Spring Banter And Bluebonnets

Caitlin K 0:22

Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do because it ain't no cure for the springtime Tuesday. I was wondering when you were gonna start singing again. I like it.

Jenny GK 0:35

Yeah, it's time to sing. Okay. I'm welcome to spring.

Caitlin K 0:37

The blue bonnets are out in Texas. And if you live in Texas, you know what that means because they only sprout up along the highways when it's early spring. Please don't mow so wildflowers can grow. Oh, cute. I like that. All right. All right.

Jenny GK 0:51

So welcome to CK and GK. We're the show for adults who need a grown-up.

Caitlin K 0:57

That would be us. Today we are sharing. I've got 14 organizing tips to satisfy your spring cleaning urge. Because now that the blue bonnets are out and the allergies are happening for a lot of people, you might be feeling the urge to clean. So here you go.

Jenny GK 1:15

Before we do that, I have to introduce my co-host. And because it is St. Patrick's Day season, um, I will tell you that Caitlin is magically delicious.

Caitlin K 1:29

Magically delicious. Well, that's my humble, intelligent golden retriever, Jenny.

Jenny GK 1:39

Okay, so here's the deal. Yesterday

Dog Influencers And COVID Movies

Jenny GK 1:42

I see a yellow lab crossing in front of our car at a stoplight. Okay. And I said to Abby, man, that is a good looking dog. That dog is trim and fit. That's a nice looking dog. And she goes, Yeah, he has a GoPro on. He must be a YouTuber. He's got to look good for his videos.

Caitlin K 2:02

She's not wrong. She's not. Have you heard of Pearl the Golden Girl? It's an instant, it's an Instagram account for a dog. And it's like, no, this woman, oh my gosh, she puts a little microphone in front of her dog. And if you like Tiefs, if you like doggy teeth and you like chomps, then you'll love this account because it's this woman making homemade healthy foods for her dog that all do all kinds of things. It's like, this is green foods that are that your dog can eat. These are red ones. Or today's was like, these are things you can give your dog when their tummy is hurting. And she makes it all and she tells you, like, you know, if you can have, like, if you can have a particular fruit or vegetable, but you can't have the skins, like she tells you like what to take on. But it's very cute. And Pearl is a drooler and she's got teeth, and it is she is so cute. I love that one. That's a cute account. If you like dog accounts, that one and good boy Ollie are my two favorite doggy accounts.

Jenny GK 2:58

Uh John really wanted Bagwell to be an Instagram star. So her handle is Triple B the GSD. Because her official name is Becky Beaujolais Bagwell. That is the bougiest dog. Quadruple B bougie. Well, the Becky comes from saving Dory. Oruo! Ooh! Oroo!

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Becky!

unknown 3:30

Becky! Get the bucket! Get the bucket!

Jenny GK 3:34

Because we got her during COVID, and that was one of our COVID movies that we had to watch every single day. Yeah. Either finding Nemo or finding Dory. And then, um, of course, the Beaujolais is I needed to name this dog something fancy. So what does it say about us that both our dogs are named after alcohol?

Caitlin K 3:52

Uh but we're gonna get to our main meat of the show today. So let's go ahead and do that. We're talking about 14 spring organizing tips. All right, here we go. Lay them on me. Okay, so I'm gonna start with our sources for today, which are um one is an article from Motherly by Justine Lorel Lamonico. It's called Eight Genius Spring Organizing Hacks to Try, Mama. It's linked in the show notes. The other one is by Katie Holdafair. I think I said that right. Thanks. For real simple. And um, it's 10 genius organizing tips that change the way

Sources And A No-Buy Promise

Caitlin K 4:27

we tidy up. First of all, some of these are from me. I only pulled like one or two from those people. Or if I pulled them from one of the articles, I also use them myself. So there's that. And then I also was trying to be very intentional about like these are things that you don't really have to buy, or if you do choose to buy, you don't need to spend a lot of money on this stuff. Because there's that's amazing. There's so many people who are like making tons of money off of selling you clear bins. And it's like, that's great if you love clear bins, but how many can you possibly have? And I'm a testament to this because my husband hates when big boxes come from Amazon because he knows there's probably clear bins in there. So we're just we're not doing that. All right, so here's a few of them. Okay, here we go. Store boots with pool noodles. Go to the dollar. Like give them shape? Yeah, go to the dollar store. If you don't have pool noodles, just go to the dollar store and then cut them with like a bread knife to the length of your boot and then stick them in your boot and they'll keep their shape. That is genius. And then I just store them under the bed because I don't wear them in the summer. Well, we'll get to that in a

Clever Fixes For Small Stuff

Caitlin K 5:32

second. Okay, that's one of them. Okay. Store sheets in their matching pillowcases. I feel like a lot of people already do this, but if you're not, you should. And just bundle them all together. You don't need to shove the comforter in there, but like all the sheet sets, like just put them in their matching pillows. I love it. It's like a for me, it's like a a kit. Yeah. Like here you go, make your bed. Exactly. And there's these sheet cases on Amazon that they look like kind of um like those accordion file folders. And I have I don't have them, but I do kind of want them. They were ridiculously expensive when I first saw them, but they've come way down. I just I still haven't pulled the trigger on buying those yet. Um, and if it's like a winter time um bed set, get a vacuum seal bag and then just suck all the air out of that thing after you wash it, put it in the bag, and then you'll have it ready for the next season.

Jenny GK 6:21

Or you're like me and you use a down comforter 20 uh 12. Oh, yeah, yeah, me too. Don't even yeah. And it's so hard for me to sleep at a hotel that only has like that pretend bed spread that you don't want to touch your skin anyway. I'm like, uh, I need some weight. Like, where where where is the heavy?

Caitlin K 6:41

I actually have a weighted blanket that's on the foot of our bed for when it's quilt season, and my husband likes to use a quilt, and I pulled the heavy blanket up over myself because I'm not, it's not enough.

Jenny GK 6:50

So my sister um was looking to give me a present, and she texted my husband and said, Hey, does Jen have a weighted blanket? And he said, Yes, she does, and it's probably her most prized possession.

Caitlin K 7:05

Oh my goodness gracious, that is funny because they're perfect. I love them. Okay, tip number three. So we've got two so far boots with pool noodles, store sheets in their matching pillowcases. Number three, store bobby pins on a magnetic strip. They have ones that are adhesive on one side, and you just stick them on the inside of your cabinet or your drawer or whatever, and then when you need a bobby pin, you just throw them up against the magnetic strip.

Jenny GK 7:31

Okay, so I have seen this like on Pinterest or something. Where do you find these magnetic strips? Like, this is a craft store.

Caitlin K 7:39

No, we could the A to Z store is a good place too. Okay, yeah.

Jenny GK 7:42

I want to give it a try because I pretty much have single-use bobby pins.

Caitlin K 7:47

Well, yeah, I or I have the opposite, right? Where I'm like, this is the bobby pin that I've been using for forever because it just hooks onto my pants, and I'm really good about remembering to take it on and off of the pant hook part of my. Yeah, okay, yeah. Um, or you can also use like repurposed candle holders. When the candle gets too low, you just pour some uh water into it. I think it's hot water. You pour the hot water into the candle, and then the wax will start to slowly lift off of the bottom, and then you can just pull it out in one big disc. Oh, that's smart. Yeah, and then you take it out, put it on your other candle. Wait, so you when you burn with there's like that little that space on the wick that's like an inch, you can just put the new wax on there. So then you have it a little bit longer with your next candle, and then you can use the container. So that's another thing. But I like the magnet better, just kind of traps them all, you know.

Jenny GK 8:32

Yeah, I'm gonna give the magnet a shot. Yeah, right now I just have a little like a tiny basket that's like cute, but what else what do you keep in it? Because it's so small. Yeah. So I'm using that. But again, like bobby pins come out of my hair, they go on the kit on the bathroom counter, the bathroom floor, the side table on my bed.

Caitlin K 8:50

And if there was a magnet that you could just like sweep them into and then it would trap them, that'd be great. Yeah, yeah. Okay, cool. All right, keep going. Stash your grocery bags in a sanitizing wipes container. So think like Lysol Clorox bag or like Clorox wipe container, yeah, put them in there. And then when you pull them, they can just come out that way. Or um, I used to use an old tissue box, that was a really good way to do it too. Super helpful.

Jenny GK 9:14

So, um, if you happen to live in a part of Texas that is served by the greatest store ever known to man, H E B, when you do a curbside order, they will take uh bags out of your truck. Yes, they will. That's a new thing.

Caitlin K 9:27

They didn't used to do that, but now they're serving too. It's beautiful.

Jenny GK 9:30

I am loving it.

Caitlin K 9:31

Oh, yeah.

Jenny GK 9:32

Because we use them sometimes on dog walks, right? We use them for cats, but we do not use them as much as we gain them. Interesting. Because there is not an option for using your own bags if you do a uh curbside order. Right. They use paper bags at RHEV. That's nice. Yeah. Um, we live outside the city limits, so we got plastic. But I can just bag them all up and throw them in the trunk, and then next time I pick up an order, they'll take them back.

Caitlin K 10:02

Yeah, we have like a big bin in the laundry room where we put all of that um number four plastic wrap stuff, and we just bring it all to them at once. But yeah. Well, if you ever need them for your cats, let me know because we will probably take up on a wrap. Yeah, I'll probably take up on that fire. Okay. Um, another one that I liked, use stickable hooks to store your tools, like hairdryers and stuff, or you can opt for those hooks that hang over cabinet doors. So I have on the inside of my kitchen cabinet doors, I have a little hook that sits, it's like a little basket that hooks over the door, and that's where I put like the things I need to use all the time. You know, like, and then I also have those, um, it's like a three, like a command hook for hanging a squirt bottle because I use that all the time. Yeah, that's a good one to have on the and I just stick it on the inside of my inside of my kitchen sink cabinet. Nice right there. Yeah. Another thing I love about stickable hooks, this tip is one I got from Real Simple. I thought this was brilliant. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Use stickable hooks to give the illusion of organization by hiding your cords. What you take the command hook, you stick it on the upside down, or you don't have to do that, you could stick it on the back of your furniture, take the extra cord, tie it up so that there's like a little loop on it, and then hook it over the command hook. Oh, it's off the floor. Yes, yes, I hate cords on the floor, I can't stand it. It's one of the things that just makes me like ick.

Jenny GK 11:32

And that one I thought was so I think I've talked about this on the show before, but in our um media room upstairs, behind the couch, I hung a series of those very narrow IKEA shelves. Oh, yeah. The ones that you're supposed to like just balance like a book, a book or a photograph or whatever. So I hung a whole line of them. There's like four of them in a row. Yeah. And basically, it's a coffee table behind the couch, but it's also a place for us to run wires underneath and you don't see it.

Caitlin K 12:10

Smart. That's a good idea. I um wanted to put up some of those, like, you know what the lighting that the cool kids are doing all the time in the at the top of their ceiling. Like, yes, yes. I wanted to put up some of that. Yeah, the tube stuff. Um, but I put it in our entry hall, and there's a cord that runs up the side before you get to the actual lighting, and it just looked really tacky. So I used some of that stick-on cord runner stuff. So it's just like a white plastic thing. That's another option. But I'm just talking about like when you have your nightstand and you've got all the cords dangling behind it, and you can see them on the floor. And I hate that. It's brilliant. Yeah, but it looks it immediately looks more organized once you get the cords on the floor, and it doesn't attract dirt and like dust and stuff can't get stuck there. Oh my gosh, so gross. Like a I pulled out a dust bunny once, like underneath the bed when we had more cats here, and it was like pulling it up my own head. It was like such a big ball of hair.

Jenny GK 13:04

German shedding.

Caitlin K 13:06

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Jenny GK 13:07

Okay, okay. We cannot vacuum without uh emptying the cluster multiple times.

Caitlin K 13:13

You have to, it's so awful. Okay. Um, so that was number six. Number seven, use under-the-bed storage containers to store items like out-of-season clothing or extra bedding or shoes. Mine is full of shoes underneath the bed. Um, and they make those really handy ones that roll. So I would highly recommend the rolling ones if you have the same the amount of space under the bed. But if you have it, you should use it. You so here's the thing about that.

Jenny GK 13:39

Okay, our bed used

Under-Bed Storage And Shoe Hacks

Jenny GK 13:42

to be on lifts. Oh I love these bed lifts. You're like, it's like a princess and the pea kind of bed. Oh, okay. Right? You have to like hop up on it. John hates it. Okay. He was like, Why is our bed seven feet off the ground? Why do I need a ladder to go to bed? So we have plenty of storage under our guest bed now because I put the lifts under that, but our bed is normal height. I actually is like low.

Caitlin K 14:12

I actually like when the bed is a I don't want it to be low, but I want it to be like Caitlin doesn't have to use a booster to get up on the bed.

Jenny GK 14:22

Oh no, we are talking like I want to have to use the vault to get on the beam bed. You have to dismount in the morning. No.

Caitlin K 14:35

Uh uh that would I lost that argument. Yeah, I I could see why. It's I'm not into that.

Jenny GK 14:41

Touch the floor now.

Caitlin K 14:42

Okay, that works. All right, number eight. Eight, yes. Okay, use a shoe organizer. We've talked about this before. Use a shoe organizer to store other things besides shoes. Like, for example, I use mine to store cleaning supplies on the inside of my laundry room. So, like your Clorox wipes, your Lysol wipes, any of your sprays. I have um extra trash bags in there for cleaning like cat boxes. All that stuff is in there. Um, you can use it to hold toiletries, other small items in your pantry. When we had a big pantry with a closet door, I used to use it to hold spices.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

That was another good thing.

Caitlin K 15:24

I thought it was a good one. Um, you don't you you put yours? Yours has travel mugs in it, right?

Jenny GK 15:29

Right. So um we have a pantry door that's a normal size door. Yeah. And we have one of those shoe racks, uh um, you know, with the the pockets.

Caitlin K 15:40

Yeah, exactly.

Jenny GK 15:41

And every pocket has a to-go mug or a water bottle because I take coffee with me to work every single day. Yeah, and Abby and I both take a water bottle, and oftentimes Abby also is taking a smoothie to work or to school. So we're going through multiple travel cups a day. So we have quite a large assortment of them. And this shoe rack, like game changer. They're all right there, easy to find. And you don't have to look for the lids because they're stored with the lids on it. No big deal. Smart, love it. That said, we also have a traditional shoe rack that has like the pegs where you hang the shoes. Yeah. On the outside of our downstairs linen closet.

Caitlin K 16:24

Smart.

Jenny GK 16:25

It is on the outside, it is like here. Look at our shoes. It's fine.

Caitlin K 16:29

Nobody cares.

Jenny GK 16:30

I live in a house, right? Right? Like there, there, I could turn it around and hide it inside my closet if I needed to. But for right now, it's on the outside of the closet, and all of our shoes are up off the floor.

Caitlin K 16:42

Exactly. Oh, exactly.

Jenny GK 16:43

And it's a great job for my five-year-old. I can tell him, go hang up the shoes. And he goes around the house, picks up all the shoes off the floor, and hangs them on the pegs.

Caitlin K 16:52

Smart. I like that idea.

Jenny GK 16:53

And it's made for shoes, and it actually is used for shoes. Brilliant. Mind blown.

Caitlin K 16:59

I know. Shocking. Okay. Number nine, use those clear vinyl placemats that you can get at the dollar store or in the dollar spot as shelf liners for your fridge. Because that way, when it's time to clean them out, all you have to do is take that off. I've also heard good things of people using um that press and seal wrap. But I have had less luck with that. I like the idea of feels like it would be hard to pull out. Yeah, but the vinyl things just they just stay in there. And because like every fridge shelf has like

Fridge Liners And Lazy Susans

Caitlin K 17:28

that little plastic edge to it, they just kind of stay. They're not gonna rock around in there. And then I also would highly recommend a lazy Susan in your fridge if you have this fridge. You love a good lazy Susan. I really do. Because they should name it a lazy Caitlin. They really should. I'm kind of offended by that, but I love them that much that I'll I'm willing to go with. Oh, sorry. No, it's fine. No, because I think about the implications of calling you lazy. I'm not lazy. I just have a dopamine aggregate. Make fun of my dopamine deficiency problems. All right. Okay. This is one of my favorite tips. It's fine.

unknown 18:09

I'm good.

Caitlin K 18:10

I swear. Okay, this is one of my favorite tips because we just kind of talked about this. But this is more general, but it it I don't think it fits in necessarily as a general thing. Watch where the clutter forms in your house and then put a basket in that spot.

Jenny GK 18:27

Oh, that's brilliant.

Caitlin K 18:28

So, like, let me explain kind of a in a more big picture thing of what I mean. When I was in college, um, I had a a psychology professor who talked about um people putting sidewalks in on campuses and why you

Put A Basket Where Clutter Lands

Caitlin K 18:42

should never do that in a certain space. And the reason that you shouldn't do that is because you just let the kids on campus walk around wherever they're going to go, and then you use that to make the sidewalk. What do they call that? Preferred path? There's like a yeah, there's a term for it, and I don't remember what it is, but I don't either. We had a space, we had like a quad space where it was a big grassy area, a big rectangle that wasn't used for anything. So it wasn't like a football field or a practice, it was just like a grassy area, and kids always walked through it in a diagonal every single time. No one was ever taking the rectangular path around, right? Finally, after I left campus, they finally put like stones. Diagonal sidewalk. Yeah, stones there. Like what just do that. Okay, so that's what I'm saying with this. It's the same principle applies, right? You see a space where clutter forms, put a basket there. You can go through the basket later, but if the part that bothers you is that there's clutter there, then put something there to contain the clutter. And that way, when you need to put it away, you can either throw it all in the basket and hide the basket, or you leave the basket out. Maybe it's pretty, who cares? But you figure out some way to contain it, and then you can go through it later. And then if you need to, you can go through it sitting on the couch instead of standing in that spot where all the clutter is making you crazy. It is. That's so smart.

Jenny GK 20:12

We actually um have a couple of designated baskets. We do too. So it's like, okay, this is for John's clutter.

Caitlin K 20:20

Yeah. Or this is for Stam's toys that he leaves in the living room at night, and we throw everything in the basket at night if he's not put it away yet. Right. Yeah. Um, okay, so I have those are my 10 like item things, like where you get an item and you use them. I have a few other tips. I have four more tips that might be helpful for people who are organizing.

Jenny GK 20:39

I am gonna be so organized.

Caitlin K 20:41

I always tell myself that if I could just follow my own advice, I'd be really great.

Jenny GK 20:47

I listened to one podcast where she was like, so implementation is way more important than information.

Caitlin K 20:53

I'm an information hoarder and I don't act on any of it. So here we go. All right. General tips start small and use a timer. Here's what I mean: start in one corner of your living room or wherever you hate that spot is that's just a mess for me. I always start on my kitchen island because there's this one spot that's just covered in garbage. And say that you'll work on that space for five minutes. That's it. See how you feel after that. Set a timer, make the timer be loud. If you have one of those uh AI

Timers, Labels, And Purge Purgatory

Caitlin K 21:24

assistants that you can talk to by saying their name, use that to time yourself.

Jenny GK 21:30

But oh, but let me tell you this: you better say please and thank you because when Skynet happens and the Terminator comes, you want them to spare you. Oh my do you know how kind I am to those robots? Even if I use Chat GPT, I'm like, will you please pretend you're da-da-da-da?

Caitlin K 21:47

Oh, I the number one question that you need to ask on any chat GPT prompt at the end of it is what else do you need from me to accomplish this task?

Jenny GK 21:57

Nice.

Caitlin K 21:58

And it will tell you if you're missing anything. That's amazing.

Jenny GK 22:01

Anyway, so I'm and then I always end with, Thank you so much. I really appreciate your help. Because those robots, they're gonna come through and they are gonna harvest human souls, but they're gonna look at me and be like, You're good. Thanks for being nice to us.

Caitlin K 22:13

This has been conspiracy theories by CK and GK. Mostly GK because she's crazy right now. This is not me perpetuating. I'm just telling you to use a timer. That's all I'm doing. Oh, okay. That was number 11. The next one, number 12, is that your new organization system. And I have this in the notes, and there's two little twinkle emojis on either side because it's like, ooh, organization system needs to account. Yeah, you're so fancy with emojis in the notes. Oh, well, I have a little thing on my keyboard that lets me just immediately find them. That's so fancy. Whatever you do, your new system needs to take into account anything that you use regularly. Because if you have to mess it up all the time just to get the things you use often, it's not gonna last long. So here's here's what I mean by that. Like most people do like with like. Think about your bathroom. If you're somebody who has a lot of products, right? Like you put your hair stuff in one section and you have your face masks in another, and all of your lipstick is in one spot, and maybe you don't use lipstick or whatever. You know what I'm talking about. Okay. But what if you use the same hair product every single day, and then you have to dig through to all your other hair stuff just to find it? And then what if you use the same lipstick every single day and you have to dig through all your lipsticks just to find it? Why wouldn't you just create a category instead of like with like? Why don't you create a category that is frequency of use? That's amazing. That's so smart. Put things together that you use all the time. Like for me, you again, we know I love a lazy Susan. I have a really deep one in my bathroom and it's in my cabinet, and all of my morning skin stuff is in one of the sections. Every morning I will use those things, and I it's all grouped together. And then I have a section for my evening skin stuff, and then and then I have things that are grouped together like with type. So I don't always use face masks, so I put all my face masks together, but I can still easily access them. It's just that the things I don't I don't want to put like lotions that I use every single day in with other lotions that I don't because I'm gonna have to dig through all that stuff and mess up my organization system. So just consider when you categorize your things as like with like, consider possibly frequency of use as one of your categories.

Jenny GK 24:39

I like already did this and I didn't even think about it. I have all my like daily wear makeup in one bag. Yeah, and then all my other makeup is just in a drawer, right? But it never occurred to me that like I'm sorting by frequency of use. It's more of just like this is what I wear every day, and the rest of it is for fun. Exactly. Right. And but that makes sense for so many other things besides just getting ready in the morning.

Caitlin K 25:05

Exactly. Like, why are you putting all of your batteries in some hard-to-reach place? Because it looks nice there, like no, put them where you're gonna need them all the time. Like, you because you because if you're like me, the dinosaur toys never stop roaring in the house. So you have to have them easily accessible. Okay. My other two tips, I've got two more. One of them is as you organize, you might feel two things. And this is after you've gotten started, by the way. You might feel overwhelmed at first. That's a different thing. That's why we say start small and use a timer. But as you organize, you might feel these two things. One is the urge to label, and the other is the urge to love me a good label, right? And the other is the You gave me a label maker because you know, it's so good. Okay, so the urge to label, the other is the urge to purge. You like that? My marketing's huge.

Jenny GK 26:00

Yeah, I want that on a t-shirt.

Caitlin K 26:03

Um, go for it. But two things I'm gonna say. Here's your caveats about that. With labeling, I would suggest that you use labels that are easy to remove because it might be that you have this vision for how all of these things are gonna come together, and you're gonna use this cute little bin and you're gonna label it, and it's gonna say paper clips, and then you find a crap ton of other paper clips and they don't fit in the bin. But you made a little bin and you've already labeled it, and so now you have to, or you have to do something ugly that you're not gonna like, right? Because that's how I would function. I'd be like, Ernie mean labeling on an exactly.

Jenny GK 26:37

So it's like my notebook, yeah. It's like my pretty notebook that I'm afraid to write in because I'll like mess it up. Yes. It's like so now I have a blank notebook.

Caitlin K 26:44

Or you just like you have the stickers and you're like, but what if I change my mind and I don't want the sticker on this? Yeah, okay. So my suggestion is just use ones that are easy to remove or easy to wipe clean or something like that, so that if the space you intended to hold something doesn't work out, you don't have a like and then it feels like a setback, even though it's not that big of a deal. When you're already overwhelmed, it can feel like a big deal and you feel frustrated by it. Okay. So that's one thing. My second thing with is with the urge to purge, I would recommend setting up a little like purgatory space or a bin. That's brilliant.

Jenny GK 27:23

And that, you know, that's what I do with the kids anyhow, right? Like when I go through their stuff, I'll put it to the side, and like if they ask about it, give it a week, see what happens.

Caitlin K 27:32

Okay, here you go. Exactly. But if it doesn't get asked about, bye. All right. So um, I think that one of the articles that I read called it a ripening bin. I didn't really like that name for it. That was weird, but I did like purgatory. Um, I like purgatory. Ooh, I like that. That's clever. Sorry, like nothing. No, don't be. Um, so put the things that you're considering keeping, but you know you probably don't need to keep. It's like that, like those feelings, put them in that bin and leave them for a set amount of time. Now, I'm not saying leave them for a month. That's too long. No. But I am saying, you know, maybe it's the next time you know you're gonna have time on your calendar to organize. So maybe it's a week, right? Or maybe you're somebody who's got some time right now, so you you set it for three days. And then after that certain amount of time, put it, make it a calendar appointment so that you have that time blocked off and you don't forget. Okay. Then if you haven't taken it back out of the bin in that amount of time, then that item can go. But don't it's it's like the kid toy thing. You know, you have to stash it first before you can actually let it go. Do the same thing with your things because you might have that urge. So just keep that in mind as you're rapid fire throwing things into a trash can. Right, right, right. Okay, my last one. This is number 14.

Jenny GK 28:53

Last one.

Caitlin K 28:54

We've talked about this one before. Uh take a cue from Casey Davis, who's a wonderful ADHD mom, uh, counselor, therapist, has a great podcast introduced to me by Ariella, uh, fabulous, uh, fabulous creator. Take a cue from her and remember that cleaning is not equal to tidying, is not equal to organizing. They are three different tasks.

Cleaning Versus Tidying Versus Organizing

Caitlin K 29:19

Okay. Cleaning is actually actively going in and removing dirt and grease and grime and germs. Okay. Tidying is picking things up and putting them back in their homes. Organizing is giving those things homes. Uh okay. Love it. They're not all the same. So don't try to tackle them all at once. It's not fair to you. You're gonna go crazy and it's too overwhelming. So just start by doing one of those things. I highly recommend like organizing and then tidying and then cleaning up because it will just make your life feel less stressful if you're not equating the three things. Cleaning is not tidying, is not organizing. They are three separate things.

Jenny GK 30:07

And I love that. Like, I have even started using that language at home. I'll be like, okay, we need to tidy this room.

Caitlin K 30:13

Yeah, tidy is very different from clean. And to me, I you might look at a space and you're like, oh my god, this place is a disaster. I need to clean it up. But what you mean is there's stuff everywhere. So what I need to do is tidy it up, and then anything that doesn't have a home yet, I need to organize those things into a home. And then it might not even be that dirty in your house. My house isn't dirty, but it isn't tidy. Right, right. Like they're they're two different things, right? So just keep that in mind as you're doing this.

Jenny GK 30:45

Well, and also like I don't really want my kids to clean. No, I want them to tidy so that it can get clean. I want them to tidy. Yeah, because uh I I've seen how kit cleans the bathroom. That that that's not working for me. That's pretty funny. Gross. Well, keep those in the case. All right, so 14 things. Um, it's too bad it's not time because then we could use a fortnight to describe them. But fortnight describes time, not lists. Yeah. So I was kind of excited about that. Makers dozen plus one. Okay, there you go. All right, we'll take a break, and when we come back, you'll get to hear about what I'm obsessed about. Yes, ready.

Caitlin K 31:30

We are back and I want to know what you're obsessed with. Just tell me. Lay it on me.

Jenny GK 31:35

Okay, so I right now I'm like in total science nerd mode, and I'm obsessed with the upcoming God clip. When is that again? Uh, April the 8th. Thank you. Okay. And it's um depending on where you are in the country, sometime between 12 30 central and 4-ish.

Caitlin K 31:52

In the morning or in the afternoon. During the day. During the day.

Jenny GK 31:55

Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Afternoon. Afternoon.

Total Solar Eclipse Nerd Alert

Jenny GK 31:57

It would not be exciting if it was at night.

Caitlin K 31:59

Shh, it might be. I don't know. This is me being really dumb. I was asking the question. I was asking the question because I really thought like our listeners would need to know. But then now that I'm thinking about what an eclipse actually is, I feel like we're talking about a solar eclipse, not lunar.

Jenny GK 32:16

So it happens.

Caitlin K 32:18

I swear I'm not dumb.

Jenny GK 32:20

Okay. So I will tell you like I'm a total dork. We went in 2017, we drove to Nashville to watch it live. Um, it was incredible. It was like one of the most spiritual moments of my entire life. Hanging above our fireplace, like the above the mantle place of honor, is a huge, like 24 by 36 print of the sun from Nashville.

Caitlin K 32:44

That's cool. I didn't realize that's what that was. So it's awesome.

Jenny GK 32:47

Yeah. So we we bought it from a photographer who was taking it under the same, like near where we were, but we didn't take pictures because we just wanted to enjoy it. Yeah. Um, but we uh where we are in Texas will be in totality. So that means that the sun is gonna be completely covered up and you get to see the corona. You can take your glasses off and look at it. Um, and different parts of central Texas will have longer periods of totality. So I have actually taken the day off of work. We're going to travel to a place that has the most, and it's gonna be four and a half minutes. Wow, but that is not the most amount of time you can spend in totality. Okay, okay, how long? That might be the most that you can without traveling. We are going to the center of the band.

Caitlin K 33:33

Okay.

Jenny GK 33:34

Because I'm a dork, but there is a way for you to spend several hours in totality. What? Delta Airlines has scheduled flights that start in Dallas and end in Detroit and follow the band of where Eclipse is traveling across the United States. Well done. The first flight sold out in 24 hours. Of course it did. The next flight, as I checked on March the 3rd, the seats were a thousand bucks each.

Caitlin K 34:10

That's this is brilliant.

Jenny GK 34:12

This is a real but it is the most time that you can spend in totality.

Caitlin K 34:16

That is but like traveling with the eclipse.

Jenny GK 34:19

Like you can't see anything. I have to imagine that they are like scheduling, uh you know, flying at a height that you can and but like half the plane will be able to see.

Caitlin K 34:29

Like, oh okay. It's brilliant because someone's gonna just do it and be like, oh, I go to see, and that'll be cool. But like I can't imagine. All right.

Jenny GK 34:38

Right. So there you go. Okay. Thousand bucks. You can spend the most time possible. Otherwise, you can do like me and just drive about 45 miles out of town, and you are in the center of my life. I need to get the eclipse glasses if I haven't already. I don't know where they are. They we might we had some. Okay, so um, yeah, if you don't have them, what you want to get, and this is so dorky and so nerdy, and you can make fun of me for the rest of my life. It's fine. You will not be the first person for making fun of me for loving science, not even today. Okay, what you've got to get are welders' goggles. Now, you don't want the welders like shield that flips down over your face, like that's that's a different thing. But but these are like steampunk-esque goggles.

Caitlin K 35:24

I had in my head.

Jenny GK 35:26

Yes, okay. You want to get those. You can buy them on A to Z, and they're not labeled for Eclipse viewing. Okay, they're just for welding, they're more expensive than the Eclipse glasses. If you buy those little um like 3D movie glasses um at the gas station, they're like three bucks, right? These are a little bit more, but because they have the elastic band around your head and they suction cup onto your eyeballs, you don't have to hold them. Yeah, that's nice. You don't have to position them, you don't have to worry about you accidentally looking at the sun because they don't cover your whole eye. These frog eye things are killer. We used them for the eclipse in the fall.

Caitlin K 36:08

Oh, yeah, we saw that one too, but we had the plat the paper glasses, yeah.

Jenny GK 36:12

Right, right, right. We used them then, and I was like, okay, these are killer, they're super nerdy. You you look like a frogman, but they are so worth it.

Caitlin K 36:22

All right, I'm down. I'll take a look. If they're not wildly expensive, then I'll get myself a pair.

Jenny GK 36:28

I don't think they are because we have four pairs. I can't imagine that John bought something that was like expensive.

Caitlin K 36:32

Good to know. All right, well, that's awesome. Um, I'm gonna take it down a notch and just appreciate the small things in life. And uh, you had an obsession with fruit fairly recently. Oh, you know I'm still in it. They sell them at Costco now. Sumo oranges, guys.

Jenny GK 36:50

She came to my house, sumo oranges. I sure did. And when I gave it, I gave it to Bryce and I was like, don't even tell her I'm here, just give her this orange.

Caitlin K 36:59

I don't know what I I would think I was working. I was still doing work for something, and he came in and he was like, Yeah, I have an orange for you. And I just went, I

Sumo Oranges, Apples, And Wasabi Peas

Caitlin K 37:08

I knew first of all, I knew you were gonna do that. I didn't know when you were gonna do it, but I knew you were gonna do it. And then I was just like holding this orange while I'm in a meeting. Um, okay, but mine right now, if I can't get my hands on the sumo orange, I'm eating an Evercrisp apple. This is like Okay, how is this different than Honey Crisp? Honey Crisp, we all know, are like the size of your head. Like a they're like a bigger than a soft. And they're like 2250. Right. And they're 250 each. Each. Now, granted, one of them is probably two days worth of apples, right? Like it's a lot. An Evercrisp is a little bit of a I'm side-eyeing because like I need a whole one in a day. I don't even know. I can eat a whole good.

unknown 37:51

It's fine.

Caitlin K 37:52

Um, but uh an Evercrisp is like a little bit more tart, just which is what I like. I am a green apple person. I love the tartness of them. Yeah. Um, so it's a little bit more tart and they're smaller. So it's like you still get the same coloring on the outside, that like um red and green kind of yeah, that it's it's really, really pretty looking. But they're just smaller and they're better priced. They're like a dollar 13 per apple. Okay, that it's a big deal when you eat like an apple every single day, like I do, right? Because that's my obsession right now, is apple. Well, you gotta keep the doctor away. Well, yeah, but also like I this is my hyperfixation food, and I'll probably be sick of it in a little while. So I'll buy a bunch and then I'll decide I just can't eat it right now, and then they'll just sit in very rich like I do with grapes. And yeah, the other one is also wasabi peas. I don't eat them together because that would be gross, but I really love like wasabi trail mix um right now. And wasabi peas are my favorite part. They're so good. I love them, and they're not even like I don't people are like so spicy. No, it's not, it's not spicy for me. Well, and it's a different kind of hot. People want spicy, it's a different kind of hot.

Jenny GK 38:57

It's not like a yeah, some people take a spoonful of horseradish in the mornings because they're allergies.

Caitlin K 39:02

Yeah, I also um have been very into like cinnamon gum, like big red, and hot tamales are are big for me right now, so but these are much better. Wait, sorry, hot tamales are really big for me. I love hot tamales. Are you do you eat them? Do you like hot tamales? No, you're missing out.

Jenny GK 39:21

No, I also don't eat takis.

Caitlin K 39:23

Oh, I don't eat takis either. That's too much for me. It's not that it's too much like hot, it's just that it's too messy, and I feel like I'm really, really tearing my body apart, even though hot tamales have that probably that red chemical that's really bad for you, like Skittle Steel. Right. Doesn't matter. Okay, gem of the week. Let's hear it.

Jenny GK 39:41

All right. So um I read this book that was about a 40-day fast. And it's not like not eating for 40 days, it's like a pattern, right? Like you eat this and then you don't, and then you do water this day, and then this day you you do intermittent fasting for 16 hours, whatever, whatever. Okay. And um, I was like all set to do it. I had read the the first part of it was all the science and everything, and then the

The Gem About Not Starting

Jenny GK 40:07

second part of the book is the actual plan. And I went through and read the plan, and it was like not gonna work for me. Good. It was just not right for me, right for a lot of people, and again, proven with science, but it was just not gonna work for me. And I looked at my husband and said, I don't want to do this book. Then don't do it. Am I a quitter? No.

Caitlin K 40:27

He says, You're not a quitter, you never started. See? Right. There you go. Perfect. A non-starter. I'm into it. No, you're not a quitter. And also, I actually think that you did the right thing here, which was looking at something and going, This is not something that I can handle for whatever reason. Either I don't feel good about it, or it's too much, or it's gonna make me feel stressed.

Jenny GK 40:56

It's just like, um, yeah, no, and it, I mean, it totally makes sense, but it was just such a swing in calories. Like, there's one day where you're eating like 20% fat, and then another day where you're eating like 70% fat, and uh 2,000 calories one day, and then 500 the next. I I can't do this to my body, it doesn't make sense to me.

Caitlin K 41:17

So I'm glad you made a choice for yourself that was a healthy one. That's great. Okay, here's mine. Um, I had to tell my masure, my massage therapist, the other day, which by the way, I haven't been able to get a massage. It's now March, and I hadn't been able to get one since November because they're so far booked out. So it's not like I'm like, oh my oh, my massage therapist. It was like, no, I finally got an appointment. Um, and I'm the one who books them while I'm there so that I can try and get on the calendar. Otherwise, I won't

The Toilet Fall Bruise Saga

Caitlin K 41:50

call because I just have problems with calling, apparently. But anyway, I had to tell my massage therapist that I fell off the toilet. Wait, what?

Jenny GK 41:58

Fell off the toilet.

Caitlin K 41:59

You fell off the toilet. It's not the way that you think. Okay, so let me explain. Good, I promise. What happened was I have, like many, been impacted by the ADHD medication shortage, which means I get random bursts of energy when my body just tells me I have to do something. So, what happened was on Monday of this week, we finally got some shelves installed in our house, and there was dust from the walls, right? From all the anchors and all that stuff. So I started to vacuum that out, and then I got on like a like a cleaning like rampage. And I was getting, I was in the bathroom, and there's new shelves in the bathroom, and so I was cleaning up all the dust from the bathroom, and I looked up, and my ceiling vent where you suck all the humidity out of your bathroom, was disgusting. Oh, they get grown because they get wet and then all the dust sticks, and all the dirt sticks to it. It's nasty. And this one, for whatever reason, like it does come out, like you could I could have taken it down, but I couldn't take it down all the way, and I'm not tall enough to see what I needed to do to unhook it to be able to pull it off. Okay. So I had to leave it there. So I I had my vacuum, I'm like sucking all of the dust, but in order to reach it, I had to stand on the toilet. So I'm standing on the toilet, like with my arms up in the air, vacuuming this thing, and then using please tell me that when you fell off, you hit your head and thought of the flux capacitor and invented time travel. No, I am not that smart. But what I did do was um I started to use a got a friend falling off a toilet. Sorry, um, I was using a head doesn't invent time travel, a cleaning wipe to wipe off all of the like caked on kind of dirt. And I kept having to open up the cabinet, get another wipe, close the cabinet. So finally I just went, I'm gonna leave the cabinet open. But what I didn't think about was how when I'm standing on the toilet and the cabinet door are like they're really kind of close to each other. And I, in an effort to miss the cabinet door when I stepped down, I hit my knee. On the toilet. So I did not. Oh, it is like, you know, those like really gross, like Mitch McConnell bruise hands. Yes. Like Voldemort hands. That's what it looked like. And it's as big as a baseball. It looks like I got hit in the leg with a baseball. It's really, really bad.

Jenny GK 44:43

But I'm not a League of Their Own style.

Caitlin K 44:45

Oh yeah. Like on the inside of my knee.

Jenny GK 44:47

You know, that was a real bruise. Yeah. That thing. Yeah. She like she actually got hurt. Yeah. And they were like, oh, let's write this into the script.

Caitlin K 44:57

Oh. All right. Anyway, back to back to you falling off the toilet. Yeah. So then my massage therapist is working on my leg and he's like, uh what happened here? And I just went, I fell off the toilet. I was like, what? And I basically had to tell him the same story that I told you. And he was just like, Can I can I tell people that you fell off the toilet? And I was like, I won't use your butt I have a podcast. Um, and I was just like, Yeah, you can, yeah, just tell. Just tell. It's fine. You can you can tell anyone you want that you have a client who fell off the toilet.

Jenny GK 45:43

So when I was 17, I had to get a physical for some camp I was going to to get in to see a doctor on base. It was taking forever. So we just went to one of these dock in a box clinics.

Caitlin K 45:57

Okay.

Jenny GK 45:57

And said, okay, we'll just pay the 59 bucks and get the physical. I am covered like torso to mid-thigh in big quarter-size whelp bruises.

Caitlin K 46:11

Oh no.

Jenny GK 46:12

The doctor asked my mom to leave the room. Because remember, I'm 17 and not 18.

Caitlin K 46:16

Exactly.

Jenny GK 46:17

He asked my mom to leave the room and he says, we need to talk about this. What's going on at home? Why are you covered in bruises? Yeah. And I had to tell him, I really like playing paintball. And I've been lying and saying I'm 18, so I can play without an adult. Please don't tell anyone.

Caitlin K 46:39

That's hysterical. I bet that doctor was so relieved.

Jenny GK 46:43

Yeah, he was like, oh, I said, Yeah, the paintballs come at 30, uh, 300 feet per second and they leave bruises all over your body. You end up looking like a dalvatian. But I love it. Oh. Oh my gosh. He was like, okay, you can go to camp, get out of here.

Caitlin K 47:00

Like if you're well enough to play paintball, you're probably well enough to handle. Oh my goodness. That doctor must have been relieved, but I'm sure the massage therapist was like, uh, this is bad. Like, what is wrong? It's gross. This is amazing. It was like the toilet. It was like blue for a little while and then it turned purple, and now it's like greenish yellow, and it's not a good thing.

Jenny GK 47:25

I don't know if you've learned this about your body, but I have noticed that as I get older, bruises last longer.

Caitlin K 47:30

Well, and I've always been slow to heal. It's like a fair skin thing, but also like, yeah, it's nasty. It's gonna be there for a while.

Jenny GK 47:38

So maybe you really are magically delicious with the colors of the baby.

Caitlin K 47:43

Because I'm nice and I got the red everywhere, but I also have yellow, green, purple, and blue on my leg. I fell off the toilet. All right.

Jenny GK 47:57

It's time. Okay. So uh I'm supposed to say make good choices. You are, but you fell off the toilet.

Caitlin K 48:05

So I think I'm gonna say don't stand on the toilet to clean your air vent because that's not a good choice. I did not listen to you. All right, y'all. Bye. Bye.