Summertime

Blogging land is interesting during the summer months.  Just before the heat of summer you start to read blogs where the writer is re-thinking their blog, needs time away, isn't sure of their focus anymore, or simply feels drained.  Others tell you they will be gone or blogging sporadically in-between vacations.  Still others, like me, disappear.  Some of these vanishing bloggers are in the navel gazing camp and you either do (or don't) hear from them again.  That's not me.  I was on vacation ...  I'm just paranoid.  I didn't say anything before going because I obviously think that only burglars read my blog and I didn't want them knowing that the house was unoccupied and just ripe for the picking.  If I'd been super organized and on-the-ball I would have scheduled some blog posts for while I was away (like those lights on timers).  I'm not that organized, and I'd likely trip on any balls that got in my way.  All this rambling to say that I had a great vacation with lots of outdoor activities and time with family and friends.  I'm rested, happy, and ready to carry on.

Filing Cabinets Be Gone

I like things organized.  Even Lego - a bin for the blue Lego, a bin for the yellow Lego, a bin for the red, black, and white Lego.  You get the picture.  So, of course, it only seems natural that I like to file papers away - bills, receipts, whatever.  Actually ... I hate filing.  I especially hate the look of filing cabinets.  For an organized person they should carry a certain aesthetic, but to me they have a hard, ugly edge about them and there is definitely nothing fun about them.  They are all business.  Yes, yes.  Some crafty folks have painted them pretty colours.  Nonetheless, it does nothing to hide the fact that they are just plain awful.

Being an organized individual I've felt obliged to have filing cabinets in my home.  We all have paperwork, and therefore, we need filing cabinets, right?  Wrong.  I am here to set you straight today.  You don't have to have a filing cabinet in your home to be organized.  Let me explain.

As I was reading through various blogs the other day I found Simple Productivity Blog.  And this is where I learned that you don't have to use a filing system to be organized.  A simple box to hold your receipts, bills, and what have you, for the year is enough.  I had actually been doing this since we moved as I was avoiding the filing cabinets.  I was dreading going through this box ... but the box itself?  I had been finding it quite useful.  Anytime I needed to reference a bill I would go to my box and within a few seconds I would have it.  I needed a receipt?  Bam - I had it.  Could I have found it in some complicated, multi-coloured file system?  Probably.  But we're not some big corporate office.  We're just a family, with simple needs.

I think I'm going to continue with my box.  I am going to expand my box system ... I'll have a separate one for manuals, and one for Walter, Manuel and myself.  And ... I just might have to make them pretty looking ;)

Chairs Apart

I can't take them anymore.  Have a look.

No, look closer.

Not only is the colouring not my style, but the fabric is old and dirty.  Since we don't generally eat in the dining room I haven't really bothered with these chairs (eight chairs - six armless, two with arms).  I have known that at some point we would re-cover them ... probably when we found the right fabric.  But this past week, a week in which I had taken some time off and was with them every day ... I just couldn't take it anymore.  I had to see what I could do about them.  I started by taking the seat off one chair.

And then I started to pry those old, deeply imbedded staples.  Ugh.  It's hard work.  I'm using a small knife, chisel and pliers (from Manuel), and lots of concentration.

See this label?

Ah - that red and gold fabric isn't even the original stuff.

I'm still debating fabrics, and might try a few before getting it right.  I'll let you know as things progress ... slowly I'm sure as those staples are brutal.