This has been a great place to journal my life for the last 18 months or so but it has become time to move out of mum and dad’s and get a place of my own. Yes, it is time to get my own site. Sure it won’t be as nice as here and it will look a little rough but it was time to stretch my wings.

Thank you WordPress for showing me my potential.

Visit my new place at chocolatevegetables!

Best wishes
CV

The items in bold are ones I have done, italics the ones I still hope to do.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Wow, not as short a list of “done” as I thought when I started. Must be what you get for being closer to 40 than 30 years old.

Best wishes
CV

Finally I seem to be staying on top of the dishes on a daily basis. Here is the result.

This is about as good as it gets. Fifteen minutes at a time my kitchen got pretty!

Best wishes
CV

G’day

This is how the kitchen looked on Friday night before dinner. Amazing! We are still eating and using dishes yet my kitchen table is slowly but surely getting clearer. Yay!

Friday's kitchen table before dinner.

Also I have organised a shelf in my bathroom at the end of the bath. Keeping 6 toothbrushes, a mug and 3 tubes of toothpaste clean and tidy on the bench was getting difficult so I went out and got baskets for each of us. Now we still share toothpastes but each person has a basket for their toothbrush, their own cup and down the track, their comb/brush and soap. Feels good to see it all so organised.

Bathroom shelf at end of bath with little baskets. Pretty, aren't they?

Dh and I have ours on the bench beside the sink. Doesn’t look half as messy as before though.

Best wishes
CV

This is getting better. Every day we add dishes, as you do, and every day I am getting them done and clearing some back log. My kitchen is quickly becoming a place I don’t dread walking into.

The kitchen table on Thursday before cooking dinner.

That is a pretty sad state of things, isn’t it? For me to hate being in my home, to dread each day in it, instead of my home being my haven, my peaceful escape from the world.

On Thursday I also got busy in my bedroom. Here are a few during and after shots.

Clutter and messes around my boys' drawers

This is my desk area. You get creative in a crowded house.

My desk area looks a lot more tidy now!

The other side of the bed is looking lots better too!

A pretty piece of fabric over some boxes and a piece of shelving and Mama now has a place for her pretties!

Time and effort well spent! It was about time in a household of 4 boys that I got a place for my pretty things that is pretty to look at. Mama is feeling a lot better!

Best wishes
CV