Go Make Your Bed... Shine Your Sink... Or Whatever

By now, I think, that most women have some knowledge of FlyLady and her tips, tricks, and schedules to get and keep your house clean and organized.  She's great.  I've taken quite a few of her ideas and tweaked them to fit me, my home, my lifestyle, and my personality over the years.

One of those things I've taken and made my own is her insistence on shining the sink every night.  My sink can't be shined.  It's old.  It's really, really old.  Think old metal cabinets old.  What's that, from the 1950s or something?  There's that and there's the fact that Dodger has been a painter for most of the time that we've lived here, 16 years now, and we clean his brushes and roller covers in that sink.  If I scrub hard, I can usually free it from the random paint stains but in no way, shape, or form can it be shined.

Besides, I'm not really "at home" in my kitchen or any kitchen, for that matter.  The kitchen is really Dodger's domain.  He's a fabulous cook.  He's one of those people who uses food and cooking in a creative way.  He doesn't ever use a recipe and comes up with some of the best tasting food I've ever had the pleasure to put in my mouth... I like to eat.

What I have found, is that I LOVE having my bed made everyday.  I make it within 30 minutes of crawling out of it each morning.  I love my bedspread, that Dodger brought home from a client last summer, and the throw pillows that I recovered last fall.  Making my bed helps me set the tone for the rest of my day.  If I have a bad moment during the day, I can go flop myself on top of my beautiful bed and snuggle up a bit under the handmade crocheted afghan, that I also keep on the bed, and feel a little bit better and tucked away from the harsh world outside my bedroom door.

What you also can't tell is that in between the beautiful handmade bedspread and top sheet is a well-loved reminder of some of the most wonderful memories of my childhood.  Sometime last year, I found my old Smurfs sleeping blanket in a box in my garage.  I've had that sleeping blanket since I was a young child.  I used it every summer on family vacations and other camping trips.  It's witnessed tons of my most precious memories.  It's insides are all balled up now and it's faded and has a few holes but I could not bring myself to throw it away.  So now it's tucked away where it can't be seen but it's still useful to me.  It helps keep me warm at night, still.

Making my bed daily is my equivalent to FlyLady's shining of the sink.

So, if you don't like your sink, your kitchen, or for whatever reason shining your sink doesn't "get you off", then find what does!  Find one thing that you can do everyday that makes you smile, makes you happy, and sets the tone for the rest of your day.  Find the one thing that you can go to throughout the day to admire and to find peace in when things get a little rough.

FlyLady is great and all.... but what she recommends is only great for you if it works for you.  If it doesn't, then change it.  Find your FlyLady equivalent.

You'd never know just by looking at them that one of those pillows is a Scooby-Doo pillow and another is a Spongebob pillow.

The hand appliqued bed coverlet that one of my husband's clients sent home with him one day. They were getting rid of it. I absolutely love it. It's direct from India, which is where his clients are from. What you can't see is that underneath that coverlet is my childhood Smurfs sleeping bag that I can't bear to get rid of.