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Post by desposito on Feb 28, 2023 19:56:09 GMT -5
It's almost spring--renewal, regrowth...and spring cleaning time! 
Let's challenge ourselves to get some projects done by April 30th.
They can be about decluttering, cleaning, gardening, organizing, repairing--anything that will make your home and your life better.
The rules are up to you--psychologists say goals are more achievable if they're measurable and specific. BUT--if specific goals scare you, make them open-ended--anything that will help you get something done.
One goal or more, counted by time or items or square feet of space--or any other way you want--think of something that you'll be happy to accomplish by the end of April.
And remember, our goals can be guideposts--we don't have to finish everything perfectly, we just need to try our best!
Then post and let everyone know how it's going.

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Post by desposito on Feb 28, 2023 19:59:08 GMT -5
I will have to think about my goals for this challenge--some are carrying over. I'm sure I'll have several again, maybe not quite so many as last time--but several. This challenge will cover the months when I will be growing seeds inside to plant out in May, so they will definitely be one goal.
I hope to see everyone join in!
Diane
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Post by catcats on Feb 28, 2023 20:58:52 GMT -5
Thank you, Diane, for starting us off again. These challenges really help me to do things I probably wouldn't do, without them !!
I will be thinking about ideas for this challenge, but some are making themselves known to me already !!
I want to clean and organize the shelves at the bottom of my computer desk. This is a carryover.
My bedroom needs a lot of work. There are things that need to be put away and gotten off the floor. I want to clear it away so I can start using the Roomba.
I need to have the man come and tune up the furnace. I need to have the yard men come and rake last year's leaves up, as they never did come in the Fall. I need to see if Richard can come and advise me on a number of little fix-its around this house, and do them.
I still need to get some things out of my kitchen cabinets , as they are overcrowded.
Wishing all of you some good ideas and the satisfaction of carrying them out.
catcats
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Post by phoenixcat on Mar 1, 2023 12:12:42 GMT -5
And here we go.................  Thanks Diane for starting this new thread! I'm anxious to get goals defined and get started! 1) Finish the work on the home office which may or may not include some furniture shifting. 2) Finish setting up our trust and closing down my mother's trust. 3) Between now and March 30th - go through the areas not impacted by the bathroom renovation and do some purging and cleaning. 4) March 30th onwards - do another sort when moving stuff back to the bathroom, bedroom and closet. Hope to get it all done by April 30th. 5) Get some planting done in mid March - April due to the large volume of trees that were removed in the back yard in November. Hoping to travel for 3-4 weeks mostly in May - maybe start in April. So prep for that as well. Let the games begin!  PC
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Post by desposito on Mar 1, 2023 18:11:26 GMT -5
Hello catcats and phoenixcat, so glad you signed up again!
I'm still thinking about my goals, I keep coming up with plant ones but would like a variety.
Diane
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Post by mylittlescholar on Mar 1, 2023 22:24:00 GMT -5
First three goals:
I. Pack/childproof as much as we can in the guest room. collect packing supplies
set up table and workflowmake room in atticput racks togetherput clothing upstairs
- pack/label (inventory?) boxes--IN PROCESS
- take to attic--IN PROCESS
- vacuum--IN PROCESS
- clear off bed
- swap mattress
- move dresser from LR to guest room
- decide where to store craft stuff
- box it up as well
Additional fallout: - go through three boxes of my stuff
- go through two more boxes of DVD's papers
- go through another rack of my clothes
II. create a pathway for kitty - purchase/order cat door
- consolidate items/boxes in BBQ room--IN PROCESS
- scootch bins to make a path
- rearrange furniture in my room to make door accessible again
III. do accounting for DStepSon
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Post by desposito on Mar 2, 2023 12:24:20 GMT -5
Hi scholar!
I like that you said your "first" goals, so you will add more later!
I have finalized most of mine, although I haven't quite decided on the last couple--I will choose those later. I've come up with 13 definites--some from last time but maybe tweaked.
1. CLOTHING--instead of a time goal this time I will say I have to alter 2 items so I can wear them, and I still have to find some kind of pants to wear at home--my usual attire is jeans and scrub shirts but the jeans do get hot in summer so I would like to find something lightweight, maybe capri length. The problem is they have to have sturdy pockets for my phone and keys and lightweight pants don't always have that.
2. CLEANING--other than routine things GOAL 3 hours and 10 minutes remaining from last challenge. My tweaking of this goal is that anything other than the most routine things will count. So, anything other than sweeping and toilet/sink cleaning, because those are the only things I do regularly. I haven't even dusted anything in a long time so that will count too.
3. BASEMENT GOAL Now that I got rid of the big cabinet, I can start to do a little more fine sorting down there. It actually looks pretty good at the moment, all bins/boxes are stacked neatly, there's lots of space to walk around, the only messy spot is where the counter top is (I can't get rid of that by myself). I will be conservative and only make a goal of 1 hour on sorting things in boxes.
4. FRIDGE CLEANING I started but did not finish cleaning the fridge surfaces, I will try that again.
5. PLANT ROOM CLEANING Did not finish last time, got about half way through the room, I will finish this time.
6. POST MORE BOOKS FOR TRADING GOAL of 10
7. READ BOOKS FROM MY OWN STASH GOAL of 2
8. PLANT REPOTTING and CUTTINGS Now that spring is almost here it's time to do actual repotting again, I will make a goal of 8 plants or cuttings, that comes to one per week.
9. ENCLOSED SPACES This was too vague, because the main places I wanted to get done with this goal weren't even done. This time I have 3 specific places to clean out--the kitchen bins in the built-in cupboard upstairs, and under both kitchen sinks, upstairs and down.
10. DATA ENTRY ON BOOK SITE No specific goal, I'll keep track of time, though.
11. MAKE SCHEDULE FOR INDOOR PLANTING March will be the month to plant seeds indoors. I need to look at the seeds I have, decide which are most important, figure out how many of each considering that I have limited table space, and find the number of weeks before last frost that is the suggested start date.
12. USE SEED SCHEDULE to plant appropriate seeds during weeks 1,2,3,4 of March. I'm sure I'll plant something in April too but March is the big one.
13. CONTACT HANDYMAN and get a firm commitment for spring. I need some indoor things done, but the gate from last fall was never fixed and I really need help preparing more planting areas in the yard. If I can't get him to commit to helping me I'll have to find a landscape company that could do the tilling and I should do that sooner rather than later.
14. TBD
15. TBD
I have lots of possibilities but would like to keep it realistic so will choose only 2 more.
Diane
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Post by goldenthreads on Mar 2, 2023 13:46:54 GMT -5
Thank for the challenge, Diane! I'm going to keep this simple and achievable. 1. File taxes. 2. Clear the table of its various piles--mostly paper. 3. Clear the northwest corner of the bedroom. Right now it's unwalkable. So is most of the rest of that floor, but that'll be a good start. 4. Read/work on Buried in Treasures every day. despositoI have scrub pants for this. They're great in summer. I will say that the kind that tie at the waist would work better than the elastic waistband I have, as they tend to ride down because of the weight of the phone.
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Post by desposito on Mar 2, 2023 14:25:51 GMT -5
Golden, the only time I wore scrub pants was at an animal hospital job, and from what I remember the pockets were shallow, skimpy things that would not have held a phone. I guess I never thought that different brands would have better pockets--I will look!
I also like to have a belt loop on pants so that I can hook my keychain to it, but there are ways around that, I could figure out another way to fasten the keychain to the pants.
Diane
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Post by goldenthreads on Mar 2, 2023 14:49:29 GMT -5
Diane, I just Googled women's scrub pants with belt loops, and they do exist. That would work better than the drawstring kind, I'm sure.
My pants brand is Cherokee, and they have seven pockets, of which five are large enough for a phone. I guess they're cargo scrub pants!
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Post by desposito on Mar 2, 2023 15:00:34 GMT -5
Well thank you golden, you have given me a whole new possibility to look into! I love scrub shirts because they are so light and airy, and the pants would be the same. Plus if I wanted slightly shorter ones I could just cut the bottom edges shorter and hem them. I wouldn't care that they looked weird since I just want them for around the house.
Diane
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Post by catcats on Mar 2, 2023 21:45:16 GMT -5
After reading through these, I realize that I need to hand hem about 3 pairs of pajama/lounge pants. I am adding them to my list.
catcats
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Post by catcats on Mar 3, 2023 22:36:27 GMT -5
One down and more to go. I had the furnace men out today to do the yearly check-up and adjustments, etc. It was my intent all winter to have it done, but had never made the appointment, so now it is done. Also called yard men and they will do a Spring clean-up, including last Fall's leaves, in a couple of weeks.
catcats
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Post by hannah on Mar 3, 2023 23:23:18 GMT -5
I've been away from here for quite awhile, but I want to play too! I'm really struggling and don't even know where to begin, so if it's okay, I am going to set one or two tiny goals everyday and try to not get overwhelmed. So---my goal for tomorrow is to clean my car out so it is no longer a huge embarrassment. I feel confident that I can do it and am looking forward to the relief I will feel when it is done. I have loaded the Flylady app on my phone, and while I am not a devoted follower, I do appreciate the zone concept and the idea of establishing routines. I'm not doing her whole deal, but it does feel good to open the app and check off that I am doing a load of clothes everyday and keeping up with the dishes. I'm glad to be back because this is the most positive and non judgemental group on the net and I need the support.
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Post by desposito on Mar 4, 2023 7:47:36 GMT -5
I had the furnace men out today
Wow, 3 days into the challenge and you got this done already!
Hello hannah! Tiny goals are great, they are much easier to face than looking at everything at once. I'm glad you're back on SOOS and on the challenge thread--I agree, this place helps me so much too!
Diane
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