Monday, January 30, 2012

Flylady Thoughts and other things

I've left FlyLady. I'll give you a second to get over your sarcastic gasps. Ready? Good.

"But you said it works when you do it!" you might be thinking. Yes, I did. And it does. See, I've been doing what the FlyLady circle calls "fluttering" for the past few years without really being able to stick with it. But I trusted. Really. I didn't like to wear lace up shoes in the house, but I did. I didn't see a point to going to clean off certain things, but I did. I did all that stuff on and off. But I just couldn't stick with it. Sometimes I felt guilty, sometimes I felt talked down to, sometimes I was offended. Of course, FlyLady NEVER meant for me to take anything she ever said in that way. But that didn't stop me.

I started to really waiver when she said something in an email that took me back a few steps. I waivered a bit more when she announced that the emails are the backbone of her system (waaaay too many emails and mostly about testimonials and products that I don't need). The last straw came when she said something on facebook that really made me go "ALL STOP!"

Don't get me wrong. She's changed a lot of lives. She changed mine. I learned a lot that I'll be carrying with me, like using a timer (seriously, do it), noticing how one clean spot makes you want to clean more, beware of how clutter attracts clutter, and just letting things go. For that, I'll always thank her. But I think it's just not working for me and it's time for me to try something else. Maybe I'll be back. Maybe I won't. Maybe I've learned enough.

Now on to other things! Check out what Husband and I found at our local seafood market:
It's called Golden Crab, a cousin to the King Crabs. It's about $3-4 a pound in our area, and it is delish. And messy. REALLY messy.

So that's what we cooked, now look what we, as a family, built for this year's Pinewood Derby:
Sing it with me now! Doobie-doobie-doo-wah! It's Peeeerry! Perry the Derby Car! If you've got kids of a certain age, the song is now running through your head. You're welcome. But if you don't, this is Perry the Platypus, both pet and secret agent on the Disney show Phineas and Ferb. Don't you want to build one now? Come on. You know you do.

Speaking of off to other things, I believe I hear two baskets full of clean laundry that need to be folded calling me.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Famenies

Famenies: noun. Family members that love and support each other because they are family, but don't get along well, especially siblings; the family version of frienemies.

Ah, report card time. Oh, and what's this? Another note about how Philosopher Child's emotions are getting the better of him. *sigh* It's kind of expected, though. He's smart. I mean, crazy smart. And unfortunately, many times with high intelligence comes high emotion.

Walking him home from school, I decided to explain to him the connection, and try to get him to see that he needs to take a step back, think, and calm down before he reacts. I had a plan!...and Little Viking, age 4, in earshot.

"The thing is," I began. "You're smart. Very smart. And-"

"No, he's not," quipped Little Viking.

And so it begins.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Flylady Thoughts

So, this week in FlyLady, I didn't do stellar. I cleaned the sink every now and then, changed the sheets, picked up toys (a lot), did laundry, mopped the floor. Don't get me wrong, I did housework. I just didn't do FlyLady. I'm reminded in a pretty big way that, being disorganized in this area, I get a lot more done with her than without her.

Where did my time go? Well, I finished a quilt top for Philosopher Child. When I get excited about or nearing the end of a project, I just can't put it down. That was a huge time suck. Also, I wasn't well one of the days, and on a few others I was distracted by some bad news about my local Curves closing its doors very, very soon. I'd been a member there on and off for a few years and they really were helping me slim down. Too bad there is no other like them, not even another Curves in my area.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

I win every genealogy arguement from now on

Wanna have an argument over who's family tree is cooler?

Well, I'm apparently related to a real guy from long ago named Odin from a place called Asgard. Boo-yah. I win.

(Don't get it? Odin is a mythical person and Asgard is a mythical place. Except apparently there was actually a physical location called Asgard and therein lived a guy named Odin. I'm related to that guy. So, another boo-yah.)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Little Shadow

Pocksinket: noun. (A combination of "pockets" and "trinkets." Get it?) A random or out of place item found in a child's pocket.

Remember when I made the list before? Well, there's more now. And anything that's repeated bears repeating.

cell phone eraser
more sand than is possible unless he was getting buried on the playground. Oh, wait. He was.
coins
a rubber pig pencil topper
notes
drawings
maps
the head of a rubber teddy bear (that's right)
rubber bands, rubber bands, rubber bands
rocks
dirt
hair clips
beads
bits of plastic
drink lids (to drinks that weren't his. Yup.)

Are you with me so far? Who even knows what he'll bring home today.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Fridays with Flylady

So my first week back with FlyLady in earnest. I do see an improvement in my home, and I'm loving that. However, some days really are better than others for me, as you'll see.

If you don't have an interest in FlyLady or what I did this week, skip this post.

Monday: The first BabyStep. In FlyLady land, this is shining (cleaning) the kitchen sink. I admit that I gave it a bit more than a cursory clean, but not a deep clean. Why? Because I didn't get around to it until 10:30pm. That won't be the normal.

Monday's daily task is the Weekly Home Blessing Hour. This involves changing the sheets, taking out the trash, quick dust, quick sweep/vacuum/mop of main areas, cleaning mirrors/doors, and tossing old magazines. Did those, except the magazines. Don't have many of those to purge.

Tuesday: 2nd BabyStep is getting dressed to lace up shoes. Did it. FlyLady says that when we are dressed to lace up shoes, we are ready for the day and more productive. I have noticed I get more done when I wear sneakers as opposed to *cough Crocs cough*, but if you're not a shoes-in-the-house sort of person, don't let that bother you. FlyLady is flexible.

Today's daily mission is cleaning the walls of the dining room. Did it. Also, the 1st BabyStep, shining the sink, was supposed to be repeated. Did that, too.

Wednesday: 3rd BabyStep was reapeating steps one and two, so shining the sink and getting dressed to shoes. Did the shoes, didn't get to shining the sink. There were some other things being done last night. Part of FlyLady is not getting down on yourself for what didn't get done, so I'm just going try to do it again. The daily mission was picking up the entry way. Did that.

Thursday: Today's BabyStep is doing all of what was done before (remember: we're building habits) and read the FlyLady messages that you can get through e-mail. If you don't want to sign up for the e-mails, don't worry. Although they are nice to have sometimes, they are unnecessary. The online flight plan will be just fine. Also, as part of this step, you are supposed to write little reminders about getting dressed and shining sink onto sticky notes and post them places. Honestly, I don't feel I have enough to write yet, and my eye often passes over the notes and I don't really pay attention to them, despite the fact that they are neon orange. I did not do the sticky notes (yet).

Today's task was sweeping the front porch. Honesty here: I didn't do it. I didn't shine the sink, and I didn't sweep the porch until Friday. I had gotten distracted.

Friday: Today's BabyStep is repeating the shoes, sink, and all that jazz, PLUS writing down all the nasty things you say to yourself. Then you write down something nice to negate those. I've done this step many times, but I'll be redoing it today.

The daily mission today is to dust off blinds, light fixtures, etc. and get rid of cobwebs in the dining room.

*At the time of writing this, I have not yet done Friday's tasks but will be doing them shortly.*

The week in review: Of course, I only listed the FlyLady missions, but I did more. Laundry, dishes, cooking, baking, errands... Anyway, I'm really glad I'm getting back to FlyLady. I really need the guidance. I do notice that it really works to keep the house tidy, but only when I do it, and I don't always. So, here's to the post of accountability and all I did this week!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

FlyLady

Tomorrow I have a post set to go up about restarting FlyLady this year, per my New Year's resolutions. It's kind of a long post, as I've been collecting info for it daily all week. To trim it down some, let me do some explaining here.

What is FlyLady? FlyLady is basically a way to keep your home tidy (NOT SPOTLESS!!) and keep the day running smoothly by doing some very basic tasks that often go neglected. FlyLady is for people who have a bit of trouble doing it on their own and feel overwhelmed by and guilty about housework. It's also for people who are a bit disorganized when it comes to cleaning and organizing. (Uh...me.)

So here's the short rundown. To begin FlyLady, you start by doing the 31 BabySteps. These are simple tasks done each day that will cause you to develop a routine. After that, you go to the Launch Pad on the website that has all sorts of good info on it. For your specific daily task, click on Flight Plan, and go from there. Sounds complicated, but it's really not once you read the info.

Now, FlyLady has some rules that some people don't like. For instance, FlyLady does send many e-mails, but only if you sign up for them and they are not necessary. Another complaint I've seen over and over, from the forums to websites, is that some people refuse to wear shoes in the house. FlyLady suggests wearing lace up shoes so that you feel ready for the day. Keep in mind, none of her rules are hard in fast. Don't want to wear shoes? Don't. The shoes are about a mindset, and if you can feel accomplished wearing slip-ons or letting your toesies hang out, do so. No biggie.

FlyLady is free, and it works for so, so many people. But if you need to adjust the routines, by all means, do it! If you find it's not for you , or you do fine on your own, good for you! Do what works. As FlyLady says, it's about blessing our families, but also making time to bless ourselves.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Last Mountain Rose Herbs giveaway

Oh, I totally love these people. And drink their tea. Lots of it. But anyway, they are giving away a naturally clean home package. Check it out!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

January 1st, 2012

Some resolutions that I will try (mwah haha!) to keep:

-Reach for some herbal tea, yoga, and meditation before/instead of reaching for the ibuprofen.
-Let my kids get dirty more often and look at little irritations (dumping out toys, running through the house, etc.) as just kids being kids. No biggie.
-Be on time in the morning so I don't have to yell, "Let's go! We're late!" at the kids.
-Meditate (the relaxation kind) at least twice a week.
-Lose 20 pounds. Well, at least 15.
-Get back to daily Bible reading. (Didn't know I was religious? Surprise. I am.)
-Flylady, Flylady, Flylady. I'm actually thinking about adding a new section, Fridays with Flylady to the blog. Thoughts?

New Year's resolutions are funny things, aren't they? We get two simultaneous messages.
1. New Year's resolutions are traditional, so you must make them!
2. But no one ever keeps them, so don't try!

I'm going to try to keep these. Really. I think I'm going to post them somewhere in my house.

In 2012, what are you going to really, really try to do?