I recorded this blog, so you can listen while you work. I suggest you take the "junk" drawer in the kitchen, dump it out on a flat surface and organize it while you listen. The message is all about praise; how to give it and take it. Enjoy!
You'll understand why this vineyard photo appears here, as soon as you listen. Now go get that drawer.

Who taught you to ride a bike?

If you enjoy refinishing furniture, you'll love this blog by my friend Judith Robinson. 

Let Your Life Speak by Judith Robinson

When the legs came off the table, I should have paid attention. As we slid the lovely Cherrywood tabletop under the bed I did not ask, “What can I learn from this?” As we wrapped those carved Queen Anne legs in felt for storage, I never gave a thought to listening to my life. I’d refused to face the facts. Square footage of our tiny, new place made less than half the space for what we had left behind. I’d insisted we bring everything, and pouted ‘till we did. (Denial? Ya’ think?)  

Every Friday, we post a video and today we shot this especially for you.

Up, up and awaaaay in my beautiful, my beautiful duuhh-rone.

We had to hire a drone for a video project and we had some time leftover so the drone operator shot video of our home and gardens.

We even got to stand on our deck and the drone came within ten feet of us! It made me think about the famous people who now have drones to contend with, not just the random Paparazzi hiding behind a bush with a telephoto lens.

I hope you enjoy the ride!

Taking a Turn for the Best

Because we’re human we get tempted by foods (and other things) that we know aren’t especially good for us. It’s just not fair that foods that aren’t good for us, taste so darn good!

Been on the SES Diet lately (Summer Eating Spree Diet)? You know, too much potato salad and too many corn on the cobs, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, s’mores, sodas, beers, cupcakes and crackers and more. They’re all the treats of summer picnics, camping and barbecues and we associate these fun times with those fun foods. And you probably have it in your mind that those times without those treats just wouldn’t be fun.

Usually we get back on track because there’s something in the future, compelling us. Maybe it’s a health problem and your doctor says you need dump the doughnuts and hit the gym or you’ll drop dead pretty soon. Or, maybe it’s just a wedding approaching and you’re one of the bride’s maids and you don’t want to be the fattest one. Or, maybe you’re planning a vacation and you want to have energy to walk a lot. The decision is the first part of the turn and then you have to have the motivation to make the turn and that’s where a compelling reason kicks in.

Maybe it’s time to go into your imagination booth (by closing your eyes) and use your imagination to get back on the right track. You can take me with you, using these 4 suggestions.

If you love Mexican food, but instantly think about all the carbs in most of it, you can un-carb any high carb dish, with minor replacements. 

Watch this video from my kitchen as I prepare burritos that'll take you right over the border in a low-carb way.

Olah! Oh, by the way, if you are serious about living a low carb lifestyle, I recommend Gary Taubes' book "Why We Get Fat and What We Can do About it." It was this science writer for the New York Times that completely change my husband Terry's and my life. Subsequently I took two years to write The Mouth Trap: the butt stops here! Documenting my switch to a happy, healthy way to eat. Just click on the cover to learn more.

Love,

Pam 

 My Aunt Tottie was extremely disorganized and she was also very dramatic! My mother was a BO (Born Organized) and she used to roll her eyes over the way Aunt Tottie lived.

For instance, she was a lousy housekeeper, wore baggy clothes day in and day out, and rarely put on make-up, BUT when she did get cleaned up, she was a KNOCK OUT. Mom said when they were young; Aunt Tottie would get all gussied up to go out dancing and she’d make an entrance that would drop jaws.

One time when she and my mom were teenagers, hanging out at Aunt Totties', the future Uncle John dropped by unexpectedly and Aunt Tottie was still in her nightgown (it was five in the evening). Her hair hadn't been washed so it was greasy and she raced to her room so Uncle John wouldn't see her. Ten minutes later she came down the stairs in a cute summer dress and she'd wrapped a colorful silk scarf on her head like a turban. Mom said she looked just like Lauren Bacall. (Oh, and Uncle John looked just like Henry Fonda.)

My aunt loved to get a reaction from BOs like my mom. I remember one time; watching her in her messy kitchen, make orange juice from a can of frozen concentrate while she talked with my mom. She couldn’t find a clean spoon to stir the three cans of water into the orange lump of concentrate, so she just stuck her whole hand into the pitcher and stirred with it. My mother was horrified.

 Set your intention to be happy regardless of your circumstances.

Maybe the guy who invented the thermostat got the idea from his own emotional meter. Instead of temperatures imagine words on a meter with emotions like miserable, overwhelmed, worried, desperate, optimistic, hopeful, happy, and blissful. 

When you think about the happy people you know, does one of the attributes, they seem to have in common, a wonderful outlook on life. Happy people seem to have an emotional meter that’s programmed for joy and contentment no matter what happens to them. Unfortunately many of us have meters set on negative emotions, but we can always reprogram them for happy by deciding to practice being joyful regardless of the forces outside of us. What’s interesting about setting an intention of being happy all the time, is when something pulls you from that place you know it and you can kick in and put yourself back on happy. Abraham Lincoln said: “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Is your meter properly adjusted?

In our writing career we spoke to thousands of groups and rarely did we have men in our audiences. We even thought about having a seminar just for men, but most wondered if we could have a television there with "the game" on in the background or better yet, throw the workshop from a tavern or sports bar. Of course we never were able to pull off a How to Organize Your Home exclusively for men. Here we are on television with Gary Collins talking about how to get husbands to help.