Sometimes You Just Need a Win

There was something about today -- I don't know what hit me -- but suddenly this morning I knew that I just needed a win.  Didn't matter what kind; I just needed to feel in control of something.

Maybe it's because I've been trying to work myself out of a funk which I've written about
here:  Un Funk Yourself Part One 
and here:  Un Funk Yourself Part Two - Eat the Toad 
and again here:  Un Funk Yourself Part Three - Less is Best

Maybe it's because I've begun following Jen Jones'  i heart organizing blog. where she is currently doing a "Four Week Wait No More Organizing Challenge" by focusing her talents one week at a time on four areas of her life that desperately need organizational help.  (Just four?  Really?) 

Maybe it's because I looked around this morning and saw this:

and this:

and this:

Yep.  That was my kitchen only a few hours ago.  Oh, don't judge me.  My kitchen is where I spend a lot of my day.  Not just cooking (although I do a lot of that!) but concocting, crafting, cleaning (no, honestly!) and colliding with my family because they hang out there a lot, too.

I decided my win for the day was just going to be a massive countertop cleanup, which I kicked off by simply putting things away.  Why do I have a toaster on the counter, when we don't eat bread?  Why is there bread on the counter?!  What barn-raised dolt just up and left their dirty breakfast dishes literally three feet from the dishwasher?  (Oh, wait.  That was me.)

Actually, truthfully, honestly, I started by hauling every single item that wasn't affixed OUT.  Even the stuff I know I use all the time.  Even that massive microwave oven.  You can't be nice to clutter.  Or even civil.  I discovered that last year during my week-long purge-athon.  That was an adventure!  But I digress...


Once things were cleared away, I discovered I could actually reach the walls and the backsplash, so they got a good scrubbing down.

Drawers and cabinet spaces were supposed to be beyond the scope of my quick little project, but I couldn't help noticing the jammed up and overcrowded state of my sponge drawer.

And the chaos in an island drawer that was mostly filled -- it turned out -- with long-expired coupons.   But also a few actually-useful items that would be great to have handy.  Assuming one could ever find them.

To take care of the first problem, I simply found a nice, tall, decorative pot and relocated all the big, clunky scrubbers and brushes from the the sponge drawer, which now holds -- you guessed it! -- sponges.

Quick tip:  I keep my dishwashing liquid in a repurposed oil cruet.  It looks nice on the counter, and it dispenses the soap more slowly than squeezing it out of the original bottle, and that cuts down on waste.

As for the "coupon drawer," most of its contents are off to the recycling bin, but I restocked it with a selection of envelopes, stamps, address labels, notepads, a calculator and a roll of tape.

Finally I gave the windows a good washing, using a sheet of newspaper and 

my favorite homemade glass cleaning solution:  

     1 cup of water

     1 cup of isopropyl alcohol

     1 tablespoon of white vinegar

(I've sharpied the recipe right on my spray bottle so I don't forget.)

And now, just a few hours from when I started, my kitchen looks like

this:

and this:

and this:

 

and this:

I needed that.

Before you dismiss this as making a big deal out of a little cleanup, Nate Berkus was once asked for his best advice on how to transform a living space without spending a lot of money... his #1 tip was, "clean up."

And then there's FlyLady Marla Cilley who transformed, not just her living space, but her life.  The very first thing she did, and the first thing she advises her followers to do:  shine your sink.

So there.