SPIDERS & FLIES

I SO have the hee bee jee bee's right now! There are phantom spiders climbing all over me....you know that tickley little feeling like something is crawling on you but there really isn't anything there? well, that's me. right now.
Aiden has been so enthralled with bug hunting lately. He used some of his birthday money to buy a 'bug house' (bug habitat from walmart) and so far, he's spent his whole summer outside turning over rocks and digging around catching bugs to put in his house. As long as he keeps the house outside, I'm fine with that. As long as he puts all our decorative bricks back in place, Bub is fine with that. However, Bub mentioned yesterday that he worried Aiden might happen upon a black widow or a hobo spider, or something that could hurt him. I hadn't even thought about that! Ack! My motherly instincts went into overdrive. What was an innocent little boy thing, is now suddenly dangerous! I think it's good and educational for him to find bugs and learn about them. We've been frequenting what's that bug.com and bugguide.net and even e-mailed an entomologist (scientist who studies bugs) in Kansas to find out what crickets eat. I don't want to squelch his curiosity or learning, so I've spent the last 20 minutes or so looking up pictures of black widows and brown recluses to show Aiden, so I can give him a healthy respect for DANGEROUS BUGS. I even showed him a gallery of brown recluse bites. Believe me, pictures like that are only for those with a strong stomach! I printed out a little chart (like the one above) for him to put on his bug house. I think, I hope, he's a little bit scared. At least enough to be careful.....I hope. I'm still totally creeped out and itchy all over.
As for me, I'm enthralled with FLIES. well, not flies, one fly - FLY LADY. I've been doing the program, and I really LOVE IT! It starts with 'baby steps' The first thing you do is to 'shine your sink' you don't even have to do the dishes, just take em' out of the sink and clean it. (then you can do dishes) that's it for the first day. Then, you start getting up first thing in the morning and getting fully ready and dressed all the way to the shoes. Then, shine your sink. That's all I've been doing for the past week, and it's been like *MAGIC!* So strange something so simple could have such a big impact on our whole household. My whole house feels lighter and cleaner, all of us have been nicer and happier, and I've spent more time with the kids and enjoyed more of my time with the kids. And to top it off--I've lost 3 pounds! I guess I should mention that part of 'shining the sink' means to empty the dishwasher every morning and fill it with your dirty dishes through the day, then turn it on before bed at night. I've tried to do that off and on over the years, but have never been very good at it. I'm not sure what's different this time. Maybe the focus. I haven't strictly been watching the days, but on day 5 she instructs you to write down any negative things you catch yourself telling yourself, and to change them into something positive, then start telling yourself that instead. today I will do day 6 which tells you to tackle a 'hot spot' for 5 minutes. A hot spot is a dumping ground. One of those places in your house that if you don't keep right on it, breeds clutter and can take over your house. You're supposed to set the timer for 5 minutes. Do whatever you can in 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, you're done. For me, today it will be the kitchen counter.
I must admit, I cheated the other day. I got ahead of myself. Fly Lady is big on taking 'baby steps' so you don't get overwhelmed. But, I saw someone mention crisis cleaning on the message board. Crisis cleaning is when you've got guests coming and you need to get your house clean in a couple days. Basically you set the timer for 15 minutes-do what you can in one room. when the timer goes off, stop what you're doing and go to another room for 15 minutes. repeat 3 times (45 minutes) then on the 4th set of 15 minutes- rest. Do something nice and enjoyable. She suggests coffee or tea....well, I tried this the other day (not the coffee, the cleaning). I was AMAZED at how much got done! It really seems just like *magic* to me. I can work for hours at a time and not get the results I got in 45 minutes of fly lady crisis cleaning! It's really cool.
If you want to try it with me, click here for a link to the daily baby steps page.
The trick, I've decided, is to not get overwhelmed with the system. Just focus on the baby steps and stick to that. Don't try to do more than that really. She sends about 20 e-mails a day. Little reminders, cleaning challenges, testimonials. Just delete them. I read one or two, and the testimonials are fun and encouraging, but I don't think I'll be able to handle getting all the rest until I'm much more progressed in the program. So if you sign up, that's my advice.