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Wise Travel Advice From My 9-Year-Old

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road trip

A Re-post from Spring, 2013:  First in my new Travel Article Section!

This past Saturday, I took a road trip with my 8 year old, and I had time while driving to reflect on what great travelers my children are.  My new word this week is “Consistencies”, in place of “routines” or “habits”.  So I looked at what we do consistently, every day, to make traveling and really, life in general, better.

Here are some tips:

Have your kids help you pack.  At my suggestion Saturday morning, my little guy helped me pack our picnic lunch, and packed his own bag of car entertainment (my IPad, his Nintendo DS, a book and the “new” camera his uncle passed on to him recently).  Why does this help?  He knew and liked what was on the lunch menu, and didn’t need to nag me for food.  And he happily kept himself occupied during the drive, when he wasn’t busy snapping digital pictures!

Lay some travel ground rules, for you and your kids:

  1. Safety is of utmost importance.  At all times.  This is non-negotiable.  There is no brawling, moving around the van, yelling, or anything else that will distract the driver or harm others.
  2. Get in, settle down, and buckle up.  Quickly.  This, too, is non-negotiable.
  3. Throw out your garbage every time you stop.  The car will be less likely to smell like old French fries if there aren’t old French fries around.  Makes sense, right?
  4. Use the rest room whenever you are given the chance.  Woe unto the sluggish child who opts to stay in the car at a rest area and then needs a restroom 30 minutes later.
  5. Entertain yourself.  It’s not my job, or your brother’s job to give you something to do.  Pack your own fun.
  6. Don’t make us late.
  7. Clean your stuff out of my car every time we come home.  If your soccer uniform is still in my van, it is not getting washed like it should be.  And you can’t practice your band instrument if it is riding around town with me instead of at home with you.

What my fellow travelers can expect from me:

  1. Safety, at all times.
  2. I will stop at reasonable intervals for pit-stops, gas and snacks as necessary.  Inform me once if you need something, but do not nag.
  3. It is reasonable to expect from the 5 of us, ages 9-44, that we can make it to Grandma’s (2.25 hours), Grandpa’s (2.5 hours), Uncle Sean’s (3 hrs) and the cottage (2 hrs) without stopping.   Don’t expect stops, but appreciate stopping for ice cream on a whim.
  4. We will explore off the beaten track if time allows and we see something interesting (a favorite part of road trips!!).  I am a sucker for hiking and roadside produce stands, and they know it.

Some more travel advice from the 9 year old:

  • Bring a water bottle, but don’t drink it all at once.  Makes the water last longer, and you won’t need to stop so soon.
  • Chocolate car-candy melts quickly.  Starbursts, on the other hand, taste better the mushier they are (he is obviously biased toward Starbursts, but he has a point!).
  • If everyone gets different snacks at the convenience store, we can all share.
  • If you sit in the front seat next to Mom, you get to control the music choices.  I can’t wait until I’m big enough to sit up front.

Establish some of these consistencies with your family!  Happy Travels!

I Learned New Things In My Closet This Week!

I like my clothes, but come Spring I always get the urge to purge old items, put away my winter stuff and buy a few things to green dress with accessories update my closet. I have a few challenges:  I like to look good, but often get stuck in ruts when it comes to daily dressing.  I have great accessories but forget to use them.  And historically, I dislike shopping.  I don’t know what to buy, what fits my body type or what the current styles are. I have gotten better in recent years, but I still find shopping for myself a challenge.

I met with Tamika Price, Wardrobe Coach, last Wednesday doing a “closet audit”.  (www.tamikamariaprice.com , or Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/tamikamartellprice).  I spend a lot of time in other people’s closets, but this is the first time I spent time with someone else working on mine!  As we set up our appointment, Tamika was conscientious and punctual, always plusses in my book.  Plus she is very pleasant to spend time with, and looks great all the time.  I know I’m receiving sound style advice from a stylish person!

In preparation for our appointment, I collected everything, even outerwear and my really dressy items, and brought it all togetherdonate pile for review.  Since the dressy items were out, we looked at those first.  A few items went to the “donate” pile immediately; an old dreary suit, and a full length formal black skirt that I have no business, at 5’2”, wearing … ever.  Everything else stayed, but she recommended getting my favorite formal dress shortened to a more flattering length.  Brilliant!  So I started the “to be altered” pile.

We reviewed tops and jackets next.  Since I shaved my head, I am even more drawn to bold colors.  Pastels wash me out now that there’s no hair to soften the look!  A few weeks ago, I pulled out some light-colored items I no longer find flattering, but I waited to hear from Tamika before I let them go completely.  She showed me how to better accessorize one of them, and the others went to the “donate” pile.  I repurposed a favorite but underutilized jacket as outerwear, and now I leave it and another stylish jacket at the back door to grab as I run out in the morning. And all the while we are reviewing my clothes, Tamika was suggesting ways to wear the items I already have, new and different combinations I had not imagined on my own.  And the suggestions were all awesome!to be altered pile

On to skirts and pants. I have a lot of skirts.  I like them, I look good in them, and I wear them often.  Tamika is very diplomatic and focused.  I lobbied to keep a skirt that she suggested I donate.  Respecting my desire to keep it, she suggested a shorter length and some accessories to improve the look. I also mentioned how much I hate boot-cut pants, and my need for a stylish pair of jeans.  She kept notes on all of my preferences, offered suggestions and noted everything on her checklist / shopping list of essential haves and need- to- buys.

Since our appointment, I have used my wardrobe much better.  I have dug a little deeper in my closet and been more imaginative with my ensembles, using both neglected items and regular items in new ways.  I have put together pieces I would not have thought to before, I wear my accent pieces daily, and I have dressed up a little more for client meetings.skirt with yellow tee

To sum up what I learned this week, or what I already knew but needed reminded of:

  1. Be willing to alter your current clothing items to update a look or better suit your style.
  2. Re-imagine what you have in your closet in new and interesting ways.  Tamika paired a skirt that came as a set with a totally different top for a totally different look.
  3. You probably already have really great items in your closet, you just need to      remember and refresh what you have and use it better.
  4. There are some things you just can’t fix.  Itchy or ill-fitting, items that are stretched out or just not my color, yep – let them go.dressed up gray and green henley

Most surprisingly, at least to me, is that I am really looking forward to shopping soon with Tamika!  I know the basic pieces she has suggested will stretch my clothing choices, and that the new items on the list will give me more options and more shine to my everyday work image.  And instead of dreading my shopping trip, I am optimistic that it will be successful, which is a big change!  I’ll update you after our shopping trip!

6 Tips to Tweak Your Weekends!

Recently, my brother and my niece conversed on Facebook about their “Thursday Feeling”.  Apparently, many people experience a lift, a “Whew, I’ve almost made it!” feeling on Thursday as they look ahead to the weekend.  I’m not on board yet with their “Thursday Feeling”.  Improving our weekends is a work-in-progress, so I asked my readers to share thoughts on weekends.

Based on your responses, we would ideally spend our weekends sleeping in, not cleaning the house, accomplishing home projects, playing outside, doing homework (either ours or helping our kids with theirs), shopping, watching movies, relaxing and eating good food and ice cream. Ideally.

Last weekend was just right.  Dinner out on Friday night with family, then an event at church.   Saturday morning, all 5 of us participated in a 5K around our neighborhood, raising money for a local cancer organization.  Then we spent time with my young niece, knocked out an organizing project, took naps and watched movies.  Sunday started with family traditions, then Mass, brunch, and more relaxing.  It was lovely.

In reality, weekends can be hectic and choppy.  Personally, I start out with Cub Scouts on Friday.  We have such a great time, but I am typically in charge of some planning and running our meetings, so when most people are winding down on a Friday, I’m revving up.  Occasionally, I take Saturday clients because that is the only time some of them are available.  Then we, like many of my readers, have multiple sporting or creative events, shuttling the kids here and there, fitting in house cleaning and home projects.  Sundays always start with family and Mass, but may end up filled with work or projects or more commitments.

So how can we tweak our weekends?  Where can we find that Thursday feeling?

  1. Align expectations. Trouble occurs  when I anticipate a lazy weekend, and my husband plans a family day of  yard work.  My teenagers want to sleep until noon, I want bedrooms cleaned by 10 am.  If you share your life with others, make sure to align your expectations with theirs.
  2. Communicate.  A friend shared her family’s weekend strategy with me.  She and her husband have a “meeting” on Saturday morning over coffee to discuss their weekend plans and expectations.  They write down the scheduled events, the need-to-dos and also the hope-to-dos.  She says “It feels good to have a list that we work on TOGETHER”, everybody gets at least a few things accomplished and her family feels better about their weekends.
  3. Don’t schedule too much.  Try to leave some “white space”, as my friend Jan would call it, and choose to relax how you would like.  Be selective when signing up for activities and accepting invitations.
  4. Shop during the week or on-line.  I avoid the mall like the plague every day, but especially on the weekends. Shop during the week when the stores are less crowded.  You can also automate your shopping. I shop on-line with Melaleuca.  I love the household products, but mostly I love that they ship to my house monthly.  I use Reliv as my nutritional supplement. I place my order quarterly and it arrives on my doorstep.  I use Amazon.com for gifts and harder-to-find items.  Less time at actual stores means more time for me and my family, and that is worth any money spent on shipping.
  5. Stick with routines. Schedule at least a few things.  A mother of 4 young sons admitted that she prefers the structure of weekdays.  Everyone seems happier during the week.  Unstructured time is when the kids get rowdy, and sometimes into trouble. Stick with bedtimes and meal times, and I mean all of us, not just the kids!
  6. Find your weekend somewhere else.  Because my weekends tend to be busy and not terribly relaxing, I have worked to find “weekend” time (relaxing and rejuvenating time) during the week.  Every other month or so, I might schedule a massage, or catch a chick flick at the theatre on a weekday (none of the fellows in my house would want to go with me anyway!).

So, what will you try this week to make your weekend better?  How will you promote that “Thursday Feeling”?  Slow down and enjoy!

Menu Planning as a Spring Survival Tool!

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(edited from April, 2011 post)dinner time

A friend called Spring “Hot Dog Season”.  I thought it was in deference to baseball, but it was because with all her family’s activities, that’s all she has time to make for dinner these days.   I recommended Menu Planning, and here’s why!

Menu planning is the strategic planning of your meals for the week.  It enables us to use our resources well, saving time and money, and making the most of our storage space. If we had special considerations like food allergies or a special diet, menu planning would be even more invaluable, helping us focus on what we can eat, not what we cannot.

So, how to do it?  On a piece of paper, spreadsheet or on this week’s calendar page:

  1. List the days of the week, and set some themes, if you’d like, to help you come up with ideas (my biggest personal challenge is just coming up with ideas).  For example, ours are:
  • Sunday: Family Dinner / New Recipes
  • Monday: Soup / Salad / Sandwiches
  • Tuesday: Italian
  • Wednesday: Mexican
  • Thursday: Grill-ables
  • Friday: Pizza / Lenten Friday
  • Saturday: Seafood / Grill-ables / New Recipes

2.  Come up with a list of 10-15 Favorites for your family, perhaps in keeping with the aforementioned themes. I try a new recipe every week or 2, and add it to our list of favorites if the family really likes it.

3.  Look at this week’s schedule, noting special events or arrangements.  Then put it all together:

  • Sunday (Sunday Dinner): Family Party in Michigan – No cooking for me!
  • Monday (Soup/Salad/Sandwiches) (CCD – early / easy dinner) – Chili / Mac and Cheese
  • Tuesday (Italian): Spaghetti and Meatballs
  • Wednesday (Mexican): Chicken tacos (make rice and chicken in the morning)
  • Thursday (Grill-ables) (Band After school, late dinner) – Pork Chops and sweet potatoes
  • Friday: (Meatless) – Pizza and salad
  • Saturday: (Grill-ables): (Birthday dinner) Corned Beef, Mashed Potatoes

Tips to make it work:

  1. Realize any good plan is a flexible plan. We use our menu plan as an inventory for what we have on hand. If my plan for today falls through, I can look at the menu for later in the week, and know what else I have on hand to cook.
  2. Enlist Aid: Get your family to help with planning and implementation of menu planning. When my sons help me plan, they are assured of having things they like to eat from every meal, so it is worth it to them to help me out.  In addition, they are more likely to eat  a meal they had a hand in preparing.  They are pretty good sous chefs, cleaning and peeling vegetables, shredding cheese, reading recipes or directions on boxes, setting and clearing the table.
  3. Cook dinner in the morning (or the day before).  Right now, our dinner hour is crazier than our mornings, so we get creative! Anything taking more than 30 minutes to make is relegated to the weekend, the Crock Pot, or a different time of day.  We love Spanish rice with our taco night, but it takes 35 minutes to make, so I make it in the morning and leave it in the fridge to warm up at dinner time. I have gone so far as to assemble 3 casseroles on Sunday for the next three days.
  4. Double up on your prep:
  • Clean and prep your veggies when you bring them home.  We shred a cup or two of carrots for recipes later in the week, dice extra onions or peppers, split up meat into appropriate serving sizes and add marinade while frozen.
  • We brown 3 pounds of ground meat at once, re-freezing it in 1 pound blocks, thawing as needed.
  • We also cook or grill extra meats to put in salads or soups later in the week. Which leads me to ….

5.  Get over your LeftOvers.

  •  You may have to sell the idea of Leftovers to your family, but they are a valuable component of menu planning. If it weren’t for leftovers, my hubby would eat out downtown for lunch every day. At $10 a meal. Yikes.  There are days we would starve if not for leftovers!
  • Call them something else, or Pair them with a positive experience. Instead of left-over night, call it Tater-Tot Night or Dessert night, or whatever will make your own family happy.
  • Pair a left over of one thing with a new side and a new veggie, or make it look different, like grilled chicken breasts from Monday sliced and layered on a Caesar salad on Wednesday.

Off to class and baseball practice and scouts, so glad I planned my dinner!  Try these ideas this week, and let me know what you think of menu planning!

Please sponsor me, I’m shaving my head for Children’s Cancer Research

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My link:  http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/595388/2013
My son’s link:  http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/595381/2013

Bald by choice, for those who are not.

I am shaving my head on Friday to raise awareness and money for children’s cancer research at a St. Baldrick’s event in my community.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation collects funds for Children’s cancer research.  It began as an idea among 3 friends back in 1999 and became a foundation in 2005.  Last year they raised over 30 million dollars, bringing their total to over $100 million dollars in research grants since 2005.

My children are healthy, but cancer has touched all of our lives.  I have lost friends to cancer, and have several more suffering right now.  One friend, a father with three boys my sons’ ages, died from a type of brain cancer mostly found in children.  One of my cub scouts, Emmet, now cancer free, is a poster child for St. Baldrick’s.

My sons have participated in St. Baldrick’s, as have my cub scouts and many others in my community.  In 2012, my 8 year old raised over $800 in sponsorship himself.  This year, it is my turn to step up, so he and I will be shaving our heads together at a St. Baldrick’s event on Friday, March 15th.

Truthfully, I am nervous.  I’ve never been bald before.  I really like my hair, and consider it part of who I am, part of what makes me… well, me.

My biggest fear, though, is that I am making light of what people fighting cancer are really going through, by glibly shaving my head.  As though I can take away their pain and make them feel better with this gesture.   My second biggest fear is that my bald head may generate compassion I do not deserve, being bald by choice and not be necessity.

But I have faith that I am doing this for the right reasons, and that my outward gesture may motivate others to share what they can to support St. Baldricks and the many other cancer research fundraisers, the walks and runs and activities, so that someday, cancer will be no more.

So, if you see me around the neighborhood, here are the easy answers to your “Why are you shaving your head?” question:

  1. It is a great way to get involved, and hey – It’s just hair.  It will grow back.
  2. I am so proud of my son, this will be his third year participating in St. Baldricks.  Last year, I promised I would do it with him this year, and I am not going to let him down.
  3. Or maybe my brother is right, Being bald will really free me up when I get ready in the morning!

The tougher answer is:

If I can help, I should help.   Because let’s face it, Cancer Sucks.

Please consider sponsoring my son and I this Friday.

Is It “Spring” Cleaning If I Start During a Snow Storm?

     Is it “Spring” Cleaning if I start during a snow storm?

     We just scheduled two events to host in our home in the next month, so I find myself in Spring Cleaning mode.  But does it count as Spring Cleaning if we start on a snow day from school?  Hope so, here goes…..

     First of all, why Spring Cleaning?  Think of it as a breath of fresh (albeit chilly today) air to your home or office.  Take the opportunity to clear the decks, shake things up a little and re-imagine a cleaner, more organized life.

       My Spring Cleaning starts with a Spring Purge.  To get yours started, collect all the stuff from around your house or office that you have already decided to let go.  Very often, we decide to part with an item, but then wait for the right time or situation or a nice day to move the items out of the house.  Perhaps you have hesitated to purge things because you have made some decisions about some items, but not all.    

     Abandon Perfectionism, friends, and just start.  Let the items go!

     So what is your stuff, and where is it going?  Maybe your items are slated for sale: if so, go ahead list them on Craig’s List, Ebay or Facebook, and get things moving.  Drop off your clothing donations, take your items back to the store for credit, return items to their owners, recycle your cast-off electronics.  You name it, it can go (click here for my recycling guide!)   And don’t worry if you’re not done with your purge, take the first wave of stuff away anyway, and revel in the open space.

      Plus, put another drop-off day on your calendar, a few weeks from now, for the second wave of stuff to be donated / delivered / sold.

      This week, I returned over-bought items to the store for credit, I will list a toy racetrack on Facebook for sale, drop off electronics to our E-Waste Drop site and medication bottles at the Police Department, take a bag of books to Bookies on 103rd for store credit, and donate some books and dvds to our local library.

       Next I make my plan for the actual cleaning and organizing.  Typically, I list all the rooms in my house and then, moving from room to room, I determine what the extra cleaning needs are and what organizing or updates need to happen. 

Here’s my actual list:

  • J’s room: books and toys
  • A &D’s room:  books, hang shelf
  • master bedroom: done
  • bathroom & linen closet: done 
  • front closet: tidy up, purge extra door decorations
  • living room: rug?, G’s desk, music storage
  • dining room: done
  • Kitchen: papers: files, binders, recipe binder
  • family room: desk/papers, dvds, desk drawers, winter accessory purge
  • Basement laundry room: tidy up, rugs
  • Basement bathroom: done
  • Basement furnace storage room: tidy up, donate books and treadmill?
  • Basement work room: tidy up
  • Basement Lego area and Music space: Ugh.  Egads. 
  • Garage: recycling, tidy up
  • Basement crawl space: Done
  • Windows:  When it is actually warm out
  • Lawn and Garden:  When it is actually warm out

      My favorite part of this step is recognizing which rooms are just fine the way they are – DONE!  For example, our bedroom, the dining room, and the bathrooms are all fine with just a regular weekly cleaning, and I washed all the bedding last week.  This list of things I DON’T need to do helps me narrow my focus onto the areas that really do need my attention.

       Looking at the list, I can choose to complete some small projects right away, to add to the DONE! List.  The laundry room, furnace room and garage need only 15 or 20 minutes of attention each, so I will knock those out today.

       Determine what projects you can complete independently, and which require the assistance of others, and pick your day to complete them.  The bedrooms and the basement space require the rest of my family to help, so we will tackle those over the weekend (or, did I mention – SNOW DAY!!).  And one area, the work room, is purely my hubby’s domain.  I can tackle these pieces over the next few weeks, purchase a new area rug or two, and be DONE with my spring projects before March ends.  Woo-hoo!  Then baseball season starts, and scout camping and weekend travels when the weather gets warmer…

Wow, it is a good thing I am starting these projects now, Snow or No Snow!

A Tuesday Morning Bedtime Story

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Today’s blog was named by Leslie and inspired by Bridget.  Thanks ladies!

I was pondering today’s “productivity” blog while I organized our bedding… then Ping!  Light Bulb!  How about I share the bedding ideas with you instead?

Last week, I realized the bedding drawer in the guest space was a lot fuller than our bedding chest on the main floor.  Today’s project was to review what we have, purge unnecessary sheets and pillow cases, and re-allocate the ones we’re keeping.

Also, while working with a client recently, she asked “Don’t you have dozens of mystery sheets that are never used and match nothing?” Um, No, I don’t, but I was motivated to complete this project!

Here’s how it went:

  1. I finished all the laundry and then collected all our sheets together in one place.  We have 5 people living here, with 3 twin beds and one queen bed.  In our basement we have guest lodgings of two more twin beds and a queen size Aerobed.
  2. I sorted the sheets into piles for twin and queen size, then matched up the flats and fitted with the cases.
  3. I folded the sets together, with the folded flat sheets wrapped around the folded fitted sheets and cases.  I put one set of queen sheets and 2 sets of twin back in the basement guest space and stored the rest in the bedding chest in my room.
  4. The “donate”  pile held three random sheets that match nothing, an old set of queen sheets and some Buzz Lightyear twin sheets that have been through 3 boys and are ready for retirement.   I answered a Facebook request from a mom looking for twin size bed sheets for her little boy’s bed, and offered her our Buzz Lightyear sheets.  I am glad they will be loved anew by another little boy! I bundled the rest of the “donate” pile together and will drop it off at the animal shelter this week with some old t-shirts.

A few tips I have picked up along the way:

  1. For years, I purchased only white sheets so that I could bleach them all and keep them cleaner.  Since it is difficult to determine sheet size at a glance, I noted a T or a Q on a discreet corner.  If you use all the same color, you could also separate the sizes of sheets by storing them on a different shelf or in each room.
  2. I grew tired of white bedding, though it did have its advantages.  I am slowly making the switch to color and patterns in our bedding:  any new twin size sheets I purchase are striped, and any queen size sheets  will be a solid color.
  3. I have also heard the suggestion of storing the two sheets and the extra pillow      case if there is one folded together in the matching pillow case.  That works for some, but not for me.
  4. We store our guest bedding in a dresser drawer in our guest space, and everyone else’s bedding in the chest at the foot of our bed, so extremely tidy edges are not necessary.
  5. We don’t keep a lot of extras.  Two sheet sets for each of our beds (and one is on the bed), and one set each for the guest beds.  Fewer items mean less clutter.
  6. Once and for all, Here is how one person can fold a fitted sheet to lay flat while keeping it off the ground (I learned from a pro – Literally!  I used to help out at my dad’s Laundromat in high school, and the tiny and efficient Shirley showed me the trick):
    1. Grab two adjacent corners and bring them together, and do the same for the other end.
    2. Fold the flat size in half, so all the fitted corners fit together.
    3. Grasp one end of the flat side in each hand and pull flat across your chest,       then fold into thirds down your front, rounded elastic side in first, and the flat side in last.
    4. Starting at the bottom (the lumpiest part), fold up in thirds so that you are left with straight sides and edges.

So, collect the bedding that you have; sort it into sizes and sets; determine what needs to go away either because it is old or ill fitting or scratchy; and choose a storage place close at hand for the items you intend to keep.  Another quick project that will make your life easier!

Three Little Projects That Will Make You Smile!

Organizing projects don’t have to be big or expensive to make a big impact on your life!  Here are three examples of 30-minute projects that will make you smile every time you look in the medicine cabinet, watch a DVD or open your closet door.

Project #1 The Medicine Cabinet.

Invest 30 minutes in cleaning out your medicine cabinet, and you will help every member of your household every day.

  1. Grab a pen and paper to jot down items needing replacement; a garbage bag and a small bag to collect your recycling.
  2. Clear the counter so you have room to lay stuff out, or lay a towel on the floor.  Take everything out of the cabinet and spread it out.
  3. A quick review of expiration dates make organizing the medicine cabinet easier.  Look at each item in your medicine cabinet and determine if the item has expired….
    1. Based on the manufacturer’s suggestion, like medications, first-aid items, or used make-up; or
    2. Based on your personal or lifestyle preferences:  You can let go of items like styling products that didn’t work as advertised, or items for certain distant times of our lives, like the baby nail clippers or the green nail polish that looked great on my teenage niece but not on me!
  4. Duplicates weigh us down. Don’t store multiples of the same product in the small space.  Keep one on hand, and store the rest elsewhere to free up space.  A basket in our linen closet holds un-opened items.  We keep one of everything in the cabinet, and go to the new un-opened items when we run out of the first.
  5. Group the stuff you use every day onto its own shelf or basket, categorize the rest and corral it in containers.

Project #2 The DVD Collection

Spend 30 minutes organizing your DVD collection, and it presents a great visual image!

  1. Collect all your DVDs and cases from all over your house.
  2. Alphabetize the cases by movie title, then put loose DVDs in their cases.
  3. Review them all and purge the ones that no one watches anymore.  My little niece and our public library receive most of the DVDs my boys have outgrown.
  4. Assign a home for your DVDs.  Leave them in alphabetical order, or group them by category (like action or TV series on DVD) or by viewer (like storing the DVDs my youngest son watches on the lowest, easiest-to-reach shelf).
  5. As we receive new DVDs, we review what we have and purge what can go.

Project # 3 The Gift Wrap / Storage Closet

This one really makes me smile.  I worked on this project last week, and it took closer to an hour, since I had to break down and remove the cardboard, plus $40 and a quick trip to Home Depot.  But it’s worth it!

  1. I have a closet in the basement which holds holiday decorations, gifts, gift bags and wrap, and lots of empty boxes for storage and mailing.  It required attention after the holidays, and when I saw this great idea on Command.com, I made the project a priority for January!
  2. I cleared boxes, keeping 10 small ones for shipping, and collapsed and recycled the rest (a lot!!).
  3. I stored our extra gifts for giving in two boxes on the shelf above, one each for Christmas and every day gifts.
  4. I pulled out the Christmas wrap, ribbons and bags, and stored it all in a separate extra-large Ziploc bag.
  5. I installed Command hooks and hung small dowels across them to hold my ribbon and favorite gift wrap.  Also hanging on the command hooks are clear freezer bags holding my tape, scissors and pens.
  6. I also bought new supports for an old un-used shelf, and installed the supports and shelf in the space as a permanent work space for wrapping small items and staging gifts before giving.  Below are the before and after pictures!  The white laundry basket in both pictures holds our extra gift bags, divided into categories like “baby”, “wedding”, and “birthday”.

before      after       lego wall

The bonus project:  Lego display space (above right).

I have three sons and ridiculous amounts of Lego.  Most are assembled, and storage space is tight.  When inventorying the work room for the closet project, I found these shelf tracks and supports, but no shelves.  On the Home Depot trip to purchase items for the closet project, I also picked up replacement shelves in sizes to match the supports we already have.  10 minutes of installation and $20 for 3 shelves, and we have 9 more linear feet of Lego display space (and a little less clutter on the Lego table!).  Woo hoo!!

So, what areas of your home could use 30 minutes of your time?  Any investment in Organizing will reap big rewards!

Lessons My Family Learned From The Teacher’s Strike

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Our wonderful village has survived a recent crisis, a teacher’s strike that kept 1,800 students away from their schools and teachers and education for 2 weeks.  I am relieved to say that the boys will head back to school on Monday.

I am pro-student, pro-teacher, pro- parent, pro-tax payer.  I did not take a side between our School Board and Union, because my opinion is somewhere in the middle.  This blog article, too, is my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree.

What I am challenging us all to ask is “What have we learned from this experience?”

We have to learn from history, or we are doomed to repeat it (para. G. Santayana).  There are many lessons from this experience that I hope my children and I remember, and that they carry with them, long after they go back to school and grow up and become adults and parents themselves.  Here are 4:

Remember that Words Matter.
We choose to build up others or tear them down with our words and our actions.  Building up takes more work, but which would you rather be remembered for?
Words are important.  Words can hurt when yelled at others, whether across a table or across the street.  And those same words can help and heal, if you are willing to try a little harder.  Did you teach your kids that this week?

Think for yourself.
Ask Questions.  All the time.  Keep learning and educating your self on new ideas, you get to choose!  These last 2 weeks, I  researched and learned a lot about unions, school boards and the negotiation process.

Speak for yourself, and Get Involved.
Know your mind and speak up.  Don’t let others speak for you.  Just because someone is the loudest, either in print, on the street or in you face, that does not make them Right.  It just makes them the loudest.  Shame on me for not speaking up until the day before the strike began, for sitting back while this drama unfolded for months before weighing in.

Stand up for what is “right”, but respect one another.
      Because your “Right” and other people’s “Right” may not be the same, but you both feel strongly about your “Right”, and there is truth in every side of most arguments.  My faith teaches me to respect others, regardless of their opinions.  We all have to find middle ground for a community to function.

If you are in my community or even if you are not, take this opportunity to sit down with your kids and talk about this process.  If they are heading back to their classrooms on Monday like mine, build them up to go back to school and embrace their teachers, friends and education.  Remind them how great our community is and how lucky we all are to live here.  And from every experience, ask “What have we learned?”

Three Words: The Power of “Not Right Now”

(Click here to hear / see me talk about this in a FB Live Post)

Last week I offered ideas to help you find motivators and get organized.  Yet, this week I am suggesting you occasionally say “Not Right Now”.

Hmmm….. Are you wondering what changed my mind?  Maybe the organizer is letting you off the hook this week and you get to goof off?  Uh, no, nice try.  “Find your Motivators” and “Saying ‘Not Right Now’” are both tools to move you along the path to getting things done and making your life better.

Time Management expert Steven Covey uses the Eisenhower Box, via Dwight D. Eisenhower, a grid to illustrate the basis for my Not Right Now Suggestion.  He suggests there are 4 types of tasks, categorized by Importance and Urgency.

The grid reads:

1.  Important, Urgent               2.  Important, Non Urgent
3.  Non-Important, Urgent     4.  Non-Important, Non Urgent

My “Not Right Now” strategy focuses on taking care of the (#1) Important and Urgent things first, and safely keeping ideas that are important but not urgent.

Important and urgent tasks (#1) for me today were to meet a client deadline for publication, submit an ad for an upcoming charity event and follow up with an upcoming presentation host.  As a self-employed entrepreneur, important and urgent tasks almost always have to come first.  There is no one else to do the work, and my business and clients have to be my top professional priorities.

(#3) Non-important, Urgent tasks included responding to emails, and taking care of some filing so I could re-claim my work space.  And these I did take care of, just to get them out of the way.

Next are the Non-urgent tasks, both important (#2) and non-important (#4), and that is where the Not Right Now tool comes into play.  I start a typical day with 2 or 3 Important and Urgent things that have to get done.  As I work, I get ideas, great and sometimes not-so-great.  They are all important, but they are rarely urgent.  I want to respect and collect the ideas that come to me, but I don’t want to lose my focus on the current task.  I jot them down, and get back to work.

Two professional organizers whom I really respect (Elizabeth Hagen and Barbara Hemphill) recommend keeping a pile of blank index cards close at hand as you work.  As an idea or task pop into your head, jot it down on a card, a new card for each idea.  When you are done with your current Important and Urgent task and can take a break, review the cards, act on the quick easy ones and sort the others into piles for when and how you need to act on them.

I use a notebook in the same way.  When I take a break from a project, I look at the ideas listed and put them where they will be most useful.  Perhaps one of my Outlook to-do lists, or add it to my strategic planning file.  If possible, I make the idea into an action item and attach it to a date and time, sometime in the future.  The idea is important, but it is for later, “Not Right Now”.

Not Right Now can be more global, too: I am willing to step up for leadership in my professional network, but not this year.  “Keep me on the list for the next cycle, and I am your girl.  But not right now” was my actual response.

“Not Right Now” has saved me recently, too.  I’ve gotten emails that I might react strongly to, but used “Not Right Now” to hold off on responding and finish my work.  By the time I could respond, I collected my thoughts and cooled down, and responded more reasonably.  Or I wait to act on an idea, and someone else acts first (woo hoo!).

Collect and safely keep ideas and inspirations, but cut yourself some slack and recognize the power of “Not Right Now”.  I would like to travel internationally, but not right now.  I want to learn to play the guitar, but not right now.   Perhaps I’ll get a tattoo, but not right now (Ok, I won’t get a tattoo, just wanted to see if you were all still paying attention).  I want to change the world, but Not Right Now.

I have been very busy lately, and busy is really great.  But now my professional tasks for the day are complete with the publication of my blog, and my “Not Right Now”s have become “Yes, Now”s  And yes, now, I really need to go clean my kitchen.