Talk About a Pantry

From the day I moved into this house I was confused by a tall cabinet in the kitchen. The cabinet above had a shelf and was useful for storing food - most of which I would need a ladder to get to everything in the back. But this tall cabinet had no shelves, holes for brackets, but no brackets or shelves. Some people I know that live in the same housing community {cookie cutter houses} use their cabinet to hold their garbage and/or broom, vacuum, etc. For a year I had planned on going to a store close to downtown that I could pick up the shelves & brackets but never made it. When Shawn came home putting shelves in the odd cabinet was on our to-do list and late January he finally put shelves in. He used some left over wood from a shelf he made for Lydia - that I still have to finish painting.

It was exactly one month later that I finally organized everything {I just checked the dates on the photos} So this is my before. I didn't get a picture of the cabinet before he put in the shelves because I was gone when he did it but you can see how it would be a waste of space and issue of frustration for me. The first picture shows the top cabinet {after most things were moved down} and the second picture shows the bottom cabinet - picture it without the two shelves.

Shawn had expected that I would begin organizing the cabinet right after doing a cheer for his efforts. Instead I thanked him and contemplated how I would organize my cabinet and remembered green canvas baskets I saw at Wal-Mart. So our next trip out I picked some up and they sat in the cabinet while I contemplated some more. We were also busy during this time visiting with friends out of town, having them over, getting a dog and a boat and all that. But one day I decided enough was enough and took some non pantry frustrations out on my pantry. When I get upset I usually do one of a few things - eat something very sweet or very salty, clean or organize something(s), grab a beer. On this particular day organizing and cleaning were the right choice. Here you can see I emptied out the cabinets and not at all to my surprise found some mulitples - two partially used pancake mixes, 3 2/3 used ziti pasta boxes and something else I can't remember. Everything I could I condensed into one package then I put all pastas into one basket and all of my smaller mixes went into the other. Oh, I also found a box of half used lasagna noodles that were over a year old.

I put everything back in the cabinets by like items. The top two shelves hold cereals, snacks, large baking mixes, rice, cans, drinks & mixes, etc. The bottom cabinet has the two baskets on the first shelf, clear wrap, kids' color wonder & dog treats in the middle, diapers, wipes, potatoes, and ramen noodles on the bottom. I cut the tops off of a diaper box to use for all diapers so it's easier to get into, an old wipes box lost it's tops too and holds the dog treats. These boxes may not be as cute as my green totes but they work for now and got the job done. I finished up a little quickly because I realized I hadn't started cooking dinner yet. It's still not 'complete' but when Lydia is out of diapers I'm hoping I can rearrange some things and devote the bottom shelf to the kids' craft stuff...as soon as I find a lock & key storage to put most of those items in.

Thanks for stopping by! To see what Lazy & others are talking about click the button above. Have you organized anything this week?

He's Blogging For Me

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This morning I realized I hadn't posted anything beyond "o_O LOST" & my scrappy organization progress so I uploaded some pictures. Didn't start writing though and walked away from the computer getting things ready for the day. I sat down to finish it up & found that Michael put in his two cents and published my post. So the jibberish followed by his name is my son's contribution to my blog. And apparently his way of telling me that if I don't start posting he'll do it for me.

I've been busy, we've been busy and not enough time to sit and read blogs let alone write out a post. I'm still busy really, just taking a little break from the busyness. So in bulletin format & some pictures you can see what we've been up to.

• Michael & Lydia still love having daddy home to snuggle and rough house with.
• They don't like it so much when he tells them they're in trouble which has been more often lately.
• Michael hit his 100th day of school, slightly delayed due to the ice storms. He brought in 100 craft sticks and they had a fun celebration which meant everything was centered around 100.
• I experienced my first year of valentine's for school, bought valentine's ahead of time but put off him writing his name 30 times until the morning of so it was like running a sweatshop too. He came home with cards and some candy - less than I anticipated but still enough to share. :D
• We got a dog! I have been hesitant about getting a dog since Shawn was still deployed talking about one. Jackie (a two year old Jack Russel Terrior) wasn't planned and was a surprise but has been a lot of fun, much like our children. ;) But she makes less mess, doesn't talk back and wants to snuggle just about all of the time. I hope for the kids' sake we never have to choose between them and the dog. ;)
• Shawn bought a boat. I found out that when I agree to the purchase of a boat I also agree to the purchase of a new motor, battery, charger, paint, carpeting and seats. I'm making a note to never agree to a boat - great deal or not - again. It should be fun this summer though, relaxing on a boat bass fishing. Of course that will be Shawn as I'll be busy feeding the kids and making sure they don't drowned.
• I've been very busy with Mary Kay, more bookings then ever and two new recruits last week. I'm building my business and working my way up the career path looking forward to driving a free car and making big girl money as a director. Lord willing and if I still have my sanity at the end of it all. hehe

I hope everyone in the blogosphere is doing well. I'd read up to check on you but my tummy is rumbling for lunch so I better go answer the call and figure out the rest of my day.