Andrea's blog

I just got back home from a MOPS meeting and it was all about organization and the home office and it got me all warm and fuzzy-feeling inside.  I just get so excited about having things organized and "in their place."  It was good stuff.  Everyone had some great organization ideas, so I thought I'd share a few of them here:
 

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Problem:
papers, mail, bills, receipts, etc.  The "STACKS"

Suggested Solutions:

• The 2-minute rule (If it can be taken care of in less than two minutes, do it immediately)
• Have appropriate disposal bins handy where you read your mail (trash, recycle, shred)
• Use a by-date separator to know when to pay certain bills
• Have an "inbox" and go through it daily (or weekly)

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Problem:

Scheduling, calendars

 

Solution Suggestions:

•  Family Calendar with room for each family member's activities for the week.
• White board calendar in the kitchen
• Sync up your PDAs, Outlook Calendars, etc.
• Keep a perpetual birthday, anniversary calendar

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Problem:

To-do lists that are way too long

 

Solution Suggestions:

• Keep a long-term (this month/year) and short-term (today/this week) to-do list
• Categorize your to-dos.  A work-related to-do, a home related to-do, a kid-related to-do, etc.
• Make a next-action list (Ben got this from the book Getting Things Done.  It has a fantastic system that we use occasionally...not religiously)

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Problem:

Toys everywhere!

 

Solution Suggestions:

• Each kid gets a bin and they're allowed to put as many of whatever toys they want to have in the bin, but the lid MUST close.  All other toys are stored in bins in the basement/garage/etc.  Every month or so you give them the option to go "shopping" for a new round of toys.   (Alison gets total credit for this idea--which btw my MOPS group thought this was genious!)
• Buckets with photo labels of the contents. 
• Toy "check out" and "return" policy from shelves.  Can only have 3 items checked out at once before they need to be put away. (I don't actually know anyone who does this, but it might be an interesting experiment to see if kids are willing to go along with it...)

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Problem:

Kids' schoolwork and artwork 

 

Solution Suggestions:

• Boxes, folders or bins divided by school year.  Label with child's name, year, teacher's name.
• Portfolio divided by year
• Hang recent creations from clips on a curtain rod to create your own kid's art gallery
• Go back 2-3 years later when you aren't so emotionally attached to *every* art piece and quiz and purge, keeping the best and most special.

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Funny story:  Tom (Ben's dad) asked me once to make him a top 10 list of how to stay organized.  Immediately I looked for some paper and a pen and came up with a list of 6 things and handed it to him.  He always jokes that #1) he was shocked that I did it instantly, and #2) that I only needed 6 "rules".  Proof of my tendency towards efficiency I guess.  I'll try to remember them here, but he may need to correct me if he still has the original list:

 

1.  A place for everything and everything in its place.
2. If it can be done quickly, do it immediately.
3. Clean out your closets/desk/etc. every 6 months.  If you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it, you probably don't need it.
4. Put things away every night before you go to bed. 

Darn...i can only come up with 4 now....does that mean I'm getting more efficient and organized?  Or just tired and sloppy now that I've got a kid?

 

I'll leave you with a photo of my favorite room of our house...my office. 

 

After nap today, Ayla was playing in her playhouse and she said something about pizza.  Which reminded me that I've been meaning to make her some pizzas for her playhouse.  So, Ayla helped me "cook" them up this afternoon.  She even blew on them because they were "hot" (aka...the glue was drying). 

 

Ben and I just finished watching a 7-episode mini-series documentary called "The Long Way Round".  Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorgman are two best friends and motorbike enthusiasts (they also happen to be actors) that decided to go on an adventure together by riding motorcycles from London to New York -- going east -- all the way around the world.  

 

Their adventure is unbelievable, astonishing, painful, breathtaking, stressful, enlightening, remarkable, eye-opening, and so many other powerful adjectives that I can't come up with right now.  The two of them are hilarious and determined to succeed in their adventure as well as enjoy it as it happens (which sometimes was very difficult).  They meet all kinds of interesting people from the most unique places and remote places you'd ever imagine, traveling through Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, and finally across Canada and the United States.  

 

I absolutely recommend you pick this up at the library, video rental place or download the episodes from their web site.   It was like going around the world and seeing things we'll never likely get a chance to see--because very few do!  Do you know many people who travel the Road of Bones in Siberia?  

 

I see now that they've done another adventure together called The Long Way Down where they go from Scotland down through to the southernmost tip of Africa.  I'll be looking out for that one to watch next time! 

 

Ayla's playhouse arrived last night....and so did Noni. We spent an hour or so fixing it up with curtains, house numbers (616--her birthday), flowers, a tree, an American flag and even a framed photo on the wall.

 

 

 

I made it home, which means I must have had a successful shopping trip....(this makes sense if you read my "Today I am..." ticker. Today's says: Today I am not coming home until I have purchased a new pair of tennis shoes. My current pair is 6 years old...I bought them in Searcy, AR! (3/4))

 

The most crucial purchase of the day, from Dicks Sporting Goods (on sale for $39.99):

 

 

 

 

And, while I was in shoe-shopping mode, I picked these up at DSW (also on sale for $24.26):
 

 

 

 

But before we went shoe shopping, Ayla and I walked the aisles of the Kids Market & Mom consignment sale. I was not in the mood to shop for kid clothes...they were way too overpriced for consignment, so we took a look at the toys and picked up these gems for only $2 each:
 

 

Then, I spotted this for only $25 (usually $80 new), which I've been eyeing for a long time at various consignment sales. It's a little big for her now, but Ayla just HAS to have her own scrapbooking and craft desk. And it fits just perfectly right by mine! Now we need to find a chair and stuff to fill it up with. Some little artist has sharpie-d the dry erase board, so I'm going to try and clean it, paint it (maybe with chalkboard paint), or replace it.

 

 

 

Nothing feels better than snagging good deals on things you "need".

 

Regardless, it was pretty cool. Kind of like having a box seat to a huge concert. I was never a big U2 fan and actually I used to tease Zach because as long as I'd known him, I'd never known a conversation with him that didn't somehow come back to Bono or U2. A couple of years ago though, he showed us a DVD of a U2 concert in Dublin. I was so impressed with their talent and ever since I've considered myself a fan--although not anywhere close to as big a fan as Zach is!

 

But now I can say I reached out and "touched" Bono's hand at a concert....and it'll be virtually true...

 

I ran across this site today in my blog-reading, and I'm LOVING it.  It's a web site made for people like me, who aren't even sure how to boil an egg. They have all kinds of step-by-step videos for dummies like me.  

 

http://www.startcooking.com 

 

Check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, my question about "What Comes in Fours" does have a project behind it.  I loved everyone's responses, but I haven't necessarily narrowed my plan down to what we should use.  You see, we're looking for photograph ideas to put into four frames in our kitchen.  And, although the 4 Ninja Turtles would definitely be a guaranteed conversation piece (Thanks Rachel), I'm not sure it's quite what I had in mind! :)

 

I do like the idea of seasons, US time zones, and Janel suggested photographs of the 4 states we've lived in (IL, AR, MN, and AL).  Earth, Fire, Air & Water might be neat, and I liked Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Sour too (since it's for the kitchen).  Any more ideas budding now that you know what it's for?

 

I just finished reading
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. It was a book my grandmother recommended. Written by a Jewish author, it flashes between the late 90's and the 1930's - 40's and follows the story of a German mother and her daughter. The mother lived in Germany during WWII and falls in love with a Jewish doctor, has a baby, and so on... (don't want to ruin the story too much). The daughter is a German history professor (in Minneapolis, of all places) and is doing research on the experiences of Germans during the war.

 

It reads just like a Lynn Austin book, which I love, teaching all about the history and pulling you into the time frame with a captivating story. Although the author is Jewish, I found it to be remarkably
un-religious. Actually there are very few Jewish characters in the
book.

 

I had never read a book about the Holocaust before, and it's very sobering to read about how awful people were treated. Hearing about it in school and in history books doesn't really pull you in emotionally like a story like this does.

 

I definitely recommend this book. Very interesting and easy-to-read. Thanks Grandma! :)