30 days of cleaning for 15 minutes

okay, today I got a really bad virus infection on my computer. It took out the entire morning and much of the afternoon – trying to get my computer sorted out and I didn’t get to the laundry or anything else.

But, I figure cleaning viruses off my computer counts as necessary cleaning. So… Day 7 – cleaned my computer.

Today I wanted to attack the office – which is a disaster. I’ll post a photo tomorrow. It’s quite bad. It’ll be nice to post a photo, then I can show a before and after. It’ll inspire me to clean it up.

But, I didn’t want to face it today. Nor did I feel strong enough to try to handle the bedroom and the pile of laundry on the floor and the over-flowing giant hamper.

So I just kept cleaning the kitchen which, somehow, is easier to clean. If you have gloves and cleaning products and lots of paper towels and sponges, you know what to do. I get confused when I look at the bedroom and the office, because they involve organizing and finding space for things.

Today – I cleaned every single thing in the kitchen. I finished the stove – the bottom of it – and then moved onto the fridge and tackled every gunky crevice around every hinge and all the smudges and stains, then the butcher block and all the cutting boards, the coffee pot, the toaster oven, the dishwasher, the table, and then the floor.

This was the first time I have ever mopped my kitchen floor since moving in 9 months ago.

It was an astonishingly good feeling to look around and think, this is a kitchen that normal people would think was a normal kitchen. Sanitary and clean and tidy. It took several hours of scrubbing – there was so much sticky film on EVERYTHING – and cat hair stuck to the bottoms of all the appliances along the floor.

YUCK. It was gross.

But now it is not gross. Today I have one room in my apartment which is not disgusting or chaotic at all.

scrubbed the whole stove surface, the oil splattered back of it, the charred black burnt up top of it, the goo and dust coated burner dial things. All of it.

And the kitchen sink – THOROUGHLY – and the counters beside the kitchen sink, and all the dishes in the house into the dishwasher.

Today I cleaned up after two cat barf incidents – and then did a little MOPPING!

Dishes, and tidied the pile of papers on the desk, and made the bed.

I didn’t do a full 30 minutes. I just did dishes…. I wonder if I should change this to 15 minutes daily? 30 minutes is a bit big for me to work up to. Hm. I’ll think about this til tomorrow.

- update, with spark’s blessing I’ve changed the goal to 15 minutes a day :)

Cleaned out the entire unbelievable mess of clutter in the back seat and trunk and passenger leg room area.

WHOO! That mess has been multiplying for MONTHS. Now I want to take it to a car wash…. maybe even use one of those vacuum things they have to suck out the insides.

I DID in good faith clean the bed off again tonight, so that I will go into a nice tidy bed containing just me and the bedding. And I did sweep up a little. But, I didn’t do 30 minutes so I’m going to have a new day 1 tomorrow.

Ahhh. BREAKTHROUGH!

Managed to get myself going today. HUNG the wall mirror that’s been sitting on the floor for 9 months!! WOO!!! Swept up balls of cat fur all over my bedroom and in the hall. Scoured the sink, bathroom mirror. Cleaned my filthy bedroom mirror.

AND…. drum roll….. brrrrrr….. got all the books, papers and magic markers OUT of the bed, changed the sheets and made the bed!!!!

WOOWOOOWOOOOOOO!

This was a great cleaning day. I feel SUCH a weight lifted just making this little dent in things. There’s still a lot of cleaning to do, but, it’s a beginning.

• Took all the books and papers off the bed and put them away (I am going to institute a rule as of today that I cannot keep the empty half of the bed as a junkyard/desk ANYMORE – and I have to make my bed everyday).
• Copied all pertinent info from scraps of paper to computer docs and threw away scraps.
• Tossed old receipts.
• Made bed!