Valentine’s Day Ideas

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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. It’s a chance to tell the special people in your life how much they mean to you. Sometimes we are so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to express our love for each other. Some people have a hard time saying those three small, but oh so important words – “I Love You”.

heartloveyou

Below are several websites loaded with crafts, recipes, and other ideas to help you and your children say those words. You can buy cards or you can make them yourself. You can buy candy and other food gifts or you can make some cookies with your children. It’s up to you.

The important thing is to spend time with your loved ones. Tell them in words, verbal or written, how much they mean to you. Be sure to check out these sites for lots of ideas.

http://www.kaboose.com/features/valentines/valentines-bba.html

http://www.holidays.net/amore/

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/index.htm

http://www.stvalentinesday.org/

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

http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/

Happy Valentine’s Day

Janice

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Company Coming – Time To Clean!

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I find it interesting that when I am cleaning the house to have company over I notice things that are in my “blind spots” the rest of the time. For example, I have white baseboards which of course have the tendency to show dirt. Most of the time I don’t even notice the slight darker color on the top of them.

I had company over for the Superbowl yesterday and while vacuuming IMGP0746-1_edited-1 all of the sudden the dirt on the baseboards seemed to have a spotlight shining on all their dirtiness. Would my company notice my lack of housecleaning skills? I couldn’t take a chance. So I got a damp rag and wiped the baseboards clean.

 

This happens anytime I have company over. The problem is I don’t have company all that often so those “blind spots” have a tendency to be neglected for too long.

Of course if I followed Flylady’s zone cleaning each month the baseboards wouldn’t get so bad. Unfortunately, after 8 years I still have a problem following some of her routines. I’m good with most of them but I’m not perfect nor do I expect to be. I’ve learned what works for me and believe everyone needs to figure out what works best for them. That’s why there are so many different ways to declutter and organize your home. Sometimes you can read a suggestion and know it will work for you. Sometimes it’s a matter of trial and error. The key is to never give up.

Yes, I beat myself up a little for not having the house perfectly clean. Did my friends notice? They never said a word and I wasn’t going to bring it up. After all, they are my friends. They weren’t about to pull out white gloves and check for dirt on the baseboards.

Maybe I should just plan on having company at least once a month. That would help me keep those “blind spots” clean.

Janice

Website/blog:  CutClutterWithScisors

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National Wear Red Day

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Tomorrow is “National Wear Red Day”.

image It’s designated as a day to bring awareness to women and men that heart disease is the number one killer of women. We fear breast cancer more but there is a greater survival rate with it than there is with heart disease. The campaign to make women aware of early detection of breast cancer has greatly increase the survival rate over the years. Being a breast cancer survivor myself, I appreciate the advances in detection and treatment that has made this possible. Now it’s time to bring heart disease out into the open!

Back in 1978 my father had a heart attack which he survived due to experimental treatment at a great hospital. Through his experience the whole family learned to embrace the medical community’s advise on how to prevent a future heart attack for him and for anyone in the family. We learned how important exercise was. We changed our diets. We found out how heart disease can run in families and the best way to reduce our risks was to following the lifestyle changes recommended by the Heart Association. My father never had another heart attack. Unfortunately he died 7 years later from pancreatic cancer.

Since that time my family has been aware of how to live a healthy lifestyle to prevent heart disease. But many women still believe it is a man’s disease, not a woman’s. This can be a deadly belief. We have reduce the number of deaths due to breast cancer, now it’s time to reduce the number of deaths for women due to heart disease.

Lifestyle changes can reduce your risk of heart disease. Visit your doctor and discuss what your risks are and what you can do to lower them. You may need to take medications in addition to lifestyle changes but your life is worth it.

Becoming aware of signs of a heart attack in women is also important to know. Many times they are very different and more subtle than the signs for men. Learn more from this government website National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

The Tools on this site have lots of information you can download to help you reduce your risk and the risk of everyone you know. Wear RED this Friday and spread the word to your family, co-workers, neighbors, and friends on how to reduce heart disease. You may just help save their life or your own.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

http://cutoutthebreastcancer.wordpress.com


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If At First You Don’t Succeed

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It’s a new month. It’s a new week, if you count Monday as day one. January is gone but February is here! If you didn’t get done what you wanted to last month, oh well. Don’t get down on yourself. Start fresh this month with working towards your goals whether it’s decluttering your home, organizing papers, or building routines.

“It’s not how many times you fall down, it’s how many times you get back up.” ~Anon

I like the quote above because it tells me that if I didn’t get done what I wanted to last month then all I have to do is to give it another try. Of course the quote below by W.C. Fields makes me laugh about sometimes being bull headed and not quitting something when I should.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Then quit. No sense being a damn fool about it.” — W.C. Fields (1879-1946).

Life is like that – sometimes you got to just keep trying till you succeed and sometimes it’s time to quit and try a different direction.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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“Go Organize” by Marilyn Bohn – Book Review

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Marilyn Bohn’s new book “Go Organize – Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps” uses what she calls a ‘Lights On Organizing System’. This system helps you determine what is clutter and what is not by comparing items to light wattage.

The three simple steps are Searchlight, Spotlight, and Greenlight. There is a wattage scale on page 15 that helps you evaluate how you feel about your stuff. If you dread going into a room because of the clutter then that space will have a very low wattage of 1-2 on a 10 point scale. If you love everything in a particular room then that would be considered a very bright wattage of 9-10 on the scale. The goal is to have your rooms at the 7 watt level most of the time.

The first two chapters explain how to evaluate each room (Searchlight) by using the wattage scale. Then Marilyn explains how to make a plan of actions (Spotlight) to address each problem area. After that you are ready to take those actions (Greenlight) to declutter and get organized.

The rest of the chapters go through different rooms of the home with tips, solutions, and examples of how to use the 3 steps in that specific room. “Go Organize” gives you a different way to look at your clutter. The more angles we can look at our stuff the easier it will be to recognize what really is clutter.

The book is available at some local bookstores or on Amazon. You can get more information by clicking the link/picture below. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a new way to get organized.

Janice

https://cutclutterwithscissors.com

http://twitter.com/jlscissors

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