What? When Did this Happen?

Ok, you're probably going to think I AM so unorganized lately, but hey, life happens, you know? Even the Feng Shui girl, Stephanie McWilliams get overwhelmed with life. It happens!
In the midst of my schooling, the kids schedule, Charlie's work hours, two adorable but picky pets, tablescaping, blogging, penny pinching, household duties and photography (pant, pant...) stuff gets overlooked and things surprise you!

(You're reading this and two things are happening right now: you can't stop nodding your head because you're laughing from seeing your own chaotic days, or you are saying, "Man, I can't believe she's so overloaded! I'll never be like that!" Yeah, like that'll happen! Good luck with that...)

Anyway, so during the last 10 days, we only: (The rest of the story...)
Ate, played with, used, didn't use, portioned, thought of, avoided, cleaned, planned and gave away (excess) food and items that are in our apartment. And during this time of "self-reliance", I personally discovered (with some looks of transparent surprised ("what? we didn't have anymore? we ran out? I didn't know we had that...") faces from my brood) that...

1. Our burner liners were becoming a set of fire hazard charcoals from spills. That's what I get when I try to teach my children responsibility (LOL). It is nothing short of a miracle that we didn't produce "ash smelling or charcoal tasting" dishes, that's for sure!

2. Our whole apartment has become host to most of our kitchen towels- the dirty ones- FOLDED! (It was maddening at first, but after a while, it was hilarious to see them in so many different places.) Again, responsibility is such a two sided blade... ;-)

3. We have not had a bath mat in the kids' bathroom floor since our cat, Cece, prefers to pee on them rather than her litter box! Ewww! But, the kids safety comes first so we gave in and grabbed one today. (I don't know if it'll be a nice surprise or the kids will try to telepathically convey to Cece to leave the mats alone! Or... give me a glare that'll melt me to the floor for setting up another soon to be disaster. What do you think? LOL)

4. We've been cleaning the bathrooms with one brush. (gag fest over here!). Normally, most won't see anything wrong with that. We were being frugal is all, you can all understand, right? But, our bathrooms are a whole story apart, so can you imagine what kind of a yucky transport that is? This is how it normally goes: when I need it, I use it and leave it in our bathroom (no window- hate it!). When the kids need it, normally Lisa's in charge, she has to ask to get it while grabbing a hole-deprived grocery bag to transport the brush upstairs! She then cleans the said toilet in distress, toss the bag, rinse the brush, spray the tub with Lysol, rinse with hot water then cold water to sanitize it. And vice versa... the cycle goes on. Why?!

5. That most of our books have been read and read well (most are worn from being read in different rooms and spots in our small living room) that my children can "continue" the stories playing the game, "What If..." (I told you I have cool kiddos!)

6. That I like using my crockpot (what? when did that happen?) My MIL gave it to me a few Christmases ago, but had very few reasons to use it then, but the last 10 days, it was key to my flexibility in putting together a meal and great tablescapes! I'm a new fan! Does this mean I'll use it more, just maybe, I don't like to make promises I can't keep, you know... ;-)

There, so now you know the rest of the story of our "Being Self-Reliant" Family Project. We were lucky to be so "equipped" to do this without realizing it in the beginning. I kid you not, I was the one most worried as I'd be the first to be thrown into a volcano ready to spew if we happened to not have enough food to play with and enjoy. I'm Filipino, Charlie went to the Philippines, my children survive on rice and soysauce. You get the picture... Whew!

Oh, did we tell you? We also celebrated with ice cream... We hadn't had any since we paired them with angel food cups! Yummy exhale... And a trip to Walmart today...