It's been oddly quiet around here

And by around here, I mean my blog...obviously.

Yesterday I got to skype with my oldest friend in the world and she said that she checked out my blog to see what was going on and I hadn't posted in a while.  Guilty as charged.

It all kinda started with the snow.  Snowmageddon, Snowfecta, whatever you want to call it.  Like most of the DC area, I was stuck for a week and a half in my house - and it wore me down.  Here is a quick summary:

• Day 1 (Friday): Boss wants me to work from home, but look - 4 hour early leave, that means I can quit working at 1.
• Day 2 (Saturday): I can't see anything outside my door.  I'll play Beatles Rockband.
• Day 3 (Sunday): I learn my sister doesn't have power.  I'll play Beatles Rockband some more.  Yay, no work tomorrow.
• Day 4 (Monday): Sister still doesn't have power - she's coming over (her power returns shortly after she arrives).  Yay! company.  Bake cookies with Allie.  Make yummy dinner. yay! another day off tomorrow. [notice that I'm using small letters]
• Day 5 (Tuesday): I'm going to make crepes for breakfast, but sister wants to go home before the next round of snow.  I'm running out of diet coke and easy mac.  ummm...no work again.
• Day 6 (Wednesday): I'm just going to leave my lights off all day and play sims.  I feel pasty. When is OPM posting if we have work.  I'm falling behind schedule. I haven't gone behind the driveway in over a week.
• Day 7 (Thursday): They're (my friends/landlords) are making a run for the store - maybe they will stuff me in their trunk  - although all I need is diet coke.  OMG - civilization (aka grocery store)  I need to buy EVERYTHING!  G-D-it.  Metro isn't running my bus and my car won't drive in this crap.  Can't go into work tomorrow!  Grrrrr!  I'll just have to work from home.
• Day 8 (Friday): Lalala - working from home.  This sucks. I miss people.  And it's supposed to effing snow this weekend in NC meaning that I won't get to visit my mom for my birthday.  Snow can bite it. [End with total meltdown and primal scream that make my friends/landlords run over to see what is wrong]

As you can see, my attitude got progressively worse as time went on.  I really did melt down on that last Friday because the supposed last bit of snow forecasted convinced my sister that we would be safer staying in the area instead of going to see my mom for my annual birthday trip (in my mind, my birthday hasn't happened because I haven't celebrated with my mom and my gifts are all at her house).  This genuinely gutted me.  And it took me over a week before I could actually cheer up.

I think part of it was being stuck in the house reminded me so much of the depression I fell into about 6 months after Chris died.  Then I didn't leave the house at all if I didn't have to.  I went to work, came home, kept the lights off, put on my pj's and went to bed.  It was a lot like that by the end.   I ended up abandoning all the work I had done with FlyLady and Weight Watchers (haven't been back there in 4 weeks now - will be going back this next Saturday).

But my attitude is improving.  My sister was a lifesaver and convinced me that my birthday deserved sushi at Kawatas and not wallowing at home on a Friday night.   And that Saturday I went to Fredricksburg to cook with my friend Susan (that was the first day I drove my car in over 2 weeks) and Sunday was cooking club.  Then we had our first full week of work - where I have a window office that lets in sunlight past 5 pm now (Huzzah for longer days).  And this weekend I straightened out my house so that some friends could come over and it didn't take all day because I remarkably hadn't let all of FlyLady go to rot.  So things are getting better. 

So my next goal is to pick up the regular blogging again.  If you haven't noticed - it generally falls to the wayside when I feel like crap.

So that is what happened over the past couple of weeks.

I'm apparently bringing the sexy back

According to Urbandictionary.com - Emily is a slang term for a highly attractive and sexually intriguing individual OR The most beautiful person in the world. Often referred to as a Goddess. Has eyes that one can easily get lost in. A great friend that cares about people and makes the world a better place. Easy to love too.  (Thanks to Captain Brenda for looking this up for me since urbandictionary is blocked at work). 

I think I may need to make a plaque or something with this - because reading it makes me feel good about myself.

This is really good because yesterday was the first day of this year that I came home and called my mom and said, "I don't know if I can keep all this goodness up."

You see - yesterday I had a crap day at work.  On top of that, I had to deal with a headache and sinus pressure all day - making me think that I may be getting sick (quite possibly an ear infection that I caught from the kiddos next door).  And I wasn't really hungry for anything in particular - I just hungry. So I ate, and I ate, and I ate.  I went through close to all of my weekly points last night. 

While I might be able to save this week (although I probably won't be going to my meeting if we are supposed to be getting as much snow this weekend as they are predicting), it bugs me that I let my emotions take control of my eating last night.  This morning I did try to make up for my gluttony by shoveling out my car first thing (although it may not count because I was planning on driving to work anyways and that requires me shoveling out the car.)

But back to Urbandictionary - while not everything in that definition may not necessarily be true, I think it does actually capture some of my good traits (like great friend, easy to love, makes the world a better place) that I sometimes overlook.  I need to remember these things on the days that get me down.  Maybe if I do that, I won't need food to make me feel better.

Managing Expectations

I must thank Mother Nature for holding off her snow storm until after my Weight Watcher's meeting had started.  I was able to weigh in and go to my meeting.  I lost another 2 pounds this week for a total of 10.4 pounds loss.  I am now less than 5 pounds away from my 5% goal.  Back when I did WW before - they didn't have the 5% goal - just a 10% goal.  That was frustrating because the weight was falling off in these bitty increments and no matter how much I lost - I just never hit 10%.  This is I call the magic number goal because its at this goal that you get together with your leader and you decide what you want your ultimate weight loss goal to be.  It made me sad not to reach it before - but I know that I am going to do it this time.

One of the things I have been worried about this time around is my rate of weight loss.  It feels like it is coming off really quickly.  If I remember correctly - it almost took me 3 months to take 10 pounds off before.  It came off in these .10 and .50 pounds increments.  Now its coming off in about 1.5 and 2 pounds.  I have a feeling that at some point its going to slow down again.  I need to be careful to not set my expectations to losing 2 pounds every week so that when it does slow - I won't feel frustrated and give up.

It definitely helps having this blog and knowing that my friends are reading it.  You guys provide a lot of encouragement.  So I want to say a big "Thank You!  You Guys Are Rockstars!!!"  Without you, this journey wouldn't be possible. 

The only favor I ask of you guys though is that when things do get a little slow and I get frustrated - give me a virtual bitch slap and remind me that I expected it and that I can work through it.  I would really appreciate that.

It Almost Didn't Happen...Part Dos

So the other day I wrote about how I didn't want to do my dishes on Monday night, but I did them anyways - and it made my world a better place.

Tuesday night, was my errand night. Visited a new grocery, got rotisserie chicken, did my evening routine, made it to bed before midnight. Despite all this ordinariness, my body decided to oversleep on Wednesday.

I woke up at 7:34 - which meant that I had less than half an hour to get dressed, get packed,and out the door to catch the bus.

My first gut instinct (after blurting out "Oh Frak!") was to turn my covers back so my bed was made. Tuesday night though, I placed my glasses on my night stand so I grabbed those as I headed towards my kitchen. There - I grabbed a breakfast sandwich from the Freezer and my thermos so I could pour myself some milk to bring to work. Then I grabbed my lunch I had prepared the night before and walked towards my front entry way where I deposited that stuff in my bag going to work. I set my timer for 10 minutes and got in the shower. Did that, got dressed in the outifit I set out the night before, and blow-dried my hair. When I got my glasses back on - I noticed that not only had I done this without breaking a sweat, but I still had 10 minutes left before I had to be outside. So I used my Wii Fit to do my mid-week weigh in (I've been doing these to just anticipate what kind of progress I'm making WW wise).

As I headed out the door, it seriously felt like a twilight zone moment. A month ago, I probably would have: spent 10 minutes searching through my covers to find my glasses and my badge (covers would be left all helter skelter - possibly even flung across the room); grabbed some outifit that was lying somewhere around my living room; shower and get dressed without drying my hair; and rush out the door only to discover my bus has just driven by so I would have to drive in - but of course would have to stop back in my apartment to grab my keys.

It's when you have crazy moments like this that you realize how far you have come and what the potential is if you continue on this path. It really has me psyched for these changes I am making in my life.

Buried Treasures

I turned 30 about 2 months after Chris died. At the time, I was obssessed about having the best birthday party because 1) party = fun = happiness = something I needed desperately 2) I needed the destraction of planning something 3)I needed something to remember that year other than grief.

I had an awesome birthday that year. I probably had close to 40 people showed up - it was impossible not to feel loved that night. One of the things I asked my friends to do was write on pieces of papers wishes/messages they had for me, themselves, or whomever.

Well, in my decluttering - I just found these messages. I guess in my grief I just put them aside and buried them in what I currently call my room of doom (that is a different post). I haven't read them before tonight. So I am going to share them with y'all tonight (Don't worry - there aren't 40 messages - just 8)

Wish 1) I wish for Emily to find true happiness with herslef & if God wishes - with another. I hope God wishes - but I do think that its important that I find true happiness with myself first - I'm getting there. This one was unsigned

Wish 2) For Emily - The return of Veronica Mars , For myself - The return of Veronica Mars, For anyone - The return of Veronica Mars Well, we can still hope for the movie - right? I'm pretty sure this was from Roger.

Wish 3) Umm - it's from my friend Adrienne, but I can't decipher her writing except for "This year and the others too." I will bring it to her and get back to you on it, but I'm sure its good.
UPDATE: I just looked at it again - and this time I figured it out. Adrienne says "All will be wonderful,this year and all the others." This makes me think of that Everclear song and makes me smile.

Wish 4) For Emily - A promotion at work, For Myself - To win Tuesday's Mega Millions Jackpot, For Everyone Else - JOY! This is from Julian. This is very sweet of him - I also think that it was awesome that he brought Lemonciello for me that night.

Wish 5) Have a great year There is also a happy face next to it. This one was also unsigned, but unlike all the "Have a Great Year" that people signed in my yearbooks in high school - I'm pretty sure this person meant it.

Wish 6) This one is from Ariel and is 4 everyone (she actually used the number 4)- Life is too short...Tell someone how much they mean to you everyday. This gem is one of the reason why I consider Ariel one of the wisest women I know.

Wish 6b) Here's wishin you'll have good health and peace of mind in 2008! Also from Ariel. Not sure if I had peace of mind in '08, but it's mostly back now. But I do appreciate the sentiment.

Wish 7) My greatest wish for you is that the next 30 years are as awesome as the first 30. This is from Farrasha. Thanks Homey!! Being around her positivity is one of the best parts of my job.

Wish 8) May you always have one special person who makes you laugh and feel extra good about yourself Unsigned. Thankfully I have like a billion and 1 people who do this for me on a regular basis.

Finally, My trip on the Isaac H. Evans

At lunch I was going through my documents and found this "essay" I had written about my trip last summer on the Isaac. H. Evans. The Captain had asked me to write something up to share with a reporter about "Gal-Pal" Trips. In this case, I was taking a Gal-Pal trip with my mom. Anyways - I realized that I hadn't shared my experience about the trip online, so I thought that I would post this. I'll post pictures from the trip tonight.

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My mom and I discovered that we were ideal traveling partners back in 2003. At the time, my mom had recently located to NC after divorcing my dad and I had lost my job as well as a boyfriend. We had also lost our dog and my grandma (my mom’s mom) to cancer. Obviously it hadn’t been a stellar year up to that point. My mom’s a teacher so she had spring break so she suggested that we do a road trip to Charleston, SC and then to Savannah, GA. While my mom and I had a really strong relationship – I remember realizing on this trip how awesome my mom was as a person – not just as my mom.

Fast forward 6 years later.

A lot had happened since that first trip. My old company hired me back (literally a week after I got home from the Charleston trip), but a few years after that I fired them and took a new job. My mom had firmly established a life in NC – where she is beloved teacher at a high school and active in her church. But one of the biggest things that had affected us was that I had found and lost real love. My boyfriend, Chris, died of a stroke just before Christmas of 2007. It was tough on all of us. Of course I was grieving because I had lost the person I had envisioned a future with; but my mom, she had to deal with not only losing someone she had come to think of as a son, but she was also watching me slip away into a grief fueled depression. By May of 2009, we were both exhausted and needing some kind of refreshment.

My mom and I were just having a normal conversation when suddenly she mentioned our trip to Charleston. It was like a light bulb went off in both of our heads and we realized that a trip was what we needed to rejuvenate ourselves. We began to throw out ideas – repeat our trip to Charleston, drive up to Minnesota to see her sisters, make a pilgrimage out to Wisconsin to see our old watercolor instructor. It was my mom who had the idea for Maine. She said it had been a lifelong dream of hers to go. All I knew about Maine was that the blueberries and pointed firs grew there. So my mom, being a teacher, gave us homework – find out more about Maine. We both searched the Maine’s Tourisms Office website – and from the looks of it – it seemed like Maine was a totally chill state that would give us the peace that we needed. I called a Boston friend of mine who loves Maine (almost more than her husband); she squealed at the prospect of me visiting her favorite place in the world and told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to go there - stat. It was my mom who found the link for a “Fireworks Cruise” on the Isaac H. Evans.

We both instantly fell in love with the idea of a windjammer cruise. It would be something new and different for both of us, and it is also very affordable. A four day/3 night trip (including all food and board) ends up being less than $200 per day/person – that’s less than one day in a hotel + restaurants in most cities. I still remember us conference calling the Evans reservation line and being giddy as school girls making our reservations. For the first time in a long time we both had something to really look forward to.

Onto our trip

We drove up to Maine in one day. I don’t know what possessed us to do that. And while it was tough and we got massively lost toward the end of the marathon drive – it was definitely a worthwhile experience. We spent most of the time either talking about things or just sitting comfortably in silence (a first for me). We also had fun trying to map out different routes to where we were going on our car atlas (no Tom Tom for us). We had opted not to take Route 95; instead we travelled through Pennsylvania farmland and the New York mountains (Route 81 and 84). We found a really delightful state park to have a picnic lunch. Both my mom and I were in the middle of reading the book “Blue Highways” and we definitely felt like we were on a blue highway trip of our own.

Our ultimate destination was Rockland, Maine and the Isaac H. Evans. Because the Evans doesn’t load until the evening – we had all day to explore Rockland. Exploring the Farnsworth Art Museum, my mom shared with me her love of Andrew Wyeth art. We then went to get a Lobster Roll (at Linda Bean’s Perfect Lobster Roll – very fresh and delicious). We also visited the puffin visitor center – which convinced us that our next trip to Maine must include a trip to see the puffins in person.

Of course the highlight of this trip was our time on the Isaac H. Evans. My mom and I both have Girl Scout backgrounds and we found that our time on the Evans felt a lot like going to summer camp when were younger. For four days we were living life on the sea with a group of strangers who quickly become your family. Some of the people traveling with us had been on the Evans in years past (or in the case of Bob – several times that season already). They took us newbs under their wings and taught us the way of boat life. The crew and Captain Brenda were like the cool camp counselors who you totally want to be when you grow up.

Coming onto the boat – I thought the hard part would be disconnecting from the modern world. While there is electricity on the boat – you have to use it very sparsely so that the battery doesn’t wear out- so no lap tops, no recharging iPods, and cell phone coverage at its best was a little iffy. This level of disconnect from technology is so rare nowadays –and you don’t realize how restful that is until you are bombarded with it back on land. If you want heat (cause it did get cool out there on the water), you bundle up or hang out around the wood burning stoves (which they also use for cooking). We of course had to help the crew with the raising and lowering of the sails as well as the anchor (what a workout). But this adds to that rustic camp feeling.

There were tons of things to do on the boat. Captain Brenda really embraces a feeling of playfulness on the boat, so in addition to fishing poles there are puzzles, marshmallow guns, pirate regalia, and bubble wands. Plus she and Lil’ John (the first mate) were always challenging us to word games or telling us stories of other trips. One of the passengers even got to play cowboy and lassoed up our stuck lobster trap. You quickly find yourself embracing the kid in your heart.

Of course the grown up in me also had stuff to do. There was plenty of time to read or work on craft projects. It was a very friendly environment for doing things like learning how to use my digital camera. But if you asked me what the one thing I wished I had done on this trip though – I would say that I should asked to help with the cooking. The food on the Evans was top notch and it was all cooked on a wood burning stove and I would have loved to learn to cook on one. Next time I will have to ask if I can help.

I know that one of the problems people run into when traveling together is that they sometimes end up with too much together time. It never felt like that on the Evans. It was really easy for my mom and me to find activities to do separately. We also found it easy to find moments to support each other. I can’t tell you how proud I was watching my mom row Daniel the row boat when we finally anchored the first day – or how much it meant to hear her cheer me on as I was at the pump raising the anchor. There were also the contemplative moments when thoughts of Chris, the memories would hit and my mom would find me and hug me and she would reassure me that everything would be all right – just like she did when I was a little girl. There was something special about the Evans that made this moment happen.

The feeling when we docked was bittersweet. Sweet because we had just had one of the greatest experiences of our lives and bitter because we didn’t want it to end. Before we even got out of the shipyards parking lot, my mom had the “IHE” bumper sticker on the back of our van so the boat would be with us wherever we go. We took advantage of our last day in Maine and we visited various light houses and craft boutiques, but I know that our hearts were yearning to be back on the Evans.

Since getting back – my mom and I talk about the next trip we are going to take on the Evans. It’s not a question of “if”; it’s of “when”. This trip was so refreshing, rejuvenating, and best of all - healing. Since our trip, I have felt more balanced and relaxed with life in general. My mom is talking about doing a “Galpal” trip on the Evans with her oldest friend in the world possibly next summer, while I’m trying to convince multiple friends that we should get a group trip together in two years. But I know that my mom and I will both look for the chance to do this trip together again – it would be a shame not to. Until then– we’ll just have to keep up with Captain Brenda and the Evans online.

It almost didn't happen

Last night was Day 25 of what I am now dubbig Project Shiny sink. It was the 25th day to get all my dishes done before going to bed. And it was a toughy, because for dinner I made Pioneer Woman's Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Pasta, which possibly dirties every major appliance in my kitchen. You wouldn't think so considering that it only has something like 8 ingredients, but it feels like it does.

By the time I finished making dinner, it was almost 8:30. I was going to sit down and watch Chuck while eating, only to find out that an earlier power outage had turned off my cable box - thus I was recording a blank screen instead of my beloved Chuck (thank goodness my friend/landlord was recording it too so I could transfer a copy from her tivo onto mine). It took me like half an hour to figure out the tv thing (first reboot left nothing but the homeshopping network on). By the time I got everything fixed and ate my dinner - it was 11 o'clock. I was exhausted, and I had my dishes piled in my sink.

I so did not want to do them. I seriously contemplated leaving them for today. But something in my brain told me that I would be stopping my momentum if I stopped today. So reluctantly I did them - and got them done in about 20 minutes. I left them in the rack to dry while finishing up rest of my evening routine. As I was throwing soemthing in my bag for breakfast today - I realized that I had left the tupperware I had used for lunch. So I went back to my sink - unloaded that and cleaned those. It's like a quarter till midnight at this point. I went and finished an email and then came back to finish drying and put away my dishes.

When all was said and done - it was 12:10 when I had finished everything. I was exhausted to the point where I could have slept standing up. But my sink was clean and clear, my lunch was prepped, and I have enough food/leftovers in my fridge to last me rest of this week. This means I won't have to really cook until this weekend - and I'm set on both Saturday and Sunday to be cooking at other peoples' houses. So hopefully no more big dish washign missions this week. For rest of this week - I can concentrate on clearing away rest of the stuff that is in my living area (which is almost done) and maybe start wii'ing again.

This is a great feeling - and one I wouldn't have had if I had left my dishes in my sink last night.

Little Changes

So an update from my WW meeting.

I lost 1.4 pounds. The person who weighed me in said it was great that I've had such good losses the first couple of weeks in the program (I had to get a new tracker booklet so it looks like I'm brand new). I kinda brushed it off saying that "Well, I'm not exactly new to the program - I'm just doing it better this time". Looking back - I shouldn't have been so modest. I should have said "Darn Tootin'!"

When I got home I decided to take my other measurements: bust, waist, hips, thigh, arm. I lost about .25 - .75 inches in all of these except for my bust (lost a full inch) and in my thighs (lost 2 inches).

Can I get a woot woot!!

Finally Decluttering

I think one of hardest mental hurdles I have is letting go of stuff. But it's not like I'm alone in my family in this aspect. My mom can tell you stories about how when my parents got divorced and she was going through everything we had she found boxes of reciepts my dad kept from business trips in the 80's (this was in '02) as well as boxes of fabric that she had bought intending to make dresses for me and my sister, back when we were 5.

I can't exactly tell you why I have some of this stuff. I think a large part of it is the nostalgia factor. We moved around a lot when I was young, thus I don't really have a place that I can consider "Home", instead I have things that I surround myself with that I consider home. Then there is also a part of my brain that says - don't throw it out - you might need it later. The logic that if I don't use it in a year throw it out just hasn't caught up. It's getting there though.

So this weekend I attempted my first declutter project of this whole organization kick. Specifically - I have a desk in the corner of my living space that was meant to hold my computer. But over the last two years it became more of a clutter and dust landing. Instead I had set up my compter so that I could do everything from my bed - a big no no if you talk to any health professional. In addition, the area in front of it had become a magnet for junk. Why not? It's not like I was using the desk.

Needless to say, it was a big task. The dust was really heavy and definitely aggrevated the lungs, but I'm sure this meant that it was aggrevating my lungs just sitting there before. Then there was the decluttering. I started going through a pile of papers and found things like info posters from Jaycee events I did in 2004, emails about upcoming meetings from my previous jobs, and directions to hotels I used years ago. I easily junked those along with the stack of business cards from that previous job.

There was a pile of video tapes gathering dust of some activity my Jaycee chapter used to hold - all of these tapes recorded before I entered the chapter, but I had them becuase I had run the event when I was a Jaycee. Well, I'm not a Jaycee anymore and wasn't particularly interested in them. I saw them earlier this week and knew that I wanted to get rid of them, but wasn't sure if I had the right to dispose them. So I contacted the people I was still in touch with and told them that if no one spoke up for the videos by Feb. 1 that I was going to chuck them. Only one person spoke up and said they already had tapes - thus giving me permission to get rid of them. So into the trash they went.

But then there was my personal nostalgia albatross- my stack of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. Back in college I was fanatical about my love for all things Buffy, and had purchased the first 10 issues of her comic. They were sitting in their plastic and everything. The problem is that I don't read comics, but I wasn't sure if I had the heart to just throw them away. So I spent an hour trying to find a shop where I could drop them off. Unfortunately there were no takers - so I finally did what I thought was impossible, I threw them away. In order to prevent me from stealing them back out of the garbage can, immediately after I started cooking dinner, which meant the various vegetable remnants as well as other cooking related trash ended up right ontop of those comics. There was no pulling them out after that.

But I am happy to say that I am now writing this sitting from my desk chair for my new computer/art center (very thankful for thin screens). I even went through the plastic drawer things I have where I stick pens, pencils, paper, cards etc. and threw out writing utensils that didn't work any longer and cards and envelopes that looked totally beaten up and unsuitable for use. I also uncovered a lot of cards that I can use for upcoming holidays - including one that I will send to my mom for Mother's Day.

There was a lot of stuff in this corner. Some of it still hasn't found a home - either in the trash can or on another shelf. It is frustrating that I didn't get through everything, but then realistically I never expected to. I just need to repeat to myself is that I am taking baby steps, which is way better than taking no steps at all.

UPDATE: I just wiped out outside taking 6 pounds of trash that I cleaned up this weekend out to the garbage can (and to fetch my water bottle out of my car). Although it sucks getting all muddy - it felt great to dump that stuff out.

Reconnecting With My Kitchen

Those of you who know me, know that I love to cook. It's a love that I developed way back in high school. At one point in my life I actually thought I wanted to be a chef, although in the past year or so I've realized that cooking is a passion that I wouldn't want combined with my professional life. Anyways - I love cooking.

When Chris first died - I cooked a lot. I was struggling to hold onto my identity (since my identity as Chris' girlfriend was no longer there) - and cooking was one of those things that is intrensically me. So for a period of a couple of months - I was a cooking foo. Then when the deep depression kicked it - it stopped. More or less everything stopped - but that was one of the noticeable things.

My kitchen is kinda like a garden in that it is constantly getting new things and there is an order to it all. Sometimes that order has to be shaken up. But while I was really depressed - I kinda let it all go - like an abandoned garden. I hated even going in there. And right now I am currently reclaiming it from all the wild weeds.

And its been rejuvinating. The key to it has really been the whole shiny sink from FLYlady. It's just a lot easier to cook something if you know that everything you'll need is washed and ready to go - and you can actually use your counter for prep because it isn't covered in dirty dishes or items that just haven't made it to the pantry. I don't have a dishwasher - so washing the dishes is a real chore - but I'm now finding that its taking me a lot less longer to do it all.

But the truth is - I let my dishes back up. You guys are probably saying, "Gross - TMI", but its the truth - and I don't hide from the truth here. While I'm sure I could have finished washing all the backed up dishes in a day - it would have been long and tedious and I probably would have given up half way through. Instead - I've been setting my timer for 15-20 minutes, making the dishes I dirtied the priority, and any time I have left I use to tackle my backup.

Well, last night I did it. I finished cleaning the backed up dishes. It felt great to dry and put away that last dish. And one of the best parts about it - I was able to say to myself that by keeping up with my routine of doing my dishes every night - I will never have a nasty dish backup like that again.