My sister and I had a SLOB (Spontaneous Lighthearted Optimistic Beloved) Convention in Portland, Oregon and invited Marla Cilley, the Flylady to speak. Her words are so wise and so worth heeding. Watch this video and see if you see yourself in her talk.

Santa Isn't Where You Think He is Right Now!

What do you think Santa Claus is doing right now? Do you think he’s in some resort, lounging in a hammock, dreaming of sugar plums and listening to Christmas Carols on his IPhone? Nope! 

Santa Claus is organized! In fact, he and Mrs. Claus think ahead, so that on Christmas Eve they can enjoy a nice, leisurely dinner before he sets off at dark to deliver toys and goodies to the boys and girls.

We all know that the holidays require extra time and energy. So why not take advantage of summer leisure and get a jump on the holidays?

1. Stocking Stuffers 

Stuff as you go. Hide a small container, like a shoe box or Zip Lock Gallon bag, for each child. When
you’re out and about and find items that would be good for stocking stuffers, like movie tickets, gift cards, little toys and books, purchase and put in the hidden containers.

Come midnight on Christmas Eve, you’ll thank yourself when you think, ‘EEgad, we gotta do stockings,’ and you’ll have most of the contents ready to stuff.

Is your kitchen streamlined, efficient and a joy to cook in?

A couple of months ago, I took you on a pity trip and so many of you went with me! I loved all your responses and I think the "trip" helped many pare down the contents of their clothes closets! You all are so fun! If you didn't take the pity trip with me and if your clothes closet contains more than what you love and wear often, be sure to read my blog: Let's Take a Pity Trip.

Today I’m throwing a pity party and I hope you’ll have one too.This exercise is designed to help you dejunk your kitchen. Let’s pretend we’re going to throw a huge dinner party, only, just like on the pity trip you have to pretend you’re disadvantaged and this party is going to be as wretched as you can make it. 

You’ll be Serving Bad Food

First, you’ll need to search in the cupboards and freezer for old food. You know any cans or packaged products with words like “best by 7/14,” and frozen stuff you don’t recognize (and never will). Of course all the bad food needs to go in the garbage, but there’s nothing stopping you from pretending you’re going to make a giant and disgusting casserole out of all of it for the big pity event. 

Second, you’re going to look at all your serving dishes with new eyes. Are there bowls, and plates that you never use, not even during the holidays? Are your glasses foggy from age? A good way to look at your stuff with new eyes is to pretend you’re at a thrift store and ask yourself, as you look at each plate, bowl and glass, “would I buy this?” See if you can fill a big garbage bag with kitchen utensils, silverware, glasses, mugs, chipped bowls and plates, and pans you haven’t used since 7/05. 

On the 4^th of July of this year, Terry and I had a dinner party for two other couples. As I was looking in my kitchen cupboards with entertaining in mind, I realized there were so many serving pieces I just don’t use anymore and I promised myself that after the party, I was going to dejunk my kitchen of them. That’s when I decided to pretend to have a pity party. It helped me get to the bottom of why I wasn’t using a lot of what I passed over in preparing for the 4^th.

Go Backwards

If you really want more happiness, start by stopping your complaining. 

Most people don’t realize how often they complain because it has become a habit and, like all habits, it tends to be so familiar that it becomes invisible (like that box of stuff in the entryway to take to the donation center).

Studies show that complaining can be brutally harmful to your health, efficiency and life in general. That’s because complaining is negative and it takes a toll on your energy and your happiness. People who are always complaining tend to have poor health, are disorganized in their jobs and at home, and have relationships that are not good and don’t last very long. And they aren’t that much fun to be around!
 

This is a photo Terry took in Cancun when we were there on vacation. As you can guess, everyone left the beach because of the on-coming storm. Grumbling about inclement weather is probably one of the most common complaints and maybe it's because we can't do anything about it. Here in the state of Washington it rains a lot, and most Washintonians do not own an umbrella or rain boots, we just know how to dash and we're Olympic at finding shelter.

Many have a hard time letting go and it really doesn’t have to be that way. Now letting go of a person whom you love and he no longer loves you is a boo hoo, hard kind of letting go and it may take time to get over, but you know the saying: If he doesn't love you, let him fly away, unless you want to play zoo keeper. But the decluttering kind of letting go can actually be fun, because of a test question you can ask every time you get stuck holding onto an item that needs to go.

You'll learn what that test question is in a minute. First, here's a little story. Because of a contest called Project CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) I’ve been in over 100 homes that were crammed with too much stuff. My sister and I would pick a winner in a city and armed with television cameras, newspaper journalists and photographers; we’d go into the home of the winning family and de-junk a room. The “befores” and “afters” were always media fodder.

I remember one specific winner vividly. She was a physician (even doctors can have too much stuff) and she wanted us to help her with her personal, walk-in closet. It was jam-packed with fashions that spanned two decades and four sizes. She dressed well. Her clothes were purchased at high-end dress shops and department stores and most were designer.

The little boy in this video is Jackson Brace, one of my grandsons. He’s fifteen now, and taller than his sister Brooklyn, who is also in the video. He has gone on to other interests, but he can still name any bird when asked. As you'll see, his sister is not that excited about watching birds, but she was a great sport.

We were at a popular wildlife refuge in Ridgefield, WA, where birders come from all over the country.

10 Fun Summer Activities for Kids

As parents, one thing you can do while your kids are young, is to create a sense of wonder and magic in their lives. If you do that, you'll rarely hear them say, “I’m bored!”

Summer is the perfect season to make fun childhood memories. My mom was a master at creating memories for my sister and me. Thinking about why my summers as a kid were so special, I have renewed admiration for what my mother put into planning our summers.

She was a BO (Born Organized) mom. She always had a daily agenda for the summer months, and it included doing household chores first and then having fun out of the house.

Attention moms; plan fun activities and use them as a reward for getting the mundane household responsibilities accomplished every day. Your kids will have far more energy and desire to do their chores when they know they get to do something fun with they're done.

Freedom

is one of our basic human needs

When we leave our beloved countries behind, we’re seeking freedom from war. When we cut ties to toxic friends and even relatives, we’re seeking freedom from unnecessary drama and stress. When we eat healthily, we’re seeking freedom from illness. When we barbecue chicken, ribs, hamburgers and hot dogs, eat homemade potato salad and blow off millions of firecrackers, we’re celebrating our freedom as a county.

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of our United States. Each year on July 4th, also known as Independence Day, Americans celebrate this historic event by getting together with family and friends to eat, drink and be merry AND blow off millions of dollars’ worth of fireworks.

If you are a caregiver, do you find it hard to open your home by asking for help to organize it?

If that's a problem for you, this story may help you to ask for help if you need it.

Incidentally, we all need help in areas in which we aren't competent. We get accountants to help with our bookkeeping, and lawyers to help with legal issues and we're willing to get help with electricity and plumbing problems, but for some reason, when it comes to our homes, we caregivers have a crazy notion we should be able to take care of everything ourselves.

 Just one very simple thought that perhaps you haven't thought before will have you opening up your home for help.

Do you get confused by political issues,

or are you a well-informed voter when you head to the polls?

God bless America, but God help the uninformed voters!

In the state of Washington, our Secretary of State sends out a Voter’s Manual before every election. It’s quite thick, probably a hundred pages at least. In it you can read about and better understand the candidates' positions, ballot measures and issues, if you’re a Yale graduate of the law, that is. Take ballot measures for example. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition:

A ballot measure is a piece of proposed legislation to be approved or rejected by eligible voters. Ballot measures are also known as "propositions" or simply "questions."  Ballot measures differ from most legislation passed by representative democracies; ordinarily, an elected legislature develops and passes laws.

I’ve never read an explanation of a ballot measure on a ballot, that I’ve clearly understood. And if you’re the average citizen, it’s my “proposition” you’ll be wasting your time trying to understand what they’re writing about. If they want us to understand, why don’t they make what they write understandable? Do you think it’s because they want us to be confused? Using big words is just another way to show off one’s education, not one's IQ. There’s also power in knowing more words than the masses. You get to use words with each other and make the masses feel stupid.