Helping Paws...

My cats are overly curious and this can lead to them being very annoying. Like when I make the bed Stue will slip in under the sheets and create a giant lump in my bed. Better yet is when Grace takes the time to bite my ankles while I'm trying to get dressed, especially when I'm trying to get my pants on.

The time I love best of all if when I'm trying to put away my clean clothes. I had them sorted out on my bed and was in the proses of putting away my socks when Stue leaps onto the bed and does this....

Sleeps right on my clean clothes. He also happens to start cleaning himself... which is just awesome. The joy of having cats is some times lost.

However, there are times that having cats can seriously warm your heart....

Boxes are so much more than cardboard!

In the spirit of helping my mother get the house more organized and getting used to keeping it that way, I took an entire afternoon (and then some) and went through EVERY piece of clothing I own. I ordered a book from my book club/program called What is a disorganized person to do? by Stacey Platt and it suggested in the bedroom section that you take a look at your clothes and think 3 things:
1.) Have you worn this in a year?
2.) Are you keeping this for a specific purpose? (like say I would wear this if I ever went on a cruise to Alaska) and
3.) Are you keeping this because you feel guilty? (like your aunt knitted it and she is 80 years old with bad arthritis. Wear it once for her and get rid of it)

I applied these things to everything I owned. I ended up with two very large boxes full of clothes I did not wear, fit into, or really like.

 A few of the items ended up with my Mom, but thats fine because she will wear it/it fits her. The boxes have since been getting fuller and fuller. Once I went through everything I made a list of everything in there for when we give it away. At the same time my Mom, randomly mind you, went through her own closet and got rid of about 20 items she never wears or doesn't fit into. I had to really push her to get rid of some things, but it was for the best! =) Since then we have regularly been adding to the boxes. Really anything that we suddenly think we don't want or care for anymore.

The cats got a joy out of the boxes the first night. They just can't help themselves.

The part that always gets me is the differences in both cats. Stue (the black one) will explore, but only to find a place to sleep. Grace explores to explore and destroy. She loves to chew on boxes. During Christmas its hilarious to hand out gifts and notice the teeth marks. Ah got to love cats!

Under sink is under control

I finally got around to finding decent baskets to finished organizing the bathroom. I did under the sink and used two baskets from Target and one cloth one I had over from my own room. I wasn't using it so it seemed a waste to not use it some where. 

There was about 7 bottles of cleaner that were mostly empty (as in about one or two sprays left), so those got the heave-ho. I found about 7 different types of leather cleaner, which is an odd place for these to be located, but until I get around to cleaning out the front door closet they will have to stay under the sink in my bathroom.

Thankfully this house was so new and well maintained that I didn't have to do any scrubbing or anything under the sink. I did put a few cedar balls down there to try and overpower the cleaner smell.

The fabric basket is holding all the leather cleaning supplies, shoe cleaning items, and my bra cleaning solution.

Little helper

My family loves pets. We have just about always had a dog, which is no different now since we have Lucy. However, we have ALWAYS had cats and not just one. Normally we have several at once. Mom, myself, and my brother Scott are more attached to cats. The cats seem to be just as attached to us as we are to them. (as I type this Stue, our black and white cat, is walking behind my head and now sitting between my legs purring like crazy.)

Stue has a love of people's heads. He likes to sleep ontop of your head and clean you when you try to move. its nice in the winter because it keeps you both warm. Now because there is yarn in the house the cats go nuts when they see it. (Mom is currently stuggling with Grace because she is trying to attach the yarn as she is crocheting.)
Mom is in the process of trying to sort and caterogies her yarn in the sewing room. She emptied her knitting basket and as son as she did Stue took over....

 He is happiest when surrounded by things... so he got buried by yarn shortly thereafter. He also loves to fetch/chase rolls of socks. He goes NUTS if you throw one down the stairs. Its hilarious. ...ah now he is curled up against my neck and snoring, while Grace is trying to kill my toes.... oh how I love our cats.