Using Time Wisely

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Spring Cleaning: Medicine Cabinet

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With the rain showers, cooler weather, and a desire for a clean home, I am in spring cleaning mode. Last week, I shared 7 Steps to Making a Bed which help in using time wisely each morning.

Today, I will give you a peek into my medicine cabinet. By purging these items, I know I can use any product in my medicine cabinet without wondering if the medication has expired.

Last weekend as I began to clean my children’s bathroom, I got distracted. Let’s just say, I still need to get that bathroom clean. But, I made some progress.

As I began dusting the fixtures, I found myself moving around medications that have sat on top of our medicine cabinet for a few years. Yikes!

Realizing how long those items had been up there, I decided to check the expiration dates. Of course, once I began, I had to finish. So, I went shelf by shelf and separated the current medications from the expired packages. When I finished I had this pile of expired medications to rid from our household.

I then found these items that I thought we no longer needed.

After tossing them out, I wish I had saved two of those applicators as my son needs to take medicine to school this week. Though having those two extra would be nice, I do not need them as I can rotate between the ones I have. 🙂

TRACY’S NOTE: Sometimes having less uses more time, but I had to make a choice. To be honest, I had not used these applicators and thermometers in at least two years. After this week, I may not use them again for another year.

Removing the excess and the clutter outweighs the off-chance I will need those extra ones. But keeping two alternates meets my family’s needs.

The next step was organizing the current medications and placing them back into the medicine cabinet. I then made a list of items that I would like to replenish. This list stays on my desk where I make out the grocery and drug store lists. I can quickly refer to my list and check for sales.

Are you ready for the results? I began with a full medicine cabinet that included boxes on top of the medicine cabinet and ended with empty spaces on the inside shelves.

     

Before                    and                      After

As you spring clean your home and find those areas that just need a little extra tender loving care, remember your medicine cabinet. Keeping current medications stocked prevents the emergency run to the drugstore which saves money, energy, and time.

Though I got distracted, I tackled the medicine cabinet which for me was using time wisely. Happy spring cleaning!

Question: How many applicators would you have kept?

Spring Cleaning: Track, Sills, and Baseboards – Oh Yuck!

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Though I am not where I want to be with my spring cleaning, I am not where I started. My kitchen sink, beds, and medicine cabinet show the results of my housework.

In entering our busiest month of the year, I may need to put the spring cleaning on hold until school is out. May is just full of last-minute field trips, school programs, soccer season for my two older children, and end-of-year parties.

A few things still remain on my spring cleaning to do list. These items include the following:

Sliding Glass Door Track

This track gets quite filthy from season to season. Since it has been about a year since cleaning the track, it needs to get done.

Window Sills

With little black smudges from tiny fingers, my window sills need some attention. Some sills just need a good dusting and a squirt of Windex. Other sills need the Mr. Clean magic eraser for those stray crayon and pencil marks. 🙂

Baseboards

No matter the size of your residence, you have more baseboards than you think you have. Though I try to clean the baseboards when I clean each room, I know I miss some.

Concentrating on the baseboards once or twice a year keeps the dust bunnies away.  Though my baseboards probably need a new coat of paint, I will focus on getting them clean before beginning any new projects.

Keeping the house clean, organized, and uncluttered is a full-time job. With a running To Do list that never gets completed, I understand how the mundane gets tiring.

When I get burned out, I stop and think about why these tasks are on my list. Usually it is because my family operates more efficiently when there is clean laundry in the closets and drawers, clean dishes in the cabinets, food on the table, non-sticky floors in the bathroom, and space to run and play.

In using time wisely to organize your household, you are investing in the lives of your family. Take courage. Those little projects matter even if no one else notices. Hang in there, and happy spring cleaning!

Question: What projects still remain on your spring cleaning list?

2012 Quick Tip Week: Use Disinfecting Wipes for Quick Cleanings

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Nora Warens)

Our week of quick tips continues in the household category. (If you missed yesterday’s post, you can check out Tip #1 from the document category.)

During seasons of busyness, my household may or may not look clean or picked up. Cleaning usually does not occur, but sometimes I must get that bathroom cleaned quickly, especially if company is coming.

This second tip allows me to clean each bathroom in 5 minutes or less. 🙂

Now, I would prefer to clean from top to bottom. However, my schedule does not always grant a designated day of cleaning.

During these quick times, I use this next tip to get the job done while using time wisely.

Quick Tip #2: Use Disinfecting Wipes for Quick Cleanings

With little ones who love to experiment with toothpaste, soap, and shampoo, my bathrooms can get messy rather quickly. When I need to remove the unwanted debris, my go-to cleaning supply is the tub of disinfecting wipes.

These pre-moistened wipes require little energy and get the job done. Depending on the mess, one or two wipes complete the task. I wipe the sink and then toilet. Once the toilet gets wiped, I toss the wipe to prevent spreading germs.

If you prefer to make your own disinfecting solution, check out Bonnie’s homemade disinfecting spray recipe. Besides using less chemicals, Bonnie’s recipe can save you money.

In using time wisely and wanting a clean home, use disinfecting wipes for quick cleanings. When your schedule slows back down, you can return to your regular cleaning schedule. Using the disinfecting wipes keeps my house presentable during busy times, like the month of May. Happy cleaning!

Question: What cleaning product assists you during busy times?

Rejoicing in a Messy House

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Steven Depolo)

All the work completed to declutter and clean my home has come full circle. Moving among soccer cleats, end-of-school projects, and totes of clothes make up my days at home.

In keeping my priorities, I have chosen to spend time with my family while my housework continues to grow.

The piles of laundry met my washing machine this past weekend. After 6 loads of clean clothes, I finally relaxed. Though the clothes are clean and folded, they have not moved from the basket. Yes, I need to hang up and place them in dressers, but the clothes are clean and available. 🙂

Between now and the end of the school year, I will be home here and there. We have yearbook distribution, one last field trip, field day, class party, and an awards ceremony. Whew! That’s just during school hours. We also spend lots of time on the soccer field throughout the week. May is a very taxing month, but June’s summer is just around the corner. 🙂

If you are finding this month exhausting, then relax. Keep your priorities straight. There will be other opportunities to clean the house. In using time wisely, I’m rejoicing in a messy house. Happy prioritizing!

Question: How do you handle an overly busy schedule?

2012: Spring Yard Work – Part 1 of 3

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Since last fall, the weeds, from what seems like the entire neighborhood, have come to stay at our house. The edgers around our flower beds received a coating of weeds and unwanted grass.

Though the project is still underway, between nights of soccer and weekends of family outings, we have begun cleaning up our front yard.

Living in a cookie-cutter neighborhood, our total amount of land is less than one acre. Our front yard consists of 3 beds in front of our house and a bed around our one tree. We also have a walkway, driveway, and sidewalk.

Keeping our yard looking nice is always a challenge with all the weeds and the different grasses: Bermuda in the front and fescue in the back. It probably doesn’t help that we do not spend lots of time in our yard, so keeping weeds out of our mulch beds is a chore.

After completing our garden in the backyard, we focused on the beds in the front yard. These BEFORE pictures show you how awful our front yard looked. The growth really took off quickly, so we moved fast to make it beautiful again.

We purchased mulch from Lowe’s on sale – 4 bags for $10. To cover all our beds, we purchased 12 bags of mulch. On a warm, sunny day, Paul got to work.

Remove Edgers

With the edgers buried under last-year’s mulch and dense weeds, Paul removed all the edgers from our 4 beds in front of our house.

Careful of bugs and ant piles, he dug up the ones deeply buried in the bed. Though he was careful, he still received a few ant bites from certain members of the ant colony that live under our tree. Ouch!

 

Clean out Beds

Paul then trimmed all the bushes and raked into piles all the old mulch, trimmings, and weeds. He then filled up trash bags with all the debris.

This yard work is very labor-intensive resulting in sore arms and lower back. Though the work is cumbersome, seeing the empty dirt floor creates a starting point for the work ahead.

Next week, I will share how we prepare our beds while continuing our spring yard work. (I’m using “we” liberally here as Paul has done all this yard work alone. :-))

Question: What plans do you have for your yard work this spring?