Blitz It Friday

I know, I know, it's Saturday not Friday. Sorry it took me an extra day to post about this week's blitz! Once again, I was interrupted throughout the blitz but I persevered. In roughly 30 minutes, I:

-emptied the dryer
-folded towels and put them away
-moved sheets from washer to dryer and started it up
-loaded and started the dishwasher
-409'd the kitchen counter

I think there was more but I can't remember. That was Thursday. Today I set the timer for 30 minutes to tackle a project loooong procrastinated--setting up the Quicken software we bought over a year ago. It took more like 45 minutes but I entered all the info. Great, except now I have no idea how to use the thing. I think it was a big ole waste of money. Maybe hubby can make sense of it. Anyway, got that project off my list.

To see more blitzes, go to Organized Everyday.

Blitz It Friday

Yesterday, I set the timer for 30 minutes. I gathered up a load of dark clothes for the laundry and started the washer. I cleared the drying rack to make room for the new batch of clothes. Then I hand-washed an underwire bra. At that point the phone rang and it was my BFF I never get to talk to so I cut the blitz short and answered the call. So it was only a 20 minute blitz.

Today I set the timer for 30 minutes and went to work on a very messy corner of our master bedroom that is currently holding bags and piles of L's outgrown clothes. I was able to sort several bags of clothes into boxes by size and threw out some stained clothes and made a small pile for donation. I wish I could've kept going all day, but I had kids to get back to. Still, it was a great start!

To see what others are blitzing, check out Organized Everyday. Thanks for visiting!

National Eosinophilic Awareness Week

The third week of May is National Eosinophilic Awareness Week so I am going to try to blog every day this week about EE. Today, some basic info about the condition. American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders (APFED) is the organization for people with EGIDs (eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders). Check out their website for more info. Below are some highlights, taken directly from the website [my added thoughts are in italics]. What is an Eosinophil? Eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, are an important part of the immune system, helping us fight off certain types of infections, such as parasites. What is EE? Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is an allergic inflammatory disease characterized by elevated eosinophils in the esophagus. EE is a newly recognized disease that over the past decade has been increasingly diagnosed in children and adults.... Eosinophilic esophagitis is characterized by a large number of eosinophils and inflammation in the esophagus (the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach). These eosinophils persist despite treatment with acid blocking medicines.... In certain families, there may be an inherited (genetic) tendency. In individuals with EE, the eosinophils cause injury to the tissue in the esophagus. EE can be driven by food allergy or intolerance: most patients who eliminate food proteins from their diet (by drinking only an amino-acid based formula) improve. [Basically, when L eats a food he's allergic to, eosinophils attack the food and his esophagus, causing inflammation and bleeding. This is how he became anemic at 6 months old, from the prolonged, microscopic blood loss caused by this attack on his esophagus.] Elemental diets, in which all sources of protein are removed from the diet, are another dietary therapy. An elemental diet includes only an amino acid formula (building blocks of protein), with no whole or partial proteins. Simple sugars, salt and oils are permitted on an elemental diet. Because these formulas are not palatable, the use of a strict elemental diet may require a feeding tube. Amino-acid based formulas are very expensive and are only sometimes covered by health insurance. Elemental diets are effective in treating most people with EE. [L is a rare case in that he can drink the formula without a tube, possibly because he was introduced to the nasty flavor at such a young age, 8 months old.] Check out apfed.org for more info.

Blitz It Friday

I had another busy week, that's two weeks in a row of a bunch of extra stressors, but we are done, finished, finito--yea! After preschool yesterday, I was done for the week. But housework waits for no man, so before I could rest, I convinced myself to do a quick blitz. I set the timer for 20 minutes and here's what I accomplished:

-loaded and started dishwasher
-went through annoying pile on the bathtub that's been staring at me since January
-cleared foyer of the mess from last week's trips to the pool
-threw away a dust bunny
-organized the bottled water and Coke cans in the kitchen that were jutting out and waiting to be tripped over
-moved last week's party trays from a bag in the bedroom (what were they doing there? just dumped with the rest of the clutter) into the sink

The timer rang and I 409'd the kitchen counter--the end. It was nice to conquer some of the messes that I pass by every day and say "I've gotta do something about that" but never do.

With preschool over for the summer, my weeks should be ever so slightly less chaotic, so stay tuned to see if I find more time to blitz. For more, head over to Organized Everyday. Thanks for stopping by!

Blitz It Friday

I don't know about you, but for me, there's no better motivation to clean than expecting a guest. Well, last weekend my sister was in town and the house had to be moderately clean by Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, Hubby did most of the heavy duty kitchen cleaning, so that room was looking pretty good. Here's how I did the rest....

Saturday, I did a 15 minute blitz of the upstairs bathroom. I was able to accomplish the tub and toilet. When the timer rang, I considered persevering through to the end, but T had other ideas--she woke up from her nap, probably from the noise of me cleaning. Ugh!

Sunday, I did a 10 minute blitz of the half bath downstairs. That was all the time it needed to be sparkling and inviting. ;-)

Later, when there was approximately 20 minutes before Hubby and Sis got home from the airport, I set the timer for 20 and blitzed again. I loaded and started the dishwasher, then ran upstairs to finish that bathroom--counter, sink and mirror. Those chores filled the 20 minutes but I kept cleaning, wiping down some more counterspace in the kitchen for all of two minutes before the guest arrived. Phew! Overall, I was pleased with how the house looked for her visit.

This week has been extra busy, lots of balls in the air, so cleaning took place catch-as-catch-can. Finally, yesterday I got some time during overlapping naps to do a blitz. There's a bit of a backstory--our HOA is going to paint the outside of our house so yesterday they power-washed it. Well, when they blasted our french doors in the living room, dirty water splashed through the crack between the two doors, and covered a variety of toys. Yuck! So in order to motivate the nasty-toy-clean-up, I set the timer for 15 minutes. (T and L were both napping, but T could wake up at any moment.) The toys didn't turn out to be too bad, most could be wiped down with disinfecting wipes. So with that accomplished and 3 minutes left on the clock, I headed into the living room and picked up toys. The timer rang but T was still asleep, so I plowed on. Picked up all the toys and books and moved things to their proper places--it looked great. At that point, I thought my blitz was done, but I had to change the laundry anyway so I thought, Keep Going. So I changed the laundry and folded some towels and when that was done it had been a 45-minute-blitz, my longest one yet. Yea!

I have to pat myself on the back, because overlapping naps are all too rare, and it's unusual for me to spend that precious time cleaning. I was left with only about 10 minutes of free time before I had to make T's next bottle. So kudos to me for being productive when I could've been relaxing.

To see more blitzes, head to Organized Everyday.