2 Days to Go

Our Garage Sale was awesome! We made a tidy amount of money, and got rid of a lot of things. Some items that didn't sell, I'm not so sure I want to sell after all...we've a pair of head-boards for twin-sized beds, and as we are currently leaning toward our girls sharing a room in a few years, it would be sweet to have them painted and all matchy-matchy with some flowers and butterflies.

We also have a sweet storage bench/hall tree sort of thingy that has 5 double hooks and a really deep storage portion - perfect for our entry hall to catch coats, backpacks, hats, and store things like our boots and mittens and winter hats...I'm just not sure where in my entry it should go!

The rest is being taken to a local thrift store as a donation this afternoon when I go to get my haircut.

BB and I only have a few things to cart to the basement to store until we're ready to refinish and reuse them, or sell them on Craigslist.

Since my last post, I've:

• washed, dried, folded and put away 2 loads of laundry
• packed every piece of clothing that we'll need for our trip
• packed up and put all unsold garage sale items in their appropriate location - 90% of it is in my car to be donated today, the other 10% is back in the basement, on the shelf
• stripped and remade the kids' beds, dusted and vacuumed their bedrooms

Next up:

• clean the kids' bathroom
• clean my bedroom and bathroom
• strip and remake my bed
• wash all towels and sheets in the house
• gather activities for the kids to have in the truck
• pick out several DVDs of shows and 6 movies for them to watch
• gather and pack the "dry goods" we'll be taking (cookies, animal crackers, a loaf of bread, granola bars, fruit snacks, napkins, wet wipes)
• pack the diaper bag
• wash the Thermos and water jug
• clean the living room, dining room, office, and utility rooms
• clean the powder room
• change the cat litter
• organize and clean the playroom
• vacuum the downstairs and basement
• take out all the trash and recycling
• wash a load of diapers (Tuesday mid-morning)
• wash all the dishes and put them away
• bake sourdough bread
• clean the kitchen
• pack a picnic lunch for our first day on the road
• load the cooler with fruit, yogurt, sandwiches and some veggies
• fill the water jug and Thermos with ice water and coffee respectively

At this point, I'm on track to finish all but the diapers, bread, kitchen, and fresh food packing today, which is what I want to do.

My goal is to have the house clean (except the kitchen since I need to make meals and bake bread between now and leaving tomorrow afternoon), the truck cleaned and loaded up before bed tonight, so that all I have to do tomorrow morning is some basic tidying, a quick vacuum, water my plants, and that load of diapers.

I know it's a long list, but the kids are happily playing, Littlest One has a full belly, a dry diaper, and is happy under her play gym right now.

Most things are picked up and put away as I worked really hard last week to stay on top of things.

I know, too, that I love Flylady a whole lot. If it weren't for her system of 15 minutes at a time and Zones, I'd be sunk for this vacation.

I hate coming home to a dirty house, and would be mortified to have our house-sitters taking care of a cluttered space.

I'm also mortified thinking of driving cross-country with a cluttered car or truck, so I'll be tackling that - taking out all receipts, wrappers and unnecessary items (do we really need blank, generic deposit slips from the credit union?) and vacuuming the carpet and upholstery. I'll also wash the windows and mirrors, and, if there's time, take a run through the car wash. I know we'll get road grime and bug-guts on it as we're driving, but I want to know that we're starting out with no mashed Cheerios, or sticky spots anywhere.

Well, much to do, including some errands, so I'm logging off for now.

I'll try to post while we're out of town, but no promises.

I do promise to give a full report and post some photos when we're home!