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Graduation Time

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My son is graduating from college this week. He’ll be moving back home for about a month and then heading out to Los Angeles, hopefully with interviews set up for a job. diploma with graduate's cap Vector Clip Art image

He has a degree in Information Technology (IT) so at least he’s in a field where there are jobs.

With the job market the way it is these young adults are facing an uncertain future, at least in the short run. As parents we raise our children to spread their wings and leave the nest. But many are coming back home or continuing their education (with their parents help) because of the way the job market is.

Since he will be home for a few weeks before leaving town I plan on going through a lot of his things with him. I probably have more memories attached to his things than he does. I may find it harder to let go but I have to. He’s starting new life and so am I. Decluttering the “things” from the past (physical things – not memories) will let us both move forward carrying a lighter load towards the future. I’ll take pictures of anything that is hard to let go of.

Each time our children graduate from one stage of their lives to another we also graduate. Whether it is from toddlerhood to school age child or high school to college or college to independent adulthood we have to let them move forward to the next stage of their life.

I will officially be graduating to empty nester. Each stage of our life gives us new opportunities to experience different things. I know it will be hard to let go of some “things” from the past but I also look forward to it.

How do you feel about “graduation time”? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Gardening With Babysteps

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This past Sunday was nice weather for a change here in the Midwest. I had a spot in the front of my house that needed a new shrub. Because the area only gets a few hours of sun in the morning I was limited to what I could plant.

When I went to Lowes there were so many beautiful flowers calling me to take them home. My goal was to buy one shrub and some mulch to go around it.

This year I plan on doing one project at a time from start to finish. Usually I have grand ideas and go from project to project, rarely completing any of them.

I’m proud to say I bought one Azalea plant and two bags of mulch. I came home and planted it, spread the mulch, cleaned off the tools, and put them away. That felt good!

IMGP0286_edited-1 IMGP0287_edited-1

It’s an Encore Azalea named “Autumn Twist”. It’s suppose to bloom in the spring and again late summer into fall. We’ll wait and see what happens.

Now that it is raining again I will have to wait to do my next project outside. As they say, April showers bring May flowers. Hopefully they won’t bring May floods.

Happy gardening.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com (new blog post 4/28)

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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Earth Day – Going Green

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This week’s newsletter (if you haven’t signed up – please do so on the right sidebar) has lots of links and info to help you go green. Although Earth Day is only one day of the year we need to learn to follow it’s principles year round.

Here is a copy of this week’s newsletter so you can get all the information you need to learn how to go green.

Decluttering Tip Newsletter – Going Green
Volume 2, Issue 16
April 21, 2009

I’m sure you have heard by now that this is Earth Week and Wednesday (April 22) is Earth Day. I remember the first Earth Day in 1970 (I’m showing my age) when you heard about the smog warnings in the big cities and the polluted lakes and rivers. We’ve come a long way with those areas but the toxins in our homes and the waste we send to the landfills needs to get under control.

It is getting much easier to reduce, recycle, and reuse many items to prevent them from filling the landfill. This site has lots of ideas you can use.
http://www.earthday.gov/athome.htm

When you apply a lot of the ideas for reducing and recycling you will find that it is easier to keep your home decluttered. For example: when you use reusable fabric bags for shopping automatically there are less paper and plastic bags filling up the floor of your pantry or between the wall and the refrigerator.

When you buy and use only what you need there will be less clutter around. By using permanent things like dishes, cloth napkins (cheap washcloths work great when you have children), mugs, and durable plastic or glass containers for storage you will get in a habit of washing them so they are ready to use. You’ll save money and the landfills by not using so many disposables.

If you are trying to use healthier cleaning items, etc. in your home, here is a great website with lots of information.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-cleaning/

If you don’t have curbside recycling or don’t know of a recycling center nearby it will take a little more effort on your part to recycle. Here is a site that can help you find places near you for different things, such as papers, plastic, household, etc.
http://earth911.com/blog/2009/04/20/barriers-to-being-green-accessibility/

For electronic recycling check out these sites for a place near you.
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/live.htm
http://www.therecyclingcenter.info/recyclingcenters.php5

Remember, if you reduce the amount of products and items you bring into your home you’ll automatically reduce the amount of clutter. When you find places to recycle the old items you will be able to get rid of them and take away your excuse for not getting them out of your home.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you know who will benefit from this tip.

Be sure to check out my blog this week for more information on Earth Day. http://organizebythemonth.com

Also check me out on Twitter. http://twitter.com/jlscissors I’m starting to get the hang of it.

To a lighter load along the way.
Janice Scissors
https://cutclutterwithscissors.com
http://organizebythemonth.com
http://twitter.com/jlscissors
http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Best Laid Plans

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I had forgotten to post the April newsletter on the sidebar last week. I did post it today around 1:00 PM, about five minutes before the electricity went out. It was raining outside but not storming. We’ve had a lot of outages over the last few years and it involves around 10 – 39 houses in the middle of a subdivision of 119 houses. I think there is a bad electrical box that needs replacing.

I called the electrical company ( they said 39 homes were out) and a little while later I saw several trucks going up and down the streets. By about 5:30 PM I still didn’t have power nor had I seen any trucks for a while so I called the electrical company back.

The recording said power had been restored to the area. Yea, right. Why was I still without? After punching enough buttons I finally got a live voice and asked her. She told me that they had closed out the service call because power was restore. I think there is a problem with their system. I knew of at least 6 homes on my street that didn’t have power. They came out again a I finally had power around 7:00 PM.

I had planned on finishing my taxes this afternoon. Oh well, I will be working on those tomorrow. There is only six days to finish your taxes if you haven’t done so already.

Easter is this Sunday. Here are a couple of sites with crafts and other ideas to do with your children.

http://holidays.kaboose.com/easter/

http://www.holidays.net/easter/

Check out the April 2009 newsletter (on the right sidebar) for upcoming holidays and events.

Hope your day went a little better than mine.

P.S. I did declutter several file folders of papers so the whole day wasn’t wasted.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

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Feeling Unorganized Today?

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Some days I just feel like I’m unorganized. My desk is a mess. The mail is piling up. The dishes are filling the sink. The hot spots are growing (I think by themselves). I don’t remember leaving that book laying on the table or my clothes on the bed.

It doesn’t take long for the messes to grow. After all, you are living in your home. That’s a good thing. But when things start getting out of control it is time to take some cleaning action.

Some days are 15 minute days and some are 5 minute days. By this I mean I set a timer for 15 minutes to tackle a certain job that needs to be done. A lot can be accomplished in 15 minutes. It’s usually not to hard to focus for that short period of time and clean up the kitchen, family room, or home office.

But some days 15 minutes seems like too much time to take away from the other responsibilities for the day. That’s when the 5 minute day comes in. Set a timer for 5 minutes and narrow your focus on one small spot. Clean as many dishes as you can for 5 minutes. Don’t worry if you don’t get them all done. What’s important is that you took care of some of the mess. It will be a lot cleaner now than it was 5 minutes ago.

What I do on days like this is work for about 30 minutes on my writing then take a 5 minute break to clean up one of those hot spots. It’s amazing how much gets cleaned up by the end of the day.

What tricks to you use to get organized on those days you feel overwhelmed? Please share them in the comment section.

Thanks.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

Check out my eHow articles.

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