Here are some easy strategies that will help your kitchen clean-up be a breeze.

1. Start with a clean kitchen. If you have cleaned your kitchen the night before, you'll find it much easier to keep it cleaner. Remember that clutter breeds more clutter.

2. Clean up as you go. Run a sink full of warm soapy water before you start cooking. As you finish using each pan and pot, slip it into the soapy water to soak until the meal is complete. Keep a clean dishcloth handy to wipe up any spills as they happen.

3. Use the one-touch method. If you take out a spice, don't set it back on the counter. Pick up the spice, use it, and put it straight back in the cupboard. This tip alone will be a big help to you and you'll have a lot less clutter.

4. Take a minute before you serve the meal to transfer the empty pots and pans to the dishwasher. Just takes a second and it will make clean-up that much easier.

Photo credit:  13Dede@stock.xchng

by TwitterButton.com

I'm sitting in my hotel room here in Phoenix and I am SO happy. I love hotel rooms so much it's almost indecent. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and I love my family, but once in a blue moon, it is such a luxury to have a space that I can call all my own.

I think it's because I've never lived alone - never. I lived with my Mom until I was 24 and then I got married and moved into an instant family with my husband and my new stepson. That was 25 years ago, so I don't think anyone could begrudge me a tiny little corner of the world to have all to myself for a few days every year or so.

I'm sitting here in this comfy, cozy bed, watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and eating a whole pint of butter pecan Haagen Daz while I check in with my blog and see what the rest of the Internet is up to.

I feel like I've been such a neglectful Mommy of this blog lately. Other than my pre-scheduled Clutterbugs posts, I haven't had time to post much lately. Even today was a little hectic. I got up early this morning to catch a plane to put in an appearance at our Phoenix office. When I got there, I taught three different computer sessions to my co-workers - one Excel, one Access database with a little Excel thrown in, and one on our in-house billing software.

I love doing that, but it takes the energy right out of you - much more than just regular work. Not to mention the fact, that I was panicking all week because the in-house software wasn't working properly for me and I was completely freaking out because I thought I was going to get up there and look like a total idiot in front of my co-workers! Fortunately, at about 7:00 last night, I finally got it working right - whew!

In between that and the craziness of my normal workload - I normally process about $4 million dollars worth of phone bills in about a two week period across three different billing platforms, plus a whole other boatload of meetings and other job-related stuff, work has been well, crazy.

Then I get home and had a Stampin' Up! class to prep for, a Pampered Chef show to pull together, a Scout campout to help organize, a musical that Blake is involved in, a Mission Trip that Matt is preparing for next weekend, a dinner party for a dozen people, I think Easter was in there somewhere, and I know there was something else in there, but I just can't remember. 

Then there was all the usual stuff - doctor, dentist, and vet appointments, homework, grocery shopping, laundry, meals, and I'm pretty sure there was a husband a couple of kids floating around there somewhere! Yep, that's my Crazy Life for you!

Not that I'm complaining - I like my life and I've actually got it pretty good. I've got a family who loves me - and puts up with all this nonsense. I've got a pretty good job, and I get to sell some fun stuff that I love. I've got a great house that is clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be comfortable. And I've got some delightful friends in my on-line world that give me a bit of fun and relaxation in the midst of all this. Some of them are on Facebook, Twitter, Blogfrog, Ning, and Yahoo groups and a lot of them have blogs of their own. And tomorrow, I get to hang out with a bunch of them for the rest of the weekend! Yep, two whole days with about 80 of my newest best friends at the beautiful Xona resort. You can't beat that.

So I'll have some good posts for you over the next week or so, hopefully with some pictures of my adventures down here in Phoenix!

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to enjoying my lovely hotel room!

by TwitterButton.com

I read a good tip this week. Not only does upbeat music boost your mood and get you in the right frame of mind to want to do your cleaning, but it also can be used as a sort of a clue to yourself and your family that it's clean-up time.

If you always play the same artist or the same genre of music when you do your cleaning, your family will start to build a subconscious association with that music and when they hear it, they will be more likely to get up off the couch and pitch in with the work.

Flylady has a whole CD of songs that have been put together just for cleaning. You might want to pop over to her website and check it out.

The music I like best for cleaning is The Pointer Sisters or the score from Dreamgirls. Music that is upbeat and fast paced with a lot of variety to it.

PS: Here's a quick tip from my Grocery Tips for Smart Shoppers. Bring your I-pod with you when you go grocery shopping. The stores deliberately play that draggy elevator music so you'll shop slower and buy more stuff. Listen to your own upbeat music and keep your own pace and you'll spend less money!

by TwitterButton.com

This is a subject I am kind of a fanatic on. Money is very important to me. Not because I want a new Lexus, or a mink coat, or a cruise around the world, but because I want to make sure that my family is safe and secure, even in precarious financial times such as these.

I've had some tough financial times in my life and it wasn't fun at all. It isn't just about having nice clothes, or eating in nice restaurants, or taking nice vacations. Sometimes it's about having a safe place to live.

Photo Credit

by TwitterButton.com

Well, it finally happened, the ultimate embarrassment. My Super-Cleanie sister happened to drop in on a day when my house was looking like a total train wreck! Ugh. Don't you just hate it when that happens? It is SO humiliating! You just want to crawl right under the couch and eat dust bunnies.

I know you're thinking that I am the last person who should let myself be placed in a situation like that. After all, I teach this stuff and I write posts all the time about cleaning and organization.

But, we all have busy weeks, and get distracted with other stuff and start drifting out of our normal routines. And even though I've learned a lot about organizing and developed a lot of new habits, it doesn't mean that I don't have a little backslide once in a while.

And my sister, of all people - sheesh! These are pictures of my sister's house. As you can see it is gorgeous and it looks like this 24 X 7.



I always go into hyperdrive when I know she is coming over because I can't stand the thought of her seeing my house in less than perfect condition. And believe me, today it was in much less than perfect condition!

We had just redecorated the kitchen last night and were too tired to finish it up, so there were boxes and plastic wrap and styrofoam all over, in addition to the pictures we had taken down.

We'd run out of kitty litter and the cat box was in a very sorry state, and naturally her grandkids were begging to come in and visit the kitties. Even my normally clean entryway was all cluttered with my Easter decorations that I was in the process of putting up.

And of course, my husband had to bring her into the very messy kitchen to show off our new dining room chairs and new decor, and then take her down to the cluttered basement to show her the new paint job. Man, I so need to re-train that guy!

Oh well, what can you do? It is what it is. You can't get a do-over on that one. And stumbling around mumbling excuses and trying to shove stuff out of the way just makes it worse. You just have to stand up and deal with the whole humiliating situation as best you can.

After she left, I was tempted to get mad and blame my family, but it's not their fault. Yes, some of the mess was their fault, but I'm the Mom and I'm the one who sets the tone for keeping the house clean (or not!).

So, I didn't get mad, but I did get busy and so did the rest of the family. And you know, with all four of us working, we had the house back under control in just about 30 minutes.

Hopefully, next time we'll think to do the 30 minute clean-up BEFORE my darn sister comes over rather than AFTER!

by TwitterButton.com

Sometimes I think one of the biggest challenges in keeping a nice house is to deal with the daily clutter of dishes, mail, shoes, newspapers, backpacks, etc. If you can just get this one habit until control, you would be so surprised at what a difference it would make in your home!

One simple thing you can do is to just get in the habit of taking a few things with you every time you leave a room. It would literally take a matter of seconds to pick up a couple of glasses or dishes when you're heading for the kitchen, a pair of shoes or a coat when you're headed for the bedroom - how easy is that?

Eliminating the clutter in this way will make your room look so much cleaner and will make it so much easier to keep a room looking nice. You've gotten to the point where you don't even notice the clutter.

Once you remove the constant clutter from a room, you'll notice even one thing out of place. It's like the peace and quiet of the country after a few weeks of being in the noise and bustle of the city. It's really refreshing.

Photo credit:  LHumble @ stock.xchnge

by TwitterButton.com

I came across this term in an old post on Unclutterer. I think this is such a great concept. I know we are "supposed" to do a load of laundry every day or so, but every once in a while, we just get too far behind to catch up. Flylady calls this Mt. Washmore and it can be one of the most discouraging things in the world.

Their suggestion was to pack it all up and take it to the local Fluff & Fold. Even if it costs you a few extra bucks, wouldn't it be great to get caught up once and for all so you can start fresh? And besides, they fluff and fold it for you, what could be better than that?

Another idea would be to take it all to a self-serve laundromat and stake out a whole bank of washers and dryers. You might spend a few extra quarters, but you'd be done in just a couple of hours and the kids would probably think it's a great adventure.

Photo credit: Evink at Stock.xchng

by TwitterButton.com

Our April Fool's Day was quite hilarious here at the Crazy House! I never really go all that crazy about these little holidays in the Spring like some people do. I tied a couple of shoes together and hid Matt's wallet and car keys and that was about the extent of it.

However, about half-way through the day, I got a fun idea. I would have the kitties "catnap" Matt's laptop and leave him a trail of clues for him to find it. It was really fun.

1st note: Messrs Meatloaf, Salami, and Sardine (those are nicknames we call our cats) have catnapped your computer. If you want to see it alive again, you'll need to follow our directions exactly. Your first top off our food bowls and await further instructions and your computer will come to no harm.

2nd note: As your ransom, you must provide treats for all your captors. Must be paid in small bills to Don Salami. Leave the loot in the blue basket or you'll sleep with the fishes. (We keep the pet items in a small blue basket next to the fish tank).

3rd note: Mister Meatloaf and his accomplice Don Salami want to go outside to make sure you haven't called the cops. Their sidekick Sardine will stay behind to keep an eye on you.

4th note: Your catnappers have taken over the guest room as their headquarters. go and make the bed for them. Don't forget to fluff the pillows (the laptop was under the pillow).

5th note: Taped to the computer - Curses! Foiled again - we'll get you next time!


We thought that was going to be the end of it, but 'taint necessarily so! When I signed on to my computer today, I had a comment on an earlier post about my son's tattoo. They pointed out that the tattoo was misspelled! Oh.My.Gosh! We had no idea!

What is really hilarious is that it is his own NAME that is misspelled. Looks almost like "Mother" doesn't it? But it's supposed to be Matthew (two T's), NOT Mathew!



We had planned this for months and Matt had designed all the artwork himself, but the guy changed it all around. He made it much larger, changed the shape of the cross and created this ribbon with the huge lettering on it - originally Matt had the verse on a small scroll at the bottom of the cross. I had even gone down to the place to look at it before they started the work, but I was so upset with the guy for changing his design so much, I didn't take the time to look at it as carefully as I should have. Obviously, neither did Matt.

When I pointed it out to Matt, he was horrified, but what can you do? It's a tattoo. It's permanent. Yes, you can get that laser thing done to fade it out, but it costs like 10 times what the tattoo costs and takes a dozen or so painful treatments to face out the pigment, especially once he gets the final shading and coloring done. I'm horrified too, but it's kind of funny too. I said that he would just have to be a warning to all his friends who want tattoos. Hopefully, they'll think twice about it. I know I will. If I ever get another one, I'm going to get a final copy on paper and take a few days to look it over!

PS: Maybe we'll just change his name. We noticed a couple of years ago that it's also misspelled on his SS card. Maybe the universe is just trying to tell us something!

Update:  Here's the finished product.  He did go to another artist and had the final coloring done and had the letters cleaned up a bit, so it's a bit more readable, but it's always going to be misspelled.