A few weeks ago, my in-laws came to spend the night and go to the boys' basketball game. Not so very long ago, I would have been doing a dance of joy and pride that it didn't freak me out to have guests coming, and didn't require me to clear my week's schedule in order to clean house. As it was, I'm definitely proud of myself, and grateful that … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2010
Bathrooms and Budgets
We went to see Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Live recently. I've mentioned him before, and I know he's quite the popular guy here in the blogosphere. We've read his book and I listen to his radio show most days, so I already had a pretty good understanding of the concepts he teaches, but it was nice, and inspiring, to hear it all … [Read more...]
Methodical vs. Maniacal
I can do maniacal cleaning. When my husband and I were first married, pre-kids, he'd go out of town and I would clean like crazy. Dust-mask, rubber gloves, multiple trash bags, and the house would be sparkly and clutter-free, or at least clutter-hidden, when he returned. Living as I used to live (the house always a sty), I had no choice but … [Read more...]
Daily Checklist – Is There Hope for Me Yet?
Today I:Made bed.Ummmm.Well . . . .Let's move on to last night. Last night, I put out clothes for the kids.And that's it. In my (lame) defense I've been gone all day helping up at my son's school.But when did I feel hope for myself?This morning, at 5 a.m. I remembered that I hadn't run the dishwasher last night. Now it's one thing to remember, but … [Read more...]
How Saving Can Be Wasteful
I have a very cute blue food processor. When I got married almost 11 years ago, I was lucky enough to hit the blue period in kitchen appliances. As a crazy fan of blue, I got a blue toaster, a blue food processor, etc. I have a great cabinet just the right size for my cute blue food processor. When we looked at the house, I thought "What a great … [Read more...]
Daily Checklist
Made bed.Emptied dishwasher.Swept kitchen.Mopped kitchen (Thursday's job)Cleaned up kitchen.Did a pickup (not as focused as yesterday)Hung up some clothes in master bedroom.Last night I:Put out clothes.Made lunches.Cleaned up kitchen and ran dishwasher. … [Read more...]
Swept Along
I'm feeling that "swept along" feeling I get on a busy day. Things are normally busy on Wednesdays, but when you add a few extras in, even good extras, I start to feel like I'm moving along through the day without actually being in control of where I'm going or how fast I'm moving. On days like today, I see the real difference between having a … [Read more...]
Kids’ Daily Checklist – Chore Chart
It has now been 5 ½ weeks since we started using this chore chart with my 6 and 8 year old children, both boys. If you are a regular reader, you know how much chore charts/checklists for my kids scared me. It wasn’t that I didn’t think my kids could do it. It wasn’t that I couldn’t find one with age appropriate chores. It was me. Any system … [Read more...]
Hummus Recipe
I've been meaning to make hummus for quite a while, but kept forgetting to get pita bread to go with it. When I saw that we had an opened box of Wheat Thins that needed to be eaten, I decided today was as good a time as any. And since the food processor is now only blocked by an easily-movable file box rather than a mountain of paper clutter, I was … [Read more...]