Ding, dong the laundry's done!! (humming the Wizard of Oz song)

It's done!!!  It's done!!!  It's done!!!  Whoo hoo!!!  Laundry is so totally not my favorite thing to do in life and I habitually get behind and backlogged.  But I got through it...well, with a lot of help from the hubby.

Just look at my laundry room...

I won't embarrass myself and tell you that I lost count of how many loads it took to get on top of it...but I will just tell you that we were able to get it done and with a concerted effort yesterday and had just a little bit left to do today.

Now, the only problem that remains when you are caught up on laundry is that the drawers in the dressers are too full (my kiddo's complaint is that they "won't open, MOM!")...oh well...guess that's just a new project to add to the list.

I will admit that this whole "Organizing Emily" bit is creating somewhat of a monster because not only have I gotten caught up on laundry, I have made dinner, cycled the dishwasher wiped down the counters and cleaned out the fridge!  Booyah!!!  I'm on a roll.  Just check it out...

And check out the To Do list for the day...

Ahhh....I love To Do lists that look like that!!  How about you? (And again...I need to give a little shout out to the hubby for his effort...check out his contribution at the bottom of the list.  Without him, it would not have gotten done today.)

So thanks for indulging my little bragging moment.  We're making some progress and it feels really, really, REALLY good!!

So I Fell Off the Bandwagon.... :(

Well, I am back...I apologize for not posting in October.  Not only did I not post, I really didn't do any projects.  I did however keep my house better than I had before.  I straightened Aidan's toy room so now it again looks like there is carpet and although not perfect with my dishes, when they get out of hand it takes about 30 minutes and 1 load in the dishwasher to catch up rather than 2 hours and about 2 loads with a bunch of stuff handwashed as well.  (Phew, that was a long sentence)

I am not totally sure about this homemade laundry soap deal though.  I was impressed with it when I first made it and I will make at least 1 more batch, but it makes me nervous not to see bubbles in the water when I start the load and smell that "Tide" smell when the load is done.  BUT!!!  That does not mean I have given up...I will try it for a little longer and I will see what I can do to add essential oils to help with a scent.

I do have to do a little "product plug" for a second though.  In October I bought a new mop made by O'Cedar.  It is "Swiffer-ish" in that it has a removable cleaner pad and a well for cleaning solution.  For about $20 you get a mop that you can use your choice of cleaner and can wash the pad in the washer (it just Velcro's back on).  Aidan is in love with it.  He tries to mop the kitchen everyday...which is no problem in my book....and it is very easy to use. 

So to get myself back "on the bandwagon" I will propose this...November originally was supposed to be focused on the toy room.  I did discover that much of what I need to do in the living room is connected to projects that can be done in the toy room.  So here we go:

Weekends:
Nov 4- general household projects- laundry, straightening, removing Halloween decorations, etc
Nov 11- Organize games from living room into closet in toy room, move former coffee table out of living room, sift through shoes
Nov 18- Pack away underused/outgrown toys, donate some, etc.
Nov 25- General cleaning....enjoying the family since it will be the first year EVER when the hubby hasn't been working retail as a manager....Happy Thanksgiving for that!!! 

Everyday in between is again dishes and laundry and an all around attempt at "Organizing Emily!"

I hope everyone had a great Halloween...we sure did!  Enjoy the rest of your fall and get ready for Thanksgiving...it's right around the corner.

:)


~~~P.S. The cream of tartar trick works great with your drip pans on your stove. Just put them in the stock pot and remember your ratio of 1 tsp of cream of tartar to 1 quart of water.  I would make sure that you use a stainless steel or aluminum pot rather than non-stick.  Cream of Tartar is slightly caustic and I don't know what it would do to the "calphalon" type finishes.