Harmony At Home | Organize for a Fresh Start

Posts Tagged ‘Harmony at Home’

Reorganizing for A New Chapter: Host Parents

Monday, April 18th, 2011

A new voice today — Bonnie St.Pierre’s voice. Bonnie’s newest chapter is a beautiful one, both for Bonnie and her husband, and also for two very fortunate young women, one Vietnamese and one Thai. Bonnie’s request on Facebook for help on the family meal planning front got me to thinking how different her life is as a host mom. How has her life changed and been reorganized?

In Bonnie’s words:

“My husband and I are host parents to Vietnamese and Thai high school junior girls this year. We’ve hosted boys three years running, and, always one at a time. We’ve never had children of our own, and it feels good to know that we are providing an opportunity for a lifetime, helping to shape lives other than our own.

Bringing two foreign exchange students, girls, into your home for an entire school year is not something you do lightly. There will be drama, check. They will be sharing a room, so they must learn to get along, check. The grocery bill will skyrocket, multiplied by two growing teenagers, ummmm, OK, check. There will be parent-teacher conferences, and rides to events, misunderstandings resulting in hurt feelings, and shopping and shopping and shopping, well, you get the idea.

Even with thinking I was prepared for this, I realized pretty quickly after their August arrival that we had to get better at things, regular things. For example, who gets up and gets the bathroom first, a shower schedule, keeping track of two very diversified schedules in addition to my own business calendar and our personal plans, who’s coming home right after school, and who is taking the late bus, plus the activity for which they are staying after. The chore list was a chore for me, since everyone would forget whose turn it was to do what. Then there’s having to actually pick a day for my least favorite, planning meals and the trip (which has become two trips weekly) to the grocery store, instead of going when the pantry holds only a can of soup; all of these everyday activities now had to be planned, and communicated between all.

I have undergone an organizing metamorphosis during this process, to the point where my friends are laughing at me, but watching me carefully for signs of becoming fanatical. There’s a dry erase monthly schedule on the refrigerator, with four marker colors, all having significance. The girls have worked out the morning bathroom routine together and shower schedule that doesn’t interfere with my husband’s domain in the second bathroom, the laundry gets done in a way that it comes out of the dryer when all are around to chip in with folding and take to rooms right away. The planning meals and grocery trip? Well that’s now a shared event, with everyone having some input.

When I thought that having exchange students would provide some growth experiences for me, I expected them to be cultural, and that they certainly are. But the surprising benefit has been learning to get organized in a way that I can live with and sustain. The reward is great; piece of mind in knowing that our American/Vietnamese/Thai family can enjoy our time together rather than always running to catch up.”

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Bonnie is a pleasure to work with – she took my business photo, answered all my questions, and made it a fun portrait session.

Because my business IS me, as yours may be, the photo and the story it tells are very important to me. It is me, but Bonnie’s talent helped to create what you see.
www.bstpierrestudio.com
www.facebook.com/bstpierrestudiofanpage
603-883-2517
A Studio Like No Other. Experience the Extraordinary.

Have an intriguing story to tell about a next chapter and how you’ve reorganized to get there?

Let me know and you may see yourself showing up here — either in interview format or as a guest blogger. — Sue

Tags: family organizing, Harmony at Home, Next Chapter
Posted in Harmony at Home, Next Chapter | No Comments »

Which Bag Are The Eggs In?

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

I was at the back of my car loading groceries, half listening to the women’s conversation next to me.

“Eggs. Which bag are they in.” “Oh, I don’t know. I can never remember.”

Well, I couldn’t resist. My eggs tip I shared with them is the first in this list of unusual home organizing tips.

Small ideas which add up to time savings. So here are a few small gifts, big on time.

Groceries: You can never remember which bag has the eggs in it.

When your groceries are being packed in the store, watch for the eggs and tie together the bag’s handles. Keep the bag in the front seat.

Time saved: 5 minutes to look for the bag. Another 5 to look for it when it gets lost in the back of the car. And a few more in the house. Or the trip back to the store to get more when the eggs break.

Each year, you forget whether you bought holiday cards at the end of the season last year. Or you can’t find that special extension cord with the foot lever for the Christmas tree (and other such items).

Put everything for the holiday in with your tree decorations. Everything, even if it’s not a decoration, just related to the holiday. You’ll have only ONE place to look for holiday items.

Or when you hit the sales post holidays and buy things for NEXT year, make a list, scan the receipt or make a note on your calendar for NEXT year’s holiday season.

Time saved: Extra shopping trips to buy things you already had. Time, cost and frustration savings!

Shower cleaning: You want to let the cleanser sit for awhile but you don’t want to forget to rinse it; someone might slip if they get into the shower before you rinse off.

Put the cleaning bottle right into the shower on its floor. Good reminder for you … and it’s bound to cause a question if you don’t get there first.

Time saved: A trip to the hospital when someone would’ve slipped. Hours.

You don’t want to forget to take your lunch to work:

Establish a launching pad.

Put a reminder sticky note on the door you’ll be leaving.

Put a reminder sticky note anywhere you’ll see it – for me, it’s the first two places I go to in the kitchen, by the coffee pot or dog food.

Put your car keys with your lunch, in the refrigerator. Can’t leave the house without the keys. The FIRST time(s) you do this, you may have to write yourself a note about where your keys are!

Time saved: Time away from your desk to go find and buy lunch. This one might have its break time advantages … but adds up in the costs.

Errands: Some don’t have to get done right away but then they just never leave your list. You keep forgetting about them.

Keep a special “errands notepad” in your car, where you will easily see it. When you get in the car, take a look at what’s on there. Are you going near any of those places? Then do it today. I use it even to remind myself to get gas or get to the bank.

Time savings: Here, it’s time saved when you realize you should have had that dress dry cleaned and now have no time. So you spend time shopping for a new one, and the money. Or you knew a month ahead of time you needed to bring a dessert to a school or a party. So now, you have to stop on the way at a place that’s more expensive than you’d normally go. Or you have to fit that errand in when you really don’t have the time, and so something else falls off your list.

Air filters/other household small maintenance tasks: You keep forgetting but you know it’s good for the air.

Make a reminder on whatever calendar you’re using. Or put it into your work calendar at the end of your day, to remind yourself it’s the first thing to do once work is closed out. Record a reminder on your cell phone as you’re driving home from work; make it the first thing you do. If your calendar’s on a pc or phone/smartphone, you can make it a recurring reminder, whether it’s quarterly or every two years.

Time savings: Health and maintenance savings.

You can never remember how to … this is good for anything you do only occasionally during the year.

Write yourself an email with instructions. Or add a “contact” to your contacts list with the information. Or write down how you did the task on your paper household calendar and in the month you’ll need to do it next time.

Time savings: If you don’t record what you need to do and how it’s done, you’ll spend plenty of time trying to remember what you did. Trying, trying and trying again.

To your organized holidays ! Safe travels (watch out for the other guy, I always say), relaxing times, and joy.

Tags: Harmony at Home, Time
Posted in AD/HD, Harmony at Home | No Comments »

Hung Up on Hanging Around

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

You’ve decided your closet is too full.

Or you can’t buy clothes because you’re not honestly sure what you already have.

Or you renovated the bedroom, so clothes are here, there and everywhere.

Or your closet has become the “I don’t know what to do with this. So I’ll put it in the closet … for now” place. But you never quite get back to it for whatever reason.

Or it’s Springtime and you’re ready to move out the winter clothes and move in with warm weather clothes!

Four Good Reasons to Reorganize This Week

Create more space for what you wear frequently and you won’t be saying “I thought I had a red shirt to go with these pants — where is it?”

You’ll cut down on ironing time. (If your closet is jam packed, you’ve created more ironing.) You’ll make room for new clothes.

You’ll get ready faster.

You’ll be happier when you get up in the morning and when you go to sleep at night; your closet is how you want it to be and that’s lifted your mood.

10 Tips to Let Go Easily

Next time you hang up something, look at two items of clothing to the left and right of what you just hung up. Are these still keepers? This is a bit-by-bit way to get through your closet.

If you decided to give away clothing, which organization would you give to? It’s far easier to let go of belongings if you consider ahead of time which organization to support.

Which friend will tell you honestly how your clothing looks on you?

Not sure if you want to give it up? Put it on “probation.” This is a separate part of your closet or different colored hangers. Let them hang around for awhile until you make a decision, but separate them so you know which items are not yet permanent.

women's organized clothing hanging in closet shutterstock_3253840

How frequently do you wear each item? When you reorganize, give yourself easiest access to the clothing you wear the most often so you’re “fishing” less.

Does it still fit and look good? If the answer is that it will fit when you lose weight, if you’re actively involved in weight loss or exercise today, then keep it. If this is a future plan, balance the space with how easy it is to find what you wear daily. At least move those clothes out of your everyday space.

How long as this item been in the mending pile? If it’s been there for more than a month or two, do you wear it often enough to keep it?

How many items have only one other item they go together with? If it’s only one or two, are these outside your typical color set? Are you keeping them because you paid good money, but maybe don’t really love them? Who else might love them as much as you thought you would?

Have you changed jobs or lifestyle recently? I worked in corporate for years, wearing suits, then dresses, then we went business casual. Now I work on my own and I’m often in even more casual clothing. I kept a few suits and dresses for presentations or conference wear. I kept most of the business casual/casual because that’s what I wear most. But I didn’t need to keep the closetful of suits and dresses because if I ever them again, styles will have changed.

Keep a “donate” bag on your closet floor. When you try on something in the future and don’t like it as much anymore, drop it into the bag. An easy way to keep up with culling out our old favorites we’d like to let go now.

Tags: ADD meditation gratitude relaxation, closet, downsizing, Harmony at Home, simplify
Posted in Downsizing Dilemmas- Solved, Harmony at Home, Next Chapter | 1 Comment »

Your Own Space — Space 4 U

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Fascinating conversation yesterday, with five women, age ranges (guessing here) from mid 30′s to early 50′s. On this topic, we all felt the same way — about our own space in our homes, or lack thereof. We were talking about the popularity of “man caves” and the super duper playrooms for the children of the family. “And what about us,” was the question. Why don’t we ever think about having our own — I don’t know what we’d call it — our own space.

Sometimes we hear these comments from women we know:

“Well, I have the rest of the house.”

“I have my gourmet kitchen.”

“I have an inspiring home office.”

Think about your own home. Where’s that place, that room, that chair, that nook or cranny where you escape to? You want to or sometimes you need to.

You want to be alone, in silence to reflect or meditate, do your yoga or read with no interruptions, no requests, no email and no phone.

Or you want to have friends over, female friends, for wine or scrap booking, listening to music, or discussing grandchildren or downsizing or whatever you want.

Self-care: Aren’t we at our best for ourselves and for others when we’re rejuvenated and refreshed? When we have spot in our own home — not a gym we have to drive to, or a library to escape to?

Where is your hiding place?

Where’s that place you get to sloooow down your life? Put on the brakes for awhile. Get back to your “me zone.” Remember who you are and what you’re about? What’s important to you? Needs, values, priorities. Creativity, fun, passions, hobbies.

Open the window of your space and hear the birds chirping. Or look around your imaginary space and what colors do you see? What kind of energy are you feeling in the room?

Where are you sitting? What style of furniture appeals to you, in this “me” space. Doesn’t have to be child, grandchild or dog friendly furniture. The colors you know are for you and your soul.

What are you doing in this space? Quilting, reading, meditation, yoga, dancing, sitting still, playing a musical instrument, or journalling. What do you long to do you haven’t done in oh, so long. Get back to the passions and create the space for it.

First step is creating your vision … next step is finding the space at home. Stay tuned for ideas.

Tags: ADD meditation gratitude relaxation, dream, Harmony at Home, space
Posted in Harmony at Home, Time Management | No Comments »

“The Nurturing and Blossoming of YOU”, part 2, interview with Trudie Young

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

As I practice being grateful, gratitude becomes me. It enhances my day, my life. I become more grateful. It looks good on me. You might say it’s even becoming. ~ Trudie

Part two of my interview with Trudie Young of Living Six Graces. For part one, please click here.

Trudie received Simple Abundance, A Day Book of Comfort and Joy as a birthday gift the same week it went to #1 on the NY Times Best-sellers list. Trudie trained with Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author of Simple Abundance, and became certified to share the soul-felt teachings in workshops.

Gratitude Gardens

Sarah and Trudie’s words became “companion plants in the gardens of bringing women together to gently explore a fuller life. One of simply abundances.”

“I’ve shared this book with more people than any other book I’ve shared.” – Trudie.

So of course, I’m intrigued and have to ask Trudie about two of the six living graces, Simplicity and Order.

And particularly Order. It’s a word that sounds so … rigid sometimes. How does that fit with living six graces ? Seems conflicting.

Trudie describes Simplicity as filtering out the chaos and the chatter from our lives. Surrounding ourselves with the things that we love. Asking yourself as you simplify: Do I love it? Is it functional? Is it sentimental?

It’s about energy, too. This isn’t something we think about very often. I often hear about too much visual clutter, too many thoughts in my head, too much out in sight — often visual. Energy is intriguing. Trudie asks “What’s the energy level in your home or schedule?”

And I’d ask how much is positive, uplifting, inspiring energy? The kind of energy which feeds you instead of drains you.

Clothespin doll by Lisa Allen. Photo (C) Lisa Allen

Remember how it felt when you cleaned out your papers or cleared your desktop? Or saw the faces of the people you donated your gently used craft supplies to? That’s the energy to covet and make happen in your life.

To keep that Simplicity in her life, Trudie imagines that she’s moving. Every year. She doesn’t really, though she has moved a lot. Once a year, she goes through her Things* and decides “Would I take this with me if we moved?”

Trudie tells me her milkshake maker appliance story as an example. A gift she no longer used but what could she do with it? She mentioned this to a colleague, who thought her school-aged daughters would LOVE the milkshake maker. And indeed they did — make milkshakes every day after school. Imagine the joy in the daughters’ lives for their gift. And Trudie’s, for the joy she’d given — just by giving up a milkshake maker. One single milkshake maker!

This bring us to Order. Trudie describes the benefits of this living grace. “Order in my life means I have some semblance of knowing what’s going on in my world. Some control.”

I like this; it’s not as rigid a definition as I’d thought of. “Some semblance” is a personal sense. My feeling of control and semblance of order won’t be the same as yours because it’s something I feel. And so it cannot be judged either.

Simplicity and Order — The silence between the notes of music. Without simplicity, we can’t hear the silence between the notes.