotted down and actual posts that have not had the chance to see the light of day.  Yes. Yes. You say. But that does not really help me now does it?
I have had so many ideas on what I want to do, but execution has been a problem. I am bursting at the seam with ideas and things I want to do, yet what is happening. Nothing absolutely nothing. And because of that I have nothing to show for anything either!  How is that for a tongue twister. My house is in a state of chaos as usual(not how I want to be living), my body has been taken and is now host to an alien(so this means I want to sleep ALOT!  I make lists of all the things I intend to accomplish but I tend to lose them, there fore more of the nothing that is not getting done).   Here we are starting a new year, and its going to be a year of a lot of change. I want things to transition nicely if at all possible.  At the rate I am going only chaos is following me.
I need to nip this in the bud RIGHT NOW!  I need accountability. What better way to get that than to post your crazy ideas for all of Blogland to see and read.  Here is my list of NEED TO DO'S.  Call it my New Years Resolutions, my last grasp for sanity, or whatever you will.

NEED TO DO'S
  1. Create Household Bind
  2. Re-organize Coupon Binder
  3. Start creating a Baby Safe Haven(right now if my kiddo was crawling my home would be a death trap!)
  4. Clean out house. GIVE. DONATE. SELL
  5. Start Living on a Budget and Living with Less so being a stay at home mom can be a reality(I realize that this should probably be #1 on the list, but hey its my list.)
  6. Blog more consistently(Its easy for me to just let this one fall to the back burner. However I still feel it is important enough to keep it going. A balance needs to be maintained)

There I think that covers the HUGE basics. Everything else will likely fall under one of these 6 things.  Nice thing is that I should be able to scratch off the first two things on the list fairly quickly. Once they are done they are done. How is that for some quick gratification to keep one motivated for the bigger things to come?  What things do you want to accomplish this year?  What do you think will help you reach your goals? 
Have a great weekend,
Amanda

I have been dying to tell you

Hello Everyone!

 How was your weekend?  And the start of your week is going well I hope.

There is something I have been dying to tell you!  I have been wracking my brain on the best way to share this with you. I wanted to smoothly transition into this. Reveal the news to you in a stylish sleek and even organized way. However much like when I was an awkward teen, I never seemed to grow out of that awkward stage. Stylish and sleek are not words I would readily use to describe who I am.  Even to use the word organized is pushing it quite a bit. I do not flow with grace nor do I tend do things in a graceful manner. I have lost count of the number of times I have looked back on how something went down and thought that could have been more graceful. So I am going to just forge ahead and spill the beans already!!

Remember about those changes that are going to be taking place??  Well here is the reason for those changes.

DH and I are expecting our first child! As soon to be first time parents we are concerned about well everything. Getting things done on time. Being good parents. Making sure everyone is good and healthy. We are by the way. Just came from the doctors and all is looking good.

 In fact here is the little one's first picture. Everything is right on track with a due date of May 26th 2013!  This news has thrown us for a bit of a loop. But its exciting and well received news. We were surprised because with everything that has gone on in the last few months, getting pregnant did seem high on the list. None the less we are thrilled!!!

This bit of news has had me doing a lot of thinking.  Of how, of course, our lives will never be the same, but of all the little things that will change.  I got to thinking that one of the first places it seems fitting to start some of these changes is right here on this "baby" blog project of mine. Writing helps focus my thoughts and calm me down when things feel like they are getting out of control. Plus I love the sense of community that is felt in the blogging universe.

One of the biggest changes in store for this blog is a name change. I have been thinking that Crazy, Crafty and Caffeinated just does not fit anymore. Oh sure I am still crazy, though more tired, and I am always looking for crafty and DIY opportunities, the caffeinated part has had to come to a bit of a halt though. Now my priorities are changing and I want to share this special time in our life from beginning to end. To get it documented to have forever. I want to tweak things to reflect that. Don't worry I still plan to speak quite a bit about DIY projects and Knitting! That's what got me started into blogging to begin with and I can not just abandon that. Besides even with baby coming I am not changing my thrifty ways, in fact they are probably going to increase!! Right now the new name of the blog  is still a secret but I have hopes of making that reveal later this week, by next week for sure(the websites that I use to help makes these kinds of changes are being finicky right now so that has delayed me a bit).

There I have told you! I feel better now!  I am so excited for what is to come, I hope you are too!  Now I am off to take a little nap and plot out what I have in store next.  Have a great evening everyone!

Till Next Time,

Amanda

Time to start making Lemonade...

Hello Everyone...

My my it has been quite a while hasn't it?? You may recall I wrote about some difficulties that have come up in my life in this post Heart Broken.  These past few months have been about just getting by.  Frankly everything just kicked me in the butt big time. It knocked the wind out of my sails and thus out of a lot of the routines that I did and things I enjoyed. However, now it is time to start rising above it all. There is still life to live no matter how many lemons it throws at you.

Its time to start making Lemonade...

I have been meaning to sit down and write to you all for a long while now, but every time I would sit down to write, my mind goes blank. I know I have things I want to talk about, things I am dying to share with you, yet the words don't seem to come out. I am thinking an overhaul is needed. You know clean air, clear out mental clutter so I can get to the good stuff.

I was perusing my Google Reader account last night and I realized just how long I have dangling off the edge of the planet. There are tons of blog posts I need to catch up on from all my favorite blogs. I used to have a daily ritual of coffee and reading the latest blog posts, my version of the morning paper. I got out of that habit and thus an account full of unread posts. 

Along with reading to catch up on there are projects to be telling you about. Things I have finished. Things I am working on, and planning for the future(because nothing helps clear mental clutter than a little future planning). There is so much to share with you!!! Including a few changes that will be taking place very soon!

Here is to making LEMONADE and re-instituting routine!

Have a great weekend all you Crafters and Homemakers. Thanks for stopping by and hanging in there with me, when my world was silent.

Till Next Time,

Amanda

Bad Decision

Hello Everyone,

I made a bad decision in my coffee choice last week.  I wanted a change. I thought a little change would be a good thing. I WASN'T really feeling like coffee. Which should have been my first clue.

My first clue, that All was not well. Me. Not. Want. Coffee? That is the definition of insanity right there. What I should have done was bought my usual coffee as I always do when I went shopping. Since I was in a mental fog, with not even wanting coffee, that is what I should have done.

However that is not what I did. Instead I bought Tea. Yup Tea. At that moment the idea of Tea and scones sounded so lovely and relaxing that I caved. Now I have nothing against Tea. I really don't. I just don't usually drink it. If I do its Iced Tea.

Then next day when I came out of my tea induced coma, I realized I still had no coffee and despite how good that cup of tea was in the morning, it just wasn't my cup of tea.  So I dashed to the store again, to get coffee. You would think that this would have righted everything in the world, but it didn't. Because I was still suffering from insanity. I still did not buy my usual brand of coffee(which is Starbucks by the way.) I stood in that coffee isle thinking "Maybe one of these others brands have a nice flavor. I should try it out so I am not stuck in a rut."  So I bought this guy...

This stuff is painful to drink. I even hate the smell of it as I grind the beans to be brewed. It doesn't get any better while its brewing either. And the taste. Ack! This stuff is only a step up from Dollar Store Brand Coffee, which tastes like someone took tree bark shavings and passed it off as coffee to the public.

This all started because I was afraid of being in a rut. Because I wanted change.  What I failed to consider is that the relationship between coffee and I has been going on now for almost 15 years. That's 15 years of already trying things out. Testing different brews. Going cheap because you have no money(hence the dollar store coffee). Which means that by now I know what I like.  Which means if I want to change it up now and again well fine, but maybe that change should happen with a new nail polish color instead.

So please everyone, if you hear me going off on spiel about needing to change or wanting to change my coffee habits. Stop me. Slap me. Remind me that I have been here before. That I don't need to go thru the pain again. Buy me a new nail polish color. What ever you do, keep me away from the coffee isle.

Till Next Time,

Charting Un-Charted Waters

Hello Everyone,

How has your week been? Mine has been another one of surviving. That's what I am doing right now. Just making it from one day to the next. Its all I can ask for at the moment. And I am OK with that. I am living in every moment right now. Its a new feeling, that takes some getting used to.

I am doing a lot of knitting. Its very soothing on my soul. I have finished yet another Kerchief Scarf. Its blocking right now. I have moved on to another scarf. The Nancy Pygora-Merino Lace Scarf. Its beautiful. I am working it up in a lovely Cinnamon Fire Kid Mohair fine lace weight. It will be the perfect scarf for fall. Light and airy for still warm days, but warm enough to keep the fall chill at bay. Plus it's so gorgeous it will add instant style and flair to any outfit.

The only trouble I am having is that I am in uncharted waters. I have never worked a pattern that was Charted before. Its been quite different.  I have been enjoying the challenge of learning something new. I think I am finally getting the hang of the chart.

Have a great Friday everyone! Hope you have a great weekend too!

Till Next Time,