Review of ROTM: The Bathroom

As we near the end of October, I thought I should check in regarding the ROTM. I confess, I have not been successful in making a lot of progress in the Bathroom. I did some extra cleaning as well as changing the shower curtain but that's about it.

You know what though? It's okay. I have learned in this new Domestic Diva Adventure that October is not a good time for me to start something like this. The month looked blank when I came up with this idea, but reality packed in a lot of commitments and responsibilities that took me away from my plan to deep clean the Bathroom.

So with the new knowledge, we move on. :) My goal is still to work on the Bathroom so I can get the tasks completed. With the last week of October and into November, I am going to keep the Bathroom as my ROTM. And I've decided to make the Living Room the ROTM for December. I will need to re-work the room to fit our Christmas tree in for the Holidays so it will be the perfect time to deep clean it. I'm printing off my work sheet and starting to fill it in right now.

So how did you do in October? Did you complete your room? Do you still have more to do? Are you continuing with the same one for November or starting a new one?  

Middle of October already?!?

Unbelievable!! Somehow October is flying by and we've already past the middle of the month mark. You are probably wondering what has happened in the bathroom. Unfortunately, nothing. I have been doing other things instead. The weather was nice so I worked outside, planting raspberry bushes in the backyard and expanding our flower garden in the front. A dear friend gave me a bunch of plants and I needed to get them in the ground while the getting was good. And then, being in Canada, we had Thanksgiving weekend. Silly me volunteered to host one dinner here plus take desserts to another one. Needles to say, it was a whirlwind of cooking and baking lately.

So, I will get back to the bathroom. I have been doing my regular cleaning in there but the extra stuff I wanted to do hasn't happened yet. I have not forgotten about my plan. It just got delayed a little. I'm really glad I picked a small room to work on this month.

Are you working on a room in your home this month? How is it coming along? Did you get sidelined by other tasks like I did or are you cruising through and making progress?

October's Room of the Month

Today's the first which means it's time for the big reveal. :) The ROTM for October will be The Bathroom.

In this house, we have two, however one is in my BIL's apartment so I only have to deal with one. ;) Sometimes having only one bathroom for the four of us can be a bit much, which is why I want to take my time and make it work a little better for us.

Today I'm just starting with my checklist and filling in the four sections (purge & organize; deep clean; repairs & changes; things to purchase). I'm sure there will be more to add later on but it's good to have a starting point. And I like checking stuff off to show myself I'm making progress.

As I attack the areas of the bathroom, I'll be taking before and after pictures so you all can see how I'm doing. By the end of the month, we should have a bathroom that's working a little better for this family.

What room could you work on? Do you want to do the bathroom like I am? Make your own checklist with it divided into the four sections, then get at it. :)

Going for more

That's what I would like to do - go for more. I'm referring to what I get accomplished around here. I've got a long list of things I would like to do and changes I would like to make. We haven't done much of anything around here since moving in other than a few minor things like hanging hooks. Now that the kids are in school and our new business is taking off well, I would like to start being more productive. I've done well at everyday cleaning and keeping the place tidy. Now it's time to do more. :)

So my thought is to work on one room at a time till I get them all done. My goal is to complete one in a months time. There are three key points for each room: purging and organizing, repairs and changes, and deep cleaning. I've decided that the bathroom will be the first Room of the Month and start in October.

I've already started thinking about what needs to be done in there. The linen closet needs some tidying up (too many bottles that are less than half full). The room needs some towel bars and a toilet paper holder.

So anyone want to join me? I'm going to make a worksheet up so I can have my lists hopefully this week.

Getting the hang of it

A new school year always brings new routines. We've been at it for over a week now and I think we're starting to get the hang of it. The kids were home sick for two days so it is still kind of hard to tell. We haven't been having any issues so far and haven't missed the bus (knock on wood).

I finally got a "day" to myself too to see what it's going to be like. Guess what. I kinda like it. ;) I was able to get some extra cleaning done at my own speed and without any interruptions. How lovely! I've been out grocery shopping with out any extra little people and it's nice too.

Do you still have little ones under feet all day? Do you enjoy the freedom of spending the day by yourself? Are you getting things accomplished?

It's Fall!

Holy crap! Where did the Summer go? I thought it was going to be a long one. We didn't have much planned and we had a couple extra kids here for 6 weeks. But the time flew by and here we are... Fall. Crazy!

I think we're all ready for school. We went and did some shopping a few weeks ago. I don't have lists from the classes yet but there's always the things they need every time (like indoor shoes, back packs and lunch pails, and a change of clothes for the little ones). My daughter starts in her Grade 2 class tomorrow and then my son starts JK on Friday. Something else that's new for us is that the kids will be going on the bus. It will be interesting to not be taking kids to and from school like we had been doing.

I can't wait to get into a routine for myself. I'll be busy with our own business, taking care of the house, cooking meals, etc. I'm hoping though that I'll be able to manage my time better. There are lots of things that I've been wanting to do like expand more of my knitting into a small business, moving some plants around outside, and do some minor renovations around the house.

Plans, plans, plans... There seems to be a lot but I'm sure I'll get some of it worked out. I'm just going to take it one step at a time and see where things go. Hopefully I'll be happy with it all in the end.

Wish me luck!

Gardening? Yes, I can!

Well, this is something new for me - I have a flower garden. I've had some potted flowers outside before but at our new home, I now have a flower garden across the front of the house.

 

I haven't done anything besides weed it yet but I've been planning. My family got me a few flowers for Mother's Day which I'm going to put in there. As well, there are some flowering plants in the backyard that aren't doing to well so I'm going to try moving them to the front. Hopefully they will like it there better. In the back, the poor plants are sitting in the shade. Some of them are the same as in the front and you can really tell that they aren't thriving back there when you look at them. Plus, it's probably going to be easier to have the flowers all together. ;) I have a few rectangular pots to put some flowers in but I haven't decided where they are going yet so they are sitting empty, patiently waiting for me.

There are a couple of reasons why I haven't done anything besides weed the garden yet. One is it's been too cold again. The other reason is I've got a lot of mystery plants (like this one above that has purple flowers I think). I know I've got a couple hostas (had one at our old house) and there is a white bleeding heart coming in along with a snowball tree. But the rest I'm waiting to see what they are and what colours are out there.

 

Today as I write to you, I sit inside avoiding the rain outside and hoping my plants are enjoying the shower. Can't wait to add some new stuff in the garden. :D