Welcome 2022!
Welcome 2022!
Anyone feel like this blog is like 2022? Very low bar of expectations, but has the potential to be great? (And like 2022, I make no promises.)
As I start off every year, I’m doing the Apartment Therapy January Cure. The Cure is basically the same every year, but I like the routine and familiarity it gives me at the start of the year. I actually find myself prepping as the time comes nearer and starting or planning the tasks I know are to come. The January Cure is a list of 20 tasks, with four smaller tasks given Monday through Thursday and one bigger task given on Friday to be done over the weekend. The tasks are all pretty manageable to complete, I’ve definitely done all of them with two kids and a dog underfoot. Week one is complete so I thought I would give you a run down of how it went. (Follow along on our Facebook page, which is definitely updated more than this page.)
The first task is to clean and organize one drawer. I always use this time to clear out the kitchen junk drawer. I read something not that long ago that kitchen junk drawers aren’t a thing everywhere. Do you guys have them? Where else would you keep scissors, birthday candles, screwdrivers, and other random stuff that you need at hand? The only downside it is like a magnet in collecting everything that doesn’t have a good home. Ours always has small lost toy pieces, screws leftover from projects and who knows what else. Over the past few years I’ve honed in on what belongs and what doesn’t, and added in organizers that work for the keepers. Still, every couple months I need to go through it to keep it on track.
The second task is to create a list of things to do. I love this task and considering our home, it’s a running task that I always have going. It has big projects on it, like fix the front porch, and small tasks like get a new hamper in my daughter’s room. I add to the list whenever I see a need, and tackle the projects as I can. After living in this house for over 6 years now, and going into it knowing there was a lot of changes (and work!) we were going to have, this list has grown and shrunk over the years. My hope is that within the next couple years, the “big” tasks are done and it’s just an on-going list of small tasks to complete.
Day three is creating an outbox and putting one thing in it. With two kids, and a house that’s something we always have going. Someone’s always outgrowing something. Even without kids, it was something I always had. I’m a firm believer that the more stuff I have hanging around taking up space, the more I feel like I’m wasting what we have. Beyond the KonMarie method of thanking an object for having provided joy, I assess on other questions. How long has it been since I’ve used it and can someone else get better use of of this? This works really well for all of the kitchen accessories, gadgets and dishes I always seem to accumulate, and very few times can I recall needing something I’ve given away. My item to complete day 3 is an old slow cooker I have. It still works great, but not only is it used often but I now have an Instant Pot that can do the same thing. Someone else will be happy to come across a slow cooker for $5 at a thrift store and use it all the time.
Day 4 is clearing out the expired items around the house. Old condiments, spices, medicines, whatever, get tossed and replaced if needed. I cheated and did the kitchen last month before Christmas. I knew I would need the fridge space for holiday meal prep and leftovers so I took a day and cleared out the old and cleaned the fridge completely. (On the other hand, the freezer has definitely seen better days…)
The week’s big task is cleaning all the floors in the home. Now, I’ve never completed this task completely, because there’s no way I can feasibly clean the basement floors as they need to be cleaned, nor do I want to. And full disclosure, I didn’t even half complete this task this year. Friday morning came with 6” of snow, so we’ve had feet, and paws, in and out of snow all weekend and I know any results would not be sustained for long. Still, I swept, vacuumed and the kitchen floor was mopped. And one day, when the weather is dry, and the urge hits, I will clean all the floors.
Now, I’m off to buy my weekly flowers and bask in the glow of actually writing a blog post. Happy January everyone!
