Happy New Year

So was 2009 draws to a close, I, of course, begin to think about resolution. My goal this year is (obviously) to keep my house cleaner and in better shape. But honestly, I'm very content with the system I have going. I make a new resolution every week. Something simple and manageable and it seems to be working. But then I began to wonder, will at the end of 2010, will I have 52 daily tasks? and my answer:
I don't know.
Maybe.
My ultimate goal is to be a clean person, and in the habit of being clean and organized. So if that takes maintaining 52 daily tasks a day, then I really hope that I do all 52 of them. So I don't have a new years resolution goal. I have new week goals. New day goals. That's how I'm going to do this.

Daily check in

Not a totally productive day since company was over for most of the afternoon. I did:
-do the dishes. There weren't any so this was easy. Lunch was chips and salsa and an orange. no dishes necessary and for dinner, Russ and I went out!
-wiped of the bath counter
-did a focused 5 min pickup. I did the mandatory 5 minutes, but didn't pick up much longer after that. also no pictures since I didn't focus on one area like before.
-washed the sheets! finally!!
-sprayed the shower down w/ that no soap scum stuff. It's not on par with cleaning the bathroom like I need to do, but I did do something.

Why I do this Part 2

Ok, here's the story. Last night I changed in the bathroom and left (please do not ask me why) my dirty undies on the floor. This morning I get up and Russ is still asleep so I go into the bathroom to get ready for the day and see the lowly undies on the floor, pick them up and throw them in the hamper. I go and do my grocery shopping and when I get home I see Russ has some friends over. I'm thinking, phew I'm glad I picked up the floor last night so the place looks relatively decent. Then one friend excuses himself to go to the  bathroom. When the door clicks shut I freak out (on the inside of course) thinking did I? I did pick up those panties, right? Luckily I did!! I would have been more than mortified if he had seen them! This is just another reason for this blog. People stop by. Russ's sister and bro-in-law stopped by over the holiday weekend. If they saw this place even two weeks ago I would have been so embarrassed. It's nice to know that your house is picked up so company can come over and you can actually feel comfortable inviting them into the house.

Daily check in

Yup, I did 'em. I:

-did the dishes

-wiped the bath counter

-picked up for 5 min

Since my other check list post I even

-wiped off the stove

-finished the laundry and folded the clothes, put them away

-turned my hanger around. (I figure whatever hangers are still turned around in 6 months. I don't wear and therefore will be donated.

All in all a pretty productive day, despite the fact that Russ was home all (well most of) the day. He's even distracting me now with optical illusions. haha. But there is still a LOT to do!

My new daily task

Today was the first time I did my new task of picking up for 5 minutes. I even set the alarm on my phone. Then I got distracted by my dog :) and had to reset my clock! 

The area I focused on was the foot of the bed. Clothes just end up there! And there's my dog, Sadie in the corner there. This is obviously the before. 
And the after:

Not a big change but there is definitely a change and it took me exactly 5 minutes. Not long at all. I didn't rush or hurry. I went at my normal speed. A lot of what was here did need to go to the hamper, so that made it easy. I did clean up a little more after the alarm went off (after this picture was taken) so my floor is even cleaner than this. Honestly, once I started I was kinda on a roll. It was easy to keep going. 

So Far Today

I wanted to take a break from working today, but then I started feeling really unproductive, so I figured I could at least blog about what I've done and that'd be at least doing something. So far I've:
-Taken down the Christmas decorations
-Realized that the basket I've stored my decorations was not near big enough so I went to Big Lots and got bigger bucket and switched everything over there.
-Unpacked and put suitcase away
-Emptied my car trash bag and replaced it with a new bag
-Took the dishes out of the dishwasher
-Ran the dishwasher with vinegar to clean it
-Organized my cookie cutter collection into a little bin
-Ran one load of laundry that's drying right now and one load is in the washing machine. both need to be folded
-Took out most of the trash in the bedroom
- I even did the most unpleasant task of paying my credit card bill!

Daily check in

Oh no! I forgot to do the daily tasks last night. I really was sooo tired and just wanted to jump into bed. I knew there was a lot I had to do tomorrow (today) but I didn't even remember what I had to do then! I cannot forget again tonight. I have to get back in the habit.