Blessing #105 - A {not so junky} junk drawer

Although I'm not the most organized person in the world, I've really been trying to make life more organized.

When we moved, I worked to make my kitchen cabinets efficient and organized. Most of my cabinets have stayed organized and are working for me, but there's one drawer that strugglin'...the junk drawer.

Don't judge! I told you I wasn't organized. (That creepy hand reaching in is Brandon's) A few weeks ago, I found these little tubs at the Dollar Tree.  I couldn't resist the 4-pack for $1. 

I set out to organize the junk drawer by emptying it and then making families of items.  There were a few items that I found a home for somewhere else.  I made labels out of vinyl and this is what my junk drawer looks like now...

Isn't it beautiful!?! Do you notice anything odd though.  I'll give you a minute to find it. 

I'm waiting.

Do you see it?
Who has that many sharpies!?!  And not mult-colored sharpies.  They are almost all black sharpies.

I could not figure out how we got that many sharpies.  I only remember buying sharpies maybe 2 times in the past several years.   I asked Shad about it, and he confessed that he has gotten sharpies for several projects.  Yes, my husband is a sharpie hoarder. 

I'm loving my new organized drawers. The labels make it easy for Shad to know where everything goes.

I love my drawer so much I just had to share the love.

Today, I am giving away a 4 pack of the little tubs I used in the drawer. You can pick between blue or pink and you can pick the four words to label on the inside.

To win the 4-pack of labeled tubs all you have to do is leave a comment at the bottom of this post. For an extra entry, you can like calculating blessings on facebook. Just leave an extra comment telling me you did. I'll pick the winner on Wednesday.

I'm sharing this post with I Heart Organizing

50 for 30 - Week #I have no idea

If anyone ever tells you that losing weight is easy one of three things is going on...

1. They are one of those people who have been blessed with a freakishly high metabolism that when they simply stop drinking Cokes they lose 10 pounds. They were the winners in the genetics lottery.

2. They are on a late night infommercial for a magical diet drug. In this case though, the phrase, "Losing weight is easy," is usually followed by the long list of side effects with include temporary blindness, seizures, and weight gain.

3. They are lying

Losing weight is a marathon. I've been at it since October, and sometimes I lose sight of my goal. Here recently, I have hit a plateau...Okay. I call it a plateau, but that's a stretch. Really, I'm just not eating like I should. (Curse you day after Valentine's 50% off chocolate!!!)

 I have been hovering around 20 pounds lost for about 2 months now. This week though, I feel like I got a reset. I got that nasty stomach bug, and food wasn't nearly as tempting as it has been. I've been refocusing this week, and getting my act back together.  That 30th birthday is just a few months away, and I've got to get working!

  Total Weight Loss - 21.7 pounds (I guess I can thank the stomachbug for the 1.7 pounds.)

Blessing #104 - The Warthog

For about the past month, Brandon has had an imaginary enemy. Yes, some kids have imaginary friends, but B has an imaginary enemy...the Warthog.

It all started when B began watching Call of the Wildman. If you have never seen the show, it's a reality show that follows the Turtleman. He's from the backwoods of Kentucky, and helps people get rid of pesky critters by catching them with his bare hands.


Soon after B started watching the show, he found a hole in our yard. Having watched one too many episodes of Call of the Wildman, B took the hole as a sign of...The Warthog, and he began to earnestly search for The Warthog. Every time he goes outside, he says, "Mom, I'm going to go catch that Warthog." As he plays outside, he yells, "Live Action," (Turtleman's catch phrase), and imagines that he's Turtleman looking for a Warthog.

When we are out and about, he tells every cashier in every store we go to, "Yeah, I got to catch that Warthog. He's really causing lots of trouble." Every cashier has the same reaction, the blank stare.

When he wanted Collin to come outside and play, B said, "Mom, Turtleman has that friend that helps him. Collin needs to help me find that Warthog." Just for a reference, here is a picture of Turtleman's friend that Collin was supposed to be.



I have no idea why he chose the Warthog to be his imaginery enemy. The only warthog I know is, Pumba, from the Lion King, and I don't think he's seen The Lion King recently.



It's been a month now, and he still hasn't caught that pesky Warthog. When he gets in trouble, he even blames it on The Warthog. He got in some big trouble the other day for hurting himself with a hammer (long story). As we were getting onto to him he said...

"But Mom the Warthog....."

I cut him off right there, and actually said the words, "Don't you blame this on that Warthog."

One day, after hearing one too many Warthog excuses, I said, "Brandon, there is no Warthog! I don't think Warthogs even live in Maryland." For a brief instant, he looked at me like I had just told him, "There is no Santa," and I immediately regretted my words.

Fortunately, he paused only for a moment, and then said, "Mom, I'll just have to show you the hole. There IS a Warthog." Realizing my mistake and trying to cover it up, I said, "Yeah Buddy, maybe there is a Warthog. I'll just have to see that hole."

Now, I've kind of grown fond of the imaginery Warthog. Everyday that pesky critter is up to something new. The imaginary Warthog is one of the quirks that makes Brandon...Brandon. I think I'll actually be sad when B finally catches that Warthog.

Blessing #103 - The Goodwill Percentage

I've professed my love of Goodwill on many different blogposts. I've talked about it so much, Goodwill has it's own category on the blog. In all my Goodwill posts, I have never talked about Goodwill clothes.

When I go to Goodwill, I head straight to the home goods section. Once I finish with the home goods, I go to the clothes section. On most of my visits, I don't look at the clothes item by item. I just scan over the racks. Here lately, I have been hitting some home runs with my Goodwill clothes finds.

One of my many quirks is that every time I get dressed, I quickly figure out my Goodwill percentage.

"What's a Goodwill percentage?" you ask!

My Goodwill percentage is the percentage of clothes I have on that are from Goodwill. The higher the Goodwill percentage the better!

Here are a few examples.


This outfit has a 75% Goodwill percentage. Out of 4 pieces the white shirt, cardigan, and skirt all come from Goodwill. The boots were a Christmas gift.
Colli Bear photo bombed this picture. His Goodwill percentage is 0%, but he does have a 100% Mom-mom percentage. He's sporting the pajamas she got him for Christmas.


This outfit has a 66% Goodwill percentage. Out of three pieces, the dress and sweater are Goodwill.

Why yes! I do love my boots. Why do you ask?


As proud as I am of my high Goodwill percentage outfits, Shad totally beat me on the outfit he wore when we went ballroom dancing. It has a Goodwill percentage of 100%!

If you live anywhere near a Goodwill of Delaware, make sure you check out their $2 Tuesdays every Tuesday in the month of February. This is Shad and my favorite sale of the year.

Basically, any winter item is $2 for adults and $1 for kids (that includes jeans). We got B an awesome jacket last night for $1! With $2 Tuesdays this month, I might try to get a 100% Goodwill percentage. Wait. That would mean I couldn't wear my boots. Forget that. I'll just try for an 85%.

Curse #35 - his first haircut

My little Colli Bear is getting big. Now, he takes up most of his crib. When I pick him up, my arm starts to go numb just after a few minutes. His little belly now sticks out from under his 18 month shirts.

Yes, all the signs are there that my baby is getting bigger. I understand that fact. However, in my eyes, Collin might be getting bigger, but he is not growing up. He's still my little baby, my Colli Bear. In my denial, I told Shad a few weeks ago, "Colli's wearing big boy clothes, but he still has that baby face."


As Colli has gotten bigger his hair has gotten longer. I have been complaining for a few months about Collin's hair. As it has grown it looks more like a mullet than the beautiful curls some little boys get. Last Wednesday, I could not take Colli's shabby look any longer. In a quick decision, I "just trimmed the edges."

As soon as I was done, I knew I had made a big mistake. Yes, I gapped his hair up a little, but the real mistake was even bigger. Somehow by cutting his hair, I had taken off my rose colored mommy glasses, and now I could see my baby for what he was...a little boy.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I kept staring at him and thinking, "He's really a little boy. He's REALLY a little boy" Suddenly, I found myself sitting and crying on my bathroom floor. At the lowest point of my meltdown, I picked one of his fallen curls up off the ground and seriously considered reattaching it with duct tape. If only I hadn't cut his hair, I would have never seen the truth. I could have lived in my happy denial.

Eventually, I pulled myself together only to lose it again when Shad said, "He looks so grown up. He's not Colli Bear anymore. Now, he's Mr. Collin."

Soon, I realized that even though he wasn't "a baby" anymore, he was still "my baby." That fact will never change. No matter how big either boy gets or what they accomplish, they will always be my babies.


P.S. I'm still calling him Colli Bear until he tells me to stop...and even then, I'll probably still will.

Blessing #102 - Dancing

One of my New Year's resolutions involved our date nights. Right now, Shad and I average a date night about every three months. Now I'm no relationship expert, but that sounds like too few date nights. I resolved to have a date night once a month.

But wait there's more!

I also made a goal of having more "fun dates." Right now, our dates all look the same...

step 1. go out to eat (and talk about the boys, bills, and work)

step 2. go to a store

While that date is great, I felt like we were in a rut. We have so much going on right now, I knew that Shad and I both needed a little more fun.

Shortly after I made my resolution, I saw that a local library was having an "Introduction to Ball Room Dancing" class. It was perfect, a fun and free date! There was only one problem....SHAD HATES TO DANCE!

He has difficulty clapping on beat, and dancing seems impossible to him. I knew selling him on the whole, "Let's take a dance class!" would be a big task.

I started working on him a few weeks before the class. Shad's initial response was a quick, emphatic, "No," but I expected that. After some coercion, manipulation, and begging, Shad agreed to go to the class with me.

The class lasted for an hour. In that time, we learned a basic box step which we used in the waltz and salsa. We also learned a basic rock step which we used in the bolero and the rumba. At the end we danced a few meringue steps. They packed so much into the hour, but it was great!

I think Shad let the class get to his ego when he labeled his water bottle "Max." That's when you know you've seen too many episodes of dancing with the stars.

My best description of our dance skills would be "clunky," but we had a ton of fun. Shad concentrated so hard on the dance steps that he had his tongue stuck out through most of the dances.



At one point, Shad said, "The part of my brain that should be able to do this doesn't work. See I can feel it right back here. (He then pointed to the back of his head) It doesn't work!"

We may not have been the best dancers, but I believe we had the most fun. We laughed most of the hour. For that hour, we didn't talk about the boys, the bills, doctor's visits, or work. For that hour, we just enjoyed being together, laughing, and making a new memory just for us.


I have to give a big thanks to my friend Rachel (and her husband Luke) for watching the boys for us during the class.

If you have any good ideas for fun dates, please let me know. I have 11 more months to plan.