Good Old Fashioned Hard Work

I noticed yesterday while looking over at my side bar that year-to-date I have as many posts so far as I did the entire year last year! And yes, that includes the most recent hiatus. So that makes me feel pretty good. My desire is to keep posting; more frequently. Maybe I'll even update that ol' sidebar one of these days.

I recently called my sister and asked if she would help hold me accountable to my housekeeping goals. Her enthusiastic response was telling: she laughed at me. Then she e-mailed me photos of HER house, and I realized that she had in fact inherited that same gene as me! So now we are calling one another on occasion and trying to encourage one another to make goals and then accomplish them. I was about to e-mail these photos to her, but decided to do something ghastly and frightening (hey, it's almost Halloween--why not?). So I'm posting these photos on my blog for the whole world to see. It's currently 11:50. At 2:30 this afternoon, I will take photos of my progress and post them.

When I tell my kids to go clean their room, and then check on them 20 minutes later, I know whether they've been working or not by the visible evidence that is very telling. And now I'm applying the same principal to myself. So I'd better get working! I also have a (nearly) 2-year old and a nursing baby and LUNCH to contend with, but the proof will be in the photos. I'll post them later, Lord-willing!

****************Afternoon Update******************

So here are some afternoon reflections. While you can see a difference between the sets of photos, it's still not done. But you obviously can see that I wasn't sitting and watching TV or staring at my computer all day long; not that anyone is accusing me of doing that--it's my own conscience that's nagging at me! I'm amazed at how much STUFF just doesn't get put away. That is a habit I have to really focus on. And here's a bonus photo of my new stove (one of those posts that never got posted about while my parents were visiting), and some chicken parts roasting in the oven--dinner is in the making--and it's not even 3pm yet! SLAP MY BACK AND CALL ME ETHEL! (I still need to mop that filthy floor, sort through the mail piled high on my desk, and don't even get me started about the basement! But we'll chalk one up for domestic victory.) Now I'm off to pick up my little helpers!