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Archive through March 11, 2007

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Jan. 2007 ~ Mar. 2007: Home and Garden: TVCH's Home & Life Organization (ARCHIVES): Archive through March 11, 2007 users admin

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Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 12:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
Grace, can't they cover those ducts while working?

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Wednesday, March 07, 2007 - 2:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
NT, they don't speak English and I'm not speaking Spanish or looking for their greencard. Their boss only comes by to check on them, so I can't do anything about what's already done anyway. My husband told me he chose Desert Sand as the color, thinking it was like what we had, but it looks way too orange to be any kind of sand in my book, darnit.

Anybody want to buy a house? Here's a pic with just tarpaper and that looks better than the Desert Sand imo. I should have picked brown.

todaysweather

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 6:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
*Thursday's Mission*

Having just had a roof done last fall, I can empathize, Urgrace. I try not to rock the boat too much with my contractor either. Thank goodness he speaks English. LOL! Hopefully, once it's done, the finished project will be just fine since it's too darned expensive to switch in the middle of the stream.

Two fun sites for you to check out today and they're quite similar. *The Clickable House* and *Housekeeping tips from Glamis Castle.* In the second, you'll actually find a second "clickable house." I think my favorite tip gleaned is the one about using coca cola on stubborn lime deposits. (I tried the white vinegar without much success.)

Anyway, if you have the time, take the tour of the castle and be grateful that you don't have that to keep clean! Of course, it might give Wargod enough to do!!

Off to scrub those sinks and faucets with a toothbrush...

Cablejockey
Member

12-27-2001

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 6:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cablejockey a private message Print Post    
I have just now discovered this thread and I love it! Maybe its because its getting close to spring but I am getting so sick of the junk and clutter that has built up since Christmas. With the cold weather, you're pretty much stuck inside, having to stare at it, but feeling its so huge a task that, oh well, I can do it tomorrow. I've marked the sites you have in this thread for organization and such, and say thanks!!

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 7:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Thanks for letting us know, Cablejockey, and welcome! I have always loved this thread, too, and hated to see it not getting much traffic.

Many of us follow FlyLady's methods or some form thereof since they are so practical. Who doesn't love being told you are never behind and just jump in where you are?

I forgot to ask this question of all of you. How do you define CLUTTER? I used to define clutter as anything that was out of place.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 7:29 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Welcome to Darrell (are you lost, Hon?) and Scooter, too. LOL!

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 8:03 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
Now Vee, Darrell's not lost, because if he's in here he's a great guy to help out around the house! My dh has always been helpful, too, well most of the time anyway.

My clutter is stuff I don't need or want where it ended up.

Vacanick
Member

07-12-2004

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 9:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vacanick a private message Print Post    
My clutter is all the stuff I took out of the house & into the garage when I had the new carpet put in. It's all the stuff that hasn't made it's way back into the house. Stuff I am going through and throwing away.

Love that Darrell and Scoot are here!

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 9:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
my clutter is named - Holly and Chuck. without them, i'm clutterfree! they're two frigging packrats, and i can't keep up! and i feel like all i do is housework on my days off.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 10:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Someone give me a pinch, lol. My youngest niece is coming over a little later on and I need to get cleaning before she does. I'm having sinus issues though and moving is the freaking last thing I want to do!

Clutter is the stuff the kids/hubby don't put away and the 9 years of accumulation of everything since we moved into this house, LOL!

Cablejockey
Member

12-27-2001

Thursday, March 08, 2007 - 11:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cablejockey a private message Print Post    
Clutter for me is stuff that doesnt belong and now its underfoot and making the room look messy. I never seem to be able to gather it all up and deal with it--it just shows up somewhere else a few days later. Every so often I'll go on a purge and ruthlessly throw things out and put them away, only to have another family member see the shiny clean new space and fill it up with more junk!! I need some velvet ropes and those pole things the bank has that you line up in.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 6:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
*Friday's Mission*

Thank you for adding your definition of clutter. I include them here along with other definitions I've gleaned. Consider today a time to reflect on why we are FlyBabies in the first place.

TVCHers define Clutter

* Anything out of place

* Clutter is stuff I don't need or want where it ended up

* Clutter is all the stuff I took out of the house & into the garage...that hasn't made its way back into the house

* Holly and Chuck (Cover your eyes, Greekbread!)

* Clutter is the stuff the kids/hubby don't put away and the 9 years of accumulation of everything since we moved into this house

* Clutter is stuff that doesn't belong and now it's underfoot and making the room look messy

Notice all that "stuff"? When watching a Dr. Phil show this week about a packrat, I noticed that she had labeled her boxes "stuff" in an attempt to organize the clutter. FlyLady says that *Clutter can not be organized.*

More Amazing Quotes:

"Clutter is like guests that become pests: overstaying their welcome, taking up room in your life while contributing nothing but complications and chaos." ~Harriet Schechter

It is junk if:

1. it's broken or obsolete (and fixing it is unrealistic)
2. you've outgrown it, physically or emotionally
[or...]
3. it will shock, bore, or burden the coming generation.
~ Don Aslett *Junkbusters.com*

"There are three types of junk: in you, on you, and around you. Emotional junk is inside of you. Feelings and emotions that clutter your mind. We have clutter on us and we have clutter around us, like the piles of stuff in the garage. It's all the same thing. The biggest reason to get rid of clutter is that when you rid yourself of it, the mental and emotional stuff leaves you at the same time. That is worth it. You can't ask for anything that is more life restoring than that." ~ Don Aslett

"When you have clutter, you have to tend it. You have to explain it. You have to apologize for it. The bottom line is we are out of space. People use the word "find" more than they ever have. "I can't find this. I can't find that." People have more money and all these things contribute to the excess. It's an acute problem for our society." ~Don Aslett

What can we do it about it today? A little. Don't tackle it all at once.

Try this technique:

Stop and look at every object in every room. Can you actually describe its special meaning to you or how it fits into your life or the life of someone who lives in your home? "If you draw a blank, the object in question is clutter. Recycle it or toss it out," says Cox.

Do you have objects that are meaningful to you haphazardly placed in a room so that they look like clutter to a stranger? If your answer is yes, re-organize them.
*The New Homemaker.com*

Happy fluttering, Everyone! Oh, don't forget that it's date night!!

Rissa
Member

03-20-2006

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 7:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Rissa a private message Print Post    
I keep meaning to post here!!

Vee, I love your clutter question. My husband and I clash on that issue all the time. LOL If I have a limited amount of time I would prefer to have the house clean (sanitized) but cluttered (magazines on tables, clean dishes on counter ready to be put away, etc.). My husband will leave a juice spill on the counter but put the dishes away. LOL

Ideally of course you do both, but for the sake of discussion... what drives you crazy more? Clutter or dirt?

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 9:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Hi Rissa! Hope that you'll post here more often. It's fun to have H&O lurkers pop in.

Goodness, what kind of question is that? It's one of those lose-lose varieties. LOL! But, just for the sake of conversation, I would have to agree with you. Dirt is never good, but clutter is right behind.

Good thing that with FlyLady's system, we can address both and e-a-s-i-l-y!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 11:04 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Kids=dirt, lol. Caleb sat down on the couch yesterday and took his shoes off...sand just poured out. Dakota pours juice...spills it on the cabinet. Dirty little shoe prints across my clean kitchen floor, dirty finger prints everywhere. It's not big messes, but it's every single day.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 11:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Wargod, *Kids Can Clean House, Too!*

They'll thank you!

Vacanick
Member

07-12-2004

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 12:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vacanick a private message Print Post    
Vee ... I loved your putting the frame on the wall advise in the decorating thread. Thank you!!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 1:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Oh Vee, my kids have been doing housework for years. They get allowance for some of it (not for cleaning their own rooms, if they want to live in a pig pen they can close the door!) and they get to keep any money they find, like if sorting through laundry or change under a cushion. But they are a lot like their daddy.

Huge disclaimer here, I really am not gripping about my hubby! I appreciate the help he gives considering the fact that he works long hours and weekends and I'm at home all day.

But, when I go to do dishes, I wash dishes, wipe counters, fridge, stove, sweep and mop. Then I go back and put the dishes I washed away and take out trash. When Darren does dishes....he does dishes. It's like he has blinders on. Again not gripping, I really do appreciate the help. The kids are the same way though. Caleb washes dishes, Dakota vacuums, but neither one would think to stop and wipe off dirty fingerprints or mop their footprints off the floor because they don't see it, lol.

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 3:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
No Wargodding today for me, just nursing a sick son. Besides the people who work in hospitals are just about the messiest people I've ever encountered. They throw their tabs, plastic bags, wrappers, bandaids and other paraphenalia wherever they happen to be and walk off, I swear! Talk about clutterbugs.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 7:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
LOL! I love that wargodding has become a verb.

You know, Wargod, I remember having this very conversation with you in recent months. Thus has it ever been. So I will rest easy (until the next time that I forget) that you are training your children well. Hope that you have lots of fun, too. Lots and lots. Husbands...well, most will never quite get it and that's okay...good enough still blesses the family.

ETA: Oops, Grace. I know what you mean. It does vary from hospital to hospital and I have based my choice of hospitals on those very kinds of issues. The day that the nurse dropped the linens on the floor and proceeded to make up the bed anyway just about did me in.

Happy weekend, Everybody!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, March 09, 2007 - 9:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Oh Vee, lol, I'd love it if Caleb went to do dishes and I found him wiping stuff down or Dakota dusting! But considering what I've seen of some kids and chores, I'm just happy to have them do just what I ask them to without the fights.

Gracie do you find yourself picking up after them like you would at home? We took the kids out to dinner tonight to celebrate their good report cards and Darren's raise and even though I haven't waited a table in almost five years I still found myself stacking up dishes and wiping up the kids places, lol. I'm the same way whenever we go to a hotel, rarely ask for maid service and pick up after us on my own!

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 9:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lumbele a private message Print Post    
Well-well-well, wouldcha look at all this flying and missioning and wargodding going on in here! This thread hasn't had this much action in years. Must be spring fever!
Really, it's great to see all the bustle in here. Thanks for leading the charge, Vee!

Does anyone else get the impression that Kelly is getting desperate for new mission ideas? Who puts dirty appliances back into cupboards anyway?
If I waited for Kelly and her kitchen missions to get that room clean, I'd need a sander to get the guck off everything.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 6:19 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Yay and zaz, too! Lum, I saw your post yesterday and have been chomping at the bit to get back in here to post myself. (I was surrounded by hoverers. :> ) So happy to have you "home."

I agree, some of Kelly's missions seem silly, but then some are BOs. I think I have met at least two of those in this thread. LOLOL! (not I, though, I am a strange mix of both born organized and sidetracked home executive. Either way can mean a whole lot of perfectionists run amok.)

So that's the question of the day...don't allow me to label you: are you a born organized or a sidetracked home executive? Further, how much does perfectionism plague you?

Enjoy Renew Your Spirit Day!

Lumbele
Member

07-12-2002

Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 8:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lumbele a private message Print Post    
Thanks, Vee.

It's not so much perfectionism that plagues me (I often allow 5 to pose as an even number) than the fact that I absolutely detest inefficiency and unnecessary work, like touching something several times when the job could have been done right the first time around and then forgotten.

Over time, my deteriorating back has forced me to constantly "improve" on my organisation. When bending, lifting etc cause pain, you learn to figure out a way to do things more efficiently right quick.

But thanks to a very effective fibre "shoe" strapped over a long wand and an extendable duster I do many of those "occasional" chores, esp. the kitchen ones, on a weekly basis, without the effort it would take when done only occasionally.

Flylady has taught me a lot, but the parts that do not work for my household, like the 1 hour weekly home blessing for ex., I happily skip. She has shown me a great system that I have adapted to my needs, not made an orthodox believer out of me.LOL

BTW, can anyone remember Kelly ever "missioning" a cleaning cycle for the dishwasher, or washing off the dried-on detergent from the rubber seal? For the life of me, I don't recall, and I have been getting flymail for a few years now.

P.S. I define clutter as anything that irks me when it comes into my field of vision.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 10:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Clutter= ...anything that irks me when it comes into my field of vision. Great definition! : )