End of day five.

I woke up really sick!
I was going to help one of my good friends with a party later that night, so I went into denial mode, assuring myself that I would feel better by that evening...and got in the shower...and blow-dried my hair...and got dressed...and then crashed into bed feeling like I was pretty much going to die.

So, I DID get dressed (which, technically, I wouldn't have expected myself to do since I wasn't feeling well, but hey, denial can be a powerful motivator...) I did NOT, however, do any cleaning. (That would have just been neurotically nuts and such.)

I spent the entire day in bed.
The trusty hubs even took care of babybits, only bringing him in when he needed to nurse every few hours. (I am so lucky. I won the husband lottery for sure.) I was SO SICK. Totally floored me. No fun. 

Okay, I'll admit that I DID keep my sink shiny though...
Couldn't help it.
I'm an addict I tell ya.
Love me a shiny sink.

This wasn't my ideal way to end out the first week, but all in all, I have to say, I am amazed at the changes in me AND in my household in just 5 short days! I cannot believe the difference it makes in my life when I just get up and get going every morning. Wow.

By the middle of the week, I was so enthusiastic about my progress that I wanted to add more and more and more goals that would help me be more and more and mo' better...but I KNOW that baby steps is the way to go. No burn out for me. Slow and steady wins the race. Slow and steady... (Yes, I have to keep telling myself that...again and again and again and again.)

We're going to take it easy for the weekend, then back to business bright and early on Monday! Can't wait to see you and find out how you're doing!

End of day four.

How did I do?

Um...

Did I get ready first thing?

Nope.

Did I get ready eventually?

Yep.

Did I get "all the way" ready?

Nope. The makeup didn't happen, but I did comb my hair and get dressed "head to shoes."

(In my defense, I got no sleep last night and woke up nauseous and exhausted with a sore throat to top all off.)

Was I pleasant and lovely to be around?

Not so much.

Did I let my 7 year old (who came in and woke me up at 5:30 a.m.) take an entire bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos into his room and eat as many as he wanted as long as he promised to leave me alone and let me sleep while the baby sleeps?

Why, yes. Yes I did.

When the hubs made the grave mistake of questioning the parental wisdom of that decision, (the one which I am now calling Dorito-Gate-two-thousand-and-ten) did I scream something along the lines of :

"I'd like to see YOU get 3 to 6 hours of broken up sleep for 3 stinkin' months straight and then wake up with a sore throat and feeling like you're going to throw up and NOT choose to 'pick your battles' with your seven year old at five freaking thirty a.m.!" ?

Um, yeah. That would be me. (I'm not proud of it.)

Then, before the hubs could say a word, did I flip the switch on the vacuum cleaner and angry-vacuum the entire house?

Sure did.

Let's just say it was a rough day, but it got better. (Poor hubs! It must be terrifying to live in crazyville round the clock.)

For those of you who are worried, we made up right after the angry vacuuming. He was sorry for being insensitive, I was sorry for being nuttier than a squirrel turd, and we were over it.

On a completely different note:

My sink is very shiny! The Fly Lady was right... It DID feel like a big, warm hug first thing in the morning. (AFTER DoritoGate2010, that is.) It is such a small simple step, but it sets off such a fantastic chain reaction. (Like Jen said in the comments - Clean sink, clean counter, clean floors.... it just goes on and on like the most delightful little puddle ripple you've ever encountered!) It's like crack. Crack AND magic! Now, I want it shiny all. the. time. I don't let any dishes stay in there and mess it up. Not when it has the potential to look so darn pretty all the time! I even like it. Every time I wipe it out, I like it. I even smile, and then I spritz it with bleach when I'm done because I love the smell of bleach, and it feels sorta like I'm treating my sink to a luxury spritz of something from a Nordstrom cosmetics counter...

Moving on... (I'm not going to pretend that that didn't get a little weird there at the end.)

Now I'm going to sleep.

Pray for me.

Pray for sleep.

(I don't mean to be greedy or anything, but more than 4 hours would be nice... I'm just puttin' it out there.)

End of day three.

How did we do?

This morning went so much better!

Up at 7:00 (Oooo, I sure like me some 7:00)

Kort got up at 7:00 too.

We turned on some reruns of America's Funniest Videos, snuggled in my bed, and Kort asked if Tennyson could watch too.  This is what happened next.

 

 

It was sort of awesome. AND with Kort babysitting his little bro, I was dressed and ready with make up and hair done by 7:20. I made breakfast(eggs), cleaned up the kitchen, and got Kort out the door. My back has been k.i.l.l.i.n.g. lately, so a the hubs took me out for the day. Chiropractor, Costco, and even a little Olive Garden (woo-hoo!). I haven't seen the light of day for weeks! (And let's be honest... I didn't really see the light of day today either - it was overcast, and FREEZING! Boo, Utah...)

When we got home, I put away the haul from Costco, helped Kort clean his room, and even managed to start dinner by 4:00. (Chicken drumsticks that I pan fry and then leave in the oven to slow bake for 2 hours, and asparagus - sauteed right before we eat.) One thing I loved about starting dinner at 4:00, was that it enabled me to clean up after myself and have a clean kitchen to start with at 6:00 when it was actually time to get dinner on the table. This is why crock pots are also awesome, and why I need about 30 more crock pot recipes that actually taste good! (Right now I have about four.)

My favorite parts of today?

1. Not having to take my make up and do it in the car, because, when it came time to head out, I WAS ALREADY READY!

2. Listening to my delicious 7 year old and a hilarious neighbor boy rake and jump into piles of leaves in our backyard. This doesn't directly have anything to do with my goals... but I sure love being his mom. (Wait, maybe that has EVERYTHING to do with my goals - huh?)

3. Coming home from a day of running errands to find a reasonably clean home waiting for me. (Oh, and there was also the little 30 minute cat nap I squeezed in before Kort got home from school. I sort of loved that too.)

How did you do?

End of day two.

Today got off to a rough start. Tennyson woke up at 5:00 a.m. instead of 6:00 a.m. Um, five a.m. is sort of a deal breaker for me, so when I got him back to sleep at 6:00, I went back to bed too and slept until almost 8:00. By then, Tennyson needed to eat again and Kort needed to get out the door to school. I got up, resisted the (really powerful) urge to throw on my bathrobe, and got dressed. (bebe sweatsuit) Got Kort off to school, got the breakfast dishes rinsed, got Tennyson down for his morning nap, and was finally able to take 5 minutes and do my make-up. 

The discovery? It is so. much. harder. to get up and ready for the day if I don’t do it right off. Life really has a tendency to get in the way. I was tired and moody. So then, while tidying up the dining room, a craft drawer jammed, so naturally, I reached in, pushed down the gift bags that were jamming it, and started pushing the drawer closed. It was really stuck…so I pushed harder. Then it suddenly gave way and I CRUSHED my hand in the drawer. C.r.u.s.h.e.d. I tell you, crushed! 

Then, Tennyson woke up hungry, so I picked him up and started nursing him. I tried to turn on the t.v. so I could watch a morning news show while I nursed, and the TV box had reset and it was all messed up. Then Tennyson filled his pants. And it turned out to be a total blowout. And poop got all over my clothes. (SO glad I’d made the effort to get dressed.)

I looked at the hubs and smiled (A really creepy fake smile). Then, in the sweetest voice I could muster (so as not to scare the baby) I said “Eff today!” (I’m not proud of it.)

But worry not. I rallied.

My most favorite parts of today?

1. Getting all of the laundry done and put away. (I usually let clean laundry piles sit all over my living room for a minimum of 3 days before I get around to putting it all away. Not today! I had it folded, hung, and put away in everyone’s closets within an hour. Yay!

2. I made a goal to have Tennyson start sleeping in his crib (instead of his swing) on a regular basis and I stuck to it! (Even though his naps are shorter and I get less time to myself because he’s not used to it yet and wakes up sooner.) I’m proud of myself for putting “the big picture” and what’s best for my little man ahead of my current desire to have extra “me” time. I usually give up and go for short term gains, but today, I didn’t. And it feels good.

3. Taking a late afternoon nap and waking up to find that the hubs had fed Kort and gotten him into the tub (best hubs ever!) and ALSO that my house was clean! I only did ONE 15 minute power clean session (because all the rest of my time went to laundry) and it still made a huge impact! Clean kitchen and vacuumed floors? I’ll take it!

How did you do? Did you hit your goals?

End of day one.

How did we do?

Tennyson got up bright and early at 6:00 am. I nursed him (which is only taking 10 minutes now because he is such a fast eater. Yay!) and immediately got dressed. (wide-leg jeans, navy/white striped shirt, long gray sweater, red earrings, and pointy red flats...which I am actually only wearing out of the house... if I even leave the house.  While home, I wear comfy shoes.)

I pulled my hair into a messy bun with bangs and "fringe" framing my face. Then I put make up on. This took 10 minutes total (hair and make up.) Then Tennyson and I talked and giggled and had a diaper change, and then he pooped in his brand new diaper, so we had another diaper change, tidied up the bedroom, and finally ventured out into the kitchen.


Since Kort wasn't up distracting me yet (he is sooo cute... and soooo high maintenance), I managed to unload the entire dishwasher, wash the dishes that were left in the sink from last night, and clear off the dining room table in 15 minutes - all before 7:00! (Wow!) Kestral made a great comment saying that "An object in motion stays in motion" and BOY is that applicable here... I had SUCH a Brady Bunch/Leave it to Beaver Morning!

So get this: Kort bursts in on the scene right at 7:00. (Thank you Daylight Savings Time). We usually wake him up to get ready for school at 7:30, so he had half an hour to kill. The first thing he said was: "Wow mom, you look pretty!" (Ha ha! Told you it was a rare occurrence around here!) Since he was up early, he asked if he could play with the Perler Beads we were playing with on Sunday night. I said sure. Then I wiped the kitchen clean while he worked on a new little project and even ironed it together before we had to start breakfast. My home just felt so happy and most importantly c.a.l.m! I loved it. 

Once Kort was off to school, I set my timer for 15 minutes to do the second quarter of my cleaning goal. (Baby steps, right?) I was shocked at how much I got done on this set! 

Here is the rundown:
Cleared dining room table
Rinsed/loaded breakfast dishes
vacuumed:
Living Room
Hallway
Tennyson's Room
Kort's Room
Master Bedroom

Then, Tennyson had the worst morning ever! He is usually so, so happy, but he was tired and fussy, and basically inconsolable. I'm wondering if his little bottom teeth aren't getting ready to make an appearance. (Kort's cut through right at 4 months, so with Tentens coming up on three...this may be the case.) Anyway, it was so sad! I spent the next hour and a half trying to sooth him to sleep, so we just snuggled and took it easy. Finally, around noon, he crashed. Since I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night, I went to sleep too! I slept until 1:30 and woke up feeling so great!

When Kort got home from school, he invited a friend over and it was so nice not to have to dash into my room to put something decent on! The boys played with Perler Beads (which I would iron together as they finished each project.)
 
The hubs got home at 5:00 and we made tacos in the kitchen together.  I love him. Man, do I love him. 

Another 15 minutes cleaning up after dinner, and my kitchen looks great! (That takes me up to 45 of my 60 minutes) I think what I love the most about doing these 15 minute increments is that it reminds me of how possible this is. It would be discouraging if my kitchen took an hour to clean... but 15 minutes? Hey! I've got 15 minutes. (Barely, but I've got it.)


For my last 15 minutes, I wiped down our main bathroom. I didn't totally scour or do the floors, but the mirror and sink are shiny and the toilet is totally clean. 


The hubs is playing checkers with Kort to finish off our family night, and Tentens is sleeping in his swing. I'm going to go get my boys in bed, post communal global, and watch some t.v. with the hubs to wind down the night.

How did your day go!?

Did you try jewelry? Getting dressed?

Did you have a cleaning goal?

How did you do on your goal variations?

What did you find most rewarding?

My 2 most favorite things about today?

1. Not having to dash into my room to get dressed when Kort's friend came to play.
2. Tidying up and vacuuming my bedroom! I usually put ALL other house cleaning chores ahead of my bedroom (yes, even though Oprah, Nate, Martha, and every self-helper on the planet say not to!) because those sections of the house are seen by others. I can't believe how many times I smiled when walking into my bedroom today. It was like a happy little present, just for me.

week one: mommy style

You know "that girl"?

The one who shows up to the 8:00 a.m. PTA meeting in a cardigan and pearls, looking like a million bucks while the rest of the moms are fresh from the shower, wet hair and all, sporting their favorite, over-sized Disneyland sweatshirt?

You know, that girl. The one who also never says no to anything, whether it's last minute babysitting, making dinner for a neighbor who just had surgery, or agreeing to head up teacher appreciation week?

And the one who has double (okay, and in my case triple) the number of kids you do, but is always on time and pulled together when you are not? The one who looks amazing, whether it's 7:00 a.m. or 10:00 p.m.? The one whose house is spotless and always has amazing smells coming from the kitchen (because she's making 200 cupcakes for the Children's Hospital Bake Sale, no doubt).

You know, HER?

I sort of want to hate her. 

But I can't.

More than I want to hate her, 

I sort of want to BE her.

Seriously. 

We tend to vilify girls like her, but do we just do that because we know that "being her" is way more work than "being jealous and resentful of her?" (Answer: Probably.) Even though my human nature-y self wants to make fun of her and call her a Stepford Wifey, and even though I'd really like to think that she is just really, really fake, and really, really convincing... part of me knows the truth. 

And the truth is. 

SHE ACTUALLY "GETS" IT. 

She knows what it truly means to be a woman and a mother.

She is dedicated to being an effective, organized nurturer and homemaker. 

And I DON'T "get" it...

But I want to. 

And I'm thinking that there must (simply must!) be something to the whole, "Not staying in my bathrobe and thrashed house slippers all the live-long day" way of life. Maybe if I wasn't in my bathrobe... I would take out the trash...and tidy up my front yard, and not feel like an idiot when someone knocks on my door...and maybe I would even go get groceries so we could have a decent dinner later that night...and mayhaps (if I got really productive) I would return the library books, and not be late for every appointment under the sun!

(Hey, it could happen!)

That is why I have selected:

1. Fully dressed (like, to the nines baby!) first thing in the morning, and 2. 60 minutes of cleaning each day as the goals for Week ONE!

I will give regular updates and tidbits of inspiration that I find along the way, every day this week. Stay tuned!

QUESTION:

Do you get up and get dressed every morning?

If not EVERY morning, how often (as in, how many days a week) do you get ready first thing?

Just wondering how "out there" I am compared to the rest of the mommy world. 

I get dressed for the day about once every 10 days... and that's only when I have somewhere to go. (Oh wow, my poor husband...)

What about you?

*JUST SO YOU KNOW: I am pretty sure that Jackie O wasn't an expert homemaker... I suspect she left all that to the nannies, the cooks, and housekeepers, and such. But MAN could the woman dress! Whew! I think everyone should take a page (or thirty)  from the Jackie book of style. The world would be a much prettier place.