Only one more week...

I only have a week left before the fundraising party. I'm no where NEAR ready for it, either! There is still just so much left that needs to be done by Thursday night. This fundraiser is for my daughter. She is trying to raise money to go to the International Key Club Convention in Dallas, Texas this summer. She has to raise $1800.00 to go. So far she has $123.00. Still has a long way to go.

Anyway, she has been invited to give a speech at the sponsoring Kiwanis Lunch on the same day as the party. That happens at 12pm and then the party is at 6:30pm. So I really want to have everything done and ready to go by the time I leave here for the Lunch. I'm hoping that maybe some of the members may have some ideas on how to help her raise some of this money that she needs. So far she is just selling the jewelry. She has tried to sell some AVON as a fundraiser, but that isn't going very well. She may do some Tupperware later, but I have to get with the lady to get the books for that still.

My kitchen is just about done (again!). I need to wipe down the counters and appliances, clean the windows and ceiling fan, and do the floor. But the dishes are done and the cobwebs have been removed. The living room only needs to be tidied and vacuumed, and a quick dusting. The bathroom still needs to be completely cleaned, as do the girls' bedrooms. There will be several kids here, so I want the girls to be able to have the others in their rooms without embarrassment! LOL I would like for DH to mow the yard before the party, but the lawnmower needs some maintenance before he can do that, so I doubt that is going to happen. He is the world's WORST procrasstinator! LOL

Well, time to get back to work on the house! The clock is ticking!

The Weekend...

After having my kitchen almost completely done on Friday, I have to start all over again today. Something about the weekends just mess my whole routine up! LOL Of course, not everything got done last week because of some issues that happened to throw me off track...but this is a new week, and I plan on making the most of it.

It is WHB (Weekly Home Blessing) day for FlyBabies. It is the day that we spend 1 hour to get all the little things out of the way that we tend to overlook. Things like changing the sheets on the beds, dusting, culling old magazines, shining mirrors and doors, sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. This is not the time to do all the heavy detail cleaning. We spend only 10 minutes on each task and "catch the middles" so to speak. And we do this throughout the entire house. The detailed stuff gets done when we are in each zone.

I'm getting a bit of a late start this morning. But I am dressed to shoes, and ready to get started now. See ya on the flip side!

Lack of Motivation...

I have been suffering from a severe lack of motivation lately. I can't seem to get up the energy to get anything done. Because of this, the kitchen has gone right back to where I started from. And I don't like it!

Now I HAVE to get this stuff done! I am hosting a fundrasier party in my home on the 27th. That means that my home needs to be looking REALLY good by then. And once it's looking really good, I have to KEEP it that way. So I'm going to list here, all the things that I need to get done. Maybe that will help to motivate and inspire me. I'm going to list things by room, and I will work in one room each day. Hopefully I can complete each room in a day. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? Don't forget that I'm a SHE that is addicted to my computer! LOL

KITCHEN

• dishes
• counters
• cabinets
• stove top
• stove front
• dishwasher front
• fridge front
• top of fridge
• windows
• table
• bar
• trash
• hoosier cabinet
• floor
• fan

LIVING ROOM

• fan
• blinds
• windows
• bookshelves
• air hockey table
• computer desk
• lamp table
• mantle
• fish tank
• dust
• trash
• clothes/toys/books
• movies
• vacuum
• storage things to basement

KIDS BATHROOM/LAUNDRY ROOM

• windows
• clothes/laundry
• trash
• tub/toilet/sink
• mirror
• tops of washer & dryer
• fronts of washer & dryer
• floors
• shelves in laundry

HALLWAYS

• clothes/toys/books
• top of dresser
• Goodwill things hauled off
• ladder to basement
• pictures
• floors
• trash

MASTER BATHROOM

• tub/toilet/sink
• counter top
• mirror
• shelf
• windows
• walls
• floor
• trash

GIRLS' BEDROOM

• bed
• dresser
• clothes
• toys
• trash
• closet
• toy box
• floor

OLDEST'S BEDROOM

• clothes
• toys
• books
• desk
• bookshelf
• dresser
• closet
• hutch
• bed
• floor
• trash

MASTER BEDROOM

• bed
• under bed
• dresser (mine)
• dresser (DH's)
• top of my guncabinet
• top of DH's gun cabinet
• my closet
• DH's closet
• my nightstand
• DH's nightstand
• bookshelf
• clothes
• books
• trash
• Goodwill items hauled off
• windows
• blinds
• fan
• floor

Well, that's eery room in my house. Only 3 of them should take more than one day to complete, and that's my room, the oldest's room, and maybe the kitchen. If I work steady each day, I should be able to get them done fairly quickly though. Some of the rooms should take less than one day to do, in which case I may be able to get more than one done in a day. I am going to try to get on here each day to update on what I've managed to get done. I have 23 days! LOL

Menu Week of 3/1/09

Monday: Pizza

Tuesday: (DH @ work) Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: Baked Spaghetti (made form the leftovers)

Friday: (DH @ work) Breakfast

Saturday: Fish & Fries

Sunday: Roast Beef Hashitos

Sorry...

I didn't realize that I hadn't written since Sunday! And even then, all I did was post my menu for this week! LOL It was a busy day.

Monday: I wasn't feeling very well at all. I laid in bed or on the couch most of the day. I had a bad headache, and just couldn't get motivated for anything.

Tuesday: WOW! What a day! LOL The septic people came out and worked on my field lines. They got here at 9:30 in the morning, ad finally got done around 5 or 5:30 that evening. My backyard is now one big pile of dirt! Well, not PILES...they did even it out, so it won't look to bad once the grass comes back. But I spent most of the day outside, watching the progress of hte wrkers. That is, when I wasn't running to town for this and that.

Today: I called the insurance company yesterday to send out the Service Master folks to clean up the basement again, now that the lines were fixed. Sevice Master called me back today and said they would be here this morning. The guy didn't show up till noon! He didn't realize that it would take so long to get here from where he started from. Anyway, he couldn't do what needed to be done and would up leaving without cleaning the basement. I don't know if they will be back today or not. I'm still waiting to hear back on that. And here I already called DH to tell him that the basement would be ready for him to get in there when he got home from work in the morning! YIKES!!! Maybe I should call him and tell him there has been a change in plans...

Menu for the Week...

Monday 2/23- Spaghetti

Tuesday 2/24- Leftover Spaghetti

Wednesday 2/25- (DH @ Work) Breakfast for Dinner-Pancakes

Thursday 2/26- Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

Friday 2/27- My DD9 wants to cook dinner for me and she has picked something called "Chicken in Rice Nest". DD7 wants to make me cookies called "Chocolate-Coconut-Toffee Delights".

Saturday 2/28- My Birthday. Hopefully DH will take me out to eat! He's supposed to work, but may not! But just in case...Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese (I don't want to cook! LOL)

Sunday 3/1- Blackeyed Peas and Cornbread

Super Fling Boogie...

For those of you that are not familiar with this term, it is a FLYism, from the FlyLady herself. Each year FlyBabies around the world dig into their deepest clutter spots and FLING their unwanted STUFF. When we are done, we go to www.flylady.net to post how many pounds we have taken out of our homes. I have not had the honor of participating this year, but have in the past. And boy is it FUN! Not to mention, liberating!

Anyway, FlyLady sent out an email yesterday that got me to thinking. She says that in June 2002, there was a membership of around 80,000. Those 80,000 members decluttered over 3MILLION POUNDS out of their homes and lives...in only 2 weeks. What an amazing feat! I am proud to say that I was one of them!

This year's Super Fling Boogie has lasted 4 weeks, and there are now around 518,000 FlyBabies. In the past 4 weeks, only 639,000 pounds have been posted to the meter. She sounded so discouraged by this. But, I don't think she should be! The reason I haven't participated this year? I don't have any visible clutter left! Until I started writting this, I didn't "see" the clutter that still needs to be dealt with. As soon as things become unuseful/unloved/broken, I go ahead and fling it! I no longer stick it in a closet, thinking that I will use it later, or that I can fix it. The fact that the clutter meter doesn't go up as much as in the past is a testament to FlyLady and her teachings! I have NO VISIBLE CLUTTER!

I know there are still a few spots in my house that need to be gone through (all closet/storage areas). And I'm sure I will get to them eventually. Right now I am trying to focus on the visible aspects of my home. What people see when they walk in the door. And I have to tell ya...things are looking pretty darn good! I happen to have a LOT of storage space in this house, and more closets than any woman has a right to (LOL), and a few of them are full of things that have been there since we moved in. Some of these spaces contain totes that I just threw the contents of drawers, etc. in when we were moving, thinking to myself that I would go through it at the new house. We've now been in the "new" house for 2 years. And I haven't thought much about these things because I haven't needed them. And the fact that I haven't decluttered this stuff is only because I don't think about needing to, because I no longer have to hunt for storage space for the junk I used to store. I am sure that there are many FlyBabies out there that have this same problem.

Marla, it's not that we don't concider decluttering a priority anymore. It's the fact that you have gotten us to a place in our lives/homes that we don't think about the older stuff that has been stored. They are in closets and storage areas that we no longer NEED, so we don't go in them anymore to realize that they need decluttering too!

So FlyBabies, we have been challenged by the Decluttering Queen herself! She wants us to find, declutter, and post 10 pounds each today. Find a storage area that you have "forgotten" about and work on decluttering it!

My home is no where near perfect. I don't WANT it to be. But it has become so much more manageable! Writting this has given me the motivation to start working on at least ONE of my extra closets/storage areas each week until I can honestly say I HAVE NO CLUTTER TO FLING! LOL