Pause for Randomness: Today is brought to you by the letter C!

C is for Curves – I got up this morning and did my workout that I missed the past two mornings and man, I love how much energy I have when I leave!  If you are a woman who knows she needs to work out, but just can’t find the time and/or are worried about people will think about you at the gym, Curves is for you!  It’s only 30 minutes and it’s awesome.  I feel so much better about myself, have more energy, and I’ve made some great friends!! 

C is for Color – There’s a little spot of the flower bed in the backyard that is empty and while I love all of the green in the yard, it’s a full-sun spot and there are so many beautiful annuals that I thought “ya know, I’m just gonna get a couple things”… so this morning after working out I headed to Home Depot and got two pots of purple petunias (the mini ones that have the white edge around them… so beautiful!) and two pots of dark pink begonias.  I planted them in the spot, and when the sun comes out from behind the clouds I’ll go out and take a picture.

C is for Clean – Then it was time for a shower.

C is for Catch-up – So because of the dog hair I normally sweep every other day, and then I do the Bona wood polish stuff once a week.  Well, the last time I swept was last Thursday.  So, this morning was catch-up morning.  I swept and swept and oh my goodness I can’t believe how much hair these dogs shed!  I really didn’t realize it when we had carpet, but now that we are in a room with hardwood floors, it has nowhere to go but to get swept!  I’m so glad we are doing mainly hardwood and tile in our new house, and you can bet that I’m going to be vacuuming the carpet a whole lot more often now that I realize how much dog hair is lying around!!!  (Which by the way – a tip for when you are sweeping/mopping and you have dogs – if they aren’t crated, train them to lay on the bed while you are sweeping and mopping.  I’ve found that if I send them outside, then they come in and carry crud onto the clean floor, and otherwise they try to follow me around and “help” – so it’s great that they’ll stay on the bed until I’m done mopping and the floor is dry!!  I love my well-trained dogs (thanks mainly in part to Cody)!! :)

C is for Clorox – Then it was time to clean the bathroom.  I have a friend who asked me at one point to tell her what thing I clean each day so that it reminds her to do the same.  Well, if she’s relying on me she now knows that I am NOT SuperWoman, but merely Lois Lane… I have good intentions, but I don’t always get around to things.  SO today was clean the vanity, clean the toilet, mop the floor, and clean the mirror day.  (And typing this just made me realize I forgot to clean the mirror… be right back!)  Ok – now that’s done.  Anyway, I’ve noticed that I get my cleaning done a lot quicker if I do it in the morning before I eat breakfast… a rumbling stomach seems to be motivation to me to move a little quicker.  Not that you have to do that, it’s just what works for me.  In the process of cleaning the bathroom I dirtied a few rags so I decided to go ahead and wash a load of towels and underwear too.

C is for Clients – Ok, so this C is a stretch, but yesterday I was at Office Depot getting a couple of little things for my travel agency job and while I was there I saw several awesome products that I just have to share about.  The first were in the Post-It section – they now have Post-It organizing pockets that you can stick on the wall and then put things in that are removable!  They have a packet that has three different sizes, and then one that is “bill” size and made for holding mail and bills, and that packet has two that size in there.  Now they are about $6-$7, but it’s a really clever way to get organized, so I had to share.  Another thing they had in the little bins by the checkout was a collection of the “for Dummies” books, but they were little mini-pocket-sized ones.  One of them was “Organizing for Dummies.”  I flipped through and it had some great tips if you are just getting started organizing your life.  The other product I was impressed with had nothing to do with organizing, but it was really cute… they now have a tape dispenser that’s a high-heeled shoe!  SO cute.  I was thinking this would be great in a small cubicle where you really don’t have a lot of space to put cutesy stuff – but you’ve got to have a tape dispenser!  They also have a Post-It holder that’s a heart.  Fun fun.  I love Office Depot.

And the final C is for Cross-Stitching – When my to-do list is done today – which it almost is!! – I’ll be starting a new cross-stitch piece!  The past couple of days I’ve taken care of getting the fabric, pulling my floss and it’s sitting with the Fray-Check drying as I type this.  I’m so ready to start this new project… it’s another C – a calendar!  When I get it all done I’ll have to post a picture.  Today is mainly “me time”, which is nice b/c I’ve done a lot of travel agency and PC stuff the last couple of days.

In Closing.. (he he he I couldn’t resist another C), have a fabulous day and don’t forget that you can’t be SuperWoman all the time, but on days when you do have to play Catch-up, you’ll feel so great and accomplished when it’s all done!! :)  You go, girl!

Goal thirteen: Organize your kids –no matter how young

As a kid I remember being told to “clean my room.”  I remember telling my students to “clean the room.”  I’ve heard friends tell their kids to “clean your room.”  SO, I can assume from these quotes that we often tell kids to clean up.  We tell them… but do we show them?

Some kids have a natural knack for cleaning and organizing (I was one of those kids… hmm… guess that probably went without saying, huh?).  Over the four and a half years I taught, I was typically blessed with one of these students a year.  However, the last group of kids I taught had literally zero organizational skills whatsoever.  This is frustrating as a teacher, and I’m sure it’s frustrating as a parent as well.  BUT you can’t just tell your non-organizer to clean their room and expect it to happen!  You must start from the time you are teaching your baby to sort colors, and even when you are picking up the toys after your toddler, by having them play a game with you.  It’s the cleanup game.  In this game, you are doing all the work and they are merely observers.  Then over time, they become helpers, and eventually the do-ers.  In this “game” you are teaching your child that all the Legos go in this box, all the Lincoln Logs go in this box, all the socks go in this drawer, pjs in this drawer, etc, etc. 

It’s important that kids have a place to put each toy, whether on a shelf or in a toy box.  It’s never ok to shove the toys under the bed, or to cram them into the closet.  When they learn this by watching you as YOU clean their room, and then they help by not just following the direction of “put this away” but rather “put this in the bottom drawer” or “put this on the second shelf.”  Never assume that your child will remember where they got the toy from, until they are at least 6 years old.  At that point, the command should start as a question – “Where does this go?”  When the child replies correctly, praise with “What a good memory you have!”  If the child doesn’t remember correctly, don’t get upset.  Many children have a recall memory that is short.  Even if it’s their favorite toy and they play with it often, the first three or four times of putting it away, they may not remember where you want it to go - remember it’s you who decided where it should go in the organization strategy, not them… and they can’t read your mind!  So, if they don’t remember correctly, respond with, “What other toys is it like?  Where do they go?”  Continue this line of questioning until the child responds with the correct answer.  Don’t tell them.  When they conclude correctly and are praised for having a good memory, they’ve had to work it through and are more likely to remember in the future than if they are just told. 

If you have not shown your older child how to organize and you are just starting with them, from Kindergarten through 3^rd grade you should involve the child in the process.  Have them help organize their room by starting with leading questions.  Sort toys together into like objects, then ask your child where would be a good place to store this item based on its amount of use.  You might also discover that your child might need an additional piece of furniture in his/her room to help organize, such as those cubby shelves from Target/Walmart that have canvas baskets, or perhaps one of those little shelves that holds colored plastic tubs.  Encourage your child with organization.  If they don’t have enough places to sort their toys into, then help them out as much as you can in that area. 

Don’t think that your child will be organized in one day.  After you go through and organize your child’s room WITH THEM being involved in the process, you still aren’t going to be able to go in the next week and say “clean your room” and expect them to remember how to do it all.  I encourage you to have a time each day where together you go in and do a quick pick up.  Don’t use this as a time to berate your child for making a mess of their room, but rather use it as a time of being together in a positive way.  If your child was playing alone in the room, ask questions about the toys you can tell they played with, and make it a game to see who can pick up the most toys and put them back in the right places.

Remember that it takes two weeks for adults to create a habit, so plan that you’ll need a month to get your early-elementary aged child into a routine enough that you could then go in and say “clean your room” and they would know what you expected of them.

For middle-elementary through high school if you are just now starting, I must say you are a little late, but there may still be hope.  Introduce your child to a label-maker – perhaps even get them one of their own.  Sit down with them and make sure that they have the furniture they need to keep everything organized.  Perhaps your 13 year old needs a desk with drawers to organize his art supplies, or your Junior in high school needs help learning how to use her planner so that it’s effective.  I recommend a talk that begins like this: “I’m recognizing that you need some help getting organized because your room is often cluttered.  I’m willing to help you get it straightened up if you will commit to keeping it that.  I’m even willing to entertain the thought of a piece or two of furniture to add to help you with the process.  I want you to have input because it is your room, but I’d like to give you some tips and help you get it sorted because I know it’s going to be a big job and I don’t expect you to know how to do it.  I’d like to work with you…” etc.  Remember especially with your middle schooler that if you seem like you are putting him down, he will retract.  With your high schooler if you are giving her one more command, she will shut you out.  It’s all about working together and figuring out what will work best for him/her.  Good luck with this one. 

I highly recommend getting your child organized – and the sooner, the better!  They are never too young to start realizing that we clean up our toys after we play with something, and that everything has a place.  SO – in all your spring cleaning and organizing… take time to teach the kids!  They can’t do it how you want it if they haven’t been taught… remember that they are NOT mind readers.

Oh!  And one last thing – a great way to help your child (of any age) remember what it should look like is to take pictures and then post them in that area.  After you get the closet done the way you want, take a picture of it, and post that picture inside the closet door.  The bookshelf, same thing, toy box, same thing.  Pictures help tremendously in the memory process.

Goal twelve: Family Calendar

After recently discussing multiple subjects that skirt around it… I’m finally there… to the day when I talk about organizing your family calendar.  Now this may seem a little odd since we don’t have kids yet, but there is no time like the present to start a habit that will carry on and prove to be useful in the future when we do have kids with busy schedules.

In addition to your planner that I’ve recommended you buy, you also need a dry erase whiteboard calendar for the week.  (Not for the month… there’s too much to write and the spaces are too small, so it’s a waste of money because you won’t end up using it even tho you intend to…)  I have a weekly calendar from Pottery Barn that has the days of the week already printed on it, and then it divides each day by Breakfast Lunch and Dinner sections.  Here’s how I put this to use:

I not only write the meal plan on each day in one color, but I put events and appointments on there in another color.  If it’s an event such as a special birthday it’s one color and goes at the top b/c it lasts all day, and appointments I need to go to are in another color, and are written in the box that best fits their time of day, and I write the time with it.

Imagine how great this system would be for a family of four with kids that go to gymnastics, soccer, karate, and swim lessons, for example.  Use a different color for each kid, and put the appointments in order in the box based on when they will occur in the day.  The important thing is to keep the calendar rolling.  Each morning part of your routine becomes to erase the day before and add the next one.  For example today, Wednesday, I would erase Tuesday the 12^th and put up Tuesday the 19^th.  I check my planner for events, but then this also makes it easy when a friend calls last minute for lunch to glance at the board and see what appointments I’ve got going on tomorrow at 11:30 when she wants to meet… and I don’t have to pull out the planner.

Then put your white board in a central location where everyone in the family knows about it.  Then anyone can easily check to see what’s for dinner tonight, or when their recital is Thursday night.  This is where you broadcast “date night” and “family game night” as well.  If it’s happening in the family, it goes on the calendar.  Also – for your sanity, have a post-it note pad close to the calendar so that when others want to add events they can jot it on a post-it and you can add it to the calendar.  ONE set of handwriting is easier to read, and also you can make sure you are consistent with your color coding, etc, where others might not.

As always, it’s only a suggestion… but it works for us! :) 

Goal eleven: Important Papers

As I sit down to right tonight, I must tell you I was inspired by a friend who shared some secrets with me that I’m going to pass along to you… so they won’t be secret anymore! ;)  I’m really glad she shared, and I hope that more of you will be inspired by this blog and will share with me the areas of your life that you are really proud of your organizational skills… because I love to get new ideas from people and learn from others!!!

 

When I think about organizing and I and talked some previously about organizing papers and sorting things into stacks and such so you could finally get down to seeing your desktop, I didn’t go into much detail on how to do that, so today I’m going to share Carrie’s secrets to keeping medical documents organized, and I’m going to share Cody’s system for bills and receipts, and hopefully between these two organization ideas, you’ll come up with something that works for you.  Because, as I always say, I’m not here to preach at you and tell you how to do things, but merely to get you inspired to figure out what works for you! 

SO – Medical Documents – Carrie has one of those accordion files that has a zipper.  Which I must pause here and say that whoever thought of those was a flippin’ genious.  Seriously.  Organized files you can take with you anywhere that aren’t going to fall out b/c it’s zipped closed!  Genious.  Sorry, I digressed.  The accordion file with the zipper.  In this particular one there’s a pocket in the front that zips as well, and she keeps the medical insurance card in there as well as the business cards for each doctor.  Brilliant.  THEN – she has a medical file for each person in the family as well as a dental file for her and her husband, a dental file for the kids, and an ortho file.  In these files she keeps EOBs, bills, statements, and all that junk, as well as it’s a great place to keep any xrays (on cd), etc.  (Also – I don’t know if she does this or not, but it would be a great place to keep those medical info sheets from the pharmacy regarding rx for each person as well.)  She made sure to tell me also that she keeps them in reverse date order so that the most recent event is in the front.  I must say that I tend to use this system of filing when it comes to ANY documents with dates. It’s always convenient to organize your papers this way.  If you’ve never tried it, do – that alone will revolutionize your life….  Again, I digressed.  Then, at the end of the year, she reverses the file so that January is on top and December is on bottom and staples it all and then it goes into the file cabinet.

WHY A MOBILE CARRYING CASE?  I’m seriously so gonna do this when we have kids.  I love it.  She’s quickly able to reference appointment dates, previous bill amounts, payments already made, and can reference any little past medical details in case of emergency or need to see a specialist.  It’s kept in a convenient place where both she and her husband can locate it, so that whoever handles the latest emergency with one of their kids can just grab the folder on the way out the door.  I love this idea.

As for organizing those other important papers like bills and receipts, Cody has a great system of manila envelopes.  Everything gets sorted by month.  So right now we’re working on the April envelope.  At the end of the month when all of the last pay stubs, bills, and receipts have been collected, they’ll go into an envelope marked April 2011.  Why organize this way vs by company you’re paying, etc?  This is very convenient during tax time – and any other time of the year really, because you can easily track what checks you wrote in a month (we keep the duplicates with our receipts), you can find a receipt for an item you purchased quickly, etc, etc.

Now, as with everything, I will say that I am not perfect.  Carrie is not perfect.  Cody is not perfect.  Just because we have these systems that we use does not mean there aren’t times when we fall down and forget to do something or put it off b/c of other priorities.  We are not superhuman.  BUT – it does mean that these are things you CAN do if you put your mind to it.  You are not too busy.  Remember that it only takes two minutes to do one little thing to start organizing your life.  If that two minutes happens to be when you are at WalMart to grab a zipper accordion file and some manila envelopes, then that’s your two minutes for today.  You are then one step closer to making this a change in your life.

Getting organized is a process.  It will NOT happen overnight.  It will not happen over two weeks.  It may take you two years to develop a system that works for you.  But, hopefully reading this blog has helped you (and will continue to help you) to realize little things that you can do to get “on track”, and hopefully you will also come to realize that NOT having a system is not an option.  We all need, in fact CRAVE, routine.  And don’t tell me your routine is to be spontaneous.  Spontaneity is ok, and variety is the “Spice of life” and all that jazz, but you need to figure out what works for you to get you into a system and a routine that will help you get organized.  Being organized WILL revolutionize your life, it will build self-confidence, and it will boost your self-esteem.

YOU CAN GET ORGANIZED...  I BELIEVE IN YOU!  DO YOU? 

Goal ten: Remember important dates

Well, after my vacation some of you may have thought I’d give up my habit of blogging, but I’m BAAAACCCKK!!! :)  We had a wonderful time but while we were gone I realized that I had missed some friend’s birthdays that occurred either during the trip or this week and I didn’t have cards or anything for them.  SO, I thought I’d share with you a system that I’ve just started to help remember those dates.  It’s not tried and true yet because I’m just starting it, but I’m hoping that some of you might like to share what you do to help remember important dates and then we can all learn from each other.

A while back I got a little birthday book from my friends at www.buttonedup.com and I finally sat down and filled it out recently.  It’s just pocket-sized, so it fits anywhere, and it has a tab for each month, and several lines for each date of each month.  I pulled up Facebook events and went through and recorded those extra-special birthdates on each date.  Now I’m going through and trying to get family members and other special dates that aren’t on FB – like anniversaries of close friends, their kids’ birthdays, etc.  It’s a process, but I’m hoping that in a couple of days I’ll have my book completed, and then I can make it a habit when I plan my grocery list for the first week of the month to look and see what birthdays and anniversaries are coming up that month so I can buy cards for the whole month at one time… that way I’m not frantic because I forgot that so-and-so’s birthday is in two days.

Also did you know that you can select in your settings on Facebook to have it send you an email reminder the beginning of each week to tell you which friends are having birthdays that week?  I just discovered that one recently, as well.  That’s helpful so you don’t forget the ones who you’re friends with but not close enough to send a card – just to drop a note via FB on their special day.

Another thing that’s easy to forget is those bi-annual or annual dr. appointments.  It’s hard to want to go in the first place, so it’s easy to forget to conveniently call and schedule your appointment.  Then you end up with vision problems or a cavity in your tooth and you kick yourself because prevention would have been far less painful and expensive.  Worse yet, if it’s an appointment for your child or pet you might not even realize there’s a problem before you are way past simple repair even.  It’s difficult however, to schedule appointments when you are there because it’s so far out, so I always say, “oh, I’ll call you.”  Here’s how I remember to call:  As soon as the appointment is finished, go home and pull out your calendar.  If it’s a six-month appointment, I make a note five months to the day from my appointment that says to call and make the appointment.  Then I know better what my schedule will be in the next month, and I can make sure that I don’t forget when to do it.  If your appointment crosses the calendar  (for example if it’s an annual appointment, or one in the fall to call back in the spring), make a note at the back of the calendar that’s “as big as Texas” that says what date you need to call and set up the appointment.  That way when you get your new calendar you can check the notes page and see what things you need to add.  Many calendars have a mini calendar for the next year in the back – circle the date and put a sticky note on the page so you don’t forget what you are supposed to do on that day!

And there’s one other important day that you need to remember if you are married – and especially if you have kids.  That important day is date night.  You must remember to take time for just you and your spouse, and it’s hard to schedule that in when you’ve got busy schedules – especially if the kids are running here and there with sports and what-not.  I know some couples try to make date night once a week but the problem with that is that other things get in the way and then they end up giving up the idea.  SO here’s what I intend to make work when we have kids – date night once a month.  The third Saturday or the first Monday or the second Friday.  Figure out when it’s going to be and STICK TO IT.  Don’t plan anything else for that night.  One couple I know has a partner couple and that’s how it works for them – my friends have date night the first Saturday night of the month and their friends have date night the third Friday night of the month.  On date night they take their kids over to the friends’ house and they have a family game night.  Whether it’s Rock Band or board games, the parents have committed to playing games as a family with the other family’s kids included.  Then they switch.  It’s been awesome for both couples and it’s great for the kids because they feel like they have FOUR supportive adults they can turn to for advice, etc.  All in all, for them it’s a win-win.  Just remember that just like I’ve “preached” about the importance of “me” time and “we” time with your family, you also need “just us” time with your spouse.  That’s VITAL to the health of your marriage.

Remembering important dates is all about organizing your schedule and taking time to make time for your friends, your health, and the health of your marriage.  You can do it!!!!! 

(If you haven’t figured out by now, it’s really important that you invest in a good planner… you can get cheap ones at WalMart or expensive ones at Barnes and Noble or electronic ones that are apps for your smartphone… I don’t care where you get it or what it looks like… you need one!)

Goal nine: Photos – both printed and digital

So hopefully you read yesterday (or if you didn’t, go back and read it) and you’ve taken the initiative to work on organizing your computer files.  On my computer, the largest part of my harddrive is taken up by photos, so I wanted to spend a separate day talking about photo organization.  I’m sure many of you not only have digital photo files, but also envelope after envelope of printed photos as well.  You may have the intent of someday putting them in a scrapbook, or you may not be a “scrapper” like myself and just keep them “because”.  Either way, we’ll touch on print photo organizing as well.

Starting with those digital files – I encourage you to make a folder for each child, for your pets, if you have photos for work, make a work folder, scenery, spouse, vacations, whatever your major themes are for your photos.  Then, inside those folders you may want to do things a variety of ways.  You may want subtitles, or you may want dates.  Here are some examples of cases to use each.

For our house build pictures, I have a folder in “My Documents” called “New House”.  Inside that folder are many sub-folders for files to keep, specs, power points we put together, budget worksheets, etc.  In that folder there is also a sub-folder entitled “Pictures Along the Way”.  In there is where it gets intricate – but I can always find things easily.  I have a folder for each month of the process, starting with December through March.  (To keep these in order by date instead of alphabetically, which is the default, put a number in front of the title – December becomes 1December, 2January, 3February, 4March, and so on.  Otherwise when we get to April, it becomes first and January is after February, and it’s complicated to find things quickly.)  Then inside those folders I have a folder for each date labeled 1-2, 1-4, 1-5, 1-10, etc. By labeling the dates this way, the computer naturally knows to keep them in order for you.  This organization thing isn’t just about making more file folders, it’s about making your computer work for you and be more user-efficient.

For our vacation pictures, however, my approach is completely different.  This file is actually in the “My Pictures” folder, which I have arranged by year.  We don’t have any vacation pictures for the 2011 file yet (we’ll fix that next week… yay!!), so I’ll talk about the 2010 folder.   Inside that folder, I have a vacation folder, and in it, you open it up and the folders are titled by the location of the trip.  There’s a Utah folder, a Texas folder, and an Oklahoma folder.  Inside each of those there are a variety of subject titles.  Utah was only one trip, so the pictures just start right there when you click on it.  Texas has a variety of trips like “Mo Ranch”, “Christa’s Wedding” and “San Antonio”.  Inside San Antonio is “Sea World” and “The Alamo”.  Then click on those folders and they open to pictures.  It’s just a real quick way for me to look and say – yup that’s the trip I want.  So this is an example of subject-matter titling vs. using a date system. 

There are lots of ways to organize your digital pictures – but if you just have them in a single folder and they are all titled “DCM00991” or whatever you camera calls them automatically, you are going to have a hard time finding anything.  Take the time it takes to put them into folders.

Let me also “preach” for a moment about the importance of uploading your pictures instead of leaving them on your camera.  If you drop your camera, or it gets stolen, or you have good intentions but loose the memory stick/card, your memories are only in your photo bank in your brain because they are GONE forever.  If you’ve uploaded them to your computer, the chances of losing them are much less likely, especially if you take the next step.

Which is… burning a cd and/or uploading to an online data source.  Did you know that you can store your pictures for FREE on Walgreens and CVS’s photo sites?  You can also upload to Shutterfly and Picasa web albums.  These are all sites that you can send your friends to to view your photos, and they also keep a copy on their system, so if something happens to your computer, it’s backed up.  I also suggest burning a cd once you have several photos to save.  I like to put an entire year’s photos onto a cd.  2008 took a DVD because it included all of our wedding photos.  But, once I burned that dvd and put it into my dvd folder, I was able to delete those photos from my harddrive and make room for more!  2008 came off in January of 2010… I need to now go in and burn off 2009 and delete them.  I’m not getting rid of them, I’m moving them to another filing system, which I’ll get into another day. (Always something to organize! :)

Many people still keep printed photos, either for scrapbooking, or as I mentioned earlier, “just because”.  So if you are one of those people who has envelopes of pictures stashed in every drawer, I highly recommend a trip to Wal-Mart, Target, or my favorite – Hobby Lobby to buy a box.  They have lovely decorated boxes JUST FOR organizing pictures!  (Someone had a great idea and is now rich… wish I’d have thought of that!)  SO – get you a box, and get one that has little divider tabs that come with it.  Then sit down in front of your favorite re-run (not something you’ve never seen before so you can actually focus on your organizing) and organize.  You can do the same thing as with the computer files – a box for vacations, or a box for each kid for their birthdays, etc – arrange them how it works for you. 

Remember this blog isn’t about me telling you to do it my way, it’s about me encouraging you to find the way that works best for you!  Hopefully it will inspire you to “get er done” and start organizing those things that are cluttering up your world!  You GO GIRL!  You CAN DO IT!  You CAN BE ORGANIZED!!! :)

(This will be my last blog entry for just over a week while we are gone.  Look for the next blog edition on either the 5^th or the 6^th of April.  Thank you for reading!)

Goal eight: Your computer files

I’m inspired today to discuss organizing your computer files.  One of my pet peeves is full inboxes.  I believe in filing anything and everything.  My files have files.  My files’ files have files.  My files’ files’ files have files!  But by gosh by golly, I can find pretty much anything I’m looking for on my computer within seconds (if it cooperates and functions that quickly – arg!  Don’t get me started on computer speed.. that’s a whole ‘nother blog!)

I believe that success in your business lies in knowing where to find things.  Whether it’s being able to access a client file from two days ago, or two years ago, the key to accessing data is know where it’s stored.  Here’s how I do it – with an organized system of folders.

“My Documents” are organized into five folders – one for the house, one for Pampered Chef, one for the travel agency, one for old files that I’m keeping for some reason, and Program Files.  The only file not in a folder is this file into which I’m typing this rapidly growing collection of organizational thoughts.  Then inside those folders are more folders for organizing each thing into categories – for example inside my Pampered Chef folder there is a folder for specials.  Inside that folder are folders for each year I’ve been in business, with the pdf files for that year inside.  How easy is it then for me to go and look to see what the specials for a certain month have been in the past couple of years?  Great, right? 

Now, I’ve let my files just collect in “My Documents” for a while, waiting til the day that I would write about how to organize files so I could tell you how long it took.  I had around 50-60 files to sort into folders today.  It took me less than five minutes.  This IS something you can do!!

After you tackle your documents, check out your email box.  I need to create some more folders for my work inbox, but that’s work for another day.  When you sort your inbox, first go through and delete all the junk mail that doesn’t need to be piling up.  Then go through and figure out how you want to sort.  Do you need a “mom” file or a “hubby” file to keep emails from specific people?  Perhaps you want to sort by topic – work emails in one folder, emails about your kids in another, etc.  Doesn’t matter to me HOW you do it, but honestly, you will feel so much better when you do!!

Organizing music files can be much more difficult and challenging, and depends solely on what program you are using to listen to your music, so I won’t tackle that, but I will say that you should always remember – it’s easier to find things when they are organized.  Take the time it takes to do it right, and you won’t regret it!

We’ll talk about organizing pictures tomorrow.  Don’t you love spring cleaning and organizing?  Don’t you feel self-assured and awesome?  You should, because you rock!! ;)

Goal seven: Dress for success – even at home

You work from home.  So why does it matter what you wear?  And what the heck does that have to do with getting organized?  Let me answer those questions for you.

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a career professional out in the workplace every day, or run your own business (or two) from home, it matters how you dress every day.  I’m not talking about the day when you are sick and feel like crap.  OR maybe I am.  Here’s why – the amount of progress you make each day toward your goals is directly related to what you wear.  If you roll out of bed, take your shower, brush your hair, put on a little makeup (I usually just do powder), and put on a nice pair of pants and a cute shirt you will accomplish more that day than if you simply roll out of bed and sit down at your desk.  When you sit down to work still in your pjs, your mind and your body has not made the transition between bed-sleepy-dreamy-comfy thoughts and work-accomplish-organize-get finished thoughts. 

Have you ever noticed how even if you feel like crap if you get out of bed and take a nice hot shower you feel better (even if only somewhat)?  Sometimes it’s easy for us to “wallow” like that hippo in the mud that I mentioned yesterday, and then what happens?  We never get out of the mud.  And trust me, an eagle covered in mud is not going to be flying very far.  You’ve got to make it your goal to spend more days as the eagle soaring than as the hippo wallowing.  Take your day, feel like crap, wallow, and then the next day, get up and MAKE YOURSELF SOAR!

If you get up and dress for success every day, you WILL feel beautiful and you WILL accomplish.  Every client you talk to on the phone will get the impression that you are a self-confident person because even though you aren’t “Facetime”ing with every client, you know that you could because you are dressed for work.

I’m not saying wear heels and a dress around your house.  I am not advocating June Clever behavior.  That’s crazy and a waste of time to get that beautiful for your own mirror viewing.  However, if you wear cute capris and a more form-fitting tshirt and have even a little makeup on, you are in a better mood for accomplishing work than in your loose fitting pj pants and hubby’s tshirt.  You get where I’m going with this?

A career woman working in an office  wears slacks and a sweater in the winter and a cute skirt and blouse in the summer, or perhaps she even is required to wear a suit daily.  This is expected of her by the office setting she works in.  Hold yourself accountable to some kind of dress-code standard.  This will in turn help define your office hours vs your at home comfy hours.  Even on days where I’m not going anywhere and no one will see me, I dress nice during the day.  Then in the evening I put on the comfy pants and tshirt because I’m not at work.

I guarantee that if you make this shift in your behavior, it’s one simple thing that WILL help you be more organized and WILL help you accomplish more in your home and your home office.  It’s worked for me and I KNOW it will for you.

Goal six: Magazines and Newspapers… cut the clutter

Yesterday I was silent… mainly because I didn’t feel “worthy” of giving advice when I myself was being slovenly yesterday.  However, a friend shared a quote today that I feel is totally appropriate, and good for all of us to realize about ourselves: Carl Sandburg said, “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.”  This is SO true.  As with my flexibility segment the other day, we all need to realize there will be days when we accomplish nothing.  And that’s ok.  Yesterday was my hippo day.  Monday was an eagle day… and today, well, we’ll see what it turns out to be later on.

As for now, though – how to get the clutter out of your life.  I subscribe to five or six magazines or maybe it’s seven.  Plus I get catalogs from countless stores.  They have a tendency to pile up.  And, at one point I had stacks and stacks of magazines simply because there was something in them that I wanted to keep.  That’s when I made a trip to Office Depot.  I bought a large binder and plastic sleeves.  And that day I did something that has revolutionized my life forever.

I started going through my magazines to see why I was keeping them.  Many times there was a recipe or self-help article that I thought would be convenient later.  Or, I’d kept a catalog because I wanted to find something similar for our new house.  SO I made sections in my binder – for recipes, for self-help, for gardening, and for things I wanted in the new house.  I even made a section for birthday and Christmas wishes.  Now when I get a magazine, I go through it immediately and rip out the things I want to keep.  They then go into the front of the binder, and every so often I take what’s in the front pocket and file it in sleeves behind the appropriate section.  Then, when I want those adorable Easter recipes I saved last spring, I know right where they are.  When we are ready to organize the kitchen, I know right where that picture is that shows how I want to arrange the pantry.

Now it’s easy to clean my desk and get rid of all that paper I don’t need and simply keep what I WILL use.  Then every three or four months I go through the entire binder and see what I think I’ll actually use, and throw away some more.  It’s a process of constantly re-evaluating.  Often some recipe that I thought I would like I’ve tried and it wasn’t our favorite, or we hated it…. So it goes in the oval file.  There is definitely no point in saving that much paper when I’m not going to use it.

Another idea instead of just tossing your magazines is to take them to a local school and donate them – you’d be amazed how many teachers are looking for magazines for craft projects and such.  (Before I donate mine I make sure I rip out any suggestive pictures or pictures of alcohol ads or tobacco ads.)  SO – someday when you feel like crap and you don’t feel like doing anything but reading a magazine, tackle that stack you’ve got tucked away… and then you’ll feel great when you are done because you’ll have tons of space for something else!!

Remember that it’s never a bad thing to keep things – it’s just a bad thing if you keep unnecessary things and in the process allow your life to get cluttered!  SO keep what you want and will use, and THROW AWAY THE REST!

Goal five: Grocery Store Pre-Planning... organize and save money in the process!

I love going to the grocery store.  I know some people may hate it, but I think part of what helps me enjoy the grocery store visit is that I do not live there.  It’s a once-a-week thing.  I do not go every day for this or that, and I don’t buy my recipe ingredients on the fly.  (Not criticizing those who do – or saying they are unorganized – my mom and lots of my good friends do their shopping this way…)  However, I find more enjoyment at the store and find that I save  more money when I plan and organize my shopping trips.

Here’s what I do:  (and the day of the week has changed – I used to shop on Monday morning but I find Friday is better for me because I do more cooking on the weekend and I don’t want my ingredients to have to hold that long).  On Thursday night I sit down and plan the meals for the next week.  I ask Cody what he’d like to have and he usually has a couple of suggestions of things we haven’t had in a while.  I write out a schedule of what meal we’ll have what night based on other plans, etc.  I usually always plan at least one night for leftovers.  We very rarely plan an eating out meal, although sometimes they happen spur of the moment b/c I don’t feel like cooking that night or we’ve gone out to the house and it’s just easier to grab something quick. 

After I plan what meals we’ll eat, I survey the ingredients available in the pantry and make my list based on just what we need.  OR, if we are out of staple ingredients such as sugar or ketchup I’ll put them on the list even though I might not plan to need them that week.  Here again I use a notepad from www.buttonedup.com – the Shopping Pad.  It organizes my groceries, discounted items, pharmacy, and other stuff (which I generally use for those items on the grocery side that aren’t groceries like laundry soap and paper towels).  I make my list on this pad and then I go through my coupons and see what items I have coupons for.  Occasionally going through the coupons will make me think of something I’ve forgotten to add to the list, but I generally DO NOT buy something just because I have a coupon.  We do not have unlimited storage space, and when I did this, I noticed I was actually spending more at the time simply because I had a coupon, but it wasn’t worth it if it wasn’t something we actually needed at the time.  (I know this goes against many of the couponing plans that some of you may follow… just telling you what works for me.)

So, then Friday morning I’m ready with list in hand and coupons clipped to the list to take my bags and head to the store.  I know every ingredient I’m going to need for the week, and I’ve checked the store specials to see if I want to make any of those specials part of a meal for the week.  My store also hangs coupons on certain items, so I make sure to check as I shop and see if another brand of the same item has a coupon.  I love HEB… I wish everyone could have an HEB store… part of why I save so much every week is because of their store coupons and meal deals… but, not everyone can have them, so I won’t dwell on this.  Another way that I usually save a lot is by buying the HEB brand of things.  I never really did this before – buying the store brand – except at Target I would buy some Market Pantry brand items.  But, I really like that most of the HEB brand products are made right here in Texas and that puts money not only back into our economy b/c I’m shopping there, but it also helps local businesses, which I like.  (And the products most times are better quality/flavor for less!)

Another key to saving is sticking to your list.  After you’ve spent time to carefully plan your list, don’t add a bunch of extra items just because you see them and they are on sale!  If it’s something that fits into your week, or an item that you forgot to write down, that’s understandable, but don’t excuse away every additional purchase.  Chances are those are items that either are not as healthy for you (like saying OMG they have Spring Oreos out now… I need to buy some!)  or are items that you wouldn’t actually consume that week so they are just going to get old (like saying OMG they have Spring Oreos now… I need to buy some when you have seven boxes of Girl Scout cookies at home!).

Some might wonder how does buying for the whole week actually save you money?  Here’s why – because you are only in the store ONCE during the week.  Not only do you save on gas to get there, but you also limit your chances of picking up those spur-of-the-moment items.  Also when you run by the store on your way home to grab the ingredients for dinner that night you haven’t had the opportunity to check your pantry and see what you already have on hand, so you end up buying items that you didn’t actually need.

Remember: I’m not saying you need to change your system just because I said so and it works for me… I’m saying this is what works for me and this is what helps me save money.  Every week I can buy the groceries for the entire week for three people, cooking approx 9 meals a week, plus our toiletry needs for right at $100 and my savings ALWAYS comes out to between $10 and $20.  (My shopping trip yesterday (couldn’t go Friday b/c of my schedule change… flexibility…;) for example:   I bought groceries for the week, a case of bottled water, two greeting cards, allergy eye drops, AA batteries, Benadryl itch cream, Glade fabric and air refresher, and hair de-tangler for a total of $98.30  - HEB brand savings of $5.06, on sale savings of $.82, and coupon savings of $6.93.  Total savings: $12.81.

I challenge you this – if you go to the grocery store more than once a week – add up your receipts and see how much you are actually spending in an average week.  Then do it my way for one week.  See how much you save, and let me know. :)

Goal four: Laundry dos and dont’s… and some other house cleaning tips and tricks

Ok if there’s one chore that has to be repeated more than any other and takes longer than any other, that’s got to be laundry.  It seems that as soon as it’s done, it’s needing to be done again.  It really piles up here – especially with all of the work Cody has been doing on the front yard at our new house.  And, I’m bad about if there’s any little thing on my clothes, I change.  SO, this creates the necessity to wash about every three days.  I’m sure that some of you with multiple children that feel like you never quit doing laundry.  I do not look forward to that part of having children!!!  BUT – it helps greatly if you have a system about your laundry.

Even if you are a totally un-organized person, I bet you have some sort of a system for your laundry.  Whether it’s how you actually go about cleaning it, or just how you fold it in your drawers.  I’m systematic with how I wash, but have NO rhyme or reason to my hanging clothes at all.  Some people sort by colors, some sort by sleeve length, some sort by fancy or relaxed.  I’m just lucky if I get them hung up when they are still warm so they don’t wrinkle.  I do have a sock drawer, and underwear goes in a certain place.  But my system isn’t so much with where they go as to the processing itself.

Whites wash first, then darks, then towels and underwear.  With very little exception.  I use stain remover (tide) with the whites and the towel/underwear loads, and let the darks fend for themselves against stains.  I try to start my laundry early in the morning, and attempt to listen to make sure as soon as one load stops the next load goes in.  In our new house I may need a baby monitor just for the laundry room so that I can hear when it’s done!  (b/c it’ll be away from my office and the kitchen – my two typical hang-outs for the day.)

One thing I do encourage you to do if you don’t already is WAIT to do your laundry.  I know that sounds contradictory to everything I’ve been saying… but here’s why.  Some of you wash just because you want the basket to be empty, but what you are doing is washing very small loads and wasting water as well as wearing down your appliances.  Wait until the basket is full.  As a kid, my mom had a basket for lights, darks, towels, underwear, and dad’s work uniforms.  She was blessed with a laundry room layout that worked well with that many baskets.  I’m not suggesting everyone do that – we can’t b/c we simply don’t have the space – BUT what I am saying is that the benefit of that is that you can see when one type of clothes has enough to make a load.  Set a specific day and do the loads that are full.  Plan ahead – if you are going to need a certain shirt or skirt or pants on a specific day, make sure it’s clean so you don’t panic.  But even if you have so many family members that you have to wash every other day, it’s better to spend a couple of hours dedicated to laundry completion every other day or every third day than to spend an hour every day on it.  It’s also easier to forget you have something done in the dryer if there’s nothing to follow that load……….

As for the house cleaning, this is something that I know some people enjoy, but many others like myself do not enjoy it in the least.  That’s why I built it in to my daily schedule.  I typically do a house cleaning chore as a break from work not because it’s fun, but because then I feel good about getting back to work because I know the cleaning it done.. and because work is usually more fun than cleaning!!!!  What I would encourage you to do is to divide up your week into the things that need to be repeated (ie: I have to sweep every other day b/c of the dog hair… they shed like CRAZY!!!),  what things only need to be done once a week – like cleaning the toilet, and what things only need to be done every other week – like mopping the kitchen floor. 

Then after you prioritize your cleaning, pick the one thing to be done that day that is your LEAST favorite thing to do, and do it first.  Then it’s DONE… and nothing else the rest of the day is going to be something you dislike quite as much as what’s already been done.  DO NOT put off til last the things you don’t like to do… because it becomes easier and easier to not to them at all… and then you have to play catch-up and it’s in far worse shape then, than if you’d just done it when it needed to be done in the first place!

Also – on laundry day, do yourself a favor and have the other household chores be light things like sweeping or dusting (if you do not yet have a Swiffer Duster Extender, you need to just clip the coupon and bite the bullet… you will thank yourself later.  It’s so easy to run the duster over everything and then just throw the allergens away!).  DO NOT plan to mop, clean the toilet, and do laundry all in the same day.  You will wear yourself out, dread the day, and find something to put off…. Just sayin….

So I guess the moral of today’s story is that I can’t begin to tell you how to organize your laundry.  You have to do what works for you.  BUT – you can make life easier by planning your schedule around your laundry chores!

Oh – gotta run – my washer is done and I gotta switch it over and start another load! :)

PAUSE: REALITY CHECK! - When life throws you curveballs

Ok, so I can give advice about what to do on a perfect day when everything goes as planned… but I also want to pause the “ideal” advice and give you some tips on how to handle days like today. 

I had PLANNED to go to the grocery store this morning and clean up the house before going to pick up Cody at the airport (this after changing the original plan that included him getting home last night…), but then that plan changed.  I need to meet the central vacuum installation guys out at the house at 9:30, and will probably go straight from there to pick up Cody, so I needed to for-go my morning workout to clean up around here.

The truth is – life throws you curveballs.  This is a small one.  Sometimes they are big ones like the illness of a family member or yourself or heaven forbid the death of a family member.. or there are even happy curveballs – like my friend Michelle faced last summer when her son’s baseball team made it to the Little League World Series and she had to change plans she’d made to make sure and be there to watch him.  There are births of babies and vacations… not every curveball is a bad one – if you know how to handle it.

SO you’ve started organizing your life, and setting up a schedule.  Then a curveball comes, and you have to handle it with grace and flexibility.  After all, that’s how we mother-types are supposed to be, right?  If there’s one thing I learned from teaching, it’s that ANY schedule can and WILL be broken.  Flexibility is the name of the game – as a teacher, as a wife, as a mom, as a business woman.

The challenge of being flexible with your schedule is figuring out what you can do later because you’ve got to do something different now.  If making the bed isn’t a big deal to you, there’s two minutes you’ve saved – go do something else that’s more important – or just pull up the covers instead of arranging the pillows.  If the laundry basket isn’t overflowing onto the floor, do it tomorrow.  BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Don’t put EVERYTHING off until tomorrow or your schedule will be blown.  Figure out the things that are least important, but do the big things!

For example, I HATE deep cleaning (I’ll get into that on another day), but I know the bathroom really needed cleaning, so when I first got up before I even got in the shower, I took the time to clean the countertop and Windex the mirror.  I’m not going to put off the things that I hate doing because then it’s easy to put them off every day and then they never get done.

Also – don’t put off new habits you are trying to start.  That’s why I’m here writing even though others might put it off til tomorrow.  I’ve tried blogging before unsuccessfully, and I know that if for one day I put it off until tomorrow, it will be easy for me to leave it behind.  That’s how I was when I first started working out, too.  I never missed a day because I wanted to start the habit, and I knew that if I didn’t, I never would keep it up.  Now if I miss a day here or there now and then it’s ok because I’m not breaking the habit – I’m still going to go back and work out because I love it.  I love how I feel when I’m done, and I love the friends I’ve made while I’m there.  I also love the results I’m seeing.

SO – when you need to be flexible, figure out what you can be flexible with.  Prioritize.  And then the very next day, GET BACK TO YOUR SCHEDULE.  Try not to let two days go together without your schedule.  Even if, like today, it’s Friday.  Have a weekend routine, and jump right into it tomorrow.  Then Monday you are back on a week-day schedule.  If there are things you have to put off one day, then try your very best to do them the next day so that they don’t go without being done forever.

When you get sick, it’s hard to do this because you are feeling like crap and can’t do anything.  But you can do some things.  Do what you can.  If you are stuck in bed, use that time to clean up your computer files (a later blog), or go through your magazines and newspapers and clean them up (also a later blog).  If you don’t have a spouse or significant other to help pick up the slack while you are sick, make to do lists for when you are better.  Just remember – a long list is NOT the way to accomplish things.  Prioritize by day for a week after you are well, and divide up the chores throughout that week.  When you are getting over being sick is NOT when you need to fly in and fix the world, although it’s easy to feel that way – esp if you’ve been down and out for a while.  Your ME time is more important than ever when you’ve been sick.  This is the thing I often forget, and then I end up being sick again because I’ve worked too hard and worn myself out.  In your week after an illness, schedule more breaks and drink more water, and instead of three things in each section on your Nothing Else Pad, MAKE YOURSELF only plan one or two.  Trust me, you will feel better about yourself at the end of the day because you will have had the energy to complete the list rather than being exhausted and having to move things to the next day!

While the name of the game is organization, and a key to that is your daily schedule, don’t forget that in order to be truly successful, you HAVE to be flexible.  You have to be able to take the curveballs that life throws you and turn them into a home run.  It’s NOT always easy – especially when those curveballs are negative ones.  But you can also figure out who you can lean on in those times – whether your spouse, significant other, or even just a really good friend.  Then when you get through those times, pick back up and carry on.  You’ll be a stronger, more self-confident person when you do.

You CAN do it.  You CAN be organized AND flexible.  Do you believe in you?  I do! 

Goal three: Set a schedule for yourself

Before I start into setting a schedule - I'm so glad to see the comments on the past entries... and to know that I'm inspiring some of you to get organized!  Spring is the best time to do this!! :)  As you organize yourself, please share what works for you because what works for me is not what's going to work for everyone and additional opinions are AWESOME!!!

Setting a schedule:

So, the biggest thing I struggled with when I started just working from home here in San Antonio was that I could never remember what I needed to do next, and I found myself heading off to go shopping or constantly going out to lunch with friends.  Then, instead of making money and being productive, I was spending it… like crazy.

One thing I realized about when I was teaching was that I loved the daily routine.  I had a schedule, and we very rarely strayed from it because kids need structure and routine.  Well, actually, we all do.  Think about your daily life.  Do you have a set routine that you follow?  If you do, you probably get a lot more accomplished in your day than if you are someone who flits from activity to activity.  I know, because I see the difference in my productivity… and also in my income!

It’s no secret that when you offer good customer service, you keep your customers happy and they in turn share your company information with their friends.  Here’s how this has worked for me – I set a schedule for my day.  It’s not written down anywhere, but it started out that way.  Until you make it a habit, a post-it note (I love them!!!) with a run-down of what needs to be accomplished at what time, or in what order is a great friend and helper.

Your routine is not my routine, my routine is not your routine.  I’m NOT saying do what I do… because it wouldn’t work for everyone.  BUT – here’s an example of my day… and what I believe helps me to be more successful in business and in life!

I get up and go workout first thing (Curves is amazing for you girls who thought you’d never go work out – try it… I love it… and it really boosts my energy level for the day!) unless I feel bad but usually, I’m there.  Then when I get home, I check Facebook, make the bed, then hop in the shower.  Then the first thing I do is I go and clean up the kitchen.  (Some people prefer to do this at night, but I have very little energy at night, and usually we make more dishes than one load in the dishwasher so it needs to be unloaded and re-loaded in the morning.)  Then I fix my bowl of cereal and sit down to work on whatever needs to be done for work.  Some days I have tasks for Pampered Chef and for the travel agency.  I prioritize the travel agency work to get done first.  Then, I usually take a break around 10:30 or so and do my household chores.  If I’m doing laundry that day, I try my best to keep it going (see laundry tips tomorrow!) so it’s completely done by the time I’m done with my work and I can get it put away pronto.  Today my household chore is a big one – I’ve got to sort through my box of Spring and Summer clothes and figure out what I need to wash when I do laundry tomorrow.  So, I’ll probably do some of it around 10:30, and then some later after lunch.  Then I hop back in and get the rest of my work to-do list done around 11 until noonish and then I take my lunch and finish up my household chores.  This typically leaves the afternoon for me time!  That’s right – by 3:00 I’m done.  Sometimes this changes if I have quotes to get out to a travel client, but everything from my Nothing Else pad should be done by 3:30, and I plan my attack on the next day.

It’s important to plan breaks into your schedule.  When you are first figuring out what works for you, write “BREAK” on your post-it note.  During this time go to the bathroom and get a drink of water.  Think about when you were in school – your class probably had set times for bathroom and drink breaks.  Don’t deprive yourself of that!  Otherwise you’ll get wrapped up in your work and end up dehydrated or with an upset stomach.  Also take time for a snack in the afternoon – it keeps your brain going and your metabolism working – esp if you work in an office and HAVE to be at work until 5. 

If you are working away from home, then it’s very important that you make a schedule for your time at home so that you accomplish the most possible each day – including your ME time.  Never forget how important it is to take time to do something you want to do!  On Monday nights your ME time might be an hour long while you watch Castle, or you might even allow it to stretch for American Idol nights to two hours every now and then.  I do suggest that if you like several shows on the same night (like Dancing with the Stars and Castle on Monday nights... GUILTY! ;), instead of making the whole night ME time and not accomplishing anything, hit record on the dvr and tell yourself that show doesn’t come on until the next night.  Each evening you are home you need to accomplish housework, and probably plan on cooking dinner (I'll give you kitchen and cooking planning tips later).  You might even have kids to help with homework.  If you do have a spouse and/or kids, talk to them about setting a schedule, and figure out what works best for your family.  Because if you do have a family, you not only need to schedule ME time each night, but you also need WE time.  I might just be that your WE time is during dinner.  Or it could be that WE time is as soon as the kids get home from school before soccer practice when you sit down at the table and help them with their homework.

I’ll go into setting up a family calendar later, but that can also be very helpful in setting routine.  Because routine with a family doesn’t mean doing the same thing at the same time everyday, it might mean doing the same thing every Monday because it’s Monday, but Tuesday is different, etc…

Best thing tho is just to figure out what works for you and stick with it.  I guarantee that if you set a schedule and stick with it, you will definitely be more productive and feel better about yourself!!  (Just remember – always make time for ME time!! (and WE time!))