My kitchen is all nice and clean, and I even cleaned the stove–the job I hate most of all jobs. I did the laundry but it’s still in the dryer; maybe I’ll get really good and fold it while watching MythBusters? It will have to come out, because all our jammies are in it, and it’s cold here (for California–yes, we are wusses). I also remembered to have the kids clean up the family room, and it looks nice!
And I finally got to the gym today after a several-days absence for various reasons (like they closed the child-care in order to seal the floors on the brand-new, ridiculously lavish child-care center, so why didn’t they just wait a few days to open the dang thing in the first place? Grrr).
However, my Clutter Counter is cluttered again. Mostly books and mail. And fabric. I bought fabric today.
Fabric is always good. I have imposed a personal moratorium on buying more fabric, however, until I do something with at least some of the piles I currently have.
I was going to scrub the other bathroom today, but ended up vacuuming instead – the guy was coming to install the FIOS TV, and just the thought of him having to dig around in the unvacuumed rooms to hook up the TVs was humiliating. Other than that, it was just daily stuff, but it was also refreshing to have a worker need to go into my bedroom and not be ashamed of the mess it was in. Not that I can say the same about my office, alas.
Having been working on one rush job after another for the last several days until I am borderline burned out, I have decreed that tomorrow is an official Putter Day. Which means some cleaning – probably more than 15 minutes, but not hugely more – but also some fun stuff like shopping. And reading. And catching up on last week’s Ugly Betty, which I have yet to watch.
I haven’t gotten very far with the “putting away the papers” job, but I did get the Christmas tree down and into its bag. Also the lights untangled and wound into their bags. That took a large part of Monday. I’ve gotten the dishes under control, not done every night, but nearly. And put away every morning afterward. So there really isn’t any dish clutter in the kitchen. I got sidetracked today with the paper job, and ended up straightening up the closet shelf where we keep gift boxes and such. But that meant a couple of things into the resale shop pile and a decent pile of stuff into the recycle bin, so it was a good thing to do. Also, the new boxes I got after Christmas are put away now, instead of leaning on the kitchen wall.
I’m trying to make a point of CAYG, putting away small things as I pass by. Nobody will notice but me, yet, but it is making some difference, if only to my morale.
I’m not putting the second bed into storage. I don’t want to bore you with something MMP-worthy that’s also long and convoluted, but basically it looks like I’ll move from my furnished 1R to an unfurnished 2R at the end of April. So I’ll but a coverlet for the unmade bed rather than bug anybody about it.
The 2R is noticeably cheaper; going to Remar (charity store) and to The Swedish Place will mean getting it furnished for the rental difference of two months. And because it’s got two rooms, I’ll be able to have guests. I’m the queen of daybeds… never buy a sofa when I can buy a sofabed or a futon, never buy a regular bed when I can buy a pair, one of which folds under the other. I like having guests.
I’ve been so bad. All I’ve been able to do is make the bed.
In my defense, I had a bad cold a week or so ago, and then started to develop pain in my face which I tried to tough out. Tuesday I went to the ER and they said it wasn’t a sinus infection. Tonight I called my dentist, sobbing from the pain. I now have antibiotics and vicodin (infected molars suck). But between the pain and my work schedule I haven’t even been able to do my homework, let alone my housework.
Could I have a nice pat on the back and some words of encouragement?
Want a magdalena too? You call it muffin. Here, have one made with lemon, they’re my favourite, very light. Mmmmm! It’s in its own plastic baggie, so it will keep until your teeth are fixed.
Are you doing more than when you started? Then you’re on the right path! And anybody who’s got infected molars is entitled to slob a bit.
I haven’t really been doing much more than usual, but that’s because I really haven’t been well for the last two weeks. As I recover I’ll improve (and after this week I’ll be working less too).
Mmm, magdalena. Now that I have vicodin I actually feel like eating…
Have some brownies. You deserve them.
I’m getting sick, so I may motivate myself to vacuum and mop, but if I don’t, I won’t feel bad. I got the bathroom cabinet cleaned out, and the kitchen is still pretty clean, so I think I’m doing well. The only things I have to do today are portion out a casserole, wash the dishes, and make a grocery list for next week. Oh, and strain some chicken broth. Maybe I’ll do that now, so I can have chicken soup for lunch. Probably half an hour’s work, in all.
I think I’m going to give myself permission to take Thursdays easy. I don’t think I’ll need to take them off entirely, but easy may be the ticket.
One of my biggest challenges right now, in maintaining a healthy and less expensive home, is figuring out lunches. However, I’m going to focus on continuing to get healthy (or reasonably so) dinners into us, planned in advance, for the moment. Tomorrow I’m doing this tart, and Saturday we’re having friends over and eating roast chicken. My house is not a lot better than it was last Saturday, but it’s somewhat better.
Actually, the bathroom is a lot better, since the Kangaroo_in_Black decided one day to clean it while I was cooking. Hopefully tonight he can get some more cleaning done while I’m in class, and I can get some stuff done tomorrow. It’s not going to be gorgeous, but I’m aiming for presentable.
Other than cleaning the tub and floor in the second bathroom, I’m not sure I’m going to do anything today besides the daily stuff; I had to pull a near-all-nighter last night to meet a work deadline, and so today I am seriously burned out. I was planning to relax today anyway, and the way I feel now makes that decision even more sensible.
But if whiterabbit cracks her whip hard enough, we may at least start picking up my office. I did a bit yesterday when I was clearing things away enough to vacuum, but there’s more to be done. Like deal with the Pile O’ Crap in the corner. I’ve cleared that corner out at least three times, but it always reaccumulates.
This thread has got me thinking about the parents of one of my son’s friends when he was about 10. They were a lovely couple, a bit on the old hippie side, and worked as writers so had offices at home. Since she was a neatnik and he was a slob, they compromised: Literally half of his office was occupied by a pile of stuff on the floor that they referred to as “the Bog.” I assume that in future centuries, archeologists will be able to find all kinds of interesting stuff in the Bog; it apparently hadn’t been cleaned in upwards of 15 years. But the rest of their house was neat, so I guess it served its purpose!
And now to continue caffeinating or something before I contemplate doing anything drastic like get up and do something.
I took yesterday as my day off (I did that cleaning jag last week, and have been a good girl all this week so far, so I’d done more than the 6 days of work God put in, dammit!) I kept up with the dishes and kitchen up through dinner, but then I left the two serving dishes and the crumb filled counter for this morning. I did still do my swish and swipe in the bathroom though. It’s amazing how dirty and cat-hair filled that bathroom gets. To keep it clean, I really do need to do at least a wipe down of the sink and toilet every single day. And I did run the dishwasher. But that was pretty much it yesterday. Dinner was easy - fresh baked corn bread with freshly boiled macaroni and leftover chili and toppings. I even took a nap when the baby did! Such indulgence.
I did get right back on the wagon this morning, which is a good sign. (In the past, my “take it easy today” days would turn into “take it easy today and yesterday and the day before” chains of slack.) I did the last couple of dishes and the counter from last night, and I also went through the drawers and cabinets and rescued all the sippy cups half full of water that WhyBaby stashes everywhere and washed all those. Already Swiffered the kitchen and dining rooms, and plugged it back in to charge for the living room after lunch. Dusted the wood in the dining room.
My “big job” for today is the cabinets in the kitchen. While I was rescuing sippy cups, I noticed a lot of fingerprints and crumbs that need to be dealt with.
Oh, laundry. Yeah, still gotta do that damn laundry. :smack:
(Oh, and my jeans are getting big…I think I’m losing weight just with the exercise of cleaning! Wouldn’t you know it, I just bought 3 pairs of jeans that actually fit. Oh, well, I’ll accept weight loss as a great reason to spend more money on clothes!)
Preschool again today. I have yet to even empty the dishwasher or make the bed. Uh-oh.
Today my official jobs are to clean the bathroom and go grocery shopping. But last night we realized that we’re having people over for dinner tonight (I signed up to feed the missionaries, it’s a Mormon thing, and then forgot all about it as usual)–so I have to come home and cook instead of going to the grocery store. I guess I’ll do that this evening, afterwards. I do have to clean the bathrooms, though, so that I won’t be embarrassed when they come over! The kids have scattered washcloths and torn paper all over their bathroom.
I got as far as going in and looking at the second bathroom; then I wiped off the sink and toilet and gave up.
But I did pick up a couple of organizing-type things to help not only straighten my desk, but to maybe have a chance at keeping it straight. Tomorrow I’ll try to get busy again, but today I just felt like I’d been rode hard and put away wet.
I actually did clean the bathroom, though I did a pretty basic job. No fancy stuff.
I’ve decided to move grocery day to Friday until swimming lessons are over; maybe that will work better. So I did a decent job today, pretty much, I guess, but I haven’t done the dinner dishes yet. Oh, and there’s a load of towels I need to go put in the dryer now.
You know, the trouble with housework is that it doesn’t stay done. You can scrub and scour and dust and polish and have a perfectly shiny kitchen …and all it takes is one person (okay, one husband) to decide to ‘create’ a new type of grilled sandwich: mustard smears and crumbs on the counter, dirty griddle in the sink, oil spatters everywhere on the stove (and they show up horribly on my black stove…what was I thinking?), dirty plate and glass and knife and cutting board on the table, onion skins in the skin, pickle juice dribbling down from the counter…aaaaargh! :mad:
So I insisted on going out for dinner at one of MY favorites.
The best way to keep your kitchen clean is to eat out all the time. I have an unfortunate combination of loving to cook and hating to clean up. The worst thing is that, no matter how many times you clean the bathroom, and how clean you get it, you’ll still have to do it again sometime.
I might vacuum today. I’m still sick, but I’m better. The floors in the bathroom and the kitchen should be mopped. Normally I take laundry out today, but it’s fricking freezing, and tomorrow will be warmer.
Yes. Today will be vacuuming, mopping, and grocery shopping. Plus naps.
Today, if I get any more energy than I have right now (which is basically none), I will try to get that other bathroom done. And whatever else my daughter kicks my ass into doing. It’s interesting how effective she is at getting me to do stuff; why can’t motivate myself the same way?
This weekend, I’m going to finish cleaning the bathroom, and also finish cleaning the kitchen. Maybe eject some of the clutter as well. My left hand still hurts from smashing it a week ago, so I haven’t been doing a lot this week other than the morning dishes and sleeping. I have to go to a funeral tomorrow as well.
