When I get worried, one of the best things I can do is sing. I belong to a fabulous chorus and once a week on rehearsal nights I sing for five hours straight. I’ve noticed that if anything was bothering me before I start singing, by the time I get back home I have no worries! I think much of our worry is habit and it’s good to find ways to curb unnecessary worry and know all is well. 

Aside from doing something you love to do, I learned a valuable lesson when worry crops up. A few years ago on a beautiful Sunday morning, I decided to visit a new church near Portland, Oregon. I got the address and Terry, my husband, went out to the car and programmed it into our new GPS for me. Back then I didn’t quite trust the thing. (Once it got me going in circles and I’d have circled for hours if I hadn’t recognized the same barn, for the third time.) 

Because I was not sure of the new gadget, I backed myself up with MapQuest. It said the church was a little over an hour from my home and mostly freeway. I set off out of Woodland, Washington and before I’d gone two miles, Victoria (that’s the name I gave her) popped up in a breathy British accent, “Take the next exit right.”

Just so you know how clean it is under my kitchen sink, I actually climbed inside the cupboard under there and my husband videotaped it! He actually thought I wouldn’t fit under there. Ha, I sure showed him! Flylady teaches us to shine our sink and in this video I teach you how clean under it. Talk about zany fun!

Just like in the Wizard of Oz, the good fairy called out to the little Munchkins to "come out, come out!" But, just for fun, I'm telling you, “go under, go under!” In the old days I wouldn't think of trying to squish myself inside the smelly zone under the sink where the garbage can lives. Who knows what would have happened! For sure I’d have had coffee grounds in my hair and bacon grease on my knees. Yuck!

One of my all-time favorite low-carb cooking recipes is what I call “Cauliflower-oni and Cheese." Who needs that carb-loaded, slimy macaroni when you can cook up a yummy, steamy head of cauliflower and leave your pickiest eater drooling for more? In this fun, how-to cooking video, I share with you the secrets of happy cows from Ireland, and the joys of a forty year old pot. (The kind on the stove.) This is sumptuous, guilt-free dining, and you'll want to make plenty for the crowds that will be begging for seconds and thirds and the recipe.

Organize Clutter? No Way!

Well, I guess there is always a way. You could go to one of those organizer stores and get shelves, storage containers, a label gun, jars, little drawers and a hundred other cutesy products that ring your wanna-be-organized chimes, but guess what! If you really took on a project to organize your clutter, you’d end up with a home that resembles your local Goodwill store.

Clutter is the greatest destroyer of peace in a home. There’s a way to bring more peace and it starts with getting rid of what you own that no longer serves you. I remember a headline in the Oregonian: Reformed Slobs Sweep Homes Clean Including One Husband. I’m not suggesting this to you.

Get the Picture

Just imagine your home peaceful and free of clutter as I take you on a make-believe tour of your home, room-by-room.

Happy July 4^th to those of you who live in the United States of America, and to my friends around the world, enjoy the peace and quiet of a firework-free day!

This video is short. In fact, in the time it’d take you to sing, God Bless America, it’ll be over. I found it in my extremely organized film archive under, “A” for Adorable. Hey, we get to organize according to our very own systems!

The three adorable singers are my bonus daughter Kristi Marsh’s children. (From left to right: Kyle (three), Kaytee (one), Tanner (five). One of the things I love about living in the 21^st century is we can record special moments like this one and cherish the memories forever. I keep reminding young mothers to enjoy as many moments as possible with your children, because they grow up faster than a cheetah on speed.

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 on some beach, lounging in a hammock, drinking Margaritas 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.

Let the love come from you before you seek it from others.

 

When anyone acts up whether he/she is a child or an adult, it's just an attempt at being loved. Have you ever wanted to tell another adult to “grow up?” It’s interesting to watch an adult act like a child, but it’s not as easy to see immature behavior crop up in ourselves. I think we all carry remnants of our childhood into adulthood and studying those remnants in the lab of my own life has been a hoot for me.

July 4, 2014 marked twelve years since I met Nelly. She’s my inner child and constant companion, and when a few hours go by and I haven’t heard from her, I do as any mother would do; I check up on her. 

I might ask myself, “Is something bothering you little girl? You don’t seem very happy right now.” If I’m still and listen, I’ll get an answer that would have remained unexpressed had I not questioned myself.

When children are ignored, whether they are real or within, they want attention and they will get it.

Nelly needs adult guidance and before that first meeting, she was free to run the show. I’ve written a lot about our relationship in my book, The Joy of Being Disorganized.    I believe each of us has an inner child whether we know it or not. Take any chronic problem in your life, whether you’re overweight, in debt or your house is full of clutter, and ask yourself, “How old have I been acting when it comes to (you fill in the blank)? Bingo! It’s time to grow up.

Your inner child is not all bad. I’ve discovered over the 12 years, that it’s Nelly that keeps me young, frisky, optimistic and lighthearted, but when ignored she will get my attention in ways that tend to sabotage my good intentions.

We all Need Attention

 

 

My blog took a typical, SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) turn with an email from a Flybaby and it prompted me to find a very funny article written by a columnist for the Seattle Times who in turn went on to become a very famous food critic in the Northwest. His article gives you the man’s view of a SHE. The article follows this email.

Here’s my letter to Barb,

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I love hearing from SHEs like you because it just confirms to me that we are one huge, happy family, loving our homes and loving order, but careful not to take life too seriously. I purposely approached getting organized with a sense of humor and joy and that book was the first book on the market written from a reformed “slob’s” point of view.  (Remember SLOB stands for Spontaneous, Lighthearted, Optimistic and Beloved.)

Love,

Pam

Here’s the article, written by John Hinterberger  Seattle Times.

I’m grateful to each and every one of you who are raising fabulous citizens of our next generation. It’s an awesome responsibility. Keep up the good work, don’t get too serious (your kids can help you with that) and learn something every day from them (they have much to teach us). 

Now that the House Fairy has a brand new website, I’m so happy with her new and improved programs. More than 20,000 families are House Fairy friendly and I love that the programs are for life! Once you are a member you are always a member and there are no dues or monthly fees and the House Fairy and I get to keep coming up with helpful tools that you’ll receive as they come. I also have some exciting things happening and you’ll be the first to know what’s new. 

Because you’re interested in helping your kids establish good habits that’ll serve them throughout their lives, I’d like to share something that occurred to me about habits.

Join NOSS and Establish Good Habits

 The only way to establish a habit is to put the action you want to become a habit into a routine. You’ll have to do the action enough times for it to become automatic. In order to do that, you have to be an option stopper. Don’t give yourself the option of not doing the action you want to have become a habit. 

For example, if you want exercise to be part of your routine, then you have to stop giving yourself options out of exercise. Options abound. Until exercise is a habit, your options will always look better than exercise. But if you’ll be an option stopper, one day you’ll realize you have a new habit! 

 

Have you HAD it? Is it OVER? Do you wash your hands of it? Do you give up and say UNCLE? 

 

Is that how you feel about your disorganized lifestyle? Well STOP IT!  

I was 34 years old when I hit bottom. Someone said, “The bottom is a great place to be because there’s nowhere to go but up.” Not until I hit bottom did I surrender to my situation and ask for the guidance that’s available 24/7. That’s when miracles happen. In that moment of surrender I was reminded that even though I was in a mess, I was in the right place with the right people, I was just fine and the only element I really lacked was direction. Following a direction is a spiritual issue.

In my almost 40 year career helping moms get organized I’ve come to one big conclusion about being organized: it’s about mind management, not time management. There are thousands of books giving you direction, but until your mind is changed the direction won’t be followed.

Angel Speak

I’d like you to pretend I’m one of your guardian angels and you've prayed to get organized and I’ve been assigned to work your case. I love the assignment because I’ve always loved you and to work with you personally is exciting to me!

So, I’m sitting on your chest when you wake up in the morning and I can’t wait to see you open your beautiful eyes so we can start our fabulous day together. But you’re so tired, you miss the joy before you. I should have known that’s how it’d be because you played on the computer until 2:00 am and every time I tried to get you to go to bed, you ignored me. 

When you finally went to bed, I wished you a wonderful night’s sleep, but you didn’t hear me because you conked out before I was finished talking to you.  Anyway, now it’s morning and you stagger to the bathroom, tripping over shoes you left in the pathway to the toilet. (I was able to block your fall.) By the way, I love to hear you swear! We don’t get to do it here in heaven, so it’s fun to hear (sort of like when you first tried out a swear word when your mom wasn’t close enough to hear).

As your days progress I try to get a few words in edgewise. Little suggestions like, “Look at your calendar Love,” “Get a drink of water Sweet One,” “That job won’t be that bad, put your timer on for 15 minutes and start Darling,” “Don’t take that comment personally, what he thinks of you is none of your business,” oh and “God loves you,” “I love you,” and “Please be kind to yourself Blessed One.” 

Sometimes you listen and take my guidance, but most times you just don’t hear me or you say, “I’m too busy, too tired or I don’t have time. (I really get a kick out of that last one!  I wish you knew how funny you are when you say, “I don’t have time.” LOL My Adorable One, you have all the time in the world.)