Gaylord Palms is Awesome!

Looking back after 5 days of vacation with my boys, I realize that the hotel we stayed at was likely the BEST place I have ever stayed. I've traveled all over the world, stayed in the Ritz-Carltons, Westins, Marriot Grands.

All those places never made me feel appreciated for visiting.


The hotel was beautiful, no detail overlooked.
The staff was friendly and made us feel welcome.
The pool was .....well....It had an OCTOPUS slide!



There was just something magical about the Gaylord Palms.
Our room was in the Everglades area, with all the sounds of the animals and swap critters singing. Even live alligators (big hit with my boys).

It was a delightful vacation.
I had so much fun. My boys did, too.

....Please be patient while I ramp up to business mode.

What vacation spot has surprised you?

Yeah, I can do that

My client, "Mary" called me up the other day. She was looking for some help getting a few items assembled that she purchased for her new home.


I had helped Mary move into her home in May, and I was more than happy to help her out again. She was looking to get her patio furniture assembled, a TV cabinet and some shelving in the playroom.

-Her patio set went together very easily. Looks great on her new patio.
-The TV cabinet had a problem with one of the doors. She needs to call the manufacturer and get a replacement piece. It was damaged in shipping.
-The shelving in the playroom is saved for my next visit.

Mary could have assembled them herself. My engineering brain helps me put things together a bit quicker. Plus Mary was able to work on some other things around her home.

My job is all about helping people feel better about their home.

What ability in your brain helps your clients?

9 Time Management Tips

Do you feel the need to be more organized and productive? Do you spend your day in a frenzy of activity and then wonder why you haven't accomplished much?

Time management skills are important. You may find yourself performing many different jobs during the course of a single day. Here are a few time management tips will help you increase your productivity and stay cool and collected.


1) Realize that time management is a myth.
No matter how organized you are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All you can actually manage is yourselves and what you do with that time.

2) Find out where you're wasting time.
You may fall prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. Do you spend too much time 'Net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls?

3) Create time management goals.
Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters.

4) Prioritize ruthlessly.
You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your goals. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish?

5) Learn to delegate and/or outsource.
No matter if your running a household or a business, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load. Ask for help.

6) Establish routines and stick to them as much.
While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time.

7) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks.
For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this task and stick to it.

8) Be sure your systems are organized.
Are you wasting a lot of time looking for papers and files? Take the time to organize a file management system. Is your filing system slowing you down?

9) Don't waste time waiting.
From client meetings to dentist appointments, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But you don't need to just sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Always take something to do with you, such as a book you wish to read, a checkbook that needs to be balanced, or just a blank pad of paper that you can use to jot ideas.

You CAN be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish - once you've come to grips with the time management and taken control of your time.

How do you manage your time?

Off to Be a Kid Again!

I am off to beautiful Orlando, Florida with my family.
Looking forward to just being a kid again.



Plans are to play poolside, tour the Kennedy Space Center and visit Sea World.


My boys have been counting down the days for weeks.
They are so excited about this trip.

I am very thankful to be able to take them on this trip.
I have never been to Sea World or the Space Center.
So, I am pretty psyched for this trip, too.

Where is your favorite amusement destination?

Happy Birthday Matthew

My son turned 9 years old yesterday.

I cannot believe it!
I still feel 22 years old?

An amazing young man, who knows how to take care of his mommy.

He made me breakfast in bed this morning.
He does this at least once a week.
He picks out flowers for me when we go shopping.
He helps around the house and is very protective of me.

I am incredibly proud of him.

Every year on my boys birthday, I take the time and write them a letter. (click here for previous post)
It is a wonderful tradition I truly enjoy.

Another tradition is making birthday cakes. I was kinda bummed this year when he did not want to make his birthday cake. We always create some elaborate theme and I pretty much let them decide what they want.

This was his cake from last year, "animals about to be wiped out by a volcano and lava." Sweet theme!
This year he wanted a cookie cake.....Boring.

But, this was his choice.
It was what he wanted.
Our tradition was cast aside this year and I was a bit sad.
Matthew had a wonderful birthday and he devoured his cookie cake!

Traditions are great, but you have to be prepared for changes.
I am not giving up my letter writting tradition, no way.

What traditions have changed over time with you?

An Extra Helping Hand

Sometimes you just have to ask
for a little help.

Asking for help is difficult for me.
My mom is always telling me that
I cannot do it all.
I am getting better at allowing people to help me.

Last week, I helped Leasa get her home organized.
(little delay in posts due to summer fun)
We worked on several areas of her home.

1. Master closet.
Sorry no pics, we jumped into the project so fast we forgot.
All her clothes were pulled out, boxes and bags too. Then we sorted out what she was going to keep and donate. And put grouped similar items together when they were returned to the closet.

2. "Guest coat" closet.
Kinda of a strange little closet used as a catch all for extra items or "I don't know put it in here" closet. Again, we pulled everything out of it. Got rid of many extra bags and papers, few "why do I have these" pictures, found her kids christening outfits and set some items for donation.


3. Kitchen pantry.
There were too many of those plastic grocery bags and a few items that were not being used. Once we got the items out, I cleaned up the shelves and put the items that Leasa was using back. The things not needed were tossed.

In the end, I continued to help Leasa go through the many of the other kitchen cabinets and junk drawers. Having a little bit of extra help, went a long way in getting her home organized.

Plus we had a lot of fun and laughs along the way.

When do you ask for help?

A Day for Me

My friend, Deb Sorenson, recently posted a story about a wasp.

Which inspires this post.

I had a client scheduled for today.
The whole day.
Monday we started working on clearing out the basement with plans to continue today and Thursday.

Well, her mother went into the hospital and is quite ill.

Appointments cancelled. (bummer)

Or is it.......

I was able to sleep in.
Take care of a few items.
Test drive my dream car.
(original VW Beetle convertible)
Go for an awesome bike ride at Munson Park trails.
Have a little siesta.
And it is only 4:30pm, who knows what is come before bed?

I really needed this break. A full day just to do what I wanted to do.

My client having to cancel her appointments was a bummer,
no way was I going to let it ruin the day.
Instead. I made the day, My Day!

Perhaps you cannot afford a day.
Grab a moment, 10-15 minutes, to just enjoy yourself.

You've earned it!

When was the last time you had a day to yourself?
What did you do?