So today’s assignment was much easier than yesterday’s — and judging from the comments, it sounds like you all felt the same way!
I got a great night’s sleep (so thankful that we’ve not been up with a coughing child the last few nights — Vick’s with socks works wonders!), had an early morning radio interview, and then got going with my usual morning routine.
We had a great homeschooling day today and we finished Kathrynne’s history book for this year — yay! It’s always fun when the girls are excited about learning and beg if we can go ahead and do extra pages of some of their subjects.
The doorknobs took me all of five minutes to do. The girls have been doing them almost weekly, so they weren’t really dirty. But I did them anyway since I knew so many of you would be counting on me to actually follow through with the assignment and all. 🙂
My dresser didn’t take me too much time at all since I had just cleaned it out about four weeks ago. I did decide to get rid of an extra pair of glasses and a few other things I had kept the first time around.
(Zenni Optical lost my order the first time around so they sent a second pair. Then they found my order and sent it, too. So I ended up with a free pair of glasses that I’ve just hung onto for two years. I only wear them occasionally since I usually wear contacts. The frugal person in me has hung onto them thinking that my other pair might break, but the minimalist in me won over today!)
I also went through the girls’ shoes today and we weeded out a few extra pairs that they can no longer fit into. And when I was doing the laundry, I found that one of Silas’ shirts was hopelessly stained with something pink down the front (I have no idea what!) so I stuck that in today’s get-rid-of pile. And finally, I went ahead and got rid of a pair of adorable sunglasses that are now too small for Silas. So we ended up with nine things for our get-rid-of pile today.
How did you do on Assignment #8? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.
I’m a little behind on this series (procrastination and Adult ADHD) so in my skimming I’ve been wondering, what’s with the getting rid of 7 things? lol I think if I can get rid of 7 things per day, I would be a lot less overwhelmed!
Door knobs, cupboard handles, & furniture handles are done. I’m still working on the baseboards tho. Thanks for a quickie today!!
FYI LensCrafters takes donated eye glasses & works with a program that sends them to poor countries where people would otherwise not have any.
Yesterday’s goals were derailed when I knocked an outlet cover down the dryer lint trap when I had the filter out. But I learned that it’s surprisingly easy to disassemble the back of your dryer and pull out the lint chute, (AND put it all back together) and my dryer is a lot cleaner now. I even found a game token for one of my husband’s games.
Cleaning the doorknobs really only showed me how much the finish is truly scuffed on them. Now I am coveting new doorknobs. Darn.
But I finally got around to cleaning out my fridge for the Day 2 challenge…
I had not cleaned our door knobs in a while so it was good to get this done. Looking forward to the next assignment.
The assignment was easy yet so important. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. Your assignments are very much in line with the way I do things as in one project at a time and not necessarily one room at a time. Love that. Thanks again for the inspiration!
Wow—children begging to do extra school work? What’s that like. I can honestly say that’s NEVER happened here in my homeschool. 🙂
Ugh, I’m battling horrible morning sickness right now and have zero energy so I’m living vicariously through everyone else’s posts about the daily assignments. As soon as I get back to myself though, I’m starting from the beginning so I can go through these myself.
I giggled at the “no food in the living room” comment because when we moved 2 months ago that was the first rule I put in place for the new house. Food and drinks do not go any further than the kitchen bar in this house. I got tired of finding dirty dishes with food in them sitting in the living room or my daughter’s room. It has made my cleaning a lot easier.
Link #9 and link #10 are sites selling things.
Today was one of those days. I didn’t get any of the tidy up/clean up jobs done, but I did get my morning routine done and read my Bible. I only got through 3 of my 5 things for today. But tomorrow is a new day and I will try again. That’s the beauty of each new day, it’s a clean slate. 🙂
Today was another productive day, even if it looked different then I thought it would! 🙂
I went ahead and scanned through all the dressers even though I had just cleaned them out two weeks ago. I ended up finding 5 items that could go to Goodwill. We also cleaned all the doorknobs in the house, plus I scrubbed down the upstairs bathroom door. I never noticed how many smudges and grime that door collects! I’m glad to know it’s clean now.
I also caught up on a few assignments this morning. I vacuumed out the couch and then moved both sectional pieces, cleaning out from underneath them. I would be so embarassed for someone else to have seen how horrible it was, but I’m very happy to know it’s all clean now. I’ve also instituted a “no food in the living room” rule starting today! 🙂
On top of all that, I was also able to complete most of our daily schedule, including making two more loaves of Amish white bread. Even though I’m exhausted, I’m tickled with how clean and decluttered the house is looking!
Since our home is so small, and we have to use our closets as our only storage space, at first I couldn’t tell a huge difference in how the house looked, aside from general cleanliness. But then today, when I opened the closet door I just suddenly noticed that nothing was falling out of the closet, and there were no odds or ends just sitting here or there. I still have more organization to do with our closets and bookshelves, but I have to be able to purchase containers to help in that, so until then I’m just happy they’re looking quite a bit more decluttered!
The only space I haven’t really decluttered is the linen closet, so that’s going to be my focus tomorrow. I also have to finish scrubbing the downstairs half bath, and vacuum and clean out the car and van. All on my to do list for tomorrow!
So my 5 & 2 year old loved the cleaning the doorknobs job! We might have to do that more often. 🙂
I wish I lived closer…my toddler son could use Silas’ sunglasses 🙂
If you are looking for a home for the eyeglasses, the Lions Club collects them (worldwide, I think) to distribute to people who need them. Many eye doctors have collection bins, or your local Lions Club chapter should be able to help.
I found a ton of stuff..including some items with tags still on them! I was able to put them on Ebay and I’ve made $35.00 so far! Then to top it off…I was cleaning out the master bedroom dresser today and I found 2 hidden jewelery drawers hidden near the top! I had no idea they were there!! Extra money and extra storage!! Thanks for the inspiration!
You could pass those glasses on to your local Lions Club…. If it werent for them I would be totally blind today… I am thankful for the eye sight that I have left….
I was just going to suggest the Lions Club also. I have been giving them my old glasses all my life. Glad to hear that the Lions Club helped you.
I like how you wrapped your ipod charger so nicely =)
I guess one gal’s trash is another’s treasure, because I enlarged the photo looking at the shoes you’re getting rid of. My girls are 4 1/2yrs nd 6yrs and I’ve been searching yard sales for shoes lately, so I was like, hmmm, wander what sizes those are?? 😛
Too bad I live so far away, I could use Silas’ sunglasses for my son this summer.
Still loving each day of this challenge, it’s done so much more beyond the simple assignments for each day, and I think I will do the 5-7 things to-do every day for a long time 🙂 It helps me focus on my priorities, which are getting more prioritized the further into the challenge we get. Thanks for all your hard work, Crystal!
I look at any progress as progress…I got the freezer cleaned out finally 🙂 And, I was able to get rid of several things (I made it to 4, now on a hunt to find those final 3) And I got my devotional in…albeit this afternoon, but it did help the rest of the day!
I wipe down door knobs, bathroom/kitchen cabinet handles, etc almost daily, so that was nothing out of the ordinary, and I do have a big box of Goodwill stuff I just cleaned out of my drawers so those are looking pretty good too 🙂
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s assignment!
I got baseboards and door knobs done today to get all caught up! I also went through my dresser drawers. I had too just gone through them about 4 weeks ago so I figured I wouldn’t find anything to get rid of. However, this assignment as put me in super declutter mode so I ended up getting rid of another half trashbag of stuff that I have no idea why I hung on to the first time around! Ahhh! This is definitely my favorite series of yours ever!!!
Thanks so much for this series. My husband also thanked me for all I do around here this morning before he left for work. I’ve been much less frazzled, too! My girls are enjoying helping out, and I feel more in control of my day! =D Even days I think there is no way i can get through my list, I have, and then some usually! I think I may need you to keep this up! HA!
Thanks for challenging us to keep inching forward each day. Our home is starting to shape up nicely
I agree! I love how clean and organized everything is starting to feel 🙂
My daughter is catching on to the routine she looks over my shoulder now asking “what is she assigning today mom?” and “are you going to give us any of the work?”
Thanks Crystal for this series, My husband came up to me today and said “You know the house is looking awesome and you’re not frazzled!”.
Woot! I LOVE it!
Yay!!
Yes, today went much better than yesterday at our house too. My daughter is catching on to the whole routine now, she now looks over my shoulder as I read your daily assignment posts going “what is she asking you to do today mom?” and “are ya going to assign any of it to us?”.
Not only did I throw out 7 things, I cleared out an entire box of paper clutter filled with old bank statements, etc…. So happy to dump that bag in the trash. Doorknobs are now clean and I happened to have cleaned out my dresser last week.
Thanks for doing this series Crystal! It has truly been a lifesaver 🙂