Calendar

Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday

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Tomorrow is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. It is officially celebrated on this coming Monday which is President’s Day. Don’t forget that on Monday the banks, government offices, post office, and most schools will be closed.

My monthly newsletter for February has listed several websites to learn more about Abraham Lincoln. I have posted a link to the newsletter on the sidebar of this blog for your convenience.

There are also websites listed for Valentine’s Day activities you can do with your children. If they are having their school parties in the next couple of days then check out those sites for Valentine card designs and crafts.

To get a copy of the newsletter for March sent to you, please sign up on the sidebar. It will be sent to your email box by the beginning of March.

I would love to hear from you about the monthly newsletter. Does it help you plan out the month with dates listed? Are the links helpful? Is there something else you would like to see in this newsletter to help plan and organize the current month?

If you have suggestions of comments please let me know. Post them in the comment section. I appreciate any ideas that will help me improve the newsletters. Thank you.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com (blog)

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Groundhog Day

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It’s Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil, the official groundhog, has seen his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. I’m tired of looking at snow, brown grass, leafless trees, and gray skies. Six more weeks seems like a long time. Let’s hope Phil is wrong.

If you want to find out more about Groundhog day or see pictures from today’s celebration then check out this site. http://www.groundhog.org/

As I was researching info for my monthly newsletter (if you’re not signed up to receive it then please do so on the right sidebar) I found out that February is a month of observances for health awareness. Since we supposedly have six more weeks of winter and four of those are in February then it may be a good time to make some of those annual check-ups with your health providers.

This Friday is “National Wear Red Day“. Wear red to support women’s heart disease awareness. It’s the number one killer of women in the United States. There are lots of ways to reduce the risk of heart disease for yourself or your loved ones. Now is a good time to start.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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“Clean Off Your Desk Day”

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Today is “Clean off Your Desk Day“. It is always easier to work at a clean desk than one that is cluttered up with papers, pens, coffee mugs, water bottles, and lots of other misc. items. As I am typing this I can see I have a little work to do with my desk. I will set a timer for 15 minutes and clean it up.

With January being “National Get Organized Month” I have decided it was time to go through my bookcases and declutter some books and notebooks. I don’t have any more room on the shelves so books and papers are starting to stack up on the floor. Time to reorganize.

I decided to add a new bookcase. I had room to move a small, three shelf one to another area and put a new five shelf one in its old place. This will give me more room to put the books and notebooks. Sometimes we have to change things to make them work more efficiently for us.

Once I get the new bookshelf built (hopefully by tonight) I will put everything on the shelves. It won’t be organized just yet but I will take care of that later. I will go through one shelf at a time and get rid of any books I don’t need. This way will be better than trying to tackle the whole mess at once. It’s too easy to get overwhelmed.

Time to go clean off my desk!

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Paper Clutter

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January is designated by the National Association of Professional organizers (NAPO) as “Get Organized Month”. The one area that I like to start with this month is the paper clutter. This is because we start receiving all those year end summaries from the banks, brokerage firms, our employers, etc. Tax season is right around the corner.

Most of these statements start coming in towards the end of the month but there is a lot we can do to clear out the paper clutter before then. If you have a pile of papers that didn’t get filed because you were busy with the holidays ( I know I do) then now is the time to file them. Getting all the papers off your desk and filed in the proper files (including the trash can file) is the first step to organizing your papers. Once they are cleared off the desk then you can start examining the papers in each individual file.

I will be blogging this month mostly about how to declutter specific areas of paper clutter. My “Tip Newsletter” this week will be addressing magazine clutter and how to reduce it. If you don’t already subscribe to this newsletter then please sign up on the right sidebar to receive it.

There are plenty of papers we keep just because we are not sure whether we need them or not for tax and other legal reasons. I will let you know which ones are necessary to keep and what can go. I will give you plenty of resources to look up more information if you need it.

So let’s make January the month we get rid of papers that are clutter and organize the ones we do need to keep.

If you have any suggestions, ideas, or know of any good web-sites that can help us know what to keep and what to get rid of, please let me know in the comment section.

Thanks,

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Renewed Dreams

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As 2008 comes to a close I’m looking back on the past year to see what has been accomplished and what hasn’t. My tendency, like most people, is to focus on the negative or what wasn’t done as opposed to the positive. We all look for excuses for our so called “failings”. Then get mad at ourselves for using them. Life is always throwing curve balls so many of these excuses are legitimate. I know I am too hard on myself. Are you?

The end of the year is a good time to absorb the meaning of the words in the serenity payer.

“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.”

~ Reinhold Niebuhr

There are many times where we don’t have control over our lives. There are also many times we do.

At the beginning of 2008 I made the decision to pursue my dream of writing by combining it with a long running interest in home organization. I set up this blog and started a website. I write a weekly and monthly newsletter. My goal was to write e-books with more in-depth information and sell them. Things were going according to plan until June when I was diagnosis with breast cancer. A big curve ball!

So my plans and goals for 2008 were force to be changed. A legitimate excuse. I have tried to keep up the newsletters but the e-books have not been completed.

I have finished the chemotherapy and currently am in the middle of radiation treatments. I will have a ninety minute IV drip of a targeted drug (Herceptin) every three weeks till next July. So 2009 will continue to be somewhat controlled by health issues. At least there is an end in sight.

So my plans and goals for 2009 will have to adjust to what did and did not happen the past year. I’m sure many of you have had to deal with curve balls in your life this past year. Whether it is health issues, economic issues, or any other problems you didn’t expect, remember that a new year is upon us. It’s time to renew our dreams and have the courage to change what we can to make them happen.

Happy New Year.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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