15 minutes, both days.
Not much to report, but the couches have been cleared out underneath, and it's much clearer. The five loads of laundry have been reduced, and tomorrow should be eliminated.
The piano is next on my list for tomorrow! (Actually today, since it's past midnight. I'm getting the baby to sleep as I type this.)
Onward, ever onward, my friends!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Master Bedroom: Days 3,4,5 and 6; Sneak Peek for Next Week!
Wow. I thought I had at least posted Wednesday! Time flies when you have a fussy baby. Well...not really, but it does pass.
I am very glad this week is over. My bedroom isn't finished, but it looks so much better! Here's the breakdown:
Day 3: Began decluttering the pile residing on the dresser
Day 4: Finished dresser, found odds and ends including a car title, various earrings, and my husband's lost scriptures. (Yes, it was really that bad.)
Day 5: Put stuff I didn't know what to do with yet into a couple of boxes already containing that variety of stuff, moved those and a humidifier that we have to take back to the store under the crib. It's out of the way now, and the floor is clear. Well...except for the dirty laundry, I need to fold some to empty a basket. I also need to get back to the awesome laundry system I had last year. It's posted here somewhere.
Day 6: Worked on the bookshelf. It's one of those short, small ones, but it has accumulated a lot of stuff, and not many books. The top looks pretty good now.
What a difference six days make! My room, though still needing another week at least, doesn't look like a tornado hit it. I actually feel like I can relax in there now. Ahhhhhh.
Next week: the Living Room. Dun dun dun....
I am very glad this week is over. My bedroom isn't finished, but it looks so much better! Here's the breakdown:
Day 3: Began decluttering the pile residing on the dresser
Day 4: Finished dresser, found odds and ends including a car title, various earrings, and my husband's lost scriptures. (Yes, it was really that bad.)
Day 5: Put stuff I didn't know what to do with yet into a couple of boxes already containing that variety of stuff, moved those and a humidifier that we have to take back to the store under the crib. It's out of the way now, and the floor is clear. Well...except for the dirty laundry, I need to fold some to empty a basket. I also need to get back to the awesome laundry system I had last year. It's posted here somewhere.
Day 6: Worked on the bookshelf. It's one of those short, small ones, but it has accumulated a lot of stuff, and not many books. The top looks pretty good now.
What a difference six days make! My room, though still needing another week at least, doesn't look like a tornado hit it. I actually feel like I can relax in there now. Ahhhhhh.
Next week: the Living Room. Dun dun dun....
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Master Bedroom: Day 2
So today I started getting sick. Felt nauseated part of the day, but it got better pretty quickly. I was surprised, because for a while I was sure the flu was coming on. I think it has to do with the green smoothies and healthy food I've been eating. (The feeling better part, not the sick part.)
I really didn't want to do my 15 minutes today. I mean, really.
I forgot to make the kids do it. Both boys weren't feeling so hot today, so since they're kids I kind of let it go earlier. Then I forgot about it later, completely. They were running around like they usually do and ate a hearty dinner, so they could have done it. They'll get back in the saddle tomorrow.
There was nothing exciting about today, except that I found a book a friend loaned me. I had lost it while in the middle of it and have been wanting to read the rest. (It had snuck under the bed somehow!) I just continued to clean up my floor and now we can get into the closet. Our room becomes the receptacle for things we don't know what to do with, like boxes of stuff and odds and ends. Those are mostly out of the way now, stacked and waiting to be sorted through, instead of blocking part of our closet door.
It does look better in there. I'm so glad I just did it anyway.
I really didn't want to do my 15 minutes today. I mean, really.
I forgot to make the kids do it. Both boys weren't feeling so hot today, so since they're kids I kind of let it go earlier. Then I forgot about it later, completely. They were running around like they usually do and ate a hearty dinner, so they could have done it. They'll get back in the saddle tomorrow.
There was nothing exciting about today, except that I found a book a friend loaned me. I had lost it while in the middle of it and have been wanting to read the rest. (It had snuck under the bed somehow!) I just continued to clean up my floor and now we can get into the closet. Our room becomes the receptacle for things we don't know what to do with, like boxes of stuff and odds and ends. Those are mostly out of the way now, stacked and waiting to be sorted through, instead of blocking part of our closet door.
It does look better in there. I'm so glad I just did it anyway.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Master Bedroom: Day 1
Well, I took the plunge. Our room is such a wreck, everything on the floor everywhere! The 15 minutes were spent picking up dirty clothes, throwing away trash, and tossing the shoes into the closet. I didn't even touch the boxes filled with things under the crib and the bed.
Those clothes are now mostly in the wash. Yay!
Princess threw some of her dirty clothes in the hamper. The boys mostly played catch-up from the weekend for their 15 minutes, but their room is ready to get cleaned further tomorrow.
I'm happy to have gotten some things accomplished, especially since I could hardly put Bean down at all today.
I like it that he's snuggly when he's not feeling well, poor little guy.
I hope to see a major difference in my bedroom tomorrow!
Those clothes are now mostly in the wash. Yay!
Princess threw some of her dirty clothes in the hamper. The boys mostly played catch-up from the weekend for their 15 minutes, but their room is ready to get cleaned further tomorrow.
I'm happy to have gotten some things accomplished, especially since I could hardly put Bean down at all today.
I like it that he's snuggly when he's not feeling well, poor little guy.
I hope to see a major difference in my bedroom tomorrow!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Days 3&4: Bathroom
Ok, so I in fact did do my 15 minutes yesterday. Pacific time instead of my current Central, but it still counts because it was before I went to bed!
I had a full day yesterday, and by the time I got the teething baby settled down on Daddy (he was still working from home) and remembered about my 15 minute commitment, it was nearly 1:00 am. What's another 15 minutes when you've already been up that late, right?
I got another two baskets cleared out last night, and another two today plus two small ones. I'm going to have to do some reshuffling of some of them. One of them is going to be divided into two baskets, but that's going to have to wait until the next Bathroom Week. I also cleared some dirty clothes off of the counter and emptied out the wastebasket. I've thrown out a whole lot of expired, empty, or no longer wanted bottles, jars and tubes. The closet looks so much better! I found a lot of hidden dirty laundry behind my diaper pail that is waiting to be washed. I actually found my wetbag! (I do cloth diapers, and a wetbag is a small travel bag to put wet diapers in.)
The boys have done a fantastic job with their room, and they're not complaining as much about doing it. They're seeing that a few minutes of diligence a day is really going to make their room clean.
Princess has picked up all her clothes off the floor. Since her room is really a major mess, she's going to need my help. After all, she's only four.
I really didn't want to do it today since I've been running around cleaning other things and doing laundry. But, since I promised myself I'm glad I did!
Next week, as Flylady has scheduled: Master Bedroom Week. Yikes. I admit, I'm not looking forward to that one. I am looking forward to the results, though. The kids will continue on with their 15 minute cleaning in their rooms as well.
I'm doing all I can today to make Sunday an actual day of rest. It hasn't been for me in a long time.
See you Monday!
I had a full day yesterday, and by the time I got the teething baby settled down on Daddy (he was still working from home) and remembered about my 15 minute commitment, it was nearly 1:00 am. What's another 15 minutes when you've already been up that late, right?
I got another two baskets cleared out last night, and another two today plus two small ones. I'm going to have to do some reshuffling of some of them. One of them is going to be divided into two baskets, but that's going to have to wait until the next Bathroom Week. I also cleared some dirty clothes off of the counter and emptied out the wastebasket. I've thrown out a whole lot of expired, empty, or no longer wanted bottles, jars and tubes. The closet looks so much better! I found a lot of hidden dirty laundry behind my diaper pail that is waiting to be washed. I actually found my wetbag! (I do cloth diapers, and a wetbag is a small travel bag to put wet diapers in.)
The boys have done a fantastic job with their room, and they're not complaining as much about doing it. They're seeing that a few minutes of diligence a day is really going to make their room clean.
Princess has picked up all her clothes off the floor. Since her room is really a major mess, she's going to need my help. After all, she's only four.
I really didn't want to do it today since I've been running around cleaning other things and doing laundry. But, since I promised myself I'm glad I did!
Next week, as Flylady has scheduled: Master Bedroom Week. Yikes. I admit, I'm not looking forward to that one. I am looking forward to the results, though. The kids will continue on with their 15 minute cleaning in their rooms as well.
I'm doing all I can today to make Sunday an actual day of rest. It hasn't been for me in a long time.
See you Monday!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Day 2: Bathroom Closet
Well, this 15 minute thing is my last hope, and by golly, it's going to work!
We have a decent-sized bathroom closet, so tonight after I got back from my Church activity and present-shopping for my daughter's friend's birthday party tomorrow, I did my 15 minutes in there. James had the kids do their 15 minutes in their rooms while I was gone.
There are several shelves in the closet filled with plastic baskets. It looked great when I first organized it...two years ago. I took one basket out and went through it. I tossed a bunch of junk and semi-organized it. Now we know where the bandaids, rubbing alcohol, Q-tips, sunscreen, and various other health-related or first-aid items are. It isn't perfect, but its SO MUCH BETTER! (Yes, I'm yelling with excitement!)
Since I didn't get to Walmart, I didn't get those small organizing plastic boxes for yesterday's drawer. Well, guess what? I found three small ones in the closet! So when my timer went off I took two of them and quickly sorted a few things. Took me maybe five minutes, tops.
Now I have a nearly clean, organized drawer and a whole basket done in the closet!
Since I knew I had to do this today, and it being past 11:00 pm with a wide-awake baby, I'm so glad I chose an accomplishable goal.
And since my baby just spit up all over my thigh, I will go now.
See you tomorrow!
We have a decent-sized bathroom closet, so tonight after I got back from my Church activity and present-shopping for my daughter's friend's birthday party tomorrow, I did my 15 minutes in there. James had the kids do their 15 minutes in their rooms while I was gone.
There are several shelves in the closet filled with plastic baskets. It looked great when I first organized it...two years ago. I took one basket out and went through it. I tossed a bunch of junk and semi-organized it. Now we know where the bandaids, rubbing alcohol, Q-tips, sunscreen, and various other health-related or first-aid items are. It isn't perfect, but its SO MUCH BETTER! (Yes, I'm yelling with excitement!)
Since I didn't get to Walmart, I didn't get those small organizing plastic boxes for yesterday's drawer. Well, guess what? I found three small ones in the closet! So when my timer went off I took two of them and quickly sorted a few things. Took me maybe five minutes, tops.
Now I have a nearly clean, organized drawer and a whole basket done in the closet!
Since I knew I had to do this today, and it being past 11:00 pm with a wide-awake baby, I'm so glad I chose an accomplishable goal.
And since my baby just spit up all over my thigh, I will go now.
See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Back in the Saddle...Again!
Well, since my confinement and lots of couch or bedrest with my pregnancy, and birth of my velcro baby, my house looks like it was hit by a garbage-filled dump truck.
I have now hired (for nothing!) the services of one Flylady. (www.flylady.com)
We are going to clean up our monstrous mess in 15 minutes. You heard that right--15 minutes. Well, to be honest, 15 minutes per day.
I figured this out. If we do an extra 15 minutes of decluttering and cleaning 6 days per week in the next year, minus nearly 2 weeks of vacation time, we can have over 76 hours of cleaning and decluttering done. That's at that 15 minute bare minimum. 76 hours of intense cleaning and decluttering will get us a looooong way to our goal!
There will be no pics for a while, because of my sheer embarrassedness (yes, that is now officially a word because I said so). But there will, barring lack of electricity, be posts chronicling this for the next year. So, officially starting on St. Patrick's Day 2010, we begin.
This week, Flylady is focusing on the bathroom and office. Our office space is small, and yesterday I cleaned off the desk by throwing everything into a grocery bag and stuffing it under the desk for James to go through. Today I did 15 minutes in my bathroom. I cleared off the countertop, mostly, and went through my drawer that I could barely open or shut. It was filled with all kinds of old makeup, expired bottles, and samples. I found a lot of my earrings as well.
The drawer is not completely done, but nearly everything left in it is something I want. If I don't use it by the time Bathroom Week rolls around again, it's getting tossed. I'm going to get a couple of small bins at Walmart tomorrow to organize that drawer. Amazing what 15 minutes did to a drawer that was bugging me for about two years.
I'm excited!
The kids are doing it too. Princess got all her clothes picked up off her floor, and Professor and Lion (mostly Professor, because Lion was whining) cleared a HUGE area of their floor. Lion cried in my arms afterward, telling me he knows he can do it and that he will do it. I hope he remembers that tomorrow.
In another week or two the kids rooms should be completely clean.
Part of me is frustrated that it will take so long, but at least this way our house will get cleared out slowly, but surely!
I have now hired (for nothing!) the services of one Flylady. (www.flylady.com)
We are going to clean up our monstrous mess in 15 minutes. You heard that right--15 minutes. Well, to be honest, 15 minutes per day.
I figured this out. If we do an extra 15 minutes of decluttering and cleaning 6 days per week in the next year, minus nearly 2 weeks of vacation time, we can have over 76 hours of cleaning and decluttering done. That's at that 15 minute bare minimum. 76 hours of intense cleaning and decluttering will get us a looooong way to our goal!
There will be no pics for a while, because of my sheer embarrassedness (yes, that is now officially a word because I said so). But there will, barring lack of electricity, be posts chronicling this for the next year. So, officially starting on St. Patrick's Day 2010, we begin.
This week, Flylady is focusing on the bathroom and office. Our office space is small, and yesterday I cleaned off the desk by throwing everything into a grocery bag and stuffing it under the desk for James to go through. Today I did 15 minutes in my bathroom. I cleared off the countertop, mostly, and went through my drawer that I could barely open or shut. It was filled with all kinds of old makeup, expired bottles, and samples. I found a lot of my earrings as well.
The drawer is not completely done, but nearly everything left in it is something I want. If I don't use it by the time Bathroom Week rolls around again, it's getting tossed. I'm going to get a couple of small bins at Walmart tomorrow to organize that drawer. Amazing what 15 minutes did to a drawer that was bugging me for about two years.
I'm excited!
The kids are doing it too. Princess got all her clothes picked up off her floor, and Professor and Lion (mostly Professor, because Lion was whining) cleared a HUGE area of their floor. Lion cried in my arms afterward, telling me he knows he can do it and that he will do it. I hope he remembers that tomorrow.
In another week or two the kids rooms should be completely clean.
Part of me is frustrated that it will take so long, but at least this way our house will get cleared out slowly, but surely!
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