Time to Make the List!!!

Going with my new theme of getting things done, and sticking to it, I've decided to make a list of major to-do's around the home. These are not major remodels, or even major repairs, but little projects I've neglected or put off out of sheer laziness. Of course, at the time I didn't call it laziness; I always had an excuse for something getting put off - laundry needs to be folded (even if I never got to it), my book needs to be finished (instead I'd play on the Internet)...you get the point.

So, without further adieu, here's the list. (pics of before and after to come later):

1. Living room needs to be painted. Already painted two walls, but it would be nice to finally finish.
2. Started "antiquing" my dining room chairs. Now, I have six chairs with four different colors.
3. Ceiling tiles in the basement really need to be rehung, and some more need to be bought for the rest of the spaces.
4. Chimney REALLY needs to be cleaned before I start a fire!
5. Tupperware and kitchen appliance cabinet needs to be organized.
6. Plastic needs to be hung over the rest of the windows.
7. Bathroom closet needs to be cleaned and organized.
8. Curtain in hall bath need to be hung.
9. New toilet seat for hall bath.
10. I have three patterns and fabric of dresses and aprons I bought and never finished.
11. Do you realize how much outdated makeup I have?
12. Garage needs to be cleaned. I had intended to have a garage sale over the summer and it flopped. I still have BAGS of clothing to take to the Goodwill. Plus, my poor husband can never find any of his tools due to my bad habit of just tossing the tools on the closest shelf.
13. Front porch needs to be cleaned off. (This is actually on this week's Flylady schedule.)
14. My coupon stash is out of control and desperately needs to be filed properly!

That's all I can think of at the moment. It's hard to think clearly when kids are constantly talking to you! I'm sure you can all sympathize.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

I have a game plan!!!

Okay, so this is the second post of the day. I've done so much since my last post, and still have so much to do to get my home where I want it. I've heard of people doing just fifteen minutes a day to keep their homes up, but they don't live with my kids. They have dirtied the same room three times now, so I've put them to work.

I came across a website some time ago and revisited it today. It's called flylady.net. The way these women do it is by forming routines, or habits. They're big on "not being behind, but starting right where you are". Their program splits up the home into zones, and you work on these zones throughout the week, while doing your usual upkeep of the home. In other words, your home gets a deep clean every month, rather than just your typical spring cleaning.

Another huge focus is getting dressed to lace up shoes as soon as you get up. In other words, get up, get dressed all the way to your shoes (including hair and face) before starting anything else for the day. Now, I don't know about doing my hair and face first thing in the morning, but there's no reason I can't get dressed, brush my hair and teeth and have my shoes on before I start my coffee or wake up the kids. I mean, really, how long does it take to throw on some clothes and run a brush through your hair. Granted, we start our day at 6am, but that's no excuse for looking like a slob every day!

Okay, so there's my game plan. While I'm working the steps on Flylady.net, I will also tackle one project every day. I have so many projects that need to be done, anything from socks to be darned (yes, I do this. I see no reason to throw them out if the elastic is still good in them), to walls that still need to be painted. We've lived in this house for over a year and I still haven't finished painting.

Here's the deal: I will post a pic of what I'm wearing and what project I've tackled every day (or at least I will try to. I do work from home as a published author, and writing must be done in order to get paid). I will also post what I've accomplished on the Flybaby list for the day. I hope you will join me in reclaiming my life!

Have a great New Year's!

Yet another failure at being a vintage housewife!

It's now Sunday, New Years Eve Eve, 12:20pm and I'm still in my pajamas. No, I don't wear nighties, or anything like that, but they're still what I slept in. I have yet to brush my hair or even my teeth. (I know, ew gross!) I keep trying to tell myself it's okay because I'm packing away the Christmas decorations, and will be making several trips in and out of the garage to hoist the boxes into the attic, but we all know this is nothing more than an excuse to avoid doing anything with my appearance. Why are we, as a society, so against spending time on ourselves? What is so wrong with wanting to look nice, even if it's just for your own family?

I aimed to look like this everyday:

And instead, I've looked like this everyday:

Okay, maybe not quite...I don't have a mask on, nor am I carrying around chocolates (only because I don't have any.), but you get the point. Why is it so hard to convince myself it's perfectly fine to look nice while cleaning? It's not like I'm sweeping the chimney or something. Well, at least not today. There's really no cleaning I have to do that would destroy my clothing, even without an apron.

I'm contemplating posting pictures of myself every day as a way to keep myself accountable. But, being as I have no followers, I'm pretty sure I could get away with a lot since no one will see them. lol

I would love to know how the women who are pulled together every day keep themselves motivated. Is it something they had to work at, or a way they were raised? My mom used to never leave the house without lipstick, but I think I'm rubbing off on her. She's been known to go into public without a stitch of makeup quite often lately. Is that a sign of low self-esteem on both of our parts?

Okay, So I'm a Hypocrite!

Yep, I'll admit it. It turns out I'm a total hypocrite. I complain endlessly about how there is no chivalry, how men and women no longer have defined roles. Tonight, I went to the grocery store, and was standing in line to check out when an older gentleman complained about the young girls outside gathering the carts from the parking lot. He said it wasn't safe with all the weirdos. Without a second thought I blurted out "I can't believe you actually just said that. Don't you think we women can take care of ourselves in this day and age." The moment it escaped my lips, I realized I had become part of the problem.

How can I, a self professed traditional housewife, declare chivalry is dead when I single-handedly shot it dead in one grocery trip? That man was doing exactly what those of us with old fashioned values crave, yet I very vocally stopped him in his tracks. Now, I wasn't rude about it; I was smiling and joking with him, but you could tell by his body language I had made him uncomfortable. So, how do we break ourselves of these "worldly" and "feminist" thoughts when it's been drilled so hard into our heads?

Morals, Values, and the Modern World

Okay, so I wore a dress, hose, and heels in public Wednesday. I then had to work Thursday and Friday (washing dogs for a grooming salon), therefore, I wore ratty jeans, an old T-shirt, and my worst tennis shoes. Trust me when I say there's absolutely no way to dress up at that job. However, Friday was my last day. I was only working part-time for the holidays, both for extra money for my family and to help out the owner of the grooming shop who just happens to be my best friend in the whole world.

Today, I'm currently wearing a pair of pants (not jeans, but not slacks either) and an inside out sweatshirt. I have so much "dirty" work to do I just couldn't stomach the thought of ruining any of my nice clothes. I have yet to purchase or make a sturdy day dress to do my housework, so my work clothes will have to do for now. But, when I've finally obtained the sturdy feminine wear, I will be wearing them, even when I'm only writing. (Did I mention I'm an author and work from home?)

Several times now I've attempted the old school hairstyles. I've learned a couple things from these attempts - women kept their hair shorter because it takes forever to style, and women only washed their hair a couple times a week because it takes forever to style! I don't own curlers so I've had to use a curling iron. I recently bought sponge rollers, but after ten hours my damp hair was still damp. I had no desire to sleep in those things, so I rolled my hair and pinned them. Unfortunately, I twisted the hair while rolling it and it came out looking very 80s hair band video. The hair went into a braid for the day, but at least it was more than my daily pony tail. Yep, I wear my hair in a pony tail every day, whether my hair is long or short, or it's hot or cold outside. I don't generally wear makeup because, well frankly, I usually only see the dog, chickens, and iguana throughout the day. My thought process was 'who cares?', but I realized something....I should care. I should care how I look to both myself and my wonderful husband. After he works ten to twelve hours a day doesn't he deserve to come home to a clean house, a hot, home cooked meal, and a beautiful, pulled together wife?

I've seen so many comments on that old Good Housekeeping article, you know the one, where women ridiculed this thought process. Why? Wasn't part of the women's suffrage that we should be able to choose whether we wanted to work or not? Why is my choice to serve my husband and make sure I'm the one raising my kids instead of a daycare considered bad, antiquated, and less of a woman? I'm fully aware it's not always possible for a woman to stay at home, I was one of them after my divorce, but if both parents don't have to work, why shouldn't you have the joy of knowing you instilled your values and your morals into your child instead of letting the world dicate who they'll become?

Okay, so today is Saturday, Christmas is Tuesday. Starting....tomorrow (remember, I have a lot of dirty work today) my face and hair will be done, and I will be wearing clothes not fit for a mechanics shop. I will strive to be more like the 1950s wife we all have read about, and some have ridiculed me. No, this isn't an experiment, rather a way to improve our lives as a family.

Being the Change I Want To See

I've been thinking about starting this blog for a while. I don't know what I'm hoping to get out of it; maybe it's nothing more than a way to hold myself accountable, or maybe it's because I'm hoping for some cheerleaders and partners in the change I'm wanting to make.

Here's the deal - This world is a mess. Violence is as normal to our everyday life as, say, drinking coffee. Even the disgusting, horrible tragedy in Newtown Connecticut has become a market, a way for celebrities and politicians to voice their opinion. Our society applauses immorality, nudity, and violence (whether they're willing to admit it or not) and despise those of us who choose to spend our lives raising our children and serving God, our husbands, and our community.

I've been a work at home/stay at home mom for a couple of years, but I haven't embraced the role as I should. I've become a lover of the world. Every day I see women AND men walking around with the behinds hanging out. Boys (and grown men) wear their pants so that we see their underwear. Women wear shirts so low one sneeze will expose their entire chest. No...I'm not a prude. I like a fart joke, toilet humor, and a good action flick as much as the next person. But we have become a society of slobs. We no longer teach morals and values to our children. They have no pride in how they look, nor do they feel they have to work hard to be the best - society tells them there are no winners or losers.

Here's one example of the common attire of our society:

How about this shopper:

When did this become acceptable? When did it become okay to let your rear end hang out? I was raised to cover myself, to make sure my "private parts" weren't visible.

What happened to this?

These women were sexy, they dressed with class, they cared about their appearance.

I am in no way saying we should obsess over our appearance. Trust me, there are many, MANY days when I leave my house without makeup. Unfortunately, I have also began to leave the house in my pajamas, or dirty clothes and disheveled hair. How can anyone take me seriously or have respect for me when I'm showing I don't have respect for myself?

I'm fully aware this blog is a bit rambling, but I have so much to say. Here's the point of this blog - I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I will no longer leave my house looking like a slob. I will wear clean clothes in good condition, even wearing skirts or dresses when appropriate. Our grandmothers only wore skirts and dresses in public, why can't we? Okay, I won't be doing that often, but that's because I don't own very many.

I will also take on my role as mother and housewife with self-respect, striving to keep a clean home, keep the laundry from constantly getting backed up, and the refridgerator well stocked with healthy food and snacks. I'm determined to become as close to a fifties housewife as possible.

Will anyone join me?