This was first posted on 6-22-09 I think it poignant to repost this BLOG especially in light of what is happening with the dollar… I’ve highlighted the sentence that refers to crashing the dollar in the fall. Well, it’s fall and guess what, it seems to be happening Are we there yet? No. Could we get there? Certainly. Especially if a war erupts in the middle east against Iran and oil stops flowing…. Here’s the link to the current story.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eda81052-b4fe-11de-8b17-00144feab49a.html

Here’s another link that I just watched it nails it: Thanks to Tennessee Watchman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWw6oowo3wA

OK. Maybe I’m getting a little paranoid. Maybe I’ve been on to many exo-poltics Web-sites, in the wee hour of the morning. Perhaps my unsettled feeling is the result of the research I’m doing for the new 2012 book, I’m working on. Maybe it’s my Gall-stones doing the tango in my gall bladder that is waking me up in the middle of the night. Who knows, it could be a combination plate, with lots of Salsa on the side!

It’s Monday and over the weekend the Iranians were going at it. For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s the thumbnail. There’s major unrest, in that country, as tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in protest of the recent elections. Many believe that the elections were a fraud and that the votes of the people weren’t counted. There is also talk of Britain and the United Sates aiding in the unrest. We wouldn’t be trying to initiate a regime change would we? Certainly we have no history of doing such a thing, right?

Then there’s Korea. The Nut-job, who thinks he’s god, and runs the country, has threatened to launch a missile toward Hawaii, on July 4th. What is he thinking? Then there’s the Korean ship, the Kang Yam, that may have nuclear material on board. Where is that heading? We’ve sent a destroyer to intercept, if it appears that there is nuclear material on board.

The United States Government is just about bankrupt, as it continues to print money out of thin air and charge you and me, the taxpayers with not only paying it back, but paying interest on it. Yes, the monster from Jekyll Island is alive and well. Recently there were some posts that came across my desk that exposed the recent Bildeberger meeting. The goal is supposedly to break the back of the USA by collapsing the dollar. Hello New World Order! There is a saying, California sets the tone for the rest of the country. Well, if that’s true, California is just about bankrupt, it’s a mess and is about to collapse.

I know, that’s a lot of bad news for a Monday morning, but I really think it’s going to come down soon. Here’s what to do. Get your house in order. Here’s a few suggestions to implement immediately.

1. Stock pile food, about 6 months worth. This is what my grandmother did and it just makes sense. When the trucks stop rolling the food will disappear, off the shelves in about three days. Look what happened when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. People starved. Trust me, you’re not a nut case if you do this. It’s the smart thing to do.

2. Get together with people who are like-minded and talk about how you would pool your resources together. Make a list of assets and make sure there’s plenty of water and food.

3. Arm yourself. This is our second amendment rights. I live near Los Angeles and when the riots hit, after the Rodney King verdict, the shops that had rifle barrels pointing out of the second floor windows weren’t looted and burned. No, your not a fanatic if you own a gun, you’re protecting your family and your goods.

4. Try to get out of the city if you live in one. They’re the first places that will be under Martial Law.

5. Plant a garden and stock pile some seeds.

6. Keep at least $1000 cash in the house. When the banks shut down you won’t be able to get your money out.

7. Keep you car filled with gas and keep some gas cans filled with gas.

8. Stock up on propane. If you have a BBQ you can cook most everything on it.

In closing: Being prepared is the smart thing to do. It’s not being paranoid, it’s being aware that we are living in tumultuous times and getting our houses in order should be a priority!

On Break

Last week I had a break in the middle of the day before walking in to an appointment. I pulled over into a parking lot, opened up my sun roof, let me seat go all the way back and gazed up into the sky you see in this photograph. That is a symbol for how I feel right now. I need to take a break and just gaze up into the sky. I’ve been working too hard — at work and at home — and I’m depleted.

I feel so selfish saying this because I know people in far worse situations — people who don’t even have jobs to complain about. People who have lost their homes and can’t even complain about housework because they’ve lost their homes.

I’ve been here before. Exhausted. Depleted. In about one hour, I’ll be sitting in church. I am just going to give up and let Him take care of me. I am too lazy to look up the verse and quote it exactly but I think it’s from Matthew and it says something like “All you who are carrying a heavy load, give it to me, I will give you rest. Even if your burden is heavy, take my yoke…it is easy.” I don’t know what the heck a yoke is but I think mules or ox wear them when they plow a field. Anyhoo, sounds good to me.

As always, I welcome your comments. Thanks for hanging out here with me.

I want to see the inside of your fridge.

I have a strange obsession with seeing inside other people’s refrigerators. I’ve always known this but it really became apparent last week at a dinner party in a friends’ home. While we were talking, she opened her fridge and I could not focus on anything she was saying because I was fascinated with seeing inside her frig.

Having said that, I am deeply ashamed at how filthy I have let mine become. I have this weird worry thing that if I die unexpectedly (versus a planned death LOL) my friends and relatives will be in my home going through things and say things like “wow, check out this moldy container of yogurt in Carole’s frig…she always seemed to be so organized…she sure fooled me!”

Anyhoo, the worries/fears got the best of me and I cleaned it out today. Well, almost. I still have to do the drawers and side shelves. But I’ve made huge progress.

Please invite me to your house to see inside your frig, or just sent me a pic. Thank you.

I heart bunny slippers

THIS POST IS PART CONFESSION AND PART GOAL-SETTING:

I have a bizzillion pairs of shoes and boots. I am not bragging, just sayin. I probably only wear 30-40% of the shoes/boots I own. I swear that someday, yes someday soon, I shall have a shoe/closet purge — just like I did with my clothing recently — and keep only what I truly need/want so that someone else can benefit from them.

I’ve gotta say though, my fav shoes are my bunny slippers. My bunny slippers represent (to me, at least) working from my home office. At present, I probably spend 1/3 of my work time working from my home office but the rest of the time, I can be found in my car or in a high school classroom recruiting kids to the college I work for.

But truly, deeply and really, I aim to someday work from home all the time while wearing my bunny slippers.

What kind of shoes would YOU be wearing if you had YOUR dream job?

Do you think Elvis was an organized guy? Do you think there is any correlation between knowing who you are and being organized? What if you found out you only had 30 days left to live?

Personally, the more authentic I become, the more organized I become because I whittle out the things in life that don’t matter. I’m spending the bulk of my time focusing my attention on things that matter in the perspective of living eternally. If I thought that this life was all there is, I’d definitely be involved in a “get rich quick” scheme.

I’d love to hear what really matters to you. If you knew you only had 30 more days to live, what would you do differently in the next hour, in the next day, and the next month?

Love me tender. Love me true. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Elvis - artwork in the lobby of Preston Hotel, Nashville

What do Curtis Estridge and Liz Strauss have in common?

Answer: They both rock.

I hired Curtis to give my blog a professional facelift. He created this awesome header using motorcycle pipes and colored pencils (because my readers are so intelligent I will not explain the symbolism!). I met Liz Strauss on Twitter and to my surprise she actually talked to me and asked if I would be interested in some web-blog tweaking. Her comments were eXtremely mega-helpful. Read about it on her blog. You’ll see some before and after pics of my blog layout. I couldn’t be happier with the improvements.

By the way, Curtis Estridge and his partner, Gerrard Wise, are both graduates of the school of advertising art in Kettering/Dayton, Ohio.

Curtis was awesome to work with. He spent almost a day at my house tweaking my site and making it beautiful. His fees are very affordable and he is reliable, honest, dependable and everything else you’d want in a designer/artist!

If you are one of the tens of people who lurk about here, and if you know me even a little bit, you know that “having a place for everything and everything in it’s place” is a motto I try to live with but never quite achieve. Okay, now that I’ve set the tone let me explain why you’ve logged on here and see a photo of my husband’s socks laying on the floor.

I’ve been married to my best friend for seven years now. In those seven years I have begged and pleaded with him to put his socks away and NOT LEAVE THEM ON THE FREAKING FLOOR!!! Are you with me? Do you feel my passion. I think it is more than disgusting to bend over and pick up dirty socks like picking up a dead mouse my cat has killed in the backyard. Ewwww!

Okay then, so after all these years of expressing my utmost displeasure at his horrible habit of leaving his socks on the floor, do you think it has changed his behavior one bit? I’ll give you a minute to ponder.

Correct, the answer is NO.

However, as I study scripture and use the Bible as a compass to chart my way through life, I cannot find anywhere…believe me I looked…any kind of admonition to our dear brethren, our brothers in the Lord, our sweet husbands, the kings of our castles…that they should strive on a daily basis to pick up their stinking socks. If I could find the scripture, I would print it out in beautiful typography with a gold frame and hang it where he can see it.

Sadly enough, I do find scripture in Proverbs about how a NAGGING WIFE is like a dripping faucet and in another place how it is better to live in the corner of an attic than in a big house with a nagging wife. This strikes me as hilarious because wasn’t this stuff written like a million years ago…you mean they had nagging wives back then, too? Maybe some things never change.

I suppose you wish I’d get to the point so here tis: I very humbly and sincerely asked God to give me some kind of little reminder every day…kind of like a “God tickler file”…something to remind me daily to pray for my husband. You got it. The socks are the reminder that God has set up for me. It’s just like Him to do this in a funny, creative way. I love that about Him. Today’s prayer for my husband, as I picked up his socks went something like this

“God, bless this sweet man. These are the socks he wore yesterday afternoon as he chopped the remaining chunks of firewood in our backyard so I would have fire in the potbelly stove all day. Thank you that today he has a job to go to…that he is healthy and strong…I pray that you will protect him as he drives through the snow and ice…Thank you God for softening my heart and turning me into a beautiful wife instead of nagging, b*@#Cthy wife like that woman in the Proverbs. Amen.”

I just got word that “Mad Church Disease – overcoming the burnout epidemic” is in the mail from Amazon. I pre-ordered it cuz I am excited times infinity. I’ve grown to really admire the author, Anne Jackson, from stalking her, I mean reading her blog at http://www.flowerdust.net

You can check out a chapter of the book at http://madchurchdisease.com

Time for a nap now…and just so you know, I have a sink full of dishes and laundry undone, a house full of disarray. Yes, me, the queen of sometimes order is in disarray.

It’s wild baby.

Only touch what once? Your mail, of course!

In a past life, when I was a full-time professional organizer, one of the main issues for people who had chaotic offices or homes was letting mail pile up. The rule of thumb is only touch it once. Let me illustrate from a truly real life event that happened in my very own home today.

(1) I brought the mail inside and sorted the mail into three piles: one pile to throw out, and a pile each for my hubby and me
(2) The junk mail went into the trash immediately as I fantasized about writing a letter to each company sending me junk asking for list removal
(3) I took my one piece of mail (my Verizon Wireless bill) and walked over to my laptop, opened my online bill-pay account and paid my bill…voila…bada bing, bada boom…kazam!…I’ll stop now, I’m sure you get the point.

I can already hear you arguing that life isn’t always that perfect and that sometimes when you walk in with the mail there are twenty other things screaming for your attention. I’m not always able to carry out this idea either, but when I do it’s like nirvana.

Do I have big goals written out on paper…yup.  Do I accomplish these goals…most not.  However, I do accomplish the mini-goals that lead up to the mini goal!  I am a dreamer.  A friend once said that if no one is laughing at the bigness of your dreams, then you are not dreaming big enough (or something like that).  So, my tip of the day is, go ahead and dream big and set big goals…but also write a bunch of mini-goals that you can successfully achieve that will lead up to the goal.  Raise your hand if this makes sense…hmmm, I can’t see you…leave a comment since I can’t see you.

Did your Mom nag you to make your bed?  Mine did and I thought it was a ridiculous thing to obsess about…I’m just going to get right back in it in 12 or so hours and mess it up again, right?  What’s the point?  Here’s the deal internet peeps:  Your bed probably on average takes up about 85% or so of the total square footage of your bedroom.  If every time you walk in or out of your bedroom you see your bed unmade, on a subconscious level sends you a message that your life is “out of order”.  If, however, you make a habit of always having your bed made up when you are done sleeping, you will be sending yourself a message that life is headed in the direction of being organized.  As I type this, it sounds silly but if you try it, you’ll see what I mean.  Now…GO MAKE YOUR BED!  Your mama will be proud.

I can’t take credit for this system…but I can tell you I’ve used it often for myself and others and it WORKS!

If you are facing a mound of stuff to put away…an overstuffed closet, a box filled with odds & ends in your office…a garage or basement filled with clutter…this tip is for you.  Think “space”.

S — is for Sort.  Without analyzing each thing that you touch, sort all the things in this place into piles according to subject matter.  For example, in your garage, you might sort into piles of sports things, gardening things, etc.  Again, don’t think about it, just sort into subject piles into  separate areas.

P — if for Purge.  Now that your stuff is in piles according to subject, remove items that you are ready to get rid of whether they go into the trash or a box labelled “donate” or whatever.

A — is for Assign a space.  Now that you can visually see how much space you need for all those gardening tools, figure out a cabinet, shelf or area that they will fit into and is accessible. 

C — is for Containerize.   Maybe the grouping requires some new tupperware totes or some other kind of new container that you can label.  I love to use baskets for storing things because they appeal to me visually.

E — is for Equalize.  Now that you have your stuff organized and put away, you will need to re-visit this stuff once in a while to sort and purge again.  If you leave it for too long, it will go back to the way it was before.

What is it that you are looking to organize…is it your work stuff, maybe a closet or an entire house?  Maybe what you are looking to organize and put in order is on a much grander scale.  Here’s the most valuable bit of info I can give you…drop the weight.  Hand over the mess to the one who can put the mess in order.  Beauty from chaos…He specializes in that.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. — Matthew 6:33 NIV

Clean out your wallet, and if you are a chick after you clean out your wallet, clean out your purse.  Empty out the excess change, make all your bills face the same way (assuming you have any…I rarely carry cash any more!).    I’m not sure what the exact reasoning is behind this gem of a tip, but I know it works.  You have to start with the place you keep your money/credit cards when you are beginning a life reorg project.  Do it, I dare you.  After you do it, leave me a comment and let me know how it feel to have your wallet/purse cleaned out.

I literally set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes and voila!  Note the huge laundry basket on the floor.  These were accumulated bits of mail, warranties from new kitchen appliances, instruction manuals, receipts…now everything is put away! (scroll down to see BEFORE pic)

If you have a closet or a space that you just can’t get yourself motivated to dive into…set your kitchen timer for 15 minutes…that’s it, just 15 minutes.   Go tackle your disaster spot or closet for 15 minutes and continue this every day.  You will notice that little by little, you will get through it!  Our problem is that we get overwhelmed but we can handle little 15 minute chunks of time.  Here I go to tackle my disaster area…ready, set, GO!!  This is a photo of my cluttered office space.

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.  And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their King.   As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.  Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”  1 Samuel 7:6-9

We have asked God for a king — and a king He has given us.

I am really hesitant to say what I’m about to say.  But for those who have ears to hear, hear what I’m about to say — and take it immediately to God.  If it lines up with your spirit, ask God for wisdom and direction.  And if not, please feel free to reject it.  I am certainly not saying “thus says the LORD”… I am simply saying what is and has been weighing heavily on my heart.

I have really gotten into politics this year.  No matter which side you’re from, you know that there was a lot hinged on this election.  Morally, more than anything.  And a few weeks ago, I was especially stirred up.  There are certain issues that I disagreed with Senator Obama on, but they were issues I could overlook (healthcare, his economic agenda).  Abortion was not one of those areas.  I could not overlook it.  50 million lives.  They cannot be justified in any way, shape or form.  So, I decided to speak up.  And several of you wordpressers with liberal views received a visit from me on your blog.  And though I tried to be polite, I wasn’t one bit compassionate towards your views.  I told you a thing or two.  And I’m certain you didn’t like it.  You told me so.  And after many exciting exchanges between us, God spoke to me one morning while I was driving to work.

He said, “What are you doing?”  And I confidently replied, “I’m helping these people to see the truth.”  He replied, “I know.  Stop.“

The next few minutes of my drive to work were mostly silent.  I felt a heaviness rest on my heart.  He didn’t say anything yet, but I could feel it – a sadness for this country.  So much so, that tears started forming in my eyes.   Finally, I couldn’t resist asking: “It’s going to get bad, isn’t it?”  He nodded.  The heaviness became more weighty and I could feel that dreadful lump forming in my throat.  I wanted to bawl — not just for myself, but for my country, your country, our country.  I could tell He was sad too — infinitely more than I was.

One week later, I lost my job.  And through it all, I remained pretty well composed –  I had no fear and still have no fear about it.  I know that losing my job wasn’t what He was preparing  me for.  It’s something yet to come.

Times are going to change.  America has been so great and so strong for decades, but we have turned against Him.  If you have known me, or even read this blog, for any length of time, you know that I am extremely optimistic — even to a fault (if there is one).  I believe that God is good 100% of the time and that He always causes us to walk in triumph (that’s what His Word says).  I have not once, that I can remember, ever prophesied gloom and doom over anything or anyone.  My mindset is: Mercy triumphs over judgment.  And I still hold to all of these things.  But I cannot shake off this heaviness.  I cannot rid my mind of what He told me.  And I actually don’t think that things changing will be solely a result of Barack Obama being our president-elect; though I do think he will intensify things.  Barack Obama is going to be my President; I respect him and have already started to pray for him.  I wish no ill-will towards him personally or any of his family — or his presidency, in general.  But I do think he is going to make decisions that will open our country up to attack from the enemy.

So…. what do we do?  I feel God nudging me to do the following:

• Get your house in order.  In other words, be wise.  Especially financially.  Get things in order.  Be ready for anything.  Really, we should always live like this.  But if you never have before, now is a really good time to start.
• Pray.  Pray without ceasing.  Pray for our country.  Pray for our President.  Pray for loved ones — especially for those who do know Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior.
• Come back to your first love, Jesus.  If you’ve gone astray and your heart has chased after other lovers, now is the time to repent and come back to Him.  Forsake all other distractions and get back to Him.  Don’t wait.  Don’t hesitate.  Do it quickly.  Make Him your refuge.  Know His promises.  Get to a place with Him where you know that you could be entirely sufficient in Him and Him alone.

That’s it.  That’s all I have to say.  And may I just say: This is not the blog I wanted to write tonight?  I wanted to come on here and say: “The election is over.  Let’s pray for Barack Obama, but I’m tired of talking about it… so let’s not.”  I wanted to write of intimacy with God, of His promises, of going deeper in His heart, falling more in love with Him.  I wanted to write about anything that didn’t have anything at all to do with the election or politics.  But instead, I felt strongly that I should write this.  Again, please do NOT, in anyway, take this as a “thus says the LORD”.  Ask Him for yourself.  If He doesn’t say this to you, first double-check and make sure you’re listening, and when you do, if He still doesn’t say anything about this… dismiss it.  Really.  I’m not God.  Neither am I a prophet.  I didn’t hear God’s audible voice.  The heaven’s didn’t open.  I didn’t see 10 visions that were confirmed by 12 people that also had 10 visions.  I’m just a girl that felt God speak to her.  Nevertheless, draw close to God.  Do not delay.  The time is short.  Seek God while He may be found. His arms are outstretched for you. He loves you. In Him, we never need to have fear – even in times like this.  He will never leave us.  He will never forsake us.  In Him, you are protected.  You are safe.  Make Him your refuge.