spring cleaning, cont'd

This week, I've got this to focus on. Project #1 from last week was a bit of a hassle, but I got it done... sort of. I think the writer wanted readers to start with a clean wardrobe. That didn't happen because I can never seem to get out of the laundry gutter, as I like to call it, where I always have like 3 loads of laundry to do at any given time. Readers were also instructed to take "before" and "after" pictures of our closets, but that was just asking too much from this slacker. Besides which, all you'd see in my pictures would be my complete lack of a respectable closet.

But still, I cleaned out the crap, found a ton of clothes to donate, and got my closet to the point where I can find what I'm looking for and hang things back up with ease. Yay!

So, compared to the closet, tackling paper clutter isn't that big of a deal. I actually try not to let junk mail and old bills pile up from month to month.

Fortunately, I'm kind of wiped out with a nasty cold this week, so my working out is at a minimum and I can do things like *trying* to create a neat, organized, clutter-free home. I can't imagine I'd be very good at this cleaning thing if I was out running every day. My goal is to get this house in good working order so that in a couple weeks, I can head out every day and not worry that I'm leaving a mountain of chores behind to have to deal with at the end of the day.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have a hard time even enjoying my runs when I know the Stinky Clothes Monster (or, my husband's hamper) is waiting for me when I get back. And I have yet to know what it feels like to have a day where I don't see anything that needs to be done. It's actually kind of annoying.

My husband couldn't care less. When I work on the weekends, the house all but explodes and he's just watching Speed TV after the daughter goes to bed without a care in the world. How do men do that- just turn off their peripheral vision and ignore the messes surrounding them?

Well, since I can't do that, I've got blogs instructing me on all things house-wifey.

Cleaning up my act.

I've never been an orgainized person and I've always been a procrastinator. While I always manage to get the big shit taken care of, like final reports or putting cribs together in time, it's the day-to-day I struggle with.

Keeping my kitchen and its one square foot of counterspace workably clear.

Starting laundry and actually getting clothes folded and back in my dresser or closet in the same day.

Finding a sensible location for our keys, sunglasses, wallets and various bags that we'll actually return those items to upon arriving home (so that it doesn't take half an hour to find everything the next time we go out).

Mail. Like, bothering to open it, let alone sort it and eventually, throw away the junk we don't need. If it weren't for online bill pay options, we'd be in serious trouble because seriously, who even deals with mail anymore?

Miraculously, I actually keep things clean. I dust, vacuum, wash dishes and disinfect the counters (when clear). I clean up after myself when my meal explodes in the microwave and I scrub toilets. These are NOT habits I took from my home growing up, but because I grew up in a messy house, I knew I didn't want bad habits to spill over (literally, and figuratively) into my adult years. Organizing, however, is a completely different game. It involves not throwing things on the first convenient shelf or stuffing crap into drawers, which, right now, pretty much constitutes "cleaning up" for me.

So that's why I'm going to jump on this bandwagon.

There's an element of accountability with before and after pictures, managable deadlines, plus, I work better when I actually have an assignment. I run with a goal race in mind, I plan my day around the places I need to be and when I need to be there, but when it comes to orgainzing my home... well, "eventually" just never comes. Knowing I need to get something done by Friday, though. Well that I think I can do.

What a Saturday should feel like

Don't forget to give yourself a day. This is what I learned from today, a relatively easy Saturday, for once.

Last Saturday I attended an 8:00 AM restaurant meeting, followed by a double shift with no break because, ya know, people needed to eat. No problem- I figure 14 hours on my feet counts as something toward training or fitness maintenance. But it doesn't make me miss taking advantage of my weekends for getting outdoors any less. And that kind of positive thinking about my job can only carry me so far when I work weekend after weekend after weekend of double shifts, such as what happened in the month of January and some of February, too.

So I decided, with this new gig as an indoor cycling instructor, I'd whittle down my availability at work to exclude Sundays. Money's good, but sanity is better.

Today, I got to work (just lunch), work out (just me and a bike, no class), shower (not in a rush to get clean before the gym daycare closes), AND go OUT for dinner (not scramble to put together some sort of piecemeal, random-ass meal).

And I get to sleep in tomorrow?! What??

Seriously, folks. If you don't have the time to give yourself, make it. You'll thank yourself later. Your health, happiness, and well-being are worth SO much more than any day's to-do list.