According to BuzzFeed...

Lately, I've done far more than my usual number of quizzes via Facebook. Most of these are through BuzzFeed, but I found them via friends posting their results to Facebook. I've linked to each quiz below. You will be amused to know that:

If I were a famous work of art, I would be "The Scream" by Eduard Munch: "Omg CALM DOWN, STOP FREAKING OUT, everything is seriously honest-to-god going to be okay, there are easy solutions to all your problems, just RELAX. Jesus."

If I belonged in a European country, it would be Malta: "You’re endlessly curious, and love nothing more than getting stuck into a good book. You like to take walks in order to figure out what you’re doing in life."

The foot that best matches my personality is one that I am allergic to - cheese: "You’re cheese. You go well with almost anything. Sometimes you’re a little nerdy, but you’re wise. You can appreciate things that are both highbrow and lowbrow. And in the end, you make a lot of people happy."

In the "Which New Girl character are you" quiz, I got Nick which didn't surprise me at all (I'm being totally serious here...): "Who wouldn't want a tender-hearted friend like you? You're charismatic, easygoing, and have a great sense of humor. You can be a bit grumpy and unmotivated at times, but who isn't? You also have problems committing, but once you're all in, you're all in - especially in the love department."

Apparently, if I were a Roald Dahl character, I would be Charlie: "Some may mistake your calm, quiet nature for weakness, but you have them all fooled. One day you’ll be running the show and they will all wonder what hit them. Even if you fall on hard times your heart of gold will get your through."

If I suddenly woke up as a punk icon, I would be Henry Rollins. I'm totally down with that and would have been most disappointed if I had gotten any other answer: "You're smart and clever, and strive for mental and physical perfection. You often resent others for not being as intelligent and disciplined as yourself. You're incredibly chatty and charismatic, which opens doors to sometimes surprising opportunities":

Who, what, where are your quiz results?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Monday, I'll be doing a "link dump" - providing you with links to some of the articles, stories, etc that I have found interesting lately. 

Get organized: Simple, frugal home hacks

Two things aggravate me in my home — well, more than two, but these are the ones I plan to focus on today:

• a messy kitchen silverware drawer
• a messy pile of shoes and dog leashes

I finally got annoyed enough with these two mini-disaster zones and did something about them. Naturally, I forgot to take before pictures. These were both simple and (mostly) frugal.

For my kitchen drawer, I was not only tired of how messy the drawer was, but I was also annoyed with everything sliding towards the back of the drawer every time I closed it.  Instead of going out and buying all kinds of organizers and containers to hold all my doodads, I looked around my house for boxes or small containers. I found the solution in my recycling bin!

I find the sensation of the juice from apples on my fingers really disturbing (I have a few sensory issues), so I buy them pre-sliced from Costco. They come in a big plastic "clamshell" container. I happened to have one in our recycling bin, and it was quite clean so I pulled it out and cut it into two parts — the top and the bottom. I emptied out the drawer, and organized the stuff into groups. I did the same with a smaller container that formerly held cherry tomatoes. I then put the silverware organizer that I already had back in the drawer and fit the other containers around it. It took a few different configurations before I got them to fit nicely, and I had to trim the edges of the plastic containers a bit, but now I LOVE how my drawer is organized! I haven't had a single irritation with this drawer since I did this. YAY!

The organized drawer.

The large Costco container of apple slices.

My second mini-hack involves two baskets, shoes, and dog leashes. We used to just toss all of our shoes (except for nice work shoes) in a pile by the front door. I couldn't stand the pile! A few weeks ago, I bought a big basket that fit perfectly next to my front door and was deep enough to hold all of our shoes with room to spare. I tossed the shoes in, and tossed in the dog leashes. That solved part of the problem. Unfortunately, it still meant the dog leashes were all jumbled in with the shoes. 

Today, I picked up some tiny zip ties (maybe 4 or 5 inches long) at the local hardware store. I emptied a small basket from my bathroom, and attached it to the big basket. It's the perfect size for the leashes. Most of the stuff I emptied out of the little basket fit nicely inside another basket already in the bathroom. 

Basket in a basket.

These are super simple, but they will make a huge difference in my daily stress level when it comes to keeping an organized, clean home!

What are your simple, frugal home hacks?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you liked these simple, frugal organizing hacks, check out my other posts related to organizing:

• Get organized - calendars
• 2014 Amazing Business and Life Workbook
• Tame that e-mail inbox
• Daily goal cards - FREE goal card printables!
• Homeschooling (and tutoring) resource binder
• Part I - How we homeschool
• Part II - How we homeschool

Operation Nice February

Something funny happens when we get online and interact with others in a virtual space. We seem to forget that we are interacting with real people. Not being able to see those we are interacting with doesn't make them any less human or vulnerable than if they were standing in front of us. Time and time again I see comments, posts, tweets, etc. that are not only rude but hurtful, even hateful.

I was thrilled when I came across the idea of Operation Nice February on Amy Poehler's Smart Girls Facebook page. This campaign is dedicated to creating an internet where we come together and remember the humanness of the person at the other end of the internet connection.

Here are your Operation Nice February guidelines from Smart Girls:

From Amy Poehler's Smart Girls

Apply these rules not only to your online interactions, but in your real life as well. If we all practiced these guidelines daily, and especially when we feel at our worst, we can make the world a better place. Don't limit your Operation Nice February to just this month though. Spread the niceness all year round!