Cleaning House again

Last year, I started off with this grand plan to have a clean house within 30 days.  (See that meager beginning here.)  Now, it's the first Monday of 2011 and it's time to attack the house again.  I'm so glad I saved my cleaning schedule!!!  That'll help me stay on track once again as I purge the junk and clutter from the recesses of my closets! 

Pray for me please.  Pray that the Lord will help me to be ruthless as I toss out un-needed items and junk that I've hung on to for years because, "I'm gonna use that!"

30 Days to a Clean House

Last year sometime, I had read an article about Spring Cleaning. I couldn't remember where I had found the article, so I did a search on the internet in hopes of stumbling across it. Well, I found several references to it, and even a link or two to the magazine where it had been printed. But no article!

So, I took what information I learned...the name & date of the magazine I had seen it in (Woman's Day, June 2008)...and went to the local library where I knew I would find the magazine I was searching for! Aren't I resourceful? LOL

I found the article, and made a copy of the 30 Day Spring Cleaning schedule. So, am I up for the challenge of getting my house sparkling clean? I don't know...yet. However, I invite you all to join me as I begin this lovely little project on Monday! Let's start cleaning!!!

Sons and Chores

The Teen came home from school today. He was excited that he had been able to purchase a Playstation 2 from a classmate and he wanted to get it plugged in immediately! I told him no. Actually, his reason was, "I just want to check it out and see if it works." (Ummm, looks like we need a lesson on frugal or wise spending!)

I told him, No, you can't plug it in right now...there are other responsiblities that have priority. To which I received a loud and long, "Maaaaahhhhhhhhmmmmmm!" I proceeded to tell him that his grandfather was waiting next door for Teen to come over and take care of prior committments. Teen's attitude gradually got worse as the afternoon went on.

When he returned home for dinner, he expressed his feelings regarding unfair designation of certain household chores. Meaning, he didn't want to do certain chores anymore because he's ALWAYS the one who has to do it.

Rather than argue with him (as tends to happen quite often), I suggested that he make me a chore chart that more fairly designates the household responsibilities among the members living here that are capable of performing such duties. To my surprise, he returned about an hour later with the requested chart. His idea is to rotate the chores on a daily basis. As it works out, the older household members will have 2 responsibilities at least once a week.

It's really not a bad idea, but it would be hard to remember (especially for me) that today's "Monday" therefore it's my turn to do the dishes and cook dinner.

Finally, the Teen, DH, and I all sat down, looked over the chart, and decided to try it on a trial basis this week just to see if it would improve things. However, now that the chart has been made, it will be MY responsibility to see that everyone is on task. Hmmm....how did this help me?

Laundry

Can I take a moment to tell ya just how much I hate doing laundry? The only thing I like about it is the clean smell of detergent and bleach while a load is going in the washer. Other than that, I can't stand doing laundry.

How many outfits do we need anyway? I don't do anything during the week unless it's geocaching or Walmart. Therefore, teeshirts and jeans are the outfit of choice for me. For the girls it's usually something cute. Then on Sunday, I wear a pantsuit I bought from Stage back in October. I have 4 suits that I alternate each weekend.

For hubby, he just wears jeans and a dress shirt most days. So, how many outfits does he need? I'm thinking that tomorrow's project will be to go through all of our clothing and bag up stuff we don't need or wear. Unfortunately, that means I'll have to get hubby another pair or two of jeans.

arrrrrggghhh! Why did Eve HAVE to eat that apple? If she didn't do so, we would have to worry about laundry at all!!!

Bad Teacher!!

I'm such a bad mom, wife, and homeschool teacher. Okay, so maybe not THAT bad but I'm kinda feeling sorry for myself tonight (or this morning...note: It's 2:10 a.m.). My hubs is away tonight so that means that I'm pulling an all nighter. Fortunately, my kids are all safe and sound, snoozing peacefully, while I sit at the computer until the wee hours of the morning while listening to some paid programming on the tube. Every now and then I'll hear a foreign sound, a pop or something that gets my attention. Most often, it's just the ice maker in the freezer. Every now and then, it might be a mouse that the cold weather has driven in. Whatever it is, it and my computer are keeping me from going to bed to get the lovely beauty rest I need. (Lord knows I NEED IT!)

All this leads up to my neglectful teaching. I haven't really "taught" any bookwork since New Year's. I keep telling myself that I'll get back on it...tomorrow. And then for some reason or another, it doesn't happen. I WAS gonna get back on track today (or yesterday since it's now early in the morning the next day), but my Little Bird woke up with a fever and said her tummy hurt. So, I literally spent the day rocking my baby while her feverish little body fought off whatever bug was ailing her. Kangaroo stood by patiently, asking every half hour if she could watch Dora again...and again...and again...and again. Thank God I have 55 Dora episodes DVR'd on my thingy!!! I was able to keep her Dora addiction fed for the day!

Later in the evening, I had to go pick up the eldest child (the adult child) from work. On the way, Kangaroo fell asleep in the back seat and Little Bird perked up enough to serenade us with the alphabet song and at least a dozen questions on the extinction of the dinosaurs. Her inquiries regarding the dinosaurs gave me pause, causing me to consider how I would begin our teaching schedule again. I really need to get on that!!!

But before I do, I guess I should sign off and get a few hours of shut eye. Hubs will need my help tomorrow afternoon and I won't be a bit of good if I'm acting like a zombie!

Housecleaning: Day 1

One of my new year's resolutions was to start FLYing using the FlyLady.net method of housekeeping. So, I'm posting a picture of my shiny sink. Since Monday I was thinking that this week's cleaning zone was on the living room. After checking in today, I found I was mistaken and that this week's zone was in fact the kitchen. Well, that's good....because I was failing miserably in keeping the living area picked up but was doing well in the kitchen! How funny is that?

My shiny sink!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Now, for my next project. We enter the house/double-wide-modular-home through the front door after driving and unloading in the muddy front yard. It's awful and stinky!!

Note the white rubber boots, purchased just last night so I could walk without getting my feet wet. I can't find rubber boots for my girls ANYWHERE!! I had to carry them in so they wouldn't get any muddier than they already were. But, that's for another blog.

So, would anyone happen to have any orginzational ideas for this corner of my home?

Garage Sale Stuff

From some silly reason my sister and mom decided to have a multifamily garage sale at mom's house this weekend (Nov. 1). However, they didn't tell me about it until Sunday! Soooo, I told them I'd be happy to contribute to this garage sale and set about stripping out my master bedroom, bathroom, and closet. It has taken me 2 days to get the junk out of that room! I still have the rest of the house to go through (kitchen, utility room, living area, kid's bathroom, and 2 more bedrooms + closets!). The big day is in 2 more days, I have to get my trailer loaded up and at mom's house for Halloween night. I'm really working on a deadline here! I can't BELIEVE the junk that has come out of just one room! Isn't it amazing what one can collect over the years? I can't believe this stuff is JUST from my master bedroom area!