How it has begun....

So... the day was almost two weeks ago.  April 27th... the day before my birthday.  My house was cluttered, laundry piled up, sinks in the dishes, our "aquarium" room was in complete disorder.  About a year ago our Aquarium had to be drained and we didnt have the money to start it back up again, as it's saltwater and has to be done "right".  So, that room became one of the "catchalls" of our house.  The other two rooms being our computer room upstairs that we never use anymore and our garage.

I guess I should actually go back a little further even.  When spring hit, Mikey and I got serious spring fever... outside.  I planted a vegetable garden including peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, cilantro, sage, lavender, thyme, oregano....  I pressure washed and stained our back deck (well, there's still a portion of the railing that needs to be stained)... mikey started working on the lawn, we've spread mulch around to most of the flower bed.  I made a hummingbird garden right outside of our pool.  We also planted grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a peach tree.  Currently, mikey is working on tearing up the concrete on the deep end side of the pool, as the foundation wasn't prepared correctly and the whole spot has been sinking.  He also has begun building a shed, that would have been finished by now, but the HOA in our neighborhood stepped in and stopped the work, due to the fact that we didn't put in an application first to build it.  While waiting for approval, mikey started working on our aquarium and concrete.  Okay, that's all well and good... but the inside of our house?  Terrible, as described earlier.

When I was young, growing up in my mom's house, I honestly never learned how to clean.  And I've paid for it dearly in my life.  You see, my mom is one of the neatest people you will ever come across.  She cleans constantly.  The trouble with that is that it was always easier for her just to clean up my mess, instead of taking the time to teach me how to do it myself.  And it never ever occurred to me how much she did.  The only thing I ever had to do was pick up my room if I was having a friend over.  That's it.  I never did dishes, I never picked up my books or my shoes or did my own laundry.  I never sewed anything or ironed anything.  Let alone do something like clean a bathroom.  It was simpler for her to do it herself.  Which is all well and good, but man... it's been a hard lesson to learn.

I have just turned 34.  And I believe I am starting to get the hang of it... just now.  But my house is cluttered... not badly, I'm not a hoarder...  but I just don't put things away... and I tend to let piles build up.  There are still boxes that I have never opened from our last move in our garag.  As well as things from where I've cleaned out my car and couldn't be bothered to physically take them into the house and put them away.  I could make excuses (I've had two kids in the past 3 years....  that MAY be a valid one) but I won't.  Honestly, I was just frustrated.

I came upon this website while I was pregnant with my first daughter, Lilly.  It is by a woman who calls herself the Flylady, due to the fact that she loves fly fishing.  She has a "how to" website on how to make your house clean and clutter free.  It's a day by day, babystep type of guide.  I signed up for the emails and was overrun by 10-15 emails a day.  Before I could even get started, I was feeling bogged down.  Well, 2 weeks ago I was looking at the dishes in my sink and remembered that her first step was something about cleaning your sink.  So I went back to the flylady website.  My only intention was to make my sink beautiful.  And I did.  And then I found myself wanting my counter to match my sink... and by the end of the night, quite by accident, my kitchen looked really good.  So, I looked at the website again.  There is a 31 day babystep program that she lays out for you.  Each day you start a new habit... or you simply continue doing what you are doing.  The idea is that it takes 30 days to form a new habit.  I decided to try just this routine for a couple of days:  get up, make my bed.  go downstairs, empty the dishwasher.  I put a note in the sink (which I not only keep clean, but dry as soon as I rinse my dishes) that says "put dishes in the dishwasher".  A simple and easy concept to most people, I know....  but keep in mind that these are not habits I formed when younger.  I have since then added to my routine, as well as starting to address problem areas in my house.  My routine is now this:  When I wake up, I make the bed immediately.  I brush my teeth, I swish out my toilet in my master bathroom and wipe down the sinks.  Then I shower and get dressed (if the kids are in some sort of manner that will allow me to do this.  If not, I wait until I have the time).  Next I get lilly up and do the same thing.  I brush her teeth, swish out her toilet and wipe down her sinks.  Then I get her dressed.  I put a load of laundry in the washer and head downstairs.  Once downstairs I unload the dishwasher and swish/wipe down the guest bathroom.  The rest of the day is pretty much free as long as I pick up after myself.  I tackle little things 15-20 minutes at a time, and this way nothing gets to overwhelming.  It's all on the flylady website.  Check it out.  Oh... and I found a little button on there that allows me to get all the emails in one digest... how about that?  no more overloading on emails!

And so it has begun....