FlyLady Progress

Wow, haven't written about this in a while! School is kicking my butt (I'm working on my MA in Teaching) this month and I'm also going back to work after my lovely summer off... is it just me or did this summer go by really quickly?! I blame being in school! lol ;)

I have been keeping up on the FlyLady stuff and the house is looking great! I've said this before but it was never a big mess to begin with. However, it's just so nice to not have to spend all weekend trying to power-clean the house! Doing a little each day is really helpful.
Here's what I've been working on:

*I quit doing the Baby Steps after about 2 weeks! Well, I thought they were a bit lame and decided to just concentrate on the actual cleaning stuff. I already know how to organize a calendar and plan my day so I really didn't need them!

*Worked on the kitchen last week. Cleaned out the pantry which was really nice! I had some stuff in there that expired a LONG time ago! I'm surprised some of that stuff hadn't grown legs and walked out! Also worked on thoroughly cleaning my countertops, cleaned out the fridge, and swept and mopped really well. I know I did more in there, just can't remember what it was now!

*This week I'm working on the master bathroom and one other room. Since I did the office last time I've chosen to tackle the guest bedroom. The guest bedroom looks OK on the surface - just don't open the closet! wow! What a mess... Since I work from home, I have all sorts of textbooks that I keep on-hand for students. Well, I have to put them somewhere and they had begun to over-populate the guest room closet. Went through those and decided which ones could be taken back to the school library and took them back. Looks better already, however, there is still a lot of work to be done in that closet! I've decided that's my focus for the week - just the closet (along with the bathroom).
I have this routine of cleaning my bathroom every Sunday so the bathroom weeks are usually pretty easy for me. There were some rather odd cleaning projects for this week, though, that I've started working on! Yesterday I cleaned the base and the back of the toilet. Icky, I know! My bathroom is carpeted which is a PITA since I can't just "mop" the toilet along with the floor. Just put gloves on and got back there with bathroom cleaner and a bunch of paper towels. Today's task was to clean the bathroom trash can (give it a good wipe out with soap and let it air dry).
Other things to do this week include:
*vacuuming the guest bedroom
*cleaning out the medicine cabinet
*continuing to work on that closet!
*cleaning the bathroom sinks and countertops really well

I've also been keeping up with the swish-and-swipe habit as well as shining my sinks. In addition, we are supposed to be doing a load of laundry daily (the new habit for August). Since I just don't create that much laundry I am just continuing to do the majority of it on one day and then picking one other day during the week to do a second load (usually darks since most of my workout stuff is dark-coloured). Seems to be working well for me. I've also been continuing with the weekly home blessing hour which works really well! I've added a couple things to that such as watering my plants (indoor and outdoor) which I also do a second time each week, sweeping the front porch/steps/walkway, and cleaning the glass doors on the living room cabinet, TV cabinet, and fireplace. Just that one hour a week makes a huge difference! And yes, I am able to run around and do most of the home blessing stuff in 1 hour!

I'll try to remember to check back in sometime next week! There is a board on the Nest where one of the ladies does a daily check-in for us. So helpful! :) I'm sure without her I would have said "screw this!" and quit this FlyLady stuff a while back! lol

Fly Lady - Week 4 Update

Well, this week we are working on the living room and entry way/front porch. I have decided to just say screw it to the BabySteps.. they were pretty lame anyway! I'm just doing the weekly room focus things (whatever those are called) and the swish/swipe/monthly focus things. Those seem to be keeping me on track with keeping the house clean (not like it was a huge disaster to begin with...)

Anyway, back to what I came in to actually write about! For the living room/entry way, here is what we are supposed to have been doing:

*Day 1 - Go couch and chair diving! lol Yes, we were supposed to pull the cushions off the couch/chairs and look for random junk in there - coins, socks, unmentionables ;) I didn't find anything... was hoping for some cash but no luck!

*Day 2 - Dust decorative items in the living room. Wow, I thought this would take me a small lifetime - I have a lot of little knick-knacks just sitting out on shelves and things! It was actually pretty quick. I just went around and attacked everything with a Swiffer cloth - worked well! Unfortunately, though, it did not inspire me to take some of the clutter and put it elsewhere...

*Day 3 - moving on to the front porch. We have to sweep the porch and shake out the welcome mat. We're also supposed to wipe down the front door but mine just got a fresh coat of paint so I'm just going to skip that part (shhh... don't tell!)

*Day 4 - Clean the walls and windows in the living room. Guess I'll be doing that today since I'll be out of town from tomorrow on... screw doing the walls but I will wipe down the windows/balcony door :)

*Day 5 - another thing to add to today's list - put crap away that's sitting out in the entryway. Oh well that's easy! We don't have anything out there that doesn't belong! yippee! :)

We're also supposed to start doing a load of laundry everyday! Excuse me... no! What a major disservice to the planet...! Ugh! I do laundry once a week so I can just fill up the washer and not feel like a huge waste of water/soap. I will continue with my once-a-week laundry, thank you very much! :) FlyLady works my last nerve sometimes...! Just in case you can't tell :) I really only do it so I'm not spending my entire weekend trying to clean everything at once!

I've done days 1 and 2; off to do days 3 and 4 now :) Have a great week! Wonder what I get to do next week...?

Fly Lady Progress

Well, I have survived my first week of "Flying lessons!" ;) I didn't do perfectly but I'm still getting the hang of this stuff so I'm not too concerned that I didn't get to it all. Besides, I started a master's degree class the same day I started this Fly Lady thing so I have a very valid excuse!

So last week's focus was the kitchen. I'm pretty anal about keeping my kitchen clean to begin with so it wasn't really hard to do the stuff on the list. I thoroughly cleaned most of my counter-tops (there are still a couple I need to do!) - I got the nasty bleach cleaner out and used a scrubbing brush so you know those bad boys are clean! I can't stand using bleach - the smell just eeks me out and I always have to wonder just what exactly it is that I'm breathing in??? Can't be good, especially when you think that if you mix it with certain other cleaners it can kill you... always a pleasant thought! I really try to stay away from the harsh chemical stuff but once in a while I have to break it out for these darn white tile/white grout counter-tops I have! Can't wait until I can get new ones!
Anyway, small bleach vent over! :) Other than that I was able to clean out under my sink and clean out the fridge! I do still have to get in there and wipe down all the shelves and stuff...

This week's focus is the main bathroom (since hubby takes care of his own bathroom, I'll just do mine/the master bath) and one other room in the house. I think I might do the office... it could use some help! ;) I don't have a list of what all I'm supposed to do this week - should have an email about that soon (seriously, you get so much email from this FlyLady person! I had to start a whole new email address for it...! Helps me to not ignore it since I can't just tell myself "oops, that one got lost in with all the other mail... hee hee)

The Baby Steps things are going well - those are pretty easy, though! Today is Day 8 so I've set up my binder with the morning and evening routines. Those should help - I'm a list-maker so this will allow me to "check-off" what is done and keep me focused!
There is a woman on the Nest who started a daily check-in so that is also preventing me from falling off the wagon (which I'm sure I would have done by now!) I'll keep posting on here about it as well. Not the most exciting blog topic but if it helps Mrs. Distraction stay on task then it's all good!

Have a wonderful week!!! Hope it's not too humid where you are!

Fly Lady

Ok, so I broke down and joined in the Fly Lady cleaning craze! My house really doesn't need it, it's generally very clean and organized but I figured it would help me not have to do all the cleaning and organizing on the weekends. So far it's going well, but it's only my second day with it so we'll see how long I can keep that up! :)

The beginning is just really easy stuff to help you get started. What they call Baby Steps.
So far, I've done all the Day 1 and Day 2 stuff which was as follows:
*Shining my sink - bit of a pain since I have this UGLY white ceramic sink (I really want a stainless steel one) so it took quite a bit of scrubbing. It looks great now! Hopefully I can keep it that way!

*"Get dressed to lace-up shoes" - well, since I live in San Diego and it's the middle of summer there was no way I was going to wear lace-up shoes (well, except for kung fu!). And anyway, I don't wear shoes around the house - I'm trying to keep it clean, not make it dirtier! But, I did set out clothes to wear today last night which I'm pretty sure was part of that...

I've also been working on the Weekly Focus which is Zone Two: The Kitchen. I love my kitchen (even if the tile, sink, and oven are all really ugly!) so it's nice to spend time showing it some of that love. :)
Here's the details/things I'm supposed to do this week:
*Empty and clean the fridge
*Clean the microwave (done)
*Clean the stove/oven (the stove is done; cleaning the oven intimidates me...)
*Wash canisters for knick-knacks
*Wash the inside windows (done)
*Scrub down the cabinet fronts
*Clean under the sink

For Day 3 (tomorrow), I'm supposed to just do what I've already been doing on Days 1 and 2... nice and easy! :)

Summer Projects

Since I have the summer off from work (yeay!) I have decided to be productive and do a bunch of projects around the house. Here's the list so far... looks like I'll be busy!

Outdoors/yard work:
*Cut back all plants (there are some that are getting a bit unruly! Especially my hibiscus and bougainvillea - gorgeous but they have gone completely aggro!)
*Re-plant ivy leaf geranium - it's in a pot right now, but I'd like to plant it so I can have it grow up a "trellis" kind of thing. I know the ivy leaf ones will do that.
*Pull weeds... ugh... ongoing thing but I really need to get on it soon!
*Find some cute garden accessories - pinwheels and stuff.
*Put some coffee grounds down for my acid-loving plants (hibiscus and bougainvillea)
*Try growing some herbs! I can't wait to do this - I'd like to have mint (I know to keep it in a pot!), basil, cilantro, and parsley. I'm starting with mint - took a cutting from my parents' plant b/c I needed some for a couple recipes. I've got it sitting in water hoping it will root. If not, I'll be off to the nursery. lol
*I want to get a small table and chairs set for the backyard... I like the bar-height ones but have had a lot of trouble finding one :( I also "need" a new one for the front balcony. The one we have came with the house (!) and it is really ugly... can't believe I've kept it for 2 years!
*Find someone who can remove a tree for us.
*I have a purple-flowered thing in the backyard (no idea what it is) that needs to be tied back and supported. It's top-heavy and has "drooped" a bit.

Indoors:
*I have a plant in the dining room that needs to be re-potted. It's gotten way too big for the current pot!
*Fill in the holes in the walls in the garage and give them a fresh coat of paint.
*Get quotes for home insurance and finish taking photos of all our "valuables."
*Clean out the closet in the guest bedroom - yikes!
*Hang some photos in the living room, hallway, dining room. I am having serious "bare wall syndrome!" Good thing they are not all white walls... I'd be in a padded room by now! lol ;)
*Gross, but I have some mold/mildew/something icky in the bathroom above my shower - it's around a small window. Hard to get to, but I really need to get rid of it. Any suggestions - will vinegar kill it?
*Clean the mesh screens on the office and master bedroom sliding doors. Not looking forward to that...
*Thoroughly clean my dryer's lint screen.
*Clean the baseboards throughout the house.
*Sharpen the kitchen knives - ongoing but needs to be done soon!
*Paint the handrails on the stairs (we never did this when we painted the house! They have primer on them, just need to be painted with real paint!)
*Paint the baseboards in the master bedroom. It was the one room we could stand the colour of when we moved in so we never touched any of the paint. The baseboards need to be done, though. The previous owners were not very good painters... ack!

Not really house related:
*I need to finish my wedding scrapbook already! Lol.. it's been two years and that darn thing is only about 1/4 done.