A Time of Trial and a Time of Victory

  I've been really committed this week to getting my house (as well as my life) in order. Last week I did some, but not with the determination of this one. I can already see a difference. The bed is made every morning so far; something I hadn't regularly done in some time. I still have clutter in my room, but the sight of a made bed makes me smile. It makes me want to continue the cleaning, and it feels sooo nice to just pull the covers back and slide in at night rather than fumbling for the sheet and fixing the covers to my liking. My dishes are done each day and I refuse to go to bed until the dishes are done and the floor is swept. It doesn't take that long these days because they are kept up each day.
  Faithfully this week I've been working on the kitchen as per Simple Mom. I'll show you the result in tomorrow's post. It's baby steps for me, but I'm so happy with it. Today I need to clean out my fridge. Ugh! So not looking forward to it, but it shouldn't be too.. bad.. I... hope.... Anyway, that is the task for today. 
  This morning has been a mix of trial and victory though. The trial?  J had been up since 5 AM. He was in a really good mood most of that time. When I woke again at 8 he was happily playing and first thing, without prompting from me, *signed* "Eat". That was a victory in itself. He then pointed to what he wanted. Knowing I had other things to do and wanting to reward his communication, I gave him what he wanted and told him breakfast would be a little later. Well, breakfast was coming a little later than expected and he had a meltdown. So not good. When he's in a good mood, everything runs smoothly. The meltdowns are rare these days, but when they happen, it's volatile. He rips things. One of our spring /summer projects will be replacing walls in his room. That's the trial.
  The victory? Breakfast! I didn't have to wash a mountain of dishes to get breakfast started. Because of the project I've been doing I could find what I needed quickly -and put it away-quickly. I didn't have to search high and low for ingredients or dig through the utensil drawer to find my measuring cups. Even when The Hubby was making tea and couldn't find the tea bags, I told him exactly where they were located. Voila! You know how wonderful that feels to a disorganized housewife not to spend half the day searching? It's wonderful! I'm so going to continue this.
  Also, and this is the kicker for me, SOMEBODY (okay, it was me) didn't have the bottom attached correctly on the blender so when I poured the milk for the Dutch Baby (recipe coming tomorrow), eggs and milk spread everywhere on my table and onto the floor. Ewww! But because I had already been trying to keep my table reasonably clear (it wont be completely clear until I can get my laptop back in the living room) only one stray paper took a hit and the mess was easily cleaned up. I'm enjoying having less stress, in the kitchen if nowhere else. It's a start. I'm getting the lesson here. I'm taking it a step at a time. I'm loving the fact that my husband, always supportive, helps me keep the kitchen at least at the level it is now. He encourages me daily. I feel better about myself, not simply because he encourages me, but I see I can do this. It wont be all done in one night because a) I simply don't have that kind of energy to attack a whole house although I admire women who can, and b) it didn't get disorganized in a day. My results may thrill only my husband and me. But that's okay. I like the progress. I like that J is being taught daily to put things in its proper place instead of being thrown in a corner. He will soon be able to do this without much prompting and that will be a major victory.

  I've been really committed this week to getting my house (as well as my life) in order. Last week I did some, but not with the determination of this one. I can already see a difference. The bed is made every morning so far; something I hadn't regularly done in some time. I still have clutter in my room, but the sight of a made bed makes me smile. It makes me want to continue the cleaning, and it feels sooo nice to just pull the covers back and slide in at night rather than fumbling for the sheet and fixing the covers to my liking. My dishes are done each day and I refuse to go to bed until the dishes are done and the floor is swept. It doesn't take that long these days because they are kept up each day.
  Faithfully this week I've been working on the kitchen as per Simple Mom. I'll show you the result in tomorrow's post. It's baby steps for me, but I'm so happy with it. Today I need to clean out my fridge. Ugh! So not looking forward to it, but it shouldn't be too.. bad.. I... hope.... Anyway, that is the task for today. 
  This morning has been a mix of trial and victory though. The trial?  J had been up since 5 AM. He was in a really good mood most of that time. When I woke again at 8 he was happily playing and first thing, without prompting from me, *signed* "Eat". That was a victory in itself. He then pointed to what he wanted. Knowing I had other things to do and wanting to reward his communication, I gave him what he wanted and told him breakfast would be a little later. Well, breakfast was coming a little later than expected and he had a meltdown. So not good. When he's in a good mood, everything runs smoothly. The meltdowns are rare these days, but when they happen, it's volatile. He rips things. One of our spring /summer projects will be replacing walls in his room. That's the trial.
  The victory? Breakfast! I didn't have to wash a mountain of dishes to get breakfast started. Because of the project I've been doing I could find what I needed quickly -and put it away-quickly. I didn't have to search high and low for ingredients or dig through the utensil drawer to find my measuring cups. Even when The Hubby was making tea and couldn't find the tea bags, I told him exactly where they were located. Voila! You know how wonderful that feels to a disorganized housewife not to spend half the day searching? It's wonderful! I'm so going to continue this.
  Also, and this is the kicker for me, SOMEBODY (okay, it was me) didn't have the bottom attached correctly on the blender so when I poured the milk for the Dutch Baby (recipe coming tomorrow), eggs and milk spread everywhere on my table and onto the floor. Ewww! But because I had already been trying to keep my table reasonably clear (it wont be completely clear until I can get my laptop back in the living room) only one stray paper took a hit and the mess was easily cleaned up. I'm enjoying having less stress, in the kitchen if nowhere else. It's a start. I'm getting the lesson here. I'm taking it a step at a time. I'm loving the fact that my husband, always supportive, helps me keep the kitchen at least at the level it is now. He encourages me daily. I feel better about myself, not simply because he encourages me, but I see I can do this. It wont be all done in one night because a) I simply don't have that kind of energy to attack a whole house although I admire women who can, and b) it didn't get disorganized in a day. My results may thrill only my husband and me. But that's okay. I like the progress. I like that J is being taught daily to put things in its proper place instead of being thrown in a corner. He will soon be able to do this without much prompting and that will be a major victory.