Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tuesday, Tough as Nails


That's right, it's time to tap into whatever energy reserve you have, be it natural, caffeine, Vivarin, meth, whatever, and get caught up. It needs to happen. Yes I know yesterday I lulled everyone into complacency thinking that voting on my comforter was your challenge, and today, we're all paying for it bitches.

Mental to-do lists, as opposed to written to-do lists, are relentless bastards that will howl and hiss until you have no choice but to rise in the wee hours and try to give them what they want. Which, in my case, today, was:

-Making two beds.

-Starting final rotation of laundry.

-Making protein shake/taking meds.

-Wiping down entire kitchen, paying special attention to the microwave, even busting out the Windex, since it's that chromey finish that shows every fingerprint.

-Once the Windex came out of its holster, I did the mirrors and tv screens.

-Swept the kitchen floor.

-Wiped down the front bathroom.

-Finally peeked, one eye at a time, into kids' room, and was actually pleased at how nice it looks, considering that it is the size of a shoe box and Reilly's myriad collections often render it looking like a flea market vomited all over it.

-Wiped down computer area.

-Emptied waste basket under computer desk.

Before and after my appointment today, I plan to:

-Scrub the bathroom walls, which got neglected yesterday because I cooked.

-Make the kids' chore lists.

-Finish dishes once dishwasher is empty.

-Possibly sweep bathroom floors.

-Brandish my toothpick and see if the baseboard grime in the bathroom is just as scared as the kitchen grime was.

-Fold two loads laundry.

-Shout "FUCK YOU DUST!" As many times as I need to before it gets it. Not welcome! I hate wasting my beloved Kirkland wipes on this shit. Ugh.

-Ponder following through with refrigerator threat, craft threat, pantry threat.

-Fall on my knees and beg "Why god why can't I have coffee?" The closest I get is Excedrin. Why don't they make dark roast Excedrin?

-Put more clothes away. (Happily, I did sort and refold all of Reilly's clothes yesterday, which felt so good, as her dresser is mostly legend. She lives out of a backpack.

-I'll surprise myself with one random, amazing task before bed, mark my words.


FOR MY MOXLINGS, TODAY'S SPECIALS ARE:


-Keep that washing machine humming all day, dryer too, and fold whenever you can.

-Go do whatever dishes are in your sink right now, wipe your kitchen, sweep/Swiff, polish fixtures, wipe down cupboard faces and refrigerator. (Five minutes.)

-Peek at your baseboards and see if there are toothpicks in our future...

-Go into your living room and clear the floor ("Oh kiiiiiiids!")

-Straighten, dust, arrange the space so that when you collapse there later you can enjoy it.

-I think it's time to vacuum the carpets, which means getting kids to pick everything up off their floor (just hand them a bin, it doesn't have to be perfect), and so do you.

-Make our beds and offer cursory wipe-downs wherever needed.

-Sweep entryway, including porch.

-Empty waste baskets, toss main garbage outside.

-Spend five minutes wiping down, sprucing up your bathroom. Gather bath toys, spray something in the tub, sweep. And, Mr. Magic will show your bathroom walls and doors who wears the pants (god I hope he wears pants, ew.)!

-When babies sleep, or are occupied by cell phones, etc., run to your car with a garbage bag and fill it with Burger King wrappers. DO IT! And if you happen to grab two wipes and tackle your dash and arm rests too, all the better.

-Okay is this brutal? You guys can totally do this and more. I've seen it. We were headed towards a slump, but today is our revival (just drink this Kool-Aid).

Dazzle me with your tasks which are wholly unrelated to my list. :)

10 comments:

  1. my house has been sparkling clean for the last 3 days(our landlords are showing it to find new tenants) and i have been BORED. i purposely made a mess in the kitchen this morning while making waffles and starting the stew in the slow-cooker.

    basically, i have done:

    + all of the dishes that were dirty(a whopping 11!)

    + 2 loads of laundry

    + scrubbed the tub

    and that's it. boo.

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  2. Two loads of laundry left to do... I'm letting that cloth diaper load collect for the end of the day wash.

    I'm embarrassed to admit such excitement over such a small endeavor, but here's my update for the day so far.
    http://psalm20.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-happened-to-monday.html

    I promise I'm not done scouring and I will return, weary yet not defeated, later today.

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  3. Do you have any sort of schedule for cleaning, or do you just look around for what needs attention? I love your blog but I find it hard to actually follow your suggestions because I have a system that works pretty good. Monday is bathroom cleaning day, tuesday is bedroom cleaning day, wednesday is common area day, thursday is kitchen day, friday is catch up on laundry day, and saturday is yardwork day. Even when I don't follow the list, the motivation usually does it for me!

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  4. I have no idea what happened today...wait...yes I do...ok let me start again.
    I have no idea how to lie about what happened today. Today I:
    -Went to see a friend at her new house. Time elapsed: I stopped counting after 4 hours. (oops!)
    -Dogs happened...because at my house, dogs happen all the time
    -Then this little space between picking Griffin up from school and collecting Maurice took place...not a whole lot besides vaccuming happened there. That was it, that's all I had time for.
    -Dinner
    -A Slimming World meeting..where i lost 3 1/2 pound this week! WOOOOOP!!!

    As you can see, a whole lot of nothing happened! So imma try again tomorrow with better results xx

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  5. "(god I hope he wears pants, ew.)!"

    I about wet myself... I was already smiling at your pic for the day and the image of you with a true Windex holster!!! ROFL!!

    I do plan to do a hurried swipe through on my house today to keep it in tip top shape, make a chore chart for my kids and I love the idea of taking a wipe to the inside of my car!

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  6. I got the office done, but it didn't feel like enough. I am giving in to the ice cream now while I hear everyone snoring away. I wish I could knit AND eat my ice cream.

    Amy from Depoe Bay

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  7. I got most of your challenges.
    I did the baseboards in the kitchen. What an awesome boost. I also did the entry (side door where we use for everyday. That you did not faint when we went outside is to your testament). I got down on my hands and knees and got that 2 foot by 2 foot area sparkling. Such a nice boost.
    Did mirrors.
    Kept up with kitchen. Much windexing. Cleaned outside of fridge for first time in forever. So gross.

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  8. Left house by 8am, didn't get home until after 8pm. Work and tons of errands. Yet when I did get home I did:
    -get all laundry done
    -none folded *shame*
    -dishes done
    -not put away *shame*
    -toddler and self fed well
    -garden tended

    *AND* I've been inspired and slowly adding protein shakes back into my life. I don't like cleaning the blender right away after every use, I prefer being lazy and sticking it in the dishwasher. Therefore, I only have a shake a couple times a week. Regardless, I love my yummy protein shakes and it was you who inspired me to make them again more often. :)

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  9. I have Do-Rag pics! But I'm not releasing them until it's the right day...bring on the Wednesday post babeh!

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  10. Debe-Sparkling for three days! Music to my eyes! Please don't make messes on purpose though, it stresses me out. :)

    Amy-I'm currently up to my neck in Amys but I think I have it straight who you are and the fact that you speak, walk upright, blog, plus clean anything at all with six kids absolutely floors me. I love those bins! Jealous! Good job!

    Hi Laura-I've been thinking about your question all night. Honestly, the answer is yes and no. I do have a personal regimen but it is not what I post here. I have to have every room clean, everyday, ask anyone who knows me. There is no Monday-this-day for me because I need the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living room, dining room, even laundry room, to be clean every night when I go to bed. And then Saturdays are for getting nuts with things like toothpicks, Mr. Magic, and the types tedium no one has time for during the week.

    That said, when I started this blog it was in response to local people--friends of mine--inquiring as to my cleaning fervor, and asking me to break it down for them. In my first post I acknowledged that I do not have a small baby, nor a job outside the home, my kids are older and very helpful, and I am not encumbered by some of the challenges my friends face in trying to maintain order. (No I am not calling anyone's baby an encumbrance.) So, on my mental scale of 1-10, 1 being pristine and 10 being a shit hole, most of my friends are not striving for a 1, they simply want to keep it below 5. A) I have to spread their efforts out to keep the house at a dull roar, B) No one wants to be stuck in one room all day, people respond much better to variety.

    So yes, I have my own way, but to borrow a metaphor from the days of the week underwear, I wear all the pairs everyday, and I post as though my poor overwrought Moxlings can't even find a pair, lol. I try to even out the work so that, aside from basics, no area has a chance to creep up to ten. I applaud your system though, and if it works, great!

    Mesina-S'okay, you bust your ass, you deserved a visit.

    Jennifer-Honest to god I have no idea when I said anything about someone wearing pants, nor a holster of Windex, lol. Was I drinking...Windex? Sounds funny though. General wipe-downs work for me, and wipes in cars = happy Cheyenne.

    Bethany-You definitely get the spirit award! You are the person who follows the challenges most closely, and you seem to derive such pleasure from the tasks, much as I do! Baseboards, hands and knees, refrigerator, oh my! Plus you taught a class? Amazing. :)

    Karinda-NO SHAME ON MOXIECLEAN remember? Being out all day with a toddler and pregnant? Hello? You got important things done, you came home and did laundry and dishes, I'm happy as a clam. *Clinking my protein shake to you.*

    Mesina-Yo bitch it's Wednesday, let's see you sportin' that do-rag!

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