Recently a friend was cleaning out items from his mother's estate, a chore than sadly has stretched on at least two years now. He brought over a bag of craft supplies, jewelry, and a peanut butter jar full of needles and other small sewing items. In pretty short order, Dan and the girls and I sorted through the jewelry and craft supplies. Only the peanut butter jar remained. Specifically, it remained on my desk for weeks. Finally I got sick of looking at it there, so I moved it to the kitchen island to motivate myself to sort through it. There is remained for another month. I looked at it Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Pantry Management
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There is such potential for waste in the kitchen! I am certainly not perfect, but I really try to keep it to a minimum. Here are some of my tricks and tips: Don't buy in bulk except for items that you know, for sure, you and your family make good use of it. Toilet paper I buy in bulk. Paper towels (which, per Colleen's suggestion below, I almost completely eliminated years ago), I buy one roll at a time, and I always buy the "select a size" towels, so I can pull of just a small amount. Use substitutions in the kitchen. For reasons I won't go into, I ended up with a cheap jar of "meat Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Trick Yourself Into Cooperating
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There are all sorts of things that I don't want to do or don't like to do. For example, I like a clean house, but I do not like to clean house. You may want to be decluttered, but get overwhelmed at the process of decluttering. Today, I want to talk about some tricks that can help you get yourself to cooperate. These are ones that I have used, and I am very curious to hear your strategies and tricks, as well. 1. When working at my desk, don't sit down. Once I sit down, my rear end seems to develop a lead weight in it and nothing else gets done for at least an hour. When I stand, I do the one Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Maximize Your Wardrobe
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For a US Woman, I have a very small wardrobe, probably not more than 50 pieces total, and it’s pretty unexciting wardrobe. I wear the same clothes in the same ways over and over. Recently, I discovered the website (http://www.puttingmetogether.com/p/one-item-many-ways.html), and I was intrigued. The first outfit she shows is a somewhat long t-shirt worn untucked over jeans. Hey! I do that! All the time! But look, then she’s showing the same shirt other ways. It was a revelation to me. I tried it; I looked good. Then it occurred to me that imaging your wardrobe more functionally, with more Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ You Don’t Have to Have One Too
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Every time you see something fun, intriguing, clever, imaginative, or functional at a friend's house, are you tempted to buy one for yourself too? When your child loves a toy that he or she has played with at a friend's house, school, or the doctor's office, do you think he or she must surely want one for your house as well? This is a trap. Don't fall for it. In my experience, parents and grandparents are the first and worst to fall into this trap. If junior loves a toy elsewhere, he/she will surely love one at home too. Not necessarily. Instead, by buying a duplicate, you've removed the Continue reading
Cindy’s weekly Wisdom ~ A Study of Clutter
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I read this great little post the other day - 46 ways to increase your happiness. Of course, I wasn't surprised at all to find that reducing clutter was on the list (number 31). I followed the link to the summary of a University of California Los Angeles study about "crushing"number of possessions in the households of 32 Los Angeles families. I highly recommend you read the whole article and examine the photos. I'm going to highlight some of the portions that struck me as particularly important. First of all, only we know what goes on it our home; only we can tell (or hide) the truth about Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Is Your Car a Shame?
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True story: Once I was carpooling with 2 friends. At that time, the girls were still using car seats, so I pulled a booster out. Among other crunchy, yucky little bits under the seat were two desiccated chicken nuggets. How embarrassing! While I was driving the van, it always looked "Mom-ed." In this case, "Mom" is another word for "trashy." No one ever took into the house everything that they carried into the car, and over time, there were more and more pens, scraps of paper, crumbs (no more nuggets!), a single shoe, forgotten art projects, etc. It was dirty - "Mom's taxi" dirty. In fact, Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ Don’t Shop for Christmas Yet
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I was making my semi-monthly trip through Costco and what did I spy everywhere I looked? Christmas items! Christmas foods, Christmas wrap, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, even Christmas Kleenex. (Okay, let's be honest, what do you think is going to happen to Christmas candy that you bring home in September? Uh huh, that's what I thought.) Well I'm here to tell you - it's too early to shop for Christmas. I am convinced that the earlier you start shopping, the more things you buy - both for yourself and for others. You buy a book for your child and by the time Christmas rolls around, Continue reading
Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom ~ The Shortage Is Only in Your Mind
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I went to high school with a girl named Helen, who was extremely petite and wore a very tiny shoe size, 5 I believe. In college, Helen and I lived in the same dorm. Her room was remarkable because it contained the largest shoe collection in the dorm, probably in the entire school. Why did Helen own so many shoes? Because she wore a tiny shoe, many stores would only get one in her size when they ordered a style. Helen was constantly afraid that she wouldn't be able to find shoes that fit. As a result, she bought every shoe she found in her size. Clearly, the idea that there was a shortage of Continue reading
