Anne Line's Kitchen Table - Serving Up Randomness

[AnneLine]

Check-in from AnneLine:

 

Still struggling with getting dressed when I first get up... but... I'm doing it... ..............   :like3: 

 

Got up and just did the morning routine and didn't try to talk myself out of it!!!!.............   :) 

 

Doing the dishes & cleaning my sink must be a habit now, because I don't realize

I am doing them.. they are just done at the end of the day! ............................................ :saint2:

 

Last night, when I slopped water on the floor as I was doing dishes... instead

of beating myelf up... I added some windex and washed the floor.  5 minutes,

and another thing off the list. ...........................................................................................  :)  

 

Revamped my schedule --- will do refrigerator shelves Thurs & Friday instead!

Increasingly I realize I am flexible and being nice to myself!!!!!!!..................................... :heart:

 

 

How is this going for you?   Feel free to make a comment if desired.....

 

 

When I saw what FLYLady wants us to do today, I found myself thinking about St. Francis of Assisi.

 

Almost everyone knows that St. Francis' father was

NOT happy with the choice Francis made to give away all his money

and go to serve the poor.

 

His father was LIVID at how Francis was behaving.

He would follow him through Assisi, cursing him and saying

horrible things to him.

He was trying to get Francis to stop living his new life, and to go

back to the way he was before. 

 

Francis was really hurt by his father's abusive words,

and he was tempted to give up his new way of life.

 

But then Francis had an idea. 

 

Francis asked a poor old man, one of his new friends,

to help him by accompanying him when Francis had to go to town.

 

The old Man agreed.

 

From then on, when his father would start to say bad things to him,

Francis asked the old man for his blessing, and the words of his

blessing drowned out the unkind words.

 

And eventually, his father gave up trying to discourage Francis.

 

 

 

Keep this story in mind as you add today's new step!

 

 

Wednesday of the 2nd Week ...

 

FLYLady's 6th Day

 

Continue to do the same three steps, and add a new one:

Today, write down any nagging, negative voices you hear that tell you to stop doing these tasks.

 

Turn the ugly words around and say something nice to negate the ugly words they say.

 

Put this paper into your binder.

 

Dress to shoes

[say Good Morning to God]

Look look at posted reminders

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

 

 

[do 15 minutes work in your ‘Zone’ if you are ready….]

 

Shine your sink before you go to bed 

[and review your day & say Good night to God!]

Edited September 12, 2013 by AnneLine

[AnneLine]

I hope everyone is having a good day!  

 

Several people have told me they  liked yesterday's 'reversing negative voices'

challenge.   If you haven't already done so, be sure to write down

what your evil spirits have been saying... and what you want to say back!!!

 

Some of you have asked what FLYLady herself looks like.... and sounds like... well....

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXIwexBaCQQ[/media]

 

 

I hope you will like today's challenge too!

 

 

To do this challenge, you'll need to set a timer for 2 minutes... or have another way to identify when 2 minutes are over.

 

One quick-and-dirty way of counting off 2 minutes is to sing 3 verses of Silent Night.  Yes, I really did time singing 2 minutes of Silent Night for you.    You can either sing the first verse 3 times, or sing all 3 verses... when when the song is over, your two minutes are up.

 

AND IT IS FUN SINGING CHRISTMAS CAROLS IN SEPTEMBER!!!!!

 

 

The trick for today's challenge is you

 

SET THE TIMER AND DO SOMETHING FOR 2 MINUTES  

 

and

 

STOP AFTER 2 MINUTES

 

 

(Yes, you can come back and work on it a bit longer 

at a different time ... 

but you really need to stop when it is time to stop.

That's part of the challenge!)

 

Wait until you find out what YOU can get done in 2 minutes!

 

~~~~~+~~~~~

Thursday of the 2nd Week ...

 

FLYLady's 6th Day

 

Do the first 5 steps.

Today your task is to Identify some hotspots and start to put them out.

 

What is a hotspot?  that and other uh... burning questions... answered here!

 

http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/fly-faq/#hotspot

 

 

(You can read all the rest of the FAQs, but you don't have to do so!)

 

 

Choose one hotspot and practice two minutes of putting it out.

 

 

Don't work till it is finished; just do what you can do for 2 minutes.

 

Work on your hot spot for 2 minutes in the morning, and 2 minutes in the evening.   

 

 

Dress to shoes [say Good Morning to God]

Look look at posted reminders

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

Put out your hot spot for 2 mins

 

[do 15 minutes work in your ‘Zone’ if you are ready….]

 

Put out your hot spot for 2 mins

Shine your sink before you go to bed [and review your day & say Good night to God!]

[AnneLine]

A quick check in.... I've got odds and ends to finish up this week for both Zone 2 (Kitchen) and Area B (Financial)... but I have gotten a REMARKABLE amount done this week!!!!   :hehe2:

 

And I am NOT feeling too frazzled!!!!! :winner:

 

My remaiing Kitchen Zone work for today is to wipe down the fronts of cabinets, counters and fridge.   Should be able to get this done and then I WILL BE DONE!!!! YESSS!!!!!  (And I am putting 'clean the oven' on my list for the 2nd week of October.  It will make me one step closer to being ready for the holidays!!!!)  :bounce:

 

My remaining Financial Zone stuff is to put all the bills out to be mailed tomorrow.  :)

And to put the rest away in their proper folders and file em until next month.

And I actually SAW the top of my desk today.  Wow.

 

This is working.... slowly, I am seeing some changes..... :flex2:

 

But I still hate the 2 minute timer exercise..... but it does help me to learn to stop and not over-do....

 

 

Friday of the 2nd Week....

 

You will need to get this for next week, the 2nd Week of Lent

 

Week 2

• A Binder (an old one will do)
• Binder dividers (one 8 tab or 2 sets with 5 tabs) (you can recycle old ones)
• Some binder Paper
• Box of large Trash Bags

 

AND

 

 

FLYLady's 7th Day

 

Do the first 6 steps.

Tonight, before going to bed, pick out what clothes you will wear tomorrow.

 

Lay them out or put them where you can find them ASAP in the morning.

 

(I know you know what to do with them in the morning!  ;) )

 

 

Dress to shoes [say Good Morning to God]

Look look at posted reminders

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

 

 

[do 15 minutes work in your ‘Zone’ if you are ready….

this is the LAST time you will do detail work in

Zone 1 / Kitchen or Area B this month....

choose your tasks well!]

 

 

Shine your sink before you go to bed [and review your day]

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

Lay out clothes for tomorrow [and say Good night to God!]

[AnneLine]

Saturday of the 2nd Week

 

WEEKENDS ARE FOR REST AND RENEWAL!!!!

 

Saturdays - do something fun with your family or friends.

 

 

And keep up your daily routine:

 

Dress to shoes /good morning, God!

Look look at posted reminders

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

 

 

ENJOY YOUR SATURDAY!!!!

 

 

Shine your sink before you go to bed / review your day

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

Lay out clothes for tomorrow / Good night God!

 

[AnneLine]

Sunday of the 3rd Week

 

WEEKENDS ARE FOR REST AND RENEWAL!!!!

 

Sundays - do something to Renew your Spirit.

 

 

And keep up your daily routine:

 

Dress to shoes /good morning, God!

Look look at posted reminders

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

 

 

ENJOY YOUR SUNDAY!!!!

 

 

Shine your sink before you go to bed / review your day

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

Lay out clothes for tomorrow / Good night God!

Edited September 15, 2013 by AnneLine

[AnneLine]

Hope everybody had a good weekend!

 

Ended up not being TOTALLY fly-lady faithful this weekend, but still doing better.. .making time for God, for me, for my husband, for friends, and for just living.

 

Hope you are having this experience as well.

 

Some of you have asked a bit more about FLYLady.... here's a good video -- but it's a little old... she's got more than 600,000 people working her program now... and a herd of 'em on Facebook as well.   And by the way... there are flyGUYS as well.... Lots of 'em....

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgdNPWhAlyI&feature=player_embedded#t=0[/media]

 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!!!!

 

[AnneLine]

Monday of the 3rd week

 

Well, it's the start of a new work week for most of us.  

Still having to remind myself to do a few of the things... but increasingly it's becoming habitual.

I have to be FIRM with myself on a few of the tasks - Sink & dishes are firm habits now... but I HATE HATE HATE doing the quick 2 minute room rescues.  Not sure why... but I hate doing them. 

 

But I offer them up for someone who needs prayers, and that helps... a lot.

 

It's important to just start VERY slowly and get the habits established. 

If you try to do too much at first, you'll just 'fall off the fly wagon', as they say.

These skills are the foundations for your building.

 

Getting this part down cold will repay you a thousand times.

 

Let's keep on praying for each other -- and I am praying for all of you. :pray:  :heart:

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

FLYLady's 8th Day

 

 

Find an old loose-leaf binder and put some paper in it. 

 

This is your new CONTROL JOURNAL.

At the top of one page, write Morning Routine

At the top of another page write Before Bed Routine

Write the below simple routines on the 2 pages.

 

And, of course, you know what to do with them! 

 

If re-arranging the tasks or moving some from morning to evening works better for you, feel free to adjust the schedule.  

 

You know your own life and your own needs.

 

 

MORNING ROUTINE:

 

Dress to shoes /good morning, God!

Look look at posted reminders   Check your new CONTROL JOURNAL!

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

Put out hot spot for 2 mins

 

 

[do 15 minutes work in your ‘Zone’ if you are ready….]  *

 

 

EVENING ROUTINE:

 

Shine your sink before you go to bed / review your day

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

Lay out clothes for tomorrow / Good night God!

 

 

 

 

*  More about this in the next post!

[AnneLine]

If you are trying the Zone idea.....

 

Add the pages for your Zones to you new Control Journal binder.  

 

You might want to even put in some dividers for each week.

 

HINT:  If you notice something that needs doing in one of the zones, add it to that page.  Don't do it.. .just put it on the list so you will remember it when you are next working in that zone!   (I noticed I need to clean the window frames in our bedroom, for example.... )

 

 

It is now time to leave the Kitchen and Finances behind -- because they were WEEK 2 activities.

 

NOTE:  I did make note of some things I see I need to do NEXT month during Week two.  In the kitchen, I want to clean the oven.  AND in the Financial area, I want to shred some old papers that don't need to be kept any longer.  

 

But other than mailing out bills later this week, NO MORE FINANCIAL STUFF LEFT TO DO.   YES!!!!!

 

It's time to move to the next ZONE!!!!!

 

 

 

THIS WEEK... we are in....

 

 

Fly Lady Zone 3   BATH and ONE OTHER ROOM

BATH:   

 

I will choose 5 things to do in the bathrooms later today.

 

 

ANOTHER ROOM:   I'm going to go after the MONSTER CLOSET 15 minutes at a time...   :crazyshoot:

............................................................. and you're gonna get to watch!!!!!  :popcorn:  

 

I will choose 5 15-minute tasks in the Monster Closet later today. 

 

Gulp. 

 

And take and post a photo before we start. 

 

Gulp.

 

 

 

 

AL'S Area C  SECULAR ORDER STUFF

 

Secular Order Stuff

 

I need to prepare for our meeting this Friday.

 

AND

 

I have some other things that need to get done.  

 

I will decide on which 5 or so things I will do this week later today.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO THIS WEEK?????

[AnneLine]

Hi, everyone,

 

NO, I haven't forgotten you, nor have I run off with either Mr. AL or the FLYLady!

NOR did the Monster Closet get me!!!!

 

I have had a few projects that are on a time line this week that took more time than anticipated... and ran into some problems with the photos for the closet.  The problem is making time to report rather than doing the stuff!!!

 

Will post my lists soon... and show you what I got done in 15 minutes in the closet on Tuesday Morning, too!!!!     It is amazing.....   ;)

[AnneLine]

OK... internet keeps going on and off... have lost a few updates... so it will now wait till later...

 

Goodnight!!!!

 

 

[AnneLine]

OK... here is my list of ZONE WORK for this week.  

 

I have already started doing my zone work (and you'll see more about the closet later...) but I've been having problems with internet connectivity (danged provider!) and it has eaten my FLYLady challenge posts a few times.  But it will not win!!!!!

 

 

So.... here they are!

 

 

FLYLady Zone 3 - the BATHROOM-  FIVE 15 minute tasks:

1  Prepare list of bathroom tasks; detail clean bathtub

2  Detail clean inside of sliding shower door

3  Detail clean outside of sliding shower door

4  Get on hands and knees and detail clean around bathroom baseboards and under toilets (A Friday Penance -- EEEEW!)

5  Wash bathmat and sweep & wash floor

FLYLady Zone 3 - Other room -- the MONSTER CLOSET -  FIVE 15 minute tasks:

1  Open door; Sort what can be sorted in 10 minutes: 

............................throw away, give away, put away what you take out. 

...........................................STOP at the end of the 15 minutes.

2  Wash, rinse, repeat

3  Wash, rinse, repeat

4  Spend 5 mins determining what else can be done today and tomorrow here?

.................Wash, rinse, repeat for rest of time

5  Finish remaining closet tasks for this month;

.................Write 'continuing with this project' on to-do list for another week if needed.

If you finish the closets before end of week (RIGHT--like THAT is going to happen!), sit down & relax with a book!

AL's Area C - Secular Order -  FIVE 15 minute tasks:

1  Prepare list of Secular Order tasks; Final prep & mail out Aspirant Syllabus for 2014

2  Final prep schedule for Novice/Temp Professed program for 2014

3  Sort and select materials to present for Novice/TP program for 2014

4  Prepare books & materials list for Nov/TPs for 2014

5  Draft Novice/TP syllabus for 2014

 

 

Putting that list together took about 15 minutes for all 3.... so I still have 10 mins to spend in each area. See how this works?

 

What is on YOUR list for this week?  Remember - you are not going to get it ALL done -- but you can get a LOT done if you do a 15 minute chuck every day.

 

Last week one day I just went around with a bottle of windex and a cloth and wiped off the fronts of cabinets, fridge and kitchen door... and the place looks like a new room!!!!!!   In just 15 minutes!!!!!! 

 

Try this!!!!!

 

 

Edited September 18, 2013 by AnneLine

[AnneLine]

Tuesday of the 3rd Week  (well, posting this late, but, it was done!)

 

Hi, everyone!   We're almost two weeks into this challenge!!!   I am curious to know if anyone else is trying this, or are you just having fun watching me?  I know people are watching, because the number of views goes up AND a few people have made comments to me!   

 

Any feedback you give me will help me make a better thread for you!

 

 

I'm finding I the 2 minute idea a big help.  

• Pulled the sheets OFF my bed in 2 minutes Monday afternoon.   (That means I HAD to remake the bed and couldn't procrastinate!). 
• Used a couple of 2 minute dashes to dump all the little trash baskets around the house into one big one earlier today...
• That made taking the trash out to the curb SO MUCH easier tonight-- a final 2 minutes
• Twice I logged into Phatmass for just 2 minutes -- this let me stay current, but I remembered to get off, too! 

 

I didn't even notice that 10 minutes until now... that's a lot of things taken care of with absolutely no drama!   

 

Anybody else have this experience?

 

I also spent some minutes putting together my starter-control-journal and making my list of things for my 15 minute zones.  I posted those a little earlier.  AND I have gotten things done for 15 minutes in each one!!!

 

 

The hardest thing about this FLYLady thing is just doing steps and stopping when it is time to stop. 

 

 

And I'm still praying for all of you!!!!

 

~~~~~ + ~~~~~

 

 

FLYLady's 9th Day

 

 

Strangely enough, Nikita92 used this as her feed line today:

 

The Amish have a guiding principle that seems to rest on Jesus’ words:

to only live with things that they really use. And to treasure them.

 

 

It seems to me the Holy Spirit whispered that in her ear, because

 

Today we start to Declutter our spaces.

 

We are going to EVICT a selfish house guest from our homes!!!

 

As FLYLady notes in this essay:

 

"It is time to pack his bags and send him out into the world to fend for
himself. You have wasted enough of your time on him. From now on, you are going
to become very particular about whom you bring home to reside with you and your
family.

 

Are you ready to evict this squatter, so you can FLY?"

 

Read the whole thing here... it's funny, but it is true...

 

http://www.flylady.net/d/br/2012/08/10/your-selfish-house-guest/

 

 

Today's task is:

 

Read the Decluttering FLYing Lesson. 

 

http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/decluttering/

 

 

AND

 

Add a 5 minute 'Room Rescue' to your Morning Routine.

 

This Mission is one of the easiest FLYLady has!   

..........It is small and it is doable.

....................The results will astound you!

 

 

How to do a Room Rescue:

• Pick one room to focus on:   Living Room? Bedroom?  Kitchen?  You choose!
• CHOOSE JUST ONE ROOM!
• Set your timer for 5 Minutes!
• Work as fast as you can to pick up and put away!
• STOP WHEN THE TIMER STOPS!!!

 

 

MORNING ROUTINE:

 

Dress to shoes and say hello to God.

Check your Control Journal

Read your FlyLady emails or check her website
Recognize negative voices and change them

Put out hot spot for 2 mins

5 minute Room Rescue (This week's Zone or any room). Set Timer & Go

 

 

[do 15 minutes work in your ‘Zone’ if you are ready….]

 

FLYLady's Bath and One Other Room:  The Monster Closet

and

AL's Area - Secular Order

 

 

EVENING ROUTINE:

 

Shine your sink before you go to bed and look over your day

Put out your hot spot for 2 minutes

Lay out clothes for tomorrow and say goodnight to God.

 

 

And... the 1st day of the Monster Closet Cleanup... coming up!!!!

[AnneLine]

OK... it's time... to let you know about the FIRST DAY OF THE MONSTER CLOSET DECLUTTER.

 

 

About the monster closet....

 

Our hall closet is the place where everything just gets dumped.   It has our outer clothes, the carry bags we use to bring in the groceries, sewing and art supplies... and I think there is a bunch of old VHS videos in there somewhere.  I really don't know what all is in there... it's been years since we cleaned it out, and both Mr. AL and I just dump stuff in the living room and dining room rather than hang stuff up because we hate opening the door.  It's too full, and we can't find anything... so we just keep buying more stuff like umbrellas and windbreakers...   

 

I want my closet back.   And I want to see whether FLYLady is right that it makes a difference to just spend 15 minutes decluttering for a week.  I just can't quite believe it, but I'm willing to give it a try.

 

SO....

 

I'm going to spend 15 minutes each day for 5 days this week decuttering my hall closet.

 

I will take photos as I go.

 

I will use my timer and try to capture time as I go along.

 

When the 15 minutes is done, I will stop. 

 

Even if I want to go on, I will stop.

 

Are you ready to join me?     Here we go....

 

 

 

THIS IS THE DOOR TO THE MONSTER CLOSET. 

 

it looks so innocent...

 

 

 

It looks very innocent. 

 

What could AnneLine be worried about? 

 

I wonder what is in there? 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2013 by AnneLine

[AnneLine]

MONSTER CLOSET CLEAN-OUT - DAY 1

 

using FLYLady's 15 minutes per day program.

 

 

 

 

Ready to open the door and get 15 minutes of work done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!   Good heavens!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to start pulling things out and put them into

3 groups (boxes or big trash bags can help):

 

PUT away, GIVE away, THROW away. 

 

The spot next to the closet will work well for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well... 5 minutes into this, and now we can see the floor...

but there is still a lot of junk in there....

 

but what happened to the rest of it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There it is... all the stuff from the closet.  Clothes, bags, backpacks,

sewing and mending, a pillow, my long-lost exercise mat...

is THAT where that has been hiding?!   The stuff actually goes further

into the room, but the photo isn't wide enough.

 

Tempting to go get more crud out of the closet, but I'd better put away,

prepare to give away and toss this stuff first.... I only have less than

10 more minutes!   But who would have thought I could get all that out in five!!!!

 

 

....................continued next post.....

[AnneLine]

....................continued .....

 

 

And five minutes later.....

 

 

 

Wow. The coats are now hung up, and the rest of that stuff is now

in these two containers!  The sewing stuff will join the other

sewing stuff where it belongs; the bags can return to the

closet after it is cleared out.

 

And I still have four minutes.... Hmmmmm... what can I do in 4 minutes?

 

 

 

 

Now I have less than 3 minutes... but look!  There are a bunch of old telephone books and a few other things on that shelf.  I wonder if I could get those down quickly???

 

 

 

 

YES!!!!  Got them down AND recycled ALL of them except this year's!   

2012-13 can go back up on he shelf.  I hate the telephone books, but

Mr. AnneLine likes them, so I need to keep them.... and I bet I can get

them up there before the alarm goes off!!!!

 

 

 

 

FLYLady says to only take out what you can finish and put away in 15 minutes. 

I have put away or prepared to give away/throw away all that stuff that was

outside of the closet...  and I still have 14 seconds left in my 15 minutes! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phone books look happy, and so does the exercise mat!

 

 

I really can't believe it.

 

 

 

And the rest of the closet???

 

 

 

For me, this is the hard part. 

I am LEAVING the rest as it is until tomorrow. 

My 15 minutes is up, and now I must stop.

 

 

 

AND this is where we will leave it until tomorrow!!!!!!

 

 

Edited September 19, 2013 by AnneLine