Week One Menu

1. Reuben Sandwiches
Green Beans

2. Pad Thai
Salad
Miso Soup

3. Chicken with Coconut & Lime
Rice
Broccoli & Cauliflower

4. kids - frozen pizza
us - Beer battered shrimp
Salad

5. Sirloin Steak w/ Chimichurri Sauce
Rice
Corn

6. French Dip Sandwiches
Chips
Green Beans

7. Take Out - because let's be honest...

Shopping List to Follow

Destressing Through Meal Planning

I started this blog to detail my efforts to declutter my home, keep things cleaner and more organized, and hopefully by doing so be less stressed out about it. I've determined that keeping the house neater I feel much more calm, and able to hang out with the kids more without feeling the nagging guilt of having so many chores to do. It's been good. Still hard work, but I'm managing.

My newest project is to go from fly by night dinner preparation to menu planning and list making and making weekly grocery trips rather than running out to get "a few things" every day or two.

The thought of making six weeks of menus all at once is daunting, but if I do it weekly for six weeks I can then compile it and have it all put together. Baby steps!

My week one menu will follow in the next post.

Weekend Progress

I got motivated this weekend and did the following...

Friday - shampooed the Family Room carpet. This wasn't in the plans, but we had a little poop issue and I had to clean that up, so I just did the whole room.

Saturday - cleaned and organized the laundry room. My dryer was piled up with junk, there were too big boxes of stuff to go to charity, and the shoe bin had lots of shoes that the kids aren't currently wearing. So, I got it all fixed up.

Before...

After...

I also got some walls wiped down, and Kevin did a little touch up painting. A productive weekend! Now when I walk in through the garage, instead of getting aggravated at the mess, I smile because everything is clean, tidy & shiny.

I'm Back

I know it may be hard to believe, but I have not given up on this endeavor. Really. I did not make my 30 day goal. I got behind on the day to day stuff so organizing, purging and deep cleaning took a back seat. I *think* I am on a good footing with that all again. Being homebound with a kid with pneumonia is good for something I guess. Heh.

So, with no further ado and the news that my parents are coming in April has me ready to get back on this project. The good news is the stuff I've already done is staying nice & organized. That's a victory!

I found a new blog called Totally Together that I am really enjoying. In fact, I am enjoying it so much I bought her book. There is nothing I'd love more than totally together. I loved the post about the daily seven and want to incorporate that into our (note not MY) daily routine. So, hopefully I'll be back to posting here regularly again.

Here's to getting it all under control!


**Just adding a note about theTotally Together book... I was so excited about it that I didn't realize until a few days ago it isn't out yet. But, when it comes out it will appear at my doorstep (thanks Amazon) and by then, I'm certain I'll need a refresher... or motivation, or just new ideas.

Completed Wednesday, January 28

The pantry before:

The junk I removed. Out of date, or otherwise unuseable.

The after... Mark wanted to be in the pictures.

Completed Tuesday January 27

Utensil drawer after... It actually looks like I need to get rid of more. But I'm afraid I'll neeeeed it.

Guess what? No before pic of the silverware drawer, but here are all the baby spoons as well as pieces I don't use (seafood forks... not used once in 12 years of marriage, soup spoons? I just use a regular spoon.) Everything in this pile is gone!

And the after. I think it looks much better. You'll just have to take my word for it.


This reminds me I really need to clean my camera lens. It must have a smudge or something. :)

Day 5 thru...Now

Okay, I haven't abandoned this project. On the contrary, I've gotten into the kitchen cabinets and decluttered, getting rid of a broken vegetable steamer, realizing my need for more glass containers with lids (and used a birthday gift card to get some.)

I'm also working toward getting a good weekly cleaning schedule in force so I'm not stuck cleaning the whole house top to bottom on the weekend. I've attempted this from time to time, but never in conjuction with a deep cleaning and organizing, so to be honest I'm struggling to do BOTH. The cleaning schedule looks a little like this.

Kitchen -daily
Laundry - daily

Monday - Bathrooms (there are 4)
Tuesday - Formal LR & Dining room - top to bottom, dust, vacuum, etc.
Wednesday - Office day - bills, notes, etc.
Thursday - Bedrooms - I want to work toward the boys keeping the toys, clutter, etc picked up themselves so I can just go in and dust & vacuum & be done.
Friday - Straighten up all rooms.
Saturday - playroom, sewing room
Sunday - off (or catchup day... I want to get away from NEEDING to catch up.)

Anyway, while being none too thrilled that I'm stilllll working in the kitchen and making slow progress, at least I am making progress.

I will try to update more often and more before and after pictures.

Day 3 & 4

I did not do anything on day 3. I was frustrated and basically shut down after my car got broken into and my stuff stolen. Yesterday (Day 4) I moped around most of the day again (I'm over it now, really) but managed to clean out the "junk" drawer. It's very much less junky now. I didn't take a true before picture, but here is the "Oh I'm halfway finished and I forgot to take a before picture" picture.

And the after... all cleaned out, stuff put in it's proper home picture.

This drawer has not been this empty since we moved into this house!

I need to start working at a faster pace lest I spend the entire 30 days in the kitchen. I'm already doubting my ability to get through the entire house in that time frame. We shall see!

Progress Days 1 and 2

I didn't think of the before and after picture idea until I got into the project, but here is the dining room after. This room still needs to be painted, but I rearranged the furniture, shampooed the carpet, got a lot of junk off the top of the piano, and dusted and polished the piano. I also removed some "decorations" the boys had added from the walls back in November. It looks so much nicer, and the arrangement of the room is far superior. Although, I'm not sure if this is where I want it permanently. Input is welcome!

Dining Room before: My china cabinet had become the place of choice to put art supplies, etc. The kids do homework in here and it gets quite cluttered. After going through that pile I am happy to say that 1/3 of it was stuff that went in the trash. I also polished the chairs and china cabinet, and removed the rest of the Christmas stuff.

Dining Room After: We are still going to do homework in here (thus the backpacks.) My goal here is not to have everything "perfect" but to improve the organization and clutter problems. We still have to live here.

Saturday I cleaned out our storage closet but forgot a before picture and haven't taken an after yet, but it is much improved! I took out stuff that goes in the garage, sorted through clothes & found some that will fit the littler boys right now, and some put in the box to go to charity.

Kevin got involved and cleaned out a few kitchen cabinets. Today I move forward in the kitchen. Most of the clutter in here is hidden in the cabinets and drawers, so it will probably take longer than a day.

Making Up the Rules

I am making up the rules to this process as I go along. I want to work on this project at least 1 hour per day, and get one day "off" per week. This will allow time to upkeep the areas already finished as well as keep up with the laundry, and other daily chores. I hope to get through the entire house in 30 days, deep cleaning, decluttering and hopefully improving the state of the house. I am taking before and after pictures that I will share here.

On A Mission

Originally posted at Life With Boys

I am on a mission that will last some time and I hope I can stick it out to the end. My mission is to once and for all get this home organized like I want it to be so I can get the day to day cleaning done faster and more efficiently. Kevin helped me do a few things over the holidays and now I really want to keep it up. I want to go through every closet, cabinet, nook and cranny and touch everything, toss or donate what we don't use and have a workable system for the things we do. I have been motivated by other bloggers, and of course my husband, and I do believe the time is NOW. I tend to make lists and plans and schedules that look really good on paper but never come to life as a daily, weekly, or even monthly habit. I start out well, sure, but I tend to fall off the schedule wagon fairly quickly. I've mulled over this at some length so I can do this right this time and the only thing I can come up with is to start at the front door and just do it. That is kind of cheating a little I think because the front of the house is the least used and therefore the least messy. This is mostly a matter of finding hidden clutter and getting it out!! So, since I have two boys at school and two sleeping I will begin right now!