New year new me!

The new year has come and gone and I've been doing alot of thinking.... it's time for a new outlook on life. I've decided I need to get my house in order, I need to lose weight, I need to quit smoking and I need to get back on track with school. I know those are all things everyone has said before but this year is my year. I'm sick of being fat, I'm sick of the CHAOS in my house, I'm sick of smoking, and I want to have a college degree.

So I was telling my grandma about my new plan and she told me I needed to schedule my day. My therapist said the same thing. So last week I sat down and planned out my entire day. Making time for cleaning, exercise, family time, school work and even a couple hours for making jewelry. Monday I start my new schedule. My husband is going out of town for the month of January and I'll have plenty of time to get the schedule in place while he is gone.

I've taken pictures of my house in it's current state, trashed. And when I finish cleaning today I'll post after pictures.

3 days in

Just thought I'd check in after a couple of days on the new system.  It's working - for me - so far, though I've discovered one very important thing.  In order to meet goal, I have to actually GET UP AND DO those basic maintenance things at the very least.  Just the rooms alone are 875 points, and another 175 minimum for dishes, laundry, and getting rid of something somewhere.  That's more than 1/4 of my daily goal, so when I don't do them, I pretty much can't make goal.  I know, right?  That's so rude.  Who writes this stuff?

Oh yeah.

Never mind.

Kicking off the new year

There's been a significant lack of posting around here, and I have a very good reason.  I've been burning the midnight oil getting a whole new plan ready to go for 2011, and I came in just under the wire.

The biggest part of this change is that PCCX as we knew it is now spread over 11 months instead of intense bursts 4 times a year.  The theory is that with more time per room at one time we'll be more likely to get things done.  Just to put it out there FYI, here's the breakdown:

January: playroom/office/den
February: bathrooms/laundry room
March: dungeon
April: attic/basement/storage
May: outside
June: porch/entry/halls/stairs
July: bedrooms
August: living room/family room
September: garage/workshop/autos
October: kitchen
November: dining room
December: nothing scheduled due to holidays

There's also a plan for similar tasks to be done together rather than a whole room at a time.  I don't know how many people will be using that one, but I wrote it anyway, just in case.

So this is the new schedule I'll be using, and I'm hopeful for this year.  How are your plans coming?

Ringing in the new year

It's that time again. Time of renewed hope, lofty ambitions, and crashing after a holiday sugar high. Oh, wait, is that just me?

Winter PCCX is the time to capitalize on the resolution wave and start the year off with a bang.

Will somebody please slap some sense into me so I quit talking in sound bites? Sheesh.

Ok, so PCCX starts again on Monday and I'd really like to kick some...ahem. Seriously. I really, really, REALLY *want* to have a clean house, honest. The thing about this challenge is, once it's over there's all the follow up maintenance afterward, and I'm not so good with that. On the other hand, if I were to actually *gasp* complete the list - or even come reasonably close - odds are I would be conditioned to doing the work every day, so the maintenance (daily, weekly) lists wouldn't be a problem. Right? I'd like it to be right. I'd like to think I can really do this, that I'm not an utter failure and sad excuse for a housekeeper, and by extension, person. Oh, sorry. It's gray and snowy outside and it's been this kind of Christmas, so I seesaw between ambition and despair. Don't mind me.

Are you ready for the new year and the new challenge? Is it one of your resolutions for 2010?

Celeste's Intro

My name is Celeste and I'm a stay at home mom of 2 preschoolers, and an Army wife. I try not to keep my house too cluttered cause I have to move everything with me every 3 years or so.

I'm brand-spankin'-new to blogging. This is my very first post. Hopefully I can keep up with it. I'm the youngest member of the group and enjoy my time with them. They've become some of my best friends. awwwww.....

So I've never attempted a pccx but I figure WTH might as well give it a shot. I don't know what our holiday plans are this year but if we go out of town I'll come home to a sparkely clean house.

Hope everyone has a great pccx! We can finish it all!