I have time for a DATE!

Woohoo! Hubby is coming home right now to pick me up and we're going to see a matinee movie while the kids are in school! The best part is that my house is neat!

I look around and realize that I really have been a "procrastinating perfectionist" for a long time. I never let things go because I was lazy or a slob. I was in the habit of waiting until I had enough time to do EVERYTHING that needed to be done. For example, if I thought about cleaning out the pantry in the kitchen, I would put it off because the other cabinets needed to be cleaned too and I knew it would take me days to do it all.

But now I'm learning that I can do anything in Baby Steps. Fifteen minutes at a time, my house is taking shape -- and staying that way!

Kelly's mission yesterday was to tackle the Tupperware / Rubbermaid / leftover containers. I took it a step further and decluttered the whole cabinet where they are stored. I had been putting off doing that one dreaded chore because I thought it would take forever. I started at 4:00 and finished in plenty of time to pick up my younger son from his fifth grade social at 5:00. All the stray lids, oversized cups and other things we don't use anymore have been thrown out, and the cabinet looks great.

I have my eyes on the next cabinet to be decluttered, but not today. Today I have a DATE! And tonight we're going to the country club for an awards dinner for my older son.

My kids are a little too old for FlyLady's Camp GonnaWannaFly, but we've got to get them on a schedule for the summer to get their chores done. I'm thinking about doing their own evening and morning routines, a basic weekly chore schedule for them, and a daily "Mom's challenge" based on things that need to be done in their rooms. I really want to send them out into the world organized and neat. I'm going to be the "mother in law" one day, so I want to prepare them to be good husband material, or at least teach them to pick up after themselves. :)

Okay, I'm off to slip on my jeans and get out the door!