Friday, March 12, 2010

MELLOW Moxie Saturday


(^That's Ajax, not grime, duh.^)

Hey, even Saturdays need a break once in a while. This is just such a Saturday. Moxie has been in an epic pre-spring-clean-a-thon, so my Saturday list is a little slim. Still, there are always things begging for help, if you listen carefully enough.

This morning, I've heard:

-A pan soaking in the sink after the best enchiladas ever last night.

-Sweep/wipe down laundry room.

-Sweep back porch.

-Wipe kitchen down.

-Sneak some of Reilly's stuffedies out of her menagerie while she and Quinn are in Seattle. I figure it's my right since I'm doing their chores today.

-Finish rearranging school/craft shelf, which vomited onto the dining room table after OD-ing on...you don't even want to know. May I just say, pipe cleaners, hot glue guns, 11 three-ring binders? Blech.

-Scrub/bleach kitchen floor on hands and knees.

-Dust EVERYTHING, since it seems to proliferate like there's not tomorrow when I'm out of town.

-Windex windows and mirrors.

-Change sheets. Curse bunk beds. They are such a joy to make!

-Sort 49759452967065927495 pictures on the desktop and media card, re-format picture program out of blasted Quickfile. I hate you Quickfile!

-Vacuum the car.

-Empty wastebaskets.

-Wash Bella's (ours) and Switters' and Mac's (Deborah's) bedding.

-Wipe doorknobs, heat up some sweet and sour chicken, and finish my book before going out with some friends for some long-awaited brain food, real food, cocktails, and god I hope I don't sing.

-Stop at the store and track down those new carpet shampooing Swiffer-type-things!

Are any of these tasks calling your name?

If not, here are some basics that always satisfy:


-Feed your washing machine its breakfast, and gorge it until your bins/sorters are empty.

-Don't neglect your dishwasher, as it's bound to be ravenous as well, and will get jealous. Stack all remaining dishes in left side of the sink, wipe down stove top and all counters, soak dishes-in-waiting.

-While you're at it, wipe down appliances, baseboards, and floor. You will love me after you hate me.

-Check your bathrooms. If you're not up for Ajaxing, Wipe the toilets down, shake the bath mats into the tubs so the debris can be washed away during the next shower, wash mirror, and wipe down/organize counter. Maybe sweep the floor. No, definitely sweep the floor.

-Tackle one cupboard/drawer/stash, in honour of all my excruciating de-cluttering this week. It's scary when you buy two new bookcases and they're full the instant they're assembled.

-Assign each child five tasks.

-Sit and fold laundry with your Pepsi, coffee, mimosa, what have you, and enjoy your Saturday evening.

I know the list seems long but I went easy on you. Really.

Okay bitches, ante up and get crackin.' I can't wait to read/see what you did. I've saved all the picture messages you guys have sent me, btw, lol.

Oh, Kasondra asked for my current You Tube playlist. This changes weekly of course, but this is what's getting my blood flowing right now:

1.P!NK (At Bravo)-- Me and Bobby McGee
2.Christina Aguilera, P!INK, L'il Kim, Mya-- Lady Marmalade
3.Sophie Ellis-Bextor-- Murder on the Dance Floor
4.Regina Spektor-- Fidelity
5.PINK-- Funhouse
6.Rusted Root-- Send Me on my Way
7.Mercy Me-- I Can Only Imagine
8.The Belle Stars-- Iko Iko
9.Brandi Carlile-- Closer to You
10.Rascal Flatts-- Where You Are(Shut up...shut UP!)
11.Ting Tings-- Shut Up and Let Me Go
12.U2 vs. Eminem-- Without Me
13.Cat Stevens-- If You Want to Sing Out
14.Miley Cyrus-- Party in the USA (Helps keep your kids going...mine hate it, lol.)
15.The Fray-- How to Save a Life
16.Hannah Montana-- Hoedown Throwdown
17.Mat Kearney-- Nothing Left to Lose
18.Kenny Rogers-- The Gambler
19.Brandi Carlile-- Caroline
20.Jackie wilson-- Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher
21.Adam Lambert-- One
22.john Mayer-- Say
23.Janis Joplin-- Cry Baby
24.Train-- Hey Soul Sister
25.Taylor Swift's Love Story on continuous loop will get a lot out of Reilly.

GO!

11 comments:

  1. i need some of your mojo.

    and i tried to comment on your blog post but it won't let me.

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  3. Yeah that's shit. I don't know why it does that intermittently. But I responded to your fb post with an offer to challenge you, which means you give me a list of the chores haunting you, and I coerce you into doing them with a fierce combo of shame and a timer.

    And there's always this fool-proof method: Invite someone over for dinner!

    Talk to you soon. :)

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  4. Thank you! I love the randomness of your music list and believe you should update it on here often. At least a couple of times a month! :)

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  5. Kasondra thanks. I have to keep iTunes on shuffle on my computer, laptop, and both iPods, especially when cleaning, lest I find myself in a lull, you know? I lose speed and continuity if I know which song is coming next.

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  6. So I tried something new this week... rinsing the dishes and putting them into the dishwasher as I use them... It's kinda neat having countertops.

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  7. I made "chore cards" for myself...basically, now that I'm on top of the housework (it doesn't always look like a bomb went off and I don't have to clean one room a day) I can shuffle the index cards, flip one over, and do a chore. Stupid? Probably, but it's working. I went through a box in storage and tossed a bunch of stuff and decluttered two drawers last night.

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  8. Just this one--Clean counter tops are music to my eyes, bravo! I must know if this is the first time you've implemented this system, if cluttered counter tops has long been a struggle of yours, what your other less-favoured areas are, and how many people are in your household? Can you keep this up? Clean surfaces are my personal fave, FOR.THE.WIN! Please keep us updated.

    Kasondra--We may have been cut from the same wipe, because I did something like that last year and it was a smashing success. I have my routine, tasks that are gratifying, tasks that are brainless (laundry, dishes, sorry guys, it's the OCD!), but then there are the tasks I dread. The ones that involves organizing. Contrary to popular assumption, lovingtocleanup does not = being a master organizer. So, I put the chores I loathe onto strips of paper and in a pretty little glass bowl, the perfect neurotic centerpiece! Whenever I had a minute, or needed to careen off Predictable Place, I plucked a job out of the bowl and I had to do it. The surprise element made all the difference. It might have been clear/wipe the top of the refrigerator (pet peeve), in which case I often felt up for a two-for, or it would be gut/organize/re-stock the laundry room cupboards, in which case I'd call the suicide hotline. Congrats for boxes, storage, and drawers! Also I sense you are highly organized and list oriented, am I right?

    Today my only task on earth was to organize the blasted school shelf, make sense of the cupboard under Todd's bathroom sink, and post my marvelous make-overs, but I totally failed. I woke up to a text that a friend had been stabbed, like WHAT THE FUCK? So yeah, I just sat down for the first time in eight hundred years today, and needed a little smelling salt. I'm proud of your progress, your innovative ideas, and new faces (well, names). I hope to get back on later to kick off the week with some helpful hints. Meanwhile, weeeerk it!

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  9. Chey: I'm as organized as you can be with a baby running around. He's my little Entropy Incarnate. :) I clean up at the start of the day and his toys are out around the room by the end of it (which is fine actually).
    I was always REALLY organized in school...color coded folders and post-its everywhere. And yes, I make lists all.the.time. It's the only way I can get shit done.
    My mom is slightly OCD (and has a touch of hoarding...) so the manic cleaning feelings I understand (and get myself).

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  10. I'm sorry about your friend. Keep us posted!

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  11. I hope you get this by the morning of the 16th...

    My mother in law is coming (16th...today basically) and I need a LIST!

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