Hello everyone:
Today I am going to share some organizational tips with you. A calendar is a great tool for keeping things straight. While some folks swear by their cellphone calendar, I am a personal fan of the old-fashioned printed calendar. My schedule is hectic and it is really nice to have something that will never crash, does not need to be in cellphone tower range, and does not require any electricity.
I shared the use of my calendar during my college days on www.Practicalmakesperfect.com today, explaining how I made it through four degrees while being active in my church, homeschooling, and running a small decorating business. These days, I teach at three colleges and must keep each college’s dues dates and assignments straight. The calendar works great for that, as well. Maybe you don’t have three jobs to keep track of, but you may appreciate being able to track your various activities, family plans, work obligations, and church events in a simple yet effective way. Get out your traditional calendar and mark it up, color coding the activities based on what type of activity it is.
Another use of the calendar is to track when various tasks need to be done. Keep your smoke detector battery changes, air conditioning filter switches, and deep-cleaning activities on your calendar, making an entry on the calendar several months ahead. I have pre-scheduled hair appointments to keep the gray at bay, so I enter all hair appointments for the year in my calendar. All trips are also placed on this document. Birthdays and anniversaries are also noted.
The calendar is kept at my computer, opened to the current month. The calendar is in a stand that sits upright, so it is never covered up. I have a smaller duplicate month-at-a-glance calendar in my purse.
I hope this helps you get your activities organized and that it helps relieve some stress you may otherwise be feeling.
Best,
Dr. Sheri
Hello everyone:
Have you got a mouse in your house? Sometimes it is easy to tell because you find small “deposits” – we call them “turds” in our house. The upside is that, if you use peanut butter on a mouse trap, the critters seem to like it. The bad news is that you still have to get rid of the trap and the deceased pest when it works.
Occasionally, mice survive the entrapment, which leaves you with an injured pest…..When a mouse threatened my sanity while I was working the the garage, a mouse trap did do the trick, but only partially. My solution was to sweep the critter to the center of the garage, place a large piece of cardboard atop the invader, and run over the whole contraption with my car (the cardboard was thick and prevented damage to my tires). I then swept the entire kit and caboodle outside, where the offending critter was disposed of. Low tech, but it worked.
Have a lovely day,
Sheri
Hello everyone:
Some men rush to immediately give away their deceased wife’s clothing. Try not to be in too big a hurry here, or you may find that someone who could have really used the clothes as been overlooked.
Offer the clothing to your children first; you never know when some jacket or shirt has a special meaning to your kids. However, do not try to force the clothing on them; the size or style may be wrong for them and you should not do a guilt trip on the kids for not wanting the clothes.
After your children have had the first opportunity to look through the items, consider people you know who might enjoy having them. Is there a neighbor or friend who could use them (and who is a similar size)? When my aunt died, we offered her clothes to a nearby neighbor who had done so much for my aunt for many years. It turned out that her mother was my aunt’s size and was able to enjoy the like-new winter coats that my aunt had barely worn.
Hope this helps!
Sheri
Hello everyone:
Are there clothes in your closet that you haven’t worn in a year? Unless you are talking about a ballgown or a tux, it might be time to get rid of that garment. If you have something hanging in the closet that you argue with yourself about every time you start to put it on, give it away or throw it away. If something hasn’t fit in years, chances are that it isn’t going to fit now; it might be out of style, so you might as well toss it. Is something shows signs of wear, do you really want to wear it? One caveat: If I have a scruffy-looking hem on an otherwise nice pair of pants, I send the pants to the cleaners and have them made into shorts.
As the saying goes, “you have to get rid of what you don’t want in your life to make room for what you do want.” Your closet is a great place to start. Do you really want those ugly, dated shoes with the run-down heels?
As you work through your closet, have three piles: give away, throw away, and keep. As the closet empties, dust it to remove cobwebs and clean off the shelves and floor. As you put away your “keep” pile, your closet will be cleaned, as well as cleaned out.
Do you really want a nightgown that itches, a belt that pinches, or underwear that cinches? Nope. Give them away or throw them away. Undergarments that do not fit properly will not lead to a nice-looking appearance. The battle of the bulge will throw off your whole look, so toss or give away these items, pronto.
Have fun!
Sheri
Hello everyone:
Today’s blog is on using your vacuum cleaner. It is best to wear shoes when using the vacuum, because stubbed toes are no fun. Also, if you roll over something wet, wearing shoes can help lessen the electric shock you might get.
When vacuuming, make sweeping motions all over the room, watching to make certain you do not miss an area of the carpet. Move small furniture pieces and vacuum under them; don’t try to move heavier items without help or you could become a candidate for hernia surgery (don’t ask!). If you want to be completely thorough, vacuum first in one direction and then vacuum perpendicular to what you just went over.
Do not vacuum too close to the drawstrings of curtains, unless you want to remove the curtains from the wall. [There are easier ways of removing curtains!] Move the drawstrings before you vacuum nearby. Do not roll over electric cords or they might fray.
Have a great day!
Sheri
Hello everyone:
Let’s say that you have decided to become the next celebrity chef- or not, but you have made the decision to start cooking your own meals instead of eating out all the time. Bravo! Here are a couple of tips for making your clean up go more easily.
As you begin cooking, get into the various cabinets and refrigerator and take out everything you need to prepare the meal. As you use an ingredient, don’t put it down, put it away. By putting things back where they belong, you will make sure that you have included everything that needs to be in the recipe and your kitchen will be cleaner before the dish is even finished cooking!
Wipe down the counter tops as you go and wash out any dishes you used to prepare the dish. By the time your dish is cooked, you will have a sparkling kitchen as well as a delicious meal waiting for you!
Best,
Sheri
Hi everyone:
I heard a story many years ago about a young woman just starting out in the business world, after spending several years at home with her children. She had an interview the next morning, so she spent some time preparing her outfit for the next day. She knew she wouldn’t have time to prepare breakfast, so she made some coffee (planning to microwave it) and bought some filled donuts.
When she got up the next morning, she put on her outfit, only to have one of the kids spit up on it. She grabbed a backup outfit, but now she was running late. She nuked her coffee, grabbed a donut, and headed out the door. When she got in the car, she set the coffee on the dashboard, took a bite of the donut, and backed up. Crash! One of the kids had left his tricycle in the driveway. The mug of coffee flew off the dash and landed in her lap. She had squeezed the donut when the hot coffee hit her lap.
In another tale, a friend of mine went to a local donut shop and had breakfast. He decided to get some donuts for the office and bought a box. He started eating one of the donuts as he left the parking lot, only to realize that the filing was rancid. He threw the donut out of the window as he drove through the lot, only to notice that someone was driving by with his window down. The partially-eaten donut landed on the passerby’s face.
What is the moral of the two stories? East breakfast at home and stay away from donuts……..
Best,
Sheri
Hello everyone:
Today’s blog is on caulking. You might ask: what is caulking for? It serves a couple of purposed, one of which is to seal up your house to that unwanted critters can’t get in. Bugs and the like can get into your house via the smallest of openings. By making certain your house is well-sealed, you can prevent them from entering and multiplying.
Caulk also covers up a multitude of poorly-done joints, hiding the fact that two pieces of wood on the baseboard do not align exactly the way they should.
Caulk makes a nicer-looking finish, as well. It is vital that you not try to cut corners on the quality of caulk that you purchase. Get the DAP, 50-year warrantied product or you will have to re-do the job you spent hours doing with an inferior product. Poor quality means that the caulk will crack and peel a few years from now.
Follow the instructions on the tube carefully. This is a wet job and it needs to be done with care.
Best,
Sheri
Hello everyone:
When driving in Florida this past weekend, I got a flat tire. Sadly, I do not have AAA (it’s a mere $66 per year for the basic membership). When calling the rental car company, they told me that it would cost $78 to get them to come take care of it. Happily, my brother came by and changed the tire for me, but here are some tips he gave me on how to do it:
Read the car’s Owner’s Manual and follow the directions on exactly where to place the jack (you could rip off your car’s bumper if you put it in the wrong place!).
Let the car’s weight help you loosen the bolts that hold the tire on. Loosen (but not completely) the bolts holding the tire on and then jack the car up. Finish loosening the bolts and remove the tire.
When you put the spare tire on, make sure you put it on correctly (not wrong-side out!). The Owner’s Manual should have a picture that shows how it should be placed. Tighten the bolts, using your body weight to make them tighter. When you have used all of your strength to tighten them, jack the tire back down to the ground and tighten them again. You are once again using your car’s weight to tighten the bolts.
Since you will then be driving on your spare tire, get the original tire repaired or replaced as soon as possible, since you no longer have a spare tire. Get AAA sooner rather than later, so that they can change the tire next time!
Best,
Sheri
Sometimes is becomes necessary to change locations. Make sure you have plenty of toilet paper and paper towels available in both your old and new homes. You don’t want to run out of either of these necessities on either end of your moving day (no pun intended).
When I bought a condo in Florida, one of the nicest things that the seller did was to provide me with full rolls of quality toilet paper in each bathroom, tissues on the back of each toilet, and a full roll of paper towels in the kitchen. All of these products were “the good stuff,” as opposed to Dollar Store quality. This left a very good impression.
He also left the condo spotless. All I needed to do was move in. This happened two years ago and I am still remarking about it, so you know what kind of impression he left, along with no dirt or grime!