Ironing: It Doesn't Have to be a Dreaded Task

Someone recently told me she dreaded having to iron her clothes. After asking her what her process was, I wasn't surprised that she didn't like to do this task.

In a nutshell, before she left for work, she would wash her clothes and then toss them in the dryer. While the dryer cycle was still going, she would leave for work and iron the dried clothes when she returned home.

First of all, it's not safe to have a dryer running when you're not home. That's a fire hazard. Second, those clothes are getting super-wrinkled if they're sitting in the dryer all day long. Of course, this results in clothing needing maximum ironing--and ironing time.

Some people wait to iron until they're ready to wear the outfit. This is fine for some, but not good for those people who are always in a rush.

Now some of you may not iron at all. This is fine. My mom never irons. She simply buys clothes that don't need to be ironed.

Although I do have several options in my closet when it comes to clothing that doesn't have to be ironed, I feel that only choosing clothing that doesn't require any ironing restricts my choices of what I can wear--so I regularly have one or two articles that require a bit of ironing after laundering.

When it comes to my system, I iron as soon as the clothing is laundered and taken out of the dryer. If clothing is removed from the dryer as soon as the cycle ends, wrinkles are generally limited and a quick pass of the iron usually does the trick in about 10 minutes flat.

Deck the Halls -- Yes, We're Decorating

The weekend after Thanksgiving is always our official time for holiday decorating. I just put my daughter down for her afternoon nap and my husband is in the basement getting our tree ready to bring upstairs.

We opt for an artificial one in my house. A few years ago, we purchased a very real-looking tree that has lights already attached. In holiday's past, so much of my decorating time would be spent putting the lights on the tree. Now that task is a thing of the past, and I could concentrate on the very special and meaningful Christmas ornaments that are going to be hung with care.

I'll be adorning the tree with all the breakable or delicate ornaments--of course hanging them higher where little hands can't reach. When Amanda wakes up later, she can help with the more durable ornaments. My husband will add the angel on top when it's all done.

While the tree is being decorated, Joe will add our Christmas reindeer to the lawn. They're made of gold wire, have moving parts and look just beautiful when they're lit up at night. We live in a very windy neighborhood, so Joe will be staking them down so they're secure (note: last year, an inflatable snowman was blown into our backyard-- from two blocks away!)

We have one of those wreath holders that is magnetized. We'll put it on the glass on our storm door to hold our holiday wreath. Our lights are already on the house. We'll be lighting them for the first time tonight.

Finally, I will open our two labelled boxes of additional holiday decor for around the house and display those.

It really puts all of us in the holiday spirit to have our house decorated and festive prior to the first of December.

Christmas Morning: Packaging and Assembly Required

In recent years, it seems like so many items you buy are nearly impossible to remove from the packaging. I purchased a curling iron yesterday and (I'm not exaggerating) it took me almost 15 minutes to free it. It was snugly secured in a very thick plastic box and once I managed to break into the box, I had to spend more time getting it out of the wires attached around the curling iron to the back of the box. Gee whiz!

Anyway, this got me to thinking about Christmas morning. If you've been around any toddlers lately, you already know that they have limited patience. Can you imagine, Amanda, my two year old waiting patiently for me to pry one of her Christmas toys out of the box? There's no way.

So anything that can be removed from the original packaging and placed nicely into a gift bag or gift box will be our rule from now until Christmas morning.

In addition, my husband, Joe, has been working diligently assembling anything that requires it and hiding these gifts in his work room in the basement.

On Christmas Eve after Amanda has gone to bed, Santa can put everything under the tree. The big items that Joe assembled will be decorated with big bows. Everything else will be nicely wrapped or gift bagged, but available for playing immediately.

This bit of preparation we're doing beforehand will save us all a lot of stress on Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving with Friends

Thanksgiving this year is going to be at our house. Neither Joe nor I have families that live very close, therefore we will be celebrating the holiday with our extended family members not in body, but in spirit.

However, our good friends Libby, Jon and their 2-year old daughter Anna, who live a few blocks away, don't have family members who live close either. So, we all decided it would be wonderful for our two families to enjoy Turkey Day with each other.

Libby and I are splitting up the meal responsibilities. I'll be making an appetizer, the turkey, the green bean casserole and the homemade cranberry sauce. Libby will be making another appetizer, the sweet potato biscuits, creamed corn, pumpkin pie and apple pie. As we're preparing, the husbands will keep our daughters entertained.

Organizing hint: Meal preparation and clean-up is so much easier if everyone chips in!

I'll have the table all set before our friends arrive. I've chosen a burgundy tablecloth with matching napkins, Thanksgiving napkin rings and amber-colored dinnerware I picked up from Pottery Barn. I have a nice set of water and wine glasses that we'll use for our beverages, and a pretty set of silverware that I only use when we have guests. I'll also have two children's place settings for Amanda and Anna.

I'll talk to Libby a few days prior. Perhaps we'll tie up any loose ends, and maybe come up with a prayer, or some 'I'm thankful for . . . ' cards that we'll read around the table.

I plan to tape the Macy's Day Parade in the morning that day, so we can all watch it after Thanksgiving dinner while we're chatting, perhaps playing a board game and enjoying the company of good friends.

Are you all set for Thanksgiving Day? Do you have a picture in your mind of what you'd like the holiday to be? It's only a few days away, so consider taking a few minutes now to reflect on anything you need to do to make the day extra special for you, your family and/or your close friends.

Our First Snow of the Year

This morning we awoke to a gentle, falling snow--just a subtle reminder that winter is sneaking up on us. Although it wasn't much, there was a thin, pure, white blanket covering our lawn, outdoor furniture, trees, deck and sidewalk.

Even though we'll probably get a few more warm days this year where I live in Wisconsin, my family is at the point of gearing up for the colder, snowy days that inevitably lie ahead.

The only coats and jackets in our coat closet right now are the heavier winter ones. We have lots of extra, sturdy wooden hangers reserved for guests. We also have one basket inside the closet on the shelf for each family member. The baskets are stocked with hats, gloves, earmuffs and scarves. It's so easy to grab what we need in a pinch. Snow boots are down below on the closet floor.

Joe made sure the snow blower is in check. If you have a driveway, walkway or sidewalk you regularly shovel manually each year, consider getting a snow blower. It has saved us so much time and effort.

We plan to have the car serviced in the next week or so to be sure everything is in check for Jack Frost. We'll also get an ice scraper, a small shovel and other winter emergency equipment into a container stored in our trunk-- just in case.

We don't use salt on our walkway because we have stamped concrete, but we do have a large bag of kitty litter ready to spread to ensure the mail carrier, delivery services or one of our neighbors doesn't slip on the ice. It's in our garage, right by the garage door, along with a large scoop to help us distribute it on the sidewalk and walkway.

Anyway, this is a good time of year to make a list of everything you need to do to get in gear for the season. Then, take care of one thing on your list each day and before you know it, you'll be done and more prepared for what lies ahead.

America Recycles Day - November 15th

Did you know that the average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day? A percentage of that garbage goes to landfills where it is compacted and buried. As more and more garbage is added each day, our landfills, our resources and our environment will suffer.

Most people are probably aware that recycling is good for the environment, but did you know about these cool end-products which are a result of recycling?

1) Glass beverage containers can be recycled over and over again. But they can also be used for other things you may not expect, such as roads. marbles. decorative tiles and surfboards.

2) In 1995, the recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles reached a new high. 34 percent of all the bottles produced were being recycled. These bottles are turned into rugs, goggles, park benches, fences and fiber for filling ski jackets--just to name a few.

3) Steel and aluminum cans can be easily recycled for use in other steel and aluminum products. This not only conserves mineral resources, but the recycling process also uses about 75 percent less energy than using virgin materials. Recycled steel and aluminum finds its way into new cars, bikes, appliances, cookware and a whole lot more.

America Recycles Day, which takes place this year on November 15th, is an annual, national awareness event to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of buying recycled products, and recycling.

Go to the following link to learn more about America Recycles Day on November 15th. You may even learn about a recycling event in your area:

Source: America Recycles Day

It's All in the Timing

"You feel like going out to dinner tonight?" asked Joe. Believe me, he didn't have to twist my arm. Off we went to Applebee's.

We were seated immediately when we arrived. We were given water and menus. Less than 5 seconds had passed--we hadn't even opened our menus yet--and the waitress said, "Are you ready to order your dinners?"

Joe asked her to come back in 5 minutes after we had a chance to look at the menu. Once she left, we both commented to each other that our waitress's timing was a bit off.

She came back shortly after and took our order. Our meals were brought to the table, by our waitress, about 15 minutes later.

Ok, here's where things get really strange. You're probably going to think I'm exaggerating, but believe me, this actually happened.

Joe and I had eaten no more than two to three bites out of our meals when our waitress returned to our table and asked, "Would you like to order dessert tonight?"

Joe and I looked at each other with this, "Is she kidding?" look on our faces. She wasn't kidding.

I said, "We won't know if we've left room for dessert until we're finished eating our meals.

The waitress left and I kid you not, she was back when we were about halfway through. Again, she asked, "Have you saved any room for dessert?"

I'm thinking, "Are we on Candid Camera or something. I quickly scanned the room for Peter Funt and Suzanne Somers.

Again, we told her to come back when we were completely done.

When we finished our meals, the waitress dropped off our bill, looked at us and asked, "Can I get you anything else?" Yes, she actually asked us if we wanted something else, AFTER she rang up the bill--which we did not ask her to do.

Wow! This waitress definitely had a bad case of bad timing.

One of the characteristics of being organized is knowing what should come first, second, third and so forth.

Imagine if you arrived at a relative's house for Thanksgiving and the hostess met you at the door and handed you a bowl of soup before you even had a chance to take off your coat.

This can also happen on a smaller, everyday life scale:

a) You call a catalog store about returning an item and dialing before gathering the original order information to make it easy for the representative to look up your order.

b) You visit an amusement park without first calling and you're surprised when you get there and discover it's closed for two weeks for repair work. (Think "Vacation" with Chevy Chase).

c) You tell your friend you're allergic to citrus fruits the night she has already prepared lemon chicken for dinner--even though she asked you to tell her of any dietary restrictions a few days prior to your evening together.

Some cases of bad timing can't be helped, such as in the case of an ankle sprain the night before a major awards event for example. But in many cases, bad timing is the result of muddled and/or rushed thinking--not working out in your mind what should come first, second and third.

In our waitress's case, she should have followed a more organized system, such as . . .

1) Allow customers a few minutes to look at their menus

2) Ask customers if they're ready to order

3) Bring the order and come back after the customers have taken a few bites to see if everything is OK

4) When she sees the customers are done eating, then ask if they would like dessert

5) Bring out dessert

6) Ask if the customers would like anything else and if not ring up the bill and bring it to the table.

This is a simplified version of what would normally happen, but you get the idea.

Good timing is a matter of thinking through what should happen and in what order. In many situations, this can be determined very quickly in one's head. In other cases, writing each step down is necessary.

Always asking, "Am I including all of my steps and doing them in the correct order?" will practically guarantee consistent good timing on your part.

P.S. By the way, we didn't bother to order dessert. We were concerned the waitress might take our forks away before we had a chance to taste it.

Don't Get Stuck in the Kitchen

For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you may recall that my husband, Joe, and I been having our basement finished. After 6 months of hard work, our contractors have completed the job. The result was definitely worth the long wait.

We were so pleased with how everything turned out and with how unobtrusive these contractors were throughout the duration of this project, that we invited the two contractors and their families over for dinner this past weekend.

Contrary to how my mother never sat down years ago when we were having guests over for dinner, the last thing I want to do is slave in the kitchen while everyone else is in the living room relaxing and having fun.

In light of this, I did everything I could get done before our guests arrived. While there were additional 'small touches,' here were the main tasks:

1) I ran the dishwasher early in the day so it would be empty for the evening's dishes.

2) I planned the meal so that everything was served piping hot exactly one hour after our guests arrived. In a nutshell, I prepared a tray of lasagna and a tray of Italian-style chicken. Since both of these had to cook for an hour at the same temperature, I was able to put them in the oven and take them out at the same time. I also served fresh green beans which I placed in the steamer before the guests arrived. All I had to do was turn on the stove to get those cooking so they arrived on the table at the same time as the main dishes.

3) I didn't bake bread for this particular meal. I just bought some crusty bread from the supermarket, sliced it and put it in a bread basket.

4) I set out our nice wine glasses on the counter to make them easily accessible.

5) I baked two Mrs. Smith's pies, pumpkin and apple, in the morning, as they each needed two hours to cool before serving. Later when I was ready to serve dessert, I just heated the apple pie up in the microwave for a minute so it was 'warm out of the (microwave) oven.'

6) I set the appetizers out on the dinette table. I usually provide appetizers that don't require heating, such as cold antipasto trays, olives, chips and dip. If I do serve a hot appetizer, I never do more than one. This way, there's only one thing to heat up when guests start arriving.

7) I completely set the dining room table and added trivets to hold the hot dishes, and serving spoons. I also included place cards so everyone knew exactly where to sit. Note: I always sit at the end of the table closest to the kitchen, so that I can easily get up and down as needed throughout the meal.

8) I got help from my husband who graciously entertained our daughter while this preparation was happening, and who ensured we were stocked with beverages and ice.

The evening was a lot of fun. We had a wonderful dinner-- which I got to enjoy with everyone else since everything was prepared beforehand.

Everyone assisted with the clean up and then we all retreated into our newly finished basement to play pool, watch movies and enjoy dessert.

Who says the hostess or host can never have any fun? Joe and I enjoyed every minute.