Day 21

Posted on January 21, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Really looking forward to this afternoon, and too antsy to get much done. I may file for awhile, since I can do that without getting all sweated up waiting for Mom to come pick me up. There is one spot in my office that is fairly neat. And relevant.

My books. And even that isn’t completely organized. I am missing the CDs and a couple of the newer alternate versions of things at the moment. I know it isn’t a BIG shelf by the standards of some people I know, but it gives me tingles when I look at it. 🙂

Probably won’t get back on until after the meeting, but I will be cleaning later — I promise!

UPDATE ONE: Haven’t started yet…bad me. Got home awhile ago, but I have been procrastinating. I feel like working in the Office again tonight. Probably won’t get a full three hours in, but I still might. First something to eat. Had a croissant and a Coke at the meeting, and that’s all I’ve eaten today. Can’t clean on an empty stomach!

 

UPDATE TWO: Terribly bad today. I had my alarm set for three hours in the Office and barely made one. But I did do some vacuuming in the living room before I left this afternoon. I really must get back on schedule. I can’t feel righteous if I only do an hour a day! Something settle the Cedar pollen for me!

Anyway, I made a little progress. I was determined to get to the chair (was hoping to get the top of the desk done too, but I had to shift stuff into the path to my boxes…) and I did manage that much.

           

Somewhere behind that pile of stuff is a chair…

 

And now, you can see it! Plus I got everything under the desk straightened up.

Those boxes you can vaguely see behind the chair are now all squared away on the shelves under the desk. Of course, a lot of them are craft supplies and should be in the Studio if I continue to keep the two rooms separate. I’ve had some thoughts about whether I should do that or not.

That’s it for me tonight. I’m beat. Tomorrow, back to the dice and back to three hours! If it kills me. 😀

 

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Day Twenty

Posted on January 20, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

One of those errand days, so I will be out of the house most of the day. There will be chores after I get home…but hopefully I might get a chance to take a nap today. I slept very spottily last night. Damn congestion to the Hell it creates!

UPDATE ONE: Ugh. Just now getting down to work. It’s been a rough day. But I did get the old vacuum cleaner fixed and stop by and pick up the dry cleaning, so I have done a few chores today. Now, I think I will go and plant myself in the Office rather than rolling, because it really needs a lot of work, and I would like to be able to use it again. Probably no more than two hours when it is such a late start, but I am still not breathing normally, so that will be bad enough.

 

UPDATE TWO: I did manage to last just over two hours. I’m surprised. I think I’ve forgotten how to breathe…

 

I planned on concentrating on this area of the Office:

       

Before  — utter and complete chaos…it’s really sad.

       

I didn’t get terribly far…though I did manage to sort some books that could go down to the library, freeing up a minuscule amount of space. AND I managed to clear the path from the front of the room to the back. See?

That’s more clear carpet than has been seen in there in months. Now, maybe I can squeeze my chair out of the way and get to the desk and straighten it. That would be a HUGE step forward. And I may just concentrate in there again for the little time I have tomorrow. Yes,    yet another day where I will be out of the house a good chunk of time — but this is a special occasion.

Tomorrow I will be the featured author at our Georgetown Mystery Readers meeting. Even though I don’t write mysteries per se, we are going to be discussing my books. I am really looking forward to it. I hope I can breathe. 😛

So, it was a rather unproductive day, but having the old vacuum fixed means there can be one upstairs and one downstairs, which will be handy…

DAILY WRAP UP: 2 hours and 15 minutes in the Office.

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1/19/2012 — Checking in

Posted on January 19, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

So, someone told me that if I didn’t have anything to say, it was perfectly acceptable not to blog everyday. That seemed like sound advice to me. Things have been rather slow on the writing front so far this year, as I am engrossed in my big housecleaning project, but I do want to let everyone know that my newest piece is in Zombie Writing! — an essay on writing humorous zombies — and that it is FREE for the Kindle through Sunday (I was mistaken. I think it is only free til Saturday. Sorry about that…) Check it out.

I am also very excited that this weekend’s Georgetown Mystery Readers meeting is going to be discussing MY books, even though I don’t really write mysteries per se. It’s rather nerve-wracking also, but I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say.  🙂

So, I did have a little news to share. See you when there is more. 😉

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Day Nineteen

Posted on January 19, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

We’re almost through Week Three. Who would have thunk it? I think this is the longest I’ve stuck with a project yet. AND, in a completely side-related matter, the first time the scale has read under 190 in FAR too long. Hopefully, I can keep burning more calories than I eat for awhile…

First roll of the day: An hour and 15 minutes in the pantry. I don’t know if there is that much to do in there, but there is enough to make it worth keeping the roll. I’ve been re-rolling on the pantry lately since I spent so much time in there early on, but it is good to revisit it now and then.

UPDATE ONE: Okay, I admit it…I was a bad girl today. I had done about 15 minutes in the pantry, tidying away some things that needed to be thrown away, when Newell agreed to take me up on my suggestion we walk over to Chuy’s for lunch. I didn’t want to make a hungry man wait, so I quit in the middle of my task. (Believe me, I got more of a workout walking over there with my 6′ husband than I would have finishing in the pantry!) Now I need to go back to it. I’m still not sure there is another hour that NEEDS to be done in there, but I bet I can find something to do.

UPDATE TWO: Definitely couldn’t do another hour, but I got a lot of sweeping done, and some trash disposed of. As usual, I forgot to take pictures of the pantry…sorry for that. I’m going to call that another 30 minutes, so that is 45 so far today. It was HOT in there. Dripping sweat. Probably worked off my salad from lunch, so YAY! 

My next roll tried to send me back in there, but I say NO WAY I’m doing more in the pantry today. Re-rolling that one.

Looks like another hour in the library — but I am taking a wee break first.

 

UPDATE THREE: Time in the library is done, and I am worn out for today. The walk to Chuy’s at lunch added to the hour and 45 minutes I’ve done today have taken their toll. I may or may not get in the other hour and 15 minutes I’m supposed to do today, but I am still gasping like a fish to breathe, so I may just take it easy the rest of the night. At least I saw some progress…

Here is the area I concentrated on today in the library:

        

Before — and actually, the area I concentrated on most was to the right of these shots, but I intended to deal with this stuff…

As you can see in the after shots, there really was a lot of stuff moved around. Those black shelves were in pieces to the left of this chair for example. Most of the stuff on them will eventually come out of the library, but it is safe where it is for now.

       

After — see the black shelves? Right now they have stuff that belongs in the Office/Study because we are in the process of shifting those two rooms, but there is nowhere to put that stuff in the Office, so it is staying where it is for the moment.

And — because the Psycho Kitty has gotten most of the photo love, here is a picture of Luther sleeping peacefully on the Cat Tree that they got for Christmas. He really loves that perch. I am so glad we could step up when he needed rescuing, because he is a very sweet  — if extremely paranoid baby.

 

If I feel like doing more later, I’ll update again. If not, see you tomorrow. 🙂

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Day Eighteen

Posted on January 18, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

While I heartily support the protest of SOPA/PIPA, I decided to still post today’s progress, because falling behind would be destructive too — personally, it would be a crisis for me. So, here it goes. I’ve been sleeping most of today trying to shake this bout of allergy/cold, but I did get my first little chore out of the way.

First roll of the day was 15 minutes in the Studio. It was spent moving more books down to the library, with Psycho Kitty supervising:

               

Before                                                            After

You can even see where the books mashed down the carpet sitting there for so long. It’s nice to get them out of the way. The room may actually be functional again soon.

The next roll was 45 minutes in the garage. I suppose I really should take advantage of the fact that the car isn’t currently there to get some work done.

UPDATE ONE: So, worked in the Garage — maybe a little less than 45 minutes, but it was cold, and not helping my breathing… Did get some noticeable progress. Trashcan is now DEFINITELY full till Monday. I don’t think I could cram another scrap of paper in there.

Here are the pictures:

    

Before                                                                    After

Whenever it feels like I really haven’t gotten all that much done, I tell myself to remember every little bit helps. When all the little bits merge together, we will be done! I am not expecting that to be any time real soon…

My next roll is 15 minutes in the Study. I might get the door open in that length of time. It is really the worst room in the house. I look on it and despair. But eventually, I would like to be able to work in there again. I just have too many things. And too many interests. I keep collecting stuff for projects I never have time to do. Do you have that problem? I am a frustrated artisan at heart…

Lets see what we can get done. Newell made me take some Mucinex to see if it made me feel better. Maybe it will…

 

UPDATE TWO: As expected, 15 minutes didn’t get me very far. Well, you can see from these photos why not!

    

It’s a horror show. Way too much stuff and no where to put it.

I did feel good about getting THIS done:

Anything that is organized and labeled is a step forward in there.

I am making an executive decision to work in the Study for the remaining time today instead of rolling a random space to clean. I think concentrating on one area that needs so much work will make me feel like I really accomplished something today. So, that will be another hour and 45 minutes in the Study. That’s enough time to maybe see the difference.

 

UPDATE THREE: Not as much progress as I had hoped, but it is a tricky business. I don’t want to move a lot of stuff out of the Study/Office to other parts of the house and mess them up, so I have to move slowly in organizing things into the available space. Got a few feet of floor reclaimed and some boxes consolidated into taking up less space. Those were both good things. Can you see a bit of progress?

    

Psycho Kitty was again vacillating between exploration and loud vocal protests. I think she is against change…

Long way to go, but I feel like I made at least a little headway. Going to treat myself to Top Chef Texas now. 🙂 See y’all tomorrow.

 

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Day Seventeen

Posted on January 17, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Moving kinda slow this morning. Been up for awhile with allergies so far. Aren’t they awful? If you suffer from them, you know what I mean. thank goodness for Benedryl! But don’t you know it when it wears off…

I watched a full episode of Hoarders last night for motivation. Scared myself right silly. After an hour of that, you just want to toss everything you own out of your house. I may still have a ways to go, but thank the good Lord I never got THAT bad. One of the families got their house into a fair semblance of order. The other poor woman’s home was condemned, because it was literally falling apart around her. There were huge holes in the walls. Terrifying. But it made me more determined than ever to get a handle on everything around here.

First roll of the day is Downstairs in the Library for an hour. I am tempted to start organizing the books, but it is really rather silly to do that before they are all in the room. We have authors scattered all over the house, and organizing what is in there now will probably mean having to shift everything later as more books turn up. Of course, I could just rough in areas, like mysteries together, or my Vampire collection. But I think I would be better served to try and get the non-library stuff OUT of the room. What do you think?

UPDATE ONE: Well, I concentrated on one little section, and got it mostly squared away, plus I put a lot of books away into the shelves. Still SO many books to shelve, and I need more shelves to put them on. Will have to clear more space to put them in. 🙂

Here are the pictures from today’s session:

          

Before                                                        After (at least you can see more floor…)

Next roll, 1 hour 30 minutes in the Kitchen. No running the dishwasher until I get someone to look at it and figure out why it is leaking all over the floor every time I use it. So we will be tackling that pile of dishes that needed hand-washing anyway. It’s starting to look better in the Kitchen, but there is a way to go — just like the rest of the house. 😉

UPDATE TWO: I’ve had a bad computer day. This is at least the second time I’ve put this into the computer. It rebooted on me twice and I lost two updates. I am putting it all back in. *sigh*

Anyway, I changed my mind and worked on the refrigerator instead. There were things in there that hadn’t been opened, but expired two years ago. There was a container so moldy I tossed the whole thing. No way I was trying to reclaim plastic ware.

I couldn’t bring myself to throw out the pickles though. Do they ever expire? I thought pickling made things last indefinitely, but I’m not sure. Any one know?

Here are the pictures. Hopefully they will stick this time.

        

Fridge outside before                           Fridge inside before (see icky brown blob in crisper?)

Cleaned out a lot of stuff and straightened up the rest. Including shifting a shelf so that the Brita picture will fit in it. And got the brown blob taken care of.

        

Fridge outside after                              Fridge inside after

This added up to 2 and a half hours, so I made an executive decision to take the location of my third roll (Downstairs Bath) but only work for 30 minutes instead of an hour and a half.

UPDATE THREE: Tried something new to me when I was working in the bathroom. I did a video of cleaning the last toilet. We’ll see if it worked (be gentle…I’m not used to being in the video. 😉 ) It shows the pumice stick in action.

First the still shots:

           

Before                                                        After

This was the worst of the three, I think.

Here is the cleaning process. I apologize for the long section that’s the back of my head…I told you it’s my first video. Hopefully future endeavors will be better. Still, you get the idea:

Error
This video doesn’t exist

And that’s it for today. Newell’s car died on the way home tonight, so tomorrow may be…interesting.

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Day Sixteen

Posted on January 16, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Time to get moving around here…Newell is still feeling sick, so he stayed home today. I am always a procrastinator when he is around, but it is time to get cracking.

First roll of the day: 15 minutes in the Garage. Today, I think I will use it to clean out the car. It really needs it.

UPDATE ONE: That was a small chore, but between emptying the car and stuffing the bags that wouldn’t fit in last week, the trash can is full again. Hopefully someday we’ll be back to not even needing to put it out every week, but for now, the trash is staying ahead of the collection!

Here’s the car all tidied inside:

           

Before                                                        After

Some people might wonder why I left the blanket and sweater on the back seat. Texas can be unpredictable, and they come in very handy when I sit in the car for long periods sometimes.

Next chore: 30 minutes in the Kitchen. It’s going to be a “lot of little chores” kind of day, I see. No problem. There are a lot of little chores that need doing!

UPDATE TWO: Didn’t take any pictures in the kitchen, because all I did was wash dishes. And most of those I was actually re-washing to clean off residue stuck after a first wash.

But I did take these pictures out the back door. I think they are worth sharing — shows that my bird feeders are really popular. 😉

  

He was very fat and sassy, and stayed out there nibbling on the sunflower seeds for at least ten minutes.

Next roll: 1 hour 30 minutes in the Studio. Moving books down to the library will probably be a good chunk of that.

UPDATE THREE: I didn’t get as many of the books downstairs as I intended, but I did cull most of a box to go to the used book store. So that was something. And I got some of the craft supplies filed away. Lots to do still, but looking better after every session.

   

Before

   

After

Last roll of the day is another 30 minutes in the kitchen, which I’ll go with, because I would really love to finish that soon, and there is still a lot to do in the kitchen. I think organizing my container cabinet is one of the first things. You know that problem, don’t you? Having a bunch of saved containers to use for leftovers and such, but you can never find the right lids, or they are cracked, or odd shaped…if you DON’T know that problem, good for you!

See you in a bit.

 

UPDATE FOUR: Here is the results of my cabinet sorting. Tossed an armload of mismatched and lidless containers and lids that didn’t match anything else. Hope it will stay that neat…but it’ll take work.

    

Ninety-five percent have lids, and some have two. Doesn’t look too bad.

 

DAILY WRAP UP: 15 minutes Garage + 30 minutes Kitchen + 1 hour 30 minutes Studio + 30 minutes Kitchen = 2 hours and 45 minutes. That’s gonna be close enough for today. 🙂

 

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We adore each filthy chore…

Posted on January 15, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

It’s amazing how much difference the past two weeks have made around here. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but when I see what I’ve gotten done so far, it really makes me want to finish. Though there is still a mountain of work to climb, it isn’t as big as it once was, and I really AM enjoying it. (I might not go all the way to “adore” but it’s a cute song*…)

My only regret so far is that I still haven’t managed to work in any of my “real” job — writing and editing — to go along side the housework. There has to be a balance, but I haven’t found it yet. I will, I’m sure.

So, what’s up for today…?

First roll, 45 minutes in the Master Bath. Wonder if I can pull that off with Newell still in bed? He is a night owl by proclivity, and was up all night… Lord knows there is plenty to do in there. Maybe if I shut the door we can get away with it.

UPDATE ONE: Well, that wound up being a lot longer chore than expected, because Newell was awake when I went in to start, and we ate lunch and watched most of Funny People before I got started in the bathroom. Scrubbing toilets takes longer than you think! But this time I have a before (cringe) and after photo so that you can see what a wondrous job the pumice stone does. Still not having the kind of luck I want on the shower floor, with its pebbly texture…but I think I might have aspirated some Ajax trying. 😛

Glad to be done in there — window open to air the bath out some.

Pictures:

           

toilet before                                               toilet after

LOVE the pumice stone. This is the one I’ve been using:Pumie HD Scouring Stick. I highly recommend it, and I may get another one to use on other things — once that one’s gone in the toilet, it isn’t going anywhere else!

I also got my sink cleaned up a bit and started on the glass work. Didn’t take much to have done 45 minutes worth.

Second roll is 1 hour 15 minutes in the Junk Room. Getting more of those boxes emptied would be a good thing.

 

UPDATE TWO: Moved a little slow on that one, but I think I can see a fair improvement. Here is the area I focused on:

       

Still a lot to do in there. Many things were just shifted. But everything must be sorted through a little at a time. It’s still a big step forward.

Since it is getting kind of late, and Once Upon a Time will be starting soon, I am going to file for my remaining hour of today. The filing is actually starting to come along. This is helping a lot:

It can make things go a lot faster.

 

DAILY WRAP UP: 45 minutes Master Bath + 1 hour 15 minutes Junk Room + 1 hour Filing = 3 hours.

See y’all tomorrow.

* See the Sunday Song Credits page to see what I mean.

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Day Fourteen

Posted on January 14, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

What I feared is threatening…I didn’t get anything more done last night, not even filing. But I DID enjoy my nice new reading nook in the living room and finish a book I borrowed months ago. Getting it read means I can return it to its owner next week at our Mystery Readers meeting, so I guess that is sort of related to cleaning. 😉

But there can be no excuses today — no matter how I feel, or what temptation goofing off might offer, it is 3 hours today and NO excuses!

First roll: An hour and fifteen minutes in the Library. Both great and horrifying — you’ll see from the pictures. I’ve been wanting to get something done in there, but it used to be my Study, while the current Study was the Library, so it is in a state of temporal flux. Half the room is still crowded with stuff that needs a new home, while the other half is crowded with stacks of books and disorganized shelves. It really would be awesome to get it tamed, and maybe move the reading nook in there closer to the books… That is an idea to be pondered.

Pray for me, I’m going in!

UPDATE ONE:  That was a real workout, but I think there has been a major step forward in the Library project. Not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but I’ll let you judge. Keep in mind that some of the spots in the before pictures haven’t been touched yet, but I wanted to honestly portray the extent of the problem. (Doesn’t that sound all authorial and stuff? If only I felt like writing….)

        

                                              

Here are some shots of the Library before — and that really doesn’t begin to log the whole thing…

And here are a couple after. I didn’t get a before shot from the correct angle, but the bookcase behind the file cabinet in the second shot is newly put up today. And you can see floor where there were piles of books in Before 4 in After 1. Appreciable progress was made. Thanks to Newell for all the heavy lifting!

               

Wonder what’s next for today? Hmmm…. 45 minutes out in the front yard. Really not much yard work necessary in January. Think I’ll keep the duration and re-roll location.

45 minutes in the Computer room. There is PLENTY left to do in here. Including clearing the space where the file cabinets from the library will eventually go.

UPDATE TWO: Still moving kinda slow, so that’s about all that got done — clearing the space for the file cabinets — but at least the things that were moved got tossed or put closer to what will be their final resting place. It’s still early days yet, despite the huge leaps forward around here.

So, here are the results:

      

Before filing corner                                                After filing corner

Every bit of clear floor unearthed is a step forward. 🙂

That’s two good hours in so far today. I think I’ve earned a Farscape: The Complete Series break. That was my Christmas present from my brother-in-law, and we are really enjoying it so far.

UPDATE THREE: Well, hard to tell again, but today’s kitchen goal was to try and clear the counter of the dishes that needed more attention. Got the dishwasher loaded and going, scrubbed out one of the halves of the double sink and hand washed some of the dishes. It may not be totally cleared yet, but it looks better.

      

covered with dishes…                                            somewhat clearer…

and I did get some of the things that needed hand washing done.

I bought a Brita Water Filtration System Kit: 1 Pitcher (Large Capacity) Plus 2 Fliters to see if it was worth it or not. We go through a lot of water. So far, the jury is out, as I think it is leaking. Newell thinks it’s my imagination, so we’ll see.

I may be fifteen minutes short today, but I don’t want to push it too hard and miss another day, so I’m calling it done. I’m pleased with today’s results.

DAILY WRAP UP: 1 hour 15 minutes in Library + 45 minutes in Computer Room + 45 minutes in Kitchen = 2 hours and 45 minutes officially. Unofficially, I think I put in that extra fifteen minutes in the Library this morning, because I didn’t quit as soon as the timer went off. I am good for today. 🙂

Tomorrow starts Week Three! And it feels amazing. 🙂

 

UPDATE FOUR: I have been tasked by one of the people who is following vicariously to relate something that happened this evening after I had wrapped for the day. Newell asked if we had any Acetaminophen, so I went to look. I found a bottle in the medicine cabinet and asked if it ever expired…the expiration date on the bottom of the bottle was 12/96. We decided to toss it. It’s items like this (that expired about seven years before we met even) that really spur me into cleaning frenzies. This time, we will purge all the things!

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Day Thirteen

Posted on January 13, 2012 by RieSheridanRose

Doctor’s appointment this afternoon, so I”ll be out of the house most of the day. But everyone is feeling better, so when I get back to the house, I’ll take no prisoners. 🙂

UPDATE ONE: Finally home for the day. Time to get cracking. I hate getting such a late start, but there is absolutely NO WAY I am skipping two days in a row (and yesterday was basically a skip). So, first roll of the day:

An hour and a half downstairs in the Living Room, which hasn’t been touched yet. Newell has asked me please not to do three hours when I am feeling under the weather, so that may be it except for a session of “Filing Friday”, but that would be a huge step forward.

 

UPDATE TWO: I forgot to take my before picture when I started, so this is a “mid-clean” and after, but you can still see a big difference. I wish I had taken one when the clothes drying rack was still up in the corner…but this is the best I’ve got. 🙂

    

Living Room “mid-clean”                                    Living Room after

 

I’ve been vacillating between keeping it up or taking it easy like Newell suggested. I think I’m going to start filing and see how far I get. I’ll admit that the allergies/cold are taking their toll.

 

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