Hi y'all! Welcome to my blog - Simplify Like Apple Pie! My name is Adrienne and I am a very busy wife and mom who leads a rich, full and "clutterful" life. Simplifying the many different aspects of most anybody's life can be quite a challenge, so I figured there would be plenty to muse about and share here. Who knows? Maybe there will be (just slightly less than) brilliant ideas that serve others. Maybe this blog will help me to remain accountable and to actually make better progress and see better results. Maybe we will whoop it up and share a lot of laughs at failed attempts and life gone awry. Then again, maybe this blog will barely see the light of day. One thing is for sure, though; you never know if you don't try!
You know what they say when things are simple...they are as easy as pie! That's why I named this blog Simplify Like Apple Pie. It has such a warm, inviting sound to it doesn't it? That is what I am hoping. I want people to feel right at home here. I want everyone to feel the love. Truth be told, I don't know that there is a ton of hope for me becoming completely organized or clutter free. For the longest time, I wouldn't have even thought that I wanted to! I pretty much have long just accepted me as I am - the busy, cluttery, creative type - a true (if you will humor me) ar-teest! Some people have a clean house. I have a creative spirit. I still accept myself as I am, but I really do want to give it the ol' college try to simplify and dare I say....set some basic routines? I figure if I can get that accomplished, I can get down to the business of redecorating my whole house - room by room. (We just bought a new OLD house!) This all sounds like it would be worth the effort and a real chance to have fun and be creative...so long as I don't end up hating it, of course.
So, I am not doing this as a form of self-recrimination, or because I hate my conditions and can't stand even one more minute under the mounds of clutter, though I do have moments like that when I get behind on some of the basics. There is no come to Jesus moment going on here. I am doing it simply because I know that I can be more productive at the things I love if I streamline and improve the process of doing the things I love not so much! I think that seems like a good place to start and we'll see where this journey leads...just one of life's many adventures.
To get started on this new venture, I popped into flylady.net. (Some of the cleaning terminology to which I will be referring is from flylady. If you have not heard of her and think you might be interested in the programs offered there, be sure to check it out. Meanwhile, feel free to ask if I say something that doesn't make sense to you.) I thought I might do the 31 day baby steps and evaluate from there. I was a bit skeptical that this program was suitable for me for a few reasons. For one thing, I am almost NEVER good at following someone else's program to the letter. I tend to feel that it stifles my creativity and I have a long history of doing things to the beat of my own drum. I thought I might just need to set that aside for the moment, and really give it a chance. After all, it would only be 31 days, right? Well, if I can make it that far. Next, it seemed a little odd (to me), the emphasis put on shining the sink. I mean, certainly, that was not at the top of my list of concerns - but again, I put that aside. Then, there was the dreaded getting up daily and dressing to the shoes. WHAT!?!?! One of the things I love about being home with my kids and basing from my home is that I don't have to wear shoes. Ok, flylady, you are starting to lose me here...
So, what's a girl to do? I decided I would give it my best effort, anyway. I mean...if I want things to change, then I have to change, so I have to be willing to 'suffer' some discomfort...for the greater good. (wink, wink) Here are my observations and results from Week 1.
On sink shining: Day 1 - I shined my kitchen sink. It was not without mishap, yet I was oddly satisfied with the results. Turned out that I did not have enough bleach to do both sides of my double sided, stainless steel sink. So, I did one side with bleach and one side without. Both sides turned out pretty spiffy. I had the forethought to take before and during pictures, but silly me...I forgot after! So you will just have to take my word for it. Sink looked good! I have since altered the daily shine my sink to my bathroom sink. It makes me happier and just works better for me.
Dressing to the nines: Alright, it is dressing to the shoes, but to me, the barefoot queen, it felt like dressing to the nines. This began on Day 2 and well...I survived. I do not feel like my life has been altered in a positive way by putting my shoes on, at least not yet. I find me dragging my feet at this one, literally and figuratively. I also didn't get it done everyday first thing. However, I did do it everyday within the first two hours of being up. I am perfectly ok with this variation. I am going to continue to fight my apathy on this step, but it's hard. WAHHH!! (Yes, I am being a crybaby.)
Reading BigTent Messages: This was a midweek add and yeah, it didn't happen everyday. That may or may not change as I progress. We shall see. Same with the mirror notes. Haven't done them yet. I am going to do them today because I don't really have a good reason not to (other than not wanting a sticky note on my mirror).
Hot Spots: Now, we are getting down to business. This is the heart and soul of my wanting to simplify and declutter...HOT SPOTS!! Every surface in my house is a hot spot. I definitely can do two minutes a day. I actually struggle to only do two minutes. I have a hard time shifting gears that quickly when I just want to dig into something. The only thing is, with all of the people in my house, it only takes two minutes for a whole days worth of work to be undone! And thus, I have unveiled a large issue when it comes to getting the clutter under control. Seems to me, I am going to have to figure out a way to get the clutterees under control. Aggghhhh! I bet flylady has some good intel on this subject. I think I may just have to keep on keeping on!
Summary Week 1: If I was going to give myself a grade, it would be a C. I know I have changed so much from the person I was years ago because, back then, I never would have been ok with that. I am not only ok with that; I am actually happy with it. There is movement in a solid direction toward MY goal (which may or may not be the same as flylady). I was far from perfect at following the baby steps. I was more like an insolent child, but I worked through a lot of resistance, gained a lot of clarity and started this process along its way - sputtering down the pike.
