Christmas and goals

So I didn’t realize until this morning that Christmas is next week. I have no clue how that little fact just passed me by. *sigh* Thankfully I have most of my Christmas shopping done. Just a couple little things to pick up this coming week.

The rest of this year is just going to be full of excitement. This Saturday is the Hill Christmas Party. It also is Cray’s birthday. We had to celebrate his birthday this past weekend because of the party but we still had good times. Christmas Eve/Christmas Day is going to be spent with the in-laws. (Thanksgiving was with my family). I’m hoping for New Years Eve to have some friends over for food, drinks, and fun. What a great way to end the year.

With Christmas and New Years Day both being on Friday this year I get 2, 3 (maybe 4) day weekends in a row. SWEET!! So I’m taking full advantage of this and that I don’t have school to worry about. I’m going to clean like a mad woman. I’m going to do my own “spring cleaning” but in December. I love going to school but that plus a full time job really takes away from house chores. My loving husband helps out as much as he can but somehow the house has still gone south.

So my “goal” before the New Year is to have my house all cleaned up. My 2nd “goal” before the New Year is to add some style to my kitchen cabinets. Right now they look just horrible. There is stuff just sitting up on top of them that make it look cluttered. Not pretty at all. Check it out for yourself, I’m not lying.

Hopefully I can spruce it up mostly with items I already have in my house and maybe a trip to the dollar store.

So what about you?? What are you doing for Christmas/New Years? What goals do you want to finish before the New Year?? Speaking of goals, what goals are you writing down for the New Year?

Clutter

I just found this article on shine.yahoo.com from Julie Morgenstern. Very interesting insight on clutter. Did you know that organized stuff can be clutter too!?!?!? I never thought of it that way. Makes me want to go home and clean out the master bedroom closet. Thank you Julie! Here are the top three myths about clutter. Enjoy!!

Myth #1: Clutter is just a bunch of junk you should easily be able to toss.

Truth: Clutter represents an attachment to something you are struggling to release: an old belief system, obsolete need, or unexpressed part of you that needs to be discovered.

Myth #2: Getting rid of clutter will get you organized

Truth: Decluttering will not create a system….it will help you manage change. Releasing the obsolete will get you unstuck—by opening up space for something new. It creates the energy, space to think, and time to figure out what’s next.

Myth #3: Clutter is always messy

Truth: Clutter is what is obsolete, the objects, things and habits that no longer serve you—and it doesn’t have to be disorganized. A perfectly arranged closet filled with clothes you never wear is clutter. So is a perfectly organized day filled with activities that no longer fuel you.

The key is to understand your attachment to the clutter before releasing it—so that you can fulfill the need in a more effective way—or determine that you no longer have that need at all.

Earth Day!!!

It’s never occurred to me that I could do something to help mother earth. My husband has always wanted to recycle but his parents lived out in the country and really never had a desire to recycle. When we bought our house last year we found out that a truck comes around on trash day and picks up recycles. SWEET!! So we have been loyal recyclers since June of last year.

Well now I want to do more and since today is Earth Day I’ve decided to put my ideas into practice.

The first thing I want to do is start doing laundry only on the weekend. When we got married I was only doing laundry on the weekends but now it’s turned into doing laundry throughout the week as well. One it wastes my time and two wastes water and energy. So I’m going to go back to washing only on the weekends AND I’m going to stop using the dryer. This is such a big thing for me; I’m a dryer freak! I even use the dryer to take out the wrinkles in my clothes. It’s a lot easier then pulling out the iron and board. I know pure laziness. So I’m going to buy a clothes line from Wal-Mart. They have these retractable ones online that you can mount to a wall or to the side of the house. I’m supper excited about this because one I can just put it away after use, so it’s not an eye sore in the backyard, two it’s only $15 bucks, and three we save money and help save the earth in the long wrong. What a deal!!

The second thing that I want to do is start using Eco friendly cleaners. You hear all the time about how cleaners aren’t good for your family and your home. About the toxin's that leak out from the bottles and contaminate our air. Well I’m going to start storing our cleaners in the garage and I’m going to start buying the eco friendly kind.

The third thing that I’m going to try and do is switch out our light bulbs to CFL’s. Now I really don’t like the harsh light the compact fluorescent light’s give off but I’m going to test them and see if I can find one that I like.

The forth thing I'm going to do is add some indoor plants to help with the air. Also it will add some decoration to the house. :) Always a plus!

What are you trying to do to save money and the earth?? I’d love to hear what everyone is doing in these trying times to save a little green and also be friendly to the earth.

Done...

Making excuses for myself and pushing things off. I need to take control of my life, I’m a big girl and I don’t need my mother to hold my hand and tell me what I need to do.

So this week I’ve turned a new leaf and actually started to put into practice what Mrs. T (MY BFF) and I put together for cleaning the house; something to make our lives easier. So this morning I got up and fixed Mr. H’s breakfast and lunch along with mine and took care of the dog. After Mr. H headed off to work I made the bed, cleaned off the sink and toilet in the bathroom, and picked up the living room. Then I got myself ready for work and made it to work on time! It’s amazing all the things you can do with-in an hour if you just put your mind to it. Tonight when I get home I’ll run/fast pace walk for a mile, then fix dinner (left over’s from Easter), do the dishes while dinner is warming up, and then sweep the kitchen, foyer, and bathrooms. I can so do all of that in 2 hours tops, not even that long really! That gives me time then to spend time with Mr. H.

Please anyone that reads my blog and from now on reads about me slacking off and making excuses please internet slap me. Hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful Easter weekend we had and hope you have a wonderful week!

A “Stepford” wife

Not like I really want to be a controlled robot that my husband made but it would be nice to have my house and me looking perfect all the time. What I really need is a Rosie. You know from “The Jetsons”, what a great show.

Anyways, my life is just so crazy. I get up at 6:30 (which is too early for me) get myself ready for work, make sure Mr. H has lunch, and take care of the dog. Rush down the interstate to get to my office at 8:30. Work my butt off to make sure the office is running smoothly. Hop back on the interstate at 5 just to sit there and drive a distance that should only take me 30 minutes but ends up being an hour. Get home around 6 and fix dinner for two and make sure the dog has his dinner. Entertain my husband instead of cleaning because let’s face it that is a lot more fun. Maybe at the most do the dishes before climbing into bed anywhere around 10 or 11.
My question is how in the world do you just force yourself to do the wifely duties of making sure the house is clean? My BFF Mrs. T. and I have been trying to get into a routine for cleaning so we wouldn’t be cramming cleaning into just Saturday. We just can’t seem to get our acts together and get it done even though we broke it down into little baby steps. We have the making bed down to a T but that’s about it.

What do you do to make cleaning easier? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Spring Cleaning

So last Friday was the first day of spring!! YAY!! Of course beautiful sun and warm weather came along with it so I did NOT spring clean. :) Who could stand being inside cleaning on such a wonderful day??? Well the weather has changed drastically since last weekend. It's now in the 50's, foggy & most of the time raining. Yuck!! So tomorrow I'm going to get down to business and clean my house. Thankfully Cray is working all day so I'll just put the dog in his cage and clean! Wish me luck!!!