What does tidy mean to you?

I’ve been wrestling with this one for a while. A few weeks ago someone who had never been in my house before called to say she’d be over in about 10 minutes. I calmly said “OK – sounds great!” and then I FREAKED!!! My house was NOT looking presentable. This was for a number of reasons…I have three kids, their friends, two dogs, a husband, a crafting addiction, and at that time a pretty busy schedule. I ran around and threw stuff behind any closed door that wasn’t already bursting at the seams. After my friend left I asked myself how I could keep that from happening again. What does tidy mean to me? Not perfect…tidy. I decided the kitchen floor had to be swept every day. The counters have to be wiped off after breakfast and making school lunches, and the kitchen table wiped down…RIGHT AWAY! We have a peninsula counter in our kitchen that is a magnet for all sorts of weird things…especially crafts. The various blankets and pillows have to be stashed from the couch, and the garbage can’t be overflowing. The shoes must be lined up neatly in the front entry and the jackets hung up.  Wet stuff (we have lots of snow) go onto the drying rack over the heating vent…not the floor. And I suppose I should swab out the bathroom as long as I’m trying to make new habits. And I’m trying to make the kids develop new habits too. That is harder on me than just doing it myself. I have to remind them constantly. I hope they start to hang their jackets automatically before I start to sound like a naggy nag.

In other news I’ve needle felted a bit -

and this little guy isn’t done yet but here’s a preview:

I also took apart my dishwasher and took this part off and cleaned it and put it back on. It’s a flow regulator thingy. (I always take pictures when I’m taking something apart so I can get back together correctly!) My dishwasher works like a brand new machine again! It was clogged with calcium! I just googled “my dishwasher doesn’t get my dishes clean” to get tips and how-to’s on what to do.

And, we decorated for Christmas! All done!!! Have a great weekend and Happy Crafting!!