Organize: Christmas!

 Two random "tips" I'm trying to make habits (as found on FlyLady):

1) Don't leave a room empty handed. Minimize trips and maximize efficiency by multitasking. This should be very helpful seeing how many times I have to go from the living room to the bathroom these days! So far I've done okay remembering...

2) Empty the dishwasher in the morning and fill throughout the day as dishes get dirty. Now, you have to know that Dennis is the most amazing husband in the world. He does the dishes 95% of the time. I'm not even exaggerating. However, I don't despise unloading the dishes as much as loading, so I can handle the morning "unloading." I can also handle the "fill as you go" throughout the day. It's the stuck on old food that makes me want to throw up. I'm such a wimp.



Today's Task: Buy the last few Christmas gifts on my list, design Clara's Dora backpack, finish "making" mom's gift (super excited about it!), wrap presents!!!

Time Spent: All day today & yesterday. That's life right? It feels good to get stuff done though. :)

The Results:

So this morning I unloaded the dishes while Clara finished eating/playing with breakfast, and then put in a load of laundry while she watched Dora. Surprisingly, I didn't die from housework-itis as I was sure I would. I went through my list of baby steps and decided I really needed to finish up Christmas prep (Which included a trip to WalMart... The week before Christmas... Ugh!)

Yesterday Clara and I stopped by my favorite thrift shop on our way home from doing visiting teaching. I went with a few things in mind: Thick purple fabric to make a Dora Backpack from, Clara & Newborn clothes, and office organizers. It was 25 cent kids clothes, which is great but also means they will be pretty cleaned out of all the good stuff. I still found some NB pants (which is what I wanted) and a thermal top for Clara. I looked through the fabric scraps, bedding, & curtains and didn't find anything for a Dora Backpack, but then I thought I'd look through the women's clothing. Score! I found a purple corduroy button-down XL shirt. It's a little faded, but is thick and will be great for a toddler backpack! I also found a metal paper organizer. I was hoping it would fit my scrapbook paper but I got it home and it's just an inch too small. :( Oh well.

I found a few examples of Dora backpacks online. I think I'll kinda use a combination of this one and this one for inspiration, but mostly do my own thing.

I survived WalMart, and now have all the gifts bought for Christmas! I haven't wrapped a single one yet... I spent all day working on Clara's backpack, so I'll break out the wrapping paper when Clara takes her nap today.

I also decided I like having an empty sink. Dirty dishes are just gross.

Are your bored of my housekeeping woes? This is just life for everyone. It's like blogging about taking a nap, or driving, or school work... It's just so mundane. But I suppose if I write about it makes it more exciting and fun (at least to me) so I will continue to write super long posts about my cleaning "adventures."

My house doesn't really look that different yet (it's still a huge mess) but I feel a lot better about myself so I guess that's a step in the right direction. :)