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Post by imamess on Feb 20, 2017 18:46:12 GMT -5
My friend brought breakfast, so only coffee cups dirtied. After a while we ran dishwater to wash more things pulled out of the backs of cabinets that needed washing before packing. My house still looks like he!!, but 98% of my small moveable stuff is out, the flooring is picked out and will be ordered tomorrow. I may be without water for several days starting about THursday.
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Post by megsb on Feb 20, 2017 22:11:06 GMT -5
My friend brought breakfast, so only coffee cups dirtied. After a while we ran dishwater to wash more things pulled out of the backs of cabinets that needed washing before packing. My house still looks like he!!, but 98% of my small moveable stuff is out, the flooring is picked out and will be ordered tomorrow. I may be without water for several days starting about THursday. Wow, lots going on in your home, imamess! Good luck with the packing, storing and flooring. Several days without water = NO DISHES can be washed for those days? Good excuse (to eat out, or bring in and use paper plates??)
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Post by megsb on Feb 20, 2017 22:25:33 GMT -5
As poorly as I can (physically) feel on some days, I gotta say, Emotionally, psychologically I always feel better If the only thing I do Each day is Wash my dishes !!!!
And so, I do (Almost) Everything Day
Wasn't always this way..... But the "Feeling Good" (reward) Is worth the effort
And so, I am happy to say that I just finished my dishes for today.
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Post by imamess on Feb 21, 2017 4:49:20 GMT -5
My friend brought breakfast, so only coffee cups dirtied. After a while we ran dishwater to wash more things pulled out of the backs of cabinets that needed washing before packing. My house still looks like he!!, but 98% of my small moveable stuff is out, the flooring is picked out and will be ordered tomorrow. I may be without water for several days starting about THursday. Wow, lots going on in your home, imamess! Good luck with the packing, storing and flooring. Several days without water = NO DISHES can be washed for those days? Good excuse (to eat out, or bring in and use paper plates??) I brought two plastic dishpans in from the storage bldg. I have a couple of large water containers that I will set up in the laundry/sewing room and hopefully we can cut the water off under the house instead of at the well, so I will have access to an outdoor faucet and can carry water for the commode and set buckets for that in the tub. If not I will haul water from the neighbors/. Two years ago about this time I had a problem with the water and did not have water for 6 weeks. I heated water on the stove, mixed with cold and washed dishes and myself. If my stove is unplugged I can heat water in the microwave. It's a little aggravating, but not all that bad and the results will be worth anything I have to go through. Another friend said if my house got too bad I could stay with her. She is only 4 miles away.
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Post by wynken on Feb 23, 2017 8:00:21 GMT -5
Good planning imamess. Good to see you here, and on keeping up megsbTonight I bit the bullet and got into the kitchen to catch up again. I hit an emotional speedbump and don't hold onto this action of washing the dishes..
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Post by cleanbee on Feb 24, 2017 18:20:37 GMT -5
I backslid pretty badly this week and the toll on my emotional health was devastating. But I finally got butt in gear and i just finished loading and started the dw, washed the pans, shined the sink, purged the fridge, took the trash out, defended and swiped the counters. Waiting now for the good feelings to come, but right now I'm still really disappointed with myself
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Post by wynken on Feb 24, 2017 19:53:34 GMT -5
((( cleanbee ))) You are not the backslide. I'm glad you have done so much to restore order in your kitchen. Now its time to thank yourself for doing thus - and be glad of it.
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Post by cleanbee on Feb 25, 2017 7:07:40 GMT -5
Thanks wynken. I'm feeling the good feeling this morning as I woke up to clean kitchen and didn't have to struggle to find a clean cup for my coffee
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Post by cleanbee on Feb 26, 2017 9:15:31 GMT -5
I unloaded the dw yesterday. I did quite a bit of cooking throughout the day and washed up everything by hand. Woke to clean kitchen this morning. Just need to unload the dish rack.
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Post by haywirehousekeeper on Feb 26, 2017 19:49:43 GMT -5
Hi all Congratulations to everyone for staying on task. You all seem to have made a commitment to getting on top of your dishes and, despite the inevitable ups and downs, you inspire me with your determination and persistence. I, on the other hand, am all over the place at the moment. A bit panicky about how much there is to do in my house and how little progress I seem to be making. I dropped the ball with the dishes a bit for the past week. It's not a disaster but definitely went backwards a bit. Today I have put the dishwasher on and am soaking a few things that I know won't come clean in the dishwasher (cereal bowls left for a day or two to harden, banana smoothie cups with dried up banana smoothie on them etc) The bench is still messy but my kitchen will be tidy again by the end of the day. The struggle is to maintain that while trying to make progress with the other tasks that need doing. I'm not a very good multitasker. cleanbee there is nothing worse than having to wash a cup for your morning coffee. It is an experience that I have had often and am trying to avoid in the future. Actually, now I think about it, there is something worse, which is having to wash plates and bowls for your children's breakfast. I can't stand that either as it makes me feel like the world's worst mother so I have to get better at keeping things under control. I also notice that the cleaner the kitchen, the more I feel like cooking, and the messier it gets so I need to get into a routine of cleaning up after myself so that I can keep cooking and my family can eat better food. When the kitchen is messy, I prepare the simplest meals I can to avoid spending time in there and that leads to taking short cuts etc. I do try to keep nutrition on the agenda no matter what, but I'm sure we all eat better when the kitchen is in order.
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Post by cleanbee on Feb 26, 2017 20:51:21 GMT -5
haywirehousekeeper well done getting the dw started and the other things soaking. I am in in awe of all of you who have a family's worth of dishes to deal with daily. i struggle just to keep up with washing up my own few things I don't eat cereal anymore but when I did I do remember what a pain it was to get the bowls clean if they weren't emptied and rinsed right away. I've got everything washed up and most of it put away for the evening.
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Post by haywirehousekeeper on Feb 27, 2017 19:33:30 GMT -5
cleanbee I thought a lot about your post about washing up after a family versus washing up after yourself. I had my children later and lived alone for 20 years before I had them. I was no better at doing the dishes then, than I am now although the guilt was a bit less because it only affected me. I am single and on my own with the kids and I think that it is not having another adult in the household to be accountable to that makes it easy to let things go at times. I need to be internally motivated all the time. My kids don't care whether the dishes are done. They would rather I played with them or sat down and watched TV with them than did the dishes. So as long as no one knocks on the door, there is no one to disapprove of me for not getting it done. Of course, one of the problems with having kids is that they have friends who do come and knock on the door. So that old sense I had that I could shut the world out of my home and it was no one else's business but mine is not there anymore. Having kids has brought me into contact with my neighbour's kids, and their parents, and their parents' judgements and I have not really adjusted to that. I hate having people turn up at my door unexpectedly, but I don't want my children to feel like their friends can't come and play so I have to get my act together. Longwinded post, but my point is that you shouldn't feel bad about finding it hard to do it for yourself. I think doing it for yourself is the hardest thing of all. It is hard to feel that you are important enough to cook a good meal for, to clean up after, and to take care of and it is something I have always struggled with. I would like to be internally motivated to look after my home and myself because I deserve it, but I think that I am still largely motivated by what other people need, especially my kids. I did not even look for help with my household management problems before I had kids to think about, so good on you for getting going and taking control of things for yourself and being internally motivated.
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Post by megsb on Feb 28, 2017 0:21:47 GMT -5
I remember the struggles I had keeping up with the dishes when my family was young. Working full time, coming home to cook dinner and then help with homework with two kids with disabilities. No dishwasher - except myself. I worked close to home and on most work days I would rush home on lunch hour and clean the dishes from the night before. Just so I could come home to a clean kitchen to cook in that night!!! (Husband never helped at all with any housework. - That just might be one of the contributors to our divorce.) Now I am older, not in the best of health, not working, live alone and UNTIL RECENTLY I still struggled with consistently keeping up with my dishes. (Back to no dishwasher.) But I have found an inner peace, seeing my kitchen sink and counter nice and clean. (Most of the time.) It's become a habit, almost a compulsion. (But I guess (know) there are much worse compulsions.) I keep my dishes washed mainly for one reason now; Because It Makes ME Feel Good. And at this point in my life, I admit, I LIKE feeling good!!
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Post by wynken on Feb 28, 2017 9:13:43 GMT -5
This is a good thread and links to read. links to pieces from a slob comes clean. takeonestepatatime.proboards.com/thread/29458/washing-dishes-handThe lesson is as megsb says - daily daily daily no matter what. Even if its a dishwasher. run it as routine. Tonight I cleared the decks of the sink and dishdrainer. judicious rinsing as needed for some. Actually washing dishes will be (uhumm) tomorrow. but it looks so much easier when dishdrainer and sink and all is ready to go. Made a list of hoped for routines. Today was given the suggestions ( :attending a course on decluttering, I mentioned my difficulty with living life and doing the needed things - like eating, etc etc.) routine list was one of those suggestions. daily dishes write on calendar what you do in the day. look at it and enjoy the list. you begin to mark the date when you get up with a line that signifies you have begun - and this is the day you are having today. try to have a couple of things only on the todo list. 10 min then stop. or 5min then stop if its decluttering and that's all you can stand. for a beginning. music to work to. recognise reasons to do it. mindfulness would say just to be in the moment and do it. whatever needs be is my response atm. I just need to get better at this living life gig. Maybe I need to get out my stickers again. to cheer myself on.
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Post by megsb on Feb 28, 2017 10:04:42 GMT -5
wynken. ∆ Great info! Would love to continue to hear what you are learning in this course. I truly believe that the "Tidiness" way of living just comes natural for some people. My sister is a good example. - And Mom always DID like her better. ( TRULY) (And now that I understand why, I have forgiven both -and- myself.) THEN there are the others......... The "Not so Tidies". (Like moi) But we can learn And adapt And practice And practice until it (or some parts) become a habit. And even then it still takes effort. IMO - I think many (Un-Tidy Ones) (at least myself) will always have to be vigilant. Because it can be so easy for us (me) to "fall off the wagon"..... And that can really HURT!! And getting back on the wagon becomes harder and harder.
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