Flylady this week and Sunday kitchen diaster again

Another Sunday, another destroyed kitchen. I'm tempted to say the Flaylady system is not working for me... except I can't blame it all on a system I am not 100% participating in. Sundays are just hard at my house. We are both scrambling to get things picked up from the last week, and new things done for the week ahead, and this weekend  involved a late night wedding out of town and a lot of errands on Sunday. It was busy but did not feel productive.

To top it off, I don't get to stay home on Mondays to get everything back to normal. This is exactly why I need a system.

I did jump back into it and set a timer, did 15 minutes clean up and  its shocking how much got done. So I guess it really does work after all, it just requires me to actually work the system.

The system has a lot of moving parts and  I haven't jumped in fully.
Morning routines? Evening routines? Weekly home blessing? Laundry routine? I'm trying... slowly... trying.

I started with the weekly zones and officially, its my second week committing to the weekly zone cleaning. This week it was the living room. But I don't think it went as smoothly and certainly doesn't look better for the attention.

Why? Maybe because this is where we hang out a lot and it just collects clutter. Maybe because its easy to set something down in this room as we are moving through? Maybe because its not where I want it and feels unfinished. 

Just like the master bedroom, I feel like I've got day one down well. This is my kind of cleaning. I typically start out slow, just muddling around. Also like the bedroom last week, I did it all unenthusiastically.  I guess that is the point of the system, not to wear myself out with marathon cleaning but to teach myself to do a little at a time and constantly is the key. 


Still trying....

0 weight watcher dessert

Nothing fancy, and kind of old-fashioned, but it is awful tasty when you really want a little something, especially at the end of the night.  Sugar free Jello with fruit and a little whip cream. It helps that its 0 weight watcher points. Ive been making it and putting it in little containers, sitting in the fridge and waiting to grab and go. 

WIW- What I Wore

Where:  Work, met a friend at Olive Garden for lunch (Minestrone Soup is 1 point per bowl, with 0 point salad and a 4 point breadstick), went to the eye doctor, ordered new contacts, , met a friend for dinner at Burgersmith (grilled chicken sandwich with no bun), stopped at the grocery store, home to do 15 minutes of Fly Lady.

Weather: hot and miserable.

What: 

Light blue shirt dress from Banana Republic, one of my favorite summer dresses. Its comfortable and causal but still put together for work. I got it last year and its not available anymore. 

Nude Tori Burch ballet flats from Nordstrom Rack

closet organization

A little more closet organization going on. This time its the one in the entry way. It was just crammed full of random things in no order that had no where else to live.  Curtain rods waiting to be hung in the dining room, some old law school books that should probably be thrown out,  Tupperware containers holding bird food.  Frankly, I wasn't sure what was in there, I just knew it was all dusty and the space could be put to better use.  Specifically, I just got a new vacuum and wanted the vacuum and steam mop to live here. 

First, I took everything out and stacked it on the table, and cleaned the closet (with the steam mop). For  quite a few days, the dining room was looking pretty rough. I slowly started stacking like with like, throwing things out, rearranging and making a plan.

It actually went quicker than I thought it would. I worked on it a couple evenings after work when my husband was working offshore. Why can you accomplish so much in a few evenings alone?  Coming home after a long day of work to get in your pajamas and do a little piddling here and there really works wonders. Plus, sometimes its really enjoyable to take care of my house and get things to run more smoothly, when you have the time and energy to do it. 

For many years, I have kept some Thanksgiving and Christmas magazines. Not all of them, just the ones I particular liked. I  have a couple of Rachael Ray magazines, Southern Lady,  Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living and Paula Deen. I like to look at them as the season approaches. It puts me in the holiday mood and sometimes I make a menu from the older issues. They are still full of valuable information. I have kept all of the Southern Living Decemeber Christimas issues (all the December issues have a different white cake on the cover) and the Paula Deen Christimas issues.  I sometimes find them at yard sales and will buy the old magazines for $.25.  It turns out,  I had  two or three years which had duplicate magazines (sometimes hard to tell because of all the white cakes). They went in my own garage sale box.   Now, the magazines are all organized  and  in their own spot. 

The finished closet, clean and organized:

My favorite floral Pioneer Woman basket (thanks to my very productive Saturday) holds all the vacuum cleaner and steam mop accessories in one place.


The  Christmas magazines and Thanksgiving magazines are all stashed together on the shelf above that. I did throw out some law books, but one was re-homed to my office and the others I couldn't part with are on the bottom shelf.

The top shelf has all the Bible studies on it. These are Sunday School books, Bible studies I took and Bible studies I taught to high school girls Sunday School, all living in one spot. 

Now, onto the next area............

Currently- Simple Woman's day book for September 2018

Outside my window:

For the last week or so, I was sure that summer was over and Fall was just around the corner, but I was sadly mistaken.  It has been even more hot and miserable  with a lot of thunderstorms and downpours each afternoon. I am really looking forward to the Fall weather, which is no where in sight.

I am
linked here



I have been neglecting:

Many things including, the roses. They are seriously neglected. I am at the point of asking my husband to run over the bed with a lawnmower and I will just start from scratch with whatever happens to live. Despite having zero attention, I do find a rose every now and again and I'm always surprised.  I credit the fact that I bypassed the Home Depot roses and I drove an hour and a half to a nursery in Lafayette, LA on a David Austin rose shipped over from England. I think these roses really do perform better, even though I have mistreated them. 

I am attempting:

To get back into the Flylady method of home cleaning/organization. I had done it years ago with good results, and now trying to implement it again slowly. I have not committed to a morning routine or an evening routine (or the laundry routine, after dinner routine or the "weekly home blessing"), but I do try to do one load of clothes every morning and the zones each week. I find the daily videos  (here) to be beneficial and also the timer. I typically do not want to do housework after a workday, but I've found I don't have to be in a good mood about it for it to get done. If I can just set the timer and start half-heartedly doing the one little thing I am suppose to do that day, the house looks a lot better.  A few little thing daily really makes a noticeable difference. I think the daily part of it is the key, however, I really am just beginning.


I am also attempting:

Weight watchers. About 16 years ago, I was successful, and kept the weight off for quite some time.  I've half-heartedly started and stopped a few times over the years and here I go again. I discovered I need limits,  boundaries, an  organized, structured program.  Its been  5 weeks and I've lost 3.5 pounds. Slow progress to be sure, but I decided as long as it goes in that direction, I will consider myself successful, no matter how little the drop is. Id like to lose 15 more, but I think, at my age, that may be unrealistic.  My goal is to lose 8 to 10 more pounds.  It has not been terribly difficult,  like everything else, it takes planning and organization. 


I am thankful:

For the time and energy to get things done around the house. It still feels slow, but upstairs closets are being organized, downstairs closets are being organized, a yard sale is being planned, a new rocker came to live on my front porch, my husband's former home, after being on the market for 9 months, has sold and plans for a master closet are in the works. Life has been busy, and projects at home do not go as quickly and easily as you think they should, but I am thankful things are getting done and progress can be seen and felt.

Currently reading:

Each year, I try to read one classic. This year its Emma written by Jane Austen in 1814.  I'm also in the middle of a Bible study, Daniel by Beth Moore.

Looking forward to:

A work trip to Astoria, Oregon in October. I am beside myself excited about this. I LOVE Oregon. The Oregon coast is my favorite place to travel and this will be my third trip and, of course, we are making a little vacation out of it. 

We have been planning a trip to Waco, Texas to the Magnolia Market/Silos/Magnolia Bakery  for quite some time. We tried to go during the Labor day weekend, but two different friends who had been told us it would be too crowded to enjoy. We then said we would go in the middle of September during the week, but its been difficult to plan around two jobs and three houses and all the other commitments and business of life, so it looks like its being rescheduled again. 

September Sephora Monthly subscription box

Sephora monthly subscription box, like every other box, is kind of hit and miss. This month is a hit. I was excited to see everything in the box. 

What am I most excited about? Every time I go to Sephora, I look at the Hangover Rx face primer  and want to give it a try, but don't want to pay the price to try it. Finally, I get a sample.

Payday Pretty

Lady-like slippers. Totally unnecessary but it makes me feel pretty.  They were my $20 payday splurge.

cooking- still trying to get the hang of it

We had a hard week around this house with dinners.  It was a perfect storm of late work nights, grumpiness, lack of planning, little organization and too many trips to Chick-Fil-A and there you go. It was just frustrating. 

I finally had it with myself and sat down to think of a plan. The plan included getting to the grocery store and getting some easy to fix things that we both enjoy and freezes well. 

I bough multiples of everything so I don't just have enough to make one pot of red beans, white beans or taco soup, I have enough to make two or three.  Its not fancy menu planning, but when I'm thinking about what to cook, its nice to have things on hand to throw in the crockpot.

I also cooked a roast, rice and gravy, with a little help with the gravy. Because you got to take advantage of a little help wherever you find it.

And because you don't want to eat the same thing over and over and over, I also fixed things that were easily freezable. I typically freeze 2-3 servings. Its so easy to just pull out and have a real meal at the end of the day.

More working the Flylady program- a week in the master bedroom

Still working on getting (back) into the Flylady program, a little at a time. This week, the third week of the month, always focuses on the master bedroom and starts with a 15 minute - and only 15 minute- general tidy.

I'll be honest and tell you it was done without much enthusiasm.  But I guess, you don't have to feel like it, like or even want to do it. You just have to follow the program, set a timer and do it for 15 minutes.

The general instructions are to focus on the week's area for 15 minutes each day, every day of the week. While your doing the general tidy on the first day, your suppose to keep your eyes open for four more things you want to give some attention, write them down and then pick one each day this week. 

My list: 

Honestly, I just thought I was unenthusiastic about it on the first day. Turns out, I was even more lackadaisical about it the other days, too. But  I talked myself into doing it because I didn't have to use what little energy I had trying to think about what I was going to do and I knew that I only had to work at it for about 15 minutes, so each of the little things was actually done, and I guess that is the whole point of using the system. 

Flylady nightly kitchen cleanup- Sunday night

Every other day I can pretty much stay on top of keeping the kitchen clean and in order but Sunday it goes out the window.  Why just Sundays? Rushing to get out of the house and get to church in the morning starts it and means leaving breakfast dishes and half empty coffee cups and this sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Sunday mornings are hard. I want to go to church but I also want to lounge around and make a big breakfast, and I try and do both. 

I do usually get some lounging in and by Sunday evening, the kitchen is a straight up mess. The breakfast dishes are still sitting around, the  dishwasher is half unloaded with the clean dishes sitting on the countertops among the dirty ones. Lunch leftovers are still out. Its just a mess. A mess I want to forget about and leave until Monday to tackle. But I don't. Instead I set the timer for 10 minutes and get to work. 

Part of the Flylady program includes setting up an evening routine for yourself (more on that here and an example here) and includes a fast kitchen clean up before bed.  (like this). This evening routine sounds sensible, simple and a no-brainer but its not quite as seamless as it sounds. Thinking ahead is the key.  I feel like I've just dipped my toes in the water and I'm still working on setting up my routine, but I have incorporated the evening kitchen clean up. even on Sunday,  I am always shocked at how put together everything is and its all done in just 10 minutes. 

I'm not doing this system perfectly, but what little I've managed to incorporate it's having results.

An added benefit is walking into a clean kitchen in the morning just makes me happy. Its a nice way to start the day.

Productivity

This weekend has been one of the most pleasantly productive days I've had in a long while. I am not sure why it happened but I think sitting  down late Friday night and putting a list together had a lot to do with it.  

The list probably doesn't look as impressive to you as it was for me, but it was a really productive weekend. I think having it written down means you don't waste any time deciding on what to do.

What has also been helpful is attempting to get back into the Fly Lady routines . At one time, I was really following the program and felt on top of things at home. I hope to have those feelings again. I just found  these videos (here) and the daily reminders are a big help. 

It also helped that my husband had to be up and out of the house early Saturday morning, which means I was up and started to tackle things early as well.

Saturday morning I was able to get up, get my breakfast made, clean the kitchen, get dinner in the crockpot and start laundry all before 8:00a.m.  That gave me momentum to then specifically concentrated on the little things that need attention but you never really get around to doing (like finding a home for blowup beds). I also attended Bible Study and went to Walmart.

The two blowup beds have been moved from this closet to that closet, upstairs, downstairs, stuffed in a corner and  generally homeless in my home and it was time for them to have  some sort of a permanent place to live that was out of the way and not taking up valuable real estate.

It started with throwing away the big cardboard boxes they came in and taking a trip to Walmart  for Better Home and Garden under the bed storage bags  and this solved this problem. 

Actually, going to Walmart solved a few issues. I had been wanting this specific polish and putting it on my list meant it actually made it home with me.

I have also been working on organizing the small closet in the entry way (more on this later) and wanted to finish this up. I did not completely finish but almost. I did find a place to keep all the vacuum cleaner attachments and steam mop accessories together.

The  Pioneer Woman's basket.  I really like this one.  This is about the third one I've purchased, and although I don't consider myself having a country aesthetic, I do like a few pretty little floral fabrics here and there.

Another little chore checked off the list was cleaning the glass  French doors in the living room. It just required that I get the squeegee and Windex and just go do it. It took all of 8 minutes. Why did I put this off? Just not assigning a specific time to do it meant it just did not get done.

Sunday..... was not as productive  as Saturday but was still productive in its own little way.  We went to Sunday School, church,  a nice lunch, ran a few errands at the mall and I was in my bathrobe by 6:00 p.m. 

It was a good weekend.

What I wore

Where:
work, meeting outside the office (which included a black jacket), lunch with a friend at Long Horn, Starbucks, and the grocery store.

What:

Chatham ankle pants from Talbots (my favorite)

Gingham button up shirt from Talbots (by way of Poshmark)

Naturalizer wedge