How Are You Listed

I had a new workout partner today! My six year old, Grey, asked if he could run around the track with me. He wanted to race but I talked him into going slower so we could run longer. He put up with that for two laps and then he couldn't take it anymore. We raced the next lap, then walked one, then raced/walked twice more. I had already run on the treadmill so it was a pretty good workout for me. Of course he beat me every time we raced. I told him his cousin Collin is faster than his Mom too so Grey thinks he and Collin are pretty cool.

The Lazy Organizer
Here's some advice on organizing your lists and files. If you are of short memory like I am it will help you greatly in finding what you want. Always start out using the broadest categories you can think of. If the contents get too large in one category then break them down into narrower categories. For your phone list you will use:
Medical - Family Doctor #
Medical - Dentist #
Medical - Insurance #

This is where it gets tricky and you just have to make a decision. You can put Insurance in it's own category:
Insurance - Medical
Insurance - Dental
Insurance - Auto

Or you can list your insurance information seperately such as:
Auto - Insurance
Home - Insurance
Medical - Insurance

Now how are you going to remember how you organized your insurance information? It will be easy with your phone list because it's all on one page but with your filing system you will need a File Index. You will print this out and keep it in the front of you filing cabinant. Any time you add or subtract a file change it on your File Index. That way you will be able to see all your files at a quick glance and you won't make the mistake of making duplicates such as a file for Car and one for Auto. I also use this method of organizing my computer files and for my cookbook. Here are some examples:
Beef - Chili
Beef - Taco Soup
Bread - Corn
Bread - French
Pancakes - German
Pancakes - Waffles

German Pancakes

Strawberry Syrup
This is my recipe.
Add a big handful of frozen strawberries and enough water in your blender to equal one cup. Blend it well, add 2 cups sugar and blend. Microwave for five minutes in a large glass measuring cup so it doesn't boil over. If you want thicker syrup boil it a couple minutes longer. Just watch it or it will boil over. (Do you think maybe this has happened to me before?)

German Pancakes
My sister Dani gave me this recipe.
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
pinch salt

Spray pan, add butter, melt in pre-heating oven. Mix eggs in blender, add flour and milk and salt. Pour batter into melted butter in pan. Sprinkle a little bit of baking powder on top. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 345 bake another 10 minutes. Do not open oven door until it's finished cooking. Top with syrup, powdered sugar or fruit.

I actually did some work on the wood trim in the basement tonight. Now I only have one room left and that's the bathroom. I'll give myself at least another week to get that done and then I'll have to finish painting all the trim and the doors, WAAAA!

Oh, I almost forgot my organizing tip of the day! I've decided to change it's name to The Lazy Organizer because even lazy people like me can get organized.

The Lazy Organizer
Keep a notebook or a piece of paper next to your phone book. Every time you look up a phone number write it in the notebook. When you have a lot of them, type them up on the computer and print out a one page list of your frequently used numbers. One side is for business numbers and the other side will be for personal numbers. Leave room to jot down new numbers as you use them. Make several copies. One for your purse, wallet, car, kitchen, bedroom etc. Update your list every six months. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to organize your lists.

The Pizza Conspiracy

I made it through a Body Pump class tonight. It isn't as difficult as Body Sculpt but I wanted to take it easy on myself since it's been a few weeks. These days I am just not interested in hurting myself. It used to be that I was all about the PAIN but now...I just want to make it home and still have enough strength to do some dishes and laundry.

I was reading an organizing web site the other day and followed a link that said something like, "Easy Tips For Keeping Your Dishes Washed And Your Kitchen Clean". Do you want to hear what new and fabulous idea someone had for keeping your dishes washed? You're dying to know aren't you. Wash your dishes after every meal. Wow! If I had though of that first I could have written a book! I think I just might start today. Here's my Organizing Tip Of The Day: Keep a garbage can in your garage right by your car. Place it close enough that you can throw garbage in it without even getting out of your car. Your car will stay a lot cleaner.

Pretty ingenious aren't I! Actually, I don't think I made that up. I probably saw it in one of the 50 organizing books and websites I've read. The truth is, I don't really make anything up. I steal all my ideas from other people. Actually I did make one thing up that I know of and that's my French Bread recipe. (I can't post it here for fear it will get into the hands of my pizza making brother. Without it, he only has good sauce so I'm holding it ransom.) You kind of have to make up your own bread recipes though since bread will turn out different every time you make it. There are just too many variables. How it turns out depends on what kind of flour you use, your mixer, your oven, room temperature, humidity,etc. Saying that, you have to know that bread is the easiest thing in the world to make. That's because no mater what it looks like, home-made bread, right out of the oven, always tastes good! Just don't forget to add the salt.

Momma's New Groove

I've been searching for a new exercise routine lately. I usually stick to one or two things for a couple years and then I get bored with it and want to do something different. My latest favorites have been the big stair machine and a weight lifting class that I alternate between. I'm just about sick to death of both of them. I've been considering taking some spin classes but they're aren't very many offered and I haven't been able to fit one into my schedule. Then last night I wandered into an aerobics class. I only had 15 minutes before my kids were done with their swim lessons so I needed to get moving quick. I've been avoiding aerobics classes lately since I have gained so much weight and I can't stand to look at myself in those big mirrors. I decided I'd jump in for a few minutes and see how it went. It was so much fun! As long as I avoided eye/body contact in the mirror I was fine and I got a great workout in only 15 minutes. In the old days I could do the whole class but now I have something to work up to. I'm feeling so positive I might even be able to endure a weight lifting class tonight!

Ahhhhh, Sunday Mornings

Now that Church doesn't start until 1:00 p.m. I am loving Sunday mornings! We get up late and hang out in our pajamas for a while, do some cooking, reading, play board games. Eventually we get around to bathing and getting ready for Church. What am I talking about? We do this every morning! We're so spoiled. Now we're spoiled all seven days of the week instead of just six!

Never Leave Home Without Your Sweater-Vest

We went to the Museum of Ancient History today for school. Actually we just wanted to meet some friends there so we're calling it school. We spent five hours playing in all the exhibits and having a great time. The kids loved it. The only problem we had was that the bathrooms were out in the lobby and with five little kids between us, that's a lot of coming and going. This is one area of life where small children have complete dominion over their parents. With so little control over their daily lives I don't blame them for exercising a bit of it whenever possible. When your darling, sweet faced child says, "I need to go potty." What are you going to say? "No, I've already taken you 3 times in the last half hour." Yeah, right. Try that and let me know how it works out. The other way they will let you know who's boss is to say, "No", when you ask them if they need to go potty. Then two minutes later they will pee their pants. Lucky for you, you're just a tiny bit smarter than your four year old. Not smart enough to prevent the accident but smart enough to bring along your sweater-vest. A charcoal gray vest looks great on a four year old. Especially when she is wearing her black knee-high dress boots. So, the general rule for field trips is, "Dress In Layers".

The Call Of The Wild

It's been a long day. I've had a hard time staying away from the computer but I knew if I started on it I wouldn't want to stop! My husband read my Blog from yesterday and humiliated me into getting some laundry done although I never did get to the trim-work. I spent all morning home-schooling my two kids and cooking. We had almond poppy seed muffins for breakfast, chili and cornbread for lunch and then I made a pan of veggie lasagna to put in the oven later for dinner. It took me until 2:00 to do all that and then I spent another hour cleaning the kitchen up. I did make it to the gym this afternoon though. That is my biggest accomplishment for the day. I was too tired but I thought, "All I have to do is get my workout clothes on and after that it will be easy." It was. Kind of scary that it's so easy to trick myself! I hope my husband doesn't learn anything from this.

I'm noticing more and more that my children have very loud voices. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home. I told the kids that if they could keep their hands off each other they could get one of those free cookies from the bakery. I'm standing in line to get checked out and off they go. My 6 year old comes back and says, "They have the frosting cookies Mom, do you want me to get you one?" I replied, "Yes but just wait until I'm finished here". It's kind of embarrassing to have my kids scavenging food for me. But, as soon as I turn around he's back with my frosting cookie. He was trying to hand it to me as I was whispering, "Just wait till I'm through paying for this", and my four year old is yelling, "Can I have another cookie, how come he gets two cookies and I don't? That's not fair he got two cookies." So he replies in his loudest voice, "It's not for me, Mom told me to get it for her." But my four year old couldn't hear him over the sound of her voice. "I don't think he should get two cookies. Remember we were here yesterday and we were so naughty that you grounded us. You took away friends, movies and Nintendo and he shouldn't get two cookies if he's grounded!" It's all I could do to keep smiling and run out of there as fast as I could, dragging my kids behind me, making sure my frosting cookie wasn't harmed in the process.

Ok, I have just discovered this blogging stuff. Why haven't I heard of it before?