Monday September 9, 2019

Have some items to put in the mail today. Have some reading to do to catch up for the day job. Also, of course the regular cleaning and culling!

ALPHABETICS

A – ANOTHER PIECE – Work more on the clear the counters of food project. I got the 2nd batch of jalapenos dealt with (the newer ones). Time noted on Friday’s tally because I’d used it to tally the older jalapenos. I still have stewed tomatoes to finish up, the skins to deal with and the other peppers!

F – FIND A PLACE – to put away more of the stuff I pulled out next to the bed!

K – KITCHEN CLEAN UP – The kitchen has been used a lot lately and not cleaned as throughly as it might be. The things on the floor were tidied and the floor swept. (5 minutes). The stove top and grates were cleaned (5 minutes) The counters and sink area need a general tidy and cleaning.

P – PANTRY SHELVES – Need a general tidy. The shallow shelves were done first thing this morning. (5 minutes). Still need to do the deep shelves.

U – UPSTAIRS BOOKS – I have a lot of boxes here to go through for the book sale in a couple of weeks. This is where I will count getting those boxes looked at and the culls ready to go. 3 boxes in my car of paperbacks (3.26 cu ft cleared, approx 150 books. 1 box of hardcovers, 2 hours.

Z – RANDOM – Put the sheets in the wash and then continue the under bed cleaning I started a while back. I got 25% of the space under the bed cleaned, need to make more progress on this!

[x][x][x][x]||[x][x][x][x]|| (15 minutes uncounted)

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Other Work

I got things ready to mail this morning. Counted the time on the day when I assigned that task last week. I needed address confirmations for both addresses. I added 2 books going out, so the packages will be mailed on Tuesday.

Pulled things out on my side of the bed looking for something for DH (found it in the office instead !). That generated culls (noted below), things to put away and a major onset of sniffles due to dust!

Cleaned the top of the stove.

Culls: a book, cassette, papers, many more books,

Used/Found a New Home: A mailing box, bubble wrap, most of a sheet of fancy wrapping paper, a book,a pin, a card,

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Getting Rid of the Marathon

I’m happy to say that I’ve finally figured out what the problem was in the kitchen! It was always a disaster, and I couldn’t figure out why I just couldn’t get it clean?

I finally did. After a marathon of cooking, then eating dinner, I couldn’t face doing the whole day’s worth of dishes and clean up.

I’ve been asking for (and getting) DH’s help, both with the very last chores before dinner is served and then with the beginning clean up.

I also have to, as much as possible, do what I can while preparing dinner. Last night that meant running a packed dishwasher while dinner was being eaten! (We were gone most of Saturday doing a flea market.)

DH normally put the food away, but he wouldn’t do any clean up beyond that. So, every night I look at the remaining mess and ask him if he’d do x or x and y which may or may not include putting the food away, then I get out of the kitchen. When I return and tackle what’s left. It isn’t overwhelming any more!

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My other pet peeves re cleaning are mostly feeling like it’s futile. I don’t mind the repetition! I do mind cleaning things which still look dirty afterwards: the space between our uncaulked log walls, for example. The unfinished pine floors downstairs, the chrome in our bathroom which shows every single water spot because of the crud in our water, etc.

I’ve washed dishes in a cafeteria and cleaned bathrooms in a casino for money. Cleaning isn’t my issue. Cleaning nasty messes isn’t either. It’s when you can’t tell that I’ve spent the effort, now that bothers me!

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Unknown to me until a few weeks ago, I hate working in one space, ending with the nastiest job, for an hour or more. If I get the dishes under control while I’m prepping dinner and almost nothing is left except the dishes we eat from? I have no problem with tackling those right after dinner.

When the stove is littered with dirty pots, the cutting board and sink are full of dishes and I have the dinner dishes to do too? That’s usually the whole day’s worth of mess and I just don’t want to face it after spending an hour or more making and eating dinner!

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There is a process to this adulting stuff. A lot of it is just figuring out what works with your personality/circumstances.

Photo by Izzie R on Unsplash

Something New

No matter what level I’m working on, I’m making a concerted effort to work on the reveals here.

Reveals?  That’s what I call the corners, under the furniture, etc. which haven’t been cleaned in some time. When I was counting things out/cleaned, I gave myself a point for every reveal. I defined it this way:

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REVEAL is cleaning a previously uncleaned spot, that is, someplace that hasn’t been cleaned in > 6 months. No matter how big the spot is, I’m giving myself 1 point. Usually these are nasty jobs and so I’m rewarding myself.

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Sunday I worked on the pile o’ stuff in the kitchen, all LEVEL 7.

Monday I washed the bottom sheet (LEVEL 7) and pulled the mattress over about 8″ so I could clean the bed frame on that side (LEVEL 5) and under the bed (LEVEL 3) that much. I need DH’s help to move it much more than I did, however I can move the mattress the other 3 directions about as much. Getting the middle will be much harder!

Tuesday I tackled the other long side of the bed. (LEVEL 5) and under the bed again (LEVEL 3) and I took items to the booth for sale (LEVEL 7).