New Year’s Goals

Goals not Resolutions

What is the difference between a New Year’s Goal and a New Year’s Resolution?

A goal is something you are striving for.  A resolution is something you say “will happen before next year”. You are resolved that it is going to happen.  I think that is the reason people don’t like them. There is no “give”.  Then people feel defeated when they aren’t living up to what they want to do, and they quit.

What are your goals?

By the way, doing what that guy is doing is NOT one of my goals! lol  (photo from Google photos)

The same thing happens with organizing.  Someone wants it “perfect” and when they aren’t achieving that, they end up just giving up and things get out of control.

I have goals this year. Many of them are things I’m always working on.  But here is a list of my goals:

1) Get up around 6am. Go to bed by 11pm
2) Work on my blog in the morning BEFORE I open any other windows to start my job.
3) Work towards working my job 9-5 M-F instead of 7am-11pm M-Sunday.
4) Exercise everyday. Walking (with goals of jogging 1 mile) and maybe a Zumba DVD the other day.
5) Lose this extra weight I am carrying around (that is heavy to carry! lol)

Sit down today, if you haven’t already done so and write out at least five goals you have for this year. Something to strive for, something to work towards.  Don’t beat yourself up & give up, if you aren’t where you need to be at a certain point.  Work slowly and steadily.

Exercise has always been a thorn in my side. I wasn’t athletic in school and I’ve never had a good routine that I have maintained for any real length of time.  I picture myself as someone in shape who can run! I am inspired by watching the Biggest Loser. I always think, “hey, if people that have that much extra weight can do this, then there is no reason that I shouldn’t be able to do this.”

With work there is so much work to be done, that I could work 15 hours everyday and still have things that I could be doing. That is one down fall of working from home – work is always there. lol  But I think it is about the only down fall I can think of. I love everything else about it. I love being able to sit in my family room with my feet up, with my turtle neck and hoodie and tennis shoes on and working. cool huh? (I’m not a PJ worker).  But I’ve not been able to keep up with my blog and one of my goals is to give it more time this year.

What are your goals for the new year?

Kids Activity – Make Your Own Cards

Kids Are So Proud When They Make Cards Themselves

 

Majority of the time we have the kids make their own cards.  It is cost effective ..yes, but more than that, they get such a sense of pride when they make their own cards.

Look at Alex’s face as John (his step brother) reads his card. I think the triplets were about 6 years old here.

He was so excited for John to read his joke.

Here is Zach while John is reading his.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of John and Zach hugging. Look at Zach’s face. Then look at John’s heartfelt face. There is just so much love and a feeling of pride for Zachy there.

Here are some cards they made for Dave. The kids were 8 years old.

This is a terrible picture of Dave since I got him with his eyes half shut… but look at Elise’s face. She is so excited he is comparing himself to the picture she drew of him.

Kids have so much creativity in them.  I think we need to encourage that anyway we can.  Why go out and pay $2-5 per card at the store?  Let the kids grab some of their construction paper, crayons or markers and go to being their creative selves.  There are pennies in the supplies and you don’t have so spend hours trying to find “Just the right card” for the different occasions.

They are going to get much more satisfaction out of making a card.

Dave and I would both rather have a home made card from the kids. You never know what they are going to come up with and they certainly are something that are going to be more cherished than if they sign their name to a card that Hallmark wrote.  They are just so excited to have you look at their cards.

But here is an important clue.  Give their cards as much or more attention to the store bought gift that may or may not go with it!

 

PileSmart Desktop Organizers

Help for the Those Paper Piles!

Does Your Desk Look like this …or worse?
Piles of papers can get overwhelming…and things get lost in them! I think most all of us tend to stack the mail and make piles. The problem lies in what you do with those piles.

There are vertical drawer files, vertical desk top files…but for some people – those just don’t seem to fit their style. They want to pile.
Pendaflex has come up with an answer for the pilers! It is their desk top filer and it is piling! The PileSmart® Desktop Organizer Tray! There are dividers that you can label to divide your piles and make some sense of what you have.

I think it looks great. You can label the tabs and they are erasable. They are sturdy enough that you just left them up easily to slide your papers under. The PileSmart® Desktop Organizer Tray is made of durable acrylic and is slightly slanted towards the back corner to keep your papers looking neat.

This is that same pile of papers afterwards. Looks much better than that pile doesn’t it? I didn’t label the tabs, because I haven’t fully decided how I am going to use this….but I did want to show you what it looks like.

Here are the PileSmart View Folders with Write on Tabs

These are pocket folders that are open on the side to make sliding in things very easy. You can also use these in the trays if you would like.

Then check out these cute clips! The PileSmart® Binder Label Clips can clip together your documents quickly and see what they are at a snap. You can write on the plastic label’s with a pen.

You can find all of these products online.

1. PileSmart® Desktop Organizer Tray
-Buy Online Now

2. PileSmart® Binder Label Clips
-Buy Online Now

3. PileSmart® View Folders with Write-On Tabs
-Buy Online Now

Using Baskets to organize office supplies

Re-purposing a bookshelf in a closet is thinking outside the box.

This picture is actually looking into a closet.  I had a challenge with a client. Organize all these office supplies.  There was a small closet in the room and a bar across it and a couple of little shelves that had been left by a previous owner. There was no need for clothes for this office….and I wanted to utilize this space.

The client had  this bookshelf that wasn’t being used.  I did all the measurments before I had it moved into the room.  It was going to fit! I was So excited!

Now for the containers.  I wanted to use a clear plastic so that you could easily see what was in them.  I measured the shelf height and length to make sure I could get the most use out of the space…knowing I was buying the right size baskets or plastic boxes.

If you notice I have the lids off the boxes.  It would look very nice and neat to have them on, but would things get put back as easy if you had to lift a lid to do it?  This was a place that I could leave them open and easily accessible.  But….I did put the lid directly under the basket so that you don’t have to worry about losing them…and they are there if you want to use them.

Is the Organizing Fairy coming to Your House?

Excuses don’t get the work done but the Organizing Fairy can right?

(You can’t see a fairy’s face you know….they won’t come to visit if you see their face….don’t you know anything?  Duh? lol)

I know..I know…we all wish we had one (I do too some days….although I would much rather have a cooking & cleaning fairy). But unless we do have an organizing fairy…guess what? The job still needs to get done.  Unless you always want to be living in a messy zone.  So even though we can have a zillion excuses….we still need to find a way to get the job done.

I know…that is the yucky part right?  So the question now is..how?

The first Step is schedule the time to do it. Get out that calendar.

I know it would be wonderful if we could add 4 hours to each day in order to get more done….but unfortunately life doesn’t work that way.

Block out a couple hours in your schedule a few times a week.  If there is a way you can devote several hours to get started…that would be wonderful, but if not – do what you can.

Maybe turn off the reality show (DVR it!) and use that time if you work during the day.
It might have to be after the kids are in bed if you can’t get anything accomplished while they are up.
It might be that you need to bring in a babysitter for a few hours or have in in-law watch them.

It is all about priorities. If this is a priority to get done in your life, then you need to put it on as a priority in order to get it done.

Moving Hosting Sites

It is possible this site might be down for a bit in the next 2-3 days. I am transferring hosting sites. The other blogs will follow soon…
Thanks
Sandy

Preparing for Medical Emergencies

There are no warnings for medical emergencies

So how do you plan for an medical emergency ahead of time?  Well, you don’t necessarily plan for the actual event…but there are things you can do that can help during a medical transition.

Medications

First thing I am going to go over with you is having a list of everyone’s medications…including doses and concentrations with you.

When I answer phones in triage at the pediatricians office I work at, I can’t tell you how many people have no idea what medicines their children are on. They tell me to look it up in their chart.  Of course I can do that….but as a parent ….YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION!

The same goes for your spouse. Know what medicines he or she takes daily. Know the dose …if you can’t remember them …write them down and keep them in your purse.  Or you can keep a running list in your smart phone.  Easy to change and update….easy to access.

Allergies

Make sure you know what allergies your children and your spouse have. If there are medications they are allergic to…KNOW THEM.  If you can’t remember….again keep a list in your purse or wallet …or you can have them in your smart phone.

Immunizations

This is the other item you need to know.  I had to answer when Dave’s last tetus was. I actually had to call my office yesterday and have one of my Dr. check my chart. Yes we are a peds office…but I keep an employee chart for myself. I also keep my hubbies info in there for an easy reference. Since I didn’t follow my own advice that I am giving …(I’ll admit it….)  I had to call and ask when his last tetanus was. I knew it was in the last 5 years…but I wanted to know for sure. I found out it was in 2008 and he did not need another one at the ER.

But this is something that you really should have available. All those school forms and camp forms you have to fill out.  You can be putting in those dates yourself when you send them to the Dr. office (we LOVE that!!)…then all we have to do is get the Dr. signature.  But it is great information to have at your fingertips and you will be amazed at how often it will come in handy.

Be prepared….hopefully you will never need the information for an emergency room….but you will be ready if you do.

Teenage Rooms – Where to start?

Usually the first step is to find the floor!

Usually teens (like most of us) have too much “stuff”. There is more stuff than places to put the stuff – so it is easier to just throw it on the floor. Keep in mind this isn’t always the case. My oldest son (at home) has plenty of storage space…but stuff is still on the floor – but he could still stand to declutter again.

Starting at the Beginning means starting with Sorting

Be armed with Black trash bags (trash) and white trash bags (donate).

Then remember your sorting basics.  Don’t spend more time on each item than about 5-10 seconds.  You don’t want to start reminiscing or you will never get the job done.  If they still have all kinds of stuffed animals or toys from their childhood (and they are teens)..help them pick out a couple special ones to keep (if they want to keep any). Take pictures of others if they are having a hard time deciding or not sure about getting rid of things.

If there are clothes that you need to keep to pass down to other children in your family. I suggest clear bins (so you can see what is in them) and be sure to label them well.

Work with them and have them decide: Make paper sorting cards to help remember what to do with their things.

1) Keep – Do I LOVE it? Do I WEAR it? Do I USE it? Does it FIT?
2) Donate – I DON’T like it and will not wear it, It DOESN’T fit, I DON’T use it.
3) Move – It doesn’t BELONG in my Bedroom
4) Storage - This can be season sports supplies or things they need to keep but don’t use but once or twice a year.
5) Trash – It is trash, broken, torn or worn out

Let them just make piles (they love piles anyway right?)  on the floor for the different categories.  If there is not floor space to begin with. I suggest piling everything in one big pile and then going through it.

NAPO’s Amazing Race!

 

Napo stands for National Association of Professional Organizers

This post is for all those Professional Organizers who are going to be attending the NAPO conference in Columbus Ohio this week!!  The ladies at the Ohio NAPO chapter have been working SO hard to make sure that you all have a fantastic time.  They wanted to come up with something really fun and different and I think they have out done themselves!

The NAPO AMAZING RACE will be so fun!  There will be teams and you will have clues and have to go from expo booth to expo booth….remember having scavenger hunts as a kid?  You’ve got it!

I can’t wait to see you all.  I will actually not be in the sessions because I have a table in the Expo hall. But I WILL be a part of the AMAZING RACE!!   will be selling the pouchees purse organizer and also card cubbies (that aren’t even in my online store yet).  Be sure to stop by my table and say hi…along with getting a deal!  OR you may win one of them in the RACE!

Don’t miss “Amazing Race” NAPO – a new Networking Mixer at the NAPO 2010 Conference hosted by NAPO-Ohio Chapters

WHAT IS THE NAPO AMAZING RACE?
Teams of NAPO members will race against each other in the completion of tasks designed to get them to know each other and learn more about the exhibitors

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

All NAPO conference attendees

WHERE?

Expo Hall at the NAPO 2010 Conference

WHEN?

Wednesday evening 4/21 from 7:15 – 9:30 pm

WHY?

You’ve asked for a fun Conference networking event, plus we have awesome Prizes! Over 80% of our exhibitors are participating and FIVE winning teams will walk away with some pretty amazing stuff and I’m guessing some pretty amusing memories.

COST?

Absolutely nothing!

HOW DO I GET IN ON THIS?

Just make sure you’re at the exhibitor hall by 7PM that evening and stop at the Amazing Race table near the entrance!

QUESTIONS?

email Andrea Sharb, NAPO-Ohio President at agsharb@mac.com

Organizing Pet Supplies

Organizing Your Pet Supplies can be tricky.  If you have pets you realize that they do not come without their “stuff”.  There are leashes, brushes, nail clippers, etc…  There are some things you need to think about when you are organizing your pets supplies.

Organizing Supplies

Decide on the Location

Each family has to decide what place will work best for their home and their needs.  Either one spot in the garage, or mudroom or laundry room. Maybe you have space in your back hallway  that will work. Using a piece of furniture like I did might work for you. It can go right by the back sliding door where the dogs come in and out.

Gather all the dog paraphernalia

The first thing you should do in organizing your supplies is to sort through them.  Decide if you (your pet) still use this item or if it is too small, or worn out or too dirty.  If it can be donated, it would be great to donate to a shelter. If not, then pitch it.   Medicines, leashes, brushes and clippers, bandanas, clothes (if your dog wears them).  The food might need to go in a separate spot or toys. It depends on space. But try to keep as many of the little things together as possible.

Decide on a solution for storage

This is the solution that I have found for my 2 dogs.

The top 2 drawers have the most frequently used items. Their leashes and their brushes.

These two drawers have their shampoos and and medications they have along with a sweater for Gizzy (that she doesn’t wear much) and a small dog bowl that we use outside.

The bottom two drawers have towels (when feet are wet and muddy) and an old dog halo collar.  We keep their dog food out in the garage in a sealed plastic roller bin.  Their toys are in a basket in the family room where they can reach them and their dog biscuits are in a Longenberger basket on the counter.  But all the rest of their supplies are in this chest of drawers.

Here are some other ideas for Storage

You can use peg board and baskets in the garage. Or just some unique peg board like in the picture

You can make a pet supply closet like I found on this blog post by the Organizing Aussie Check this out because I LOVE this.

How fun is this? If you have the space in your mud room or where ever your food is located – take a new metal trash can and paint it cute for your dog food.

Be creative and fun – Think outside the box but be sure to keep your pets supplies together.

Spring Cleaning

Spring at our Farm

Spring Cleaning

The Sun is out, it is warming up…things are beginning to grow and you want to clean.  The spring brings new growth, new smells of flowers and grass.  The windows are open…the breezing blowing in – and you don’t want it to blow papers all over your house and stir up pet hair and dust bunnies do you?

Where to Start?

To clean, you need to “put away”. Many time there in lies the problem. There may be no place to “put away” to.  Clutter building up can increase the difficulty of cleaning.  So do you dust around the piles of “stuff”, or do you just not dust because that just seems silly.

Start your cleaning much like you start your organizing.

1) Set aside a time to clean each room

2) Get cleaning supplies, bucket of cleaner or spray (I personally like Odo-ban). Rubber gloves (because it doesn’t seem so gross to clean if you have on gloves). Trash bags – black for trash, white for donate.

3) Start in one place. This is a great time to sort through the clutter. Sort quick, clear off a surface and clean it well.

4) Be sure to clean your walls, inside drawers, baseboards, etc.

5) Have your family help you. Many hands can accomplish the task much quicker than just yours.

I reviewed a book last year called Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home Book . The contest is closed, but you can go look at the review.  She has some great tips for cleaning….anything you can imagine!

Give a Day – Get a Disney Day

Give a Day – Get a Disney Day Promotion

We were really excited to see what was in store for us this morning. We knew it was geared around the “Give a Day – Get a Disney Day” promotion.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Disney Social Media Mom’s event in Orland Florida at Disney World.  Our first morning there we were given a very nice breakfast and got to hear a great speaker, Guy Kawasaki.

From there we were walked over to another part of Disney Epcot (and for Florida it was a cold walk).  We were ushered into a huge room with a balloon filled stage and hundreds of chairs set up.  Yeah….we were here! To learn more about the Give a Day – Get a Disney Day There was all kinds of media in the back and cameras. The middle section was empty at that point and the Social Media Mom’s (us) had sections just for us.

They brought in a family from every state (except 2 that got held up by the winter storms) to represent the volunteerism that has been taking place. Disney started a promotion this year that you can give a day of service at participating places and get a free Disney park pass in return. Their hope was to get 1,000,000 participants and just 6 weeks in they have had 600,000 participants! Better than they ever expected. I think that is great. I knew someone who signed up at our local zoo to help take down Christmas lights. The projects don’t have to be big and scary. One of the points they kept making over the couple days we were there is how much better you feel and how just giving a day of service somewhere benefits not only those that you are helping….but it benefits you.

There are enough cans here to make up 70,000 meals for people who need them. Wow…is that fantastic. They then used many volunteers after this presentation was over to pack up the cans into boxes to take to those needy people.

They were colorful, decorative and had a message:

They really decorated and had the Volunteer theme going all around. Great

How can you help?  Check out the Disney site and see how you can also Give a Day – Get a Disney Day yourself!

If you liked that, maybe you would like to see this also:

Disney Social Media Moms

Disney Social Media Moms Conference

Thoughts on the Disney Social Media Moms Conference

As I write this post I am sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to board my flight home from the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and I am reflecting on how much I got from it.  I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it due to the weather and some other factors…and after missing my initial “great flight that would have had me there by noon” I spent 12 hours getting to Orlando and got into my room about 11:30 pm this last Wednesday.  But it was worth it.  Getting home is another story since I had one of my “old lady brain farts” when I scheduled my trip and instead of arranging my flight for Saturday the 13th at 7:30pm I scheduled it for Sunday Feb 14 at 7:30pm. (Yes…Valentines day). I changed that flight so that I at least get home by 10pm instead of 11:30pm tonight. Just because I’m an organizer doesn’t mean I don’t mess things up. (for sure)

Guy Kawasaki giving his presentation

Guy Kawasaki – Founding partner of Garage Technology Venture & Co-founder of Alltop.com

Our first speaker of the trip was Guy Kawasaki. He gave me some new insights on twitter.   He discussed twitter  and how he uses it and how we can best use it to further our businesses.  He shared that he was originally against it, not caring that “Jimmy was drinking his coffee” , but realized that it can be an invaluable tool in your business.  Some of the tips that I gained from listening to Guy was that we should tweet out 4  times each thing we tweet.  He schedules them about 6-8 hours apart so that he doesn’t lose page views.  He states that more than 4 times is too much, but less than that we are losing valuable page views.  He also doesn’t tweet what he is doing during the day and he is not talking about tweeting out responses to people 4 times.  He is constantly searching for information that others will find interesting and informing us of that on which is linked to his All Top Site which of course then brings him more traffic.  The site is a pure meca of information!  He also stated that we need to have a tweeter-feed. So that each time we post something new…it shows up on twitter. (I need to do that)

Maxine Clark founder of Build a Bear

Maxine Clark – Founder and Chairman of Build a Bear

Maxine if my new idol I think.  She is the founder and chairman of Build A Bear. She shared with us how she has a love of bears and how much her bear meant to her as a child. Persevering and believing in your dreams and working to achieve them was her message.  She was truly amazing. She told us about her 2nd customer and how neat it was that a boy can get a Teddy Bear and dress it up in Army gear and it’s acceptable for him to get that and be a kid too.  She has kept in contact with these people. She listened to a little girl in Canada who e-mailed her and told her she would like a Build a Bear store in her town and why. That little girl was at that store on opening day along with Maxine. How cool is that?  She manages her own Twitter account, e-mail account and answers people back. She is a very busy running a Build a Bear empire….but she still has time to talk to her customers and friends…she is real. She is a gem.

Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan – Eleven year veteran of Social media and Author of Trust Agents

To be honest I was excited to listen to Chris Brogan at our conference, but I didn’t know how entertaining  he would be. When I saw him at Blog World speak….he was on a panel with a few other people and no offense at all….he didn’t really get to “shine” like he did when he was on his own. I didn’t expect to be laughing as hard as I was. But he also passed on some really great information to us. Listening….Connecting…Publishing… The 3 pieces to Social Media that Chris spoke to us about and the importance of them.

Marissa Jaret Winkour

Marissa Jaret Winkour – Tony Award winning Broadway Actress and Veteran of Dancing with the Stars

You may remember Marissa on Dancing with the Stars. I never saw her in Hairspray the Broadway play she won her Tony for.  Since she was on Dancing with the Stars she has dyed her hair blond and lost a lot of weight and has a son. She told us she was due to have a baby 2 months after she was on Dancing with the Stars. She shared that she was a cancer survivor and before she under went her treatments she froze some eggs and her surrogate was 7 months pregnant with her child. She then went on to tell us about her life as a actress with a baby and how difficult it was.

Kathy Ireland – Surprise guest appearance

Kathy Ireland was not on our programs and we didn’t know she was going to speak to us. She came out looking beautiful as ever. She told us about her work ethics and a business she began going bankrupt, her 22 year marriage and her new book about daily devotionals due to come out soon. (She didn’t push her book, I think someone knew about it and asked her the question…and she answered)

Maryellen Hooper absolutely cracked me up.

Maryellen Hooper – Veteran in the world of Stand-up Comedy

I can’t tell you how hard I laughed. She was cracking me up.  Her act was about motherhood and life as a wife. She has a blog called  Stinky Flowers that you will have to go visit. You will have to get her DVD…she is really entertaining.

Disclosure:  I was not sponsored to go to Disney Social Media Moms conference.  I paid for the conference on my own. We did however get a discounted rate on the conference, our room and Disney tickets, and some of my meals as that was part of the conference package I purchased. I was not asked to blog on it, so any blogs or pictures I post are because I have chosen to do so.

How To Start Organizing

It is a New Year, so I am going to start off with some good basics. Some of you have seen these on here before, but it never hurts repeating valuable information.

First off – Don’t try to tackle “my whole house”. Break it down. Think about one “hot spot” that is the first thing you want to take care of.  It may be the kitchen counter, or that table when you walk in the house that everyone dumbs things on.

If you try to do too much in too short of time you will become defeated when you can’t do it and I don’t want you to give up.

Step 1 – Pick Your Zone

Step 2 – Pick Your Time (write it in on your calendar)

Step 3 – Get supplies Ready

*Black trash bags – trash   *White Trash bags – donate   * Clean bins (my favorite), but sturdy boxes will do if you have them

Step 4 – Start the Sort – Take 10 seconds per item (no more…don’t walk down memory lane, just take first thoughts)

A) Keep – You LOVE it and USE it

B) Donate – It would be Usable for someone, but it doesn’t fit or you really don’t like it, or you are not using it.

C) Store – Holiday or speciality items (skiing equip, camping equip) that you use yearly

D) Move – Items that don’t belong in that space or room. They need to be moved to another room if you are keeping them

E) Trash – Recycle if possible.

It isn’t hard once you get started.  The mind set is the biggest obstacle in most cases. Don’t think…”its too much I can’t do it” . Instead think, “Wow…I have a mess, but it will feel GREAT when I get through it.”

Christmas Clean Up & Decluttering

Christmas Clean Up & Declutting

Our decorations came down today. I don’t like keeping them up after Christmas long at all. It just makes me feel “cluttered”.
I LOVE them up before Christmas, but afterwards it just makes me think of all I have to do to get my house back together..and I am anxious to get things back to normal. When you pull out your Christmas bins to replace your decorations after the holidays….think about how many you didn’t use this year.

I know that each of the 4 bins that we brought up from the basement still had things in them that we didn’t put out. In the Christmas ornaments bins, there are ornaments that I usually don’t put up because they don’t really have any special memories and I don’t really care for them. So know what I did this year? I pitched them. I probably should have donated them, but some had some chips in them or just didn’t make me feel real good about donating….plus the fact that I was in “get rid of” mode.
I opened up those bins and there were items that we didn’t put out….I cleaned those out too.
It freed up some room and just made me feel good.

My advice for Christmas (or any holiday decorations) is:
1) If you haven’t used a decoration in the last 2 years….get rid of it. Pass it one to other family members, donate it or pitch it.
2) If you just don’t like a decoration and there are no special memories attached to it….get rid of it.
3) If it is broken or you can’t use it….get rid of it.

It feels good to have it done.

Time to Organize for Christmas- Christmas Cards

Can you believe how fast time goes? Christmas is only 25 days away. OMG!! And Chanukah comes up sooner than that..I think it is 11 days away (please forgive me if I got that wrong.)
This is the time to get on top of your planning, so that you don’t get overwhelmed at all this month has to bring.

If you send Christmas cards:
Get your cards purchased.
If you order them with pics like I do…get your picture picked out to use or get the kids together this week and take that picture.
Places like snapfish.com and vistaprint.com do them fast and easy. You can also go to CVS or Walmart and order them over the internet and pick them up in the store.
I have also taken my picture (flash drive or camera disc) to Cord Camera or CVS, Walmart and you can make cards while you wait.

Get your address list together if you don’t have it in a file or address book.
Once you have your cards, put together a small bag with your envelops, cards, address book and stamps.
If you have an upcoming Doctors appointment or you are sitting in your car waiting for kids at school or activities…or even if you are sitting watching TV in the evening. You will have your supplies all at hand to get your envelops addressed and cards written.
Many of you have your addresses online and you print out labels (you can still put your labels into your bag and peel and stick while you wait) , but for those of us that do it the old fashion way…this works great.
I personally love getting the Christmas letters from friends. I like seeing what they are up to. Yes, I am a letter giver myself. I know some people hate them, but I don’t like getting a card from someone I hardly see or haven’t seen in years and not getting a picture or note or letter from them.

Disclosure: I am not representing any companies. The links I mentioned are what I have had experience with in the past.

Sears Hometown Stores’ Food Drive

The Sears Hometown Stores are holding their 4th annual food drive. These food drives will benefit the local communities that store is located in. The one that is closest to me is the Mt. Vernon, Ohio store. The food collected will either go to the Mid Ohio Food Bank for Knox county or it will go to local food pantries in that area throughout the months of November and December.

The Mt Vernon Sears Hometown Store will receive donations of canned and boxed non-perishable food items November 8 through December 31.
To find a store nearest you go to Sears Hometown Stores. (There are about 950 of them)
In the past 3 years they have collected more than 250,000 non-perishable food items throughout these stores.

Here is a quote from the press release I received:
“We welcome the opportunity to host this event again,” said Marty Kozar, CMO/DVP for
Sears Hometown Stores. “We feel privileged to join in a local effort to lend a hand to those
experiencing hardship in our communities, and want to encourage our customers to open their
hearts and their cupboards to this initiative.”
You can donate non-perishable canned and boxed food, cleaning, diapers and paper products in the donation boxes at your local Sears Hometown store during business hours.
**Now here is the bonus – For being so generous and helping others, Sears is going to help you. You will get a discount off your bill. How great is that? Thanks Sears.

If you do not live near a Sears Hometown Store you can make your donations (cash or food) to your local food pantry.

Disclosure: Sears Hometown Stores have provided me with information for this article. They have not paid for this post nor given me any form of compensation for this post.

Verizon MiFi Review (this is really cool)

Click on the Whrrl slide show to view it.
This was the Mifi 2200 from Verizon that I reviewed.
I loved it! I have sent it back and I am already missing it. This little credit card size gadget connects you to the internet, and up to 5 of your friends or other devices. It is nice in that you don’t have to plug anything into your computer when using it, just have the Mifi device within range. (I kept it in my purse and it worked just fine)

Thanks Laura Merritt from Verizon! Next up is the Droid!!! It sounds awesome!

Halloween Safety Tips from FedEx and Safe Kids USA

Since many of you are going to have kids out trick or treating this week I wanted to pass on some safety tips. FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids USA and child pedestrian safety expert Moira Donahue, to help keep your kids safe. Night time, excited kids running from house to house thinking only of the candy they are going to get at the next house and costumes….it is one of the most dangerous times for little trick or treaters. Please keep the following tips passed on from Safe Kids USA in mind:

* Always trick-or-treat with an adult until age 10.
* Only trick-or-treat in familiar areas that are well lit
* Cross streets at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks
* Look left, right and left again when crossing; always walk, don’t run, when crossing streets
* Make eye contact with drivers and watch for cars that are turning or backing up
* Walk on sidewalks or paths; if there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible
* Never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars
* Wear light-colored, flame-retardant, costumes decorated with retro-reflective tape or stickers
* Wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes to prevent trips and falls
* Carry a flashlight or glow stick to increase visibility to drivers
* Wear face paint and makeup; a mask can restrict a child’s vision

Driving Safely on Halloween
FedEx reminds motorist to please be extra careful this Halloween and recommends that drivers:

* Be especially alert in residential neighborhoods
* Drive more slowly and anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic on and near the road
* Be sure to drive with your full headlights on so you can spot children from greater distances
* Take extra time to actively look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs
* Remember that costumes can limit children’s visibility and they may not be able to see your vehicle
* Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully
* Remember that children are excited on this night and may move in unpredictable ways
* Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are during the typical rush-hour period, between 5:30-9:30pm
* Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and pedestrians

The above picture has some violations in it! This picture was taken of my kids at Boo at the Zoo.  When they were walking…their masks (except for the red Ninja Turtle) came up so they could see. (honest! LOL)

Disclosure – I was asked if I could pass this valuable information on to you. (Duh? why wouldn’t I…this is great stuff) I am being sent Halloween safety bags for my kids but it was not a condition of posting and that is not the reason I am posting this. I did not get paid for this post.

Plan a Party or Event with MyPunchbowl. *CLOSED*

This site is a totally free site to use!! Yeah…Yippy…we all like free. Do you like to throw parties or events? Then you really need to check this out!!  Just in time to inspire you to throw a Halloween party!!  (Punch recipe at the bottom of this post)

MyPunchbowl says that it’s sole purpose is to give the hosts the tools they need to organize an exceptional party.
What about a potluck at church or work? Do you have the usual sign up sheet at work or someone making all the calls for church? This has a Potluck sign up sheet. How easy is that?
Do you want to plan a Halloween party or birthday party? What about someone who wants to host a candle or jewelry party in their home. You can use this for the invitations and your friends can RSVP via e-mail.

This is a great site to use! I think you will love it.  Like I said it is free to use.  But….you can upgrade for $49.95 to a Premium membership.  This would give you access to more designs, special offers and advertising-free invitations and more.

My punchbowl has offered one of my readers a Premium membership to their site.  Here is how you can have a chance to win it.

To Win: You will win a Premium membership ($49 value).

1) Go to MyPunchbowl and tell me what feature you would use if you signed up for My Punchbowl.  Then come back here and comment. Your e-mail address needs to either be on this post or easily accessible.

For Extra chances to Win:**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment written please. (I know its a pain, but other wise you won’t have as many chances if you don’t.)

1) Subscribe to my blog with the feeder or by e-mail. 5 extra chances.
2) Blog about this giveaway for 5 extra chances.
3) Follow me on Twitter
4) Follow me on Facebook
5) Follow me on Linked In
6) Fav me on Technorati
7) Stumble Upon me Either add me to your favorites, or write a review.
8) Tweet out this giveaway up to 3 times per day.
9) Add any of my 3 buttons to your sidebar and come back to let me know.

See….lots of ways to enter to win!

This Contest Ends Friday October 2nd at 11:59 pm est.  *THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED*

This contest is open to US mailing addresses only. Only one person from home can enter.

You will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail if you win to be eligible. If I don’t hear from you then I will go on to the next winner. (It isn’t a bad idea to put my e-mail address in your contacts so I do not end up on your spam list. It is organizewithsandy(at) yahoo(dot) com

Here is the recipe for the above punch…straight from MyPunchbowl:

Black Eye Punch is a terrific and frightful beverage to serve at your Halloween party.

To concoct this wicked brew you’ll need to combine:

2 cups of sugar

3 quarts of water with

1 13 ounce envelope of unsweetened grape soft drink mix

1 13 ounce envelope of unsweetened orange soft drink mix

Stir until all of the ingredients are completely dissolved.

Right before serving, add in 1 liter of ginger ale and several pieces of eyeball candy to float on top of the punch.

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