FlyLady - part 3

Hi guys!

Activities
I’m finally back again! It has been extremely hot here, but I loved it! Wednesday the boyfriend and I went to a nearby river/lake at spent the afternoon at the beach, sunbathing and relaxing. It was wonderful! My camera died on me (actually not really, but I forgot to put the battery back in after I charged it, so I only have one picture. I will upload all pictures of this post later, because I don’t have them with me right now.

Thursday we went for a picnic at night, it was such a lovely place and we brought really yummy food: wraps with different fillings. I sinned for once, by eating the wraps which are made of wheat flour, but that’s ok. I was the first time in over a week

Today is last working day, yay! After work we have an appointment with the bank to discuss some mortgage stuff. I hope they will have good news for us so we can put our home up for sale!

Food
Here are some pictures of our delicious picnic wraps.

I had 3 kinds of wraps:
- roast beef, sour cream, lettuce, tomato and Italian herbs
- baked grounded beef, lettuce, cucumber, tomato and mustard-honey dressing
- ham, tomato, lettuce, feta and oregano
YUMMY! The roast beef one was my favourite.

Sports
Wednesday even I dragged my butt home from the beach and then to the gym. I attended my body pump class for the first time in a month or so, so that was quite a challenge! But it went pretty much ok, and I was proud of myself for not having lost a lot of muscle strength in the mean time. I think those push ups, sit ups and running that I did in the mean time really helped me maintain it.
Thursday I was supposed to go on a run but I was home later than expected and it was 30C so I decided to skip it and do that today, that is, if I have the time because of the bank appointment.

FlyLady- Part 3
Next up in the how FlyLady saved me from insanity and gave me back my weekends: my evening routine. I assure you: before her I would spend way too much time cleaning my house every weekend and then end up feeling bad because so little leisure time was left to enjoy hobbies etc.

Next to the morning routine which I described in one of my prior posts you also need an evening routine, some routine you finish before going to bed. I makes sure everything (like the dirty dishes and stuff that was used during the day) is under control and that you are prepared for the next day. I start with this as soon as I get home from work and I finish it after dinner:

- laundry: in dryer/hang it or: fold it and put it away or: iron. I hardly iron anything but some things just need it. I save those for the days I don’t have any other laundry and then I iron, which is usually just 2 or 3 pieces.
- feed the cats
- cook dinner and eat
- do dishes and clean stove and countertop
- swiffer the floor and clean up spills
- water plants on balcony
- do my daily mission (15 min max). More on this in my next post on this subject
- put away stuff lying around to the places they belong, like bags, sunglasses, mail etc
- Make to do list next day and gather stuff I need to bring with me next day. It’s usually not much but I do remember to check every day so I don’t have to run around like a mad person in the morning trying to remember what I should bring and where I left it while I am still half asleep.
- Lay out clothes for tomorrow, including underwear and juwelry. I know it sounds stupid but it saves me a lot of time trying to figure out what to wear in the morning.
- wash face and brush teeth, set alarm
- relax

The whole routine takes me about 30- 40 minutes (excl cooking and eating) I am still working on doing it faster every day. And it really helps me in the morning: I love my clean counter to make breakfast on, not spend 10 minutes figuring out what to wear. Swiffering the floor every day also keeps the house from becoming a giant hairball within 3 days and it’s faster vacuuming once a week (also in another post coming up).

It all sounds so simple and straightforward but you just have to think of it. The hardest part however, is making it a routine. I can say that my morning routine is actually a routine, I just do it. My evening routine is partially a routine. I am still working on laying out my clothes every night. But I am doing those dishes virtually every day and putting away stuff.
Okay, that is it for now. Be sure to check back for more info on how I work with FlyLady’s program.