Being that it is temporary, I would get a small, free-standing a/c, such as those available at home centers, BJ's, etc. I believe they are plug-in (house current), and the installation consists of placing an (adjustable) frame with flexible exhaust duct, into the window opening. They are likely available in several sizes and should have general sizing information on the box. Being portable, when your watch is over, you can take it with you. Good luck. V

My mom saved a ton of stuff when I was in elementary. Then her filing cabinet got full and she weeded it down with my help (I was maybe middle school age). So now I have maybe an inch-high stack of school papers/art projects, and I think that's more than plenty. (I also have my old yearbooks, pictures etc, but I don't think they fall into a "stuff to be weeded" pile.) As for your questions: "First, should I merge all of these mini-piles into one room?" I wouldn't. I can't ever manage to sit down and go through a mountain of papers. I'd rather grab one mini-pile, sort through it, and then put it away. "Do I go through these piles/papers first and divide them into two (one pertaining to each child?) " I would think that it should be divided by child so that they can easily be passed on to them years from now. "Or, as I handle each paper, do I decide "School" vs "Non-School" and then break it down to each child? " No. Why would you? Are you going to store it seperately? Ideally, you'd have only the most important keepsakes and there wouldn't be many so it'd be easy to go through later and find all "nonschool" stuff if need be. "Or, do I decide "Keep" or "Toss" as I go through these piles? And if I do it this way, does the "Keep" pile get sorted?" Just Keep or Toss for now. If it really bugs you later, you can always sort it later. "I'm thinking that then I will separate each kid's stuff into the elementary school years, the middle school years, and then the high school years. ...Should I create folders for each grade and then put school and non-school items in those folders? " Wow, it sounds like you're keeping a lot more than one sample per year!! Even if there's say 3 papers with with "thoughtful comments" on it, that's a maximum of 24 pieces of paper for all of elementary school! I just think you're making an overly complex system. Go through the piles, pick out the best stuff. Write the child's name and grade on each piece of paper if it's not on there already. Stick it in a box, label the box, and call it done! The benefits of a simple system are: 1) Better chance of actually doing it 2) if you really really feel the urge to subdivide the keepsakes by year, it can be easily done. But honestly I think that if you need to do that then you've kept too much.

Post pics of your room and a to scale floor plan

I think it is unrealistic to expect that a ceiling fan in one room will help your cooling issues in the rest of the house. @HU-867564120, this is true, I was just hoping that a minor change here wouldn't make it worse, ya know? Right now the outside temperature is in the high 70s and it feels hotter than that in our offices, even though the thermostat is at 74. And when it gets to the high 90s the electric bill is insane! Close down the lower level registers. Well, that leads me to a different question... since most of the air intake comes from the basement, is it better for the basement to be colder and suck in colder air so that it doesn't have to cool the air as much? Increase the blower speed. I don't think that I can, my only options are On, Off, and Auto :-( Increase the attic insulation. Definitely not a bad plan! It's pretty thick right now, but considering all of the work I've done on the house over the years I suspect that it's the cheapest insulation they could find. When I have some money, I would love to take it all out and replace it with a higher R insulation. Install sun blinds. That got complicated, too... we both have plants in our windows, and we don't really want to trade the plants for temperature. Move the attic access so your girlfriend can have a ceiling fan. When I get enough money, that's definitely not a bad plan, either! In my dream world I would convert the upstairs to have 2 large bedrooms and a walk-in closet instead of 3 small ones, finish the attic to use it for storage or a loft, then install a permanent stairway and door. Right now it has a rickety hatch that's kind of in the way. But... ya know... money :-( Lower the thermostat setting. Last Summer our electric bill hit $400! We were trying to be more conscientious this year, but I'm starting to think we don't have much of a choice :-( Switch offices so you swelter and your girlfriend has a ceiling fan. Haha, I promise that I'm not evil!! She chose that room on purpose; mine has 2 windows (one East facing and one South), and her office has one (South facing). She gets up earlier than I do and the sun in the East facing window glares on the computer screen in the mornings. The basement has a movie theater, game room / bar, gym, and laundry room. I'm half tempted to rip out the gym and game room and change them to 2 offices, then we could just relocate twice a year to where it's the most comfortable. It would take a little money, and it would kinda suck to lose the gym and game room, but it's definitely something that's on the table.