Creating a Haven

I'm taking a long weekend off of work over Memorial Day. It'll be a six-day weekend. DH will have to work, maybe all but Saturday and Sunday, so I'll have some time to myself. I've been vacationing at home ever since he was first laid off, over three years ago, except for our honeymoon, when we actually went away. I'd like to travel, but it's just not in the budget or the timeline right now.

So, it occurred to me, why not spend a little time BEFORE my long weekend getting my house spruced up, so my vacation at home can be more of a REAL vacation? I am the world's worst housekeeper. I hate cleaning, and I'm really not very good at it. But, if I put a little effort into it, maybe I can create my own little "resort haven" on my own turf. Then I can kick back and enjoy the fruits of my labor while I'm off. Pretend I'm at a nice B&B. Relax in comfort and style. I'm going to go for it.

So, room by room, I've developed a list of everything that needs to be done between now and then. Ok, I may not get to it all. But I'm going to spend 20 minutes every morning and 20 minutes every evening working on it. That's my goal. Just on the weekdays, though - the weekends are kind of booked up at the moment. Maybe (perish the thought!) this will even become a habit and we can start living in a clean house!

So, in order to accomplish this goal, I've devised a new morning routine:

5:15: Get up, get dressed in workout clothes, turn on computer
5:20: NordicTrak, 20 minutes
5:40: Cool off/Computer time
5:50: Morning cleaning
6:10: Shower
6:30: Breakfast/Computer time
7:00: Make lunch, get dressed
7:30: Leave for work

I did it this morning and it worked pretty well, though I only had 15 minutes on the NordicTrak (that's a cross-country ski machine, for those who don't know) because I had to get it out and set it up - haven't used it in a while. I'll try this for a while. If I feel like I'm skimping on my computer time (that's when I peruse my many forums), I'll just start getting up at 5. We'll see how it goes, and I'll keep you posted on my progress!