Turn dreary into fun!

 

Make memories you'll talk about for years to come.

 

Living in the northwest, we learn early on, we can’t let the rain dowse our fun outdoors. Just make sure you all have play clothes, so you don’t have to worry about messing up your good clothes.

Whether it's just misting or pouring cats and dogs make the most of the wet weather  and play with your kids in the rain with these family-tested outdoor activities.

 

1. Puddle Play

Mom, you usually discourage your kids from jumping in puddles, so they’ll be shocked and excited when you suggest a splashing contest. Get your play clothes and rain boots on and head out looking for the biggest puddles you can find. Let your kids get soaking wet! Let the child who makes the biggest spray, get to pick the movie the family will watch or be freed from some chore. Give points for the one who gets the wettest. If you’ve got dancers in the family, have them practice some steps they’ve learned.

Mom, come on; get in the puddles with them! Motherhood is not a spectator sport. Let your kids splash you. All it takes is saying, “Don’t you splash me,” in a way they know you’re daring them to do it. Oh and just think how good a hot shower will feel after the fun!

Everyday I receive emails and comments from happy, enthusiastic, positive women who earnestly want to become more organized, efficient and happy in their homes.

They’re so optimistic about a new way to be organized because they get inspired by others who have experienced success in their homes. Thank you to all of you who send those kinds of sentiments to me!

 

My goal in spending most of my days writing is to encourage positive change in a lighthearted way and I appreciate all of your kind words and that you take the time to write to me.

“I’m completely overwhelmed with my situation!”

Occasionally I receive comments from overwhelmed, unhappy women who just don’t realize the power they have to change their circumstances. I answer every email and when I receive the sad negative ones, the only thing I can do is turn it over to God and write with love.

 

Top 10 Sidetracking Distractions and How to Deal with Them

 

 

 Thank you for coming over! 

Now that you're here, imagine with me that you have a free half hour specifically slotted for housework. You’ve got four 3x5 cards with specific chores on each to direct your work. There's an estimated time telling you how long each task will take written on each card. You’re dressed for housework, so you won’t wreck your good clothes and you’ve got sensible shoes on. You're a SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) and you're easily distracted.

According to your math, you can do the tasks on the cards in half an hour, but what has happened to your good intentions when you find yourself at the mall getting a pedicure? WHAT HAPPENED?

 Read on to find out.

 

A good rule of your green thumb is Plan, Prepare, Purchase, Plant. If you try to prepare and plant at the same time, you’ll poop out and then those plants that you’ve taken into your care face possible death. Of course it’s not premeditated, but the plants will be just as dead.

 

 Death by good intention

Have you ever seen a honey bee that’s got so much pollen on her feet and thighs that she can barely fly? I often wonder if some of them never make it back to their hives they’re so overloaded. 

 

 

 

Have you ever caught yourself in the middle of doing something you didn’t want to do?

 

 

It happens so easily, especially at the grocery store. Oh, the temptations! Especially in the bakery department! You're on a low-carb diet and a mission to lose weight, and all of a sudden you wake up and realize you put a cake in your cart! Most people don't wake up and they head right on through to check-out.

But if you're serious about losing weight, this behavior has got to stop. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.

 

If this or something similar has happened to you, then be sure to watch this video and I’ll explain what really happened and what you can do about it.

 

Before you watch the video, here’s an email from a woman who figured out how to handle those grocery store temptations. 

 

I've always known that Torie (my inner child) was there, but I never thought about how old she was! Thanks to you, I now know she is 12... and LOVES to make 'deals'.

Checking out at the grocery –

Torie: “Oooh! Snickers!”

Me: “No, you know that makes us feel horrible.”

Torie: “Just a small one?”

 

When it comes to finances, we don't always make mature choices.

 

Have you made choices in your lifetime that caused consequences you didn’t like? We all have and that’s how we learn to be more careful as we grow up. (Second marriages, for example, are almost always better than the first ones, if we made a lousy choice the first time).

 

I recently took a much needed three-day vacation away from home with two girlfriends who are incredibly wise women. Both women are extremely private people. They both gave me license to quote them, but with no names so I don’t get to give them credit for some of their wisdom.

 

We were having lunch in a beautiful restaurant in Astoria, Oregon when the subject of self-improvement came up. I explained my theory of having fun with the inner child and they both loved the concept. I told about how far in debt I was after my sister retired and left me with a huge company debt. It was a little embarrassing to admit, because both these women are very wealthy and they were shocked at how immature my sister and I had been with our money.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

1. You are denying disorganization is affecting your life in a negative way.

2. You are comparing your organizational skills to reality show hoarders. 

3. You are blaming your family for the mess  you’re in.

4. You are minimizing the problem and the gifts you possess to solve them.

In Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) it speaks of the four defenses an alcoholic uses while he/she continues to drink. In Get Your Act Together, I wrote how SHEs (Sidetracked Home Executives) use the same defenses to remain in a mess.

There is really no difference except for the outcome… drunk or disorderly.

Like an alcoholic, once a SHE stops using the four defenses, she is then able to change. Could one of these defenses be holding you back from the life you want to live?

 

Off Your Diet?

Splurge at the Mall?

House a Wreck?

 

The best laid plans of, well you know the rest of the saying, are generally messed up by an important part of you that just doesn't want to follow the plan.

 

I call that part of us the inner child. There is help and it's so easy to succeed with your best intentions, once you understand what's behind your failure to stick to your best intentions. 

 

In part three of this five-part video series, I share how I work with that part of me whom I call Nelly. Enjoy the video and see if what I share will work for you.

 

 

My sister Americans (I’ve been watching too many political speeches lately), why wait until thoughts of April 15 circle your mind like mad gnats on a glass of cheap wine?

 

You could get your tax return done now and get it in ahead of that date. Of course there’s always that blessed word extension! But if you’re a procrastinator, will the extension just add more days for you to put off what you could have accomplished back in January? Would it just be five more months of gnat swatting? If so read on.

 

Here’s a letter from a reformed tax paying procrastinator. Her story just might inspire you to get going now before the gnats come!

Praise 101

Giving and receiving compliments is truly an art that needs to be practiced if you want to become proficient at it. Praise is such a beautiful way to spread joy.

Do you like praise? When you get a compliment how do you react? Do you say something like, “Oh, this ol’ dress? I got it on sale ten years ago,” or do you accept the compliment gracefully? Do you love to give honest compliments and look for positive things to say that are true not only with your friends and family, but with strangers too?

Have you ever given a compliment to a friend and received no reaction? One time I raved about something to this guy who was responsible for doing a great job and I received no reaction; not a thank you, not a smile, nothing. (I’m glad I don’t give compliments to receive positive feedback.) I had to assume he was embarrassed and didn’t know what to say or perhaps he’s not comfortable with giving or receiving compliments. I guess I could ask his wife.

If you're like my friend and you want to improve on the art, I have a great idea for you; start complimenting yourself. Praise yourself when you do well, when you stick to your resolve and when you do the right thing especially when it’s a hard thing to do. Have you notice how interesting it is that often the right thing to do is hard to do? What a life lesson though. When you look back, those decisions to do the right thing when it was very difficult have always been filled with blessings. For instance, my decision to end a relationship that meant the world to me at the time has returned to me such power and joy that it tickles me to think the decision was so hard to make in the first place.

 

Looking for Praise in all the Wrong Places

I remember when I was losing weight for the Mouth Trap book, I wanted praise from Terry. When I didn’t get it, I had to think about it and realize he’s not a complimentary person. He’s not critical either and I think the two must go hand-in-hand. The other thing I had to figure out was why do I need a compliment from him? I realized I really don’t. My opinion of myself is enough.

Part Two in Weekly Series on Knowing Your Inner Child

 

Join me in the woods behind our house as I share my thoughts on how and why to be in a relationship with your inner child. In today's session (part two of a five-part series) I tell you how important it is to let your child within know you love and enjoy her, but are wise to her tricks when it comes to your self-imporvement. You are the parent to your inner child and she needs your guidance. 

I hope you enjoy the video.

 

Whad’ya Want?

To Look Younger or Just Not Look Older?

 

 

 

Did you happen to watched the Academy Awards the year Barbra Streisand sang a tribute to her close friend Marvin Hamlisch who had passed away? She sang The Way We Were but she wasn't the way she used to be. It's because she was trying to look the way she used to so she had a facelift and bless her heart, she looked wonderful, but when she sang, her lips didn’t move! 

She's a genius as a singer, actor and producer, so why did she put herself through that procedure? We’re the same age and she definitely looks younger than I do, but at least my lips move when I talk!