The Princess and the Housework

Sounds like it would make a good fairytale, huh? Sorry to disappoint you, but no fairytales here. Just a few things that I'm VERY excited about.

First, the Princess. I can't remember if I've posted it here (and I'm too lazy to go back and look at the moment), but we're going to Disney World in September! Wee One is so excited about going (except doesn't have any concept of time yet, so gets confused when we're going to town or to see one of the grandparents and I start talking about going), and she has recently gotten a Cinderella dress to wear while we're there. It cost a lot more than I wanted, but I figure if she wears it to eat with Cinderella, to the Halloween party at Disney, for trick-or-treating on Halloween, then for her Cinderella birthday party, we should get our money's worth out of it. I'm so glad we got it, because she ADORES that dress. She has worn it non-stop since we got it, and even slept in it the other night. She looks so stinkin' cute in it, and I can't wait for her to meet Cinderella.

And now, the housework. Someone on a board I visit posted about the 15 minute Housecleaning Challenge. They said they got the idea from www.flylady.com, and here's what you do. You pick a room in the house, set a timer for 15 minutes and clean. When the timer goes off, you can stop, and you see how much you can get done in 15 minutes. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was shocked at how much got done in just 15 minutes! Wee One's room got completely cleaned and vacuumed, the play room is now completely cleaned and vacuumed, the guest bathroom is cleaned, floors swept and counters and mirror cleaned, my living room is clean and vacuumed (I still have some clothes I have to fold, but the rest is clean), and then in my dining room and kitchen it took two rounds - but they are both spotless now, too. So in 2 hours, all I have left to do is fold some clothes. That's it. And I didn't spend all day working on it, either! Of course I had to spend another few minutes after dinner cleaning back up, but that's ok - I spent less than 10 minutes and woke up to a clean kitchen instead of over an hour and the kitchen being messed up again and nasty when I woke up. I just love this, and am going to try my best to keep it going!