Rosen made the comment Wednesday on the program.

"What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country, saying, 'Well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that's what I'm hearing,’ “ she said. “ Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life."

The comment drew criticism from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, as well as high profile political operatives.

Romney responded to the comment on Wednesday, tweeting, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."

In a Thursday appearance on Fox News, she said, "We have to respect women in all those choices that they made."

via politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

The point I took away from what Hilary Rosen said:

Mitt seems to constantly refer to his wife’s opinion when asked about women’s issues. Should his one source be from his wife’s whose experiences are specific to a mom who has not joined the workforce her entire life? It’s not a matter of attacking her choice to stay home, but pushing for him to relate more to a mix of women that includes single/married/with-or-without kids/full-or-part-time working moms/stay-at-home moms/diverse backgrounds.

Pity that Rosen is under fire for her comments as I think it was truthful and direct and not at all malicious, but was misconstrued and sensationalized.

According to the announcement on Martha Stewart's blog today,

These exciting products are made by Avery Dennison Corp. and there are hundreds of items from binders and accessories; to journals and notebooks; to labels, tags, and bands; to sticky notes and note tabs; to filing systems; to dry-erase decals; to Stack+Fit™ desk accessories.

Here's what came home with me,

The small format binders in Shagreen (a faux croc tiffany-bluish cover) - I am planning to use these as mini scrapbook albums.

The 1-, 2-, and 4-pocket sheet protectors in clear.  Both in the small format size and in letter size. - So easy to trim down photos and just slide them into the protectors.  Journaling cards fit too!

In typical Martha Stewart style, the colors are classic and subtle and have small touches that gives it an extra touch.  For example, I use page protectors for all sorts of use - to organize important documents, display frequently-used menus, to house recipes, file articles in my inspiration binder, and to scrapbook.  But the extra touch I love with the page protectors from the Martha Stewart line?  These top flaps!

Once I saw these I knew I was going to be able to use these right out of the box to hold my stamps and embellishments.  (Today, I sew the compartments into a standard 8-1/2 X 11 (letter-sized) page protector so they will stay in place.)

I went to my trusty stash of letter-sized kraft cardstock (purchased in bulk from the paper manufacturer) and trimmed the sides down to 8.25" then cut two 5.25" X 8.25" backing pages to stiffen the page and to use as a support for the stamps and embellishments.  It was so ZEN to see my current stash organized in minutes!

Some of the other things that caught my eye,

X Bands - Not sure how easy these are to use but intrigued by how convenience this could be for some of my work folders.

No-Iron Clothing Labels - Perfect for my kids' coats, swim and gym clothes, and extra sets of clothing sent to daycare or the school.

Dry Erase Labels - Label once and feggeddaboutit.

Photo from Becky Higgins

I also place some healthier snacks (unsweetened applesauce, fruit bars, fruit rollups) on the lower shelf so if my kids are asking for a snack, I can send them to the pantry for them to grab those themselves.

I’d like to extend this system into the fridge with perishables like fruits, cheese, and yogurt in the fridge.  I plan to add some baskets to hold containers of prep-packaged apple slices, plucked grapes, and cheese cubes.  I will share photos when it's in play! 

Do you have a Productivity Tip you’d like to share?  Add your link below!

Believe it or not, I didn’t really think of a New Year resolution this year.  I would like to take better care of my health by incorporating exercise back into my schedule and cooking more from scratch but I’d like to think of that as more a lifestyle change than a one-year resolution.

But I really like the One Little Word concept (which I first heard about from Ali Edwards) where you take a word and you try to live by that word for the year.  My OLW last year was “Prepare” and I do feel that I went further in that aspect than any other year and that is the level of accomplishment that sits well with me.  We planned meals for the week, laid out clothes for the kids the night before.  I looked at my calendar every night before I sleep to know what the week ahead brings (and also to see what my husband added to our family calendar).  Yes I could have done better like pack my and my daughter’s lunches the night before.  And I really could have benefitted from declining to take on last-minute projects or commitments because I really should have known that without the cushion time to prepare, the effort often ends up being a not-so-pleasant experience.

So this year, my OLW is a bit of a cheater because it’s technically a “phrase”.  In 2012, I want to “Live Smarter”. 

To me, living smarter means,

1. Tuning into my energy clock and matching the energy level to the tasks I need to complete.  Then removing typical obstacles that distract me. 
2. Reading more – something I enjoy and which nourishing me mentally and spiritually but which I feel I do not do enough of. 
3. Watching less “drama-fiction” TV and more drama-documentaries about historical events, about science and people who showed purpose in their lives and endeavors.
4. Utilizing my lunch hour to run errands so (1)  I leave my work desk for a physical break, (2) I probably get more things done without being distracted with my kids.
5. Making it a point to send more handwritten “thank yous” and “just saying hi” notes because it’s smart to reach out to people who love and care for you to keep the positive energy.

I am sure some other things will pop up as I think of my OLW (ok ok I guess if you had to twist my arm, my one little word could be “Smarter”?).  Do you have a new year’s resolution or two?  Or maybe a One Little Word of your own?

Allison Long/MCT /Landov

A Kansas City family prepares a meal together. A new study finds that working mothers log more hours — and get more stressed — than working fathers while multitasking at home. (This family wasn't part of the research.)

A new study in the December issue of the American Sociological Review comes up with some findings that lots of women may feel they already know too much about: Working mothers spend significantly more time multitasking at home than working dads. And those mothers aren't happy about it.

via www.npr.org

Top 4 Tech Tools to Give Your Productivity a Boost

via www.etsy.com

Personally, I can't wait to look into Stitch Labs as I have not tried it before but ReQall, EchoSign, and Evernote are all tried-and-tested excellent tools for productivity.

How-Tuesday: Get Things Done from Etsy on Vimeo.

I had the pleasure a long while back of joining in the chat session with Annabelle Gurwitch of the Show Wa$ted on the topic of “Saving Money While Living Green With”.  On the grand scale of being a Green Mom and promoting green living and habits within my family I would say that I am a novice but all good intentions are there.  Some of the things we have done in the last 2 years:

Installed ceiling fans in the upstairs bedrooms – we have not had to turn on the air-conditioner until a couple days ago.  We've REALLY wanted not to this entire summer but we caved into this insane heatwave this year.  But bearing with the heat for about 2 hours in the evening has been manageable.

Utilizing the recycling program in our city by separating our recycleable items and setting them out for pick-up on trash day

Reducing our kitchen paper towels usage by buying a Costco packet of cloth kitchen towels and using those where possible and just throwing them in the wash when we have enough for a load

Using environmentally-friendly clothes detergent.

Purchasing reusable snack bags for the girls’ and my lunch snacks, reducing our use of Ziploc bags.  Also using plastic containers a lot more for marinated meats than Ziploc bags.

Continue to drive our small cars despite having a family of 5 (my mother-in-law lives with us) – you should see us on Saturday evenings when we all squeeze into my car to head to church – definitely a bonding experience.

As our lightbulbs are wearing out, I am purchasing CFL options.  Home improvement stores are really marking these down now to encourage them to use it.  It puzzled me because growing up in Singapore, we all used CFL lights.

Some of the other tips that came out of the chat that I found helpful,

FOOD CHOICES

"Most important is organic milk for kids, if you can’t afford organic milk, go for skim milk because the pesticides seem to gather in the fat. The same is true with meat, if you can’t afford organic the leaner the meat, the less pesticides."

"Spending your money first on organic fresh foods like produce, milk and dairy. If you buy processed foods like crackers, chips and cookies then organic becomes less important."

"Highest level of pesticides: apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet bell peppers.  Lowest levels: bananas, citrus fruits, mango, avocado."

"Here's something I've noticed with organic foods: when it's truly in season, organic sometimes costs the same as conventional. Strawberries are a good example."

"The U.S. Dept. of Ag estimates that people throw away 30% of the food they buy (think of that old spaghetti rotting in the back of the fridge). People complain they can't afford organic food, but if they managed what they bought, they could easily afford organics."

ENERGY SAVINGS

"Window film is a very inexpensive way to help lower your energy costs by providing insulation and also blocking the sun. It's inexpensive, easy to install, I recommend that it'll save you a lot of money."

"Another great strategy was changing the light bulbs. We cut 60% of our electricity bill associated with lighting by going all CFL/LED."

"Another great suggestion: plug computers and other electronics into power strips you can easily turn on and off; reduce amount of energy they use by 25% or more."

BUYING WISELY

"Does your child really need a new back-pack every year? How about buying gently used clothes from the thrift or consignment store instead of brand new? Can you re-use school supplies from last year?"

"Fabric wrappers - seriously - invest in them - they are so pretty and fun and you don't have to buy wrapping paper ever again!" 

"I made us ours and I love it! We have used them or several years. For now we only use them for gifts that stay inside the house (i.e. for my kids birthday, our christmas presents, etc). It's awesome. There are so many pretty ones on-line and even if you have basic sewing skills you can make your own!"

"I do gift bags for people outside the family (hoping they will reuse those) with tulle instead of tissue paper. (If you aren't sure, tulle is like what tu-tu's are made of). I don't know if people actually reuse them or not, but everyone thinks using tulle is very elegant and pretty so it's got a bonus there too! LOL!"

"I save money by swapping used books. I use paperbackswap.com where you pay only shipping. But I also frequent my friends of library sales for books. you can usually find pretty recent books. Since I don't have as much time to read as I like, I don't mind waiting to read bestsellers. http://www.bookmooch.com for book swapping. There you can get "credits" for posting books as well as "mooching" from one another."

I posed a concern to the panel of experts about the amount of packaging materials we throw away,

“OK so I *feel* that we're doing a little here and there in our household, that over time, has helped us incorporate green living into our routine. But there is one aspect that does not seem to be improving and that is the amount of packaging-related trash we put out every week. If it can be recycled, we do, but the sheer volume of the amount put out to be recycled itself is disconcerting. Any tips/insights to this?”

Diane Mac Definitely buying in bulk rather than single servings; buying concentrates (esp. for cleaning products); using reusable baggies for loose produce....

Renee Limon Hi ProductiveMom. Over at EnviroMom we ran a campaign called One Can a Month, and we walked through a house room by room, looking at ways to Reduce and Reuse, to minimize all that packaging. It's archived, so check it out. Stick with your slow approach and do what you can when it fits your family.

Heather Hawkins Start small, baby steps. Look at what you are throwing away and tackle one at a time. Mostly food packaging? Is there one thing, like individual string cheese for instance, that you can stop buying and instead get a large block of cheese? Is it toy packaging? Take advantage of garage sale season and start stocking up now?

In addition to the helpful information I received, I also won one of the four books  up for grabs titled "You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up",

which was co-authored by Annabelle and her writer-actor husband Jeff Kahn (Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he won an Emmy for scripting The Ben Stiller Show) .  I cannot wait to read it as they are both so hilarious!

Here's a review of the book from Washinton Post as well.

Mug from MomGoodz

1. You open your lunch bag and find 2 plastic toy shovels tucked between your salad and sandwich.
2. You boot up your work computer in the office and it starts playing the Thomas the Tank Engine DVD that was left in from the evening before.
3. You plan your lunches around what is the most critical errand that needs to be run – dry-cleaners?  diaper run?  schools supplies run?
4. You list “sleep” as an indulgence and don’t understand why people have “sleepless nights”.
5. Every third sentence in your conversation with your husband/life partner or anyone who helps out with the kids involves the word “list” or “calendar” e.g., Did you put it on the calendar?  Is it on the list?
6. You become “in” with a secret society of other cool and supportive working moms who don’t give you a hard time if you say you can’t hang out.
7. Seeking entries from fellow #workingmom tweeps for “Signs that You are a Working Mom”. @productivemom in your tweet and I will credit u.

You don’t have to settle, it’s simply a choice you make every day.  If you feel like you’re running in place there’s a good chance you’re tolerating things you shouldn’t be.  It’s time to reclaim your life.

Starting now, stop tolerating…

via www.marcandangel.com

Ones that had my face right beside it as a repeat offender list,

Your own tardiness.
Not getting enough sleep.