Last week I took a much needed break from work and went to Seattle to be with two of my grandchildren while their parents were out of town. The kids are 18 and 15, so as you can imagine, I saw very little of them. They were out of the house by 7:30 (they go to the same high school) and home by 3:00, so I had seven and a half glorious hours every day with Lou, a four-year-old golden lab, and Sid & See, two pound cats (not in weight, just rescued from “the pound”). The four of us got along peachy as soon as I figured out the rules of their games.

Before I tell you about their games, I want you to know I'm a dog person and I love Lou and he loves me! I'm not ashamed to say we slept together the whole week. In fact, on our last night together, I took these selfies (my first ever).

How to REALLY clean the cabinet under the kitchen sink

As part of organizing the kitchen, do you clean the cabinet under your kitchen sink once a month? Happiness is a clean kitchen, but the old saying, Out of sight out of mind can really be true when it comes to this cabinet. If your knees had eyes, they'd see under the sink when the cupboard was open and you’d be down on them with a bucket of sudsy water and a brush at least once a month to clean under there.

To show you how to clean under the sink and to prove to you how clean my kitchen cabinet is, I got into it! Actually when we shot this video Terry didn’t think I could fit in the cabinet, and I wasn’t about to let him think that! The rest is history as you'll see in the short video. 

Do you like to go to the dentist? Once you make an appointment and get it on your calendar, does it stick out like a countdown to a jury verdict. Making the appointment to the chair and getting in the chair are not high on most people's make it fun list, but in the spirit of my motto, Make it fun and it will get done! we can try to stay cheerful through the process, twice a year.

Have you had it?

That’s how you can feel living a disorganized lifestyle. It's like living in a continual storm. But when you hit bottom with words like the declarations above, you're in the perfect place to change. Someone said, “The bottom is a great place to be because there’s nowhere to go but up.” When you hit bottom you're more willing to surrender to your situation and ask for the guidance that’s available 24/7. That’s when miracles happen. In that moment of surrender you'll be reminded that even though you're in a mess, you're in the right place with the right people at the right time. The only element you lack is direction.

DIRECTION! You can deal with that! Direction involves choices! You just need a map to follow and you'll be fine! For me it was the 3x5 card file system my sister and I came up with and the reason we became known as The Slob Sisters.

When my sister and I had had it with our home organization skills, that’s the first time we considered the word “direction” in reference to our problem. We weren’t lazy! Come to think of it, we worked harder than those BOs (Born Organized) who refuse to make work for themselves by being disorganized.

I knew I wasn't crazy! I'd been able to maintain a high level of creativity within my messy lifestyle, have three happy children, continually adjust to the personality of a very unhappy mate and remain stable.

I wasn’t stupid! Come to think of it, NO! I was very smart though my disorganized habits sabotaged my schooling so my grades didn’t reflect my intellect.

So I wasn’t lazy, crazy or stupid even though my messy life could certainly have made it look that way. When I look back on the way I used to live, the only question I have today is, “What was I thinking?”

As Carolyn Myss would say, “If I can talk Angel 101 to you for a moment, consider this.” Let’s pretend I'm one of your guardian angels and you have prayed to get organized. I've been assigned to work your case. I love the assignment because I’ve always loved you and to work with you personally in an answer to your prayer, is exciting to me!

Your Angel is With You

This year I’ve turned one of my pet peeves into an advantage. We have a big meadow and every spring the moles convene like they're at a mole convention. Their underground social network seems to put them in our meadow about when the grass starts growing. As I walked through the grass and inspected the hills I noticed how rich the dirt was and I thought, ‘I should use it for potting soil when planting flowers in the beds that have a great deal of clay.’ It really does work! Ask your local nurseryman what you might mix with your mole dirt to make it even better, in your area.

With spring in the air we SHEs are like busy bees around the nurseries where the flowers beg us to take them home like puppies at the Humane Society.

Have you ever seen a honey bee that’s got so much pollen on her thighs that she can barely fly? I often wonder if some of them never make it back to their hives they're so loaded down. Like those bees, we can get carried away buying more than we can plant. We fly home with our trunks full of flats of annuals and the optimism we’’ll plant them all in a day. Often we poop out in the middle of the plant and the remaining purchase is at the mercy of our next planting mood.

A good rule of thumb is the four Ps. 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 have taken into your care face possible death. Of course it’s not premeditated, but the plants will be just as dead.

If you’re a mom you have the most valuable job in the world.  

You are raising citizens of the United States of America (or put in the name of the country where you live). Unfortunately being a mom is not held in as high regard as it should be.

I was invited to a baby shower/potluck yesterday and I didn't know the woman who was giving it nor did I know the mother who is having a baby. You may wonder why I went. It’s because I’ve finally decided to get involved in a prolife group in Portland, OR. It was the first time I’d taken part in any of their work and I blame my desire to join in, on Abby Johnson who wrote a book called “Unplanned.” It’s an amazing read. She was a big deal in Planned Parenthood who flipped and went over to the prolife side of the fence.

I’m not a political person, but in my opinion this issue isn’t political. My reason for being prolife is very simple. When my mom was pregnant with me, if she had chosen to have an abortion, I wouldn’t be here, typing this blog. Because I’m a big chicken and I don’t like confrontation, you'll never see me with some weird hat on, or holding a sign outside of anything! I don’t protest, and don’t ever plan to. (In fact if you are pro-choice, any negative response to this blog will be deleted and ignored.) I’d rather help on the other side of protest. I went to this baby shower as my first fun step, to meet the people behind Oregon Right to Life.

Today is my granddaughter Brooklyn's (my son's daughter) birthday. She's the girl on the right with her friend Paige. This photo was taken in Positano, Italy last summer. They were both 16 years old. They graduate this spring and Brooklyn has been accepted to Berkeley. 

She was three years old in this video and she froze as soon as she looked up and saw the huge audience of at least a thousand parents and grandparents. We think she was looking for her mom and dad. I remember leaning over and whispering in my son’s ear, “I hope you didn’t spend too much on these lessons.”

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. You don't have to traipse all the way to Scarborough Fair with Simon and Garfunkel to get your own fresh herbs. They're super easy to grow yourself! In this video I show you how my purple cabbages, used to decorate my window boxes, ended up being in some very tasty salads. While you're watching this video about my herb gardens, I'm going to be bugging those computer nerds to hurry up and invent “e-smell" so someday you can sit back and take in the delicious aroma coming from my garden and kitchen. Until then...let's get planting!

I was lucky enough to visit Italy for a week. One thing I noticed was every little restaurant had an herb garden right outside. We stayed at a villa. They had a huge garden and when they needed something they just stepped outside and picked it. Oh, my goodness. "Magnifico" flavors just burst out. Take 25 seconds to watch this video my husband shot.

This blog was written five years ago and I'm happy to report we both have new bathrobes even though they're not what I wanted.

April 24, 2012

I decided it's time for Terry and me to get new bathrobes. Mine's 20 years old! I bought it at a garage sale. It’s heavy and comfy and if I write too much about it here, I’m apt to talk myself out of dumping it. (Maybe I should keep it as my winter robe. On some of those cold winter nights I have found such refuge in it. I also feel spiritual in it sometimes, because it has a hood and when I put it over my head, I feel like St. Francis.) Okay, okay it’s going in storage until November when my winter sweaters and coats come out of waiting.

Terry’s robe is another story. It's downright scary! It’s blue plaid velour and after the first washing it lost most of its “lour” and because the arms were too long he cut them off and insisted I didn’t need to hem his alteration project. So I didn’t, leaving the ends frayed in strings that grow longer with every washing.

The thing is, I never think to go bathrobe shopping and only when I’m pampered with a luxurious white terrycloth robe in a fancy hotel do I think it’s time to spring for a new “morning” look.

A Saint and a Blue Man

Terry and I have changed our routine this year and I don’t shower, dress and make the bed first thing in the morning anymore.