Common Sense Living

I was wasting some time tonight visiting some of my favorite blogs. My form of relaxing I guess.

But there is one thing I have to do before I can go to bed.

Since most of you own Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak – I thought I’d have a little fun with you tonight.

What is my cardinal rule for keeping the house clean? The one thing I must do before I can go to bed, no matter how tired I am?

The first person to answer this correctly in the comments will win a lifetime subscription to RebelWithaFork.

(this contest is not open to relatives;))

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Oh-oh. The weather’s turning fast!

There’s a few things you’d better tend to fast!

Cleaning out the gutters

Washing the Windows – if you’re short on time, try the shortcut >>>

Winterizing gardens

Cleaning up leaves

Re-seeding the lawn

I like to get the carpets cleaned before closing up the house, but doesn’t look like that’s going to happen this year! If you own Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak – you got the carpet cleaning ebook with it.

And some of you are thinking about baking cookies! Oh my… I’ve already had a few requests for the potato chip cookie recipe >>>

I’m guessing we’d better get the piers out of the water unless we want to do it in snowsuits! I hope they’re going to do it before it gets too much colder

You know how Murphy’s Law works. Maybe if we get all this work done – it won’t get cold?

I’m not ready, are you?

Oh well, try not to work too hard this weekend!

Well, the week from hell is over. How did I do?

Not as well as I would have liked, but I did OK. In the end I worked about 50 hours. The weather was depressing for the most part, a friend died, and this was the week the cats and the dog decided to start shedding. And my daughter had an attitude. (don’t think your mood doesn’t reflect around you!)

The dusting and vacuuming are not done. Not terrible. The floors were the biggest casualty. They are terrible!

I didn’t get as much done on the new site as I would have liked. I’m learning new software, and I’ve run into an obstacle that I haven’t figured out yet. Frustrating, but not devasting. (OK fine, I was reduced to tears last night..)

This dog is a pain in my butt…

But where I’m the most disappointed in myself was diet. And it all came down to poor planning. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have the food in the house – I forgot to take something out of the freezer before I left, and the rest was downhill. Ate a lot of chinese food. At least there’s a little bit of vegetable – but not enough.

The saving grace was that I knew it was only temporary and I could get back on schedule in a few days. So I didn’t try to kill myself trying to be perfect. If this chaos was going to be permanent, I would have tweeked my routines to do a better job, but I knew I didn’t have to.

What got me through was mini goals. I would tackle things in 5 or 10 minute chunks. I mean, what’s it take to do laundry? You sort it and throw it in. You come back and hang stuff and throw the rest in the dryer. The worst part is putting it away, isn’t it? If you soak the dishes, washing them only takes a few minutes.

“Yeah Carole, and if you take something out of the freezer – dinner only takes a few minutes!” Yeah, yeah, I know….

Maybe I didn’t come out with the superwoman badge, but I did come out sane. Sometimes that’s the best we can do, isn’t it?

If your life feels like total chaos – remember these points -

Planning will get you through the chaos.

Don’t expect perfection

Little things do mean a lot. Tackle things in little chunks of time and set mini goals that you know you can accomplish.

You can do more than you think you can!

For a great system to manage house cleaning – from the ‘Clean Freak’ herself >>>

Learn the truth about how to stay naturally thin, healthy, and full of energy >>>

Watch the new site develop >>> (see Elise, I remembered to link it this time!)

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I really had every intention of not doing much today. The wind was blowing pretty hard, so it didn’t feel all that warm. Just get those plants in the ground and putter around. That was the plan.

But when I went downstairs, the new bookcases were patiently waiting for me. Real bookcases without a cardboard back! And I got ‘em for free. But they needed cleaning before getting them moved to their new home.

But when I went up stairs to get the Murphy’s, I figured I should do a quick swipe on the kitchen cabinets, since I had the bucket out anyway…

Then I cleaned the new bookcases.

Then moved the books out of the old white build ‘em yourself bookcases (with the cardboard back) that we’ve had since my daughter was little, and moved them out of the way.

Then moved the new bookcases into place and filled them. Well, not actually. They’re bigger than the old bookcases. So I went upstairs and got the Stephen King collection and brought it down. Now the bookcase upstairs is practically empty, but I can’t think anymore.

But then I noticed that the pub table hasn’t really been cleaned in a long time, and since I have the bucket out… and so it went.

So then I notice that the animals are finally starting to shed. The good news – that means winter is officially over. The bad news, spending an hour a day brushing them and vacuuming for the next few days.

My neighbor has been talking about having a garage sale, so I’ve been mentally marking stuff in my head. I have stuff that I’ve kept for notalgic reasons, but I think I’m ready to let go of more of it. Gotta call my sister.

So, that’s how I spend a day doing ‘nothing’.

It’s a sickness, wouldn’t you say?

Well, at least I didn’t go to the store, and I didn’t do much in the way of work. That counts for something, doesn’t it?

Boy, the weather better get warm soon …

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I’ve refined my secret window washing technique a little bit. If you’re like me and don’t have the time right now to ‘properly’ wash the windows – I mean, all that hanging out the window, or dragging the big ladder out, and up and down the ladder – it’s a whole day project!

I have devised a sneaky little system that will allow you to get the windows pretty clean. It won’t be as good as if you actually washed and shined them up, but it will take the majority of the grime off quickly.

If you have someone who can be inside the house and flip the windows up and down for you, this will go even faster!

You want to make a mixture of 1 cup of white vinegar and one gallon of warm water. Add a few drops of dish-washing liquid. Just a few drops!

I have a spray bottle that sprays pretty far. Or use your kids Super Soaker. Or you can use on of those bottles that attaches right to the hose. You would have to decrease the water because the hose will automatically add water to the mix as it sprays.

Start on one side of the house. From the inside, you’ll want to move all of the storm windows and screens down so that the outside of the interior window is exposed. Do the windows in the same order through every step so the first window has time to dry while you move to the others. Spray the window with the cleaning solution. Let it sit for about a minute. Rinse off with the hose.

Now, put the storms in the closed position. Spray and rinse, again in the same order as before.

Now, move the lower storm and screen up so the outside of the interior window is exposed. Spray with cleaning solution and rinse.

Ta-Da! One side is done.

Vacuum off the screens and wipe them down if needed.

Do a quick clean on the inside.

Like I said, its not going to be perfect, but the windows will look a whole lot better and you can go do something else. Sometimes good enough is good enough, don’t ya think? And honestly, you are the only person that will notice that they’re not perfect.

Here’s the fastest way to Put an End to Grime – Even if you have No Time If you Love a really clean home, but Hate cleaning it, you’ll want these time saving secrets. Learn how to Clean Your House Fast- and Keep it That Way! http://HowtoCleanHouseFast.com