Life Strategies - a simple story

A father passing by his son's bedroom, was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up. Then, he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, 'Dad.' With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter, with trembling hands.

'Dear, Dad.
It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend, because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mum and you. I've been finding real passion with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew you would not approve of her, because of all her piercing's, tattoos, her tight motorcycle clothes, and because she is so much older than I am.

But it's not only the passion, Dad. She's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods, and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't, really hurt anyone We'll be growing it for ourselves, and trading it with the other people in the commune, for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want.

In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS, so Stacy can get better. She sure deserves it!! Don't worry Dad, I'm 15, and I know how to take care of myself. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit, so you can get to know your many grandchildren.

Love, your son, Joshua.



P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Jason's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the school report that's on my desk.
I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home.

Clutter and Organizing

The votes are in and it looks like this will be a post about clutter and organizing.

What the Key? - Throw some SHIT away! kidding....

What is clutter? Everything that doesn't have a home. All the crap that you have no where to put. Ity Bity treasures that your kids find outside, gifts your kids get from the doctor or the dentist for being good patient. Magazines, flyers (ugh), the shoes, the bag of hand-me-downs that you haven't gone through yet or given away yet.

It all just piles up. After reading Peter Walsh's book It's all too much I realized that it really is a mind set. You need to deal with clutter as it happens, get rid of the flyers that you are never going to look at, for example for us right now in our lives we never look at the Nevada Bob's Golf store flyer, neither one of us are going golfing anytime soon, even if we had to play tomorrow we have all the equipment we need to get us through 1 or 2 tournaments there is no need to read that flyer. Same goes for grocery stores that I just won't go to. For me the Price Chopper is just not convenient- EVER. So I turf that flyer too even if they have cheese on sale for 50 cents I know I will never go there so forget it.

Another tip I have read from Marilu Henner is "Never leave a room empty handed" I think that has proved very useful. You would be amazed what gets picked up one handful at a time.

In our household we have found that the family calendar with a to do list and grocery list attached or posted in close proximity is a life saver. All activities nights out, etc get put on the calendar as they are booked. Items used up or requested get put on the grocery list. Anything I notice around the house that needs to get done goes on the to do list ie sweep the floor,vaccumming, laundry, dishwasher, oil change on the car. Then when me or hubby has a few minutes we review that list and prioritize those little things that keep the house running.

We try to chat once or twice a week to check in and see if we have any scheduling conflicts or if one or the other is feeling too rushed or worn out and then we may have to make some choices to cancel some engagements, this also happens if we notice the kids are getting a little out of sorts and need some down time.

When I put away laundry which is about once every 10 days I go through each child's clothes to see what fits what they haven't worn and I keep a bag going on the back of the bedroom or closet door, when this bag is full it goes to the donation holding area in our garage to be picked up with the next donation day.

A great resource for tips is Peter Walsh's website which has a Tip of the Day.

I find the best way to deal with clutter and organizing is little steps at a time. Start with the daily stuff, picking up after yourselves and organizing your family activities and time when you have that under control you will be able to carve out an hour here or there to deal with one pile at a time.

With just a little bit at a time you will begin to feel the weight lifting and the air starting to move again which will motivate you to keep going one hour one pile at a time.

Have a great long weekend! Till next time! don't forget to vote for next week's topic.

Fabulous Friday

Okay so it's time to get back on the blogging ride. so many thing swimming around that I have to get out!

New and exciting things that are going on that I may have mentioned, not sure since April was such a sporatic post month for me.

Looking forward to the weekend because we are doing a "Fun Run" The Mudpuppy Chase (read walk) to raise money for KidsAbility. I am so excited because our family managed to raise just over $900.00 Can you imagine! WOOT!

I am truly thankful to my co-workers and friends and family who supported us for this awesome cause. We truly can not pay nor thank our therapy team at KidsAbility enough for all they do for The Bugaloo.

Bugaloo had spring photos taken at school and they look awesome so we order some (suckers)

I have finally entered the running phase of my conditioning program. First set of running cycles was today and suprisingly my partner and I felt really good afterwards and are really please. it was touch and go about 10 minutes in, but we perservered.

I am still sitting at a 7lb weight loss for tops but that is because I have eased up on some of the food rules to accommodate for the increase in exercise. But if I maintain I'll be happy since muscle weighs more than FAT!

Finally got all the clothing ordered for the school spirit wear sale. Ugh! Remind me not to volunteer for that again. What a time and energy sucker.

Scrapbooking club has started at work and we are having a ball. I spent the firts few weeks completing a bunch of kits I had lying around and now I'm hoping to focus on creating and getting a few original designs out there.

Also I have to make all the dadgum thank you cards for everyone who donated to our fundraiser.

We emptied our composter to spread some of its lovely goodness in our flower beds so we can get everything ready for summer planting. I just love that we managed to make soooooo much compost this winter and reduced our garbage output significantly.

Whew!

And Last but certainly not least we celebrated the 2nd birthday of the Peanut who was beautiful and full of energy and sass and enjoyed her cake very much. Hopefully I will get around to posting a photo soon.

Post at ya later!

Organic Housekeeping

I was hoping this title may inspire me to get some housekeeping done.

You know, if I write about it, it will happen.?

Since my return to full time work, my cousin, Ka (who has a learning disability) has been helping me out by coming once a week to do the vacuuming of our main living area, changing the sheets on the beds and cleaning the bathroom, plus 2-3 loads of laundry while she's here. I can't even begin to tell you how helpful it has been to know that the basics are being covered.

I don't have to worry about cleaning the tub BEFORE bathing my children. NICE!

However, this still leaves the dusting, vacuuming the rest of the house, and the other 10 loads of laundry that my family of four manages to produce in a week.And picking up all the CRAP that we have in our house.

Now that's ORGANIC.

Anyway, I guess I just needed to complain a little before I suck it up and get started on the laundry.

I have been using this new Organic Laundry Detergent and fabric softner called Nature Clean, well I'm not sure if it's new to the marketplace, but it is new to me. I found it in our local healthfood store and two weeks later it was available in my grocery store. So I am sure they have been around for a while. I am minimally ahead of the trend you know.
I quite like it and no one in my family has noticed a difference in their clothes.

I also use their all purpose cleaner for mirrors and windows and counter tops, and the toilet bowl cleaner (which smells like pine) All work just as well as the brands I was using before.

Well, that laundry is NOT going away! I have to get groceries (cereal milk bread) and it has started snowing again.

Have a great Saturday!

S

Organic Housekeeping - Part 2

What to do when your dog eats 4 cups of paper mache glue?

First, 4 cups of paper mache glue is NOT appropriate for the intestinal tract of said 11 year old boxer.

Second, first – aid for such occasion includes ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide forced down the throat of said dog to induce vomiting.

Dog does not vomit for the next hour -- family must proceed to family yoga for 1 hour.

Family comes home to COPIOUS dog vomit on front window sill. Touché !

Step 1 – use dust pan to shovel up paper mache glue, peroxide, dog food vomit into garbage bag.

Step 2 – use vinegar and water solution to spray down window, window sill and the wall to clean off excess.

Step 3 – spray with hydrogen peroxide to disinfect window, window still and wall.

Step 4 – Turn to Chair that is placed in front of said window. Use towel to towel off excess dog vomit from chair. Scrub “soiled” area with soap and water lifting excess liquid with yet another towel.

Step 5 – Spray with a light vinegar water mixture to deodorize fabric on chair

Step 6 – Two days later when chair still smells, use mixture of borax and water and scrub chair again lifting excess liquid with towel. Wait 2 days for chair to dry vacuum off white flakes.

Step 7 - If smell proceeds, throw chair to the curb

Okay the last step is not very organic, but the chair is 25 years old has been stitched together several times and has most of the springs removed from it.

It’s a dog chair people, I needed to get rid of it anyway!

AMEN!

Organic Housekeeping - Part 1

This is the title of the book I chose for my Christmas gift from Hubby. Since we have done a fair job this year of eating well. Although, I have to admit that sometimes I have to catch my breath when I purchase organic green grapes! I have to say that purchasing a few more items from the organic food store has not entirely compromised my grocery budget. However, I digress.

The goal for 2008 and to take it to the next level and try to use less chemicals for cleaning in our home. So a more organic laundry detergent, good old Borax and lots and lots of vinegar. I was extremely please to be able to find an organic surface cleaner with orange oil and tea tree in it, that works just as good as my ammonia cleaner, so all is not lost.

Now, for those of you who know me this last paragraph is insanely hilarious because I am not the best housekeeper. My greatest pal in Whitby will laugh out loud because all I do is clean when I go to her house. I even have my own bottle of windex there! There is one pet peeve that I have, okay it borders on OCD. I cannot stand a spotty stainless steel tap. That's why is called stainless steel people! it is supposed to shine like a mirror. Where this compulsion came from I will never know, but I figure if that is all that is wrong with me than I can live with that. Okay moving on!

This goal for 2008 was put to heavy duty testing this weekend as Peanut proceeded to spike a fever and vomit like the scene in the exorcist all over our couch and carpet. It took two days but I am proud to say that I did not use any chemicals to clean everything up. Although it was tempting and I did go to the store and purchase one product that I know would have fixed everything up. I am proud to say that I will be able to return it and carry on my day with a eco friendly conscious.

Life would be easier if they just sold a product called Vomit Remover" or Puke Be Gone" don't you think?

How did I do it? you ask, well here is a brief run down.
STEP1 - Clean offending vomit with paper towels (okay not eco friendly and also not my job unless you want the puddle to get bigger.)

STEP 2 Saturate area with a mixture of water and vinegar about a table spoon to a litre or two of water. Give a little scrub.

STEP 3 - Soak up puddle with towel (preferrably old tattered towel not new Christmas towel, sometimes hubby does not understand these things)

Step 4 - Soak up more of puddle with towel (this time with old tattered towel and no yelling)

Step 5 - Let air dry over night.

Step 6 - sprinkle with baking soda let sit for a couple hours and vaccuum

VOILA! fixed!

Happy New Year!