Minimum Maintenance

Today's assignment is to learn about Minimum Maintenance. Just simply learning about it is the first part of the assignment. The second part of the assignment is to, um, DO it. :) So, here goes. I did it. I wasn't happy that all I was able to get done was the minimum, but what can I say? Oh wait - it was what I did say, "I guess some is better than none, right?" The second part, the actual DOing part, was also worth 50 points. It didn't feel like it was worth 50 points to me, but I'll take it. :)

Also, she recommends doing three things to make it easier:

1. A daily pick-up routine

• Spend 5 minutes in each room, 15 in the kitchen.  Just pick up what has been gotten out today.

2. An easy housekeeping schedule

• Mondays - focus extra time on bedrooms
• Tuesdays - focus extra time on the kitchen
• Wednesdays - focus extra time on the den
• Thursdays - focus extra time on the bathrooms
• Fridays - focus extra time on the living room
• Weekends - focus extra time on the laundry

3. A menu plan

• See my Menu Plan Monday posts for this.

Learning about Minimum Maintenance is worth 50 points. DOing Minimum Maintenance is worth a bonus 50 points.

Total for today: 100 points
Total for January: 150 points!

Tossed It Tuesday

Violet stopped by and mentioned the theme she is planning to do on Tuesdays, that is right in line with decluttering and tackling and so on, and since Tuesday also happens to be our trash day, it's quite convenient!  :)

What we have tossed out this past week:

Well, I wanted to empty out our storage unit as I am tired of paying $115 a month on a unit when I have ample storage available in my own garage as well as lots of storage in my house.  So, we spent much of Monday emptying out the unit.  Most of the items in it were furniture pieces that actually belonged to my mother, but I had her permission to do with them as I saw fit and so rather than have them in my garage cluttering up my own space (so therefore it kinda sorta counts as MY declutter) we tossed out four dressers in various stages of disrepair, as well as an old computer monitor.  We were able to unload the storage unit completely (bye bye monthly payment!) and now our garage is yet again full but it won't be for long - especially with the aid of this blogging theme!  Next week's list is going to be astounding!

Tackle It Tuesday

Today is now Tuesday, so it's time to tackle something, right? Well, I did manage to tackle our Christmas decorations. I have all of the tree decorations in one tote (see-through so that I can easily recognize it for what it is when I go to store it under the stairs later today). I have all of our tabletop and wall hanging decorations in another tote (solid white but clearly labeled) and all of my Christmas wrapping supplies in yet another tote. The tote is a clear underbed storage tote, which is exactly the same length as the shorter rolls of wrapping paper, which is what I buy anyhow. I even bought some extra rolls for 1/2 off a few days ago to supplement next year's Christmas wrapping. I still need to clear out the area under the stairs where I keep our Christmas trees (yes, plural) and our Christmas totes so that they can all be put away neatly.

So, that will be my tackle for next week. Clear out the area under the stairs so that I can more neatly store our seasonal decorations. I know that I have some stray items floating around the house yet, so I plan to keep these totes accessible so that I can put the stray items away as I come across them. Item example: Boo's Christmas stocking. He loved it and took it off his coat hook (re-purposed Christmas Eve for the kids' stockings) and was carrying it around. I thought I put it back on his hook, but either I was wrong or he got to it again because when I took the other kids' stockings down, his was AWOL again.

I'll check back in next week (possibly with pictures if my camera has enough battery power or if I also happen to find the cable to charge my camera's battery between now and then - so organized I tell ya!)

My tackle for today is some errands that need to be done. Boo has a specialty clinic appointment and we have a present that needs to be returned in the same city that our appointment is in.

UPDATE at 9:00am:
You know how just before the struck-out paragraph I said (sarcastically) that I was so organized? Well, yeah, um, not so much. Apparently Boo's specialty clinic appointment was actually yesterday at 9am, not today at 1pm, as I had written down on my calendar. So, organizing fail. Whoops! Glad that I called today to confirm the appointment time before driving an hour and some to Childrens' Hospital for the appointment.

So, new plan for today's tackle: deep clean the kids' bedrooms and the guest bedroom. The Christmas toys and clutter have taken over their bedrooms and their rooms were messy before the Christmas clutter. Their rooms were supposed to be cleaned out before they brought in any of their Christmas items, but it apparently didn't happen, so today I am going to tackle their rooms and make them neat and presentable.

I also need to make sure that I get enough sleep before my work shift tonight.

UPDATE at 5:00pm:
I didn't get their rooms done. We had errands to do and such, so instead, I just got the minimum done around the house today. Just basic picking up in most of the rooms. :/ But I guess some is better than none, right?

This post is linked up over at 5 minutes for mom.  Go check out what other people are tackling this week too!