Let's Craft Something!

Last week, I told you about my upcoming interview for a first grade position in which I would have to teach a 10 minute lesson to a panel of evaluators.  Well, since it was the first day back from school from a three-day weekend, dismissal was a bit difficult.  They were running about 20 minutes behind, according to one of the interviewers.  I was in the middle of the interviewees; the lady before me looked a little older than me and may have had some teaching experience, and the lady after me looked to be about my age and probably didn't have teaching experience.

I had modified a lesson plan I had found online and explained that for a ten minute lesson.  I explained to the panel that I thought it would need to be something that was part of a unit so that I was able to show more of my teaching style.  They did warn me that because they were running quite a bit behind, they may cut me off early, but it wouldn't be a bad thing -- it was just to get to the second part of the interview.

I was ridiculously nervous, so I thought that my interview didn't go that great.  I was off my game because I saw the lady go in before me that looked much more prepared.  It was also the first time I've taught to a panel of adults in a while.


Thursday, I got an email from another school that wanted me to interview for a kindergarten position.  She said she had tried to call me, but I had no missed calls on my cell phone.  It turns out that she had called my house phone about three times prior to sending me an email.  Oops.  My house phone's answering machine is kind of broken; by kind of, I mean that it will record messages, but you sound like Swedish Chef underwater when I try to play them back.


Anyway, I replied to the email saying I would love to interview, but I didn't get a response until after school.  She had said she was doing interviews on Thursday, but scheduled me for Friday morning at 9 am, and included that she was supposed to be through by 10.


Thursday night when we went to check on Harley, our sick dog, he was not doing well.  He had gotten up and moved from the shed to his favorite spot since that morning; however, he looked like he couldn't get up again.  We gave him his pill in a hot dog, which he happily gobbled up along with a slice of bread, but he wouldn't drink.  We tried to give him a little more bread, but he didn't want it.  He tried to get up, but he didn't have the strength to lift his head and his breathing was labored.  Mom was crying and we knew it wasn't long now.

The next morning, mom went to check on him and was prepared for the worst or taking him to the vet.  He had died overnight.  This was nearly a month after the vet trip where he tried to tell us to go ahead and put him to sleep.  For a month, we took him canned food twice daily, gave him his pills in bread, and told him we loved him every day.  He died lying in his favorite spot in the yard, even before he got sick, which makes me feel better than knowing it was in a cold, impersonal vet's office.


Zach was kind enough to help dig a hole and let us bury him in their spacious yard.  Mom told his dad "All of my other babies are buried in my ex-in-laws'" to which he finished "So you decided to bury him at your new in-laws'."  Even though that's not technically correct, it was sweet.

Unfortunately, this also made me about 5 minutes late for my interview on Friday.  I explained to the principal, who was sympathetic because a similar situation was going on in her family.  It kind of acted as a strange, sad bonding experience between us.

I don't know if it was the strange, sad bond that we automatically had, the fact that it was a one-on-one interview, or the fact that it was my fourth interview in two weeks that made me so much more relaxed, but I really was.  She mentioned that they are working with my alumni university on an ELL program.  I smiled and said, "Oh, Project HAPPENS?  Helping Academic Professionals Prepare ELLs for Newfound Success?  I actually named that."  So, +1 for me.  I was sure to email the professor that developed Project HAPPENS to let him know.


I still haven't heard anything from them, but I'm still hopeful. 

Also, prepare yourself for Steampunk September as I get started on my costumes in full swing!

 Happy Labor Day!

So, originally, I thought it was only going to be an interview on Tuesday.  I spent the entire time from Friday until Tuesday freaking out about it and wasn't able to do much crafting.  (Although I probably should have to keep my mind occupied.) 

For starters, I have developed a small crack in my tire, which means it doesn't stay inflated really well and I am kind of at risk of having a blowout.  The drive to my interview was about 45 miles or so and the majority was highway/interstate.  I was a little wary about driving on it, so I asked mom if she would mind since she was off work.  (Zach had to work and I really appreciated the company on the way to keep my mind off of it.)

I knew that the interview on Tuesday was going to be a pre-screening panel and there was going to be a computerized and personal portion.  I was a nervous wreck because of this...not to mention I've never had an interview for a job like this before.  I had 30 minutes to answer two questions on the computer.  One dealt with how we demonstrate expectations to our students and the other was a data analysis.

They lead me to a room afterwards with some tables, a computer, and an ActivBoard where they displayed my written answers.  There were only two teachers on the panel, a kindergarten and first grade teacher.  (Apparently there was supposed to be a third, but she didn't show up.)  I had to explain my answers to the written prompts and answer a few more questions.  The personal interview was probably over thirty minutes long.  When they asked if I had any questions for them, I just sighed heavily and said, "Is it over?  Can I relax now?"

They could tell I was nervous, but they seemed pretty impressed with some of my answers.  For example, when we were looking at data, I said that I would look at my students first and note any students who had been identified with special needs or were English Language Learners.  Then I would see if there were students who had something to happen at home, were sick, or anything else that could affect their performance.  I guess others hadn't thought of this answer?  It was the first thing I thought of -- knowing my students.

I also got to share one of my favorite stories from student teaching.  I'll give you the shorter version.  My "mentor" teacher had already labeled this student as a 'bad kid'.  He went home every day with his color below green (which means he had gotten in trouble several times during the day).  One day, he checked in late and was amazing all day long.  I sent him home on the highest color that I could.  I also wrote a note to his dad and sent home with him.  Because he was in first grade, he couldn't read cursive, so I was sure to write the whole note in cursive.  It was nothing but positive, glowing reviews of his child.  The next day, I put on my authoritative teacher face and asked, "Did your dad see the note I sent him?"  "...yes..."  "What'd he say?"  "He was so proud of me!"  I had no behavioral issues from this student the rest of the time I was there.

Anyway, Mom asked when I should hear from a principal.  I had no idea when to expect anything because it was just a pre-screening interview.

Wednesday, I got up and went to the substitute teacher seminar for my local school district.  Even though I'm a certified teacher, I had to go and sit through this silly little training where they try to condense what you learn over the course of four years into an hour-long session.  There was one page on classroom management.  All of you educators will know that there is no one page that can prepare you for classroom management.

I got a phone call around two or three in the afternoon that day for an interview with a principal at a new elementary school as a first grade teacher.  Want to talk about nervous?  Just writing down the interview time and that I have to present a ten minute lesson to the administration and what might be my team gave me butterflies.  So many things were flooding my mind -- the most important one was "What lesson can I present in ten minutes that sums up my teaching style?"  I know that's more of what they are wanting to see.

About an hour later, I got a phone call from another school district asking if I could do a last-minute interview.  This would be another pre-screening interview that seemed much less intense than Tuesday's.  The only issue was that it was the next day at 11:15.  It wasn't the short notice that bothered me so much, as I had just finished an interview; I was still on the high from nailing it, apparently.  I was worried that it was two hours away and I had that bum tire.  (I was planning on getting it fixed Thursday!)




Zach didn't have to go into work on Thursday until late -- like 8pm late -- so he went with me.  I was more than comfortable with this because it was the town he went to college in and he was more familiar with the area than I was.  I was extremely careful while driving and we got there without any problems with 30 minutes to spare.  I'm very glad I was that early because the interviewer came to ask for the girl whose appointment was at 11 about three times (prior to 11).

I feel like 15 minutes was more than enough time for these interviews.  They only asked four questions and seemed like they wanted shorter responses than I gave the other panel.  There were only two women taking part in the interview, but there was another in the room.  I admitted that I was not too familiar with the district as I live so far away and one happily told me a summary.  I asked about the English Language Learner population, which seemed to thrill one and surprise the other.

So, now I have two pre-screening interviews under my belt and one principal interview on Tuesd-- tomorrow!  Oh no... Just saying that made my heart start pounding!  If you can spare a moment's thought, prayers, vibes, anything tomorrow, I'd be very thankful.

Unfortunately, all these interviews at irregular times and unpredictable times makes it hard to fit exercising in.  I've done well on my diet, though.  Zach just commented that we haven't had Taco Bell in like a month.  So, while I have been watching my calorie intake, I haven't always been able to exercise this week.  I've only lost a pound.  Well, that's better than nothing.  I feel like I can feel a difference.  I also think my clothes are starting to fit better.  That may just be my imagination, though.

Again, sorry for my spotty posts.  I've been unpredictably busy last week.  If I actually get this job, it'll be another stretch until I can really start posting again.  Thanks for sticking with me! :)
  

I know, I have to stop this.  I need to start scheduling posts like way in advance.

But here's the thing:  I've been so nervous and focused on my job interview since I got the call on Friday.  That means I did nothing really but freak out and prepare until Tuesday. I do think it went really well, however, and will give more details on Monday!

I hope this is understandable.  This is my first job interview for a real job and being a real adult.

I did make some progress on my headpiece, but after all of the day's stress, I would really like to just sleep and not work on taking pictures and the like.  I am exhausted and have to be up early in the morning for a substitute teacher seminar.  (Don't put all your eggs in one basket, right?)

Please understand and stick with me guys! 

Man, oh, man, is it good to be back here and on the internet.  I hate how flawed my week's posts were with forgetting to put pictures and not scheduling posts and whatnot.  I'm going to try to be better, which I do try to do every week.  I liked the silly dog theme for the title.  I hope "excited as a dog" makes sense; I was thinking about how excited dogs are when you get home.  Anyway...

Since people in real life keep asking how Harley, our sick dog, is doing, I thought I'd update you guys, too.  Remember how they didn't think he would be able to get up?  Well, he's moving around pretty well.  There are still times when he has to try again, but he is getting up and moving around.  He's on the dog version of Ibuprofen for now.  I don't know if they are going to add more medicine later when he's getting around like he used to.

He's up, moving around, and eating -- although you can tell he's lost some weight.  He still seems pretty happy, too.

I know I said I wanted to get a working meal planner for myself, but that hasn't happened yet.  I do pretty good to try to plan it out when I know I'm going to be home, but when I'm at Zach's it is a bit harder.  I have made progress, though it is starting to slow.  I just took that as a sign that I needed to tack on more exercise than just walking.

I felt like a total dork doing a Google search on "how to work out at home", but I did.  I actually got some pretty useful results.  I'm going to try putting a routine I found in Women's Health in place starting today.


I told Zach that I missed the classes that I was able to do at the gym at my college.  I did piloxing, which is a combination of Pilates and boxing, on Tuesdays, then used the elliptical and walked on Thursdays.  His mom brought me coupons and a class schedule for the local women only gym she attends.  I want to try them out, but I really don't want to go alone, to be honest.  Her package doesn't include classes, I don't think, so it would be extra for her to go to one.

I've been considering joining a gym.  Though I don't have a job, I have money put back from when I worked at Walmart.  That's my biggest con to joining one.  I feel like it would help me actually go, though.  I mean, if you're paying $25 or so a month for a gym membership, you'd be stupid not to actually go a few times a week.  I'm still unsure on it, though.  If her gym has a free week or something, I may try it.

Oh wait, speaking of not having a job, mom called to tell me about the substitute teacher seminar for our local city schools.  That's how I plan on spending my Wednesday morning.  About fifteen minutes after she called, I got another call from one of the school systems I did my student teaching in.  They wanted to schedule me for an interview!  I interview with them tomorrow at 3:30, so wish me luck and confidence!

I know it's a panel interview, so I'm considering making a few little portfolio packets for them, including my resume, sample lesson plans, etc.  Is that a little much?  I don't know... I'm just so excited and nervous!

Ugh, we finally got out router problem fixed.  We tried using a few other routers from my tech-savvy uncle, but no dice.  We did discover it wasn't the modem, which kind of sucks because then it would have been our power company's issue since we technically rent it from them.  But anyway, one huge headache and a new router later, I have internet again.


Unfortunately, the router issue isn't the only bummer we've had.  Our outside dog of 9 or so years, Harley, had to make an emergency vet visit.  He just wouldn't get up last Saturday.  The vet said he apparently had a stroke; he didn't think he would be able to get back up because he's such a big dog.  (He's a Border Collie/Great Pyrenees mix.)  That wasn't his only issue, but it was the most life-threatening.  The vet called the next morning to say that he wasn't getting up, but about fifteen minutes later, he called back saying that he did get up.  We brought him home on Monday and have been keeping an eye on him for any signs that he needs to go back.

We know with so many issues, it's just a matter of time, but he's still there.  If he had a vacant or pained look in his eyes, it would be an easier decision.  But that's not the case.  He still looks like a puppy -- just happy and loving in his eyes.  He looks like he's not ready to go.

Anyway, let's get off of these depressing topics...

Did you guys get to check out the meteor shower on the 10th through 13th?  I got two good nights of star gazing out of it; it was pretty cloudy the rest of the time.  We saw some that were so big that they looked like missiles!  Huge orange comet-like tail and everything!  I was so amazed.


Remember my huge upgrade from the Droid R2D2 to the Galaxy S4?  My mom just made an even bigger upgrade due to dropping her phone in a pool.  (The bag of rice trick didn't work.  I guess it had been too long or it was just beyond repair.)  She went from the Samsung Alias to the Droid Razr M.  Holy crap, Batman.  I tried to take care of as much of the initial setup as I could.  Zach said, "Aw, isn't that sweet of you!"  There's a fine line between "sweet" and "selfish."  I did it to save the headache of walking her through doing it.  She's adjusting.  It's taking a while for her to get the right touch for the touch screen, for some reason, but it's coming right along.

I've mentioned before that I'm reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series, right?  (The Game of Thrones television series, if you're more familiar with it that way.)  I made it to the second book, where things start to differ from the television series.  As you may know, the second book is called A Clash of Kings; however, I've renamed it to "A Crash of Kings" because every time I try to read it, I struggle to stay awake.  I don't know why.  So, I decided it may be a good idea to get the audio book so that I could listen to it while I was on the treadmill or something.  Such a great idea.  In one day I listened to about four chapters.  It usually works out where I'm on the treadmill for about one chapter.  I'm over halfway done with the book now.

Speaking of being on the treadmill, when we last talked, I said I was trying to lose weight.  During my absence, I've lost about 10 pounds!  Yep, about 5 pounds a week.  Not too bad, if I do say so myself.  I've been dieting and walking on the treadmill to build stamina before I start running.  I started doing half a mile each day, then a mile.  Next week, I'll do a mile and a half.  Of course, right now, I'm just walking; I'm afraid I'll hurt my legs if I start off trying to run.


Last matter of business: I had considered adding a blog post per week mentioning some of the things I had pinned or saw on Pinterest.  What do you guys think about that?  Just like a little highlight of a few pins, nothing too extravagant or anything.  It was just something I had been toying around with while I was only able to surf the internet through my phone.

Alright, sorry for the huge wall of text!  I had to catch you all up with what had been going on while I was semi-off-the-grid.

 

Well, once again, I have failed to look into technology as much as I should.  I've been taking it for granted that after I schedule a post, it automatically publishes it.  I would be wrong.  I will henceforth remember that if I schedule a post, I must then click "publish".  There's my mental note to myself on that.

My life seems to have calmed down and resumed its regularly scheduled programming now.  I've been attending the some of shenanigans with Zach's family as they did their family vacation.  Monday we went to the water park.  Tuesday they went horseback riding -- which Zach and I missed it, though.  Wednesday morning they went canoeing, but running water isn't quite my bag; if something is living in the water such as fish, I don't much want to be in there with it.  Wednesday and Thursday, they went on a camping trip, which really isn't my bag, either.  They got back on Friday and we went to the river after lunch and went jet skiing on one of his mom's coworker's jet skis.  Saturday was for relaxing and they went to the movies to see Turbo while Zach was at work.  I would have gone, but my terrible migraine's have come back.

Sunday, we celebrated mom's birthday with my grandparents.  Monday we're going to dinner for mom's birthday.


Oh my... This was the free cake that came with her birthday dinner.  It was huge.  Three layers deep and it had to have been from the biggest pizza pan they had.  It was gargantuan.  Those are peach slices for reference, by the way.  The best part about this diabetes educing cake is that it's on the menu for three dollars.  WHAT?!

As for crafting, I'm still working on my headpiece.  Wednesday will be your first update on it and you'll get to guess what one of my costumes will be!  People are starting to get on my case about sewing because there isn't as much time as I would like between then and now.  They seem to forget my powers of procrastination.


This week is also my friend Heather's birthday and we will be attending the shenanigans with her in Tennessee later this week.  I'm super excited because she's having a Harry Potter themed party.  Now, I'll admit that I haven't read all of the Harry Potter books.  Shocking and saddening, I know.  I was reading them as they came out, but during one of the breaks while a book was being written or published, I started Lord of the Rings.  After that, Harry and his friends seemed -- well, childish.  I dropped the series and ventured on to more adult literature. Since her party is Harry Potter themed, Zach thought it only suiting for me to marathon the movies, and I agreed with him.  We just finished Deathly Hallows Part One tonight.

I'm planning on doing that poo-free post soon!  I think I'm going to do a special Tuesday or Thursday post for it so that I don't mess up my regular programming.

Alright guys, let me just start off with something I just noticed before I go into my weekend.  Holy crap where did those almost 400 pageviews come from the other day?  I usually schedule my posts in advance (when I'm not writing them last minute, which is a common trend as of late), so I don't always see my pageviews.  To be honest, I hadn't looked since maybe Wednesday, so when I jumped from 1,000 to 1,358 in a week, I was surprised.  I had a spike of almost 200 on Thursday.  So, woah, holy crap where did these pageviews come from out of the blue?! 

I hope you liked it and decided to stay!  Please do comment and feel free to follow on social media. :)

As far as the blog goes, I'm planning on doing a post toward the end of the month on my experiences with going poo-free.  I've been taking periodic pictures of my hair to show my transitions.  Don't worry.  I'm not going to make you sit through a vacation slideshow photo presentation of my hair or anything.  Besides, it will only be one month.

I've also decided a little bit on an upcoming project.  A few friends and I are doing a group costume for this year's Anime Weekend Atlanta.  I just hate to spoil the surprise before it comes together!  I'll hopefully be helping Zach with his, too.  It's going to mostly involve sewing, but also a little imagination and construction, as well as a little sculpting and painting.  What on earth could it be?!



Remember me posting about sewing patterns last Monday?  Well, between Zach and my grandmother I think I've decided to at least give it a shot at making the steampunk dress I bought a pattern for.  Now, I'm planning on buying the cheapest non-tulle fabric I can to give a practice run.  I really don't want to spend a lot of money on fabric just to give up in the middle of it or to mess it up.  I'll definitely keep you posted on that!


Sometimes, I feel like I have a million things going at once.  Of course I want to spend time with Zach, Benni, and my little Booger.  I want to play video games.  I want to craft.  I want to play Dungeons and Dragons.  I want to read.  I want to craft.  I want to blog.  Ugh, all these things I want to do!  I have them almost all going at the same time, but I feel like I get nowhere with them.  Sacrifices, I guess.  (Enjoy the silly collage.  If you want, it enlarges when you click it.)

Now, on to the sadder news.  Zach and I received news late last week that one of our friends' mom passed away.  This was a friend that we spent almost every day with during last summer and had been friends with since high school.  We were all very shocked because, although we knew she wasn't in the best of health, she was still relatively young.  He is an only child, his father passed away some years ago, and only really has his grandmother, aunts and uncles.

I'm not saying this to be depressing.  He has always been a bit of a loner and will deal with it in his own time.  He has all of us and his girlfriend who has helped him tremendously throughout this whole ordeal.  We just don't think he's dealt with his feelings yet or gained closure.  If you have a spare moment, send your thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, good vibes, or whatever it is you do to this little family in Alabama.

I hate to leave you on such a sad note, so here's a picture that always makes me laugh:


See you guys soon.

Phew, guys.  We made it.  June is over with.  Isn't it a relief?  I finished Junk-Free June.  You have no idea how accomplished I feel about it.  My room seems to be so much better.  I still have a few miscellaneous items I need to find homes for, but that's okay.  It seems like I'm finding one every day, so it keeps getting smaller.

Just because my month of dedicated organization is over with doesn't mean I'm just going to stop organizing.  I feel like I've made myself become a more organized person through this, even if it is just a little bit more.

I don't know if I'm going to do a theme for July just yet or just do whatever crafts come to mind.  I know that I'm going to finish that stupid plarn bag, though.  Ugh. I just got so tired of two stitches per every one bag link.


I'm considering a sewing project.  While I'm still hoping to lose weight before our annual anime convention, it'd be a lot easier to alter it closer to time than stay up all night sewing (like I've done almost every year...).  Zach and I went to JoAnn's and they were having a sale on patterns where they were $1.  I stacked up on anything that seemed remotely Victorian.  I have about six patterns that I could use, but the one pictured above is by far my favorite.

I'm working on compiling a page for tips and tricks.  I don't always necessarily like calling them "life hacks" now since someone pointed out that they're normally just crafts.  So that's coming up.  I also have been considering trying some of those home-made products lately.  I mixed up some shampoo and conditioner on Saturday to try it out.  I don't wash my hair every day, anyway, so I don't think the "detox" some people had complained about will be as much of a problem, but we'll see.  I'll keep you guys posted on that, too.

Thursday marked mine and Zach's seven year anniversary.  Seven years and I still don't know why he puts up with my crap.  Regardless, I love him and I love him more every day.  Did you know year seven was the year of the horse?  That's right.  Without any collaboration, I got him a horse head mask, and he got me the unicorn mask.  Everyone just kind of looked at us like, "Really?  Why did you buy that?"


Zach also got me a beautiful necklace.  I believe it was our first anniversary when he got me the necklace I have been wearing almost daily.  My new necklace is made from a page of Lord of the Rings.  It's a piece of elvish from the picture of the Mines of Moria.    We've decided that the page was from a library copy of LOTR where the binding was all falling apart and some pages had already been lost.  I mean, that's the only reason someone would destroy a copy, right?

We also had some awesome sushi at our usual place, walked around the outdoor mall for a bit, and saw World War Z.  (Which was pretty good, in my opinion, though apparently completely different from the book.)  Don't let my breezing through the description mislead you -- I had a great time!  I just don't want to bore you all with the details.  (Besides, you probably had your fill of mushy stuff in these past few paragraphs.)

I've been kind of reflective of why this whole organization spree begun.  Once or twice a year, I do get into the habit of organizing, but it's usually on a small scale.  I normally end up tackling only one area, such as my dresser.  This time, though, I've started purging and organizing nearly everything in my room -- and it's starting to spread to the rest of the house.

Why has this happened?  Why is this so much different than the other times?  One theory I have is that I finally realized how terribly bad my closet was, which made me realize how bad my room was, and so on.  My second theory is that I realized it would make for some decent blog posts; although I like to think that isn't truly the case, I do realize that I have made several small projects from one large one.  A third theory I toyed around with was that maybe, just maybe, I was finally making the transition to adulthood.  I mean, you never really see adults with totally junky rooms, do you?  The last theory I thought of was that maybe I realized that I'm going to be leaving home soon and it would be easier on me then if I went through my stuff now.

Is it any one of these?  Maybe.  Who knows?  I've never been a terribly organized person when it comes to my living space.  As long as I can get around and know where things are, I've been okay with it in the past.  It could be any combination of these theories, or even something I hadn't thought of.

Whatever the reasoning, psychological or not, I've decided that this June is going to be "Junk-Free June!"  I realize we're halfway through it the month already, but so far I've spent my month going through my old things, de-cluttering and organizing.  "Junk-Free June" just seems to make sense.  Oh dear, I hope this doesn't turn into the "Summer of Storage"...

So far in June I have:

1. Cleaned out my closet and installed new shelves. (I promise, I'll stop talking about it soon...)
2. Rearranged the contents of my drawers, including emptying my nail polish, perfumes, and lotions from one drawer for clothing use.  (Now they're just sitting in two shoe boxes on my floor...)
3. Cleaned out from underneath my bed.  (So much dust!)
4. Rearranged my bathroom storage -- though I still don't have wall storage, I make do with what I can. (Coming up on Freebie Friday.)
5. Emptied and restocked my nightstand.





Nana made me cute rice bags with tea in them. The owl has cloves and the cat has peppermint!


6. Made a chicken wire picture frame jewelery organizer for use in my closet.
7. Begun working on a nail polish rack.
8. Gone through a "junk drawer" in my desk -- which pretty much consisted of throwing away old guides for anime conventions.
9. Gone through a "junk drawer" in the kitchen.
10. Gone through our DVD collection (around 260 of them) and organized by genre; intend on putting them in a binder in the living room.
11. Compiled a large pile of donation items -- mostly clothing.

Considering that we are only at the halfway point of the month, I feel like I've gotten a lot done.  By the looks of my room, you may not believe it, but I feel like it's been pretty productive.  There are times when I feel like I've bitten off more than I could chew as one pile shifts from one thing to another, but I'm finally starting to see progress.

In my going through my room, I've noticed that it's not an overabundance of clothes that is causing the clutter -- it's an overabundance of stuff.  Yeah, the clutter in my closet was mostly shoes and clothes, but outside of that, it's just stuff.  Just to give you an example, I've found three pairs of craft scissors in my bedroom alone and a ridiculous amount of pens.  I had several notebooks beside my bed that I would use to jot things down when I couldn't sleep and things were on my mind.  Each of these notebooks has maybe ten or less pages in them before they are empty.  I'm removing all but one in hopes to actually empty a few notebooks.


It's hard for me to come to terms with not needing some things anymore.  I hate to admit that because it's like the first step to admitting to being a hoarder, but it's true.  There are things I like to hold on to for what once was sentimental value (for example, the convention guides from five years ago...) or for thinking that I could use it for something (like an old foundation container or this random pile of floppy disks on my desk).

I've been having a hard time sleeping this past week, but I think it's due to knowing there have been large piles on my bed.  If I do somehow manage to forget, I'm reminded when I try to adjust in my sleep and can't due to piles of yarn or clothes.  Maybe it's just knowing that there are piles of things that need to be put away, or simply that there is something that I could be getting done.  Whatever it is, it's annoying and needs to stop.  I was still awake and going when the sun came up several days.

Now I'm going back through my organization spree posts and tagging them with "Junk-Free June" and adding the nice banner to the top.  I wish I had taken "before" shots of my room so that you would be able to tell how much of a difference my organization has made, but, again, I didn't expect it to turn into the month-long project that it has.

Warning:  What you are about to see is a horrible mess that I am ashamed of.  Please do not judge me based upon the state of this closet!

You know those projects that you don't plan and you cannot plan for?  The projects that just run at you like some kind of harlot and demand that you do them next?  That was my closet.

I was going to put away some clothes that had just been washed and hung up when the monstrosity that was my closet reared its head and told me, "Not today" (like I was the god of death or something).  It was a combination of things that made my closet horrible: the floor was cluttered with shoes, clothes that had fallen off the hanger, and things I was too lazy to put away, so I just kicked it in the closet.



Another thing that didn't help was the fact that this particular closet has not been remodeled or anything since about 1985 when my parents bought the house.  (I wish I was joking, but I'm not.)  In retrospect, I should have just sucked it up and redid the closet when I moved into this room, but I didn't.  The closet itself is tiny -- about 55" deep and 44" wide -- so in such a small space, having as much room to store things is essential.  If I weren't a pack rat this would have been a lot easier.

As soon as I decided that I was going to remodel my closet, I put on jeans and ran to Home Depot.  After probably an hour at debating the different, cheap wire shelves with a wonderfully helpful associate named Kristen, it came down to a numbers game.  I had looked at an $89 kit that was made for four to six foot closets.  I, however, prefer the cost efficient method to the time and effort efficient; I will do the extra work if it means saving $20.  Kristen offered to give a rough estimate for how much it would be outside the kit.  She quoted doing it completely yourself at around $120, so I bought the kit.

I actually stared having regrets when I started pulling everything out of my closet.  I started with the floor and it wasn't so bad until the large cardboard box I had gotten for the shoes in there began to overflow.  After I got all of my clothes out, it looked like my closet had projectile vomited onto my bed.





I trudged on, however, and learned just how bad my closet was.  Remember when I said the closet hadn't been touched since at least 1985?  The wire shelves were sticky and when I looked at my hands I had flakes of black stuff and mystery glitter all over them.  That's not the worst part, though.  The shelves weren't cut properly or something and they were held together in the corner by zip ties.  Zip ties!  Most of the screws weren't even serving any purpose since many of the hooks had long since broken off.



That was just the shelves.  The walls looked terrible, too.  Aside from all the holes, it was obvious that this closet hadn't seen love in a while.  The paint was that "white a long time ago" color; I guess I could call it vintage white now haha.  There were scuffs all along the bottom where shoes had been kicked against the wall without a care, places where the paint had chipped off, and something where I guess someone had tried to attach something... I don't even know.  It was a mess -- a hot mess.


My next step was trying to cover all the holes and dents in the walls.  This was a chore by itself, not to mention sanding the plaster!  In the end, I didn't much care if it was perfect because it is just a closet after all, so there are still ridges where the plaster was.  It's not a huge deal because I also plan on using as much of the space as possible and many of them will end up being covered up.


While the plaster was drying, I took the baseboards off and gave them a nice, white coat of paint.  These are the baseboards that I remember from my childhood.  We've updated the rest of the baseboards in the house to match the more modern style, but again, it's a closet.

After all the plaster had dried and was sanded as best it was going to get, I took a dinner break, then went to see Zach for a few hours.  When I came home, though, I put on my first coat of paint.  We had bought a very, very light blue to do on a ceiling -- but then we realized how hard ceiling painting was and decided against it.  With a whole gallon of it just sitting in the garage, I opened it up and rolled it on.

Since it was already about 1 a.m. and I still had to wait for that coat to dry, I just called it a night, played some Skyrim and slept on the couch.  (My bed was occupied by all the clothes, remember?)

I woke up early -- for me at least -- and got started with my second coat and touch ups.  It wasn't long before that was dry, so I went ahead and nailed in my baseboards and did some touch ups.  It's not a big deal or anything, but when doing white baseboards, I like to paint over the nails -- seeing the white interrupted by a dot of silver and knowing it's a nail head always bugs me.  Plus, my hammer had scuffed up a few places.


It wasn't perfect, but it was beautiful.  This crisp, light blue color that reminds me of clean laundry, freshly painted baseboards to match, and all this room!  I laid in the floor looking up to the ceiling for a while, just reveling in how much I had already accomplished.  Once you get to a milestone like that, it's hard for me to pick back up.  I took a long break, including making lunch and a gallon of tea, before I started back.


This seems like the best $89 I have spent in a while.  The box is an impenetrable fortress, though!  Seriously, I spent so much time fighting with that stupid box.  Knowing that all of the shelves and things were metal, I considered lighting it on fire to open it; then I remembered the instructions and little plastic bits.  Tip for manufacturers: don't glue your boxes completely shut.

The kit, thankfully, was much easier than opening the box.  The only thing that took me a while was sawing the tracks because my closet is an awkward 55" deep.  I know I could have probably used something a little better than a hacksaw, but it's what the instructions recommended and I really didn't want to break anything.


After following the instructions, ta da!  I had a new set of shelves and what felt like a lot more room in my closet.  It was about 24 hours from the idea to remodel my closet to the time that I started loading my clothes back into it.



Is it completely finished?  No.  I still have some storage needs (such as shoes), but it's a great start and it's oh so much better! Not only that, but I did it completely by myself -- paint, assembly, everything.  Thanks, ClosetMaid!