Then just this week I was reading the blog called Ask An Organizer and I found this great tip.

If you have lost a camera or found a camera there is hope through the Internet. “Now the loser of the camera and the finder of the camera can get together! Here’s how it works:

When you find a lost camera or a memory device, email an image to the Contact on ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com. The image will appear along with information where you found the camera. People who lose cameras can go to the same site and review photos from lost cameras. Hopefully they will find theirs”!

The ‘owner’ of this blogspot reported they have had 9 cameras returned to their owners out of 100 posted as lost—so far. I think that is just great. What a smart blogspot.

Have you ever lost a camera and had it returned to you or found one and returned it to the owner? I would love to hear your story.

As I talked with my daughter who I am traveling with we were going over what we need to pack and she reminded me to be sure to take ‘No Jet-Lag’. This is a chewable tablet that really works. I will need it! l will leave my home at 4:30 a.m. and get into LAX after a 2 hour flight. Then I will have a 6 ½ hour layover. Won’t that be fun? After I board the plane for Tokyo I will enjoy another 11hour and 20 minute of flying time. I am glad it will be at night so I can sleep. The total duration is 19 hours and 34 minutes with a total of 6,035 miles. Doesn’t that sound exciting?

Besides the ‘No Jet-Lag’ I will be taking ‘Airborne’. It is the original immune-boosting dietary supplement that helps bodies fight germs. I have used this for years when I have flown and it also works.

What traveling tips can you share with us to prevent colds and jet lag when traveling by plane?

Here are some suggestions of places to go and things to do to get your name and address off unwanted lists:

•Unwanted catalogs: catalogchoice
•To eliminate 80-95% of junk mailings for you by contacting dozens of direct marketers on your behalf: http://www.41pounds.org/impact/ (They charge a low fee of $41.00 for five years).
•Compressive list and discussion of types of junk mail and how to get off the lists:
privacyrights.org
•A free guide to reducing unwanted or intrusive advertising: obviously.com/junkmail

I am really on a kick to get junk mail reduced in my home. It will take some time and effort but when I think of all the environmental benefits I know I am up to the challenge. Do you have a favorite place you have gone to get rid of junk mail?

I wondered if any would apply to organizing and sure enough I found one.

We see them come.
We see them go.
Some are fast.
And some are slow.
Some are high.
And some are low.
Not one of them
Is like another.
Don’t ask us why.
Go ask your mother.
–One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

The point is, everyone organizes in a different way and as long as it works for you then it is the right way, if it doesn’t work for you the way you are doing it then it isn’t the right way for you. If that is not one of your strong points, get someone who is objective and has experience to help you. Hire a professional organizer; that’s okay. Just so you are happy with the outcome and it makes your life easier, more fun and organized your way.

•Do the laundry and wash dishes in the evening to avoid adding heat and humidity to your home during the day when your air conditioner is working the hardest.

My dryer is in the basement and if I dry clothes in the morning my basement is warmer all day, doing the laundry late at night has helped my basement stay cooler.

•Take your cooking outside. Utilize your outdoor grill to keep the inside of your home cooler and use less energy.
•Keep all air vents in your home open for better performance of your air conditioner. Replace disposable or clean permanent cooling system air filters at least once a month.
•Set your thermostat between 78 and 80 when you are home, and 85 or higher when away. An easy way to do this is to get a self timer installed on the thermostat.
•Shade your air conditioner. Plant trees or shrubs to shade air-conditioning units, but be sure not to block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun.
•Use a ceiling fan. Ceiling fans create enough air movement in a room to make it feel four degrees cooler or more. The average ceiling fan uses about the same electricity as a 100-watt light bulb, so you can run one for just pennies a day. But only run the fan when you’re in the room — it does not actually make the room cooler; it just makes it feel cooler when you’re in the breeze.

I can vouch for this. My ceiling fan is what makes me feel cool as we don’t have an air conditioner, we use a swamp cooler. If you don’t live in a dry climate you won’t know what this cooling system is, but along with the swamp cooler I depend on the fans. One drawback is my cat is deathly afraid of the fan. She won’t come in the house all summer because of the fans.

What tips do you have to save energy and keep cool in the heat?

If you are looking for low-priced internet service providers Freedomlist has a plethora of sites to check out—and not just in the United States but in other countries as well.

The mayoclinic guide is an emergency first-aid guide that covers animal bites, food-borne illnesses, fractures, stroke, and other medical emergencies. I book marked this page as it is full of useful, easy to understand and follow information and instructions.

Do you have favorite, useful web sites you can share with us?

My daughter made it the other night and she changed the ingredients a bit. It is so creamy and yummy and fattening—“Oh, because it was made after 9:30 at night there are fewer calories”? That works for me because I ate my fair (or unfair) share.

I told her to write the changes she made right in the cookbook because the next time she will know exactly what she did without trying to remember. Another thing I have done for years is to use plastic recipe covers and it has saved many a recipe from dirty fingers and spills in our home. I decided I would just pass on those tips to all my readers and lucky you–the recipe too.

Cheesecake Supreme or Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake
Prep: 30 minutes Bake: 40 minutes @ 375 degrees
Cool: 2 hours Chill: 4 hours Makes: 12-16 servings
1 ½ cups finely crushed graham crackers (substituted chocolate graham crackers)
¼ C finely chopped walnuts
1 T sugar
½ t cinnamon
½ C butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
2 T flour
1 t vanilla
¼ C milk
3 slightly beaten eggs
½ t finely shredded lemon peel (optional)

1.For crust, in a bowl combine graham crackers, walnuts, 1 T sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter. Press crumb mixture onto the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of an 8 or 9 inch springform pan. Set aside.
2.For filling, in a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, the 1 cup sugar, flour, and vanilla with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in milk until smooth. Stir in eggs and lemon peel.
3.Pour filling into crust lined pan. Bake in a 375 degree oven 35 minutes for an 8 inch pan, about 40 to 45 minutes for a 9 inch pan, or until a 2 ½ inch area around the outside edge appears set when gently shaken.
4.Cool pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a sharp small knife, loosen the crust from sides of pan; cool for 30 minutes more. Remove the sides of the pan; cool completely on rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

For Sour Cream Cheesecake: Prepare as above, except reduce cream cheese to 2 packages, omit milk; substitute two 8-ounce cartons dairy sour cream.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes for an 8-inch pan or 45 to 50 for a 9-inch pan.

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake: Prepare cheesecake except omit lemon peel. Melt 4 ounces semisweet chocolate. Stir the melted chocolate into half of the filing. Pour plain filling into the crust; pour chocolate filling into the crust. Use a narrow metal spatula to gently swirl the fillings.

Creamy, Yummy, marvelous

When I organize for seniors I sometimes see that their very homes become obstacles.

The necessity of a walker, crutches, a chair in the shower, wheelchair, or other aid can quickly illuminate some of the “getting-around” difficulties in their homes but a few adjustments may need to be made. Even if it is something as simple as getting a different style of doorknob.

One place you can find home modification ideas is in ‘Easy Access Housing for Easier Living’, a booklet distributed by the Easter Seals Foundation. Call 800-221-6827 for a free copy.

Check out www.trspace.com if structural modifications are called for. They have a helpful manual called ‘The Right Space’ which has hundreds of 3-D drawings of how a modification should be undertaken.

My daughter just did that very thing. She bought the most beautiful and unique bracelet from a wonderful company called Acacia Catalog. The bracelet is made of nature’s little gems from the shores of the Great Lakes. The stones are tumbles and oh so smooth. Interspersed are sterling silver charms with leaves and flowers etched in them to make them unique and quietly beautiful. It is a calming and restful piece of jewelry.

In our busy lives let’s take time to pamper ourselves and find joy in living for us as well as for others. What are you going to do this week to pamper yourself and rejuvenate your spirit of self worth? I am going to finish a quilt that I have laid out on the floor in my sewing room. And I am going to organize my office armoire where I keep office supplies. I just can’t help it, I love to organize, it gives me energy and makes me happy.

Two months later my daughter got this great deal for me to go with her to Japan. I only had three weeks to get my passport. I am happy to report it took only ten days from the day I mailed off my passport application, photos and fees to get it back.

I did have to pay an expedited fee and the overnight fees for quick delivery. See, I could have done it back in March and it would have cost a lot less. Oh well, I didn’t and I am just happy I got it in plenty of time so I can travel.

Along with my passport a brochure from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs Travel Tips was included. If you are planning a trip abroad visit travel.state.gov for general travel information. You can even register your trip at US Department of State. The information can assist the Department of State to help us in case of an emergency. The registration took several minutes, but it was easy with only a few simple steps to complete.