Wednesday, February 29, 2012

One extra day ... make it a good one

"I wish I had more time."

How often have you said that?

Today ... February 29th ... a bonus day to everyone around the world.

Make today something successful and special for yourself.

If not today, when?

What did you do today?

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Are you a Bag Lady?

Tax season is upon us and my positive thought for you is this means Spring is around the corner. (Yeah!) Now is the time to start gathering up all your paperwork and start planning to fill out your 1040's. The majority of us must file, so let's make it a happy experience.

Jill called me to help gather all of her paperwork together so she can get it to her accountant. Not too difficult of a task, though for Jill who is in her mid 70's and in a wheelchair this could become challenging. She had placed much of her mail in plastic grocery bags. There wasn't too much junk mail to sort through, but gathering all her medical bills and investement sheets took some time.

"I think I've become a bag lady," Jill commented as we opened a drawer in her dresser filled with bags of paperwork. Well, at least none of the papers will be damaged, I assured her plus it made it easy to sort through the papers since they were grouped in months. There wasn't a bag for each month, rather 2-3 months in each bag.

In the end, we had all of her investment papers together, her medical expenses sorted and the housing receipts collected. Jill thanked me for helping her complete this task in just over one hour, which likely would have taken her a full day and exhausted her had she done this on her own. And, she would likely have bags of unneeded papers scattered about her room.

It's tax time. It is what it is.
Complaining about it isn't going to make it better.
And does complaining ever truly help any situation?

So, What's your positive thought about tax season?

Friday, February 03, 2012

Organizing is a Time for Change (in a cracking Peter Brady voice)

Change is always good.  Kinda stirs up the funk and gets new life & energy into your space.  When you are about to tackle an organizing project, think about not only sorting and purging, but making some changes to your space.

For instance, think about a room or area that you can say to the kids, "Go into the _______ and play." This could be a basement, extra bedroom, livingroom....geez, maybe a closet if the kids are driving you nuts. Being a single mom and I adore my boys, but they do drive me nuts with their energy when all I want to do is take a bath....by myself.


Looking at  "Sara's" playroom. Here is the before picture. Sara admitted there were too many toys and it was the room that everything was thrown in for a quick house clean up.

We started with sorting out the floor and boxing toys to be donated. Moved onto cleaning out the baskets on the shelves, and getting toys, books & craft items put away.

I suggested to Sara moving some of the furniture around in the playroom. When you move furniture around in a room, it triggers something in your mind. Kids are creative creatures, so this will make the room feel totally new and exciting to them.


Sara it was my pleasure helping you tackle your playroom. I hope your girls enjoy it.

When you are feeling "ho hum" about your home, move something. Rearrange the furniture. Change the arrangement of pictures on a table. Switch plants in the corners of your home (mine are all plastic, I kill the live ones). Even the smallest change will make that room feel better.

What are you going to move around in your home?