*

Progress not perfection.

Sunday, September 19, 2010
Well, other than cosmetic stuff like painting (or new cabinets, which aren't in the budget right now LOL), and a junk drawer I need to weed out, I can honestly say my kitchen is "done." Go me! LOL I've been back on the "Flywagon" with the Flylady.net system for a couple of weeks now and already noticed a huge improvement in my routines. Took a couple of loads of things to Goodwill too, as well as purged a bunch of stuff straight to the garbage or recycling bin (like emptying out the plastic storage container cabinet and pairing lids and tossing unneeded ones and ones missing lids). Did a closet purge including having hubby purge some of his old clothes, and YAY we can actually walk into our walk in closet again. LOL

Like I said, I'm not eligible for a Hoarders episode by any stretch of the imagination. (In fact, watching that show, while I feel sorry for people like that, it makes me look at myself and my house and re-energizes me to make sure I never get like that.) It's things like my desks have stuff piled on them, bookshelves full to critical mass, etc. And it's not the whole house either. And the fact that my living/dining room does double duty as my home office doesn't help.

But already I feel that pull to just keep going and maniacally weeding through stuff and cleaning and I know I can't do that either. I need to do it incrementally to keep the eagerness going. LOL Also I don't want to overwhelm myself. Hubby has jumped on the Flywagon with me. Even though he's always been helpful around the house with chores, he's seeing the 15 minutes at a time in action and how much of a difference it can make.

Shiny New Book Cover: "Bightmares"

Friday, September 17, 2010
Shiny new book cover time! LOL

This is the cover for "Bightmares (Deep Space Mission Corps 2)" which is the sequel to "Love at First Bight." I don't have a release date yet, but should soon. Coming soon from Siren-BookStrand!

Back on the (Fly)wagon.

Friday, September 10, 2010
Hi, my name is Lesli (or Tymber, depending on how you know me), and I...am not the world's best housekeeper.

*whew!*

No, I'm far from being eligible for my own Hoarders episode, let me clarify that right now. No rotting garbage strewn all over, no "paths" through piles of stuff, none of that. I have clutter, which I'm chipping away at a little at a time. And don't ask to see my garage. (Seriously, please, don't.) BUT, it's chaos with some semblance of order, and contributing to that is the fact that we're going on two years into a full-house remodel that we're doing ourselves. We have a small house and too much stuff, and I know that. Horizontal spaces tend to gather stuff, so it's a constant battle trying to weed through stuff.

My problem is that I get swamped working at home. The last thing I want to do after working all day is to turn around and start cleaning. Add to that my arthritis and sometimes when I have the will or time, I don't have the energy.

I joke that I'm fairly "Sheldon-esque" ("The Big Bang Theory") in some ways. A little OCDish. Unfortunately, the must obsessively clean tic isn't one of them. It's not that I can't get organized, it's that I can't STAY that way.

Finally, I'm getting better about forming habits. (Only took me nearly 40 years. LOL) For the past couple of months, my sadistic workout buddy (thank You, Bro!) has helped me stay on track with my workout routine. Mr. Eeevvvilllle (aka the elliptical machine) has received a LOT of use. Having someone who doesn't have a problem busting my balls to keep me motivated to exercise every day has REALLY helped. Haven't lost a lot of weight, but I am starting to see the positive effects as my legs become more toned.

A few years ago I jumped on the Flylady (http://www.flylady.net) bandwagon and tried to do her system. At first I did great, then as things started happening, life got in the way, my grandmother got sick and died, I just stopped doing it. Never forgot about it, but just stopped doing it.

So I decided this week to try again. One of my problems before was the control journal. Having a written out journal I had to sometimes tote with me wasn't working for me. As I was entering stuff into my iPad (ha you knew I'd work that in somehow, didn't you?) calendar, it hit me THIS could be my control journal. I use the Pocket Informant calendar, which syncs to my Google calendar, which syncs to both my BlackBerry and Android phones. So while the tasks don't sync over, the events do.

Aha!

My iPad is usually on my kitchen counter during the day anyway as a fast way for me to monitor emails without getting bogged down and distracted by my laptop. So I started a task list, and I've been adding one or two every day this week. The little Sheldon in my brain lurrrrrvvs seeing tasks checked off every day.

No, there's not a huge amount of progress yet. But It's helping me get more organized, and this time, it feels different. It feels more comfortable. No, my house will never be perfect, but I think I can finally get it to a point where I won't feel like I have to make excuses before someone comes in. I don't like having people come to my house, even though I know damn well there are LOTS of people with houses far worse than mine, because it's embarrassing to have stuff piled on our table and on my desks. (And yes, keep in mind my "great room" which is living/dining room combined is also my home office and holds our living room, dining room table, and two desks.)

At least my bedroom has been holding its own since we got new furniture and painted in there early this year. LOL So I know I can stick to it if I try. I just need to finally get it to a point where the fifteen minutes at a time is just maintenance and not trying to whittle stuff down to where I want it. It won't be an overnight thing, but I'm going to try to stick to it. And this will help me with my writing because I won't sit there staring at my desk thinking I REALLY should be cleaning the house, or cleaning the house and staring at my laptop and thinking I REALLY should be working. LOL

iPad notes and comparisons (part 4)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Are you sick of me and my iPad yet? LOL

Well, I have the plug-in keyboard dock for my iPad, but one serious limitation of that is you're stuck in portrait mode, limiting your screen space. I don't like that. So I ended up buying a Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 yesterday that works great. That was an interesting story. Let me tell it, literally as verbatim as I can remember.

Me: *walking into national office supply store chain, to woman who works there who'd just asked if she could help me* Looking for a bluetooth keyboard.

*Note, I didn't have my glasses on, so I had to squint to read.*

Her: Oh, let me get Bob (or whatever his name was) to help us. *She flags kid over.*

Him: Yes?

Me: I need a bluetooth keyboard for my iPad. *By this time I'd squinted enough to spot a sign over his shoulder that said "bluetooth" on one of the keyboards on display.*

Him: We don't have any bluetooth keyboards.

Me: None?

Him: Nope. Sorry, we don't sell them.

Me: *pointing* What's that?

Her: *laughing* Looks like it says bluetooth. *Mind you, she works with him and is enjoying his fucktardary at his expense.*

Him: *frowning* It won't work with a Mac. It's for PC only.

Me: *grabbing box from other woman who obligingly handed it to me* It says here it'll work on Macs or PCs.

Him: It won't work on your iPad.

Me: *arching eyebrow* Why not?

Him: It just won't. But you have fourteen days to return it. *slouches off*

Needless to say, I bought it, it works fine. Ironic it's a Microsoft keyboard and works on an iPad. I like that. It suits me.