opening up

Things are opening up. A couple of our organizing projects at home are really making a difference. And a few places I've been stuck with are loosening up as well. Even as the weather mixes from warm to cold to warm again, there's something about that dynamic weather energy that really gets me moving.

And while I've been getting rid of stuff I've also been bringing new usable stuff in.

One of the favorite things I bought was the Magic Ball Mop Holder. I bought two of them and they work great! I am usually skeptical of the "As Seen on TV" stuff, but this one actually does what it says it does. I put one in the office to display and store all the staffs, spears, and walking sticks and another in the closet for brooms and such. We had gathered quite a collection of sticks that we just kept leaning against the wall somewhere. They would eventually topple over whenever we closed the front door since we often leaned them against that wall.

The other "Love It" buy was the Zojirushi Electric Hot Water Dispenser. A few weeks ago I started noticing that the hubby was microwaving every hour or so. Eventually I asked him what he was doing because he wasn't heating food up. He said that he's been drinking warm water at night so he doesn't get into these dry hacking coughs. Hot water dispensers are just one of those Asian household appliances that you get after rice cooker and rice dispenser. Ok so I don't have the rice dispenser (yet). Fortunately for us, I had come across a $75 Amazon gift certificate so that cut the bill quite a bit. We got a fairly fancy one that electronically dispenses, but also has three different heat settings, auto shut off and a timer. I have to admit, it makes me drink more tea. So this has been a boon on the health side as when the hubby drinks more water, he drinks alot less soda, and an increase on the tea drinking.

The last thing we bought recently, again with the theme of new and effective was an ottoman for the living room. This 2 in 1 was great! I put one aside to put my feet up while watching television and the other we used as an end table for the sofa. I flipped the top over to get the food tray top and stored the throw blanket inside. I had been wanting an ottoman for a while, but hadn't seen anything that fit with our current decor. The faux black leather goes with just about everything and I love the extra storage. After a morning of kali seminar and an afternoon at a christening, I propped my legs up on it and I can't believe why I didn't buy one sooner. My feet are quite grateful. Plus since they are more on the sturdy and square side, they can be used as extra seating (if/when we actually have guests.

And in actuality that is the goal. The hubby has been getting massages at work since they are subsidized as one of their perks. He actually found someone who could massage him without him getting super ticklish. He came up with the idea that maybe we should have him come over for a couple of hours and do a table massage at home. This is quite odd for the hubby to say since he usually felt like our place should be in proper order before people should be let in and I usually don't care if it's people we know. But I argued his side for a change and said we should really get our place respectable looking for guests. Thus the quest to reorganize the living room because when it's done, we get to finally invite the massage guy over. I am indeed a fiend for massages. Is there really a reason to refuse a massage? Anyway, this has proved to be wonderful inspiration for getting organized.