#ufyh

November is coming and with it National Clean Your Home Month! I'm posting up a link now and will repost it around the end of October so people can explore, discuss, and plan.

The goal of "NaClYoHo" is not actually to end up with a clean home; it's to spend the month of November addressing what you’d like to change about your living space. Each day (or however often you want) you can put on some kind of media -- a podcast, a playlist, a movie -- and clean, organize, sort, or work on your to-do list until the media is over or you run out of steam.

The link above goes to the "Manifesto" where you can learn more about the ideas behind the project, plus find links to interesting aspects of previous years. You know you want to find out what a To Viking list is!

This year I've decided not to do a signup sheet, but I have gone through past years' sheets and created THE BIG DOCUMENT OF:

At this document you can find a massive list of media that past participants suggest, along with ideas for how to clean, tips for cleaning and self-care, and product recommendations.

As thanks for the warm (and, at times, hilarious) welcome back, here's an updated, significantly less wordy version of my Emergency Cleaning list. The original will be a decade old in a few months, if you can believe it!

You may need to modify or adjust the steps on this list based on your own situation — it's meant as a general guideline for those who need a little help pushing past the "Where the hell am I supposed to start?" feeling. This is also not meant to be a comprehensive "How to clean your house properly and maintain it forever" guide. It's for those moments when you have to quickly half-ass it because someone is going to be in your space soon and it's a disaster. If you can close some doors and cut some steps from the list, even better. Definitely do that.

(This is one of many checklists and downloadables available on my Patreon, if you're into that sort of thing.)

If you want to body double with me lmk!

Goals/todo for the weekend under the cut

I wanted to listen to something "self improvement" wise, and downloaded a Mark Manson (Mason, I forget) book he did on hope and its importance some years ago (2019) and when he started the book out with a story about Auschwitz and how nothing WE deal with is THAT bad I have a visceral response, returned the audiobook to the library and downloaded another book on wardrobes because I was listening to something to chill out, not listen to some smug, overpriviledged nitwit.

I downloaded Project 333 (it's about using 33 clothing items each season as your wardrobe)

So…

About that.

This woman goes on and on an on about how she was unhappy and in debt and blah di blah di blah until she cleaned out her closet and started wearing only 33 clothing items per season.

Clearly, the lady was what we used to call a shopaholic. Which, okay… That can happen to a person.

So, as kind of a reality check, I reviewed the rules, pulled out a spreadsheet I'd written a couple of years ago to inventory my clothes, updated it, and checked the numbers based on what I wear during what season.

36 for winter, 42 for summer. (I have dresses I only wear in summer)

I would in no way call myself any sort of minimalist, so that made me crack up. I do absolutely have a capsule wardrobe. But boy howdy tell you what, I also haz an amuse.

As I am thinking about all the organization, self-improvement, and other systems and literature of this sort, I do notice a common thread, but none of 'em say it.

But yesterday was day 2, and I started off small by emptying out baby's bookshelf, sorting out the books that needed to be put away in storage (or thrown out in the case of two that were ripped to pieces) and putting them away, and cleaning out the "pockets" of the shelf before putting the rest of the books back in. There was months-old cheese in there and five (5) rocks. And a paper napkin.

I love my daughter 😌

Day 3's tasks have been a little more productive! I took our ballots to the drop box on my way to the grocery store. This evening, I spent some time rearranging the contents of the cupboards to be able to find food easier. I also pulled out an assortment of empty spice jars that will either find new uses or be given to somebody who needs them. I've started a mental list of donations to set aside but I do need to acquire a box first, as some of them aren't suited to a bag.