Remember the 24 Months? - Silly me, I haven't been keeping you up on the status of the "What can I do with my life in two years, in 24 easy-to-manage one month portions" Project. Well, I got lazy for a while. That's the best summary.

My brain has started thinking about how to jump back on this month again, since every day is new, every hour is time to start something you really want to do. My friend Aliskye started a yahoogroup for friends trying to clean and clutter-bust around their homes, and especially with the extra crafts and events materials that creep up for people heavily into the SCA. The list was very quiet, so I'd written recently about a new list I posted on my desk at home, to get me thinking again.

First, I had run across the FLY Lady's 11 Commandments. Her Rule 2 doesn't apply to me --> I already dress up everyday, and in fact only own one pair of jeans (usually for laundry day) and no sweatpants. I imagine she might be trying to inspire people who never gets out of their pajamas or sweatpants to think about their appearance and how that can motivate them to feel better about themselves.

Her Rules 8-11 aren't issues for me either. I already take time for myself, already have built in time management into several things in my day, smile always, laugh always, and don't have issues with whether to pamper myself or not.

So, I had printed out the remaining rules, and added "15 minutes daily to clean the clutter." But her rule for always doing your "morning and bedtime routines" seemed too vague for me. The following ideas started to bounce around my head instead, completely replacing her list.

(1) Cook at least once per week, to pack up boxes of food.
(1a) If you buy fresh produce, cook it right away so it doesn't get forgotten and thrown out.
(1b) Don't forget good breakfasts. Lunches and dinners are obvious, and coffee is easy to make in the morning. But after I've packed my lunch/dinner cooler, what do I plan to eat on the drive to work?
(1c) Always wash the dishes every night and/or morning.

(2) Attack the laundry regularly/promptly.
(2a) Dumping the clean clothes on the floor to fill the bag with dirty clothes is not a good habit.
(2b) Clean clothes shouldn't wait more than a day to be put away.
(2c) Dropping dirty clothes on the floor 3-feet from the dirty clothes bag is not a good habit.

(3) Try to clean / clutter-bust / organize / fix "one new thing" per week.
(3a) Regular daily / weekly chores don't count.
(3b) Something new that's clean can now be regularly maintained.
(3c) Use this for the "several times a week, attack something for 15 minutes" goal.

(4) Unpack from SCA events or Craft Days completely, as soon as possible.
(4a) No event or craft materials, dumped out of a bag, should wait more than a day to be put away.
(4b) Just leaving the event bags, boxes, or suitcases around for a few weeks to use them again, doesn't count as having put things away.
(4c) Remember: Have the bedroom and living room "party ready."

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So where am I right now, with those major goals?

I still have 2-3 days worth of food in the fridge in boxes, so I can put off cooking for at least one day. I managed to take ALL the blankets and pillows to the laundry on Friday. Today I flipped my mattress, vacuumed under the bed, remade the bed, and have all clean blankets and pillows. Wow. I'm counting that as my "one new thing" busted/cleaned. And (4) ... erm, I have major quantities of stuff to put away from this weekend. That will be my breaks between computer website updates tonight. So far I've managed to put away about a third of the bits strewn about my room, and really only have laundry to put away.

Plans for Pentathlon - Yup, it's long past time to really start working on THE artistic competition that's held every two years. I'm already excited about our team meeting and brainstorming session this afternoon, and will have to juggle what remains secret and what I can talk about freely here on the journal. One of the reasons our Team Bog Entry had such an outstanding impact was the surprise element -- no one knew we'd been making our miniatures and full-sized items, plus our live model bog.

There are already surprise elements in our brainstorming. But some of the work I want to do on my arts from now through April 2011, I'd like to be able to share the process online, too. I'll have to think about that, and about what I can be doing.

Onward and Upward! *grin*

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Two friends who gave me fresh walnuts from their tree today