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right now

Oct 21, 2010

Freaky Friday (now on Thursday!)

I wasn't going to post today since it's cleaning day, and that's not very interesting - but it was brought to my attention when my neighbor stopped over that my cleaning ways are perhaps a little "odd".

First off, she noticed that I was cleaning on a Thursday, and that apparently throws off the tide schedule, since my normal "like clockwork" cleaning day is Friday. Then she mentioned that every week when I clean house it looks like I'm moving out!

Moving out? I stood back and looked, and holy cow - it kinda does! This is normal weekly behavior for me:

This kind of made me laugh at myself - this is one of the things I've been trying to change about my Type A behavior, because this weekly clean EVERYTHING and rearrange furniture thing has gotten in the way of me being able to spend quality time doing fun things on a whim.

Friday was my regular cleaning day so it would be "perfect" for the weekend, and even though of course it doesn't stay that way for long with 2 kids and 2 dogs, in my mind I couldn't change. I am happy to say that now "Freaky Friday" is now on Thursday, so I can more fully enjoy my weekend! A huge step for me! I have heard many comments to the effect of "I wish I could clean that much", let me tell you - it's not a good thing. It gets in the way of relaxing with the family and just enjoying life in general. If you are a random cleaner with no schedule, consider yourself lucky, because it means you are spending time doing better things! I eventually want to get to the point that Freaky Friday/Thursday only happens every 2 weeks with just sweeping and wiping counters in between, I've done that a few times and while it made me uncomfortable, I think I can get used to it.

What I find interesting is that I don't even notice or care if other peoples' homes are disorganized or not super-clean, and as a matter of fact, I actually enjoy it, I wonder if it's because I'm jealous? I feel more at home in other peoples' homes if they look "lived-in"! I think a huge part of my problem is that we all live in just 900 sq ft - I'm afraid if I didn't clean the way I do things would get out of hand very quickly!

More Freaky Friday/Thursday happenings:

Dog Toy Laundry Day!

Watch the video to see how I love to torture my girls...



Actually I think they like it!

So what's your cleaning style? OCD? Anti-clean?, Random? Certain rooms on certain days, or whole house at once? Freaky minds want to know!

18 comments:

  1. That video is hysterical! I love dog toys hanging on the line. You also have the cutest collection of dog toys! Your cleaning method is so thorough! Wow.

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  2. I love Aussies. My parents have one! I tend to clean on Wednesday's, and just pick up toys and sweep daily! But the major cleaning I save for the middle of the week because I hate doing it on the weekend and find I have no motivation to clean on Monday's. I only wish my kids would leave me alone to clean as well as you do. I end up giving up and clean moving all furniture on days that my parents take my daughter. Like tomorrow! I can't wait!!! :(

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  3. Personally, I've given up on dusting over the past year unless I know someone is coming over. With all the construction dust, I'm content with wiping down the stove and kitchen counters before I cook. I try to vaccuum a couple times a week due to fur collecting in the corners but if things are busy it can slide. I do have the boys vaccuum sometimes- that's always good for a laugh to see how much they can NOT notice the giant tumbleweeds of fur.
    Love the dog torture.
    Judy

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  4. Judy, I wouldn't even try in your situation - I've been there!

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  5. Hmm. Not even sure where to begin. Well, OK- I rarely move furniture to clean. I am a vacuum around stuff kind of gal. I am always behind so my house is always a disaster, and as you mentioned with kids and dogs in tow nothing stays clean for long anyway. So in many instances I just throw in the towel and then I don't get angry when there are muddy dog prints and crayon all over the floors. (I have learned to "spot clean" the floors- as in wipe up anything obvious though, it is a good compromise.)

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  6. I also want to share that I love the child yelling for you and his bagel in the background, why can't they just leave us alone for 2 minutes in these non-emergency situations!?! :)

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  7. I'm a really sporadic cleaner. Usually, things get cleaned when they look so dirty I can't take it anymore. The most frequent things cleaned are the kitchen floor, toilets, and bathroom counters. Other things get put off forever, like the bathtub. It's too much work. But this reminds me that I need to clean my kitchen floor. I can never seem to keep that thing clean.

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  8. Oh, I am SOOOOOO happy to hear you don't mind someone else's house not being as clean, neat and organized as yours is!!! Otherwise, I would never be able to let you in the door.

    I keep things pretty well picked up and neat looking most of the time. But if anyone were to move my couch and check what's underneath . . . that wouldn't be good!

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  9. You all give me hope, that's exactly where I want to be, just being able to wipe down an area as needed and sweep (daily of course - dogs!) without having to do the whole "routine" every time. And Kaytee, now that you mention it, I neglect the shower as well! We have well water so it's such a PAIN to get the hard water stuff out, I just pull the curtain shut. The kids' tub is the only one in the house and it's new, so it's still got a nice finish on it that's easy to clean, I like to keep that one clean in case I want to soak! I know I'm preaching to the choir since as a general rule, it seems all us bloggers are dog lovers, but the dog hair, yikes! I feel like I have a herd of dogs sometimes.

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  10. Kelly, no kidding! They always find me when I just need one minute alone! A bagel? And didn't he say it SEVERAL times LOL!

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  11. I don't clean much in the summer---too busy enjoying the outdoors. I'm almost fanatical about cleaning in the winter---maybe to "make-up" for the summer??? Seasonal OCD????
    :D

    Anyways, I just LOVE the way you have your house-and the floors, WOW! Are they laminate or wood? Very nice.

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  12. Sue, thank you! They are laminate, and the really cheap 99 cent a sq ft stuff at that. We laid it ourselves and saved a bunch, but I would recommend to anyone that they upgrade to a thicker floor since these scratch and dent easily. We only did the cheap stuff because it's a duplex/rental and we had to do both houses, plus we plan on selling before the floor fails, LOL!

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  13. Erin, if it's a lived in home that you want...come on over! My house is never dirty-dirty, but it gets hit with a duster when you can write your name and the floors get done when it appears I have inherited another dog. Kitchen counters get cleaned at least 10 times a day though! I don't call my hubby Pig Pen for nothing and at some point I just decided that he is never going to change, so why kill myself! Furniture only gets hauled about when the carpets get cleaned. Any deep cleaning is for company. We don't have alot of company because you entre once and you become family. In which case, it means you never go barefoot here unless your feet like it dirty :)

    I'll share my favorite saying with you, if I haven't already:

    Cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling the walk while it's still snowing.

    Enjoy your weekend and may your Freaky Friday/Thursday not freak you out so much! xoxo

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  14. Erin, if it's a lived in home that you want...come on over! My house is never dirty-dirty, but it gets hit with a duster when you can write your name and the floors get done when it appears I have inherited another dog. Kitchen counters get cleaned at least 10 times a day though! I don't call my hubby Pig Pen for nothing and at some point I just decided that he is never going to change, so why kill myself! Furniture only gets hauled about when the carpets get cleaned. Any deep cleaning is for company. We don't have alot of company because you enter once and you become family. In which case, it means you never go barefoot here unless your feet like it dirty :)

    I'll share my favorite saying with you, if I haven't already:

    Cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling the walk while it's still snowing.

    Enjoy your weekend and may your Freaky Friday/Thursday not freak you out so much! xoxo

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  15. I just can't believe that you wash your dogs' toys!!!!!!!!! Wh-wh-WHY???

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  16. Oh Erin - I'm exactly the opposite! I NEED to get myself on a schedule (even if only an "every day after "a" happens, I pick up "b" type of schedule)otherwise it will simple never occur to me to clean anything other that the dishes and the laundry! Walls and baseboards tend to get really dusty because I just don't notice them! I have an unfortunate tendency to put up subconscious "somebody else's problem" fields around clutter, and I truly just don't notice it until it gets out of control :(

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  17. HOLY...CRAP!!! I know your pics that show your house always look so clean...and now I know why! I hardly ever dare put pics of my house on my blog, hardly EVER. I always look to see what else might be in the pic before I post it, just in case...I could learn a thing or two from you, but I think if we could just blend our "styles" we'd have it about right.
    Mine goes like this...ignore everything in favor of doing what I want until I'm forced to clean, then do two days straight cleaning and put what's left in a basket in the basement. :) Hey, it works for me...sort of!

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