Running Behind! Yikes!

How is your cleaning going?  I feel like I am SO behind!  These "little bite-sized projects" are taking up all of my time!  I guess you could say I've finished the bookshelves and junk drawer.  However, there are still a bunch of things I have to find a place for. I have an extra large storage bin in my dining room that is FULL. This is where I've been putting all the homeless things for "later." I did clean off my dresser top today and  hope to get to the closet.  I keep finding other things to add to the list.  It never ends....

Well, no time to blog, I have to get back to work!

Read the original post here.

Happy Cleaning!!!

a glimpse of our life: Cleaning out and organizing

A while back a blogging friend of mine, Jennifer, challenged me to do another cleaning challenge. We'd done one a year or so ago, but wouldn't ya know, we both needed to do it again. After reading her post, it sounds to me that she is doing a fantastic job.  Go Jennifer!!!

Check out Jennifers post about cleaning out her office!!!
a glimpse of our life: Cleaning out and organizing

Here's my original post. 

Won't you join us???

Happy Reading, Cleaning, and Organizing!!!

I've been busy!!! (Cleaning update!)

Okay, here's a little rundown of what I've done lately.The big chore I've been doing is organizing my bookshelves. What a chore!  First of all, all the books are totally out of order.  Every year I organize, and by the end of the year you'd never know it.  The kids shove the books in here there and everywhere, and often horizontally on top of the other books.  {sigh} Also, pens, pencils, and just about anything that will fit end up on the shelves in front of the books.  It's a mess. I've been working on it for days and now realize that one day per bookcase was not enough time.  Both cases are now neat and organized, but I have other books and things that I took off them that have to be dealt with.

The reason it takes so long is that I have to decide what books I will be using in the upcoming school and what books can be packed away. I wish had a whole room for them! Then I try to group them in the order we'll use them each day, as well as order them for each student.  It takes a lot of thinking and that wears me out!  LOL

Oh!  I forgot that what started me on the bookshelves was that I went to go through the miscellaneous tub in the younger boys' room and found it was mostly filled with books. So the tub is done. :)

Enough of that. :) I've also reorganized all the clothing drawers in our dresser.  We both have a "junk drawer" and my husband takes care of his own, and I'm avoiding mine.  It's like a little hoarder drawer and it scares me, much like the junk drawer in my kitchen, which I am also avoiding. As for the rest of my house, it looks like a mess right now. Trying to get my kids to do their chores so I can get back to my organizing and some paperwork that needs to be done.  After 25 years I have to prove that I'm married to my husband so I can be on his medical. :)

See my original post here.

Happy Un-hoarding! :)

Making Progress :)

So, yesterday I went for a bigger job. :) I got to the cupboard under my junk drawer (another big one.) Now I am left with only three kitchen areas left to clean/organize. Well, I should say that are on my list. There are still other areas to clean, but I actually have done some of those areas already as I've been in there working. I cleaned the top of the fridge and the little bit of the microwave that sticks out where it fits under my cabinet. That was quite gross! (Who looks there? I'm short!) In other news, I also got the wall vents cleaned in my living room and dining room. These things seem to happen.  If you clean one thing, you just get on a roll! I know you want pics, and I plan to put some up. I've been to busy cleaning to take them. ;)

To see my original post click here.

Happy Housework!

Yet Another Update! :)

Starting to feel accomplished as one whole side of upper kitchen cupboards are done!  (Well, technically I have to put the a few things back in one of them, but they are all clean.)

Yesterday I did the Lazy Susan and the cupboard over my fridge.  I wanted to do the cupboard over the oven but I ran out of time.  (We have Wednesday night church and I had to get dinner and then go.)  This morning did it right away, but I still plan to do something else on the list if  I get to it before going to the grocery store.  Since the Lazy Susan was a job on its own, I'm technically ahead of myself, but I'm okay with that.  Looking around I can find a lot more things to do than the 40 I planned to do, so if I get them done before my deadline, I have plenty more to keep me busy.  (Plus the things I did first will likely be dirty and/or disorganized.  It never ends, does it? ;)

Happy Cleaning, Organizing, Giving, and Tossing!!!  

Another Update!

Just a quick update.  Did my spice cupboard yesterday. Whoo hoo! It's a regular cupboard with three shelves.  I don't even use that many spices!  So, I condensed my spices and cleared the top shelf.  I finally have a home for the many extra bowls and baking dishes I never had a place for.  (I have a small kitchen.)

Then I went a little crazy.  Yep, I cleaned out another area!  Okay, another easy one, my cereal cabinet. I am now over halfway done with my kitchen cupboards.  This whole one area a day thing is working for me. Messy folks like me just can't handle the thought of cleaning a whole house or even a whole room.  It's just overwhelming.  So breaking it down to one small task works! I feel like I've accomplished exactly what I set out to do.  Goodbye feeling like I'm drowning.  :) 

Today I plan to clean the cupboards over the oven and fridge.  Then I am going to go a little wild again and clean the Lazy Susan.  My youngest, Baber, is clearing off all the cans as I type.  It gets so dirty considering I just keep cans on it.  Could be that my kids broke off the door. Whenever I clean it, which has been maybe three or four times, I reorganize like foods together.  It makes it so much easier to use.  I'm actually looking forward to it.  I actually do well organizing small areas.  That doesn't overwhelm me.  It's large areas that freak me out.  What about you?  Are you better at the big picture or the details?  

Happy Cleaning and Organizing!

40 Day Challenge Update #1

Okay, so I've done three days now. Can't say I've done anything earth-shattering. Wednesday I did what was probably the easiest job on my list, the bread drawer. That being said, there was some mold in there. Truth be told, there was a lot. Yuck! I then did what was probably the second easiest job on the list, my medicine chest.  It was fairly easy because it hadn't been that long since I'd done it. (That right there is a miracle.) Then I did my silverware and utensil draws. I did actually throw some stuff out! There were the beaters from my old mixer, and a dented up potato masher. I also pitched a few other odds and ends. The drawers themselves were crummy. How do those crumbs get in there? I still need to reline them with some contact paper. They are not looking too spiffy anymore.

Okay, so not the most inspiring update. However, had I not made the list, chances are nothing would have gotten done. Oh!  I almost forgot, SANE MAN actually totally reorganized my two main dish cupboards. He is really great at that sort of thing. This is by no means the norm around here. He is not usually one to pitch in with housework. However, he had to install a new dishwasher (less than a month after we got a new washer) and we were trying to get all the dishes that had piled up cleaned and put away. In his frustration to find a place for things he started reorganizing. Who was I to stop him (even at 2:00 a..m.)?

So, how are YOU doing? Several people have told me they are with me. If so, please leave a comment here and let me know!

Happy Cleaning!

40 Days of Cleaning, Sorting, Organizing, and Dumping

Recently another blogging friend, Jennifer, sent me an idea.  It was a cleaning challenge.  The idea was basically to clean out 40 areas of your house, getting rid of a bag of junk from each area.  (In my case this could actually be bags.) Sounded like a winning idea to me!

So I put together a list of 40 areas of my house that really need attention.  That's pretty much the whole house.  LOL  My plan is to take one area each day (or maybe two if I'm feeling extra ambitious) and tackle it, then blog about it.  If I get really brave, I'll take pics!  I'm taking Sundays and holidays off, and I have a week of vacation coming up, but other than that, I am committing to at least one area a day in no particular order.

Now, I'm a joiner. I do my best work in groups, and if there's a little competition within the group, I do even better.  So, I already have Jennifer on board, but I'd like to ask all of you to join me too. You don't have to follow my plan exactly.  Just come up with something to do in forty days.  Jennifer even mentioned doing home improvement projects. (I do have some pictures that need to be hung.) It can be anything really, as long as it related to creating order in your home. My projected completion date is August 27.  Are you up to the challenge? The plan is to put up a Linky so if you blog about your projects you can link to it. Until then, go ahead and let me know what you're doing in the comments.

And, just to keep myself accountable, here are my forty areas:

Areas that are done are highlighted!

1. Boys' room under beds/floor
2. Top of boys' dresser
3. Boys' dresser drawers
4. Bin of misc. in boys' room
5. Bin of toys in boys' room
6. Hall closet/hall/shelves
7. Kitchen junk drawer
8.Cupboard under junk drawer
9. Cupboard above junk drawer
10.Spice Cabinet
11.Cabinet over microwave/Clean microwave
12.Cabinet over fridge
13. Utensil and silverware drawers
14. Bread drawer
15. Plastic storage container drawer
16. Corner Cabinet over Sink
17. Corner Cabinet over Lazy Susan
18. Dish cabinets (Done by my honey!)
19. Cereal Cabinet
20. Lazy Susan
21. Bedroom Closet
22. Night Stand
23. Dresser top
24. Dresser Drawers 1 and 2
25. Dresser Drawers 3 and 4
26. Dresser Drawer 5
27. Dresser Drawers 6 and 7
28. Under bed
29. Living Room/Dining room (Hang pictures!)
30. Bookshelf one
31. Bookshelf  two
32. Medicine cabinet
33. Baskets in bathroom
34. Stairs and landing area (basement)
35. Table in basement
36. Under table in basement
37. CD cabinet
38. Laundry shelves
39. Laundry table
40. Laundry area

So there it is!  My challenge to myself is to finish cleaning out all of these areas by August 27.  Any and all encouragement is welcome!

Happy Cleaning!!!