Well, that title is kind of misleading... I'm not really *Off Track* .. just no longer moving FORWARD on the track. When I was doing the 21 day challenges, I was really gung-ho about it and worked hard and didn't stop to think about it.. well except maybe a little whining about the fridge and a few others, but I did them all! ... well almost all. I never actually finished the keepsakes books thought I did start them and the kids loved them... and I never put photos in the photo boxes I bought... and the worst one is that I reduced the paper work in the huge tub in the top of my closet and got it down to a small file tub. The big tub was then to hold all my special stuffed animals and dolls I'm saving for my girls. Well, the tub is still in my bedroom floor and it's starting to gather things. AND all those things I decluttered from all the challenges... in a huge pile on the bench at the foot of my bed which is now a raging hotspot and holding all sorts of stuff that shouldn't even be in my room.
And oh! That game table! UGH! It makes me sad. It's *COVERED* in stuff, like several layers deep. It's my fault too. The stuff on there consists of stuff like bags full of the binders and page protectors I bought to redo the keepsake books. Curtains I took down in the living room when I bought new ones. I washed and dried the old ones and threw them on the table. They're still really nice curtains, they're just too long and pool on the floor and we have cats who think they can use them as a litter box.
And just when I thought I had a real handle on laundry.... when I could wash/dry/fold/hang a load and have all matched-socks... always fresh clean towels in the bathroom. No one ever running out of socks or underwear... today we hit a snag. I got a Schoolcast call today from Zoe's school reminding us of Dr Seuss week. She's supposed to wear her school t shirt tomorrow. It *should* be in her shirt drawer. I remember washing, drying and putting it in her room.... but it's gone. We've looked everywhere I can think of. Took out the drawers to see if it got stuck behind them. Looked in her closet, hanging up, in the top, in the floor of it, under her bed. Looked in my closet, in the seasonal/giveaway stuff. I even looked in the pile of stuff on my bench and on the game table. It's not been worn recently and is not in the hampers. I can vaguely remember saying something to Zoe about needing to make sure we keep her school tshirt safe so we always have it for school trips... SIGH. Did I put it in some *special place* and now I can't even find it!?!?! - I've just gone and looked again, even moved the pile at the foot of my bed, sorting into giveaway bag and laundry and "other stuff" for now. Hubby is in there asleep afterall. I also went through the stuff on the game table. Nothing. I went to her sisters' room. OMG one half is "ok" and you can see the floor mainly, the other side is...wow.
The child on that side of the room will have no social life til it's sparking and vacuumed, including the closet which is on her side. I checked her dresser drawers and they are EMPTY. well... not empty, they have trash in them, and one has a dirty glass I'd wondered where it had disappeared to. Where is this child putting her socks and underwear??? Time for an intervention with the just-turned-13 year old.
Ok... so the school tshirt is gone. I don't have any cash to give the school to get her a new one. I'll have to see if I can convince Christopher to stop by an ATM on his way to dropping her off to school - if he takes her. I mean it's not like they'll kick her out if she doesn't have the shirt, but this is a matter of principal. There have been SO many years that my kids (all 4 of them who have gone to this elementary school) haven't worn their school shirt to school for pictures or Dr Seuss or even field trips when they're required... because they were lost and dirty somewhere in Mt Washmore. We really lived in utter chaos for years, decades even. The whole house used to be like my 13 yr old's bedroom. But we're not that family anymore. We aren't those people anymore. (I have to inform the 13 yr old of this apparently.) I keep the laundry DONE. The hampers never get full. The sorters are constantly rotating. I can even go a day or two without doing laundry and still get caught up completely in one evening. (Though it may take a couple days just to handle what the 13 yr old is hiding...) And I keep Zoe's drawers organized. Mostly. At this point I just am curious *where* it got to. Hmmm.
I do need to get back in there and reorganize her drawers. She complained this week that she can't fit all her shirts in the drawer I labeled "Shirts". It's a difficult time of year because we still have brrrr cold! days and we have shorts and flipflop days all in the same week. So I can't just take out a whole season of clothes from her drawers... but I *can* just put what she'll wear in a week in them. She even has a milk crate in the top of her closet I put there for *whatever* I figured I would need to put there. It's empty. So, obviously I need to take out half those clothes and just put in what she actually likes to wear. The crate can hold extras, and I can change them out if I feel like she's wearing the same thing over and over.
Plus I really need to start doing Zone Missions from Flylady. I think I'm to the point where it's time to do those (after fluttering for 9 years!) I downloaded them into my Cozi calendar and it's so handy! I need to do the weekly home blessing, and it really needs it this week - and to think we did a pretty thorough cleaning on the 19th. This past week seems to be a blur, really. I was really sick, Christopher was working so much, and I slept like all the time. The house seemed to be running on autopilot. I know my night routines have been my saving grace. I can't go to bed while there are dishes in my sink or on my counter. It makes me nuts, so I have to empty the dishwasher if it's full (and usually is still from dinner - cause I forgot to get a kid to empty it), then refill it with all the dirty ones. Then I wipe down all the counters, and shine my sink. Then I lay out a new dish cloth and dish towel, and throw the ones from today into the mesh bag I have for wet stuff. It hangs on the side of the laundry sorter. Just that one little routine helps this house run smoothly. When the kids wake up on the weekend or get home from school during the week and I'm still in bed (day sleeper remember), then the kitchen is clean - and they are MUCH less likely to make a mess. Well, it's not like they'll put their dishes in the dishwasher HAH! They hardly even bring their dishes back to the kitchen til I wake up and nag them mercilessly. You'd think they'd learn after a while... Anyway, they just tend to make less of a mess if there is no mess to start with. They're more likely to find themselves something to eat and zap it in the microwave in a clean kitchen. So, when I get up and come out to make my tea and try to wake up enough to make dinner, I have less to deal with. That keeps me happier and everyone else as well.
So, here's my list of things I NEED to work on this week:
1. Clear off the ottoman at foot of bed, wash it off, and work on keeping stuff off of it all week.
2. Clear off the game table. Wash it off. Convince Hubby to organize the game stuff he took off the shelves and put back what he doesn't need out (which is all of it really... but he'll never say that.)
3. Redo the kids' keepsake books into the new binders and put them in the Chinese Cabinet.
4. Gather all the photos I've found around the house and put them into the photo boxes. Possibly organize loosely by date, or at least some sort of order.
5. Put the dolls and bunnies in the clear tub and put into the top of my closet.
6. Straighten up the luggage in top of closet and put smaller stuff inside the bigger stuff, leaving out one weekend bag in easy reach for sleepovers/getaways.
7. Do the weekly home blessing.
8. Do one Zone Mission a day.
9. Pick up some wire shelves and plastic baskets to re-organize the deep freezer since it's full to the top and a mess now.
10. Go through Zoe's clothes and put half in the crate in her closet.
Ok, have to go pack lunches now. ... and unload the dishwasher, reload it and clean my kitchen. I really just want to sleep. At least I don't have to stay up and get Zoe off to the bus this morning. I can go to bed when the kitchen's done, so better get to it! Have a great day y'all!
And oh! That game table! UGH! It makes me sad. It's *COVERED* in stuff, like several layers deep. It's my fault too. The stuff on there consists of stuff like bags full of the binders and page protectors I bought to redo the keepsake books. Curtains I took down in the living room when I bought new ones. I washed and dried the old ones and threw them on the table. They're still really nice curtains, they're just too long and pool on the floor and we have cats who think they can use them as a litter box.
And just when I thought I had a real handle on laundry.... when I could wash/dry/fold/hang a load and have all matched-socks... always fresh clean towels in the bathroom. No one ever running out of socks or underwear... today we hit a snag. I got a Schoolcast call today from Zoe's school reminding us of Dr Seuss week. She's supposed to wear her school t shirt tomorrow. It *should* be in her shirt drawer. I remember washing, drying and putting it in her room.... but it's gone. We've looked everywhere I can think of. Took out the drawers to see if it got stuck behind them. Looked in her closet, hanging up, in the top, in the floor of it, under her bed. Looked in my closet, in the seasonal/giveaway stuff. I even looked in the pile of stuff on my bench and on the game table. It's not been worn recently and is not in the hampers. I can vaguely remember saying something to Zoe about needing to make sure we keep her school tshirt safe so we always have it for school trips... SIGH. Did I put it in some *special place* and now I can't even find it!?!?! - I've just gone and looked again, even moved the pile at the foot of my bed, sorting into giveaway bag and laundry and "other stuff" for now. Hubby is in there asleep afterall. I also went through the stuff on the game table. Nothing. I went to her sisters' room. OMG one half is "ok" and you can see the floor mainly, the other side is...wow.
The child on that side of the room will have no social life til it's sparking and vacuumed, including the closet which is on her side. I checked her dresser drawers and they are EMPTY. well... not empty, they have trash in them, and one has a dirty glass I'd wondered where it had disappeared to. Where is this child putting her socks and underwear??? Time for an intervention with the just-turned-13 year old.
Ok... so the school tshirt is gone. I don't have any cash to give the school to get her a new one. I'll have to see if I can convince Christopher to stop by an ATM on his way to dropping her off to school - if he takes her. I mean it's not like they'll kick her out if she doesn't have the shirt, but this is a matter of principal. There have been SO many years that my kids (all 4 of them who have gone to this elementary school) haven't worn their school shirt to school for pictures or Dr Seuss or even field trips when they're required... because they were lost and dirty somewhere in Mt Washmore. We really lived in utter chaos for years, decades even. The whole house used to be like my 13 yr old's bedroom. But we're not that family anymore. We aren't those people anymore. (I have to inform the 13 yr old of this apparently.) I keep the laundry DONE. The hampers never get full. The sorters are constantly rotating. I can even go a day or two without doing laundry and still get caught up completely in one evening. (Though it may take a couple days just to handle what the 13 yr old is hiding...) And I keep Zoe's drawers organized. Mostly. At this point I just am curious *where* it got to. Hmmm.
I do need to get back in there and reorganize her drawers. She complained this week that she can't fit all her shirts in the drawer I labeled "Shirts". It's a difficult time of year because we still have brrrr cold! days and we have shorts and flipflop days all in the same week. So I can't just take out a whole season of clothes from her drawers... but I *can* just put what she'll wear in a week in them. She even has a milk crate in the top of her closet I put there for *whatever* I figured I would need to put there. It's empty. So, obviously I need to take out half those clothes and just put in what she actually likes to wear. The crate can hold extras, and I can change them out if I feel like she's wearing the same thing over and over.
Plus I really need to start doing Zone Missions from Flylady. I think I'm to the point where it's time to do those (after fluttering for 9 years!) I downloaded them into my Cozi calendar and it's so handy! I need to do the weekly home blessing, and it really needs it this week - and to think we did a pretty thorough cleaning on the 19th. This past week seems to be a blur, really. I was really sick, Christopher was working so much, and I slept like all the time. The house seemed to be running on autopilot. I know my night routines have been my saving grace. I can't go to bed while there are dishes in my sink or on my counter. It makes me nuts, so I have to empty the dishwasher if it's full (and usually is still from dinner - cause I forgot to get a kid to empty it), then refill it with all the dirty ones. Then I wipe down all the counters, and shine my sink. Then I lay out a new dish cloth and dish towel, and throw the ones from today into the mesh bag I have for wet stuff. It hangs on the side of the laundry sorter. Just that one little routine helps this house run smoothly. When the kids wake up on the weekend or get home from school during the week and I'm still in bed (day sleeper remember), then the kitchen is clean - and they are MUCH less likely to make a mess. Well, it's not like they'll put their dishes in the dishwasher HAH! They hardly even bring their dishes back to the kitchen til I wake up and nag them mercilessly. You'd think they'd learn after a while... Anyway, they just tend to make less of a mess if there is no mess to start with. They're more likely to find themselves something to eat and zap it in the microwave in a clean kitchen. So, when I get up and come out to make my tea and try to wake up enough to make dinner, I have less to deal with. That keeps me happier and everyone else as well.
So, here's my list of things I NEED to work on this week:
1. Clear off the ottoman at foot of bed, wash it off, and work on keeping stuff off of it all week.
2. Clear off the game table. Wash it off. Convince Hubby to organize the game stuff he took off the shelves and put back what he doesn't need out (which is all of it really... but he'll never say that.)
3. Redo the kids' keepsake books into the new binders and put them in the Chinese Cabinet.
4. Gather all the photos I've found around the house and put them into the photo boxes. Possibly organize loosely by date, or at least some sort of order.
5. Put the dolls and bunnies in the clear tub and put into the top of my closet.
6. Straighten up the luggage in top of closet and put smaller stuff inside the bigger stuff, leaving out one weekend bag in easy reach for sleepovers/getaways.
7. Do the weekly home blessing.
8. Do one Zone Mission a day.
9. Pick up some wire shelves and plastic baskets to re-organize the deep freezer since it's full to the top and a mess now.
10. Go through Zoe's clothes and put half in the crate in her closet.
Ok, have to go pack lunches now. ... and unload the dishwasher, reload it and clean my kitchen. I really just want to sleep. At least I don't have to stay up and get Zoe off to the bus this morning. I can go to bed when the kitchen's done, so better get to it! Have a great day y'all!
I am glad you are feeling better. I hope the missing t-shirt turns up. On my last laundry day, I went through and bagged up half of the girl's clothing. It will be going to Goodwill this week. This will make keeping up with their rooms and laundry easier- I know.;P (For a few weeks at least.)
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me. I'm also going to work hard on my to-do list this week. I hope to have some big things marked off before the weekend. :)
Glad to be an inspiration! Yay!
ReplyDeleteZoe was not happy when she got home, said she "got in trouble" for not having her shirt. But we both know we tried, and that's what counts, so she's ok. She's already got her outfit picked out for tomorrow, Red and White day!
I love flylady. I used to do her book back in 2002 when I had my son and my babies were 13 months apart and I was a single Mom going to college! It was CRAZY! I used to follow her stuff everyday for months until it became second nature and it totally helped me. Thanks for following my blog. I see you came over from Bowl of Lemons. She is an organizing genius!! :) Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteOh girl! Laundry is the worst...I am NEVER caught up...NEVER. I waffle between trying to be "ok" about it and being military Mom about it all. HOpe today is good to you!
ReplyDelete