Sunday, January 11, 2009

OCD Calendar

Hey there! Look over to the right of my blog. Now scroll down. Keep going. Okay, just below my kid's pictures, you will see a new little do-dad that I have added. Tah-dah! May I introduce to you my OCD Calendar!

If you want, you can follow the calendar. Or perhaps it will remind you that, "Oh yeah, I was planning on cleaning behind the washer and dryer. Or perhaps you will just think I'm a nut job, with too much time on my hands.

As I was looking over my personal OCD calendar, I noticed that I have not scheduled any deep cleaning or big organization tasks on Mondays. This is due to Mondays usually being a day of recovery for me. For some odd reason, the house gets trashed on Sundays and Mondays require much of my time and energy to putting my house back together.

This Wednesday I will be cleaning behind my washer and dryer. I plan on finding lost socks, change (CHA-CHING!), batteries, toys, and Jimmy Hoffa behind them.


Lately, my dryer has not been performing well. I will have to run it at least TWO TIMES to dry a load of towels, or jeans. And it bugs me! Time is money people! It's a well known fact that your dryer's performance will improve by vacuuming the dust and lint that builds up in the ventilation tubing and behind it. An appliance maintenance man once told me to also wash the lint, trap, screen, thing in warm soapy water with a wash rag (gently) then I let it dry over night. I do this every 3 months or so. He said this will also improve your dryer's performance and will help in preventing a fire from breaking out. And I know it can happen, 'cause someone's dryer caught on fire just a few months ago, in a near by neighborhood.

I also wash the walls and floor behind my washer and dryer, and I wipe clean the sides and backs of my appliances. It's a good thing... as Martha would say.

Friday I will begin to file all receipts, invoices, bank papers, etc. for the year 2008. I HATE this job. I LOATHE this job. My husband owns his own business, and the amount of paperwork that it produces is unbelievable! Mounds and mounds of papers from the government, suppliers, contractors, gas receipts, etc. It never ends! One of the reasons why I hate this job so much is because my husband does not take organization and cleanliness as serious as I do. This is probably because he knows I will take care of it. Because I will. And because it drives me crazy. And because I will lie awake for hours on end, thinking about it. It's not fair.

Our personal papers are cake to file, because I have them filed in categorized hanging files in our file cabinet. I label a manilla envelope with the type of paperwork that is inside, and the year. I do the same with the business paperwork also. Then I store them in file boxes. I label the outside of the boxes with the year/years, and the contents inside. I store these items for 7 years. I checked on the IRS website to see what the standards were and it varied from 3 years to 6 years, depending on when you filed taxes and a whole bunch of stuff that I did not understand and that I did not want to read. So I figured 7 years is safe, just incase we get audited. And it has happened to us. I didn't think it was as bad as I thought it would be because I saved the day by being so organized. Thank you very much!

Now filing my husband's business tax records is another story. I spend hours and hours filing these records. My husband has papers hiding in his wallet, in the bed of the truck, the garage floor, and inside of his truck, or as I like to call it... the cest pool of crap. It's horrific. I use it as a punishment for my older son. "If you do not clean your room right now, you are going to spend the night in Dad's truck!" The papers are usually caked in mud, soda, and Cheeto dust. It's disgusting. And every year, it never fails... he will plop down an old receipt from the previous tax year, that was never recorded or filed. Grrrrrrrrr.
Hmmmm, this looks very similar to my husband's truck.

12 comments:

  1. Wow I'm pretty proud of myself if I run the vacuum through the house weekly and get the bathroom clean!! You make us slackers look so bad!!

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  2. I've been in my house for 10 years and the only time I've cleaned behind the washer and dryer was when we put in a new floor. I think you should hire yourself out to do it for those of us who don't have the OCD cleaning tendencies!

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  3. I'm feeling pretty good right now because I have actually cleaned behind my washer and dryer and even my stove and fridge! I will be watching your calendar to help me get my house in order, thanks for sharing!

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  4. I don't do to bad then I guess, I sweep and mop behind the washer and dryer at least 3-4 times per year depending on when I can get John to move them for me. I haven't tried washing out the lint filter though, I think I will do that.

    I've been pulling my hair out on the taxes this last week also. We have to do the receipt thing for his business now that he's self empolyeed contracting as well as personal receipts for medical and his food & expenses while he was working in the field away from home. I think I'm finally close to being done though and have all the receipts organized by type (work food, clothing, interest, etc.), paperclipped together with a label coversheet, then placed into a manilla envelope with '2008 Tax Receipts' on the outside and they'll be in the filing cabinet by tonight. Whew! It's been uh'.... fun??!? ><

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  5. I love that you have OCD tendencies. It makes me feel so . . .normal. I think I'll borrow some of your cleaning ideas too.

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  6. I think you need to come to my house and organize. Oh, and file. Oh, and clean behind my washer and dryer. Have I done that since I moved in? Hmmm... not so sure.

    But... guess what? I just got my dryer fixed because I used to have to run it two times too. It would take like 6 hours to dry a load. The dryer man came and pulled out like 5 pounds of lint inside of the dryer. And the lint was wet. Sick. But now my dryer works in 45 minutes. Good luck with that...

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  7. We had as strange noise from our dryer lately but fortunately it just stopped on its own. I can't imagine going through all the receipts of a business. Good luck with that. You've GOT to be organized!

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  8. Okay first of all... You clean behind your Washer and Dryer???? WHAT??? I would clean back there when I move, or get a new appliance. I do have to admit that vacuming behind the dryer for better efficiency is a good incentive. You got me there.

    Your husbands a contractor? I am an office manager for a contractor and I YELL when they hand me a stack of reciepts, or don't give me a reciept that I found on the bank statement. I don't like paper mess.
    Your husbands truck is my worst nightmare. Get a little box to stick in his truck and make him put everything paper in there, and then go out and get it once a week, or month. Week would be eaisier for you.

    Good luck with the paper work!

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  9. Thanks Jenn for coming over to my blog and reminding me about Hemmeroids. UGH... I had forgotten about that part.
    Although, now I am bringing that up in my next conversation about the name, "I have to have hemmeroids, so you get no say!"

    Thanks again.

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  10. I need to be more OCD about my housecleaning duties, but alas I don't have the energy or desire. I just wanted to point out that the license plate on that car is an Oklahoma plate and I really did see many sights just like that there. Memories.

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  11. Great ideas! I think I'll clean behind my dryer! Keep the insight coming. We can all benefit from your debilitating mental problems!

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  12. I want to have a cleaning OCD too!! You house is always so nice and clean!

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