3.30.2010

Day Three of Whole House Cleaning and Organizing

Today after getting my massage...I know I'm suppose to relax, eat bon-bons and watch a movie...I just couldn't, time is of the essence. I began cleaning and going through the kids' bathroom cabinets.
  • Checking expirations dates on items in the medicine cabinet.
  • Inspecting the hairbrushes, and throwing them in the wash machine for a good cleaning.
  • Making lists of  "need to purchase" items, hairbands that are on their last leg, ready to snap and put an eye out, make up used down to the nubbins, dental floss, etc...
  • Looking over the towels in the linen cabinet, tossing mascara ridden washcloths. You can purchase a stack of washcloths at Costco or Target for a few dollars. I use to take worn towels and cut them into washcloth mits and sew them together. It was easy for my little ones to wash with a mit than to hold a big wash cloth.
  • I counted beach towels, getting ready for Summer...in my dreams.
  • Stocked up on TP in the bathroom cabinet
  • Ended with a quick clean and left the bathroom shiny and decluttered!
  • Then headed to the store to buy the items on my list.
  • Put a pork roast in the crock pot to make BBQ pork sandwiches for a family having a baby this week. A good excuse to have a real dinner for myself. I hate cooking when no one is home to eat it!
I recieved a text from one of my daughters asking if I had thrown away her stuff. Are they reading my blog?! I doubt it, they just know their mother all too well. He, he,  he!
Well, I'm making a list of what I can do tomorrow. I'm starting the day of with a little service, watching my friends' children for a few hours, I wonder if she knows she's inviting the "Ninja Organizer" over to her house?!

3.29.2010

Ninja Organizer

Wow, it's been almost two months since I posted on my blog....where does time go? Wherever it goes, it goes too fast! When days get long and dark in Seattle, I head to sunnier climates to visit my family, so that's where it has gone these past two months. My oldest daughter will be leaving in two weeks to serve a full time mission for our church in Brazil. That's my other excuse, getting ready to send my daughter off for 18 months to a foreign country. Well, that's enough excuses for me, I'm on an organizing mission this week. I sent my husband and children to Utah for Spring break, while I stay home and become the "NINJA ORGANIZER".
This is the Ninja Organizer....organizes her children's rooms and husband's belongings secretly while they are away, leaving no trace that the Ninja has been there. How do I do this you ask?
 I'll share with you my little  "secret Ninja tips".

1. I take the clothing that has been hanging on my teenage daughters' hangers for a season and turn the clothing inside out. After observing the clothing not in the laundry or turned inside right, I can honestly say it's safe to donate to a better cause. You may think that they will catch on to my secret, well, that's why I alternate my system, I get two different hangers, both white in color and slightly different, and place the item in question on that hanger, then observe.
2. Same goes for dusty shoes....shoes worn do not accumulate dust!
3. I match socks to their mate. If there isn't a mate, I gather the single socks in one place, after going through all my daughters' drawers, try to find the mate, if no mate, they are gone. If needed, I buy new socks and place them in their drawers, the only trace left by the Ninja. (It softens the blow when they see the other items that are gone.) Who can argue when there's fresh socks in your drawer, folded so cute!
4. A good black Sharpie pen is crucial to a Ninja's work. I write a date on the clothing label when I purchase it for my husband, which would be ALL of his clothing. When clothing starts to look worn or stained and he says, "That's brand new, I just got that shirt." I can  honestly tell him just how old it is and there's no arguing with the Ninja, out it goes. NINJA NOTE: Socks can't be marked, but you can tell the wear by placing your hand in the sock and reading your palm.
5. I also use the black sharpie when sorting through my daughters' bathroom. I mark the date of the items when I purchase them so when I sort I know just how old that item is. If there's an item that hasn't been dated, I mark the current date so I  have a benchmark the next time I sort.
6. A good Ninja organizer must do some mending and repair. Necklaces that are in a drawer and not on  my daughters' dresser are a sure sign something is in need of repair, same goes for miscellaneous buttons, a good ninja can find the place where that button fell from and replace it, leaving no trace.

Those tips are the freshest on  my mind, I'll get out my Ninja Sharpie and make a list of other Ninja secrets I use this week. I just remembered one, reward the Ninja for her hard work....I just scheduled a massage for the last day of the week. Ahhhh!

Please share any Ninja tips you might have by leaving a comment.............