We have officially decided to homeschool D for kindergarten! Im very excited and feel very blessed!

The curriculum we have chosen is a completely online curriculum through Progress Academy. So far, after looking at all of it online, it seems really great. The only thing lacking is a variety of Foreign Languages and a Bible curriculum. She said that they dont offer a Bible course because they are a secular program. So I am looking for a Bible program for him. It’s a little hard to find one for Kindergarten age, but there are still a few options.

Now, I just have to get organized and figure out what time of the day will work best for him to be focused on school…

Hello Everyone,    Keep reading to find out how you can win this book.

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If you would like to win Brook Noel’s The Make Today Matter book email this website www.davincisclassroom.com and www.devokids.com to one person and ask them to pass the links along.  Then, email:  terri@devokids.com,  write Make Today Matter in the subject line.  Contest ends December 27, midnight ET. 

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This week I’ve focused on resolutions and the process for planning for your new year.  As this year comes to a close, I encourage you to take a look back at what you’ve done.  What have you accomplished?  What happened to the things that you resolved to do at the end of last year?  Did they remain resolutions or did they get transformed into goals and get accomplished?

Be honest with yourself, but don’t beat yourself up either. Everyone wants to be better for the new year. That’s why everyone makes the resolutions for the gym, getting organized, quitting smoking, etc.  The truth of the matter is that so many people have false starts. They have lots of plans, things they want to do or get accomplished in the New Year, but they run out of steam before they get the ball rolling with any real momentum.

What have you done lately?  Did you make resolutions for 2009?  Did you taken action?  If not,  what stopped you? If you expect new results just because it’s a new year, you’re making a big mistake.  To get your desired result, you have to take your resolutions and turn them into solid goals, then develop a plan to carry them out along with the  systems, tools, motivation and support needed to accomplish them.

If you didn’t accomplish everything that you wanted to this year, ask your self why and make a change.  Focus on taking your resolutions to goals and into reality.

If you’re looking to break the habit of making resolutions and not following through, click here for details.

Even my cat, Bama, wants to help.

Over the past week I’ve also had major packing and cleaning help from Chris, Patty, Skip and Sue. Down and dirty help, especially from Chris. She and I have cooked a half dozen charity dinners in my kitchen, so she knows her way around my house, and we work really well together.

I can’t imagine tackling a job of this size alone. Friends are indispensible. A friend:

• sees your stuff objectively and isn’t emotionally attached to it,
• talks you through challenging decisions,
• helps you stay on task,
• keeps you from getting discouraged,
• makes the work much less painful

And I believe they take perverse pleasure in being able to deal cavalierly with Stuff that’s not their own. A thousand hugs to all of you.

Something like this! I want this going on!

As much as I enjoy organizational products, I don’t seem to own many… or use them in an extremely organized fashion.

I’ve got an over the door pocket shoe organizer on the back of my bedroom door, and a hanging sweater cubbyhole thing in my closet. My closet is strangely shaped… which doesn’t help. But I am convinced that the first steps to keep my floor clean (and give goal 057. Keep the floor of my bedroom clean for two weeks, a fighting chance at success!)

At the moment, it’s likely I own too many shoes (this will be addressed!)  and there might be some other product for my closet that could help me be more on task? I think all of this will also likely orchestrate with goal 091. (Get rid of 1 large container bin of stuff in the attic. Donate 5 of each category to the Sal: bags, shoes, shirts, books, & miscellaneous items.)

Does anyone out there have some organizational secret? A favorite item I can find at the Container Store? I guess I’m looking for something to do with shoes — and a way to not lose things at the back of the closet and then forget about them!
My closet actually looks a bit like this. Shelf on top extends into deep recesses to the right, as does the hanging bar (hanging bar starts at the left edge of the door.)  Shelves to the right that are shallow and hard to reach. Narrow overall… Anyone?

Something I think I might buy: A tap light – to put under the shelf part of the closet where the closet rod goes into the dark and clothes go to die. If that’s in there, I might catch sight of things I don’t want to lose in the abyss….

People who know how much I love this house ask me how I’m holding up under the impending sale and move (of my stuff) into a storage unit.

Surprisingly, astonishingly even, FINE. I’ve been too busy to get emotional – or something like that. It’s been a process that I’ve thought about for a few years and began actively working on this summer. At this point the edge has softened and it’s just WORK.

The endlessness of the work and the logistical organizing of what needs to be done when is the most stressful. I am not good in the logistics department, so I’ve been fortunate to have friends and family members talk me down and through some mental tangles.

Once you start getting rid of stuff, and once you realize how little other people value your stuff when you try to sell it, it begins to lose value in your own eyes. It becomes, well, STUFF.

After my mini-sabbatical in California after the house closes on 12/11 I’ll be back in town, staying with dear friends, taking my time to figure out what’s next.

What’s clear is that my friends and family are my greatest treasures. All else is just STUFF.

Just like AAA will swoop in to help you through auto wrecks and travel issues, I have come up with my own version of AAA that will help you in the job search.

Attitude
Activeness
Attractiveness

AAA

Now let me explain a little more.

Attitude. In sports, mentality is every bit as important as physicality. You need both to perform well in practices and games. The same goes for the job search and your everyday life, really. You could do everything right in the job search: perfect your resume, write an insightful cover letter, apply for several jobs every day, do your research, get an interview, et cetera. However, if you are just going through the motions without a positive attitude and drive to succeed, none of that will matter. Of course, you could get lucky, but do you really want to put your employment up to chance?

Even stepping out of the job search, your attitude will affect your outlook on everyday life and your emotional wellbeing. The more you wallow in your unemployment or bad “luck”, the more it will bear down on you. Which would you rather carry? An airplane ticket or every passenger’s baggage? You want to go up an out rather than being stuck on a runway carting the luggage. Unless of course that’s your job. But in a metaphorical sense, more weight only keeps you on the ground.

Activeness. When you’re not searching for jobs, keep yourself busy. Find a hobby and pursue your passion. Join a local organization or volunteer. Employers want to see you’re doing something in your time off from work. It demonstrates ambition. If you’re a writer, you don’t need a publisher to work on your craft. Write stories for fun and worry about publishing later. If you want an audience, share your writing with your friends. Write a blog. If you’re a musician, write some music and record at home. You’re more likely to be hired if you have samples of your songs. Volunteering shows your value for community, something important in any business. You don’t need to get paid to work, so if you can afford it and have the time, go help others. It will also give you experience.

That isn’t to say that every hobby has to have the ulterior motive of being a resume builder. Stay active for yourself. The more involved and active you are, the more engaged you will be in your everyday life and the less time you will have to wallow. Sure, you might be stressed from unemployment or whatever other problems you have, but bemoaning your pain won’t make it go away. Activity and social engagement can actually reduce your stress. That doesn’t mean you should forget about your unemployment either. You will have to eventually make money somehow. However, don’t let it get to you.

Atractiveness. I’m not saying that botox, makeup, and a wardrobe changes are the key to getting a job (though in Hollywood it seems to help and What Not To Wear has demonstrated that an appearance upgrade can change your life). However appearance can be a component. Most importantly, stay healthy, eat right, exercise, and keep up your hygiene for you. They say you are what you eat (“they” are very wise; they must get so many hits on Google), and to an extent that is true. If you only eat crap (pardon my junk food), you will feel like crap (or if anything, you’ll develop a tummy ache). Exercising increases your endorphins, and therefore influences your happiness. If you’re not a runner, even going on long walks can help (ever heard of the grandmas who meet every week to walk in the mall?). And please shower. No one wants to smell your self pity. And trust me, a shower in the morning will kickstart your day and make you feel fresh. If you are down, shower. It actually relaxes you and will cleanse you, allowing you to start your day over. And when you do go for that job interview, carefully pick out your outfit. You want to dress the part so they can see you in their company.

The first two A’s are very important elements of Attractiveness (AA batteries, if you will). A positive attitude gives you an enthusiasm that is more appealing to employers. Your activeness while out of work also contributes to your selling points as a potential employee. Just like beauty isn’t only skin deep, everything about the way you approach the job search will contribute to your attractiveness in the eyes of your employers.

AAA isn’t the only philosophy that will help you in the job search, but it is a suggestion. Find what it is that puts your best self forward and go forth and conquer.

One of my favorite bloggers, Ricë Freeman-Zachery at Notes from the Voodoo Cafe has been blogging about getting organized, and she had a great post on the value of lists.

Lists! Normally the dining table (which doubles as my office) is awash in lists.

But her post reminded me that I had sort of fallen off the list wagon, and that I had better climb back on if I wanted to accomplish anything. So I sat down and made a list of stuff that had to be done—grinding, boring, distasteful chores like balancing my checkbook—and it had to be done soon, or my world would would sputter and stall like a 1967 Volkswagon fastback in a rainstorm.

And I actually finished the most pressing things on that list. And, as is often the case, after I disposed of those boulder-like tasks that weigh so heavily, I suddenly had a spurt of creative energy. Now I have three half-finished drawings and ideas for a dozen more. It’s funny how undone business like an out-of-balance checkbook can block my creativity.

Actually, right now I’ve got another type of list that’s working well: a list of things the artist must do.  At the Portrait Society of America, on their archives page there is a good piece in pdf form called From Rookie to Pro by Michele Rushworth. It’s evidently notes from a lecture, each item a bullet point, and it’s very good advice. It helps me maintain my discipline and determination.  A copy of the list now lives on my refrigerator where I read it every morning and evening.

So nothing went according to plan today. I didnt get nearly anything on my checklist done. Ray was cranky all day from teething and either was being held or crying. It was rough. I did a quick and easy crockpot meal and spent all day catering to the boys. It was an ok day but not productive with cleaning or my to do list. I did manage to get our hotel booked for the weekend josh gets home. As well as cleaning up after dinner. So I guess thats something Im exhausted tonight so I must retire. Tomorrow I will be finishing up today’s to do list. Which includes going to base. Goodnight

Tomorrow me and the boys are heading to the AirForce Base so that I can get my military ID and get all of us enrolled in TriCare! Yay! While we are there Im going to do the boys’ lessons with them. Or thats what I am planning anyways. D is wanting to learn about vikings so that is the lesson theme for now! He is really thrilled about it. On Monday we used his letter shaped paint sponges so that he could spell out the word “viking”. It was amazing that he picked up on how it was spelled on his first try after I spelled it the first time. It was so wonderful! If I would have had him sit down with a pen and paper he wouldnt have wanted to do it. However because it was painting and different. I think next time we will go out in the yard and use rocks to spell out a word or two! Today I found some $3 books at walmart so I got a few. Two berensteins bears books, “Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs”, and “I love you stinky face”. So the boys were excited about that. Also I got a white board that has the seven days on the left side with space to jot down a schedule, then a to do list section then a notes section! I have it propped up on a cubby next to the dresser so when I wake up I see it right away. Also on the list for tomorrow is to do bible lessons with the boys, find some good priced modest dresses online, and get some homework done. Raymond had a hard time getting to sleep tonight. Well first he went to sleep around 8 I think. We always come to bed at 8 but he fell asleep right away. Then woke up around 9ish I think. He was screaming and crying. I gave him his milk and tried to hold him. I thought it was his tummy but nope. Then he kept pointing inside his mouth. I asked him if his teeth hurt and he kept pointing and crying so I gave him tylenol and some homeopathic gum numbing stuff. After that he just wanted to play. He just now fell asleep within the last 20 minutes and its 11:38 now.

I also purchased the Home Management Binder Ebook from Keeping The Home! Im SOOO excited to read it! Ive been wanting to get it for almost 2 years now. Idk why I didnt get it before it was only $10. I finally did it!

Well I must get to sleep. Hope to be getting organized and back to blogging and writing the bible study if God still wants me to.

God bless!

I don’t know how anyone downsizes out of the big family home alone. The job is immense and takes five times longer than you could possibly imagine.

My daughter has been here for four days – left her usual job as Household Administrator and Sanitation Engineer in Oakland, California so she could perform a ramped-up version of the same duties with me in Vancouver, Washington.

I kiss the ground on which she walks.

Together we have sorted, tossed and packed unbelievable amounts of stuff.  Evidently my belongings were stored under pressure, because when a cabinet door is opened, its contents explode into a heap fifty times the size of the cabinet dimensions. Kind of like one of those paper-thin sponges when you add water.

I have this thing about like being packed with like. Kitchen pots with kitchen pots. Sweaters with sweaters. Tstchotchkes with tstchotckes. This makes packing a challenge, especially for volunteer help who just want to get the stuff stuffed.

My daughter notes, correctly, that when you pack really heavy kitchen pots you need something light and fluffy to cushion and fill the box so it is still carryable. So I have pots and sweaters in a box, tstchotckes and towels in a box, books and undies in a box.

You get the idea. Like with unlike. The boxes are labeled, but not so specifically that I could actually find the blue sweater without searching through all the boxes in which sweaters may be the only cushioning material.

Boxes are now piled in every room. Goodwill is better off too. I sure hope I have sufficient storage space!

Despite all this concerted effort, when Heather leaves tonight I’ll still have days of work ahead.

I have decided to put this blog back where it belongs: A place for creative outlet and commentary on things of that sort.

Stay tuned for music, art, technology & opinions on all of it.

How soon? Who knows?

OK, I admit it: I am a type-A, large scale, major league worrier.

I’m not to the level where I’m afraid to leave my house, or anything along those lines. But I do worry. My worrying tends to be along the lines of playing out different scenarios in my head, and minimizing risk or error. (That comes from a decade of working at jobs where minimizing risk and error was my main task.)

One thing I’ve always been a worrier about? Making sure that any of my personal documents are properly trashed once I no longer need them. That may seem a little OCD, but I’ve had at least a half dozen friends who have experienced identity theft.

I’d had a couple years of documents (old credit card bills and bank statements) that had accumulated on (and under) my desk. So I was happy to learn about a place where I could take those documents and have them shredded for free.

A few Saturdays ago, my partner and I drove to the Wicker Park neighborhood, where Secure EcoShred had an on-site shredding event in the parking lot of a store there. The Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce had partnered with Secure EcoShred to provide this service a few times a year.

I talked for a few minutes with one of the people from Secure EcoShred. It’s a woman-owned business that’s based here in Chicago. I was impressed at their commitment to the environment (all documents are recycled once shredded, and when possible, the shredding trucks are fueled with biodiesel fuel).

Mostly, I was just happy to have all those documents out of my house – and satisfied that I could watch it being shredded. I’m going to try to talk to the condo associations in my building and neighboring buildings (I live in a “condo alley”) and see if there’s any interest in setting up a shredding event in my neighborhood.

Since you probably don’t worry about these things, let me give you the Worrier’s Checklist on how to avoid identity theft and sensibly dispose of those important personal documents. This may seem like common sense, but when we get super-busy and overbooked, this is the kind of self-care and awareness that’s first to go.

Mail. Most people have secure mailboxes, but be concerned if your mailboxes aren’t locked, or if they’re easily accessible to anyone who enters the building. I’ve lived in a few old buildings (like the traditional Andersonville third-story walkup) where even if a security door existed, the mailboxes were on the public side. If you get a credit card offer or a bank statement that you don’t want to keep, NEVER just tear it up and toss it in the hallway trash. That’s exactly how one friend of mine had someone start a credit card in her name.

Bank accounts. I won’t pull a Suze Orman on you here and ask why you aren’t paying closer attention to your bank statements. But bank statements should be kept for several years – the IRS suggests three. I hate having them lay around, so I got a three ring binder and just punch ‘em and throw them in the binder once I get them.

You can ALSO choose to have a paper-free statement if you have online access at your bank, but generally the bank only keeps a year to 18 months online. It’s also important to make sure any other bank-related items (your checkbook register, an NSF notice) are properly shredded as well.

Credit cards. The easiest way to think about credit card bills and correspondence is this: Anything you receive in the mail from your credit card company? Is like another copy of your card floating around. Make sure you retain or shred anything from them. One common mistake people make when receiving a new card is to take the document it’s attached to – you know, the one with your account number and credit limit – and just leave it on a desk or toss it into the trash. We’re so happy and pumped to have that shiny new card that we forget all about everything else! That document needs to be shredded, too.

Where to shred. If you work in an office, chances are you have a shred bin or a shredder. Your company might not mind your use of those resources on a one-off basis, but I’d be reluctant to suggest you use it all the time, since that may be considered a misuse of company resources. Some banks, particularly smaller, community based banks or credit unions, may offer shredding as a service to its customers. And of course, you can buy a shredder, though in this economy, spending anywhere from $50 to $150 for something that’s used only occasionally doesn’t seem like a great idea.

Keeping it together. Many of us are disorganized and lose track of our money because we’re so scattered. I’ve helped a few of my friends get organized by setting up two things: a filing cabinet, and an “inbox.”

The inbox is a single spot where you can keep all their mail and bills until you have a chance to sit down and take a closer look. Managing money and paying bills is usually easier when you can sit down and look at the big picture all at once, rather than in 30-second increments as you’re running out the door or coming home after a long day.

The filing cabinet sounds more complicated than it is, but it’s simple and cheap. You don’t need to buy a whole metal filing cabinet (which can run at least $100), especially if you’re a single person. Places like Target, Staples and Wal-mart will have plastic storage boxes (usually for under $10) and a box of 20 hanging files is maybe another $5.

Take ten or fifteen minutes to set it up – again, very simple: Just set up a folder for every bill you pay. Credit cards, cell phone, cable, car payment, rent or mortgage. I’d recommend a couple others if you really want to be organized (receipts, medical information, insurance, one related to documents from your employer). And you’re done. It becomes super-easy to keep documents organized and out of the way.

Do you have any suggestions for storing and managing your personal documents, or ripping them to shreds?

My ex has been feeling more anxious about my move than I am, so to calm himself he offered to help oversee yesterday’s Big Move. Stuffing my Stuff into Storage. Squeezing Drusilla’s foot into Cinderella’s tiny glass slipper.

My storage place offers a 16’ truck for such occasions ($20), and my plan was to pick it up at noon so the two strong lads I hired at $25 an hour would be ready to boogie after their morning final exams.

The truck was so huge (to me) and the s-curve of my driveway so challenging that I was grateful Martin could handle it instead. I’d have taken out the mailbox, the rock wall, and at least one fender.

I figured I needed a 10’x20’ space but only a 7×10 and a 10×10 were open, so I took them, negotiating the price down from $173 to $98 for the first six months. (It pays to haggle in the storage bidness…).

Mart decided to put the boxes in the smaller one and the furniture in the bigger one.

The first run was a truckful of boxes. Me taping and labeling straggler boxes as fast as they hauled them off. Carefully noting on top and sides the most significant box contents.  They stuffed that unit to the rafters.

Then came the furniture. I had gotten rid of most of the big stuff, or so I thought. But I forgot about all the chairs and tables. 8 dining chairs, 2 office chairs, 2 living room chairs. A dining table, several side tables, etc. none of which fold well. Mart wove the pieces together into an intricate web of legs – again to the rafters.

Oops! we forgot the oak commode in the guest bathroom.  And what about these lamps? Do the garden tools in the garage go?

It was all done well after dark.  Oh, and it was 18 degrees out. At least it was dry!

Then after the very last few boxes were placed I discovered that the lads hadn’t even noticed my labeling… most of the boxes were placed LABEL SIDE IN.

No way am I going to be going to the storage place hoping to pull out just this one box or that chair. It’s gonna be all or nothing when I need something. Like when I move into my next place, wherever/whenever that’s going to be.