A Schedule: A Weight Off Your Mind

Joe (my husband) and I were glancing through the newspaper this morning and noticed an article detailing our town's 4th of July celebrations. Between parades, musical bands, picnics, outings, carnivals and more, we're definitely not lacking for things to do.

We decided we needed to draw up a quick 4th of July schedule for ourselves so we don't miss the events we know we'll enjoy.

Here's what our Entertainment Schedule looks like starting tonight . . .

Friday, June 29th - Visit our friends, Stephanie and Tom, for an outdoor barbeque. I called Stephanie this morning to ask what I can bring, and she graciously said, 'Just bring yourselves.' Whoo-hoo! A night off from cooking. I'll be sure to bring a small hostess gift along. We're looking forward to it.

Saturday, July 30th - Our good friend and neighbor, Laura Sherman, is celebrating her 40th birthday. Her husband, Alan, is throwing a party. He's providing the grilling meats, and everyone is asked to bring a dish-to-pass. I think I'll find a Wild Rice Salad recipe on the Internet. Guitarists Joe (my husband) and Alan (Laura's husband) of 'The Arlingtons' will be entertaining us with music that spans the decades. (No, you won't find their 'group' online since they only do gigs for family and close friends, but they always sound amazing!)

Sunday, July 1st - We're doing a Progressive Dinner with three other couples. Appetizers and Beverages at Poppy and Kurt's, Soup and Salad at Sue and Glenn's, Main Dish at our house, and finally Dessert at Jane and Brad's. The theme for the evening is Hawaiian. (That reminds me, I better stop at JoAnn Fabrics to pick up some leis.)

Monday, July 2nd - Could it be? There's nothing going on. Maybe we'll get some work done.

Tuesday, July 3rd - We're going to opt out of the local town carnival, since it costs $3 - $4 per ride (outrageous!) and we'll take Amanda to Little A-Merrick-A, which is an amusement park. Yes, we'll likely spend the same amount of money, or even a bit more, but there's lots more to do at Little A-Merrick-A, so we'll feel better getting more for our money.

Tuesday, July 3rd - Evening fireworks show, 10:15P

Wednesday, July 4th - 10:00AM - Our big town parade. We go every year and will be continuing this tradition this year. Later that afternoon, a neighbor is hosting a big 4th of July celebration in a local park.

Whew! It feels good to have this all typed out, so I can refer to it often. It's like a big weight off my mind.

P.S. Happy weekend, happy 4th of July to our US friends, and happy Canada Day to our friends in Canada.

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A Visitor from Portugal

(Click photo to enlarge.)
We had a lovely visit with Joe's stepfather Bill this past week. He is nearly 90 years old, and he traveled alone--all the way from Portugal.

One of our readers asked me if Bill spoke any English. That really made me laugh because Bill has lived in Portugal nearly 30 years, and only speaks English. He doesn't speak a word of Portuguese. He does, however, understand it a bit. Bill is actually Irish, and Joe's mom was Portuguese. She recently passed away, but Bill still lives there.

He really enjoyed the visit. Besides getting to spend rare time with his granddaughter, Amanda, and with us, we enjoyed visiting parks, restaurants and other relaxed- attractions in the area. In the evenings, Bill enjoyed watching our DVD set of The Honeymooners, and a bunch of Murder, She Wrote episodes we taped for him on DVR. In addition, he read two books during his 9 day stay (The Caterstreet Hangman by Anne Perry and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines.)

Right in the middle of his trip, Joe took him to the VA Hospital in Milwaukee for some paperwork--he was a World War II veteran. While there, he had them check his legs and feet which were a bit swollen, and they actually admitted him for 2 days! They ran a bunch of tests on him, and he was discharged with a clean bill of health, except for a bit of dehydration. (Another reminder to remember to drinks lots of water during these summer months.)

Bill didn't mind the two day hospital stay. He got to meet some wonderful, helpful, friendly people. He could not get over how attentive and kind everyone was. He even met a nurse named Hazel who promised him a dance on his next trip back to Wisconsin.

We wanted to extend his stay a bit, but were not able to. When we originally purchased his tickets, we purchased paper tickets--big mistake! US Airways would not allow us to make any changes over the phone, and instructed us to go to an airport ticket counter. We drove all the way to the airport (about 90 minutes away), and as it turns out, they couldn't even help us. * Our lesson learned: We'll never get a paper ticket again. E-tickets are definitely the way to go.

The original airline ticket was around $800 or so. They wanted to charge us an additional $1200 to change the ticket to just 4 days later. I couldn't believe it, and was very disappointed that they didn't inform us of this over the phone. They would have saved us an additional trip back and forth to the airport. The other option was to charge us a $300 change fee, but on those flights Bill would have had a 9 hour layover in Philadelphia. We all agreed that would be too much for him.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, he left yesterday on the original flight we set up for him, and we just spoke to him a little while ago. He made it back to Portugal safe and sound to the delight of his two cats Baby and Samantha, who were under the care of a friend.

We hope he's doing well enough in a year or two to visit again! We know he would enjoy it, and we would be thrilled to have him again here too!

3 Ways I Keep the Clutter Out

I've had so many people come into my house and ask me how we could keep everything so clutter-free . . . including our closets. Easy! We only keep the things we use and/or that have a lot of sentimental value to us.

As far as the rest . . .

1) EBAY: A great way to get rid of things you no longer use is to auction them off on eBay, or another similar type of service. I've sold quite a bit on EBay from clothing, to books, to home furnishings. I currently have a pair of my daughter's Stride Rite shoes that no longer fit, but are in excellent condition, up for auction.

2) RUMMAGE SALES: I don't hold rummage sales too often, but generally fit in one each year or two. When your items are priced right, it's amazing how much can be taken off your hands.

3) DONATION DROP OFF: Whatever doesn't sell on eBay or rummage sales, we drop off at local charities. I've donated like-new outfits that my daughter has quickly outgrown, toys, kitchen items and more.

Why not do yourself a favor this coming weekend and lighten your load? It's a wonderful feeling to gain tons of extra space!

Can You Help Me Make a BIG Difference?

I'm the president of a local club in town called the Watertown Newcomers and Neighbors Club. We welcome women, both new and established, to our area and enjoy various events and social activities each month. We're dedicated to assisting local charities by donating food, clothing and funds. We always feel great making a difference in our community.

Last year, I was considering ways the club could reach out even further in our charitable efforts. A week later, I received a letter from a former member of our club asking if the Newcomers and Neighbors Club would consider putting a team together for an event called the Relay For Life. The funds raised would help support cancer research, education, advocacy and patient service programs.

I knew immediately that this would be an event that would help us meet our charitable goals.

In light of this, we coordinated a team to walk in the Watertown Relay For Life. My good friend, Lona, and I were the co-captains of last year's team.

Relay For Life is a family-oriented event where team members take turns walking or running on a track for 18 hours. Cancer survivors, their families and the public are invited to take part in this rewarding team relay event.

My husband, Joe, and I both have family members and friends who have had to battle with cancer. We'll both be walking in the relay. We see it as an amazing opportunity to remember friends and family members who have lost their battle to cancer, to honor cancer survivors and to encourage those who are fighting cancer.

Last year, our team raised just over $3000 for this cause and came in 4th place in our city.

This year, we're participating once again. We hope to surpass last year's goal.

I hope you will support our efforts by making a small donation. This is a flat donation and not a per mile donation. Even $5 - $10 would be an enormous help.

Your donation is tax-deductible. Please make your check or money order out to the 'American Cancer Society' and mail it to me:

Maria Gracia
611 Arlington Way
Watertown WI 53094

Or, if you prefer, simply send it to my Pay Pal account: getorgnow@charter.net

I usually do not feel comfortable asking people for money but this fundraiser is such an important reason to do so. Thanks so much and may you receive many blessings for your generosity.

P.S. Here are some photos from last year's Relay event:

http://getorganizednow.typepad.com/get_organized_now_weblog/2006/08/photos_of_the_r.html

Weekly 'Organized' Trips to the Library

Yesterday, my three year old daughter and I made our weekly visit to the Watertown Public Library. Amanda always chooses 5 kids DVDs or video tapes, plus 5 books.

Our library is very organized. They give us a printout of exactly what we borrow, and the dates everything is due. They also email us a library reminder a day or two before the due dates. Very helpful.

To ensure we're organized too . . .

A) we always store anything borrowed from the library in a special, large tote bag. Once a show is viewed and removed from the DVD player, for example, it goes directly back into the tote bag (VHS tapes are rewound first, of course.) Once books are read, again, they go immediately back into the tote bag. This eliminates the need to have to search through the entire house to find library materials when they're due back. When we're ready to go to the library, we use the library printout to ensure everything is in the tote. Then we just pick up the bag and go.

B) as soon as we get home from the library, I write the due date(s) on my calendar, and mark my calendar two days before that date as an additional reminder that they will need to be returned soon. This ensures we never have to pay late fees. I also keep the email reminder in my inbox, until the movies have been returned, as an additional safeguard.

These two tips can make each library visit an organized one. But they also apply to other areas of your life. Suppose you borrow some books, gardening tools or CDs from your neighbor. You can always store these borrowed items in a tote or box, and also mark on your calendar your own 'due date' to return them.