Random Fodder

I thought I'd post an update on one of my goals for this year (and last year, and the year before). A year ago, I posted on 43 Things that perhaps moving into the new apartment would make things easier to keep the place neat and tidy. 2007 proved that this wasn't the case at all. I decided yesterday that I’ve got to really focus on accomplishing this goal so I can help keep my wife’s sanity intact.

Yesterday, I finally got around to getting started on cleaning up the apartment:

1. I picked up the kids’ toys after they went to bed and put the toys in bins. I warned the kids that they will be expected to keep their room clean and that some toys will be disappearing as we store them and/or give them away.
2. I ran two loads of dishes last night and mostly cleared out the sink.
3. The kids’ dirty clothes were piled on the floor, so I bought a second hamper so the kids have a place to put their dirty clothes.
4. We had a large mess on the kitchen floor where our recyclables really had no good place to go. The storage area was far too small (just two plastic drink containers and the bin was full). This resulted in plastic and cardboard spilling across the kitchen floor. To remedy this, I bought a couple plastic bins large enough to hold our standard amount of plastic, cardboard, and glass.
5. I put our futon back into the upright "couch" position — it had been in the flat "bed" position ever since we had company during the holidays.

So, for one night’s work, the place looks a bit cleaner and organized — and certainly less cluttered.

And tonight, I got some stuff accomplished, though I didn't do nearly as much as yesterday:

1. I cleared off the table of the mounds of papers and other items cluttering half of our dining room table. Not only do we have use of our table now, but we also have more of our clutter gone!
2. Sprayed and wiped off the dining room table and chairs.
3. I went through all the areas I cleaned yesterday and made sure that any disarray from today had been cleaned up. (This is the key to keeping the house clean each day!)

There’s still plenty of work ahead of us. We’ll see what the future holds. I’ve requested some cleaning / organization / decluttering books from the library to see what suggestions and hints I can glean from skimming them.

See more progress on: clean up my house and keep it clean. I'll probably post further updates there as I continue to try and keep up with this goal.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 7:08 and is filed under 43 Things, All, Family, My Wife.