Flying or Fluttering?
Oct. 16th, 2011 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sailorzeoI haven't posted in over a month. My routines have been slipping; I haven't _wanted_ to do them most of last week. I spent a day reminding myself of the benefits, things I like about having the routines done.
1. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, there's less to do every night. Dishes don't pile up; food doesn't dry onto them, requiring mega, arm-killing scrubbing.
2. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, I know there's a clear counter to place grocery bags when we come back from the store.
3. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, I'm more apt to want to make dinner, rather than foist it off on Matt (who doesn't want to do it, either) or beg to stop for something on the way home.
4. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, I know the burner pans won't catch fire when I'm cooking.
5. When I set out my clothes nightly, I can get ready faster, in the dark, while Matt continues to rest.
6. When I swish and swipe the bathroom nightly, the mirror doesn't get loaded with water spots.
7. When I swish and swipe the bathroom nightly, the toilet doesn't turn pink. (Seriously. Pink. If I don't clean it for 3 days, it turns PINK. Why pink??)
8. When I program the coffee pot nightly, I have fresh, hot coffee waiting for me when I get up.
9. When I do my nightly routines, I have less to do in the morning, allowing me more time to enjoy my coffee, check my e-mail and Facebook, and I'm more likely to get out of the house on time.
10. When I get up and get dressed to shoes first thing, it's easier to go get the newspaper from the driveway on Wednesdays and Sundays (we cut our subscription down to those two days for the ads and coupons). I don't have to worry about being seen by neighbors or stepping on rocks or glass in the driveway.
I'm still reading most of the e-mails. I delete the ones having to do with kids right off, since they don't apply. I just scan over the ones raving about the tools: I bought 2 of the rubba scrubbas, the rubba sweepa, the mop and the calendar. I use one of the rubba scrubbas just for the cats in the den. There's a small learning curve with some of these tools, a breaking-in period. I like the sweepa; Matt hates it. The mop, with its reusable microfiber cloths, will take a little getting used to, especially getting the cloth seated on the mophead. The calendar is nice and big, but part of me keeps pointing out that Matt and I have the same schedule. We don't have mega outside activities that need to be logged. I'm going to use it for keeping track of bill due dates, though. I need to get more involved with the family finances. When we got married, I was perfectly happy to dump all that responsibility on Matt. I figured I'd proved time and time again, when single, that I wasn't responsible enough for that. Well, it's been pointed out that I should know how to pay the bills, in case something happens to Matt.
We're still decluttering; we went through the linen closet and got rid of a bunch of sheets, then went through the utensil drawers and tossed/donated a bunch of those, as well. We seriously pared down our knives. Since we have the Rada set, and since I'm more-or-less keeping those clean and usable, we could get rid of all the old, not-so-great knives we'd accumulated. Melted or broken spoons, turners, and other things got pitched.
I have a new timeline to work on. Ellen's coming for a visit in May. I have a small list of big things I want accomplished by then. I'm going to put that list in my control journal, and see about tackling one bigger project each weekend. I'll use the timer, work 15 minutes at a time, and get things done.
1. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, there's less to do every night. Dishes don't pile up; food doesn't dry onto them, requiring mega, arm-killing scrubbing.
2. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, I know there's a clear counter to place grocery bags when we come back from the store.
3. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, I'm more apt to want to make dinner, rather than foist it off on Matt (who doesn't want to do it, either) or beg to stop for something on the way home.
4. When the kitchen is cleaned nightly, I know the burner pans won't catch fire when I'm cooking.
5. When I set out my clothes nightly, I can get ready faster, in the dark, while Matt continues to rest.
6. When I swish and swipe the bathroom nightly, the mirror doesn't get loaded with water spots.
7. When I swish and swipe the bathroom nightly, the toilet doesn't turn pink. (Seriously. Pink. If I don't clean it for 3 days, it turns PINK. Why pink??)
8. When I program the coffee pot nightly, I have fresh, hot coffee waiting for me when I get up.
9. When I do my nightly routines, I have less to do in the morning, allowing me more time to enjoy my coffee, check my e-mail and Facebook, and I'm more likely to get out of the house on time.
10. When I get up and get dressed to shoes first thing, it's easier to go get the newspaper from the driveway on Wednesdays and Sundays (we cut our subscription down to those two days for the ads and coupons). I don't have to worry about being seen by neighbors or stepping on rocks or glass in the driveway.
I'm still reading most of the e-mails. I delete the ones having to do with kids right off, since they don't apply. I just scan over the ones raving about the tools: I bought 2 of the rubba scrubbas, the rubba sweepa, the mop and the calendar. I use one of the rubba scrubbas just for the cats in the den. There's a small learning curve with some of these tools, a breaking-in period. I like the sweepa; Matt hates it. The mop, with its reusable microfiber cloths, will take a little getting used to, especially getting the cloth seated on the mophead. The calendar is nice and big, but part of me keeps pointing out that Matt and I have the same schedule. We don't have mega outside activities that need to be logged. I'm going to use it for keeping track of bill due dates, though. I need to get more involved with the family finances. When we got married, I was perfectly happy to dump all that responsibility on Matt. I figured I'd proved time and time again, when single, that I wasn't responsible enough for that. Well, it's been pointed out that I should know how to pay the bills, in case something happens to Matt.
We're still decluttering; we went through the linen closet and got rid of a bunch of sheets, then went through the utensil drawers and tossed/donated a bunch of those, as well. We seriously pared down our knives. Since we have the Rada set, and since I'm more-or-less keeping those clean and usable, we could get rid of all the old, not-so-great knives we'd accumulated. Melted or broken spoons, turners, and other things got pitched.
I have a new timeline to work on. Ellen's coming for a visit in May. I have a small list of big things I want accomplished by then. I'm going to put that list in my control journal, and see about tackling one bigger project each weekend. I'll use the timer, work 15 minutes at a time, and get things done.
