Clean up your house this weekend!

[ladywaterwind]

Who is with me this weekend? I'm overhauling the house. It is to the point, again, where I can not stand it.

When I get back to the store I'm going to pick up a few more sterilites and some under the bed sterilites. So, that will help alot on the organization.

Saturday:
*regular laundry day

*going through boxes in our closet and throwing things out.There's tons of boxes in there, well, like 5 heh, but it's all full of crap that "it has lots of memories" but we never look at the dang things or anything, so what's the point just to have the stuff when it has sat in boxes for years? the 2 years I've been here now and then the years I was in high school and the stuff was in my closet in my room then. it's ridiculous.

*going through the sink cabinets in the bathroom and kitchen, getting the supplies straightened out in there

*cleaning off the entertainment center and getting that straightened out

Sunday
*washing off the walls and dusting the ceilings and everything

*cleaning out the bathroom

*making DH clean out his computer area. omg. I give him a bag for his trash, when he had his cold and was blowing his nose every few minutes, and he didn't use it, just set the tissues on top of it and now there's mt everest of used tissue, totally disgusting.

Who is cleaning up with me?! lessgo!

[kristen.c]

I'm with you! We need a general cleaning around here- bathroom, kitchen floor and counters scrubbed, dusting and vacuuming everywhere else.

I have a few loads of laundry that need to be put away and I'd like to clean up my office. It has been my "toss it in there to get it out of the way" room since we got home from my parents' just before New Years.

I may give DH a reprieve of cleaning this weekend but at some point I'm going to make him go around the entire apartment with a few magic erasers and clean up all of the scuff marks that he makes because he tosses stuff into the bedroom and then we get scuff marks on the wall. In his defense the walls scuff REALLY easily because the apartment complex uses really cheap paint. But he still needs to be more careful. The last time I cleaned up scuff marks I only did public areas and it took TWO hours. I felt like crap afterwards too. I'm NOT doing it again. He who scuffs it, buffs it!

[bexx09]

I've been cleaning all week - only because we're having company this weekend. :( I'm really not in the mood for company and gosh darn it, I want to sleep in my own bed tonight!!! *sigh* But yeah, I will be finishing up tonight...

I'm totally with you on the sentimental crap. I can't remember when, but one day I just said, "I'm throwing this crap out!" I have a couple shoe-size boxes that I have with some letters/cards that I want to keep and another with mementos from my trips. But if it doesn't fit in the box and it can't be displayed somewhere around the house, it gets tossed.

My pack-rat sister has BOXES upon BOXES of crap that she's carried with her from childhood. Have I mentioned how much I despise pack-rats? ;)

[ladywaterwind]

I'm a huge pack rat. I know why I am, and it's something I need to really work through so that we can have room to live.

[ladywaterwind]

Oh, I've cleaned up most of the clutter from the entertainment center. There's still some stuff that needs fiddled around with though.

I'm going to have to try and find something to hold all of booger's toys. We have like blocks and stuff, and they just need to go SOMEWHERE!

I need a new place. 2 bedrooms, my kingdom for 2 bedrooms!!!

[kristen.c]

I have one box of "sentimental crap" as you gals like to put it. It's a xerox box and I have all of my yearbooks in it as well as some mementos of highschool, college, and different trips I've taken. I used to have a couple of those but with all of the moving I've done things have been cleaned out over the years. Not to mention it's silly to keep a bunch of stuff from highschool that reminds you of friends you have NOTHING in common with anymore. I have a few mementos from those times that are important to me and the not important stuff got tossed.

[austinmomto2]

I think I am OCD when it comes to cleaning and organizing. I really do enjoy organizing but hate cleaning. But, I clean a lot. Lately it has been much harder with my very active 3 yr old and crawling, needy 7 month old who apparently makes a bee-line to all the door stoppers or power cords! Having my DH sick has been horrible! DD thinks it's fun to hang out with sicko daddy. I just cringe at the very thought since I know she will be next in line to get sick, then the baby and of course me! But, I don't get sick days!!!! I digress....

Anyway, I'd love to clean to get all the nasty germs out of my house but it probably won't be until next week :frown1:. Since I have copious bottles of Purrell and Kleenex viral tissues, DH has been instructed to use Purrell on his hands every time he blows. There is a nice trash can next to him that gets emptied very frequently by me so no little hands can get in there. Plus, I have provided the germ haven with lotion so he can't complain that his hands will get dry from using the Purrell :smile5:.

So Bexx, if you hate pack rats, you must not stockpile?

I am not a pack rat although my father is and I could never just stand holding on to crap that is just taking up space. I purge the house probably every 3 months...My closet is pretty bare of clothes too since I have the philosophy that if I don't wear it at least once a week, then it is time to toss or donate it...

[ladywaterwind]

Good point about the clothes austin. I need to talk DH into doing that. The man has TONS of jeans. And he jsut throws them all over and I never know what is clean or dirty and if they are dirty then there's tons of crap in them. I've washed and dried countless pens. >.<

I think one thing he's going to be doing this weekend is getting rid of some jeans.

[austinmomto2]

Ya, my DH is the same way. he stacks his clothes on his sink vanity-we have two vanities in our bathroom plus 2 separate closets. The laundry basket s are in my closet since I have the largest closet and the most space. I don't know why my DH can't just throw his dirty crap into the laundry baskets that are a few feet from his vanity?!!! Also, he has a dresser in his closet that he uses for his foldable clothes-he can just put the folded, clean jeans in the designated drawer as well-why can't he do that?!?!!!!

Btw, the three laundry baskets are for:
1) color, colds
2 ) color, warms
3) white warms

It is so much easier to do laundry this way-the clothes are already separated once they are removed and I just pick up a basket when I see which basket is full and ready to be washed.

The kids have their own color coded basket but they usually all get washed int he color colds since I put them on delicate...

[bexx09]

Lol, ok so maybe I don't despise all pack rats. ;)

And Marci, yeah I guess I really don't stockpile very much, lol. I used to -- especially things like cereal and crackers. But I don't eat the conventional kind anymore, so my stockpiling has really gone down. I get all my groceries for the week in one trip and that's it. In some ways that's made my life much simpler. :)

However I do stockpile HBA items and keep those tucked away around the house.

[kristen.c]

I'm with you Bexx...I don't stockpile much other than HBA products. I will say though that when chicken stock, dry beans, canned goods such as tomatoes or beans, or rice/grains go on sale that I will always restock when the price is right. We go through so much of that stuff it's unbelievable and I'm constantly running out. I see some pictures of people with the shelves full of stuff and I think that would drive me nuts. I can't keep track of things as it is! Now that we have Trader Joe's in the area that has low prices on stuff regularly it's a lot easier if I do run out of something. We've been able to switch to mostly organic foods without any change in the grocery budget!

As far as cleaning goes I love being organized, and I love organizing things and I absolutely HATE it when things are disorganized. I hate clutter and "things" everywhere. We have photos on shelves, some clay pots, candles and things like that so we're not as sparse as some people keep their homes but I could go crazy if I had a glass cabinet filled with pretty things to look at or stuff all over every surface.

My side of the closet is full but it's very well organized. I have a lot of clothes that are a little bit too small that are in great condition. I know the experts say to throw that stuff away but in my opinion if I have room for it I'm going to keep it. It's all classic stuff that I'll wear again when I can- it's not stuff that will go out of style. If I didn't have the room I'd probably box up the really good stuff and get rid of the rest. DH's side of the closet on the other hand is quite horrid. I keep begging him to get rid of some stuff but he hates doing that so it all stays. He probably has more clothes than I do!

My biggest problem used to be shoes but the arthritis has kindof killed that for me. I think I have around 12-15 pair now and I don't even wear all of those. Pre-arthritis I had over 70 pair and I wore them all.

We love books and have a lot- I won't get rid of them though, we just keep getting more shelves. That's not a problem with me though- I actually would love to have a study or an office where there are built-in floor to ceiling bookshelves on each wall and they are all covered in books.

[bexx09]

Totally with you on the books thing Kristen! Do you remember Mad About You? I always wanted floor-to-ceiling shelves so that I could store all the books that I wanted.

[austinmomto2]

I want floor to ceiling bookshelves too! I loved the shelves in Mad About You!!!

DH and I have talked about building some floor to ceiling bookshelves in his office. He has so many computerr security, programming, science books. I have all the Harry Potters, Organizing books :smile5:, kid raising/pregnancy books, science textbooks, fiction books. And this is just in two bookcases in our office! All my cookbooks have been delegated to 3 shelves in one of my kitchen cabinets. We have bookcases upstairs in the kids' play area for their books. My DD has three big baskets on the floor to easily get to her books. My DS has a bookshelf in his room full of books from his sister. He has the hand me down bookcase from DD. Our bedroom has more technical books, my exercise manuals and books, more fiction books etc..

Don't get me started about all my exercise mags and cooking mags...we'd be here for hours... Even with Paperbackswap, I am swimming in books but I love it!

We def need to start a book club :smile:

[jujubee]

I'm so on this bandwagon. I still have my Christmas tree up. And all the other Christmas crap tossed in the Christmas tree room. Ugh.

[ladywaterwind]

.....

Good thing I had all this planned, it's going to be worse than I had thought it was.

DH drug something in on his shoe when he came in last night. I think it's like an oil/grease something. It's all over the carpet! Just these little black spots all over where he stepped, bout as big round as a soda pop can, give or take a little depending on which spot it is.

I don't even know how to get a shampooer here, with the car being out of wonk and it would require bugging people not once, but twice. Booger is going to be screaming all day long cause she likes out of her playpen to play and the spots are going from one end of the room to the other, there's no space I can widdle out where she can play.

Ugh!

[kristen.c]

I hate it when hubbys screw everything up! Why do they have to be so messy????? Mine is neater than most but he still drives me nuts! He always manages to step in someone elses dog poo or leaves or something. I have him trained to take his shoes off at the door but he only does it about 75% of the time. I figure if it's more than half I'm making out ok.

[jenjacobs]

I have been cleaning the kitchen all moning. Organized the pantry and shelves, cleaned and organized under the sink, wiped down counters and cabinets, ran a vinegar cycle through the coffepot and scrubbed all the nasty crud around the sink and faucet with toothbrush. Everything looks so much better!

[ladywaterwind]

DH gets another hour of sleep, then it is closet time.

I'm trying to get ahold of the inlaw people to see if I can get a ride in to a store to rent a rug doctor. This mess is worse than I thought it was, he walked ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE with his shoes on. So there's nice big fat globs of black all over my carpet from the door, in the the bedroom, and then a big circley bit of yuck right here at the desk where he had taken off his shoes.

If I can't get ahold of some I don't know what to do. There's just too much to try and spot it clean by hand. Poor booger hates the playpen anymore and this is the most

YAY!!! They just called back!

[jenjacobs]

I organized my closet of cleaning stuff and came across my Electrasol stash from 2007 (free last year). The boxes are all 28 tab/gel pacs. This year they are 20 count (although my store had a few boxes labeled 25% more free or 25 count) - so no Free q this year and less count in boxes. Manufacturer's are really starting to feel the crunch this year!

[jujubee]

Well, alas, I have done nothing today that remotely resembles cleaning or organizing.

[kristen.c]

I cleaned up the kitchen pretty good and I cleaned out the fridge and freezer. I found ground turkey in the back of the freezer that was 15 months old- YIKES! It obviously went into the trash! This is why I get really annoyed when DH wraps up meat in the package with tinfoil on the outside- there's no way to see what it is or when it's from. Luckily I have brought him over to my ways and we're able to keep track of things a little better.

It's not as bad around here as I thought. I'll get it done eventually!

[ladywaterwind]

I got half of the room shampooed yesterday, going to do the other half today.

I was planning on laundry, but that may or may not get done as it is fricking freezing outside, so we'll see.

[kristen.c]

Did the stains come out?

It is REALLY cold here today too! We've all been huddling together under blankets all morning.

[ladywaterwind]

Nope. the oil stuff was 5th wheel grease. those stains are in there for life, heh. The floor is clean though, cause the shampooer went over it and over it, it's jsut stained in now.

My overall total is pretty good. Got the floors cleaned up and the closet reorganized. Got together 2 bags of clothes, mostly baby clothes (that was SO SAD. It tore at my heart real bad) and we got a bag of trash and organized so well we cut out 2 boxes completely. Wasn't too bad at all.

[austinmomto2]

Well, we didn't get anything organized or cleaned here. :frown1: DH has been sleeping since Thurs. He got hit really hard with the flu. Now, my DD is coughing and so am I-ughhhh. He is feeling better now so he's going to work tomorrow. I did manage to go to Randalls today and get some great deals with all their promotions-wooohoo..Got some 2 boxes of Barbara's Puffins-this is the first time we'll try these-heheh. They forgot to give me $10 instantly on one of my 3 transactions so when I go back, I'll get my money :smile5:. There's no space in my pantry now or a single item to fit!:smile5: But, I did clear out some food items to donate to our local food pantry :encourage12:.

[kristen.c]

I'm glad your hubby is feeling better Marci! I hope you and the little ones don't catch what he had!

I did some laundry today- I'm about to throw in a load of towels when the Giants game is over (I don't want to miss anything!) and that should finish up all of my stuff and DH will just have to do his. Tomorrow morning I plan on doing the vacuuming and dusting.

I think the major organizing will happen later on in the week. I did all of the major grocery shopping for the week so that I won't have to go out at all. I have a Dr's appointment on Tuesday so I'm going to stop at Trader Joe's on the way back from that and then I'm all set for a week of being a hermit.

[jenjacobs]

Austin - so sorry your DH has the flu - defintely hope the wee ones don't get it. DS has had the flu since Thursday. Poor little guy. Guess it is going around. DH has been a big help this weekend cleaning and taking care of DS! He is the best.

[austinmomto2]

Jen,
Sorry to hear about your little man. Hope he starts feeling better soon! Has he had to have any Pedialyte? I know he likes his milk but didn't know if he was just too tired to eat or drink.

Glad your hubby has been helping you out :encourage6:. My DH is a great dad like that too. He's really involved with the kids so it really bothered him when he couldn't help out much this weekend or play with them. My DD was cute though. She'd come into our room, climb under the covers and rub my DH's back saying "It's okay, Daddy. You'll be better soon." :smile:

Everyone except DH got the flu shot. He can't since he is allergic to anything that hatches from an egg. So he's done pretty well of not catching the flu for a long time. I think this is the first time since we have been together (13 yrs) that he got it.

Our ped said that the flu is just now hitting Austin hard so I expect to see more kids at DD's preschool get sick :frown1:

[jenjacobs]

I have been giving him Pedialyte and then some juice diluted with water. He is not a big fan of Pedialyte but he never gets juice unless he is sick so he thinks it is a big treat. He has stayed hydrated but has barely eaten anything for 4 days. I finally got some mac n cheese and a banana in him today.

I hate flu season! Hope everyone stays healthy!

[hotcouponmama]

We put in a closetmaid system in one of the boys' rooms this weekend and that made a huge dent in the amount of space we have. We have a few more closets to do and then it will be a matter of upkeep.

So while we didn't get our house entirely done this weekend, we did get lots accomplished.

[jujubee]

Marci, don't forget the Puffins promo w/ the cereal you got today:
http://www.organicgrocerydeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2794

My Christmas tree is still up, but I did do a load of dishes today. But sadly, not much else. I gotta get in gear.

[kristen.c]

Juju I'm sending you good vibes to have the energy to accomplish everything you want to get done today. I'm sure seeing the Christmas tree and knowing everything else you want/need to do is just so overwhelming that you don't even want to start! Do you have a lot of fragile ornaments? If not you could have DD take off all of the ornaments that she can reach if you take care of the fragiles first. I bet she'd love to help.