Get Organized Now! Newsletter

This is from Maria Gracia's newsletter that I get every week....she always has some great tips.

Tasks: Maintenance Versus Progress

A maintenance task is a task that once completed, will
have to be done over and over again to get you to the same result each time. For
instance, laundry is a maintenance task. The laundry builds. You do the laundry.
You'refinished with the laundry. Then, the cycle starts all over again.

Other examples of maintenance tasks are filing, washing
dishes, making the bed, ironing or vacuuming. A progress task will help
you reach a position which is further than the one you are in now. For example,
if you take Spanish lessons, hopefully you will progress in your knowledge and
skill of the Spanish language with each new lesson. Other progress tasks are
taking on challenging responsibilities at work in an effort to gain a promotion,
jogging in order to lose weight, taking voice lessons to advance your singing
abilities or advancing your cooking skills to be able to put healthier meals on
the table.

It's very easy for To Do lists to get bogged down with
maintenance tasks, while progress tasks get pushed to the bottom of the barrel.
Of course, when this happens, progress stops and you're basically just on a
merry-go-round not getting any further tomorrow, then you were the day
before.

Each day, take a look at your To Do list. While
it's necessary to include maintenance tasks on your list each day, try to
always fit at least a few progress tasks into your schedule. This way,
you'll always be in growth mode and ready to advance to even higher
levels in life.

Check our her website for more wonderful ideas.

Happy Anniversary to my Hunny!!

Two years ago today, we were frantically finishing the last minute details and getting to the church for an 11 o'clock ceremony. We always say that we would elope the next time. But I would do it all over again for my Hunny. Thanks for two good years and I hope for many, many more. I love you so much!

Happy 4th of July!!

I have many wonderful memories of the 4th.

I grew up in a little town in Oregon.

We started out the morning at 6 AM by the fire chief on the loud speaker in the Paddy Wagon..."Ham and eggs and hotcakes at the city park" ....such a sense of anticipation with the sound of those words. We usually would walk 5 blocks and stand in line for our plates of breakfast, served by the firemen.

At 11 AM we would watch the parade, and it was usually a nice long one with old cars, visiting politicians, floats, farm equipment, fire trucks from every volunteer department in the area, the latest bridge or building project from Morse Brothers and of course, lots of candy.

There was a chicken BBQ for lunch, the library always had a used book sale which of couse was my favorite way to spend some cash and there were craft booths to wonder in and out of downtown.

In the early evening, everyone moved to the riverfront. Since we lived half a block from the riverfront, and all the streets were blocked off at 2st Street, there was a constant stream of people past our house, lugging coolers, blankets and lawn chairs to listen to live bands such as The Knox Brothers, picnic, eat spring rolls, funnel cakes and all manner of "state fair" food, drink lots of beer, and wait for the fireworks.

We of course, had front row seats and were not allowed out of the yard. We usually had a family potluck in the back yard and some years had 50 or 60 people there to eat and watch fireworks.

Around 10 PM the fireworks would be set off from a gravel bar in the river and we would be wowed once again with the beautiful colors. It was the best and biggest show in the area. Dad and the neighbor men always kept a close eye on the roofs of the houses--since it was usually very dry and the fireworks were not necessarily snuffed out when they fell.

As soon as it was over, we kids would hustle with our garbage bags and pick up cans--lots of them. It was our civic duty to help clean up. And we cleaned up alright--sometimes 50 dollars worth of beer cans in those bags.

I think this is my favorite holiday. Its always been such a fun holiday, full of meaning and symbolism, lots of fun, friends, and food, and no presents to buy anyone.

Dad called this morning while I was at work. He said that they had just been down for breakfast and were heading to the parade.

My Hunny is grilling steaks, pineapple and corn-on-the-cob tonight. We have fresh cantaloupe, fresh rolls, and sweet tea. We're going to take Knox to see the fireworks down by the YMCA. The food will be delicious and the fireworks will look the same. But not quite.

I always get a little homesick this time of the year.

$1.54

What will $1.54 buy you these days?

Well, today at the Salvation Army, I scored a Melissa and Doug Noah's Ark floor puzzle (brand-new), a book to read to Knox ("I Can't" Said the Ant), and a strawberry Granny Chic trivet for someone who's birthday is coming up (we won't mention names here). Also, I got 3 bags of assorted bagels, and a package of dinner rolls.

Reporting for Duty

We've had Rusty in the house off and on for mouse control duty this past week. One grownup mouse dead in the bathroom (poisoned by soap scum? or drowned?) and 4 itty bitty baby mice--one in the dining room, one in the living room, and one each in the bedrooms. We think that they came in during the torrential rains and flooding last week.

Scene I, II, III, and IV (so far)

Me: I hear squeaking!! Do you hear anything?
Hunny: Well let the cat in.

Rusty's let in and finds a mouse for us. (sparing ya'll the gory details)
Rusty goes back out.

10 minutes later:

Me: I still hear squeaking! !!
Hunny: Well, let the cat in.

And so on and so forth........Hope this stops!!!
Soon.

Knox loves having his cat inside. He crawls after the cat and the cat moves. They go round and round in circles.

Ground Chuck on Sale!

For those of you who are interested, Whole Foods Market has all natural ground chuck on sale thru the end of the day today for $1.37 lb. I got 10 pounds last week and we enjoyed some of it in Bacon Onion Burgers, and I froze the rest of it in 1 lb. pkgs for the freezer.

I went back yesterday and got another 15 lbs for the freezer. I think this is wonderful meat, it did not seem to have a lot of fat, and the flavor was wonderful.I labeled the ziploc bags with a Sharpie marker, let the writing dry a minute, then I folded back the zipper part to the outside.

Next I stood the bags in the handy-dandy digital scales and scooped the meat in until it was 16 oz or so. After I finished filling the bags, I squished the meat flat, let out all the air and "zipped" the bag shut. I stacked them and put them in the freezer for future use.

I love how with this method there is no mess. I use a plastic glove to cover my hand while I scoop the meat, and with the zipper part folded out, there is no meat residue oozing out and preventing the bag from shutting completely.

Caught Wet-Handed

Knox learned how to crawl this week. He has combined his brand-new skill with pulling himself up to stand, and his love of water.

Unfortunately, this means Mommy and Daddy are putting up baby gates this weekend.