Your Life. Organized.

Quote: In Memoriam

2012-05-27T22:57:00-04:00

This week's quotes are in Memoriam of every soldier, sailor, and airman who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the greatest treasure mankind has ever known. Liberty.

"Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten as a people, the cost of a free and undivided Republic."
~John A. Logan

"The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree."
~Thomas Campbell

"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me."
~Lee Greenwood

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Save Money By Organizing Your Pantry

2012-05-26T12:04:51-04:00

Have you ever bought all the fixings for a meal and then later discovered you already had them in the pantry but didn’t realize it? What a waste of time and money that shopping trip was! Food on the back of pantry shelves is often invisible and therefore rarely gets touched until it expires, draws bugs or gets thrown away unused. With a bit of thought and eries by taking control of your pantry space.

Ten years ago when Christmas Boy and I moved into our little house, I loved most everything about it (and still do) but the foodie in me was disappointed to discover my kitchen storage was inadequate. There was enough cabinet space for dishes, utensils and other hard goods, but no pantry.

Being the resourceful chickadee and enthusiastic cook that I am, I examined my options made a pantry using the walls in my nearby laundry room and garage, using ELFA, one of my favorite organizing products. The ELFa wall and door racks are great to build a pantry with because the narrow profile of the adjustable baskets keeps food in single rows, making everything visible. I love it and the investment was well worth it.

If you don’t want or need to add ELFA to a wall or door, you can still save a bunch of money just by taking control of your existing food storage space and here are seven easy ways to do it.

1. If your pantry shelves aren’t adjustable and are more than 12 inches from each other, add cabinet organizers, shelf doublers and under-shelf baskets to maximize every cubic inch of your vertical storage space.

2. Lined baskets and open-front stacking bins are another great way to maximize vertical space and neatly store small bags of snacks, energy bars and other grab-and-go individual serving items.

3. Clear, handled storage baskets keep families of small items together and make them easy to move as a single unit. These inexpensive caddies make it easy to store and retrieve items on upper shelves because the only thing you need to be able to reach is the handle.

4. Instead of stacking cans on top of one another or packing them in your cabinet in rows, use adjustable can risers. These simple organizing tools elevate cans to make the ones in the center and back of your cabinets easily accessible.

5. Can dispensers are another easy way to keep a handle on your canned food inventory and make canned soups, vegetables and fruit easy to store and retrieve. The FIFO (First-In-First-Out) kind ensure you aren't neglecting food that has been around a while.

6. Lazy susans make seeing what you own a breeze in a cabinet or on a pantry shelf. With just a spin, you’ll know whether you need to buy more tuna or if you’re all stocked up. For tall spaces, use a double-decker turntable.

7. Use the inside of cabinet and pantry doors for storage. Small clear containers attached with 3M Command Adhesive Strips store small items such as baker’s yeast, gravy and sauce mix packets, and a 3M Command Hook is an easy hanger for keeping a binder clip of your favorite recipe cards within easy reach too. To keep track of your ever-moving chip clips, attach them to the inside of the door with adhesive Velcro strips.

What are your favorite tried and true ways to save money by orgnanizing your pantry?

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Quote: Error & Truth

2012-05-21T07:55:00-04:00

"It is much easier to recognize error than to find truth; the former lies on the surface, this is quite manageable. The latter resides in depth, and this quest is not everyone's business."

~ Goethe

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Why God Made Doors

2012-05-17T23:24:29-04:00

"That's why God made doors." This is what I tell my clients who have teenagers with messy rooms. When the tween and teen years hit, I think you should thank your lucky stars if your biggest problem with your kid is a tornado room. As long as their sloppy habits don't leak out all over the house, my best advice is shut their door and wait for college.

Then again, If you have younger kids, it's up to you to take control of their rooms and put some simple systems and tools in place to help the space stay organized, which also makes it easier to keep it clean. Here are six ideas to give your kids an organized room. At least until they hit thirteen...

1. First, start with the overarching vision for the space. Think about the flow and function just like you would any other room: What happens here now? What do I WANT to happen here? What tools or products do I need to facilitate that? How easy will it be to maintain?

2. Drawers can be problematic for kids because they aren't likely to lift and remove items from the bottom of a stack. Hang as many of their clothes as you can to make them visible and easily accessible. Outfit your child's closet with an adjustable system so you can move the bars and shelves higher as your kids grow.

3. If floor space is tight, choose a captain's bed for the additional drawer space beneath it. If you're not in the market to replace furniture, add rolling underbed containers to store out of season clothing and toys that are out of the regular rotation. When you use the space beneath the bed deliberately it prevents kids from using it accidentally for any and everything. Plus, there's no room for monsters. Bonus!

4. Store books on bookshelves if you have floor space, or mount them on the wall if you don't. Spice racks intended for the inside of a cabinet door. The front rail of the rack holds a handful of favorite books nicely on a wall, as does a wine crate turned sideways and screwed into the wall with anchors.

5. For storing small things such as little toy parts, art supplies, Barbie accessories, and tiny stuffed animals, label small galvanized buckets and hang on wall hooks or on low shelves where kids can reach them.

6. Hang a clear vinyl shoe bag on a wall or the back of a door to hold baby items such as little brushes, combs, socks, wipes, powder and ointments. Shoe bags are also great for Polly Pockets, Barbies and other small toys.

What are your best tips for organizing your child's room?

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3 Clever Uses For Everyday Items

2012-05-10T11:43:17-04:00

When I was growing up I looooooved reading the newspaper column Hints From Heloise. (Yeah okay go ahead and giggle that as a kid I was an unwitting "organizer in training") It's true though. I loved learning about clever ways to make housekeeping and organizing easier, so Heloise was my childhood hero! Along with Dear Abby of course.

Today I'll share with you three clever uses for items you probably already have around your house.

A clever use for...

A Lemon: Halve a lemon and grab the salt shaker. Make a paste of lemon juice and salt and wipe down your copper cookware for a like-new shine.

Old Pantyhose: It's planting season so why not go through your sock drawer and use old hosiery to stake tall plants like tomatoes, peppers and beans? The fabric is soft enough that it won't cut into stems as they grow.

White Vinegar: Combine equal parts cold water and white vinegar in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it on high for five minutes. The vinegar in the steam will loosen stuck-on food particles, clean and disinfect your microwave.Let the bowl cool down before removing it and wipe down the inside of the oven with a damp sponge or paper towel.

Stay tuned for more clever uses for everyday household and pantry items you already own. What are some of your favorites?

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Quote: Who Are You Accountable To?

2012-05-07T08:03:00-04:00

"The first person you are accountable to is yourself. It's imperative that you know what your key values are, because they set the standards for how you will do business."

Marilyn Strong
Author of Getting Paid To Pay Attention

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Will You or Won't You?

2012-05-03T16:10:00-04:00

What's simple to create, easy to store and vitally important, yet millions of Americans don't have it? Stumped? The answer is...a will. I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on television so before you take my word on anything you're about to read, double check with YOUR attorney. You do have one, don't you?

It's estimated that 50 to 75 percent of Americans haven't prepared a will and if that's not shocking enough, even fewer have bothered to prepare durable and medical powers of attorney or healthcare directives. These documents are so important and a family medical emergency is stressful enough without scrambling to create your documents on the fly during a crisis.

Maybe you're waiting until you're "old" to make a will. I'd guess that's pretty common strategy, but that'll only work IF you get old! Every day across the world, young people have accidents, sudden illnesses, and other serious health issues, so gambling that you'll actually get old is just that. A gamble.

We don't like to dwell on it, but the truth is that we'll all die someday and most of us don't know when that day will be. Creating a will is a loving act that when taken care of in advance,makes a very difficult time a lot easier for your loved ones. Why add legal heartache to their grief when you can prevent it?

Along with a will, you should also have a durable power of attorney, a medical power of attorney, and an advance directive.

A durable (or enduring) power of attorney gives another person (called your "agent") legal authority to engage in specifically listed transactions on your behalf and make decisions in your stead should you become incapacitated. Note: A general power of attorney does not authorize another person to make decisions for you, but only to carry out decisions you've already made and it's important to remember that all powers of attorney terminate upon the principal's death.

A medical power of attorney gives someone you trust the legal authority to make healthcare decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated.

An advance directive is simply that -- a document which records your advance decisions regarding life-saving or life-prolonging procedures. It's another name for a Living Will, which specifies whether and what kind of life-prolonging procedures you would like if you should become terminally ill and unable to communicate. Ideally, whomever you choose as your agent for the medical power of attorney should be apprised of your advance directive and know what your end-of-life wishes are.

None of these documents are difficult to prepare but all are very important and the lives of your loved ones. Remember, getting organized doesn't just mean cleaning out your closets periodically and keeping your home and office clutterfree... it also involves taking responsibility for the important pieces of your life and taking steps to prevent unnecessary work or trouble in advance.

If you are one of the millions of Americans without a will, powers of attorney and a healthcare directive, I urge you to put "contact an attorney for vital document prep" on your list of things to do next week. Even if you just have a phone conversation, at least get that ball rolling. When it's done, pat yourself on the back and know that your family will have a lot less to worry about should the unthinkable happen.

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Quote: Dreams & Action

2012-04-30T08:17:00-04:00

"Life is too short to waste. Dreams are fulfilled only through action, not through endless planning to take action."

David J. Schwartz
Trainer and Author

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Quote: Doing For Others

2012-04-23T07:49:00-04:00

"What we have done for ourselves alone, dies with us; what we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal."

Albert Pike
1809-1891, Teacher and Writer

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Quote: Quit Playing Small

2012-04-16T08:44:00-04:00

"There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."

Nelson Mandela
11th President of South Africa

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Oh Honey, That Ain't Vintage

2012-04-13T07:47:07-04:00

Are you guilty of hanging onto clothing for years because you're "waiting for it to come back in style"? Just as some classic movies get remade over and over, some clothing styles do tend to recycyle themselves in some form roughly every 25 to 30 years and today's fashion rules are waaaay more flexible and forgiving than in the past. That being said, is it really smart to clutter your closet with everything you grew up wearing just because it MIGHT come back three decades from now? I doubt it.

Here's some food for thought about saving things because one day they'll be "vintage" and in style again...

1. It'll cost ya. Yes, some clothing styles come back but when they do, they're never exactly the same as the original. Case in point: In 2005 Dodge reintroduced the Charger but the lines aren't the same as the old one. If your clothing comes back you'll probably need to spend some money to have it altered so it's more current. Are you willing to do that?

2. Be discerning. Anything you keep with the intent of bringing it back to life needs to be a a piece worth bringing back. A Jackie O pillbox hat, a pair of funky platform shoes, or some classic shoe clips are great pieces to resuscitate for today's fashions. But fashion fads like leisure suits and elephant-leg pants need not re-apply. Send them off to Goodwill to be recycled into rags.

3. Tip-top shape. Okay I'll just say it. Don't keep your ratty old clothes just because you don't want to make a decision. Anything you keep for "vintage" purposes better be in great condition otherwise you'll look like you went dumpster-diving at the nursing home. Only pieces in really good shape are worth saving for the long haul, and only if you're willing to wear them now as part of an outfit. If you aren't willing to wear it now, why on Earth would you think you'll wear it later? Give it up.

Don't make the mistake of keeping things using the excuse that "it'll come back into style" as a way of avoiding making decisions. If you aren't wearing it now, there's a reason. Free space in your closet and your head by letting it go to someone else who will get some use out of it.

What can you let go of today?

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Quote: Own It

2012-04-09T10:39:00-04:00

"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny."

Albert Ellis
1913-2007, Psychologist

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Happy Easter & Passover

2012-04-06T13:32:25-04:00

Tonight I'll be attending my first Seder with friends and then we're spending Easter Sunday with other friends. Since we're in celebration mode, I'd like to wish all my Christian and Jewish readers a very joyous Easter and Passover!

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You Deserve It

2012-04-06T11:51:00-04:00

My friend Peg uses her grandmother's silver every day. I use my grandmother-in-law's cordial glasses when we entertain and my late mother's antique ironing board serves as a bar in my dining room. Your family silver, glassware and antique furniture weren't always antique. They were a part of everyday life and well loved and used, so why are you keeping them boxed up for a celebration or special occasion?

Isn't the weekend a special occasion? Isn't every day above the ground a reason to celebrate?

You deserve to put those things into your everyday routine and they deserve to serve someone usefully. What special things are you keeping locked up in solitary confinement that you could be using every day? Bring them out into the light. You deserve it!

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