Cleaning Schedule

Trust me, no one enjoys cleaning. I would much rather be at a spin or yoga class than scrubbing the floors. But with busy lives if I don't keep up with the house cleaning, than we start to look like a candidate for "Hoarders". I used to do all of the house cleaning on Fridays and it would take me anywhere from two to three house. That's a huge chunk out of, what at that time, was my only free day off. Whew!!

Enter the cleaning schedule. I decided to make a list of everything that had to be done for the house as far as cleaning and keeping it in tip top shape. Then I broke the list down by days during the week, so each day I only spend 20-30 minutes on the house, and it's easy to fit into any schedule and the house pretty much stays immaculate all week long; at least until the weekend when we are both home and making quite the mess.

 

So here is what my cleaning schedule looks like. Adjust yours accoring to the needs of your home and work schedule. It will save you some back breaking work all on one day. Especially helpful if you are like me, the one who does all the cooking and cleaning in our house.

 

Daily: I do a quick, general pickup of the house and put stuff back where they belong. Check the cat box, wipe down surfaces etc. Dishes are done daily.

 

Monday: Floors (vacuum, mop/wet swiffer, and wipe down baseboards). Mondays I also do the grocery shopping and prepare any meals for the week ahead of time such as lunches so they are ready for the hubby to grab and go.

 

Tuesdays: Kitchen (clean out fridge, throw out any expired food, wipe down inside of fridge, and outside of all appliances, clean stove and burners, clean and organize pantry, and wipe all surfaces)

 

Wednesdays: Bedroom (dust all furniture, laundry day and launder bed linens)

 

Thursdays: Bathrooms (clean and scrub bath, toilet and vanity, stock any toiletries etc)

 

Fridays: Floors again (with two animals it's hard to keep the floors spotless so we have to do them twice a week. I can't wait to see how dirty they get once there is a small child running around the house)

 

Saturday and Sundays: OFF have a cocktail and put your feet up

 

 

Spring Cleaning: Clean Out the Closet

I guess that I'm lucky that we are moving this month. I can kill two birds with one stone, clear out the house to have less to pack while also doing a bit of Spring Cleaning.

Yesterday we started with the closet. You know that tiny room packed with things you never wear, and you just keep hanging it up, or tossing it in the back somewhere never to be seen from again.

Here are a few tips to easily clean out the closet and start off Spring feeling fresh and renewed (at least in that corner of the home).

1. Give yourself or an hour or two to do this project. Start from one side of the closet and work your way to the other.

2. Grab the items you are not sure of, or have not worn in awhile. If something is in the closet that you love and wear often, there is no reason to take a look at that. Leave it hanging up. We all have our favorite go to pieces, why mess with perfection?

3. Try on the items and see how they fit. Remember, don't hold onto something with the mindset that "One day I'll lose the weight to fit into this". It rarely happens!

4. If it fits, take a look at it. Are there any holes, rips, stains etc that can be fixed? If so put it into a maybe pile. If there are any defects in the garment, put it into a donate or trash pile.

5. Now be really honest with yourself here. Do you love it? Have you worn it in the last 6-12 months? If the answer is no to both questions, throw it into a donate, trash or sell pile. Yes, a SELL pile. I found several garments of luxury brands that were in near perfect condition that I never wear, and even in some cases have NEVER worn. These can easily be sold on Ebay and give you more money for something you would really love and wear often.

6. Don't hold onto the sell or donate items very long. You could potentially forget about them, and toss them back into closet ruining all your hard work.

7. My biggest tip about cleaning out the closet is just to be honest about the item. Are you in love with it? Have you worn it recently? Will you ever wear it again? Is it dated or out of season?

8. Now arrange your closet by season, then item, then colors. This makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. For instance my closet goes (from left to right), casual short sleeves (tees, polos, etc), then casual long sleeve items (pullovers, l/s tees), then dressier long sleeve shirts (collared dress shirts etc), then into light weight sweaters, zippies, pullovers, and then into heavier sweaters and hoodies. And then within each grouping they go from darkest to lightest in color.

9. Do this with your shoes as well, and then put all the shoes into clear shoe boxes (mine are from the Container Store). This keeps all your shoes visible so you can grab them when you need them, and no shoe is forgotten. We would never want that.

Breakfast Sushi

Here is a fun, quick and easy breakfast for the kiddos (or yourself), not to mention it's clean eating and healthy.

Take one tortilla wrap ( I like the whole wheat Flat Outs) and add one tablespoon of almond butter and spread out across the wrap. Add a banana and roll up the wrap; then slice into bite sized pieces. I drizzled maple flavored agave syrup on top, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. This would also be good with a low fat or greek style yogurt inside with the banana and peanut butter. Low cal, low fat, healthy, delicious and so much fun the kids will love it!

Information Meeting

The other day we went to the Information Meeting at the Department of Child Services to find out more about the foster/adopt process. The meeting was only an hour, and we both went in with a lot of questions, a lot on our minds, and a little nervousness.

The group was small which was nice, because it was more intimate and I felt more comfortable opening up about our situation, why we want to adopt, and who we are as a gay couple. Besides us there was a single middle aged woman, who wanted a child and didn't want to wait any longer to "find the right man", and a couple that was probably our age that have reproductive issues and adoption was there next step.

The meeting was held by someone who works with the the DCF and then another woman who is an Adoption Ambassador and has adopted two children of her own. The Ambassador I had actually met before through a former co-worker about a year ago that knew we wanted to adopt. We kind of didn't keep up the contact, so I never got the information then. But everything happens for a reason, and at the time that you are ready for it. I probably wasn't ready for this process a year ago like I thought I was back then.

It was nice to hear from the Ambassador and her story about adopting her children. It's great to hear from someone who has been through the process, and can easily offer you information and answer you questions.

My big question was about the timeline; what had to be done and in what order. We went over that a lot and that really eased my mind. Matt felt a little better after the meeting as well. One of the big things we learned was that the child gets free health care, and if fostering a clothing allowance quarterly. Not that we can't provide those things ourselves, but it was nice to know what we would have some assistance. There are also support groups for the foster parents, and for the families. It's comforting to know that they won't just hand us a kid and say "Here ya go, have fun!" It's nice to know that there is support along the way.

The big question we have now is if we want to go in for fostering or fostering to adopt. With straight up fostering there is a huge chance that they child will come and go, you will get attached, and there for your heart breaks a little each time it happens. I don't see how you can every strengthen your heart enough to not have that effect you. Obviously, the main objective of DCF is to get the parent the help they need to get on track, and to reunite the child with it's biological parents eventually.

With foster to adopt, you are giving some of the child who are in the worse case scenarios, probably already in the foster system, and there is very little hope that they will be reunited with their parents. This increases the chance that, if you bond with the child, you adopt them and they stay with you. We are leaning more towards foster to adopt I think.

So now we have to fill out the very lengthy application, and wait for it to be looked over, background checks done, and then a home visit is scheduled. We may have to wait on filing the application for another month or two, because we are currently living a one bedroom townhouse. We will be moving to a bigger place at the end of April, where the child will have their own bedroom. So the home visit will need to be done once we've moved, so they can verify we have space for the child.

Adoption Informational Meeting

So next week is our informational meeting to learn more about the adoption procedure. We are already nervous about just going to this one hour meeting, it's kind of hysterical. I have to start thinking about some important questions to ask.

Here is what's already floating around in our heads:
1. How long does the process usually take?
2. What is needed from us?
3. What is the time line throughout the process, how long between steps

I'm sure we are going to learn all of this at the meeting next week, but wow my head is spinning.

Fatherhood

My father has been on my mind a lot lately, even invading my dreams. I'm not sure why he is on my mind at all actually. Then it hit me, that in order to determine how I would be as a father, I needed to take a look at how my father was as a parent. To say that my father and I don't get along is to put it mildly, we haven't even spoken to one another in years. Sure, I've tried to mend fences but it was one sided and I gave up. I have forgiven him for everything and moved on. I did my best to repair our relationship, and wasn't even met half way. There was no more I could do, but to forgive and forget and move on with my life; without him in it. Which is something I've done for the past twenty plus years anyways.

 

Looking back over the things my father did to us as children, I began to see why I was so fearful of becoming a parent and perhaps waited this long to feel the time was right. As a parent, he would "make Mommie Dearest look like Winnie the bloody Pooh". I guess over the years he has taught me one thing, how not to be a parent. I want to undo the things he did emotionally to me. I want to provide my children with the love and nuturing that I never felt from him. My child would have the undying support and strength from me that I never received from him. I will beleive in my child, that they can do and be whatever they want, and be there to support them along that path.

Happy New Year

So it's that time of the year, the New Year, where we look forward to upcoming year and what we want to accomplish. I always start the New Year by making or revising my Vision Board. Big goals for 2013 include moving into a bigger place, getting a bigger car, welcoming a baby into our family, practicing yoga more, and continue biking and training for my first Century ride (100 miles).