The Abundant Wife

This morning we went to Bible Study for the first time in 6 months.  I packed lunches last night and we ate at the park afterward.  So we were out of the house for more than three hours.  That meant I didn’t get to the cleaning challenge until this afternoon.  Oh, did I mention that the baby gave me a hickie on my chin last night?

Today’s challenge was to clean out the refrigerator and/or organize the pantry.  I was hitting my afternoon slump by the time I started cleaning, so I chose to organize the the pantry since it looked like less work.  I moved all our plastic bags to the same shelf, and put our free samples in a smaller bag.  I reorganized and “faced” other items like I used to do when I worked at Food Lion as a teenager.

Do you have any tips or tricks for organizing your pantry?  How do you organize your plastic bags and/or free samples?

Good afternoon!  This morning I was up bright and early to go grocery shopping with my girls.  We went to WinCo and back, and then I put away the groceries, prepped barbecue chicken for dinner, and made lunches.  In the midst of the melee, we got a phone call about the filing cabinet we had listed on Craigslist.  The buyer came right over, and we helped her to load it in her car.

Suffice to say, I didn’t get around to wiping down the door knobs and light switch plates until everyone was down for their naps.  I was surprised to see how dirty they were, although it’s difficult to keep any white surface looking clean around here.  Our house (which we rent) is very old, so even when things are clean, they don’t always look clean.

Have you noticed that houses with toddlers have a “ring around the bathtub” look to them?  If you haven’t, get down on your toddlers’ level, and walk around your house.  Every wall, door frame, door, cabinet, shelf, or closet will have a trail of dirty finger prints about 2-3 feet from the floor.

If you don’t have any dinner plans tonight, you should go to Panda Express for a free Samurai Surf and Turf!  Otherwise, what are your dinner plans for tonight?

We are more than half way done the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge!  Today’s project was to deep clean the bathroom.  One of the nice things I’ve noticed about this challenge, is the that the more often I clean each room in the house, the less time it takes to clean it.  This is because 1) I know now know what needs done, 2) I can find the supplies easier, and 3) the room has not gotten as dirty since the last time I cleaned it.

As you can see, today I put away toothbrushes and shampoo.  I had to ask Naomi where the toilet paper roll holder was.  She told me it was under her bed.  Hmm.  Well, she was right, so I was able to put the toilet paper back where it belonged.  Then I cleaned the toilet, shook out the rug, mopped the floor, and sprayed the mirror, window, cabinets, and shower.  The kids sat in the doorway watching me as I worked.  We emptied all our trash last night, so that didn’t need to be done.  A friend gave Oliver the training potty yesterday, so he’s been excited to try using it.

Finally, I thought you would enjoy seeing what has become of our mud room since I cleaned it yesterday.  As you can see, things don’t stay clean for long around here!

What are you doing on this fine Tuesday?  Are you finding it easier to clean after 16 days of house cleaning?

Happy Tax Day!  I hope you all managed to get your taxes in on time, and that you’re out there enjoying some of the freebies available today. It’s been overcast and rainy here today, and my husband has a head cold, so the atmosphere here is subdued.

When I looked at the Cleaning Challenge project for today, I decided that it was time for me to mop our kitchen and dining room floors.  I also went ahead and swept the hallway and the rest of the living room.  Our living room and dining room share the same space, so when doing one I might as well do the other.

Although I’m not crazy about mopping, I do love how it makes the house look and smell good.  The picture you see is our mudroom, which is just an extension of our kitchen.  The sticker-covered box is our kids’ art box, the bag holds kitchen toys, and the shelves hold books to be listed on Amazon.  Out the window you can see some of the grape arbor my hard-working husband has been painting recently.

What did you choose to surface clean in your living room and/or kitchen today?

Welcome back to the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge!  The assignments for this weekend were to clean out a closet or two, surface clean an extra room, or deep clean a bedroom.  I opted to go back to our home office and organize our two filing cabinets full of  paperwork.  If you remember from Project #10, this room changed dramatically that day, motivating me to continue the improvement!

Well, it took me most of the day, with several breaks, several trips to the recycling bin, and some help from my husband, but finally…the large filing cabinet is out of our office!  Yeah!  I am so happy to reclaim this space, and to have all our paperwork organized.

Otherwise, the weather here was gorgeous today!  The highlight of my day was when a friend stopped by for a visit.  How was your Friday?

Thank you for joining me for the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge!  After completing Project #2, I later realized that I had neglected the cabinets and drawers in our bathroom.  I also noted that others were washing their shower curtains (with a cup of white vinegar) and thought that looked like a worthwhile endeavor.

So for Project #11 I started with the cabinets next to our bathtub.  These cabinets are hard for me to reach at 5’5″, so things tend to get tossed in any which way.  We also tend to collect bottles of lotion…does anyone else have this problem?  Anyhow, I took everything out and put it back in neatly (using a chair to reach the highest cabinet), or moved things to other locations.  I also washed the shower curtain and all the towels hanging on the back of the door, and Windexed the fronts of the cabinets.  Then I cleaned the bathroom as usual.

When I was a kid, my weekly chore was cleaning the “kids’ bathroom.”  I was always amazed at how dirty our bathroom could get in one week, and what a difference it made when it was clean!

What chores were assigned to you as a kid?

We’re 1/3 of our way through the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge!  Yeah!  Today’s assignment was to deep clean the living room, but when I looked over the list of things to do, I realized I had done most of them Sunday night.  However, Brad was in Sacramento for training today, so I decided to surface clean our “office” today.  Our office is our middle bedroom, and currently it also doubles as Evelyn’s bedroom (note the bassinet on the right).

In the past I spent more time in our office, but on December 1 my husband moved his office from its other location to our home.  I was excited to get a new desk (I’d been using a small dresser) but not so excited to gain two old computers, and two old filing cabinets full of paperwork to be sorted.  Eventually it became so crowded that I had stopped using it altogether, and preferred to work in the living room.

Today I reclaimed my desk!  I moved the big desktop computer to our dining room table so that I can photograph it and try to sell it.  I moved the unhung curtains and rods to the floor by my desk, and moved all the things that were plugged into my power strip.  Finally I Windexed, feather dusted, and swept the whole room.  I didn’t bother Brad’s side of the room (I’ll leave that for him to do), but my side looks much better!

Do you actually use your desk, or is it just a place to collect clutter?

Today I am exhausted, even with two cups of coffee to start my day.  Last night we had 40 people in our living room for Club.  They played a game called “Bigger-N-Better.”  Everyone divides into teams and then drives around town in their cars.  The idea is to start with something small and keep trading up until your group returns with the biggest or best item of all the teams.  This morning there were golf clubs, a knee-board, a chili-pepper rug, a scooter, a bicycle helmet, and an ironing board in the middle of my living room.  We had a great time, but I stayed up way too late working on a fundraiser after everyone had gone home.

The 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge Project for today was to surface-clean your bedroom(s).  However, all three of our rooms were occupied.  The baby was napping in the master bedroom, the kids were sleeping in their room, and Brad was working in the office.  So I decided to surface-clean the kitchen since I hadn’t really gotten around to it last week.

I washed and dried the dishes, dusted the shelves and pottery and top of the refrigerator, dusted the cobwebs around the ceiling, wiped down the countertops, and Windexed the windows, fixtures, stove, and microwave.  I did not wipe down the cabinets and the sides of the refrigerator, or wash the curtains or mop the floors.  Maybe I’ll get around to them another day.

I tend to have over-productive Mondays, and then have to pay for it on Tuesdays.  How about you?  What is your most productive day of the week?

Today’s project was to sweep and vacuum all the floors in your house.  Our house is a one-story house, with only 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  So I decided to go ahead and do all of it.  (However, I did NOT mop!) Since I did this challenge all last week, there really wasn’t a lot of dust and dirt accumulation.  What you see above is from the entire house.  There are a few crayons and felt numbers/letters mixed in there.  Most of the dirt and dust came from the living room, kitchen, and office floors which did not get swept last week.

The vacuuming went faster this week too, especially since I had it on the right setting this time!  Finally, here’s another photo of the painting I just finished last week.  It will probably be out of our living room sometime tomorrow.

How is your Monday going?  Are you having a productive day?

My husband is back from Mexico, so that means I have a camera again!  For Friday through Sunday (Projects #5-#7), I could choose one of the three projects.  I chose to surface-clean our living room late Sunday night.  The surfaces in our living room were a lot dirtier than I thought.  I feather-dusted the mantel, shelves, end tables, dining room table, coffee table, lamps, pottery, and picture frames.  I Windexed the windows and mirrors.  Finally I took all the books that were stacked horizontally on the kids’ bookshelf, and put them back on vertically.  They won’t stay that way for long!

For the last couple weeks, our living room has been occupied by the gigantic painting I’ve been working on.  What you see on the mantel is the support piece that will allow it to sit upright at our church.

What did you do for your weekend cleaning project?