Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

Spring is in the air here at Kin’s Home . Well, not today, it’s cold and rainy. But over the last week things have been heating up. I’m dragging out summer clothes. Opening windows at night. Even turning the fans on. And while I love spring for the birds, the flowers and the warmth, spring cleaning is something that always sits at the back of my mind as something I should be doing. Now either I’m not feeling well, or I’m trying to avoid the two major assignments I have coming up in the next few weeks, but spring cleaning this year is looking mighty attractive.This is also one of the positives about renting. I’m not the most diligent housekeeper at the best of times, so any incentive to “clean” is welcome. This includes visitors, parties and the dreaded rental inspections. I’m not sure why but we’re already up for our second inspection since we moved in 6 months ago. I was under the impression we were to have 6 monthly inspections.But I’m not complaining because I have even more motivation to do some cleaning around here.Between now and the 19th (the date of the inspection) I’ll detail what I’ve done around the place. I’ve already done 2 rooms, but that still leaves six or so to go, not to mention the gardens. So far I’ve cleaned the girls bedroom and the lounge. Both are looking (I think) fantastic which is definitely incentive to carry on. Cleaning out cupboards, removing cobwebs, washing walls and windows and weeding gardens may not sound like the most exciting passing of time, but at the moment it sure beats studying  

As you are no doubt aware, we’re up to our elbows in cleaning the house ready for open inspections this coming weekend. I’ve been working my little (or not so little) butt off this weekend. I don’t feel like I’ve achieved much, but I know we have.

What made today that much more plesant, was the phone call around lunch time, from my mother-in-law, telling me to not clean the bathroom because she would do that when she came over. And that she was bringing dinner.

Now I don’t say this enough, but I LOVE my in-laws. And this weekend has shown why. Yesterday afternoon they took the girls for six whole hours!! so we could clean. And today my mother-in-law comes and cleans my bathroom, feeds us and even cleans up after herself. Father-in-law was also on hand to help Hubby in the garden (which is looking lovely!)

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the laundry today, which is by far the dirtiest room, but I’m counting on the agent not wanting to take a photo of that to put on the internet, so it has moved down the priority list. Tomorrow’s list consists of a mad morning running around with work/kids, and an afternoon (or 3 hours) of getting the house in final shape for photos.

I’ve decided I’d just like to sleep, and wake up when the house is sold, if that’s ok?

Phew, what a day. I didn’t have anything prepared to post today, as I guest posted at Snoskred’s blog Life in the Country. I had a lot of fun writing that post, and researching for it. It is great living in a small town, but I am looking forward to moving back to the city. Talking with a friend tonight about her daughter’s school, the new shopping centre extension has me all excited.

I know it sounds strange to get excited over a shopping centre, but if you’d spent 4 hours at the same shopping centre I did today (long story but Hubby needed the car) you would understand. I was so bored after 3 hours I went looking at laptops. *whispers* Shhh, don’t tell my baby that, he still thinks he’s my favourite. I’ve had him just on 12 months now, and he’s not let me down yet. *Kin gently strokes her laptop*

Ahem, yes. Where was I? Shops. Yes, a severe lack of shops. I did manage my Secret Santa shopping today, and a few other bits and pieces. And several cups of coffee at the coffee shop. And a magazine. I felt terribly spoiled, but also quite nauseous a lot of the day. I have been very good and eating well, drinking lots of water and resting a lot as well, so I will definitely be mentioning this to the doctor on Tuesday.

The house is officially on the market now, and The Nice Lady will be here Monday to take photos. Now everything is decluttered, I’m cleaning each room in turn, top to bottom, and then closing the door. So far I’ve done the Office and spare bedroom. Tomorrow will be the main bedroom and ensuite. Sunday the lounge and dining room. Monday the kids bedroom, main bathroom and kitchen. All things being equal the kitchen should be done Sunday too. I’ll see how I go. So that’s my agenda for the weekend, as well as the regular swimming lessons, and Hubby has lots of jobs to do in the garden.

Next week things don’t look to be any simpler. Monday, thankfully, the kids will be in daycare while I clean like a woman posessed for these photos. Tuesday, for the Aussies, is Melbourne Cup Day as well as the day I book into the hospital, otherwise known as the day I spend 3 hours waiting around at the hospital. The traditional Melbourne Cup Lunch for Hubby’s work is being held at the Boss’s new house, 30 minutes out of town, which means we probably won’t get home til quite late. The plus side? The house won’t get trashed on Tuesday.

Wednesday is Swimming lessons. The girls are in the same lessons now and progressing very well. M&M is even voluntarily floating on her back on her own with her noodle - quite an improvement considering a week ago she wouldn’t even float on her back with someone holding her. Kiki is still having some trouble, but is trying harder, which is nice to see. I am taking my uni work with me to the pool, and manage to learn a few things while waving from the side and chatting to other Mums. Wednesday afternoon, I think we’ll collapse.

Thursday is the first open (I think) so expect another mad day of cleaning. Friday the girls are once again off to daycare, and I have a Tupperware meeting, as well as a party to organise for Saturday.

Saturday is another open, Hubby taking the girls to swimming lessons while I do a party, and then I am having a linen party here that night, and a friend staying over. Sunday will be a day of collapse. I mean rest.

So there you have it, the upcoming week at Kin’s Home. Feel free to stop by for your daily dose of insanity, and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

My good friend Lightening has in the past given herself “permission to potter”. It’s one of those concepts that those “hyper focused” among us reject as useless. Until one day… I had a huge pile of ironing to do. Probably 2-3 baskets. I decided I would iron for 30 minutes, not full on, I would let myself be sidetracked, and at the end of 30 minutes I could stop for the day. I read email, posted on groups and even did some dishes in that 30 minutes. But at the end of it, I had 2 shirts left to iron. Needless to say I finished those two shirts, and caught up on the ironing in 30 minutes, without pushing myself.

I am currently attacking my dining room. It became the dumping ground earlier this week when the carpets in all the bedrooms and the lounge room were being cleaned. And when I say dumping ground, I mean dumping ground. Here’s a couple of pics

I don’t watch a lot of TV these days. I’d rather spend my nights on the computer. But I do love my House. So tonight, during the ads, I gave myself “permission to potter”. The focus was the dining room, and the list I had of things I wanted to get done today, but I would allow myself to potter and see where I got to. Just during the ads mind.

After an hour of “pottering” during the ads (about 20 minutes in roughly 3 minute increments) this is what the dining room now looks like:

As you can see, definitely still a work in progress. A pile of rubbish at the front there to take to the tip tomorrow, and a fair bit of work to do, but 100 times better than what it was just an hour earlier. I also managed to cross another 3 things off my list in that time as well.

Today was day 2 of my monster October plan. Believe it or not I’m actually up to date. I conned Hubby into helping me do the spare bedroom before he sat down to watch TV, and it’s all done, despite the fact it was expected to be a 2 day job. I’m thinking I might make a list and check it off in the sidebar as we conquer each room, so far we’ve packed the office and the spare bedroom. Remembering that this is packing excess stuff. I’m going to have to do it all again when we move, but the “stuff” will be greatly reduced, and hopefully tidier and thus easier.

As I go I’ve been tidying cupboards and drawers, so when the time does come it’ll be easy. As I go I’ve been doing bits and pieces in the linen cupboard (by far our most “cluttered” space, not as in overflowing, but as in full of stuff, only 1/3 of it is actually linen). I’ve discovered these plastic boxes that are mostly useless (no lids) fit neatly on the shelves, so as I’ve sorted stuff I’ve put them in a box, so far I have a baby box (with new linen and clothes for the baby), a food box (with emergency food supplies) and a Christmas box (with obviously, Christmas stuff: tablecloths, disposable plates etc). I can fit 5 boxes across a shelf, so I’m going to keep plugging along at it, and hopefully by the time I’m done I’ll have 2 complete shelves of boxes, and then 3 shelves of nice, tidy linen. Ok, maybe 2 shelves, and the other shelf can be suitcases.

Now looking at my list for tomorrow, it’s very short (basically a Tupperware party and notes on a chapter for uni (short chapters thank goodness) so I’ll try and start on Sunday’s stuff as well if I get time.

I seem to be managing a lot at night while the kids are in the bath/going to sleep. It’s that bit cooler (ie 23 celcius) so I dodn’t feel so hot and bothered all the time, and Hubby is home to help.

It seems to be working…

Yeah, so I probably overdid it yesterday. 5 loads of washing done and away. Tidied the main living areas and 2 bedrooms (yeah the 2 easy ones, so what?) and vacuumed. Cleaned the kitchen etc etc etc.

Left on my “to clean” list is the office (gulp) the main bedroom, bathrooms and the laundry.

The nice real estate lady (hereafter known as “the nice lady” - she sold our last house in 48 hours and the kids think she’s nice) will be coming around in about an hour to tell me what of my list she things we need to do before going on the market, and our timing, strategy etc.

But exhaustion has set in. I’ve hidden anything remotely incriminating in the bedroom, and she’ll just have to understand my office and bedroom are a work in progress. I’ll show her my list of what I want to do beefore we list and see what she says. I’m hoping she’ll cross a few things off for me and tell me not to bother. I’m lying down in between mini pick ups in the bedroom. I’m ignoring the office because I plan to pack that this weekend.

The best part about all this is that the main part of the house is clean, and my new routines (stay tuned for those) seem to be helping me stay on top of it (so far).

I am! I have given myself a “holiday” from study until Sunday, and to get the house in some sort of shape again. I started tonight in the kitchen and laundry. You know, those two places that fall apart if you ignore them for so much as a day? I have many plans over the next few days that involve organising quite a few things.

1. Moving - Hubby’s work has a couple of units that are empty and will be for a while, so we’re going to try and get the house on the market since we have a guaranteed place to live if it sells quickly. This of course involves major decluttering, packing and cleaning. I’ve made a list and will be calling a few places to help out starting tomorrow, including 2 or 3 real estate agents.

2. Office - Seriously, it’s a disaster. It needs help. That is the first place I will “pack”.

3. Finances - yeah, again. I can’t wait to return to a cash based system. Speaking of which, keep an eye out for my “Managing Money for New Budgeters” post coming soon. It’s something that’s dear to my heart and I hope it’ll help a few people out.

4. House - in general, it’s a mess. Too. Much. Stuff. I’m working on it.

5. Garage - we did really well in July when we attacked it, but we literally have 30-40 empty boxes that are in a massive pile. I need to sort them out, and finish packing the rest of the stuff up.

Now, I don’t say I’m going to be doing all this by Sunday, but hopefully by then I’ll have the house in a “maintenance holding pattern” until a) we put it on the market and hire a cleaner or b) my exam is over and I can relax for 3-4 months, apart from the whole, having a baby thing. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll find the time to attack these other projects.

It’s only taken me 2.5 years, but I’ve finally realised there’s one aspect of FLYLady that just does. not. work. for me. Laundry. The laundry thing, one load a day, just isn’t me. I detest washing so much, I’d rather do it all in one hit than every day. I guess I’ve always known this. Even as a teenager living at home, I did my washing Saturday morning. First darks/colours, then whites, hung them out, brought them in, and ironed on Sunday night while watching the movie. Ok, yes, for one person that was enough.

There’s four (soon to be five) people here, and apparently I’m the only person capable of washing. A fellow group member has indicated she is hiding a pair of undies and a pair of socks for her Hubby for when she gets really behind in the washing. I’ve now done that too.

But I like washing to be “caught up” regardless of the fact I know it never is. I would rather wash and wash and wash until it was done, then relax for a couple of days. Which is what I did this week. Feeling slightly overwhelmed because I hadn’t washed for about 5 days, I had 3 nearly full loads of clothes to do. It wasn’t overwhelming, in fact it was easy. I hang all our shirts up inside, which means I CAN fit 3 loads of other clothes on our tiny tiny clothes line. I can put that many clothes away in one hit. It’s really not that many.

And then I thought back, the stories you hear of ‘laundry day’ and ‘cleaning day’ and ’shopping day’. I already have a shopping/errand day (Monday). And a study day (Friday). That leaves me with 3 days. Tuesday is my quiet, at home day. It will hereby be known as “washing day”. Which leaves me with Wednesday & Thursday. Thursday has recently been my day for doing a kind of Weekly Home Blessing as the kids are usually at the most docile (read: exhausted). Ergo: Thursday will be now known as “cleaning day”. Leaving Wednesday for fun!

What this also means is that, particularly as my pregnancy progresses, I will not (hopefully) be out more than one day in a row. I plan on scheduling the childrens swimming lessons this weekend for either Wednesday or weekend days (fingers crossed I can) and will try and schedule hospital appointments that day too (same town - saving myself a trip).

So now my rough weekly plan looks like this:

Monday - Library storytime, grocery shopping, errand day
Tuesday - Washing day
Wednesday - Fun day!
Thursday - Cleanng day
Friday - Study day
Saturday - garden & extra washing as needed

The primary focus of cleaning day is the floors and bathrooms, and I’ve allocated different rooms to different days. For example: Monday is grocery shopping, so my focus room for Monday is obviously the kitchen. Tuesday being washing day, the focus room is the laundry and main bedroom and walk-in-robe. You get the idea. As I’m washing I’m spending a lot of time in the laundry anyway, so an extra 5 minutes here or there will keep it looking tidy. Same with our bedroom.

What do your weekly plans look like?

You know what I’m talking about. Your house is plodding along ok, it’s not great, but getting there. Things are happening. The house is “lived in”. Then you find you have people coming for dinner. 4 to be precise. Grandma & Granddad are fine, they will probably find your home clean in comparison to what it normally is. But it’s the other guests you worry about. And you have…. 3 hours!

Yeah, that’s what’s happening here. So this afternoon I’m engaging in what is affectionately known as an Emergency Clean. It is a combination of other emergency style cleans I’ve ready on sites from Flylady to Candy’s Keeping the Home. Ours goes like this

1. Put disinfectant in the main toilet and spray the bathroom sink
2. Empty the dishwasher, restack, do excess dishes and clean the kitchen as best you can (clear the benches)
3. Clear the dining table and any other flat surfaces
4. Clear the floors, put everything away (if I’m really short of time I chuck everything in a laundry basket in the laundry to be put away tomorrow)
5. Clean the toilet and main bathroom and put out fresh towels
6. Sweep, vacuum or mop the main floor areas (lounge, dining, kitchen and anywhere else guests will go)
7. Check you have all the necessary food and drink for guests, if not duck out while the floors are drying and grab what you need.

Guess what I’m doing this afternoon? I’m up to number 2.