Back to School, back to work
August 26, 2011 by Stephanie · 9 Comments
Photo inventory:
1 basket of clean laundry, unfolded and dumped on the living room floor
1 basket of clean laundry, folded and left on couch
2 “used” baby socks
2 brand-new shoes still bungee corded together
1 too-expensive rolling backpack
45 whole crayons; 3 broken
1 broken blue bead necklace (hanging from the couch cushion)
3 empty Target bags
and when I swivel away from the living space to look at the table:
Photo Inventory:
1 new lunchbox that is supposed to be used FOR SCHOOL ONLY
2 new BPA-free water bottles
1 water bottle ‘cozy’ that came with the lunchbox (completely unnecessary)
random leftover lunch stuff: sliced turkey meat, cut up apples, tortilla chips & hummus
1 abandoned laptop and 3 notebooks
1 very cheeky 19-month-old baby (helping herself to hummus)
106 new gray hairs
I mistakenly thought I could get some work done while the children played peacefully inside or frolicked in delight outside (isn’t that what children are supposed to do? Frolick?) . Yeah. I know.
delusional.
But you know what? This is real life. Not a glossy magazine. Stuff happens. Mistakes happen.
Life happens.
and it’s okay.
Give yourself a hug—- you’re doing a fantastic job. Already.
School begins for us on September 6th. I loved having everybody home with me for the summer, but I’m done. How are things going with you?
Wednesday, vacuum. dust. mop.
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It’s another Wednesday. Chances are, you’re feeling run down and worn out. I’m sorry. Me too. Do a quick speed dust, vacuum, and mop today. Don’t obsess, just get it done—super quick. Delegate to the kids if they’re home. A lot of dust can be erradicated with a carton of baby wipes!
Today:
listen to fun music and sing really loud and off-key. just for fun.
three hundred and thirty
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Hello! How was Thanksgiving? How do you feel? Are you tired and sluggish? Worn out and exhausted? or Excited and Exhillerated?
Are you black friday shopping?
I only did the black friday thing once. My friend picked me up at 4:30 and we went to Walmart. I didn’t buy anything but a 1.5 quart crockpot (and this was in 2005, way before I went crockpot-crazy) for $5. Score!
Today:
Holiday recovery. Drink some strong coffee, turn on upbeat music and get it done. Unload the dishwasher and load it right back up again.
clorox wipe or lysol the doorknobs, phones, remotes, and light switches.
Friday! woo hoo!
November 19, 2010 by Stephanie · 9 Comments
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I’m still having dental pain, even after taking a course of antibiotics. I’ve got a refill for the abx, and am going to fill it tomorrow. The pain subsided after taking the last dose, then has come back with full vengence in the past 2 days (my last pill was Saturday). Does that sound right? Is it still possible it’s still the sinus infection (I am congested, and now have a chest cough) and another round of abx will kill it? I’d hate to have him go digging around in my teeth for no reason.
grr.
In other news, I finally tried the sponge mop refill of the Mr Clean Magic Eraser yesterday on the kitchen floor. Thank you so much to Dominique for telling me about them!
I know I’ve mentioned it before but that floor is the bane of my existence. You know? I was impressed. It was $6.99 at Orchard Supply Hardware (is that a national store chain?) and I’ve heard that it’s supposed to last about 3 months. I can’t see how that’s possible, and we have a dinky kitchen, but whatever. It did get the layer of grime out of the linoleum grooves and it was satisfactory to see the sink water run gray while I wrung it out. The floor isn’t quite as glisteny as if I scrubbed Cinderella-style with a Magic Eraser, but it’s so close I think I’ll stick to this method for a while.
It was a bit tricky to figure out how to disengage the mop head I had, but once I did, attaching the refill was really easy. The directions were clear, and in the package were some pieces to attach to your mop if needed (I needed one of the blue plastic screws).
While at OSH, I picked up what I think is the blinds cleaner Jennibell told me about. It’s a white plastic thing with a green microfiber cover and three slots for blinds. You squeeze the handle while running it between the slats to get them clean. I haven’t used it yet—but I’m kind of excited.
yes. I’m excited to clean blinds. I know. I’m terribly dorky.
Today:
run any last minute errands for non-perishable supplies for next Thursday
Steph: GO TO THE PHARMACY. stop putting it off!
the weekend!
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If you’re having a house full of people for Thanksgiving, start prepping now. Do any major cleaning that you feel you *must* accomplish in order to feel confident. Do you need to wipe down the kitchen cabinets? Move out the stove and clean underneath? the fridge? Clorox wipe the blinds? You know yourself, and you know what is important—and it’s different for every person. I like to Cinderella-clean the kitchen floor. Twice. I like to go over it once with a Magic Eraser, then again with a scrubby sponge and cleanser. And then I sponge mop. It’s nuts, it’s overkill, no one notices OR cares, except for me.
It makes me feel good.
What’s the one thing that will make you feel really good, really accomplished? Get it over and done with now, so next weekend you can begin prepping food and setting out platters.
This weekend:
deep clean the one thing that bugs you the most
make a timeline for Thanksgiving. Do you have to do a butcher run? a bakery run? delegate side dishes? borrow crockpots? Write it all down, so then you can outsource the tasks.
Monday, Sept 27
September 27, 2010 by Stephanie · Leave a Comment
day 270
Good morning! Happy brand new week! Do a good job on your weekend recovery today—take a bit more time than usual. Take the time to look under the couch and the beds and dressers and pull out the toys, dirty socks and crumpled tissue that tends to hide out.
While in the bathroom, disinfect well, and spruce it up a bit more than usual. Do you need to wash the bathmats? Dust the top of the medicine cabinet? Windex the entire mirror instead of just spot-cleaning the toothpaste spots?
Today:
step it up a bit
Thursday!
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The Office is back tonight! So is 30 Rock!
I’m pretty sure nothing else matters.
My friend Katherine asked yesterday what I thought about having a housekeeper come in every other week or once a month to tackle the heavy cleaning. I said if it wasn’t financially prohibitive, she should go for it. She told me that she was pretty sure I was going to be against the idea.
No. Not me. I am all for any and all help—hired or not. I still think you need to clean up after yourselves, and do the majority of the Daily 7 (although I’d probably slack a bit on the toilet and bathroom cleaning if I knew someone else was going to do a thorough job pretty soon), and teach your children to make their beds and tidy up.
otherwise, color me envious!
Today:
family meeting: how is school going? how’s the routine? anything need tweaking?
Remember the WoMom: find some time this weekend to focus on yourself
make sure the DVR is set! 
Wednesday: clobber the cobwebs
July 28, 2010 by Stephanie · Leave a Comment
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Break out the shop vac today, or get out The Webster. Dust the tops of all your window trim and crown molding today, and get down any cobwebs or dead moths that are hanging out in the corners.
Today:
clobber the cobwebs
Tuesday. the 208th day of the year
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We’re baking a bunch this morning to make treats for an impromptu playdate. I am just THRILLED that the new Betty Crocker GF mixes are in every grocery store. It makes life so much easier!
Today:
clean out the fridge and wipe down the outside. If you’ve got stainless steel, use an approved oil-based cleaner, or you can use furniture polish, Pam, or olive oil and a super soft (think cloth diaper or t-shirt) cloth. If you don’t have stainless steel, scrub away with disinfectant wipes an a Mr Clean magic eraser if your handle needs it.
middle of the week Wednesday
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Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going really well, and that you are having fun and feeling productive. Yesterday we picked a bathroom to thoroughly clean. Tackle another one today. Change out the bathmats, scrub whatever grout lines need it, and bleach the toilet.
Today:
pick another bathroom to thoroughly clean
