Baby Steps, Again

I greatly admire people who are solid in their cleaning routines.  I mean, they clean on a certain day and they do it for YEARS.  (Yes, dear JoAnn, I'm thinking of you.)  I tend to be blown with the wind on this one.  My house is not supper dirty, but it doesn't get a regular once over consistently.  Well,in my defense, it does get a good cleaning every other week when we host small group, but not weekly.  On the off weeks, things slide a bit.  And I admit I am fine with this.  But, at the same time, I would think I could do better.  So, I decided it was tine to revisit my old friend, Flylady.

Once upon a time, I was a big Flylady fan following her word to the letter for several years. I still appreciate her ways.  I've held fast to her daily routines, faithfully.  But cleaning in the zones had fallen off.  So, last week, I started doing her zone missions again.

Flylady says not to do any detailed cleaning until your house is decluttered.  I do purge my house on a regular basis, so I think it is as clutter free as is possible for a homeschooling family.  Let's not go into the garage, though, OK.  :)

Last week the zone to work in was our bathrooms.  This week is the master bedroom.  I was happy when my husband even noticed that I had been working on our room.  It is not in a horrible state, but it did have a hot spot or two brewing and it is rather dusty.  Flylady says your master bedroom should be the cleanest room in your house.  Ouch.

Today, I am going to finish the zone cleaning up there.  I am going to dust the baseboards, dust everything for that matter!  I'm also going to sweep the carpet behind things that never move, and change the sheets.  Earlier in the week, I washed our pillows.  When was that last done?  Never, I think!

In the process, I have discovered that I enjoy a little outside help reminding me of little jobs that need to be done.  It's fun knowing that others around the world are working a little harder on their bedrooms this week right along side me.  It also helps motivate me in the afternoons when I'd rather been lazy.  Ah, there is that lazy word again!

So, as I baby step my way back to good health, and I am also going to baby step my way to a cleaner house!

Remembering the Good Old Days

Lately,I've been reading my grandmother's journals from the late 1980's.  I am so thankful for these gems!  She wrote every day for years.  When I read them, I can hear her voice.  I am transported back to her wonderful, humble home.  I can almost smell the smells when she writes of the cake she baked or bread that Grandpa made!  

She's now 90 with dementia, wheelchair bound, too, living in a nursing home.  I know that I am blessed to have her here, still living.  However, her mind is, well, pleasantly confused at best.  She doesn't carry on a conversation.  For awhile, I was feeling as if I had lost her already.    

These journals are quite simple.  She tells of the people she talked to.  She writes of what she ate and did.  She will sometimes comment on current events.  She mentions the weather.  These are all very simple things. Yet, they are so interesting!  It's hard to read only a few days at a time.  

For the last two years, I have been keeping similar journals on paper in addition to my blogging.  Even today, my kids will ask to hear what we did just two years ago.  It amazes me how in such a short time we forget all the little details.  And I am so glad that I took the time to write them down.  Actually, it doesn't take much time at at.  Usually, I have to limit myself because of space.

Perhaps one day my family will take these journals and read them to their kids.    

WW: Sledding

Happy New Year

From the diary of a 1892 farm wife...

"January 1, 1892.  Clear and fine.  I have a great deal to be thankful for -- all the mercies of the year that has just passed.  May I be more faithful this year that has just commenced. May my children repent and turn unto thee.  Thou knowest how I want my children to give their hearts unto thee and in thy good time wilt thou answer my prayers." 
Josephine Jordan
http://1892farmwife.blogspot.com

Another great diary I'm reading is :

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/SteHome.html. 

We have so much to learn from those who lived before us.  I find their diaries fascinating.  This year will be the third year that I keep a paper diary.  Perhaps 100 years from now, someone will find them equally interesting.  I have access to my own grandmother's day planners. I plan to read them again soon.  They were from 20 years ago.  We used to laugh that she wrote little bits down each day.  Now I do the same thing! 

I apologize for there not being links above.  I'm learning to use my tablet to blog and I can't always copy and paste when I want too.  :)

Purge!

'Tis the season to purge the kid's closets.  And, then go around trying to find clothes to replace some of the outgrown ones.  Thankfully, grandparents will  gift some clothes for Christmas.  And, thankfully my kids do not have crazy notions about being stylish, a perk of home education.

These overflowing bags will go to friends.  The one big bag will go to Goodwill.  Oh how I love to purge!

First World Problems

My week has been plagued by first world problems, you know, the kind that are annoying, but only exist because I am blessed to have a home in the first place.  Our old copper pipes, water pressure tank, and whole house water filter needed replaced.  Now there are gaping holes in three rooms that need fixed.  All these "problems" made me think about how thankful I am to have running water, a landlord with money to fix them, and skilled men to fix them.  I know that these are problems that other human beings would love to have.  Not every person has clean running water in their home.  Living here in excess skews my sense of having problems, big time.

Last night, as we made our way through a mega warehouse store, I found myself reminded of this again when they were out of a couple things that I thought I "needed!"  How many times a day do I think I need something?  Need is such an overused word!

This month, I've been writing down each day something that I am thankful for on my Facebook page.  It's been a great experience.  Each morning, I ask myself,"What am I most thankful for today?"  It's a great way to start my day!

Contentment is...

Contentment not a

fulfillment of what you want,

but the realization of what you

already have.

It is not a destination,

it is a state of gratefulness

before God.

~Joshua Harris

An Under Buyer's Tale

Recently, I've made a few purchases that have greatly increased the joy in my world.  I tend to be an "under buyer", which is a term I first heard from Gretchen Rubin.  It means that I don't like to shop and I put off making purchases long past the point of their necessity.  

For example, I currently own only two pairs of jeans and both when buttoned, I can pull off (Yay for me!) They are too big.  They are not even comfortable to wear.  I even have birthday money to spend on new ones, yet, I have put off the task for a couple weeks.  Thankfully, today I received an email about an online sale at a store I like and so I hope to order a couple replacements, TODAY!  

I also was in need of a spoon rest, never finding a used one that I liked, so for the last two years, I've used the plastic lid that came from some packaging.  It washed up fine in the dish washer.  I was happy. But, then I saw "the one" at Good Will this weekend!  And it ended up being free because I had enough points from donating to make it free.  Wow, was I happy!  And now I have just the right spoon rest that matches my kitchen decor.

Another example is my cake pans.  I received two fine (or so I thought) cake pans for our wedding 18 years ago.  Each time I make a cake in these pans, they would stick.  Even if i greased them, floured them, and put in parchment paper.  For years, these pans have irritated me.  But, because they were "good" pans, I just put up with them.  And for years I didn't make cake because they were terrible pans.  Yet, I kept them?  Why?  Thankfully, I decided to give them away and I bought two new pans that are wonderful!  The cakes just slid out!

I also recently bought a butter dish.  For years, we've just kept the butter in its paper wrapper and set that on the table.  It got to be a pain.  So, I decided to get a butter dish, but not just any dish.  I wanted a retro one.  And it didn't take months of looking. I found the perfect one in one weekend of antiquing.  And I got it for a little less than an online shop that I thought I'd end up getting one from.   

These little things have shown me that sometimes I have to break down and be a consumer, not always buying new things, but certainly replacing items that are no longer useful with ones that are.

This Saturday is a big tag sale at a church nearby.  I plan to be there.  I am looking for a pan to make pancakes on.  Our current pans do not work.  In fact, since we got the new smooth surface stove, our skillet doesn't work.  It's bottom is not flat enough to make contact with the burner.  *sigh*   It is making it harder to cook things, taking a lot longer.  I am going to have to think about getting a new skillet, too.  Unfortunately, the skillet is not that old.  I could chose to put up with it for a couple years, or just go get one that will work and save myself a lot of grief in the end.   

What about you?  Do you put off buying things?