Yay...bigger is better!

Look what I did.

It's dark in the corner, but you get the idea.



Enjoying their new digs!



A friend gave me a box of cages. There were three cages in there and the only thing missing was the top to one of them. I took two of them and wired them together by removing the middle top wall of each cage top. Then I wired the bottoms together. It makes one really nice sized big cage and all three birds can be in there together. I wasn't sure about putting the parakeet in with the cockatiels at first, but they are doing just fine. They have been together for a long time, but the parakeet always had his own space. I love the fact that the cage looks much neater, now. The other two cages didn't match at all.

I was going to take some pics of them while I was taking pics of the cage, but they kept running from the camera. Scaredy birds! ha ha.

Run. Save yourself.



Running from the evil camera.



Trying to hide from the evil camera.

Fly Lady

I decided to join the flylady campaign, but it's already annoying me. I don't want to post sticky notes all over my house. I already get up and get dressed to the shoes every day because I really can't do much unless I have on my regular shoes. Foam shoes don't work for me unless I'm in slipper mode. I have to have lace-up shoes in order to do very much because I need the support.
I don't care about shining my sink everyday. My sink is the least of my worries as far as getting things in order go. I do my dishes every morning because I like to do dishes while waiting for my coffee. I do skip an occasional morning, but only because there might only be one plate in there. Jeren and I use paper plates a lot. It's easier on both of us.
I don't need to be reminded to do the little things. My house is mostly clean, just cluttered because of too many projects, too much stuff and not enough time. (curse the computer here)
I think I will adapt things to my own needs. I think I will just adapt my hour a day program, making the increments smaller.
I don't want to keep a notebook, but I do think I will go back to lists. I am going to post a list on the refrigerator, scratch things off, add things on and work on things one at a time. I am going to use some of her ideas but adapt them to my situation. I don't work days, I work nights. I don't go to bed early because I am not home yet. I don't need to lay my clothes out every night. They are on the chair in the bathroom every morning because I place them there when I shower for work. I don't change jeans everyday and I use my work shirts more than once, too. Even so, I know right where my clothes are. (in the dresser, the dryer or my basket, depending on when I did laundry.
I already have good daily habits for cleaning.
I do laundry just about daily. I fold the clothes as I take them out of the dryer. Don't get me wrong. There are days when I "freshen" them a dozen times and forget to go fold them, but they don't get taken to another spot to wait for folding. I clean up after myself as I cook. I put things away when I'm done with them. When I leave a room I take any dishes I might have use there. I put my coffee cup on the counter before I go to work.
It's not the cleaning I need help doing. It's the dealing with many years worth and seven kids worth of stuff to go through, assess, throw out, keep, sell, give away. It's also putting back all the little pieces that got separated when kids didn't pick up a toy or game properly. It's rearranging while I remodel and fix things around the house. It's a whole yard of things that go undone when I'm working a lot or busy with family and friends. It's learning to allocate my time and not procrastinate.
She has some good ideas.
I just need different angles on them.

Do I want to fly?

This site was called to my attention today. I'm wondering if I want to try it or just keep doing my one hour a day plan. My plan works pretty similar to hers but maybe it would be nice to have the group motivation angle. I wonder if maybe I should change my plan to 15 minutes a day or 30 minutes a day. Some days, out of the three hours I set as a goal in my plan, I can only do one or two. There are various reasons for this.
For instance:
Today I didn't even do one hour at anything. Here is what sabotaged me.
1. David called after work last night and asked me to come over so we could discuss something.
I went over and they had an issue they wanted me to help them figure out. We did that and then visited while I held the baby. We ended up talking until 2:30am. That got me home at 3am. By the time I wound down I didn't get to sleep until almost 4.
I woke up around 7:30. (probably because of habit, since I used to get up each day at that time before Jeren got his truck.)
I played on the computer until I fell back asleep about 8.
Keri called somewhere in the middle of my sleep. I fell back asleep again and slept until 11am.
That only leaves me three hours until time to start getting ready for work.
I got coffee and did my hour on the computer.
I realized that I have to go do some banking stuff. That means I have to leave at 2 instead of 3.
That means I need to get in the shower as soon as I'm done with this blog.
That means my only accomplishment today was my exercise because if I have to eliminate hours I eliminate by importance. My exercise is more important to me than housework, yardwork or other tasks.
So today my hour a day (three hours) plan didn't work. I have a couple of days like this a week. Sometimes more.
Still, I am getting things done. Just not anything much in the last three days. I have trouble on the weekends because Jeren is here. It makes it harder when there is someone around.

I'm still working on it, but I'm wondering if I should join the flylady program and do smaller increments. It is a fun forum. It is free unless you buy stuff from the store. (I personally want the timer. I don't like my current one.)
I think it would make things a little more manageable and if it feels too slow to me I can just up my pace or use the extra time on my yard. I really want a garden this year with more than just tomatoes.
I like the part about dressing to the shoes. I have used that tactic for years. You get a lot more done if you dress and put on shoes. Just trust me on this one. She has that on her page and I can tell you from experience that it is very true. And those foam shoes do NOT work for me. It has to be lace-up or a work style shoe or boot. You WILL get more done if you have on good sturdy shoes. I put my shoes on my feet first thing, unless I exercise first. Then I put them on immediately after.

There's really only one hitch to her program.
I just can't decide if I really want to shine my sink everyday.
Everyday.
But I'm thinking about it.