Cleaning, Relaxing, and 15 Minutes to a Happier You

Someone asked me this week if I had a cleaning schedule. This question has, of course, spurned hours of my deliberating about whether or not I need one. My decision has been made and yet I still feel the need to ask you, friends. Do you have a cleaning schedule? I guess I had not really thought about it, but I do have a mental schedule. I do bathrooms, grocery shopping, and laundry on the same days each week. My kitchen, like yours, is a constant chore. I am blessed to be home much of the week and am able to do major chores on the weekdays so that I can spend weekend time on large projects or having fun with my family. I never really thought of it as a “schedule” per se. I know what needs to be done when, and I do it. How about you?

Did you have a good time relaxing this week? I sure did! What did you choose to do? I hope you will continue to do nice things for yourself. It is a great way to reduce stress, heart rate, and blood pressure!

I promised to tell you what I did this week with my fifteen minutes. (Elli has been prodding me this week and waiting for this blog today, so I’ll tell you all now.) For some reason there has been a lot of focus on my feet lately, so I gave myself a mini-pedicure. That’s right folks, my wee little piggies are now all gussied up in their finest “Holy Pink Pagoda” finery! (Who comes up with these names?) As I was digging into my under-sink cabinet for all of my tootsie needs, I realized how long it has been since I went through all my cute little baskets and organized under there. This, of course brings us to this weeks, 15 minutes of real cleaning.

Are you ready to clean out some REAL clutter?

Empty out the contents of your under-sink cabinet. Do you have bottles of half-used-never-wanted, or unopened-unloved shampoos, hair products, scrubs, and lotions? I sure did! It is time to say good-bye. You aren’t going to suddenly love it or need it next week just because it has been sitting there longingly waiting for you. It is time to toss it! Get rid of all the expired stuff under there too. Yes, dear friends, cosmetics expire and lotions will smell funky when they age. (When in doubt throw it out!) If you have been buying in bulk and it is causing you storage issues, you may want to reconsider whether it is worth the bulk purchase. Give the cabinet a good wipe out. Pay attention as you put things back into the cabinet. Make a mental inventory of what you have so that you won’t overbuy. (If you have no mental capacity, like me, you may even want to put a little inventory sheet on the inside of the cabinet door.) I now have only shampoos that I love to use. Hooray! Next time I am looking for “Holy Pink Pagoda” I will know exactly where it is. It is, of course, next to “Brisbane Bronze” in my handy little nail tote. May my piggies (and yours) never be neglected again! (Two more cabinets to go. I feel lucky!)

Valentine’s Day is this Thursday!!!!!!!!!!! Don't forget your sweetie!!!!!!!!!