Thank you for bringing this one up, Merryyon!

[Ruby Lou]

Same here...outside is first in the summer.  House can wait.  Actually I have thought several times about hiring someone to clean.  My motto has always been "I would rather scoop manure than go grocery shopping", kind of the same, I would rather mow lawn, clean chicken house etc, than clean my house.  It is clean enought to have visitors, although I do have my area's that need straightened up and my kitchen floor needs mopped more often than it does.  My DH vacuums once in a while which is a nice surprise for me.  If I could just get him to mop that kitchen floor!

[linda/IL]

I'm exhausted.  The idiot kitchen planner we had when we remodeled years ago didn't think (neither did I) when the fridge was put in next to a wall.  There is a double door  in front but not at the edge of fridge.  Anyway, there is no way to open the fridge door all the way around so you can get out the shelves to clean.  Fridge itself has split shelving so that's possible but the lower freezer section has a drawer which is impossible.  Anyway, I spent the morning emptying the ENTIRE fridge & freezer contents and removing and washing down all the insides before it was put back in place. 

I know, it's on rollers & can be pulled out but it's such a tight squeeze (have to watch the light switch) when pulling it out far enough to open door, it just doesn't happen.  Washed off everything I put back in too.  (this is the 2nd fridge we've had here; sizes changed & this one is bigger)

then took grands to library in town for story hour (1 1/2 hrs) then picked them up and dropped off at appropriate places then home.  Since then I've been picking up, picking up, picking up.  Ridiculous.  Don't have curtains up, windows washed or cupboards cleaned in kitchen.  Thought I'd get SOMETHING more done.  Still don't have DR table in place-all the cow registerations are spread out there.  (DH's-DON'T TOUCH THEM) So still chaos here.

And my closets are a mess as is my office, where everything gets thrown to sort.  If I died tomorrow I'd be mortified to have anyone go through this place!  Both my grandparents & my mom's & my MIL's house was sure more organized than mine.  I confess to being a hoarder I guess.  Magazines everywhere.  Need to close eyes & pitch.

And my gardens are full of weeds to boot!

[Kay/NC]

Linda, you are still bushed from the cattle sale, too, I would bet. It is really hard to know where to start, after a huge life change like that.

When there are too many things in front of me, I have started writing them down, in no particular order, as they occur to me. I let the list grow for a day or so, even though that kind of feels like just treading water . Ay least it's not drowning!

After the list festers for a few hours, I look at it in two different ways. One is for anything that is truly time sensitive, like preparing for a family birthday or holiday, paying a bill or meeting a tax deadline.

After those get numbered as first priorities, the rest get examined from a workflow perspective. That is, which thing most logically has to happen before the next?

It is like you wouldn't put down a new floor, then paint the ceiling above it. You paint the ceiling first, so you don't spend a lot of time with masking tape, drop cloths, and cleaning up drips and spatters, because you are working over a floor you will never see again. Some things just ought to be done before others, because it makes more sense to do them in that order.

It can be really frustrating to put a job I really want done further down the list...but, if something else logically belongs before it, I try to stick with the program, follow logic, and with my brain, that is discipline. If I were to start jumping around, nothing would ever get done. (Experience talking, there!)

I think you are being way too hard on yourself. Get some of those grands to give you a hand with pitching magazines. Even a toddler can tote an old Ladies' Home Journal to the trash can.

[linda/IL]

You're right.  One thing I'm going to get the older one into is to help vacuum & clean inside windows.  Bugs & flies and winter dirt especially on the north side.  I don't mind doing the window washing but it would be a good project.

A little cash waved in front of her nose is great incentive but if I pay her I want the Ipod left home.  Constantly texting.  Drives me NUTS! 

Took a short nap this afternoon then hit the inside windows & put up curtains-valances only there.  Then vacuumed DR and got the table back to the middle.  Beginning to look like a house again.  But wouldn't you know DH just got home from Home Depot and my spring tension curtain rod busted a spring.  I'll have to pick one up tomorrow.

Need to make a list & plan.  My problem is all these trips with mom and she'd go by herself but I'm trying to knix that.  When you only get 1/2 day of work it's hard to see the end. 

[Kay/NC]

Half-days are familiar to me, but for a different reason. With Winn here three mornings every week, into the afternoon and as late as suppertime a time or two each week...then, dropped over usually two late afternoons, for her to do lessons, has cut my available chore-time into way less than half normal hours. I am, of course, exhausted after long hours with his energy.

I do not blame the time I spend with him for my disorder in the house, because I truly consider his time here a gift to us. Having him here does remind me that I am not as young as I used to be, though....and it wasn't easy when I was younger, either.

Now that he is toddling around and talking a lot, I can involve him in some basic things, like dusting. He does not like my vacuum cleaner though...talks an emphatic blue streak at it and makes funny little hand gestures, if he sees it left out of the utility closer. We have agreed that Ma can run it when he's not here....

Sounds like you made great progress today. Funny how the dining room table out of place throws everything out of whack. We had finally adjusted to the temporary one, after a couple of weeks of the antique one being away for the refinishing of the top. Now, it sets funny back in its place, the chairs seem to stick out oddly from under it...and I KNOW they didn't move those old clawed feet!

Maybe you can get in some sewing lessons after the housework help. Children realty need to be taught how to do stuff like wash a window properly. You will be dong her a big favor, just showing her how things are done.

Take a notepad and pen for the waiting room time at your mom's doctor's visit. Beats those ancient magazines in the stacks there!

[turkey feather]

Interesting reading. We have been gone out of state to a funeral. I signed on a couple of years ago to Fly Lady but did not like it. I do think making lists is a big plus. I found it intersting that you like for your bed to air. I do also. The French hand their bedding out of the windows to air daily. A routine is impossible for most farm women due to all the task that take them out of the house.

[Kay/NC]

Airing out the bedding just makes sense to me...no trapping perspiration under heavy quilts and such that way. I will occasionally use a linen spray, usually lavender, too.

I can see where FLYLady isn't for everyone, but I do find her approach uplifting, compared to most organizational experts and their books. I have read tons of them. She is not judgmental, very encouraging.

For a few minutes this morning, I sat with my coffee, and scratched out new zones, a weekly House Blessing for that one hour, and some sketchy morning and evening routines. I am sure this is a small beginning step, and the weekly schedule that I tried to figure out is going to have to be able to flex a lot. Still, it is something.

Everyone has to find their own way. Some of us don't need help at all, and others of us do. I can do a lot of things pretty decently...but, this is tough for me. I needed a boost right now...like I said to Merryyon, her post gave me a chance to review this path.