I just realized as I was finishing up my 30 minute tidy that I spent a lot of time talking about how I needed to find a routine and a balance in my life but now that I've found one that is working (somewhat) I haven't really written about it. It's like that a lot when I write a journal anywhere. I focus on something that needs changing, but instead of taking some time to celebrate and chronicle the change I simply move onto the next challenge, the next change.

So over the past while I've been trying to create a home for my little family and me. Some place clean, safe and comfortable. In many ways I've succeeded beyond my wildest imaginings. It would now be unthinkable to live in the type of mess we had before. Simply because we've been getting used to both the clean home and the work it takes to keep it clean.

I found some pictures hidden away in old directories here on PtF of the way it was before. The very idea of ignoring the mess the way I used to makes me shudder. We'd ignore it for months at a time and then we'd have to clean up for whatever reason and we'd take 2 days and clean like mad. Now it's a matter of 5 minutes tidy and closing of the bedroom doors. Nothing is spotless, I couldn't live in a spotless home but it's tidy and clean.

I was thinking about routines and habits that make this possible when I was wiping down the kitchen counters. I like reading the various "How do you clean up" threads on forums because it's so neat to see how people approach the same chores. I have two backbone chores to this major change of mine. The 30-minute tidy and weekend floors.

The 30-minute tidy is simply that. I set the timer for 30 minutes and I start at the entryway. I pick up garbage, lost items and put them where they belong. I fold the couch blankets and put the end pillows back at the ends of the couch. I wipe down the coffee table and tidy the TV guides, remotes and candy dish. Computer desks get their dirty dishes removed and then are ignored (desks are personal spaces and are the responsibility of the owner). The kitchen table gets cleared and washed. Then it's rinse and stack of the dishes in the kitchen for washing later. And then a final wipe down of the counters and stove. Usually that's the end of the 30 minutes there. If I have extra time I'll do a quick tidy of the bathroom.

The weekend floors came from a truism I've always known -- If your floors are clear and clean your house will always look cleaner than it actually is. I figure it's something about open spaces reducing the impression of clutter. This routine also comes from reading about how you need to do 4 passes with a vacuum each time you vacuum to actually clean it well. So I've started doing my floors every weekend, usually on a Saturday morning.

There's a whole process to it too. I pull out all the rugs on the various floors; sweep the hard floors (I mop every month or earlier if it gets gross) and then swiffer them. (I love the swiffer. Cat hair and dander is so much less of a problem now) Then I vacuum the rugs and put them back. Finally I break out my Discman and vacuum the hallway then the living room. I actually look forward to vacuuming because it's a chunk of time I take to listen to my various CDs, sing along (much to Mike's disgust) and vacuum-dance. So much fun.

I figure those two little things, those two basic changes to my daily and weekly routine has enabled us to live in a better home. There are other things we've been working on. Doing dishes together every night is one. We're trying to get into the habit that we eat dinner then we wash the dishes. I don't count it as a changed routine yet because we're still having growing pains and finding it difficult to stick to it.

I really want to do more fancy stuff with the place in the future. I want to paint the walls in the hallway and the living room in this coming year. I want to build in shelving in a couple of the closets. I want to sew comfy pillows for the couch. I want to sew curtains for Miss Sara's room and buy her a fabulous flop rug for her floor. I want to build shelves for the unused wall space right above my desk.

Let's see if I can do it. :) And that's 30 minutes.