I have Slob Vision.  I do a lot to combat it, but I still am amazed at the things I suddenly see when I'm doing a deeper clean than usual. Like this coffee-can art: I go back and forth between keeping coffee cans and pitching them, but I honestly didn't realize they were stacked up in this corner of the kitchen. Salvaged water … [Read more...]

Last week I recovered my home from two (or more) weeks of neglect. I used to do this all the time, as it was the only way I ever really cleaned, picked-up, decluttered, whatever. So I was struck by the difference. It's not as huge of a deal as it used to be.  I used my daily checklist and weekly cleaning tasks to keep my pace instead of … [Read more...]

Do you talk to yourself while you clean? Oh. Me neither. But if I did, today my constant reminder to myself would have been, "Everything but vacuuming." At first, I planned to vacuum. But then I got going, and decided I would leave it for tomorrow.  Somehow that helped keep me on track. Every time I would think about waiting until tomorrow … [Read more...]

I had big plans for April. It was supposed to be my get-some-major-writing-projects-done-so-I'll-be-ready-for-the-loosi-goosiness-of-summer month. I planned to hole up in my house and accomplish big things. But then, my daughter decided she wanted to have a birthday party. Let me explain. I was well aware her birthday was … [Read more...]