It has been a busy day to say the least.  I am doing this event in real time and writing about it. What that means to you is that I will always do my challenge, complete it, write it up and share with you a day ahead of you.  My goal is to do something each day.

If life happens and I can’t fit it in I won’t expect you to do something that I didn’t do.  You see, I am testing my reality out and no one knows what the new month will bring.  Just because I do this event in April and also in August doesn’t mean that it is going to run smoothly.

How this is determined is, I think about it as a part of setting up my day while I drink my coffee. I won’t do the monthly event with the risk of not doing my nine habits each day every day because it is what I focus on first.  Some days it is all I can do just to get them done.  It could be a doctor’s appointment, Doo Wop Errand Day, or a fibromyalgia flare.

I have come to learn that my flares are in direct proportion to the steadiness of the barometric pressure.  When it is falling, I hurt more.  This is why spring and fall are the hardest on me.  I can only predict my fibro flares as good as listening to the local weather news and their accuracy in predicting it.

I wouldn’t have known this had I not been documenting this.  You see, Marilyn’s Way really means for you to find your way to take care of yourself and your home.  I will share what I do as to give you ideas.  The biggest lesson I learned was I had to find something to would work for me with the number #1 priority of being consistent.  I know longer wanted to do the ‘crisis cleaning’ and then burn out.’  It began to take a toll on my body and spirit.

 That is where doing a specific number of habits, 3 for each part of the day we must commit to.  Most of these habits are ones no one likes to do either.  This is something I had to come to terms with. They are what keeps us going.  We need to get dressed to shoes every day so we can take pride in what we do get done.

This is part of Dance Till You FLY! mw System (c) 2014 featuring nine habits each day every day that I created for myself influenced by FlyLady along with my education and experience.  The system is set up to do daily habits, weekly habits and monthly events. April and August are set aside to do kitchen maintenance declutter and detail clean the areas that are used every day.  I want to be realistic at what I can accomplish on this event without the rest of my home falling apart.  If that happens, I am defeating my purpose.

The one thing I have learned these past 3 years is it is more important to do what you can, set your priorities of what you will always commit to do.  As bad as I want to have my kitchen completely decluttered by the end of this month, I have made a decision I would do my best because my nine habits each day every day is the foundation and what keeps me going.

For my second day of the event, I spent a total of 45 minutes on my kitchen.  I did it in 15 minute increments.  This helped me from losing track of time and wanting to do more without allowing time to write the blog and do the last 3 habits of the nines before I go to bed.

That is another thing.  I need to change my sheets before I go to bed tonight.  I have restless leg syndrome and my fitted sheet finally gave out and ripped.  To think when it happened the first time I blamed it on my dachshund Lily.  Nope, I found out it was me.  I am not that stressed as to getting it done because I know how long it takes me to do it from previous runs.

I have learned in order for me to be realistic and not compare myself to others, I needed to start a running piece of paper listing my various tasks and the average amount of time it takes to do them.  In the morning, I add the things together to determine what I will get done.  This stays in my Franklin Covey Planner that has all household information along with personal and business.

Our biggest downfall when it comes to taking care of our homes is that we still have the all or nothing thinking so we have never learned to pace ourselves and that is what has helped me be consistent the past 3 years.  The following is what I did on day 2 of The Great Declutter Your Kitchen And Organize You Pantry.

Always start out with a sink full of hot soapy water.

I started with putting stainless steel cleaner on my range.

It took me about 10 minutes to get it cleaned and shined up.

A collage of cleaning out my silverware drawer.

I took all the silverware out so I could…

Clean the silverware tray.

I got rid of all the extra spoons and forks that I wasn’t using.  This is prime real estate when it comes to preparing dinner.  I put the things I use the most in the drawer instead.

I put the other silverware in my hutch I recently got so if I would need that many I have them.  What is probably going to happen is I will use them on my garden whimsies I make.

Total time it took me to do this?  45 minutes.  I actually worked up a sweat by using my elbow grease on the range and then the drawers.

Now, it is time to finish up with the rest of my nine habits and change my sheets before I go to bed.  Yes, it has been a busy day.  It has also been a day where I feel a sense of accomplishment because I am learning my limits and no longer do I want to be Superwoman!

Dance Till You FLY! mw
Marilyn

I challenge you to clean up your stove and declutter and clean out your silverware drawer.  Think of it as prime real estate when you are preparing dinner.  You can do what I am doing each day if you like or do things your way.  I don’t mind.  The important thing is to have some focus in the kitchen this month starting with the important parts of the kitchen that are designed to help you get dinner on the table and easy clean up.

What will you be doing today that will make you get dinner on the table and easy clean up so your sink shines before you begin a new day?