15 minutes of FLY

Once upon a time there was a woman who lived in a disaster zone. There were piles of this and piles of that everywhere. There were stains on the floor, crayon murals on the walls, and unidentified substances growing in the fridge. If you so much as looked at the house cat hair would stick to you for the entire day - in fact after a week or so the neighbors assiduously averted their gazes. Things were so terrible if you were to take a before picture it would have broken your camera. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was THAT BAD.

The woman would go through fits of depression that the house was so messy to cleaning frenzies trying to right weeks and months of .. well .. wrong. With a two year old, three cats, a husband, and herself, nothing seemed to stay clean past the end of the day. Attempting any kind of cleaning with the two year old around was just plain craziness. In case you didn't know, the attention span of the average two year old is .. oh .. 10 - 15 minutes? Especially if they are not particularly interested in what is going on.

Then one day this woman followed a link from Facebook and stumbled onto www.FlyLady.com and overnight everything changed. NOT. In fact, it didn't even change in a week. However little by little things did start to change. 15 minutes at a time, one habit at a time, one chore at a time. A couple months and a new child later the disaster zone is gone, replaced by a clean home. In fact, it's not just a picked up home, but little by little the clutter is disappearing and projects that have been waiting for months are getting done. There's room to breathe, room to grow, and time to enjoy the kids.

But wait.. I have projects!

These past two months have flown by. Between re-learning to be mother to an infant, discovering the "twos," reclaiming my house, and spending time with my husband it has been too short. This week reality came crashing in on my party as I went back to work.

I have re-discovered my love of cooking. Cooking recently has involved Rachel, as much because she wants to as because I need to keep her busy so she's not trying to pick up "Buddy Boy" whom she loves. Cooking with the two of them is no piece of cake, especially since neither of them wants to be without attention for long. It's become easier, though, as I learned to plan ahead. I have a plan for the week which helps me to know what food to put out to thaw so I'm not struggling last minute. If I know I need things chopped I can do them slowly throughout the day instead of all at once when we NEED attention. As a fringe benefit it also makes shopping trips quicker.

During this past month and a half I have also been working on a lot of the projects that I really wanted to get finished. All Rachel's clothes are sorted and I got rid of quite a lot of them (while saving the cutest for my younger sister Rosa... hint hint). I sorted through Connor's clothes and got them organized too. The attic was straightened up as I put things up there in storage. Rachel's closet (previously a jumbled mess of storage bins and random things I tossed in there) is now not only neatened up but useable as a closet AND a play area. The coat closet in the living room is clean. The loveseat and ottoman that we needed out of the way were cleaned and sold. Both the living room and kitchen have had the furniture rearranged. The tub is scrubbed. The pantry is neat and organized. Oh yes, and we got PLENTY of outside play time in this gorgeous weather. Craziness, yes? Sadly it's only about half of what I really want to do.

And now I'm back to work. It just makes me want to yell: "But wait... I have projects!"