Day 3, Week 2: Wipe down your appliances.

So you've been cooking healthy meals a little more often lately, right? Practicing, getting over the recipe rules? Maybe you've had a potluck in the past week! Who knows? Maybe you're even starting to think about branching out to something intense, like a pot roast! The world is your platter, I bet.

But I also bet your stove is starting to look pretty weathered. No shame in that; I think it's much nicer than a stove that never gets used. That's a sad oven all around. But even the most hardened captain knows that you have to be nice to your underlings, or else they won't work very well. Think about all the villains who get betrayed by their first mate. So many evil plans could have gone through, if only the head honcho would just pause for a bit and say "job well done. I appreciate you."

You can learn from their mistakes! Ok, so it's not quite the same when your henchmen are mostly inanimate. But they still need appreciation now and again to work right. So take a few minutes and wipe down your stovetop, sinks, microwave (inside and out) and counters. Not the fridge though. The fridge gets its own deal.


Achievement: inanimate henchmen have disadvantages, sure, but think about how much you're saving on henchman benefit packages!

In Which we Discuss Storage Options for the Storage Impaired

It's been over a week since an "In Which" post, because I couldn't think of much to talk about other than the daily chores we're doing. But I set up my sewing corner today (I live in a house with many other people. A corner is an AMAZING improvement) and was thinking about storage options. Kind of like the mason jar thing I referenced in one of the other posts.

In case you couldn't tell by now, I am a severely disorganized person. I tend to do things exactly as they strike me; today, the dishes; tomorrow, scrubbing something; then a few days of minor tasks that make you feel like you're doing more than you are. I can't follow a specific, regimented plan. The upshot? I leave a trail of creativity wherever I go. The downshot? Life is really quite difficult in the case of day-to-day living. I feel like I'm not very unusual in this respect, either.

I may be more extreme than many people, though, not really sure; I have this problem where the minute I stop touching something, it no longer exists. If I can't see it, I don't own it. I absolutely will not take the time to hang up clothing unless it is the fanciest of fancy work suits or floor length ballgowns. I can tell you what we talked about at a party a year ago when we met, but even a partial inventory of what I own is impossible.
And I think that's familiar to many people! Not everyone can organize their closet by color. It's ok.

So here's my solution for clothes. It's not perfect, but so far it's been better (and cheaper) than anything I've tried. Huge, clear plastic bins and a permanent marker stating what goes in each bin. My closet set-up looks a little like this:

If you can't read it, they are labelled "tops," "bottoms," and "warm stuff."

 Well, I don't actually have room for them to be spread out like that anymore, now they're on big shelves. But in an ideal world they'd be spread out like that in a closet with no doors. Because I know I'm lazy. I'm so lazy, in fact, that 3 bins is (usually) enough. You may want more; bottoms means socks, underwear, pants, skirts, tights, hose and whatever else. Tops means dresses, shirts and bras. Warm stuff is gloves, jackets, scarves, hats, shawls... warm stuff/outerwear. That way I can just come home and toss stuff into either the wash hamper or the appropriate bin, and the openings are wide enough that I rarely miss. Of course, this only works as long as you don't have too many articles of clothing to fit into the bin. But laziness comes at a price. Besides, it forces you to consolidate!

More storage for visual people:
Well, that mason jar idea that I talked about way back when is a good one. They're clear. But aside from that, a corkboard with straight pins has worked really well for me keeping track of my scissors and thread for sewing, and keeping track of my keys and ID. But it's not enough to just hang important stuff on a corkboard, I've found; it quickly becomes just another surface to stick stuff and forget about it. I use labels for the really important stuff that I need every day, so I don't put anything in that space. I don't label everything in case I get desensitized to labels and start ignoring them, but they work well for the essentials. The miscellaneous cork board looks something like this:

The same principle works really well for sewing storage, though if you have the long, thin variety of spool, it doesn't work as well. You can hang them by putting the straight pins in at an angle, but it's a huge headache. That being said, it's fantastic for 'normal' - small spools and bobbins, as well as scissors and your tape measure. As a huge bonus, it mostly keeps the thread from tangling!

Um. There will be an image here. But I realized that I couldn't really convey what I wanted to convey with a Paint doodle. So I will take a picture and then put it here in a little bit.


For the record, they do make boxes for this purpose. Clear ones. You can get them pretty much anywhere. Some of them even slot into eachother for easy stacking. They work really well for some people, and they might work for me if I had a huge collection of thread, but I personally am too lazy to un-stack a box, find the color I want, take off the lid, and put everything back. When I'm in the creative zone, I just won't do even that much to preserve order. But hey, life's about working with your vices. I mean unique, beautiful qualities.

 Smooth Sailing!

Week 2 Day 2: Trash (and recycling) Tuesday!

So I realized something. Last week I said that Trash (and recycling) Thursday would be alliterative. But that wasn't correct, was it. That’s what I get for trying to be clever. However, I am undaunted. That’s right, no daunt here. Instead I’m just moving it to Trash (and recycling) Tuesday, like it should have been all along. That was easy, wasn’t it. Of course it was, that’s why it’s nice to run your own blog.

Since it is currently Trash (and recycling) Tuesday (how many times can I state that in one post?), and we’re still being slow-and-steady tortoises, you’re going to go and collect all the paper and plastic bits that are lying around being useless. You know the ones. Not a wholesale purge of your 10^th grade science notes, the ones that have all the cool doodles in the margins and your first crush's phone number. Nor all the old birthday and Christmas cards that you never replied to, despite your best intentions. That would be too intimidating for today, methinks. Just go around and notice all the stuff that is in the way – on the floor, underfoot, that sort of thing. The receipts you were going to organize, size tags from clothes that you were thinking about maybe returning last year but didn’t, nasty tissues, that sticky note that you scribbled something important on, but then it got all stepped on and you can't read it, the packaging material from that thing you got in the mail... all that stuff. Don't pick up anything big; we'll do another "bits" day sometime, when we're almost ready to clean the floors (say it isn't so! But we'll get there sometime). For right now, just the stuff that isn't covered by clothes or boxes or furniture. I find when I get the visible bits out of the way, it does a ton for my morale. Tie one handle of a small, empty trash bag (an old shopping bag works great) to your belt loop, if you have one. Or just carry it, if that's easier. Then just go around tossing stuff in, so you don't have to keep going back to the real trash can.

If you’re like me, this may take a while. I’m just going to go until I don’t feel like it anymore, as long as it’s more than 30 minutes worth of actual effort. Unfortunately, the paper and plastic bits in my world have colonized and built a scrap tower that then collapsed into a paper-lanche. Now there is a mountain of rubble where only the origami goats dare frolic.

I think that goat is frolicking...

That was quite the metaphor. I think I boggled my own mind with that one. That's usually a sign to step back, before you start doodling an origami bridge with an origami troll.

Achievement: make an origami goat garland.

Don’t actually do that; the achievement is to resist the urge to make an origami goat garland out of the debris, thus making a bigger mess and procrastinating on what you’re actually trying to accomplish.

Week 2, Day 1: Scrub your sinks (and the dreaded toilet)

Anyone heard of Fly Lady? Neat site, based around a fairy godmother instead of pirates. I like it, though I've never managed to follow the program very well. At any rate, the first thing you do is shine your sink.
Well, it wasn't the first thing we did. But today, it's time to venture into the realm of real fear: seek out and clean all of your sinks and toilets, those lands of dragons and lost souls that we are so tempted to write off as hostile territory, unclaimable by mankind. But fear not my friend. Put on an inspiring album, or an engrossing (heh. enGROSSing) storytape and get to it! Be brave in the face of adversity, like a good pirate, and before you know it, the battle will be won!

Achievement: You know those crazy wand things with the sponges on the end that you can fill with soap? Those are great for washing sinks. Not so much toilets. Get an actual toilet brush for that; you want something with a long handle so the Loch Bowl Monster doesn't climb out and bite you.

My theory is that one of these lives in every toilet. What do they want? Where do they come from? Are they bent on world domination, or are they just misunderstood? The world may never now.

Day 7: Do Absolutely Nothing

That's right. Bask in the progress that you have made. If you make more mess, try and clean it up, but otherwise, don't worry about it. Just sit, chill, have some mimosas (while listening to MiMoSa?), and laugh evilly while pondering how you shall soon be the conqueror and ultimate arbiter of your boat.

Achievement: If other people live in your house, and refuse to clean up after themselves, take heart. Soon, when the decks are gleaming and the galley is scrubbed, you will be able to rule them. Soon.

Day 6: Quick Touch Up

Saturday! If you've managed to drag yourself out of bed at all today, congratulations. You get a reward today! Look around. Notice the progress you've made already.

-Dishes are only in the kitchen, and you've made some progress on the backlog, or you're caught up.
-There's no glass anywhere.
-There's a load of laundry put away.
-You've eaten at least a few good, healthy meals.

Easy, right? Good job, pat yourself on the back if you live in a perfect world!
If not, then you may have noticed a stray beer bottle next to the computer or a dish in the living room. Today, all you have to do is go around and re-gather the glass and dishes. If you can bring yourself to pick up a few articles of clothing (especially if they're clean), then all the better.

Achievement: bask in the glory of the progress you have made. Ignore the stuff that you haven't done yet, that'll come later, but only if you do the maintenance stuff today.

Day Five: Do Laundry. Just the whites.

Thursday Edit: I meant Friday. Last week we did not actually have two Thursdays in a row, to my knowledge. means we need to have a talk about a very serious subject. That subject is laundry. If you're going to clean up after yourself, you must include the stuff on your body. As an added bonus, if your laundry is clean and put away, then your floor will probably be 90% better. However, I can guess that there would be resistance to this concept. How will you maintain your scruffy and disreputable demeanor if you wash your shorts? How will anyone take you seriously as a pirate?

First, stop that. You're probably choosing a different career now. Second, you can always just not shave. Of course if you're female that might lead to some strange looks, depending on location. Both your location and the non-shaving locations. But you don't care, you're a pirate!
Ahem. Back on topic. With sharing time! I have enough socks and underwear and bras to last me... well, it's probably upsetting, so I won't make an estimate. But on the plus side, between me and the Male Compatriot, we have enough undergarments to make a respectable load, especially if we add in sheets (I've heard that's a cardinal laundry sin, but too bad) Before Male Compatriot came along, I did all of my laundry in one load. And I mean all of it. Except wool stuff, that you're supposed to hand wash. Although now that I have a washer that has a no-tumble setting, I ignore that rule too. I commit a lot of laundry sins, basically. The Laundry Cardinal disapproves, but I just remind him of the pirate thing and it's kind of a free pass.

 

This is a Laundry Cardinal (of the Order of the Lost Sock, of course)

...Back to topic again? I think so.
The topic is, gather a load of white laundry and do it. Unless you don't have enough whites, then do it all. This might take a while, but that's ok. I found some stuff I forgot I owned today, which is always nice. Just take 15 minutes and do it. Sock Cardinals aside, you'll feel much better about everything.

Achievement: Can you tell that the Order of the Lost Sock is both a Lost Sock and revere the Sign of the Lost Sock as seen on their necklace thingy (a Catholic I am not). Turns out socks are hard to draw in Paint and that small. Also that Lost Sock Cardinals are quite self-absorbed, revering themselves and judging me for my laundry sins. Jerks.