What can you do now that you're an adult to enjoy your holidays? Remember when as children how we all looked forward to enjoying the upcoming holidays? First there was Halloween with all spooky decorations, planning what we wanted to dress up as, and the anticipation of oodles of candy made it a great October holiday. Then came Thanksgiving. We looked forward to the wonderful Thanksgiving feast and the influx of family members. In my family there was an adult table and a children’s table. The older children looked forward to graduating to the adult table. My family celebrated Christmas.…
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We’re about a month into the new year and most of us set the intention to make some changes. We set some lofty goals for ourselves. Maybe we see ourselves as 20 pounds lighter or our home cleared of all the holiday clutter and finally the place that we can return to and relax. These are not realistic benchmarks for change. Instead of setting lofty goals that are overwhelming, start with small, modest, and realistic benchmarks for change that you can accomplish and build upon in years to come. Mark Twain stated, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.…
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Valentine’s Day is considered a day for romance. While the special day has been around for a long time, the day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries. Today it’s an opportunity to spice up a relationship and show the love. You want to set the mood for your own romantic evening. You close your eyes and envision the pair of you cuddled up on the couch, watching a romantic movie. The lights are dim. But then you open your eyes and look around your love nest. You notice the piles of shoes kicked off by that…
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September is Natural Preparedness Month. Earlier this month I wrote about survival tips for surviving a disaster. Now, I am going to focus on a plan to have in place for your home if your home is destroyed or partly destroyed by a disaster. To make this plan complete you will create a home inventory. Very few people could sit down and create a complete list of everything in their home if it was destroyed. I have a friend whose home was partially destroyed by a fire and by water damage from trying to control the fire. The home was…
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September is National Preparedness Month. The 2021 theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.” While you can never be truly ready for a natural disaster, you can be somewhat prepared. Some of us might be tempted to think, “I don’t live in an area prone to natural disasters. It will never happen to me.” As someone who was once ordered to suddenly leave their house due to the possibility of a tree crashing on top of it, I can tell you that we all need to be prepared for a disaster. Natural Disasters Can…
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As Professional Organizers Diane and I often get calls from people who are overwhelmed by projects that have been hanging around for what seems like forever. It might be a huge project like clearing out a cluttered home to put it on the market, dealing with unopened boxes scattered around since a move 5 years ago, or paper that has taken over an office and spilled into the rest of the house. We have found that most people have common reasons for leaving these projects hanging. These people are not stupid or lazy so why can’t they do this? These…
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I think we can all agree everyone needs to have a home maintenance plan. If you aren’t sure what it is or why you need one, read this recent post: why everyone should have a maintenance plan. Just because you believe you need such a plan doesn’t mean that you know how to create one. There are four distinct steps involved in creating a home maintenance plan. Everyone’s plan will be unique to them but will incorporate these four steps. Now let’s look at the steps to take to develop a home maintenance plan that will work for you. You’ve…
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