May … Countdown to Graduation

Posted on November 9, 2010 by admin


Ok, the heat is really turning on now. I’ve only got this month left to get everything accomplished that I want to have done before graduation. I should’ve taken the easy way out and rented a nice building but I didn’t. I thought it would be much nicer to have everyone at our home and we could just enjoy our company here. Silly me – lol. After thinking about it, I’ve just made a committment to have 200+ people in our small house – hopefully it won’t rain. I did purchase a 10′ x 20′ backyard tent in case, but that actually isn’t very big. I’m planning to have our bonfire going if it gets late enough.

I’ve got to order the food yet and get the pool cleaned out. I need to weed the border (again) around the entire house. My grandpa, bless him, mows our yard for us because he has a riding lawn mower – and grandma says she thinks he really enjoys riding his mower around, which is why he does it. I have *The BEST* grandparents anyone could ever dream for!!! I hope they know how much they are loved (and NOT just for this reason)! So, that helps there, but we’ve still got to pull the weeds close to the house and borders. I bought some nice flowers to replace the plants that haven’t come back up this year. I hope I can keep them alive until the party, at the very least. Somehow, I always forget to water them … we’ve already had a close call with them getting really wilted.

So, my main goals this month are to be prepared for the graduation coming. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could clean and have it stay that way, but with 2 teenagers living here, that is an impossibility. They’re lucky I love them so much!!! :-)

For today, I’ve already cleaned the kitchen table, wiped down all of the kitchen counters, and done a load of dishes, refilled the dishwasher, and vaccuumed the living room. And, that’s just from yesterday’s mess. UGH!

Today, for my extra 15 minutes of cleaning, I’ve got someone coming over to pick up one of our extra computers that is not needed. I wiped the data clean – I think, anyway, I tried to. That will give us a few extra feet of uncluttered space. I’ve also started purchasing cases of pop for the guests. I’ve got 6 cases to find a spot for that will be accessible, yet out of the way. Right now, they are just sitting by the front door (right as you walk in). I’m already tired of looking at them and it’s only been about 2 days since we got them.

Then, I need to take the items that are piling up by the door again, out to the car. We just dropped a trunk full of items off to Goodwill on Saturday. One of these days, I should vaccuum out the car – we hauled some plants in the trunk a couple weeks ago and they tipped – and, made the mess. I just haven’t had time to clean it up yet. Plus, I need to clean out the winter necessities that I keep in there, too. … BUT … that is for another day.

Have a great day – I’ll try to post more later, if I can find the time to get some extra jobs done. :-)

Posted in CleanHouse101 Blog Posts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Last Post for Today – Scrapbook Room – Part 3

Posted on November 9, 2010 by admin


I am calling it quits for today in the scrapbook room. All-in-all, a very successful day. I can (almost) see the floor – a few more inches than I could this morning. The main things that I accomplished today were sorting items and putting them in an actual place. Even if I didn’t get a lot of the photos sorted, I made the room more accessible and am in the process of getting it ready to actually work (in other words, I’m getting it in order).

I will go back to this room after I get some of the other needed areas taken care of. This room could easily take me weeks to get it in order the way I want. At this moment, I just don’t have enough time to do all that needs done unless I stay on-track.

I could’ve had more done in the scrapbook room today but I got side-tracked. After doing 3 loads of laundry, I ended up getting today’s mail taken care of and I put together a monthly ‘to-do’ list. After all, I’ve got another graduation next year. I don’t want it to creep up on me like this one has. Next year, instead of running around frantically trying to get everything done on time – and trying to remember what should be done, I’ll have a journal to remind me when I have to get something specific done – like ordering invitations, pictures, food, renting the tents, etc. This will help me immensely and maybe (I’m hoping, anyway) I won’t be quite so worried about everything that needs to get done.

So, even though I got side-tracked, I think it was something that I really needed to do, anyway. If nothing else, I should at least be able to get this room cleared up enough to be able to shut the door when it’s time for the graduation party. :-)

Posted in CleanHouse101 Blog Posts | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Another Hour in the Scrapbook Room …

Posted on November 9, 2010 by admin


Wow – another hour of hard work cleaning and (not much clearing or decluttering). I just threw my second load of laundry into the dryer. So, at least I can SEE something getting done.

Considering I’ve been in the scrapbook room for over 2 hours now, it doesn’t look like anything has been done, and it’s starting to get me feeling overwhelmed again. This is when I really have to persevere. I KNOW that I have gotten at least one small pile of photographs organized chronologically. It’s not much, but it is a start.

There is that saying that ‘In order to move a mountain, you must first start by moving a single stone.’ This is very true. So, while I have gotten some things actually ‘put away in an ‘actual’ spot, I am starting to feel ok with my progress. I KNOW that it is getting there.

So, I will just have to keep working and getting several small piles of photographs and mementos organized chronologically so they can be put into our family scrapbook.

This is the thing that makes me the saddest. I had wanted ALL of our family scrapbooks put together by graduation next month and I know there is absolutely no way possible for that to be done. Each scrapbook page takes me approximately 2 hours to put together because I really stress over every detail. Right now, I’ve only gotten 2 years worth of scrapbooking done and I’ve got 16 years to go … this, alone, would take me 3 years to complete.

The thing I am hoping for, though, is that I can complete these sometime before I die. I want my children to remember all of the fun times that we had. As a single mom, it breaks my heart to realize all of the times that I had gotten stressed out over grades or incomplete work not turned in. I feel like I had to be the bad cop more than I got to be the good cop. Their father was pretty much non-existent in their lives. It is sad that I documented only a handful of times that he actually came. The rest of the time, he spent it running from the law and trying to hide from child support.

Anyway, a bit off topic, if you want to read more on that, I’ve got a whole other blog started. I think I’m going to take this time to grab something to eat. This is exhausting but I will keep you updated. Since it’s almost noon, I’m wondering where all of the time went. I’ve spent the whole morning on 2 loads of laundry and mostly on starting to get the scrapbook floor cleared up so it can be walked on.

I’ll keep you updated after another load of laundry gets done and more clearing in the scrapbook room. I know it won’t get done today but I do want to be able to AT THE VERY LEAST begin to see a dent in the mess – just a small step that shows I’ve gotten something accomplished.

Wish me luck …. :-)

Posted in CleanHouse101 Blog Posts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’m Cleaning & Clearing the Spot where I feel Most Overwhelmed

Posted on November 9, 2010 by admin


I’ve got my work cut out for me today. I’m getting ready to have a graduation party here next month so I really need to get my scrapbook room to at least be clean enough so someone can walk in. Right now, it has lots of scrapbook items, my computer, and office supplies, as well as, many other things. Mostly, it’s holding my cherished pictures all over the floor – spread out. No one can even walk in there because the pictures are literally spread ALL over the floor and stacked up very high.

Enough is enough. I’ve made the choice to clear my entire schedule for today and I’m going to try to get a start on this room. If I can’t get anything else done, I need to at least be able to close the door, for the graduation party.

I started by putting a load of laundry into the washing machine. This is helping me to put the time in perspective. I don’t want to get bogged down and lose focus. I will ‘race’ the clock so it is more like a game. Then, when the buzzer goes off, it will be time to take a break and switch loads. This helps me to break the day up and it helps me to keep my concentration on the big picture. It would be so easy to get side-tracked and just begin to look at all of the many wonderful memories that we created. I can do that when my photos are organized and I’m putting them into the scrapbooks … another job I really want to get to soon.

I’ve been in this room picking up the photographs and trying to put them into some sort of chronological order for the past hour. My ultimate goal is to put them all in a scrapbook for generations to see later. At this point, you wouldn’t even be able to tell I’ve been in there. I have a strong feeling that this is going to take more than one day’s worth of work. Yes … this will definitely take more than 8 hours to even see the slightest little dent, I think. … sigh …

My goal for today is to at least get the floor area straightened up so that I’m not stepping on things when I go in and reset the computer modem (which is conveniently located in the furthest corner of the room). And, I guess it got to this point simply because of this fact. My sons would go in and knock things over to get to the modem and reset it even though I strictly forbid them to even think about going in there.

At that time, there was simply a small path to the modem and I could get through. What I didn’t realize is that my children were sneaking in there to reset the modem when the computers would go offline. When they went in, they would step on everything and knock other things down. Where there once was organized piles of chaos, now there is just chaos. Actually, I can’t blame them … I should have known better and not let it get that bad to begin with.

I’ve taken a few photos of the before and I am planning to take photos of the after … if I ever get to that point. Right now it is so overwhelming. It would be very easy to give up right now but I realize that I need to get through this. I’m just taking a few moments here to gather my thoughts and I’ll go back in with a fresh attitude and do another hour or so. I’m not taking more than a few minutes or I’ll lose my steam and won’t want to go back in (even more than I feel now).

I’ll keep you posted on my progress throughout the day … Wish me luck (I’m going to need it – lol)! :-)

Posted in CleanHouse101 Blog Posts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Paper Clutter – Extra Job for Today

Posted on November 9, 2010 by admin

Today, I spent a little over an hour working on paper clutter … Address and Phone Numbers, to be exact. Over time, I had accumulated lots and lots of little pieces of scrap paper that I wrote down names and phone numbers and all that other contact information and had them all sitting in a very large, unfindable when you need it pile in my scrapbooking room.

Today, I’m tackling all of that and am putting it into my computer so that when it’s time to send out things, I’ll be ready. I’ve got a graduation for my oldest son in about a month so I need to get the address labels made to send out the graduation invitations … I’ve already decided that I’m NOT going to handwrite 100 invitations and then handwrite 100 more thank you’s. Besides, I’ve got another graduation for my next year … so this will definitely make the entire task so much easier next year.

My problem was that I had accumulated almost 100 little scraps of paper and return address labels sitting in one spot with my phone book. Every Christmas card from all of my family and friends that have moved throughout the year, I ended up keeping so I would have their updated address. I have been meaning to get them all written down and organized in my rolodex for the past year but it just didn’t ever get done.

However, today was the day – I just couldn’t put it off any longer. I’m only about halfway done. One more hour should take care of getting the rest done then I shouldn’t have to worry about it again until someone moves. Even then, it should be much easier to do since I’m saving them on my computer. I’ve already got the labels to print them off on.

Another thing I plan to do is update my rolodex. I’m also going to take the easy way to update my rolodex by using the labels, too. Prior to this, I’ve always hand-written them but now that they will be on my computer, I’m just going to print an extra set off on my address labels and stick them onto the rolodex card.


So, with just 2 hours of work (one hour is still yet to come but I’ll do that shortly), I’ll now have it set so that I’ve got this year’s graduation invitation labels made, next year’s graduation invitation labels made, and (AS A BONUS), I’ll have future Christmas Cards taken care of, too!!! No more hand-writing any address labels – WOO HOO!!!!

I AM SO JAZZED NOW!!! :-) I feel silly for putting this off for as long as I have. Just think – if I had done this in the beginning, I could have saved countless hours on addressing Christmas Cards, alone!

I’ve still got some things to get caught up but each time I have such a revelation like this, it ends up getting me more pumped to accomplish even more!!! :-)

Posted in CleanHouse101 Blog Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment