Works For Me – Soap Scum Remover

I’m embarrassed to admit that I have allowed soap scum to build on our master shower glass for too long.  Don’t get me wrong…I clean our shower.  I even use a homemade daily shower spray to keep it fresh.  But, over time the glass went from being completely clear to looking like frosted glass!

I tried every arsenal of cleaners in my utility room, but nothing touched the soap scum.  It’s like it was INSIDE the glass and I couldn’t reach it.  When our new realtor walked through the house and told us we needed to fix the problem, I hung my head in shame and called my mom…the Flylady’s BFF and personal publicist.

She suggested a concoction of straight Clorox bleach, Comet powdered cleanser, and a tough scouring pad.  She forgot to mention the gas mask.  Yes, I know this formula breaks all the rules of natural, chemical-free cleaning, but IT WORKS.  I opened the window of my bathroom so I could breathe and watched the soap scum easily disintegrate with minimal elbow grease.  After scrubbing for a minute or so, I rinsed with water and…voila!…clear, new-looking glass!

Thanks, mom.

For more works-for-me tips, visit We Are THAT Family.

Out With The Old, Part II

Helping my mom clean out her closets last week inspired me to do the same in my own home.  It wasn’t nearly as much fun doing it alone… Mom and I had so much fun laughing about what we actually thought was flattering in the 80’s.  (Hello shoulder pads!) 

I cleaned out my closets a while back when we first put our house on the market.  This week I’m mainly getting rid of anything I haven’t worn or used since then.  And I’m donating the clothes that don’t fit anymore and can’t be altered.  I’m determined to NOT need them again!

Now I have six garbage bags full of neatly folded clothes and linens, as well as a few baby and maternity items I’m giving to a friend.  I went through all my sewing and cross-stitch supplies, reorganizing and condensing into large plastic bins.  Once I cleaned out my foyer closet, I had room to put all my sewing supplies in it to be within easy reach, and the closet still looks almost empty!  All the floors of my closets are empty, and everything looks nice and roomy.

We signed a contract with a new realtor last weekend, and he’s coming to take new pictures in a couple of days.  I still need to pull some weeds, touch up some paint, and clean a couple of spots on the carpet.  But the house looks nice, and hopefully this new realtor will help us find someone who will love it and want it for their family!

Friday Fun

Fridays are the one day of the week that I try to keep open from any appointments or commitments.  I enjoy spending the day at home with Grace and finishing up any housework that I might have let slide during the week.  Today that list includes several loads of laundry.

Grace loves to help me with various household chores, and I like to use the opportunities to teach her not only housekeeping skills but academic skills as well.  Today she helped me separate the clothes into white, light, dark, and towels.  Then I set her on top of the washer and let her (painstakingly slowly) put each item of clothing into the washer.

Right now, she’s supposed to be sleeping for naptime.  However, the dryer buzzer just rang, and I heard her exclaim through the baby monitor, “Mama!  I have to help you with the LAUN-DWEEEE!”

As much as I love socializing and going and doing, these are my favorite days.  At home with Grace, with no other responsibilities other than with her in our home. 

I promised to play games with her after naptime, so I’m going to go get myself psyched up for an exciting round of Candy Land!

Shower Cleaner

I recently ran across a recipe for homemade shower cleaner. You know, the kind you spray around everywhere when you get out of the shower to keep things fresh? I love that stuff. Anyway, they can get pretty expensive, so I decided to try a homemade version.

Put the following in a spray bottle:

1 c. rubbing alcohol
3-4 c. water

Spray around the shower or bathtub right after you get out of the shower....there's no need to rinse!

This works just as well (or better) than the expensive versions in the store.

For more works-for-me tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Money-Saving Tip

In honor of Works-For-Me-Wednesday, I'll share a brief money-saving tip related to household cleaners.

Cleaners (like Windex, 409, Mr. Clean, etc.) can get pretty expensive, even with sales and coupons. Lately, I have found myself adding water to the bottles to extend the life of my cleaners. I'll use about 1/3 of the bottle, then fill it to the top with water. I'll use another 1/2 or so, then fill it up again with water. In so doing, I can usually more than double the usage of each bottle. And, I have seen absolutely no difference in the cleaning power of regular vs. watered-down cleaners.

I'm also looking into homemade cleaners that are even more cost-effective. I'll let you know how they turn out.

For more works-for-me tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Living Simply Saturdays - From Clutter to Clarity

Today's post on living simply has to do with matters of the heart. I have not read the book From Clutter to Clarity, but I have read a recent post on some of the subjects discussed in the book.

I have never considered that a life of disorganization and clutter could be a matter of the heart. I guess I've always just considered it a personality "quirk." There is a part of me that does not mind disorganization and clutter. This scares me a little as I consider what this means about my heart. Most people that come to my home compliment me on how clean and nicely organized things are. People assume that my home looks like this all the time and that I am a well-organized person by nature. How untrue! I must FORCE myself to stay on my house-cleaning schedule because I feel that it is my responsibility as a homemaker. I MAKE myself come up with ways to organize the clutter and "stuff" that we continually seem to accumulate. It is a constant struggle for me....I must always remind myself the calling I have been given as a wife and mother....the commitment I made to Todd....the thankfulness that I have a husband who supports the decision for me to be a homemaker.

Consider the following quote from Nancy Twigg's book:

In his thirty-three years on earth, Jesus provided the ultimate example of living simply in a complicated world. He was not status conscious or materialistic. He was certainly busy, yet he took time to rest and rejuvenate. Jesus knew his purpose in life and focused all his energies in that direction. He proved it is possible to keep our hearts grounded when everything around us is topsy-turvy.

How true! While living his life, Jesus did not strive to build an Earthly kingdom, resplendent with power, material possessions, and wealth. He reminded us that our treasure is in heaven.

The choice to live simply will only get harder as Grace gets older. School activities, extracurricular activities, church activities, and a host of other time-consuming and money-consuming activities will be added to our schedules. Our challenge as parents is to keep our priorities in order, learn to say "no" when appropriate, and always provide our home as a restful oasis for family and friends.

Living Simply Saturdays - From Clutter to Clarity

In honor of Living Simply Saturdays, I'm posting on the most recent way I am moving from clutter to clarity.

I've made several posts recently about cleaning out and organizing my home in preparation for putting our home on the market. I have been determined to get rid of everything that takes up space that we don't actively use, and that does not have an important future function. (For example, we don't use our fine china, but it does have an important future function).

In preparation for a huge garage sale, I started with my closets, moving everything that was not useful into the garage. I had saved every single art/craft project that Grace had completed over the past 3-4 years. I narrowed it down to 1-2 per year. I sorted and organized all of Grace's clothes into plastic bins labeled by size. I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets. Did I really need five 9x12 casserole dishes? Many things had been given to me after loved ones had passed on. Cake platters, baked bean pots, dishes, etc......they were just gathering dust. I have the wonderful memories in my head of watching my grandmother ice her coconut cake on that platter....I don't need to save the platter to remember. Because Grace is allergic to silver, I sold a few silver pieces that I was storing in my china cabinet. All of Grace's baby stuff (crib, highchair, swing, etc) was labeled and organized for sale.

It was harder when I went through Todd's stuff. It's hard for him to let things go. I mean, that 12-yr-old computer monitor might be useful some day, right? But we managed to clear up a lot of storage space, including the attic. Now, the only thing in my attic is Christmas decorations! This was all very time consuming and tiring, but the end result has been SO worth it.

Who knew that I had over $700 worth of "stuff" to sell at my garage sale? And, the new organization of my home is worth almost more to me. When it comes time for us to move, I am positive that we have eliminated one U-Haul truck worth of "stuff." It's so nice now to open my closet doors and easily find what I was looking for.

I appreciate my mom helping me do most of my organizing while they were visiting us on dad's sabbatical. My challenge now is to keep things clutter-free and organized. This challenge is working against me because I am a procrastinator by nature, but I'm working on my heart in this area as well.

Busy, Busy

I have been incredibly busy lately trying to get the house ready to sell. We chose a real estate lady who is coming to see our home tomorrow morning at 10:00. This is the list of things I have to do before then:

1. Fill all the holes in the gameroom walls and get it ready to paint.
2. Paint the gameroom.
3. Set up Todd's desk area in the gameroom.
4. Move the treadmill into the gameroom.
5. Move the leather chair upstairs and stage it in our master bedroom.
6. Clean bathrooms.
7. Vacuum house.
8. Dust.
9. Touch up paint in hallway.
10. Clean up front flower bed.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but if I get all that done by tomorrow morning, it will be a miracle. Oh yeah, I'm babysitting two 3-yr-olds all day today and I have church tonight from 6:30-9:00.

It's gonna be a caffeinated day!

Designed to Sell

Mom and I have been working hard to get our house ready to put on the market. I knew those hours of watching "Designed To Sell" on HGTV would come in handy! Mom worked the carpet cleaner the other day, and my carpets now look very nice. We've been cleaning out all of my drawers and closets. Many things have been thrown away, donated, or given away to friends. When the time comes to pack the house, it should be much easier now!

Today we are painting the laundry room. A few years ago I had the harebrained idea to paint it a bright turquoise. I wanted something bright and cheery.....I figured if I was the one doing laundry, I could pick the color! Now we are painting it a more neutral khaki color....very much improved.

The house still needs to be staged. I need to take down most of the family portraits and clean up the fridge. I need to move our leather chair upstairs into the master bedroom and create a "reading nook" with the extra space in our room. Moving the chair out of our small family room will also give the appearance of more space. All the baseboards need a good scrubbing and paint touch-up. I need to reduce the amount of toys that are downstairs. I need to organize the gameroom/office area upstairs. And, I need to donate or sell some of Grace's older toys.

My goal is to call a realtor by the end of the week and start the process.

Oh, I forgot something.....we still haven't fixed our shower! I'll go to Home Depot to finalize what we need to do. See this post for our shower story.

I'll let you know how we progress!

Fall Cleaning

One of mom's talents that she exercises when she comes to visit is to help me be more organized. Today we tackled several drawers, cabinets, and closets. Or, rather, mom tackled them. I mainly sat and watched, telling her which pile to put things in. We worked on the medicine cabinet, kitchen drawers, the foyer closet, the linen closet, bathroom cabinets, and the master closet. Everything now has a place and looks neat and tidy. We created two piles: a pile of stuff to give away to a specific person and a pile to donate to Goodwill. I also found a bunch of stuff that I didn't even know I had!

Since I am feeling better, tomorrow we're planning an outing. Grace has been cooped up in the house for the past week while I've been recovering, so we promised her a trip to a playground tomorrow.

If I'm still feeling good after we get home, I'm sure there will be another closet to tackle.

Keeping Things Fun

I used to get annoyed when I would find loose change and other objects in my husband's pants when I did laundry. Now, Grace and I have turned it into a game! She loves to find coins and deposit them into her "kitty bank." When we find an object that is not money, she feels it and tries to guess what it is. When I reveal the object to her (pen, drum key, paper, etc.), she finds it irresistibly hilarious!

Bring on the change, Daddy.......

Addendum

I had an epiphony while I was cleaning the bathroom this morning. Why am I dusting on Tuesday AFTER I vacuum? This doesn't make sense. All those little dust particles fell on my freshly vacuumed carpet. Starting next week, I will dust on Monday and vacuum on Tuesday. As you can see, after 12 years of marriage and housekeeping, I am still on a learning curve!

Housework Schedule

Well, I am going to post on this subject with the hopes that it will help me stay accountable with my housework schedule. Too often, I have fallen into the trap of letting housework build up, then spending an unreasonable amount of time cleaning everything up, usually because company is coming over to the house. A couple of years ago, my mom (who is an incredible housekeeper), encouraged me to divide up the duties into small manageable tasks that I can easily accomplish each day. This would (potentially) leave a clean, presentable house at all times. Since I have become a stay-at-home mom, things have gotten better, but there is still much room for improvement.

Here is my new schedule:

Monday - vacuum carpets and rugs
Tuesday - dust
Wednesday - clean bathrooms
Thursday - clean hardwood floors, get trash ready for pick-up
Friday - mop kitchen and bathrooms
Saturday - enjoy a family day
Sunday - worship, rest, and plan meals for the week

In addition to these duties, every day I will make the beds, do at least one load of laundry, and make sure the kitchen is cleaned after every meal.

You have all heard my confession. Please feel free to ask me how things are going....I need to be accountable.

P.S. As I am writing this post, Grace is pretending to vacuum with her Fisher-Price vacuum. I hope and pray that she learns good skills to last her a lifetime. Well, I'm off to clean the bathrooms!