Archive for the Terry’s Blog Category

Have you heard?! Intentions and Affirmations are the new Goals and Resolutions. That’s cool. Whatever your method; change = good. Change keeps you alert and excited and creates “change muscle memory,” useful for when change is vital (adaptability.) Language and concepts matter. As a busy mom, aching for a sense of control, I decided to run my home as a lean mean home-making machine. The phrase was mantra-like catchy and the concept vivid. I wasn’t longing for June Cleaver perfect. I wanted a clean and tidy home, food on the table at regular intervals, and the ability to get kids

I hope you are enjoying the waning days of summer. Whether you are using them to squeeze in the last ounce of summer fun or preparing your home and family for the fall changes just ahead, the upcoming weeks  generally involve new purchases. With back-to-school shopping underway, the Severna Park Voice devoted a full page urging locals to shop within their community and for readers to “put away their Amazon Prime account”. Author Larry Sales admitted his sometimes use of Amazon Prime, re-committed to shopping locally, and asked his readers to do the same.  Here, here, Larry! I am with you!

Counting down to daylight savings time with the hope of getting more done? Our daily challenge is to maximize productivity. But how? More light helps, but the amount of hours and energy in the day are finite. Rather than resort to multi-tasking, resulting in neither task done optimally, try thinking in terms of multi-purpose activites to make the most of your day. Go mindless- a great way to both relax and get something done is to incorporate daily pick-up time into your routine. Skip any anger or resentment. Own it! (Acceptance is key to the success of this transformation.) Then begin

The Oops (wish I had set this up when I moved in) List: On-going Project Place – Rather than keeping supplies for active projects in the areas they are being worked on, which can be unsafe or interfere with daily living, keep all project supplies in one container (if practical) and have a home for that container in an out of the way place, the same place…always. Donation Zone- Clothes, housewares, and kids stuff are constantly cycling out of our lives and our homes (or they should be.) The likelihood of this happening increases greatly if “Donation” has a home. Stash a

There are the ultra-organized, those who keep all of their systems running smoothly throughout the summer, and there are the rest of us. We let stuff pile up in the garage, mud room or the kitchen counters in order to make the most out of summertime (or do nothing at all.) Piles are part of the summer organization plan. This works for us because we know that when fall arrives we’ll press the restart button and get control of the house again. Here are a few tips for those who let a little more stack up than they planned and are