Tip: Use Drop Spots to Stay Organized

Well, after an unplanned hiatus, I'm back. I spent one week at home with pneumonia, followed by two days in the hospital, two days back at work and six days in Mexico for my anniversary trip. I have plenty of great stuff lined up to post, so  you can expect regular posts.

Today I just wanted to share a quick tip on how to maintain your organized home. Maintenance is so important after you've spent hours getting your home organized. To keep it that way, use drop spots throughout your house. A drop spot is a basket or bin to place items that don't belong in that room. When the drop spot gets full, pick it up and take the items to their home. It couldn't be easier to maintain your clean, organized home.

Green Dishwashing Failure

One of my goals is to reduce the chemicals in our house. I'm starting with our cleaning products. After using the last of our chemical-laden Cascade, I decided to try a green detergent made of borax, washing soda and baking soda. The results left a lot to be desired. My dishes were coated with a nice layer of white residue. I attempted to rerun the load with less detergent, but it didn't solve the problem. I had to hand scrub the entire load, taking so much more time than if they were just dirty from use.

I know our hard water with lovely orange staining abilities and lack of a water softener are to blame for the issue, but I'm still very frustrated about it. Here I am trying to do what I think is best for my family, and my failure is not welcome!

But I'm not giving up. I'll try just a few dishes with about half the amount of detergent. If it works, I'll be thrilled. If it doesn't, I won't have as much to hand wash, and I'll move on to another recipe.

Chaos after Visitors

Whew! We had a fun, relaxing weekend. My parents came for a visit. It'd been five weeks since we'd seen them, so we had a great time showing off what C can do and say. C got to wade in her blowup pool for the first time. She was so cute because she didn't want to sit down; she slipped onto her tush a couple times and quickly got back up. We definitely enjoyed their visit, but now we're left with a hangover of sorts.

When I have guests, I get a little lazy with housework because I want to enjoy their company and relax. My lax cleaning over the weekend coupled with the house not being really clean when they showed up have made for quite the to-do list this week.

What's on my to-do list you ask? Well, I need to clean all three bathrooms (the master is the dirtiest); wash dishes; wash, fold and put away laundry (our clean laundry covers our king-size bed); sweep the great room, especially under the couches; clean the kitchen and dining room and vacuum the rugs.

Hi, ho off to work I go. I have lots to do. I hope to be back on Wednesday with a post about my goals for the month.