This House has been Blessed! ;)

Whew! I just can't seem to grasp the concept of the weekly home blessing *hour.* It takes me at least two hours to do the top two levels of my house (dust, vacuum, mop floors, clean mirrors, empty trash, change sheets), and I haven't gone any farther with the basement than dusting the family room and cleaning the bathroom down there. There is some clutter left over from the weekend's sleepover that needs to be dealt with first. I'm sure Kyle will be reaching for the flyswatter when I tell him what he needs to do this evening! :)

Well, it's been a week and a half since I met the FlyLady. My kitchen always looks great now because we shine the sink every evening and don't leave clutter on the counters. I found an expandable file in my office -- one of the travel ones with a handle -- and placed it in a basket next to the counter. In it we place all bills as they come in (to be paid every other Friday - payday), and then we file the paid bills in the pockets. Everything else that comes in gets dumped if it's junk or put into the current catalog basket. No more counter clutter!

The boys are catching on to the routines. They "swish and swipe" every morning, and my younger son has been laying out his clothes the night before. Last night he threw in a load of his laundry without being reminded (even though tonight is his laundry night).

The older son LOVES the dinners we've been having. I've been getting the Body Clutter menus from savingdinner.com, and we haven't found anything so far that we didn't enjoy. Tonight might be the exception. It's a Tex Mex Crock Stew done in the slow cooker. I think it smells wonderful, but I don't know how they'll like it.

So what have we been getting done so far? Hmmm . . .

My evening routine:
* Shine the sink
* Shower
* Check tomorrow's calendar and menu
* Lay out clothes for tomorrow
* Spend a few minutes on the "hot spots"
* Run the dishwasher

My morning routine:
* Shower, do hair & makeup, dress to socks (I'm still working on wearing shoes in the house; I'm thinking about buying an inexpensive pair of lace-ups just for wearing inside)
* Swish & swipe the bathroom
* Grab a load of laundry
* Unload the dishwasher
* Check today's calendar & menu

I've been completing Kelly's mission each day, and I've been trying to do some decluttering in 15-minute increments. The master bath is clutter free and stays neat. We have 3 1/2 bathrooms, and they all get "swished and swiped" each day so they're staying neat. Laundry stays caught up (except the ironing -- I need to catch up on that -- yuck!).

I have a friend who just might BE FlyLady. She has a huge house, two kids, a husband, two cats and a dog. Any time you walk into her house it is NEAT. I've always left there feeling so inadequate.

But guess what? My house is like my friend's house now! At least the top two levels are. I'd still stop you from going to the basement, and please don't open any closets, cabinets or drawers just yet. But you're welcome to stop by now; I won't be embarrassed by the things that need to be put away. That feels great!