Inch by Inch

… order is emerging. I’m finally (I think!) learning to change one thing at a time. A couple months ago, I cleaned off the credenza in our dining room and put a little sign (mostly for myself) saying, “Please do not set anything here.” After a couple weeks, I was in the habit of not setting things on the credenza and could take the sign down. It’s been nice and neat ever since:


Well, over several weeks that included being sick, being out of town and just generally being busy, both the kitchen and the dining room table had turned into disasters. Like we-can-barely-make-room-for-the-two-of-us-to-eat disaster. Check it our for yourself (I can't believe I'm posting this!):


Last week I cleaned off the dining room table (my first version of “shining the sink”). Every night I’ve made sure that the table is cleared off before going to bed. So far so good.

We’ve spent a few extra minutes cleaning up the kitchen each day and today I spent a bit more than a few minutes (2.5 Dave Ramsey podcasts and then some) finishing the job so that all the dishes are clean and put away, the counters are neat and clean and the sink is empty. It’s not shined, but it’s clean and dry. It feels SO good.

Dave was working all of today and I had no other commitments, so I took advantage of time on my own and got a lot done:
- paid some bills
- balanced the checkbook
- went to the bank
- mailed several items at the post office
- washed dishes
- baked 2 loaves of banana bread
- put away dishes
- made a big batch of refried beans
- washed more dishes
- peeled and cut up 5 butternut squash from our garden
- cleaned the kitchen
- took out the trash
- talked to my parents
- wiped down the dining room table
- emptied the cat litter boxes
- read a few chapters of a novel

It feels good to have gotten a lot of things done, but most importantly to celebrate the accomplishments rather than beating myself up for all the things that haven't been done yet. I think I can live with this kind of change!