Becoming My Own Personal Flylady :-)

OK, I am such a doofus. But I think that this works, so....

OK, some of you know that I, erm, struggle a tad with house keeping. (I'll wait here to let you finish wiping the tears of laughter from you eyes....) Well today I chatted with somebody and it just reminded me of all that I've tried to improve my situation. I got so motivated that I really went nuts on the house, and I started typing out what I was doing to email to a few friends. Well, it was kinda long, and I figured, what the heck, lets post it here.... I need to beef up my blog anyway!

Before I cut and paste, I should let tell you that one of the things Joe tells me is to let go of my perfectionism, and just focus on the 80%. His theory is that you can accomplish 80% of the work with 20% of the effort; it's that last 20% that takes so much (80%!) of your effort!! Now, of course, I want to go right to 100%, but I have to acknowledge that maybe I need to first start by getting the house to 80% for now. Then, once I learn how to maintain that, I can put my focus back on the extra 20%.

OK, copy and paste!!

OK, it is 9:06 and I just did the bathroom!! I can tell you about 68 things that need to get done still, but I
- cleared the counter
- put away the bath toys (OK, threw them in the bottom of the closet. Minor details. Progress, not perfection!!!)
- changed the garbage bag
- wiped down the counter

Next up.... the dining room!!! (That you really are lucky you don't have, trust me, it's just 1 more room to clean!!!)

10:20 - Dining room done(ish)! I still need to get Joe to move that TV out and the homework desk needs work... but still, going good! I also got the fridge door wiped/organized, cleared/wiped down a small bit of counter, and cleared/wiped down the oven! Got 1/2 the dishes done. My goal by lunch time is to finish the dishes and clear off the other part of the counter!

11:07 - DONE! Of course as I was finishing the kitchen they retrashed the dining room, so I had to then redo THAT (OK, it wasn't bad, just the point of it!!!) I also switched some sheets from the washer to the dryer, and have some baskets of laundry ready to go. Then I straightned Ricky's room (took like 3 minutes, but the point is I did it!!!) and looked at books with him!! Now they're in this room (back to the retrashing I'm sure!) so I think I'll just relax for the next 20 minutes with them in his room before lunch!!

OK, 2:25, update time....

Since there were so many dishes in the drainer, the lunch dishes are still in dirty water. I have to quickly clean up the craft stuff on the table that kept Katie happy during quiet time. (Not too much, just paper, crayons, and stamps.) Need to do laundry. started putting Katie's "to grow into" clothes in the bins my MIL gave me.

Off to stop procrastinating! My plan is: dishes, table, laundry. Then, if time before Ptoad gets home, bring up another bag of Kate clothes to sort!!!

4:54 - WHEW!! Soooo.... Joe saw how much work I had gotten done, and offered to take Elizabeth to library time and the kids to the train tracks for an hour so I could clean!!!!! And boy did I!!!
OK, so before that I had done the dishes, table, and sorted Katie's stuff. Still have todo the laundry. BUT, in the hour he has been gone, I took 10 minutes to myself to read/munch on red peppers and hummus, took everything in the living room and part of the hallway and dumped it on the couch, sorted everything on the couch into piles of what room it goes into, AND put away most of it except for the stuff that actually stays in the living room, which I will hopefully have done before they come back so I better go!!! I feel such a weight off my shoulders, and so dang dorky for doing this!!!

Alright, I sit here in a clean room 10 minutes before LOST. Of course I can tell you all the things I didn't do today. I'm an expert at putting myself down. But instead I can tell you that the following rooms are 80%:

bathroom
Ricky's room
1/2 the hallway
kitchen
living room
dining room

Tomorrow the girls and I will work on their room (doesn't need too much, thankfully) and then the weekend is time to attach the bedroom (and, scarily, all the paperwork that comes with it!!!).

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. This was soooo motivating to type out my accomplishments as I did it, I have no idea why!!! But I may do this more often, so check back!!!