A Little Space for Me

I’ve been looking around our flat recently thinking I really should make more of an effort to keep it tidier. It’s usually pretty clean but there’s clutter everywhere! The life of a parent huh?

I don’t know about you, but I love reading blogs like Zen Habits and Put Things Off - basically “productivity” or GTD (Getting Things Done). I’ve spent a ton of time READING about all the things I could and should do to get some more sanity in my life but I still wasn’t getting anywhere - hadn’t quite got the motivation shall we say?

I was reading an article by Leo from ZH about his biggest influences and one of them was FLYlady. A site I had come across previously but never really thought much of as I flitted past. Well, yesterday I figured if Leo Babauta is a fan of it (he has… 6 (I think!)… kids now!) then it must have something going for it huh? The guy has, after all, managed to take the plunge and quit his day-job now to become a full-time writer/blogger, something I bet a lot of us would love to be able to do!

So…where as I? Oh yeah… yesterday’s epiphany - I signed up for FLYLady’s yahoo-group. It’s about time I actually made the effort to keep the place the way I want it because lets face it - it’s not gonna happen on it’s own now is it?

You start off taking babysteps - it’s all about making little habits one at a time, and building those habits into little routines as you go. There’s a 31 day sort of “starting block” to get you in the groove and then ya pretty much just go with the flow from the updates on the yahoo group.

The first day was yesterday (I started on a monday - yay me! LOL) and the task I had to do? Make my kitchen sink SHINY. Pretty weird thing to start off with huh? Ahh but to get to my sink I had to clear the dishes from it, so I had to load them into the dishwasher… which meant I needed to unload the clean dishes first,! Then sterilise Max’s bottles to get them out of the way too. So once my sink was shiny… then I figured I might as well clean the top of the cooker too… and the surfaces next to it. See? So a shiny sink meant almost a totally clean kitchen in just 20 minutes yay me!

And just to prove I’ve actually done it, I added pictures of the shininess for you all to wonder at

Today’s task was to get yourself up and dressed, hair and face done and shoes on to start the day, and to make sure the sink was shiny before I went to bed. I had a doc’s appointment to go so I got myself up and showered and actually… SHOCK HORROR… dried!!!! my hair into a style, and put make-up on. I know I know - I should be doing these things most days anyway huh? But I’d gotten lax about it over the past few months (baby brain anyone?!). It felt good to be sitting on the bus and not feeling worried with that “what must people think of me!” kind of feeling going on!

So that’s what I’ve been up to yesterday and today. I thought if I put down here what I’m doing then A - I have to keep doing it cause I’ve actually posted about it now, and B- I won’t be just doing meme’s every day! Love the meme’s but it’s becoming pretty much all I do and that’s no fun now is it?

Oooh… and my sink is shiny again too

Edit: Had to add this in… Zack was sleepy after all the cleaning I did today. Hey, what can I say - I can’t resist a good photo-op!

Ten Things I Love

1. My husband - this has to come top of the list here! I love my man J so so much - I never thought it was even possible to have such strong feelings for anyone till I met him. I sometimes take him for granted, but there’s not a day goes by I don’t feel lucky to have him to wake up to in the morning

2. Zack - that cheeky face (and mouth!!), the messy hair, the laughing - oh the laughing! My big boy is such a cutie I’d be completely insane not to love him to pieces, especially when I am greeted by a huge cuddle and nosey-nosey-kiss every morning!

3. Max - my baby boy. Soooo cute, sweet smiles, great giggler, sweet baby smell, soft hair, soft chubby cheeks… need I say more?

4. Mum - my mum has to get a special mention here. She’s my best friend, not a day goes by that I don’t speak to her! Love you Mum!! xx

5. Dad - we always seem to know how to rub each other the wrong way, because we’re just! too! similar! I know that he’d do anything for me and I would for him too… love you too Dad! xx

6. Friends - I don’t see them often, but my true friends are the sort that it doesn’t matter how long it’s been, we can still chat away as if we saw each other every day. I love that easiness. It’s difficult to find friends like that

7. Internet - I’ve gotta put this in here! Where would I be without my lovely internetz to keep me sane?! Since having kids it’s been my support line when often I couldn’t get it any other way.

8. World of Warcraft -yea yea, geek, I know. I don’t care!! It’s something fun to do in the evenings once the boys are in bed, and it means J and I are actually doing something together instead of him sitting at the PC all the time. Also… I’m actually GOOD at it - even in comparison to J!

9. Blogging - I’ve only been bloggingabout 3 months now but I love blogging. Such a great way to meet people, and most importantly it gives me time to think of something to write about every day - now that’s something I haven’t done in a loooong time until now.

10. Music - I’ve always loved music. I love listening to it, I love dancing to it, I love seeing Zack dancing to music and asking if I’m dancing too! I love seeing Max’s face when he sees me dancing around the living room - he think’s it’s hilarious… which to be fair, it most likely is!

That was an easy ten, I just wish I had more room!