Hey! I said No!

Doesn’t it always feel like you have a great start to something and then *BAM* right in the middle of your endorphin enducing productivity it comes to a halt.

That’s probably why you shouldn’t start something around a major holiday. Especially when your husband is off for a week and you get some much needed time with him… everything gets put on the back burner. And then COVID hit our family. Wasn’t terrible, but it was a week of quarantine that led to almost insanity. My whole schedule is messed up.

But!!! today is Monday and I love Mondays!! It starts a new week of laser focus and fun. I’ve been up since 4 AM because my toddler decided to have a “Frozen” sing-a-long. Why the heck she wasn’t asleep is beyond me, but she finally fell asleep at 5 AM and my alarm goes off at 5:30 AM, so there was no hope for me. I’m going to keep myself busy today (and drink ALL the coffee and matcha) so that when it’s bedtime I’m ready to crash.

Mondays are also something called “Weekly Home Blessing”, which is concept designed by Marla Cilley a.k.a FlyLady. It’s where you spend 10-15 minutes cleaning and decluttering high traffic areas. For example:

1. Gather all the trash in the house to throw away.
2. Change the sheets on our beds. Everyone does their own.
3. Feather dust your whole home.
4. Shine the windows and door glass
5. Recycle magazines and catalogs
6. Vacuum floors (just the middles)
7. Quick mop of kitchen and bathroom

Now, these aren’t set in stone ideas, there just ways to rethink cleaning and decluttering your home. I love it, because it’s so straight forward!! We’ll get into the baby steps later, because they’re super important!! Basically, you find 7 tasks that can be completed within 10 minutes or less, and that’s your hour!! Yea, the math doesn’t add up, and maybe it takes you a few minutes over an hour, but the more you do it, the less time it will take.

Here’s mine:

1. Clean Powder Room (toilet and sink)
2. Sweep and Mop Entry Way and Powder Room (they connect so it’s just easier)
3. Vacuum Carpet under table
4. Gather Sheets and Wash them
5. Declutter Dining Room Table
6. Organize Toys
7. Organize the Fridge/Freezer

Also, I want to update my daily routine. I’ve found some better ways to do it.

1. Wake up at 5:30 AM, oil pull, wash face, get dressed down to my socks (FlyLady says shoes, but I don’t like shoes, so until I can find some cute slip ons, this will do)
2. Unload dishwasher, make coffee/tea, work on blog/novel/children’s story
3. Wake up Toddler at 7 AM, dressed for school/day
4. Breakfast, meds, clean up from breakfast.
5. School at 8 AM/ Independent Play
6. Workout (this hasn’t started just yet, still pushing through being sick, but my energy is almost back in full)

Then my nighttime routine:

1. Dinner around 4:30 PM or 5 PM, shine sink, sweep floor, clean off counters
2. Toddler in bath between 6:00 and 6:30 PM
3. Dressed, rocked, sang, and story between 7 and 7:30 PM
4. Mama time:
   1. Devotions
   2. Reading
   3. Playstation
   4. Shower
   5. Netflix
5. Electronics off by 9:30 PM
6. Lights out by 10 PM

The cleaning and decluttering happens in the middle of the day (or the morning) in zones. Again, I’ll get into zones later. I’m still learning as well!

So, that’s my post Holiday and COVID update for you.

Wednesday I’m going to explore sourdough starter for you. Don’t miss that!!

With Light and Love,

Eli Morr