Nother Nicole Night

(Actually it was a day, but that didn’t alliterate, so it couldn’t stay!!  Y’all know how much I ❤ my alliteration!!)

Y’all, I am BLOWN AWAY!!  Nicole is not only nice, she’s AH.MAY.ZING!!!!!

She is an organizer extraordinaire!!   Just wait till you see the pix!  You won’t believe it’s the same house!

See my secret shame?? That blue!! In MY house!!

Cluttered, no shock there!  But, I’ve lived here 10 days, and the kitchen is still the “B” word!  {Blue}

How could I be so disrespectful??

 

Not a good look for a table scape!

 

Poor, cluttered couch!

Clutter-be gone!!

 

 

{Oopsie, forgot to take after pic of recliner.  Cie la vie!  Trust me, it was completely empty!!}

Wow! Lookie there! There WAS a table under there!

Decorated, even!
[Halloween clearance candy 17 cents @!!]

Clean, uncluttered couch!

 

Nicole Ramer is my Cleaning, Organizing BFF!!

If you live in Central Florida, HIRE HER!!  And tell her PurpleSlob sent ya.  (Maybe I’ll get a discount!!)

 

 

 

 

More amazingness to come…..

 

 

 

 

 

==

Nicole’s Nice

I finally had a few coins jingling in my pockets, so I was able to hire Nicole Ramer from OrganizedByNicole  to come clean and organize for me.   The cleaning took most of her time.   (Hi, remember me, PurpleSlob??)

She is running a special for Polk County, $25 an hour for cleaning.  She just added that to her menu of services.  And, she doesn’t use harsh chemicals!   Baking soda, vinegar, Dawn, and lemon essential oil.  The house smelled so pretty!   It fooled me into thinking she had snuck behind my back, and squooze fresh lemons, and made lemonade!!

http://www.voyantes.net/blog

 

 

Alas, she had not.  😦

But, it was a good fantasy while it lasted!!

Anyway, this is how you know you’ve had an organizer clean your bathroom:

 

 

Did I mention that I LOVE HER????

She knows how to take of the important things FIRST!! lol

Tune in next week, to see what other miracles she performs!!

swish and swipe

I read it on Nony’s blog, ASlobComesClean, about the “Swish & Swipe”.  (And of course, I couldn’t find the post I am referring to….)  I found it!!  Ya know, cuz she has a search feature, and all!!  Duh!

I believe she said it came from the Fly Lady. I had never read that blog, but it was scary, just from what I’d heard.  Fully dressed to makeup, and shoes??  First thing in the morning???  Ain’t happ’nin.

Thought, that’s just too much trouble.

Then I find myself taking 30 min and a jack hammer to chip away at all the crud.

(Have you figured out yet that we’re talking toilet today??)

Finally I decided maybe there is something to the “Swish and Swipe”.  And I started swishing the brush around, every day(ish), and swiping the counters, every day(ish).  And guess what??  The bathroom stayed clean(ish)!!!

Who knew?

Experts know whereof they speak.

Why didn’t I listen sooner?

             Facepalm

Anyhoo, now my toilet is usable by guests on any given day.  (Now that PP is potty training, she’s getting in on the action too!  It’s so cute to see her cleaning the toilet!!  And soon, I won’t have to do it anymore!!!!)

Amazing!!

Silly Soap

Nope, it wasn’t the soap that was silly, it was me.  Shock, shock, right??

Remember last year when I was pontificating about being too old to use broken, ugly stuff??  

Well, then what was the justification for this???

Fancy dancy soap dispenser, order yours now!

Um, straight up laziness, is all I can plead.  No excuses, especially since I’m even older than when I wrote that!

Even worse, look at the counter.  Shameful, shame I say.

Shock and horror that a slob would have a mess!

And nobody to blame but myself.   So annoying!   Sometimes, I regret living alone!  At least when 1 other person lived with me, I could always delude myself that everything was their fault!  (Even when it wasn’t, as was usually the case, if I have to be honest.)

There, now isn’t that better??

Ah! Lavender, my love!

And it took all of maybe 60 seconds to pour the soap in it, and throw away recycle the bottle.  Take that, laziness!

I even took a few extra seconds, to wipe down the counter and throw away the bowl.  (Yes, it’s been sitting there for over a month, and…..?  The point is, it’s gone now.  Just be happy.)

So, so pretty!  Thank you, Jeanette, my neighbor for the lovely lavender soap dispenser.  (She doesn’t even like purple, of any shade.  GASP!  I know!  I feel sorry for her too!)

Strawberry Startings

If you missed any of the story: go here:

Part 1, Strawberry City, part 2, Man Giant, part 3, Strawberry Banquet, part 4, Strawberry Love, part 5, Strawberry Slush, part 6, Strawberry Sickness, part 7 Strawberry Daiquiri, part 8, Strawberry School, part 9, Strawberry Struggles, part 10, Strawberry Sessions.

a blog.  What would she talk about?  Well, her house was a mess, and clutter had followed her to this place.

She hadn’t thought too much about messes, and clutter, what with all the excitement of Strawberry Grandbaby

being born.  Then the hospital, rehab, and therapy.

But, once she started thinking about it, that’s ALL Strawberry Girl could think about.

She was sick and tired of messes , and clutter.  Ranch Man was working hard, but all he could do is keep up with day to day stuff, feeding and caring for an invalid, semi-invalid, and a baby.

So, Strawberry Girl made up her mind to clean up her own messes, and clutter, and document the process.

She found other blogs that inspired her, so she began.

At first, all she could do is sweep under the high chair.

Then, she would sit down exhausted.  Of course, her fingers weren’t tired!  Just her back, and legs, and arms, so she could write her blog posts.

And so she wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

To Be Continued….

(After a week’s break. Sorry, Laura!  Hang in there!)

     

strawberry love

(In case you missed them, part one, Strawberry City,  part two, Man Giant,  and part three, Strawberry Banquet.)

…yes!”

Joyfully, Man Giant, knelt down, asked 1 final time for Strawberry Girl’s hand in marriage.

After hearing her “Yes!”, he put the sparkling diamond on her hand, that he had been carrying in his pocket for so long.

At last, they were Engaged!

Strawberry Girl, and Man Giant were so happy!

Of course, they had a perfect purple wedding, with Tiny Noel as the Best Man.  Strawberry Girl’s Sis, and Aunt were her attendants.

The Honeymoon was in a castle, on the beach.  What a wonderful time they had, just being together.

But, when they got home, and began living together, Man Giant began being  puzzled at the messes, and clutter that seemed to follow Strawberry Girl, wherever she went.  Before, he had been so blindly in love, that he never noticed.

“Just clean up”, he tells her.

Strawberry Girl struggles to clean, and organize, but it’s the same trouble she’s always had.  Man Giant helps her clean, and organize, but still doesn’t understand why she can’t do it herself.

In due time, Baby Strawberry Giant arrives, to every one’s great delight!

To be continued……

Under Cover, Under Counter

This looks bad, I know.

Right side

Left side

This is another one of those cases where you just need to be grateful we don’t have smell-o-vision.

Yeah, it kinda… um, how can I put this delicately… stinks.  Like mildew.

Now, I wasn’t aware that the sink leaked.  Until the day when I needed a cleaning wipe.  Yeah, remember that 1 day when I actually cleaned the sink???

I reached under there, and that whole towel was wet.  Nasty surprise!  But did I do anything about it?  Like remove it?  Throw it away?? C’mon, you know me better than that by now!!  (For those of you who are new, I’m lazy, and a slob– SHOCKER- right?  And a big time procrastinator.  That’s all, back to your regularly scheduled post.)

Sadly, that wet towel is still there, stinking, to this day. sniff, sniff  (It’s my allergies, I’m not crying over spilled milk, or whatever the heck that liquid is.  Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.)

Well, I found out it was only water, (YAY) and not from the sink (double yay!).  Did you see the plastic jugs to the left of the pipe?  Turns out there were 3 of ’em full of water, for our emergency stash.  Until suddenly, no water at all!  Not sure what happened, but there’s holes in them now.  At least now I won’t be afraid to take up the towel, YAY!  Maybe I’ll even do it now!  {Here’s hoping!}

You’ll be happy to know, the under counter was cleaned by the time I moved out, on June 30, 2015.  Yay, me!  (Or whomever cleaned it, who may or may not have been me.  Hint: It wasn’t me.)

(I’m so frustrated with myself right now.  I took a picture of the cleaned space.  But now I can’t find it.  (Typical slob prob.  Maybe I need to… organize (GASP!) the way I do my pix?)

http://www.purfylle.com/2015/07/two-uses-tuesday-link-up-38.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FqRLUk+%28Purfylle%29

Floor Focus

I worked on the shower earlier- purging, not cleaning!  I gotta leave something for the maid to do!  {maid, that’s precious that I call myself that!}

Now the Floor, around the potty:

Left

Right

I’m sorry if it burned your eyes.  You were warned by the blog’s name, right?

Whew, not as bad as the actual toilet, though, right?

Now, I just gotta get up the gumption to :

1.  Move the t.p.

2.  Sweep.

3.  Use dustpan.

(Yes, I have to get VERY specific with myself!!)

This is not me. But the broom, and dustpan are mine.  Did you notice they are purple??

(How can you tell this isn’t me?  This person has hair!)

4.  Empty dustpan.

5.  Put away dustpan, and broom.

Yes, they probably should be in the closet, but for now, this is their home.  That way I can always find them!

Corner of the Entryway

6.  Scrub floor.

{wipes sweat out of eyes, collapses in recliner, nods off….}

That was hard work!!  I probably shouldn’t tell you I had to take a 15 minute break between steps 1, and 2, huh?

Just kidding!  It was between number 3 and 4.

And here it is:

THE GRAND REVEAL:

Ta-Da!

Right Side

I do not know what that brown stain is, but rest assured, it is not human waste!

(maybe rust??  a dead alien that assimilated itself to the floor????  All I know is, resistance was futile.)

Left Side

Rats, I forgot about under the counter.  I’m too tired.  That’ll have to be next weekend,  week, month, year?

Melinda’s Messy Metal

Well, I got stuck there,  Couldn’t come up with an “M” word for desk.

So, I just left it like that.  To confuse all you skimmers. Ha,ha!  Now you have to read at least the first line or you’ll never know what it’s about! (evil laugh)

You’ve seen this before; but then it was an after… Now, we’re gonna make the after into a before, and go from there.  Oh gracious!  Don’t tell me I’ve already bumfuzzled you!

  Waiting for someone else to do it didn’t work.  Had to do it myself.   sigh  Kristen always encourages me that I can do it!

Do the easy stuff first.  Nony’s mantra.  And boy, do I ever agree with that!

Okay, so let’s just dive in.  The water’s great.

Chips, and candy to the trash.  (Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about the Great Purge of  ’15???  Trust me, I haven’t.  But it’s all good.  At least the headache’s finally gone away.)

The shampoos and conditioner, duh!  Hi ho, it’s off to the bathroom we go.

The air fresheners??? Oh no!!! I don’t know where they go!!!  I’m stuck!  Bathroom? Laundry room?  Under the kitchen sink?  (wail)  I just don’t know!!!!!  [They ended up under the bathroom sink.]

Cry Baby Bear needs a special spot.  Where I can look at her all the time, but still accessible when I need to hug her, and cry all night.  Not that I ever do that.

The tape goes in the office drawer, which went away, with the gray cabinet.  Oh wait!  I still have it, it’s just not in the living room anymore!   Wow, good thing I don’t have to lead tours around my apartment.  The poor people would be lost, and wandering for days.

The rest of the stuff, I can’t see what it is from the picture.  (Yes, I have my readers on, thanks for asking!)

Okay, so when I actually walked over to the desk, ya know, about 2 feet away, now I can see what all is there.

And, I’m putting it away now, as we speak.

Here’s the proof. (Oops, forgot to include top shelf too.  But, it’s clean as well!)

That’s better!

Yes, Shirley, I put everything away, not just outta camera range!

Thanks Nicole, for being my inspiration to get this done!

Now, to get Sweet Friend to remove it from my house, since I don’t have a desktop anymore…

Hungry, Hungry Hamper

(Did you notice I referenced the kid’s game, “Hungry, Hungry Hippo”?  I thought it was clever.  Was it just me??)

Here’s what the corner of my bathroom, by the tub looked like before:

Now, I own a hamper.  And it does have dirty clothes in it.  So, why wasn’t it there, where I actually put my dirty clothes?? HMMM, let me think….

Okay, I can’t think of a good excuse.

Wait, I know!  I hadn’t read about creating systems that work in your home.  

Everyone knows you’re supposed to get organized, right?  And everyone has probably read at LEAST 1 book on the subject.  (Lord knows, I have, 12 or twenty, maybe??)

BUT, if you try to do all these things, but your family doesn’t work that way, you will be doomed to fail.  Then, you’ll feel like a failure.  Instead of realizing it’s not you, it’s that system that failed.

Just like almost everything in life, you have to find what works for you.  Having my dirty clothes hamper in the bedroom, or by the laundry closet didn’t work for me.

I needed it right where I take off my clothes, in the bathroom.  Obviously, I had a well established habit, of throwing my dirty clothes down in the corner.  So….

after I cleaned them all up, and washed those,

I put the hamper where the huge pile of clothes was.  Voila!  My dirty clothes are contained where they belong!  And, I don’t have to learn a new habit.  I just adjusted the system to what works for me!

YAY! I can do what any 2 year old can do!  Look, Mommy! I put my dirty clothes away myself!!