Powder Up!

Discovery and Hope!

I discovered the floor and vanity in my powder room. This is where I get ready every morning. I placed a couple of organizers under the sink in the cabinet. I added a basket for the things that get used every day and placed it on the back of the toilet tank. Eventually I would like a cabinet for storage above the toilet, but for now this will have to do the job.

I can see what is in there, so for a visual person that works. It is tidy and out of the way.  I also have gotten the sink and mirror clean too! If I cannot see it then I get a little crazy finding it and putting it away takes too much effort. The stuff I don't use everyday is under the sink in the organizers there. 

Yes, I found another found sink!

So we are on our way! Getting there. Update to come on the kitchen. For those of you wanting proof that we made progress this weekend. 

Kitchen is almost there!

Thanks Karen!

Amazing how wonderful it is to have someone keep you on task! On Friday I spent a couple of hours on the kitchen taking out trash and finding the counters (see previous post). Then on Saturday a friend, Karen, came over and we really did a bang up job on the kitchen.  We worked from 9:30 a.m. to Noon on Saturday. I know I would not have stuck to my cleaning that long had she not been there. I always get distracted. Now the kitchen is much better. Not 100% done, but well on the way to being a clean kitchen.

AMAZING is all I can say!  

Cooking in the Kitchen!

Counters? Haven't seen them in weeks, no months!  

Found the sink this week, but filled it back up tonight! But, this is a good thing (I think?). I find it concerning at how much packaging there is with food these days. In most cases there is more packaging than food! What happened? I know. It is because of  marketing and processed foods. Chime in here. Doesn't it make you mad when you open a big box only to find there is a bag inside that fills up half of the box height? Drives me crazy!

Trash Update. . .

Today I am on my third bag of trash (lawn bags, not the kitchen size) and still throwing away trash. Have not even scratched the surface of the trash even with the many trips to the dumpster this week. But, I do see some counter now. And that feels good. Now to get to finding out if there is a floor in my kitchen. I might need a rake. Drat!

I really want to break the habit of just throwing the stuff on the counter. Why does it not make it to the trash can? Oh yeah, I remember...the trash backs up and doesn't get taken out on a regular basis. So no room in the trash, the trash ends up on the counter. Then the counter gets big piles and it begins to drift to the floor as it piles high.

Help Cometh!

Now I have committed to a friend that we will work on my house together for two full hours! Wow! I just am so taken back that she would help when it is this bad! I will let you know how it goes with that tomorrow. My help in the past has always been great. And the house does function better for awhile. I really want it to stay better for good. Not just a few weeks, but from now on out.

Suggestions on how I can keep up the progress my friend and I will make tomorrow?

Scattered Progress

Scattered Progress

Keeping up the trash disposal (daily dumpster dash) and started full-tilt on the laundry. Plan to really hit that hard tonight.

Doing the laundry made a mess of the kitchen. Well, to be quite honest the kitchen was already a mess. Now I have hampers all over the kitchen with various loads to be folded, washed, ironed, etc...

I went to Flylady.com and worked on the sink. Yes, the kitchen sink to be exact. I must take a picture and post it! You have to start somewhere.

Top goals...

1. Find my elliptical trainer. It is currently buried and cannot be used easily. 
2. Start gathering my paperwork for my 2011 taxes. I have not even started!
3. Finish laundry (or at least what is in hampers and on floors. 
4. Keep working on sinks. Find the Powder Room sink tonight! Clean it! Move on to the sinks in the upstairs master bath.

The push continues....

I have not seen overall sweeping change yet. And that can be frustrating. In fact, in some ways the mess seems worse because it has moved.  I have to get this done!

All that TRASH.

Not Trash Talkin'

What is it about TRASH?  It never seems to really go away.  Like laundry you still have something that is dirty minutes after getting it all done. What gives?

To Recycle Or Not to Recycle. . .now there is a question.

When you have gotten so far gone in the trash collecting, do you take the time to recycle? I have heard that initially you just need to get it gone. Bag it up, throw it all out in the dumpster. Skip it until you have it managed. Once the floor can be seen and you are going in the right direction, then recycle. Here I am again trying to figure out the why of it all. But really, why I am so bad about taking out the trash?

I am a big "GREEN" fan and hate to see items that can be recycled in the trash.  But, there is no recycling pick-up in my development.  Actually, the city offers it, but the HOA (Home Owners Association) Board voted to not have it in our townhome development. Without pick-up it makes trash more complicated, and therefore more time consuming.  I have to sort it, gather it in the car and drive to the recycling center to get rid of it. Anything that has more than one step at my house stacks up or doesn't get done at all.

Deadlines, a necessary evil.

Also, there is the question of being held to a deadline. When I had a home there was a designated day and time that my trash was picked up at the curb.  Hence a deadline. I have to take out my own trash, no hubby or kids to delegate the task to. But, when there was a deadline (real or imagined) I was rushing through the house every Tuesday morning to get the trash and recycling to the curb.  Now I drive my trash down to the dumpster near the pool. Sometimes I do walk it over. But when I drive I am more efficient. I can take 4 or 5 bags instead of two. Only one trip. Plus, I pass the dumpster on my way out of the main entry every day.

Today's Task Completed.

Today, I tackled the trash and bagged up 6 bags! Then I took them to the dumpster. Not a bad start, but maybe there is a way to keep it from getting out of control. I could give myself a deadline and collect the trash on a certain day of every week. Maybe each day I drop it off at the dumpster on my way to work, leaving only the recycling trip for the weekend. Not sure which I will try. But, for the time being until the trash is back under control completely, I vote for the "daily dumpster run". A goal of two bags each day until this goal is met might work.

Do you agree?

The Beginning of Change.

Wow! How did it get like this?

I have literally not seen it, the mess I mean.  I walk on it, around it, over it, and sometimes even under it  – yet it is invisible to me.  If you have a home where you can see the carpeting and there are a few piles of papers on your desk, I am talking about way more than you have ever seen.  I would love it if you followed my blog here and gave me some much needed cheering on....Or you can follow along and treat this as a WARNING should you ever drift to the messy side of things.  

My mess started in 2006 with the purchase of a cute townhome in a suburb.  I was moving from a home with the yard, the walk-in closets, a laundry room, and even an outdoor shed. Plus it had over 600 square feet of attic storage space.  Unfortunately, I couldn't afford all that in the new city I purchased in.  Prices of homes there were so out of my range I had little choice but to go the condo/townhome route.  In some ways I was excited.  No more mowing the grass!  In other ways I dreaded the lack of storage but told myself I would cut back. 

But, I didn't.

The Plan

Phase 1: The Next 90 days. 

Get the living, dining and kitchen under control so my guests don't have to stand on the porch while I talk with them.  This would be the whole downstairs of my home.  I want to host Thanksgiving Dinner at my house this year. 

Phase 2: First 6 months.

Get the bedroom and bath upstairs organized and finish house projects and upgrades.

Phase 3: Find a working studio space.  

I am a crafter and artist (in my spare time).  I need to find a way to have that space to enjoy those hobbies.  Any ideas?  I would love suggestions! 

We will see where this takes me and how it changes my life along the way.  New studies show that a messy home can effect even your weight!  So I better get crackin'.  I have a 25th High School Reunion next year! 

Funny how the outside always looks immaculate.