Ouch!

Bending over is rapidly becoming painful and impossible. The nagging cough I have is also not helping as my lungs (and all other organs) are pretty well compressed at the moment.

I am so glad that I have done so much (though it really feels like so little) already this year as after I choose (kind off) to have my abs ripped apart in a few weeks, it will be a hard road back to the kind of bending over and crawling around on the floor that seems to be needed to organise my life.

I have an appointment at the hospital on Friday to discuss a date for my c section (approx four weeks time). I am nervous about it being all in German etc. My husband luckily can come with me for the first appointment he has ever attended for three pregnancies (!), though as moral support only as our levels of German fluency are about the same.

I think this will be a fairly poor week for decluttering however due to not feeling the best, however unfortunately I can´t let myself rest anymore than I already have done the last two days.

There are two or three horrible clutter “hot spots” that have accumulated around the house – they need to be cleared by Thursday night (when hubby gets back from Hamburg) and I want to start washing all the baby clothes and blankets in case something happens and it comes early. I wish I had someone to help me, but I don´t… it sucks, but its my choice in many ways to be living so far from “home”.

So, tomorrow and Thursday will be a melange of rubbish bags (out, out, out), charity bags and washing machine whirling away. I line dry everything (inside in winter next to radiators and on the balcony in summer) so it will take a few days to get things washed, dry and folded.

We STILL have not made it down to the cellar to bring up the remaining baby things – Moses basket stand, newborn basket for pram, more clothes – off the top of my head. This MUST be done this weekend (again in case of early arrival) as well as some minor repairs to the pram/stroller.

I guess the baby coming feels like a visitor is coming – how much tidying do you do before visitors come to stay?

Filed under: Living Arrangements

Rat´s Nest in the Bedroom

Ever since we had the big reorganisation in January (gulp), I have had a huge pile of miscellaneous papers, clothes, shoes, jewelery, books and magazines lying next to my bed- there´s even a panda or two there! These are all things that just somehow didn´t get put away properly in the move. They are in fact, lying right where the Moses basket for the baby needs to be….

So I have picked all that stuff up off the floor and put it on my unmade bed….no it is not an improvement at all, however I won´t be able to sleep there again until I clear it all away, haha. Is that a reverse kind of motivation?

I know a lot of this paperwork can go straight into the rubbish bin, some will need to be filed or dealt with. Jewelery needs to be put away in jewelery boxes and treated like the treasure it is. Books back on shelves, magazines in recycling bin. Clothes put away. What a grub I am!

Last weekend we were supposed to go and look for baby things in the storage areas, however I ended up telling my husband that I “should” clean up this other mess first before bringing more things into the house that needed to be sorted. Three days to go till the weekend

Then I will be setting up the Moses basket, washing baby things and organising all those supplies. I still have six weeks to go…but in case something happens in the mean time I need to get cracking.

Filed under: Decluttering to get my life back, Living Arrangements

Untangling Tangles

I woke up at 6.30am this morning, half an hour before I had to wake my daughter for school and spontaneously decided to attempt another little niggle- something that brings me down everytime I look at it, we all have those corners of our house, right?

My phone and wireless internet connection are all connected through this tangle of wires that unfortunately has to sit in our master bedroom as its the only connection point in the house. I hate cables with a passion and can´t stand them hanging out of TV areas or stereos, so I am not sure why I have put up with this eyesore so long

BEFORE:
So, I unplugged everything, untangled everything and wrapped up the wires that could be shortened with little twist ties I found in a packet of freezer bags.

The after pictures below are not particularly exciting or inspiring looking but in the interests of keeping it real I have to say for me, it´s 1000% better than it was before and not going to slightly depress me every time I look at it- and that´s what matters .

AFTER:

I don´t have any way of hiding this connection point bar one day buying a cupboard or shelf that might go in front of it, however at the moment my home improvement work is being completed on a budget of zero.

How do you deal with cables and cords?

Filed under: Living Arrangements

Feburary Fotos 2

During the move photos of the living and dining areas- which is one huge open plan rectangular area.
Mess!
Look at all those books!
Above is the reconstructed TV area. I just missed out the piano in this photo (to the right), so this is really a multi purpose area. The kitchen is also to the right (behind the fish tank).
Above is the dining area doubling as drying area today. It looks the same as before- just at opposite ends of the open plan area. Next to it (not in picture) on the left side is the big bookshelf which leads into our new parent´s bedroom.Very unorganised and overflowing bookshelf (which is explained if you read some of my past posts). And behind it you can see the only glimpse I will give you at present of the the master bedroom- that is still a certified disaster area.

Well, after posting these semi in progress photos, I feel somewhat motivated to do something small and may tidy the top of the fridge )

Filed under: Living Arrangements

February Fotos….

I have “done” the kid´s bedrooms, the lounge and dining area. The bookshelf is a disaster but can be sorted out at my leisure and then next areas are the bedroom and the “hall walk in cupboard” (yet to be photographed).

First up kid´s bedrooms- a very very messy “before” first of the room they shared (it wasn´t usually this bad, haha) and then the two afters in separate rooms. I need to change the curtains in my daughter´s room eventually, but otherwise its done. You can click on the photos to make them bigger.

Filed under: Living Arrangements

Still Chipping Away at the Iceberg!

Little by little I am putting things way, but I am not joking when I say it will take me weeks more to get everything as I want it. I took some photos of the main mess, will post them later…

I came across the term I was looking for, for what I am doing- it is called “rightsizing”. Rightsizing means having the appropriate amount of belongings to fit your space and circumstances. I am so far “wrongsized” right now, it is hard to even know where to begin sometimes.

Books- I “lost” the mini bookshelf I had next to my main one (see this photo- it is the little one stacked with travel and language books). I gave it to my daughter to use in her room, so I am now “over” by that many books of fitting into the big bookshelf. So, will be doing some major listing on Amazon and an expat site I belong to, to sell some.

Clothes- Always a problem. Deserves its own post. Due to my ever fluctuating weight, I have too many clothes to fit different sizes. its neither practical, efficient or economical. I need to get a handle on this after the baby is born. Will no doubt be the subject of many many posts later on this year.

Kitchen- I am actually quite happy with the kitchen situation. We have a large kitchen and it is rightsized for this area. I use what I have, like cooking and entertaining (when my house is tidy, not CHAOS- Can´t Have People Over Syndrome) and apart from keeping it tidy with a good spring clean once a year and the odd purge, this is the one area I am not out of control in. Less said about the top of the fridge the better though…..does anyone have any helpful suggestions for this area?

Media- My beautifully organised Media shelf (see here ) will be relocated to my daughter´s bedroom which is a pity, but there is just no where else for it to go in the main living area. And I don´t want it in my “new” spacious and non-oppressive feeling bedroom (well, not currently, but when I am finished). However her bedroom is next to the TV (luckily walls are thick), so there is not too much of a walk. My kids don´t have TVs in their rooms, however they are lucky enough to have a laptop to share for NickJr and ISpy games. I discussed with my husband the fact that we don´t ever ever listen to CDs anymore (ipods and itunes rule) so maybe we could get rid of a lot of CDs in the future too.

Kid´s Rooms- plenty to “rightsize” there. A reasonably enjoyable job unlike my own belongings. PS. They are loving having their own rooms, though I feel soooo far from my little son now as he is the apartment length away.

Misc Junk- OMG! OMG! Horrible, horrible.

Filed under: Clothes, Home Matters, Living Arrangements

We Started the Big Move Yesterday

…and its a complete disaster. Well, not really, but it looks like we just moved in now. We managed to get all the beds into the right rooms and some of the furniture. The rest of the furniture is sitting in the middle of the living room and the dining table is piled high with books (and under it too). The bookshelf is full of games and there is not a lot of room to move.

The kids did sleep well separated last night though which was a relief, my little boy even got to turn his bed into a bunk bed (he is 5 in June) so we made a big fuss about that. They both have a spacious room to themselves now though we have yet to properly sort and divide all toys, books, clothes and games into each room. For the moment T (son) knows that he has to go into his sister´s room to get his socks and underwear and he doesn´t mind .

We are going to move one more wardrobe this morning, I am baking a cake and then we are going to Scottish friend´s house for the afternoon and to celebrate Burns Night- a first for us.

The rest of the mess will be slowly cleaned up during the week- I am a stay at home mum, so have plenty of time, right .

Filed under: Living Arrangements

Its Been a Long Time…

…constant sickness which I am still suffering through (just cold and flu with a side trip to the emergency room on Sunday to get penicillin for my badly swollen glands) has taken its toll. We were also away in France for two weeks at my mother-in-law´s house (became sicker there) and now back for a week. I think I am starting to turn the corner in regards to feeling better- another week maybe and I will be ok.

So, its time to roll into 2009!

Its less than four months till baby number three arrives and so much to do around the house. I will most likely be having another c-section, so it really is imperative I make the most of my fully functioning body before I am a little out of action for six weeks.

My husband and I are toying with the idea of rearranging the WHOLE apartment….eek. It would be a major job and would need to be done sooner or later- so now or say in six months. Our apartment is right in the center of Munich and is about 100 square meters (plus balcony). We have two closed off bedrooms and a huge living area, a “L-shaped” portion of which we would like to convert to a 3rd bedroom (ours). We would also (for logistical and sound reasons) need to reverse the dining and lounge areas so the TV won´t be next to the new master bedroom, whihc won´t be fully soundproof. So, every bit of furniture in the house would need to be moved and we would have to get rid of a fairly big desk which is OK and replace with a small homework desk perhaps. It won´t cost us anything- besides asking a few strong male friends for help- maybe a few new curtains and a light fitting. This new arrangement would make use of our space more economically and give my two existing children their own room and much more space. I would actually prefer for them not to have their own room (they are very close) but the rooms are not big and a squash for them both and all their belongings.

Food for thought….

The balcony looking out onto courtyard (the street is on front of us)

Dining area (to be swapped with lounge below)- opens out onto balcony.

The new master bedroom to be- just off the current TV lounge- all furniture to be moved out and redistributed- currently we use this as a guest nook, library, DVD storage and work area- its all a waste of space truly- look at all that room in the middle unused! The bookshelf will probably be used as a room divider as this room has no door.

Current TV/lounge area- to be swapped with dining area.

Filed under: Living Arrangements