Finishing Area #7 of The House That Cleans Itself



From Pinterest

Discipline is part of life. A friend said to me recently that she cannot be disciplined. I corrected her that she really is disciplined in some areas of her life. Habits carry her and new habits can bring new discipline.

I cannot get my way in this house because I cannot hire a lot of help and I cannot redecorate. It just won't happen like it does on a DIY TV program. The rugs will not be replaced and maybe I can clean them better. But I can be disciplined myself.

I chose to start the process in The House That Cleans Itself to be disciplined and certainly the house would be worse had I not started. I can say that I am not a slob anymore. I chose to do something. I can pretend to be a perfectionist, but I am so not a perfectionist and the areas that I went through will need work again. I do think, however, that this calls for Flylady's concept of the 15 minute timer. I spend time on the "hot spots". De-cluttering is a process while life is happening. There is so much freedom now in admitting this.

As life happens, there are other priorities than my clutter. Life is about bringing glory to God as I ask His help to be the best wife/caregiver and friend to others I can be. The book by Staci Eastin that I reviewed here, The Organized Heart, is all about priorities that are correctly placed. You can order it from the Amazon site on this blog as well as order The House That Cleans Itself. These two books have changed my life, folks.

Area #7 used to be so bad as you see  a month ago here. As I "finish" Area #7 I reflect on the impact of discipline and lack of discipline in my life. The guest bedroom is full of lack of discipline, but it is neater now. Things to solve later are there--some projects for "one day" and at the age of 68 I am not sure when that "one day" will be.

I have to laugh at myself. Once upon a time I saved shoulder pads thinking I could make a quilt with them! Who ever does such a thing? Finally I threw them away and then came a project idea. You can make angels with shoulder pads! I might make one, but saving shoulder pads does not meet the criteria in the graphic of this post.


Bed cleared and more to do

At last I can have overnight company again with less embarrassment. It feels good! I moved a little closet into this room that was stored in the workshop. It used to be in our popup camper that we gave away last year and we never went camping with it. The new owners have not expressed interest in this closet and so here it is in the corner with right now a clock and a box on top. There is a cable cord in this corner and we can put a TV on top when we have company. My rocket scientist brother will like having a TV here when he comes my sister-in-law says. I need to find a good container for gift wrapping as you see, but that will come. Also, have stuff on the wall side of the bed to do something with.

What are your thoughts about rooms that have too many unfinished projects and too much stuff in them? I really have clothes closets to go through. I have a quilt to make for my husband's oldest granddaughter and photo albums to finish for my husband. Projects bring joy to my life and I love making gifts for others. I do have a place to store projects now--the guest bedroom.

One day my husband may refer to area #7 as the guest bedroom rather than as the craft room. One day it may be ready for a professional caregiver such as blogging friend Laurie has staying in her home. I better finish projects so it will be ready. I will need a chest of drawers where I have the project table, will need to go through the closet and the shelves, but it will work. The carpet is already new here as we had repairs to a moldy wall once and insurance covered the new carpet.

Without being totally "finished" with area #7, I need to move on to area #8 in our house, which is the front yard. Spring is coming and every year I never seem to get a handle on weeds because I am so overwhelmed with the inside of the house and now my responsibilities as a lovegiver/caregiver for my husband who has Alzheimer's.

Weeds you will not have dominion over my front yard any more!

Beginning Area 5 of The House That Cleans Itself

Today I am staying home to be with hubby, work on the house and attend to my "to do" list. I better make this post short.

Books, books and more books!  And how to part with them! Our den used to have more books before the pool table. We gave away several floor-to-ceiling bookcases of hubby's theological books and sold others to Baker Book House. That was five years ago before Alzheimer's was officially in the picture.

Now it is my books I am dealing with. Novels can be sold and checked out from the public library. Other books can go to Mae's Bookstore Paperback Exchange--right across the street from the above sign in Plant City.  

Books have ended up by the piano in our living room, my current room to work on. I posted this picture in the private The House That Cleans Itself group on Facebook. You can ask to join that group if you too are working on your home and we are Facebook friends. Start by "Liking" at the top right of this blog.

Some books are really good for "re-gifting".  For example, I have been taking subject area books to school when I substitute. I brought books and materials for teaching English to other languages when I substituted in one of those ESOL classes recently; boy was I glad because there were no lesson plans and I had something to do. Yesterday I gave five books to the Reading Coach at a middle school where I taught. By the way, yesterday I was delighted to talk with a teacher who has been through this book and the system is working for her and she is working the system.

Some books I might use on this blog--health books for example. What to do? I am putting them in one of my now empty bins and storing them under the pool table.  Flylady in an e-mail says this week,

HOUSEWORK DONE INCORRECTLY, STILL BLESSES YOUR FAMILY!

I exceeded the limit on photos on Google and am trying to see what I can do about it. I can post pictures that I have already posted, but not new ones from my computer. This is such a shame because the last post with pictures of the master bedroom here has had 86 views to date. Also, on advice from several trusted people am looking into monetizing this blog. Any suggestions for photos and monetizing?
Added mid January 2013: Picasa Web Album allows me to download from my computer. Still trying to decide on monetizing, especially since I am now paying $2.49 a month to add more pictures.

Handling Clutter: More On the Den Area Number Two

You

Have to

Make It

Look Easy

Staples has an easy button, but they don't have that vertical file from Office Depot that is helping me organize temporarily . Organizing is not easy. The commitment in The House That Cleans Itself by Mindy Starns Clark is to do that HARD WORK so you can have EASY. Having a loved one with Alzheimer's is hard enough--at least the house can be easy and simplified.

Mrs. Clark has many principles that I am applying. One is stations so you do not run around the house getting what you need and then having to put things away--or not and then it is cluttered again.

She also says to put things on the wall. My iron and ironing board are now in an unobtrusive corner of the den between a bookcase and a door leading out to the workshop.  I use the iron and ironing board in the den when I sew and sometimes for ironing clothes. EASY! I do not have to go far to put them away now. We had Sally and Jim's son over for repairs and he put them up for us. The iron is on an holder from Ikea that I had for several years, never deciding where to put it.

Their son also solved a huge problem in the den-- very small ants who seem to get worse during the rain. He got up on a ladder and found where they were coming from and sealed those places with silicone. Fortuately these small ants never invaded our kitchen and pantry closet.


The hardest work in the den and maybe the whole house is paper clutter. FlyLady talks about it here and she hits me right where it hurts. How I wanted to be able to tell you, readers, that  the den is done, but it is not because of that paper clutter.

Who do I think I am--an historian of my own life? A librarian collecting magazines and books in case someone needs something?



Beyond pool table: File/sorting station, sewing cabinet, pub table

What has been done? 

• Furniture has been moved. One piece went to the large master bedroom we have and on it is a bomb box and an iPod player. Inside are CDs and tapes. An small end table with storage is now available to hide kids toys. On top of it are coasters for drinks for those playing pool. The four drawer file was moved. The half book case that used to be in that master bedroom is now in the living room temporarily by the piano for putting books that may be donated or traded in at a used book store in Plant City. A pub table is available in the corner. The sewing machine and sewing projects used to be there.  
• The pool table is now free. I can play pool with my husband! When it is his turn I can work on paper clutter! He needs something he likes to do beside watching TV. He doesn't like to get on the riding lawn mower to mow the lawn, but that is another story.

• There is a clutter sorter station, a sewing cabinet that doesn't look like one, and a nearby pub table that seats four!

What would you like to drink? Pool anyone?



What needs to be done?

• Paper clutter.
• Clean the rug.
• Sort through books.
• Get rid of my overhead projector I used to use to teach DUI classes. I now use an LCD projector with a Power Point on my small notebook computer for speaking. Get rid of other stuff or find it a home in our home.
• And did I mention paper clutter!
• The bins under the pool table need to be sorted through and moved. Mrs. Clark is so right. Don't buy those suckers--they just keep you from solving problems.
• Make the four drawer file contemporary, not historical. Keep only the paper that will go in there.
• Use Mrs. Clark's system of the one collection bin for the week while I substitute teach and the weekly filing and monthy filing to keep on top of that paper clutter.

All of this is not so easy yet. LORD willing we will play more pool and I will get there with this room.

What is also not easy is the death from Alzheimer's of Dolores' husband and the death of my last relative in the older generation; my aunt had dementia in her last years.

I do have a serious rap I give at the end of good classes.

Educated, dedicated, motivated, college-bound
Where are those students?  We need them found.
Hey you hims and hers
Think pink--no more cancer
We need cures.
Hey you hims and hers
Think purple--no more Alzheimer's
We need cures. . . .

The next generation will undoubtedly come up with cures. Let's hope so.

Handling Clutter, Part Two

The wise woman builds her house,

But the foolish pulls it down with her hands. Proverbs 14:1

Several weeks ago Jake spent the day at our home while Sally substituted. Now, unlike hubby, Jake is a bundle of energy. He worked in our front yard in the morning and then came in and enjoyed the same lunch I made hubby--the coconut oil and tumeric toasted cheese sandwich, yogurt with extra blueberries, and coconut oil fudge--all good nutrition for the Alzheimer's husbands.  Then Jake and hubby got a second wind and finished off the back yard. How grateful I am for Jake and his energy. What did I do that day? De-clutter? No. I prepared food for a wedding and observed the husbands. One day this may be "babysitting" the husbands while either Sally or I substitute teach.

Friday morning. So much is great right now. I am slowing losing weight and hubby is still in stage one of Alzheimer's, but the house is a mess. I have an excuse--my carpal tunnel on my wrists, but it is slowly getting better. Time to own up to a problem and write part two and expect part three, etc., of reporting to you, gentle blog reader.

Simplicy 101 September Check List gave me ideas for our  home, but too overwhelming.

Flylady's daily e-mail:

You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.? Perfectionism is Shelved in 2012!

I am behind, though, FlyLady. I can shelve perfectionism. I have been shelving perfection like the encyclopedia that no one reads anymore. Don't worry. I don't have The Worldbook  like my parents did. I took this picture in the library where our Alzheimer's Association support group meets.

 

Speaking of that support group, as is our monthly habit on the second Tuesday, hubby and Jake hung out at our cluttered home while Sally and I went to the support group . Two persons whose spouses have died from Alzheimer's even come to offer their wisdom for our journey in this support group. After this support group we went with our husbands to a bookstore and to dinner.

At that bookstore, I found THE book that I will be blogging about--The House That Cleans Itself by Mindy Stark Clark. This post (but not this new book) has been planned since Part One. (When you call it Part One, you have to have a Part Two.) I began reading it while substituting yesterday, Thursday. Don't we all want a house that cleans itself! Here it is called the HTCI system and I now have my spiral HTCI notebook. Mindy (not my blogging friend) writes:

The first step in your home's transformation is to get a fresh, clean spiral notebook. You'll be using this notebook throughout your house transformation, so choose one with a brightly colored cover so it won't get lost in the mess.(p. 21)

My spiral notebook I bought last night has HO-PE in two lines on the cover and I put a sticker in the middle of it that says "HELLO I'M HTCI". I can't control my husband's disease, but I am controlling my eating and I can control my home.

Step One. You make a floor plan.

Step Two. Decide your "home base zone". Mine is our master bath and the guest bathroom. If those areas (HBZ) are always kept clean, I will be happy. Flylady's is her kitchen sink. What is yours?

Step Three I will do Saturday when all I have to do is Weight Watchers at 7 am in the morning. I will report back to you all here on this step three.

Step Four says the book is to put God at the center. "Prayer walk your home." It is not just that the house needs order so it can be cleaned, my spirit needs order. I need to thank God for my blessings and confess my mess to Him. Mindy writes on her own journey, "I needed to prayer walk my house to put God at the center of my housecleaning mission" (p. 42).

Step Five is gathering tools and documenting the evidence. This is what you need the spiral notebook for. You also take pictures of everything.

Step Six is evaluate the evidence; step six and the rest of the book will be lived out in later posts here.

HBZ report added Saturday, Sept. 15.  While I substitute taught on Friday I made the floor plan above. You will see that I have decided my priorities. I did the prayer walk and am so glad I did. Instead of looking at all the mess and excess in the house, I thanked God for so many things and also confessed my shortcomings and asked for His help. I feel cleansed myself. Thank you, Lord.

In the purging of the bathroom, I discovered humor in the picture. Why does a husband going bald need hair thickening? Why do we have his prescription from 2003 from a pharmacy that no longer exists and a doctor he no longer goes to?  There's the Dulcolax that is needed every three to five years for our horrible colon cancer exam! At least I won't buy another one and now will know where it is. Who needs maxipads in the house?



(By the way I will turn in this prescription for an oxy derivitive to a drug store so it gets disposed of properly and doesn't get into the water supply. You know I could sell it illegally and make money, but I WILL NOT.)

Handling Clutter, Part One

FlyLady (see link at right) writes today:

     Some of you still don't believe me when I say that you cannot organize clutter; you can only get rid of it! For the life of me I can't understand why you won't just try it. I have given you little assignments to clear off areas so that you can feel the difference the free space has on your life. Yet you are still refusing to let it go!

     The result in not releasing your clutter is that you are not finding success with your routines and you are not FLYing yet. The guilt is weighing you down. You are blaming everyone but yourself for the problems you are having. Some of you blame our emails and complain that they are the clutter, while others of you blame your spouse or children. The truth is you are the problem because you will not let it go!

What have I blamed? Our crash that kept me from doing much due to my back. No longer. Working? Not so much this summer. Just teaching one class for DUI offenders and attending one DUI training and taking one seminary counseling class. So it is back, folks--TIME TO WORK ON CLUTTER--rested from vacation, my cruise.

My friend Sally is also my inspiration to work on clutter. She has a new office and has handled/is handling her clutter at their charming home. She also has an organized storage room. We both know that our days of functioning husbands (before Alzheimer's takes it toll) are numbered and the more organized we can become the wiser we will be. Dolores moved, downsized, and handles clutter very well--also an inspiration to us all.

Sally and Jake (not their real names) will be here later and our husbands will hang out while we go to our monthly Alzheimer's Association support group. Then we four will go to dinner observing Weight Watcher ppv (Points Plus Values) at the restaurant.
 
Meanwhile I am de-cluttering so Sally sees my progress before she comes. I am pinning some progress on Pinterest on my Organizing Board so you might want to follow the pictures there. The link is at the lower right. I have SO much to do in this house.

Book Review: The Organized Heart

In the past twenty-four hours I have read a short book. After church I had to tell ladies at church about it, and even one man is going to get it for his Kindle. Pure Excitement I have for this book by Staci Eastin--The Organized Heart: A Woman's Guide to Conquering Chaos, published by CruciformPress.com and released in March of this year. This is the kind of excitement I get when I discover something in Scripture that speaks right to my heart. I have needed her book.

Periodically I blog organizing and de-cluttering on this blog. But on my way to organizing the clutter and chaos at home, we had that crash I wrote about last December. After that with sore back and painful hands I could do less about the clutter issues. I did want to. I admire Dolores and others who have their act together at home and they are able to be that caregiver to their husband with an orderly home. Now that I have been released by the chiropractor, I am going to the gym and doing more.

Mrs. Eastin puts heart and faith into what I needed to read. Where does she start? Mrs. Eastin's book is not about a system. She writes that she had a motivation problem--not a problem of whose system to use. Eastin in this short book deals with four idols. Here are some quotes:

The disorganization in my life was not due to lack of knowledge or skill and it was not due to a problem in my childhood. Rather, it's a broken belief system: a heart issue, a sin issue. At the end of the day, it's idolatry. . . . We never conquer sin by adding more rules. . . . My attempts to get organized always failed because I tried to change my habits without letting the Holy Spirit change my heart. It was only when I saw the sinful motivations behind my bad habits that I could see lasting change in my life. (pp. 11, 12)

The Idol of Perfectionism

Perfectionism prevents us from living our lives. It prevents us from enjoying our families. It robs us of joy. And most of all, it prevents us from basking in God's grace and serving in the strength that only he can give. God knows our talents, our energy level, and our resources. He alone is perfect, and he can work mightily, so we can trust him. (p. 31)

 The Idol of Busyness

Just because you can do something doesn't mean God has called you to it. . . . Fear of man indicates that we find our worth in pleasing others rather than pleasing God. Instead of working to bring glory to God, we hope to bring glory to ourselves. . . . God is not sitting helplessly in the wings, hoping we'll come through and help him out.  (pp. 35, 36, 39)

My book, Getting Off the Niceness Treadmill,  deals with some of these issues of the fear of man and learning to give God the glory. Eastin puts it simply:  God is not glorified in the amount of things we get done, the number of spaces we fill on our calendar, or the length of our to-do lists. God is pleased when we serve him with sincere hearts. (p. 41)

 The Idol of Possessions

I have tried to study couponing. Eastin points out that it can all lead to hoarding. Mmmm. She writes: Excess possessions will rob you of your peace, add unnecessary stress to your life and hinder your ministry to others. (pp. 51)

The Idol of Leisure

When everyday life is a race from one urgent deadline to the next, we withdraw from open fellowship with God and submission to his will. . . . The procrastinator loves to hoard her time for herself rather than work diligently on the errands and tasks God gives her. . . . Many women are addicted to TV, social networking sites, shopping, reading, and other hobbies. While none of these activities are necessarily evil in and of themselves, if you indulge in them to the extent that they prevent you from doing what God has ordained for you to do, they are sin. . . . Are you a wise steward of your time? Do you prayerfully schedule your days for what God has called you to, including appropriate time for real rest?  (pp. 66-69)

In her chapter on difficult circumstances, she doesn't deal with the Alzheimer's caregiver. But the author does point out both our responsibility and God's sovereignty. God, the divine Caregiver, will work things out and we can therefore be content. Unlike FlyLady who has an elaborate system, Staci Eastin at the end of the book gives principles to use after the idols of your heart have been dealt with.

What has this short book done for me? It has freed me to not worry excessively about FlyLady's lists, couponing or another system from one of my books or magazine articles. If I can pray over my schedule, serve my husband in his lonely journey in Alzheimer's, serve others as well, and (without guilt) schedule time for my own leisure, then I can have peace and know I am bringing glory to God.

It has always been that one day in heaven, I want Him to say, "Well done, Carol. You knew you could trust Me as your divine Caregiver to take you through your earthly caregiving adventure."

Staci Eastin blogs at Writing and Living. I am going over to her blog now and thank her.

Facts and Figures

Compairing deaths in 2000 with deaths in 2006 people died less from heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, stroke than they did from Alzheimer's Disease by 2006.  Of all those causes of death, only deaths from AD were up by 46. 1 % according to the 2010 Alzheimer's Association's report. In those years heart disease deaths went down by 11.5 % ; breast cancer by 2.6 %; prostate cancer by 8.7%; and stroke by 18.2%. I am grateful for all the advances in these diseases, but Alzheimer's has not received a cure unfortunately and Alzheimer's is increasing.

This means more caregivers.

According to the recently released 2011 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures from the Alzheimer's Association, there are now nearly 15 million Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers in the United States. This report shows that there are far more Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers than previously believed. These individuals provided 17 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $202.6 billion. To put this in perspective, if Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers were the only residents of a single state, it would be the fifth largest state in the country. From Caring News

Sally, Jake, DH and I have been taking a class called "Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions". I think there have been real breakthoughs as the result of this class. My husband and Jake just love joking around . Sally and I are more serious; both of us are working on FlyLady principles to organize our homes for the days/years ahead when we are the caregivers. The facilitators of this class will also follow up on the four of us.

The road we caregivers are on is uncharted. As a spouse, I don't know where this will all end. One day at a time.  Today is good. My husband is mowing the front yard.

Someday I May Need It

Collecting and then de-cluttering!

“Keep a thing seven years and it’s bound to come in handy.”

― Russian Proverb

Most people think they need to do this, don't you, gentle reader—save things because one day we may need them! Then we are stuck with junk in a trunk and our life has gone amuck! Come with me while I sputter about clutter and the things we really, after all, do not need.

Not so hard for DH. We were discussing my home de-cluttering projects.

"Why are all those books on the piano?" and "Why are all those things on the couch?" he reasonably wanted to know.

"Sweetheart, it will get worse before it gets better," I explained about my whole summer de-cluttering project. The summer is now turning into fall.

He did ask if I could clear my organizing off of the pool table so we could play pool. Reasonable. I did that. Only this is not what you should do according to FlyLady principles. My friend Kathy reminded me that FlyLady says take baby steps. "Only take out what you can organize," she advised. So the stuff that used to be on the pool able was moved, not tossed out or given a home.

DH just said the word two years ago when he wanted to get rid of his stuff. His books are for the most part gone. Lumber was given away and shop machines were sold to friends. He quipped, "All my junk is junk, and all your junk is valuable!" I helped him get rid of books, but he is right that I want to go through my junk in case there is something valuable in it. Now his main collection is his DVDs to watch on TV, a main pastime of his.

I have to tell you that my de-cluttering is harder than writing a book. I wrote my book last year, but simplifying our home, getting rid of things is a huge project. I am so ADHD about the whole thing--Almost Done Here Dilemma. Not quite ready for the yard sale and not sure when it will happen. The yard sale will prove it was junk and not valuable anyway.

How did all this happen? I have a couple of theories.

1) We really believe we might need it someday. It could save us money. I got rid of shoulder pads, and then found a wonderful project making Christmas angels out of shoulder pads! See! I could have used those shoulder pads one day!

2) We are attracted to these books like FlyLady's Sink Reflections. We read books on procrastination and collect magazine articles about getting organized. We hear the horror stories. Peter Walsh helped a lady get her home back we saw on Oprah; it took 8 weeks and 100 people to get it back for this couple. Two warehouses were used for a giant yard sale of her stuff. People hoard. We love these stories and we think we are not that bad. See Seniors and Hoarding. Until September 6th there is an "enter to win" tab above where you might win an autographed copy of Peter Walsh's book! If I win I will have another book on organizing to add to the collection pictured above! One day maybe I don't need those organizing books.

3) We collect containers to put our stuff in. Then things look neat. Binders, baskets, tubs, file cabinets, rooms, garages, storage sheds. We have that room with the extra closet where we put too many clothes and where we put the junk when we have company. Containers solve nothing when you get to retirement and face the music.

3) Technology changes. We have old records, audio tapes, video tapes, slides, discs, printers, overhead transparencies, etc. We don't take the time to discard or transfer pictures and sounds to new technologies. Why I bet techno nerds are thinking up new stuff to replace the newest stuff that we have! We buy terabytes of memory so we could one day, however. And information is increasing. They say in this link that every two days now we create as much information as we had in all of 2003.

Anthony J. D'Angelo said, The most important things in life aren't things. How true.

Also Matthew 6:19-21 says: 

Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust consumes and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Back to de-cluttering, and organizing while thinking of the words I posted here. Done with procrastinating and want a simplified life when I can get there. Ordered another book, however, recommended by Nancy: Clutter's Last Stand: It's Time to De-Junk Your Life. I will review it probably in October, if I don't procrastinate.