Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Wednesday Work

I decided to keep a log of what I am doing today to tackle our cleaning crisis

This is something that's often been helpful to me when I am transitioning, or have to catch up on something, or refocus. That is, keeping a log. It helps me be more aware of patterns and of just what I am asking of myself (or my kids or husband or whatever. So I'm counting this as a Works for Me Wednesday.

Anyway, this is the list of things I did between about 8: 30 and 10:30. I woke up at about 6:30 but spent the first two hours hanging around with Aidan and catching up on my blog reading and writing, making coffee, talking to Kevin, and drinking coffee.

Since then:

  • Scoured upstairs toilet
  • Changed the master bed sheets and Aidan's bedding
  • brought blankets downstairs to wash
  • Got Aidan's meds and his breakfast
  • Tidied floor upstairs -- threw away trash and put away toys and other things.
  • Straightened desktop
  • Told Kieron to straighten his bedside and make his bed-- supervised and encouraged
  • Gathered various cups and bowls from convalescence and brought them downstairs
  • Hung up laundry (we still don't have a working dryer)
  • Wiped the tops of the banisters
  • Tidied the "music center"
  • Broke down the computer boxes from the computer system Kevin bought for his graphics designer
  • Took them out to garage for kindling in the fall
  • Took out the bathroom trash
  • Wiped the trash bucket in the bathroom
  • Scrubbed the sink and spot-mopped the bathroom floor
  • Tidied shelves in bathroom.
  • Got dressed to shoes and put on moisturizer. Never mind hair right now.

Then I went downstairs and :

  • Straightened and cleared basket by entrance (see header)
  • Ate breakfast (stirfry chicken and vegetables)
  • Washed, dried and put away pots and pans
  • Picked up trash on floor of garage and kitchen
  • Rinsed and put away collection of recyclables from when I was gone (I need to add this to the regular chore list)
  • Unpacked hospital baggage
  • Brought folded laundry downstairs
  • Tidied sideboard -- made a pile of things for the library, brought up books and things that belonged upstairs
  • Straightened mudroom, dropped stray shoes in baskets
  • Added some things to Goodwill bag
  • Made more coffee
  • Boys unloaded dishwasher
  • Clare loaded dishwasher and rinsed sink
  • Made shopping list for market run later today
  • Comforted Paddy who needed attention and got breakfast for him (he had oriental, too)

Then I checked to make sure Aidan was OK outside with Brendan keeping an eye on him, and went back upstairs carrying the vacuum and:

  • Tidied storage area behind our bed
  • Tidied floor of closet
  • Vacuumed bathroom and master bedroom with hose attachment
  • talked to Paddy who was playing a flash game and assuring me it was not violent
  • Talked to Clare who politely asked if I needed anything in the bathroom before she took a bath.

That bring us to now! 10:39!

Meanwhile Kevin has been making business calls and setting up accounts, and giving programming work to Liam (who works for him part time) Sean is reading Harry Potter, Kieron is playing Mario and Aidan is watching him.

I will probably continue the log just for the archives, but in another post : ).

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continued

Downstairs, 11 am

  • looked at some photos with Aidan -- he wanted to see the pictures I took of the "light and the phone" at the hospital.
  • Went outside with Aidan. While he played, I looked at housekeeping lists on my PDA and read a bit of my mystery (Elizabeth Peters).
  • Went back inside and typed phone numbers into the PDA
  • Drank a couple of cups of water as Flylady recommends : )
  • Fixed lunch for myself (half ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce).
  • Cleaned up the outside fridge a bit and threw a couple of outdated things away.
  • Made chili and chips for Aidan.
  • Kevin talked to me about historical remedies for heat stroke, like drinking wine with olive oil (Romans) and bleeding and friction (middle ages)
  • Paddy wanted me to see what he was doing with the playdough and his "maginary friends".
  • I straightened the loveseat cover and then Paddy wanted to sit down there with me. I sit with him and rub his back, noticing that he is rather grubby after not having a bath since I left for the hospital.
  • Now Paddy is making a "castle" with the playdough.
  • I scrubbed the sink in the kitchen and did some more straightening and organizing.
  • I straighened and wiped down the laundry room.

  • Went upstairs and tidied the bathroom while running a bath.
  • I have the bath, wash hair and change clothes.
  • Now thirsty, I drink 3 cups of water.
  • I decide to bathe Paddy and put him in there despite protests. He resigns himself and plays with the bath animals, drawing their adventures to my attention.
  • I get Paddy out; Paddy and Aidan play flash Veggiettales games on the computer
  • I lie down to rest.
  • Paddy wants me to read, so I read to him for about half an hour, pausing occasionally as Clare and Kevin come to talk to me.
  • Paddy goes off to play with Clare and I managed to nap for 20 minutes
  • The phone rings, waking me up. Then Paddy and Aidan both do their bit to get me up and about.
  • Clare is playing the violin.

  • Hungry, I make myself a small hot dog with bread and a bit of cheese.
  • Now it's time for Aidan's medicine, which he gulps down bravely.
  • I give him a few M&Ms.
  • We go to the library to pick up some requests that have arrived, and then to the market to buy drinks since Aidan needs to drink lots of fluid because of the large doses of Acyclovir he is taking, and we don't have much to drink around the house.
  • We get home and I stay outside for a few minutes with Aidan. Then he comes in and settles down to drink lots of orange juice. Some of the kids watch the LOTR cartoon and others read. Aidan wanders around.
  • I write this and plan dinner.

That brings us up to now -- 3:30 and I think that's enough trivial journalling for one day. Enough to provide a picture. There's still some "hot spots" around the house but it does look better.

I will be making dinner; we're planning a story meeting; and Sean has football practice, but Kevin will take him there. I really ought to fit in some walking and my Rosary.

Faith is right in the comment on my last post. It looks like a lot. It was a busy day, but not really a HARD one. There are so many little things that make a difference, but cumulatively.

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