Oh, Noodles! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that in a bad way at all! I just meant it's ummm... sort of cozy, nest-like. Okay, I've put my foot it in. How about a magpie's nest?

Hey Noodles, I'll join you in high dudgeon! MY pet rat, Ratlet, was quite the clean fellow. No one could pick a corn cob cleaner than my baby!

Of course, there was the time in college when he got out of his cage, hid in the closet, and chewed through my roomate's cashmere sweater.....

He's long gone, but I still have a teensy scar on my nose from the time we were napping and he bit me. (Let me assure you, rats CAN fly...when whacked across the room by someone coming out of a sound sleep! )

As for genesis of "craptacular"...did your husband watch "The Critic"---the cartoon with Jon Lovitz as the portly movie reviewer? I was thinking it came from there. But wait....maybe not. I'm thinking of his comments about a science fiction movie, for which he proudly coined the phrase "Fanta-crap."

If you guys haven't seen The Critic, DO, if you have the chance. (It's sometimes on Comedy Central.) Critic Jay Sherman (Lovitz) fights the battle of the bulge, and it's a hoot.

Megan

Lean - yes hubby loves his cartoons, including the critic. I am not too fond of it mysef, though I really think I've only seen two episodes and from what hubby said they were two of the craptacularest.

back to the sweeping though... we demolished a huge desk tonight ready for the grbage pickup on monday.

I've cleared my car out with a load to the Sally Anne, and I'm filling it up again for another drop-off!

Good going flingers!

I flung another bag full of shredded paperwork before we moved and I am sure we will be fling some more stuff before we have the new place totally in order.

I have gone flung crazy!!

I cleaned up this weekend...I did a sweep of the living room and cleaned out most of the nicknacks & junk and got rid of mean relatives photos off of the monster wall unit we have. I then cleaned out the end tables drawers, cleaned out most all my magazines, books, videos, etc...

Then I cleaned out the backyard, got rid of old pots, dead plants, trimmed the rest of the bushes, planted some new ones, and squirted down the patio floor. Even the dog got flinged!! Well she went to the groomers and got bathed and shaved, nails clipped, teeth brushed, ya know..groomer duties.

This weeks project: The Garage!! AHHH!!!!!!

I inherited the family photos since my folks are moving to a very humid and bug filled island and can't take them with them. I started with 4 boxes of miss matched half garbage crap heaps. And so far I have tossed out all garbage, negatives and photo envelopes/receipts etc. I have organized them into nice little groups (holidays, family friends, people i don't know, etc). Got some albums which I will start filling out today. It's a huge project, and I forsee learning how to scrapbook in the future.. but for now, if i can get it down to two boxes i will be thrilled. or better yet, one box of stuff and some albums which can sit on my bookcase.

That is a great start lizziness - I need to do the same thing, all my photos are in a box and really need to be stored properly.

Mauv - do it before it's too late. I had to throw a bunch that had stuck together and torn. and there are a ton more to toss that just are completely deteriorating. Plus, for some reason my family thinks they should keep even pictures that didn't come out. It's amazing what people will haul around for YEARS! I mean, we've moved from American Samoa to California, to Washington, to Oregon with these photos without doing ANYthing with them. doesn't make any sense.

I was thinking of spending a few evenings with my mum and putting the family albums together while sharing a pot of tea and the great stories she has about the family back home in the old country

I need to do something siimilar with my photos. I was going to make a collage poster thingy. I bought the poster board in December 2003, thinking I'd make this a New Years Resolution project, but then too many other things came up and my photos are still in the boxes. I did get them separated though and flung out all of the ones that were needless. (Ya know, blurry ones, relatives-that-you-dont-like ones, etc. )

I made a collage of my daughter years ago...here's what I mean.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/noodle...4e.jpg&.src=ph

That is very nice Noodles, I like that. I am trying to come up with something to do with the pictures, but I am having a hard time. Other than dividing them up into topics and throwing them into albums. I'm scared of scrapbooking, plus my hubby would kill me if I tried to start another project. *LOL*

Mauv- that is a great idea. Where is "the old country"? I think it's so cool to learn about your family. My aunt had a slide show a few weeks ago, and I have gone through so many photos of my old Swedish relatives and their lives in Alaska. I can't imagine living in Alaska, must be so beautiful. My grandma lived on an island with her family and they raised foxes for a living. We have some cool photos. And we found some old stock notes and my great grandfathers official document stating he was in the war. Some really cool things if you go digging through it all. But what to do with them... *L*
It's hard to know what to fling and what to treasure sometimes.

My mom was in town for 9 days and while here she made me some GORGEOUS slipcovers for my dining room chairs. And......she also got on my case for not utilizing my basement space so I have started decluttering down there. I sent my mom home with a suitcase full of clothes for my nephews. I got a new NICE filing cabinet to match my computer desk so I can organize my papers as I declutter the office area.

Tiki.