Planning

Reduce Stress by Creating New Traditions

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December is one of the most hectic, crazy, and hopefully fun months of the year. There are the holiday parties at the work place, schools, friends’ parties, and family gatherings.  Then there is the shopping for gifts plus the shopping for groceries for meals and baking. Don’t forget there are all the decorations to put up to create that festive mood in your home. Plus sending out all those greeting cards!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, or both there are a lot of preparations for the holidays.

Along with all these activities comes a lot of stress. The expectations are high. Usually these high expectations come from long standing traditions, many which we don’t even know where they came from.  Maybe it’s time to lower those expectations and create some new traditions that fit our lifestyle of today.

It’s not always easy to change a tradition without feeling guilty, especially if it’s been handed down for several generations. If you enjoy the tradition then go ahead and keep it going.  If you don’t enjoy it you probably experience un-needed stress to keep it going.  Maybe it’s time to question why!

Here is a little story about following traditions and not knowing why.  I’ve heard many times in different ways. Some call it “Grandma’s Cooking Secret”.

A young newlywed was cooking a brisket.  Her husband asked her why she cut off both ends of the brisket before putting it in the roasting pan.  She replied that was the way her mother always did it.  She later asked her mother why and her reply to her daughter was because her mother had always done it that way.  The next time they were over at the newlywed’s grandmother’s house she asked her why she always cut off the ends of the brisket. The grandmother replied, “because my roasting pan was too small”.

Snopes has several variations of this story. They will make you question why you follow some of your traditions.

Start some new traditions this year that fit your current family, not past generations. You’ll be starting new traditions to pass down to your children. And let them know why you are doing things your way.  Be opened minded about your children wanting to create some of their own new traditions.

Change is sometimes hard to accept. If you’re not happy with a new tradition then you can always go back to the old one next year.

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

 

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Time to Get Started With the Holiday Greeting Cards

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Like most people I like to send out Holiday Greeting cards every year.  Some years I’m organized early enough to get all the cards on my list sent out. Other years have been more difficult. With the Holiday Greeting Card System I set up 5 or 6 years ago it’s been a lot easier to send out at least some cards, even when things have been a little out of control in my life.

In my November newsletter I talked about getting started with the system so it will be easier and more fun to send out cards this year.  Well, I have to admit I haven’t looked at my list until today.  Each year I update any addresses on the list by writing them in by hand.  Eventually I need to update it on the computer and print out a new copy.  I think this is the year to do it since way too many people on my list have new addresses.

The way I have my list set up it makes it easy to know how many of each kind of card I need to purchase.  I send out Season’s Greeting cards to people I don’t know for sure what their religion is. I send out Chanukah cards to all my Jewish friends and family.  And I send out Christmas cards to all my Christian friends and family.  A few I even send out specialty cards for friends and family that celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah.  Those are harder to find and need to be purchased early.

The post office lists December 20, as the last day to mail cards if you want them to be there by Christmas. That’s only 5 weeks away!

So this week I’m going to update my list and purchase the cards. Then I can spend the evenings addressing a few at a time while watching TV.

Go download the free article, Holiday Greeting Card System and get started today so you too can make it easier and more enjoyable to send out those greeting cards.

Janice

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Honoring Veterans on Veterans Day

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Note: I want to let you know that I went slightly off my normal topic of decluttering and organizing in the following post. The website links are for info and ideas to help you celebrate Veterans Day. My opinion below is something I just had to write.

This Friday is Veterans Day.  It’s also 11/11/11. I didn’t really know much about the significance of the date (11/11/11) but after looking it up on the internet I found some interesting facts. Here are a few links if you want to find out more.

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/11-11.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45195313/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.TrlajLLZeuI

Maybe because this Veterans Day  is 11/11/11 it seems more special.  It also might be because of the current withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Whether you are for or against the withdrawal is not what we should bring up on Veterans Day. We should honor all of our military, past and present, who have sacrificed some of their own freedoms to protect the rest of us.

It also doesn’t matter whether you are for or against the wars we have been in. What does matter is that we treat these returning soldiers with honor and respect. 

I remember back in the mid 70’s when I was attending a local junior college that many of my classmates where veterans of the Vietnam war. Because the war had been so unpopular the veterans were taking the heat from their fellow citizens. It was hard to understand how people could treat these veterans in such a bad way. Although I never said anything bad I hate to admit that I felt uncomfortable around some of these classmates. I was guilty of being influenced by the media into feeling like these classmates were more like ex-cons instead of United States War Veterans. 

Many of my classmates did not even want to talk about the war. I’m sure the horrors they experienced where bad enough but I also believe they kept the facts private out of fear of criticism from their fellow citizens.

It was a double whammy!  There was no way of knowing whether they had enlisted or were drafted. It didn’t matter to the protesters. They blamed the veterans as much as they blamed the politicians.

Although we didn’t have a draft during the current wars many people enlisted at a time we were at peace. None of us had a clue we would be attacked on our own turf. And those who enlisted after 9/11 did so to protect their fellow citizens.

So let’s celebrate this year’s Veteran’s Day by honoring all veterans. Put the blame and the heat on the politicians who decide whether to go to war or not. Don’t blame the veterans. They are our neighbors, fellow workers, teachers, etc. who have experienced things we ordinary citizens have not.

Here are some sites for you to read more on Veterans Day. Share this information with your family and friends. As the saying goes, “United we stand, Divided we fall”. This is one day we can show our unity.

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/veterans/

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/veterans-day/teacher-resources/6674.html

http://www.butlerwebs.com/holidays/veterans.htm

To a lighter load along the way.

Janice

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Prevent Holiday Clutter Build-up

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This is the time of year where all kinds of clutter can build up. Excess food treats, lots of Christmas decorations, too many gifts, etc. These are some of the things that make the holidays fun. But when we over-indulge in any of these things we could end up with extra pounds on our bodies, wasted food, too many decorations to store, and more gifts than we know what to do with. In other words, we could be adding to our clutter!

Here are some tips to help prevent Holiday clutter build-up:

Turkey Dinner 05

  • If you have a hard time resisting food treats learn to be choosey. Only eat the ones that are special to you.
  • Freeze and/or hide the cookies and candies you are saving for the parties. Out of sight, out of mind, will help control the temptations.

decorated-tree2

  • Go through your stored Christmas decorations before shopping for new ones. Less chance of buying something you already have.
  • Get rid of any decorations that are broken or you don’t like anymore. That will make room for a few new ones.

Christmas presents

  • Make a list of everyone you need or want to buy a gift for. Put a dollar limit and some ideas next to each name.
  • If you have a large family consider drawing names to limit the amount of gifts you need to buy.
  • Consider one nice gift as opposed to multiple small gifts for an individual.
  • Consider one large gift (TV, vacation, etc.) for the whole family instead of individual gifts.

Taking a few precautions and writing out some plans won’t ruin the holiday’s for you. You can still have fun, just don’t overdo it or when January rolls around you may have a lot of new clutter to deal with!

Janice

P.S.  Please share your tips on how you control the clutter during the holidays. Leave a comment below. Thanks.

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Countdown to Halloween Series Part 5

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We are down to the last week before Halloween. Time to make sure everything is ready to go. Below are several check lists to help you. You still have time to prevent that crazy last minute rushing around.

Costumes

  • Try them on and make sure they fit correctly.
  • Make any alterations if necessary.
  • Review costume safety (see links below) to make sure you are not putting your little ones at risk for an accident.
  • If using make-up be sure to test it in a small spot several days before the party or trick-or-treating. You don’t want to ruin Halloween with an allergy flair-up.

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Countdown to Halloween Series Part 5Read More »

Countdown to Halloween Series Part 5 Read More »