Apartment Therapy Cure

As I mentioned I got the Apartment Therapy eight-step home cure book for my birthday. I decided to get started on it last week and over the weekend, despite my myriad of illnesses, I managed to take care of most of the steps for week one.

.Week One
Make a complete list of repairs and solutions: half done
Vacuum and mop the floors: check
Remove on item from your apartment and put it outside: check
Buy fresh flowers: check
Sit for ten minutes in a part of your home you never sit in: check
Look into earth friendly cleaning products: already done for the most part

I changed out a light bulb/put the extensions on our gutter downspouts/tidied the guest bedroom/vacuumed, swept and mopped/sat at the dining room table for breakfast/listed our old dining chairs on Craigslist/picked up more vinegar and baking soda for cleaning/bought a bouquet of spray roses. Not bad.

Things To Do Tonight While Josh Makes Music

-Take the compost out
-Spray the deck for ants
-Sprinkle cornmeal around the yard for ants
-Use tape to come up with a spare bedroom floorplan
-Put the luggage and air mattress up
-Organize my office a little bit more
-Fix the mistakes I made putting posters in frames last night
-Read more of my photography book before my classes tomorrow
-Clean house (hmm, this should probably be at the top of the list)

Wishing the picture my list painted looked a bit more like this:






















Pic from Real Simple

Busy Bees

We're heading into one busy weekend. We'll definitely be ready for our vacation to start on Tuesday. So, just what's on the agenda for us?

-Tonight: Show Mom how to use our washer & dryer, go to Target with Holly while Josh has rehearsal, Scotchguard livingroom rug(?), make ice cream for Sunday, a load of laundry (?), get together with Josh's fam for Drea's birthday, run soaker hoses, water compost pile a bit

-Saturday: Possibly hit farmer's market early with LeAnn, Nikon class at Fort Worth Camera, Ashley's 30th birthday party in Grapevine, Jason's birthday party back in Fort Worth

-Sunday: Up early to start digging ditches, installing yard drainage, make lunch/dinner after a hard days work (Nathan's hot dogs, grass-fed beef burgers w/ homegrown onions, roasted corn and homemade ice cream, I think), probably collapse, run soaker hoses

-Monday: Buy Nelson/Dylan tix on presale, clean house, finish laundry, pack clothes and carry-ons, notify Ann when we'll get to their house in the morning, spray the house and deck for springtails, get entertainment for flight together, pay mortgage/water/electric/gas online, decide on what sightseeing we'll do during our (rainy) visit to DC, decide best way to pack S&M's wedding gift.

Sadly, I'm sure there's more that I'm just not thinking of. But, when I leave today there'll be no more work 'til June! Yeah!

Spring Cleaning

With Josh rehearsing with one band Saturday morning, and another one Saturday evening I find myself with some time on my hands. Unfortunately, I already have the perfect time-filler, that old Spring cleaning list. Able to remove a couple of things from my old list, but needed to add a couple on. And there needs to be a big-time purge of all the closets. Time to say goodbye to all those useless items I hoard. Trying to reform your pack-rat ways can be a challenge!

Bedroom:
-Wash sheets and blanket
-Vacuum mattress
-Put up clean laundry
-Tidy closet and bedside area
-Dust bedroom
-Vacuum floor and walls

Living room:
-Wash sofa blanket
-Vacuum sofa and chair
-Tidy and clean off coffee table
-Lint-roll curtains
-Dust TV stand, bookcases, and desk
-Vacuum floor and walls

Dining room:
-Clean off table and wipe down
-Vacuum floor and walls

Kitchen:
-Dishes
-Wipe down cabinet fronts and counter tops
-Clean out fridge and freezer
-Clean sink and drains
-Clean microwave
-Microwave sponge
-Empty and clean trash can
-Sweep and mop floor

Bathroom:
-Scrub bathtub, tile and shower doors
-Clean toilet
-Scrub sink
-Clean counter top and mirror
-Sweep and mop
-Wash floor mat

Other:
-Clean cat box
-Clean windows
-Make next week's menu plan & grocery list
-Grocery shopping

Chores

I really wish I hadn't gotten sick when I have so many things I need to get done. I'm feeling mostly better now, but the overwhelming amount of chores to be done in such a short amount of time is making me feel a bit queasy. Tonight we have Christmas with Josh's dad's family, which doesn't leave too much time for tasks. But no matter what I have to get some gifts wrapped to mail out tomorrow. Just a few of the 30 gifts I have left to wrap. Oh jeez. And then there's the laundry. And the cleaning- made extra difficult due to the broken vacuum. Don't forget all the double cooking I've signed myself up for to help stock Alec & Kim's freezer for the impending baby days. Hopefully that won't be as hard as it feels like, since I'm just doubling everything I'm making for our dinner and popping it in the freezer. And I really, really, really want to get some cookies made. I realize that's not quite a chore, but gosh darnit, I'm determined to get it done. And at some point I should probably bathe. I think everyone would appreciate me crossing that one off my list each day. Josh is being a very sweet boy and going to Target when he leaves work to get a cheese tray for tonight, along with laundry detergent and stopping to get the Chili's GC my sister requested for Christmas. He offered to do more, but I don't know when/how he can do much more than me, since he's got drum lessons T-Th. I'm staying home Friday, and we don't have any plans yet for Saturday, so I'm hoping to get most of the laundry and gift wrapping done then. I'm sure everything will be A-OK. I just felt like some frazzled venting was necessary. I'll stop whining now since I brought this all on myself and it's not like some great tragedy is playing out over here. Oh jeez, I have to wrap gifts and make cookies and do my normal chores too, ha.

Household To-Do List

Things I'd like to get accomplished this weekend, knowing full well that hardly any of them will actually get done:

Bedroom:
-Wash sheets and blanket
-Vacuum mattress topper and mattress
-Put up clean laundry & drying rack
-Tidy closet & bedside area
-Dust bedroom
-Vacuum floor & walls

Living room:
-Wash sofa blanket
-Vacuum sofa and chair
-Tidy and clean coffee table
-Lint-roll curtains
-Dust TV stand, bookcases, and desk
-Vacuum floor & walls

Dining room:
-Clean of table and wipe down
-Clean off piano
-Vacuum floor and walls

Kitchen:
-Do any dishes needed
-Wipe down cabinet fronts and counter tops
-Empty fridge and wipe down surfaces
-Clean sink and drains
-Microwave sponge
-Empty and clean trash can
-Sweep and mop floor

Bathroom:
-Scrub bathtub, tile, and shower doors
-Clean toilet
-Scrub sink
-Clean counter top and mirror
-Sweep and mop
-Wash floor mat

Other:
-Make next week's menu plan & grocery list
-Grocery shopping
-Eat Chipotle (don't worry, this one will definitely be accomplished)