I'm later than usual getting this post done since we were up at school this morning and then had a playdate today. The good news is that my very supportive best friend who knows how bad my messiness is was totally impressed with my house. Today I:Made bed. (I've been doing this everyday (except one) for over a month now, so I hope it's a … [Read more...]
The Big Picture . . . and the Small Details
I'm working on the office this week. I decluttered the corner on Monday, cleared/organized my desk on Tuesday, was gone all day yesterday, and today is Thursday. I haven't done anything in this room yet. I still may, but it's not guaranteed since in a short while I'll leave to pick up kids from school and then I'm rarely able to focus on one thing … [Read more...]
Menu Plan Monday
I'm not in the mood today, to be honest, but I'm going to do a menu plan because I have seen in the last few weeks how much it helps me. I'm trying so hard to focus on the decluttering that I know I could easily end up scrambling for dinner if I don't plan ahead. Monday - hamburger patties and mac-n-cheese Tuesday - Crockpot BBQ chicken … [Read more...]
Walking in to a Clean Kitchen
I spoke to a woman once who was exhausted from cleaning her house because she was about to go on a vacation. If you aren't personally a slob, I'll just explain that to a slob this makes absolutely no sense. We only clean when someone is going to see the house. Going on vacation means that the house will be locked up for a while and there's no … [Read more...]
Daily Checklist and a little dose of honesty
Today I: Made bed. Emptied dishwasher. Cleaned kitchen. Swept kitchen. Checked bathroom floors for stuff. Remembered to start thawing chicken for tonight's dinner. Did my new non-negotiable. Since a 5 minute maintenance pickup is my new habit for the week, I looked around to see that the main areas were pretty well already … [Read more...]
Fighting the Urge to Ignore the Kitchen
Here we are in the middle of a hectic week. I have several big projects hanging over my head that have deadlines this week. I HAVE to get them done. I can't explain how strong the urge is to ignore the kitchen. It's just one night. The other things are much more important. No one at the events will care about how clean my kitchen was on Monday … [Read more...]
First day of my new non-negotiable
I added a 5-minute-general-pick-up to my list of non-negotiables this week. I did this today right before lunch. My house is quite clean right now, so I was tempted to fall back into my normal habit of thinking it was good enough. I want to catch the little things before they turn into big things. The little things I caught were: Put away the … [Read more...]
Panic
I got into bed last night and was startled to notice, AFTER getting in, that my bed was not made. I panicked. I had taken a Sunday nap, and thought maybe that was why, but could see that my husband's side was unmade as well. I hadn't made the bed at all yesterday, and I hadn't noticed. That's what brings the panic. I'm trying so hard to keep my … [Read more...]
Lest I be prideful . . .
If you've been reading the last few days, you have noticed that I have been quite proud of myself that I got "most" of my house clean for this weekend of birthday celebrations. I think that's one of my problems. When I clean, I expect a parade in my honor. I expect everyone to notice how great things look even though I don't have them over when … [Read more...]