Thanks Caroline I brought my iPod over to the laptop so I can add some non-games that I use. Utilities Apzilla 2 has all sorts of different utilities, most of them are worthwhile. Some you might never use. Even though Apzilla has it I also have MyLite (a flashlight) and a Free Level program. (a level for hanging pictures straight)and Free Space, a program that tells you how much room is left on your iPod and battery info. Capacity is another program that does this. Free Wi-Fi tells you when you travel where there is free wi-fi you can log into. 5-0 Radio Pro is a fun Police and Fire scanner so you can listen for any calls that come out in your city or even places in your country. My hearing isn't the best and sometimes the talking isn't too clear for me but it is fun listening to the information. It can run in the background. Shopwise is a program that tells you certain deals. I have World Atlas and Google Earth. Book Crawler is a program that lets you keep track of all of your books. iPlant is a gardening book that is quite good. For notes I use Awesome Notes. MyStuff2 is a neat inventory program I haven't used yet. I use IOwn and Iconic Notes, but I don't think either of those are available now. Someday I will transfer everything over. Ian's Laces as Caroline mentioned is fun but there also is a program called Tie a Scarf for women' scarves. Holiday List is also a great Christmas gift planner. AppSniper and AppShopper are two programs I use occasionally. They tell you the new programs that are out. A lot of programs are free for a short time before they start to charge and these programs as well as others will let you know this. I have a lot of medical programs and photography programs as well but this thread is getting long.

Darn! After all your planning! I did something just like that a few months back. Waited over a month for the appointment where they'd make me some orthotic arches for my aching feet. I was thinking of it all weekend, but my husband and I had to go out of town to put in the docks--a four person job, mind you--by ourselves. I was a bit miffed at his parents for planning to be out of the country and off on one vacation after another, so that we had to do it ourselves. Anyway, we were so worn out Monday morning, I completely forgot the appointment. Had to reschedule. Another month and a half later, turns out he doesn't think I need the arches after all. My feet got better from the PT. Saved myself over $400, so maybe it's a good thing I missed that first appointment. Your job now is to try to figure out why it was better to have forgotten to make the meatballs. It might be better that way, just like the "mistake" on your wall hanging.

I was also careful to put things away as soon as I used them, wash dishes immediately and just straighten up as I walked around my house as part of my daily life. Exactly. The neater you can keep it every day, the easier it will be. The thing I'm most scared about is if the house is still on the market come summertime (my husband is a teacher and has off during the summer), my husband will be responsible for making sure the house is in top shape if we get a call for a showing! I'll have to make him a list of things to check before the showings. We get 2 hours notice, and I give mine credit, he's pretty good about getting ready in under 2 hours. They always seem to call when we let our guard down. We do it together, so far it's been on Saturday's when we have stuff going on.. my teenage daughter will be home, her room is never the neatest. We'll also be working in the garden / outside when they call, another was when I was finishing up painting the kitchen after we'd put in new counter tops, thankfully I had 24 hours notice on that one. What you'll want to do is go over it with him so that he knows what to do. Every single thing off the counters~not even the coffee maker~NO dish towel hanging on the oven handle, and NO dishcloth over the sink~those were my pet peeves. I threw everything in the dishwasher. If I was a buyer, the things I am tempted to open are dishwashers & ovens. lol Knowing this, I never stash stuff in either and about the only thing I will stash in the washer / dryer is laundry. Everything goes in the cars. Not sure if I sent you the link to the model of our new house.. here's the kitchen if you look close, under the microwave, there is a coffee maker, in this one they are displaying a cook book. We have the very same coffee maker they have displayed in another model home, and since it's a $100 piece of garbage, I can't unplug it to put it away every day because the clock is going & hard to set. I just bought a few props, some nice coffee mugs to go with it, hoping I can arrange everything to make it look nice. Our house will be on the market next week, and never having going through this before, I'm assuming I would make sure everything is straightened and cleaned each night so all I have to do in the morning is make our bed and clean up the bathroom before we both leave for work. Is that about right? Anything else I need to do in case people come look at the house while we're at work? Anyone have a system that works well? TIA! The kitchen & bathrooms are the biggest. As was said, do dishes regularly. I also try to keep up on laundry. The bathrooms are always decent, if I know there's a showing I make sure mirrors are clean, showers don't have any (body) hairs (this is the same for the floor, especially if it's light) and the toilet is clean, even lifting the seat. I can't tell you how many houses I walked where there were hairs & a nasty toilet (won't go into detail) Once a week I will have my son run the vac. He has off during the week, so I plan the dusting / edging around that. I try to sweep every day. Heavy cleaning (bathrooms) is on Sunday when I have help. Mopping is usually done Mondays when everyone clears out of the house. I will also go around and put any personal items away, this is including my calendar.

I organized the items in my kitchen according to the work "zones" I had arranged in my layout. My prep zone consists of an island with a prep sink. In the cabinets under the island, I have everything I need for prep. My trash pull-out is at one end, and next to it is a large drawer where I keep two large stockpots and the box of trash bags. Above the large drawer is the shelf where my MW sits. The next cabinet has the really large stockpots (I do a lot of "big" cooking!). Next to that, there's the sink cabinet, and in the cabinet under the sink, I keep colanders and my chopper. The last cabinet in the island is a tray cabinet where I keep my cutting boards and cookie sheets (this is also directly across the aisle from my stove). I have three top drawers in the island. One drawer has a knife block in it where I keep all my knives. In another drawer, I keep all my other prep utensils, such as the garlic press, can opener, graters, etc. In the third drawer (the one over my trash cabinet), I keep miscellaneous junk that doesn't have an obvious spot elsewhere, such as chip clips, cork screws, etc. In the sink tip-out of the prep sink, I keep several of those little cheap, sharp paring knives from Pampered Chef, and a potato peeler. In my cooking zone, which is the area flanking my stove, the narrow top drawer on one side holds pot holders and the wider one on the other side holds all my cooking utensils in dividers. In the drawers beneath the pot holders, I keep miscellaneous small baking pans, muffin tins, etc., along with the parts of my stove that I don't use a lot. Beneath the utensils, I have two wide, deep drawers that hold all my pots and pans. In the cabinets above, I keep spices to the right side of the stove, oils and vinegars above the stove, and coffee supplies on the left side (the coffee maker sits on the counter beneath this cabinet). The clean-up zone is the area around my main sink and DW. Beneath the sink, I keep all my cleaning supplies and DW detergent. In the sink tip-out, I keep various scrubbies and my PC scrapers. In the tiny cabinet and drawer next to the sink, I keep dish towels and my soapstone oiling supplies (a bottle of mineral oil, a container of beesoil, and a large zip-lock bag with oily rags in it). The trash pull-out is directly across from the sink in the island, so it makes it convenient for clean-up, as well. Most of my dishes for eating, drinking, and serving are in the cabinets above the DW. The glasses are in the cabinet closest to the refrigerator. The silverware is in the drawer next to the DW, and beneath that, I have one drawer with other miscellaneous serving utensils and another with foil, baggies, etc. In the corner next to the DW is a lazy susan with all my small appliances stored on it. Above the refrigerator, I keep my large mixing bowls and other seldom-used platters and trays. My "special" dishes are mostly on display on shelves to the right of the refrigerator, with the extras in cabinets beneath the shelves. Next to that, I have a broom closet, where in addition to the broom, swiffer, etc., I keep a container where I keep plastic grocery bags. I have a desk where I keep a phone and phone message stuff, the dogs' cookie jar, a can with pencils, pens, and a pair of scissors, a stapler, and a clipboard with the grocery list on it. In the drawer under the desk, I keep miscellaneous junk and all our chargers. In the cabinet above the desk, I keep replacement lightbulbs, extra dog cookies, and a file box with all my appliance manuals and warranty info. Next to the desk, I have pantry cabinets. These store all my dry goods, but since I have two cabinets like this, I have to organize where things go. I put all cans, jars, and bottles in one cabinet, along with cereal. In the other cabinet, I put all the staples, such as flour, sugar, rice, nuts, pastas, etc., which I store in stackable Tupperware Modular Mates. I also have small cabinets above the pantry cabs. In one of those, I keep all my Christmas dishes, and in the other, I keep baskets that I use for serving. In the cabinets beneath the pantries, I keep all my ovenware and additional serving dishes. In the middle, I have drawers where I keep all my plastic storage containers and reusable plastic plates and cups. I have a large, nine-drawer chest in the adjoining eating area that stores a lot more stuff. I use one section for paper plates and plastic utensils. I use another for candles, centerpieces, and such. I use the last one section for placemats, cloth napkins, and table cloths. Whew! I think that's everything! As buehl mentioned, in the "Read Me" thread she has a great post about storage and zones. It's the second post in the thread.