Janice

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Best Laid Plans

April 9, 2009 / Janice

I had forgotten to post the April newsletter on the sidebar last week. I did post it today around 1:00 PM, about five minutes before the electricity went out. It was raining outside but not storming. We’ve had a lot of outages over the last few years and it involves around 10 – 39 houses in the middle of a subdivision of 119 houses. I think there is a bad electrical box that needs replacing.

I called the electrical company ( they said 39 homes were out) and a little while later I saw several trucks going up and down the streets. By about 5:30 PM I still didn’t have power nor had I seen any trucks for a while so I called the electrical company back.

The recording said power had been restored to the area. Yea, right. Why was I still without? After punching enough buttons I finally got a live voice and asked her. She told me that they had closed out the service call because power was restore. I think there is a problem with their system. I knew of at least 6 homes on my street that didn’t have power. They came out again a I finally had power around 7:00 PM.

I had planned on finishing my taxes this afternoon. Oh well, I will be working on those tomorrow. There is only six days to finish your taxes if you haven’t done so already.

Easter is this Sunday. Here are a couple of sites with crafts and other ideas to do with your children.

http://holidays.kaboose.com/easter/

http://www.holidays.net/easter/

Check out the April 2009 newsletter (on the right sidebar) for upcoming holidays and events.

Hope your day went a little better than mine.

P.S. I did declutter several file folders of papers so the whole day wasn’t wasted.

Janice

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Crazy Spring Weather

April 6, 2009 / Janice

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” ~Mark Twain

Mark Twain was from the Midwest and knew what he was talking about. April brings daffodils and tulips blooming. Baseball is starting. And this morning it was snowing.

It is cold and dreary outside right now and it’s hard to think about spring gardening. However, this past Saturday it was beautiful. Here are some pictures I took at a local park. Despite the weather today I know it is time to get out and start gardening. But I think I will wait a few days for it to warm up again.

Janice

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Feeling Unorganized Today?

April 3, 2009 / Janice

Some days I just feel like I’m unorganized. My desk is a mess. The mail is piling up. The dishes are filling the sink. The hot spots are growing (I think by themselves). I don’t remember leaving that book laying on the table or my clothes on the bed.

It doesn’t take long for the messes to grow. After all, you are living in your home. That’s a good thing. But when things start getting out of control it is time to take some cleaning action.

Some days are 15 minute days and some are 5 minute days. By this I mean I set a timer for 15 minutes to tackle a certain job that needs to be done. A lot can be accomplished in 15 minutes. It’s usually not to hard to focus for that short period of time and clean up the kitchen, family room, or home office.

But some days 15 minutes seems like too much time to take away from the other responsibilities for the day. That’s when the 5 minute day comes in. Set a timer for 5 minutes and narrow your focus on one small spot. Clean as many dishes as you can for 5 minutes. Don’t worry if you don’t get them all done. What’s important is that you took care of some of the mess. It will be a lot cleaner now than it was 5 minutes ago.

What I do on days like this is work for about 30 minutes on my writing then take a 5 minute break to clean up one of those hot spots. It’s amazing how much gets cleaned up by the end of the day.

What tricks to you use to get organized on those days you feel overwhelmed? Please share them in the comment section.

Thanks.

Janice

Feeling Unorganized Today? Read More »

Check out my eHow articles.

Happy April Fools Day

April 1, 2009 / Janice

If you want to do some silly April Fools tricks on your family check out these cute ideas.

On another matter, it has come to my attention that some people have signed up to receive the blog post through email and thought they were signing up to receive the newsletters. I apologize for any confusion with my sign up boxes on the right sidebar.

If you want to receive the weekly decluttering tip newsletter you will have to sign up in the blue box that says “Send me tips!”. By signing up in both boxes you will receive both the weekly tips newsletter and any decluttering or organizing tips I post on the blog.

You can also sign up to receive the newsletters by going to my website: cutclutterwithscissors.com. There are a few articles on there now but I plan on adding many more in the coming weeks, so check the site often.

Janice