I bet you thought I forgot about this, didn’t you? But no, I haven’t. I’ve just been slacking.
For all you non-slackers, the difference between slacking and forgetting is that when you’re slacking, you definitely remember you’re supposed to be doing something. When you forget, you have that easy peace that comes with a conscience that has let go. For the month of July, I was definitely slacking. There were definitely those agonizing moments where I knew that something had to be done about that space with a desk that I used to call an office, which I now call a junk room.
But I’m proud to say that yesterday, I started again. If you remember, my plan is to do this cleaning in 15-30 minute increments so it stays under my radar of horrendous work. So yesterday, I did a bit of decluttering for about 20-30 minutes. Yahoo! Wish me luck for the rest of the month.
I once bought a magazine because it had on the cover “Clean Like a Pro! In only one hour!”
So of course, the secret is, clean for an hour, then stop. Like a pro would. Ha.
The thing is, it works. I divide it up into however many people are around to clean. If it’s me and my kid, that’s 1/2 hour. If it’s me, my kid, and my spouse, that’s 20 minutes. Set the timer and go. When it goes off, that’s it.
It’s amazing what three people can get done in 20 minutes if that’s all they have to do and they KNOW they only have 20 minutes.
Oh, I have been such a slacker. We are still functioning, I guess, but I can’t say anything good for myself. The lack of schedule in the summer has not helped me improve, and we are always rushing off to swim or hang out with friends instead of cleaning.
I did wash towels and clean some kitchen today, though.
Phew. We did a proper turn-out of the kids’ room. I’m always trying to keep it somewhat tidy and throw away the junk that accumulates, but today I got into every corner, sorted everything out, and threw away an entire bag of trash. I swear, those toys breed in secret. And my kids love to make stuff out of paper and crayons, which is great, but I threw away about 10 paper kites today, and they’ll make more tomorrow…
BlueKangaroo the only reason I can clean so much is that I decided to take summer quarter off. If I were doing a thesis…hoo boy…you’d have to dig me and the cat out.
However, my kitchen is covered in dirty dishes. I have a list of things to do tomorrow. Of course, I’m also up, watching TV and drinking, because I don’t have to work tomorrow. Whee! But the dishes are going to get done. And clearing off some bookshelf space.
You and I need to remember - it doesn’t all have to get done in a day. Because then we’ll never start. Find a pile and get it.
We’re moving on August first. This plus occasional bouts of morning sickness has been fun. I have managed to throw out quite a lot of crap, but this week I must scrub inside my cupboards, under the sink, and under the chest freezer. Oy. I’m trying to reduce the amount of cleaning our landlady will do after we’ve left.
How do you clean a blind that’s covered in clay (kitty litter) dust?
This month has been the suckiest suck that ever sucked. I had to fend off a foreclosure to ensure I had a house to clean, my former roommate R-U-N-N-O-F-T owing me a nice chunk of change, and my mother died last week. I managed to clean the bathrooms this weekend. That is a major accomplishment. And thanks to my neighbor, my yard has been reclaimed from the jungle it was intent on becoming.
I’m sorry about your mom, SpazCat. That is indeed a really sucky month.
I’m running around cleaning like a madwoman because my cousin and her mom (my aunt, obviously) are coming today. Now my aunt (and uncle too but he’s not here) is a pretty terrible housekeeper–things are neat, but she doesn’t know how to dust and the cobwebs are a bit horrifying–and I don’t know how my cousin is, since she lives at the other end of California, but all her friends have immaculate yuppie mansions and probably housecleaners. So I at least want things to be clean, but I haven’t been keeping up lately. I like my cousin a lot, though we’re total opposites, but I find it hard to talk with my aunt. She tends to tell a lot of stories that show that they have money, while my cousin looks like this :rolleyes: in the background.
And I’m looking around and realizing that my house has become full of computer junk in the last few months; every corner is stuffed with orphan monitors, towers, and cables. I hate that, actually. And the schoolroom is piled with books that I haven’t yet organized. (And a paper castle we’re putting together, but that’s cool, not just plain pathetically messy.)
Gah. Off to pick up some of the half-clean clothes in the bedroom…
There are ANTS in my kitchen. I hate ants. They annoys us. They bites us. (I live in fire ant country.) They makes us itch. They are Evil. ANTS DELENDA EST.*
It looks like I’m going to have to Windex my entire kitchen. FUCKING ANTS.
*Ants must be destroyed. Some things can only be expressed in Latin.
Um, you were going to do what?!
I am doing a little bit better. I am trying to keep more things picked up as I go and do less of and intensive whole day cleaning from time to time. The balance is slowly starting to tip towards the “do a little bit every day” mentality.
However, I have a friend coming over tonight out of the blue after work. Looks like I will have to race home and turn myself into the Tasmanian Devil trying to get the place to a point where he won’t think I live in squalor.
Oh, and about those blinds Lissla Lissar, start with a shopvac or a hose attachment, then move to a duster, then use a wipe cloth or paper towel and windex to wipe each blade. The trick is to get as much off as possible before getting it moist. And don’t put it in the shower whatever you do.
Sorry for the double post, but why windex your entire kitchen? Is this some kind of home remedy or something? I had sugar ants invade my kitchen a few years ago. I used a commercially availble product called Terrex (Or something like that). It took close to two weeks, but I was sure I killed the entire colony. Years later they haven’t been back.
Crap! Reading this thread just reminded me that we have guests coming to stay with us this weekend!
Thankfully I took two full days off two weeks ago to do a really thorough cleaning of the house and go to doctors’ appointments. It’s not terribly dirty - just cluttered. I hate cleaning up clutter.
Because I is a po’ ho and the only thing I have that will kill ants quickly and erase their tracks is Windex. It really works. Kills them dead. My neighbor uses Formula 409 for the same purpose.
Well, my cousin is gone, along with her adorable snuggly little bundle of baby. We had fun and my aunt paid for lunch, yay! I like my cousin, it’s just her mom that’s a little difficult, but it was fine. And now my house is a lot tidier–though I do have mountains of laundry to get through…here goes.
