Being blessed in the long run- Fly Lady Evening Routine- the 5p to 10p plan

She calls the evening routine, the most important part of the system. My pastor calls it the 5p to 10p plan. The flylady suggest you put this into place first. My pastor says its not going to just fall in place, you have to actually put it in place. I have not done this. Instead, my routine is struggling along. 

I do typically clean the kitchen before bed, but one day last week, as I was unpacking some boxes from my husband's last home, looking for a place to put things, and had dishes, glasses, and silverware everywhere, I just went to bed and left the kitchen a disaster.  I woke up to a mess. 

Remembering  that feeling of starting the day already behind is enough for me to finally turn my attention to get this system up and running.

My evening routine, it sounds like a lot, but in reality it gets done pretty quick:

Come home and feed everyone (Jack the cat included). 

Sometimes this happens at 5:30p, sometimes at 6:30p, and occasionally at 7:00 or later. My husband asked me recently, don't you want to sit down and rest first?  No, in fact, I do not. That is the last thing I want to do, because I wont get up and start anything else.  So I am learning how to best approach this. I need to start immediately.  I've also learned that after working all day, I usually do not want to cook much. I depend heavily on having leftovers or something in the crockpot, or something very fast and uncomplicated. Tonight we had hashbrowns, eggs and sausage. Last night we had chicken breast and baked potato, the night before we had cereal. Tomorrow, its soup in the crockpot.


If I have really been on the ball about it, on Sunday evening, I have cooked and planned  and shopped and only have to consult the planner for the week and wont have to fret much about it. Most of the time, its not that easy. Except for Jack the cat. He always get the same thing.

Fill the ice box with drinks from the garage. I like to keep the top shelf full of cold drinks ready to grab.

Put the husband's lunch box away (in freezer for tomorrow) and empty out the Tupperware containers from my purse into a sink of hot soapy water.

My husband will usually sit in the beakfast nook visiting then we eat together.    

The dishes go in the dishwasher and it gets turned on for the night. 

The kitchen gets a  good wipe down and all counters are clear. Sometimes I do this and sometimes he does this. We don't take turns, its mostly whoever feels like doing it at the end of the night.

Schedules in day planner are checked.  Where do I have to be in the morning? Is there a court appearance to dress up for? Do I need to leave earlier than usual? Will I be leaving from home to the office or to an appointment? Will it be rainy and cold? Do I need a jacket?His schedule is checked as well.

While dinner is cooking, lunch and dinner tomorrow are being planned. Something is taken out of the freezer or I sit down and make an online order from Walmart or Sams, or if I did my Sunday routine work, I just check the planner and the fridge. Left overs from dinner are packed for lunch the next day.

Same goes for clothes, when I figure out what I have to do, then I figure out what I have to wear to do it. Most of the time, I just leave it as an idea living overnight in my head.

On the rare occasion, I can actually plan ahead and get something laid out, just like a third grader. These are the days I always look the cutest. When I take the time the night before to find my outfit and just put it on in the morning, it is always a win. My goal is to always have this out and to have a designated place in a nice organized closet (when it gets built) to put my next day outfit, like Diane in Denmark (here)  and Dominique Sachse (here).

I am suppose to do my 15 minutes fly lady routine here, but, this is hit and miss......

Currently reading before bed 

A hot bath, my skin care routine (Mary Kay anti-aging), and reading and relaxing and in bed by 10p.

That's the 5 to 10 plan atleast. 

WiW- foggy morning edition

Wait a minute... am I still fogged in in Oregon? No. Its just my driveway.

When it is so foggy and grey and icky and  staying home is not an option.  Black and cream skirt from the new clothing line at Target, the second of three things I bought from the line, and a black cardi from Talbots with black wedges from Naturalizer.

I was comfy and cute and felt good all day. I also got three compliments on my outfit, and three secretaries were literally standing around talking about how cute I looked today!!

cooking light- Lasanga soup

Another perk about travelling, while you are waiting at the airport for two plus hours, you have a lot of cute little shops to visit. All those cute little shops have walls of  every magazine you have ever heard of for sale, and many magazines you have not heard of.   One of my choices for the flight home was the Thanksgiving edition of Cooking Light. 

It was definitely the  right choice.  There were so many recipes I dog-eared and planned to try.

This was the first. Lasagna soup in the crockpot. It was different, in a good way. It was tasty on a cold winter night, but honestly, a real lasagna would have probably been tastier. 

Will I make it again? probably. But will use less noodles

wiw- casual day at the office

Another job perk is casual days at the office. If I don't have any meetings or court appearances, I can wear jeans. There are still some rules, though. I still have to look business professional.

I paired my favorite Gap jeans with a blue and white pin stripped button down from Talbots, and a black Talbots cardi.

My office is cold and I wished I had worn something a little warmer. On days like this, I typically put on some warm socks and slippers when I get to work.

Yes, slippers at work. Many years ago I worked for a Judge and she always wore high heels into the office then immediately changed into her slippers while at work. I learned it from her. My slippers are black, and when I am wearing pants, they don't draw any attention to themselves. Usually, no one even notices, but I am warmer and more comfortable for a long day at the office. 

re-entry- flylady update

Returning from the 5 day weekend (and the impromptu road trip)  has been more than a little difficult.

The trip did not come at the right time. In fact, it came at a really bad time.  We've both been busy at work, and in the middle of selling his house, and combining it into this house and the list just goes on and on, and coming back to it all has been difficult. 

Is there ever really a perfect time? No, but this is a particularly chaotic time to add a little extra mess to the mix.

The kitchen has been overwhelmed with sudden unexpected large dinners needed with little advanced warning. The husband and the men in the family are moving stuff over which means they show up at dark, hungry, grumpy and looking to me for a solution. I'm pretty darn proud of myself for getting a full dinner cranked out three times so far (thanks to white beans in the freezer, chicken sausage from Sam's club and one night of breakfast for dinner.)


But the kitchen, already a daily challenge to stay on top of,  took a hard hit.  Not to mention the rest of the house. The guest room furniture is currently sitting in the entry way, and that is just the half of it.

I am pretty sure the flylady has no system for this particular situation. My system thus far has been go until you have to stop, take a hot salt bath and hide in bed.

But I am happy to report, I keep at it, and plug along and almost each day I get my 15 minutes of zone cleaning in, one load of laundry and at least part of the evening routine (which I am still working on... more on this later).

I've also been decluttering/cleaning/rearranging upstairs and I've been pretty ruthless. Old pillows  that have seen there better days- gone. Old sheet sets with bleach spots- gone. The dining room chandelier that I was never in love with and had to be taken down for the rebuilding- not going back up and gone.  Clothes that were expensive but don't fit quite right- gone. Fluffy pink bathrobe that is just too hot to wear- gone. If I stop and think about any of it, I can easily talk myself into keeping all of it. (Its still good! What if I need it?! it doesn't take up much space1 You cant have too many pillows!) But, the truth is, we just don't have the room, physically or mentally, for 2 households of stuff to live in one household.

And what is probably the real real truth is I am tired of living in upheaval and disorganization and I am willing to do radical things to get my house back to where it once was, calm and clean.  The flylady system is one of those things, ruthlessly tossing out some pillows is another. And I just joined an online organizational group called get your life totally organized. Doesn't that sound like exactly what I need.  I have also scheduled a pick up of items to donate to the Vietnam Veterans Association. All I have to do is drag it to the front porch and they will do the rest.  

Perhaps the combination of the fly lady and the Organizational group is what is going to propel me to see some real results and ease some of the re-entry. That and making some realistic to do lists.

mani monday from Oregon

Essie Gel in "Turn and Pose" was absolutely the right choice for the trip to Oregon. Perhaps the perfect fall color, for my coloring the purple family is the most flattering, its so shiny and it really stays on. My only complaint is with the dark polish, you have to be extra careful when applying as every little ding will show, and I am not the most careful at this.  Also, for a drug store brand, Essie gel is expensive ($11 to $14 a bottle). But I really love it. I love it so much that, when I found myself in CVS, I immediately went over and bought another color (still in the purple family).

My 5 day weekend in Oregon

I have to admit that one of the most enjoyable perks about my job is the business travel. I don't get to do it a lot, but at least once a year, I end up with a big trip. Last year it was Florida. This time its Portland.  I then turned a two day business trip into a five day weekend with the husband.

Even though it was not the time I would have chosen to take a getaway (busy chaotic time for us both), he agreed that you have to take advantage of these things when they fall into your lap.

I had been to Oregon twice before, and honestly, it is the nicest place I had ever visited. I could not have picked a better place to send myself  other than Portland.

I had never been to Portland this late in the year  and I was looking forward to some fall colors. I was not disappointed.  It was so chilly and  beautiful.

We then unexpectedly took a road trip to Spokane. Eastern Washington was not as scenic as one might think it would be. It was a dessert. 

But the company was good and we got to hang out at the hotel eating cookies in our PJs and breakfast by the fire while it was 35 degrees outside.

Of course we saw a great deal of fog. In fact, we were totally fogged in for two mornings. That was disappointing. I had planned to see some sights on the coast, and the fog made it impossible.  We hung around Portland some more instead.

But I am not complaining. Portland was gorgeous. Sunny and cold.

It was a good trip and I'm so glad we got to turn it into a long weekend.