Making New Years Resolutions

For 25 years, I have made 3 small lists on Dec. 31st in a journal. They are: What I want to do, what I want to be, and what I want to have in the coming year. I set goals that are a bit of a stretch, but doable. That way I have a good chance of achieving them, and my succeesses build upon one another. I haven't always accomplished everything on the list, but I do accomplish most things. Practicing yoga was on my list for 8 years until I finally developed a practice. Having it on the list helped. Someone today told me he is only having one resolution: to get in great physical shape. However you choose to set goals, be it several goals or just one or two, having the pure intention of accomplishment is, in my belief, a good predictor of if it will happen. May you, my reader, set just the right goals for yourself, and accomplish them with ease and grace! Happy New Year World!

How to Enjoy the Holidays

My recipe is to do what makes you happy — to play, not shop — to create — to renew — to be with loved ones — to indulge your inner recluse — to be — to feel the joy of enoughness.

Deadlines

So many of us procrastinate. For me, when I have a "heavy duty" deadline (anything I'm avoiding for whatever reason), I find myself doing the next most annoying things, so I can scratch them off my list and feel like I've accomplished something. More often than not, when I finally get to my deadline thing, I am awed at how less of a big deal it was to do than to think about doing. If anyone has a great solution to this, I'm all ears!

Asking Questions ~ Getting What You Want

I think one of the biggest communication flaws is expectations. In any communication, questions asked and answered by each party lead to a mutual understanding. Whether we are engaged in a personal or business transaction, either casual or complicated, the more our expectations are addressed in advance, the better the chance of everybody being satisfied with the results. Assumptions can lead to unnecessary let-downs.

What to bring to a pot-luck dinner?

Me? I always bring what I like. Then, at least I'm guaranteed at least one thing I can eat. This is practical, no? And since I'm a foodie, usually what I bring is a big hit. If you're not a foodie, ask one. They'll help you figure it out.

Annoying Telemarketing Calls

If you don't want to be bothered by telemarketers (and who does?) here is a way to vastly reduce the number of telemarketing calls you get, Click on this link, and you will arrive on the page of the National Do Not Call Registry.

"Catalog Choice" Mailing List Removal

If you click on this link, you will be able to sign up to get yourself off the mailing lists of catalogs you do not want to receive. In my work as a professional organizer, I can tell you that a common denominator of disorganized people is having lots of catalogs coming in. It irks me (hi mom!—that's definitely your word) that via catalog mailings, the shopping mall basically arrives in our mailboxes, usually unsolicited. Not having catalogs creates more peace of mind. We can always shop on the websites of the catalogs that interest us. Go green!

Beans and Rice

My latest "must have meal" (almost every day) is, of all formerly dreaded things, beans and rice. As movies like "Food, Inc." have exposed the corruption of our national food industry, animal products have largely lost their appeal to me. It has been a natural transition for me to eat a lot of beans and rice. Here is my easy recipe: Slow cook pinto beans in water, adding chopped up sauteed onions the last hour of the 3 hour cooking time. Make sure the beans don't burn, by adding water as needed. Serve with brown rice, plenty of pico de gallo salsa, and sliced avocado. You can make a nice batch each of the beans and rice and eat them for 3 days. I get the salsa from a local Mexican restaurant that makes it really great. No need to chop and slice. The resulting feast is yummy, a good chew, satisfying, and feels like the perfect thing to fuel us energetically. There are minimal dishes to wash. It's a win-win.

Nagging Cat Dilemma

When your cat insists that you to feed her in the middle of the night, or way too early in the morning, and you know you will not get any sleep until she has eaten, here's the practically pain-free plan: Keep dry food in your bedroom, a kibble bowl + a bowl of water. It's a win-win.

Yummy Diet Dessert

Slice an apple with a good balance of sweet and tart
Arrange artistically on a dessert plate

Sprinkle 3/4 t Scharffen Berger cocoa powder over the slices

Sprinkle 1/2 t Sugar-in-the-Raw over that

Adjust sprinklings to taste

Scharffen Berger cocoa powder (unsweetened) is only 25 Cal per T

What a deal! ! ! ! !

More of these recipes to follow

21 Days to Form a Habit

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. So if you make yourself show up every day for 21 days to practice a new behavior that will improve your life, you'll have it. This applies to the previous "key-rack" example, or any other behavior-mod upgrade. You can do it!

Where are my keys?

We lose our keys. On a regular basis. What pocket could they be in? When did we have them last? Which purse? Which pants? There are an infinite number of places to lose them during everyday activity. It is so obvious. Just install a key hanger or reasonable facisimile — right by the door!

Junk Mail

This will be my first of many posts concerning unwanted junk mail. Today's focus is that heaping mass of newspaper ads that arrives in your mailbox weekly, sometimes, only to lay around like it owns your house. After much sleuthing, I found out how to eliminate this offending paper. You can call 888-241-6760 to request to be removed from their list. Once they receive your request it takes around 5-6 weeks to take effect. Believe me, it's worth it!

Your Happy Place

Today, at a session with my posture coach, we kept tweaking to get me in the best position to work out on a machine that would lengthen my spine. After much ado, I finally hit the motherlode. He said, "you need to be in your happy place for it to work right." It was an aha moment for me, as a way to communicate the importance of nuance. Doesn't this apply to all things in life? It could be eating "just the right" food, sleeping in "just the right" bed, having your surroundings be "just the right" temperature...try applying this to things that seem small and insignificant. Your quality of life might just soar, without you doing much.

Mercury Retrograde

Mercury retrograde is an astrological event that happens thrice yearly. Whether you believe in astrology or not, you might want to pay attention to how things are going the next couple of weeks of your life. Mercury retrogrde lasts around 3 weeks each time, and is characterized by glitchy, stuck, problematic insidiousness that seems to hang up our lives. Examples are car trouble, scheduling glitches, an egg splattering on the floor, printer refusing to print, calls not being returned, etc. This month it began on Sept. 7, and will end on Sept. 29. If you have any entertaining mercury retrograde stories, let's hear it. Oh, in case you're interested, it is supposed to be a bad time to sign contracts. Somehow, just knowing about it allows me to brace myself when it comes. I can then sit back and watch the show with a degree of humor. Last week my car made a low-level jackhammer noise. It turned out to be the motor for an electric mesh shade for my rear window, that I didn't even know I had. I could have been using the shade all this time. Now that I know I have the shade, it's too costly to replace the motor, but in the big picture, I can deal! It's just Mercury retrogrde.

Puddle Jumping ~ A kid's gotta do what a kids gotta do

Today my grandson was running all around with his new green-light-flickering shoes. He stopped by a puddle, looked at me, and before I could respond, he jumped in it with such glee that I knew instantly he just had to do it. He was so pleased with himself. For him, water, any water, is for going in. He dips his chips in water, uses five straws, stays forever at the drinking fountain. He even dips his macaroni in water. I am sure he could organize his entire life around water. It is his thing. Period.

A Good Old Fashioned Block Party

Tonight was the 9th annual party of our one-block-long street. Each of our parties has been a big success. It helps to live on a block full of foodies, where hardly anyone ever moves away. The offerings tonight were perfect. And sitting around the firepit into the wee hours was so campy, especially when we all warmed our bare feet. We are keenly aware of how sacred this event is. If you have even a small organizing gene, good neighbors, and someone with an invitingly shaped driveway, I say go for it! We start at around 5 on a Saturday, and it has gone as late as 2AM. Our first party took a good bit of organizing and effort. Sinde then, it takes only minimal volunteer time for a few people each year. It is code to bring a dish that is homemade and known to be a crowd pleaser. Somewhere, under the radar...

Are you a movie fan?

Netflix is my favorite way to see films. If you're not already a Netflix subscriber, here is how it works. You sign up online. Once a member, you can see just about any movie in existence, with no hassles. You create an online queue of the movies you want to see. You choose how many DVD's you want to have out at one time. The more at once, the higher the cost. They mail you your first batch. As soon as you return each one in the post paid envelope provided, they send you the next one on the list.

As soon as I become aware of a film that interests me, I put it in my Netflix queue. That way, when it is released to DVD, I can be one of the first to view it, and it doesn't drop off my radar. If I have already seen it in the theatre, I just delete it from my Netflix queue. And if you are a fan of TV series shows, this is a way to view them commercial free, a year after they air on TV. One of my favorites is "24." It is so suspenseful that it is difficult to wait a week for another episode. Our record was 9 episodes in one night!

Paper Management

If a piece of paper is worth keeping, it is worth filing in a place where you can easily find it. My specialty is setting up user-friendly filing systems that are expandable and changable to encompass life as it is — and is — and is.

How to Recycle Things in Marin

It seems we all have objects we no longer need or use. Sometimes they are too big to put in the car (IF it will even fit), and take where? The dump? Thinking of it makes you get a headache, and is thus a deal breaker, no? This header is a link that will help you to find a new life for your unwanted things in Marin County. I can also recommend Craigslist as a website which makes it easy to give away something you don't want that could be used by someone else. Craigslist began in San Francisco and has since gained a strong hold in many US cities. So go to craigslist.com and punch in your city.

Those Unwanted Phone Calls

Get removed from insidioius telemarketing lists. Lately, these calls seem to be escalating. Try the National Do Not Call Registry. Good luck!

Foodies Unite

Eating is nirvana for a control freak. If you know what you like, and want to love each and every bite, you can do the research and ask all the questions you need to get it right just about every time. Here is my Yelp blog, where you can read upwards of 175 of my restaurant reviews.

Tuning into Nuance

Twilight is my favorite time of day. It is nice to see it out the window, but somehow, being "in" it is exceptional. When I'm outside in twilight, I feel an incomparable polar oneness with myself. So a lifelong mission of mine is to be outside during twilight every day. This is a good example of positively tuning into nuance. The essences of my life convince me that tuning into nuance is the deal maker or deal breaker for just about everything. Listening to our inner nuanced thoughts can serve to point us anywhere we want to be.