Okay, I’ll admit it. I have tried FlyLady again and again and it just doesn’t fit me. It’s a fantastic program and lots of people find success, but not me. I’m a FlyLady Failure (if you have no idea what I’m talking about…are you living under a rock? Just kidding…checkout FlyLady.net. It really is great!)

Why am I a failure? I really think the abundance of emails overwhelms me. I know I can delete them but it still gets to me. Second, it’s computer based. That’s like hosting an AA meeting at the local bar.  Seriously. I like the computer. I love the computer. The computer is why I can’t seem to fold laundry. Or clean a toilet. Or…do anything productive. So, I’m supposed to sit at the computer, see what to do, then get off the computer and go do it? Sorry. Not going to happen. I tried it.

I am delighted to introduce you to Motivated Moms. Here’s the basic idea…there are daily routines for you to complete, including:

• Make Beds
• Load/Run/Empty Dishwasher
• Wipe Out Bathroom Sinks
• Plan and Cook Dinner

Then there are the assigned chores each day. For today, I need to

• Clean the dishwasher door
• Clean refrigerator door shelves
• Sweep porch
• Change sheets-master bedroom
• Do a quick tidy/put away in each room of the house
• Sort kitchen & bath towels and cloths-buy new if needed
• Spend time on a craft/hobby

Why do I love Motivated Moms so much? I like that I print it out and check off each item. I can post this on my fridge or in my MomAgenda.  I like that. I can take it around my house if I want to. I don’t have to sit at the computer so I know what to do next! Hey, at some point my husband or kids might even see the list and do something. You never know!

I really like that seasonal chores are included (change furnace filter), regular chores are broken down (this week I only clean the refrigerator doors shelves, not the entire refrigerator). The Motivated Moms system even includes clipping your child’s nails, something I always forget until we’re in public and I see they are way too long. I forget about it, then think about it when I can’t cut them, then forget. Arg!

So, how much would you pay for this? $300 per month? Of course not! If you will, email me for…something…I’ll sell you something! Anyhow, it’s only $8 per YEAR. Heck, that’s a latte and a muffin. There are several different formats…all week on one page, one day at a time, both in half-sheet sizes and you can get each choice with or without daily Bible reading suggestions to read through the entire Bible in a year. You download the entire year, then you can print it all out at once or just one or two sheets at a time.

Seriously, if you are someone who has difficulty “keeping house,” this is the perfect solution!

I’m a day late. Sorry. I was sick. What can I say?

The winner, according to random.org is Rebecaa C. who said, “Guys aren’t like woman, they need a special brand of affection, we expect them to do things for us, so we should sacrifice a little for them!”

This giveaway has been so much fun and rewarding. It really opened my eyes to the need for resources to strengthen marriages. I highly encourage you to check out Kathi Lipp’s website, the author of The Husband Project. My small group is starting the “official” Husband Project next week, so I’m sure I’ll have lots to say about that as we work our way through it!

Here are your random numbers:

34

Timestamp: 2009-01-24 21:38:51 UTC

How would you like to win a *signed* copy of The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp? I’ve been participating in some of the projects. Check these out: Man Food Monday, Smell Nice Saturday, and a little overview of our Date Night at Home Depot. Kathi’s writing style is so funny! Check out the first chapter!

This contest will close on January 23rd. Open to US residents only, due to shipping costs.

• MAIN RULE – Why do you need The Husband Project? (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)
• 1 Extra Entry – Subscribe by reader or email (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment.
• 1 Extra Entry – Mark this post in one of the “share this” categories below: Stumble, Digg, Twitter, etc.
• 2 Extra Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog. Just copy the post URL into the comments section two times.

Guess what? You can enter ONCE A DAY until the drawing!! Pass it on!

Over at MomFuse, Dore posted a great review on the Scandle. Hmmm…Scandle? The name is very intruiging, no?

Do you like candles? Do you like massages? They go together like chocolate and peanut butter, no? (I’ve decided to add no? to most of my sentences today. Yes, I’m driving Mr. Mouthy nuts!)

Scandle is a candle that melts into a body lotion or massage oil. You can use it as, well, a body lotion or massage oil or you can use it as a parafin hand dip. Wow, no? (Okay, that one doesn’t really work, no?)

Scandles come in 18 different scents. Hummingbird anyone? “An original fragrance of kiwi, lilac, tiger lily, with pineapples and pears.” Yummy, no? *YES! That fits!*

You can even order these with a private label, perhaps to utuilze in your own day spa.

For those of you following The Husband Project, imagine the possibilities!!

Do you have a favorite candle? Favorite massage oil? Keep in family friendly, people!…no?

Here is my mission today, straight from Kathi Lipp.

Taking Care of You Tuesday

Not only does you husband want a hot wife – he deserves a hot wife! Time to make sure you are taking care of yourself.

All I want you to do today is go find some lotion in your house. If you are anything like me, you have bottles of lotion in the downstairs bath, under the master bath sink and tucked throughout the house. Also, if you are like me, you hardly ever think to use it.

Take just 60 seconds and go use that lotion – on your hands, on your heels, rubbed into your elbows – whatever will make you feel cared for and loved!

This is my kind of mission! I felt like Kathi has been snooping in my bathrooms. I’m one of those girls who loves the idea of lotions and nice smells, but I never take the time to actually use them. I found a Lime Margarita lotion that I used after my shower. The scent will probably be gone by the time BigMac get home. However, I think the point of this project is the important reminder to try to make myself look nice for My Man.

I know there are plenty of times when I put more time and effort into my appearance when I’m going to the grocery store than when I’ll see MyMan. Who deserves to see me at my best?

Pretty easy Husband Project today. Whew!

PS-Mission #2 arrived in my email today. Stay tuned…

I’m participating in several projects for the new book release “The Husband Project.” My first mission was to plan a date with my husband this weekend. My first pre-project was to find a babysitter. I had planned a quiet couple of hours at our local Starbucks. But my husband had different ideas…

We lined up the babysitter to arrive at 10:00 AM. Brian suggested we hit Home Depot “on the way.” Home Depot is about 20 minutes away. Starbucks is about 2 minutes away. Oh, well. We had some Christmas gift cards to spend and a date is a date no matter where. Right?

As we wandered the aisles of Home Depot, I recalled why I hate this orange store. My husband wants to look at every single thing in the store. He even hugged a rug, causing him to have rug fluff on his sweater all day. Okay, I have to admit, this was pretty cute.

We finally finished our Home Depot shopping. Nothing says romance like shelving for the playroom and pegboard for the garage! Then we hit Target, which I adore. I checked out a couple of products to review later. This time, I was the one who wanted to wander. Brian went to look at wii games while I browsed office and organizing supplies.

After calling the babysitter to say we’d be home at about 2, 3 hours after our scheduled ETA, we ate lunch at Taco Del Mar. Yummy! During lunch and on the way home, we laughed and joked and talked about some more. We hit a few serious topics as well.

I learned a couple of lessons:

1-A date really is a date, no matter the time of day or location. For some reason, I always think other married couples on “dates” romantically gaze into each others eyes and whisper of future goals and family mission statements. We talked shelf height and drawer length. Still, we talked. When do we talk at home with 2 little ones underfoot? With piles of laundry all around? We don’t. Not really. On this date, we really did.

2-Even though I hate Home Depot, I love my man. If I say I would go to the ends of the earth for him, surely I can wander to the very back corner of a large store, right?

3-In general, after spending time together, I feel a little kinder toward my husband. I desire to do sweet things for him and I tend to overlook minor faults.

4-Shh…this part is a secret. My husband doesn’t always complete chores, like installing shelving, in a timely manner. He had both of our projects installed and in working order before dinner. Reward for time spent together? Perhaps.

Don’t get me wrong…we aren’t a marriage on the rocks. We love each other, we’re committed to one another. But sometimes it starts to feel a little more roommate-ish than loving-my-soul-mate-ish. So far, I declare the Husband Project a success!

Tune in for the next Husband Project update!

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I am SO EXCITED to be a part of the release of The Husband Project by Kathi Lipp. I will be given 5 projects to bless my husband. Yipee for BOTH o f us!

My first project is to plan a little weekend date. Yikes! My first thought is, “Who will watch my kids?” Childcare might just be the bane of our date life. So, before I can plan a date of any sort, I need to plan childcare. A few ideas:

1. Family-My folks are always happy to watch my girls, but I feel sort of guilty asking without a prior commitment of some sort. Dentist appointment? Sure. Random date? Hmmm, maybe not.
2. Trade Kids-We have worked out a deal with another couple. One Tuesday per month we take their kids and another Tuesday a month they take our kids. We try to plan a fun kids’ dinner, some games, and maybe a movie. When it’s our date night, our kids are in jammies with teeth brushed wen we pick them up! This is fantastic, but not very spur-of-the-moment, which is what I need for The Husband Project.
3. Local Teen-When we moved about 6 months ago, we were in love with our house. We still are. But the very best benefit of our new street, just 2 blocks away from our old street, is that we have a wonderful 13 year old babysitter just two houses down. She’s young enough that her social life isn’t super packed and her rates are pretty low. If your home doesn’t include a stand-by babysitter, check with friends and neighbors to see if they can recommend anyone. Check with your local church to see if they have any teens trying to raise funds. You might even call your local middle school for suggestions.

I’ve got my lovely neighbor girl lined up to watch my girls for a couple of hours! Yipee! First step of date planning is well under way!

What are your childcare tips? How do you plan a date night?

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Christmas morning finds our family rushing a bit. I take a quick shower, then get dressed. That’s when I noticed I have only shaved one leg. Has this happened to you? I’m wearing jeans, so it really doesn’t matter, but still. Have I ever only brushed my top teeth? I don’t think so. Weird.

This situation got me thinking about my typical morning routine. With two little girls, ages 2 and 4, every morning is pretty rushed. For the most part, I have things down to a time-saving science. I use a 2-in-1 shampoo. I use bar soap so I don’t have to put liquid soap into the puff, use the puff, then rinse the puff. I have have shaving down pretty quick…not by shaving one leg a day either!

A couple of years ago, I found the Schick Intuition. It is great! The triple-blade razor sort of floats in the “shaving solid.” This means you don’t need to use shaving cream. As you use the shave solid and it wears down, the blade stays level. It seems weird that this could save time in the morning, but consider if you have to squirt out the shave gel, perhaps foam it up if it’s a gel, spread it on part of your leg. Then you still have to shave and rinse your razor every couple of swipes. Then, start all over again with your other leg (unless you are me!) With the Schick Intuition, you just swipe and go. It’s fantastic! Another huge bonus is the benefit of traveling. One less thing to pack…is shaving cream a liquid? 3 oz.? I don’t know!

After painting this dreamy morning picture, I have to tell you the downside. First of all, its kind of pricey. Each blade is about $3 and coupons or sales are hard to find. I usually get about 5-7 shaves from each blade. That’s the other drawback. I have to change out my blades much more frequently than I typically would.  Is that really a drawback? I’m not totally sure.

So, here I am, quite happy with this. One day, I discover the Venus Breeze by Gillette. It’s about the same idea as the Intuition. A couple of benefits of the Breeze over the Intuition…the Breeze is smaller. It simply takes up less room in the shower and your drawer. Also, due to it’s size, it’s a little more responsive. I’ve also found the replacement blades to be a bit cheaper.

Do you use the Intuition or Breeze? How would you compare them? Any tips for streamlining your morning routine?

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Today, I was checking out one of my favorite blogs, LifeHacker, and I saw this great idea. It was originally from Five Whys. http://whywhywhywhywhy.com/2008/06/diy-project-bed-pocket/

I’m hoping to do this with one of the many free tote bags I seem to get at events. My side of the bed isn’t visible to anyone but me, so I’m not even going to sew. I’ll feel crafty and organized at the same time.

Here’s the info direct from 5 Whys…

Here’s a little product I put together in a few minutes this morning. It’s a little pocket for the side of my bed to hold books and such. Had I any sewing skills at all, it would have probably taken all of 5 minutes, but my constant fumbling with a needle and thread made it take about 45 minutes. I hope you’ll do better.

Ok, here’s how:

1. Take a cloth grocery bag (you all have tons of these, right?). I used an old one that was ripped on one side and we we weren’t using anyways.

2. Cut horizontally across one side. The bottom of the bag is going to form the pocket, so be sure to cut this at the depth you want the final pocket to be.

3. Stitch the edge of the bag as shown in the photo below, to help keep it in place and stop it from fraying. Ideally this edge should be on the inside of the finished pocket. I haven’t done any sewing since grade 7 home economics class, and my skills are pretty poor. A sewing machine would take care of this in about two seconds, and do a much better job.

4. Mount the pocket on the bed by placing the top portion of the bag underneath the mattress. I also folded the top half of the bag over to keep it out of the way. In my case the weight of the mattress is enough to keep a couple of books and my reading light in place and secure.

That’s it! It’s a very simple project that doesn’t take very long. It’s also a good use for older cloth bags which are ripped or at the end of their lives.

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