Week 2, Progress

My progress this week seems mimimal, but I guess as long as I keep slogging forward it still counts. Some. :)

1. I got outside windows washed, as many as I can reach that didn't have screens. The screens have been hosed off.

2. I did not take things off the walls, but have dusted down the living room and front hall, ceiling on down.

3. I haven't vacuumed yet, but when I do I will also go under the sofa cushions.

4. There is no wood furniture; all surfaces have been dusted.

5. I ran the duster all the way down to the baseboards.

6. I will polish the brass on the fireplace screen later this week (when I find the polish!)

7. I did not remove the silk flowers, but shook and brushed them carefully. It won't be long until they are packed away, and they will be rinsed in the shower before being returned next winter.

8. The dusting included the mantle and the lamps.

9. I haven't moved the pile of photo albums yet, because I haven't yet figured out where I'm going to put them. I also have a pile of books on the porch table, that I keep putting off bringing in because I don't know where to put them. Need to purge some shelves!!

10. I still want to look into renting a rug cleaner, but it will have to wait, maybe even until next week.

11. I have company coming next Saturday for lunch, and will take pictures then of my lovely clean and neat rooms.

Other than the week's area, there are tasks assigned to this week.

I haven't changed the smoke detectors yet. Just haven't had the funds to do that. I know they're important, but I can't "invent" money.

I haven't printed a checklist, because I keep revising it!

None of the other items from the original list really apply to me.

So, for this week, though I'm not finished, I'm at least a bit closer than I was.

Following HGP, week 2

I still have a few things to finish up from week 1, but hopefully will get that done today. Week 2 officially starts, so here is the plan for this week:

1. Wash outside of windows. Well now. My living room has NO windows! Well, actually, there are 2 tiny windows, not really "in" the room; but the plan for today includes washing them anyway.

2. Take everything off the walls, dust well, and wipe down the walls. Don't forget cobwebs in corners.

3. Take sofa cushions off and vacuum sofa.

4. Clean wood furniture; clean shelves. I will dust, but the sorting will wait until those things are packed away for Christmas.

5. Dust baseboards.

6. There are no closets. I may combine this with next week, which will be the front hall. My husband's closet and the main linen closet are there, and they both need sorting.

7. There is no TV or stereo in this room. Perhaps instead I will polish the brass on the fireplace screen.

8. Clean silk flowers. Some of these need to be changed out (seasonal).

9. Dust/wipe down mantle and lamps.

10. Get rid of stack of photo albums.

11. Consider renting a rug cleaner before vacuuming again.

12. When the room is put back together, take pictures for inventory.

Other than the week's area, there are tasks assigned to this week.

1. Change smoke detectors (but this is based on the "old" time change; in any case, mine need to be replaced completely. This is something the landlord doesn't want to do - they're "wired" in - so my shopping list includes several battery smoke detectors.)

2. Print out a holiday checklist cleaning plan. I sort of already did this; waiting to get ink to print a "finanlized" calendar.

3. Do wardrobe check. We don't need or get anything new for holidays (well, except every year I try to get a new holiday themed shirt). However, DH desperately needs a new suit before an October wedding, so that is on an immediate shopping list.

4. Do tabletop check. Well, I can't do that until I get out the holiday stuff. But we don't do much in the way of holiday entertaining anyway. I just live too far away from civilization, people don't much like coming out here. (or maybe I'm just not a good hostess. :( And people are, for the most part, so very busy). We do have family here at some point, but I know I have enough of my Christmas china.

5. Schedule family haircuts, grooming, etc. Hmmm ... odd one. Haircuts are done on a regular schedule as needed. Perhaps I'll sneak in a manicure or pedicure as a treat to myself. Or, better yet, will put that on my Christmas wish list! :)

There just isn't anything else that really applies.

This week's shopping is supposed to include working on gift shopping, which is a given; and buy holiday clothing. Around here, that's just not possible this far ahead, other than the afore mentioned suit.

So, that's it, this is what I need to work on for the next week.

Week 1, progress

Well, I didn't post progress as I expected; and week 2 starts today. So, here is how I did for the first week:

1. I cleaned one notebook entirely for my friend to use (though I know she won't), and got the last one set up to use this year. I have some lists and schedules done, but have not yet printed them out.

2. I'm still waiting to get ink so I can print the calendar pages. Need to do that soon!

3. Oops. I actually forgot to do the "family values" exercise. Well, not so much to do anyway. My husband is so totally "bah-humbug" that it's no use talking to him about this. He tolerates anything I do ... as long as (1) NO lights in the den that interfere with TV, (2) NO lights on anything in the bedroom (even though that is the only window on the front of the house) or the front hall (in case he doesn't want to bother to shut the bedroom door), and (3)NOTHING that in anyway gets in his way or is inconvenient to his daily routine. I will, however, be able to include my son, daughter in law, and grandchildren in decorating the big tree (and maybe even some of the smaller ones) by waiting until Thanksgiving weekend for that.

4. I have multiple lists going on. They may not necessarily be the exact ones the exercise says to do, but they are the ones that work for me. I will probably continue to work on some of the lists ("spruce-ups", menus) during this week.

5. The gift shopping continues; I'm pretty sure I won't be sending cards again this year. I may go on and buy stamps .. "ust in case"!

6. The storm doors have been washed (but I got a Windex outdoor washing "system" and plan to go over them again today). The cement porch and the "public" side of the house ... the walls facing the pond garden ... have been power washed. The rug turned out not to be as bad as I thought, only one smallish corner damaged. We just turned it around, and the corner doesn't really show. All of the door mats were power washed; some will be replaced. While there may be more I *could* do, I'm basically pretty happy with how it looks now. The other side - "behind the lattice wall" is pretty awful. I'm waiting until another weekend, hopefully cooler, to tackle that. There's some big heavy stuff to be moved, so I just can't do that yet. It's at the far end of the porch, and not terribly noticeable for visitors (not that we get that many visitors anyway).

All in all, I'm reasonably satisfied with week 1, and ready to move on to week 2.


On the left side at the end of the plant bench, the difference in the "washed" and "unwashed" color of the cement shows.





The plants look nice with little solar lights in them now.



The neighbor's cat enjoyed watching all the activity. Or maybe she just enjoyed having company! :)

Following HGP, week 1

For years now I have developed and (semi) followed my own countdown plan. It has worked reasonably well. This year a lot of things are different. One thing, for example, is that I usually start in August. This year I had a lot of things going on in August (visiting family, grandkids visiting, other family visits); plus, it was the hottest August on record here. Another thing that is different is the way I'm taking vacation days (that I need to accomplish my decorating). I'm taking a couple of long weekends in November, instead of a whole week at the beginning. As I **gasp** get older, I find I run out of energy quicker. Imagine that!! :) So breaking up the schedule seemed to make more sense. Also, starting in December I will only be working part-time. That will give me more time to accomplish some of the things on my list that I would normally try to be done with. I will note, however, that shopping is not one of those "get-it-done-early-and-over-with" things. I enjoy Christmas shopping! Plus, it's last minute before I even know what my grandkids want. I will also have more time for baking cookies or whatever, instead of trying to get it all done ahead (and then figuring out how to juggle freezer space!)
This year I'm going to try to (loosely) follow the Holiday Grand Plan (a yahoo group). I will, of course, have to tweak it to suit my house and life. But it's a good general plan. Today starts Week 1. Here is a list of the things I hope to accomplish over the course of this week:
1. Get all my lists and schedules organized, printed, and put in a binder for easy reference.
2. Print out monthly calendar pages (well, that one has to wait until I get printer ink! LOL!)
3. Do a quick overview of "family values" .. i.e., deciding what's important to my family and myself before figuring what to include in both prep work and holiday planning.
4. Make several lists (oh boy, I'm really good at lists! LOL!): a room-by-room evaluation of things needed to "spruce-up"; gift lists; card lists (if I decide to do cards, which I'm still not sure of); menus; activities to be included on the calendar; shopping lists (gifts, groceries, craft supplies, etc.)
5. Begin buying stamps if I decide to do cards. I've already started gift shopping, so need to continue to watch for items.
6. The area to clean/organize for this week is the "front porch". I don't have a front porch. I have a front door that is never ever used. I have a strange porch that looks like it was meant to be a carport (but is actually too small for any car), with entrances to the back hall (family) and the dining room (company). I hope during cooler months to do a good cleaning out there. We just did a "quickie" clean up prior to company last weekend. I will try to follow the plan for the part of the porch that shows (I have a junky part sectioned off by a lattice wall - best project we ever thought up!). I had put an old rug out with my table and rockers; but DH ran over it with the lawnmower (he forgot to turn the blades off), so that will have to be trashed. I might be able to salvage some area rugs, but that's all. I will clean the doors and storm doors; try to find places for at least some of the excess clutter; and just generally make it look nicer as much as I can.

I will try to report back on progress during the week, or at least by the end of the week, prior to next week's list.