Checking the Boxes

So today I am going down my list and trying to get things accomplished. I stayed on the phone all morning with my friend, Missy. I usually get a lot more done when I can talk on the phone while washing dishes, cleaning out a drawer, doing laundry, etc. So I cleaned my kitchen and am now sorting my craft room (which has slowly merged to a junk room after the two kids have occupied the spare rooms in the house-guess that means they are no longer "spare" huh?)and I am proud to say that I've already tossed two garbage bags full. I am somewhat of a packrat...oh I might use this one day....you know the mentality. However, when I get on a rampage I'd say that mentality disappears. The clutter starts making my brain scramble and I eventually purge a ton of junk from the area. And since it hasn't been done in a while, there's quite a bit.
I'm doing all this because I am inheriting an office "system" from a friend and I'll have cabinets and drawers, etc. to really organize my space. I am so excited. A lot of my craft supplies have been in rubber totes in the closets because I have no way to organize them and we haven't budgeted money for shelving up the whole area. So now, I'll have the office/computer area alongside a tablespace for my sewing machine and accessories, and then the spools, material, ribbons, etc. can all have a spot they actually belong in. Woohoo! I don't think this could have worked out at a more perfect time since we really want to get Pumpkin a "paintin' thing" (art easel) for either her birthday or Christmas. She has been asking for it for months and I really don't want it to be in her room, as I am actually-yes, I know I might regret it-gonna let her use the paints too, not just the drawing stuff. She has one of my mom's old scrub tops that she just loved to look at when she was a baby. It was really worn out and my mom gave it to her instead of chunking it so that she could use it for a paint smock. And Hubby gave her an old Seminole shirt that shrunk really bad to use also. The floor is a dark tile in this room so I am thinking with a splat mat and smock, she should get to enjoy it.
I also got most of the bday invites done. I am planning on attaching ribbon to them for an extra cute touch, but other than that I printed them and also finished printing most of the addresses on the envelopes. Now I just have to order the cake pan, make a decision about the chairs, (should I really have a chair for each kid this year? or spread out picnic blankets and use the tables for the adults that might not be able to sit on the ground?)...and gather the snacks. She wants sweet tea to drink, pizza for lunch, pumpkin cake with "danilla or chocolate" ice cream, and chips and dip. How's that for a little girl that knows what she likes? She even recited her guest list.
We have dance tonight and Hubby is working his butt off this week. I have no idea when to expect him home. He is guessing about 4:30 he can leave work, which would put him home at 5, when we need to leave for dance. But the thing about this overtime stuff is that he might think until 4:15 that he's about to leave, and they may need him to stay until 10! And since everyday this week is like that, it's really tough to make decisions about dinner. I decided for tonight to use the crock pot-I'm thinking I need to get better about using it for nights when we have dance, it's so practical. I always buy those Tyson individually frozen chicken breasts because you can choose how many you need that night and they thaw so much easier since each one is kind of encapsulated in its own frozen ice "shell". So I just pulled a few out and quick thawed them. I threw in whole cloves of garlic and sliced some fresh ginger, seasoned with salt and pepper. I put that in for a bit, since they were frozen and turned it on low. I am going to finish it off with cream of onion soup and serve it alongside steamed broccoli and some white and wild rice. Not too bad for a thrown together style dinner on the run. I had a slow cooker recipe book but I can't find it. It was in magazine form, but there's no telling which stack it's in...I save a lot of those and flip through magazines when I'm in a cooking rut. I have Southern Living, Rachael Ray (those are both subscriptions I have as gifts) and then I buy Paula Deen's magazine occasionally. I can't wait to check out the new Food Network magazine too, since I don't get to watch that channel much anymore. Ahh the luxuries of sitting at home pregnant that we take for granted until they are gone!
Now I'm off to finish my task list for the day. I am hoping to get a lot accomplished today and tomorrow at home and then do my running around errands after bible study Wednesday morning. Pumpkin just woke up and Cupcake is not far behind her, I'm sure. Have a good day!