Five on Friday: Winter Break Recap

The winter break is almost over. This weekend we have to do all our regular weekend chores, like lots of laundry and making lunches. We’re all starting to think about heading back to school.

But it was a good break. Here are five highlights from our two weeks off.

1. Camping clean up

The camping trip was a lot of fun and we’re almost done unpacking it. My son and I hung up the tent earlier this week and my husband and I got it folded down enough to fit in the bag. The sleeping bags are in plastic bags (to prevent mildew) in the shed. We just need to take the batteries out of the flashlights and later an and repack the camping box. We’re just going to keep everything in there and throw it into the car again next time.

2. Grass Valley with best friends

My daughter and I got back from camping on Friday afternoon, I did six loads of laundry that evening and then we repacked for two nights in Grass Valley with our besties. My daughter has four best friends and their moms are my best friends and we met with them in the middle of their stay in Grass Valley. We played games and laughed so hard and had a dance off and laughed SO HARD. It was a great trip and I was so glad we got to go. It was a ton of fun. I feel so lucky to be a part of this group. I am endlessly thankful for all of them. .

3. Family visiting

My husband sister and her two kids were in town for most of the break, but because of camping and Grass Valley we only had a week to see them. We met them at playgrounds and rode Muni trains with them (my nephew LOVES transportation). I went to the Discovery Museum with them today and it was a lot of fun. It was also exhausting. I am so glad we are done with that little-kid phase (they are 4 and almost 6); I do not miss it.

I used to go to the Discovery Museum all the time with my own kids and I remember how haggard I always felt when I left. I felt that way today! My nephew and I spent forever piling tanbark onto a vertical conveyor belt thing and turning the wheel to move it upwards. It was so boring.

I’m so glad I don’t have to spend whole days that way anymore. Also, my own kids were AMAZING with their little cousins. They don’t have a ton of experience playing with such young kids, but they really showed up for their cousins, who idolize them.

4. Dave & Busters

As I decluttered some drawers I found a gift card to Dave & Busters that my parents gifted my son LAST Christmas. Wednesday is half-off games day so I took both kids for a couple hours. We weren’t the only ones who had that idea and it was pretty crowded, but they had a good time. I sat at a table and ordered a soda and plowed through Organized Living, which was overdue at the library. It was pretty hilarious to see me sitting in that chaotic building with a book about minimalism and beautiful living spaces.

I had to read the rest of the book pretty quickly, so I skipped the vignettes about the designers and just read the Tips and Tricks pages. I got some good ideas! And the kids had a lot of fun playing the games and getting enough tickets to get one good prize each.

5. Continued Decluttering

I kept up my decluttering efforts this past week. I got all the office supplies and even the random junk drawers organized. (I FOUND THE NAME PATCHES!) And then I used a couple ideas from Organized Living to tackle the hallway closet and a couple of pain points in the kitchen. I ordered a couple things from Amazon while I was at Dave & Busters, and they came today.

Of course sometimes you don’t need to buy anything new to organize. This box (that the four tool boxes came in!) fits all my Costco and IKEA bags perfectly. I use these bags to do laundry and I am so pleased they all fit so perfectly in this random box. They used to take up an entire shelf and were always tangled up with each other.

And in the kitchen I got a magnetic shelf with a hanging paper towel rack. Our old paper towel holder couldn’t manage the giant Costco paper towel rolls and was always getting moved around the kitchen (or knocked off the island by the cat). Also, the coffee prep stuff was always on the counter, needing to be moved when we wiped it down. Now it all lives in the side of the refrigerator.

Today I scheduled a cleaning lady to come on January 29th for a first visit and then again on February 16th, the day we leave for Mexico City, so the house will be clean when my in-laws stay here. It will be clean, and dare I say it organized! I am so pleased it’s actually coming together. I feel like I’m coming at some old problems with new solutions, and am feeling hopefully that they just might work!