Saturday, January 24, 2009

June Cleaver Tips of 2009


Top Seven 2009 Tricks

1. Homemade goodies anyone? Buy Rice Crispie treats from the grocery. Once home, take them out of their packages, take a knife and cut the edges a little haphazardly, spread a little butter on the edges, and put them on a plate. Nobody can tell the difference.

2.  Done drinking a Capri Sun? Blow into the straw and fill the bag back up, put back into the fridge...good as new.

3. Need some school snacks? Have each kid go to the car with a Ziploc bag, move the car seats and rug mats and find what they didn't eat over the last week. This will create at least two snacks.

4. Easy house sterilization...put Mr. Clean in all bathroom sinks and kitchen sinks. Let this sit or a couple of hours. Drain. Rinse out sink. Don't bother with anything else. The smell says that you've cleaned allday.

5. No need to wash, dry and fit sheets onto the bed. Make kids sleep on top of the comforter no washing and no bedmaking.

6. Every time you eat out, empty the sugar container. It only takes 63 packets of sugar to make a batch of Kool-Aid, 42 packets for chocolate chip cookies, and just a couple for cinnamon toast.

7. Carry a pair of scissors with you when taking walks in the neighborhood...you never know when you'll find your next flower arrangement for the kitchen table or fresh vegetables for dinner.

Wouldn't June be proud?

Friday, January 9, 2009

What About You?


Every day we come into contact with literally hundreds of people.  Maybe even thousands.  People are everywhere...with you while you shop, running by you on a treadmill, sitting next to you at work, and neighbors out and about.  Out of all daily interactions, how many people do you talk too?  I tend to talk a lot, but I know I don't come close to talking to a quarter of the people that surround me.  Why?  There is no real answer,

People are unique...each and every one.  Some are funnier, some quieter, some bigger, and some older.  Every person is in need of something though, right?  A smaller house, a new job, a good cake recipe, an idea of a good book to read, needing knowledge of how to ski, a place to get a good cup of coffee, where to go to dinner, funding for a new business, or place to get a haircut.

Wouldn't it be interesting if we played life like a game and the game was called 'What Do You Need?'  The directions of the game would be simple.  Ask all of the people that surround you what they need...and I mean EVERYONE...especially people you don't know!  If you have something that you can give them, do.  If not, get their name and remember what they need.  The next person you meet, do the same thing.  The thing is, since we are all unique and different, we may be able to make matches for those that would never meet.  Person A may need a warehouse to rent for a certain price, and Person F may be trying to lease a space they own.  (Get the gist?)

The really exciting thing about this game is that it's about helping others.  In the end, we may help ourselves because we may find someone who is looking for our special unique "stuff".  

I believe that in us, we all have the ability to help one another all the time, yet we don't.  Not because we don't want too, but because we don't' know how.  This game is easy, because there is nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

So, what do you need?

Monday, January 5, 2009

Put It Away or Don't


Grocery shopping..I wouldn't say that I love to go, but it is one chore that isn't smelly, doesn't require me to get on my hands and knees and scrub, and never gets dusty.

As I was leaving the store today, after going in to only get some apples and bananas, I found that I had a basket full of groceries that I had no idea that I actually needed.  With my cart brimming to the top, I pushed it outside and filled my car up with the yums for the week.  As usual, I was in a hurry to get home to do some sort of something important, and I just felt like I needed to leave the shopping cart basket right by the car.

Funny thing...I just couldn't do that.  I haven't been able to leave a cart not in the proper parking apparatus since I was in my early twenties.  Like most everything else in my life, there is a very perfect reason.  The reason this time - Violet.

Violet was my loving Norwegian speaking, Tennessee and Iowa breed grandma.  To put it simply, Violet was delicious...absolutely everything about her.  Her cooking was mouth watering, her tone was delectable, and the lessons she taught were more than thought worthy.

One day after shopping with her at the local Sioux City Hy-Vee, grandma expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the patron who left their shopping cart by their car.  I asked her and she said this, "It is a privilege to have shopping carts.  Back in my day, we had no such thing.  We all should honor the modern conveniences that are around us, and respect those conveniences."

When I say to my boys that I am a life long learner and want them to be too, its' because I want us all to continue to learn lessons like this and keep our ears open for the next thoughtful opportunity.