More Musings

Yesterday afternoon was my Psychic Circle, which was a group of people who got together to learn and practice different techniques for unlocking their psychic abilities. It was a really fun afternoon in a group with 8 amazing people. Ross came with me and we both really enjoyed it.

From there we went to a bookshop where Ross bought me 2 amazing books.

This one has so many beautiful images and descriptions of Fae from all over the world. It is just beautiful.

This one is a Doreen Virtue book (who I just discovered is married to Steven Farmer, and I have several of his books too). Not sure why I bought it, it was just sitting there asking to be bought. LOL

I am still Fly-Lady-ing (is that a word???? LOL) Day 18 was yesterday and it was to read the Fly-Lady 11 Commandments, which I have copied for you here:

FlyLady's Eleven Commandments

1 Keep your sink clean and shiny.

2 Get dressed every morning, even if you don’t feel like it. Don’t forget your lace-up shoes.

3 Do your morning and before bedtime routine everyday.

4 Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer.

5 Pick up after yourself. If you get it out, put it away.

6 Don’t try to do two projects at once. ONE JOB AT A TIME.

7 Don’t pull out more than you can put back in one hour.

8 Do something for yourself everyday, maybe every morning and night.

9 Work as fast as you can to get the job done. This will give you more time to play later.

10 Smile even when you don’t feel like it. It is contagious. Make your mind up to be happy and you will be.

11 Don’t forget to laugh everyday. Pamper yourself, you deserve it.

11 Nice little things to live by, I think. :) Day 19, today, is to read a testimonial, which I have duly done. Of course, I am still working through all of my daily tasks, and my home is pretty much always only 10 minutes from being presentable for guests. :)

xox

Sorry for the Absence

Life has been busy.

I had my first inspection on the house earlier this week so had to spend the weekend getting things ready for that. We had only been there a month so it is not like it was dirty, but we were only half unpacked (slack I know) plus we moved into a pretty grubby house - on the outside anyway - and I wanted to get that sorted.  Thankfully it is all done now so we now have a sparkling house. :)

Last night I sat down with my knitting needles and made a knitted washable dishcloth. I have been looking for reusable dishcloths I could make rather than buy that would do the job of a chux or scourer. I have a real issue with just how much waste each household creates and have been working on ways to reduce my own waste. There are a few things going on and as I get to try them I will report here. This is my first step to a reduced waste household.

A few days ago I read about knitted ones so decided to give it a try. I finished one last night. It took around 2 hours I guess (maybe a bit less I was up and down doing washing all night). It looks great (will upload a pic on the weekend). But of course, I had to put it to the test. I had left some dishes for this purpose. Firstly I cleaned the benches with it. OMG - so EASY! The on to the dishes.

Well, I am just going to say that I am a convert. As long as it washes up okay (and I am sure it will) then I have found my new dishcloths. I am already halfway through the next one. I figure if I have about 7 or 8 on hand, I can use them for a few days and just put them through the wash with the towels or tea towels. It is not like they take a up a lot of space.

I am also going to do 2 slightly bigger ones in a distinctively different colour that I can use in the bathroom and toilet only.

No more paper towel or disposable cloths for me.

I am still doing the FlyLady although I have not progressed past Day 10. I am shining my sink every night, I have Ross trained to make the bed every morning (I presented it to him that if the bed is made in the morning it will be warmer to get into at night and it worked), I am keeping my "hotspots" under control, and I am doing a 15 minute blitz in one area most days.

Days 11 & 12 are about your "control journal" and de-cluttering your emails. My inbox is always de-cluttered - I hate emails not filed away somewhere. LOL And while I am keeping list of morning and afternoon routines as well as some other stuff, I am not going to put "inspirational quotes" into it. I love quotes, and have them and use them, but I see no need to add it into a folder that is helping me keep my house organised. That is just me though. :)

So if I move to Day 13 it says to pick one of the weeks "Missions" and do it. This week they are focusing on the bathroom and spare rooms. Interestingly I spent about an hour in my craft room (one of the spare rooms) last night getting things sorted. I now have a clear desk in there. I am very happy with that.

Day 14 says to read an essay on the website. Done that.

Day 15 wants us to start making the bed everyday as part of our routine.Well I am already doing that (via Ross who gets up after I leave for work).  Day 16 is to read an email from FlyLady. I do that daily.

So as of now I am on to Day 17. Day 17 says to set a specific bed time and stick to it. This is actually a good idea. My bedtime varies a bit but generally it is around 10.30. I am happy to stick with that. So since I have just skipped through a whole week I will stop there. I am doing well with what I am doing so far. My house is remaining tidy (and it only used to take about 36 hours to look like a bomb had gone off). Ross is enjoying the cleanliness and is therefore helping out. I am enjoying it.

Lots of other stuff happening - have done a Louise Hay "Heal your Life" workshop, went and saw a medium, am about to do my Reiki 2, got accepted into college, had a facial (my first ever), and a few more things. I promise I will keep things more up to date here in future. LMK if you want me to expand on anything.

Till next time!

xox

Fly Lady - Day 7

I did day 7 yesterday since I missed Wednesday entirely. Yesterdays addition to the plan was to get your clothes out for the next day. I do this about half the time anyway. The intention is that it makes the next morning easier. I agree.

So last night (after another episode of Hoarders - yay!) I went to bed with a Hot Spot cleaned, a shiny sink, and my clothes laid out for today. It felt good.

On other news, I made the absolute best Lentil & Chickpea Dahl last night. I am not normally a fan of Indian food, I was more making it for Ross, but it was heavenly! I can not wait to have it again! LOL I will put the recipe up in the next few days.

This weekend I am going to a Lousie hay "Heal Your Life" workshop. I am right into all of her books right now so I am really looking forward to it.

Saturday night we are going to the Roller Derby. I am not even 100% sure what it is, but it sounds like fun so we are off to see it.

Nothing else much happening other than still going through the storage shed. And "Fly-ing" of course... LOL

xox

New Favourite TV Show

I have a new favourite TV show. It is called "Hoarders" and is on Tuesday nights on gem.

I love it.

I spend most of the show sitting there with my mouth hanging open, completely aghast at what I am seeing.

Last nights episode had a lady who had lost custody of her children because the authorities believed her house was unsafe and unsanitary. Gotta say, I agree with them! Her house was disgusting. To get into rooms you had to climb over crap. There were mice and rats everywhere. And the associated droppings that come with a house full of rats. It was feral. And the smell must have been something out of this world...

They go in for 3 days and clear out. But the owner has to give approval for things to be thrown away. She would not let them throw away anything. At the end they had cleared her house completely, but they had put everything into boxes and into storage.

She had...

Wait for it...

1400 boxes of crap!!!!!!!!!!!!  This does NOT include what was left in her house

Made me feel not so bad about the 25 or so I still have sitting in the storage shed... LOL

This show inspires me to be clean. I did not FlyLady yesterday at all.  But after this show I went and gave the kitchen a quick once over (didn't do the dishes though, will do them tonight).

I made Ross watch it with me this week as well. Left him a big gobsmacked too. I believe it has inspired him to throw away more stuff as well. I am pleased... LOL

xox

A Friends Achievement

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to go and watch my good friend - the Shrinking Sheep - cross the finish line for her very first Half Marathon! What an amazing atmosphere, people lining the finish line, cheering as they saw their friends come over the last hill and head towards us. SS was absolutely amazing and I was so proud to see her coming over that hill and running up the final stretch. I was completely inspired and am more eager than ever to get over this long-lingering injury so I can get back into my activities.

Other than that I have really just been unpacking and sorting and tidying. Got the first load out of the storage shed. It is actually not as bad over there as I thought. A lot of it is camping gear and Ross's computer stuff. I am sure we will have it emptied out in no time.

Today is Day 6 on Fly Lady (I skipped over Day 5 as it was about writing down your feelings about your house???). So today was to identify your hot spots and tackle one of them for 2 minutes. A Hot Spot is a place in your house where mess and clutter accumulates. I have identified several and did my requisite 2 minutes. You can actually do quite a lot in 2 minutes if you are focussed on one small area. This now becomes part of my daily routine - 2 minutes in a Hot Spot.

The other part of Fly Lady is the daily emails. Each week a specific area of your home is targeted, and each day you are given a 15 minute part of that area to tackle. As I am still doing the "Intro" I have not really been doing that, but I decided to look at it today. I am home sick (gastro) but started feeling better so thought why not. This weeks area is the Front Porch/Entrance/Dining Room. And this is todays "mission".

"Today you are to sweep your front porch area around your front door.

Shake out your welcome mats and wipe down your front door. This

makes a huge difference in how your home looks. We have a tendency

to neglect this area and yet it is the first thing that people see

when they come to your home."

This did not take 15 minutes. My front door was actually filthy, it was on my list to clean it. I don't think the previous tenant ever cleaned it. But now it is lovely. The front porch is small, but it got swept. I was actually quite pleased when it was done.

Now I am making a lentil and barley soup which is smelling delicious. I am sure I will be well enough to go back to work tomorrow.

xox

This & That

Today is Day 4 of FlyLady. Last night I did NOT shone my sink when I got home at 11pm. But I have done it now and will do it again tonight. Todays task is to start writing all this down, which I am already doing, so Yay! LOL

Last night we went out to dinner for a friends birthday. It was a lot of fun. We did not really know anyone but that was not a problem. The people we were sitting with were a lot of fun and I laughed all night.

Today has been another day of cleaning and unpacking. I have now nearly finished my sewing room. I hope to get it finished today then I will go to the storage shed tomorrow and get a load to start working through. It is nice to be getting sorted so quickly, but the storage shed will take some time as there is an awful lot of crap in there...

Nothing else really going on, but things are good. :)

xox

Fly Lady - Day 3

Firstly - how did Day 2 go. My only 2 things to do were get dressed and shine the sink. Well, I got dressed... LOL I had full intentions of shining the sink, but I literally fell asleep. I got woken up at 11.10pm by Ross coming home from bowling, and I was not doing it then. In saying that, there are only a couple of things in there, so it is not a big deal.

Day 3 today and all I have to do is keep on doing what I am doing.

But... LOL

I will not be shining my sink today either. From work I am out to dinner with friends, then off to the 9.20 session of "Paul". It will be after midnight before I get home.

But tomorrow is a new day and is also my housecleaning day, so it will get done after I get back from the laundromat (still haven't got the replacement washing machine).

I am enjoying this as if nothing else it has me thinking about things.

Tomorrow is also a cooking day. I have the ingredients for 3 new recipes, and I think tomorrow is going to be pumpkin soup in the slow cooker. I will let you know how it goes. :)

xox

Fly Lady - Day 2

So Day one of my new organised existence went well. The only thing you have to do in Day 1 is go to bed with a shiny and clean sink. I admit, it did feel nice. :) I will admit there was a mug in it as I had a late hot chocolate, but I am not going to beat myself up over that. One mug is nothing. I will admit I used to often go a whole week without doing dishes. I have been known to either
a) Wash one plate, knife and fork so I can eat a meal, or
b) Order take away because I have no clean dishes.

Eeek! LOL

Luckily I no longer have enough dishes to be able to do that as we have recently given away a lot of things to the Salvos Shop. But even if I did, I don't want to.

The premise of Fly Lady is that it is easier to *keep* a house clean and organised than it is to actually clean and organise it. And it breaks the initial orgnaising process down into baby steps.

So for Day 2 all you have to do (as well as keeping your sink shiny) is get dressed first thing, all the way to shoes, hair and make-up (if I had any hair and if I wore any make up). :)

Now on a week day this is really not an issue. I get up, shower, get dressed, then stumble to work. On a weekend this is more difficult. I have been know to wait until lunch time to shower.  And I do NOT wear shoes at home. I hate them.

But... In the interest of being organised on the weekends I will make an effort to shower and get dressed upon waking. :)

The other thing I did last night was a 15 minute blitz. Because I have just moved I have a lot of unpacking and sorting to do. Fly Lady suggest breaking it down into small chunks so it does not seem so impossible. So I set myself 15 minutes in the sewing room. You should start at the door and work your way in.

I was actually amazed at how much I got done in just 15 minutes. The entry is clear, and the path to the shelves is clear. There are things in the shelves and also in the cubes. There is a rubbish bag on the floor that is half full already. I will do another 15 minutes tonight after the grocery shopping.

My plan is to have that room completely clear by Saturday night so Sunday I can do a run to the Storage Shed and bring back a load so I can start unpacking boxes from there. I also plan on taking my things to the Salvos Shop on the weekend as that will clear some space. I will hopefully be there a few times during this process. :)

I am really enjoying setting up this new house, and I truly hope we will be there for a while. :)

xox

Settling In

Sorry for the long gap between posts. We are all moved in to the new house and are settling in nicely.

Good Friday was moving day. We enlisted our friends (some amazingly hard working people) who helped us get our furniture from all corners of the city and get it all settled into our new home. It ended up being a really fun day and we topped it off with pizza and beer and great conversation.

Saturday we took the truck to my sisters and helped her move. :) By Saturday night we were exhausted... LOL

Sunday morning I was madly unpacking, and cleaning, and arranging. So far i have 2 bags of clothes and 2 boxes of kitchen stuff for the Salvos Shop.

Sunday afternoon was our family Easter afternoon tea (combined with the SIL's birthday and nephews birthday). The kids had an egg hunt and it was actually a really fun afternoon.

Monday I spent organising and unpacking. The 4 main rooms of the house are done - ie, kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom. Ross's computer room and my sewing room are still in states of chaos, but I am working through mine. We also still have a storage shed full of stuff, although to be completely honest most of it is probably going to end up at the Salvos shop or in the bin. Considering most of it has been there for over a year and I can't even remember what is there, I think it is time to let go.

Yesterday was a Jammie Day. I was buggered and just needed to rest. I had Buffy on the DVD player and my stitching, and I was happy. :)

Since I am just setting up my new house and am in the process of cleaning, organising, and decluttering, I figured now was the perfect time to get some expert help and have signed up for Fly Lady emails. I am going to start working my way through the 31 days of Baby Steps that are designed to get you started on the way to being more organised. Day 1 is "Shine your Sink". Since I am already getting myself into the habit of getting my dishes done every night (something I used to be really slack at) this one is going to hopefully be easy. I will do it tonight after dinner.

Things are really good and I promise there will be more posting happening here.

xox

NOTE: Some of you may have noticed there is no longer any weight loss stuff here. Some people who are reading this are people I do not want knowing about this part of my life. I have started a new anonymous weight loss blog. It is just for me to sort through my own crap. So I apologise, but none of that information will be on here anymore.