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I WAS doing really well. Everyday from Jan 1st until Sunday I cleaned the kitchen. It looked great. I felt good about it and what I was getting done each day. Because the house was cleaner, I felt free to take more time to read my scriptures, play and do school time with Trina and Bryan, do other "fun" things etc... and I was just all around happier.
Sunday threw me a curve ball when all day I felt like the house slave.
My day went pretty much like this: make breakfast, clean up some of breakfast, get everyone ready and to church by 9, come home and make lunch, clean up again, throw together cheesy potatoes for dinner and start the ham cooking, go to choir practice, come home, finish making preparations for dinner, eat dinner, clean up some of dinner (not much since at this point I was SICK of the the kitchen and well into QUITTING/mad at the world mode, then went to yet another meeting.
When I got home, Tim had done some cleaning up, but not a lot. (inhis defense I left all four kids home with him while iI was gone.) I just couldn't bring myself to clean it up, so I went to bed. Monday I had a dr. appt, so by the time I got back to the kitchen Monday afternoon, there were dishes from Sunday night, Monday morning, and Monday lunch all waiting for me. I was overwhlemed and frustrated that all of my effort and hard work was so easily undone, and while I made a few half-hearted stabs at restoring the order, I have yet to earn another "clean the kitchen" point - which in turn leads to feelings of the BLAHS, which leads to not doing other things on my list, which leads to more BLAH feelings. You get the general idea.
I HAVE gone walking each night this week, and that is good. We have started running 1 lap of each mile. Not much yet, I know, but we will SLOWLY work to increase that amount. I am going to try tomorrow to buckle down and get the kitchen cleaned up again. It really does make SUCH a difference in my mood. It is just so tough to maintain. I feel like I am climbing a huge mountain, hard enough for me to climb in and of itself, with people just hanging onto me trying to pull me back down. I am living the proverbial one step forward and two steps back - only mine is more like 1 step forward 10 steps back...
Well - here's hoping that tomorrow I have a super great day and you see the graph on the "jeri's goals" tracker shoot back up again!.
Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, October 2, 2008
sharks & spiders & sleep - OH MY!
EVERYONE stand and give three cheers for me! I FINALLY mopped my kitchen floor today!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
Thank you thank you - It was SO SO bad. (you can probably tell my overwhelming feeling of gladness that it is finally done, by all the caps and exclamation marks eh?) It has needed to be done for a long time, and everyday I would tell myself that I was going to get it done, but I never could quite bring myself to do it. (the actual mopping isn't the worst part, but you have to get the kitchen clean first, since mopping is the LAST thing you do - of course!)
Today I was determined to get it done, but was still dragging my feet (emotionally and physically), so I employed a trick I use on my kids - try to somehow make it new and different and hopefully FUN. I called my friend Holly and asked if I could try out her new SHARK steam mop. She loves it, and I am desperately in need of a new mop and have been considering buying one for myself, but didn't want to fork out the $$$, just to find out I didn't love it. ANYWAY, she let me borrow it, and just knowing it was sitting there waiting for me to give it a test drive, gave me what I needed to finish the job. I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor (3 times, to be exact, since every time I thought I was done, "magically" some crackers, or cereal got re-distributed...) then brought out the SHARK. I have to be honest. I didn't love it. I think my floors are just a bit too much (as in "disgustingly gross") for it to handle. It took longer to finish the job than my old mop and bucket of water - but it DID do a really great job cleaning the little indented lines in the linoleum floor,and I loved that it didn't leave the floor all wet - Caleb was crawling around while I did it and he didn't get wet at all. I also I loved that it would really be a water saver. Less than a cup of water as opposed to a big ole bucket of mop water, and no harsh chemicals or cleaners. - just the water. Trina absolutely LOVED it. She mopped for quite a while with it. (that was actually another concern. The unit is really lightweight, which is a plus, but I'm not sure it is durable enough to stand up to my "helping" kids. ANY WHICH WAY - my floor is CLEAN! and I am thrilled! (if only it would stay that way for more than a few hours. but oh well. that's life.
NEXT ITEM...
You all know I love nature. Well, not SPIDERS so much. Last night we saw the HUGEST (non-tarantula) spider I have ever seen. Every fall we usu
ally see at least one tarantula in search of a nice warm place to hang out for the winter. When Tim first saw this little giant trying to come into our kitchen, through the open sliding door, that's what we figured it was - until we looked again. This sucker is a WOLF SPIDER. He's HUGE! I took out a ruler and tried to measure him, without getting my hand too too close, of course. He was easily four inches! ICKKKK!!!!! I know the photo isn't very good, but it's enough that you can get an idea of this guy. Poor Katrina couldn't fall asleep last night. "every time I close my eyes, I can see spiders, trying to come into my room!" poor girl. it was gone this morning, and I can only hope it went somewhere other than INSDIE my house, because I will totally FREAK out if I accidentally step on this guy in the middle of the night in my bare feet, or if I happen around corner and there he is. EEEWWWWW.
and the last thing -
SLEEP. Remember that song on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the other?"
Well - sleep is the odd man out. I have the shark (on loan), the spiders, but unfortunately I am not getting enough sleep! OH MY!
and that is all there is to say about that.
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
Thank you thank you - It was SO SO bad. (you can probably tell my overwhelming feeling of gladness that it is finally done, by all the caps and exclamation marks eh?) It has needed to be done for a long time, and everyday I would tell myself that I was going to get it done, but I never could quite bring myself to do it. (the actual mopping isn't the worst part, but you have to get the kitchen clean first, since mopping is the LAST thing you do - of course!)
Today I was determined to get it done, but was still dragging my feet (emotionally and physically), so I employed a trick I use on my kids - try to somehow make it new and different and hopefully FUN. I called my friend Holly and asked if I could try out her new SHARK steam mop. She loves it, and I am desperately in need of a new mop and have been considering buying one for myself, but didn't want to fork out the $$$, just to find out I didn't love it. ANYWAY, she let me borrow it, and just knowing it was sitting there waiting for me to give it a test drive, gave me what I needed to finish the job. I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor (3 times, to be exact, since every time I thought I was done, "magically" some crackers, or cereal got re-distributed...) then brought out the SHARK. I have to be honest. I didn't love it. I think my floors are just a bit too much (as in "disgustingly gross") for it to handle. It took longer to finish the job than my old mop and bucket of water - but it DID do a really great job cleaning the little indented lines in the linoleum floor,and I loved that it didn't leave the floor all wet - Caleb was crawling around while I did it and he didn't get wet at all. I also I loved that it would really be a water saver. Less than a cup of water as opposed to a big ole bucket of mop water, and no harsh chemicals or cleaners. - just the water. Trina absolutely LOVED it. She mopped for quite a while with it. (that was actually another concern. The unit is really lightweight, which is a plus, but I'm not sure it is durable enough to stand up to my "helping" kids. ANY WHICH WAY - my floor is CLEAN! and I am thrilled! (if only it would stay that way for more than a few hours. but oh well. that's life.
NEXT ITEM...
You all know I love nature. Well, not SPIDERS so much. Last night we saw the HUGEST (non-tarantula) spider I have ever seen. Every fall we usu
ally see at least one tarantula in search of a nice warm place to hang out for the winter. When Tim first saw this little giant trying to come into our kitchen, through the open sliding door, that's what we figured it was - until we looked again. This sucker is a WOLF SPIDER. He's HUGE! I took out a ruler and tried to measure him, without getting my hand too too close, of course. He was easily four inches! ICKKKK!!!!! I know the photo isn't very good, but it's enough that you can get an idea of this guy. Poor Katrina couldn't fall asleep last night. "every time I close my eyes, I can see spiders, trying to come into my room!" poor girl. it was gone this morning, and I can only hope it went somewhere other than INSDIE my house, because I will totally FREAK out if I accidentally step on this guy in the middle of the night in my bare feet, or if I happen around corner and there he is. EEEWWWWW.and the last thing -
SLEEP. Remember that song on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the other?"
Well - sleep is the odd man out. I have the shark (on loan), the spiders, but unfortunately I am not getting enough sleep! OH MY!
and that is all there is to say about that.
Friday, September 26, 2008
funny kids...
a couple funny things from my day today...
At a nearby park this afternoon (complete with small pond, boardwalk, and wetlands area); Bryan kept saying, "be careful mom. be careful mom." I asked, "be careful of what?"
"Be careful mom, you might bump into a whale shark." Silly me. now why didn't I think of that??? For the next 5 minutes or so, he was completely obsessed about the whale sharks that he was certain were lurking under every bunch of moss, bridge, bush, and tree.
He just couldn't accept my reassurances that there were NO WHALE SHARKS!!!
I was just sitting here bemoaning the fact that I worked SO hard yesterday to clean up the kitchen. Believe me, I worked SO SO SO hard! Aaron wondered what was wrong and I told him, "I worked so hard yesterday to get the whole kitchen clean, and now it is such a mess again. I just don't know what to do." With all the wisdom, logic, and simplicity of a child, he looked at me and said, "well, that's easy. You go clean it up."
OF COURSE!!! that's the answer I have been trying to put my finger on all day long...
I know there were a couple more funny things that I wanted to share, but they have apparently buried themselves somewhere deep in the vast recesses of my mind, perhaps never to be heard of again - so you have all been spared!
I supposed that now I should get my little backside into the kitchen and CLEAN IT UP!. (while keeping an eye out for rouge whale sharks, of course.
At a nearby park this afternoon (complete with small pond, boardwalk, and wetlands area); Bryan kept saying, "be careful mom. be careful mom." I asked, "be careful of what?"
"Be careful mom, you might bump into a whale shark." Silly me. now why didn't I think of that??? For the next 5 minutes or so, he was completely obsessed about the whale sharks that he was certain were lurking under every bunch of moss, bridge, bush, and tree.
He just couldn't accept my reassurances that there were NO WHALE SHARKS!!!
I was just sitting here bemoaning the fact that I worked SO hard yesterday to clean up the kitchen. Believe me, I worked SO SO SO hard! Aaron wondered what was wrong and I told him, "I worked so hard yesterday to get the whole kitchen clean, and now it is such a mess again. I just don't know what to do." With all the wisdom, logic, and simplicity of a child, he looked at me and said, "well, that's easy. You go clean it up."
OF COURSE!!! that's the answer I have been trying to put my finger on all day long...
I know there were a couple more funny things that I wanted to share, but they have apparently buried themselves somewhere deep in the vast recesses of my mind, perhaps never to be heard of again - so you have all been spared!
I supposed that now I should get my little backside into the kitchen and CLEAN IT UP!. (while keeping an eye out for rouge whale sharks, of course.
Monday, July 14, 2008
SCENT-sational
PROLOGUE - Several weeks ago my friend Holly was watching my kids for me while I was doing something or other, I forget what. When I got there to pick them up, Katrina didn't want to leave. They never do, but this time she gave a unique reason. "Holly's house smells gooder than ours."
STORY - hhhmmmm - guess I'd better be doing something about that eh? I figure it's not totally my fault, we currently have a dog, a cat, a fire-bellied toad, and fish - plus 6 humans, one of which wears diapers that get thrown into trash can, one who still wears pull ups at night and floods the bed on a fairly regular basis. He seems to have an aversion to throwing the wet pull ups into the trash can, so you can generally count on finding it lying on the floor somewhere and at least once a day you'll hear the loving cadence of "Aaron, get this wet pull up off the floor and put in the trash!!!" Throw into the mix a two year old who on occasion get up to go potty during the night (hooray!) but then he gets confused or tangled in his jammies, so he just stand there and pees on the floor.... I do my best, but the odds are definitely working against me here.
Long ago, I tried candles, but I just feel think they are such a safety (fire) hazard, plus the soot and chemicals released the burning... I've tried the plug in air fresheners, and Tim recently bought me some oil diffusers - the cute glass containers that you stick bamboo sticks in and it is supposed to diffuse the scent into the air. They look nice, and they smell good briefly when you flip the sticks over, but they just weren't doing it for me. (lest you think I am just trying to cover up the icky smells with fragrances, I really do my best to clean the house too. Another thing I did over the scout camp week was rent a carpet cleaner and scrub all the carpets. (Actually, I rented the cleaner then paid a friend to scrub while I took the kids to chuck-e-cheese to get then out of the house and off the carpets.)
A while ago I went to a "blogger babes" luncheon at Karlene's and we had a Urban Botanics party. One of the products they sell is a "home collection" - an oil warmer, and the oils to scent your home. I didn't buy it at the time, but drastic times call for drastic measures - so I called Karlene and bought one. I got the "Homemade Gourmet Collection" which has the warmer, and the following oils: Cinnamon, Maple Spice, Peach Blossom, Vanilla, Green Apple, Pomegranate.
I've been having a great time mixing oils. Today is Maple Spice with a hint of Green Apple.
EPILOGUE - Bring it on you animals and people. I am armed and dangerous! Give me you worst - my house will smell scent-sational!!! The kids will still love to go to Holly's and they still won't want to come home when it is time, but it will be because they love Holly, not because her house smells "GOODER" than ours!
STORY - hhhmmmm - guess I'd better be doing something about that eh? I figure it's not totally my fault, we currently have a dog, a cat, a fire-bellied toad, and fish - plus 6 humans, one of which wears diapers that get thrown into trash can, one who still wears pull ups at night and floods the bed on a fairly regular basis. He seems to have an aversion to throwing the wet pull ups into the trash can, so you can generally count on finding it lying on the floor somewhere and at least once a day you'll hear the loving cadence of "Aaron, get this wet pull up off the floor and put in the trash!!!" Throw into the mix a two year old who on occasion get up to go potty during the night (hooray!) but then he gets confused or tangled in his jammies, so he just stand there and pees on the floor.... I do my best, but the odds are definitely working against me here.
Long ago, I tried candles, but I just feel think they are such a safety (fire) hazard, plus the soot and chemicals released the burning... I've tried the plug in air fresheners, and Tim recently bought me some oil diffusers - the cute glass containers that you stick bamboo sticks in and it is supposed to diffuse the scent into the air. They look nice, and they smell good briefly when you flip the sticks over, but they just weren't doing it for me. (lest you think I am just trying to cover up the icky smells with fragrances, I really do my best to clean the house too. Another thing I did over the scout camp week was rent a carpet cleaner and scrub all the carpets. (Actually, I rented the cleaner then paid a friend to scrub while I took the kids to chuck-e-cheese to get then out of the house and off the carpets.)
A while ago I went to a "blogger babes" luncheon at Karlene's and we had a Urban Botanics party. One of the products they sell is a "home collection" - an oil warmer, and the oils to scent your home. I didn't buy it at the time, but drastic times call for drastic measures - so I called Karlene and bought one. I got the "Homemade Gourmet Collection" which has the warmer, and the following oils: Cinnamon, Maple Spice, Peach Blossom, Vanilla, Green Apple, Pomegranate.
I've been having a great time mixing oils. Today is Maple Spice with a hint of Green Apple.
EPILOGUE - Bring it on you animals and people. I am armed and dangerous! Give me you worst - my house will smell scent-sational!!! The kids will still love to go to Holly's and they still won't want to come home when it is time, but it will be because they love Holly, not because her house smells "GOODER" than ours!
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