Not three showers because I sweated so much cleaning and decluttering. Three showers because I'm a germaphobe. I generally consider myself a functioning germaphobe. I get through life using my elbows to open doors and artfully dodging handshakes. But somehow today was too much. I blame it on being tired and on the … [Read more...]
Birthday Parties – The "How Often" Dilemma
This isn't really a house-cleaning tip, but one that's good for people who struggle with Time Passage Awareness. Like I do. When it comes to scheduling kids' birthday parties, I'm thankful I have my mother's footsteps in which to follow. I started out this motherhood gig knowing that I would do it the way she did, because if it was good … [Read more...]
Able to Thrive
We did a LOT of driving this weekend. On our drive, we saw a sign saying we were entering a “controlled burn” area, and warning us not to drive into thick smoke. Soon, we saw what the sign was talking about. One side of the highway was black. Charred ground as far as we could see. No signs of life. My nature-minded husband explained that … [Read more...]
Menu Plan Monday – April 11
I’ve been doing Weight Watchers Online for two weeks now. On weekdays, I do very well keeping up with my points. Weekends . . . are tough. The first weekend, I just didn’t really bother and . . . gained back two of the four pounds I had lost during the week. I was determined to do better this weekend. Buuuutttt this weekend included a … [Read more...]
Letting Go of Someone Else’s Memories
Sometimes I find myself holding on to memories . . . that aren't even mine. People give me stuff. They don't want these things in their own homes, but they hate to throw them away or donate their special items to an unknown-possibly-non-appreciative stranger. So they give it to me. They know how much I love a good story. They know how … [Read more...]
Clue #3 in the Master Bedroom Mystery – Last Minute Shoving
Really, all of the clues so far have been pretty in-my-face. No sleuthing required. But how our master bedroom repeatedly falls into chaos . . . still feels like a mystery to me. Clue #3: Last minute shoving. Brought about by items not being in their homes when the doorbell is scheduled to ring. Brought about by not putting those items … [Read more...]
Phantom Clutter
I've always heard that people who lose a limb can still experience pain in it. Phantom pains. The memory/feeling is so real that they have to tell themselves that the limb really isn't there anymore. As I declutter, I do tons of self-talk. I follow my two decluttering questions. I rationalize that I simply must get rid of an item because I … [Read more...]
Daily Checklist 4/5/11
It's my last day as the mother of a four-year-old. And she's sick. Which is awful, except that she gets really snuggly when she doesn't feel good.Which isn't awful.Today I:Emptied dishwasher.Cleaned kitchen.Folded the last of yesterday's laundry and then started the Big Seasonal Clothing Changeover while I watched Despicable Me with my … [Read more...]
Playing Catch-Up
Saturday was my youngest child's fifth birthday party. Don't worry, I'm not sobbing. I'll save that for Wednesday, her actual birthday. I've come a very long way in this deslobification process and didn't have to block out two entire weeks to clean and declutter before I could start party prep. Still though, big events mean . . . … [Read more...]
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