Ugh

Blogger has been weird again today - today it acts like it's going to let me post a picture and then does not. So you still get no pictures, I'm sorry! Maybe one day. Also, Blogger was entirely down earlier - I went to go post and not only could I not post, you couldn't even read anyone else's blog.

So my new thing is FlyLady. FLY stands for "Finally Loving Yourself" - lame. The whole thing is kind of based on / made for mostly stay at home moms who have a hard time keeping their household clean and running efficiently and are down on themselves about it. So it doesn't EXACTLY fit my personality, but it still has some fantastic ideas! I first heard about FlyLady years ago and checked it out, but it seemed a little weird so I ignored it. It is still definitely a little weird, but I decided to pick and choose my ideas and try it out. So I started last week and I'm actually quite enjoying it. The way I see it, it's split into three main parts:

Daily Tasks
These are things you are supposed to do daily - "Shine Your Sink" (keep your sink clear of dishes and clean, this is just a simple task so you feel a sense of accomplishment), "Swish and Shine" (quickly wipe down your bathroom counter and toilet so it doesn't ever really get icky), pick out your clothes the night before, etc. You in theory have a "morning routine", "after work / afternoon routine", and "bedtime routine".

Weekly Tasks
Each day of the week has a different "theme" - Monday is "Weekly Home Blessing Hour" (quick vacuum, quick mop, change the sheets, take out all of the little bathroom trash, throw away old magazines, etc.). There's a day for outdoor work, a day for errands, a day for paperwork, etc. I modified some of her days to better fit my schedule. Oh, and Friday is like date night, Saturday is family day, and Sunday is renew your spirit day.

Monthly Tasks
Each month is broken up into 5 "Zones" - so since we're in the first week of the month, we're in "Zone 1" - front porch, entrance to your home, and dining room. Instead of doing a big spring cleaning once a year or every few months, you do a little bit of a "deep cleaning" each day. There is a list of things you can do as part of the deep cleaning, and they also send out emails with "Missions" that you are supposed to do each day. They are supposed to take no more than 15 minutes (you're supposed to set a timer). Today's mission is "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. " So they are part of the zone work.

She also has things like the "27 Fling Boogie" (take 5 minutes, run through a room and find 27 things to throw/give away). And there is a new "habit" you form each month - so in June it's "drinking water every day", so they send out emails as a reminder to drink water. She says you can do anything for 15 minutes. On Saturday I started spending 15 minutes a day in the yard and it's amazing how much better it looks already! Geoff has spent my 15 minutes with me too - we set the timer, work for 15 minutes, then quit. It's kinda fun... you work fast so you get as much done as possible because you know you only get so much time, but you keep up the maintenance and get a lot done. We're going to spend 15 minutes "flying" in the yard again today. After that I will do the Weekly Home Blessing and my mission for the day! :)

I do NOT recommend anyone joins this thing - you get like 15 emails a day from them. I kind of enjoy the emails (some of them anyway, not so much the testimonials), but I think 99% of people would get very annoyed very quickly. I send them to my "junk email" address so they are not trashing up my real email.

Anyway, it's kind of cheesy (okay, VERY cheesy), but it's really fun for me and I'm enjoying myself. Plus the house is SUPER clean and I've already thought of more "projects" that I can do 15 minutes at a time.