Time to dig in

Today was Groundhog's Day and this Mama groundhog is determined...I am determined to CLEAN, tidy, and thin my "tunnel" so that when spring finally arrives ( let's be honest around here it is more than 6 weeks away) we will be outside playing, gardening, planting, playing some more, gardening some more, and planting some more. I don't mind winter (the exception is winter driving) but I find myself particularly excited this year to get outside sooner than later. We now have grass and garden beds that are begging for greenery. I will (or at least I am thinking so) have 2 walking children to explore with. We also have two spring birthdays on the horizon and I have hopes to bring a sandbox, play structure and lots of diggers into our backyard world. I am excited to dream, plan, and shop. Yet, I do need to contain my excitement for a few more months. So in the meantime, I want to be productive with my indoor time. This way I have no need to stay inside when the temperatures rise.

In general I keep a pretty tidy "hole/tunnel" but my cleaning, in particular my deep cleaning is kind of pathetic. So I am starting a plan...and I am giving myself till mid April.

My plan.........

Each area will get a through clean, thinning ( value village here we come) and maybe even a few additions ( a year and a half into living in this house we still have lots of bare walls, empty corners and several areas that need re-organizing). Each area of the house will get one week.

First, because I avoid it like the plague is OUR bathroom. Does anyone else have a problem with hair....everywhere?

I think the basement will follow, especially since it is winter and there is some great potential for play down there. This somewhat organized but kind of chaotic ( especially since the Christmas put away) space will be near the top of my list.

The cars are going to get a time slot. I hate dirty cars.

Of course family living areas, bedrooms, the kitchen, and hallways will get a good sanitation and re-organization. I am excited to do a bit of an update with pictures and re-do some of our toy organization. J is close to the stage where the toys he desires will last a while in the rotation.

My Kitchen Floor needs a deep clean EVERYDAY. The floor drives me bonkers but I have kind of given into the dust, prints, food spills, crumbs and debris that decorate my floor. My plan for the kitchen week is to investigate and likely invest in a new system ( new spray? new mop? new accessible vacuum?)

The study. This is a big job as it is also going to include cleaning up this computer. We are trying hard to salvage the life of our current Mac. It is FULL. SO SO FULL, and it reminds me of this EVERYDAY. We are playing the waiting game for when a new version is coming out. This is also why I am slow to post photos. It is a juggling act at the moment.

Near the end of the list will be our garage. It was looking so great, but winter has played havoc on our system. Christmas stuff landed and cluttered. We need a few new shelves, especially because this is an area that is growing in clutter not shrinking at the moment.

So here is to hoping I stay motivated amongst the other "duties" of everyday life. Every once in a while I will update on my progress. If you have any cleaning secrets, awesome tools, magic potions or wands send them my way.