Then, about a month ago, a friend said that she cleaned her house top to bottom every Monday and Thursday and she had been doing it since she and her husband were first married (they now have four kids). I've been wanting to have a cleaning routine for a while now, but they all seemed dull or complicated, or I just didn't want to think about it. But, twice a week, clean everything? The simplicity! She said it takes her about an hour (which I'm not sure I believe), but I decided to give it a try. I've been doing it about a month and really like it. I give myself an hour each day, but if I feel like doing more I do it - I just want to be sure to get an hour done. I decided to start with bathrooms, they get the most disgusting and need the most constant maintenance. The bathrooms are my home base. Every Monday and Thursday I clean out all the bathrooms. Yes, I'm wiping down the bathrooms twice a week, but it's actually pretty quick and I love that they never really get that dirty anymore. Then I get a microfiber cloth and wipe down the dust on all the surfaces. Las Vegas is really dusty and it gathers quickly. There is usually dust to be wiped down twice a week (though, sometimes I do this only once a week - more on that later). I clean all the glass and mirrored surfaces. I try to vacuum and clean the tiled floor in the front entryway (the kitchen floor gets cleaned multiple times a week so I don't worry about it on my cleaning days, the bathroom floors get cleaned during the bathroom wipe-downs). Cleaning the floor brings me to the baseboards, which brings me to the doorjambs and doors, and then I will spot check any areas that I've noticed earlier in the week need some help.
Usually, that's my Monday routine and it takes a full hour or more to do that much. I'm not necessarily doing it all, though. Maybe I've noticed that the doors by the kitchen and pantry are all really grimy, so I might focus on them after doing the basics of the bathrooms and dusting. I also noticed that some of the cleaning didn't need to be done on Monday AND Thursday. I mean, it could be done, but it wasn't the best use of my time since it hadn't really gotten THAT dirty in three days. So, I bumped those areas down to once a week and I'm in the process of making Thursday a special location or sort-and-organize day (after the main areas get done). Last Thursday, my goal was the to do the fridge. This Thursday it will be the freezer. Before that, I went through our books - sorting, getting a pile to donate, cleaning the bookshelves, and reshelving. Sometimes I focus on vacuuming out and cleaning the couch or wiping down the blinds. You get the idea. Monday - do everything. Thursday - do the basics and then a special project. Well, I'm very pleased by the results, except for the fact that it seems to be making me a little neurotic. Before, I could look at a pile of dust on the piano and kind of shrug it off. Now, it's a little disturbing to me and I might run to wipe it down even if it's not a cleaning day, gasp. I try to do the cleaning in the morning, but it usually stretches a little throughout the day. I do most of it during quiet time after my meditation/nap, which cuts even more into possible blogging time. The more I clean, the more I'm in the mood to keep going and notice what needs to be done. But that's the glory of doing it just twice a week. I don't have to feel guilty the other five days. Before, I'd look at the bathrooms and know that I ought to clean them, that they really needed to be cleaned, but.... maybe later. Now, I just clean them right away twice a week. The other days I don't have to think about it. If I notice something really needs work, I plan to do it on Monday or Thursday if I can help it. Of course, I've only been doing this a month. I hope I can always keep it up, but I've been around enough to know that some habits come and go.
On another afternoon during quiet time, I skype a harp lesson with one of my students from Houston. The point of all this is that I love this blog and I'm going to keep plugging away, I just don't have as much free time anymore.
Here's a recap. Ryan turned 35 in March. Hooray! Rebecca brought In-n-Out for dinner, I made the special chocolate (which has finally been perfected!), and then she babysat while Ryan and I went to see Ka. Ka is a Cirque show and it was pretty good. I don't think anything can compare to Le Reve, but Ka was definitely cool because the stage is on a giant pivot/piston thing and can move all around and even go vertical. It also had the most comprehensible story line because it was focused on a battle. Most of the time, I wish those shows wouldn't try to follow a plot. They never really work for me.
June looks fancy in her Cinderella jewelry.
Willa studied hard for a music theory test at UNLV put on by the Las Vegas Music Teacher's Association. For the level 1 test, they have to be able to draw a grand staff, identify key signatures for C, F, and G major, write pentascales in those three keys, do note identification, answer questions on vocabulary, name intervals, and a few other things. We studied with her and had her work on some practice tests from her teacher (she loved doing these and called them her homework). I thought it would be one-on-one with a proctor, but it was a large classroom and they wouldn't let me go in with her to help her get seated. The proctor had to read all the questions and instructions for her (and almost had to write her last name because we hadn't practiced writing her last name), but she passed! It was amazing and I'm really proud of her. It was a little intimidating, but she didn't really know to expect differently. I was talking with another mom waiting, her two kids taking the same exam were in 1st and 3rd grade, and there were kids older than that in there. Obviously, for an older kid, some of the stuff would not be difficult, but for Willa, she's still learning how to write so even drawing the grand staff with the clefs took practice. Her teacher said that when they were grading the exams, the president of the association (who happens to be my harp friend's husband) was entering in the scores and when he got Willa's paper he said, "Who is this? Look how cute!!" You can just imagine her name written largely across the top, and sometimes she'll write mirror images of the letters like E. After the exam, I took her to the Disney store and bought her a Barbie because an effort like that deserved a prize. Now she's prepping for the playing part of the exam, which will be in another week. She has to play four pieces and one technical study, and then a couple of arpeggios in the same three different keys. The main reason she is so excited about this is that she gets a TROPHY if she passes. Her teacher passed the trophies out at the piano recital last year and she's been very interested in them ever since. It's funny how motivating the idea of earning her very own trophy is, definitely more motivating than the Barbie! She's just so little and cute doing these things. It's fun and challenging for her and has been a good thing for us this year while we wait for kindergarten.
Proud mom and grandma!!
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