Housekeeping: Day One

Check out the links on the page (above) 31 Days of Housekeeping for the Introductory post.

I so wanted to make my first post a successful one! But I live in the Mountain time zone and I'm afraid that if I wait 'til it's all done, everyone will be asleep!

I have to give some serious thought to when I expect myself to get these posts up and I'll let you know.

I live in my head.

I like it here, too.

I could begin this series by catering to my strength: thinking, planning, and analysing. I could begin by linking to all the wonderful sites which help one begin to keep house. Flylady. Organized Home. Messies Anonymous. I could talk all day about the reading I've done, the systems I've tried, the blogs I've read. I could yammer on about how this course helped me and how that web site inspired me. But, it's like losing weight. After a point, we all know what to do--we just need to do it.

So, where to start?

I read somewhere that the two most important tasks to keep up with in any household are 1) the dishes and 2) laundry.

So, that's what I will focus on today.

Dishes:
The challenge here is a kitchen with a tiny amount of counter space and a human dishwasher (me).


I have timed it: it takes me less than 15 minutes to wash one "load" of dishes. (a load is defined as one dish drainer rack full.)

(I'm a very good stacker.)

I should do my dishes 4x a day:
Once when I get up (leftovers from the evening),
after breakfast
after lunch, and
after supper.

I have tried to do the dishes before going to bed--but you can bet we're lucky if I do them after supper! It's enough.

Laundry:
I do my laundry one load at a time. My goal is to wash one, dry one, fold one and put one away--and it doesn't have to be the same load--except on Saturdays. That's today! I want all the laundry done so I can take Sunday off.


(This is my lovely "new" laundry room)

So, the daily checklist includes dishes, and laundry...and making my bed. Why make my bed? It makes me happy. It makes me feel wonderful when I hop into it at the end of the day. That's all.

How did I do today?

Made bed?
Yes!

Dishes:

when I got up? Yes. Took less than 10 minutes! (I know because I was timing my boiled egg for breakfast.)
after breakfast? Yes. Needed the counters clear for painting the cabinets.

after lunch?
Lunch--what lunch?

(last night)
after supper?
um, sadly, no. I asked hubby to bring home pizza (yes, to save on both dishes and making supper) so there wasn't much.

Laundry:

Wash? Yes, tons.

Dry? We're backed up at the moment. I think I have to go outside and clean the dryer exhaust cover. (Hubby insists so that we don't get mice inside the house.)

Fold? Whatever is dry! I think I'll spend the evening in front of the TV folding.

Put away? We'll see.

See you tomorrow!