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Keeping Thanksgiving Simple
November 10, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
mmmm...Turkey
Thanksgiving is now just about 2 weeks away. And of course with time, the day will be here before you know it. So let’s get our plan in place before it’s too late.
Keeping Thanksgiving simple doesn’t mean ordering dinner from the supermarket and having the family guests sleep in sleeping bags in the basement…although that’s always an option. What we’re talking about here is placing all the cards on the table and really knowing what we need to plan and get done.
For being just a “one day” event (yeah, right!), there really is a lot to think about!! Let’s start big and then work into the details. What I’ve listed here are some questions you’ll want to ask yourself, and then in later posts we’ll go over some tips to get organized.
Travel
- Are you traveling somewhere? Staying home?
- If traveling, are you flying, driving or taking some other mode of transportation (like bus, train, horse…)?
Food
- Are you cooking the big meal?
- Do you have your meal planned?
- Do you have your grocery list?
- Does anyone have special dietary needs?
- Do you have enough plates, chairs, utensils, serving dishes?
Visitors
- How many people will be staying at your home?
- Do you have a designated place for them to stay?
- Do you have “appropriate” linens, towels, and other accouterments?
- Do you have a plan for things to do while they are there?
Football
- Make sure you know the schedule of the games this weekend. You don’t want to miss your team!
- If others will be watching with you, do you have the appropriate snacks and drinks?
Shopping
Obviously the day after Thanksgiving is the beloved Black Friday with crazy sales starting before the crack of dawn. Is it me or are these sales starting earlier and earlier every year? If you are one of the crazy brave ones, make sure you know what sales you want to hit. You may need to get there a lot earlier and wait in line.
I’m sure I’ve left something out so let me know what I should add to the list!
Image by D. Sharon Pruitt
Let’s Get Organized!
September 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
The thought of organizing a room, a trip, or any wayward pile of “stuff” can cause any rational person to break out in a cold sweat. But as the saying goes, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!
So let’s get started!
The way I’m going to approach this process is to treat it like a project. With a standardized set of rules we can tacle any number of organization activities/projects with ease*.
When setting up our project we’re going to focus on 3 key items –> scope, time and cost. These can be determined in any order.
Scope
What do you plan to accomplish with this organizing project? This step should also include an understanding of where you’re starting out and where you want to end up.
Time
When thinking about time you want to set the overall amount of time for this project as well as incremental timing. Ask yourself how much time you want to spend on this project and set a deadline. Estimate how many hours your project will take and then determine the amount of time you have free each day. For example, if you estimate your organizing will take 5 hours, you may want to give yourself 1 hour a day for 5 days. Just think though, that the more time you give yourself the more likely it will be you’ll find other things to fill the time.
Cost
Not all organization projects will have a cost associated with them. That is completely up to you. You may want to purchase storage containers or trash bags to get rid of stuff. Whatever you choose to set as your budget we will have a solution.
I get a little giddy at the thought of organizing anything, so I hope you’ll enjoy this journey as much as I will!
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