Chickafinty ~ A Life in the Laundry

2012- The Year I Am Really Orgainsed

You may remember that 2011 was created "The Year I Am Organised".  Taken globally and looked at from all angles, it would have to be considered the Year I Was Slightly More Organised, but it never lived up to the dreams I had for it.

Enter 2012.

The Other Half was on holidays for the first two weeks of the year and all organiasation fell by the wayside.  Long, lazy sleep in mornings and long, lazy days spent lolled in front of the cricket are not compatible with an organised life.  I'll leave the state of the house up to your imagination.

The kids school work is completely organised and scoped and sequenced down almost to the day and it was perfect until I got sick.  We're now a week behind on all my beautifully prepared charts.  never mind, it'll all come out in the wash.

I have rejoined Flylady (again) and am working with her motto for this year : Perfectionism is shelved in 2012

I am a perfectionist which is why nothing ever gets done.  I can't do it perfectly, so I don't do it.  Getting the concept that it doesn't *have* to be perfect is a difficult thing, but I shall try.

So, yeah, this is the year when I shall really be really organised.

Yeah.  Right.

 

 

You can tell it has been a big week

The harder we work on school, the more out of control the house gets.

Just saying.

State of Play III

Hadn't realised until I signed onto to typepad this morning that it has been 17 days since my last post.  That's gotta be the longest blog break in ages.  No real, specific, tie-downable reason for it, I just don't have a lot to say.

One possible reason (and it's only possible) is that I am totally stymied in the house.  I *know* what needs to be done, but I can't do it...not right now.  Our biggest, biggest problem is the homeschooling thing.  I haven't gone off the idea - and actually school is the about the only thing that *is* going right - but hsing does bring a set of fairly unique problems. a) the whole house is our school room, so the school stuff is not contained in any one particular place b) we have loads of books...loads and loads and loads of books, but a distinct dearth of bookshelves.  I've been trying to organise the school room for months, but can't because of the stacks of books and book-related paraphernalia hanging out in that room.  I've just placed an order for three more books to add to the chaos and am waiting on the delivery of a fourth ordered at the beginning of June but not delivered yet.  That doesn't even account for the books needed in the second half of the year, nor the art paper and dyes that are waiting the education rebate thingy.  before we know where we are there will be yet more stuff clamouring for organisation in the school room.  I'm so desperate for shelf space that a few besser blocks (breeze blocks) with some long wooden planking would suffice right now.

If I had my druthers, this is what would happen

- the bed in the toy room would be returned to its rightful owners, along with the bedding

-the books would all come off the bookshelves and roughly be alphabetised/subjectised on the floor

- all bookshelves would be moved to the toy room, thus rebranding the toy room as the Library

- the books would be reshelved, alphabetically for the fictions and subjectally for the non-fiction, until we ran out of bookshelves

- we'd buy at least two more bookshelves for that everything was on those shelves

- we'd get some mix'n'match storage units from here to go in the school room and hold all the school stuff, thus getting all the clobber off the desks and the floor

- my stress levels would subside, we could have guests over again, my anxiety levels would plummet and I would be calm and at peace, and if you look in the sky you'll see a flock of polar bears heading for the tropics.

If I had my druthers, that is.

Foxed at every turn

The dryer died for good and all last week.  I have been nursing it for a year, gently coaxing it or shouting at it by turn, and it's been functional...until last week when it decided to stop on the airing cycle, but still run the motor.  Recipe for a house fire that one.

Cue yesterday's trip to Hardly Normal for a replacement dryer, a couple of heaters that we can run all winter without breaking the bank (as in 9c a hour per heater....boo yah!), and a slightly impulsive purchase: a blue mat for the family room floor.  More on the mat in a minute.

The grand unveiling of the mat was this morning and it actually worked.

After lunch, my poor sick other half unpacked the dryer and prepared to install it.

Ummmm, slight problem...new dryer is wider than old dryer and wouldn't fit in the space.  Possible solution: put dryer higher up the wall.  That was a non-starter as I am 5 foot nothing in bare feet and couldn't reach it.  Only solution: empty big white cupboard, full of cleaning products and products not related to cleaning, currently in laundry and take to garage.  Take box full of anything-but-cleaning-stuff out to the garage.  Find a horizontal surface to store the multitude of cleaning products until I find another place to put them.  Put the new dryer back on the wall.  Move the freezer from the kitchen to the laundry.  Accept that I can use the washing machine or the dryer, but not both at the same time until we can get another power point put in.

Every available surface in the kitchen is covered with bottles of all manner of cleaning stuff from detergents to disinfectants.  It's a massive jobby to put them all *somewhere*.  I think I'll have to fall back on the old, familiar 10 minutes at a time thing to conquer it.

Now for the mat story.  We have a lovely mat in the family room that Mister Bear's mum and dad gave us for Christmas 10 years ago when we moved into this house.  It has lived for the past 2 years or so in the family room.  It is resolutely burgundy in an otherwise blue/yellow/green room.  We've tossed around the idea of getting a coordinating mat for the family rooms for ages, but it's a big space and a suitably sized mat was waaaaay out of our budget.  On a whim yesterday I suggested that we have a look at Hardly Normal to see what they had.  What they had was a rug sale...30% off.  Good start.  Then we found a really, really great royal blue rug, with sea creature highlights in yellow for..............63% off its regular price making it very affordable.  So, we have a new mat.

But what about the other mat I hear you ask.  Well, have we got plans for it!  The back room, formerly a craft room, or a toy room, or a spare room or usually a room where you can;t even get in the door, is being painted a lovely restful, neutral "Pearly Gates".  In just 15 sleeps it's going to be a guest room for Maria.  It is also going to be our library.

Once painted, all our books and bookshelves are going up to the back room...Maria won't mind sharing with the books...the mat is going in the middle of the floor - it matches the curtains in that room - the standard lamp is going in the corner and it will become a quiet and peaceful haven for reading.  Can't wait for it to be finished and to be able to put a picture up here.  A house with a library.  Riches indeed.

This is getting weird

This is day 3 of feeling...good.

Not ordinary just-manage-to-drag-myself-around-the-house good, but good good.  Full of energy good.  Ready to tackle The Worst Room In The House good.  Have already finished the ironing and it's not even 9am yet good.

I have fingernails.  Proper, long-ish fingernails.

I also have headspins, slightly achy joints and a perpetually stuffy nose, but that's a small price to pay compared with how good I feel.

Please, please, may it continue.

Another day

I have woken this morning feeling...good. 

For most people this would hardly be an astonishing fact, but for this little ducky it is an achievement, and is most likely associated with the diagnosis I alluded to yesterday.  Please, may it continue ad infinitum, Amen (even if it does come in a little white box).

Today is going to be a loose ends day.  I have a few loose ends in the vicinity of the laundry, or to do with the laundry and once they are squared away, the canvas is blank and awaiting the 2011: The Year I Am Organised brush.

On a side note, when I use the word laundry here I am referring to the room, not the clothing washed in that room.  It seems in the US the word laundry is most often used to describe the dirty clothes waiting to be washed, or waiting to be dried, or folded or ironed, as in "I have a laod of dirty laundry to be dealt with", whereas we'd say "I have washing to be dealt with", or possibly "dirty washing".  Curious use of language here as washing is an action verb, but it's being used as a noun.  Hmm.  Love language and its twists and turns.

So, enough prevaricating on typepad, and onto the laund....I mean, washing.  And ironing.  And folding.

Coming to terms

Had a drs. appointment last Tuesday and was given a new (and very unexpected) diagnosis.  If you know me IRL in all probability you'll hear about it from me some time soon.  It's nothing to go into orbit over (and you'll be pleased to know it's not fatal), but it's something I'd rather speak to you about in person.  Once on the internet, always on the internet and all that jazz.

Anyways...the treatment schedule has changed a little and is playing havoc with my real life, so the online life has suffered a little.  Also, we're down to just 20 days before Maria arrives in Australia, so the Great Big Enormous List of Everything To Do Before Maria Comes is well underway.  I'll post some photos of the progress down that path.

Have done some blog rejigging and stuff, so if there's nothing here at Chickafinty, this is where I might be:

Loosely Classical - everything homeschooling

pugglecraft - everything craft and homemaking

Messie Lassie - a renewed attempt at getting everything under control, only this time I have a real shot at it...see opening paragraphs of this blog entry. 

Maria...don't have a fit at the long list on Messie Lassie...it's what *I* need to do to stay healthy and this would be happening even if you were not coming...trust me :)

Exhibit A: The Ironing Pile

I think this calls for a visit to the DVD store in order to get it all ironed without going mad.

 

 

Meaning business

It is slowly coming together, me and the house.  It's taken years and years of false starts, half-hearted attempts, and more failures than I can remember and remain sane, but finally, blessedly, it's all coming together.

This is the beginning of the third week of organised.  I was going to say two weeks, but then I counted up the weekends and it is three. Three.  THREE!  Three WEEKS of organised.  Me, organised for THREE WEEKS.  Please excuse the shouting - this is huge.  It needs a little shouting.

Can I also say that without those years of false starts and half-hearted attempts, I wouldn't be where I am now.  I needed those to work out how I work, what works and what doesn't.  OK, so I know more about what doesn't work than what does, but isn't that the learning process?

The new "organised" began very simply with a table and a tin of furniture polish.  On a Monday morning I looked at the table, our poor stained, sad, neglected dining room table and decided that a bit of Mr Sheen was called for.  I rallied the troops to clear the table, moved the wedding present fruit bowl to the breakfast bar and set about polishing the table with paper towel and Mr Sheen.  I used paper towel because we work at that table and I didn't want the kids' school books oily.  I needn't have worried.  Our poor neglected table drank the Mr Sheen like a dehydrated man in the desert.

By the second week, we were using a soft cloth and the Mr Sheen was almost empty.  The table looked better.  It felt better.  I felt better.

On the weekend I bought some proper furniture polish at Bunnings.  This morning as I rubbed it into the table I worried that the oil would again threaten to seep into the books.  I left the table alone while we read our read-aloud.  By the time we returned to the table to work the oil had soaked in.  The timber is smooth, glowing and looking loved.

The kitchen is clean and tidy.  The floor feels clean.  The benches are reorganised.  I'm finding a place for everything.  Having a place matters.  You know the old saying...it's true.  A place for everything and everything in its place. 

So, in short, that is how it began, with a table and a tin of furniture polish.

I'd love to tell you about the Zones, the menus and the plastic bags, but they will have to wait for another day.  The bell has just gone and it's time to return to work.

Winning a war

For the first time ever I am winning the housework war.  That's something I never thought I'd say, but there you go.

Since last Monday, the three main rooms of the house have been company ready by 9am.  I'm finding time that I didn't know existed.

I'll write more later, but I wanted to share that for the first time ever, I'm winning the war.

Bulk buying

Since about May of last year I have been buying washing powder in bulk.  At first I was ordering it through a place near the city in 9kg buckets.  (We did try making our own, but while it was extremely economical, it didn't remove stains.  It's a useful skill to have in the event of TEOTWAWKI, but not a practical thing to use right now.)

So anyway, I was buying laundry powder in 9kg buckets with great success, but when I went to order it a couple of Sundays ago, they didn't have the powder that I wanted.  I did a google search and came across Jamac.  They are a local company and they only sell Australian made cleaning products.

I ordered laundry powder ($15.50 for 5kg) and all purpose cleaner ($12 for 5 litres).

Firstly, I ordered online on Sunday night.  They rang first thing on Monday to thank me for the order and to find out how I came to order.  I got a free 500ml bottle of disinfectant as part of their reward referral programme.  Very.  Nice.

Secondly, delivery for orders over $32 are free.  Very.  Very.  Nice.

Thirdly, all items were delivered to my door by 2pm on Monday...less than 24 hours after ordering online.  How's that for service?

(If you decide to use Jamac products and mention my name as a referrer, I'll get a gift and so will you...but don't feel obliged)

You can also pick up from their business address which happens to be on the way to Mister Bear's work.  Pick ups from the business get a 5% discount.

What's not to like about this place?

The all purpose cleaner claimed to be a grease remover.  I was somewhat skeptical as products often promise to be tough on grease but end up being nothing of the kind.  This one does what it promises.  One swipe and the grease was gone...even the grease spatters on the underside of the kitchen cupboards.  Literally one swipe, no scrubbing, just one swipe and the cupboards were completely grease free.  It is a fairly noxious spray and gloves are essential as is adequate ventilation, but hey, it works and everything is very, very clean.  I have my eye on their "Bathroom Maintainer" which looks like it will shift everything from the bathroom except the tiles.  Based on what the all purpose cleaner did I have high hopes of a truly sparkling bathroom.

Mister Bear will be back to work tomorrow with a bit of a list for Jamac on the way.

Bathroom maintainer, air freshener, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner...