The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: LindseyC on February 04, 2017, 12:28:10 PM
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Just recently I have started to push myself to do at least one odd chore a day. A chore that is not something you normally do daily, weekly or even monthly. Something that will improve your environment, health, stress level, mindset..... It can be anything as long as it needs to be done and for whatever reason you have just been putting it off. It doesn't have to be anything that requires a massive amount of energy or time (unless you want it to be)
For me personally I have loads of projects around my 100 year old house that need to be done. I started making a giant list, room by room and just got so overwhelmed, which is when I decided to just do one thing a day no matter how small because over time it will all add up and hopefully be a lot less overwhelming.
So today, February 4th, I got out an old can of pant and freshened up a freestanding cupboard I use as a pantry in my kitchen. It had some chips and scratches, now with twenty minutes worth of effort it is back to fire engine red and looks brand new again.
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Yes! I will join. I've been working on this lately. I will start monday, and I plan on washing windows. If it's above 45F, I'll wash the outsides of the back windows. Below, and I'll wash the insides of the front windows.
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I'm in. Today I sorted out a box of old papers and got rid of the ones I no longer needed. I also started cleaning out my coat closet and noticed there is some mold, so I took everything out and washed the walls, going to paint it with some leftover mold resistant paint.
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I'm inn. Just worked on refreshing my kitchen tile with grout refresher. Looks much tidier.
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Decided not to wait until monday. I shop vac'd the car mats today, since they were sandy from our beach trip last weekend. Not sure yet what I'll do tomorrow.
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So glad some people are in for this challenge!
I installed some peel and stick tiles in my bathroom (to save some money when I first moved in) they have been excellent for a few years now..... However, one tile central in the room has cracked due to slight unevenness in the floor. I'm not prepared to replace the entire floor yet, but today I am going to attempt to take up the one tile and replace it. Luckily I have lots left over. The one tile has just been bugging me so it is my odd chore for today.
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Our odd chore today was a big one. Our shower has been dripping with increasing frequency- and most annoyingly, will explode with a fair amount of water in the middle of the night, then continue to drip for about an hour afterwards. After doing some reading, it sounded like the cartridge might be worn out. So we turned off the water main, and pulled stuff apart. Everything was super loose, and a big chunk of rock was stuck in the spring behind the cold side. Plus there was a lot of little sediment in general. We cleaned the whole thing out, I took lots of photos and measurements so that we can figure out what replacement piece we need. We reassembled it all and turned the water back on. It's looking like tightening and cleaning may have solved the problem? So we'll try it as is for a couple days and see, otherwise we'll follow up on getting a replacement cartridge.
It was nice too, I was able to get into the little plastic faceplate part and clean out some of the grime. It's still ugly- old yellowing "clear" plastic that's all scratched up. But at least it's less gritty looking, haha.
Cost so far: $0
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Bracken_Joy you sound like you were a lot more successful than me! That's a great fix (hopefully) and for zero expense!
My tile removal did not go so well, those puppies are solidly stuck down. I have to have a think and come back at it from a different angle.
Instead after that task didn't pan out, I decided to move all the furniture around in my bedroom. I don't have tons of furniture but it's pretty solid stuff. I wanted to move it to see if I liked the look better and because it's a bit more logical given the location of my windows, plugs, ceiling fan and closet door. As well I want to patch and touch up some of the walls where art used to hang and the new furniture locations makes that much easier. It looks great but my arms are sore!
My next few projects are going to revolve around bedroom improvements. There are definite odd jobs galore in there!
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Finished painting my closet today and put the shelves back in. Sorted out some old coats and shoes to donate before I put everything back.
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Painted the first coat on my kitchen cabinets!
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This is a great idea! Though my house is only 93 years old :)
I need to call a contractor today about replacing a skylight. I might also hang a curtain that came out of the wall back up.
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Painted the second coat on my kitchen cabinets today. Still some odds and ends left to finish the kitchen project but I'm happy I tackled so much this weekend!
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The saga of the shower is continuing. So that's my odd job today- went and looked at new trim kits, and ordering a new one in.
Does it count for one a day if it's various aspects of the same task? =\
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Took out a big bag of Goodwill donations that was just sitting around for weeks in my room. Finally getting it out of the house (and to Goodwill, where it belongs) is already making me feel better!
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Just took some polish and a toothbrush to a tarnished necklace. I might just wear it tomorrow!
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I'm in. Thinking up tomorrow's chore!
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Totally counts if it is another step on the same project! Not every project can be completed in one day.
I missed posting yesterday because the day was so busy but I oiled my kitchen butcher block counters and they look great. Today I haven't figured out my task yet but I am leaning towards filling in the nail holes in my bedroom
Everyone is doing such a great job and I am impressed!
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Yesterday: graded some papers ahead of time that were turned in early
Today: cleaned my garbage cans and compost bin (yuck)
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I cleaned out the kitchen junk drawer. Why do I have so many keychains? Where do they come from? A couple of pretty ones got added to my Goodwill bag, and the rest got chucked. Also a few other things I don't need, don't want, and didn't remember we even had.
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My tile removal did not go so well, those puppies are solidly stuck down. I have to have a think and come back at it from a different angle.
Did you try heating the tile up with the hair dryer or heat gun to losen the glue? I once did a basement floor and we couldn't get them to stick down until we heated them up and then immediately put them down on the floor and then they cooled and were stuck. Would the reverse process work?
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Joining! I've been pretty good at keeping up with day-to-day stuff around the house, but barely ever make any progress on my to-do list of odd jobs. The bulk of what I'd like to do is organizing and decluttering, now that I've been in my apartment more than a year and have had time to figure out what I like about my current set-up and what I don't.
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What a great idea! I try to do an odd chore at least once a week - it really helps my mental well-being on top of the house improvements themselves. I really thrive on order, calm, and peace, and when the house feels like it's succumbing to entropy, I start to get a little defeated. And my house is over 150 years old, so it's definitely feeling that entropy pull!
Yesterday I reorganized our overflowing board games cabinet to accommodate the karaoke machine someone bought my daughter for her birthday. Goodbye wires all over the living room, hello neat shelf space.
Today I cleaned the utensil drawer to get all the crumbs out. Also I want to go through all the sheet sets and figure out which ones to keep and which to donate.
Making a list of everything is a great call. We did that a couple of years ago and it was great. I'll try to get another one going room by room.
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I only got half of the curtain done on Monday because I couldn't find the rest of the screws that came with it. I'm just going to use some random screws, since the curtains are a temporary solution anyway. That's my task for today. I called the contractor as my task for yesterday (hate talking on the phone!).
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Yesterday I cleaned up some old stems out of my spider plant, and looked at paint swatches for the guest bathroom.
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Yesterday I changed the lightbulbs under my kitchen counter. Yay! I can see again! What shall I do today? Hmmmmmm.
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Yesterday I changed the lightbulbs under my kitchen counter. Yay! I can see again! What shall I do today? Hmmmmmm.
I was wondering this too (what if I run out of things to do?!), so I looked up some lists =)
http://www.clean-organized-family-home.com/february-house-cleaning-checklist.html#sthash.d83hdHCV.dpbs (http://www.clean-organized-family-home.com/february-house-cleaning-checklist.html#sthash.d83hdHCV.dpbs)
https://www.todayshomeowner.com/pdf/printable-february-home-maintenance-checklist.pdf (https://www.todayshomeowner.com/pdf/printable-february-home-maintenance-checklist.pdf)
http://idreamofclean.net/the-ultimate-spring-cleaning-checklist/ (http://idreamofclean.net/the-ultimate-spring-cleaning-checklist/)
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I kept seeing this thread pop up and I wanted to avoid it... But here I am and this morning, i took an expired container of hummus from the back of the fridge, cleaned it out and recycled the container.
I am cheering the rest of you on!
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Cleaned the microwave.
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I kept seeing this thread pop up and I wanted to avoid it...
HA! so much this. Although I suppose it would be a good idea to *do* something instead of scrolling past feeling mildly guilty. If we come up with the idea, and delegate, does that count?
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Yesterday I changed the lightbulbs under my kitchen counter. Yay! I can see again! What shall I do today? Hmmmmmm.
I was wondering this too (what if I run out of things to do?!), so I looked up some lists =)
I feel like I've been empowered to walk around the house with new eyes because of this challenge. Today I also cleaned a bunch of kid fingerprints off the walls that I think I had trained myself to not see somehow.
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Oh, I need this challenge. I have a huge list of things I need to get done around the house in the next 6 months! I fixed my slippers last night, and moved the bed frame out of the bedroom. Tonight I need to put a coat of primer on the bedroom walls.
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I kept seeing this thread pop up and I wanted to avoid it...
HA! so much this. Although I suppose it would be a good idea to *do* something instead of scrolling past feeling mildly guilty. If we come up with the idea, and delegate, does that count?
It is even better when I am justifying to myself why I should avoid that thread, then I know I'd better look at it!
Welcome Swick!
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Today's task: Sorted out my linen closet and took out some things to donate, and also tossed out more papers. This has been mostly a minimalism challenge for me so far.
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If you feel guilty for avoiding the thread that's definitely a sign you need this thread. :)
I have done a few things over the last few days. I emptied out the fridge and washed all the shelves/drawers. Took apart the bird feeder and washed it. I installed a power cord on the back of my dresser so I could plug things in to charge without my cat eating the cords. (Can't believe I waited to do that its so much more convenient)
Today after work I am going to decalcify the humidifier. I have a lot of regular chores for tonight so my odd one is pretty basic.
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Today, I am taking some old financial papers to work so I can shred them.
This weekend, I am going to take a run at cleaning the fridge.
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Got through priming 4 walls last night! Tonight I'm hoping to finish washing and priming the baseboards, trim, doors, and closet.
Why does painting take so long?
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I kept seeing this thread pop up and I wanted to avoid it...
HA! so much this. Although I suppose it would be a good idea to *do* something instead of scrolling past feeling mildly guilty. If we come up with the idea, and delegate, does that count?
It is even better when I am justifying to myself why I should avoid that thread, then I know I'd better look at it!
Welcome Swick!
Thanks...*sigh* ;)
Okay, okay, I'm in.
Yesterday I consolidated a bunch of spice containers, washed and put the containers in recycling (baby steps here!)
I think I'm hesitant because it means I'll eventually have to tackle the "big" odd chores. Like repainting the entire upstairs of my house to get rid of the Dusty Rose they painted it to stage the house, who stages their house by painting it dusty rose? Or looking at the wiring for all the outlets in our house they installed improperly...Humm does making a list count as a chore :D
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I kept seeing this thread pop up and I wanted to avoid it...
HA! so much this. Although I suppose it would be a good idea to *do* something instead of scrolling past feeling mildly guilty. If we come up with the idea, and delegate, does that count?
It is even better when I am justifying to myself why I should avoid that thread, then I know I'd better look at it!
Welcome Swick!
Thanks...*sigh* ;)
Okay, okay, I'm in.
Yesterday I consolidated a bunch of spice containers, washed and put the containers in recycling (baby steps here!)
I think I'm hesitant because it means I'll eventually have to tackle the "big" odd chores. Like repainting the entire upstairs of my house to get rid of the Dusty Rose they painted it to stage the house, who stages their house by painting it dusty rose? Or looking at the wiring for all the outlets in our house they installed improperly...Humm does making a list count as a chore :D
I think it counts! Every little step counts.
My coworker was just complaining this morning about her dusty rose colored walls in the house that she rents. LOL
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Ok, yesterday I cleaned my electric toothbrush and changed the head.
(... some of my days are not going to be very impressive.)
Today I'm going to start to sort out the giant pile of paperwork on my desk, with the eventual goal of shredding some and filing the rest.
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Last night I cleaned out some jars of broth that didn't get used (made a GIANT pot from a turkey frame and scraps, but didn't get around to making more than one batch of soup with it. No real loss).
This morning I reorganized a cupboard so we can store the instant pot away again. Where it was living is currently being used to sprout broccoli seeds, so I needed to find a new spot. Mission success, and counters clear.
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Before work: filled out rebate forms and put them in the mail. Also did some exercises.
At work: cleaned out some old files on my computer
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Recalked the bathroom! And used some anti-mold spay stuff with it. Looks so much brighter and cleaner! Phew. I'm a little tired after digging all the old caulk out. Tomorrow I'll tackle something a little less time-consuming.
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Recalked the bathroom! And used some anti-mold spay stuff with it. Looks so much brighter and cleaner! Phew. I'm a little tired after digging all the old caulk out. Tomorrow I'll tackle something a little less time-consuming.
Wow! This is a big one! And on my to-do list... haha.
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Recalked the bathroom! And used some anti-mold spay stuff with it. Looks so much brighter and cleaner! Phew. I'm a little tired after digging all the old caulk out. Tomorrow I'll tackle something a little less time-consuming.
Wow! This is a big one! And on my to-do list... haha.
Ha! Yeah, this wasn't originally my plan for today, but the kids had a snow day so I couldn't do any actual work... it was either calking or going stir crazy in the house.
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Ok - today I did the chore that I was originally going to do yesterday. I went through our linen cupboard and pulled out a bunch of sheet sets to donate that we no longer need/use.
I think I have whatever the opposite of hoarding is - I get pleasure from getting rid of stuff. It's like a happy, light feeling every time I throw something away or put it on the donation pile. My mom is like that too. I always feel like living in a house, especially with kids, creates a permanent pull in the opposite direction. We don't buy much of anything, but somehow things just accumulate. And all I want to do is get rid of them all!
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Well, I did a bit more shredding of old statements this morning.
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I realized right before bed last night that I hadn't done my one thing I'd had planned for the day (put together a small shelf I bought...3 years ago?). Figured I'd failed for the day, but when I was getting ready for bed the air purifier started making the noise it makes when the filter needs to be cleaned. So I jumped on that and cleaned it :)
Today was meeting with the contractor about the leak. Doesn't sound like it's too terrible of a problem, but I'm looking forward to getting it fixed.
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Finally got around to hanging some artwork that's been sitting on the floor for weeks.
I've skipped a few days, but in my defense, I have been battling a bug this week. I promise to do better next week. : )
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Last night I cleaned out some jars of broth that didn't get used (made a GIANT pot from a turkey frame and scraps, but didn't get around to making more than one batch of soup with it. No real loss).
Too late for this time, but what I sometimes do with extra home made broth is to freeze it in non stick muffin tins, then pop them out into a freezer bag once they are frozen.
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Last night I cleaned out some jars of broth that didn't get used (made a GIANT pot from a turkey frame and scraps, but didn't get around to making more than one batch of soup with it. No real loss).
Too late for this time, but what I sometimes do with extra home made broth is to freeze it in non stick muffin tins, then pop them out into a freezer bag once they are frozen.
I need to do this. I often can it. I just... didn't this time.
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Threw out 2 things from the fridge that were well past their best before dates.
Found frozen plums from last summer, so i'm going to make a plum-apple crisp today or tomorrow. My husband is happy. :)
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Yesterday, an exploding dinner prompted a microwave clean-out.
This morning, I went through all my filed documents, shredded really old stuff, and filed the stuff I had sorted earlier this week. I also finally signed up for my social security.gov account.
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Removed a bottom drawer of a dresser in order to get the furniture glide fixed. Amazing amount of dust had accumulated under there too. Great to get one of those low-level annoying things finally done.
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Fixed the shower! Got the new cartridge, and it looks like it'll work. =)
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Weird odd chore for me today. My neighbours father passed away and she needed to get into his two laptops for digital copies of papers and banking information. So my chore was to bypass his Windows passwords. I have done this frequently but never on a Windows 7 or 10 machine. I am deeply concerned with how easy it was, significantly older OSs were harder then the modern ones. Yikes!
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Just took a feather duster to the cobwebs in every ceiling corner. We usually notice these just as we fall asleep and then I forget the next day. Done!
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Washed the living room curtains... they've had nasty little handprints on them forever where Baby Poundwise uses them as napkins.
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Finished priming the bedroom! Painting starts tomorrow. My plan was to get one room done per month, but Feb has proven extremely productive so far. Good thing, since I'm going to be away for 10 days later this month.
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Finished priming the bedroom! Painting starts tomorrow. My plan was to get one room done per month, but Feb has proven extremely productive so far. Good thing, since I'm going to be away for 10 days later this month.
Nice! I repainted my son's room two weeks ago, and it is a little backbreaking! Especially when you can't move the furniture out of the room and just have to paint around it. I'm impressed with your room per month plan.
Today I went through the pens/pencils/highlighters/etc drawer to figure out which pens actually work and which ones were just thrown in there in frustration. Threw out about half that had exploded or dried out.
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I kept seeing this thread pop up and I wanted to avoid it... But here I am and this morning, i took an expired container of hummus from the back of the fridge, cleaned it out and recycled the container.
I am cheering the rest of you on!
I also didn't read this thread for the first little while it was running, but then I peeked in and saw what a great job you're all doing. Not sure how regularly I'll play, but for today, I have a really odd one:
I wrapped Christmas presents!
I was really really organized this year, and bought chocolates and keychains for my (volunteer) core leadership team at the church - in November. I was also going to bake for them, and I also got a gift for our admin asst nice and early. Then came December, and two things happened. First, we got hit with a string of funerals - so many funerals! Those take up a lot of time, to plan and execute. Then, I got sick just before Christmas - 2 weeks with the flu, then it turned into bronchitis and I ended up on antibiotics.
I suddenly realized that those chocolates were still stashed away in an unused cupboard!
Well, I'm not going to get around to baking now, we're into another busy period getting ready for our annual general meeting, with budgeting etc. So I did a simple wrapping with a strip of tissue paper around the boxes of chocolates, added a ribbon and tied the keychains on, and I'll give them out tomorrow. Good timing too, because I bought chocolates for the guy doing a student placement with us too, then realized that he can't have them (nut allergy), and he will be away tomorrow. (This also means I get to eat those chocolates - yum! Lindt with coconut, and Lindt with caramel and sea salt!)
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Not even 6am here and I completed my planned odd chore for the day. Yesterday I rescued some small Christmas decorated evergreens that Home Depot was selling for 75% off. (A Norfolk Pine and a Blue Cypress) I had a potted plant that was never healthy and looked awful, so I composted it and planted my two new plants in pots this morning. I already have a much larger Norfolk in my house that is super healthy and seems to like my house, so I wanted another.
BONUS: the cat won't eat evergreens!
I already had the pots and dirt, so for less than $6 I have some nice plants that help keep the winter blues away!
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Well, I checked in to the forum and this popped up. I guess today is cleaning the fridge with a damp sponge day.
Off I go.
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I have a lot of fun reading these gauntlet challenges, and I think I'll join in this one! I keep a list of odd chores that should keep me busy for a while.
Today I'm going to knock out a few - clean the dishwasher, clean the washer, and replace the HVAC filter.
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A guest mentioned that our guest room gets rather bright in the morning, even with the drapes closed, so Friday I bought some room darkening drapery lining (55% off!) and washed the drapes. Yesterday I used some heavy duty iron on tape to attach the lining, and today I'll wrestle them back up.
Hope the tape holds!
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I scrubbed out the laundry tub, and am now running a 'disinfect' empty load in the washer. I can't remember the last time I did this, so obviously it's been a while. : )
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Installed a spare tire hoist and changed the oil in my vehicle so far today! Had to use a little ingenuity to get the stubborn oil filter off!
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Returned the trim kit we did not end up using for the shower. And shower shows no signs of dripping! Woohoo! I think the shower saga is officially over!
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Returned the trim kit we did not end up using for the shower. And shower shows no signs of dripping! Woohoo! I think the shower saga is officially over!
Yay for the end of the shower saga!
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I finally hand-sewed buttons and buttonholes for the back of a throw pillow I made about 10 years ago! Now it fits the pillow insert correctly and doesn't gape open at the back. Yeah, that one has been on the project list for a while....
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This morning I cleaned the insides of my car windows.
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I cleaned and caulked the cracks in the dining room baseboards, the better to repaint them tomorrow. My plan is to slowly make my way around the house and do this, room by room.
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I cleaned and caulked the cracks in the dining room baseboards, the better to repaint them tomorrow. My plan is to slowly make my way around the house and do this, room by room.
You seriously have my same to do list so far, haha. The difference is you're getting it done ;) lol.
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I cleaned and caulked the cracks in the dining room baseboards, the better to repaint them tomorrow. My plan is to slowly make my way around the house and do this, room by room.
You seriously have my same to do list so far, haha. The difference is you're getting it done ;) lol.
Ha! I wonder if that's just a winter thing? I feel like I must have caulked gaps in the summer time last time and now it's all contracting and looking bad.
Somehow this thread, and feeling like I'm accountable to this anonymous group of people, is really propelling me to action!
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I cleaned and caulked the cracks in the dining room baseboards, the better to repaint them tomorrow. My plan is to slowly make my way around the house and do this, room by room.
You seriously have my same to do list so far, haha. The difference is you're getting it done ;) lol.
Ha! I wonder if that's just a winter thing? I feel like I must have caulked gaps in the summer time last time and now it's all contracting and looking bad.
Somehow this thread, and feeling like I'm accountable to this anonymous group of people, is really propelling me to action!
I have the same list too! I was just looking at all the gaps in my kitchen that I just did a few years ago. I was so careful and filled every tiny crack before I painted, but it happens with the cold and shifting and blah! It's on my list!
Today I worked from home so after digging out the end of my driveway (thanks plow guy) i decided to keep up the momentum and just scrubbed my kitchen floor by hand. I usually use a mop, but decided it was high time to do an extra hard scrub. I have oak floors that need to be sanded and refinished, so they aren't perfect floors and hand scrubbing seems to give them extra shine for a bit.
Now I am tired. I shovelled 5 times yesterday so my muscles were already feeling well stretched!
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Deleted some old files on my computer at home, and touched up a spot on the wall where the paint had chipped. Also took advantage of the nice weather (38 degrees and sunny) and went for a run with the baby and the dog.
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We have a small, high, clear glass bathroom window in the house we rent that is just next to the front door. The landlord had put wide vertical blinds on it, but they blocked the light, made the window hard to open and took up all the room on the windowsill.
I put a step stool in the bathtub below it, carefully uninstalled and set aside the blind, thoroughly washed the window and screen, and put plastic Gila privacy film on the window panes. I'll reinstall the blind when we eventually move, but for now the room is brighter and we don't have to turn the lights on every *single* time we go in.
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Interesting to see that some people have a hit list of odd chores to work down and others act in the moment. :) I don't have a pre-set chore list but at the same time, I'm pretty conscious of the small nagging things I've been putting off - so really do have a hit list.
Today I cleared off a mess of papers hanging out on a shelf for much too long. Shredded, tossed, and filed the few pages remaining. Reclaimed a bunch of plastic sleeves in the process. Also tossed a bunch of printed articles relating to my career. Some were 10 years old (!), all are online, AND I'm retiring in a few months. Buh-bye!
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Yesterday I re-arranged my bookshelf a little bit, to help me in my goal of reading and then donating some of my books this year (and at the same time giving the books I love and am keeping a prime spot on my bookshelf).
Today I spent almost 2 hours shoveling, so I think that's enough of an odd job for the day :)
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Interesting to see that some people have a hit list of odd chores to work down and others act in the moment. :) I don't have a pre-set chore list but at the same time, I'm pretty conscious of the small nagging things I've been putting off - so really do have a hit list.
This all started for me (and this thread) because I tried to make a massive list and got completely overwhelmed. Add to that I also have a mental nagging list as well. I sometimes put too much pressure on myself.
I am trying to let the list be "free" and just spontaneously do tasks and I have to say it's actually a lot less stressful and dare I say, kinda fun. I recognize I am only getting a few things done a day, but I feel like I am accomplishing more and without stress! Reporting here is almost like a reward and having something to list AFTER its done is way better then a massive "to do" list.
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Swept out the garage today =) And husband took care of some odd sized boxes that were accumulating in the garage (got them broken down and into the recycling).
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Finished painting my kitchen cabinets and trim, picked up a rug for the bedroom (very inexpensive clearance remnant - looks great!), cleaned up the pile of glass blocks in the garage that had toppled (I just listed them on Craigslist), put another coat of drywall mud on the dining room wall (patched the hole that used to filled with said glass block...), and helped my son do his taxes. I haven't done an odd chore every day this month but I probably made up for it today! :)
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Tested the smoke detectors. I'm getting almost too pregnant to be climbing step ladders, which does not bode well for installing our bathroom fan.
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Back in September of last year, I made myself a T-shirt, but because I was sewing on vacation and didn't have my coverhem sewing machine, I left the hem and sleeves raw. Tonight I finally hemmed it. I'm always a bit intimidated by the tension controls on the coverhem, but I ran some test samples and seemed to get a better result - fewer skipped stitches on the underside.
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Back in September of last year, I made myself a T-shirt, but because I was sewing on vacation and didn't have my coverhem sewing machine, I left the hem and sleeves raw. Tonight I finally hemmed it. I'm always a bit intimidated by the tension controls on the coverhem, but I ran some test samples and seemed to get a better result - fewer skipped stitches on the underside.
Awesome! I always leave jersey unhemmed because I'm too intimidated to figure out how to do it without stretching the fabric. I think I used a thin piece of paper as a stabilizer a few times, and that worked reasonably well?
Yesterday I had an unexpected odd chore. The water dispenser on the fridge suddenly stopped dispensing water. After consulting a YouTube video, I defrosted the water line and fixed it. Now everything works again, and, as a bonus, I now know how a piece of the fridge works.
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Today I am going to clean up the side of the wall by the stove that gets splattered.
This is a very good thread for me.
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OK long day at work today and I am wiped, so today's chores were kinda lame.
I backed up my Kobo books (2000+ books) which has been on my list for months. Then I updated some software and installed some new things. I also cleaned up my cloud storage.
Lastly I climbed up to a storage area grabbed one of my vintage bowling bags, popped an old bowling ball and frame in it, to be used as a door stop for my front door once nice weather hits.
I thought about doing lots of other odd chores but then I realized I still had about give regular chores to do tonight. Argh. Adulting! I think I am going to crank some music and wash dishes!
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This is a great idea! I'm cleaning behind the stove tomorrow!
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I had an exhausting day, but I managed to file some papers for a bit this evening. I am maybe halfway through the big pile that's been hanging out for a while.
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Small, but: I glued back together a door wreath I made last year out of found twigs and bits of felt rolled into flowers. One of the twigs was knocked loose by someone coming in the house, and it's been sitting on my "to fix" pile for a few months.
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Small, but: I glued back together a door wreath I made last year out of found twigs and bits of felt rolled into flowers. One of the twigs was knocked loose by someone coming in the house, and it's been sitting on my "to fix" pile for a few months.
It sounds like a really nice wreath and would be pretty on the door.
It is funny with stuff like this for me. The chore will dwell in my mind but then when I go to do it, it just takes a few minutes and it's done. Today, I cleaned the window above the kitchen sink. I'd been looking at it all splattered and thinking about cleaning it. Then I think it will take too long. So I started it and was done in 5 minutes.
Just love this thread!
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Small, but: I glued back together a door wreath I made last year out of found twigs and bits of felt rolled into flowers. One of the twigs was knocked loose by someone coming in the house, and it's been sitting on my "to fix" pile for a few months.
It sounds like a really nice wreath and would be pretty on the door.
It is funny with stuff like this for me. The chore will dwell in my mind but then when I go to do it, it just takes a few minutes and it's done. Today, I cleaned the window above the kitchen sink. I'd been looking at it all splattered and thinking about cleaning it. Then I think it will take too long. So I started it and was done in 5 minutes.
Just love this thread!
Thanks! Here's a picture of what it looks like. I usually put it up in the fall, after the Halloween one with ping-pong ball bloodshot eyes one comes down.
I also love this thread! It's really been the kick in the pants I benefit from.
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Thanks for posting the photo of your wreath.
I was actually looking for craft ideas that I can do with twigs and smaller branches because I have lots of those! I saved the photo to my desk top and I might just do one.
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It is funny with stuff like this for me. The chore will dwell in my mind but then when I go to do it, it just takes a few minutes and it's done. Today, I cleaned the window above the kitchen sink. I'd been looking at it all splattered and thinking about cleaning it. Then I think it will take too long. So I started it and was done in 5 minutes.
Just love this thread!
This x1000. Why is it that we set ourselves up in our heads that a task that is relatively painless is some monumental thing?
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Road42 - you should post your wreath in the Home Made Christmas 2017 thread - that would make a great gift for someone. Depending on the occasion, you could just change the color of the felt. Very pretty.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/homemade-christmas-2017-edition!/
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Today I am going through a bunch of old magazines, catalogues and travel brochures. At least 3/4 of them will be recycled somehow - magazines to the 'free' pile at the library, and the rest into the recycling bin.
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Road42 - you should post your wreath in the Home Made Christmas 2017 thread - that would make a great gift for someone. Depending on the occasion, you could just change the color of the felt. Very pretty.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/homemade-christmas-2017-edition!/
+1 - that's a great idea. I have already printed out the photograph and put it in my purse to take home.
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Road42 - you should post your wreath in the Home Made Christmas 2017 thread - that would make a great gift for someone. Depending on the occasion, you could just change the color of the felt. Very pretty.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/homemade-christmas-2017-edition!/
+1 - that's a great idea. I have already printed out the photograph and put it in my purse to take home.
+2
I had the same thought, but if I printed out the photograph, I would be sure to lose it. Putting it in the thread means it will be there for others to see too.
Edited to say: Hope you don't mind, Road42, I posted a link in that thread back to your post in this one...
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Wow, thanks everyone! I'm super flattered, and of course you can put the link into the other thread! If people are interested, I can describe a bit how it's put together (basically, the twigs are hot-glued to a black foamcore donut, with the felt flowers glued on top of the twigs).
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Wow, thanks everyone! I'm super flattered, and of course you can put the link into the other thread! If people are interested, I can describe a bit how it's put together (basically, the twigs are hot-glued to a black foamcore donut, with the felt flowers glued on top of the twigs).
Yes, please!
Over here: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/homemade-christmas-2017-edition!/msg1433229/#new (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/homemade-christmas-2017-edition!/msg1433229/#new)
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Oooh, neat thread! And one I need!
Tonight, I will go through the neglected bill/papers I don't want to lose but didn't deal with right away basket and well, deal with them.
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Oooh, neat thread! And one I need!
Tonight, I will go through the neglected bill/papers I don't want to lose but didn't deal with right away basket and well, deal with them.
And will you finish your curtains? ;)
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Tonight I'm going to find my daughter's most recent lead test and make a copy for daycare. My state's daycare requirements are ridiculous.
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Today was a day of many regular chores and an upset stomach, so sad to say I have not done an odd chore yet. Tomorrow I will do 3 chores, an extra one to redeem myself!
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Oooh, neat thread! And one I need!
Tonight, I will go through the neglected bill/papers I don't want to lose but didn't deal with right away basket and well, deal with them.
And will you finish your curtains? ;)
Ummmmmm.....
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Tonight I'm going to find my daughter's most recent lead test and make a copy for daycare. My state's daycare requirements are ridiculous.
Thanks, this reminded me I need to submit a recent copy of my daughter's health form too!
Today I am going to repot some plants... knocked over my aloe a few weeks ago and broke the pot, so it's been sitting in a plastic deli container since then. I've been putting it off because I have to go out and search in the cold, icy garage for extra pots.
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A while ago I accidentally bought the "daylight" kind of LED bulbs (they cast a super white, cold light, which I happen to find unpleasant). Well, since they are LEDs and will never burn out, I am stuck with them. But, today, I finally moved all the bulbs around in the various fixtures in our house so all the daylight LEDs are now in the basement, where the quality of their light doesn't bother me at all, and all the warm LEDs are in the living room and kitchen, casting a golden glow over everything.
I also went through our stash of paint to see whether we had enough semi-gloss for me to embark on my re-painting the trim project. No dice. Any suggestions for paint? My default is Sherwin Williams.
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Been slowly but steadily working through my pile of handwash laundry items (actually my dry clean laundry pile, but who cares?) I've got limited space on my drying rack, and some of these items are prone to dripping dye water, so I gotta just tackle it 3-4 at a time and rotate them out.
Also yesterday, I went through my closet and stuff and marked out a number of high value high fashion items that I had collected over the years but wear very rarely now (an expensive alternative fashion). Today I'm going to take pictures of all of them and prep them to sell this weekend. Hoping to make upwards of $500 cleaning out my closet this way!
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When I get home from work, I am going to clean the dining room window.
I just love this thread! keep it going!
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A while ago I accidentally bought the "daylight" kind of LED bulbs (they cast a super white, cold light, which I happen to find unpleasant). Well, since they are LEDs and will never burn out, I am stuck with them. But, today, I finally moved all the bulbs around in the various fixtures in our house so all the daylight LEDs are now in the basement, where the quality of their light doesn't bother me at all, and all the warm LEDs are in the living room and kitchen, casting a golden glow over everything.
I also went through our stash of paint to see whether we had enough semi-gloss for me to embark on my re-painting the trim project. No dice. Any suggestions for paint? My default is Sherwin Williams.
No specific brands, just that I painted my bedroom last summer with some cheap paint (what they sell at Walmart). It was a whim, though something I'd planned to do eventually, but that's why I went with the Walmart stuff. Because it was a light colour (off-white - very dark room because of the cedar tree right up against the window) it was ok. But I didn't really enjoying painting with it, and would definitely recommend getting a better quality paint. If you have good technique, and not too dark a colour, you really can get away with only one coat sometimes, and that wasn't the case with the stuff I used.
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i went through my papers, phew. AND I konmari-ed my underwear drawer because people in another thread told me to. :) Now I have no clean underwear so I guess laundry is up next. (Sorry curtains.)
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Mine today barely feels like I did anything - we made a "things to do before baby" list. Now I have some more odd chores to get done!
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A while ago I accidentally bought the "daylight" kind of LED bulbs (they cast a super white, cold light, which I happen to find unpleasant). Well, since they are LEDs and will never burn out, I am stuck with them. But, today, I finally moved all the bulbs around in the various fixtures in our house so all the daylight LEDs are now in the basement, where the quality of their light doesn't bother me at all, and all the warm LEDs are in the living room and kitchen, casting a golden glow over everything.
I also went through our stash of paint to see whether we had enough semi-gloss for me to embark on my re-painting the trim project. No dice. Any suggestions for paint? My default is Sherwin Williams.
No specific brands, just that I painted my bedroom last summer with some cheap paint (what they sell at Walmart). It was a whim, though something I'd planned to do eventually, but that's why I went with the Walmart stuff. Because it was a light colour (off-white - very dark room because of the cedar tree right up against the window) it was ok. But I didn't really enjoying painting with it, and would definitely recommend getting a better quality paint. If you have good technique, and not too dark a colour, you really can get away with only one coat sometimes, and that wasn't the case with the stuff I used.
Good call, PJ. I think paint is one those "spend the extra $8" things. If nothing else, my already prone to carpal tunnel issues hand and wrist will thank me later.
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I did a few chores yesterday. I went through a bunch of papers and shredded old items. I shined every piece of glass in my vintage art glass collection. I cleaned up all my plants (cut leaves, shaped, and pulled out old stuff) then fertilized them. I also organized my board games collection and piled up a few of them to donate.
Funnily enough I realized that I have been doing a lot of decluttering in my kitchen but spread out over a few weeks. I just recognized how much I had cleaned up (donated) when I started putting some items away. Surprise odd chore success!
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Cleaned out a catch all drawer and surfaced a few gift cards (yay!) and a couple of stale dated cheques (boo!). That should teach me not to go too long without checking what's in the "holding" slot.
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This has been GREAT! Even my DH is going for it. Mending, cleaning odd bits, dealing with paperwork - it's actually getting done! Love it!
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This has been GREAT! Even my DH is going for it. Mending, cleaning odd bits, dealing with paperwork - it's actually getting done! Love it!
Me too. Tomorrow I will clean the window in the spare room.
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Oh, shoot. I didn't do an odd chore. Well, I did at work. I cleaned out all three desk drawers, and cleared of the top, too. Does that count?
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Oh, shoot. I didn't do an odd chore. Well, I did at work. I cleaned out all three desk drawers, and cleared of the top, too. Does that count?
Cleaning out 3 desk drawers at work definitely counts. You could come up to Canada and do mine too!
My odd chore for today is to clean the window in the spare room.
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Today I will hem curtains! I really, really mean it this time.
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Yesterday I finished working on the pillow revamp I started last week. Goodbye boring plain brown square, hello flower petal sunburst pattern. Cuteness achieved, desire for new home decor stemmed. Two birds, one stone!
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I had a little bit of a slump this week, but today I froze some leftovers and cleaned out the fridge.
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I'll admit I haven't done something every day, but I figure every day I do is more than I've been doing. So today, I am finally cleaning out the bottom of the china hutch. My son took a bunch of family stuff (silverware, etc.) a few months ago, so it's time to organize what's left. I think there are a lot of tablecloths that will go in the donate bag.
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I'm in! I've got a list of odd jobs a mile long. :/
Yesterday I organized the top of a long bookcase in our living room. Today I'm hoping to go through the large stack of mail I've been ignoring for a month or so.
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Today I am on a bit of a cleaning frenzy. My odd chore for the day, glass cleaning! I am polishing my living room bay window, my glass French doors and the glass doors to my bookcases.
After that I am debating moving more furniture around OR doing some cooking for the week. I want to make a giant pork roast to chop up and freeze in packages, along with mini individual shepards pies in mason jars. Whichever one I don't do today, I will do tomorrow.
It's only been a few weeks but my house is looking very neat and tidy. I can see the changes starting to come together and even my regular chores have kicked in a bit more with no real conscious effort on my part. I love this tread, so motivating!!
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I love this thread too. I somehow feel better about doing chores when I know you guys are all doing it too off in internet-land!
I will clean the front of the stove now.
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Okay. I had a dry week there (didn't do any odd chores, and even missed a few of my routine ones!). But today we're making up for it! DH scraped all the old caulk out of our guest shower/tub that was failing and getting gross. I'll recaulk after lunch. We also pulled our sconces down and I'm touching up the paint. There were some white areas that the old sconces covered, and the new ones don't. We had to match the paint since there wasn't any left. We got the paint a while back, but never followed up. It's not a totally perfect match, but waaaaaaay closer than white, haha. I think once it cures it won't be noticeable. I also spackled over some holes from the old thermostat and a couple divots, and will paint over those later. We ALSO finally hung up DH's black belt certificates and his sword in his office.
Very productive day!
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I had forgotten to finish filing my son's 2014 (!) tax return, so I got back to it today, and it's now printed and waiting for mailing. He is owed money, at least.
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Mended a ski bag that has had ripped seams since the late 1980s! (inherited it from in-laws, have been using it by tying a rope around it) Got five pairs of ice skates sharpened, for the first time in 8 years!
Less exclamation-point worthy, but it also looks like I'm on track to finally sew up rips in boys' athletic pants BEFORE they grow out of them. Went to Goodwill and bought a yucky old pair of athletic pants to cut up and use as backing fabric.
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Cleared off bedside table top and reshelved the books I'm clearly not going to read any time soon. Also vacuumed the basement stairs which we ignore for weeks on end. They look so much better!
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Did inventory of my less used kitchen cabinet stock to see what I have to use up. So. Many. Dried. Beans. Worked beans into two meals this week and some rice into another meal.
I also looked up some toddler friendly recipes as she's been eating way too much mac and cheese lately. Picked a couple to try out for nights the adults eat later.
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Yesterday the weather was so nice, I decided to take my glass cleaning outside and extended my chore to cleaning the glass front doors and the outside of my bay window. I could easily clean my bay window once a week it gets so dirty, I'm thinking about making it more of a habit. It only takes 5 minutes and I could easily do it while I was waiting for the kettle to boil or something mundane like that.
Pachnik, I stole one of yours! This morning I washed the front of my stove and then washed one of the walls in my kitchen.
I have a giant wall in my front hall that is covered in funky fabrics in embroidery hoops of all different sizes. I am about to vacuum all the fabric and dust the frames. Then I am going to take apart my couches / chairs and vacuum all the insides and cushions. I am feeling energetic today and want to get a ton done today because it's going to be a busy week at work.
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Well, I'm fashionably, and typically, late to this party, but I am so in need of this motivation. Producing a list would be too overwhelming, so I'll just use this thread to motivate myself to do something, anything, every day. But first, must check out that Christmas thread...
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Well, I'm fashionably, and typically, late to this party, but I am so in need of this motivation. Producing a list would be too overwhelming, so I'll just use this thread to motivate myself to do something, anything, every day. But first, must check out that Christmas thread...
Welcome Diane C., this is a very inspiring thread.
Today, I will clean the inside of one of the glass panels that makes up the sliding door.
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following for inspiration ;)
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Today I finally painted the curb furniture find I picked up almost 4 years ago! It's a little cabinet for the dining room.
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Yesterday I made it through about 1/3 of my mail stack. Today I made it through another 1/3 and finished some thank you cards from Christmas.
I was really tempted to skip out on the mail stack yesterday but the thought of this thread kept me motivated!
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Well, I'm fashionably, and typically, late to this party, but I am so in need of this motivation. Producing a list would be too overwhelming, so I'll just use this thread to motivate myself to do something, anything, every day. But first, must check out that Christmas thread...
Welcome Diane C., this is a very inspiring thread.
Today, I will clean the inside of one of the glass panels that makes up the sliding door.
Well, I did my one fucking extra chore today. I am so pissed, I just have to swear about it. Hope y'all don't mind. My MIL has ALzheimer's and she lives with us. Somewhere between yesterday afternoon and mid-day today, she sat on the living room sofa with an open pen in her back pocket. Yup, there are pen slashes all over two of the three lower cushions. WTF? Fortunately, the Pottery Barn sofa (bought it on CL) has removable covers. We pulled the covers off the cushions, saturated the ink with hairspray and blotted the hell out of every single ink mark, over and over. Then the covers went into the washer after a heavy dose of Spray 'n Wash. I washed them in Woolite. The ink seems to be gone and the covers are in the dryer. Then I will have to wrestle the covers back on before I go to bed. On top of that, I couldn't find the remote for the living room TV. Another WTF moment. I finally found it under a pillow on her bed. While I was searching for it in her room, having exhausted all logical options, I picked up a sun hat (it's been raining all week) from her dresser. There was something wrapped in newspaper underneath. Gah - It was the peels from two bananas that she had taken from the counter and eaten some time yesterday. That on top of three squares plus snacks. At least it's winter, or I would have been dealing with fruit flies. Thanks for letting me vent, folks. Wrestling the sofa covers off, washing and replacing them was #1,698 on my list of chores, but hey, at least it's done now. Until she does it again. Oh, well, at least I don't have to get up and go to work in the morning.
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Well, I'm fashionably, and typically, late to this party, but I am so in need of this motivation. Producing a list would be too overwhelming, so I'll just use this thread to motivate myself to do something, anything, every day. But first, must check out that Christmas thread...
Welcome Diane C., this is a very inspiring thread.
Today, I will clean the inside of one of the glass panels that makes up the sliding door.
Well, I did my one fucking extra chore today. I am so pissed, I just have to swear about it. Hope y'all don't mind. My MIL has ALzheimer's and she lives with us. Somewhere between yesterday afternoon and mid-day today, she sat on the living room sofa with an open pen in her back pocket. Yup, there are pen slashes all over two of the three lower cushions. WTF? Fortunately, the Pottery Barn sofa (bought it on CL) has removable covers. We pulled the covers off the cushions, saturated the ink with hairspray and blotted the hell out of every single ink mark, over and over. Then the covers went into the washer after a heavy dose of Spray 'n Wash. I washed them in Woolite. The ink seems to be gone and the covers are in the dryer. Then I will have to wrestle the covers back on before I go to bed. On top of that, I couldn't find the remote for the living room TV. Another WTF moment. I finally found it under a pillow on her bed. While I was searching for it in her room, having exhausted all logical options, I picked up a sun hat (it's been raining all week) from her dresser. There was something wrapped in newspaper underneath. Gah - It was the peels from two bananas that she had taken from the counter and eaten some time yesterday. That on top of three squares plus snacks. At least it's winter, or I would have been dealing with fruit flies. Thanks for letting me vent, folks. Wrestling the sofa covers off, washing and replacing them was #1,698 on my list of chores, but hey, at least it's done now. Until she does it again. Oh, well, at least I don't have to get up and go to work in the morning.
So glad you were able to get the marks out of the cushion covers. And I am with you on hating wrestling the couch cushion covers back on! Such an in-fun chore!
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Diane C - that sounds like a stressful day. I'm glad no work for you today!
I'm going to work today, it's technically a holiday here in Ontario but I need some catch up time at work. Plus it's likely no one will be there so it will be very peaceful! Can I say going to work on a holiday is my odd chore?
I found a beautiful vintage cased art glass vase yesterday at the thrift store which I did buy ($3, worth about $60) it is in need of some major cleaning, so I will be doing that when I get home today as my official odd chore. I also need to cut up a GIANT pork roast I made yesterday and seal it into single servings for the freezer. I had quite the cooking frenzy yesterday which will make the rest of my week a little easier.
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I am going to wash the top of my dining room table this morning before I leave for work using wood soap.
I know i say it often but this is one of the best threads ever for me!
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Love this thread.
With the spring like weather we have been having and a large house party next weekend, I have been doing some odd jobs to make the place presentable.
I will save the couch cushions for post party. (Some of our parties can get pretty crazy)
I have cleaned all the furniture on the front porch so we could sit in the sun all weekend.
Son swept all the ceiling corners.
Son, daughter and I went through the house with vinegar spray bottle and clothes to wipe all marks off light switches and walls and doors.
Sprayed my bayleaf tree, shamrock and orchids with soap, alcohol and water to remove spider mite infestation.
Washed floors were sticky (major floor wash to wait until after the party)
Dusted the stone wall around the fireplace.
Dusted the vase collection. (I keep eyeing the vases for Kon-maring and then someone brings me flowers that go in one and only one of 25 vases and I think - can't get rid of that one)
Sorted through all the old seeds and started getting the garden plan underway.
Ordered new seed as needed.
Took apart the Christmas wreaths on the front door and composted them.
Put away the Christmas lights.
Cleaned off the solar panels with the remaining snow on them so I can make money! Last month I had to pay 6 bucks for the distribution charge because there was no sun when there was no snow and income was zero.
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Was inspired by this thread. Yesterday I tidied and swept out half of the basement so we could have a proper craft area and exercise area.
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This thread is so great! I was lurking, but now I'll post:
Saturday - Did my taxes! Woohoo! Also cleaned the wall behind the stove.
Sunday - No chores done, but got ahead on homework
Today - I will clean the top of the stove and the range hood. :)
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Someone please tell me to get off the forums and get back to my curtains project. I *have* been working on them as promised, but I'm not done. I need to be done.
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Someone please tell me to get off the forums and get back to my curtains project. I *have* been working on them as promised, but I'm not done. I need to be done.
GO!!!
Did that help?
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Making a BIG batch of anti-cat spray to keep the neighbours cats from pissing and copulating (Oh goodness, the sound! The stench!) In our carport, on our deck, in the flower beds on the side of our house, on our front door step...
I don't know what it is about our place that is so enticing but I'm about to rip my hair out.
I figured this counts as an "odd" chore.
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Making a BIG batch of anti-cat spray to keep the neighbours cats from pissing and copulating (Oh goodness, the sound! The stench!) In our carport, on our deck, in the flower beds on the side of our house, on our front door step...
I don't know what it is about our place that is so enticing but I'm about to rip my hair out.
I figured this counts as an "odd" chore.
Indeed.
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Making a BIG batch of anti-cat spray to keep the neighbours cats from pissing and copulating (Oh goodness, the sound! The stench!) In our carport, on our deck, in the flower beds on the side of our house, on our front door step...
I don't know what it is about our place that is so enticing but I'm about to rip my hair out.
I figured this counts as an "odd" chore.
Indeed.
On the show "My Cat From Hell," neighbourhood cats outside on the property are often the source of a problem for the cats being featured on the show. The host tends to use a motion activated sprinkler to scare them off, and at least on the show, it seems to work pretty well.
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Making a BIG batch of anti-cat spray to keep the neighbours cats from pissing and copulating (Oh goodness, the sound! The stench!) In our carport, on our deck, in the flower beds on the side of our house, on our front door step...
I don't know what it is about our place that is so enticing but I'm about to rip my hair out.
I figured this counts as an "odd" chore.
Indeed.
On the show "My Cat From Hell," neighbourhood cats outside on the property are often the source of a problem for the cats being featured on the show. The host tends to use a motion activated sprinkler to scare them off, and at least on the show, it seems to work pretty well.
We tried that, but can't cover all the areas we need to easily. I think the cat just thinks it is a new challenge, everything we have done, he finds a way around.
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Caulked the kitchen backsplash and "textured" the ceiling patch in my living room (mid century ranch with a swirl texture on the ceiling - removed part of a wall and had to patch and mimic the texture).
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I'm game; anything to give me motivation. However I know it won't be on a daily basis.
My son helped me know what the first task should be... he took the tray out of the junk drawer and there was no getting it back in. It sat on my table for about a week and while I was taking with my Dad yesterday at said table (he's visiting for a couple of days), I decided to take on the task of decluttering the junk drawer. He didn't mind, in fact he got a kick out of all the "treasures" I threw out. (and where did we get so many pens!)
Time to go make a list!
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Went around the house and removed all the scuff marks from the walls and doors. There were a LOT of scuff marks! : D
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Okay, no MIL stories today. I cleaned out the pantry drawers in the kitchen and got rid of a couple of festering science projects. These two deep drawers hold bread, cereal, taco shells, chips, crackers, etc. There was some old stuff in there... Why yes, we do like our carbs.
I also organized the cupboards underneath each of our bathroom sinks. Had to make room for the new Costco pack of TP I bought today. If I get really motivated, perhaps I'll clean out the bathroom drawers and then one whole area will be done.
Thanks for the motivation!
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Caulked the kitchen backsplash and "textured" the ceiling patch in my living room (mid century ranch with a swirl texture on the ceiling - removed part of a wall and had to patch and mimic the texture).
Can you post pictures and more details? I think I have to patch the same type of ceiling from so old water damage.
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This morning I cleaned the bathroom window & shelf. As I am doing my "odd" chore in the morning, I like to think of other people on this thread doing their 'odd' chore too.
Keep them coming!
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No odd chores over the long weekend, unless you count taking the kids out for a bunch of interesting cultural events chores :)
But, this morning I repainted the radiators in our dining room. They get warm, so they had to be painted with oil-based paint, which is sort of smelly. But they will look very nice when I repaint all the trim!
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This thread is so great! I was lurking, but now I'll post:
Saturday - Did my taxes! Woohoo! Also cleaned the wall behind the stove.
Sunday - No chores done, but got ahead on homework
Today - I will clean the top of the stove and the range hood. :)
Well, I succeeded in cleaning the top of the stove and the range hood. I went one step further and cleaned the burners too!
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Today, I vacuumed the stairs to our basement. They get dirty fast, but I never think to vacuum them more frequently. Plus getting the vacuum up and down the stairs is kind of cumbersome. But hey, it's done for a few weeks now :D
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Even though the forum was down this morning, I did my one "odd" chore: spot-cleaning two little stains on the carpet in the dining room. :)
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Finally put together the shelf I was planning on putting together a week ago (and bought 3 years ago!). I pulled everything out of the bottom of the closet where I wanted to put it and vacuumed. Unfortunately, the shelf wouldn't fit, so I had to vacuum out the bottom of *another* closet to put it in. This also resulted in organizing the stuff at the bottom of the first closet. So I think that counts for at least 3 days worth of odd chores! Oh, and I also threw away an old shower caddy that we were hanging onto in case we didn't like the new one.
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I finally hemmed a pair of pants that's been on the work table for a few months now. And then I went to triumphantly post about it... only to find the forum down. Glad you are all back!
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I sorted through some recyclable metal in my basement. I got all the pure copper sorted out from the stuff with brass fittings and bagged it up so I can take it to the recycling center without making my car a mess.
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Yet another great thread!
Over the weekend, and through today:
- Fix our faucet
- Fix DS’s drawer (drilled a few missing holes instead of returning the whole thing to Ikea)
Made a list of odd chores in Evernote, read the annual maintenance link from earlier in the thread, resurrected my Toodledoo recurring/annual chores lists, looked for fridge filters, ordered new ones, found the paint for an upcoming outdoor painting job.
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I've had a busy few days, so I barely got the regular stuff done, let alone anything extra. Tomorrow I'll file papers.
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I've had a busy few days, so I barely got the regular stuff done, let alone anything extra.
Me, too. However, the house is clean and the laundry's done, which is good. I'll try to do a couple of catch-up chores over the next few days. Just to clarify, for the purpose of this thread, "chore" is something not on the everyday housekeeping list, if that makes sense. So doing laundry, cooking meals, etc. does not count. This is just for me. Not making rules for anyone else.
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I have been quite busy the last couple of days and today I am not feeling well so I am working from home. However, I took a scroll through the mental chore list and picked a couple of chores I could do while taking work breaks and that won't set off the unhappy tummy.
I'm going to dust the walls in my stairwell (very high ceilings) with my favourite fuzzy stick. I am going to shop-vac my concrete/unfinished horror movie basement to vacuum up any accumulated dust. Lastly, cleanup my mud room a bit and move some items into my garage. Those 3 chores should make up for my busy work week slacking!
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Yesterday I cleaned the spice shelf and put the leaky salt shaker into a little ceramic bowl so it stops spreading salt around (it's a grinder with the sluice at the bottom).
I also fixed the tuft button that had come loose on the couch cushion. I don't have a giant tufting needle so I macgyvered one out of sturdy wire. Worked perfectly.
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Came home from vacation to find that the refrigerator had not cooled at all since we left (confirming my theory that the only reason it works these days is because I give the cold control a good whack every few hours.) Fortunately it was mostly empty due to my hard work before leaving on vacation. So after a half day of skiing, a four hour drive, unpacking the car, and putting cranky kids to bed, I wiped the fridge out again, disassembled it until I found the thermostat, photographed the thermostat to get the serial #, and reassembled it. Then I ordered a new used part for $35. This is something I've been meaning to do since January or before.
Strangely enough, since reassembly, the fridge has been working! Maybe it just wanted me to spend a little money on it, to show that I care.
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I listed one item on eBay. I think I've listed about 5 things in my lifetime, so figuring it out was a big step. The hope is to list more, but it's definitely an odd-chore right now.
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I listed one item on eBay. I think I've listed about 5 things in my lifetime, so figuring it out was a big step. The hope is to list more, but it's definitely an odd-chore right now.
I need to do this, too. I took the pictures of the item a few days ago as my odd chore, but have yet to post them. (And if it makes you feel better, I think I've only ever sold 1 or 2 things on ebay...)
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Today was a productive odd chore day. I got rid of the scrap metal in my basement, fixed my bowling shoes (the non-slide sole started peeling off), and finally donated an old mountain bike that was sitting in our basement.
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I have some weird confessions for a lot of threads right now- I will explain. I went thrifting today so I need to post that in the thrift finds thread. I spent some money - uber frugal March thread and last but not least, what's relevant to this thread.
My odd chore today was that I made my house feel more like spring to chase away the February blahs. I planted some newly thrifted pots with some on sale plants - which means in the last two weeks I have added four new plants to my collection. I lit some lilac scented candles and spread them around the house and then I rearranged some of my decor to add some more colour in my main rooms. I swapped out some pictures on my giant art wall to some more cheerful art. Washed my "winter" throw pillow covers and traded in for the brighter spring/summer ones. I recognize I live in Canada and this is kinda early for spring, but I was just feeling blah today. It is gloomy, overcast, rainy, cold and just kinda ugh out.
However, now my house feels a lot happier, smells great and the cheerful colours are fighting back against the outside gloom. I consider this an odd chore win.
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Today I cleaned out and inventoried the fridge freezer and the deep freeze. Made myself a little database to list everything, which was surprisingly easy.
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Finally mended those &*^*(# athletic pants. The boys tear the knees, and because of the mesh liner, they aren't straightforward to sew. I had to find a thrift store pair of polyester pants, cut it up for patches, insert the patches in between the mesh and the back of the outside fabric, and use a repair stitch to stabilize the torn fabric.
While I was on a roll, sewed up a sweater underarm and replaced the thread on a potholder. This stuff took less than five minutes, so I don't know why I was procrastinating!
Finally at the "making up" part of a cardigan that I started knitting 6 years ago! Who knows, maybe I will actually finish it tonight! Just need to sew on the sleeves, hide ends, sew buttons, and block. Unfortunately, these are my least favorite tasks in knitting.
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Poundwise, you and all the other posters tackling odd jobs that require skills are inspiring! I love the idea behind this thread, and it got me to file paperwork (yesterday), and do some odd errands (drop off donations, sell some books, drop off knives to get sharpened) today, which is great but none of which requires actual skills...
I can sew on a button and replace a flapper, but clearly I have much to learn.
In other news, I learned a new term today, which I shall apply to you all: accountabilibuddies. Knowing I have "pledged" to tackle odd jobs along with similarly minded folks MAY actually help me accomplish them... Thanks, y'all!
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Poundwise, making up is my least favorite part of knitting and crocheting as well. Somehow my wife finds satisfaction in weaving in ends, so she does that on all my crochet, but I'm too picky about knitting to let her do it. So stuff just sits instead.
BiscuitsForBreakfast - I love learning new skills! I think having an attitude of "I don't know how to do this...yet" is key. You can learn tons from YouTube, and if you're lucky enough to find local community groups that is awesome too. I learned a ton about bikes from two local bike collectives, but a lot of the things I know how to do are self taught.
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Painted the ceiling and walls of my living/dining room. Kind of exhausted but glad I got it all in today.
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Painted the ceiling and walls of my living/dining room. Kind of exhausted but glad I got it all in today.
Wow! That's impressive in one day!
BuilcuitsForBreakfast, I love "accountabilibuddies". I'm going to use that.
Yesterday I vacuumed the inside of the smoke detector that is close enough to a bathroom to be very infrequently set off by steam. The internet suggested dust might be the problem.
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I emptied out the cupboard under the kitchen sink, and did a total wipe down/reorganize. Since this is where the garbage can is, this really should be a 'do it a lot chore' rather than an 'odd' chore, but I confess I hate doing it, so 'odd' it is.
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Doorstops installed. With help of 4 year old.
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I patched the knees of my 8 year old's pants. Although I do it often enough it should count as a regular chore maybe. I don't think he is actually jut rubbing them with sandpaper, but...
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My odd chore today was that I made my house feel more like spring to chase away the February blahs. I planted some newly thrifted pots with some on sale plants - which means in the last two weeks I have added four new plants to my collection. I lit some lilac scented candles and spread them around the house and then I rearranged some of my decor to add some more colour in my main rooms. I swapped out some pictures on my giant art wall to some more cheerful art. Washed my "winter" throw pillow covers and traded in for the brighter spring/summer ones. I recognize I live in Canada and this is kinda early for spring, but I was just feeling blah today. It is gloomy, overcast, rainy, cold and just kinda ugh out.
However, now my house feels a lot happier, smells great and the cheerful colours are fighting back against the outside gloom. I consider this an odd chore win.
hard times call for hard measures - great job encouraging spring.
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Retiredat63: I confess I don't even want spring to arrive that quickly, my job goes nuts in the spring and its 3 months of crazy overtime. Typical Canadian complaining about the weather, no matter what the weather is. :)
Today I went a little nuts for my odd job and ripped apart my linen closet, my bathroom vanity (which has a million drawers) my cleaning supplies throughout the house and the dresser where I keep my outdoor gear. I organized hair bits and bobs into a ziplock, collected a bunch of items to donate, went through all my toiletries, organized and then threw a few out, refolded my linens, selected some to donate to the animal shelter, decluttered my outdoor gear, again some to donate, sunglasses went into a ziplock, hand warmers another, just in general, massively decluttered and organized stuff logically and decided to throw out or donate anything I truly didn't use.
Then as a bonus I sat down and made a detailed list of all the steps I needed to do to completely redo one of my rooms to turn it into a fully functional and decorated office space. I tried to do each step as an odd chore I could accomplish in a day. Some steps will require a day to accomplish but I will save those for a weekend.
Now it's some errands and then some bulk cooking for the week. This has been a busy day!
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Cut and Scotchguard treated fabric to recover the seats of our kitchen chairs and island stools. I think I have enough fabric leftover to make some sort of valances for the windows, too.
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Okay, i took a few days off from the "odd chore" thread because I was at the Seattle MMM meet-up where I had a great time!!
Today's odd chore will be cleaning up a planter that sits by the front door. the usual story here. I keep walking by it thinking "I need to deal with this" and then I just keep walking. So I am going now to deal with it.
Thanks for the motivation fellow thread followers.
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BIL took his mom out for lunch yesterday. First contact with her since Christmas. Le sigh. He ended up keeping her for four whole hours! We used the time to nuke her room, reorganize her closet and dresser and find
all some of the weird shit that she hides everywhere.
Wasn't exactly on my list, because the lunch plan was sort of will-he-or-won't-he, but I'm counting it for the win. I also cleaned out some of the office, but not enough of a dent yet to count as a win.
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You guys are so motivational!!!
While I was cooking a ton of food I decided to wash my kitchen cupboard faces and then I cleaned all the glass fronts of my pictures in the kitchen and washed some vintage plates I display on my wall. From there (still waiting for 5lbs of beets to cook) I went on a cobweb hunt downstairs and cleaned the glass in my front door and bay window again. I said last week I was going to make that a weekly chore now, so I think I have to take it off the odd list now that I have done it twice. My odd list for the weekend is quite long, you guys challenge me to keep going.
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Oh, you people and your productivity!
You finally guilted me into it. Every time I read an update on this thread, my mind flashes to the dress hanging on a hook on my closet door. Tonight, I finally sewed the missing button back on it. I think I wore it last in July. Maybe August. :-/
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- Unfreeze credit reports
- Change fridge water filter
- Replace compost container filters
- Raise height of overhead light in guest room
- Fix DD’s faucet
This last one was huge for me. I had done the easy ones of replacing filters, and went up to tackle the non-functional hot water tap in the kids' bathroom. It's a 70-year-old fixture, so maybe not so easy to repair. I credit this thread and the Frugalwoods blog for the motivation to fix it today. We were thinking just replace the damn faucet, as the one in our bathroom was leaking until last week as well. But I searched for the model, and found a source for the cartridge. Then DW mentioned that an unused sink in the basement might have the same parts, which it did! After watching a Youtube video, I was able to swap out the cartridge, so now DD has hot water. The part will be $13.00 plus shipping, so a savings of $110 or more in plumbing labor, plus probably $50-100 in marked up parts.
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- Unfreeze credit reports
- Change fridge water filter
- Replace compost container filters
- Raise height of overhead light in guest room
- Fix DD’s faucet
This last one was huge for me. I had done the easy ones of replacing filters, and went up to tackle the non-functional hot water tap in the kids' bathroom. It's a 70-year-old fixture, so maybe not so easy to repair. I credit this thread and the Frugalwoods blog for the motivation to fix it today. We were thinking just replace the damn faucet, as the one in our bathroom was leaking until last week as well. But I searched for the model, and found a source for the cartridge. Then DW mentioned that an unused sink in the basement might have the same parts, which it did! After watching a Youtube video, I was able to swap out the cartridge, so now DD has hot water. The part will be $13.00 plus shipping, so a savings of $110 or more in plumbing labor, plus probably $50-100 in marked up parts.
And savings on your water bill from fixing it too!
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Someone said taxes! So I guess I need to stop reading this post and do mine!
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I'm in... I've been following along and feeling guilty about all the things I'm not getting done, so it's time to just do it.
Making a BIG batch of anti-cat spray to keep the neighbours cats from pissing and copulating (Oh goodness, the sound! The stench!) In our carport, on our deck, in the flower beds on the side of our house, on our front door step...
Do you have a recipe / instructions for the anti-cat spray? I need to try it out!
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Got two done today! Read about balancing our forced air heating system and started following the directions. Should have done this three months ago but better late than never.
I also did some extra cooking to make some freezer meals for DD. We only manage family meals 3-4x a week, so I want some healthy options for her on the other nights.
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This is a great challenge. I think I will make a list and join in. There are things I just avoid and it would be great to get them done.
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Cleaned out expired crap from my pantry and wiped down the shelves!
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Covered one (of six) chair seats with the fabric I cut and treated yesterday (and hope to get another one or two done today). Note to self: next time, buy a random pattern, not something with stripes. Very hard to get it to look even!
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Washed a window in my bedroom. Was all set to wash all three windows, but it was surprisingly exhausting so I decided to make it a one-window-per-day thing.
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Cleaned a window in the bedroom.
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Had the day off (I work 4-10s - although I did work yesterday for some OT!) so I like to make it as productive as possible -
Washed the outside of the appliances, washed the kitchen floor (hands and knees washed...), scraped the paint off the windows (painted the kitchen 2 weeks ago) and washed them, rehung the valance, applied another coat of drywall mud to the dining room wall that I patched, cleaned up all the supplies that have lived by such patch for a while, washed the hardwood floor in the dining room, moved all the furniture back to their correct spots in the living and dining rooms (I painted those rooms Saturday - except the one wall I patched - that'll get painted next Saturday), made the bed in the guest room (my daughter's coming for a visit next week!), changed my sheets, dusted and vacuumed the house (I have a small 1100 sf ranch so that doesn't take too long), swept the basement stairs (can't remember the last time I did that. Ugh.) and have a meeting set up with my accountant to start my taxes later today.
Since it's pretty decent out, I want to clean up some of my landscaping too. Old leaves are still hanging around some of my bushes and it drives me crazy. :)
For this month - I've painted my kitchen walls, cabinets and trim, painted my living/dining room ceiling, trim and walls, patched an opening in my dining room where there used to be a large group of glass block windows (weird), and set up my guest room with a borrowed bed from my boyfriend's mom (she sold her house and let me borrow it until her new house is built - perfect for my daughter's visit!), ordered and picked up a remnant rug for the guest room (bound 7'x10' rug for $141 including tax!), rehung a kitchen cabinet over my fridge (I had removed it because the fridge was too tall but my bf cut out part of the flooring under the fridge - you can't see it - so the fridge sits a little lower. Problem solved!), helped my son do his taxes, and probably a couple other small things. I also picked up a lot of OT! Tomorrow I picked up another OT shift so I'm working 7am-10pm - so no more odd chores for me this month. :)
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frugalkristen, I got too tired from reading everything you've done, that I'm not going to be able to manage my own "odd" chore today. Thanks a lot! ;-)
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PJ - Oh no! I didn't want to discourage anyone! I really wanted to get some things done before my daughter visits so I've been busy lately. I can't wait for a little relaxation! I do love fixing up homes though. It's my hobby and therapy. I fixed up 3 during my marriage. It's tiring but the results are worth it to me. My house isn't big (which I love!!) so I'm almost done with all the big things. I still have to paint the closets, clean up the basement a little (it's partly finished and doesn't need anything big), and clean up the landscaping (I've already tackled the front yard so not much left to that either). But I plan on holding off for a few weeks to catch my breath. And because I have some scheduled OT in March which means less time to tackle projects. Believe me, I have days where I don't want to get off the couch!
I also think this great weather (I'm in Buffalo - February is usually awful!) has motivated me! I've been able to go for walks and open windows! It's been awesome!
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PJ - Oh no! I didn't want to discourage anyone! I really wanted to get some things done before my daughter visits so I've been busy lately. I can't wait for a little relaxation! I do love fixing up homes though. It's my hobby and therapy. I fixed up 3 during my marriage. It's tiring but the results are worth it to me. My house isn't big (which I love!!) so I'm almost done with all the big things. I still have to paint the closets, clean up the basement a little (it's partly finished and doesn't need anything big), and clean up the landscaping (I've already tackled the front yard so not much left to that either). But I plan on holding off for a few weeks to catch my breath. And because I have some scheduled OT in March which means less time to tackle projects. Believe me, I have days where I don't want to get off the couch!
I also think this great weather (I'm in Buffalo - February is usually awful!) has motivated me! I've been able to go for walks and open windows! It's been awesome!
Don't worry - my post was tongue in cheek. Actually, though neither would count as an "odd" chore, after I posted I got up to make some lunch, and while it was in toaster oven, I went and put away something I've been tripping over for a couple of days now, plus emptied the dishwasher. So in fact, you motivated me!
It's just, your post reminded me of this - Clean All the Things!
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html)
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PJ - Oh no! I didn't want to discourage anyone! I really wanted to get some things done before my daughter visits so I've been busy lately. I can't wait for a little relaxation! I do love fixing up homes though. It's my hobby and therapy. I fixed up 3 during my marriage. It's tiring but the results are worth it to me. My house isn't big (which I love!!) so I'm almost done with all the big things. I still have to paint the closets, clean up the basement a little (it's partly finished and doesn't need anything big), and clean up the landscaping (I've already tackled the front yard so not much left to that either). But I plan on holding off for a few weeks to catch my breath. And because I have some scheduled OT in March which means less time to tackle projects. Believe me, I have days where I don't want to get off the couch!
I also think this great weather (I'm in Buffalo - February is usually awful!) has motivated me! I've been able to go for walks and open windows! It's been awesome!
Don't worry - my post was tongue in cheek. Actually, though neither would count as an "odd" chore, after I posted I got up to make some lunch, and while it was in toaster oven, I went and put away something I've been tripping over for a couple of days now, plus emptied the dishwasher. So in fact, you motivated me!
It's just, your post reminded me of this - Clean All the Things!
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html)
That was the funniest thing ever. That graph is so me! Now I have to send it to my daughter (my mini-me). She's going to love it!
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PJ - Oh no! I didn't want to discourage anyone! I really wanted to get some things done before my daughter visits so I've been busy lately. I can't wait for a little relaxation! I do love fixing up homes though. It's my hobby and therapy. I fixed up 3 during my marriage. It's tiring but the results are worth it to me. My house isn't big (which I love!!) so I'm almost done with all the big things. I still have to paint the closets, clean up the basement a little (it's partly finished and doesn't need anything big), and clean up the landscaping (I've already tackled the front yard so not much left to that either). But I plan on holding off for a few weeks to catch my breath. And because I have some scheduled OT in March which means less time to tackle projects. Believe me, I have days where I don't want to get off the couch!
I also think this great weather (I'm in Buffalo - February is usually awful!) has motivated me! I've been able to go for walks and open windows! It's been awesome!
Don't worry - my post was tongue in cheek. Actually, though neither would count as an "odd" chore, after I posted I got up to make some lunch, and while it was in toaster oven, I went and put away something I've been tripping over for a couple of days now, plus emptied the dishwasher. So in fact, you motivated me!
It's just, your post reminded me of this - Clean All the Things!
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html)
That was the funniest thing ever. That graph is so me! Now I have to send it to my daughter (my mini-me). She's going to love it!
The whole comic/book/blog is awesome and funny. Except for the fact that the author actually suffers from pretty debilitating depression, which is what underlies a lot of the situations she writes/draws about. But I relate so so much to her, even though I don't have the depression piece.
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You know, sometimes I wonder if there are any REAL adults, or are we all pretending?
Now for my odd job of the day: Some child spilled cocoa on the side of our couch five years ago. I finally scrubbed off most of the stain today.
I'm not really such a lousy housekeeper! This is the Workbench couch from the 1980s that we've been meaning to replace once all the kids are old enough to stop scribbling on and destroying our stuff. It is so beaten up that the cocoa stain looked like part of the pattern.
Poundwise, making up is my least favorite part of knitting and crocheting as well. Somehow my wife finds satisfaction in weaving in ends, so she does that on all my crochet, but I'm too picky about knitting to let her do it. So stuff just sits instead.
>Sigh< I just can't bring myself to do it! Okay, I will brace myself to weave in one end now, and not allowed to post in this thread until I've finished making up the sweater.
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Today, I accomplished something that's been bugging me for some time. We have a 3-door fridge, freezer on the bottom (French door??). The lowest glass shelf of the refrigerator section was grimy under the glass, necessitating removal of contents and glass, then scrubbing said glass and frame clean. Last time I did this (on a different, and far less expensive refrigerator), the glass shattered into a million little pieces. I was dreading this chore. I'm happy to report it's done and the shelf is safely back in place and sparkly to boot. Took me all of twenty minutes. Thanks for the motivation, you amazing people of the mustache!
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Today, I accomplished something that's been bugging me for some time. We have a 3-door fridge, freezer on the bottom (French door??). The lowest glass shelf of the refrigerator section was grimy under the glass, necessitating removal of contents and glass, then scrubbing said glass and frame clean. Last time I did this (on a different, and far less expensive refrigerator), the glass shattered into a million little pieces. I was dreading this chore. I'm happy to report it's done and the shelf is safely back in place and sparkly to boot. Took me all of twenty minutes. Thanks for the motivation, you amazing people of the mustache!
Haha, that reminds me to add to my list replace the broken plastic pieces again on our "Elite" refrigerator. It's about every 2-3 years. Those sticky drawers, shelf pieces that fall out, etc.
Today:
It was more that the cloth that the button is attached to wore out, so I cut a piece out of old jeans as a backing. It's not good as new, but it's > 80% better than a missing button, so count it. Now if I can find that pair of pants that was missing a button...
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You know, sometimes I wonder if there are any REAL adults, or are we all pretending?
That comes very close to a quote that I've always loved, from a Margaret Atwood book. Maybe not quite 100% accurate, but something to the effect of "Sometimes I feel like everyone around me is a grown-up, and I'm just pretending."
Anyway, I guess you guys really did suck me in, with all your productivity! A button last night, tonight...
So, before doing any "odd" chores, I really did just need to do some "chore" chores, like clean the litterbox, take out garbage, and vacuum. The vacuum hose got all clogged up though (vacuuming big clumps of cat hair from under furniture, plus the cardboard shreds from one of their scratching pads in an area not regularly vacuumed). So I decided, after spending some time getting the vacuum unclogged, that that could count as my "odd" chore.
But then I read this evening's posts. And I got up and wiped off one more shelf on the door of my fridge. I realized recently that though it had looked pretty clean when I first moved in, that it was actually left pretty dirty by the previous tenant (underside of shelves, in the little hidden grooves where the shelves attach, etc). I hate cleaning the fridge - that combination of the cold air, and a wet cloth is just very unappealing. So since the hidden grime discovery, I've been doing one shelf or surface at a time. Now I'm one step closer to a clean fridge. Like Diane C said, thanks MMM peeps!
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You know, sometimes I wonder if there are any REAL adults, or are we all pretending?
That comes very close to a quote that I've always loved, from a Margaret Atwood book. Maybe not quite 100% accurate, but something to the effect of "Sometimes I feel like everyone around me is a grown-up, and I'm just pretending."
Anyway, I guess you guys really did suck me in, with all your productivity! A button last night, tonight...
So, before doing any "odd" chores, I really did just need to do some "chore" chores, like clean the litterbox, take out garbage, and vacuum. The vacuum hose got all clogged up though (vacuuming big clumps of cat hair from under furniture, plus the cardboard shreds from one of their scratching pads in an area not regularly vacuumed). So I decided, after spending some time getting the vacuum unclogged, that that could count as my "odd" chore.
But then I read this evening's posts. And I got up and wiped off one more shelf on the door of my fridge. I realized recently that though it had looked pretty clean when I first moved in, that it was actually left pretty dirty by the previous tenant (underside of shelves, in the little hidden grooves where the shelves attach, etc). I hate cleaning the fridge - that combination of the cold air, and a wet cloth is just very unappealing. So since the hidden grime discovery, I've been doing one shelf or surface at a time. Now I'm one step closer to a clean fridge. Like Diane C said, thanks MMM peeps!
You're killing me, PJ! I originally typed out those exact words, then changed them to "people of the mustache." Cue the Twilight Zone theme...
Your Atwood reference reminds me of the time I peeked into the cockpit of an airplane to see a cute pilot speaking to an even cuter saucer-eyed little boy. The pilot caught me in his line of sight and then asked the boy if he wanted to be a pilot when he grew up. The boy nodded solemnly. The pilot gently told the little boy that he could only choose one. Cracks me up to this day.
Years ago, when I lived in SoCal, I belonged to All Saints' Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. Twice I helped clean vestries in preparation for new ministers. I drew refrigerator duty and scrubbed those things with Q-tips and toothpicks until every nook and cranny was spotless and those suckers sparkled like new. Your experience wouldn't have happened on my watch, lol. Glad to hear you vanquished all the cooties.
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Though I am not an every day poster here, I follow you all and love your momentum.
Yesterday, I finally patched my kitchen ceiling where my new sputnik chandelier was installed last year and painted about 30% of kitchen ceiling. Will do another 30% today. Had all supplies on hand. I have been staring at this for months now, annoying me every day. It looks so niiiccceeeee. While I was up there, tested kitchen smoke alarm too. Should do that more often though.....it took 3 seconds to push button. ;0 (
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Scanning. [...] To get through it, I looked at the clock and noted to myself that while the process seems like some version of eternity, it will all be over by noon.
Well, the whole shebang actually took 3 hours—deeply stressful hours—to complete. No wonder I make it an odd job. FUCK. Fuck you, service people that demand all this to get some damn disability help. Thank you for being over for today, Odd Job.
Glad the awful odd job is over for the day and welcome to this thread, dear Jooniperberries It is helping me get stuff done around the house.
My odd chore this morning was cleaning the inside of the bedroom window.
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You're killing me, PJ! I originally typed out those exact words, then changed them to "people of the mustache." Cue the Twilight Zone theme...
Your Atwood reference reminds me of the time I peeked into the cockpit of an airplane to see a cute pilot speaking to an even cuter saucer-eyed little boy. The pilot caught me in his line of sight and then asked the boy if he wanted to be a pilot when he grew up. The boy nodded solemnly. The pilot gently told the little boy that he could only choose one. Cracks me up to this day.
Years ago, when I lived in SoCal, I belonged to All Saints' Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. Twice I helped clean vestries in preparation for new ministers. I drew refrigerator duty and scrubbed those things with Q-tips and toothpicks until every nook and cranny was spotless and those suckers sparkled like new. Your experience wouldn't have happened on my watch, lol. Glad to hear you vanquished all the cooties.
Ha ha! Great minds think alike, they say! (And fools seldom differ...)
My landlady is a very clean and tidy sort. She like things done well. But only to a point. The house showed really well, but only once I moved in did I notice these little things. Like, in the bathroom where they re-painted a patch of the wall - but the paint doesn't actually match. No way would I have been satisfied with that, I would have re-painted the whole room. Though, I have to admit, because it wasn't *my* work, I haven't bothered to paint it myself.
Anyway, the fridge is still a work in progress. It will eventually get totally clean. But one more shelf has had the hidden grime removed, which is great!
Though I am not an every day poster here, I follow you all and love your momentum.
Yesterday, I finally patched my kitchen ceiling where my new sputnik chandelier was installed last year and painted about 30% of kitchen ceiling. Will do another 30% today. Had all supplies on hand. I have been staring at this for months now, annoying me every day. It looks so niiiccceeeee. While I was up there, tested kitchen smoke alarm too. Should do that more often though.....it took 3 seconds to push button. ;0 (
I think it's hard to follow this group, and not get sucked into posting eventually, eh?
I'm already trying to think what will be tonight's "odd" chore!
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We are trying to declutter a bit, with the view to downsizing in the next year or two. Mr. SP has squirreled a bunch of his collectibles under our son's old mate's bed. In order to get at these 'treasures' so he can sell them, the mattress and heavy support board have to be removed. Won't let him do it, because he scuffs the walls, etc. and I don't want to repaint. So today is the day - I'm off to rip that thing apart, and get it done. While I'm at it, I will vacuum under there too.
ETA: Done! And it wasn't as dusty as I feared, so I didn't sneeze for half an hour.
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Today I will go through my pantry and select as many cans as I can part with to give to my library so I can get a .50 cent reduction on my fines for each can. I'm currently at $28 owed, and blocked! (Thanks, kid, for losing a library book.) Then I have to take said cans there because today is the last day they are doing the can drive/reduce your fees thing. At least for awhile. And I want to get unblocked!
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Today I will go through my pantry and select as many cans as I can part with to give to my library so I can get a .50 cent reduction on my fines for each can. I'm currently at $28 owed, and blocked! (Thanks, kid, for losing a library book.) Then I have to take said cans there because today is the last day they are doing the can drive/reduce your fees thing. At least for awhile. And I want to get unblocked!
Can you not replace the book, for less than that? Or would you still have to pay the fees?
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Cleaned a window in the bedroom.
High five!
I washed the remaining two windows in the bedroom.
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The lost book is why the fees are as high as they are, because it's late fees for other stuff accumulated over time plus the cost of the book replacement. I do have to pay it all eventually as I owe it all. But turning in cans reduces the overall cost. They let you accumulate late fees but still have check-out privileges up to $25. I usually let my fines rack up until they have a sale. Some branches just do "half off fines month" and the one closest to my house does this cans thing. I'm happy to get rid of cans of stuff I know we won't eat, so it's a double good in my mind.
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Cleaned a window in the bedroom.
High five!
I washed the remaining two windows in the bedroom.
I am kind of working my way around the house. Gets it done painlessly. :)
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I did another odd chore: I sharpened all the scissors in the house using the "cut 150 grit sandpaper a bunch" method. It works so well, even on those flimsy kids safety scissors!
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Getting a lot done during meetings this week :-) Also made a phone call to fix a problem with my grocery rewards card, and connected it to UPromise. Made another phone call to finish up a final detail from my credit report task the other day.
Looked at the pantry lights, and I think there are already junction boxes in the wall, so that should make the install much easier.
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Got my 30% or so done on kitchen ceiling paint.
Odd chore tomorrow is finish the white ceiling paint. Thursday/Friday will be final touchups and cleanup. I need to think about next activity. Maybe basement?
Agree, PJ, difficult to not get sucked into thread if I am following.
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Something black and funky was starting to grow around the kitchen sink faucet, and all our recent rain and humidity was just making it spread like crazy. I love living with roommates (split rent! company in the comfort of my home! sometimes I can borrow just a cup of milk!), but it also tends to breed a certain "someone else will take care of it" mentality when it comes to odd household cleanup and chores. Well yesterday, that "someone" was me. I scrubbed the hell out of the sink, the faucet, and all surrounding marble tile, and hopefully won't have to look at black gunk anymore for another few months at least.
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My cans knocked my library bill down by nine dollars, and I'm no longer blocked. :D
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My cans knocked my library bill down by nine dollars, and I'm no longer blocked. :D
Yay!
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Washed the patio doors and vacuumed the screens. It's so nice to feel like the house is getting cleaner just as spring is around the corner (although the weather has been making it feel like summer the past few days...)
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Does going to the dentist count as an odd chore? Because I have a dentist appointment this afternoon, and then will pick up the kids and then will make dinner. Doesn't leave much time for choring.
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Went and got passport photos done. Does that count? I say it's a chore, because I hate getting these photos done - the lighting is not great, you can't smile, and I usually look like a deer in headlights. I think the latest photo will win me 'crone of the year' award.
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This is great method that works well for me, been doing it for years!
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Wove in all the ends of the sweater but haven't attached sleeves or blocked yet.
But while I was avoiding that, I did shampoo the carpet, wash the kitchen window (inspired by this thread!), transplant seedlings, and take a photo of some things to sell on Craigslist.
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OK, last one of these, as I don't have anything else to sew:
I did declutter the dry cleaning basket where the pants were hanging out with a bunch of other stuff that didn't belong there (plastic bags with 2014 receipts, for example). This challenge is getting me into project mode, so hopefully it will carry over to the larger projects that I need to get done.
Oh, I also sent out a neighborhood email to commit to a date for hazardous waste drop-off, and got a few replies. That odd chore has just been building up for years. Lots of paint/stain, dead fluorescent bulbs, lithium batteries, and thermometers. It will be nice to get rid of that junk and reclaim that area.
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I'm going to work on fixing the leaky spigot on the front of my house and the leaky shutoff valve in the house for that spigot. I've been putting that task off for years. The previous owners ran a bunch of electrical conduit around the valve in the house which makes it hard to access. The spigot probably just needs a new washer. The valve in the house will probably needs to be replaced.
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This morning I cleaned one of the sliding door glass panels. One more to go then I've cleaned all of the insides of our windows. When the weather gets warmer, I'll do the outsides of the ones I can reach.
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A few today:
I got up early this morning and finished my taxes, found myself an online coupon for 20% off and filed them! Then I organized all my tax papers in my file.
I ordered some laundry soap online because they were having a $20 off sale. That chore is done for a few years now.
Finished planting the rest of my recently purchased indoor plants.
Even though it is quite cold today, I took the winter plastic off two of my windows because we are having the odd warm day and I am a firm believer that adding a little cold fresh air in the early spring to your house, helps avoid spring colds/coughs.
Took a load of items to my garage to be stored - Seasonal items I leave in my mudroom for easy winter access.
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Yesterday:
Called new insurance company to confirm benefits and network providers.
Called new doctor and made an appointment.
Today:
Mailed back bras that didn't fit. It was a free return, I just needed to do it, lol.
Got my passport photo taken.
Went to the bank.
All sorts of odd chores that rank REALLY high on my "don't want to" scale.
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I finally mailed my membership fees to the natural history museum this morning. I also disconnected some old romex wire that was dangling from the wall in my basement. I wish I had taken care of that before I went to the scrap yard last weekend. I could have gotten a couple of extra bucks out of that wire. I was able to remove the conduit that housed the romex, so that should help with my water shutoff valve project.
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OMG, magic erasers are magic! Someone gave me some cheap, thin ones when they moved, and I used them on the bathroom tile. Then I bought a bunch of thicker generic ones from Amazon. These things are amazing! They cleaned our composite sink better than Bon Ami, got the dirt off the garage door that wouldn't come off with 409, and clean soap scum off tile like nobody's business. And then they rinse clean, right back to white. The only thing that's stuck to one was when I cleaned the glass on the toaster oven, and years of baked on greasy stuff got one side kind of crusty.
Good and bad, though. Our kitchen floor is very light colored vinyl, with a textured crosshatch and some little leaves embossed. Of course it catches dirt/grease. Mopping is rather ineffective. We even treated ourselves to a cleaning service for our anniversary and...meh. But the magic eraser! First I just did the sink, stove, dishwasher area, but now have branched out to the rest of the kitchen, which ain't small. The bad part is there's no concealing start/stop points, and it's a lot of work. And sweat. I've taken to "mopping" with it under my shoe, which is effective, because I can put a lot of pressure, but I can't get it evenly clean.
More tomorrow!
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OMG, magic erasers are magic! Someone gave me some cheap, thin ones when they moved, and I used them on the bathroom tile. Then I bought a bunch of thicker generic ones from Amazon. These things are amazing! They cleaned our composite sink better than Bon Ami, got the dirt off the garage door that wouldn't come off with 409, and clean soap scum off tile like nobody's business. And then they rinse clean, right back to white. The only thing that's stuck to one was when I cleaned the glass on the toaster oven, and years of baked on greasy stuff got one side kind of crusty.
Good and bad, though. Our kitchen floor is very light colored vinyl, with a textured crosshatch and some little leaves embossed. Of course it catches dirt/grease. Mopping is rather ineffective. We even treated ourselves to a cleaning service for our anniversary and...meh. But the magic eraser! First I just did the sink, stove, dishwasher area, but now have branched out to the rest of the kitchen, which ain't small. The bad part is there's no concealing start/stop points, and it's a lot of work. And sweat. I've taken to "mopping" with it under my shoe, which is effective, because I can put a lot of pressure, but I can't get it evenly clean.
More tomorrow!
Just be careful with those on bathtubs, sinks, paint, etc. Since it's essentially working as sand paper. http://www.tipbusters.com/2011/mr-clean-magic-eraser-%E2%80%93-is-it-good-magic/ (http://www.tipbusters.com/2011/mr-clean-magic-eraser-%E2%80%93-is-it-good-magic/) You can end up with MORE scum coming back than when you started since you've "etched" the finish off the surface of things like porcelain sinks. Ask me how I know... lol.
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Yeah, I read what they were before ordering, and I'm not going to use them on painted walls. They do work great on hard surfaces (ones we normally use Bon Ami or Comet). It didn't scratch the tempered glass on the toaster oven (but I wouldn't use it on our windows).
The vinyl flooring, I know it's probably asking for trouble, but it was so bad, so impossible to clean, and looks so much better, I don't care.
I'm very surprised it took the finish off your porcelain sink, though. That's something my Mom made us use Comet on weekly for years with no problem. Our shower tile seems just fine (although it didn't take much scrubbing to get the soap scum off, either).
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Yeah, I read what they were before ordering, and I'm not going to use them on painted walls. They do work great on hard surfaces (ones we normally use Bon Ami or Comet). It didn't scratch the tempered glass on the toaster oven (but I wouldn't use it on our windows).
The vinyl flooring, I know it's probably asking for trouble, but it was so bad, so impossible to clean, and looks so much better, I don't care.
I'm very surprised it took the finish off your porcelain sink, though. That's something my Mom made us use Comet on weekly for years with no problem. Our shower tile seems just fine (although it didn't take much scrubbing to get the soap scum off, either).
Well, it was bad when we moved in, I think they've been using abrasive cleaners and it's a 22 year old house, sink original obviously. So whatever coating was on it was worn off on the bottom anyway (hence using the erasers) but I could see where it took the 'sheen' off the sides close to the bottom, so it clearly took some of the coating off. Maybe only an issue if it's an already disrupted surface?
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I'm the Hospitality Chair (not a Table, a Chair) for a Woman's Arts Group I belong to. We meet once a month during the school year. Today's program featured a singer who is Autistic and has perfect pitch. Amaze-balls. She sings and her mom plays the piano. Inspiring story and the best rendition of "Oh, Danny Boy" I've ever heard, and I'm Irish.
My job is to set the theme and secure the decor, lasso the membership to remind them when it's their turn to bring goodies, get everything to our meeting place early enough to be ready to go by 9:15, including 3 urns of hot beverages and assorted sweets & savories if there aren't enough volunteers, plus all the necessary supplies. It's a big job. Then I (and my committee) pack everything up and load it back into my car.
Since it's just around the corner, I picked up the week's mail at the post office, then I did my volunteer stint at the library, and went to the bank to make the Friends' EOM deposit. Then I drove across town to a one-day-only estate sale and bought two DVD series, plus 2 yards of quilted black velvet, which will make a great backdrop if I ever get my shit together and figure out how eBay works, for $5.00 total.
While in the area, I looked at the models of houses in a new development I advocated for to the City Council last year. The prices are $1.2 -$1.4M and it was proposed as "affordable housing" by Pulte, ugh. What a disappointment! Swung by a fixer that just came on the market, found an open gate and strolled the property. I see potential, but DH does not like the setting, so probably not our next project.
Stopped by a friend's house to pick up her car key. She'll leave her car at the transit station at 0-dark-hundred tomorrow and I will walk over at a more civilized hour, pick it up and park it at my house until she returns. Tonight will be pizza from scratch and unpacking/washing/reloading my supplies from this morning. All of this with my MIL and her pal Al Z. Heimer, in tow. Did I mention it took three tries to get her into something presentable before we left this morning? Oy!
Tomorrow DH is off. Yay! I'm doing Read Across America at a local elementary school in the morning, then moving car referenced above, then we're picking up some furniture for a friend who needs it to go from Point A to Point B, a distance of 25 miles, involving multiple freeways and a big-ass toll bridge. Because, um, we own a truck and my friend is having cancer surgery on Monday? My birthday is in a few days, so DH has hinted at plans after that. Low-key suits me just fine. In fact, the lower, the better.
Hmmm, and here I'm feeling like a lazy ass because I have completed NO chores this week. Sorry I have nothing to report. I know this makes me a lurker/shirker of the worst sort. I promise, I'll try to get something done before my next report is due, instead of a bunch of whining and lame excuses, lol!
Tl;dr: Diane C has no new completed chores to report.
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Diane C, I don't think someone who describes a day like that could possibly be called "lazy." Just sayin'!
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Today:
Very pleased with this, as is my wife. I won't go into the entire saga, but we have been waiting and/or delaying a long time for this.
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Painted all the dining room trim after caulking all the cracks in it and scraped all the old caulk off our master bathroom shower. It's cold outside again, so I couldn't wash more windows. But I'm am very excited to spray anti-mold stuff and recaulk the shower tomorrow! We have the world's tiniest bathroom, so every tiny discoloration or crack really stands out. To me at least. Oh, to be someone who doesn't notice or care about the details!
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I turned some paperwork to the DMV. I didn't want to go, but I did it and it's done. Yea! Tomorrow I should clean a car seat. We'll see.
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Ordered a copy of my birth certificate. I'd been procrastinating on this because I thought it would be complicated. One 5 minute phone call later, certificate will be in the mail and arrive in 2 business days.
Edit: emailed HR to cancel insurance we got when we had a mortgage AND THEN FORGOT TO CANCEL after we no longer needed it. Aargh - the "not paying attention tax"! But now cancelled.
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I got a lot done since joining this thread, it has been very motivating. I think I have averaged one a day since joining but have not really been keeping track. Today I put up 2 new smoke detectors and a picture that had been sitting around since Thanksgiving. Also dusted in the corners. Last weekend I caught up on all the regular chores, plus moved the living room furniture and vacuumed and washed the floor underneath.
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Like some others, I'm also planning on shampooing our carpet today-- it'll be the first time I've ever used the... I don't know what to call it? The not-vaccuum that washes your carpet? Anyway, we're borrowing one from a friend, and I'm looking forward to finally having clean carpets for the first time in a long while.
Also going to sew the back pockets onto a pair of pants, and this weekend, strip off the covers on the sofa and launder those too. My messiest roommate is out for the weekend and the rest of us are taking the opportunity to wash everything in sight.
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I'm super excited to report I completed my first car repair ever. I attempted to fix the headliner. Its better, not perfect and I'm afraid the deteriorating foam stuff underneath made some stains on it. But I think I'll notice those less than the sagging ceiling in the rear view mirror.
Gosh, I really hope it doesn't fall down and become worse than it was.
I don't think this will become a side hustle biz for me.
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I'm super excited to report I completed my first car repair ever. I attempted to fix the headliner. Its better, not perfect and I'm afraid the deteriorating foam stuff underneath made some stains on it. But I think I'll notice those less than the sagging ceiling in the rear view mirror.
Gosh, I really hope it doesn't fall down and become worse than it was.
I don't think this will become a side hustle biz for me.
LOL!
You definitely get an A for effort, though!
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My Mom is forever giving me books she gets for free from her apartment building laundry room. I went through a bunch today, and set some aside that I will never read (authors I don't care for). They will go back to her laundry room next time I'm over, so someone else can enjoy them.
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I just noticed this thread. Thank you for starting it. What a great idea. I need to get out of my rut and do some of these "odd chores". I'll be back later to report.
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Ok I have been pretty good about daily chores or at least catching up ever other day. Today I am just feeling lazy and other than a few regular chores, I don't have it in me to do any odd ones. This weekend I will definitely buckle down. :)
If I don't post by Sunday night with a serious list, someone give me a kick in the butt!
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Hmm. I think all these odd chores are interfering with my regular chores. Today I caulked and did touch-up grouting in our bathroom, and did some more trim caulking and painting. But now the house looks crazy because all the stuff for doing that is out, and I didn't do my normal cleaning. I think I need to do some much smaller odd chores for a bit!
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- Fix hanger for frame in bedroom
Assigned a dozen or more odd chores to my wife after she volunteered to do some odd chores -- woohoo!
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I'm sorting through my old childhood Legos and selling them. They have been collecting dust in my basement for about 9 years now.
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When I was a child in the UK my grandmother had a pulley clothes airer on her kitchen ceiling. Like this:
http://www.pulleymaid.com/classic_clothes_airer.htm
I had bought the cast iron parts for it about 8 years ago from the UK but the laths are prohibitively expensive to ship and I couldn't source any of quite the right size in the US. I finally decided last weekend to just buy some oak trim strip and cut it into four pieces and sand the edges, and figure out a way to keep them from falling through the holes. My wife added little nuts and bolts to each strip end, and I hung it from the garage ceiling last night. We have exposed redwood ceiling beams in the garage and a spot where I can locate it where it is out of the way of the cars.
I'm so pleased to finally have one of these. I have a large floor standing clothes rack, but it is awkward to set up for just a few things.
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Wow, mies!!!! Every aspect of that sounds like a biggie!
It's actually not too bad. I've been selling Legos online since late 2008.
I have been holding on to some of my shabbier pieces that I actually used to play with as a kid. I'm just warning people in the description about dust and teeth marks. Some of those pieces were impossible to separate with my hands when I was a boy. I had to pitch several pieces that looked like the went through a wood chipper :D
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I have a tub of latex stuff that you paint on the back of mats, etc. to make them non-slip. I finally got around to touching up some bath mats that were starting to peel at the back. I'm hoping to get another year or two out of them with this repair.
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When I was a child in the UK my grandmother had a pulley clothes airer on her kitchen ceiling. Like this:
http://www.pulleymaid.com/classic_clothes_airer.htm
I had one of these...just a regular metal drying rack on pulleys. Need to do this in the new house. Guess that gives me another odd chore. Thanks, I think.
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I'm just noticing this thread now and I'm inspired! Can I join?
The last five days I've been cleaning one shelf/section in my library each day. It was so horribly messy that I just couldn't do it all at once, but I am finding success at organising and cleaning just a little bit each day - I think this strategy has changed my life! =)
So now I'm off to do the next section!
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My last two weeks have been busy and I was sick in the middle of them so haven't accomplished much. But I am slowly going through piles of paper/mail and recycling most of it and filing the important papers. Also labeled some new file folders and reorganized folders a bit to make things easier to find.
Today my odd job was rearranging some furniture (finally! I've been trying to accomplish this for two months!)
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I'm just noticing this thread now and I'm inspired! Can I join?
The last five days I've been cleaning one shelf/section in my library each day. It was so horribly messy that I just couldn't do it all at once, but I am finding success at organising and cleaning just a little bit each day - I think this strategy has changed my life! =)
So now I'm off to do the next section!
Nangirl17, welcome!
I am (slowly) cleaning my fridge the same way :-)
Today though, as I did a full scale "pull out the furniture and vacuum underneath" type cleaning in the spare bedroom that I have set up as a dining room, I decided to tackle a fix that I've need to do for a while. I have a small bookshelf in that room right under the window, because one of my cats loves hanging out in there but the window sills are very narrow. There is nothing on the bookshelf, it's really just a cat perch :-) Anyway, more than a year ago, I stumbled and ended up stepping on the bottom shelf, and since it's just cheap particle board, it broke. I never did anything with it, because it's not fixable and I didn't want to throw it out and have to replace it.
It kind of looks like this one, but there are more cross pieces, it's not just the shelves that connect the legs together:
(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.YEsi13XbgR79S6gLRykdfQEsEs&w=188&h=188&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7)
Anyway, today I decided that the third option was to just remove the bottom shelf. No huge impact structurally, and easier to vacuum underneath! Took a bit of work to figure out how to get it off, required undoing some of the screws, and ultimately, breaking the shelf a bit more (it was ultimately held in place with a couple of pieces of dowel, and I didn't want to undo all the screws to take it out properly). But, I got it done!
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Nangirl17, welcome!
I am (slowly) cleaning my fridge the same way :-)
Thanks, PJ!
The fridge needs to be my next project - I despise that job, probably because I let it get so disgusting between cleanings!!
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Today I am cleaning some kid's toys out in the garage. DS is 35, with a little boy of his own now. Whatever isn't wanted for grandson will be sold. For years, DS called it "the junk in the garage". Now he calls it "the goldmine in the garage". :-D He's sold over $2000 worth of stuff from there so far. (Star Wars, Transformers, etc. I saved the good stuff!).
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Today I am cleaning some kid's toys out in the garage. DS is 35, with a little boy of his own now. Whatever isn't wanted for grandson will be sold. For years, DS called it "the junk in the garage". Now he calls it "the goldmine in the garage". :-D He's sold over $2000 worth of stuff from there so far. (Star Wars, Transformers, etc. I saved the good stuff!).
Hope he's at least splitting the proceeds with you, especially since you curated his stuff and stored it for decades, lol!
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Today I am cleaning some kid's toys out in the garage. DS is 35, with a little boy of his own now. Whatever isn't wanted for grandson will be sold. For years, DS called it "the junk in the garage". Now he calls it "the goldmine in the garage". :-D He's sold over $2000 worth of stuff from there so far. (Star Wars, Transformers, etc. I saved the good stuff!).
Hope he's at least splitting the proceeds with you, especially since you curated his stuff and stored it for decades, lol!
Nah. He offered, but they were all gifts to him when he was a kid, and it was no problem storing it. He does all our IT work whenever he comes to visit, so I consider it a fair trade. (DH is awful with computers, and is forever buggering something up.) He did compliment me on how well I've been packing everything up for him though - says all he needs to do is unpack, photograph, and wait for someone to come and give him money. :-D
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I poured a bunch of bleach on the tile floor of our shower. I was going to scrub but then decided to see what would happen if I just let it sit. The grout now looks amazing! Where has bleach been all my life?
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Today:
- Clean garbage disposal
- Prop up broken wheel of coffee table
The latter is an ongoing project/minor dispute between DW and I. The coffee table is very heavy, with a 3-inch slab of particle board, and then an inch-thick glass top. There are 4-inch wheels that are screwed into the particle board about 3/4". So over the years, as the table has been moved, the wheels have ripped out of their sockets. I've glued, used plastic wood, banned the coffee table, relented, and now propped up one corner with a piece of 2x4. She loves the table, so I'm suggesting that we put some blocky legs on it, and make it non-rollable.
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-Contacted an old acquaintance about getting together. I'd been putting it off but her father recently passed away unexpectedly, so....
-Hemmed pants. Did a terrible job, but I hate rolling them up more.
-Got most of the bulky trash pulled out for pickup. Still have to cruise the rental properties and pull out anything I can.
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Another Loser* Report: It's my birthday, and I'm sick. I made brunch for my family and did three loads of laundry today and completely ran out of energy. DH wants to go out for dinner, but I'm not up to it. Take-out Pad Thai is looking like it's going to be the birthday dinner of choice. I even cancelled my Eye Dr. Appointment for tomorrow, as I'm sure they don't want my germy germs.
Oh well, tomorrow's another day. I love seeing what everyone else is getting done, so thanks for letting me tag along.
*You get that I'm joking,riiiight? 'Cuz no one who's FIRE is ever a loser, no matter how little we get done.
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Happy B-day DianeC !!!!!
I skipped the odd chore today :) but will do it tomorrow...wrap up an assignment
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Another Loser* Report: It's my birthday, and I'm sick. I made brunch for my family and did three loads of laundry today and completely ran out of energy. DH wants to go out for dinner, but I'm not up to it. Take-out Pad Thai is looking like it's going to be the birthday dinner of choice. I even cancelled my Eye Dr. Appointment for tomorrow, as I'm sure they don't want my germy germs.
Oh well, tomorrow's another day. I love seeing what everyone else is getting done, so thanks for letting me tag along.
*You get that I'm joking,riiiight? 'Cuz no one who's FIRE is ever a loser, no matter how little we get done.
Happy Birthday!
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Today I emptied a moving box that's been sitting in my office along with a few other random things and found better homes for all of them.
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You know even when you guys take the odd day off its still motivational because it makes me realize that everyone takes the odd day off and it's not the end of the world. And on your birthday (especially while sick) you SHOULD take the day off!!
I am babysitting two dogs for a friend from Sunday until Wednesday morning. One dog is older, sleeps quite a bit and is the worlds most well behaved dog. The other one is much younger, energetic and while a very nice dog is not necessarily as well behaved. They are both wonderful though and have me in constant smiles. I have missed having a dog in my house. My poor cat is not taking it well and so far has remained hidden from the dogs, even though both of them are completely cat friendly.
So my odd chore is kinda babysitting since it's hard to get much else done with my energetic shadow following me around "helping" I cleaned off a teak shelving unit of all my precious vintage art glass in case the dogs bumped it, so while the shelves were clear I decided to oil the wood. Well I was sitting on the floor oiling lower shelves and my helper was licking up the oil as fast as I was rubbing it in. Good thing I used mineral oil (not linseed as I normally do) because I had a small bit to use up in a bottle. Given what mineral oil is used for in the human body, I thought it best to stop that task :)
I wasn't even able to make the bed because while I would remove one of them to fluff the sheets out, another jumped up, remove him and repeat. They are good dogs and I could just tell them to both stay on the floor but they are just to darn comical and the game was fun. These dogs are going home completely spoiled!!!
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Today I will be babyproofing our main floor. I haven't had to do this in over 30 years, but newly crawling grandson is coming for a visit next week, so I'd better get busy.
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FWIW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Spontaneous_combustion
I love the look of linseed oil and used it many times. Just heard this last week though.
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What a great chore to have to do, Shinplaster!
Last night, not today - I have a few places in my house that tend to accumulate clutter. My end tables in the living room, and coffee table too, for example. Last night I went through a bunch of books stacked on one end table, and sorted out 6 of them - 5 for donation/sell box, and 1 to be returned to my mom. Still a lot of other books there though!
Must.make.more.time.to.read.(something.other.than.internet.forums!)
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Well, I haven't been keeping a one-a-day pace, but it's more than my default, and I'm getting lots of ideas, so I still count it as a win. =)
Today I washed our quilted mattress cover thingee. It stretches out over time and then bunches up funny. Nice to 'reset' it!
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I haven't posted in a while - a combination of not getting to one odd chore every day and being slammed at work last week, leaving little time for posting.
But here are a few from the last week:
-found a CPA to take on our tax disaster at this late date
-multiple calls to a doctor's office to take care of billing difficulties
-went through a bunch of old papers
-did a few more steps to get our new bathroom fan installed
-ordered some supplies for my next two DIY home projects - installing a transfer grille in DD's room, and figuring out what is up with my mystery light switches.
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I haven't had to do this in over 30 years, but newly crawling grandson is coming for a visit next week, so I'd better get busy.
:)))))
: ))))) indeed! And bonus - while I was rearranging things, I found a bowl that belonged to DS's dinosaur dish set when he was a kid. He's going to be happy to see that - he was asking the other day what happened to it. (all the other pieces were tossed, because they were battered and discoloured).
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I'm short of potholders but have lots of extra sturdy flat weave cotton teatowels (dish towels) so yesterday I trimmed the finished hems off one of them folded it into 8 layers and stitched round the edges. I used a piece of the cut off hem to make a hanging loop to insert in one corner. I had done one before and liked how it turned out, but hadn't gotten round to making a second.
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FWIW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Spontaneous_combustion
I love the look of linseed oil and used it many times. Just heard this last week though.
My grandfather did lots of woodworking and cabinetry and he always soaked his rags in cold water before hand washing them. I always wondered why he washed them everytime when they were basically clean, just covered in oil. Maybe that's why.
I really like linseed for my teak furniture but I tried the mineral oil I had left over from doing my butcher block counters and wooden cutting boards and I have to say so far it's absorbing nicely and the colour/finish feels nice. I might switch simply because mineral oil is so much cheaper. (And apparently safer)
Thank you for the warning!
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I just finished, nay we just finished an odd chore I think I'll go back to paying someone to do... We replaced the air filter in the car. Now way back, that would have required spinning a wing nut and 2 minutes, but on the Chevy HHR, with the "world's most secure air filter" we had to disengage 2 hoses, a MAF sensor, yank the air box off 3 grommets (yes, it took both of us to get one of them loose), remove the air box, turn it over, and unscrew 7 (seven) Torx screws. Drop in the new filter (which was hardly dirty, but after all that, it's getting changed), and reverse the process.
Now I know why the filter was $7.40, but the shop charged $40 last time.
Then to make things even more fun, we replaced the cabin filter, which was not as difficult, but still scraped a few knuckles on sharp plastic edges while bent double trying to see behind the glove box into the slot it "fits" into. Similarly, a $40 fix for a $12 filter. That one I'll do. But the air filter... I need a drink.
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Geekette, that air filter job sounds terrible! I would pay someone else to do it as well, yikes!
Today I moved some items into the garage for storage (so glad to have them out of my way!) I also worked on clearing off the extra table in my home office. My goal is to get rid of the table to make more space and I've got most of the stuff cleared off now. I'm hoping to have this finished this week!
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I finally got through to someone at my old cable provider to get my credit refunded. This had been hanging out there for more than 18 months. (moving abroad and traveling can cause chaos).
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The bleach I used to clean my shower tile melted the caulk! Boo. So I redid that today again. Lesson learned!
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The bleach I used to clean my shower tile melted the caulk! Boo. So I redid that today again. Lesson learned!
Ah, crap! I had been so happy for you!
I remember discovering bleach, relatively recently... I was so excited. "Oh! This is why folks use the stuff! What other dangerous chemicals can accomplish such delightful wonders in my life?!?!" hee!
I discovered bleach about 2.5 years ago at work. I work in a small office and do a little bit of cleaning there. One thing I do is clean the dish rack. One of my coworkers said to put a few inches of water into the sink, add bleach and let it sit for about 20 minutes. The dish rack comes out squeaky clean with very little scrubbing!
Okay, my chore for tomorrow, if I don't have any snow shoveling to do, is to clean the last pane of glass in my sliding door.
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The bleach I used to clean my shower tile melted the caulk! Boo. So I redid that today again. Lesson learned!
Ah, crap! I had been so happy for you!
I remember discovering bleach, relatively recently... I was so excited. "Oh! This is why folks use the stuff! What other dangerous chemicals can accomplish such delightful wonders in my life?!?!" hee!
I was worried when I read this. Try vinegar instead, it's a lot less corrosive than straight bleach and if you accidentally slosh it, it doesn't ruin any colored textiles it lands on.
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If you do need to use straight bleach on something though (like the dish rack) make sure you make the most of it though. I would use it at the same time to get all the tea/coffee stains out of my mugs - it's like magic on those! (But they need a thorough washing after, to get rid of the bleach!)
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Yeah, vinegar remains my go-to. Speaking of which, the weather is finally less cold again, so it's off to clean more windows with vinegar and wafer for me!
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I soak leftover citrus peels in white vinegar for a couple of days then strain it back into the bottle before using it for the first time. It helps mask the vinegar smell a bit.
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I made freezer biscuits for my Mom today. She's 87, and trying to mostly use her toaster oven rather than the big oven. So I mix up the dough, cut the biscuits out, and freeze them without baking. Then she can just pop them in the toaster oven for 20 minutes, and have fresh, homemade biscuits whenever she wants.
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I made freezer biscuits for my Mom today. She's 87, and trying to mostly use her toaster oven rather than the big oven. So I mix up the dough, cut the biscuits out, and freeze them without baking. Then she can just pop them in the toaster oven for 20 minutes, and have fresh, homemade biscuits whenever she wants.
Aww, that's lovely. I'd love to get my mom (70's but living alone for the first time) to buy and use a toaster oven instead of the big oven. Seems so wasteful when she, for instance, heats up the whole oven to make a baked pototo.
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I made freezer biscuits for my Mom today. She's 87, and trying to mostly use her toaster oven rather than the big oven. So I mix up the dough, cut the biscuits out, and freeze them without baking. Then she can just pop them in the toaster oven for 20 minutes, and have fresh, homemade biscuits whenever she wants.
Aww, that's lovely. I'd love to get my mom (70's but living alone for the first time) to buy and use a toaster oven instead of the big oven. Seems so wasteful when she, for instance, heats up the whole oven to make a baked pototo.
Don't give up hope. It took years to convince my Mom to try one. She knew I had one and used it all the time, but was stubborn and said no. It finally took an episode of her losing her balance slightly over an open oven door to convince her that maybe the toaster oven was a better idea. She didn't actually fall and burn herself, but it scared her a little. It was near Christmas, so my sister bought her a lovely one as a gift. She loves it now, and cooks almost all her meals in it. If not there, the microwave (which also took years to convince her to try!) :-D
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Toaster biscuits sounds like a great idea!
I do most of my cleaning with vinegar as well, but recently I bought a bleached based Clorox cleaner for the tile in my bathroom and I can't believe how easy it was to clean all the grout and tiles and how shiny it made them. Still the smell stuck around for a few days and it was kinda harsh. So now I mostly clean with vinegar and once a month I use the bleach.
I also clean a lot with my steam cleaner unit and use no chemicals just water. I love cleaning my windows and screens with the steam cleaner. I have old fashioned panes I have to pull out so I just take them outside and clean them on a tarp on the lawn. The steam really breaks down any dirt on the screens so they look brand new after a quick scrub with a brush.
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Speaking of toaster ovens, my odd job was removing and cleaning the crumb tray at the bottom of mine and wiping off the glass door. PJ, hopefully your mom will come around on the toaster oven, I absolutely love mine!
My other odd job today was taking photos of two broken water bottles so I can email the companies and see if they'll replace them. Actually writing and sending the emails will be tomorrow's odd job. :)
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I took the dogs home this morning that I had been dog sitting. They were so much fun and I loved my puppy play time, but man did they leave a mess behind. I'm working from home, it's just past noon and I have been doing the work an hour / clean for twenty, cycle all morning. I currently have 3 loads of laundry hung up and drying and I have emptied my vacuum twice already! Who knew two dogs could generate so much fur.
My odd chore, I have a family members laptop to repair and I am also going to wash the covers on my couch/chair if I have enough drying space after I do my 4th load of laundry. I went crazy and decided to wash all my sheets, duvet cover and blankets since the dogs were playing in my bed.
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...snip
Who knew two dogs could generate so much fur.
...snip
(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Mab51f4ba6d6f78e845cc3fd5fd3c577fo0&w=209&h=195&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7)
I knew!
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...snip
Who knew two dogs could generate so much fur.
...snip
(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Mab51f4ba6d6f78e845cc3fd5fd3c577fo0&w=209&h=195&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7)
I knew!
:) I have had dogs before but my last dog was a tiny Jack Russel so while he shedded, there wasn't enough fur on him to make a massive mess. My cat sheds too and he is a monster but I will no longer be complaining about his fur!
My entire basement is filled with hung laundry. I get such a sense of satisfaction looking at it all, which is kinda weird but I am embracing it anyways. I won't be able to do couch cushions today as I have plum run out of drying space. Fixing a laptop it is!
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...snip
Who knew two dogs could generate so much fur.
...snip
(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Mab51f4ba6d6f78e845cc3fd5fd3c577fo0&w=209&h=195&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7)
I knew!
:) I have had dogs before but my last dog was a tiny Jack Russel so while he shedded, there wasn't enough fur on him to make a massive mess. My cat sheds too and he is a monster but I will no longer be complaining about his fur!
My entire basement is filled with hung laundry. I get such a sense of satisfaction looking at it all, which is kinda weird but I am embracing it anyways. I won't be able to do couch cushions today as I have plum run out of drying space. Fixing a laptop it is!
Different kinds of dogs mean different types and quantities of fur, for sure!
My mom has a golden retriever. Light, fluffy, large dust bunnies are the result.
I've had two dogs at the same time, my old pit bull (now gone) and my boxer/Fila Brasiliero mix. Short haired dogs, dark fur. Doesn't clump up as much, but it's there! Lots and lots of it! When it mixes with the long haired cat's fur, that's when the dust bunnies form.
(Yes, I also have 3 cats. I'm an equal opportunity crazy pet lady.)
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Even my two non-allergenic, no-shed dogs leave fuzzballs all around the house. And the Tortie cat with her pure white underbelly, OMG! And the furry asshole loves to plant herself wherever you were just sitting, so that next time you sit there in your 50-Shades-of-Gray-or-Black Pants...you guessed it!
Okay, I posted to say I did a chore! I should say that regular shit like cooking and laundry and housekeeping are not what I consider "Odd" chores. So don't worry, I'm mostly keeping up with all of that, despite being sick since last Friday, including my damn birthday.
On my birthday, I dragged myself out of bed to make waffles for my family. (Dear DH helped.) Well, no, that's not right. Someone mentioned you could make hash browns in a waffle iron and I wanted to try it, because I bought a 10# bag o' potatoes at the 99 Cent Only Store ere I got sick. Hint - don't use too many potatoes. I won't be doing this again, as cleaning the waffle irons was a bitch.
Which brings me to my chore:
I have three garage saled or gifted waffle irons. I store them in a stack with non-slip circles in between to keep the pile from tumbling off the lazy susan where they normally reside.
Well, Someone put a piece of the non-slip on top of the still-hot waffle iron. Gallows humor alert: we're all sure it was MIL's pal Al.
I know for a fact that the stuff is designed to withstand heat in excess of 400 degrees (Fahrenheit for my Upside-Down friends), but when it melts it's a godawful mess. I thought the waffle iron was ruined. But today, when I was washing the stuck-on potato shreds off the plates again (did I mention I'll never use this method again? Yes.), I thought about trying to plug in the iron to re-melt the stuck-on crud and scrape it off with a razor blade. It worked! And best of all, I realized the plates are removable, so I soaked them while I scraped the top and they are finally clean. My thirty year old waffle iron looks all shiny and sparkly and pretty again.
And that my friends, counts as a chore, for the win.
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Dicey, I feel your pain! Maybe not to the same degree, but I feel it nonetheless.
My potato masher looks like this:
(http://www.seriouscookware.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Potato-masher.jpg)
Do you see how thick the plastic is on the business end of the masher? Yet, also see how small those little honeycomb cells are? Can you imagine what happens when you mash potatoes with this? Yes, that's right, the cells all fill up with mashed potato! But they are too small to stick, say, a fork into, to push the potato out. Some comes out if you bang the masher against the side of the pot, but it's as likely to fly up and hit you in the face as to land back into the pot.
And woe to you if you do not immediately rinse it off, or put it into the sink to soak - you will end up with quite a scrubbing chore!
One of these days I am really going to get myself a metal one, flatter, like this:
(https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.-b-LVZFNpbr1LVVX498AhwEsEs&w=202&h=202&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7)
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Borrowed my neighbor's electric extension teeny tiny chain saw (never knew they existed!) and trimmed a high branch that was threatening a window and blocking the light). What I thought would be hard was very easy! Still, I'm counting it as an odd chore!
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Today was my day to go to Mom's apartment to check on her/see if there was anything needed doing. She'd had a leak on one of her walls, and the repair guys had finally been there yesterday. So today I rehung all her photos/pictures for her, and replaced some lightbulbs that had burned out.
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This is a slightly embarrassing one. For Christmas, we had to rearrange a (pretty much unused) front room. ILs gave us an old couch which fit perfectly, and we stuck the tree on the other side of the room. Had to take a big bookshelf out for this. Well, Christmas tree got moved out a while ago, and we moved the shelf unit back in... but the shelves were still in the garage =\ We *finally* brought them back in and put them together again, haha. (Now I just need to slowly acquire goodwill decor and similar so I don't have an entirely empty bookshelf in the "yoga room". Or maybe it will just stay empty. Eventual plan is for it to be a nursery, but that hasn't been very forthcoming, so in the meantime... yoga mat and a hand me down giant purple sofa =P
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Well, here I thought I would have nothing to add to this thread today, when I pulled a load out of the dryer to discover... drumroll please... that an entire pack of gum has gone through the laundry! Amazingly, very little got on the clothes. But the entire drum of the dryer was coated with sticky, linty ick. Sigh. Accidents happen, though of course they happen more often when someone (cough, DH, cough) just half-assedly wads a ball of tangled up laundry into the machine rather than putting each thing in there one by one. So I went to work armed with YouTube, a magic eraser, and a bunch of elbow grease. The dryer is now clean - and hey, and odd job!
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Mostly unpleasant financial chores lately, as well as decluttering. But they are on my checklist, so here they are:
- Cancel DD’s gym membership
- Chase Sapphire Preferred card
- Amex Blue cash card
- Store warranties
That last one in particular is a thorn out of my side. It was a pile of instruction manuals, warranties, etc. for everything that has come into the house with such a document over the past one, two, three (it can't be three) years? A shameful pile, indeed, which is now filed "away".
The others are for financial gain -- should be about $1700 this year.
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Well, here I thought I would have nothing to add to this thread today, when I pulled a load out of the dryer to discover... drumroll please... that an entire pack of gum has gone through the laundry! Amazingly, very little got on the clothes. But the entire drum of the dryer was coated with sticky, linty ick. Sigh. Accidents happen, though of course they happen more often when someone (cough, DH, cough) just half-assedly wads a ball of tangled up laundry into the machine rather than putting each thing in there one by one. So I went to work armed with YouTube, a magic eraser, and a bunch of elbow grease. The dryer is now clean - and hey, and odd job!
You poor soul! I hope you gave yourself a nice treat tonight!
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I haven't been adding much to the thread because for the most part my odd chore each day for the last couple weeks has been painting, painting, painting. I'm so excited with how fresh and clean my house is starting to look! And I couldn't fall asleep last night because of all the plans of the things I want to do next (painting kitchen cupboards and replacing bathroom vanity mostly) running through my head.
One other thing I did recently that I often neglect for way too long was cleaning the top of the stove fan hood. It gets SO greasy and dusty up there before I notice it. Yay for vinegar and baking soda!!
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OK, you guys inspired me. Today I scrubbed the filthy, nasty handprints off the doors around the handles. Then, I scrubbed the bloodspatter off of one section of wall (long story, not nearly as horrible as it sounds...)
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I dispensed dish soap from the large Costco container into the smaller container that sits by the sink.
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OK, you guys inspired me. Today I scrubbed the filthy, nasty handprints off the doors around the handles. Then, I scrubbed the bloodspatter off of one section of wall (long story, not nearly as horrible as it sounds...)
Oh my! You can't leave us hanging like that ...
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OK, you guys inspired me. Today I scrubbed the filthy, nasty handprints off the doors around the handles. Then, I scrubbed the bloodspatter off of one section of wall (long story, not nearly as horrible as it sounds...)
This sounds like a horror movie set piece!
I vacuumed the inside of the AC return duct. Based on what it was like in there, I'm going to posit that no one had ever cleaned it from the time it was installed.
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Did a little vacuuming, not just the floor but unplugging the hose from the machine to zip up the cat hair, carpet fluff, shredded sisal, and shredded cardboard flecks that land on the cat scratching tree. It's one of those multi level ones that has carpet over most of the posts, sisal wrapped around one, and a cardboard scratch pad on an enticing incline. It's looking pretty beat up, and the sisal has been fairly thoroughly shredded so that the bare wood shows underneath and the rope is hanging down. In areas, the carpet is also worn through to the wood. Am giving some thought to how I could patch/repair it with new rope (staple gun? glue?) and small pieces of carpet. Wonder if a carpeting store would give me some small off-cuts? Unlike other cat trees I've owned in the past, this one has held up pretty well structurally, so I'd love to prolong its life. Might take me a while to get to that project though!
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I gave my indoor cat a bath today, something I rarely do. I noticed he had a spot of dandruff at the base of his tail, so I googled recomendations. My house is quite dry in the winter. I have a humidifier in my bedroom but I really need to invest in a unit for the main floor as well. In any case, Google suggested a bath with straight water to see if it helps and then if no change in a few weeks to try pet dandruff shampoo. Surprisingly the cat was quite relaxed about the whole thing, which makes me suspicious.
After his bath I trimmed his nails because I figured if he was going to be annoyed with me, I should just do everything at once and face his cat wrath all at once. Surprisingly he was super mellow still!
I fully expect my cat is playing me and is planning the long con. He will probably smother me in my sleep tonight or smash my glass collection or something equally evil cat like when I am not expecting it.
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Pulled the dead leaves out of our japanese maple, raked stuff. Mowed the front lawn, raked the back yard, etc.
One nice day, and got lots of yard work done!
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I detailed my gross looking old stainless steel toaster oven. A decade's worth of greasy residue and food splatter from being next to the main food prep area tackled with magic eraser and a good degreaser, and it shines like new! The outside anyway, and the glass. I need to do the inside next.
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Repotted three plants that were really, really overdue for bigger pots.
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I gave my indoor cat a bath today, something I rarely do. I noticed he had a spot of dandruff at the base of his tail, so I googled recomendations. My house is quite dry in the winter. I have a humidifier in my bedroom but I really need to invest in a unit for the main floor as well. In any case, Google suggested a bath with straight water to see if it helps and then if no change in a few weeks to try pet dandruff shampoo. Surprisingly the cat was quite relaxed about the whole thing, which makes me suspicious.
After his bath I trimmed his nails because I figured if he was going to be annoyed with me, I should just do everything at once and face his cat wrath all at once. Surprisingly he was super mellow still!
I fully expect my cat is playing me and is planning the long con. He will probably smother me in my sleep tonight or smash my glass collection or something equally evil cat like when I am not expecting it.
LOL!
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I dispensed dish soap from the large Costco container into the smaller container that sits by the sink.
Haha! My daughter likes to do this for me ... she likes to surprise me and say, "Look, the soap fairy has been here!"
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I detailed my gross looking old stainless steel toaster oven. A decade's worth of greasy residue and food splatter from being next to the main food prep area tackled with magic eraser and a good degreaser, and it shines like new! The outside anyway, and the glass. I need to do the inside next.
The great thing about this thread is that it is causing me to see tasks which have been neglected so long that I didn't notice them. I cleaned my toaster oven, too. I also wiped off the naughty little handprints about 2.5 feet high on our glass doors and windows... though of course there are already more now.
I also finally finished my son's cardigan, and he has worn it every day this week! He looks very handsome in it. And I repaired yet more pants. Only one pair of pants to go, plus three to hem, and my mending bag will be almost empty! The only thing left will be the handknit socks with holes in the heels. Oh, darn...
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I dispensed dish soap from the large Costco container into the smaller container that sits by the sink.
Haha! My daughter likes to do this for me ... she likes to surprise me and say, "Look, the soap fairy has been here!"
That's so lovely!
I made more vinegar and water cleaner in a spray bottle so I have some on each floor of the house.
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I detailed my gross looking old stainless steel toaster oven. A decade's worth of greasy residue and food splatter from being next to the main food prep area tackled with magic eraser and a good degreaser, and it shines like new! The outside anyway, and the glass. I need to do the inside next.
The great thing about this thread is that it is causing me to see tasks which have been neglected so long that I didn't notice them. I cleaned my toaster oven, too. I also wiped off the naughty little handprints about 2.5 feet high on our glass doors and windows... though of course there are already more now.
I also finally finished my son's cardigan, and he has worn it every day this week! He looks very handsome in it. And I repaired yet more pants. Only one pair of pants to go, plus three to hem, and my mending bag will be almost empty! The only thing left will be the handknit socks with holes in the heels. Oh, darn...
I see what you did there!
(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/5b/5b26119f5cbd7ad1bacbf881224abde35762e2c7bac494b158c2d88c1db6c9bb.jpg)
Good job with all the mending. And the pun.
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OK, you guys inspired me. Today I scrubbed the filthy, nasty handprints off the doors around the handles. Then, I scrubbed the bloodspatter off of one section of wall (long story, not nearly as horrible as it sounds...)
Oh my! You can't leave us hanging like that ...
Heh. I could, but the answer is one very sweet old Great Dane. When we get home, he wags his tail with great force (I have the bruises midthigh to prove it). Unfortunately, every now and then, in doing this he bangs just the tip of his tail on the wall with enough force to split the skin on the tip. Apparently this doesn't really hurt, because he keeps wagging, thus splattering little bitty spots of doggy blood on the wall behind him in pathetic and disgusting fashion until one of us can catch him by the tail and put pressure on it, then paint it with liquid bandage. This happened again recently, and I hadn't yet scrubbed the wall.
The handprints, by contrast, were just icky grime accumulate over a long time.
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OK, you guys inspired me. Today I scrubbed the filthy, nasty handprints off the doors around the handles. Then, I scrubbed the bloodspatter off of one section of wall (long story, not nearly as horrible as it sounds...)
Oh my! You can't leave us hanging like that ...
Heh. I could, but the answer is one very sweet old Great Dane. When we get home, he wags his tail with great force (I have the bruises midthigh to prove it). Unfortunately, every now and then, in doing this he bangs just the tip of his tail on the wall with enough force to split the skin on the tip. Apparently this doesn't really hurt, because he keeps wagging, thus splattering little bitty spots of doggy blood on the wall behind him in pathetic and disgusting fashion until one of us can catch him by the tail and put pressure on it, then paint it with liquid bandage. This happened again recently, and I hadn't yet scrubbed the wall.
The handprints, by contrast, were just icky grime accumulate over a long time.
Off-topic, but: I used to think docking tails was really inhumane. But my ILs have an un-docked boxer. She breaks her tail with great frequency. Like, once a month minimum. And also makes it bleed, like your dane. Suddenly I understand the practice of docking a LOT better. Dogs will hurt themselves in the name of joy. I think there's a metaphor in there, but I haven't had enough coffee to fill it out.
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OK, you guys inspired me. Today I scrubbed the filthy, nasty handprints off the doors around the handles. Then, I scrubbed the bloodspatter off of one section of wall (long story, not nearly as horrible as it sounds...)
Oh my! You can't leave us hanging like that ...
Heh. I could, but the answer is one very sweet old Great Dane. When we get home, he wags his tail with great force (I have the bruises midthigh to prove it). Unfortunately, every now and then, in doing this he bangs just the tip of his tail on the wall with enough force to split the skin on the tip. Apparently this doesn't really hurt, because he keeps wagging, thus splattering little bitty spots of doggy blood on the wall behind him in pathetic and disgusting fashion until one of us can catch him by the tail and put pressure on it, then paint it with liquid bandage. This happened again recently, and I hadn't yet scrubbed the wall.
The handprints, by contrast, were just icky grime accumulate over a long time.
Off-topic, but: I used to think docking tails was really inhumane. But my ILs have an un-docked boxer. She breaks her tail with great frequency. Like, once a month minimum. And also makes it bleed, like your dane. Suddenly I understand the practice of docking a LOT better. Dogs will hurt themselves in the name of joy. I think there's a metaphor in there, but I haven't had enough coffee to fill it out.
The small injury two or three times a year is definitely not the equivalent of docking in this case. And nothing can make me understand ear docking in Danes that aren't actively hunting boar.
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Need to get back to this thread after a long vacation. My odd chores list has ballooned due to vacation. Returned some stuff, posted a few things that need to get out the door, put back DD's clothes where they belong. Need to give the house a good vacuum but that can wait till tomorrow.
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Good job with all the mending. And the pun.
>smirk< Thanks, Bracken_Joy. ;)
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...bangs just the tip of his tail on the wall with enough force to split the skin on the tip.
WOW! I didn't know this happens. I truly could not imagine what innocent event was resulting in walls splattered with blood (and I tried!). Now I know!
It is sort of pitiful, but it seems to bother the people a great deal more than it bothers the dog.
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Great balls of yarn, poundwise! You are making great progress!
Rural, thanks for explaining. Glad that it was such an innocent explanation - awww! Poor doggy, and poor you for having to doctor him on a regular basis. My old pitbull Taz had quite a hard wag of the tail too. Yikes! You didn't want to be in the way of it, that's for sure. And my boxer/Fila mix came to me with tail already docked (though not her ears) and when I see her little stump going a mile a minute the way it does, it makes me wonder what her wag would have looked like otherwise!
So, for my odd job today, I'm about to go and move a few books from my "to be read" pile, into the donation/sell box. I saw them earlier this week and have been pondering them. They aren't necessarily books I would have chosen for myself, my dad bid on them at a silent auction a couple of years ago, and I think I took them from his "to be read" pile after he died, more out of sentimental reasons than anything else. But they are more of a sad reminder of his passing than a joyful reminder of his love of reading, and the way he passed that down to all of us. So they need to go! I have better books to read if I want to think of him with a smile on my face.
Parents: Read to your kids. You teach them a valuable life skill, open up new worlds and new ways of thinking to them, and make valuable memories in the process! :-)
(http://www.preschools4all.com/image-files/bedtime-reading.jpg)
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I dispensed dish soap from the large Costco container into the smaller container that sits by the sink.
Haha! My daughter likes to do this for me ... she likes to surprise me and say, "Look, the soap fairy has been here!"
Huh. I so like this task, I wouldn't have even considered it a chore. Does that make me a soap fairy? Oh, I hope so.
They've all been filled this week*, so score one more chore for Dicey! Can I count each bottle as one chore? No? Darn!
*Well, except the one that my MIL is hiding in her bottom drawer. She does that when it's empty and I haven't had a chance to grab it yet.
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Weeded the front- that little strip between the sidewalk and the curb. I'm hoping getting to them when they're little will keep it from being as bad during the summer (as if...). Also did the seams between the concrete pads of our driveway.
DH is helping the ILs pull down an old wood patio cover that's rotting. Slowly, sloooooowly, they'll get that house ready to sell. *sigh*
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I dispensed dish soap from the large Costco container into the smaller container that sits by the sink.
Haha! My daughter likes to do this for me ... she likes to surprise me and say, "Look, the soap fairy has been here!"
Huh. I so like this task, I wouldn't have even considered it a chore. Does that make me a soap fairy? Oh, I hope so.
They've all been filled this week*, so score one more chore for Dicey! Can I count each bottle as one chore? No? Darn!
*Well, except the one that my MIL is hiding in her bottom drawer. She does that when it's empty and I haven't had a chance to grab it yet.
MIL's soap dispenser filled and back on the counter in her bathroom. Check. I told DH about the soap fairy thing. He laughed. I'm not sure if it was in a good way through.
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Well the thread took an unusual turn there, glad it was such an innocent explanation in the end. :)
Inspired by you guys I filled up my soap dispenser in the kitchen.
Then scrubbed my bathroom like a mad woman, a real deep clean of the shower and tiles.
I started cleaning out / organizing my upstairs freezer (had to stop when my hand were freezing) I will complete this one tomorrow as well as check to see that my fridge has nothing that has been hanging around for too long.
I organized my tea into a small "tea drawer." I still have some tea that doesn't fit into my drawer but I am proud to say I have not bought tea since before Christmas (although I did receive some for Christmas) this is quite the accomplishment for me. The goal is to keep just a modest selection that I can use up and rotate new flavours in more frequently.
I then organized my recycling and crushed a ton of cans from a gathering I had. This will save me some time tomorrow on recycling night.
Monday I am going to cook a few bulk meals for the week, clean out my trunk, reorganize my pantry that is slowly being depleted (yeah!) and wash my couch covers. We are supposed to get quite a bit of snow so I might have to add shovelling to that list. Should be a busy night after work.
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I sorted out an old sewing basket that was full of crap that came from who-knows-where. Tossed all the little broken bits and bent needles and tangled thread. Put everything back nicely. Then, because I had sewing stuff handy, I stitched up the holey right-hand pocket of my winter coat, which had been letting pens, gloves, coins, etc. fall down into my coat lining. Great feeling to be able to place my phone in that pocket again without worrying that it will disappear.
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We finally figured out how to play a board game we've had for the past year - 7 Wonders. Super fun, quick strategy game that's challenging enough to keep playing but simple enough for the kids to grasp. Is it really a chore, you ask? Well, it's something we have been putting off because of how many different pieces the game has, and how convoludedly the instructions explain what is actually a very straightforward game mechanic. But now, we have a new game in our vast nerdy board game arsenal!
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I mended a shirt. And I made donut keychains out of socks with my daughter for a school project. How's that for odd? ;)
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Well the thread took an unusual turn there, glad it was such an innocent explanation in the end. :)
Inspired by you guys I filled up my soap dispenser in the kitchen.
Then scrubbed my bathroom like a mad woman, a real deep clean of the shower and tiles.
I started cleaning out / organizing my upstairs freezer (had to stop when my hand were freezing) I will complete this one tomorrow as well as check to see that my fridge has nothing that has been hanging around for too long.
I organized my tea into a small "tea drawer." I still have some tea that doesn't fit into my drawer but I am proud to say I have not bought tea since before Christmas (although I did receive some for Christmas) this is quite the accomplishment for me. The goal is to keep just a modest selection that I can use up and rotate new flavours in more frequently.
I then organized my recycling and crushed a ton of cans from a gathering I had. This will save me some time tomorrow on recycling night.
Monday I am going to cook a few bulk meals for the week, clean out my trunk, reorganize my pantry that is slowly being depleted (yeah!) and wash my couch covers. We are supposed to get quite a bit of snow so I might have to add shovelling to that list. Should be a busy night after work.
It occurs to me that one could wear gloves when moving stuff around in the freezer, and not suffer the pain (even though we know it's just electrical signals, it still hurts!) I'll try to remember to do this next time I'm handling frozen stuff indoors.
I'm a little stuck on odd chores, because I've run out of easy ones, and a lot of the remaining ones are major projects. I did tack on an oversized outlet cover to my wife's Amazon order last night, so I'll be able to install it in a couple of days. Time to get going on those projects, I guess.
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Finished painting Phase 3:Hallway yesterday! All the doorknobs, baseboards, etc are back up too. On to Phase 4:Kitchen. I'll be so glad when this project is finished, but I'm loving the way my house is starting to look, fresh and clean. :D
Also I cleaned the top of the fridge. SO dusty and gross and I'm too short to have noticed until I got up on the ladder to paint.
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I'm posting this for accountability. Instead of lazing in bed reading the forum, I'm going to get up and do an expense report. I do hospitality for a large group I belong to and haven't submitted a single receipt for reimbursement this season, which started in October. We have a board meeting today, so I can turn it in to the treasurer. I wouldn't be surprised if it's at least $250. Ack. I'll report back later.
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I started converting super old DVDs of my daughter as a baby to MP4 files. This weekend we were watching baby videos and realized all the easily accessible ones were of our son, who is younger and thus benefited from smart phone video! So, to the computer and to Handbrake I go.
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It occurs to me that one could wear gloves when moving stuff around in the freezer, and not suffer the pain (even though we know it's just electrical signals, it still hurts!) I'll try to remember to do this next time I'm handling frozen stuff indoors.
It's funny that you said that, it only occurred to me afterwards, I should have worn gloves! I'm Canadian for crying out loud, I was practically born with mittens on!!!!
So this evening I have done a fridge clean out, got my recycling and garbage to the curb. I'm catching up on laundry (one more load) and I have tidied up the house a bit. However, I am quite tired and don't think I am going to tackle too much more. I did change my shower liner, which is kinda an odd chore.
It's bitterly cold out today, a big storm is coming and all I want to do is snuggle on the couch in my pjs, with a blanket, book and tea. I have a lilac scented candle burning and my house smells like spring so I think I will save my batch cooking until tomorrow, I just want to smell lilacs not food!!
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How many days can I count doing our taxes?
Today I did go "interview" to volunteer at a cat rescue thrift store. I'll go in for a couple hours to learn the ropes, and then hopefully I'll be on the schedule for Thursday afternoons. For a while I've been wanting to find a secular volunteer position that didn't require Saturday mornings!
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I haven't been updating the thread, but I *have* been making sure I get around to at least one odd chore a day :-) and it's fun reading along with everyone!
I think window washing should be next on my list...
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Last weekend tackled the spring pruning of all of the rose bushes in my front yard and fertilized all the shrubs and other plants out there. I was rewarded in the short term with many bloddy thorn pokes in my fingers. Should have a great flush of roses in a few weeks for my real reward. I love springtime!
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Last weekend tackled the spring pruning of all of the rose bushes in my front yard and fertilized all the shrubs and other plants out there. I was rewarded in the short term with many bloddy thorn pokes in my fingers. Should have a great flush of roses in a few weeks for my real reward. I love springtime!
You obviously don't live where I do!
I'm huddled on a couch with a blanket, like LindseyC, watching the snow falling outside!
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Today I filled my mini minivan with bags of plastic bags that my work place has gathered and took them to the recycling center. In the rain, which makes me even more of a baddass, yes? (I mean, I live in Oregon, of course it was in the rain. But it sounds good!)
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Washed the underside of the stove hood/fan AND washed the kitchen walls. Filled all the dents and holes with drywall mud.
Today my odd chore is to fix the oven outlet (reattach it back on the wall, which may involve a small drywall project) and if that doesn't take too long, sand the kitchen walls before priming.
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I cleaned lock n lock containers today with a baking soda paste to remove any odors and such. Also washed out containers I keep from my beauty products. If they are good and reusable I try to save them. I also tackled 2 boxes of documents and sorted it all out. I havent made a dent in the paperwork but at least I got started. Loved having the day off. It was so productive.
I am looking forward to keeping this up until I have everything done. #keepmotivated
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My odd job for today will be to fix all the roller blinds in our house that no longer roll up. Now I've said it, I have to do it!
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I love this thread - thanks to all for your contributions and inspiration!!
I work from home when not traveling, and have had it in my routine to do some form of chore on days when I don't go to the gym (there are LOTS of these days!). I had been running low on 'odd chores' but recently just got this little guy from Amazon (Prime of course):
ALL IN ONE Comforday Handheld Steam Cleaner, HIGH PRESSURE Chemical Free Steamer for Bathroom, Kitchen, Surfaces, Floor, Carpet, Grout and more, BEST GERM KILLER and SANITIZER with 9 FREE Accessories
4.5 out of 5 stars 207 customer reviews | 21 answered questions
#1 Best Sellerin Handheld Steamers
This thing is awesome! It steams away all kinds of gunk and grime and grease very quickly and comes with a bunch of attachments. So far I've used it on several windows (perfect - no windex/ammonia required), sealed granite countertops and island, under the microwave (which is mounted above the stove and had incredible amounts of gunk!), the oven window (can actually see what's cooking now!) and even the grimy seatbelts in our cars.
I highly recommend grabbing one for $37 and putting it to work - it is like a Shark Steam Cleaner for everything besides your floors!
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Everyone is doing so well! I love this thread - it's the only challenge I've signed up for that I'm actually consistently living up to.
Today I spackled, caulked, and painted the doors to my basement. The slow whole-house trim reprinting project continues! No one in my family has really noticed, but I think it looks amazing. Of course now I'm realizing that every wall needs to repainted as well....
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I do hospitality for a large group 6x/year. It's a total chore to wash, reorganize and stow the gear after each meeting. I've been doing the laundry as I do my regular family laundry, so I haven't counted it as an odd chore.
Yesterday I finished cleaning and stowing everything. Then I got out everything for next month and packed it all up in three totes. I don't think I need to buy anything but perishables next month. I did all this, but sill didn't finish the expense report referenced above. It was a ton of work, so I'm counting it as two chores. Now, about that expense report...
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My odd chore yesterday: pulling apart all the pregnancy goodie bags I've been given at antenatal classes. A lot of the contents were just junk (flyers for services we won't purchase), but I have ended up with a pile of items that we'll use AND a pile that we would never use but which someone else will be very happy to receive as freebies via my Buy Nothing group.
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I'm washing some dishes that got left at the mobile home we lived in before the house was finished (long process, that – lots of mold down there). I've gotten several large baking dishes that I will use occasionally cleaned up, but had no good place to put them, so I finally cleaned out a big lower cabinet that was mostly full of old grocery bags that I won't ever use up.
I'm also soaking some rust stains off the bottom of a glass canister with vinegar. And I turned another rehabbed glass canister into a much-needed salt cellar yesterday.
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I haven't quite been keeping up with one odd chore a day, but I do keep this thread in the back of my mind and it's inspiring me to do more than I normally would! In the last week or so I've managed to:
- email two companies to ask for warranty replacements of faulty products
- go through more piles of papers/mail and file/recycle/shred (this was multiple days)
- organize a box of baby items to go into the attic
- put together a small Ikea shelf and hung it in bathroom (purchased over a year ago)
- took down a different storage item from bathroom wall
Tonight I'm hoping to put a few more boxes in the attic to get them out of my way.
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We finally figured out how to play a board game we've had for the past year - 7 Wonders. Super fun, quick strategy game that's challenging enough to keep playing but simple enough for the kids to grasp. Is it really a chore, you ask? Well, it's something we have been putting off because of how many different pieces the game has, and how convoludedly the instructions explain what is actually a very straightforward game mechanic. But now, we have a new game in our vast nerdy board game arsenal!
Road42, 7 Wonders is one of my favorite games! I totally agree, the instructions make it sound complicated, but once you start playing it's pretty straight forward. I think the first time we played it we had to restart 3 times because we kept realizing we were doing things wrong. :)
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The good: I baked the Mister a cake for his birthday today. The house smells so good!
The bad: I put away all the bedding, towels, etc. I had ready for the visit our son, DIL and grandson were supposed to make on Monday. DS is very sick with a Noro type bug. They had postponed the visit initially til tomorrow, but have totally cancelled as of today. DS is not well enough to travel. : (
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The good: I baked the Mister a cake for his birthday today. The house smells so good!
The bad: I put away all the bedding, towels, etc. I had ready for the visit our son, DIL and grandson were supposed to make on Monday. DS is very sick with a Noro type bug. They had postponed the visit initially til tomorrow, but have totally cancelled as of today. DS is not well enough to travel. : (
Awwww, I hope DS is well soon and that the rest of his tribe sidesteps it completely. :((((( Indeed.
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...have totally cancelled as of today. DS is not well enough to travel. : (
:((((((
Poor DS, poor grandma :(((
Hope they're able to reschedule soon...
It'll be a while, but we'll survive. ; D DS had booked vacation time this week, and would like to keep the days he has left for a summer trip for them. He was hoping to clear out some more of his 'goldmine' in the garage, aka his childhood toys that sell like crazy on kijiji. We will probably take the train up one weekend to see them next month instead. (no parking anywhere near their apartment, so no driving there for us).
Chore for today: I will continue sorting out the bookcases, etc. I had originally started this as 'babyproofing', but am liking the less cluttered look, so now I'm doing it for us.
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I noticed my rear window wiper blade was streaking this week, so I stopped at the dealership and bought a new wiper blade insert.
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Our 14 year old dishwasher (fixed a half dozen times by DH) seemed to be on its last legs for real this time (draining at odd times). We went dishwasher shopping and couldn't find anything DH liked (he does the dishes).
He worked on it again, and it seems okay for now, but the racks are rusty in spots. Guess what my odd job is today - painting "Rerack" on the rusty bits. Maybe we'll get another year or two out of this old dishwasher.
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We finally figured out how to play a board game we've had for the past year - 7 Wonders. Super fun, quick strategy game that's challenging enough to keep playing but simple enough for the kids to grasp. Is it really a chore, you ask? Well, it's something we have been putting off because of how many different pieces the game has, and how convoludedly the instructions explain what is actually a very straightforward game mechanic. But now, we have a new game in our vast nerdy board game arsenal!
Road42, 7 Wonders is one of my favorite games! I totally agree, the instructions make it sound complicated, but once you start playing it's pretty straight forward. I think the first time we played it we had to restart 3 times because we kept realizing we were doing things wrong. :)
Ha! That happened to us with another straightforward game/overdomplicated instructions combo: Evolution. My kids are now totally obsessed with trying out the various 7 Wonders strategies to see what maximizes points. I don't think we've played anything else since we started playing it!
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And, oh yeah - I replaced the old, gross, painted over hinges that were leaking graphite powder all over the basement doors with nice new ones that match the door handles and look modern rather than derelicte. It took a ridiculous amount of time to dig out the paint-covered screws, but so worth it.
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Not really checking off any chores, but making progress. I ordered and installed one two oversized outlet covers. I ordered the parts for the bathroom sink that is leaking again. Also ordered backup parts, in case the companies go out of business. The valve stem was $13.00 from one supplier, and over $200 from another, so I figured it's worth the price. My son was home from school, so I gave him some money for odd chores -- washing lots of windows, magic erasering some areas.
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I replaced the rear wiper blade on my car this morning. That was way harder than it should have been. It's hard to describe exactly what was happening, but the rubber form the insert kept bunching up and the little plastic fingers that hold the insert into the wiper were getting stuck between the insert and the spring that goes in the insert. After 10 tries, I finally got some soapy water and was able to get everything to slide in without bunching. I don't remember my wife's car being that difficult when I did the same thing last year. Fortunately, Honda's OEM wipers seem to last a long time, so I shouldn't have to do that again for at least a few more years.
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and even the grimy seatbelts in our cars.
This inspired me to clean the beyond grimy dining room chairs (upholstered) that a friend gave us. And best part....they actually cleaned up well!
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Our 14 year old dishwasher...
Totally thought you were referring to your kid, lol! The sentence got more and more bewildering as I went along...
And I was all excited, ready to point out to my "twelve year old dishwasher" that, yes, another kid on the planet does live without a machine and wash by hand. D'oh! Will shield his eyes from this thread...
Oh, my mom used to say that she didn't need a dishwasher, because she had 4 of them!
(Actually, 5, if you count my dad, or 6, if you count my grandfather, who lived with us. Usually the kids did dinner dishes on a rotation, with granddad drying.)
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I just cleaned all the shelves and drawers in my fridge. Oh, and I threw out all the old food to boot.
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I've been reading through and getting motivated. Took advantage of the nice weather to thoroughly clean the front porch. Dust, dirt, leaves, and bird poo be gone! Now to wash the dog nose prints off the storm door.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I finished filling up my ThredUP bag with clothes I no longer want and closed it up and sent it off with the mailman.
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This is very small but still satisfying. I need to clear out old condiments from the fridge but haven't been inspired to get to it in a big way so far. However, we are doing a one bottle at a time approach which is chipping away at the collection. Yesterday some ancient miso gravy left the premises; today a bottle of very hot green sauce. Pro tip - don't buy condiments for one dish only or that you don't really like. And if you do, don't let the sunk cost make you keep them in the fridge forever!
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I'm cleaning a stroller I picked up cheap on kijiji for when the grandson comes to visit. The lady had it waiting outside - now I know why. It reeks of cigarette smoke! Yuck! Neither DH or I could smell it on her porch, but I think it's going to take some real elbow grease to deodorize/clean it up.
Side rant: why do stroller manufacturers make it hard to get the seat covers off to wash? And why do they make it impossible to take the canopy off? They do know sticky fingered toddlers are using these things, right?
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It has been a few days since I posted, but I caught up with everyone's chores and I am happy to see everyone is still going strong!
I have been quite busy doing chores but haven't posted them because I was too busy! I wont post the full list, just a couple of quick ones.
I bleached/cleaned all my plastic cutting boards, dish rack and washing pad.
Cleaned my trunk out and put the winter emergency kit items away in the house, also removed the bag of salt, winter washer fluid and extra winter clothes. While I was at it I put away a few random items sitting in the car, dusted the interior and then washed all my cloth grocery bags that I keep in the car permanently. Then I decided to check and fill the air in my tires.
I went through my giant drawer of free toiletry samples. Figured out what I would realistically use in the next few months and donated the rest! I also organized them into baggies, so like items are together and everything is easier to find. The drawer which was JAMMED is now half empty. I like free samples because my regular toiletries are extremely simple, but the drawer was getting a little silly.
I moved some of my winter clothes into my second closet and brought forward some of my spring/summer clothes. I had a rethink about this though and have decided I need to do another declutter. I don't have tons of clothes, but some are worn or too big now and I could easily edit down. So I have put this back on my list.
There was more, but that's a pretty good short list!
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Today I mopped which I know is not an odd chore *ahem* but I spring-cleaned mopped. Moved all the furniture mopped. I also wiped down the legs and backs and seats of the dining room chairs. And I used adhesive velcro circles to hide a cord coming out of a lamp. Well, two of them actually. No one cares, but I how like how tidy it looks. Oh! And I tightened screws in two living room chairs. My sweet nine-year-old put the legs on, and then I went behind her and re-tightened all the screws. Because, nine.
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I glued little felt "feet" to all the kids ceramics projects that we have displayed. Now that I'm repainting all the trim, I don't want their adorable but sharp creations mucking up the newly painted built-in shelves!
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Didn't get many odd chores done while camping over spring break. So I eagerly washed the bird poop off the car this AM (learned my lesson on the last car how it can mess up the paint) and got the pliers out to bend back the pokey piece on the fence gate. It kept catching the wheel of the bike trailer.
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- Rearrange desk for standing
This was quite involved, and I got rid of a lot of clutter from my office -- 2 monitors and stands, an unused computer, a bunch of accessories, 4 pairs (!) of binoculars, camera. I had to move some modular shelving around, moved the printer closer to the desk, and discovered some stuff for donating or eBaying. I ended up with one nearly empty shelf, and photos that are more visible.
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I'm starting to burn myself out with painting and renovating. But I'm done the kitchen walls, and have moved everything out of the living room, ripped out the living room baseboards and the heavy glass block wall by the door. Yesterday I decided I was going to take a day off, but I found a microwave range hood on kijiji for $25, so I went to pick that up and while I was out I swapped out two empty propane tanks for full ones to prepare for BBQ season, something else that has been on my list for a few months.
On the list today is installing the microwave and posting more things to sell on kijiji. Maybe if I get ambitious I'll start fixing and filling the holes in the living room walls, but honestly I think I need to slow down and take care of myself for a couple days. But not too long! I need to figure out how to refinish the hardwood floors so I can have my living room back soon.
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Did some such up painting around the house. Now noticing all the spots I missed. :-)
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OMG, finally got the tax preparation done and appointment with the CPA is finished. In the process, I sorted and organized my files and got all the loose pieces of paper off the desk and other surfaces in the office. Hooray!
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It has been a few days since I posted, but I caught up with everyone's chores and I am happy to see everyone is still going strong!
I have been quite busy doing chores but haven't posted them because I was too busy! I wont post the full list, just a couple of quick ones.
I bleached/cleaned all my plastic cutting boards, dish rack and washing pad.
Cleaned my trunk out and put the winter emergency kit items away in the house, also removed the bag of salt, winter washer fluid and extra winter clothes. While I was at it I put away a few random items sitting in the car, dusted the interior and then washed all my cloth grocery bags that I keep in the car permanently. Then I decided to check and fill the air in my tires.
I went through my giant drawer of free toiletry samples. Figured out what I would realistically use in the next few months and donated the rest! I also organized them into baggies, so like items are together and everything is easier to find. The drawer which was JAMMED is now half empty. I like free samples because my regular toiletries are extremely simple, but the drawer was getting a little silly.
I moved some of my winter clothes into my second closet and brought forward some of my spring/summer clothes. I had a rethink about this though and have decided I need to do another declutter. I don't have tons of clothes, but some are worn or too big now and I could easily edit down. So I have put this back on my list.
There was more, but that's a pretty good short list!
When we have another month of winter we will know who to blame!
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When we have another month of winter we will know who to blame!
Ha! I actually hope we get another month of winter. My job goes nuts in the spring (nursery industry) and I am way behind on all my winter work projects. My friends generally curse my name around this time of year because I frequently gloat when the temperature drops below freezing. ;)
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Odd job for today, I did some research on some new succulents I planted to make sure I am caring for them correctly. I also spent a few hours early this morning proofreading some business documents for a friend of mine. An odd chore that didn't benefit me and was super boring, but it was helpful to my friend so no regrets!
Tonight I am also hoping to strike some super small items off my mental list. Too numerous and fussy to list, but needless to say I will be flitting about the house with my tool belt on!
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Replaced a hallway incandescent can light with an LED replacement (required touch up painting of the ceiling since the old trim was a smidge larger than the new). Now to the one that's 12' over the stairwell landing...
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I had rearranged toys so our plush toys and books had a more sensible arrangement. Happy to say my kid likes it and now cleans up much better. I still need to figure things out with regard to a corner where the plush toys used to live since the living room seems cluttered all the time. And we spend a lot of time there.
Also I cleaned up my car after a month. So satisfying to see it spick and span. Still need to clear the hand rest compartment but that chore is for tomorrow.
I also returned things on Amazon and got money back and filed claims to our insurance and made sure they got everything needed for processing it. Now I need to make sure they really process it and send the checks. I wish the insurance stuff had a easier way to do things. It's too much hassle - why can't we scan and send to a secure system where they upload it or they give us a way to directly upload it? All this faxing and mailing is crazy!!
Finally, this is not an odd chore but I've been working on it every paycheck - pretty close to maxing out 401k for this year. Will take rest of year to actually max out but that is because of my employer's rule that I have to have contributions every paycheck to qualify for the employer match (pretty arcane but....). I'm so glad I can finally put it on autopilot and out of my to-do list and hit the max by end of year.
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WD40'd all the creaky door hinges. My house is so silent now...
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Went through a mystery box in my kid's closet and put away the contents. It mostly had a couple of swim clothes ( right on time for summer) and her hair accessories. I arranged them such that we (and she) can see them easily and wear it everyday. My husband and her went in to dress her up and loved the setup. She already used it twice and loves it. She is only 2.5 so I'm happy I found a system she can use :)
Started on our taxes.
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WD40'd all the creaky door hinges. My house is so silent now...
Oh, this one was good for a chuckle. DH's mom has Alzheimer's and lives with us. We recently had house guests. On the last day, over breakfast, they asked why all our doors were so squeaky, especially since DH is a handy guy. We explained that it's a cheap way of tracking MIL's movement around the house. (Funny, her door is squeaking right now.) The noise drives us nuts, but anything that makes it easier to track her that costs zero is a good thing.
On the major chore completed this week list: taxes, hooray! We finished a rehab and rented it out in the first quarter, when bought another and completed it in the middle of the year, ergo lots of details to sort out and organize. It's all at the accountant now, but the results should be good.
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I put Missy's 2017 dog tag on her collar and took the 2016 one off. Small, but important.
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I have been so busy lately working overtime and also battling my chronic illness, I have been odd chore slacking however today I got a few done.
I replanted, potted up some of my babies. I also organized and marked a few of my board games for easier playing. (This is important as I belong to a board game group and we share games)
I am also debating cooking a big bulk stroganoff to freeze in single servings. I have been doing at least one bulk cook each Sunday for the last month and it been making taking a daily lunch totally painless and saving me huge time and money. It has also made dinner quite easy the odd night when I have worked late and felt too lazy to cook.
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I posted something for sale on Craigslist.
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Pruned roses and a few other shrubs. Ow.
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Took a box of books to our local friends of the library used bookstore. One box down, several to go!
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Went through our laundry closet and put away some empty boxes for recycling. Also found a nice stash of bags I can use for gifts. And found a bunch of baskets that I can either sell or donate if not sold before move.
Along with these, did meal prep for week and started on laundry. Now onto next closet.
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Did approximately one million odd chores yesterday. Now I'm too tired to list them all :-P
WD40'd all the creaky door hinges. My house is so silent now...
Oh, this one was good for a chuckle. DH's mom has Alzheimer's and lives with us. We recently had house guests. On the last day, over breakfast, they asked why all our doors were so squeaky, especially since DH is a handy guy. We explained that it's a cheap way of tracking MIL's movement around the house. (Funny, her door is squeaking right now.) The noise drives us nuts, but anything that makes it easier to track her that costs zero is a good thing.
Something for me to consider when I have naughty little ones to keep track of!
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Got the spare bike put away so we don't trip over it daily.
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Squeegied the window over the kitchen sink at the MIL's house. Now to get at the external streaks and smudges!
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But no harm in letting him think that. I often explain things with "mommy magic." :)
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Well haven't done one yet, well I probably have but not posted it - the little is home sick today and going to do at least one while she sleeps! Right now, since who knows if it will happen again after she wakes up!
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Threw a soup in the instant pot! Did the quick version in case baby woke up, but she didn't, so now depositing a check that's been sitting around. Since my phone died a week or so ago I have to set up the mobile depositing app again. No biggie, just takes a minute but has been enough to keep me from getting it done. Thanks for being here forum friends!
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I made the most of a tantrum that Baby Poundwise threw this morning. On the way back from dropping off her big brother at school, she refused to get out of her stroller, so I wheeled it into the garage and started to tidy up the workbench. I managed to sort several handfuls of random screws and nails into our hardware drawers, before she stopped yelling and screaming, got bored, and finally climbed out of the stroller.
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Clever parenting there, poundwise!
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Clever parenting there, poundwise!
Hee hee, thanks! It felt good. When we got inside the house at last, she said she wanted to eat a banana, ate one, and gave me a big gooey kiss afterwards. 3 year olds. :)
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Took a box of books to our local friends of the library used bookstore. One box down, several to go!
On behalf of all the "Friends of [insert name here] Library" groups who sell used books, I thank you, facepalm!
This week is our quarterly book sale, so every free moment is occupied with set-up, sale and take-down.
Layered over that is the prep for my other library group's annual fundraising gala. Seems that both the Exec. Dir. and the Program Dir. have elected to take vacation time within three weeks of the event. They are creating artificial deadlines tailored around their [extremely inappropriately timed] travel plans, which is pissing me off royally. Yes, pissed as hell. Thanks for letting me vent here, in private.
All of this activity has seriously hampered my daily "Odd" chore activity.
However, general awareness of this theme is helping my house stay extra clean. I hosted a pot-luck style dinner for eight on two day's notice last Sunday, and it was a total breeze. Thanks, guys!
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Great idea! Today I'm going to mail in a tax form that should have been sent already.
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I taught my kids how to play Monopoly. I know, that's probably not a chore. But I really do see it as a good life skill.
In real chore news, I've been working for three days now on clearing out a room that was being used as storage. It's a real chore, trust me. UGH!!! But it's getting done....
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I've been searching out some boxes of old toys in the garage for DS' next batch to take home. He tells me what he thinks he wants to sell next, and I go hunt them out. Saves time while he is here, plus I sort of know where everything is, since I put it there. : )
I have missed a few days of the 'odd' chores, because I was finally catching up on regular chores that were way overdue.
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Finally caught up on laundry, finished federal taxes and recycled three magazines
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- Fix bathroom sink screen
- Replace switch plates and outlet covers in kitchen
- Replace bathroom switch plate with half-blank
- Install new faucet :-(
My plumbing adventures continued, as each step that I took eventually made the sink leak worse. I finally caved after hunting around for parts, and bought a new faucet. I got an open box one from Amazon for less than half of list price, and installed it over the last couple of days. I also now have a bunch of spares for two other old sinks in the house (oh-oh, partial reveal of how facepunch-worthy our house is).
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My wife and I just installed heat reflective window film on our west facing windows. We have a couple more east facing bedroom windows still to do.
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Listed 4 pairs of DH's unworn pants on eBay. Bought 2. DH ONLY wears one style of pants, and they're no longer made. At least they're cheap!
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I have been falling behind in posting but still working on projects.
Today I patched a million holes on the walls in my bedroom. Years ago I had hung up a nice collection of artwork and my poor 100 year old walls did not take well to the various screws and heavy art. I rearranged the bedroom so now this wall must be fixed, repainted and redecorated. I'm going with much lighter art this time and much better hanging hardware now that I am a little wiser. Tomorrow I will sand the patches, wash the wall and start touching up the paint. I'd love to repaint the entire room but I have a few rooms in dire need to do first, speaking of which....
I also started scraping the bubbled paint / plaster in my second bedroom that was damaged as a result of a squirrel instigated roof leak. It also damaged a corner in my bathroom that needs a total overhaul. The bedroom is going to need a large area on two walls repaired and the corner of the ceiling. Not fun! The leak is fixed though and my new steel plates will keep the fucking squirrels away.
After the wall is patched and levelled, I will empty this room of its minimal contents (I have been clearing it out for awhile in preparation) then I will wash walls, prime and paint. I also need to clean up the gum wood trim with some fresh stain and some oil. I am seriously debating painting my pinewood floors that are damaged but the cost is a tad prohibitive at the moment so I might just clean them up and restain to tide me over for a few years.
This is my next weeks plan. However I am working crazy hours at work right now and my mom just had knee surgery so I will be helping her out when needed. She lives an hour and a half away so this week might be a total write off.
Hope everyone is doing well and I will see you in about a week to catch up on everyone's chores!!!
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Finished two sewing projects that had been sitting around, 95% finished for a few weeks. Still one more to finish, but need some supplies first.
Also yesterday fixed a shirt for DH, dress for DD and two shirts for DS.
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Unclogged bathroom drain that was taking too long to empty the sink.
Soaked whites in special whitening detergent to reduce yellowing (how DO my sheets get do gross?!).
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- Prepared amended 2013 tax return
Whoo! I've known I had to do this for nearly three years. I was ready to do it last year, then realized the deadline was 3 years after filing, which gave me an extra year to procrastinate. It was so much easier than I feared, and I will probably be paying some penalties. Really dumb to let it go for so long.
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Friday: Rented a floor sander and sanded hardwood floors in the living room
Saturday: Filled holes, swept a dozen times, vacuumed with friend's Dyson, applied first coat of stain, fixed leak in air mattress
Sunday: Applied second coat of stain
Since I'm keeping the dogs out of the house until this project is done, and I'm trying to keep myself out of the house as much as possible, I set up camp in the bed of the truck in the garage and also caught up on some reading while the stain was drying.
Tonight I'm putting on the top coat and as soon as it's dry, the painting of walls starts again. Should be quick, they are all prepped and ready to go.
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Pulled stove out, washed walls all around and floor under. (Is it even more "odd" that I do this every couple of months?)
It's not odd, but it is amazing! You live in a rented place and you've been sent "On your way" (as they say in Les Miz) and you still care enough to complete this chore? I did not think I could love you more, jooni-ploo.
In Diceyland, I finished the damn spreadsheet, all 14 legal-size pages. Hooray! The book sale was a qualified success, but not without completely unnecessary drama. Maybe when a bit more time has passed, I'll chronicle it in my journal. There will be name-changing, to protect the guilty, required.
Today is going to be a laundry day. Plus, normally my 92-year-old pal comes to my house on Monday afternoons. We do the Sunday NYT Crossword together and she stays for dinner with us. Today, MIL and I are going to have lunch at her house. I am going to make Egg Salad for sandwiches. It will be a nice change-up. Then my walking partner and I will have a nice walk (and talk and vent) together later this afternoon.
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Changed the filters for my reverse-osmosis water system. They're supposed to be changed every 6-12 months. Basically, I think we drank beautifully clean water for Year 1, and then drank all the junk back during Years 2-3.
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I'm back from vacation! Or rather, from a family trip (we have a friend who thinks it can only be called a vacation if the kids go to grandma's house for the duration...). While we were away we realized that DD is now big enough to no longer need a booster seat in the car! Whee! My baby is now a small-adult-sized young person!
So, I put her booster on Craigslist as my odd chore.
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I have a car seat to put on Craigslist. Damn kids with all their growing.
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Did both my and the Mister's taxes today. Slightly poorer now, but all done until next year.
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Found a bundt pan at the thrift shop for son's bday cake for later this week. $3.
Found brand new bag with tag at thrift store to donate to silent auction at former school. My cost: 50-cents. Retail was $59. (I get a kick out of seeing how much my finds sell for....)
Found an ugly beaded belt that I can repurpose into a pull string. (50cents) (It'll still be ugly, but better than what I have now).
Got a new library card. (Bad news....bought several cookbooks from the library book sale store...major weakness for me).
Grabbed some freebie books for the kids at the library book store to use as exchange books at the Little Library I take them to each week (we've upgraded so many books, I ran out of crappy ones to trade!)
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Yesterday: decluttered a heap of stuff from cupboards we never open / use. Shifted some kitchen things from a hall cupboard to the (gasp!) kitchen, so we can get a better idea of how to use that hall cupboard to its full potential.
Today: rearranged some kitchen cupboards to make more sense. Probably going to do a heap more decluttering and organisation.
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Sprayed weed killer on all the baby weeds today. Trying to stay ahead of things this year, rather than end up with the disaster that was last year!
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Sorted, packed, loaded into car eight bags for thrift :)
...so that drole will have more stuff to buy!
Yeah, it was a bit of a spendy day bc of the cookbooks. But now I have finished the beaded pull cord project so that I should no longer have to climb up in a slippery, wet bathtub to reach the blind. Odd project for the day completed!
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I finally cleaned the shelf that the olive oil and similar cooking stuff sits on. Apparently some of the oil spilled on it at some point, and from then on everything taken from that shelf would leave a bunch of oil anywhere on the counter. It's literally been months of this, but I finally dealt with it.
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I finally cleaned the shelf that the olive oil and similar cooking stuff sits on. Apparently some of the oil spilled on it at some point, and from then on everything taken from that shelf would leave a bunch of oil anywhere on the counter. It's literally been months of this, but I finally dealt with it.
So how did you manage to get it clean? (Asking for a friend...)
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I finally cleaned the shelf that the olive oil and similar cooking stuff sits on. Apparently some of the oil spilled on it at some point, and from then on everything taken from that shelf would leave a bunch of oil anywhere on the counter. It's literally been months of this, but I finally dealt with it.
So how did you manage to get it clean? (Asking for a friend...)
Ha! I didn't do anything fancy - just took everything off, cleaned the actual shelf with soap and water, and washed the bottoms of all the bottles and things with soap and water as well. Olive oil comes off very nicely with dish soap.
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Yesterday I bought the pads to put on the chairs. Today I stuck them on.
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Went through a bunch of puzzles. Made one pile for my sister, who also loves puzzles, and put a bunch in a bag for Goodwill. Some puzzles you never want to do again. : D
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Cleaned the kitchen cabinets, touched up paint in a few places, and caulked a corner.
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I have been working insane hours this week trying to get a work project done and I am set to work on it all weekend. :(
However yesterday I took the afternoon/evening to visit my mom who has just had surgery. I helped her out with a million odd chores she needed done so I told her I would put her as my odd chore and she thought that was quite funny. Mom says hi everyone! :)
Today I am going to change my cars cabin filter, something I just learned about yesterday and have never done. I watched a YouTube video, I'm gonna buy the filter, I got my screwdriver, I can do this!
I also finally found my paint sample from my bedroom, so I am going to go buy a tinted tester to use to cover up my patches I worked on this week. A tester should be plenty and it's only $4 woohoo! So glad I saved all my paint samples, past me was smart, past me should have just put them in a more obvious location!
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Ok I just spent an hour touching up my paint with the tester pot - PLENTY of paint for the job and my bedroom walls look soooooo much better. I am going to do a second round tomorrow when it dries, just in case I missed any spots. I feel kinda silly I never thought to just buy a tester pot, but usually I have leftover paint for each room, labelled in mason jars for touching up. Lesson learned $4 and the rooms looks 10 times better.
I was so inspired I took down my fabric blinds and curtains and they are presently in the washing machine. If it gets warm this week, I would love to wash my windows. However I am in Canada and it is only April, I might be jumping the gun a bit.
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Got motivated by this to get up and clean the gutters and patch some cracks on the outside of my house. Both really needed to be done, but I kept putting them off because they weren't on my normal rotation.
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Cleaned out under the sink in our larger bathroom. Decided to donate some towels to our local vet (they are always happy to get towels!) and reorganized everything. Looks so much better!
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Returned a bunch of things and got back cash which is going to the bank on Monday. Also gave away a few things to a friend. Slow going but we are getting there.
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Today I broke out both instant-pots and batch cooked black beans (which became refried black beans), five lbs. of Costco Ground Beef seasoned for tacos (and stretched with ground oatmeal - Shhh! Don't tell my posse I do this.) and used up all the rest of the brown rice I had to make Spanish Rice. We had tacos for dinner, and Mexican Food will be on the menu all week. Oh, and Friday was pizza from scratch night.
Yes, all this scratch-and-batch cooking is a chore, and it counts, damn it.
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Today, I changed the lawn mower oil, blew all the leaves and dust our of the garage, blew the leaves that accumulated in our mulch beds out from behind the bushes, and mowed the front lawn. I would have done the entire lawn, but our property is still wet from rain we had last week. I'm hoping it will dry up enough that I can finish the rest tomorrow.
I also started working on cleaning up our cars. We're at that awkward time of year when there is salt and dead bugs on the car and the interiors are filthy. I vacuumed the carpeting and seats and took out the floor mats and scrubbed them. I'm going to wash them later today once the sun is not beating directly on the driveway. I'm going to try to wax them too, but there may not be enough time to do both. I'll at least do mine. My wife is out of town so hers can wait until tomorrow if necessary.
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Reset our sump pump discharge for 'summer'. In the winter, I change over to a 4" pipe from the normal 2" pipe outside to prevent a freeze up (happened once, and destroyed/burned out our pump). Also took the burlap off the shrubs, and tidied up some leaves left from the fall.
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Does finishing my application for Obamacare count as an odd chore? I'm hoping it's a one time thing.
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One of the thresholds in our house was cracked, before we moved in, and it eventually tore in half and was in bad shape. Went and pulled it up, got a replacement, and installed it today.
Another odd chore off my TODO list.
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Finished all taxes, refund on the way! Also cleared out things from cupboard and sorted out paperwork for the past two weeks. As a bonus, tax paperwork is all filed as well.
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Weather is finally warm enough I turned my furnace off. It's chilly but ok with a hoodie. Since the furnace is off and it was garbage night, I decided to take down the plastic on all my upstairs windows. I still have a few downstairs windows covered, but I am gonna leave them for another week I think.
The rest of my night was a bunch of regular chores. I have a lot of odd chores for this week, really hope I can crack them out as I'm feeling behind again.
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Found the little green cleaner in storage so I recleaned the dining chairs.
Painted the ceiling in the kids' back/play house which they'd been wanting finished for the last two months.
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I built a new screen for the window that didn't have one.
Why didn't it have one, you ask? Well, it did actually have one until the middle of last month, when a bird somehow smashed through the screen and then got stuck, thrashing around crazily, between the screen and the window glass. It was kind of an insane situation - I mean, we wanted to save this bird (although honestly, is this the kind of bird that needs to perpetuate its species? I mean, if it can't avoid crashing through window screens, I'm not sure it should be winning the natural selection process), but I had zero desire for it to end up flying into our bedroom and equally zero desire for it to peck anyone with its very sharp beak while completely losing its mind being trapped. So using a sophisticated system of a ruler and a pencil stuck through a tiny window crack, with adrenaline on overdrive, trying to stave off our own incipient heart attacks, we managed to pry the screen free of the window and send it crashing to the ground where it exploded. Bird - rescued. Screen - no more. But now, all is well. Until the next bird, I guess.
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Moved an extra set of mounted coat hooks from the back patio door(had 2, only needed 1 set) to up by the front door. coats and bags were making their way onto the kitchen table and chairs and staying there. Have thought about trying this location out instead of having all the coats hanging by the back of the house.
took about 2 minutes and works perfect and already matches the trim color.
Then cleaned up the kitchen table that has been covered in things dropped off and not put away yet.
todo: shredding. have a box. need to just sit and do it.
also started using google keep again to start tracking a bunch of these I want to get done that I have been putting off.
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Really like this thread-as a unit, my SO and I are quite good at conquering the regular daily chores, but seem to miss the ones that aren't scheduled. Been trying to join in...
Today I swept the garage, scrubbed the dog bowls and stand, and while I was scrubbing in the garage decided to wash the garage side door.
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Today after work I removed everything from the fridge (and threw out a lot of old stuff, oops), washed all the shelves and drawers and inside of the fridge, and then put it all back together. Ugh, I hate that job, especially with my shallow sink. But the fridge sure looks good now!
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Due to an unfortunate doggie accident on the bed this morning, I had to wash our quilt and our mattress cover. She was just helping with spring cleaning is all ;)
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I reattached the back of a vintage bookcase that had started to seperate. While it was pulled out I vacuumed throughly behind it.
I have also been slowly going through the house removing old and reattaching new, felt feet to various pieces of furniture.
Id love to say I have done tons of spring yard work, but sadly it would be a lie. I will get there :)
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Topped up the sand between the pavers out front. I'm having a bit of a 'war' with a chipmunk - he/she is determined to tunnel between the pavers on the stairs to make a second home (primary home is under our deck). I'm worried it will undermine the stairs, resulting in shifting or collapse eventually. So I fill the gap, he digs it out again. I think I will have to use concrete when I am sure he's not there. He's missing half his tail, so easy to identify if we see him in the back yard. Good thing for him I like chipmunks. : D
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Ok I just spent an hour touching up my paint with the tester pot - PLENTY of paint for the job and my bedroom walls look soooooo much better. I am going to do a second round tomorrow when it dries, just in case I missed any spots. I feel kinda silly I never thought to just buy a tester pot, but usually I have leftover paint for each room, labelled in mason jars for touching up. Lesson learned $4 and the rooms looks 10 times better.
I was so inspired I took down my fabric blinds and curtains and they are presently in the washing machine. If it gets warm this week, I would love to wash my windows. However I am in Canada and it is only April, I might be jumping the gun a bit.
Just don't wash windows then power wash the second week. You will be washing windows again the week after...
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Went to the CPA's office to sign our tax returns today. Love it when the return covers the CPA's reasonable fee and not much else. Also, didn't flip a house this year, so nice to back in the 15% tax bracket. Filing taxes counts as a chore, right?
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I installed the fountain pump yesterday afternoon. Now I have my soothing water sounds at the flick of the power bar switch when I sit out on our patio.
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Washed two wo Great Danes who are desperately opposed to the whole concept of bathing today
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Washed two wo Great Danes who are desperately opposed to the whole concept of bathing today
Oh man. You win. Although we did grind the nails of a very unwilling Old Dog, who resents her feet being touched. Ever. The cheese stick helped somewhat.
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I hosted my cousin's husband in our home today. It is a chore due to his frightful personality, and it is odd due to said frightful personality.
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Finally the living room painting and hardwood refinishing is done! I still have to do the bathroom and the back entryway, but those are going to have to wait. I need a break!
But now I get to work on more little odd jobs! Yesterday I replaced a tail light that was out and MacGyver'd a fix on the tail light casing so that it's being held on the vehicle with BOTH screws, not just one!
Moved the pea climbing fence to a new, hopefully better location where the peas will get more sun and thrive this year.
Started sorting through photos, organizing and condensing them. Emptied 2 small albums so far for donation.
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Yesterday I cooked a bunch of food for an Easter dinner I did not end up going to because I was feeling rough. I also babysat my sisters dog for the afternoon which was a great odd chore.
Today I pulled down the rest of the shrink plastic from my windows. I have my regular Monday night chores to do (I do most boring chores Monday because it generally is my least favourite day) so will probably not get anymore odd chores done.
I feel like I have been slacking lately because work is nuts and I am working long hours. My mental list is starting to get long again and that stresses me out, so I need to figure out a better schedule to still be productive.
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-did the taxes
-caught up with medical claims
-made a short term debt repayment plan
-booked vacation time
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Did my taxes. Was a bit more complicated than the year before. Also switching banking accounts to save the fees my bank introduced lately.
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I did so many chores over the last few days I can't even list them all! Taxes in the list, lots of cleaning, cooking, scrubbing and clearing out. The toaster oven and the microwave are looking much nicer.
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Did a deep clean of the house - everything is sparkling now. Also tried to scrub the walls because my kid had used crayons on it. Partially successful, need to give it another go.
Called bank to enable online access and started a transfer to be eligible for a bonus.
Called carpet cleaning which we get for free but couldn't get hold of them, hope they call me back soon so we can schedule it down.
Called a few schools to enquire about their admission process. Need to tour them before we finalize on one.
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I've been MIA lately. My odd chore for the end of March was having a baby! He's almost three weeks now and I'm home with him, so I have some time for odd chores and projects.
Today I filed our tax extension (we have an issue we need time to resolve) and sewed two newborn size bibs. Little one dribbles everywhere when I feed him so this should help keep his clothes clean.
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Also dropped off a huge bag for donation. I've been adding to it for more than a month and it's finally out of the house. Now to start another bag.
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My odd chore for the end of March was having a baby!
:)))))))))) Congrats, SimpleCycle!!
Sounds like you're both feeling good?? Great!
Yeah, we're doing really well. I'm still sore and have to make sure I don't overdo it, but he's such a happy easy baby, it makes everything easier.
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Did a few online organisational tasks I'd been dreading. They were fine in the end!
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Visited family for Easter and so the odd chores slowed. But I did take pics and request a refund for an item I ordered that was damaged in shipment. Also took photos of my old favorite shoes to see if the manufacturer could fix them. Still waiting on that reply!
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Fixed a bifold closet door that had slipped of the track. Also reorganized our computer/printer supply drawer, so now I know exactly how much paper and how many ink refills are there. Found some cables I've been looking for forever, so bonus!
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Replaced lights in the bedrooms. Fixed a closet door and applied oil to the other squeaky doors in the house.
Scheduled the carpet cleaning for next weekend!
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I've been MIA lately. My odd chore for the end of March was having a baby! He's almost three weeks now and I'm home with him, so I have some time for odd chores and projects.
Well done, well done, SimpleCycle!! That's one task you don't want to procrastinate too much!
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Congratulations, SimpleCycle! I bet he's just beautiful.
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Tried to replace old can recessed lights with new LEDs, but the new fixtures don't sit flush with the ceiling. Tried to fix with double stick tape, but it didn't stay stuck. So I guess "finish installing lights" is still on the to do list.
Cleaned out the drawer that holds my workout and lounge clothes. I have way too many workout clothes. I'm keeping them for now but I might decide to get rid of some soon.
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Oh and I cut my hair. I've been trying different tutorials and I think this one came out well.
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Tried to replace old can recessed lights with new LEDs, but the new fixtures don't sit flush with the ceiling. Tried to fix with double stick tape, but it didn't stay stuck. So I guess "finish installing lights" is still on the to do list.
We had a similar problem. The replacements were from Costco and have these springy wires sticking up that go into the can to hold it up (which didn't really do the job). Our old cans have 2 tabs sticking out from the sides with slots in them. We squished each pair of wires together, stuck them into the slots, and the light draws up and is now firmly in place. Hopefully yours will have something similar.
If this doesn't make sense, there's a youtube I found that showed something similar - that's the only way I figured it out. The directions weren't helpful at all!
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Tried to replace old can recessed lights with new LEDs, but the new fixtures don't sit flush with the ceiling. Tried to fix with double stick tape, but it didn't stay stuck. So I guess "finish installing lights" is still on the to do list.
We had a similar problem. The replacements were from Costco and have these springy wires sticking up that go into the can to hold it up (which didn't really do the job). Our old cans have 2 tabs sticking out from the sides with slots in them. We squished each pair of wires together, stuck them into the slots, and the light draws up and is now firmly in place. Hopefully yours will have something similar.
If this doesn't make sense, there's a youtube I found that showed something similar - that's the only way I figured it out. The directions weren't helpful at all!
Thank you! Ours are the same ones from Costco, so I'll try it.
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Tried to replace old can recessed lights with new LEDs, but the new fixtures don't sit flush with the ceiling. Tried to fix with double stick tape, but it didn't stay stuck. So I guess "finish installing lights" is still on the to do list.
We had a similar problem. The replacements were from Costco and have these springy wires sticking up that go into the can to hold it up (which didn't really do the job). Our old cans have 2 tabs sticking out from the sides with slots in them. We squished each pair of wires together, stuck them into the slots, and the light draws up and is now firmly in place. Hopefully yours will have something similar.
If this doesn't make sense, there's a youtube I found that showed something similar - that's the only way I figured it out. The directions weren't helpful at all!
Thank you! Ours are the same ones from Costco, so I'll try it.
If the old cans are intact, why not just use replacement LED bulbs instead?
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Tried to replace old can recessed lights with new LEDs, but the new fixtures don't sit flush with the ceiling. Tried to fix with double stick tape, but it didn't stay stuck. So I guess "finish installing lights" is still on the to do list.
We had a similar problem. The replacements were from Costco and have these springy wires sticking up that go into the can to hold it up (which didn't really do the job). Our old cans have 2 tabs sticking out from the sides with slots in them. We squished each pair of wires together, stuck them into the slots, and the light draws up and is now firmly in place. Hopefully yours will have something similar.
If this doesn't make sense, there's a youtube I found that showed something similar - that's the only way I figured it out. The directions weren't helpful at all!
Thank you! Ours are the same ones from Costco, so I'll try it.
If the old cans are intact, why not just use replacement LED bulbs instead?
In this case, because the plastic part of the old cans was old and yellowed. If I can't make the Costco ones fit, I'll see if I can replace the plastic part and get bulbs.
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+100 To the Costco LED can lights, because that's my guess as to how many we have purchased/installed since they started carrying them.
Some months ago, I started a thread looking for Silent Auction Fundraising ideas. The big event is this weekend. Wrapping up all the details has been a laundry list of chores over the last few weeks. The retail value of what we've collected is $37,000. I can't wait/am nervous as hell to see how much we actually raise.
Now to figure out what to wear...
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+100 To the Costco LED can lights, because that's my guess as to how many we have purchased/installed since they started carrying them.
Some months ago, I started a thread looking for Silent Auction Fundraising ideas. The big event is this weekend. Wrapping up all the details has been a laundry list of chores over the last few weeks. The retail value of what we've collected is $37,000. I can't wait/am nervous as hell to see how much we actually raise.
Now to figure out what to wear...
I just ordered a long black chiffon skirt from EBay, $7.50 shipped. I will let you know what it's like. I have a ton of dressy tops I can wear with a black chiffon skirt.
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Tried to replace old can recessed lights with new LEDs, but the new fixtures don't sit flush with the ceiling. Tried to fix with double stick tape, but it didn't stay stuck. So I guess "finish installing lights" is still on the to do list.
We had a similar problem. The replacements were from Costco and have these springy wires sticking up that go into the can to hold it up (which didn't really do the job). Our old cans have 2 tabs sticking out from the sides with slots in them. We squished each pair of wires together, stuck them into the slots, and the light draws up and is now firmly in place. Hopefully yours will have something similar.
If this doesn't make sense, there's a youtube I found that showed something similar - that's the only way I figured it out. The directions weren't helpful at all!
Thank you! Ours are the same ones from Costco, so I'll try it.
If the old cans are intact, why not just use replacement LED bulbs instead?
In this case, because the plastic part of the old cans was old and yellowed. If I can't make the Costco ones fit, I'll see if I can replace the plastic part and get bulbs.
Ours were yellowed, too, and smaller as well, so we had to touch up the ceiling. <joy> But the Costco LED lights have a diffuser and look very nice. They're bright, though!
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+100 To the Costco LED can lights, because that's my guess as to how many we have purchased/installed since they started carrying them.
Some months ago, I started a thread looking for Silent Auction Fundraising ideas. The big event is this weekend. Wrapping up all the details has been a laundry list of chores over the last few weeks. The retail value of what we've collected is $37,000. I can't wait/am nervous as hell to see how much we actually raise.
Now to figure out what to wear...
I just ordered a long black chiffon skirt from EBay, $7.50 shipped. I will let you know what it's like. I have a ton of dressy tops I can wear with a black chiffon skirt.
Oh, I plan on shopping in my closet. Problem is, I told DH if he'd wear his (thrifted) tux, he could choose my dress. The one he prefers (thankfully, a hand-me-down) doesn't go with any shoes that I own. I didn't really want to go shoe shopping, as I have enough, in general. FWP, I know.
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I think I did my oddest odd chore today. I was browsing Facebook around 6PM and saw that a friend had commented on a charity's post requesting set up help for a yard sale just up the street - at 6PM. So I walked up there and helped drag box after box after box of donated goods out of their garage and set up tables.
I would never have seen it had my friend not commented. So random.
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That was nice of you.
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Very nice. Did you score any frugal treasures as you were setting up?
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Nope. I rarely find anything I need (or even want) at yard sales or thrift stores, but at least the rain held off, so I hope it went well.
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Nope. I rarely find anything I need (or even want) at yard sales or thrift stores, but at least the rain held off, so I hope it went well.
I entertain a lot, mostly involving feeding people. I have loads of party supplies. Almost all of them are used. That's what I look for at estate/garage sales. When I'm done with a big house, it will all go back out into the universe with nary a care.
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Recovered the free table I got for my kids' art projects. Old table top had a large tear in the plastic/fabric cover.
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In totally non-frugal odd chores, I ran errands today and picked up supplies to make my daughter a purple stuffed walrus. $15 later, she's going to be super psyched. I figured out how to print large PDFs on multiple 8.5x11 pieces of paper so that saves me a trip and a few dollars in printing costs. Tomorrow I sew!
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I finally applied weed and feed to our lawn. That stuff has been stinking up my garage for the last coupe of weeks.
I also finally put the new wheels, cassette, chain, and brake pads on my wife's bike. Those have been sitting around for about month. I didn't have any luck getting the rear derailleur readjusted with the new wheels so we had to go to the bike shop to get it readjusted. I couldn't get the shifts to happen cleanly or reliably. It turns out the hanger was slightly bent but the damage was magnified by the new cassette and chain and the fact that the cables were a little sticky from being dirty.
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I know it's tempting the weather gods, but I put away our winter boots, gloves, etc. I'm washing winter jackets today, and hoping I don't need to dig them out again until November.
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I can't say, I've been doing one odd chore a day but this week I have...
Put some drain cleaner down the shower drain that was running slowly.
Cleaned the bottom of the garbage bin.
Dyed some faded clothes black again.
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In totally non-frugal odd chores, I ran errands today and picked up supplies to make my daughter a purple stuffed walrus. $15 later, she's going to be super psyched. I figured out how to print large PDFs on multiple 8.5x11 pieces of paper so that saves me a trip and a few dollars in printing costs. Tomorrow I sew!
This is very cool!
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I cleaned out the brush on the vacuum cleaner. Boy was it bad. A combination of not doing it for awhile and new carpet that had lots of fuzzies still to come off.
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This weekend: Found some picture frames and matted/framed some artwork I had. Took out a garbage bag and collected garbage all around my house, yard, neighbours, road etc.. So tired of my dirty neighbours who just throw garbage everywhere. Overseeded my lawn with clover seed. Visited my parents and helped them with chores (my mom is recovering from knee surgery)
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Hubs and I worked on the garage on the weekend. Much more spacious. And less dusty/dirty. All bikes are washed and tires inflated. All cars got washed and vacuumed. Snow shovels up on the hooks. (watch us get walloped with a foot of snow next week)
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Tonight I'll be cleaning up and putting away a new pile of random crap that my husband accumulated on the kitchen counter. >:(
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Went through medicine cabinet and bagged all that had expired. We are down to a couple of medicines now. Also finished a multi vitamin bottle we've had for some time. Now both my husband and I can use the same one and bit have two different bottles.
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So a friend is trying to raise money for a national charity. I can't say I love the group, but I'm sending out donation request letters. 33 letters sent today. One positive response so far. I'm sure I'd get more if I pounded the pavement, but since its not near and dear to my heart.....
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Washed the car windscreen and rear window. Not the whole car, because I give zero fucks if my car is dirty. But visibility is important.
I'd been waiting for the rain to wash my car windows for me (car lives outside with no protection from the weather), but we're having the driest Autumn ever, seems like.
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I'm working to strike a balance of odd chores and regular chores. The odd chores are more fun!
Today I sewed a cloth menstrual pad to see if I liked the pattern and it was a success. So I ran to the fabric store for a couple yards of flannel because it was on sale until today. I also sewed three bibs for the baby.
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I am so far behind in this thread, work has been insane lately!
Monday - Tuesday: Dropped off a bag of donations, Fixed a drain, Potted up some succulents
Today I am working from home and taking frequent movement breaks. So far today:
I moved a postal cabinet to my temporary office. (24 drawers and 4 oaks stacking units that had to be individually moved)
I emptied out my front hall dresser into a big bin (purses, winter accessories etc..) and moved that dresser upstairs to my bedroom
Rearranged the furniture in my bedroom and decorated the top of the dresser
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Installed some hooks in the garage to hang the small stroller we bought for when grandson comes to visit.
Cleaned a couple of table top fans. I always intend to clean them before I put them away for the winter, but never do. Maybe in the fall that can be one of my "odd" chores. : )
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Some months ago, I started a thread looking for Silent Auction Fundraising ideas. The big event is this weekend. Wrapping up all the details has been a laundry list of chores over the last few weeks. The retail value of what we've collected is $37,000. I can't wait/am nervous as hell to see how much we actually raise.
@Dicey: I think you might have been the one who posted somewhere else in these boards about some of your silent auction efforts.....I'd love to pick your brain a little. I'm working on one right now that is a chore, but I decided that I can also work on one for my kid's school at the same time and THAT one, I will enjoy. Feel free to PM if that's easier.
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Reseeded bald patches in the lawn with three year old grass seed. As soon as I had done so, the rain which had been pouring for three days promptly stopped, so I had to schlep a watering can out. Not sure that this will be a success, but at least the seed is no longer cluttering up my garage!
I transplanted flowers from cheap plastic pots to a nice metal hanging pot that I've had for a few years, and hung them up. Emptied out soil and dead plants from some other pots and threw them away. This was all a little harder than it had to be because I had to tidy the garage a little in order to find my trowel, which I hadn't seen in a year.
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I spray painted a metal geometric wreath I bought after Christmas on super sale and then hung it in my bedroom with magnets. I had to glue gun the earth magnets to the wall as its double brick and I didn't want to drill holes. It worked out perfectly, can't see the magnets and if I want to remove them I can just pop them off the wall with a little force. Great little DIY solution.
I decided the dresser I moved upstairs yesterday needs a bit of funk added to it. It is an antique but not in perfect condition and the dresser is stained very dark which sorta hides the design on the drawers. I will be painting some of the dresser, which as a vintage/antique collector I rarely do but it needs it. I will be doing this odd chore tomorrow using paint I already own. It's not the exact colour I would choose but it's the frugal option.
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Cleaned the carpet and put everything back in place.
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Saturday: ended up buying some paint and painting my bedroom side table and parts of my dresser. The colour is slightly off from my vision but it's growing on me. I also moved quite a few rocks for my new rick garden.
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Saturday: ended up buying some paint and painting my bedroom side table and parts of my dresser. The colour is slightly off from my vision but it's growing on me. I also moved quite a few rocks for my new rick garden.
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I'll join in on this challenge! Just moved into our house November 2015 and it needs a lot of little things. Started going through with a notebook room by room to get an idea and the pages filled up fast!
Today's project is to disassemble an exercise bike that is taking up too much space so some parts can be sold and the frame scrapped.
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Many, many eons ago in the days of dial up internet, I had to run a phone line along baseboards, over a door frame, etc. to get it where I needed it to be. I have been too lazy to remove it, and patch the tiny holes from the clips. Today I will finally remove everything, patch the holes, and then touch up the paint tomorrow.
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Welcome Salvo!
Yesterday I sorted through the kids' clothes and made a list of what I need to get. We have two sets of hand me downs on the way, so hopefully we'll just have to fill the gaps.
Today I'm going to install our smart thermostat.
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Goldielocks - that's funny!! Good catch :)
So this week has just been insane. I have not done much outside of regular chores.
I did get my bedside table completely painted but my dresser still needs another coat. I am saving it for this weekend. I also stained a few scratches on my floors, looks much better. I have been repotting some plants and propagating new babies for Christmas presents. Other than that, I have not done much. Hoping to hit the list this weekend.
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Packed hospital bag and got the car seat and bassinet ready. Definitely happy to have these odd chores completed. Now the baby can come whenever and we are ready!
Went through all the paper and scanned and shredded and filed everything.
Now need to start working through the remaining odd chores on the list.
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I cleaned out my handbag. It's much lighter without all that paper clutter...
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Oh man, why did I have to open this thread? I do not need any more challenges in my life...
Okay - Okay:) I emptied the knife drawer, sorted out all the accumulated junk, like wine corks and mystery doohickeys, cleaned it all up and installed a new drawer liner. Love the result - voila - pretty and functional.
Maybe I'll tackle the baggie drawer next...
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Yesterday I cleared all the flat surfaces in the bedroom.
Today I turned in (most of) my final grades for the semester. :)
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Cleared the crib of all the clothes on it, mostly mine. I have my husband's clothes folded so he can put them away when he comes home. Also repaired two clothes that were bugging me. Will test them on kiddo once she is back from school.
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Four more windows, inside and out (our house has 29, which is nice until the spiders attack).
They looked great until the sun hit them. Demmit.
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Sewed a hook and eye on to the front of a 'flyaway' cardigan to make it, well, a bit less flyaway. If it works out will do the same to a second cardi.
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Some months ago, I started a thread looking for Silent Auction Fundraising ideas. The big event is this weekend. Wrapping up all the details has been a laundry list of chores over the last few weeks. The retail value of what we've collected is $37,000. I can't wait/am nervous as hell to see how much we actually raise.
@Dicey: I think you might have been the one who posted somewhere else in these boards about some of your silent auction efforts.....I'd love to pick your brain a little. I'm working on one right now that is a chore, but I decided that I can also work on one for my kid's school at the same time and THAT one, I will enjoy. Feel free to PM if that's easier.
Ooh, sorry, I just saw this! Did you email me about this, too? I did answer that (different name) person last week, but haven't kept up with this thread. If that was not you, pm me and I'll forward you a copy. Also, I have photos now, so ping me for a link. Even if it was you, here's something I just discovered, which is kinda similar to something we did, only much, much more ambitious.
http://wcefk12.org/events/taste-and-toast-2017/
On topic: Ahem, reporting in to say I finally completed several odd chores this weekend.
Saturday: Zig-zagged the edges of 24 new white Costco washcloths. Oh, so boring. I have put this off since Christmas. MIL uses one every day, then washes them out with bar soap. Her supply was getting grungy, so I gave her more last Christmas. Why yes, it is May now, but the chore is finally done. May I please count this chore 24 times?
Sunday: A couple of months ago, I bought DH and I new, giant bath sheets from Costco. Have you noticed that towels just ain't what they used to be? I wanted to reinforce the bindings as they tend to give way very easily these days. Sewed both bath sheets today, which was a total bitch of a project. The second one was harder than the first! Before I sewed the towels, DH and I made a dump run to recycle our old king-size mattress. Some folks go to Napa on a lovely Spring day to sip fine wine. We went to the Napa County dump. Fruuuuuuu-gal.
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Yesterday I finally sat down and claimed a years worth of prescriptions online for my MIL. Turns out that after the deductible she has 80% coverage. The meds aren't that expensive but she will get back $160 back. Win!
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I cleaned up the piles of crap in the
crap laundry room. Still not pretty, but one can walk in there now.
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I moved the stove and dealt with the yuckiness I found there. Swept out dust, dirt, and toys. Then scrubbed the floor where the edge of the stove had been, meaning stuff falls but mopping doesn't quite get it. Then scrubbed the side of the stove that is next to the counter and had spills on it that could never breached to clean. Same for the side of the cabinet. :)
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Got the spices restocked in kitchen. Took the opportunity to rearrange the drawer containing spices and the shelves where the spices are stored in pantry.
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I really cleaned the counter that gets the most dirty use - staining foods such as tea, coffee, beets, mustard, wine. It gets washed with soap a couple of times a day but every now and then it needs a little hit of bleach to clean it right back to white.
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Monday I got some paperwork notarized and mailed off so a company can stop charging my account. Woo!
Yesterday I cleaned off the fridge front of random papers.
Today I ordered and picked up compost for the garden. I also decluttered some drawers in the living room and tried (to no avail) to finish my mom's framed photo gift for Mother's Day. Unfortunately my prints came out terribly at CVS and Walgreens photo printing was down. Hoping to finish it tomorrow, although mom has to pick up her packages at the Post Office so she likely won't get it until Monday now.
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Caught up on the digital files on the main computer. Need to back them up and move them to the appropriate hard disk. Also need to make sure I don't have any unsorted folders in my hard disk (which is entirely possible). But a huge load off my mind about computer crashing and us losing all the files and pictures/videos.
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Got the construction trash into the trash can yesterday before today's AM pickup.
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It's been a productive day so far:
-packed up four packages for UPS (a book trade in and three returns of unneeded baby stuff)
-sent warranty information to manufacturer to get a replacement phone charger cable
-registered for family camp and mailed deposit
-listed crib on Freecycle
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This thread motivated me to finally stop lurking!
I organized my spice rack and made a typed list of all of our spices and taped it to the cupboard door. In doing so, I discovered we had duplicates for some spices and DO NOT need to buy new spices for the foreseeable future (we somehow always think we do not have oregano, no, I have 3 jars of oregano).
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I went over to my Mom's, took her bedroom sheers down, washed them, and put them back up. She's 87, and hasn't been allowed on a ladder since she was 80. : ) I also cooked some meals for her yesterday, put them in freezer containers, and loaded up her freezer.
Now I need to do OUR drapes!
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Cleaned the front common hallway of our condo building.
Cleared off and rearranged the mantel.
Organized the entry closet.
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Changed four incandescent lights to LED. With german electricity cost (26ct/kwh), those things pay for themselfs in a year or so. Also, they don't heat up our flat so much during summer. Sold 2 some numismatic coins, making 3 times what I put in. I am keeping 2 to sell in december to christmas shoppers :-)
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Started cleaning and organizing the laundry/workshop in the basement. It's going to take a couple of days, but it already looks better.
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Installed (sounds much fancier than hung, right?) the new clothesline and moved the homemade one across the yardage to full sun. Not sure I like the one I bought...it seems poorly made.
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Spread compost in the garden and turned over the soil.
Decluttered our pantry cabinet.
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I made some raised beds a few years ago and didn't seal them. After time they started to look terrible. Faded and stained. I got some wood cleaner and tinted sealant a few days ago and today cleaned 2/5 of the beds. They look SO MUCH BETTER!! Bright just like when they were new. I need to let them dry completely before sealing them, but I'm so excited to see how it'll turn out, and how much longer they will last before they look weathered.
Also finally reinstalled a phone jack after painting a month ago. I don't have a land line and there was a splitter thing that I wasn't sure was important or not. Apparently not. Now it's gone!
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I'm on a roll with the sewing machine. Mended three fraying kitchen towels. Used up a tiny spool of red thread that probably came from a travel kit a long time ago so I didn't have to buy any thread.
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I am jumping on the bandwagon. Yesterday's chores included reading this entire thread beginning to end, taking a load of toys and baby gear to the consignment store, and vacuuming the car.
Today's tasks include cleaning off the back deck and also prepping the handrail for painting.
Edited to add: Also cleaned both small ceiling fans in the family room.
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New trees in the ground. Courtesy of the DH, but it has been on my list.
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All digital clutter in desktop and phones cleared, sorted and backed up.
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Finished the cleaning the other three raised beds. I'm SO impressed with the product I used. Now I just need to wait for it to stop raining so I can dry the wood enough to apply the sealant.
Before
(http://i.imgur.com/EQDIXhLl.jpg)
After
(http://i.imgur.com/uMdyZhfl.jpg)
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Looks like new!
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Yeah, that's quite the transformation!
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Got up on a stepladder with a pillowcase and cleaned my filthnasty kitchen ceiling fan without depositing any dust on the counters or floors (10’ ceilings mean this doesn't happen often enough).
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We had a couple of small bins of old McDonald's happy meal toys, small dinosaurs, etc. in the garage. Some of these are 30 years old! I brought them in and washed up the ones that were OK, and trashed a few that weren't. I'm going to repackage them by theme when they're dry, and will parcel them out a bit at a time to our grandson starting next year (or whenever they are appropriate) when he comes to visit. My Mom and Dad used to buy them for DS (we didn't go to fast food places all that often) and he thinks it's super that the new Grandma (me) gets to pass them along again.
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We had a couple of small bins of old McDonald's happy meal toys, small dinosaurs, etc. in the garage. Some of these are 30 years old! I brought them in and washed up the ones that were OK, and trashed a few that weren't. I'm going to repackage them by theme when they're dry, and will parcel them out a bit at a time to our grandson starting next year (or whenever they are appropriate) when he comes to visit. My Mom and Dad used to buy them for DS (we didn't go to fast food places all that often) and he thinks it's super that the new Grandma (me) gets to pass them along again.
Another idea is to use them as game trophies or party favors for birthdays. I found 3 year olds love choosing a prize from the bin... did not care that they were mcDonald toys.
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We had a couple of small bins of old McDonald's happy meal toys, small dinosaurs, etc. in the garage. Some of these are 30 years old! I brought them in and washed up the ones that were OK, and trashed a few that weren't. I'm going to repackage them by theme when they're dry, and will parcel them out a bit at a time to our grandson starting next year (or whenever they are appropriate) when he comes to visit. My Mom and Dad used to buy them for DS (we didn't go to fast food places all that often) and he thinks it's super that the new Grandma (me) gets to pass them along again.
Another idea is to use them as game trophies or party favors for birthdays. I found 3 year olds love choosing a prize from the bin... did not care that they were mcDonald toys.
That's a great idea. Thanks!
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Cleaned out two bathroom drawers and the kitchen junk drawer today. Now I can find things.
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Freecycled some unwanted items
Potted some artificial succulents for a place that doesn't get enough light for real ones.
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I need to hop on board. Tomorrow I will go room by room and make my list.
Today: Deep cleaned one of the bathrooms, including decluttering drawers and under the sink. Feels good to have that done. Tomorrow I will do the other one, but it doesn't get used much, so shouldn't be too bad.
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I cleaned the oven today. I didn't have quite enough cleaner so it will need a second pass, but it looks considerably better. I also cleaned the tracks on the sliding glass door.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
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Cleaned out my aunt's storage unit for her. She's 83 and lives in another country. Wasn't much in there thankfully. Get to deliver some items to her friend later this week.
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Cleaned off my desk and filed everything in the paper sorter.
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Went through big pile of toys in living room and picked out a few for upcoming church tag sale. Reunited as many as I could with missing pieces and fixed a few broken ones so they could actually be played with. Cleared out clutter from under couches.
Weeded small vegetable patch and transplanted poor sad tomato/pepper seedlings which should have been transplanted weeks ago... doubtful that many will make it.
Finally washed out old compost pot that has been outside since last summer, when we discovered it was the source of endless horrible flies in the house. Brought it back inside and crossing my fingers that the flies will not come back.
Cleared off 4 cluttered surfaces in house.
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Our grandbaby is bringing her parents to visit for a nice, long weekend. Somehow the closet in the guest bedroom has become quite full. I'll be clearing it out today so they can use it. This may only mean moving boxes into the garage, but that's still a chore, right?
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Started the de-cluttering of my closet, but it is going to take more than just one stab. How is it that I have so many clothes, but never feel like I have anything to wear?
Going to try two (yes two!) pairs of fancy sandals that I bought for my son's wedding over two years ago, and didn't end up wearing. If I can't sell them, they are going in the Give-away box.
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Today I turned my compost pile, weeded and amended my wheelbarrow raised bed (now played out with greens all bolting) and planted radishes and marigolds, went to town for paint, and painted boards for our soffits. Husband put up a bunch of soffit, but a bunch left to go.
Yesterday I deep cleaned the stove and replaced the reflector pans (3/4 had rusted to the point of having pinprick holes in them).
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In prep for the visit mentioned above, the boxes were merely moved to the office, because what's in them is going to take some deliberating and/or scanning to determine if they can safely go away. Closet now usable, but I took a shortcut to get it that way.
To atone for this, I cleaned out 2 pantry drawers and the refrigerator, which I had put off for far too long. Hooray!
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Hemmed some pants that had been ironed and pinned for 3 weeks!
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I finally got back to the laundry room/workshop. Task for today was to clean up the workshop area - sort everything, clean it, and pitch what isn't needed anymore. Why do I have so many paintbrushes? And why are so many of them huge? I do all the painting in the house, but rarely use anything but a 1" or 2" brush.
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Yesterday I went through all the winter stuff for the four of us. Some of it went into the donate box and some things even got thrown out. I washed the rest and packed it all up into plastic tubs and put them into the storage shed until fall/winter. Then I hung up all the summer hats where the scarves used to be. Yea summer! (Except today it decided to go back to cold and rainy. Of course.)
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Filled out forms, scanned and emailed them, and paid a bill. My achievements have changed a bit with a newborn in the mix!
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Last night I put foil on the window on the front door. It was a small job, but should help with the A/C costs a bit.
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Back from vacation, time to get back to the odd chores.
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I took last week off while my boyfriend was visiting and we knocked out so many things on the to do list.
Most notably: Sell car and Buy new phone (iphone 4 was losing it's will to continue). Also sealed my raised beds, planted the garden, cleaned the garage, fixed so many different odds and ends, primed the window frames (painting them is still on the list), fixed a leak and the fence at the rental property and made so many other decisions and small progress towards other items on the list.
Yesterday I painted the concrete steps leading up to the front door. The old paint was chipped so badly there wasn't much left on the steps. Looks so fresh and clean now. :) Also worked on the dandelion problem. It's brutal.
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I painted the scratched screws on my bathroom switchplate with a tiny paintbrush and white Rustoleum.
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Killed off a bunch of invasive honeysuckle and privet down by the public road at the foot of our mountain.
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Submitted my expense report for last week's work trip to LA. Time to get back at it.
Also, helped my 17 year old daughter set up a Mint account.
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Cleaned up the front entryway and put some flip flops, umbrellas and jackets in the giveaway box.
I saw a listing online today for a condo I am interested in. I have been thinking about downsizing to a condo someday, but someday may have come sooner than I thought. Which means ... the Odd Job list may have to get fast tracked so I can sell my house.
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I cleaned my sewing machine and fixed the tension. Can't find my machine oil so I ordered some and will oil it when it arrives.
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Repaired a baby toy, paid all bills and made sure things are running smoothly for this month.
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I saw a listing online today for a condo I am interested in. I have been thinking about downsizing to a condo someday, but someday may have come sooner than I thought.
How exciting!
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Ok, I've been avoiding this thread and all the ones related to decluttering or house projects but it's time to join. With a newborn coming in Nov, it's high time I organize the appart and declutter. Another thing is with 80% of my wardrobe useless for some months, I need to organize my closet.
Tonight I have to do some cooking so my odd chore would be to clean the sink a la Flylady or the bathroon, if I have time both.
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I finally installed the ecobee! Had to hook up an extra wire, so it was an advanced beginner level installation. I feel very accomplished.
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Ok, I've been avoiding this thread and all the ones related to decluttering or house projects but it's time to join.
Hahahahaha! This is me too!
Joining to get the rest of my unpacking done from our move. Today I unpacked an orange cloth bag from Powell's Books! yay me!
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I'd like to join! I haven't been on the forums in a dog's age. This challenge is just what I need before I move.
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We have a clown-sized garage, 1050 sf, which hasn't sheltered a car since we bought this place four years ago. It's mostly quite organized and we store a lot of stuff that supports our involvement in our community. However, there are plies of clutter that have to be dealt with. I've been working on them little by little over the last week. It's starting to make a visible difference, for which I am quite pleased. Last week, a Girl Scout Leader asked via freecycle for canning-type jars for a craft project. I was able to give her 60, plus assorted other crafty items, which resulted in an empty cabinet for the win.
Incremental progress.
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Ok didn't do any odd chore yesterday. I did arrive home late, 10 past 9PM. That's not an excuse I know. Today, I'll have to do one.
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I retrieved a couple of documents from our safety box, scanned them and returned them all in the same day. That's amore.
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I have not updated this thread in so long because I have been in an insane odd chores marathon. Basically I have been doing 2-3 hours a day working on odd chores in a real push to get all my outside spaces in gear by the end of June. After being sick for a few years my property was an overgrown mess, as of today there are still a few areas to work on but it looks 100x better and I am getting daily compliments from family, friends and neighbours! It is such a positive mental boost. The best part, I have done it all with an insanely low budget!
The rest of the month for me is fixing porches/decks, painting them, a new garden bed, more shrub pruning and weeding. Oh and decorating my front porch will be the icing on the June cake. :)
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I hemmed a pair of my daughter's pants.
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Sprayed roundup on the weed crop. Again.
Soon, we'll do mulch.
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Put just one thing in the give away box, but that was more than I did on most days since our move, so there's that...
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Returned containers which had been used to gift me food. If my brother is going to go to the trouble of bringing me meals, the least I can do is return his Tupperware in a timely fashion :-)
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I really fell off the wagon for a couple of months, but I am trying to get back into the odd-jobs mode. Today I finally assembled the new rolling cart to contain the Lego tornado and put all the errant Legos in my daughter's room into it. So much better.
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Half reorganized our coat closet. A little flummoxed about how to make the space more functional. In addition to coats, it stores shoes, brooms and a mop, and my sewing machine and ironing board. Storing boots is such a pain.
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Collected all the little jars of paint and half full paint cans with colours that don't match our rooms anymore. Stirred in paint hardener so I can put it all in the garbage tonight. Also broke down a bunch of small Amazon boxes to add to our recycling box. The garage already looks neater.
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I have a refrigerator and an upright freezer in the garage. (Yes, I'm prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse.) The refrigerator requires a firm push toward the bottom to assure it's closed, which is, of course, accomplished with a foot, as one's hands are always full. The face of both and the handles were looking pretty gross. Today, I nuked them and they look like new. Happy. Took longer to type this than to complete the chore. There's a lesson there somewhere.
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Half reorganized our coat closet. A little flummoxed about how to make the space more functional. In addition to coats, it stores shoes, brooms and a mop, and my sewing machine and ironing board. Storing boots is such a pain.
i use this. There are larger ones too. Soft sides so they shift to accomodate other stuff in the closet.
https://www.jysk.ca/storage/shelves/alice-10-shelf-organizer.html (https://www.jysk.ca/storage/shelves/alice-10-shelf-organizer.html)
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Decided today was the day to strip out all the old caulk in our shower and redo it. Took forever, but it looks so much better. I've been procrastinating about this chore for over a year, so I'm glad this thread gave me the kick I needed to get it done.
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Decided today was the day to strip out all the old caulk in our shower and redo it. Took forever, but it looks so much better. I've been procrastinating about this chore for over a year, so I'm glad this thread gave me the kick I needed to get it done.
Nice! I did this a few months ago, and it is so satisfying to be in the shower with the clean-looking caulk!
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I have been avoiding my hobby bench (electronics) because it is so cluttered.
When I finish this post I will go and clean it up.
I'll edit about progess if/when I finish.
EDIT: Great, I got it cleaned up, parts restocked and have one project that I can work on again.
I almost got derailed when I picked up a stack of reciepts, one was from a restuarant from my daughters graduation where I had Grouper Picatta, it was very good. I was deciding where the receipts went while sitting in my computer chair, I almost Googled Grouper Picatta to see how to make it, but caught myself, I filed the receipts and continued the cleanup.
Btw, that was not a very Mustachian meal, I paid $160 for 4 of us and left a $35 tip. But your only daughter only graduates from college once right? No, not in my case, that was her second, BS, now she studying for her masters, and then dental school. I'm saving for two more dinners :-)
Next is to tackle my computer desk, but not now!
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I have been avoiding my hobby bench (electronics) because it is so cluttered.
When I finish this post I will go and clean it up.
I'll edit about progess if/when I finish.
What are the most important items you use on your hobby bench? I have a bunch of small electronics that I've kept around with the intention of eventually taking them apart and learning more about the internals and finding things to mess around on. Any suggestions?
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I have been avoiding my hobby bench (electronics) because it is so cluttered.
When I finish this post I will go and clean it up.
I'll edit about progess if/when I finish.
What are the most important items you use on your hobby bench? I have a bunch of small electronics that I've kept around with the intention of eventually taking them apart and learning more about the internals and finding things to mess around on. Any suggestions?
Do you mean tools?
Soldering iron, DVM, oscilloscope, Light, optivisor, DC power suppply, variac, signal generator, frequency counter, and battery operated drill and bits, for starters. I have an inductance/capacitance meter and multiple other test meters.
I do more repair than design, but I have built may items over the years, mostly from other peoples design.
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Fixed two locks in the house.
Rearranged baby clothes and changing table for easier access to everything we need.
Cleared out all the stuff/paperwork hospital sent us with and made followup appointments with everyone
concerned. Just need to wipe down a suitcase before it goes back inside.
Did a grocery run for the week - we are good to go for a few more days.
Need to empty a dresser top from all the crap on it but I might take some time doing it based on how well baby cooperates. Also need to activate a Fitbit but I guess I'll let DH do it for me. He loves fiddling with it while I don't, so off it goes onto his plate.
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Posting mostly to follow. I did finish sorting through a box of papers that I've moved at least twice, shredded and tossed most of it. Still need to put away the files I kept for now.
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So far today:
- Took the mountain of recycling to the depot
- Picked up the broken branches and fallen pinecones in the yard from the big storm we had on Thurs. night
- Took the refundable bottles in (got $33.40)
- I'm on my way out in a bit to pick up a small table for the deck. I sold my big set, so I'm buying a used table for $20
- This week I have continued to put at least one thing/day in the give away box. Usually it is more, but the rule I have made for myself is 1/day
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The last three days' odd chore was cleaning the deck. Oh, what fun. At least I got it done before the really hot weather gets here in the next few days!
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Prairie Gal, I like the one thing a day rule! That could work for me
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I've been getting a ton of stuff done around the house and will continue it today, I think this is a really cool thread.
The last week I've done a bunch of deep cleaning, gone through my clothes and donated half of them, started a filing system while recycling all the old papers and documents that I was hording without needing them. Today will be cleaning off the bookshelf and going through my outdoor gear and then that means I've gone through the overwhelming majority of my stuff and gotten rid of a lot of clutter! Moving back to my house in two months is going to be a lot easier now.
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I had one of the most productive weekends of my life this weekend.
Picked up two truck loads of garden soil to spread around the 'lawn', leveled it off, spread grass seed. Need one more load of soil and another bag of seed, hopefully I can get that done during the week.
Dropped off two dog crates taking up space in the garage from previous foster dogs
Picked up and planted two cherry trees
Sewed half the curtains needed for my pickup camping setup and finally decided on and ordered a mattress that will fit my sleeping platform.
Harvested rhubarb, froze most of it and made a rhubarb crisp.
Started going through all the library books I checked out to figure out how to design the prairie meadow section of my yard.
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Yesterday I finally out up 2 smoke alarms and a CO detector in my motor home. I live in it full time so I should not have taken this long to do that. Today will be putting the last of the errant tools into the tool boxes I bought. When I moved back in 2008 I put tools in various boxes I could find at the time. They are finally getting put where I have a chance of finding them when I need them now.
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It's finally hot enough to have to turn on the a/c, so I just rebalanced all the air vents. We have a 2 storey house, and we want the cold air to get upstairs so we can sleep at night. If I don't do this, the basement is frigid, the main floor is cold, and we still sweat to death upstairs.
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I should totally join this thread, and I should also totally move some mulch this afternoon and/or work on clearing out the basement. The basement is cooler, so maybe I'll go down there.
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Repaired a clock that's been broken for
2 3 OK 4 years. I am the queen of procrastination!
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This is such a fun thread:)
Put six things in the ongoing donation box-yay.
Went through all my purses today - cleaning and re-organizing.
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Reorganized diaper bag to be used for two kids instead of one. Returned three items and cleared up space.
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Cleaned the filters in the HRV unit today. I really need to do this more than once a year - I'm going to set myself a reminder to do it again before Christmas.
Also changed the last back up battery for our smoke alarms. Did the other two a few weeks ago, but was too lazy to haul the ladder upstairs to do the last one. Now that it's up there, I will use the ladder tomorrow to clean the lights and skylights.
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Not an odd chore but been on my to do list for quite some time: deep cleaned the house. Next on list, work through kids clothes and donate the too small ones.
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One of our tenants broke their lease, so we had to clean the house top to bottom, left to right, inside and out. Oh yes, this house is located in the Desert, where temperatures bounced from 115 to 118. Fun! They had only been there ten months, but boy, were they pigs! FWIW, they broke the lease because they liked the area and decided to buy.
I did so many chores that I lost count. At least a month's worth. Hell, I cleaned there better than I do at home.
Happily, we found a new tenant while we were there.
Whew! Tired.
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Ordered a photo book!!
Back story: After decluttering the digital pictures we have, I realized that we had some really good ones that we never enjoyed because they were files in hard drives. Keeping them as files in accessible folders was not a good option because we had a number of distractions/things that needed our attention on our phones and laptops. The best of best, I printed and posted on our wall of Fame but we didn't want to clutter the walls too much.
Enter the brilliant idea to make a photo book for every year so we can weave a story out of that year. This was not hard on the surface since I had to make just 5 (now 6, since this project was started in Jan 2016) photobooks..... And I completed just one during all of 2016! I kept procrastinating and looking for deals all the time. Most times, I'd either be not ready for a deal that came or I'd take too long to get the photo book ready. And today, spurred by a deal, despite having a toddler and newborn, I managed to finish book#2 and it should reach in two weeks. Feels so satisfying!!
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Ordered a photo book!!
Back story: After decluttering the digital pictures we have, I realized that we had some really good ones that we never enjoyed because they were files in hard drives. Keeping them as files in accessible folders was not a good option because we had a number of distractions/things that needed our attention on our phones and laptops. The best of best, I printed and posted on our wall of Fame but we didn't want to clutter the walls too much.
Enter the brilliant idea to make a photo book for every year so we can weave a story out of that year. This was not hard on the surface since I had to make just 5 (now 6, since this project was started in Jan 2016) photobooks..... And I completed just one during all of 2016! I kept procrastinating and looking for deals all the time. Most times, I'd either be not ready for a deal that came or I'd take too long to get the photo book ready. And today, spurred by a deal, despite having a toddler and newborn, I managed to finish book#2 and it should reach in two weeks. Feels so satisfying!!
I do photo books. One per year. I usually get going in November when I start combing the year for four or five photos for a Christmas letter and finish a few months later when there is a special. I keep doing different sizes but I max out the number of pages and pack each spread with tons of photos. I have started adding captions because we were having trouble remembering what was going on in some of the older books.
I went through the soccer bin and pulled out all the too small cleats and shin guards. It is embarrassing that there are five pairs of too small shoes.
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Ordered a photo book!!
Back story: After decluttering the digital pictures we have, I realized that we had some really good ones that we never enjoyed because they were files in hard drives. Keeping them as files in accessible folders was not a good option because we had a number of distractions/things that needed our attention on our phones and laptops. The best of best, I printed and posted on our wall of Fame but we didn't want to clutter the walls too much.
Enter the brilliant idea to make a photo book for every year so we can weave a story out of that year. This was not hard on the surface since I had to make just 5 (now 6, since this project was started in Jan 2016) photobooks..... And I completed just one during all of 2016! I kept procrastinating and looking for deals all the time. Most times, I'd either be not ready for a deal that came or I'd take too long to get the photo book ready. And today, spurred by a deal, despite having a toddler and newborn, I managed to finish book#2 and it should reach in two weeks. Feels so satisfying!!
I do photo books. One per year. I usually get going in November when I start combing the year for four or five photos for a Christmas letter and finish a few months later when there is a special. I keep doing different sizes but I max out the number of pages and pack each spread with tons of photos. I have started adding captions because we were having trouble remembering what was going on in some of the older books.
I went through the soccer bin and pulled out all the too small cleats and shin guards. It is embarrassing that there are five pairs of too small shoes.
Thanks! This seems a doable schedule. I need to put it on my calendar so I don't forget when November comes along. Now to be ready with photos for the next book so I can use the deal when the next one comes along.
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"Replaced" the attic fan... added the quotes because the fan was not there, just the temp control box. Today it was ~90 in Ohio so I decided to check the attic out and it was unbearably hot. A Christmas candle I put up there had melted on its own, so I worried about other items being stored and ruined. Wasn't very hard to do since I had a light and outlet available to chain romex off, just aggravating because of the heat and sweatiness. Tested and it worked great, so happy it is setup and working now!
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Almost a year ago we had my parents parrots staying over at our house for a couple of weeks. They are really sweet, but unfortunately, they also are tiny little destroyers, so our kitchen door and wall got damaged, because they decided to nibble some of the wood/wall away.
This weekend I finally bought the stuff needed to repair the damage. 15 euro's for some wall- and woodfillers and 5 minutes of work. Why have I left this out so long?
Today I'm heading to the store again, to get the right color woodfiller to also repair the small holes in our wooden floor.
The 'odd chore' list for our house has several more items pending, if I keep this up, it should be done by the end of the summer.
I also decided to spend everyday 5 minutes to clean up my laptop. I have files everywhere, several backups on several harddrives, etc. etc. It's a real mess, so in 5 minutes everyday I hope to have sorted all the mess out by the beginning of september.
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Yesterday I rearranged the furniture in my office, cleaned under everything I moved (ick), moved in the two-drawer filing cabinet from the dogs' bedroom to make them more room since they are now also sharing with all the tools. I moved the printer onto that file cabinet and finally got rid of the "printer stand" of two sheetrock mud buckets and a scrap board it had been sitting on. This house may look finished one day yet!
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"Replaced" the attic fan... added the quotes because the fan was not there, just the temp control box. Today it was ~90 in Ohio so I decided to check the attic out and it was unbearably hot. A Christmas candle I put up there had melted on its own, so I worried about other items being stored and ruined. Wasn't very hard to do since I had a light and outlet available to chain romex off, just aggravating because of the heat and sweatiness. Tested and it worked great, so happy it is setup and working now!
Badass!
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unplugged my old 3 monitor setup that was sucking up a lot of power. replaced them with a very large display I had purchased a while ago on sale that has built in split-screen. less cables and clutter, less power consumption.
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I've been slacking. It's been hot and humid, and even doing regular chores has been unpleasant. Gave myself a kick today and cleaned/organized the computer set up we have in the basement for video editing and transferring old VCR tapes to digital (one of my retirement projects). Looks so much neater without cables running everywhere, and I like this set up better than the original. I also set aside some computer parts and accessories we don't need anymore, and will offer those to a local guy who builds free computers for people on disability.
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I'm almost done cleaning and organizing my ginormous walk-in pantry. It's taken me two days and it hasn't been done since we moved in four years ago. Surprisingly little to be thrown away and most of what I'm ditching came from DH's house after we got married. Woot!
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Today was turning my mattress. It's a tempur pedic type so it doesn't get flipped, but it hasn't been rotated in forever, so that was today's chore!
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Today's odd chore was cleaning out my nightstand! So much random stuff in there. I threw out most of the junk and reorganized.
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Yesterday we got rid of a large 50 gal aquarium from our front porch that housed a turtle temporarily. Got all the sand and rocks out and delivered to SVDP.
Today I will finish decluttering from son #3's room.
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Went couch and cushion surfing today. Took out all of the cushions, found some spare change and socks, then vacuumed the nooks and crannies and did a once over on the couch. Thankful for my shop vac today!
I'm not sure if my "odd chores" are odd enough for this thread, but it's inspiring me to do things I wouldn't normally.
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I've been cleaning out the freezer the past few days.
Made a chocolate zucchini cake from some shredded zucchini I froze last fall. So moist and delicious!!
There's still so much food. There's no way I'm going to even make a dent in the next 9 days.
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I've been cleaning out the freezer the past few days.
Made a chocolate zucchini cake from some shredded zucchini I froze last fall. So moist and delicious!!
There's still so much food. There's no way I'm going to even make a dent in the next 9 days.
That sounds delicious! Can you share the recipe? We have excess zucchini just like every summer.
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I've been cleaning out the freezer the past few days.
Made a chocolate zucchini cake from some shredded zucchini I froze last fall. So moist and delicious!!
There's still so much food. There's no way I'm going to even make a dent in the next 9 days.
That sounds delicious! Can you share the recipe? We have excess zucchini just like every summer.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/17643/chocolate-zucchini-cake-iii/
I used less sugar (maybe 1 1/3 cup) and skipped the walnuts.
Delicious served with fresh raspberries :)
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Today I cleaned out and scrubbed down the refrigerator. Ick.
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Does weeding count? Holy man I'll be glad when my lawn is good enough to keep up with the weeds.
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I finally scraped the peeling paint off a couple of windows, primed and painted them. This is a job I meant to do last year, so it feels good to get it off the list today.
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Cleared construction debris and sawdust from our library-cum- roommate bedroom. The room is finished (walls, moulding, ventilation, ceiling fan all this week).
Also glued back a piece of trim that fell off the sideboard two moves ago (= at least 8 years).
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This thread is brilliant and I need to get by butt in gear.
Today I rendered some bacon grease that has been sitting in my fridge for probably 6 months. I'll do one or two more passes tomorrow. The lard will eventually be used to make soap for christmas presents this year.
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Only a chore because I dislike shopping generally, and anything other than caring for my baby feels like a chore right now: went shopping with a friend and picked up the baby clothes we need in the next two sizes to supplement the hand-me-downs we've received.
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I had a couple weeks worth of clean, unfolded laundry hanging around (yep, I'm one of those people), so today's odd chore was to fold and put it all away.
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Dusted the bookshelf, moved paperbacks to a new shelf, rearranged. Living room looks better. Going to take a few from husbands high school teach days to a thrift store today.
LMBB, I need to do that clean laundry thing!
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Made a dent in the backyard weeds.
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I'm joining this gauntlet for the next two weeks because I've done a very unmustachian thing and bought an 8 hour blitzkrieg of house cleaning from Angie's list. Since I am generally a semi-slob, this puts the pressure on and motivates me to get things picked up before the "Fall cleaning date." Gotta get stuff put away and taken out before then!
Goal for today:
Take "to donate" piles from shelves and hallway and actually donate
Goal for tomorrow:
Start donate pile for food pantry
Drag around bags of dirt and level out ground/fill in holes in yard which keep trying to break my ankle
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Visiting my parents. Discovered my mother had labeled/stickered all of her out of date canned foods. I decided it had to go so I cleaned out her pantry. I found peanut butter that had expired in 2008. It's not as if she was ever going to eat it, she's just unable to throw things away. I've gone through the refrigerator now too.
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This is a brilliant thread and I just want to check in to tell everyone how it has inspired me.
One day I sat down to post a comment about doing an "odd chore", when I was struck by a thought: instead of writing an MMM post about yesterday's odd chore, I will spend that time doing today's odd chore! So it has spurred me to get a lot of little things done.
Here is a list of a few of the odd chores I've done over the past weeks:
*Scrubbed the fronts of all my kitchen appliances including the gross and grimy kickplate beneath my oven
*Removed ceiling light covers and washed them; replaced a couple of fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs.
*disassembled and hosed out my smelly wet-dry vacuum cleaner; cleaned with bleach solution
*Cleared out all of the kitchen cupboards and washed them inside and out; got rid of outdated food (yikes! waste)
and pots/pans & accessories that I don't use. This actually took three days.
*Scrubbed baseboards and corners/walls where the pets had begrimed them
*Scraped, sanded and painted some trim where the paint had flaked off
*sorted through two large filing cabinets and reduced their contents by two thirds, reorganized the rest
*sorted through several large boxes of old papers for filing, recycling and shredding
*scrubbed the bathroom ceiling and applied a mildew inhibitor
*random sorting and decluttering --> took a whole car-trunkload of stuff to the Goodwill
*and more!
Coming up soon:
Get rid of most of the tchotchkes and greeting cards that have been collecting on top of the piano
More basement decluttering (I'm slowly going through boxes)
Sort through drawer stuffed with giftwrap/cards/ribbon
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Need to get back into this thread again! Things that used to be "regular" chores have been slipping into the "odd chore" category. GULP. Things like 'mop the kitchen' that really should NOT be an odd chore! But hey, starting somewhere, right?
Done:
Go through pile of papers that accumulated in the kitchen. File/shred/recycle as appropriate.
Sweep and mop kitchen and bathroom. Get baseboards at the same time.
Sort through fridge contents. (Cry over nearly an entire pack of guacamole that got abandoned at back and had to be thrown out).
Up next:
Deep scour kitchen sink.
Photos of goodwill items for tax records, then move to goodwill bin in garage.
Mop master bathroom.
Hopeful for today, but unlikely:
Can pickles.
Mow front lawn.
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1. Cleaned out my car, vacuumed and all!
2. Hung up a piece of art in my office that my grandmother made.
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Washed my backpack (it's soaking now). We've been hiking a lot and the pad that rests on my back totally stank.
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Things that used to be "regular" chores have been slipping into the "odd chore" category. GULP. Things like 'mop the kitchen' that really should NOT be an odd chore! But hey, starting somewhere, right?
100% agree! And in that vein....cleaned the guest bathroom, including cleaning and reorganizing under the sink, and wiping down the moulding. Also tackled the backyard and pulled a bag full of weeds.
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This all started for me (and this thread) because I tried to make a massive list and got completely overwhelmed. Add to that I also have a mental nagging list as well. I sometimes put too much pressure on myself.
I am trying to let the list be "free" and just spontaneously do tasks and I have to say it's actually a lot less stressful and dare I say, kinda fun. I recognize I am only getting a few things done a day, but I feel like I am accomplishing more and without stress! Reporting here is almost like a reward and having something to list AFTER its done is way better then a massive "to do" list.
This exactly. Any time I've made the big long to-do list I've also been immediately overwhelmed, and don't want to do any of it, but the idea of just doing one random thing a day and then reporting back here is totally inspiring. Great idea Lindsey!
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Had to remove a malfunctioning toilet. While it was out, I was able to finally get a ladder in and repaint the trim of the skylight above.
I will install the new toilet tomorrow, so that's Wednesday's odd chore.
ETA: Nope. It got nice and cool finally, so did gardening instead. Many, many weeds were pulled and plants transplanted. Toilet was purchased today, but installation is pushed back for tomorrow or Friday.
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Cleaned out one kitchen cabinet and 2 drawers. Found 3 items to donate.
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Just because there is a hurricane hitting and flash flood watch in effect, does not mean 430am is not a good time to go clear out the mess in a rental house.
This is what happens when you discover how terrible your place looks right before picking up your kids from school. Clean while the kids sleep!
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I read this thread often to get motivation for our ongoing cleaning/purging progress. However, I typically read on a device that is not logged in to my MMM account, so I rarely post anything. Just a shout out to let others know that people lurk/read this thread all the time but may not post. I was inspired by centwise above to post some of the things I've been accomplishing lately as 'odd chores'. Here it goes:
1. Removed all the ceiling pot light covers in kitchen. Scrubbed all kitchen grease off them and spray painted them white again.
2. Reinstalled above covers and scrubbed the metal components as well.
3. Painted the kitchen ceiling, which meant I had to also paint the hall ceiling (same ceiling plane) - uggh. Painting ceilings is hard!
4. Repainted doors and trim for 5 interior doors and counting.
5. Repainted base molding in said kitchen and hallway.
6. Painted new back door which was installed brand new in December (why did it take 7 months to paint that?)
7. Removed HVAC register cover in hallway, scrubbed it, and spray painted it white again. Vacummed the hell out of the interior register cavity (really gross!).
8. Bought and installed replacement door hinges on 4 interior doors (changing from builder grade brass to brushed nickel to match door handles).
9. Removed various things from hallway, patched walls, and repainted including replacing 2 switch covers.
10. General purging, using up, looking for out-dated food in pantry and fridge.
11. Removed all stove grates (iron), scrubbed them, and reinstalled.
12. Replaced 2 cabinet door knobs that somehow got missed when we moved in.
13. Went through closet in spare bedroom and cut down on unused work clothes by 1/2. Most went into donate pile, but some items set aside for 2 nieces to see if they wanted any of them first. Included about 8 pairs of work/heels that I rarely/never wear. Kept one pair of black heels for special events.
14. Replaced inner cartridge on shower valve to repair drip/leak.
15. Removed about 15 books from shelf in office to donate to library.
16. Set aside about 8-10 bath towels to donate to animal shelter. (recently bought new towels for master bathroom remodel). Still need to drop these off.
17. Removed and repaired window screens for about 6 windows. Still need to do 3 more.
Generally speaking, I'm trying to keep up with purging (throwing out, recycling, donating) an average of 3 items a day. Sometimes I go way over, but sometimes if I'm super busy, it's zero so I think overall the average of 3 is working out.
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Visiting my parents. Discovered my mother had labeled/stickered all of her out of date canned foods. I decided it had to go so I cleaned out her pantry. I found peanut butter that had expired in 2008. It's not as if she was ever going to eat it, she's just unable to throw things away. I've gone through the refrigerator now too.
My local food bank will take food up to one year past the expiration date.
Last month, I did an Estate/Moving Sale for a friend who has a) A large pantry and b) Alzheimer's. We had to discard five large boxes of food. Such a waste. Alzheimer's and the damn food.
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OK - after reading the above, I'm inspired to go through our cold storage room. I know there are things there that are past their dates, but know that I've kept them, because dates don't always mean you should throw it out. I've already found spaghetti sauce that is dated November 2011 (not a brand we usually use, but it was on sale, the only one the store had, excuses, excuses, so I got it thinking we would try it anyway. Nope - sat there all this time). Heaven knows what other horrors I will find in there. : )
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Need2Save, your wonderful list made me want a house! When it's broken down like that, the jobs sound fun to me!
Well done on your progress.
Haha. The ultimate goal is to sell our house in a few years, so I guess it depends on where you are coming from. We plan to be homeless for a while, during a long-travel period and then possibly/rent or buy somewhere else in the U.S. (smaller house for sure). It's not anytime soon though. I just want to be 'ready' when the finances line-up and not have to do a massive blitz on the house to get it ready to sell at that time. It helps if you get to these maintenance chores and purging a little at a time. Plus, living here for 8 years now, our use and abuse of things is starting to show.
This holiday weekend, my goals are:
1. Clean the ceiling fans (we have 4 of them)
2. Touch up the ceiling paint in son #2's bedroom (I just repainted his walls and doors)
3. Steam-clean carpet in said son's bedroom and the main living areas (tv/family room for example)
4. Go through papers in office and file/purge unneeded paid bills, etc. We try to do this every 4-6 months to tame the paper beast.
BONUS CHALLENGE: Replace screen for remaining 3 windows.
If I can do those 4 things over a 3-day weekend, I'll be very happy.
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I finally got the toilet installed. Before setting it, I repaired the wallpaper that had been behind the old one. Also laid a new vinyl tile floor. Not ideal, but our floors are a little bouncy, and I wasn't prepared to strip down/reinforce the subfloors to install ceramic tile. I am very pleased with how it turned out.
Also finished the cold storage room. Not as many horrors as I feared, but did find some canned drinks that had been shoved to the back, and had been there so long they were starting to leak. 0_0
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-Got new passport pix taken for my kid
-Tidied up the alley/trash area behind one rental
-scraped 3 years of gunk off shower walls at another rental (I'd post a pic, but it is pretty gross).
-borrowed some space in 6 of my neighbors' trashcans to throw out nasty pillows and blankets left behind at said rental just before the trash pick up (with FIRE, one can be there at the right time to do this.....).
We have a property manager who normally does these things....but its been a good reminder getting a little back involved.
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-Tidied up the alley/trash area behind one rental
-scraped 3 years of gunk off shower walls at another rental (I'd post a pic, but it is pretty gross).
-borrowed some space in 6 of my neighbors' trashcans to throw out nasty pillows and blankets left behind at said rental just before the trash pick up (with FIRE, one can be there at the right time to do this.....).
We have a property manager who normally does these things....but its been a good reminder getting a little back involved.
It's posts like these that make me terrified of getting into rentals. People can be very gross!
I did not yet do #4 above or my bonus challenge. However, I did tackle a mountain of paper in my son#1's room yesterday including recycling several bags worth of old high school and college paperwork and also rounded up about 2 bags worth of totally unused/brand new school supplies from his room and around our house that I am going to give to my SIL who is a teacher and can use the supplies. We also rounded up a stack of about 12 AP and SAT study guides that her younger kids can still use, now that my kids are done with High School. So it feels good to pass along those things to someone who can use them.
We've also decided to host a yard sale in 2 weekends when the church up the street has their fall YS (free advertising and more foot traffic), so that is motivating me to round up items from the house that can be sold then. We decided to donate all $ proceeds to our local food bank. The goal is just to get rid of some unused items from our house to keep the purge train going.
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Between our neighbor's house burning last month, and all the hurricane talk, I finally was spurred to take pictures of the contents of our house and upload to dropbox. It's not every item and a price list, but enough to "walk through" and remember most of what we have.
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Spent two hours catching up on weeding my front yard. If I can keep sneaking in an hour here and there I might eventually get it under control...
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Cleared out some room in the freezer, cleaned the crumbs that collect at the bottom, and am slowly adding some mason jars 2/3 filled with water. Stuck a few in the fridge, too. We're expected to get heavy winds here from Irma, so if the power goes out, they'll be good thermal mass. If it goes out for a long time...they'll be good drinking water.
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Disconnected the dryer and cleaned out the vent pipe. There was a LOT of lint packed in there! Made a note in the calendar to do this next year, and not wait 6 years again. <hangs head in shame>
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Washed a couple of very dirty windows.
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Painted the entryway/foyer. Still needs a second coat, but first I have to make dinner.
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Our Saturday yard sale was a moderate success. We priced things to go with true yard-sale prices since we were motivated to move unwanted things from our house. Most things were priced 25 cents to a dollar with only a few things which were more valuable in the $5 to $10 range. We sold a ton of things including all but a small handful of Halloween decorations. We also gave away free a ton of white wire shelving which we took out of our master closet last year when we redid the shelves.
We made $100 for our time/effort which will be donated to our local food bank on Monday. With the items that didn't sell, we took one tub full of clothes, another box of shoes, and miscellaneous household goods/decorations and already dropped them off at Salvation Army. The box of books will be taken to the library drop off next week. I only put one small box of stuff, one chair, and one aquarium back in the basement for when the next yard sale spark hits us (maybe next spring or again next fall).
Now that we are over the yard sale hump, it's my plan to organize, seperate, and purge several boxes of sentimental stuff in our storage room. These are mostly pictures of my family over the last 20 years, a few things I held on to for some dumb reason from before we were married, and a box of framed pictures which I plan to take out of the frames and add said frames to the yard sale pile for next time. This may be my big winter project as I think it's going to take a lot of space and time to go through everything and decide how much (how little) I should keep for my sons. I may try to scan in some photos for a photo book for each of them and purge all the duplicates and my god - all the pictures of kids I don't even remember their names now! Why did I take pictures of so many other kid's birthday parties? It's my goal to have no more than one box for each of them.
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Tidied under the kitchen sink and cleaned up the trash bucket and recycle bin I inherited from a former tenant.
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Washed all our cloth grocery bags. Boy, they were nasty.
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I'm not sure whether to put this here, or as a money saving post, diy, etc., but it's 'odd', so...... : D Everything I used for this I already had.
A few weeks ago, we had our furnace and a/c replaced. While removing the furnace, the techs tore the vinyl floor in the laundry/utility room. It's a pretty big and ragged tear - maybe 12" x 18", and completely torn away from the floor. Since the furnace is at the front of the room, you see it every time you go in there, and it looked awful. I could have made a fuss/demanded a new floor, but eh, the house is 25 years old and the floor was already scuffed up. I also did not want to remove the washer, dryer, shelving units, etc. to put in a new floor. I've painted vinyl floors before, so I decided to see what I can do with it. Glued down the torn piece and used floor leveler to fill in the gaps. Luckily it's a mottled fake tile pattern, so I'm layering in paints that I have that match pretty well. I've got it looking good enough I think to put the 'grout' lines back in on the patch tonight, and then I'll coat it with floor gloss/sealer. The alternative was to paint the whole floor - I'm glad the patching is working instead.
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The door to the cold storage room wasn't latching correctly, so I fixed that today. Also put some weatherstripping on the door.
We had an energy audit as part of our furnace install, so did the recommended draft proofing the tech suggested. Gaskets on outlets, sealing the attic hatch, and sealing some gaps between the wood surround and metal framing of the gas fireplace.
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I simply don't have the time or energy for one odd chore a day, since I still work full-time, and I have a part-time side hustle on the weekend. Not to mention taking care of a house and yard on my own. So I am going to modify the challenge to be one odd chore a week. Hope that is OK.
The chore I am setting for myself in the upcoming week is to take several boxes of shredding from the side hustle that is stored at my house to the commercial shredding center. Client will reimburse me.
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I simply don't have the time or energy for one odd chore a day, since I still work full-time, and I have a part-time side hustle on the weekend. Not to mention taking care of a house and yard on my own. So I am going to modify the challenge to be one odd chore a week. Hope that is OK.
The chore I am setting for myself in the upcoming week is to take several boxes of shredding from the side hustle that is stored at my house to the commercial shredding center. Client will reimburse me.
I tend to do things in bursts, not every day, and I haven't been kicked off the thread yet. : p
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I tend to do things in bursts, not every day, and I haven't been kicked off the thread yet. : p
Clearly someone is slacking in their odd chore of managing this thread.
I got my husband to attach a table top that I pulled from a roadside giveaway to a table base I pulled from bulky trash. Franken-table. Oh, and he cleaned the outdoor chairs too. These were odd chores on my list, but of course the odd part was mostly that he did them.
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Weeded a garden bed that REALLY needed it.
Now the trick will be, once I've caught up on my backlog of weeding, to make it a small regular chore rather than an odd one...
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Finally painted the vaulted ceiling in the living room. Been dreading that for months. Lots of beams made edging real fun.
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All edging is from hell. Good job getting that done!
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Finished off a sewing project that had been sitting around. Not exactly a "chore" but I was procrastinating getting it done, so...
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Happy to report that I did take the shredding in to the shredding place.
My tasks for this week will be to take two more bags of clothes to donate and buy a can of Scotchguard and apply it to the couch and chair.
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My odd chore is to list items for sale.
I listed four and two are gone, two are pending pickup.
Feel bad for not doing it so long.
My next task is to list more items for sale. I want to list atleast 100 items before December so our next move is way easier.
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I like this challenge!
Today I did phase 1 of the gardening needs - pulling up the spent plants.
Also crazy glued the semi-broken washer handle. Hopefully it will set and keep us from having to replace the part.
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Cleared out another garden bed (so much weeding!).
Tomorrow: call and cancel my roadside assistance (we have double cover by accident, hence cancelling). Posting it here will mean I do it, right?
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I've been stalking this thread for a couple weeks and finally made an account so I can participate. Thanks so much for starting this thread! We moved into a house that had almost all original features from when it was built in the 70s (not the good 70s stuff - it included original brown? carpet!). The stuff that had been updated was done so poorly by renters. Slowly but surely we're getting things done. Last night the project was hanging a mirror we built for the entryway. Side note, can one of the subsequent days be correcting the height at which we hung the mirror? Measure twice is a real thing that needs to happen!
Keep up with all the good work everyone!
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Joining, since I've been following this thread for so long.
Yesterday, I finally painted the shelves I bought for my kitchen. I had to let them dry overnight, but hopefully I will get them set up today so I can do a few other odd chores that have been waiting on them.
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Dug the kids' table and chair set out of the garage and cleaned it up. It's getting passed on to grandson this Christmas.
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Hung up the towel bar in our bathroom
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Partially fixed my bike, after a month of letting it annoy the crap out of me. The chain was rattling. So I cleaned it up and gave it some fresh oil. Now I'm waiting for my boyfried to get the chain nicely tightened again, since I can't get this screw to move and tighten.
I'm pretty proud of myself, normally I would've brought my bike to the nearest shop and let them fix it. But I did it, I didn't break anything and learned a couple of new things today :)
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I got the kitchen shelves assembled on Saturday, and filled them wih food on Sunday, along with putting away all my wedding presents. The next odd chore will be returning duplicates for gift cards.
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We got a new thermostat which is of course a different size than the old one, so patched the hole that still shows. Will touch up the paint later today so I no longer have a pink undercoat patch on a beige wall. sidenote: why oh why did this builder use bubblegum pink paint as the undercoat everywhere in this house? Was he a fan of Barbie? Did he have a bunch from another job to use up? I have never seen this before, and hope to never see it again.
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I repaired the front door, then touched up the paint, all before the cold weather hits. Win!
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Cleaned the filters for the furnace today. We went from mid 20sC to 10C this morning - winter is coming. Brrrr.
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Task for the week: Buy and install new blinds for the living room.
Next week: New curtains to go with the blinds.
Been meaning to do these two things for over a year.
Had a 6 hour flight home yesterday and lot of things got put on the list.
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Recent 'Odd' jobs completed by the Need2Save family:
1. Emptied everything out of our freezer. Cleaned it out, tossed 'mystery meat' and other wonders. Used up several things already.
2. Checked credit reports and filed a request to delete mystery address from profile.
3. Froze credit so noone can open a new account without our knowing it.
4. Opened a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) for current and future charitable giving. Post coming on our blog either today or tomorrow.
5. Set up detailed budget for 2018 (we always have ballpark, but then we detail it out in the last quarter of the year prior).
6. Refined our projected 'FIRE' date assumptions. A little over 5 years and counting! Woo-hoo.
7. Scheduled annual checkup with Gyn and will take care of mammogram shortly following when I get the order from my doc. (It's breast cancer awareness month. When was your last mammogram?) Hubby also scheduled his annual physical.
8. Signed up for maximum HSA contributions for 2018. Hubby and I split our insurance to take advantage of the employer contributions at each of our jobs, but we make sure not to exceed the combined family contribution limit.
9. Switched bedding from light/summer to our fall/winter duvet - all warm and toasty!
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Task for the week: Buy and install new blinds for the living room.
Next week: New curtains to go with the blinds.
Been meaning to do these two things for over a year.
Had a 6 hour flight home yesterday and lot of things got put on the list.
Update:
I bought the blinds, but I may be quitting my job soon, so I am considering returning them as that is $280 I don't need to spend right now if I am out of work.
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Since we are probably selling our house in a couple of months, I decided to pick up a couple of 'odd chores' the coming weeks, to make our house look at its finest before we put it up for sale.
Todays chore was cleaning out the (tiny) garage and finally securing the storage solutionthing to the wall, so that we can put everything neatly away and make our tiny garage seem a bit bigger than it actually is.
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littlelykke - good luck getting ready for your house listing. I know that can be stressful to keep your house looking it's best for an extended period! Wishing you a speedy and profitable sale.
We are getting ready for Thanksgiving here:
1. Did self-clean cycle on both wall ovens
2. Cleaned the bits of food and grease that get trapped between the wall ovens
3. Detailed the gas stovetop (it's stainless steel and we use Bartender's Friend to keep it clean, which then gets trapped in the grooves of the burners some times)
4. Ordered our fresh turkeys from local turkey farm (no they are not cheap, but we like to buy fresh and local for this one holiday)
Unrelated to Turkey Day:
5. DH listed about 20-25 items on Ebay for sale
6. Winterized the outside hose bibs
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littlelykke - good luck getting ready for your house listing. I know that can be stressful to keep your house looking it's best for an extended period! Wishing you a speedy and profitable sale.
[...]
Thank you :) We will see how it goes :)
Today's odd chore: deeeeeeep cleaning the bathroom. It has never been this clean :P
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I too have bursts of odd job completion.
Cleaned the bedroom light fixture.
Disconnected and emptied the rain barrels.
Attached the downspouts.
Brought all the concrete garden ornaments inside.
Return some tools borrowed from the neighbor.
Cleaned out the bird feed Barrel.
Wiped out my dresser drawers. Cleaned a basket.
Cleaned a bunch of belts
Sorted some of the kids clothes.
Went looking for winter clothes.
Helped my son to clean up his room.
Remove the fountain pumps from the ponds and brought them inside.
I moved all the hoses and connections and brought them inside.
Shut off the main water supply and openned the tops outside
It is amazing what I'll get done when the temperature is going to drop below zero for a couple of days.
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Since I've worked on several of my days off lately, I've been pretty unmotivated to keep up with regular stuff around the house even when I am home. I guess the thinking is that I "deserve" some down time. But I also "deserve" a clean and tidy house!
So though it's not really an "odd" chore, I'll post that I emptied out a couple of bags from that spot in the house where shopping bags, purse, work bags, etc tend to accumulate. And also relocated a couple of things from the coffee table where many many things have accumulated. If I do that 50 more times, the coffee table will be clear again...
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Put out the outside Christmas lights (but won't turn them on until December). Dug out our winter hats, mitts, etc. It's supposed to warm up again next week, but the snow we got yesterday was a good reminder to do all this before we have 3 feet of the white stuff out there.
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My odd chore -- inviting SIL's family to dinner tonight. I don't think I have ever done that before without inviting the grandparents, too. DH doesn't reach out to his family much because of his personality, not because of the family.. But if I never make an effort, family ties won't happen.
ETA: Went ok. The cousins, who normally don't interact much had an absolute blast together. (ages 11-17) I don't seem to click, but for a family effort, went ok.
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Sorted and reduced the contents of the out of control box of gift bags. Recycled every bag that was damaged or not my taste for reuse and sorted the remainders into Christmas, Birthday, General, and Wine. Still have surplus but at least I now know what I have and will never need to buy another gift bag!
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Went through all my daughter's clothes and packed up anything summery and also a different bag for outgrown items. Then I reorganized my own closet and nailed a hangy thingy to the wall inside the closet and hung up my sweaters on that. I did my son's closet a few days ago.
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Repaired the hinges on the bedroom window today. The window wouldn't shut easily when we opened it, so when we got it shut last it stayed that way. That meant we couldn't allow the cool breeze through the room in the afternoon, with subsequent airconditioning at times. Now we can open and close the window easily. New flyscreens next. :)
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My odd chore for today: cleaning out the 'odd socks drawer'. Every time I have a single sock left over after washing, I put it in this drawer. And every once in a while, I'll spend some time matching those single socks and trowing everything out that still hasn't have a partner.
I also went quickly through my other clothes and found 11 pieces that I no longer wear or are really too old and damaged to be worn. So those are now gone too :)
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My chore for this weekend is painting the office. I picked out a lovely shade of pale gray, packed up stuff, etc., etc. All ready. My husband says something about painting the trim first. I'm like, painting the trim??? . . . I didn't buy paint for the trim. Now all my energy is seeping away at the thought of all the extra work I totally didn't prepare for.
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Just discovered this thread & love it. I have a bunch of Thanksgiving related food prep, but cleaned my electric toothbrush (inside). Oh, how it needed it!
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Inspired by littlelykke, I cleaned out the "missing sock" drawer, and found 6 matches. I then went through each of the kids sock drawers & reunited another 5 pair of socks.
I also washed the top of our garbage can (the kitchen one), which somehow attracts strange things, like trails of banana peels, etc.
I love this challenge. Need to think of what kind of fun stuff I'm going to do tomorrow. :-)
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Inspired by littlelykke, I cleaned out the "missing sock" drawer, and found 6 matches. I then went through each of the kids sock drawers & reunited another 5 pair of socks.
[...]
Haha, you're welcome! And good job! :)
Today we finally went to the dutch version of goodwill. And donated 5 big bags with books, magazines, clothes, shoes, some knick knacks, etc.
And I'm about to clean my bike, since I saw that some places were covered in mud.
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Today we finally went to the dutch version of goodwill. And donated 5 big bags with books, magazines, clothes, shoes, some knick knacks, etc.
kinda curious.....what is the name of the Dutch equivalent of goodwill? (yes, i'm a travelling thrifter).
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Inventoried my freezer, so I now know how many servings we have, and of which item. It's been a few "mystery meals", where I defrost the wrong thing, so this should help.
Also, went the extra mile & grouped all like things together, and organized into bigger containers. We buy deli meat for paninis & then break into smaller packages to freeze. My husband doesn't always search the freezer before buying more, as evidenced to the 12 bags I found of meat. Now that everything is grouped into larger ziplocks, it should make it quick & easy to determine how much we have, and cut down on waste.
For tomorrow (or, maybe today? No sports for the kids, so should really take advantage.) I need to organize our hall closet. It holds all of the random things. Scared to open it, let alone clean it. But, every time I open it, it annoys me.
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Today we finally went to the dutch version of goodwill. And donated 5 big bags with books, magazines, clothes, shoes, some knick knacks, etc.
kinda curious.....what is the name of the Dutch equivalent of goodwill? (yes, i'm a travelling thrifter).
De kringloop! --> Here's a list where you can search for adresses per province. https://www.kringloop-info.nl/adressen-kringloopwinkels-nederland/ (website in Dutch).
that's the biggest and most well-known (oldest as well I think). But there are lots and lots of other ones too. In my area, there is a 'Hebbus!' and a 'noggus & noggus'. As well as some more fancy 'boutique' like goodwill stores. For example 'appel en ei'.
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Today's odd chore is to work on the laundry room. I had it all neat and tidy, and then did a major closet over-haul and some of that stuff that I couldn't deal with ended up in the laundry room.
Also, this week I need to get some random stuff together and take it to the donation center.
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-Organized scary hall closet
-Cleaned/decluttered kids rooms
-Cleaned the microwave (has been on the to do list "forever")
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Last night I moved everything off the bathroom counter, wiped it down, and rearranged it - mostly moving the fish tank to the other side. And getting my electric toothbrush plugged back in - somewhere along the way it got unplugged and shoved in a basket - now I can use it again!
I still need to figure out how to hang my small cabinet on the wall. I bought it because the bathroom has one big cupboard under the sink, with no shelves or drawers to organize smaller items. And there was no medicine cabinet, just a big mirror above the sink. So I bought this one at IKEA. But I've never got it installed on the wall - it just sits on the countertop. Getting it up on the wall would really unclutter the counter, and make the bathroom sink area far more functional. But even moving it to the other side works better with the way that the door opens, so partial improvement!
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PJ!!!!!
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PJ!!!!!
Hi to you too! :-)
Ok, odd chore for today - raked up a couple bags of leaves in the nice warm afternoon sun. What a gorgeous day it was here, wish I'd spent even more of it outside.
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Washed the car today. It was 15C, and that's spectacular for November here. Next week will probably bring blizzards. : )
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We still needed to install a lamp in the bedroom. Lamp case had been bought, been laying around the house for weeks and I finally fixed it. Hung up the lamp, connected the electricity and... it worked! Yay for me! Had never done that before, but it went well and I learned something new :)
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Replaced a couple of Venetian blinds last night. They have been samaged for a while, and replacements came out at half price. One more to do tonight.
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Have noticed a few marks on our hallway wall. Finally had the lights on full blast yesterday for other purposes, and noticed that it was, in fact, blood splatter. And, there was a lot more of it than I thought. One of the kids? A stubbed toe, maybe? Yay. Anyway, got that all cleaned up.
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I love this one.
Today I'm going to put together a bed for in-laws that are staying with us over Christmas.
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Finally painted the bedroom trim and cut it and put it up. It had been mostly (80%) cut and sitting in the bedroom for 6 years. I still have to caulk and topcoat, but what a difference. Unfortunately, I need to buy one more 8 ft piece to finish one door.
I can't wait for the new headboard we are getting for christmas (we have gone 12 years without one), so a complete master bedroom clean up and prep is well worth it.
Other tasks because I have guests coming this weekend:
Washed off the back deck and put pressure washer into storage where it won't freeze,
Scrubbed walls for finger prints (2 floors),
Got out the plaster for wall repair.
Fixed a broken picture frame and hung it back on the wall.
Scrubbed stairs to basement,
Made chocolate fudge balls,
Made butternut squash soup
Moved all furniture to properly clean the area rug,
Caulked the kitchen counter where it meets the wall,
Replaced lightbulbs, including the weird halogen ones that are $$ and I have been ignoring until more burn out.
Scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees to get the spots that the standup mop doesn't.
Finished all the laundry in the house. (still needs to be put away)
And tomorrow is another day!
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Cleaned out our little garage which was getting too full to be able to pull into. Took a few hours over about 3 days.
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This is a small one, but a few months back, we broke our milk jug. (The glass container we keep in the fridge, that we decant the giant, Costco size containers of milk into.) The jug helps prevent spillage when the kids (or, sometimes adults) pour milk. Today, I dug threw the cupboards on a search for a backup option & found something! This should help keep the fridge & counters cleaner, & reduce spills. Always a win.
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I bought some potted shrubs over two years ago, meaning to plant them in the yard. Never did, so I have had to water them in the summer, then bring them into the garage for the winter. Waste of time.
Today was reasonably warm day, so I finally got a shovel and pickax, and planted five of them. Watered and mulched them, so hopefully that is all. It was hard work battling the rocks and tree roots, but I will enjoy having the space in the garage and not having to worry about them drying out.
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Got inspired when reading this article ( https://www.thesimpledollar.com/the-power-of-good-relationships-and-thoughts-on-building-and-maintaining-them/ ) and decided to put his advice intro practice and get busy with my resolutions early. My goal was meeting with my friends once a month, it's So I caught up with a old friend of mine, we had a really nice chat. Made me realize that I should do this more often, it was great talking to her again.
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Washing the mattress cover and deodorizing the mattress with baking soda. Maybe I'l even flip it.
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Shoveled today. First and hopefully last time of the year but doubtful.
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Washing the rugs. They don't get frequent enough attention here, so it's a good chore. Although, our dryer clearly needs to be updated, because it takes. . . FOREVER to dry the rugs properly.
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Went through & cleaned up my old payments in my bank's bill pay.
This reminded me of two further chores that can be down:
1) figure out if I can automate any of the utility bills, as there are many! Will help reduce work, risk of forgetting/late payments, and give us credit card points.
2) Sign up for email notifications on all of the bills vs paper. Reducing clutter in the house.
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Did the filing that's been stacking up for weeks & haunting me. It took less than 5 minutes! I'd psyched myself up for a big time suck, but it was quick & easy. Yes!
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Today I am going to defrost the freezer. It is going to be super cold again overnight. So around 4pm I will put all the food from inside the freezer in the screen porch that is secure from animals but the same temperature as outside. I will turn off the freezer and and fill it with buckets and towels/rags and leave the door open. All the food will go in all the empty bins that I have from de-cluttering operations.
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Today we're cleaning out the garden:
- Moving all the stoneblocks that were still laying there from removing the pond
- Planting some new plants at the back, to fill in the gaps that are now there because of said pond-removal.
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Cleaned the oven, which involved turning the dials and letting the oven do all the work. I only do this once every year or so, usually in the winter when the added heat is welcome. It's -20C right now, on the way to -25C, so today seemed a good day for it. : )
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Took all of our patio furniture cushions in, washed them, and am line drying the covers. Separately drying the liners as well. Will store for the winter.
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Loaded the car with all my daughter stuff for college (she graduated HS early and is going to a big 10 school for Education and Soccer) drover her 4 hours and dragged it all up to the 5th floor in her dorm (luckily and elevator) and then after a couple hours drove back and made dinner!
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Yesterday I also wiped out the inside of the fridge and arranged it so like foods were all together.
I started a container of veg that I would have previously tossed for soup stock - which I will make today.
Freezer is all reloaded and I took a careful inventory for future meal planning.
Next on the punch list is the fridge freezer. I think I have become an impulsive butter buyer. I was looking for something yesterday and kept finding butter.
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Today we're cleaning out the garden:
- Moving all the stoneblocks that were still laying there from removing the pond
- Planting some new plants at the back, to fill in the gaps that are now there because of said pond-removal.
And today we spend 3 hours moving said stoneblocks to my fathers allotment. They'll stay there, while we'll sell our house. Then we'll have to move them again, to our new house. Yay!
But for now, it's done. And I've got my soreness to prove that we did.
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I've been chucking broken items (mostly toys, also some books missing pages, etc.) into a closet. I repaired a few electronic toys (sanded down dirty battery contacts, resoldered wires, and in one case actually replaced the speaker from, and resewed a neighing hobby horse). Then I used superglue to fix items with snapped plastic. Now the kids can finally play with them, or I can declutter them!
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I took down my Christmas decorations!
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Ironed on a patch for my favorite jeans. This is on a non-visible part of the jeans, so I'm hopeful the patch will extend the life somewhat.
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This past week saw the house get unChristmas decorated and so I washed the floors and cleaned marks off walls. Target zones were light switches and door handles.
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This past week saw the house get unChristmas decorated and so I washed the floors and cleaned marks off walls. Target zones were light switches and door handles.
I totally need to do this
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Recent 'Odd Chores' some of which overlap with the decluttering/getting rid of your '$HIT' category include:
1. Painting DS #1 Bedroom
2. Replacing Door Hinges and Door Knobs in DS #1 Bedroom (you know, after we painted the doors!) looking so nice now!
3. Threw out or Recycled probably 4 boxes worth of paper and other 'mementos' that were mixed in with our photos in storage
4. Purged a massive number of poor quality photos/reprints/pictures of a bunch of kids I don't even remember their names from when sons were small, etc!
5. Created a photo box for both sons with reprints of family photos in storage. They probably don't want now, but may want in the future. I figure one small box per child is a good legacy to give them later.
6. Took family photos out of about ten frames we no longer display. Will sell frames at next yard sale. Storing pictures until decide what to do with them.
7. Listed about 20 things on Ebay (currently selling ~10 of them). Have to decide to relist or not if they don't sell. Have about 20 more to list this weekend! Yeah for getting money for things we don't want any more!
8. Transferred excess money in my HSA over to the investment side (left a little cash in case we need it but the rest should be invested).
9. Found about 15 unused postcards that I had picked up over the years in my travels. Considering using them in lieu of birthday cards this year for the family! Will be fun and random for recipients.
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Replaced all our smoke alarms (3). They have to be done every 10 years, and time was up. As they age, they get really yellow, so it's nice to be back to white units that blend into the ceiling again.
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I'm in on this one! My only modification to this is that since I work doubles some days not much will be accomplished those days.
Last night I did two odd chores, one was installing a new hand 18" towel bar in my bathroom. The old one was an ugly white bar that was painted on and get this, the previous owner Sharpied "Kristen towel" and "Joshua towel" on the bar itself! They did the same on the 24" bath towel bar, which I am replacing and installing the new one this weekend. How much do you have to dislike your partner to hate using their towel and not have the memory to know whose side is which? These bars I'm installing have been laying around for months as they were wedding gifts. I love practical gifts, except when it comes to actually installing them. Now I'm glad that those boxes are in the recycling and the old bars are on my local Buy Nothing for someone else to use.
The second odd chore I did was go through a closet I barely look at. I recently sold a tray rack that was in there, and realized how everything was just shoved in the closet pel mel. I have a lot of luggage and backpacks, as it turns out. In Aug 2016 there was a fire in the unit below mine and in Jan 2017 there was a fire down the street, having the (3) cat carriers ready to go and easy to get was very important to evacuating, if there was a fire yesterday, it would have been hell digging those out. The closet is well organized and I have a few more things to list for free or sell.
A third odd chore I did was cleaning an industrial fan we use for circulation during the summer. It had massive amounts of cat hair and dust caked on from not cleaning it for a few years, which is nasty because it's blowing that all over our place. We got it for free from the house we lived in before we moved to the condo, so it's up to use to maintain it. We have three air purifiers that all need a little TLC, I'm convinced I can fix them. None of them are running right now, which is bad because we have three cats in a 900sq ft condo and we both have breathing problems.
Next odd chores to do once my doubles this week are over: -wash cat carriers -install 24" towel bar -clean, repair, use or discard the three air purifiers we have that are not turned on right now.
Sorry for the novel, I just got really excited that I found this thread.
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Been doing some weird ones and wanted to revive this thread!
-Got moss killer on the lawn. I read a bunch of articles that were like "solve the problem, don't just treat it!" ummm it's a north facing lawn in Oregon, of COURSE it's wet all the time. *eyeroll* BUT ANYWAY, the house across the street is up for sale, so we're trying to pretty up our place and hope it sells for the absurdly high amount they're asking for it, in case we want to sell later this year and move back to Portland.
-Pruning trees and cutting hedges back from the sidewalk and lawn.
-Pulling out a vine that was trying to grow up under (!!!) my siding. Also did a pass and trimmed all trees and shrubs back from the house to prevent damage.
-Rearranged the pantry.
Washing the rugs. They don't get frequent enough attention here, so it's a good chore. Although, our dryer clearly needs to be updated, because it takes. . . FOREVER to dry the rugs properly.
This is super old, but usually that means you need to clean your dryer, vs replace it. They last basically forever until you can't replace the rare part, especially if they're gas vs electric. Frequently overlooked things include washing the lint screen if you use fabric softener (it's hydrophobic, so it'll accumulate on the screen and stop moisture passing through adequately) and then cleaning lint out of the vent lines (not just what you can reach, further out).
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Been doing some weird ones and wanted to revive this thread!
-Got moss killer on the lawn. I read a bunch of articles that were like "solve the problem, don't just treat it!" ummm it's a north facing lawn in Oregon, of COURSE it's wet all the time. *eyeroll* BUT ANYWAY, the house across the street is up for sale, so we're trying to pretty up our place and hope it sells for the absurdly high amount they're asking for it, in case we want to sell later this year and move back to Portland.
-Pruning trees and cutting hedges back from the sidewalk and lawn.
-Pulling out a vine that was trying to grow up under (!!!) my siding. Also did a pass and trimmed all trees and shrubs back from the house to prevent damage.
-Rearranged the pantry.
Washing the rugs. They don't get frequent enough attention here, so it's a good chore. Although, our dryer clearly needs to be updated, because it takes. . . FOREVER to dry the rugs properly.
This is super old, but usually that means you need to clean your dryer, vs replace it. They last basically forever until you can't replace the rare part, especially if they're gas vs electric. Frequently overlooked things include washing the lint screen if you use fabric softener (it's hydrophobic, so it'll accumulate on the screen and stop moisture passing through adequately) and then cleaning lint out of the vent lines (not just what you can reach, further out).
Yeah, we clean the dryer often, but this is in our vacation house, and it's just an energy dog & needs to be replaced. But, it's hard to justify, given our usage of it. I should bring my long giant pole like thing that you can push into the lint trap & move around to get extra clean. Maybe that will help a bit.
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-Cleaned my Sonicare & WaterPik today. If you don't have a WaterPik, and have trouble flossing (I have some tendonitis in my right hand), I highly recommend. I notice such a big difference vs regular floss.
-Was unplugging the shredder, and discovered the table near it was crazy dusty. Took care of that.
-Also noticed a bunch of dust wedged between the boards in my son's bed. Need to get in there, but didn't make it happen today.
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Some of the grout in the shower started to get some moldy spots. So cleaned them all with the toothbrush & they are super clean again.
Also unclogged the drain, so the water can get away easily again :)
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Yeah, we clean the dryer often, but this is in our vacation house, and it's just an energy dog & needs to be replaced. But, it's hard to justify, given our usage of it. I should bring my long giant pole like thing that you can push into the lint trap & move around to get extra clean. Maybe that will help a bit.
If it is one of those big white box dryers, it's usually pretty easy to open up the chassis and vacuum around the drum. To find out how to open up the chassis, Google how to clean or how to repair your model number of dryer and you'll probably find a video. Dryers are supposed to be serviced every year or so, and that is what the repairmen do. Also it's a fire hazard if you let lint accumulate inside your machine or in the duct.
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Today I fixed our garage door remote... it has been broken all winter so my son has been leaving his bike outside. Exactly while I was fixing the remote, my daughter broke the toilet handle. So we are at par.
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Followed up on an online order from late last year that never arrived. It's my least favourite kind of chore, so I'm giving myself a gold star for doing it!
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Today is day 1/9 of my staycation. I have started the day by cleaning the humidifier. Plenty on the to-do list to keep me busy.
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I dug my sewing pile out of the closet this week, and repaired both a ripped lace shirt and my wife's ripped button up! That chore has been sitting for at least a year. It feels great to get it done!
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Today: posting a return (...from last year! whoops!).
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Cleaned out my ski bag (from the attic). Made piles of things to keep, donate, sell. Did the same with the kids bags.
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Just found this thread - I also have a 100 yr old house and an overwhelming list!
Today I put away the winter duvet.
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Just found this thread - I also have a 100 yr old house and an overwhelming list!
Today I put away the winter duvet.
One step at a time! :-)
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I scraped and painted two walls of the kids' art hut. The sides we see from the house. Now it seems i'll need to scrape and paint two sides of the garage and also do the trim and eaves. I really dislike painting eaves.
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I haven't posted in a while, but I am so proud of myself. Over the last month I have done a major paper purge! I sorted through about 100+ file folders of papers, consolidated them, decided what needed to be scanned for future reference (tax/IRS related, house/mortgage, and health care mostly), scanned everything I felt we might need access to (especially in case of an audit) and filled up an 18 gallon bin of paperwork that can be shredded! It's sitting in the corner of my office just waiting for either the shred day at my husband's work or the one that the credit union runs in the spring to come around - whichever occurs first. I do have a small shredder but the shear volume may be it's death so I decided to just wait for the professionals to do it. In the process, I was able to get rid of a filing cabinet in our basement that had two broken pieces and was taking up space for no good reason.
Other recent odd chores include:
1. Painting trim in upstairs hallway and the bathroom door.
2. Replacing a few more door handles and hinges (slowly swaping out the whole house).
3. Hubby replaced many more of our light bulbs to more efficient LEDs.
4. Sold about 35-40 items on Ebay. Hello - we made over $300 reselling old Legos! Crazy.
5. Sorted out the top shelves of several kitchen cabinets that I can't reach without a ladder. Found old sun screen and shot glasses up there. Old eyeglasses my son had when we first moved here (donated those to the Lions Club at the library) Bye-bye to all that!
6. Set aside another 20 or so books to donate to the library as well freeing up book shelf space in the office.
Question for Drole - what is an art hut? Is it like an out-building or shed?
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Wow @Need2Save - that is seriously impressive! I haven't made much progress in February (barely keeping up on non-odd chores), so need to start a list going of things I want to tackle.
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I haven't posted in a while, but I am so proud of myself. Over the last month I have done a major paper purge! ...
I am seriously impressed, and envious. <giving side-eye to basket of overdue scanning/filing>
Today I discovered that I could hang the ironing board behind my office door. I also found hooks and actually implemented. My systems-mind is stupidly proud of this, because I sometimes use the board to help sort things, and I can watch continuing ed videos when there's ironing.
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Someone spilled a bunch of food down the side of a cabinet near the garbage. Cleaned that today. The entire house needs a good scrub.
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Question for Drole - what is an art hut? Is it like an out-building or shed?
Art hut (art house/art shack) is formerly very scary storage room attached to garage. Used to be boarded up windows and such. Now it is home to all those Oops colors of paint you find at Lowe's/HD (at least on the inside). The outside is now painted to mat:ch the house.
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Creeping out of lurkdom to join in, if I may? I've been ´ostriching' for about 3 years about things that need doing around my ~140 year old house, but I've built up a bit of momentum in the past few weeks (new carpet! finally calling someone out to look at a weird noise the hot water pipes make!), and this thread seems like exactly what I need to keep things going. This weekend's chores will be cleaning all the light switches, and clearing out bookshelves of books with no sentimental value that I'm never going to read again.
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Keeping the party going this weekend! Yesterday I had off work. I was inspired to get a project done since it was supposed to be rainy all weekend. I went and bought some vinyl plank flooring and installed it in the laundry room over the existing old linoleum floor. I carefully pulled up the existing shoe molding so we could reuse it and took the opportunity to scrub all the baseboards really well and purge some things from the laundry closet. Hubby re-installed the shoe molding for me with his air compressor.
This involved several additional chores like buying a new laundry sink and faucet (it was in bad shape from the previous owners and we were planning to replace it anyway) and unhooking the dryer and cleaning it out and installing a new dryer vent on the back which needed to be done.
I think I'll relax the rest of the weekend now. Oh wait. After we do the laundry....(sigh)
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Arranged with a neighbor to rehome a crepe myrtle tree - same neighbor identified an elderberry in our yard, saving us from buying one!
Pulled 2 items out of the 'still to be put away from moving' pile and got them cleaned up for mounting.
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DW and I are totally joining in on this! I guess we already got started on this by sanding down the mudding that we used to patch our kitchen walls. Hopefully we'll get to painting it tomorrow.
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I removed the carbonate build up inside our pipe from the bore pump to the tank. I've never done it before, so it has been at least 15 years, and maybe 30 as the house has been here that long. So much higher volume from the bore. It uses to do 10 000 litres in 2 days. Now does it in 3 hours. Electricity savings and more gardens here we come!
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Cleaned my baseboards in all the hallways and kitchen. Still need to do the bedrooms and bathrooms, though.
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Dusted the house, including the bed frames, that were in sore need of dusting through all of the grooves, etc.
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A blogpost about keeping old photo's inspired me to clean out all my digital photo-clutter. Deleted a lot of double pictures & failed ones :)
Tomorrow I'll spend 30 minutes to clean up my various back-ups all in one place again. So that I can make 1 new complete backup and delete all the old ones that I now have to sift through every time I need something.
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I haven't added to this post in a long time. Long days at work + cold winter days = not many odd chores being completed. Today, I needed to tackle something and get back on track.
I cleaned out my closet and dresser drawers - bagged clothes for donation - and will drop them off tomorrow.
I took out the stain pen and filled in the cat scratches on my bedroom furniture. It looks so much better!
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It was going to be sunny this afternoon so I cleaned up the front porch - washed the table and the glass door. By about 3 pm you could sit comfortably in the sunshine streaming into the alcove and it was delightful - especially because there was no dust or cobwebs. Lovely to have my favourite spot to sit ready for the return of the sun and above freezing temperature.
I also started tidying up the greenhouse that my neighbour lets me use
I also sorted through my seeds to see which ones I need to buy for this season.
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It was going to be sunny this afternoon so I cleaned up the front porch - washed the table and the glass door. By about 3 pm you could sit comfortably in the sunshine streaming into the alcove and it was delightful - especially because there was no dust or cobwebs. Lovely to have my favourite spot to sit ready for the return of the sun and above freezing temperature.
I also started tidying up the greenhouse that my neighbour lets me use
I also sorted through my seeds to see which ones I need to buy for this season.
I heard on CBC that there is flooding in Chatham. Hope you are OK down in your corner of our province.
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It was going to be sunny this afternoon so I cleaned up the front porch - washed the table and the glass door. By about 3 pm you could sit comfortably in the sunshine streaming into the alcove and it was delightful - especially because there was no dust or cobwebs. Lovely to have my favourite spot to sit ready for the return of the sun and above freezing temperature.
I also started tidying up the greenhouse that my neighbour lets me use
I also sorted through my seeds to see which ones I need to buy for this season.
I heard on CBC that there is flooding in Chatham. Hope you are OK down in your corner of our province.
We are safe. It has just been so scary. Thanks for checking in. But our area is ok. Water is down significantly. The ice is all gone.
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Been awhile since I posted as well (in my own thread lol)
Yesterday I fixed the waistband on two pj pants. I lost some weight so I took out the regular band and added an elastic one that I can keep pinching in if I need to.
Replaced the laces in my hiking boots.
Mudded the wall I am repairing in my office.
I am going to get back to reporting to this thread daily. I am coming up on the busy time at my job and making sure I stay on top of odd chores is going to be important. I don't want to slack off.
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Ok, I really need to join this thread- old house and two small kids mean so many random things to do.
Today, cleaning random things out of bathroom drawer. And for tomorrow, hopefully getting some numbers to put on our garage, so that people can tell it's the right one from the alley.
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It's funny I only ever feel like cleaning when I'm stoned, yesterday I decided to deep clean the couch. Having 3 cats, eating diner there sometimes, and my husband making a nest there when he plays video games adds up to a lot of grime in the upholstery and under the cushions. I make an all purpose cleaner spray bottle with 2c water + 1/2c vinegar + 1t Dawn + 2T baking soda, and sprayed it all down to deodorize it and wipe some spots off. I used almost the entire spray bottle. I do my best to not get nose-blind. My $50 Goodwill couch will last a little while longer!
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This week we relisted a few items on Ebay and a couple new ones (good bye scrapbooking albums, new in packaging from over 10 years ago!). Two Lots already sold with 'buy-it-now' - I love that feature! We've sold over $700 in the last 2 months of stuff on Ebay so I don't feel bad spending a little money on the laundry room floor project accomplished last weekend. And yesterday, I made a master list of the remaining door handles/hinges we need to finish replacing the main two living areas of the house (to match). I'm not too concerned with the basement. If the ultimate buyers of our home are concerned about door handles in the basement, they can replace themselves.
Hubby returned a few supplies to Home Depot that we didn't end up needing for the laundry sink & dryer last weekend. I found some unused shelf brackets to return from 4 years ago as well and they took those back (for store credit).
I wanted to do some more trim painting this weekend, but I have no more white paint left. However, I have assembled the supplies needed to freshen up our mailbox on the next good-weather day with some black spray paint and fresh numbers which I found in our kitchen cabinet from the last time. Should look like new with a fresh coat of paint and new numbers. No money to be spent since we had these supplies. Come on spring!
Picked a few random decorative items that I no longer 'love' and put on the yard-sale pile. Not sure if we'll have one this spring or wait until the fall.
I also double-batch cooked a couple dinners this weekend to put in the freezer. We are not good about doing this often but I like having a few options in the freezer for those crazy weeks.
The bad news is that the weekend wind storm took off several roof shingles from the house. We have a notorious bad spot on one part of the roof that we've patched several times, but this time a few shingles came off from other parts of the roof. It may be time to do the whole roof. House is only 17 years old.
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I polished all of my kitchen cabinet faces... I wouldn’t have thought to really do it, but the difference now is quite noticeable. Between fingerprints and dust, putting in some elbow grease really made them shine.
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Getting rid of so many baby things! Bulky baby stuff like a swing and bassinet to someone having multiples, bunch of baby cloths to some friends, putting maternity stuff on local buy/sell group to go, and same with any remaining baby things I find :)
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I wipe out the lazy susan cupboard. Man that was a dusty grotty mess.
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I painted the mailbox post yesterday. It has been on the list for a while but it’s been raining most weekends. Doesn’t look new, but looks so much better.
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Then there are the odd chores you didn't plan to do, liking fixing the front door knob because you can't get into the house.
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Then there are the odd chores you didn't plan to do, liking fixing the front door knob because you can't get into the house.
Sometimes nothing is easy! :~(
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I washed lots of windows yesterday. I did most of the outside of the house, but now I can see how dirty the inside is!
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Re-screened 4/5 windows. If I have enough gumption, I'll finish that last one after dinner.
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I put new candles in all the candle holders. Cleaned and dusted all the candle holders. I also cleaned all the liquor glasses that I inherited from my grandmother.
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It's been awhile since I've tackled an odd chore, but today I did the following:
-Opened the cupboard/storage area where we keep our DVD player, and noticed the nasty amount of dust. Cleaned that.
-Discovered some of the slats on our doors (they our louvered?) we're crazy dusty from when we had our flooring installed. Cleaned 4. We have many in our house, so this was just phase one. :-)
-Noticed someone spilled coffee when loading coffee cup into the dishwasher, creating splashes on the outside of the cupboard. Got that cleaned up.
-And, assigned my older son to spot mop a few high traffic areas. Even better - leveraging the kids! :-)
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I did a lot today:
- Deep cleaned our oven
- Called several firms to give us a financial overview for 'rebuilding' our house.
- Contacted the city council to get approval for removing 2 huge trees in our yard.
- Already packed two boxes for moving day.
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• Deep cleaned my home office.
• Used my shop vac to go around the baseboards and get all of the dog hair that has built up forever in my home office since it could really get into the edges and corners.
• Deep cleaned my bathroom: pulled everything out, bleached everything, put it all back.
Doing the same thing in the bedroom and living room tomorrow. Tomorrow AM will be a cleaning frenzy since we have company coming.
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Spent the whole day at our new house and basically deep cleaned everything (well, that is, we cleaned as much as was possible).
End result: we can now actually park our car on our drive way, because we trimmed back the bushes. We also used a water pressure apparatus to clean the tiles of said drive way and discovered that they were in fact bright red (not dark gray, as we thought). We also brought away two vans full of junk to the dump & brought a third load to the goodwill store.
So yeah, pretty good day :)
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I did a lot today:
- Deep cleaned our oven
- Called several firms to give us a financial overview for 'rebuilding' our house.
- Contacted the city council to get approval for removing 2 huge trees in our yard.
- Already packed two boxes for moving day.
NOOOOOOO, don't cut down the trees! (Unless they are dead or diseased.) They are so good for the environment. And the new owners might love them. I live in an area with lots of mature trees, and it seems every time someone cuts down a tree,they move.
Then the new people say "we would have liked that" when I tell them what used to be there.
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Cleaned the grout in our shower with a small brush + vinegar. Worked perfectly. However, the silicone (clear plastic) sealant around the edges is still black. Need another solution. I'm planning to use bleach, because that's the best option I can find. What a hassle.
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I did a lot today:
- Deep cleaned our oven
- Called several firms to give us a financial overview for 'rebuilding' our house.
- Contacted the city council to get approval for removing 2 huge trees in our yard.
- Already packed two boxes for moving day.
NOOOOOOO, don't cut down the trees! (Unless they are dead or diseased.) They are so good for the environment. And the new owners might love them. I live in an area with lots of mature trees, and it seems every time someone cuts down a tree,they move.
Then the new people say "we would have liked that" when I tell them what used to be there.
Sorry, I know it doesn't sound great. But this is for our new house that we just bought and intend to live in for many many years to come. Those two trees are huge (15+ meter high) and they stand really close to our house (less than 2 meters). So not so great, when they fall on top of our house. They really just need to go, former owner didn't do much in terms of gardening, so we really have to remove some things in order to keep everything safe and clean and a bit open. I like trees, but I also like sun ;) And it's not just the height and fear of falling on our house. But also the fact that the roots might damage the foundation of our house & the fact that the leaves are not so good for our roof. They are just too close by and way too big. So they have to go unfortunately.
But on the bright side :) Our new garden is huuuuuuuge and contains at least 30 other trees, who are just as nice and big. They get to stay, because they're not so absurdly close to our house.
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I haven't accomplished much in the past couple of months. I'm nursing a sprained knee and a flare of plantar fasciitis on the same leg, so just concentrating on regular cleaning and chores. But today I mixed up a bunch of craft paint to match the metal supports of a drop ceiling. We had our sump pump discharge pipe rerouted outside a couple of years ago - the pipe runs in the ceiling over a finished bathroom with a dropped ceiling. The idiot plumber forgot to unplug the sump before cutting the pipe. Cue the flood, and rusting the metal supports in that area. It's been unsightly, and now looks so much better.
Next up - our still functional track lights in the kitchen have a plastic canopy over the box that has discoloured. We're not ready to replace them yet, so I will mix up some paint to touch that up too. Not permanent, but will hopefully not be such an eyesore in the meantime.
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I did a lot today:
- Deep cleaned our oven
- Called several firms to give us a financial overview for 'rebuilding' our house.
- Contacted the city council to get approval for removing 2 huge trees in our yard.
- Already packed two boxes for moving day.
NOOOOOOO, don't cut down the trees! (Unless they are dead or diseased.) They are so good for the environment. And the new owners might love them. I live in an area with lots of mature trees, and it seems every time someone cuts down a tree,they move.
Then the new people say "we would have liked that" when I tell them what used to be there.
Sorry, I know it doesn't sound great. But this is for our new house that we just bought and intend to live in for many many years to come. Those two trees are huge (15+ meter high) and they stand really close to our house (less than 2 meters). So not so great, when they fall on top of our house. They really just need to go, former owner didn't do much in terms of gardening, so we really have to remove some things in order to keep everything safe and clean and a bit open. I like trees, but I also like sun ;) And it's not just the height and fear of falling on our house. But also the fact that the roots might damage the foundation of our house & the fact that the leaves are not so good for our roof. They are just too close by and way too big. So they have to go unfortunately.
But on the bright side :) Our new garden is huuuuuuuge and contains at least 30 other trees, who are just as nice and big. They get to stay, because they're not so absurdly close to our house.
I am another tree advocate. Get an arborist to look at the trees for their structural integrity. Have them pruned to reduce risk of catastrophic failures or cabling. Tree roots don't damage foundations, water does and tree roots go seeking the water. Leaves don't damage roofs. In fact the sun is harder on a roof and the shade from the tree will increase the life of your roof by protecting it from the sun when the radiation is most damaging. I will take down a weed tree but a good canopy tree should never be removed because you want more sun. You should have bought a different house.
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Cleaned the exterior of the car. Kids helped. Used up a random, smelly cleaner.
Win-win-win.
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Cleaned the grout in our shower with a small brush + vinegar. Worked perfectly. However, the silicone (clear plastic) sealant around the edges is still black. Need another solution. I'm planning to use bleach, because that's the best option I can find. What a hassle.
Bleach didn't work for me... now planning to get all the silicone out and get fresh silicone in. Apparently it's a super annoying job... anyone got any tips on how to make this easy?
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RE- silicone caulk -- to make it easier, plan a treat / reward for yourself when you are done. A nice one. If you would like to come over and do mine too, I will reward you with dinner, homemade dessert, and drinks. :-)
Oh, and use the mildew proof silicone for the replacement... I didn't for my kitchen counter, and now a spot behind the sink needs to be redone only 4 months later..
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I ripped out the carpet and baseboards in my living room. I've been wanting new flooring forever, and since it's a holiday weekend I just thought why the hell not get started. I might regret it, but I'm going to learn how to lay new flooring. No excuses and I can't ignore it anymore since it's already done.
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My odd chore today is to do some admin work for 2 organizations I'm involved in.
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Home Depot has captured a little bit more of our money in March.
1. I purchased the final phase of hinge/door knobs to replace in the bedrooms/hallway and have swapped those out - project finally done!
2. I didn't realize during the first phase, but did for phases 2 - 4 that this old brass hardware can be recycled so it's all ready for drop off at our county recycling center when we make our way there.
3. I painted the mailbox but my spray paint ran out (was used on another project originally) so now I have to buy another one to finish the job. darn but I can't leave it half done like this.
4. I did paint several more bedroom/hallway doors when I was swapping out the hardware so now all doors in our upstairs have been freshly painted.
On the list for April will be:
1. moving a couple perenials from our front garden bed to one on the side of the house and putting in a couple new ones there to add more color and interest. The existing ones spread out too much and have taken over more than we had intended.
2. Also, more painting but this time the front and back external doors.
3. I'm not doing the work, but we are also in need of tearing down and replacing the fence on one side of our yard. But this requires a conversation with the neighbor first since it's technically his original fence which is falling down now in sections and in terrible shape. This may not happen in April though but hopefully before the summer heat takes over.
Also, happy to report that the insurance company agreed the wind-storm caused significant damage to the roof so we will now be getting a new roof for the cost of our deductible which is $2,500. Hubby anticipates our annual rates will be increasing as a result of the claim, but even if we don't sell for 4 or 5 years, the increase in premiums cannot possible be more than the full replacement cost ($17,000). We had been anticipating this expense for several years and setting aside money for the replacement.
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I found two boxes of canning jars in storage....so collected all the jars and recycled the ones that were not true canning ones. That made some counter space because I was out of room with jars everywhere.
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Pulled apart the nursery and scrubbed everything.
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-Took apart Sonicare toothbrushes & cleaned them.
-Noticed how dusty a floor door lock had gotten (I foam roll in the evening, and have seen a different side of the house, hence my new inspiration for cleaning). Got that dusted & cleaned up
-Likewise, noticed the bottom of our bed frame was dusty & took care of that
-As always, finding messes on our cupboards in the kitchen, so continuing to wipe them down as I notice
-It's spring here, so did quite a bit of sweeping outside yesterday. This helps keep the pool clean(er), by reducing the debris that can blow in
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I attacked my living room yesterday. Flipped one couch and chair to glue felt on the bottom of the legs. While they were at weird angles I vacuumed every inch of them. Velvet furniture and cat fur, makes for a furry base!
Then I pulled down my massive curtains in the living room and dining room and washed them twice. They came out beautiful! I hung them up wet because I don't own a dryer, but also because then they dry with no wrinkles - works perfectly!
Followed all this with a serious vacuum and dusting of my downstairs. I do this on the regular, but I was extra careful getting all the edges.
I am spending the next few days spring cleaning and performing extra odd chores so I will be updating some more. I have a bit of cabin fever as we are experiencing early spring bad weather so while this time of year I would normally be starting on outdoor chores, I am instead focusing on indoor items.
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'red-up' the cupboard under the kitchen sink. My grandmother would say ' get red-up' . It usually meant stop what you are doing, put away, clear off, wash your hand, comb your hair, tuck in your shirt, or whatever else needed to happen before the thing needed to happen next...And it needed to happen in 90 seconds. Be that a photo or clearing the dining table for a game of eucher or the horticulture club was coming for tea. In my case - we can't get the membrane changed in our RO and the guy is coming with a proper wrench. It is free because we bought the membrane from them already - just have to provide a tip to the guy.
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'red-up' the cupboard under the kitchen sink.
I have never heard that expression but I just red-up under the kitchen sink as well! I only use fabric grocery bags but my SO's parents have oodles of plastic grocery bags which they give me to use as garbage liners in my kitchen and bathroom. I had to really tidy them up because I have just been shoving them under the sink. Then of course when I was down there, I pulled everything out and washed the cupboard and tidied everything up to military precision. While moving more bags up to the bathroom I decided to do the same there as well. I love secret clean spots only I see!
In a fit of further craziness despite it being freezing and my unfinished basement slightly flooded due to the giant ice storm - I decided to take apart a basement window and wash all the panes. I honestly in ten years don't think I have ever cleaned this particular window. The dirt between the panes was shameful. Even after cleaning it's not perfect, but it's just to damn cold to keep the window open anymore and my hands were freezing wrestling with it while being wet.
Now I am off to wash winter blankets and duvet covers. I am trying to wash every textile in my house in the next four days. It gets tricky because I don't have a dryer and have limited hanging space for large items. I can't drape over furniture or doors as my furniture is all vintage wood and the doors are 100 year old gumwood. I debated going to a laundry mat but after years of using them, I grew to hate laundry mats and am super spoiled with my washing machine now.
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I'm killing it these last few days.
Winter blankets, cleaned and put away.
Winter coats, hats, mittens, washed and hung to dry.
Load of regular laundry done.
Shower liners and curtains washed and hung in place to dry.
Bathroom scrubbed to within an inch of its enamel!
Upstairs dusted, mirrors cleaned and vacuumed.
Humidifier descaled to be put away when it dries.
Giant meat sauce batch made and moved to the freezer.
Freezer drawers organized and cleaned.
Linen closet organized with items ready to donate in the car already.
I wish the weather was better I would love to get a head start on taking apart and washing all my windows. It's a very arduous task, but despite the sun shining it's still too cold. Not sure what I am going to tackle next other then a cup of tea.
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I fixed our garage door opener remote. The button didn't want to open the door unless you squeezed it rally hard. I took it apart and sprayed the switch on the circuit board with some electrical contact cleaner and that seemed to fix it. I hope that's all it was. The remote is a super old Craftsman remote and I'm not sure it is even made anymore.
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Recent progress includes (as planned above):
1. Painted outside of front and back external doors - yay!
2. Rearranged some of our perennials in our front garden beds - way better spaced now and I planted a few new ones for variety. Transplants haven't died yet so considering this a success.
3. We did get quotes for the fence project which were much higher than we thought they'd be. We've decided to do the removal of the existing fence ourself to save $850. But will pay our oldest son to do most of the labor.
4. Still waiting on the install of our new roof but should be very soon.
5. Bought new area rugs for our front door and kitchen. The previous ones had seen the end of their life-span and were dirty/stained beyond rescuing.
Also, not pre-planned but very much needed - got power washing on our siding and deck and have started restaining our deck boards. Once that's done we will repaint the deck railings and stairs.
Very pleased with our maintenance projects lately!
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listed some stuff on ebay. its been about a year since I last listed anything. I never seem to have much luck...I'm already thinking I should lower the prices (I mean I wouldn't pay that much!). :-)
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So I'm new here, but this sounds like something I should definitely start doing.
Today I (hopefully) fixed the leaking freezer - I chipped off all the ice buildup that had accumulated, flushed the drain with some hot water, and cleaned all the fur that had gotten underneath it. I don't know if I'll be happy or sad if that's all that needed to be done - we've been sopping up water that's leaked out from under it for years now.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to get all the tape that's stuck on my bedroom window off. My brother had the room before me and had problems with the window falling in, so he just used a bunch of filament tape to secure it. It is now cemented on. Again, it's been there awhile, but hopefully all I need is some soap and a scrub brush or paint scraper (depending on how stuck on it really is).
I just got home from college and live with my parents in the same house that I grew up in. Stuff like leaking fridges and taped windows and moldy windowsills never used to bother me, but now I just feel embarrassed that we're all so lazy that we can't be bothered to deal with that kind of stuff.
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So I'm new here, but this sounds like something I should definitely start doing.
Today I (hopefully) fixed the leaking freezer - I chipped off all the ice buildup that had accumulated, flushed the drain with some hot water, and cleaned all the fur that had gotten underneath it. I don't know if I'll be happy or sad if that's all that needed to be done - we've been sopping up water that's leaked out from under it for years now.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to get all the tape that's stuck on my bedroom window off. My brother had the room before me and had problems with the window falling in, so he just used a bunch of filament tape to secure it. It is now cemented on. Again, it's been there awhile, but hopefully all I need is some soap and a scrub brush or paint scraper (depending on how stuck on it really is).
I just got home from college and live with my parents in the same house that I grew up in. Stuff like leaking fridges and taped windows and moldy windowsills never used to bother me, but now I just feel embarrassed that we're all so lazy that we can't be bothered to deal with that kind of stuff.
Way to go, @fosterhope! It feels so good to get those old items taken care of, doesn't it? Hopefully it will give you motivation to keep going.
Yesterday's odd chore was moving the last bits out of the condo I sold and into my apartment. Today's odd chore will be moving my car and bike to the apartment, along with final cleaning of the condo. It's not going to be spotless, but I can take the "ew" factor down a notch or two.
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Noticed that something had splashed on the outlet cover in the kitchen - to the point that it was under the outlet cover. No idea how this happened, but unscrewed the cover, and soaked it, plus carefully cleaned behind it.
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I just found this thread, this is such a great idea!
2 days ago I did the first cleaning out of the pond this spring and bought some tiny fish to eat mosquitoes.
Today I did another round of cleaning of the pond, it was pretty bad. The fish seem okay.
I also put up my neglected aloe plant free to a good home on facebook.
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Ok, I fell off this waggon HARD, but in my defence I work full time and am studying for my BA part time and also like to not have stress-related breakdowns. 1 a day was a stretch, BUT, by channeling my inner Amy Santiago, I created a spreadsheet that categorises Things that Need to Be Done by room, and then by priority (so I can just sort by priority, but also see what needs to be done room-by-room), and am tackling one Thing per weekend. This weekend's was painting a chipped, custard cream (?) coloured radiator white. It took way less time than I thought so #Result. Next week's is sanding and oiling the wooden countertops in the kitchen.
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Ok, I fell off this waggon HARD, but in my defence I work full time and am studying for my BA part time and also like to not have stress-related breakdowns. 1 a day was a stretch, BUT, by channeling my inner Amy Santiago, I created a spreadsheet that categorises Things that Need to Be Done by room, and then by priority (so I can just sort by priority, but also see what needs to be done room-by-room), and am tackling one Thing per weekend. This weekend's was painting a chipped, custard cream (?) coloured radiator white. It took way less time than I thought so #Result. Next week's is sanding and oiling the wooden countertops in the kitchen.
This is an impressive plan - I like it! Will have to try something similar
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Moving houses give lots of opportunities for odd chores!
This week I assembled shelving for storage closet on the patio and moved several boxes onto the shelves.
Also took apart two pot lids to scrub out the accumulated gunk.
Today: super glued three things that needed it, plus mixed up some epoxy for a bigger fix. No more broken things needing adhesives for a while, please!
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Replaced some ceiling fixtures last week - bye, bye brass. Of course the old fixtures left a line on the popcorn ceiling which the new fixtures don't cover. Also, the newly uncovered ceiling doesn't match the '25 years of dust' on the rest of it. I managed to retexture the circles that needed it by dabbing polyfill on them, and mixed up some off white paint. Looks pretty good - I don't think anyone will notice the difference now.
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Moving houses give lots of opportunities for odd chores!
This week I assembled shelving for storage closet on the patio and moved several boxes onto the shelves.
Also took apart two pot lids to scrub out the accumulated gunk.
Today: super glued three things that needed it, plus mixed up some epoxy for a bigger fix. No more broken things needing adhesives for a while, please!
Don't they say that things come in threes? Therefore, logic dictates that you shall be blessed with an adhesive-free short-term future :)
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I adulted even further this weekend and took a load of textiles to the textile recycling (which is at the urban farm, so I got to stop and cuddle some goats <3 ) and a load of books to the book recycling.
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So many odd chores got done this past weekend. I demanded some help from the family on the spring cleaning list ahead of a gathering that I decided to host for our local candidate for the upcoming provincial election. The house looked great.
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Don't they say that things come in threes? Therefore, logic dictates that you shall be blessed with an adhesive-free short-term future :)
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I adulted even further this weekend and took a load of textiles to the textile recycling (which is at the urban farm, so I got to stop and cuddle some goats <3 ) and a load of books to the book recycling.
I sure hope you are right! Adhesives begone!
Cuddling goats sounds awesome.
Sunday's odd chore was removing tape residue from a couple items that had been taped together.
Today's odd chore was re-packing one of the holiday boxes. The old box would not fit on the shelf, and today I was able to get a smaller box from work.
Does anyone know if the charity shops will accept donations of out-of-season holiday items?
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Today was a good one. We took apart the mattresses & pads & wood slats & cleaned our bed frame top to bottom. It's been a year (since we moved in) & the dust under everything was incredible. You can't regularly clean, and it's a wooden, encased bed frame, so lots of possibilities for dust to creep in. While I was there, I got in/behind all of the wooden furniture in the bedroom, and got behind the bed & vacuumed/cleaned. Everything is sparkling! Now I just have to wait for my husband to help put it back together. So awkward & heavy!
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We did a lot today, since it was such fantastic weather, we worked in the garden and trimmed 4 large bushes that had grown to big, pruned the grapes and swept the driveway.
I also cleaned the car: threw out all the old receipts and stuff that had accumulated, vacuumed and cleaned the whole interior, washed the exterior and checked oil levels etc.
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Moved my office. Whole damn thing. Balls to the wall, all day long, but guess who has been in the same faculty office for eight years and yet managed to move it all in a single day? Me, that's who.
And now I have a window with the view I wanted instead of the view of a brick courtyard I was offered three years ago (and two years ago, and last year).
MPP: I thought I'd really done a good job downsizing books at home. Turns out I just took them to work.
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I cleaned out the utensil drawer and caddy in the kitchen. I was able to get rid of like 6 large spoons, tongs etc that we didn't use at the same time! I feel a minimalist purge coming on and this was the first step!
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I'm at a lot less than 1 a day, but I am doing odd chores still. Yesterday I dug up and planted about half of my garden. Somehow I can still use my arms today, I must be stronger than I thought.
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Two of the corners of my dining table got a little banged up in my move and today I finally went over them with wood paint to cover the damage. It’s nothing major, but a small odd chore still improves my living space!
Also cleaned under & behind the microwave.
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I've been slacking again, but finally got some gardening/mulching/seeding done this week. I tidied and swept out the garage yesterday.
Today we cleaned out a huge clog of leaves in one of our downspouts, and knocked down the beginnings of a wasp's nest.
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Recap of the past week or so:
-Went through all of the kids clothes & created a big stack of "too small" items for the donation pile
-Emptied/recycled/tossed all of the school papers that came home
-Washed all of the bags, now that school/soccer is over. I dump everything, then put them in the wash & dry in the sun.
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The last couple of weeks have been good for odd jobs for me. I finally filled in a low spot in my front yard and replanted the grass.
I spent a bunch of time purging, cleaning, and reorganizing in my garage. I tossed a bunch of old scrap wood and PVC pipe the previous homeowners left behind. I haven't touched the stuff in the 10.5 years since we bought the house, so I'm comfortable that we will never use it. I chopped up an old garbage can that had a hole in the bottom so I could toss it in the regular trash can.
I also cleaned up our basement sump pits, cleaned up the sump pumps, and replaced the check valves.
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-Cleaned out my closets & both kids closets
-Went through & gathered up the kids entire collection of Pokemon cards + accessories. Listed on local neighborhood swap
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Finally scrubbed out the bag in which I spilled a lot of milk a couple weeks ago. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.
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Scrubbed the shower (3x) in the bathroom that doesn't have a fan. (Installing a fan is also on the to do list.) I wasn't feeling well, so I also bribed by 12 year old to handle the third run through & he did a great job, actually. Shower looks really good. I've been DREADING this chore, so I'm so happy to mark it off!
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I vacuumed the car. I had run it through the automatic car wash, but at this car wash place their vacuum costs $1/5 min. I have a shop vac at home, so went home and vacuumed. At this park (I live in my motor home) they don't allow us to wash our cars here as they are on a well and we are in severe drought.
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We have a deck with attached gazebo on the back of the house. It's under a maple tree that's been there, probably 70 years, and we left it because the shade is wonderful.
Every spring, those little helicopter seeds come floating down and as usual, every year the cracks between the deck boards get filled with the seeds. Then, in the years they are left there too long, we have little maple trees growing from the cracks of our deck.
This year I have, for every night for a week or 2, been using the tool TheHusbandHalf made for me to get rid of the seeds/trees.
He took an old 2 1/2 - 3 inch scraper and duct taped (most of the world's problems can be solved with duct tape or WD-40) it to an old broom handle, and I just shove it between the boards. Sometimes the seeds fall through, some don't. The one's that don't, I sweep up and spread all over the grass. When they sprout, MyJohnDeere will cut them down.
It's a lot of work, but the shade is so nice!
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Some progress since last post.
1. New roof is installed! So glad to be done with worrying about the replacement cost of the new roof.
2. Fence project is moving along. We removed the rotten fence on the neighbors side of the yard. Was a little harder work than we were imagining, but everyone in the family helped at some point or another. We bought a farm tool at Harbor Freight that made pulling up the old posts a ton easier (about 7-8 minutes each vs. 30 minutes by trying to dig out by hand). About half of the old fencing lumber has been taken to the dump. Recycling came and picked up the metal fencing with bulk pick-up (nice!). Need to do another load (maybe one and half loads). Guy who is putting in replacement fence has us on the schedule and keeping fingers crossed the install will be before we dog-sit my brother's dog in July. Otherwise, will make the week a lot more challenging.
3. Have continued to purge random bits and pieces like the broken printer and blender (taken to recycling station).
4. Regifted some of the items I bought for my son's dorm room and gave to my niece who is headed to college this fall.
5. Started staining/painting deck and rails, etc but still a long way more to go. The excessive rain in May and early June really held up progress on this one.
6. Last bits of the playset we took down have been cut in smaller pieces for regular trash pickup. It's basically just down to the plastic slide remnants.
7. Mr.N2S fixed our push mower by taking it apart and cleaning out the carborator. It would cut out 1-2 minutes after starting it. We've had very bad luck with push mowers for some reason.
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Cut up a bunch of fruit & vegetables & froze them. We're heading out of town & don't want to waste food. I also took the time to quickly clean out the fridge.
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Used tweezers to pick the fluff off the back of the hairdryer... much more efficient now, and not as much of a fire hazard.
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Trimmed the front hedge (not a euphemism). I was starting to feel guilty about how far it was overhanging the pavement. Can't be nice for people with prams / wheelchairs to have to battle with vegetation just to get down the bloody footpath!
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Runner5 - that's a very nice thing you did for yourself and for others!
The rain continues to mess with our outside projects. This weekend I painted our powder room bathroom with leftover paint from another project and took down the fan vent cover to clean it and vacuum the dust from the inside of it. Looking so fresh now - I love it!
Also, went through the top side drawer next to my bed where random receipts/paper and other little bits get shoved. Recycled/threw away about 1/2 the contents. yay!
Still need to take the rest of the fence lumber to the dump station and still waiting for the guy to install the new one.
Also, I have some old gold jewelry that I never wear that I'm ready to get rid of. Would like to get some money for it but need to research convenient options. It's not worth much. Anyone try one of those mail-in companies?
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We're at our vacation house, & this is the week where I try to get irregular chores done here. Yesterday I dusted everywhere (blinds, etc) & washed the floorboards. I also defrosted the freezer. For today, I plan to fix the fan & clean all of the outside light fixtures.
For tomorrow, I'll clean the patio furniture & start cleaning the moss in the windows. (We're a few blocks off of the coast, and the maintenance required is quite different than at our non-coastal home).
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Cut down some self-seeding Buddleia plants that had started growing in the wall of my house :-O and in a weird wall that separates my 'shed' (originally an outhouse) from my next-door neighbours'. They're very pretty, and the butterflies love them, but these hadn't actually flowered this year, and they show no mercy to brickwork!!
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Yay! Our new fence was installed Friday! Just in time as our next door neigbhors have had family staying with two dogs. Now we don't need to worry about our dog maybe being in a bad mood and not getting along with the others. Plus, I'm dog-sitting another dog for about ten days later this month.
I also took the afore-mentioned gold/silver jewelry to a local jeweler and got $280 bucks for a few broken/kinked necklaces and bracelets I don't wear and a couple old rings that don't fit me anymore anyway.
The heat/humidity let up just enough for the last two days that I got some more painting done on the deck and the railing where the steps are. I also took a skinny tool and cleaned out between the stair boards real good (that's were the dog's hair and dirt gets stuck) so they are ready for restaining now.
Still about 25-30 boards from the old fence to deal with. We've been putting two or three at a time for regular trash pickup after cutting them in half. At that rate it's going to take a long time but not sure if I have another run to the county dump in me anytime soon.
Identified two more things that can be sold on Ebay so put DH in charge of that. He's also made a fresh pile of books that can be donated to the library and DS#1 added another 10 books or so that he's getting rid of as well.
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We installed air conditioning (facepunches accepted here) & the mess that is currently in my house from the two weeks of construction is insane. I need to clean up so much dust, dirt & debris. That's on the agenda for tomorrow.
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Spray painted two metal deck chairs that were showing some rust spots. We've had them about 15-16 years. As long as I freshen them up every 3 or 4 years or so, they are holding up well.
On our deck project, I did stain the underside of the stair railing, but need to flip it over and do the top now. Also stained the stair treads but ran out of the paint needed for the risers. It's going to be raining here all day and tomorrow, so no progress to be made this weekend. The hardest part is yet to come and that is painting the railing from the outside which will require up and down on a ladder many, many times.
Last weekend I went to visit my mother. I took about ten empty plastic tubs/container boxes that I had emptied from our basement storage area over the last 18 months. My mother is a borderline hoarder. I knew she could use these to transfer stuff she had in storage from cardboard boxes to better ones, but while I was there, we also filled up two very large trash bags to throw out, three small bags of stuff to donate, and one box of excess stuff from her kitchen to hold for my younger brother when he eventually moves out. There is so much to be done at her house it is literally overwhelming for me and hard for me to sit down for more than ten minutes without wanting to get up and clean somewhere, but I knew if she just had a little help, she'd work on it a little bit while I was there. Now if I can just get her to stop the urge to go to yard sales and buy more stuff when she doesn't really use everything she has now! Doubtful. Even on a barebones, limited retiree budget, she just likes to hunt for 'deals'.
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The post construction clean up continues. I vacuumed the entire house, dusted maybe 1/2 of the house (everything needs to be cleaned. Every surface is covered in construction dust) & have done six loads of laundry. Kids home from camp + all rugs, towels, bedding, etc needs to be washed because of the dust. I'm exhausted!
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Cleared out two boxes of kitchen utensils and etc. that my husband dug out of storage, ran things through the dishwasher if there was a chance we wanted to keep them. Sorted out a box for the thrift store, but there are some glass canisters that will be very welcome at grad school apartment, plus an electric kettle.