WOW.

First of all I’d like to thank everyone who congradulated Lord Hill and I on our anniversary. We had a fabulous time. Our long weekend turned into a 5 day vacation but there will be a separate post to tell that story.

Today I want to talk about Spring Cleaning.

I’ll be honest. I have never really been a fan, nor have I understood why everyone seems to “like” cleaning once the weather gets nice. I always want to spend as much time outside as possible and cleaning is basically the opposite of that. So imagine my surprise when I woke up today on the nicest day we’ve had all year and thought to myself “well, this would be a nice day to tidy up a bit”

And tidy up I did.

Yesterday Lord Hill and I returned over $12 worth of bottles and cans. This helped jump start my want/need to reclean the kitchen as I had totally let it go since my last post showing my nice clean kitchen with my nice shiny sink. I wound up completely cleaning the kitchen including the floors, the fridge, and the cabinets. I put the dishes away, and set up a nice centerpiece on the table. I took everything that didn't belong in the kitchen and put it away.

Then I moved on to my office which is between my kitchen and living room. It's more like a hallway with a desk in it. It has been a total disaster for a long time now. I completely cleaned it today. I wound up finding things from my wedding which as I pointed out last week was 2 years ago!! What is wrong with me?? Anyway, I put it all away and cleaned up and did the floors and got everything that didn't belong in there and put it away. I even cleaned my desk and dusted my monitor.

On to the bathroom.
Toilet done. Sink done. Floors done. Mirrors done.

Living room....
Rugs - vacuumed. Couch - cleaned, cleared and fluffed. Table - cleared, wiped down, dusted, and given a nice little center piece.

Oh, also, my bed is made for the first time in MONTHS. The bedroom is still a disaster area but that's okay. I know I can take care of that if I can do the rest of the apartment in just one day.

It feels AMAZING. We even had company come over tonight and there was nothing to worry about! I had even lit some candles earlier and used air freshener and was 100% confident having guests over.

Keep an eye out for my next big accomplishment!

Do you have a "hotspot" in your home where junk/clutter/stuff seems to accumulate?

Control Journal

As part of the Flylady.net program I had to create a Control Journal that would help me keep my routines in order and help me organize my life.

I made the journal based on their suggestions but ignored the most important part... The part where they say make it work for YOU and not just to follow it blindly.

So this weekend I reworked it a bit b/c there was NO way I was getting everything done on the days it was telling me to do everything.

This is my Weekly Chores broken down by the day of the week. Feel free to steal it and make it your own. You'd be amazed at how much this program really helps.

Weekly Chore List:

MONDAY:

• Garbage Night
• Errands such as Post Office, Walmart, etc
• Laundry

TUESDAY:

• Litter Boxes
• Make Menus and Shopping Lists for the Week
• clean desk area

WEDNESDAY:

• Recycling and Garbage Night
• Toss old mail
• Clean out fridge
• Clean kitchen - floors, table, counters, any left over dishes

THURSDAY:

• Grocery Shopping
• 15 minute room rescue in the worst room

FRIDAY:

• PERSONAL DAY! HAVE FUN!!

SATURDAY:

• Clean Bedroom - vacuum, bedding, dust, vanity/dresser tops
• Sort dirty laundry and get it ready for Monday

SUNDAY:

• Clean Bathroom - floors, toilet, sink, mirror
• Clean Living Room - vacuum, dust, table, entertainment unit, declutter hot spots
  

What does your weekly chore list look like? I'd love to see it. Perhaps you could give me some tips!

Weekly Progress

So, this week has been rather busy which would account for the lack of updates.
I am proud to announce that my desk has stayed clean for an entire week. I did not need to clean it or even put "clean desk" on my to do list this week.
This is a HUGE accomplishment for me.

I also managed to keep my purse clean, neat, and organized and did not have to do a clean out this week.

The living room got a cleaning, table cleared (damn hot spots) floor vacuumed(along with a carpet cleaner/deodorizing treatment mmm), shelves and tv dusted, pillows and cushions fluffed and all of the fliers and papers organized and thrown out. WOO HOO!

The bathroom got a full cleaning as well. Floors, mirrors, toilet and I even polished the fixtures and accessories. It's nice and sparkly in there now.

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I only went to the gym once this past week. Not good. HOWEVER it was one time more than last week so that's a plus.

I bought a dress for our anniversary ( I can't believe it'll be 2 years in weeks. Time flies!) and get this... it's off the rack... and it FITS. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, but when I add that I got it in the JUNIORS department it's just amazing. My measurements make dress shopping a living hell in general. It's a dress I tried on a few months ago, actually it's not THE dress I tried on b/c the colors are diff but it's the same basic style and the same designer. The dress I tried on last time was a size higher and was too small... now the size down is PERFECT. I didn't have to struggle to zip it or anything. I was ecstatic to say the least.

The good clothes shopping gods didn't stop there... oh no. I also got a sweet TMNT hoodie in a MEDIUM with a gift card so it didn't even cost me anything.
Did you see what I just wrote? A MEDIUM.

Life is good.

Feeling Accomplished Today

I completed EVERYTHING on my to do list for the day.
On top of that I also baked cupcakes for Lord Hill and took Tango for a nice long walk.
Along the way we stopped at my mother in law's (where I stole an egg for the cupcakes) and ran into my niece and Lord Hill's grandfather.

It was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed it.

Here are some photos of the progress!



Nicely vacuumed living room carpet.

Clean bathroom with a shiny sink and shiny floors.
Believe it or not this is my desk when it's clean...

(Sunday's) TO DO LIST!

Get Dressed to Shoes including Hair/Face, Brush Teeth and hit the ground "flying"

Living Room:
Clear coffee table
Dust and wipe down tv and other surfaces
Vacuum

Office:
Clear off desk

Bathroom:
Shine sink
Wipe down mirror
Floors

Productive by 10:00AM

I woke up a little early today and since I didn't have to take Tango out I decided to be productive instead of staying in bed for an extra 30 minutes.

I cleaned my entire bathroom from top to bottom.

I vacuumed, cleaned the mirrors, wiped and scrubbed the sink, totally scrubbed and cleaned the toilet, wiped down the cabinets and the soap dispenser and tooth brush caddy....

It was great to get so much done so early in the day. I was really proud of myself and it helped put me in a good mood to great the day with a smile.

Now I have 2 shiny sinks!

What did you do this morning?