Without a Safety Net (TRT)

I’ve discovered a secret. . .to get LOML to clean the house, invite people over. It's as simple as that.
He’s planning on having a few old bandmates over tonight to go through some music and possibly work up to some gigs. As such, we want the house to be ‘presentable’ enough for other people. Usually, it’s just livable.

So, when I got home yesterday, I was pleased to discover that he had DUSTED (awesome since I have a severe dust allergy), cleaned the kitchen, picked up the living room, and was working on de-gunking the fish tank. After dinner, I cleaned the litter box and cleaned up the dinner stuff while he VACUUMED the living room and hallway.

I hate to say it, but there’s still so much that needs to be done around the house and I just can’t seem to find the time to do it. Lately it has seemed as though life is a balancing act of what needs to be done and what has to be done. I know I need to keep my house in order enough so that we don’t become sick, overwhelmed, over stressed, and just plain gross; but I have other interests that I want to pursue as well. After work, I run by the store for any food items we need, come home and cook, eat dinner, and spend time with the hubby before it’s off to bed. Squeezing some craft time time into that schedule is hard enough. And, then there’s blogging in the mix. I want to share my daily life, I want to share some tips, some funnies, etc and I even have more to share for my other blog than you could imagine, but just getting this one done is quite a task to say the least.

I wanna know how other working women handle it. Those with kids have it even harder, I know. Do you have some sort of schedule of what chores to complete on what days so that it doesn’t all pile up? Do you have a certain day of the week that you do it all? Do you just know what the most pressing tasks are to get done and do those only? Where do you find the energy? Where do you find the time?

So, my question to you is: How do you perform that high wire act where you juggle all the stuff, keep your balance, and still reach the other side? Was there a class in high school I missed? Maybe an after school program? Or even a secret club I should have joined? How did you learn this and how do I learn it too?? Help me please, I want to regain my life and my house. Is it possible?

*****Disclaimer- I do NOT live in filth. I just don’t do things like dust and vacuum on a regular basis. Dishes get cleaned and clothes get washed, but I have difficulty finding time for other household chores.*****

As if that wasn't random enough, here's some "Totally Random Tuesday" bits:

• Minas Tirith recreated in matchsticks. (It's a Lord of the rings thing for those of you who are not on the geek level with me.)
  
• Odd grocery specials
  
• Mis-spelled college ads
  
• 21 office supplies too awesome to exist (some NSFW) -
  
• Twitter- how to get unfollowed.

That's all for now. But, seriously, if you've got some cleaning/time management tips and tricks, please leave me a comment. I's love to be able to have a clean house and still enjoy other activities. HELP!!