Squee! (Finally, I'm Getting a Bathroom Update...)

It's almost two months since I posted last. The holidays have come and gone, and my house is maintaining, and even improving in some areas. So I thought I'd start off the new year with a slight change in direction, seeing as how I'd like to continue and improve this blog, and even keep it going once my house is completely tidy.

And I do now believe that day will come!

I guess that's the biggest change in me since I started this project. I actually believe it can happen, and that once it does happen, I can keep it up.

The biggest change has been due to FLYLady.net, and if you haven't checked it out yet, wander on over and take a look. I haven't incorporated everything she suggests, but there are some key compnonents that do indeed work for me.

1) Housework done imperfectly still blesses you and your family, and you can do anything in 15-minute chunks. Instead of worrying about having to clean my whole office all at once, I can decide (and often do decide) to do just a little bit today, and leave the rest for tomorrow. As long as I don't make a bigger mess in the meantime, I'm still making forward motion. And knowing that I don't have to get things perfect the first time I do them has allowed me to play around with furniture arrangements and storage options until I get things right.

2) Shine your sink every day. Okay, so I don't use Windex on my sink, and I never will. I don't even manage to do it every day. But I manage to have my sink empty (as in, all the dishes done), and clean (as in washed out and wiped down) for part of each day almost every day of each week. And as FLYLady says, as goes the kitchen, so goes the rest of the house. Because the dishes are done and the sink is clean, I noticed the clutter on the counters. I found a home for all of those appliances I don't use every single day, and got rid of some stuff. Then I saw the grime on the counters, and that went. Then the counters were clean, and the stove started looking really grungy, so I started on that, 15 minutes at a time. I noticed the grime on the cupboard doors for the first time...

All because the sink is clean.

3) I get dressed right down to lace-up shoes every day and I make my bed every day. If I make my bed, keeping my bedroom clutter-free is a breeze, actually. And being fully dressed right down to shoes makes me feel so much better about myself, and so much more energetic, that instead of playing video games and zoning out, I'll occasionally choose to do some work! Go me!

That's it. Three simple things that I should have known a long time ago, and my life is slowly coming into focus.

One of the things that I did once I started with FLYLady was go talk to the office administrator at my housing co-op. Because I realized that there was no way any daily swish-and-swipe program was going to work on my toilet or bathroom floor. Those two fixtures are, after all, about 30 or 35 years old, and if I hadn't been in the unit for so long (16 years as of last month) they would have been replaced.

So I put in a work order to have the toilet replaced and a new vinyl floor put down, and today I was told that the toilet and flooring had indeed been purchased, so now I'm only waiting on our maintenance man to get to it! Stan the Man is indeed very prompt and efficient, so my bathroom reno should be complete by this time next week!

WoOt! Pics to follow...

I'm In Love (With A Stone)

So it turns out that I didn't lose or throw away that old pumice stone I had. I put it away in a drawer in the bathroom, and when I went looking for a razor this morning, the first thing I found was the stone.

After half an hour's work, the toilet was shinier than it's been in a long, long time. It's so shiny that I made Ally take a picture of it, which I'm hoping she'll post soon. I'm still working on the brown spot at the very bottom--it's been years since that part was white. But the rest of it is clean!

I found out that the stone works on the tub, too, at least on those stubborn rust and calcium deposits. I still have to use degreaser and scrubbing powder for the ring, but that part's the easy one. The bathtub should be white by the time Ally goes through the house with the camera again on Sunday.

Inertia is a very powerful force. It's really hard to overcome it and get started on something, but once started, I find it almost impossible to stop until I'm done. I've made some good strides today.

Last night, eldest son and the ex did some lugging for me, and some of the old, heavy stuff went down to the basement, where it will stay until we have enough together between two households to justify renting a truck to haul it away. Hopefully, that will happen later this month or early next.

This afternoon I started organizing my cupboards, and threw out a fair number of broken, soiled or otherwise useless containers, a whole lot of lids that had no containers, and then organized the remaining containers so that I know what I have. As I said to Ally, the biggest problem with having a big mess is you don't know what you've got or where it is, so if you need something, instead of using what you have, you go out and buy more.

Clearing up my mess has also helped with my mood, and I've been more proactive in looking for employment. Yesterday I filled out the two applications I picked up, and I took them back today, and picked up two more to fill out. I also emailed an application. So hopefully something will turn up soon on the job front.

I'll leave you with this comment from Ally: She said that the best aide in cleaning a kitchen or cooking is a playlist of music that you like to sing along to, but that everyone else in the house hates. Then you can enjoy what you're doing, and everyone else will run away and hide, and not give you any 'helpful' suggestions. Today our playlist included Beatles music, which isn't offensive to anyone in our family, but we did enjoy singing along, I while I chucked out containers, and she while she crocheted some new disclothes.

The Lovliest Sound in the World

It's garbage collection day today--a day later than normal because of the Civic Holiday yesterday. And on garbage collection days I wake up to a sound that is either the most wonderful sound in the world, or the most annoying sound in the world, depending on whether or not I got my garbage out to the curb the night before.

Yes, it's the sound of the garbage truck picking up all my trash.

It's at that point that I feel that those bags I threw out the night before (or in some cases, the minute before) are really gone, and no longer my problem. Because in our municipality, if the garbage isn't sorted right, it isn't picked up.

So anyhow, that's a whole lot of trash off my conscience.

As well, Ally and I did sort through the wool yesterday. Phil helped, too. He was very interested in our project, especially when I was untangling a whole bunch of macrame cord, some of which was in short pieces. He made sure they didn't escape.

We took the one box of stuff we didn't like to the thrift shop, and came back with a piece of material for Ally to make into curtains. Total cost, $3.38. We had a bit of discussion about whether the curtains should be for the dining room or the office, and decided on the dining room, because it will cut down on algae formation in the goldfish tank.

Which leads me to: I cleaned the tank! The goldfish are very happy. I snitched some more plants from the upstairs tank for them to munch on. I'm going to time it, and see how long it takes them to eat them all. (Note: These are plants that grow like weeds in my other tank, which is filled with tropical fish.)

I also mangaed to do all of the dishes. Yes. ALL of the dishes, even the roasting pan that had been soaking for about a month. The only dishes left are the breakfast dishes from this morning.

The final thing I did yesterday was the floor in the bathroom. It really wasn't as bad as it looked--mostly dust and hair (mine and Phil's) matted together, and it wiped up well with a cloth. I still need to give a final mop and polish, but it's already much improved in there.

As for the toilet, on the advice of several internet friends, I went looking for a pumice stone with which to clean the remaining brown spot on the bottom of the toilet. Couldn't find one at all in Wal-Mart, where it was suggested to look. Dang it! I used to have one to care for my feet, which tend to callous, and I threw it out! I knew I should have kept it! (Except that's what got me into trouble in the first place...)

So on to today. While in Wal-Mart and Value Village, I picked up application forms. Gotta fill them out and take them back, and apply for two other positions I know about. Then I'm going to finish up the dining room, and put everything away, excpet for the heavy stuff. The heavy stuff is going in the basement tomorrow--I got the ex to promise that he and eldest son would come over and heave stuff for a bit.

Pictures: what was done, and what's being done next

Taskmistress here,

A number of times during this week I got emails/phone calls asking just how much cleaning needed to be done in order for me to not to detail the state of her house again. I kept answering "if you need to ask, you haven't done enough." It worked OK (you'll see in a mo'), but I've come to the conclusion that she needs smaller goals to prevent such badgering in the future, and to set a standard for how much work needs to be done. Plus, it lets me post more pictures.

So she did indeed sort the box, and the rest of the garbage. She also moved the mattress that was on the floor of the office back to where it's supposed to go and only 3 weeks after the heatwave where she needed it ended! I'd take more pictures showing you the improvement in the office but there wasn't really one. So here's a closer picture of the mess:

She told me to take this picture. Honest.

I think part of her plan for this week is to move the blasted bookshelf into the closet shown in this here picture. I'M NOT HELPING MOVE THAT THING!! And I presume that moving that bookshelf involves some organization of this mess. (You never know, Mum is quite talented).

The biggest improvement is bathroom wise:

Toilet improvement! W00t. It's a terribly old toilet, so I won't be too fussy. I still think it could get a bit cleaner. However, that floor...

Ewwww... Official Task Number 1 for the week. This includes the whole floor of the bathroom (not pictured, but this is the worst part). And I'll be checking behind the door.

Shiny. Even the soap dish is clean. :)

Improved. Not done, but improved. Finishing this off is Official Task Number 2 for the week.

This woman should not be allowed on the Internet. Ever. *sigh* That cabinet needs painting... not this week though. Because painting generally seems to be my job.

Now, I didn't take pictures of her bedroom before, but she told me too this week because she did clean a bit. But I think it's mostly to show you that at least one room is a normal level of clean.

Vanity. I like the dolls. Whoever made those is obviously quite talented. :P

Nice neat bed. You can't see the curtains, but a nice job was done on those. Really talented sewer made those, I bet.

Missed a dust bunny! The fact that I got down on the floor to take this picture and live to tell the tale is kind of amazing, considering how much dust is normally under there.

Also, improvement on the kitchen front:

This is kind of miraculous. It's never been this clean, except for when I've gone on a rampage. However, only half of the kitchen is shown (and definitely no floor). These will come in time. Official Task Number 3 is:

Organization. You can't cook if you're afraid to go in your cupboards.

I'm also challenging her to have the other half of the kitchen as clean as this one. And the toaster oven could use a good scrub. Floor not required, yet.

And the last official task for this week:

Help us!!

Along with these four official tasks comes the understanding that the stuff that has been cleaned shall be in this (or better) condition next weekend. Minus the stupid toilet paper thing. (Or I shall cut off the Internets).

Ciao,
Ally

Pictures and Commentary: The before pictures part 1

Hullo, Ally here.

This is my first bit of "Before" pictures, and my loving respectful commentary of the whole schebang. And by loving and respectful I mean sarcastic and brutally honest. Because that's the best way to be loving and respectful, imho. *grins evilly*

Mum, if you are reading this, get back to cleaning.

The Office



Here you can see the clutter of the office. It's been this way for months. Phil does not look impressed. I would like to say now that I refuse to move that book shelf, because during the last time she attempted to clean I had to move the darn thing twice. Not doing that again.



The desk. Nothing too horrible in this picture, except for Phil's chair. Lack of vacuuming is an issue. I forgot to grab that Happy Hooker book. Mum wants a hat for her birthday. That's the lovely lady herself, already hard at work.



If that box of trash is still there when I come over next week, I am taking a clearer picture of it. That should not be in an office.


The Bathroom




Uhhh... yeah. Words cannot describe that toilet.



So here's another picture. Maybe I should put a warning at the beginning of this post.



Stupid lighting, you can't see all the dirt. Next week I'm using the flash. It's not as bad as the bathtub, but still needs lots of cleaner and elbow grease.

The Hallway and Upstairs-stairs



I should have taken a closer picture of everything, but I know there is a pile of swept up dirt that hasn't been cleared for a month around here somewhere. The entire hallway needs to be swept and mopped, because Phil leaves hair everywhere. And mum wears her shoes inside the house. (Totally a pet peeve).



This reminds me I forgot to take pictures of the downstairs closet. I'll do that in a bit, but God only knows what's in this cupboard (and the other side too). Needs to be organized, and lots of stuff probably chucked out. (She's had that paint by number set for at least ten years).



Reason behind shoes in the house, at least for me. This is an improvement over what it was before I ripped up the carpet



Stairs. Notice the cat fluff everywhere. And yes, that is the kitty box.

So that's the upstairs, tomorrow I'll post the downstairs and *gulp* the basement. If you were severely grossed out by this update, I suggest you halt your reading of this blog right now. Truly. You have been warned.

~Ally

p.s. Mum, have you cleaned anything yet?