Fluster Buster Creative Muster #172

Messy Messy Fail - Back to the missing Toms issue - I did end up finding them, however, we have shoes ALL OVER our house.  Boots, sneakers, Crocs, dress shoes, Toms, sandals - you name it, they are here.  Time to organize the footwear, but is there a container big enough?

Tidy Victory - The weather was so beautiful this weekend (almost 75 degrees F!) that we were able to go outside and work in the yard for a good chunk of time.  Most of the front yard and part of our backyard gardens were weeded - love my weed poking tool!  You wouldn't believe how deep some of those bad boys were - I pulled out a weed whose main root was nearly a foot long!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #117

Messy Messy Fail - My Toms have disappeared.  Vanished.  I wore them on an unseasonably warm day in February or March, and they have since gone completely missing.  

Tidy Victory - I had a lovely thought to watch one of my favorite movies from my single girl years - Marie Antoinette.  I almost forgot I had it, had to dig around in some boxes downstairs to find it.  I am so glad I did - fabulous movie!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #116

Messy Messy Fail - I literally just finished making a somewhat heinous looking Little Einstein's rocket cake.  I bit off more than I could chew on this one.  Cake cracking issues, frosting issues, you name it - it went wrong.  I'm really not even sure how this cake is going to taste.  I made sure to have lots of ice cream though, because everything tastes good with ice cream.

Tidy Victory - I have been trying to upload all of our old movie videos from the video recorder to my computer.  To my dismay, it seemed as though several were corrupt.  After many hours trying different ways to import the videos and researching online, I figured it out!  Somehow these older videos were .mpg files and they needed to be .mov files.  I have begun the slow process of converting them, but I am THRILLED that they are not gone for good!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #115

Messy Messy Fail - Our weather has seriously been at extremes these last few weeks - 72 degrees F one day, 31 degrees the next.  Quite literally, no exaggeration.  Therefore, hasn't our beautiful new weeping cherry tree that we planted in front of the house trying to bloom.  It actually started snowing today, so I frantically went outside with a king size fitted sheet to drape over the poor tree.  This baby better bloom after all of my efforts!

Tidy Victory - It's a miracle - The Land Before Time DVD just showed up in the boys hands this afternoon as I caught them playing with the DVD's in the entertainment center again.  No explanation, but that's okay - it has returned!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #114

Messy Messy Fail - So I thought I had a really great idea of using Elmer's glue to draw our initials on our Easter eggs.  My thinking was the glue would dry, we would dye the eggs, and then I'd peel the glue off to reveal a white initial on the dyed egg.  Total fail.  Didn't leave enough time for the glue to dry and it just fizzled off in the vinegar.  At least now I know it won't work.  Still determined to discover a cool way to decorate our eggs (for next year wah wah)

Tidy Victory - I've had all of our Easter goodies purchased and ready to go for about a week now - it was nice not having to run out last minute!  Each of the boys got a small toy, DVD, book, hatching dinosaur egg and candy.  Can't wait to celebrate in a few short hours!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #112

Messy Messy Fail - As you know, I do enjoy my wine and beer.  We enjoy it so much in our household that we have acquired quite the can and bottle collection in our garage.  We are so silly - the redemption center is quite literally down the street.  I just simply have gotten my act together to collect everything and drive it down.    Money just sitting in my garage!

Tidy Victory - Even though I have not planned for meals or done serious grocery shopping in about two weeks, I have managed to clean off my pantry shelf quite a bit.  Stocking up on regularly used items or purchasing in bulk can be great, but you have to remember to use it.  It can be tricky to force yourself to only use items you have in your refrigerator and pantry, but it pays off in your bank account!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #111

Messy Messy Fail - The ABS (break system) light has been on in my car since at least last summer.  When I had my car inspected last August, the mechanic said it was just a sensor, it was fine, passed.  Until this past Thursday when the break system started kicking in on its own and there was no ice. I swore my breaks were completely giving out!  Going in on Tuesday.....

Tidy Victory - We bought our tickets for our Dave Matthews show this summer - going to see them in July at the Molson Canadian Amphitheater in Toronto, ON.  We love this venue - it's small (for a more intimate performance), in a terrific city, and typically has a mostly adult audience.  And guess who scored the better seats when both my husband and I got online to buy - ME! 

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #110

Messy Messy Fail - I haven't published my own post in a couple of weeks now.  Lots going on around here - concerts, swim lessons, meetings, but I've got an Easter roundup and a couple of great posts in a different format than what I typically publish coming up, so be warned.

Tidy Victory - I was able to conduct my first all-county ensemble this weekend - an elementary orchestra - and I had an absolute blast!  This ensemble was made up of the best elementary string students in the county and I had the distinct pleasure of leading them through rehearsals and at our final performance on Saturday.  An absolute joy and a treat - this was why I wanted to teach orchestra!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #109

Messy Messy Fail - One of my goals over my winter break was to get our tax information gathered so I could submit it and have that task checked off on the list.  This goal has yet to be accomplished.  Our taxes are not that difficult, but all that printing off of the interest from our student loans and gathering all of our donation letters takes quite a bit of time.  However, if I do submit them during the month of March that will be the earliest I have ever done them!

Tidy Victory - Even though I did not get a lot of housework done on my week long winter vacation, we did get a lot of snowmobile riding in.  We went for two rides together, one of which I got tossed, but I'm okay folks!  On or second ride we went to one of my favorite trail restaurants called Guppy's Tavern where you can get a killer stromboli, and that's exactly what I ordered.  I was even able to pack the leftovers on to my sled when I was done!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #108

Messy Messy Fail - We are winter break from school this upcoming week, and I will say I am embarrassed about the condition I left both of my classrooms in - disaster.  I had a guest conductor in at both buildings on Friday to complete a workshop with some of my students who will be participating in a side-by-side concert shortly and it was quite the whirlwind getting to both buildings on time.  Let's just say I'll be going in for a little tidying up during my vacation.  

Tidy Victory - Last year, I tried making it a goal to do a small organizing/purging project a day.  Be it my makeup drawer, a bookshelf, etc., I wanted to make a little difference one small step at a time.  Sometimes I did my project for the day, sometimes I didn't.  I came across this blog project from Susan at Organized 31 - 31 Days of 10-Minute Purging Tips and I was really inspired.  You can start with her first post at the above link and she gives you a task every day - very manageable (10 minutes or less!) yet very effective.  I'm going to try this and attempt to get rid of some more nonsense in my house!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #106

Messy Messy Fail - The snow has nearly melted away, which means the snowmobile trails are closed AGAIN until further notice.  Because don't you know this is what happens - you get new sleds and it's a lame-o winter.  I can't even believe I am complaining about having no snow.  I'm really not crazy.

Tidy Victory - I have had an idea for a post for literally nearly a year now - to interview one of my favorite Etsy shops - and it finally happened!  I do not want to give away too much too soon, but if you are interested in crocheting and/or starting your own Etsy shop, you need to stay tuned folks!  :)

My Word for 2016 - Ahead

Messy Messy Fail - I know that I definitely have food in the refrigerator leftover from Christmas - I spotted some sautéed green beans, mashed potatoes and the remains of a leftover roast in the back of the fridge.  Good thing garbage night is tomorrow evening.

Tidy Victory - We had some friends over to celebrate our Christmas together quite late on Friday and I made a terrific somewhat authentic Mexican dinner - hard and soft shell tacos with my own taco seasoning (I just cannot use the packets anymore, so salty!), Paula Deen's mexican rice and this delicious recipe for restraunt style refried beans.  Let me just say there were no leftovers.  

Be ahead of the game. 

Think ahead.

Be ready.

Be early.

Do you see the common theme?

Punctuality is not necessarily one of my strong suits.  I am a procrastinator tried and true.  ESPECIALLY if it is something that I don't really want to do.  

But you know what?  That's a terrible excuse - I can be very lazy and that's the truth of the matter.  

Therefore, my word for this year is AHEAD.

Anticipate what is coming and be ready.

Think about the future and plan accordingly.

Do not set it aside for later, do it now.

Some of my specific goals include:

• better meal planning - I typically plan ahead for a week in advance, trying to go to the grocery store only once a week.  However too often we resort to running our for a quick pizza or sub. 
• keep our wipe off calendar in the kitchen updated - it's pointless to have if we don't use it properly!
• try to stay tidier - I'm always in a mad rush the night before our house cleaner comes to get clutter out of the way
• finish the task at hand - I am notorious for starting something then getting distracted by something else
• try to keep a "big picture" view - what will the consequences of my choices be and how will they affect others and not just myself

How ironic that my word for the year is being posted at the end of January ;)

What is your word for year?

Did you set specific goals for yourself?  I'd love to hear about them!

Click here to see where I like to par-tay!

Happiness is Homemade Linky Party #99

Messy Messy Fail - Did anyone else miss the first episode of the 2nd season of Fargo like I did?  Can't find it anywhere on the TV schedule, and being the outdated weirdos that we are we have yet to figure out the whole Amazon Prime free streaming thing.  I'll just add it to the list I guess.  And keep searching online for that golden first episode.

Tidy Victory - I found them!!!!  All the missing pieces to our Candyland game that is.  The UPKer does enjoy playing it, but it's even more of a game to try keeping the entire thing together in one box.  My solution - ziplock bags!

Welcome back to another great weekend at Happiness is Homemade!!

Oh, Hey Friday - Slightly Shallow

Messy Messy Fail  - It's nearly 12:30 on my Friday night and I'm finishing this post.  I'll pay for this tomorrow surely.  I am a night owl.  

Tidy Victory - The UPKer ate the leftover Chinese from yesterday for dinner!  I promised a pretzel from Auntie Anne's at the mall if he ate it all.  Whatever works.

Red, White and Blue Trifle

Messy Messy Fail - The washing machine stinks.  It's a top loader - came with our money pit when we purchased it 6 years ago - can't figure out what the problem is.  The old vinegar-and-hot-water-empty-cycle did not work, so I just pulled out the big guns - bleach!  We'll see.

Tidy Victory - I started teaching private lessons for the summer today and it felt great!  I was definitely ready for the regular school year to be finished, but I could never imagine not having any music in my life.  My private students come for instruction because they want to, which really means a lot.  We work on techniques such as vibrato, shifting or fun music like fiddle tunes, duets or anything by Lindsey Sterling.  The kids just love her!

Hello, Spring!

Messy Messy Fail - What a rough week back to school this was - I cannot describe in words how hard it is to get students refocused after a week off when they just had another week break four weeks prior.  Had to give out many reminders about when lessons were, how to rosin their bow again, what the purpose of their bow was, etc.  My phrase for the week was "Be engaged during rehearsals people".

Tidy Victory - I've got my new glasses!!!!  Love them - Anne Klein AK5027 in Mocha Horn.

I am currently out of town at an intensive weekend retreat for the local youth symphony that I serve on the board of directors for, so while I wait for the little musicians to start arriving, I'd like to share a weekend wrap up of things that have been on my mind this week with you all!

<One> Spring is Here - there are little crocuses opening up and daffodils ready to pop all over the place!  That's the sure sign around here that spring has sprung.  I'm watching my tulips that I replanted on the side of the garage carefully so I can dump my special deer/rabbit deterant on them - maybe I'll get to them quick enough this year!

<Two> Concert Time - The school musicals are pretty much finished, but now comes the spring concert season.  I already had my middle school concert before break (who performed FABULOUSLY I might add).  Next week I have my beginners concert which is one of my favorites.  All of my string students who I started last October get to pick a 1-2 line solo from our method book (we use Essential Elements) and they all play Twinkle and Bile 'Dem Cabbage Down together.  For some students this is their first time ever on stage, so this can be a particularly harrowing event for them.  But they always do a great job, and it's not necessarily about how well they play but that they are able to get up on stage, perform and complete the task at hand.

<Three> Spring Cleaning/Haul Out - As I have previously mentioned we do have a house cleaner who pays her magical visit every other week, but I like to do some extra spring cleaning tasks myself.  These include washing curtains (or hanging new ones in our bedroom!), vacuuming mattresses (and possibly purchasing a new one for us woo hoo!) and washing the couch cushions.  The insides of the window casings need a good cleaning out from all the winter grossness that has accumulated in them, and I know a few screens will need to be replaced from little toddler fingers poking through them.

<Four> Summer Concert Tickets - We always like to hit up a Dave Matthews Band show over the summer, and we just purchased some tickets for their Pittsburgh show at the beginning of June.  We definitely prefer the outdoor concerts whenever we can swing it.

<Five> Closet Switch Out - I'm almost nearly sure it's safe to put the big, puffy winter jackets, hats, gloves, snow pants and boots away and get out the galoshes, rain coats and baseball caps again.  To help save on closet space we rotate these two seasons of outdoor wear.  My most favorite nice weather footwear?  My Sperrys that I purchased last year - I am now a believer.  

Is anyone else ready for some nice weather?  Enjoy your weekend!

Katie

Amazing Uses for Deodorant

Messy Messy Fail - Now this wasn't TOO bad of a fail - we made the PW's Crispy Easter Eggs as a family project today.  You essentially use a plastic Easter egg as a mold for rice cereal and marshmallows.  Then, you are supposed to decorate your eggs with sprinkles.  Except the sprinkles hardly stuck at all.  Maybe I was supposed to have the toddler decorate the eggs immediately after I made them while they were still warm?  Either way, I didn't hear any complaining when everyone was eating them for dessert.

Tidy Victory - Our second Easter project of the day - Easter Bark - was a big hit and easy to do.  I picked up 4 bags of colored melting chocolate at Michael's for 1.99 a piece (score!) and reused some sprinkles I had from making cookies.  So much fun!  Funny thing, this particular activity was on Facebook posting about the ultimate Easter fails, hmmmmm we had no problem (for once)!

So people, did you ever even REALIZE all the amazing possibilities with deodorant?  I know that it's primary use as a pit destinker is not always the most desired topic of conversation, so here are some ways to use it that you WILL want to talk about!

<One> As a Face Degreaser - Blend, baby, blend!  Not only will your shine be banished but your face will feel powder fresh, too.




<Two> Car Air Freshener - I ALWAYS keep an open deodorant container in my free coffee cup holder - spring fresh!




<Three> Window/Mirror Defogger - I cannot explain the science behind this one, but holy cow the "perspiration" is gone!




<Four> Dish Washing Soap Substitute - You don't even need a sponge!




<Five> Dry Wall Spackle Substitute - Fill up those pesky picture frame holes in a jiffy AND freshen up the air in the room




<Six>  As an Oily Hair Degreaser - I'm telling you, one swoop of the stuff and bye bye, grease!  I particularly like to use it around my temples where you can see the oil beading up.



<Seven> HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!


I'm sorry, I had to.  I watched a video someone posted on a blog last year about helpful uses for cat liter, and when it got to the end where the blogger was using it as a facial exfoliant, I was like "No way!!!!". So thanks for reading and unless you are crazier than I am, DO NOT TRY ANY OF THESE!  :)

Happy first day of April everyone!


Katie

How to Make Cheap Shower Spray

Messy Messy Fail - Did I ever mention how I wanted to be an astrophysicist if I hadn't gone into music education?  Yeah, I'm not joking.  
I cannot tell you how excited I was when I heard about asteroid 2004 BL86 making a sweet fly by.  I looked up the path and best times for viewing which I THOUGHT was on Monday and Tuesday night.  I couldn't go out Monday so I ran out into the sub-zero temperatures on Tuesday night to a nearby park to see if I could catch a glimpse.  Did I bring my smart phone to check the path?  No, of course not.  Spent about 45 minutes, half of which was spent defogging my binoculars, searching the sky aimlessly for what I can only described as a foggy looking star.  It was also slightly too bright at the park, so I hopped in the truck and moved to a road side stand parking lot down the hill where the man-made light would be much less, put my glasses on the seat of the truck and hopped out to find BL86.  Too cold, still too bright, got back in the truck, and CRUNCH.    I needed new glasses anyways.  And come to find out BL86 was only visible on Monday night.  Go figure.

Tidy Victory - I immediately made an appointment with Dr. Kara Gibbs at Southern Tier Optometry to get my eyes checked (I was squinting even with my glasses on) and purchase new frames.  Normally I would wait a few months in my laziness, but walking around squinting like a gremlin stinks.  Done!  Now I just need to actually purchase the frames......