Not to be confused with Partying & Bathrooms, which has a whole other connotation if you were ever 21 and stupid. Since these days I am older, wiser, and make better decisions regarding tequila, Bathrooms & Partying actually means cleaning the bathrooms. And getting ready for a party.
That’s not as exciting as you thought, is it?
Now, last week I covered the first few days of my Get Your Shit Together challenge, but before we dive into days 3-5, I wanted to talk about the thing that has been most surprising for me over the last week… I did a ton of shit. And I’m not talking about cleaning. I actually had way more of a social life last week than I usually do (because I’m pretty sure carrying on conversations with my chickens does not count as a social life.) I also kept up with all my farm chores, and the cleaning… which is saying something, because I usually get back from work between 7-7:30 every night, unless it’s a gym night, then it’s closer to 9. Here’s a quick look at what I’m talking about:
Monday: Left my wallet my dude’s truck on Sunday, and when I went to pick it up after work we had an impromptu sushi-date. Did farm chores, and then two 20/10’s to clean the mudroom before I called it a day.
Tuesday: I spent an hour at the gym after work. Did farm chores. Took the Kitapillar for a spin around the field with my dude. Opened a bottle of wine and did two more 20/10’s to tackle the laundry room.
Wednesday: One of my good friends came in town, we went to dinner and ended up catching up on life waaaaay into the evening, then I came home and did one 20/10 (which was more of a 20/fall-face-first-into-bed) to mostly clean and organize the downstairs bath.
Here’s what that progress looked like:
I did clean the sink, toilet, mirrors, and hang a new shower curtain liner (that has been sitting on my kitchen counter for months), but most of the time was spent on this thing:
There’s nothing worse than running out of toiletries, so I stocked up on shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and Q-tips. It’s a bad, bad day around here when I run out of Q-tips.
Then, organization.
I’d like to have another basket or box in here, but this 10-day challenge is all about working with what I’ve got instead of putting things off until I have the ideal circumstances to be organized.
Thursday: Headed straight home from the office (a first for the week week), finished some more work out on my patio…
Then took one 20/10 to tackle the upstairs bath before heading out for a movie with my dude.
Here’s what that progress looked like:
The worst of it was in this closet, which contained an equal amount of bathroom supplies and leftover DIY supplies, like two gallons of paint and a box of electrical outlets. Because why not?
(Actually, the real worst of it is in that shower, but I’m not even going there right now. It’s going to be a whole other 20/10 to scrub and get rid of the iron spots.)
Things I did tackle included my box of first-aid supplies. (One can never have enough band-aids on the farm.)
I also have a basket for “guest supplies”… toothbrushes, travel sized lotions and hair products, extra nail clippers, etc.
Closet, done:
So, back to my earlier point, in four days I managed to do all of my usual farm stuff, and have a life, and did major cleaning and organization on four rooms of my house. I wasn’t pulling crazy all-nighters, or sacrificing other things I love doing (which has always been one of my major arguments against cleaning.) That’s… surprising.
In fact, my mom came up to help in the garden on Friday, and she said, “You know, I want to tell you I’m really proud of you for all this cleaning. I don’t have to tell you that about all the other stuff you do, because duh.” (Yes, she did just sum up a decades worth of building houses and learning to farm with the word “duh”. You gotta love moms.)
Now, let’s talk about what’s left. On Friday I did some major cleaning, but I’m not counting it as a part of my 10 Day challenge because it was my usual holy-shit-people-are-coming-over cleaning, which means my kitchen looks clean, but at any given moment you might open a cupbord, or, say, the fridge, and all of the shit I’ve shoved in there will come tumbling out…
Sigh.
So I need to tackle the kitchen (mostly the cabinets), my office (major project), a little work in the living room and entry, and then the bedroom, and guest bedroom closet. This weekend was spent celebrating, and my usual work around the house (yeah, I’m still making messes around the farm… more on that later) so the 10 Day challenge starts in earnest again on Monday with Day 5.
There will be more Get Your Shit Together posts this week, but you’ll get the usual amount of sawdust around here this week too. For real-time updates on my 20/10‘s (which usually occur between 9-11 PM) check out my facebook page.
9 Responses
Looking good. You clearly do have a third basket that matches, but that would probably not help your upstairs storage by moving it downstairs. I should clean more, do a hundred other things, but I keep thinking about how where I’m at in my life is just supposed to be temporary. Though it is amazing how those temporary things turn into years.
I actually found a fourth empty basket! I’ll probably take another pass at that cabinet at some point, but I’m trying not to get distracted from the larger rooms I need to tackle.
I’ve started taking 10 minutes before bed to tidy the kitchen, load the dishwasher, wipe the counters etc. It’s amazing what you can get done in 10 minutes. And I find it easier to say, “it’ll take 10 minutes” rather than “I’ll do it in the morning. (cos I don’t ever do it in the morning)”
An awesome inspiration for better farm management practices n overall time managenent production. Kewlness in that your seeing n feeling better about getting more done n also having more of a social life too. Had I known your guy was going to pull the stops on his cullinary qualities n you were having (awesome) fireworks too, I would have came. The white choclate dipped strawberries looked and sounded yummy n the patriotic fruit kabobs were quite sweet, almost too politically correct to eat. Your gettin it done n enjoying it more, and now have your own badass tractor too. 😉
Constant Growth…
JLC
Go you!! It’s amazing how those actually compliment each other!! By keeping your space a little more organized, you still have (and maybe more) time to hang out and have a real life!!
What an inspiration. Thank you soo much, the timing of this couldn’t be better. I did go and get some baskets to help with the sorting and storage and was able to tidy up the living room (didn’t take a before picture) And then?? I moved out a few major pieces of furniture and moved in only half of the replacement furniture. So … 2 steps backwards – i have lamps all over the dining room and stuff displaced every where. le sigh.
20 minutes is easy. Makes the rest of life better. That’s my mantra. “This really DOES help things!”
More just so I say it to the universe than anything – I will be doing most of the rest of my backsplash this week. I will tile!!
Have a spectacularly triumphant week!
It looks like you had the perfect balance going! Good for you!
I must say, you’ve inspired me with your 20/10 cleanings. I brought up the concept with my hubby and I think we’re gonna give it a try also! Thanks!
Love your 20/10 philosophy! It’s so practical and makes cleaning seem less daunting. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
What a fantastic organized bathroom update! I think this looks so much brighter. Thank you for the fabulous inspiration!
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