New Miranda (Pre-Bean Sprout Organization): Week Five Recap

We've had company all week and I've been spending more than my fair share of time at work, so the past 7 days were a little light on accomplishments. I did, however, sort through what I call "sock mountain", a pile of partnerless socks that collect on Chase's sock/underwear dresser that we have been too lazy to match up and put away. The mountain had gotten to be so big, chipping away at it was actually on my Pre-Bean-Sprout To Do List.

I paired up at least 30 pairs of socks and gave them a home. It doesn't sound like a lot, but there's nothing I hate more than sorting through a bunch of (mainly white) socks that look identical but aren't (it makes my brain ooze out of my nose). So, all in all, I consider this a week well spent.

Next week I plan to:
- check my tax status
- check status of Whit's health card (we haven't gotten it yet)
- sort out Gypsy bills
- pack every single empty box we have
- find new boxes to pack
- get keys to my new place
- set up mail forwarding to my new house
- go hardcore on the toilet training again

New Miranda (Pre-Bean Sprout Organization): Week Four Recap

This week I:

Signed a new lease!
We're officially moving into that 3 bedroom house I talked about last week - the one that's owned by my old, sane landlord. I am so excited to move in and make it into a home. I already have a ton of plans - new furniture, organization projects, etc. Will give a tour and blog/vlog about it as we go.

Wrote a complaint about The Gypsy for ratemylandlord.com
It's not as good as going to the Tenant Board, which everyone has been encouraging me to do, but it made me feel better. The repercussions aren't immediate, and it allowed me to pussy out of doing something productive while still feeling like I was standing up for myself.

Received Whitney's birth certificate
It's actually here - in my possession. Yehaw!!

Have a working laundry machine
I have never, ever been so happy to do laundry. After almost 3 weeks without a working machine, our bedroom was starting to look like an episode of Hoarders (if the hoarder loved smelly clothes). The Gypsy fixed it just in time to show the apartment to her first prospective tenant (like, literally, within hours of showing the place).

Packed
I didn't pack as much as I wanted to, but at least something got done. Packing will be next week's focus.

New Miranda (Pre-Bean Sprout Organization): Week Three Recap

This week was much more productive than the last. I'll try to keep these posts super short because I realize they're a total snorefest for you guys (yet, I insist on doing them anyway. Sorry).

New Miranda:

- Got my kid's birth certificate

- Packed

- Set up an appointment with Whit's doctor to get her 2 year check-up and vaccines
- Looked at apartments

- May have found a place to live in May (3 bedroom house with my old, awesome landlord. Chase is following up tomorrow)

- Continued toilet training (although, somewhat less strictly)

- Started whine boot camp with Whitney (that's an entry on its own - an entry I've been planning since last week)

- Blogged (oh, hey guys!)

- Calculated my portion of the house bills we have copies of and discovered that, rather than owing the Gypsy money at this current time, she owes us $8

- Followed up with my broken laundry machine (nothing's been done, but at least I know the landlord is due back on Sunday)

- Set up April Book Club for my Mommy group

- Read Hunger Games for April Book Club

- Did some meal planning

- Spoke with my sister, who is going to pick me up a copy of the Drivers Handbook so I can finally get started on my G1 (I haven't been able to find it anywhere in Toronto, and had to resort to getting it from a gas station back home, in the middle of buttfuck nowhere). 

New Miranda (Pre-Bean Sprout Organization): Week One Recap

New Miranda has had a busy week! I've been making good progress with my To Do List, but I have to tell you - this moving business has me really stressed and downright depressed. 

I've been house hunting at least once a day online, calling around to different places, and coordinating appointments to see potential apartments, but we haven't had any luck so far.

Chase and I got to talking this evening, and we are going to ask my landlady if we can stay here until September 1st. By "we might ask" I mean "I'm forcing Chase to ask because I'd rather stick a fork in my eye." It shames and pains me to ask anything of The Gypsy, but staying here makes more sense financially (and lease-ily, considering we will most likely have to move again in about 4 months anyway). As much as it kills me to admit it, staying here is less stressful than finding a nicer apartment somewhere else.

ANYWAY, enough complaining. Onto the list. 

This week I:

• packed 3 boxes of random stuff and cleaned out my hall closet so I'd have a place to store them.

• collected a whole stack of empty boxes from work, which we carted home tonight. Depending on what the landlord says about us staying on for the summer, I plan to pack those boxes up ASAP. My rule is that any box that comes into our house must be packed within 24 hours. When the time comes, I'll be ready to GTFO.

• organized Whit's bedroom and toys.

• vacuumed the shared entrance way to my apartment, washed that floor, and organized our shoes and hat basket so people won't think we're hogs when they come to see our apartment.

• paid $500 on my bank loan.

• started toilet training Whitney. We had a rough start, but she's really coming along. She even tells me when she needs to pee now which, considering how it was going last weekend, is nothing short of a miracle.

• cleared out the furnace room. I even hauled some of the bigger items out to the shed - like the she-woman I am - to make room. I still need to go through and purge some stuff, but it's like night and day in there. 

• purged 4 of my sweaters that I don't wear anymore and 2 of Whitney's old coats that I won't be re-using with Bean Sprout.

• blogged (obviously).

• emailed the landlord some bill info to (hopefully) get the ball rolling on getting that mess sorted out.

• kept my house clean and tidy on a consistent basis. I'm still working on an actual cleaning schedule that I can stick to, but just cleaning up after myself right away seems to be doing the trick for now.

TO DO BEFORE BEAN SPROUT ESCAPES FROM MY VAJAYJAY:

Money and Government

- Renew Whitney's Health Card
- Apply for Child Tax Benefits
- Taxes (2007-2011)
- Get Whit’s Birth Certificate

- Submit Maternity Leave paperwork
- Get my G1 (learner's permit to drive a vehicle)
- Pay Student Loan by July 1st
- Save $1000 by July 1st
- Set up new budget for mat leave once we move
- Get bills sorted out with the gypsy

- Open an RRSP (retirement fund)

Home and Childcare
- Toilet train Whit
- Get Whit’s vaccines up to date
- Find new apartment
- Sign up for mail forwarding to our new apartment
- Change address with banks, phone company, government, etc.
- Sort out daycare arrangements for my mat leave
- Develop easy house cleaning routine I can stick to
- Develop a good routine for Whitney to minimize impact when Bean Sprout comes (ie – solid bed time routine, story time, one-on-one learning and play)
- Prepare Whitney for Bean Sprout’s arrival by talking-up her role as Big Sister
- Wash and put away newborn and 0-3 month clothes
- Find storage solution for newborn diapers

Shopping
- Car seat
- Double stroller
- Bed for Whit
- Dresser for Bean Sprout
- Diaper stockpile
- Moby wrap
- Ergo carrier
- Nursing covers
- Bottles

Misc. Organization and Projects
- Pregnancy vlogs for Moragvlogs YouTube channel
- Revive Morag and Me by updating at least once a week
- Clear out furnace room
- Sort through our storage junk, purge the stuff we don’t use, better organize the stuff we’re keeping, and bring donations to Good Will
- Purge clothes we never wear and bring donations to Good Will
- Sort through our sock mountain
- Purge through our junk drawer in the kitchen
- Organize bills/receipts/paperwork and come up with a good home filing system that we’ll actually use
- Finish Whitney’s baby book and make a memory box for her
- Start memory box for Bean Sprout
- Revive my Shutterfly account and make photo albums for Whit and Bean Sprout on a season-to-season basis going forward
- Paint our hall table and ghetto dresser (and maybe switch out the hardware on the dresser)