Functional Rooms

After a short stint at Mountain Oak School I decided being a "Juvenile Detention Officer" wasn't quite what I had in mind when I signed on to be the Director of After-School programs. I think I was envisioning something more along the lines of Cruise Director... And that surely is not what it felt like a lot of the time. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of really great, super sweet kids, and the kids that were hard, were REALLY hard.

I realized during my time there that I'd been taking interim jobs for oh about the past 2 years thinking that I'd be able to start my own business on the side. Have steady income coming in while what I really want to do gets on it's feet... I realized, finally that that wasn't happening, and I had a 2 week break coming up for which I knew I wasn't going to get paid (Christmas & New Years) so I figured it was as good a time as any to make the break!

And I also realized that I'd been incorporting organizing into all the jobs I was taking, but not getting paid for it! Thus "Functional Rooms-Personal Organizing for Home and Office" was born!

Over the break I helped the Office Manager at the school re-do the whole office and she was so thrilled with how it turned out that she offered me free advertising for the rest of the school year! My business card size ad will be in the weekly school newsletter, my half page ad will be in the school Directory and I can leave brochures out in the office for people to take as well! Besides the fact too that she tells everyone that walks through her door that wows at the new space that I was the one that helped make it happen!

There's also a gal I know who's a real estate agent and when I told her about FR she was thrilled and wants to refer all her clients to me so that their houses are all neat and ready to be sold and easier for them to pack and move. She also mentioned the possibility of purchasing gift certificates for some people and so I've created a blog people can go to to pay by credit card online as well as purchase gift certificates. http://functionalrooms.blogspot.com/

I'm so excited! There has been so much positive support from everyone I've talked to so far that I'm sure Functional Rooms is well on it's way to being an amazing success!

Send your good vibes my way and if you know anyone that needs help organizing something, anything at all, tell them to drop me a line. I'm open to doing consults via phone and e-mail.

Happy Organizing!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Christmas was super fun, again this year! Whoo Hoo!

I spent the morning with Steven and his family while we watched the little kids open presents, Jacob is 6, Amber is almost 3 and Alyssa is 2. Then we had a yummy breakfast prepared by yours truly! I made country brunch which is what my mom would often make for Christmas Day and there's so much of it you need a big crowd to finish it off, which is exactly what happened!

Here's Jacob focused intently on his tower. He does not like getting his picture taken so getting one where he's actually looking in my general direction without a scowl on his face is a challenge I have yet to conquer!

Here's Amber opening the book I gave her, Jamberry, one of my favorites. She was so excited that she wanted to open Alyssa's too and add it to her own stack! "Another one, please." She said

Here's Alyssa in front of the tree with her new baby doll care kit on her arm.

After presents, breakfast and a quick jaunt outside, and I mean really quick, as it was about 16 degrees with wind chill, so Jacob could try out his new scooter, Steven and I then came back to my house to open presents to each other and the ones I received in the mail from my family-which I don't have any pictures of... drat.

And off to Kristi's house I went to spend the rest of the day there with her, Richard, and the kiddos.

Left to right is Zack 12, Tashi 14, Audree 18, Bree 16

Here's Zack snuggling with the new super soft throw he got from Kristi, wearing the Jester hat that I made him!

Here's me with my super soft throw from Kristi! I call it my Cookie Monster blankie. ;-) The fuzz is longer on one side than the other. The short side kinda reminds me of Grover lol

New Years isn't something I usually put a lot of effort into and it just so happens that a friend of mine called a bit out of the blue and reminded me that the Dances of Universal Peace were happening New Years eve, which is true every year, and I'd been wanting to start attending again, so I did! And Steven came too, though just to watch. I had a great time reconnecting with folks I hadn't seen in a couple years and being involved with the dances again. My New Years resolution is to attend every month again, like I used to. Steven and I ducked out a few minutes early and caught the fireworks display launched from the Prescott Resort. Got just close enough to hear them and feel them whilst being snuggly ensconced within the warmth of the Jeep!

Hurray! Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so lucky! I got not 1, but 2 Thanksgiving feasts-YUM!
While perusing another blog I found this and just had to give it a whirl. If you do it too let me know what you get!

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatpartofthanksgivingareyouquiz/

I am Mashed Potatoes

Oridnary, comforting, and more than a little predictable
You're the glue that holds everyone together.

Pics and more to come...
Well it's January 11th and I'm finally getting around to updating the 'ol Blog. Better late than never, right? Still more pics to come, I think... ;-)



Here's me, Poppy and mom in Chandler celebrating Turkey Day one day early!



Here's all of us at Kristi's!

What a Week!

This past week was Fall Break! Hallelujah! I was starting to wonder how I'd make it to Christmas with out it... The kids at school have been giving me a run for my money to put it mildly. Does me having visions of duct tape and bars of soap give you an idea...?

Wondering what happened to all that patience I used to have, when I was young and babysitting my brains out and all the adults I knew would say, "Wow, Chelsie has the patience of Job!" sigh... I seem to have lost that somewhere along the way, or maybe my expectations are too high...? I don't think so. Please tell me if it's wrong for me to think that a 2nd grader ought not be swearing or that when I say not to do something and they do it again right in front of me that some consequences are not in order... oy.

Anyway, thank the Gods for a one week reprieve! My dad came down from Oregon for the week to play! Hurray! We spent 3 days in Show Low with some dear family friends,

and their furry children... I made a new friend, Bandytoes, who was gracious enough to model Tashi's finished Jester hat for us ;-)

went for a hike amongst the Aspens-where I collected scads of deliciously colored fall leaves, unlike anything we have in Prescott, as if I were collecting shells at the beach!

Celebrated a birthday-Happy 14th to Tashi!,

vegged out, went antiquing downtown Prescott with my mom, who came up for the day,

Went to the Tina Malia concert, well Steven and I did, at a yoga studio downtown, with around 50 people...? It was awesome! Dad headed for Whiskey Row to experience the night life of Prescott first hand on a Friday night... ;-) Need I say more...?

http://cdbaby.com/cd/tinamalia3 Listen to "The Silent Awakening". It's my new favorite song! :-D

and generally had a great time!

A Tribute To My Sweet Girl

9 years ago this week the sweetest kitten you'd ever meet meowed outside my front gate. After walking the neighborhood to find her owner we decided it was indeed meant to be me! After letting little Sky, (then about 18mon, now 10! ACK! ) play with the kitty...

We decided she was definitely a keeper! Sky came away without a scratch or bite; nor did we hear a hiss, growl or mew in contempt!

We took a nap on the couch together later that day. That's when she let me know her name was Fern. Her green eyes reminded me of the ferns in the forests of NW that I missed so much here in Prescott.

I knew that I would let her have one litter of kittens, and a year later here they came! I really had no idea when she was due, only a sense that it would be soon. On my way home from work I stopped by Albertsons to pick up a fruit box for her to birth in, and while I was trying to watch my favorite show on TV that night she wouldn't leave me alone; going from her box cave in the bathroom to me and back again meowing and carrying on. Uh like HELLO! I'm in labor here and some support would be nice! Oh yeah, ok! ;-) It was my first birth... what can I say...? Such a good mama she was, always there for her boys.

And soooo cute were they!

This is my all time favorite photo of her since it shows off those beautiful green eyes! and it looks as if it were a professional portrait if I do say so myself. ;-)

And last, but not least... (This is the last picture I have of her. She was fat and happy.) The Abundant Ferna! Helping me celebrate all the cash I saved up to play with during my trip to Portland this past March.

After a long bout with an unidentifiable illness (we think she may have gotten into some chemicals outdoors) Fern passed away on September 7th, at home with me beside her the whole time. She now rests beneath the Cherry tree in our backyard. Blessings on your journey Ferna.

Thanks for choosing me and sticking it out through all the ups and downs we had together. I miss you. I will always love you baby girl.

Mtn. Oak

Thought you might like to have a look at my new home away from home!

The following pics are meant to be a panorama but the confines of the web limit my ability to do that so you'll have to use your own creativity!


The fenced in area with play house is the play space and garden for the Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd graders. Sometimes they need a safe play space away from the "big" kids! We're a K-8 school.

Sand box Gazebo

My classroom is... well you can't really see it, but if you walked all the way down the sidewalk and took a left at the door you see-Kindy, mine would be the next door. So it's right about behind the green trash can you see next to the white sign ;-)

The main level has classrooms for After-School Programs-Me!, Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd grades. The second level is 3rd-6th, and we have 2 houses next door-more to the right of this picture. One is the Office, and the next one is 7th & 8th grades, and the next house belongs to a Mtn. Oak family! Across the street there are no houses in our block. On the other side of us is a bank so we pretty much run the whole block!! :-)





To the right of the dome play structure are swings and a small b-ball court too.

Of course the pictures don't quite do the whole place justice, but you get the idea anyways... It's very sweet. Lots of flower beds, gardens, trees, soon chickens will join us too as part of the 3rd grade farming curriculum!

Snow in August!

I made it through my first week of school as the Director of After-School Programs at Mt. Oak without tearing out any of my hair or strangling any children! Hurray!!! Though I won't promise that won't happen in the future... ;-) I have 5 Kindergartners, 3 girls including a set of twins and 2 boys, from noon to 3pm and an assortment of children from Kindy to 5th from 3 to 5ish, ranging in numbers from 3 up to around 20 on Wednesdays-we're out early, at 12:30. The one child that is already giving me a run for my money is the one Kindy I have that stays after 3pm, of course! He seems unable to remember my name no matter how many times I have him repeat it, and so for nearly the whole 4 or 5 hours he's with me I hear, "Teacher, Teacher, Teacher!" complete with shirt tugging and/or arm wacking and for those of you who know me around children I am almost always quick to answer them on their first vocalization of a need. Though he seems to be able to get in 20 "Teachers" before I can blink an eye! He also seems to be perpetually going in the complete opposite direction of the rest of the class. When they're ready to play outside, he's ready to draw and when they're ready to draw he wants to go outside, sigh. Gonna have to work on setting strong intents for our time together this year, each day, each hour, many times an hour! lol Mostly, though all the children are wonderful and so creative! We've been having great fun creating beautiful yummy fruit salads for snack in the gorgeous wooden bowls Kristi donated to us, and discovering our favorite flavors of tea thanks to April who gave me a basket of assorted teas for Christmas. We're feeling quite sophisticated and civilized to be drinking tea each day at 4pm in Aftercare (Steven cleaned out a family restaurant in TX. and brought back ceramic mugs and small bowls that we've been enjoying as well!). Every parent that walks in to pick up their child sits down, sighs, looks about the room with dimmed lights, soft music and happy tea drinking children and comments on how peaceful it is. I've gotten thumbs up from several teachers who's rooms I admire as well as the principal who joined us for a quick snack Monday. All the work I've been putting in to create a wonderful space for us is paying off. I think I can breathe now.... And thank you to Kristi and Audree and Bree and Tashi for coming to help feng shui the room and rearrange all the furniture! Couldn't have done it without you guys!!

So, you're probably still wondering what's up with Snow in August... Well the 3 girlies I had in Aftercare Monday discovered a bag of feathers in the craft drawer. Now these aren't your regular run of the mill craft feathers, these are like fine downy fluffy feathers that they proceeded to blow into the air whilst I was in the next room washing dishes. When I walked in they exclaimed, "It's SNOWING!!!" I took a deep breath, said, "It sure is!" and asked if they'd like to hear some winter music to go with their snow. Of course they did, and being the good Girl Scout I am I just happened to have my camera handy! ;-) Oh and they even made snow angels too! lol