I have spent the last 2 weeks helping a girlfriend move.  She closed on the purchase of a townhouse mid June and had to be out of her apartment the end of July.  She was moving about 10 miles. Single person from a one bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom townhome should be easy peasy.Well Murphy’s law went into effect.  The evening after closing she got sick. A month later and 3 rounds of antibiotics, (while still trying to work) I found out her work had decided she had to have carpel tunnel surgery two weeks before she had to be out of apartment. She had done some packing but there was a lot left to pack and the apartment to clean.Well, I assessed the mess and could see that the FlyLady moving plan would have been nice but had become not an option.  I had her start in the kitchen and we packed up everything.  Two car loads later her kitchen was moved and unpacked. We had two large boxes for a future garage sale and 3 garbage bags in the dumpster.  Glasses were now available at both locations.  Timers were set for every 15 minutes telling us to pause and take a drink of water and every 45 minutes to sit for 15 with our feet up.

Her 5 brothers showed up the 3rd day and moved all the furniture and boxes that had been packed.  Her and I spent the next week while she was off work from the surgery packing and cleaning.  In 15 minute increments and with us both encouraging the other we got it done.

I had taken over two of my purple rags in a bag and cleaned windows, cleaned mirrors, wiped out cupboards, cleaned appliances, cleaned ceiling fans and wiped down walls with them.  I like my vinegar water and it was my main cleaning solution.  They still look brand new and I had been using them for more than a year.  She is getting all of her cleaning deposit back.

She kept trying to give me one of her rags to clean with, but after a couple of hours could see I was able to get twice as much cleaned as she could with out the effort. She thought she would pick up a microfiber cloth at the dollar store but I let her know it would not work as well as my purple rag.  She is sold and will be ordering her own soon.

She is also exploring your site to get a deeper understanding of FLYing.  I was FlyWashing her as we went along with a move box, garage sale box and a garbage bag.  I let her do the garage sale box as I am going to add them to the estate auction we are having in September and it is all in baby steps.  I also got her to mark all her boxes with “moved July 2014”.  With a much bigger place, she should be able to find a place for everything that deserves a home, but if she has not unpacked it within a year, does she really love it, need it or even want it?

I could not have been the help to her I was without FlyLady.  Staying focused 15 minutes at a time, drinking my water, resting every hour for 15, my purple rags and having my own routines at home so my house stayed presentable.

Betty

We are running low on one of the items in this package. Tonight at Midnight the FlyLady’s Favorites will no longer be available. It is the best deal we have in the FlyShop.  

The price is only $79.95 and it is valued at over $130.00.