Tuesday's Tip: Housekeeping

If you live in a well kept home, pay attention. If you don't live in a well kept home, pay attention. Both are very educational.

Tuesday's Tip

Haste makes messes.


P.S. Yes, I learned that by experience.

No Time to Write!

I've been "spring flinging" most of the day.

No brains to write either. The mess saps my creativity, energy, and focus. Things are much, much better now. I already feel smarter. :-) Well, maybe not, but I do feel more relaxed!

See you next week!

I've Been "Flinging" Today

Have you?

My sewing table looks better (I can see it). I've gotten rid of some clothing I will never wear, tossed a few others things, and more.

I can't say that I'm done though. I'll be at it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. My to do list needs some attention too. :-)

Meeting the April Motherhood Challenge

Specific things I'm doing . . .

For area #3 The Diet I'm eating more vegetables. As a vegetarian I eat plenty of vegetation but it is in the form of beans, grains, and grain products more often than it should be and in the form of fruits and veggies less often than it should be. I'm working on vegetables right now. I've been eat lots of cabbage lately!

For area #4 The Environment my focus has been fresh air. My brain and body work so much better when I get enough fresh air. Sometimes it's a bit hard to get to my bedroom windows to regulate the air flow (and I can't just leave them open because it isn't warm enough consistently yet). My project (which took me only a few seconds to do!) was to move some stuff that had fallen in the floor in front of one of my windows that was making it harder to get to the window to open and close it. Such a simple thing. lol Sometimes the things we need to do ARE simple.

Still need to do something for those other two areas before then end of the month.

The Great Spring Fling!

Okay, I hope I'm back now. As soon as I got over being sick, a good chunk of my time was sucked up by a church project that is going on all week. It's a very worthy project but The Hope Chest is suffering because of it. :-)

The Great Spring Fling is a get organized challenge. Fling away the clutter!

Throw away your trash. Give away or sell things you don't need anymore. Return borrowed items to their owners.

This challenge also applies to any stuff that is out of place in your home. Maybe your clutter is stuff that you use (or would use if you could find it) but it's out of place either because you didn't put it away or because it doesn't have a good home.

If things are mixed up within your spaces (bedroom, bathroom, closet, sewing room, etc.), “fling” everything into it proper home. If things don't have a proper home yet, see if you can find one.

Dirt, dust, soap scum, and other junk and gunk are included!

What about items that have been hanging around your to do list for way too long? Or unfinished projects? Or anything you have been meaning to do for a long time? This challenge is about those things too!

So for the next month and a half (until the end of May) let's fling away the clutter, whethers it's physical clutter, mental clutter, or even emotional clutter.

Share what you are doing to meet the challenge. You can share in the comments or leave directions to your blog posts.

Housekeeping Goals for this week (11/8/09) UPDATED

#1 Continue on the tub and shower. I now have this scubby-sponge thing that works GREAT. It still takes a little scrubbing (but it's not like I expect the stuff to come off just because I looked at it!) but it is so much easier and faster. I have a shiny shower! In spots ~ but it's getting there. I may even finish by the end of the month, then it will just be maintenance.

#2 Clean a section of my bathroom wall. I actually did this last week, although I forgot to post my housekeeping goals.

I made wonderful progress on both of these! I did several sections of the bathroom wall.

Housekeeping Goals for This Week (10/18/09) UPDATED

#1 Continue to work on the sink.

#2 Also work on my tub and shower. I've had difficulty cleaning it too. I found, however, that if I scrub (and I do mean SCRUB) it with a wet wash cloth and my liquid soap it comes clean. I do this at the end of my shower. It requires being in the shower and having lots of water. How, otherwise, would I do that without getting my clothes wet? *smile* It works great. I don't know if that will work on the blue residue it gets but baking soda (and lots of scrubbing) work does. And for the rough-textured floor, a scrubbing tooth brush.

But I think for this week I will mainly work on scrubbing a small section of the walls each day.

I forgot allllll about that third goal. Actually, I thought of it but didn't remember that I had made it my goal for this week. I was still thinking of it as a future possibility. Alas!

I did not do anything with #1 (at least it's not gross anymore!) but did well on #2. It's coming right along! Slowly, though.

Housekeeping Goals This Week: 10/11/09 UPDATED

I have one housekeeping goal this week (aside from my usual duties). It is to figure out my bathroom sink. I do know how to operate it but I do not know how to keep it clean!

My methods are not working and it keeps collecting stuff, especially in the bowl and around the faucet. This week I intend to consult with DearMother and if she has a remedy my sink will be shining and smooth by this time next week. If she doesn't have a remedy perhaps she can help me find one.

Well, she knew what to do about it! I scrubed on it awhile but although this method does work it takes some hearty scrubbing and I didn't really want to tackle it all today. I think that if I use this method regularly it will soon be sparkling clean!

Housekeeping Goals for This Week (10/4/09) UPDATED

I have just two goals this week. It's not that I only intend to do two things in the housekeeping department (wouldn't that be a disaster, even if I am just second in command!), but rather that I only intend to require myself to do two things that are new or improved.

Improvements in housekeeping have always been a special challenge for me, and since I'm going to be very busy this week with other things, I don't want to get in over my head (in other words, set myself up for failure!).

So here they are:
#1: I recently bought two large plastic storage containers for $4.00 each. They were very helpful but filled up quickly. DearMother told me that these were available for that price at a certain store that is supposed to have good deals so I thought I might just go there sometime and get some containers of several different sizes for some of my stuff that has no home. So, I'd like to find out if we're going there any time soon and if it's this week I want to buy some containers.

Did this--except we didn't go. 

#2: Last week DearMother cleaned my bathroom because I wasn't available to do it (bless her heart!). Later, she asked me if I was saving those two empty soap jugs. Um, no, my trash can was full (or at least that's why I didn't throw the most recent one away--I don't remember about the first one)! Well, I have since emptied my trash but if I put the jugs in it my trash can would be full again. So a better plan would be to just take them out to the big trash can (which I think was also full at the time). If they won't fit, I'll scream. No, really. I'll make them fit.

Did this. I saved one of them because I discovered a reason to. The big trash can was nearly empty. I was thrilled.

Now, if I accomplish that, I might even try three little goals next week.

Something Extra In the Kitchen

It is so easy to just do the basics when cleaning the kitchen--the least I need to do. Empty the dishwasher, put the perishable food away, wash the dishes, wipe the countertops we used for that meal, then go on to other projects.

Although kitchen cleaning is a high priority, I wouldn't say that it is always the highest. Quite a few things are up there as the highest priorities--all fighting to be done! Yet, just doing the basics in the kitchen day after day eventually means a messy kitchen.

So, I have determined that every time it is my turn to do the dishes I will not only do the minimum but I will always do "something extra". If I have a lot of time I might do a lot of extras. If I have little time I might just do one extra, but I will always do something extra.

This morning (Tuesday is the only day I do breakfast dishes) I filled the soap dispensers in both sinks (you know, the soap dispenser for the double sink has been empty for at least a week and it didn't take that long to fill!). I spilled soap while filling the one for the large single sink, so I took that opportunity to wash out the sink too. When I closed the dishwasher, I also wiped off the handle and panel. While my washing sink was filling I took a few seconds to wipe off the faucet and handle--it wasn't a thorough job but it looked better. All of those extras didn't take much time at all!

After lunch I cleaned and put away a cutting board that had managed to escape cleaning from Sunday. I also wiped some water off the countertop by the big sink. Mom had been cleaning dehydrator screens. She left a few to drain on a bowl on the countertop and unbeknownst to her they dripped quite a bit of water on the countertop.

See? I think this is a great idea--it's already working!

Theme for the Week of August 26, 2007

Another room theme—or rather, multiple rooms. This week's theme is the cleaning closet and other storage facilities (reminds me of my unfinished closet again!).

Good storage facilities are a necessity, but so are good storage habits. While one must have “a place for everything” in order to keep “everything in it's place,” having a place for everything won't do any good if things are not put away. This is a reminder to me! As I acquire better storage facilities (which I desperately need) I must make sure that I use those facilities and squash all lazy habits. This is so important for marriage preparation as well. I wish I could impress every girl with the necessity of forming habits of neatness!

Another thing I have been thinking about in reference to this week's theme is housecleaning and its associated storage. I would love to have a nice cleaning closet in my home (or several)! I don't know whether I will or not, but again, a nice cleaning closet by itself would not make a clean house. I need . . .

The right attitudes

The right knowledge

The right skills

The right habits

The right tools

And preferably, the right home (some dwelling places are simply easier to clean and keep clean than others).

I think I have mostly the right attitudes ( I would have to, to be writing a positive post about housecleaning!). I'm lacking in the right knowledge though. I want my cleaning methods to be safe, effective, and economical. I hardly think every cleaning agent available is safe, but I simply don't know what is and what isn't. I think I must have an enormous amount of research to do in this area (and they say homemaking squashes women intellectually—this is not squashing me, this is stretching me!). The right skills? Truthfully, I'm a terrible floor mopper. This is something that I would prefer not to remedy until I am married. The right habits? Ahem. Moving on . . . . Now, for the right tools. This is a subject that interests me greatly. One's tools make a difference in one's ability to perform one's work. The tools need not necessarily be expensive (one of the most useful tools is a toothbrush) but they must be quality, durable, and truly useful. I don't suppose I will be collecting brooms or mops or anything like that in my hope chest, but I have seriously considered collecting cleaning cloths.

Most of all, though, I must fully embrace the virtues of neatness, order, and faithfulness in the little daily duties of life. May God help me, for I will surely need it!