I fell off the FlyLady wagon, oh I don't know, about a year ago? I am trying to get back on again.
I keep seeing the testimonials from the FlyLady list for Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner. I decided to check out the site a couple of weeks ago and have been debating joining. I finally decided to try it out, and luckily for me when I joined the menu mailers for three months were on sale for $6.95.
You can try a free sample menu without signing up. It was a little confusing when I joined. First off, I used PayPal and the money had to move from my checking account, so there was a delay on my subscription. Secondly, you only get access to a sample menu mailer until the first Tuesday after you subscribe. They don't make that clear, at least I didn't grasp it, and was unsure as to why I wasn't able to get to "my menus".
Saturday night we had our first meal from the sample menu mailer. I am very picky about how things taste, and this meal was truly delicious. It was chicken breasts with lemon slices, olive oil and zucchini squash, topped with the feta cheese I started earlier in the day, which Kev finished making so I could leave to go to Home Depot with dh.
I decided to start with the "Body Clutter" menu mailer. The neat thing about this service is Leanne not only gives you six days worth of dinner meals, with the recipe, but she also makes a shopping list which shows what you'll need to make all the meals. You just go through the shopping list and check your fridge and pantry and cupboards and cross off anything you already have "in stock", leaving you with a list of what you need to buy.
Oh, and I guess a new feature is she used to subscribe you to just one menu mailer, if you signed up for Body Clutter, that's all you could access. But now she allows you to subscribe to one, and have access to all. The others are Regular, Heart Healthy and Low Carb. The Body Clutter menu seems to be quite Low Carb. I hate to admit it, but I am so sensitive to carbs that I feel much better when I avoid them. 
For our family, the shopping list caused a little bit of a problem because well, it is becoming obvious to me that we eat too much food. The menu creates meals to serve four people, and there is no way we could get by with preparing that small amount of food. I have food issues, it is becoming more and more obious that my dh has food issues, and on and on. Anyway, if Kev or I dared cook only four servings there would be mass hysteria and rebellion.
So we'll have to take it slow. What I decided we'd do is make double the menu. This also offers the option for me to have lunch for leftovers the next day. We were supposed to make a vegetable to go along with the meal, and a salad. But we only got the dinner part cooked.
I am also trying to incorporate some FlyLady routines. I've never really got them started, and it is so difficult for me to get to work on time for all I have to do in the morning. I am trying to get a weekend routine put together, which would include getting my clothes ready for work for the entire week. Last Thursday morning, it was 4:50am and I was trying to find a shirt to wear that wasn't wrinkled or stained. I ended up wearing one of ds1's shirts that was very huge on me, had cat hair on it, and I'm sure I just looked like a mess. I've also been having a problem deciding what to wear for church on Sunday.
So if I get my clothes ready on the weekend, including what I'll wear to church, I can eliminate that stress.
I have also started having scrambled eggs for breakfast for me and dh, and I really like that little bit of time we have together in the morning. It only takes about 15 minutes, but it has been making me late for work. We switched milking to mornings, because it's too hot in the afternoon now, and the flies bother us. That takes up at least 30 minutes. And I need to figure out something for my lunch for the day, plus 2 to 3 snacks so I'm not tempted to stop for something from a convenience store, or fast food. I also have to get my vitamins together. So I'm hoping to move these things to the evening prior, as well as looking at the Saving Dinner menu to see what's for dinner the next evening and taking the meat from the freezer so it can start to thaw.
Until next time.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Saving Dinner
Labels: Body Acceptance, FlyLady
Friday, December 21, 2007
My Progress So Far Today
Labels: FlyLady, geek-stuff
Let's see what I've accomplished on my list so far today...
I put black photo corners on one picture, cut some scrapbooking paper into a 5x7 and put one picture in the wedding book.
Other than the things on my list, I did get something done. I played around with the Make Your Own Kaleidoscope making some more kaleidoscopes. Alright? It's relaxing for me to play on my computer. Aside from that, these are the other things I accomplished:
- Washed and dried our bedding
- Defrosted the our upright freezer
- Inventoried the food in the freezer and posted a list to the front of it
- Baked more butternut squash to make Pioneer Woman's Butternut Squash Puree
- Washed two loads of dishes (put away one)
- Wiped the kitchen counters
- Mixed and blended the squash and refrigerated it for later
Until next time.
Six Days of Freedom
I'm free, I'm free! For the next six days I get to stay home and don't have to go to work. I just found out yesterday that the agency I work for is closed on Monday, and my boss told me to go ahead and take Wednesday, too.
So I don't have to be back to work until Thursday, and then only for the one day! Then I'm off again Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Who knows if they will give us Monday off, too? That would be awesome!
What to do, what to do, what to do with all my free time?! Let's see, here's the things that pop into my head:
A. CLEAN THE HOUSE
- Clean my bedroom (donate a lot of "stuff")
- Clean my closet
- Clean my bathroom
- Clear my bathtub of the bags and boxes so I can take a HOT BATH (I rarely take baths, but I find a tub of hot water soothing when my nerves are frazzled.
- Clean the MEN'S bathroom
- Clean ds1's room
- Clean the porch
- Clean the kitchen, move the stove out and clean under it (I do this fairly often and hate seeing that crack of flooring beside the stove that I can't get to without pulling out the stove all the way to get to it
B. Budget Stuff: Sit down and put the receipts from the last two weeks into Quicken and find out where we stand on our money.
C. Photos: Work on my pretty new wedding photo album and put some of our wedding pictures into frames and get them hung on the walls
D. Garden: I would love to get my garden repaired, lay the water lines and get some seeds planted. It is not too late to plant winter vegetables. They could probably use a seed cover to help get them started. We'll see if I get around to that. If I get my bathroom cleaned, I could start my indoor plants (eggplant and tomatoes) in my baby plant cage that my husband build and installed for me several years ago.
E. Blogging: Work toward my goal to have 500 posts on my blog by December 31st.
F. Nap: Catch up on my sleep by taking glorious wonderful mid-day naps. I love napping if it's not too late in the afternoon.
Until next time.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Two Nice Things
My MIL has only visited us here at our home six or seven times in the five years we've lived here. I remember distinctly two of those times she scrubbed my kitchen sink. It was pretty grungy, with all the gunk built up around the sink handles and back of the sink. But since I started trying to do FlyLady again, I try to wash and whine shine the sink at least once each weekend. She's never been mean about it or anything, she would just start scrubbing, like that's one of the things she always notices at other people's house. You know how that is?
Like when I go to her house, I notice the fingerprints and dirt on every door near the knob. And she and her husband live alone. :-) It always bugs me and I want to grab a bottle of cleaner and clean it. The interesting thing is when I was cleaning buildings for them, that is what I noticed was filthy, the door knob area of every door. Funny how things get on your "radar" and you notice it, and other things don't.
The other nice thing was since I invested the time in cleaning my bathroom and it's still not spotless. . . at least I could let her go in there and use the toilet without a lot of stress. The men's room here is a big mess. But my bathroom was pretty good. A few spots on the mirror, so obviously I didn't just clean it. And the toilet was swished and my shoes were neatly in their spot. It's still got a big pile in the tub, but it was very nice that it was clean enough to let her in there without worrying about it.
She would never have fussed at me, but I am sure she would have thought something in her head about what a mess. There is no way to overlook the big mess that was in my bathroom. I mean come on, if I got three 55 gallon garbage bags out of there, just imagine.
It's time to milk.
We are all going to church this morning, taking two vehicles so I can stop afterwards and get a few more things that ds2 and his Granny didn't get a chance to stop for. They shopped for the paper goods for the wedding. Dinner and cake plates, dinner and smaller napkins, food utensils and drinking glasses.
Today after church I have to get the plastic champagne glasses, a belt for ds1, plastic tongs and large plastic spoons, and punch. I see myself stopping at two places minimum. My boss also said to feel free to start bringing supplies to work and stashing them in her office.
Until next time.
Friday, August 24, 2007
They Won't Listen To Me
Labels: FlyLady
I keep telling these guys that I live with that it DOES make a difference to use the carpet cleaner on this carpet!
Dh's sister gave us a professional carpet cleaner over a year ago. Ds2 tried cleaning the carpet with it one time, but the hose was ruined with holes all in it and it just didn't work out very good. We were all discouraged about it and no one has tried it since. That was probably back in January. I did buy a replacement hose ($30! for a six feet) but it has just sat around. The carpet has gotten increasingly worse. It doesn't help that my dearest heart loves to give his little LJ bones to eat wherever his little heart desires. So the carpet gets these big globbing greasy spots that collect every grain of sand that comes in the house. Which is a lot. Trust me. I sometimes have to empty the vacuum cleaner twice while vacuuming. I am demanding that LJ be taught to eat his bones in one place, on a blanket or towel. I have tried to teach him that but EVERYONE needs to be consistent in order for him to fully comply.
Yesterday dh and I were talking about putting ceramic tile in, and today I just couldn't take it for even another minute. I managed to find all the pieces to the carpet cleaner and boy was it ever a mess. The carpet cleaner only sprays and sucks, but the messy grease spots needed scrubbing. So I spent over 3 hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet with the car scrubbing brush. I knew that I shouldn't use DAWN dishwashing detergent because it will attract dirt. I used some carpet cleaning liquid and for the really bad spots, our homemade goat's milk soap. It seems to have worked well.
In spite of my physical pain, it was so worth it! It's not PERFECT, but it's an amazing improvement over the way it looked before. Don't hate me. I'm sure you've noticed in some of my photos how bad the carpet looks. All the little spots. Gross. YUCK!! Don't look! Skip down to the next one!
It was hard work!! I was sweating real hard to begin with and my back was protesting mightily. I kept going and going and going, and finally got to a point where I was comfortable in stopping. What I mean by that is if I don't finish tomorrow like I plan to, then it won't be too noticeable the area that I didn't finish.
After I stopped my back was cramped up so bad that I had to lie down, take aspirin AND apply ICY-HOT.
Tomorrow the kitchen and then I need to start on some wedding things! I read through a bit of the book on vows and such. I'd like to get started on the program. At least get it started.
Until next time.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Today's Housework
As usual, I'm having trouble getting motivated.
Sometimes I use music to get me going, but after I read this article yesterday I was a bit chagrined to discover that I may give up listening to my favorite music. It slams Contemporary Christian Music claiming that an estimated 95% is not Biblical.
Anyway, here is my plan. I'm going to get off this computer and head into the kitchen. I'm setting the timer for 30 minutes and I'm going to see how much I can accomplish. Since I had the kitchen cleaned up yesterday, except for the floor, it shouldn't take more than half an hour.
My next 30 minutes will be either: Tackle the living room, or bead another line on the veil.
The next 30 minutes will be the reverse of whatever I chose - you know, if I beaded, I'll clean the living room and vice versa.
I'm getting so close on being done with the edge beading on the veil. I have about five feet to go (about 2 hours or so). I've asked the guys to stop by JoAnn's and pick up another package of the beads so I can finish and start on the pearl clusters. It is beautiful.
Some time today I also need to clean ds1's bedroom, fold laundry and put it away (it's so much easier to do one load at a time!). I've already printed out all the statements for our checking and credit card accounts so I want to get to that today, too. It's been six weeks since I last worked with our finances. OUCH!
See you around 11:20am.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Clean Kitchen: 3 Hours
I'm finally done with the kitchen. It took three hours. Dh did the bulk of the dishes this morning so not many dishes, but the counters all needed to be wiped and scrubbed, along with the stove and floor. I also washed cabinet doors and pulled out the stove to clean under it. I've found when I do it more often it is much easier to clean. Don't even ask me about refrigerators...
My back and neck still feel stiff from working on the beading earlier. I really need to figure out how to do it without putting my body in distress. I'm feeling a bit obsessed with it and am going to work another line of thread and then start on something else.
Until next time.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Hooded Baby Sweater Update 6/15/07
Labels: FlyLady, knitting, Relaxing
I've made some good progress in the past couple of weeks. I'm on the last piece that needs to be knitted, the hood. I've cast on 95 and have completed five rows so far.
Ds2 did a House Blessing on Thursday, wow, the house looked great when we got home last night. The kitchen was clean, including the counters wiped, the stove wiped, dishes done and the floor swept and mopped. He also tidied up the living room, cleaned the little chicks cage and vacuumed the livingroom floor. It was really a blessing to me as I already feel the pressure is off for this weekend. I got up this morning, milked in my new milking parlor, came in processed the milk and still managed to spend an hour in the kitchen. It was already pretty clean, but last night's dishes needed to be done, and I had to put a gallon of milk in the freezer and change out my kefir grain's milk. I spent about an hour and then I was able to sit down and relax for a while and knit on the hooded baby sweater.
Ds2 and I are going to his eye appointment at 2:15pm today. It is also the PERFECT RUSE to do Father's Day shopping. Dh wants a table saw and some coveralls. We are going to come home the back way and leave the presents at our neighbor's house (the neighbor lives in another state and we watch their home throughout the year). Tomorrow when dh and I go into town to do errands and dh goes to his appointment, ds2 will go over to the neighbor's house and bring the presents home and hide them.
I'm going to have to post some pictures of my new milking parlor. It is actually what we used to call the milking shed, since it had boxes stored in it. It was so dusty though and there was almost no room for milking so I hadn't been using it in the past few months. But now that the flies are back I can't milk right out in the open because they are just too obnoxious. I actually have an air conditioning unit in my milking parlor now. It is not completely finished yet. I still need to paint the floor and we have to install the counter and hook up the water to the sink.
I think I'm going to take a short nap.
Until next time.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
The Cluttery Area Is Neat
Here's the area behind my chair, all neat and tidy now. I need to get the fax machine set up. I rarely send or receive faxes, but it's nice to have it available, just in case.
I made some brownies from a mix. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Brownie Mix. I added pecans and used all the leftover bits of cream cheese to make the cream cheese brownies version. I didn't buy this mix, it was given to me with a few other healthy type canned goods. They are very good brownies, although I had to bake them for 45 minutes rather than the 25 called for on the package.
I also started some pinto beans. I wanted to take advantage of the ham bone that's been in the fridge since last week.
I still need to tidy up the living room and vacuum. I've got one load of clothes ready for folding and will have two more shortly.
Soon I'll have pictures of my new milking parlor. Dh cleared out the shed completely, washed it down and painted it with the light green OOPS paint I got from Home Depot many months ago. We have a several cabinets that will fit in there and I want to get a sink set up so I'll having running water aside from using the hose. I also would like to splurge and buy a window air conditioning unit. It will make milking much more enjoyable in the afternoons.
I wonder how this knit hat would work with the Lion chenille... it's called Odessa by Grumperina. I'd like to make a fitted hat for ds1 which would look hair-like. He has alopecia areata, which means he is completely bald. He's been bald for several years. Actually, he thinks I cut his hair off and that's why he's bald. He's really convinced of it and sometimes yells at me for his loss of hair. Poor guy.
Until next time.
My New Cubbyholes
In my ongoing quest to become organized, (haha)I'm realizing one thing that helps is to have a place for everything and everything in its place. Dh took these cubbyhole/shelves down from an office he's remodeling at his job and I could see lots of organizational uses for them immediately. Tiger saw another good purpose. A new place to sleep. Click on each photo to see a larger version (plus you will be able to read the caption better).
It is hard to get organized when you don't spend much time at home. When I was a stay at home parent, I had lots of time to get things organized. Some things were organized. For example, I had a place to keep my new checks, but I have never established a place here. That is one of the things I love about my sewing machine because it has a cabinet upon which it sits and three drawers for organizing my sewing items.
So in the cubbyholes so far there are new checks, blank envelopes, stamps, and address labels. Finally a place for tape and the stapler. And backup CDs.
Back to cleaning the kitchen. I've always wiped down all the counters, cleaned the stovetop and drip pans, washed some dishes and wiped down the table. Now I need to get some laundry started, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, straighten the living room and vacuum. One day I hope to make a dent on the mess behind my desk. Ds2 would love me dearly if I would clean up this cluttered pile.
Oh. Naptime's over for a few minutes. How will Tiger get himself out of this dilemma?
He did it! Yay, Tiger! That was quite a feat for Tiger. I have suspected that he is visually impaired since he was very young because he is very clumsy and uncat-like.
Until next time.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Keeping Secrets
Labels: FlyLady
Dh is beginning to get suspicious. Ds2 told him my mom was coming out to help draw blood for CAE testing. So he asked me this morning on the phone which goats was I going to draw blood from? I told him I wasn't, that a lady might have been coming by a couple weeks ago. Then he said ds2 said she was coming to help draw blood. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about, and that my mom was coming out to bring 4 bags clothes for ds2 and the two milk ice chests.
ANYWAY... on to my progress for the morning. Not much. But I have been working steadily. I have washed two loads of clothes already. So glad that it's as easy as throwing them in the washer, imagine how long it would take if I had to wash them by hand in a creek on a rock? ;-) Ds1 and I did his Sunday room blessing. That takes 15-20 minutes, his bedding is in the dryer. He's eating breakfast and has had his shower. I dumped the vacuum cleaner dirt canister, we have so much dust and dirt out here I have to empty it often. There was something in a plastic grocery bag on the floor in the kitchen, either sugar or salt. I hope salt. I vacuumed that up. Now I need to go sweep the kitchen floor and remop it. Wipe down the counters, wash the few dishes that have accumulated. I've had a glass of Ovaltine chocolate milk for breakfast. I've milked and processed the milk and it's in the chilling bucket chilling. The eggs are washed and on the counter drying. I need to put them in a carton. Two loads of clothes are ready for folding. I need to make a dent in the living room.
Last night ds2 also made two loaves of bread for the stuffing, and two pumpkin pies.
More later.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Master Bedroom Cleanup
Labels: FlyLady, Home Improvement
Ds2 just asked me isn't it weird how we are posting all these pictures of our dirty house, like we're incriminating ourselves... hmmm...
So I've been working a couple of hours. I'm actually feeling pretty tired. My sinuses are messed up today, very swollen and hard to breathe through my nose. So really the last thing I need to be doing is cleaning out my messy bedroom.
Crazy Aunt Purl gave a little tip about using Photoshop and suggests a thin line around the photo makes it look more professional, so I'm going to try it out.
Please still be my friend. And here goes. One before picture and one in progress picture. Looks like someone's really messy storage unit, eh? Maybe once I have it cleaned up, with FlyLady's help I can keep it cleaned up. If you look carefully, behind the blue trash can (which wasn't in there prior to starting the clean up), there is a blue chair that I used to sit in and watch television. The chair broke down and started getting covered with everything but the kitchen sink. Also, in the second picture, the cupboards are going outside into the shed. Too bad anything like this becomes a haven for mice.
I did find several books I've been "keeping an eye out for". 
I think I may nap for a while.
Until later.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Final Update for Today
Labels: blah blah blah, FlyLady
I continued on working throughout the day. I did lie down for an hour and tried to nap, but my sinuses are so thoroughly clogged (I wore a quality brand name dust mask when I was messing around in the dusty shed) that I had to lay there gasping with my mouth open. I have a very hard time sleeping with my mouth open, so I didn't really sleep all that much. My sinuses are still clogged... I wonder if I have any hydrogen pyroxide... I read about something on the Internet about putting hydrogen pyroxide in the ears to help with illness. I took one dose of grapefruit seed extract, I should take more of that tonight. I have to do something to try to get my sinuses to clear or I'm not going to get much sleep tonight.
Let's see, here's what I accomplished. I restraightened the living room, and vacuumed one area. I took the blades off the dining room ceiling fan and washed them in the sink, then washed the entire fan (it had fly poop spots all over it and was just grungy and covered with chunks of dust). Having the stepladder in the house is coming in handy. I still need to clean the living room fan. I'm not following FlyLady at all, but I want to! I just have been needing to focus my energy on specific areas in the house in order to be ready in time.
I also tackled my bedroom, just one small area, about 10 feet by 4 feet. But I got it all picked up and vacuumed. Ds1 and I did the Sunday "room blessing" we started doing on his room ever since we got it cleaned up. I did give him the chair I bought the other day, he was happy about that. I washed his bedding and clothes, and I washed my bedding and two loads of my clothes and laundry.
I think that is it. That kept me busy for HOURS. Ds2 relayed to dh by phone that all I do is sleep. Hmph. Even though I know it was said for the effect of detering dh from thinking we are cleaning (we are SUCH slobs here!! Just take a look at that living room before picture, geez!!!! Talk about CHAOS [FlyLady's acronym for Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome]) it still got on my nerves a little bit, since I have being going without naps and enough sleep just to work as much as I can on the house.
Between today and yesterday, ds2 tackled the dining room area and gleefully threw away LOTS of things. He is feeling blocked since our TWO trash containers are now full. ("Mo-om! There's nowhere to throw anything away!") I don't know how much they hold, but they must hold at least 65 gallons or maybe 80. Two weeks ago we ordered a second can from our trash company for three months so we can work at throwing more stuff away. I fear we need another rolloff. And yes, I am donating what (little) I can, that isn't completely destroyed by mice. I have an entire set of Woman's Day Cookbooks in my vehicle. I already checked on eBay. One person sold a set of 12 for $3.99 recently. My version is 1979.
Here it is 8:20 and I still have to pull my clothes and bedding from the dryer, make my bed AND wash my two work dresses. I have decided to dress at least halfway professionally tomorrow as my job is having a tour for one of our major funders. I have been dressing down for the past 5 months. I have not had the energy to dress up, and I've grown fatter so most of my clothes don't fit me.
And on that note, as I go to bed with a glass of chocolate milk for dinner...
Until next time.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sick Again Already
Labels: blah blah blah, FlyLady, My Faith, Sick
I normally don't get sick for a year or two at a time. I was sick with a head cold back in October and now here I am sick with a head cold again. I know why, because I haven't been taking care of myself properly. By that I mean I haven't been getting enough sleep, and have been drinking coffee just to stay awake.
My typical day for the past couple weeks has been getting up at 3:30am, I'm driving and away from home for 11.5 hours, coming home milking, then getting to bed at 9pm if I'm lucky. On Friday night I started feeling like my throat wasn't right. Just a bit scratchy. This has been my last 24 hours.
5am - 7am Cleaned kitchen, swept floor. The kitchen wasn't too bad, but it did take me 2 straight hours! I have not been able to "shine the sink" this entire past week. Daily upkeep makes a HUGE difference in weekend cleaning time.
7am - 7:15am Threw hay.
7:15am - 9:30am Sleeping.
9:30am - Noon Finished knitting the scarf I started on Friday. Don't remember what I was doing but I was up and awake and busy.
Noon - 3pm More Sleeping.
3pm - 8pm Awake. Helped ds2 clean coils on the outside part of the air conditioning unit. Cooked dinner (chicken soup with homemade egg noodles). Paid ds2 (who was not showing any signs of being sick yet) to milk. Watched a terrible Pay Per View movie called _Crank_. Yuck.
8pm - 2:30am Sleeping.
2:30am - 4:00 Hungry, warmed up some chicken soup. Computer time.
4:00am - 7:15am Asleep.
7:15am - 7:30am Threw hay.
7:30am - 8am Tidied up, vacuumed ds1's bedroom. Washed his bedding. He did very good this week. Not even *one* dish in his room! And he used his garbage can all week long. Very nice job.
8:00am - 11:00am Not sure what all I did... but do remember one outstanding thing. I sewed with my new machine. I made a cover for the top of the sewing machine cabinet, to keep it looking new. My new machine is incredible and amazing. I can only say the smoothness of it makes me think of cutting through butter. The motor is quiet and it is so smooth.
11:00am - 3:20pm Back in bed, more sleeping.
3:20pm to now Some computer time. Also dragged the old three story rat cage off the porch. Started my clothes in the washer. Heated up some cream of chicken soup for ds2 who is now sick and very thrilled about it. He's the weirdest person. He longs to be sick and looks forward to it. He got lucky this time. Normally he doesn't get sick. He's been sick maybe 8 times in his 17 years. I attribute his strong immune system to two things. Extended breastfeeding, and no vaccinations.
I was stressing because our air conditioner is not working. It is icing up on the coils. We cleaned the coils both inside and out. We were so excited to see how dirty the outside coils were, because we were sure that was causing the unit to ice up. But alas, once we got it all nice and clean, the unit still started icing up and is not cooling the house down. It just runs and runs and runs. I have learned more about air conditioning units in the last few weeks than I've ever known in my entire life. What with dh not being here, he is the one that usually keeps up with the maintenance on the a/c unit.
Speaking of another thing dh does, the oil changes on my vehicle. Now that ds2 is sick, he isn't going to be able to change the oil this weekend for me. I think I'm already past 5000 miles. Agh. Now is not the time to start falling down on oil changes - my odometer just turned over 200,000 a month or so ago, and now it's close to 204,000. We've been very faithful with oil changes at 3000 to 4000 miles for the entire time we've owned it. It has been a wonderful, reliable vehicle. I would always recommend Nissan Pathfinders. Mine is the 1996 model. Very lovely vehicle. The nicest I've owned in my entire life.
I just talked to ds2 and asked him how long he thinks we can go without the air conditioner. Reason being, it is stressing me out because I'm sick, he's sick and I don't want anyone coming into our home without a bit more work on our part. The boys' bathroom still needs some serious attention. It is a terrible mess. I wouldn't want to have someone come over and need to use the toilet and see that disaster area. Also, ds2 did some decluttering in the livingroom yesterday, cleaning out a shelving unit and threw away four bags of "stuff". It was really annoying as I was on the computer for the first time in days and he kept asking me if he could throw this or that away. He was behind me, so I had to keep turning all the way around to see what he was talking about. He did a great job decluttering though and even cleaned up and vacuumed the living room after he was done. So the living room is fairly clean. Except he put four bags of garbage on the back porch, which is the main entryway to our home. And the garbage can is already full. So I have nowhere to put that garbage. Plus 2-3 loads of bedding and clothing from last week's cleaning of ds1's room is still sitting on the porch.
See I was thinking I need to get someone out immediately, since it is already starting to heat up here. But ds2 said he didn't think we'd call anyone out for a couple of weeks at least. That really takes a big load off my mind. Because now I don't have to force myself to clean the boys' bathroom, the porch, etc.
It's time like these that I embrace my faith, refusing to let life get me down. This is all I need, is to be sick. I have always thought the reason I rarely get sick is because of my devotion to getting the proper hours of sleep for my body. I have been running myself ragged the past couple of weeks, and now it's time for me to cut way back on the things I'm doing. As much as I hate the thought of it, I am going to have to. There is also the worry of getting so very ill like I was back in the summer of 2002.
Did I mention here yet that my job finally approved my extra day each week? That's what you call cutting back, yessiree. ;-)
Seriously, we need the money. Speaking of money, I haven't had time to look at our money for weeks again. I have no idea how much we owe and to whom. I should get off this computer now.
One more thing. I'm doing all I can to keep this virus from getting any worse than it is now. It basically feels like a head cold and I'm just really tired. Every time I exert myself physically I start to sweat and then I get really worn out tired. Even sitting at the sewing machine made me really tired.
Until next time.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Room Makeover
Labels: FlyLady, Home Improvement
Yesterday ds2 and I tackled ds1's room. Dh and I removed the carpet several months ago, and we never got it replaced as planned. Yesterday, I couldn't take it another minute. I made up my mind I was getting flooring down for him one way or another. Initially I was thinking linoleum since carpet can so easily be dirtied, but since the subfloor was now dirty and stained, it wasn't going to be easy or cheap. I considered buying sheets of particle board and laying a new subfloor, but that would take more time and money. Then laying the linoleum tiles one at a time. I started thinking carpet, even without padding underneath would be better than just subflooring. Anyway, ds2 got that laid. It cost $75.00 from Home Depot. Not bad! I also bought ds1 a new set of bedding, and a new rat cage.
He always gets mad at whoever tries to clean his room - because he thinks he does an appropriate job. But he does not, so we have to help him stay on top of it. In the past few weeks I'd fallen short on that responsibility, so things had gotten a bit out of hand in his room.
But now it's all pretty and nice. He was very thrilled at his nice new room. His room is getting added to the FlyLady routine.
Until next time.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wow, This Might Actually Work
Labels: FlyLady
Gulp, I guess I'm talking about FlyLady. I've been doing better in the past week with keeping my kitchen sink clean, but I've also been on vacation from work. However... I have been driving into town every single day (about 3 hours round trip) and I'm not home until around 5pm.
After I posted my last entry, I had some more work to get done:
- I washed my SUV. Outside only, but I did wash the windows on the inside with the damp towel. Hopefully next week I will have the energy and desire to vacuum. It seriously needs a good vacuuming. I also need to scrub the plastic floor mats. Ds2 tosses out the driver's seat mat for some reason unknown to me. I have really nice ones that came with the vehicle, but I like to keep them covered with plastic floor mats to protect the carpeted ones.
- I washed the dinner dishes. Processed the milk.
- I did the house blessing by myself tonight. I didn't do the one that ds2 usually takes, the washing of the boys' bathroom mirror and doors. I did sweep and vacuum the kitchen floor, pick up the living room (it took a full 20 minutes to tidy up!) and vacuum, and I emptied the garbage cans. I also picked up a few pieces of debris from my bathroom floor (every little bit helps) and emptied the cat litter box.
I feel like I really accomplished a lot today.
Until next time.
Some Success At Cleaning
Labels: FlyLady
I had one of those days again. One of those days where I felt like getting something done. Here's what I did:
Cleaned the right side of the counter on the stove side. I didn't take *before* pictures, but trust me, it was covered to the edges with all kinds of things. Like jars with curdled milk waiting to go to the chickens for several days, some things that should have been thrown away in the first place. Now look at how beautiful it is. I even bleached the surface and scrubbed the rust rings (caused by laying cast iron skillets on the surface) with baking soda.- I decided to once and for all put my mind at rest as to whether I'd lost a check for $280.00 or not. :-P I asked my employer if the check had been cashed, but she had not gotten back to me. So I went on a search mission. I FOUND IT!! Stupid to lose that much money! You would think I was so rich I didn't have to worry about money at all. Sheesh! I had filed it away with some receipts.
- Signed the back of four checks and prepared the deposit slip so I can get that money deposited tomorrow.
- I went through 2 or 3 boxes of paperwork and threw most of it away.
- I'm currently washing my bedding.
- Disinfected all the milk jars. This means I washed them first, then soaked them in bleach water for 10 minutes. I must have done close to a dozen jars.
- Removed everything "dead" from the middle refrigerator. I ended up with a two gallon bucket of rotting food for the chickens. They LOVED it. I even wiped the shelves that were messy in that fridge. I had hoped to get to the other fridges, but I figured getting one done was good, too.
Until next time.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Face Cozy
Labels: crocheting, FlyLady
Ds2 thought I'd crocheted him a face cozy.
I am having the dickens of a time trying to do Fly Lady. I tried and tried yesterday to get the kitchen cleaned up. I just couldn't stay focused. I did declutter two drawers. The bottom drawer has been catching and sometimes you have to jerk real hard on it to get it out. Well, I took it out and discovered that each metal piece on the bottom only had one screw each left. So I put more screws in each side and put the drawer back in place and it works great. I also took the top drawer out and found that the metal piece with the roller just needs to be replaced altogether. The roller wheel is broken and the metal piece is bent. That's why that keeps messing up. I have one more drawer in the kitchen to investigate. It's the other bottom drawer, and it gets stuck like the one I just fixed. It just takes a few minutes to fix these things. And then the drawer doesn't end up getting demolished from being jerked open and closed. I also have new handles for all these drawers. The ones we have now get hung up on my clothes. I found some new handles last year in June... I am one major procrastinator! Actually, what ended up happening is my MIL found a box of 10 drawer pulls at Home Depot on clearance for around $3 and they are the kind without the edges that catch and I want to use those. Now. If I only knew where I stashed them...
Anyway, back to the decluttering of the two drawers. They both had a lot of lids in them, some of the containers we don't even own any longer. So I threw most of them away. I do have a container with miscellaneous sized lids in case I run across the jars somewhere. The bottom drawer holds plastic grocery bags and the kitchen dish towels and wash clothes. The drawer is almost full of the latter two items! I love have plenty of dish towels and wash clothes. Of course they are all ratty and old, but they still work great for pulling out a new, clean one to dry dishes. So we are really making some progress. Progress being that they are actually clean, folded and in the drawer instead of stashed in a pillowcase somewhere.
Now... I set my timer for 15 minutes yesterday to clean the kitchen, and I could not stay focused. I am wondering if I need to lower my expectations and just try FIVE minutes.
I also confessed to my dear sister (who has been FLYing for years) that I am doing FlyLady. But I told her, "Shhhh, don't tell anyone, not even yourself!" Because I have this stupid thing about if my sister is doing it,then I can't be a copycat and do it, too. And I don't want her to be right that it is helping her. And I don't want to end up failing while she's successful.
I also have to finish up the bookkeeping for the little company, I have to complete W-2's, W-3's, 1099-MISC and 1096 forms today. Then I'm finally done with that until February.
I'm scheduled to work tomorrow, I'm trading days this week. I might even take off a couple of days.
Until next time.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Insomnia
Labels: FlyLady
I don't experience insomnia very often. I used to experience it a lot more in my "dieting" days, back in my thirties. But it is rare nowadays. I looked back through my blog to see if I'd blogged about having insomnia, and the last time I mentioned it was on July 28, 2006 Insomnia Strikes. It usually seems to be nutrition related. My stomach does feel funny. Not quite like I'm hungry, but kind of like something isn't right. Kind of like I feel hungry, but not. Hard to describe. I drank some kombucha, thinking maybe it was a bit of indigestion. My "diet" has been dismal lately. Why today I even ate a Twinkie and drank Dr. Pepper! I am not eating many traditional, whole foods, instead I'm relying on quick foods. Also, I sometimes wonder if it's not a low blood sugar thing going on.
I went to bed late as it was, 11pm. I slept until 12:30pmam. By 1am, I was up and on the computer for a while. I realized I was hungry and I ate a bagel with cream cheese. I drank some milk and went back to bed and just laid there. Finally at 2:45am, I decided to just get up for a while. I washed three loads of dishes and I shined the sink. Wiped off the stove and the counter to the left of the stove. Started to declutter it just a bit. Need to work on that area more tomorrow. It is definitely a "hotspot".Tomorrow Today is a big day for me. I can't just stay up, I'll be exhausted. I am finally starting to feel a bit tired, so maybe I can go back to bed and try to sleep again.
Ds2 is going to help me do hoof trims and we will hit the house quickly for half an hour, doing that Sunday house blessing thing. The house stayed pretty neat all week long. Usually when we clean up, we don't do another for like a month. I can already see, if we hit the house again today, we will get a little bit more cleaned up. I'm actually feeling kind of excited about it.
I have to remember to wash clothes tomorrow.
Until next time.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
FlyLady Entryway
Labels: FlyLady
I worked today so I didn't have much time to devote to FlyLady, although I did spend 15 minutes like she asked, in my entryway. It already felt difficult to get motivated, but after eating dinner and sitting down for thirty minutes, I felt I could get up and tackle it. I didn't get a lot accomplished, but I did *do* something in that area for 15 minutes. Then I set the timer for 15 minutes more and cleaned the dinner dishes, and shined the sink.
I'm very tired tonight. I was almost falling asleep while driving home. Our steer broke loose and were running around our entire property. Ds2 got them to go back to their corral and secured the area they broke through.
This was when I just got home. I drove my truck over to park it where I usually do, to see that our Nubian buck was loose! Weirdness!
Until next time.
