A New Year's Eve Stretch

It is New Year's Eve (Yipppeee!  But don't you guys all run away in anticipation of the parties, we still have a blog to read! Hahaha) and as we start on this new series of adventures, I have a confession to make.  I am a completely horrid housekeeper.  That is not to say that I don't have my own methods and ways to work towards keeping my family healthy, happy, and safe while I create and crochet, but my house is about 90% of the time in complete chaos.  And given that this is the week for making a new goal for the year, it is past time for me to do the exact same and cure the problem.  But where to start?

Several years ago, just before our oldest child turned 1 yr, a loving friend emailed me a link to a new website.  It was a free site that suggested a system to help someone regain control of their own housekeeping.  It was a series of emailed reminders and worked well enough, though long story short I stopped after a little bit for my own reasons.  The gal running the system actually continued to build and refine things.  She is commonly called Flylady, and the website is www.flylady.net and while I might not have continued her system at the time it was so helpful that I'm returning once again.

I'll try and keep you updated as to how this goes for me, but suffice to say that the first step in her system that I'm going to be using is to Shine Your Sink. 

Now, I'm going to admit that there are a few things (ok, a lot) about her shiny sink system that I'm not really able to do at this time.  For one thing, some of our littles are still quite young and learning how to safely handle certain dishes (like sharp knives and glasses for instance) plus I have a VERY limited space available in my kitchen.  So I'm adapting her methods a bit for the sake of my own sanity, laughable as that may be to some of you who've had the opportunity to meet me before this. (If you want her direct methods, please click on the 'Shine your sink' above which will take you directly to her 101 instructions.)  Basically, I'm going to be making certain that my sink is clean each night before we head to bed (ie: the dishes will all be either processing in the dishwasher or drying in the racks or in their proper places), then when I get home from work in the afternoon I'll be doing the morning's dishes while I get dinner on.  One additional step for myself: I'll be scrubbing and literally shining my sink on Saturday nights so that I will get to see my own smile the next morning. :D  Who doesn't deserve to see a smile first thing in the morning?  (Don't any of you dare answer that if you've seen how scary my smile can be first thing in the morning, hahaha.)

There are a great many other steps for her system, but this is the first one we'll be focusing (and reporting) on.  Now, normally I'm going to be blogging about different things I've already tried, but for this New Year's Eve (and first personal blog post here) I figured you'd get to share one adventure with me from the beginning.

Remember: for every change you decide to make to better your life, the key isn't whether or not you are following another person's instructions to the letter (saving for medical/professional instructions, of course).  It is more a matter of making certain that the steps you take in reaching your goals is simple and fits the needs of you and your given circumstances.  So I'll explain the rest as we approach them, and especially how successful they are for us....and likely entertain you a bit at the silly mistakes we are certain to make as well, hahahaha.

In the meantime, however, I'm wishing each and every one of you a deliriously happy (and safe!) new year's eve with an incredible year to come.  Here's to new adventures, grand changes, with peace and happiness for us all!