January progress report

Well, after my very late start, I’m on track to finish my new and improved necessary January goals. I’ve finished wrapping the presents for nibbling #3 (numbered by age), which includes nibbling, nibbling-in-law and great-nibbling. Now I just have to find a box to mail them. Or, I suppose I could take them to the UPS store and let them do the work.

I have only 3 other presents to wrap, but I do need to get a good address for nibbling #2 and send him his gift and a gift card.

Keep it up, kiddo!

Rewards

One of FlyLady’s techniques I learned is to put a sticker on a calendar every day you do your “routine.” Who would’ve thought I’d enjoy doing something so silly? But they really make the calendar come alive; and more importantly they motivate me to do “just a little bit more.”

Once I have 3-4 weeks of 4 or more stickers per week, I can reward myself with something a bit more tangible, such as getting a pedicure, buying a set of DVDs. The idea behind a 4-sticker minimum is that I don’t have to be perfect, just reasonably consistent. Of course, January has been a bit of a crap shoot, what with the broken foot. I certainly wasn’t able to clear out the kitchen like I’d planned. But every day I do something a little extra, like fold and put away the laundry, empty the dishwasher, take out the trash, I give myself a sticker. So far the calendar’s lookin’ good.

One of the “longer range” goals I’d had was to buy a nice garbage can for the kitchen once I got the kitchen finished. I was then going to use the kitchen can for cat litter waste.  But the litter got so out of control while I was on crutches, I decided I deserved to give myself the reward sooner.

I love the new waste can set up. The kitchen can is bigger & much easier to use, and the litter can is much more efficient—and clean.

The key point is that this is new thinking. I don’t have to be absolutely perfect to reward myself. I just need to push myself a little bit further than I used to. And what does it do? It spurs me on to continue to do “just a little bit more,” thereby keeping the house in much better order; and thus, making me feel better about myself and my home.

Roadblock resync

With my broken foot, I have to rethink my overall clean-up plan. I had thought that I’d be able to pick up where I left off once I got off the crutches and into a boot. The good news is I do have a boot now and can walk around the house crutches-free. However, the boot isn’t quite as convenient as I thought it’d be.

The biggest problem is the stairs. I live on the top floor of a garden-style condo building with no elevator. There are 36 steps I have to negotiate every day. It turns out the boot is bigger than the step, and I have to go down sideways. I also have to hold onto the railing and really concentrate on where I plant my foot.

That means I’m unable to carry a box of give-aways to the car. I wouldn’t be able to use the handrail, nor would I be able to see where my feet are. I can carry plastic bags down, but those would never stand up to small kitchen appliances like a blender.

Obviously, I need to rethink my schedule. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around stopping with the kitchen and starting elsewhere, but that’s one of the options I have. This might be a good opportunity to go through all the papers I have to file (mostly medical and investment related).

Another option is to continue with the kitchen, setting the give-away boxes aside to take down once I’m able. Or I could even ask for help (not something I’m very good at).

I think a great goal for the rest of January is to wrap & pack all the Christmas presents I still have to send. At first I thought I couldn’t do it until I cleared off the dining room table, since that’s my preferred wrapping location. But I realized I have cleared off the kitchen table. So really, I have no excuses.

Roadblock ahead

Wouldn’t you know it? The one time I actually make a plan and start acting on it, I get a major hurdle thrown in my way. On Monday, I fell down the steps at work and broke my foot. I’m in a splint (sort of temporary cast) and on crutches. The splint has all the other inconveniences of a cast, too, e.g., I can’t get it wet. I’m only just now beginning to feel better, less pain, better adjustment to the crutches. But the crutches still don’t allow me to carry things, let alone handle the large itemsI’d be pulling out of the cabinets. (I actually tried doing it, but it didn’t work.)

The old me would have given up and said, “Screw everything” and gone into a deep funk. But instead, I’m finding other, more sedentary ways to work at the clean up, such as balancing my bank accounts, folding laundry.

I’m hoping that once I have my follow-up appointment with the orthopedic doctor (which is being held up because of workers compensation paperwork), I’ll be in a boot or some other contraption that allows me to be hands free. Then I’ll be able to pick up where I left off. I may have to adjust my schedule somewhat, but I’m willing to be flexible. It’s not “all or nothing” thinking anymore.

Progress, however meager, is progress

Yesterday, I really hadn’t done anything to further my January goal to declutter the kitchen. Then, around 8 p.m., I was a tad bored and decided pick up the kitchen a bit. After the first 5 minutes of cleaning off the counter, I tackled the table. The great news is I found the stickers I was looking for. The other great news is that when my 5 minutes were done, I went for another 5 minutes. Go me!

But one of the problems I’m having is what do I do with things I want to keep but don’t know where to put them? Last year a friend gave me a beautiful poinsettia plant for Christmas. (I felt horribly sorry for the plant, because I knew I would kill it.) I did eventually kill it and threw it out, but the decorative bucket it came in is very cute. I want to keep it and perhaps put some (artificial) flowers in it, but what do I do with it in the meantime? I guess I’ll just transfer it to the “back room” which is currently functioning as the “dumping ground.” But I feel like I’m just transferring the clutter. Maybe by the time I get to the back room I’ll have a little less mental clutter and have a better idea of what I want to do with the bucket and where to put it.

And so it begins!

Happy 2008!

I have begun cleaning and clearing my kitchen. I spent most of my kitchen time yesterday starting to clear off the kitchen table and washing dishes that don’t go in the dishwasher. One of the Great Truths I’ve learned in the last year is that the dishwasher does not have to be crammed full before I run it. In fact, a partial load requires less time to empty. It’s a win-win for me.

My plan for the kitchen is to go through the cabinets and cupboards, getting rid any old, duplicate, or unused item. If the item is useable, I’ll put it in the box for Goodwill; if not, it goes into the trash. In fact, I threw away two items yesterday. After making a small pot of tea, I apparently put the kettle too close to a rubber spatula sitting on the stove. The spatula was pretty much ruined, and I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of smelling burning rubber every time I used the tea kettle. So, into the trash they went. Now, I might not have been so quick to throw the kettle out had I not had a very cute blue kettle at the ready. But it did feel good to get rid of the duplicate kettle.