Car Organization

I am pretty anal retentive about organization in my car. There is a good reason why I am like this. The main reason is that once upon a time I used my vehicle for business purposes and would often find myself driving other coworkers or even my boss around in my car during work. I never wanted to embarrass myself in front of my peers or managers by having a filthy car. Hence my ongoing habits about keeping my car clean stemmed mostly from that.

And I think that's a good thing. But it certainly is not easy always carrying 4 kids around. They do have a tendency to drop things, leave their toys or games on the floor, or just leave the car in general disarray.

But I have discovered a few tricks that I do all of the time that help to combat these issues.

1. Keep a small garbage bag in the car at all times. I found a neat one similar to this one
and hang it around the neck of the front seat headrest. The kids know that any and all garbage goes in here. I empty it whenever I get gas.

2. Keep a small towel under the seat of the car or in the trunk. You never know when you will have a spill or a sick child. The towel can be pulled out for easy cleanup!

3. I always keep a small box of wipes in the car for reasons similar to #2. If there are any spills and you need something wet to clean up then these are perfect. Your kids might need to wipe their hands for some reason. The wipes are great for this.

4. Keep a stash of quarters in the glove box. I religiously vacuum my car at the gas station using one of those mega-powered vacuum cleaners. They are great for crumbs or for the clay that my sons drag in during baseball season. Your car will always look great when you give it a routine vacuum and you will feel visually peaceful not to have to look at cluttered floors and seats.

5. Clean out the surface clutter in your car every time you go home. When my husband was driving and we would pull up to our house, he would always say "I will get my stuff later" and he would then never do it. Eventually after days, it would look like a pigpen with papers and junk everywhere. I finally got him into the habit of not procrastinating and that means taking your stuff with you from the car to the house as soon as you arrive home. Try to stick to that habit and you will see how much better your car looks because of it.

6. I keep a first aid kit in the trunk of the car. It's like insurance. Hopefully you will never need to use it but in case you do, you will be not be sorry you did it.

A lot of these ideas are not difficult or costly to implement but the benefits are so tremendous. You will soon find that your car is no longer a junk pile and will no longer be embarrassed to have people riding in it.

Being Organized Does Not Mean Perfect

I am organized, yes it is true. But I am not perfect in any way shape or form. I know this for a fact as well. I don't pretend to be perfect but I do strive to be as organized as possible. It's a balance act because I have four kids and it is impossible to be clean, organized, and orderly every minute of the day.

To me, though, being organized is not being totally clean, totally decluttered and totally organized. After all, it's unrealistic to expect a 4 year old to never drop a cheerio on the floor or never spill his milk. It's unrealistic to expect two teenage boys to keep their rooms neat. It's the furthest thing from their minds and I am too busy keeping the house running to spend a lot of time trying to get them to comply with my organizational ideas.

For me organization is a state of mind. It's about me forming habits and systems in my home, car, and life that help me to get through my day a bit easier. It's about not wasting time looking for items that should be easily found. It's about filing important paperwork in an orderly fashion so that if I need to find an insurance paper or pay stub or tax return I don't have to waste precious hours looking for them. That's what organization means to me. As a consequence of the many hours I have worked toward having an organized life my home is generally neat and clean, not perfect though.

If you walked throughout my house today you would see clothes on the floor in my teens room. You would find too many stuffed animals on my daughter's bed. You would find about 50 hot wheels cars thrown about in my 4 year old's room. You would find a handful of old magazines in the basket of my bathroom (my husband reads those what can I say?). So indeed there is always room for improvement. But what you will also find is an attic where every box is in place and labeled for easy view. You will find a key rack inside the laundry room where my keys are always hung. Since hanging this key hook I have never lost my keys. Not once! What a huge time saver that one was. You will also find that my bed is made EVERY morning and there are NO dirty dishes in the sink. Those are two very important "non-negotiables" for me that help to provide visual peace when I walk about the house.

Organizing yourself and your life is not a one day project or even a one week project. It's a way of life. It's a way to plan and create habits within your life that work for you and that help to create some free time to do the fun things that we like to do. Isn't that what all of us are looking for?

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I must do this!

http://marthaandme.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/turkey-lettuce-wraps/

and will let you know what I think of it.

Christmas Storage - Declutter It All

I spent most of yesterday putting away all of our Christmas decorations indoor and outdoor. It was a pretty big task but I try to go in with a strategy. I am a big advocate of organizing for a purpose and most of the times it is to make things easier for the future. So when it came to putting Christmas decorations away my main goal is to store it so that it is easy to take out next year. There is nothing most time consuming than going through cardboard boxes that you cannot see inside and that are thrown about in a haphazard fashion. I have also found that not using good, sturdy storage boxes leads to breakage and damage to precious heirlooms.

Before I start packing I take all of the containers down and clean them out. I throw (donate) away ornaments or decorations that are either broken or I no longer use or want. The remainder that I keep gets sorted out. If I am short of a containers I can usually find them on sale at Target, Walmart, or some other type of store. The containers must be clear and must have locking handles to be airtight and waterproof. I also buy packing peanuts for the breakable stuff. A little thought goes a long way.

Once the items are all packed up, they go back into the attic in an order such that I can easily retrieve them when next Christmas rolls around. The method is especially clutter free and I feel good that all of my items are well protected and useful.

Here are a few of the types of containers that I use.


Basic Ornament Box that keeps ornaments from breaking:

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/christmas-ornament-storage-box-iris-bcb-60

This is a basic container box for various decorations. I fill with packing peanuts to keep it safe from breakage:

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/iris-holiday-box-with-buckle-up-lid-iris-100800

This container is very nice for storing lights and keeping them separate:


http://www.stacksandstacks.com/holiday-light-box-with-wing-top-lid-and-4-dividers-wl-45f

A lot of organization is about how you want to leave things for the next time you need to use them.

Happy Organizing!

Birthday Organization

I have a pretty good memory when it comes to birthdays so remembering them wasn't my problem. My problem was keeping them on my radar so that I would send a card or gift in time for the person's birthday. With my busy life it gets more and more difficult to keep things stored in my brain...things I have to remember. Forgetting is becoming more and more common.

I have been forced to turn to technology to help me remember many of these important dates. So for birthdays and other important dates I turn to my favorite program of all - Microsoft Outlook.

I love Outlook. It has every function I need all in one program. I can read, sort, delete and folder email all right there with one drag and drop. I can set up my calendar there and there are so many user friendly tools that go along with the calendar. I can set up a birthday on the calendar and have it recur year after year. I can set up a reminder so that Outlook reminds me weeks in advance of the birthday. I can color code the appointments so that I can glance the calendar weekly view and quickly see what is happening for the week...doctor appointments are colored in yellow, kids activities are colored in green, school activities are colored in blue, and so on and so forth.

I can also create a task list in Outlook. I love this feature because I can create a task and then assign it a start and end date. Outlook stores these tasks and I can view them on a side bar. When the task becomes overdue it turns red. This is a great function for keeping all of your more important tasks in order and stored.

I know there are probably more functions within Outlook. I cannot imagine it getting better than it is. I know that every program has its critics. Not everyone is sure to think it is perfect. But for my use I happen to love it. And I am sure to not miss a birthday ever again.

What do you use to keep your appointments straight? I would love to know. Send me a comment.

Social Networking : Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to Enhance Your Business

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Social Networking  : Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to Enhance Your Business

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Mexi Beef Casserole Dish

If you love freezer cooking then you will love this recipe.....

1 pound ground beef
1 15-oz can sweet corn, drained
1 cup mild, chunky salsa
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1 pkg cooked egg noodles
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup taco sauce
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup tomato sauce


Cook egg noodles according to instructions, drain. Meanwhile, brown beef in a skillet until brown and fully cooked. Drain any grease. In a bowl, combine all ingredients, then pour into a freezer container or a 9x13 baking dish. Freeze (may want to allow it to come down to room temperature before placing in freezer)


On cooking day, thaw completely in fridge (take it out the night before or morning of). In a preheated 325F oven, cook for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly and completely hot throughout. Serve!