Mission Organziation HELP #2

Marcia, just read that site thoroughly. The fact that Louise Hay says she loves the book helps, as I respect her opinion. Also glad to see the physical objects they recommend are from others so they aren't making any money on them.

Ok, my haul today. 2 girls, almost the same sizes (they wear 7 jeans, small and med shirts)

Tori=haircut, 2 pairs jeans,1 pair shorts, 4 t shirts, new shoes, glue and scissors

Sarah= haircut, 2 pairs jeans, 1 pair shorts, 4 t shirts, new shoes, glue and scissors

I already bought 99% of supplies, need pink erasers and tissues, already bought socks and undies.

Grand total, $158 and change.

Headache? priceless.
LOL

I have to get bubby his stuff yet, but he starts AFTER next payday so I'm covered. I still have to go through and see what is still good and wearable from last year and this summer. I know they each have 1 outfit, shorts and shirt, that is still good, we kept them for good only :)

Before anyone asks, we have this AWESOME new store open at the mall called Steve and Barry's and their grand opening sale is going on. EVERYTHING in the store is $6.98 and under. I bought 14 items of clothing and it came to $97.72 before tax. Shoes from Payless, buy one get one half off. Haircuts were under 25.00 for both. I got their socks and undies from dollar general a couple weeks ago, and their school supplies I have been stashing away over the summer :)

I'm pretty proud of myself

Janis

Woofens, good haul. I have been lurking in this forum, haven't posted, but I am assuming that we have issues with messiness and housekeeping, is that right? I belong here about half the time if that is right. I know some of you from other forums, and glad to see that you are talking about feng shui. Have read some, and will read the above post. Very intrigueing.

Yes I like free better too. That's the whole point of looking it up for me.
I best get to studying.
Any good herb/fung shui advice?
sidney

defoecat, basically you've summed it up in one sentence. BetsyBug started the original thread, and it grew from there. Alot of advice and encouragement. Alot of us use the FlyLady ( http://www.flylady.net ) system, some of us use someting called Messies anomyous (i know I spelled that wrong, Gardenwife told us about it)

I got really brave and posted some pictures of my house, to try to spur me into cleaning some more. I battle with depression and if you read back through the threads, you will see that we are trying to encourage, and inspire eachother. I feel like I have made some good friends on this thread, and want to keep it going. I have been doing very well, and alot of us are trying. The Feng Shui talk got started buy Darius in the previous thread, and I for one am gonna learn more about it. I know there are a couple others too.

Hope to get to know you soon
Janis

I mostly suffer from gardenitis. Mainly, spend too much time in the garden to get all the housework done!! My house gets to a point, and then, I just have to get it cleaned. I have looked at the sites you mentioned, and I am amazed at what you can get done in 15 minutes!! I figure, that this winter when I can't get outside I will devote my time to the house and maintaining it.

I alwys figure that too... some how it never really happens. LOL

I honesly believe one of my biggest hangups was my 14 YO. He went to stay with my mom during the week, and here on weekends, and since he has been there, things have gotten much beter. We have had some discipline problems with him... his dad sent him to me when he got to be too much for them to handle. He spent about 40 hours here Tues eve thru Thurs afternoon, and when I got home Thur after taking him bck to my mom's I just wanted to cry. His dirty clothes were everywhere, pop cans, plates bolws, et cetera. now I ask, beg, plead, yell at him to pick up after himself,to no avail. I know that my mom won't stand ofr it, but we'll see how that goes. I lovve my son, don't get me wrong. There is 6 years between my oldest and the next one, and 11 years between the youngest and oldest. My oldest is starting High school the youngest starts head start this year LOL

The 15 minutes a day really does work. It is really amazing what you can accomplish and the results are immediate. I was big into FlyLady a little over a year ago, then we had some rough spots and I just fell away from it. Being at the hospital for 30 days can do that to you :) When we got hoime, my now 8 yr old needed round the clock care, the house was the least of my worries. I hope by the end of September my routines will be in place again, and I will "never be more than 15 minutes away from being able to have company"

As my DH got up to go to bed tonight, I got up too, and he said what are you doing? He knows I can't go to bed as early as he does, and I told him I was picking up a bit. He said, I want you to know the house does look nice. BIG grin from me. I haven't even done that much, but he has noticed the difference That is the best feeling.

Talk to you soon
Janis

I am going to bed tonight WITHOUT shining my sink (or doing the few dirty dishes)... some days it is like that.

D'cat (Bonnie).. glad to have you join us!

me too, well without doing the dishes anyeway and there aren't hardly any.. we had pizza LOL

Hi gang! I don't think I posted on the first thread, but have been lurking both there and here and checking into the FlyLady site. What great ideas I'm discovering from ya'll and that site!!!

One of the things I picked up from my Mom was that, "If your kitchen is clean, the whole house seems cleaner." Despite all the piles of papers and stacks of gardening supplies and other shtuff strewn here and there, I think she's right. We always tended to congregate in the kitchen for coffee and iced tea and conversation, anyway. :)

Not that our small kitchen is ALWAYS clean... lol... but in the midst of absolute chaos, it sure is nice to walk into it in the morning to find a clean range top and counters and dried dishes in the dishrack (no dishwasher here). Need to do that real sink shining like they advise, but it's at least halfway there. :)

Now for the *REST* of the place! 15 minutes at a time works for me.
Donna

Donna Welcome:)

Flylady is big on the clean kitchen too, and I have noticed that mornings ARE nicer if my sink is shining and dishes done (no dishwasher here either). My dining room seems to be the place that everyone hangs out, but I think its because of the computer LOL
All of my other homes it has been the kitchen. I honestly think it is the "heart of your home". I love getting up in the morning and smelling the coffee, getting "my" coffee cup out of the dish drainer, and stiing down with that first cup, knowing that the kids can get breakfast with out me having to wash cups or bowls :). I really need to do mine tonight LOL I am being lazy, and I shouldn't. There really aren't that many...
I'll do them... sigh... LOL

Actually for me, there is something calming about doing the dishes at night when everyone else is sleeping. I turn my Music Match Jukebox on, turn the speakers up enough that I can hear it in the kitchen and dance and sing through the dishes. Goofy I know, but I love to sing. Came very close to doing it professionally, but that was another life time it seems...... Still sing around the house and occasionally in public.

Ok, I'm putting off the dishes LOL

Hugs to all
Janis

Thanks for the welcome, Janis! :)

Heh, when I was growing up with four siblings, we used to sing in the kitchen as we cleaned up from major meals. We even sang in four-part harmony once we learned all the parts from hymns and youth group songs and the radio and when our voices and "ears" developed!

Mom did the cooking, so we had the kitchen to tidy up afterwards on orders from Dad. Not unfair at all. One washed, one dried, one put away, one cleared dishes from the table and put away leftovers, and one swept the floor and wiped down all of the counter tops, range, and table. Very happy times, as the older kids taught the younger ones how to do things and had fun in the meantime. Including figuring out that the damp linen/muslim towels make a sharper snap when flipping butts than those terry cloth ones... hehehe... and dry quicker for the next day's use.

When I get caught singing in the kitchen, my SO1 smiles and I even get bonus hugs sneaked in from behind. It's no wonder that I find the kitchen the easiest to tackle. :)

Gotta start working on those other areas - hot points? - that are the bane of my existance. Where shall I begin tomorrow? Hmm. Will set up the coffee maker tonight and figure it out tomorrow over the first steaming mug.

Donna

Well, my dishes still aren't done, but I did sort and put away seeds that I have gotten in trade forthe past week, and got another trade ready to go in the AM. DH is off tomorrow (his ONLY day off) so there is a good chance that we will get pancakes and bacon for breakfast. I'm gonna stack the dishes and clean the sink out, set up the coffee pot, that kind of stuff. Usaully Jeff lets me sleep in on Saturday, since he gets up at 3AM to go to work its hard for him to sleep later than 7 or 8.

My 8 year old sings with me all the time. She is disabled, and is considered midly retarded, but that child can sing She learns the words to songs pretty quickly and remember them too. She is the one that will ask me to turn the TV off and the radio on.

It was just my sister and I growing up, and we had a dishwasher, so we took turns. Now I am the only dishwasher, unless I'm really sick, or something. My 14 DS was doing them, but he drove me nuts LOL everything felt greasy when he got done no matter how many times I tried to show him. Now he is at my moms staying for the school year (only 15 minutes away and in the same school district) so I'm doing them again. My DS3 "helps" That is usually the night the floor gets wiped off :) The girls (6 and 8) are starting to want to help me cook, and I have babied them alot, especially with Tori's differences, so that is a hard one for me. I am letting them help getting stuff out, and opening cans and stuff, but kids in the kitchen scare me.

my desk and DR table are my biggest hot spots. The kitchen table too, I guess. The girls have these things called Clik-Its. They are made by Lego, for girls, they make jewelry and picture frames, stuff like that. I bought just about every set available last year when tori had her surgery and then for Christmas, because they are so good for tori's fine motor skills. I make them keep them downstairs because they would be everywhere if they had them in their room. Needless to say they are scattered throughout my downstairs LOL I probalby pick up 100 of them a day. I have no idea how many the vaccuum has eaten.

I really want to take the carpet out of the LR and put in hard wood, or tile... linoleum something except carpet. It looks bad even if I vacuum 3 times a day.

Just remember baby steps, don't get on a huge kick and burn yourself out. Been there and done that, and it gets you absolutely no where. Your house didn't get dirty in a day, it won't get clean in a day (FlyLady) If you sign up for her mailing list, read the testimonials for a couple days. Although I have never felt the urge to dance with the feather dusters LOL They do help hearing from someone who was in your position or worse and how far they have come. If your interested, I"ll post my story about how I got into FLYLady, and a couple years later, how it helped me through 2 scheduled surgeries, 1 emergency surgery (following a life flight) and 2 floods LOL It was a fun 35 days :) I can Dmail it if you like, I think some here have already heard most of it.

Remember baby steps,
Janis

I would *LOVE* to read your story, Janis. :) Feel free to cut-and-paste it to my DG-mail or simply redirect me to where you posted it earlier, whatever is easier.

Does FlyLady talk about the importance of sleep? *giggle* You get yours and I'll get mine and with luck, we'll each have had a wonderful breakfast that made our tummies happy when we log in tomorrow morning. (my SO1 sounds a lot like your DH)

*HUGS* to you and a happy good morning to everyone logging in as I drift off to sleep on the left coast,
Donna

Gosh, I missed a lot. I knew a new thread had been started, but I forgot to 'watch' it. oops!
I have noticed that I am getting a lot more done not spending so much time on the computer. The 15 minute timer trick works great for me. I allow myself 15 on the computer and I spend my internet time more efficiently. I'll bet a lot of us have that problem of getting sidetracked, following link after link. I actually cleaned a bathroom that hasnt been cleaned in a year. It was used for the catbox, storage, dh used it to wash up after working . It was gross. I never even looked at it, just kept the door closed. But I cleaned it top to bottom and even hung some pictures. Anyone want to come over and use the bathroom? LOL! It is motivating me to keep the other (semi) clean too. Don't know if y'all know my situation, but I'm always working on some kind of fixer upper project on the house. Right now all the cabinet doors are off in my kitchen waiting to be sanded and stained and the shower surround in my bath is half torn off the wall. It is a challenge for me everyday to want to keep a clean house when its in a constant state of flux. It is truly CHAOS. Happy Saturday to everyone. Remember it is Family Fun day. Except if you're like me and your DH works Sats. It's a day like all the rest.

Janis,
May I suggest that you post it in your journal. That way I can read it too and then, anytime you want to direct them, direct to journal and it is easy to find... ~ Suzi :)

This sign is on my entry door, I feel it's only fair to warn those who are about to enter.

Hey I need to figure out how to use the journal, never looked at it. I could do my before/after room redo's there also Suzi? can I add pictures? I should just go look, bbl. Rachel

Blooms, I LOVE it!

Just got this email:

Oh wow. I just go up :) DH let me sleep my little heart out since this will be the last day for a while. School starts Tues, and we have to get up at 6:30 or so (wahhhhhhhhhhhh). LOL

I will keep Kelly's daughter in my prayers.

Blooms love the sign!! I told my MIL oncethat if she came to see us, come anytime, if she came to see the house call and make an appointment. She called Jeff at work crying about it LOL Geez........
As for our "story" Tomorrow, I"ll post it in my journal. I'm gonna try to get some stuff done here today and hopefully spend some time with Jeff. Only 1 day off a week is getting old really fast :(

I'll check in later

Hugs to all
Janis

Went to make dinner, pulled out the ground chuck, only to find it had gone bad :( Called the grocery store they are replacing it, but geez.. Jeff went to get a new package. Got my plants watered, on the porch and outside, scrubbed the corner the garbage can sits it (what is it about kids that they can never get anyting IN the garbage can?? Sprayed for ants :(

Went to the living room earlier to spend time with Jeff, he got up and went to the store LOL Just one of those things. I'm hoping to take my medicine early tonight, around 10-11, and be asleep before midnight (I can hope right?) That will be a new sticker for me :)LOL

Posted some stuff on our local freecycle, halloween customes that have been in a bag, for years, a brand new bby monitor and a bedside commode (YUCK)LOL We had to have it when Tori came home, she wasn''t allowed to climb the stairs. I am sure i"m going to find more espcecially when we bring the stuff home from storage. But for now its a start.

Couldn't find the stupid ant spray so I spent about 15 minutes cleaning out from under my sink. I can actually find stuff in there now. Threw away 5 or 6 things we never use.

I'll have to post pics of the kids haircuts later on, maybe in the photos thread. Sarah's went from the middle of her back to her chin, in a layered bob. It really looks cute. :)

Ok, its getting green outside, we are supposed to have storms, (Figures I watered LOL)
I'll be back when the storms pass

Janis

Hoping I do better tonight. Didn't shine my sink last night, and even left 2 dirty dishes in it. Tonight, I MUST... made shrimp scampi with shrimp from the freezer, and pasta, plus garlic bread. My kitchen smells heavenly but that's a big pile of dirty dishes for one woman!

Well you all will be glad to know that in addition to doing some prep work for tomorrow's company, I cleaned my laundry room, swept the deck and mopped the kitchen. It went over the 15 minutes, but it all got done. While I was doing that DH got out the power washer and washed the front porch. We have a big problem with spiders and he took care of the mess they had made. So when company comes tomorrow, they will see (on the surface anyway) a shiny clean house!! Makes one feel good when it's that way.

BTW, this was after going to the Ky State Fair today in 96 degree weather with a heat index of 105, and then fixing supper.

I'm off to the shower to wash the salt feel from my skin.

WOW! I am proud of you! ~ Suzi :)

That is awesome Dcat:)

I did very little, got a migraine this evening, after a spat with DH (over what kind of potatoes to have for dinner LOL) I did dishes before dinner now I have just a few to do, and I am definately gonna do them before bed. Took a MaxAlt for my head, makes me sleepy, so I"m not gonna stay up long.

Talk to you all tomorrow :)

Janis

Okay - I tried to post last night but my darn ISP is coming and going - we're going to have to call them I guess.

ANYWHO.....

Woofens - I got ya beat...spent $504 at vet for 1 cat's annual exam/bloodwork/meds/etc. Knowing he's not any worse with his age and disease (18 with chronic renal failure) - priceless (I guess!!!). We keep thinking any day now he's gonna go - but he's hanging on and she actually said his coat and all looks much better. So - go figure. Now I've got to get the other 4 in for their annuals. One a month - maybe. SO now we're back to thinking we will do something about the carpet he's destroyed (and continues to). But it will be cheap - just to last till he goes.

Last night I had dishes done and sink shined by 7 pm - Sci-Fi night so my butt was in front of the tube last night. BUT this morning - I cleaned the master bathroom vanity - a little more than 15 minutes. Then the rest of the day I've been working on getting music ready for chorus which starts the season Monday night.

So - we've got a few newbies - great! All the support we can get and give can only help.

I'll certainly keep Kelly's daughter in mind. Scary no matter who you are.

Still reading about Feng Shui - very interesting. Had an interesting conversation about that and cosmic energy with one of the guys I work with who's from India. It's amazing the similarities among different "religions" or beliefs.....at least I find them so.

Blooms - LOVE the sign - may have to copy that!

Gotta go catch up while isp is on!

Later all!

M.

Betsy,
Do you watch the new Battlestar Galactica? We are SO addicted.

Got my sewing room in some semblance of order. As soon as the floor is done, The furniture should be back in place. My kitchen is a mess, but only about a 15 min mess. I have been keeping it clean. We won't talk about the laundry...
Melissa

Tombaak - OH YEA - we watch both Stargates then Battlestar. Only thing about it is it's so sad don't you think? These people fighting against the machines and NEVER seeming to get a break? But - I still think it's a super.

And - not talking about the laundry is FINE with me. DH just jumped up and put his unmentionables in the wash - at least he does that much - but he has to be out of clean to do it!!! I HATE LAUNDRY!

Tonight - I'm taking the Scarlett attitude - "Tommorow is another day....."

M;-)

Melissa where are you .... you just posted 15 minutes ago LOL

Janis

I turned on messenger...

sorry Melissa, I was fighting with my computer :( Stupid thing LOL

Janis

My sink is spotless, My kitchen and dining room relatively clean. Whoo-Hoo. Most of my laundry is even clean, just not folded or where it should be. But... again... My kitchen looks great,

And as the Flylady says, "Perfection is the enemy of good enough." LOL Now i wouldn't want to make enemies with good enough.

HEY You logged on then off... where are yo?LMAO

Janis

After making Shrimp Scampi and pasta tonight, my kitchen sink is clean and shiny. Didn't want to do it but now it's done,

Great job Darius:)
Mine is done too, and 2 baskets of clothes folded :)

I'm so proud of us

Janis

Wow, we might not be "flying" but i'd say there is some serious fluttering going on here.

Good Job

I agree and we are growing too. The *SMALL's* are gonna stay that way LOL

Janis

Well, posted that, then chatted with Melissa a while (tombaak) and then whent down to switch out loads of laundry. Brought the clothes in the dryer up, put the washed ones in the dryer, and started the washer filling. Came upstairs got a new load, went downstairs.... wahser isn't filling. Fight with it a few minutes, notice pump isn't kicking on. We have a pump that shuts itself off, rather than burn up if it can't get the water pressure up tp whatever is is supposed to be. Looked at the gauge, less than 10 pounds of pressure. Sigh.. Try to restart it manually. No luck. We are out of water. Second time this year. Only the 2nd time since we moved in here in Oct 2001. Wrote Jeff a note, asking him to try to get it to pump up at 3 when he gets up for work. Folded the clothes that came out of the dryer (WOO HOO). Went to bed 2AM (so much for early) Jeff woke me up at 3:15, said the pump had finaally pumped back up, but to be careful.

The joys of country living. I probably have 5 loads of clothes that need done, and I can't do any. Serious water conservation today. The kids start school Teus, got to get school clothes washed, and the kids need bathed (stinky kids are fun LOL)
I'm gonna go watch TV with the kids maybe fold some more clothes, ttyl

Janis