Introducing the Afternoon (Dish) Traffic Report

For those of you who have been with me from the beginning, you may recall that I totally kicked butt with overcoming vice no. 1. I know, I know, it sounds very arrogant. But the fact of the matter is I totally suck at trying to overcome vice no. 2. So, I am tooting my own horn here for a moment, rejoicing in past accomplishments, before I have to face the present and talk about how I failed my current challenge.
TOOT! TOOT! (That's the sound of me tooting my own horn.)
Enough of that. I had a much better feeling at the end of week 1 when I was focusing on working out. I set a clear goal for working out and accomplished it. I feel like I set a clear goal this time too, but as I stated last week, being in control of the dirty dishes requires constant attention. I don't just do it once for the day and then check it off of my "to do" list. It's hard to stay on top of. Furthermore, it's been hard for me to chart my progress with this issue on the blog. I can't simply write "yes" or "no," like I've done with working out.
I think we can all agree that I work well when I have to be accountable to someone for something. This is where you come in. You are my someone. When I know that you're checking in, I want to deliver as opposed to disappoint. So, I'm instigating something new here at bMP. Meet the Afternoon (Dish) Traffic Report.
Collective Blog Readers: "What are you all about, Afternoon (Dish) Traffic Report?"
Afternoon (Dish) Traffic Report: "Every day at 2:00(ish)pm, MP will take a picture of the dishwasher/sink area as is. NO CHEATING! Then she will post said picture on the blog that day so that you can see the progress (or lack thereof) that she's making."
Collective Blog Readers: "How could MP cheat?"
Afternoon (Dish) Traffic Report: "You've got to keep your eye on her. She can be a tricky one. She could, for example, position the camera at an angle that hides any and all flaws. She could take the photo at an earlier or later time of the day when things are more pristine. She could use the same photo day after day so that she projects the image of keeping order when in reality you can hardly see her dishwasher through all of the clutter. She could even move all of the clutter to the kitchen table, beyond the view of the camera lens. She's never done that before, but she could."
Collective Blog Readers: "Let's assume she'll be honest. Why 2:00pm?"
Afternoon (Dish) Traffic Report: "Because MP's little one needs to sleep every afternoon and she's usually home at that time for her nap."
Collective Blog Readers: "But Mary Poppins, we don't really care to see your dishwasher/sink area every day."

What can I say? Neither do I, but there it is, staring me in the face, day after day. Note: I won't be posting solely about the dishwasher every day, but the pic will appear regardless of the post topic. If I'm going to make any progress at all I need some motivation. In this situation, I think it will be quite motivating to know that I have to visually display the dish traffic every day. It will force me to stay on top of things. So, if you're really averse to seeing this daily then here's a spoiler alert: dishwasher picture immediately to follow (you may want to avert your eyes).


Behold, my dishwasher today at 2:03pm. I can sense that you're a bit perplexed. The dishwasher is not in its usual location. I may have mentioned that here at the Poppins household we're a bit old-school. That, my friends, is an old-school dishwasher. One that hooks up to your sink when it's running. Your grandma probably had one. I know that my grandma who was born in 1905 had one. And in 2008, I'm proud to say that I have one. So for those of you who still don't understand, allow me to translate. At 2:03pm, the dishes were all in the dishwasher in the process of being cleaned. I did it. TOOT! TOOT!