SUCCESS!!

That's exactly what today has been...a success!!!

I just LOVE when I have days like these-don't we all?  As you know from a previous post, I'm now staying up after my husband goes to work so I can get things done before my son wakes up.  Today was an extra early day (4:30am!).  I wanted SO bad to go back to bed, since I went to bed at 11pm last night, but I resisted the urge and stayed up.  I really love watching the Today show but I know if I sit down on the couch that early in the morning I will be asleep in no time, so I instead got right to work on my to-do list I had made the night  before.  I am much more productive when I go into the day with a game plan.  When I make lists I like to make a list of things that need to get done by the end of the week, then I pick items from that list that I want to accomplish that day.  It makes me feel like I have a little bit more of a choice when I do that and I find I am more successful.  

Anyway, by 9am I was able to meet these goals:

Balance the checkbook/update our monthly budget

Start laundry

Clean the kitchen-dishes, counters, stovetop, table, sweep and mop, vacuum rugs

Water grass in backyard

Clean our half bathroom, including the floors

Then I had some "me" time and looked online for some baby items we will be needing 

A big factor in my success this morning was that my son slept in until 9:30, which is totally out of the ordinary.  He's usually up by 8 at the latest.  I think he was catching up on his lack of sleep from the past few days when we were out of town.  It sure was nice though to have 5 hours all to myself this morning.

Since then I have also:

Finished all the laundry (still need to fold some)

Cleaned my sons room and vacuumed it

vacuumed the stairs and upstairs hallway

watered the plants

cleaned all the light switches downstairs and some spots on the walls

cleaned the upstairs bathroom, including scrubbing the bathtub

swept and mopped the entry way

All I have now to do is:

mop the bathroom floor in our upstairs bathroom

Exercise

Return a dvd to the library

Get the mail and mail some birthday cards

Here are a few pictures from my successful day, in case you needed proof :)

This is my favorite thing--empty laundry baskets.  It seems to usually only last a day or less, but it's a pretty sight while it lasts.

Beautifully clean kitchen. Just need to tackle the stack of papers on the counter.  That seems to be the drop all for our stuff.  Please tell me I'm not the only one that has a pile of random papers and things to be sorted through, all the time!

My son's room.  I even made the bed, my Mom should be proud :) I have always been HORRIBLE at making beds, but it really does make a difference and completes a room.

By the way, my son jumped into the bed not 10 minutes after I made it, of course :)

Our Island bathroom, where we can pretend to be living in paradise :)

Now, to some of you this may not seem like a whole lot of work, but when you look like this...

It's a big accomplishment! I'm actually kind of strange sometimes.  I'll get in these moods where I just want to clean! --and not just straightening up the living room and vacuuming, but full on deep cleaning, like cleaning out the fridge or scrubbing the oven.  Not sure if this is my nesting instinct or not, but I'm loving it.  I never nested when I was pregnant with my son so I guess I'm making up for it now.

 Now my back is sore from all that cleaning so I think I'll be taking it easy the rest of the evening.  Ahh, so nice to have a clean home!