I'm finally getting into this Flylady thing. Or, at least, I'm giving it a try. The website is still way too cluttered for me to focus on anything

So far I'm just taking what I can use and ignoring the rest. (But I'm really close to buying a bunch of the cleaning stuff, because they sound SO COOL.)

I also decided the other day to set the stopwatch on my iPod Touch to see just how long it takes to put away all the dishes in the drainer, and how long it takes to clean the bathtub, because I tend to put those off because they "take too long."

Answer? Putting away a super-full dish drainer full of dishes (like, piled super high): 2 minutes, 30 seconds. That includes dumping out the water that collects on the tray the drainer sits on.

Cleaning the tub: about 8 minutes, start to finish (and that includes wrangling the shower curtain out of the way -- it's a pedestal tub with a shower enclosure, so the curtain goes all the way around, and it's a bear to wrangle).

So, no more complaining about how long those chores take. Dang.

I haven't taken a good look at Flylady (yet), but when the place is starting to get a bit yuck looking, I'll set a timer for 20 or 30 minutes and get to work putting stuff away and doing light cleaning (wiping counters and the like).

It's amazing how much I can get done in that amount of time.

So far I'm just taking what I can use and ignoring the rest. (But I'm really close to buying a bunch of the cleaning stuff, because they sound SO COOL.)

Yeah, that rubber brush thing seems like it would be great for cleaning my sofa.

I've got a ton of energy this weekend (I'm pretty sure it's the Prednisone), so I'm taking advantage of that to get some of the bigger chores done, like switching out all my summer clothes and bedding for the winter stuff.

I've got a ton of energy this weekend (I'm pretty sure it's the Prednisone)

Dude, I *love* the steroid rush of I Am Invincible! LOVE.

Morning. Send coffee.

First night with Ridiculous Dog the second last night. She whined for a while, then got very quiet, which this morning I decided was Too Quiet, and came downstairs all paranoid that she'd killed herself on her crate. Nope. She's fine.

Thus far, Daisy isn't getting cranky or defensive, so knock wood. Ahahaha! Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd Bluebell just discovered the joy of getting startled on wood floors with no traction.

Spark in the bathroom this morning that switched off the circuit breaker for two bathrooms. When I flipped the breaker back on an outlet was black. I can still smell where the plastic on the outlet burnt.

1) I'm leaving the lights off in the bathroom where the circuit blew until an electrician can look at it.

2) Is it safe to use the lights in the other bathroom that is on the same circuit until then?

YAY CLOVER GRILL! I haven't been there yet, as I am an aficionado of the daytime drinking.

We might wander to Da Courtyard for a quarter or so of the game later, it will be good to get out of the house. Halloween weekend is so over the top that there's little middle ground between that and hunkering down at home.

Oh! I am making crockpot vegetarian pesto lasagna from the recipe that Teppy recommended! Get that going, hit the shower, and carefully approach the day.

TB, please take care of yourself! Worried about you.

smonster, what kind of grease did you need that there wasn't enough of at a grill? (You don't have to answer that when sober.)

Typo Boy, your electrical system is way more interesting than they should be. I don't have any idea if it is safe or not to use the other lights on that circuit, so I can't be at all helpful for you.

2) Is it safe to use the lights in the other bathroom that is on the same circuit until then?

If your circuit breaker can be reset, any other outlet should be OK. Does your bathroom not have GFI outlets?

It does, but this was an (unused) non-GFI outlet right next to the sink. This is an old house. Each bathroom has one GFI outlet, and a couple of non-GFI outlets.