Puttering around

So I apologize ahead of time for the formatting (or lack thereof). I can't get blogger to do wat I want him to do....


I am a big fan of what my mom would call, "puttering around". Today I picked up Chanel from the vet (she got spayed), ran a few errands, bought cold medicine & a new thermometer at Walgreens, and made home-made biscuits from scratch.

I pack Clay's lunch every day, and for breakfast I usually send him a Jimmy Dean Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. If I send him that then it saves money b/c he isn't running to McDonalds every morning. Well I took my home-made biscuits and filled them with turkey sausage, egg, & cheese. Healthier & cheaper! And oh so domestic:)

Household Notebook Segment #2
Next Step: Morning Routine and Evening Routine

My Morning Routine: (Things I need to do every morning)
Let the dogs outside to go to the bathroom.

Make the bed.

Quiet time: Devotional & Prayer

Shower and get dressed.

Check my calendar.

Empty the dishwasher.

Start a load of laundry if needed.

My Evening Routine: (Things I need to do every evening.)

Start the dishwasher.

Shine my sink!

Make tomorrows schedule.

Lay out tomorrows clothes for me & hubby.

Pack my school bag if I have school the next day.

Brush my teeth and take my vitamins.

Let girls outside. (Last thing I do before bedtime.)

Here are the forms I use for my morning and evening routines. I got them from online and then edited them to put in my own monogram (G), printed out one of each, put my routines in pencil (in case I need to add or delete things), and put them in a plastic sheet protector in my notebook (because I don't need to write on them very often). My notebook is just a 3-ring binder with clear pockets on the front and back.

Documents: Evening Routine Document Morning Routine Document

So when I first started this whole thing my house was a huge mess. So the first week I did things a little differently than I do now. I decided which room was most important to me. For me it was our bedroom- having it clean makes me feel relaxed and literally helps me sleep easier. Week #1 I picked a different room every day and cleaned it top to bottom. The trick is that once a room is clean, I have to keep it clean. So after this week, I'll go on to the next step.

Day 1-bedroom
Day 2- Hallway, Sports room, Office
Day 3- Bathroom
Day 4- Living Room
Day 5- Front Porch & Front Yard
Day 6- Dining Room & Kitchen
Day 7- Catch up on what wasn't done.

Household Notebook Beginnings

Week one of school is over. Nursing research seems pretty boring, but not too difficult. I was so happy to see my friend Kaitlyn again! My sociology class is another story..... It is a freshman level class so it should be cake, however there is a 3-5 pg. paper due weekly in addition to two major projects. It is going to take a lot of time.

I spent a lot of time at the vet's office this week. Chanel went in for her last round of puppy shots and her rabies shot, so she is sore whenever I pick her up. Bella went in for a dr. visit because she has been losing her hair, especially on her chest and her temples. We went in for a follow-up today to get blood work done because the vet thought it was a thyroid problem. They took the blood out of her neck, so she caouldn't wear a collar today because that was sore too. The bloodwork came back negative, and the vet thinks her alopecia is just a hereditary thing, and that I shouldn't worry about it. So all is well with them for now:)

So my household notebook has been the topic of conversation between me and my blog friends as well as my school friends lately. Well the first thing I did was to make lists of all the rooms in my house, and then all the things that I need to clean in each room weekly. Bear in mind that I have an extremely small house, so this was easier for me than it would be for a lot of people. The lists would really be different for every home. The daily things will be put into routine lists later, and the other things will be put into weekly routines later. For now, just make the lists.

My house: living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, "office", bedroom, sports room, bathroom.
The "office" isn't really a room. It's more of a cubby-hole sort of thing. It collects enough clutter to get it's own list though.

Here are my lists.
Living Room:
*Clear items that don't belong daily.
*Vacuum 2x per week.
*Dust weekly.
*Clean mirrors weekly.
*Clean glass door weekly.
*Clean or organize something extra 1x per week.

Dining Room:
* Clear items that don't belong daily.
*Clean dining room table daily.
*Clean Bella and Chanel's cages daily.
*Vacuum weekly.
*Dust weekly.
*Clean or organize something extra 1x per week.

Kitchen:
* Clear away items that don't belong daily.
*Shine my sink daily.
*Clean counters and stovetop daily.
* Wash dishes daily.
*Empty trash daily or as needed. (This is Hubby's only chore.)
*Clean microwave 1x per week.
*Clean out refrigerator 1x per week. (Throw out leftovers, wipe off shelves and drawers)
*Sweep 1x per week.
*Mop 1x per week.
* Clean dogs dish 1x per week.
*Clean glass door 1x per week.
*Water plants 1x per week.
*Clean or organize something extra 1x per week. (Ex- today I cleaned the front of my refrigerator and I organized the "Tool Drawer" of my buffet.)

Hallway:
*Clear away items that don't belong daily.
*Vacuum 1x per week.
*Organize hall closet 1x per week. (This may seem weird, but it really does need to be done this often in my house.)

"Office":
*Clear away items that don't belong daily.
*Vacuum 1x per week.
*Dust 1x per week.
*Clean mirrors 1x per week.
*Empty trash 1x per week.

Bedroom:
*Clear away items that don't belong daily.
*Make bed daily.
*Do laundry daily or as needed.
*Vacuum 2x per week.
*Pick up closet floor 2x per week.
*Change bedding 1x per week.
*Empty trash 1x per week.
*Water plants 1x per week.
*Clean or organize something extra 1x per week.

Sports Room:
*Clear away things that don't belong (My things) daily.
*Vacuum 1x per week.
*Empty trash 1x per week. (More need to be done than this, but this is Hubby's room, and I don't want to get into trouble for moving anything!)

Bathroom:
*Clean shower 1x per week.
*Sweep and mop floor 1x per week.
*Wash rugs 1x per week.
*Clean toilet 1x per week.
*Empty trash 1x per week.
*Clean mirrors 1x per week.
*Clean sink 1x per week or more if needed.