Wednesday Morning

• unload dishwasher
• reload dishwasher
• fold clothes
• put away
• load of washing
• load of washing
• load of washing
• hang out
• hang out
• hang out
• strip linen from master bed
• tidy master bedroom floor
• try and put away piles of clothes
• make master bed with clean linen

23 days

In 23 days my mum will enter a care facility for 12 days of respite care.  Her Alzheimers has suddenly worsened to the point that my dad needs a break from the endless, heartbreaking, devastating care that is involved in looking after a person with dementia.
I've set myself a goal of having the house knocked into shape by the time Mum goes into the facility.  It is possible that we will have lots of visitors over that time so the house has to be company ready by then.
I have four days over Easter to spend some dedicated time, and I have three days of holidays immediately prior to Mum being admitted.  Apart from that it will all have to be slotted in around our regualr (busy) routine.
I'm not sure that I can do it, but I have to give it a shot.

Easter Vacation!

Thursday and Friday are holidays in Denmark, but I've also taken Mon-Wed off work. Partly because I NEEDED the vacation; partly because I have a LOOONG todo list for this week as I get ready for Mixi's wedding, Nina + family coming to stay for a couple of nights, and the entire family coming over for dinner on Friday. If I had to go to work too I'd be incredibly stressed out. As it is, I'm not too worried - I'll get it done, and I'm THRILLED that I finally have a house large enough to support these events :D
BUT I know myself, and I know I need a check list in order to feel organized and less busy, so here goes...

Monday
• Bake M&M cookies
• Put together Ikea lamp for library
• Take cake out of freezer.
• Go shopping for some crafts supplies I need for a present for Jordan
• Get meat for tomorrow's meal from freezer
• Meet up with Henni for dinner :D

Tuesday
• Borrow car from Morten&Mette and make a couple of runs to the apartment for the last things. REMEMBER iron + board and curtains.
• Put up curtains in guest room.
• Grocery shopping for dinner for 6 nights... including having 15 people over Friday (which is why I'm doing this on the day I have a car available!)
• Meet up with an online friend for a cuppa after (her) work. We've known each other for years, but weirdly enough never met. Now was the time :D
• Rehearse our 'happening' for the wedding.

Wednesday
• Vacuum
• Find extra boards for dining table
• Tidy up hobby room
• Tidy up pool room
• Find table cloth for dining table (know I have some, but haven't used them - EVER)
• Wrap presents
• Peel carrots for Lars' two night shifts.

Thursday
• Get meat for Friday's dinner out of freezer
• Tidy up dining room
• Tidy up living room
• Clean bathroom
• Order Sushi for dinner
• Research toastmaster duties
• Go watch "The Host" with Nina and Mixi and then come to our place for a dinner of sushi :)

Friday
• Put on crockpot for BBQ chicken
• Make meat sauce for tortillas
• Chop veggies for tortillas.
• Empty guest room of the last things (too heavy for me to move, but between Lars and Christian they should be able to get it done :) )
• Clear dining table in kitchen + move to living room (Turned out not to be necessary)
• Pick up Lars' parents' car which we are borrowing for the wedding (Lars)
• Have 15 people over for dinner ;)

... And that's it! Not too bad, eh?

Friday Night

Okay, so neither the morning routine nor the evening routine has had much luck. I'll make excuses for the evening routine, as I haven't been home much this past week so "immediately after dinner" has often not been relevant, and I have hopes that it might still work. The morning routine however? I remember... and then I think "Nah... I don't wanna". *Sigh* Apparently I do better with a list to cross off, so here are my chores for tonight:

• Fold socks
• Put away folded laundry
• Sew up hole in pants that I discovered just this morning, and which almost made me late because I had to go change!
• Empty dishwasher (the joys of finally having one still haven't faded).
• Spend 5 minutes clearing off the couch table
• Work on Mixi's embroidery while watching "Fried Green Tomatoes" ;)

The Laundry

This is Laundry Week at La Maison des Ours.
My little goal is to have the laundry room spick and span by the end of the week.
My BIG goal is to deal with *all* the laundry (all washing, ironing, folding, mending) completed and out of the way by the end of the week.
So, to that end, here is my list:

1. sort dirty laundry
2. load of washing
3. load of washing
4. load of washing
5. load of washing
6. load of washing
7. load of washing
8. load of towels
9. load of towels
10. load of towels
11. fold clothes piled on the lounge
12. empty out detergent bottles and recycle
13. MONDAY load of washing
14. TUESDAY load of washing
15. WEDNESDAY wash towels and bathroom linen
16. THURSDAY load of washing
17. FRIDAY load of washing
18. SATURDAY wash sheets and doona covers
19. shift excess cleaning products out to the garage
20. clean off top of dryer
21. clean off top of laundry freezer
22. clean out freezer
23. clear off the window sill
24. sweep laundry
25. mop laundry
26. mend his work shirt
27. iron his work shirts
28. iron her Sunday dress
29. iron 5 items
30. iron 5 items
31. iron 5 items
32. iron 5 items
33. iron 5 items
34. iron 5 items
35. find storage space for the loo paper and paper towel supplies
36. find and clean party bucket
37. sort out the cleaning trolley
38. clean out under the laundry tub
39. clean inside of washing machine
40. clean outside of washing machine
41. deliver the most important mending items to the mender
42. wash laundry windows inside and out
43. take a photo of the newly cleaned and shined laundry and upload :)

Three and Fours

1. unload dishwasher
2. reload dishwasher
3. wash up the oddses
4. make the bed

New house, new routines?

I thought a new house would help me establish new routines... and on a small scale it certainly has - so much easier to keep the kitchen straight when you have a dishwasher, and so much easier to keep the living room straight when everything actually has a designated place rather than just "in a pile on the table". But that's tidying up. When it comes to cleaning... not so much.

So! Starting small with a single element to a morning routine and a single element to an evening routine.
Morning routine: Bathroom swish and swipe. Do be done when I'm out there brushing my teeth anyway.
Evening routine: 2 minute hot-spot prevention in kitchen/living room. Do be done immediately after dinner, before I sit down to relax.

I'll be back in a week with a progress report ;)

In threes...

1. sort the odds socks and pair them up
2. make the bed
3. hang out the whites and lights (have to go to the shops and buy more pegs as most of the pegs have disappeared - I have no clue how or why)

Have completed the first two tasks...the third will have to wait until the kids are showered and dressed so we can go to the shops.  I need milk anyway so I may as well get the pegs while I'm there.

1. wash up the oddses in the kitchen (there weren't any so that made it easy!)
2. wipe over the benches and sink
3. sort the laundry

I'll leave wiping over the benches and sink until after dinner tonight.  As is usual I've been caught out by time and now I have to start getting the bulletin ready for Sunday.  I try to have that finished before Ian gets home from work on a Wednesday so we have that evening together.

1. clothes off the bathroom floor
2. swish and swipe bathroom
3. church bulletin

Can't do everything

We've had four solid weeks of school and you can tell that by looking at the house.  It is a Grade 1 mess!
This week we're going to work on Biblical Studies, Maths and English, and the rest of the time we will be working on the house to set it to rights.

3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen
3 minutes kitchen

REVIEW...kitchen looks all right, so long as yu don't look too closely.  Will get back to it this afternoon
hang clothes on the line
load of washing
hang on line
3 minutes lounge room
3 minutes lounge room
3 minutes lounge room
3 minutes lounge room
3 minutes lounge room