GIVE THEM FOOD...and other ways to cope with life

Bills needing to be paid... That's what keeps me from cooking all day. I have to work. *Sigh* if only life were simpler. :)

My personal belief is the longer you work the behinder you get. Sounds like you got a good start on the project!

If life was simple, I'd still have a long list of things to get into! Ah! Well! Such is life!

Lost? Oh bother! How can that guy Still be fat? He's on an Island!! LOL We don't have a garage, it got turned into a rumpus room back when Lincoln was a lad. Carlos and I use it for a bedroom now,kids are in the main house . We are separated by a patio. Anyway, when we moved in, we had to have a place for Stuff,so we had our carpenter built us a little storage shed and that is filled to the roof too. I have not been in there in 6 months but some day I just know I will Need something out of there! hahaha. I understand completely! Good job!! About that college course, your endorsement means a lot to me. Thanks.:)

hello cocojo & everyone here,we moved from a large house to a really small one,so we had lots of stuff, we put it in storage for 6 mo's....then went thur it, trashed some gave the rest away, if i haven't used it in 6 mo's i don't need it...the only part of my house that is tight is my kitchen,i use everything there, so my hubby is going to build on to make a large kitchen, our house is 640 sq feet now...good luck with you task

patti...well, he hides food and must eat alot of avocados!!...Yeah, I think we need a shed so that I can at least forget about all the stuff I have........Judy, you humble me 640sq ft..now that is tight.

Thanks for visiting everyone, your comments are always so enjoyable!

Seems I can never catch up on the laundry. lol - The pumpkin appetizer sounds great! Thanks for pointing it out. Do you have it saved as a personal recipe?

Hi Coco, no, "chix" sausage is my lazy way of saying or typing chicken. I had the best time at that FM, hubby was such a sweety to humor me and drive me there. Of course, he totally benefited from that trip too:) The Ar ppl interviewed me, but I never saw what they did with the footage they shot. I was hoping for some photos but I never saw any in their blogs. 640Ft? Wow that is a good size closet for some. Poor kid! :)

ha ha our house is small but it's just the two of us,all 5 kids are grown & gone, but i have a thing for kitchen gadgets that's why i need more kitchen space,right now the living room & kitchen is one room with a bar in between, then a bed room with two closets, then a bath room, it works well for us untill i start thanksgiving dinner for about 30 people, we have 5 kids,13 grandkids,1 great grandbaby, then it gets tight

oh we have freinds, & exhusbands of freinds that come for tg & x-mas dinners too...ha ha

Isn't it amazing how much space kitchen gadgets can use? I got some cabinets with doors to use in my basement for my out-of-season cake pans, jello molds, casseroles, etc. I filled them, closed the doors and when I wasn't looking the rest of the family piled so much stuff in front of the doors that I couldn't get them open. When I was able to grab a few items by opening the doors a few inches and reaching over the "stuff" on the floor, I found it impossible to put them back, so I started a pile in front their piles. I was disappointed to find that because our basement is unheated, some paper items started to develop some black mold from condensation and the lack of air circulation. I now leave the tin ware on open shelves. I also had some things in plastic bins that I thought would be safe from moisture, but because they were on the cold cement floor somehow mold developed inside. I couldn't see it, but almost passed out from the odor when I opened it. If you are opening and closing the doors frequently, or using plastic bins all the time, it's fine. I haven't found a great solution for long term storage yet.

Patty...never would have guessed chicken!...Judy, you're amazing to have all those people in that space! Daisy...do my kids live at your house?

I just finished cooking all day(My Favorite Thing to do)but my house really needs some attention,especially for the Holidays.Have to stop cooking so much! I think this is an escape from reality. I am so lucky my husband cleans up everything!!Floor too. Just can't seem to get him to clean garage. So much stuff and don't even know just what is in there. Better not to look and just get rid of all boxes.Trying to downsize and maybe move since only 2 of us now. You are really ahead of me. Wish me luck w/husband and not cooking so much!! Blame allreceipes!!!!

I knew I did not stand alone as I look into my own garage at the pile of my stuff, his stuff, DD's stuff, neighbors tools that have not been returned, broken stuff, unneeded stuff...

My garage is full of my mothers stuff, so she had so organize it!!!

I'm home sick from work and totally enjoyed reading your 'blog'. You sound like you're such a fun person, willing to laugh at herself. I'm laughing with you too. Thanks - that was really enjoyable ... and good luck with your garage enabling you to get back to what you love. Happy cooking!! What an encouragement you are! Thanks again from Canada :)

When you're done organizing your things, you're welcome to come to my house! As for laundry, I've finally come to terms that it will never be done. My youngest son loves to change his clothes...makes me want give him a good shaking! My mom quietly reminds me, they are only young once, so enjoy these times...easy for her to say, since all her kids are grown! As for cooking--I LOVE TO COOK! If I could do that all the time(minus the clean-up) I would feel I had died and went to heaven!

maybe you should try being a chemist as a career, like me! I basically cook all day! It's so fun, making all different concoctions and experiments, trying new things. I even have a dishwasher! The only bad parts is you can't eat what i make! you can certainly use it though!

OK, you are so ME....raised our daughter in an 1800 ft. home, moved to a 3200 sq foot home...was wonderful for the first five years and now...WOW, what the heck were we thinking??? Now stessing over how to downsize all this into the 1200 sq foot house we bought in the GA mountains --OK, we are going to build an outbuilding and have five years to figure it out but ....I want time to COOK!!!! BAKE!!! and I have to work, too! So I am very sympathetic!!

With two school age kiddies laundry is never ever done and we have had to downsize from 2000 sq foot to 1100... Have had many good will trips but have a ways to go it can be hard sometimes just finding a place to start lol.. Good luck to you and the abyss:-)... I'm beginning to like to cook have had too cut back on going out to eat but we do eat much better at home!!

To all my beautiful AR blog readers...it is great to know that i am not alone in the area of tackling "the stuff"! I love to read all of your responses...we are all so alike in so many ways aren't we? LOL and yet we all strive to capture some "perfect" person out there somewhere!....oh, well I don't think there will be "stuff" in glory so we can have a great time with no worries!!

Hey, that sounds familiar. I've been storing boxes of stuff in my folks' garage attic for 12 years. I'm sure glad they haven't been able to sell the house or I'd have to fetch all that stuff over here, lol

Like a few others, what I lack in kitchen cabinet space winds up in Rubbermaid tubs in the garage. Too many dishes, not enough space!! Hope you get the abyss finished soon!

I can so easily relate to you. My house is clean and organized (except maybe 1 drawer in my desk) LOL But the 2 1/2 car( I mean tractor and riding lawn mower, and no cars) garage is a mess. I still have college and school stuff from my kids out there. Good stuff I want them to have when they are established. My husband doesn't complain, so I won't either. After all its his garage.

That is my exact fantasy too!

Ann, I can't tell you when we last had a car in our garage! How do you do that with a riding lawnmower, a regular mower,and 15 sets of golf clubs??...even when the "stuff" is gone those things will still be there.

When I bought my small house 15 yrs ago, I vowed I would always park my car in the small 1-car attached garage because I knew the minute I started parking outside, I would quickly fill up that space, or my kids would! I had to have a shed built for my lawn mower, BBQ, and big tools. The garage still got pretty full, and I recently cleaned it out and painted it, bought extra shelves, etc, looks good. Also cleaned out my storage room in the basement, bought new shelves and containers, then my son moved home and now I can't even get into my storage room to get my Xmas stuff! GRRR! I also took an early retirement 3 wks ago, thinking of all the cooking I would be doing. Ha, I just had shoulder surgery and will be laid up for 6 wks! Oh well, at least my car is in the garage.

Isn't that just the way life goes Deb!