In addition to the regular cleaning, in the past two weeks, I’ve made a conscious effort to get some projects done. The highlight was certainly the new water softener, which Ryan put in. It only took 3 extra trips to Home Depot for a plumbing wrench, a new pipe, and a different new pipe.

• Spray weeds: front, side and back of house
• Fungicide at trees bases
• Pull backyard weeds
• Trim rosebush
• Replace misc. light bulbs, inside and out
• Put up shampoo and conditioner dispensers
• Buy faux plant for dining room shelf
• Scrub garage door where paint ball hit it (it didn’t clean completely, so we may need to paint it)
• Purchase and install new water softener (FINALLY!)
• Order new jeans with my Lands End gift card from Discover

I look at this list and it doesn’t sound like much, especially since Ryan did the dispensers and the water softener. But last week I also went down to Naperville twice, so that took up two days. I’m eager to keep doing projects in the coming weeks.

Further,  this was my fourth week of cleaning the entire house by Thursday night (defined as bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, sweeping/mopping, cleaning kitchen counters and microwave, etc.). My score card is 4 success/0 fail/52 weeks, although I probably missed something small each week (like I missed the microwave one or two weeks and I didn’t dust one week). My goal is to clean the house every week for 52 weeks.

I’m realizing how great it is to clean every week: I go to clean the toilet in the powder room and think “It’s not even dirty” and what a wonderful thing! It’s never dirty. It doesn’t take long to wipe down an almost-clean toilet. It’s not even a “gross” chore. I go to clean the microwave and it’s mostly clean. I’m pretty big on keeping the microwave clean after I use it anyway, but I think making the special point of cleaning each week means that, like the toilet, I’ll never have to see it bad.

I’m also realizing that cleaning every week is really a superficial thing. Because everything is superficially clean (i.e., the toilets as I mentioned above), I can see the scuffs on the walls and the scratched paint on the door. I see the dirt in the corner behind the door. Cleaning every week is motivation to do deeper cleaning projects on my whole house. I’m going to recaulk the hall bathtub (if I can figure out how) and I’m going to paint the trim on the kitchen window. I only see it because I’m cleaning the rest of the room every single week.

I admit I have been getting lazy, or maybe just efficient. While I spent about six hours the first week, I only spent three hours today. I need to go deeper and get the tubs cleaner (I hate the glass doors on the shower and tub; so hard to clean!). Now that I have soft water again, it may be easier. Where is the lime-a-way?

Am I OCD? Absolutely not. I’m just trying to get in a habit for cleanliness. I figure a year of this, every week, will make it easier. Habits are hard to build and easy to break. Trust me when I say it does not come naturally for me. I’m inclined to ignore the bathrooms until they look icky, as I had been doing.

It’s been said that people get messier and dirtier as they age, and I want to start out as clean as I can be. That’s why I have this silly goal for now when I still feel young.

What are your techniques for not being lazy about cleaning and house projects? I’m up for ideas for making cleaning a great habit.