Task and Treat Sandwiches--Yum!

Yesterday we celebrated Halloween in my town. City rules limit the time kids are allowed to come knocking from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. For the first hour, I handed out goodies to the little ghosts and ghouls. For the second two hours, Joe and I took our own daughter (who was a bee) trick-or-treating. What fun it was to see her face light up as Kit Kats, Milky Ways and other sweet treats were added to her treat bag.

Anyway, this got me thinking about how treats can make big differences each day. As a matter of fact, I always like to make task and treat sandwiches throughout each day.

What do I mean by making task and treat sandwiches? The concept is quite simple. You would normally make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for example, by first taking a slice of bread, then putting the peanut butter and jelly on, and then topping it with another slice of bread.

Same goes for your tasks and treats . . .

1. I accomplish a task
2. I treat myself
3. I accomplish a task
4. I treat myself

(Keep repeating)

Occasionally, the treat might be a small piece of chocolate. But more often than not, it's other little things such as reading a few pages in my favorite magazine, calling a friend to chat for a few minutes or sitting on my front porch to do a crossword puzzle.

Some people don't like the concept of rewards. They feel that just accomplishing a task should be reward enough. In fact, I love it when I accomplish something I set out to do. However, I feel that adding an extra cherry on top just makes each day a little more special.

Now, you have to be careful not to take treats that well exceed the scope of the task you accomplished. For instance, if you dust the furniture in your living room, that's normally not deserving of going out to a fancy dinner or going to the ballet. But, that task may be worthy of taking a relaxing stroll around the block or listening to two songs on your favorite CD.

By sandwiching your tasks and rewards, you eliminate the 'All I did was work all day' feeling. Instead, you'll be balancing both work and play into each day. To me, that's definitely much more fun and fulfilling.

My Mailbox is Stuffed with Catalogs

With the holidays quickly approaching, there has barely been room in our mailbox for bills and letters. A few days ago, our mailbox was stuffed so tightly with catalogs that I had to pull everything out with both hands and a lot of muscle. Yesterday, the mail carrier had to bring our mail to the door because he couldn't fit it all in the mailbox.

If we receive a catalog I know we'll never buy from, I simply contact the company and ask them to remove us from their mailing list. One phone call generally does the trick.

But for me, getting catalogs in the mail makes holiday shopping very convenient. As far as I'm concerned, the more, the merrier. I spend very little time shopping in individual stores or malls. Most gifts that I purchase are items I see in catalogs. There are often very unique finds that suit the interests of the people on my gift list.

As I'm flipping through a catalog, I often find myself saying to myself, 'That would be just perfect for my sister, Jude' or 'my dad would really love that!'

I tear out the page the item is on and the back page which often includes a catalog code in order for me to take advantage of any special offers. The remainder of the catalog gets recycled. I then put the pages into a file folder, go online later and order everything I need.

Every year, within just a few weeks, I've taken care of most of my holiday shopping, without ever having to get in the car, search endlessly through stores, stand in line or lug tons of packages to my car.

Sure, I usually make a few trips to the mall or take a walk along Main Street in town, but it's usually only to enjoy the festive atmosphere and the pretty decorations.

Christmas shopping at home has saved me a tremendous amount of time, energy and sanity. I think it's just amazing that you could buy for everyone on your list, without ever leaving the comfort of home if you so choose.

It's Time to Read

A favorite pastime of mine is to read a good book. Right now, I'm reading 'the five people you meet in heaven' by Mitch Albom. I started reading it a week ago and I'm about halfway through. For me, this book is one of those page- turners. It's easily keeping my interest.

Between work, time spent with my husband and daughter, errands, social activities and home obligations, I only read a little bit each day. In general, I read for a half hour before going to bed, although sometimes I'll sneak in a chapter here or there if I'm waiting for a doctor's appointment or I just get the urge to sit and relax on a Saturday afternoon while my toddler is napping.

Even with this limited amount of scheduled reading time, however, I still manage to complete one to two books each month.

If you like to read, why not stop at your local bookstore or library and choose something? You can get through the book if you just read a little bit each night before you go to bed, or each morning before you get out of bed.

For me, it's very relaxing, I'm regularly checking off titles I've read on my 'Books to Read' list and I feel I'm setting a good example for my daughter who already loves books even though she's not even two years old yet.

Say Cheese!

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My husband, Joe, and I have had a digital camera since 2002. When we take photos, we immediately burn them to CDs, which are stored in a CD organizer. We have one CD for photos of our daughter, another for Family and Friends, another for Vacations and so on. (Of course, I have backup CDs stored at another location, just in case.)

I only print the photos that I really love, and I scrapbook them. I have many scrapbooks, all organized by theme. One of my scrapbooks is entitled 'Our House,' another is called 'Amanda's First Year,' a third is called 'Halloween,' and I have about seven more at this point. (One of my recent scrapbooking layouts can be seen above.)

As far as our older photos (which I may scrapbook later, or not), we have them stored in photo albums. Some of our photo albums contain all photos of a particular theme, such as an album of shots taken in Italy. Many of our other albums are simply chronological, meaning as we took our photos, they were inserted into our albums directly after our previous photo taking session. These older albums are stored on bookshelves.

One lady I know organizes all of her photos (taken with a 35mm camera) in photo boxes. She says this is a much easier method for her and one that she will definitely do. If she had to get the photos into albums, she said the task would never get done. She could easily find what she's looking for. Each photo box (which holds about 2000 photos) is divided by category cards, so it's very easy to jump to the photos she's looking for.

When she wants to scrapbook, she scans the printed photo and reprints a new copy for her scrapbook. This way, she doesn't chance the original photo getting ruined from an accidental cut while cropping.

A man I know, who uses a digital camera, stores all of his photos online. The service he uses gives him a fairly large amount of storage space for free, but then charges him a nominal amount if he goes over that limit. He likes the service because it doesn't require him to organize his own CDs or print each shot, plus it allows him to easily share photos with friends and family members who have Internet access.

All of these methods work beautifully, but I've also seen systems that are just atrocious.

For instance, one person tosses all her photos into old shoe boxes. The photos are torn, bent, ripped and turning yellow. Another person leaves all the photos in the envelopes the photo developer provided, and just throws them into a junk drawer. Yet, another person has an entire container full of undeveloped rolls of film--likely these photos will never be seen.

Of course, the system you use depends on your needs, personality, level of commitment and how sentimental you are. I consider my photos and my scrapbooks very precious. I want to ensure they can be enjoyed now, and that they're able to be seen by future generations.

If your photos are important to you, be sure they're 1) being preserved well, 2) organized in a fashion that allows you to easily find what you're looking for and 3) arranged to make it easy for you and your loved ones to browse and enjoy them.

Fall--A Season of Change Outside and Inside

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While driving to a friend's house this morning, I noticed all the beautiful fall colors signifying my favorite time of the year. The incredible foliage and the colder weather really get me in the mood for outdoor fall activities, such as hay rides, apple picking and watching my daughter jump in a big pile of red, orange and yellow leaves.

This season of change also gets me in the mood for some changes around the house. I might alter a furniture or accessory arrangement, re-organize the kitchen cabinets a bit for holiday gatherings or make a list of special treats I'd like to have on hand, such as a cinnamon-apple scented candle, a Mrs. Smith's pumpkin pie--all ready to toss in the oven, and some new books ready and waiting for those nights our family wants to cozy-up by the fireplace.

The colors also entice me to try some things that may add some spice to my life. I might try a new activity that I've never done before (I'm running for President of my local Newcomers Club for 2006), try a new scrapbooking technique or make a recipe that may be a bit beyond what I usually tend to make.

No matter what, I always try to do something each fall that makes my life a little more colorful--so that I can enjoy this wonderful season both outside and inside.

Having a Get Together

Every once in awhile, I like to get together with my girlfriends (without the kids) so we could chat and catch up on what everyone has been up to. We usually have a theme to keep our get togethers interesting. This coming weekend, I'm holding a Scrapbooking Sunday event in my house. I hired a babysitter to watch my daughter upstairs, while my girlfriends and I enjoy 3 whole hours of creative crafting downstairs. Boy, am I looking forward to it!

A nice bonus about getting together with my girlfriends is that everyone is always more than happy to bring along a treat. I simply have to provide beverages and one dish. With this "bring a dish to pass" concept, we'll have plenty of snacks to keep us going and nobody will have tons of work to do prior to the party.

There was some minimal planning involved on my part.

I booked a speaker to give a demonstration for the first hour on scrapbooking techniques.

I sent out invitations and noted the event in the newsletter of the local social club I belong to.

I kept track of who is coming, this way the speaker will know how much complimentary material to have on hand, and I'll know the approximate amount of beverages and paper products to have available.

Everyone in attendance (about 8 ladies in this case) has been asked to bring three photographs for a project we'll all be doing together. I've already mentioned this to everyone who RSVP'd and I'll send them one email reminder the day before the event.

My last minute planning, to be thought through this afternoon, will involve the treat I'll be making, the beverages being served and a possible door prize. I'll also be setting up the seating arrangements so everyone has room for her scrapbooking projects.

At any rate, even small get togethers require a bit of thinking and planning ahead to ensure everyone has a nice, relaxing time. Major effort is definitely not required, however, to have a fun, relaxing afternoon with friends-- even if the event is going to be held at your house.

That Reminds Me

A few weeks ago, I took my daughter to gymnastics. It's just a little weekly program for toddlers where they get a chance to release some energy by tumbling, walking on a tiny balance beam and jumping into a foam pit.

At the end of this particular class, the teacher handed out a half sheet of paper instructing all the parents to bring in their child's favorite stuffed animal the following week.

As soon as I got home, I attached this reminder to the refrigerator.

When the next week arrived, all ten kids had their favorite stuffed animals, including my daughter who brought her favorite toy frog.

I also have my daughter enrolled in a weekly toddler music class. The kids are able to explore basic instruments, sing songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and dance around the room to some favorite kiddie tunes.

One week, the music instructor asked the parents to bring in their child's favorite bath toy the following week for a bath song they would be singing.

But, there was no paper reminder handed out.

Plus, none of us had pen or paper in the class--all of our belongings had to be left in an outside room during the session.

Out of the 9 kids in music class the next week, only one mom remembered to bring her child's bath toy.

With everything going on in our busy lives, keeping every tiny detail in our heads alone is not possible. But if it's on paper, there's a much better chance of remembering.

It just goes to show you that paper reminders are an excellent tool to help you, and others, remember things that need to get done.

A Much Needed Vacation

I'm just now getting back on the computer, after spending a wonderful, relaxing week with my parents in our home. We were so sad to see them leave.

Earlier today, we called the airport before leaving our house to drop my parents off at Mitchell International in Milwaukee. The flight was supposed to be on time. When we arrived at the airport however, we found out the flight was delayed three hours due to inclement weather at Newark Airport--their destination.

Luckily, we had enough milk and snacks for our toddler, Amanda, and we were all able to enjoy some Cinnabons and each other for a little bit longer.

When they finally were ready to board and were on line at the security checkpoint, Amanda burst into tears. Obviously, she did not want Grandma and Grandpa to go home. We felt the same way.

During this past week, I did spend some time cooking and doing laundry, of course. But, I still felt like I was on a much needed vacation.

I avoided my computer and work, except to check on my daily email messages. We all sat down to long dinners. We went on drives to enjoy the fall foliage. We went out to pick up beautiful mums. We sat in our newly finished basement, watching Amanda running around and playing with her toys. We looked through my scrapbooks. We visited a few nice restaurants. We watched nearly half of the first season of Desperate Housewives on DVD.

In a nutshell, we relaxed and had a great time.

Even if your next vacation is spent at home, try to actually make it a vacation. Minimize your work and welcome some relaxing, fun activities. It's incredible how rejuvenating that could be!

Visitors Are Coming

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My parents will be flying in from New Jersey to visit this coming Sunday. We're really looking forward to having them spend the week with us and their granddaughter, Amanda.

The last time they saw Amanda, she wasn't even walking yet. Now, she's walking AND talking!

This is way off the subject, but at 20 months old, Amanda's vocabulary is growing rapidly and we're so proud of her. Here are some of her favorite words--parentheses are her current pronunciations:

Hi!
Bye-Bye
Boo-Boo
Baby
Ball
Clock
Thank you! (Ta-Too)
Please! (Peas)
Book (Gook)
Doggie (Goggie)
Up
Okay (o-KAAAAAAAY)
No
Cookie (KaaKee)
Cake (Kak)
Milk (Mmmmmuk)
Mama
Daddy (Da-Tee)
Grapes (Gops)
Show
Uh-Oh (She uses that one a lot)
Fly (Pry)

Anyway, in preparation of my parents' visit, we've done a few things to make their time with us just a little more special and accommodating.

1) Joe and I made a list of possible restaurants and things to do while they're here, so we all have a quick reference available when we're in the mood to go out.

2) I quickly reviewed everything in the guest bedroom and guest bathroom to be sure we were well stocked on toiletries, towels and other essentials. I made a short list of things to pick up at the store, and I'll get those items on Friday.

3) I called my parents to ask what foods and beverages, besides the regular everyday groceries, that they may like to have during their visit, and their current diet requirements, so I could plan my meals around their likes and needs.

4) I added some books and magazines to the guest room that I felt would interest them both, so they have something enjoyable to read before bed if they wish.

5) I purchased a few small gifts from us and their granddaughter that I knew they'd enjoy, and I have them all wrapped up.

6) The day before we pick them up from the airport, Joe will have the car washed and vacuumed, so they're picked up in a clean, fresh vehicle.

Joe and I both know that when we visit someone, we're really appreciative of all the special touches. It really shows the person was thoughtful and caring enough to think about how they could make our visit fun, comfortable and pleasant.

It's not difficult to make your visitors feel special. It just takes a little bit of preparation and organization. Everything listed above adds up to approximately a few hours total--definitely time well spent in my eyes.