Week Six AND the Kichen

Here's the list, LONG week, but last weekend and this weekend have been pretty good chances to catch up. Whatever happened to dull weeknights?

1. Clean bathroom and related closets. Fun!

2. Declutter cabinets and closets. More fun! Not so bad because I am adamantly against not using up "products" but I know there are some things that can go for sure.

3. Arrange your bathroom efficiently. A few things can change (i.e. extra TP in the room, not just in the closet in the hall, stuff moved around to be with "like items", etc.).

4. Upgrade your razor and shaving supplies. I think I'm using ok stuff, but I do like to get the fancy shaving gel from time to time.

5. Purchase bath salts and a nice soap. I use Dove soap and other "fancy" stuff seems to bother my allergies. Bath salts sound nice, I'll keep my eye out at the fancy bath aisle next time I'm at Target. Yeah, so they have a $15 canister of the stuff, which is way out of the budget for "stuff for just myself." Gotta pay the bills you know.

6. Place a candle in your bathroom. Need a new candle, but generally I have one in there. I DID treat myself to a $3 candle from Target however.

7. Consider scents for your home. Ok, no thanks! It's so hard to get right, I prefer "clean".

8. Plan for the week ahead on Sunday. I think I do an ok job of this already, I don't hate Sundays so I'm not dreading the week usually.

9. Wake early and take a bath before work. Hmm, wishful thinking, maybe before yoga class though next Saturday.

10. Optional: consider a media fast for the next week. Probably won't cut it out entirely, but I don't watch much TV and just need to let go of my nighttime online browsing addiction a bit so I can read more. I've got 4 books in progress and one for book club I need to start so I've got plenty to keep me busy!

11. Optional: straighten your desk at work. I did a deep clean a few weeks ago when things were slow after a crazy time and it's held up. I did realize that I need a lamp there (probably on my dime), and would like to bring in just a few personal items, such as my diploma (it needs a frame first), and some cute photos or something. It's too office-y. Wish I had natural light for a plant of some kind!

I'm ALSO working through the Kitchen Cure, via AT's sister site, The Kitchn. It's actually only 6 weeks, and it's now week 2 and it's not quite as intense as the regular cure, probably because you get to break down just one room into a longer period of time. I needed it for sure. Things were getting grubby and cluttered and I'm still FAR from where I want to be in terms of actually doing the cooking, instead of letting the boy handle it every night.

Week 1's task was to clear out, clean, and reorganize your fridge, freezer, and pantry. I took care of this last weekend and finished the last bit today. The fridge and freezer really needed the deep clean, and I didn't have too much old stuff to toss. The spices are organized, and the pantry, which is a bit bare, is tidied up too. Makes life easier, and it's definitely worth the effort from time to time.

Week 2's task is to clear out cookware and dishware cabinets, drawers, etc. and pare down what you've got lurking in there. Donate stuff you don't need or use (i.e. duplicates or random appliances and gadgets). I'm working on this now, but have also been better at purging from time to time so mostly I'm concentrating on scrubbing my ancient white metal cabinets. Fun times! We had a little power outage for an hour or so and I wrapped things up in there, so it's nice and organized! A trip to the Container Store would make things even fancier but that can wait.