Better Homes and Gardens Linked to My Blog!

I'm excited to add Better Homes and Gardens to my media list! Here's the link. Just a mention, but it makes me happy. :)

3-Part Webinar - Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional

 

 Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional

3-Part Webinar* (90 minutes each)

by Beverly Coggins

Please join me in a highly interactive and personalized webinar limited to 10 participants .

You’ll be as fully involved in the discussion as you wish.

I’ll give you a personal phone call before the webinar to ascertain your needs.

Why Consider becoming a Downsizing Professional?

- Downsizing is a relatively simple concept to learn 

- 76 million Baby Boomers will be retiring in the next 20 years, many needing to downsize

- Starting a downsizing business requires minimal up-front costs

- Training can be completed in three 90-minute seminars

- Your work hours are flexible based on your own needs

- You’ll have the fulfillment of helping seniors transition gracefully

- Your growth potential is unlimited!

What Content Will Be Covered in the Webinar?

Part I - Starting Your Downsizing Business

(business structures presented by my accountant, branding, websites, methods of payment, fees, affiliations, hiring employees, strategic alliances and more)

Part II - Marketing

(a plethora of proven marketing ideas!!)

Part III - The Nuts and Bolts of Downsizing

(estimates, contracts, measuring/floor plans, the steps involved in the move, including check lists for you and your clients, forms, and recommended products)

Bonus Features Included with the Cost of the Webinar:

• Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional manual (pdf version) 
• Membership to Downsizer Cafe, a members-only blog providing support, exchange of ideas, and continuing training
• Additional video training segments
• Continued one-on-one email coaching with Beverly Coggins following the webinar
  

We have two websinars scheduled:

Webinar #1 - October 20, 21, 22

Webinar #2 - November 10, 11, 12

Times for both webinars:

11 am Eastern (10 am Central, 9 am Mountain, 8 am Pacific)

Cost: $499

Both one-time payment and three-part installment options (billed 15 days apart) are available . To register, click here.

*What is a webinar? A webinar is a teleseminar where your computer is linked to the instructor’s notes on your computer screen.

We're Moved In!

 

We have most of our stuff moved over to our new home. We started the day with our phones/cable/internet being connected, or so we thought! Everything seemed in order until we tried to use the phone, which was dead. Hopefully by tomorrow!

This is the first chance I've had all day to sit down and chat with you. No organizing tips today - just a quick hello.

 We are now permanent houseparents for two girls in our Shelter Care program. We will house up to four girls eventually. 

We feel like life will be a little calmer without having to transition from one house of girls to another. And we're looking forward to having a more long-term impact in our girls' lives.

Of course, I'll still be spending time organizing, writing, speaking, and pursuing my business interests. I love my life!

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Moving Tips

                                   
It's Friday! Yeah! 

We've been moving this week, with the big stuff being moved on Saturday. Just thought I'd toss out a few moving tips that have helped me over the last few days. We are just moving 5 miles away, so some of these may or may not be relevant to your move.

- The first thing I did was to go over to the house and just look. I looked at the kitchen cabinets to determine where I wanted to put dishes, hot drinks/coffee maker/mugs, baking items, silverware, serving dishes, plastic items, etc.

By taking the time to think this out ahead of time, you're less likely to switch things around later, saving a bundle of time!

I looked at the office to see where I wanted to set up our desks, filing cabinets, printers, bookshelves, etc.

I looked in the master bedroom to see where to put the bed, dresser, etc. 

I looked at the rec room to determine where we would place the TV, do crafts, play games, etc.

And I looked at the living room to figure out which furniture would go there, and which furniture would go elsewhere.

- Next, I started sorting and packing. Some things will be living in different rooms in our new house than where they have lived here. So I packed together only items that were going to the same room - saves so much time and running!

- Each day we have filled our cars and taken a load over. Our kitchen is almost entirely unpacked. The kitchen and bedroom(s) are the most urgent to unpack in order for you to be functional. It has been hard work to do this every day, but so much less overwhelming than having an entire truck arrive with all of your stuff at the same time.

-  We are using different pieces of furniture for different uses, so we have swapped out items therein. When we move those pieces of furniture, they will be functional in the room where they live.

- As we have packed, we have labeled boxes with what is inside. Consequently, there will be some boxes we won't even open until later - seasonal/party items, etc.

- Since my specialty is downsizing, I have a plethora of bubble wrap - sheets of it, envelopes for small items, envelopes that are plate-sized. I'm even going to bubble wrap my couches and antique furniture to avoid damage. 

If you don't have bubble wrap, use anything other than newspaper! It leaves you and your belongings black, which means you have to wash everything! Not a chore you want to add when moving!

- Today I'm going to work on getting everything off the surfaces of the pieces of furniture that will be moved tomorrow. 

And I will put different colored stickers on each item that is going, so when it comes off the truck, it's obvious where it goes. At the garage entrance, I'll tape a guide of where each colored sticker goes. 

- We've already arranged for our phone, internet, and cable to be switched. After the move, we'll do change-of-addresses for our mail, drivers licenses, etc.

That's all for now - gotta get started on my day! :)

Do you have some moving tips that have worked for you? 


More on moving: 

Downsizing - Factors to Consider when Choosing a New Residence

It's a Great Time to Hire a Mover

The Advantages of Downsizing

Three Steps to Downsizing to a Smaller Residence

We have a winner!

                     

Karen over at Reviews by Karen has won the digital temple thermometer. Congratulations, Karen!
    

National Preparedness Month - Swapping out Your Emergency Rations

   

The big news at our house is that we are moving! We'll be switching roles here at Shelter Care, becoming permanent house parents for two of our girls. We're only moving few miles, but it's still a move. Big job ahead! Now on to our topic of the day ...

Last year I did a whole series on National Preparedness Month, which is September. I won't bore you by reposting all those blogs, but it is time to swap out emergency food rations. I'll copy my blog on creating those rations here. To see the rest of the National Preparedness Month, see the related posts below.

Here’s what Homeland Security suggests for your food supply for your emergency kit:

"Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.
- Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking and little or no water.
- Pack a manual can opener and eating utensils.
- Avoid salty foods, as they will make you thirsty.
- Choose foods your family will eat.
- Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
- Protein or fruit bars
- Dry cereal or granola
- Peanut butter
- Dried fruit
- Nuts
- Crackers
- Canned juices
- Non-perishable pasteurized milk
- High energy foods
- Vitamins
- Food for infants
- Comfort/stress foods."

As I’ve said before, our designated shelter is in a closet in our basement. I’m storing my food in dishpans on shelves: easy to pull out and easy to transport, if necessary.

The food I included in my emergency kit: granola bars, cans of ready-to-eat soup, tuna, peanut butter, crackers, beef jerky (even though it’s salty), canned fruit, canned veggies, canned drinks, juice boxes, cookies, and water.

What foods do you have in your emergency kit?

More on National Preparedness Month: National Preparedness Month - Making a Plan, National Preparedness Month - Determining Potential Emergencies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #1: NOAA Radio, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #2: Landline Phone, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #3 - Water, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #4 - First Aid Kit, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #5 - Additional Supplies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #6 - Food, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #7 - Medications and Medical Supplies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #8 - Emergency Documents, National Preparedness Month - Evacuation Plan, National Preparedness Month – Evacuation from Work, School, Daycare, and Neighborhood Communities, National Preparedness Month - Wrapping It Up: Surge Protectors, Utilities, and More
 

Organizing Art or Craft Space

When organizing art or craft space, envision what you want to do in that area. If you have a large area, you can divide the space into functional areas - a space for painting, a space for beadwork, a space for sewing, etc. If your space is small, divide your supplies into like groups.

If you know what will happen in your art/craft area, it is clear what does not belong there. Start by removing everything that should not live in this area. I usually start in one corner of the room and sweep around the room. Simultaneously remove unrelated items, purge unnecessary items, and group like items together.

If you have the luxury of a large space, consider which parts of the room would be most conducive to which functions. Take into consideration storage, work space, lighting, ventilation, etc. You may even want to graph out the room, creating scale model furniture. Then you can move furniture without lifting a finger!

If your space is small, group like supplies together so you don't have to wander all over the space to find what you need.

Don't forget to use vertical space. You may want to put up a pegboard for your glue guns, embossers, pliers, and other tools. Outline each tool with a Sharpie, and you'll know where to return it - as will others who use your tools!

If you have blank walls, put up some shelving to hold supplies or use tall shelving units. By using vertical space, your floor space is less cluttered and you have more room to work.

If you have the need to see your supplies, use glass jars or clear shoe boxes from the dollar store. Stackable bins that are for produce (the kind with the open front) provide visibility yet reduce visible clutter.

I found letter-size plastic baskets at the Dollar Tree yesterday - perfect for storing different kinds of craft or office paper on shelves. A file cabinet or rolling file is also great for storing different types of paper. Plastic stacking drawers that hold a ream of paper in each drawer are available at BJ's or office supply stores. Cereal boxes can be taped to each other (with an end or side removed) for a green alternative. You can cover or paint them to make them more attractive.

Dishpans and similar plastic bins from the dollar store are wonderful containers for keeping similar supplies together. Label them, and slide onto a shelf. Or re-purpose other items for storage - tins, coffee containers, baskets, etc. If you have some keepsakes sitting around in a box that would double as storage containers, see if there are some you can use and enjoy. Just make sure your supplies won't damage them.

Plastic drawers come in all sizes for all sizes of supplies. Silverware or drawer organizers, muffin tins, ice cube trays and small plastic boxes can keep drawers organized.

Use pants hangers with clips to hang stencils or other hangable stuff. 

Pants hangers that have four rods hold ribbon spools beautifully. Or thread ribbon spools onto paper towel/gift wrap tubes. Insert a ribbon through the tube and hang. If the ribbon spools are too small, thread a ribbon or dowel rod through them. Another idea: place ribbon spools in a shoe box and cut slits in the box through which the ribbons can be inserted. Each ribbon is visible and available with a pull! Tie a pair of scissors onto the box and they're always handy.

Use back-of-the door hanging storage, especially if your area must serve double duty. If that is the case, consider using a card table as a work space. It can be folded up when the space is needed for another use. Under-the-bed storage can be used if a bed is in the room.

Allow for clean up time before leaving your art/craft area. Put away supplies. Clean brushes and other items. By taking a few minutes at the end of each creative time, your space is pleasant and inspiring when you return! Visual clutter creates clutter in your mind.

To keep my white plastic craft table clean, I cover it with Glad Press 'n Seal. Clean up involves pulling it off the table! If there are some accidents, Mr. Clean Magic Sponges take care of it.

If you use solvents or other flammable liquids, make sure to have a metal trash can to store soaked cloths until they are cleaned, to avoid possible fire.

Step back and evaluate -
- is the lighting adequate for your work spaces?
- Does everything have a home?
- Is there adequate storage?
- Is your space pleasing to your eye?
- Is the ventilation adequate?
- Are there items you need in order to make your area more functional?

What have you done to make your art/craft area more efficient and functional? Subscribers, click title to comment on the original blog.

More on arts/crafts:
Storage Ideas for Crafts and Art Supplies
Craft Storage
This is What I Call Using Wall Space!

Getting Organized for School - Study Shows Flashcards Help Improve Memory

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We did some apple picking, rode on a horse-drawn boat down the Ohio-Erie Canal, took a surrey ride, attended our church picnic and saw a movie. Sounds busy, but it was actually very relaxing. Now on to flash cards ...

Our girls used flash cards all the way through college and did very well. Here's new research to prove its effectiveness. An article from WKYC.com in Cleveland:

"Many of us used flash cards to study for tests and a new study at Kent State says we were on to something.

Dr. Katherine Rawson has been conducting a study on how best to study for tests and remember what you learned.

Researchers found that flash cards help improve memory, if you use them the right way.

"We found what we are calling the '3 plus 3 method' works best," says Dr. Rawson.

For vocabulary words with complex definitions, it is best to go over each word until you get them right three times. Then, after that, repeat the study session three more times.

"We found they will do fine on the test, and then remember the material up to four months later," says Rawson.

Dr. Rawson is one of this year's recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists. She is one of 100 recipients and will travel to Washington to get the award."

Comments? (subscribers click the title to go to the original blog)

More on studying:

Getting Organized for School - Learning Styles

Getting Organized for School - Online Homework Help

Study Tips

Staying Organized in a Changing World

Sometimes it seems that just when you have a system in place to organize your world, your world changes! Your week is planned out efficiently, only to have several unexpected events present themselves.

What to do? Life is change! In order to be effective, we need to be flexible to change with it. In our schedules - yes. In our priorities - no.

In fact, knowing what is important allows us to get through the unexpected gracefully. Consequently, it is essential that we know what is important in order to land on our feet when life changes.

Determining what is important:

1. Know your passions - those things that ignite you (a cause, a new business idea, a consuming interest, athletics, an age group, a growth area for you/your children/your family, etc.).

2. Know your priorities - area in which you want to grow (physical, social, spiritual, financial, educational/vocational, recreationally, etc.).

3. Know your talents/gifts.

4. Know what is urgent - what needs to be done first, second, third, etc.

5. Know what is essential - those things that resonate with your values, those things which matter greatly to you.

I recommend taking some time to think through each of these areas. Then schedule these items into your calendar, scheduling the most urgent and important first.

The end product will be a filter or grid through which new or changing events can be filtered.

When you are approached with a new opportunity, you will easily be able to filter it through your passions, priorities, gifts, and urgent and essential commitments. This eliminates over-commitment or under-commitment because you will be doing what you love and are talented to do. It gives you confidence to say no if you need to do so. And you are able to live in reality in light of your commitments.

When life changes, you will have a clear picture of what is important in your life. Even if you need to adjust your schedule, you are able to remain calm because you know where you're going and to what you are committed.

How do you cope when life is changing? (Subscribers click the title to comment.)


More on this topic:
Your Priorities, Passions, and Gifts Create Context for Your Clutter
Why Throw Shallow New Years' Resolutions at Yourself When You Really Need to Rethink Life?
1-2-3...Get Organized Time Management books

5-Minute Stress Relievers - Change Your Attitude

I had a great time last night with a women's group in Brimfield, Ohio where I spoke on "How to Get 26 Hours out of Your Day." A fun bunch of women!

Well, I think this may be my last post on 5-Minute Stress Relievers. Remember when this all started when Melody Warnick did an interview with me for Woman's Day magazine? I'm briefly mentioned in her article which should appear in the November 17th edition.

Today, we're going to talk about changing our attitudes, perhaps the most difficult stress reliever of all! This must be an intentional decision to move out of anger, frustration, hurt, etc. to a more peaceful attitude.

Here are some ideas:

1. Choose to forgive. That doesn't mean what the other person did was ok, but you are removing yourself from bondage to that person by forgiving. Otherwise, you are tied to that person and your bitterness grows.

2. Be thankful - count your blessings. It doesn't take long to look around and see someone whose life is so much worse than yours. Did you know that you can lift depression by naming things you're grateful for before dropping off to sleep? Studies show that this is more effective than counseling!

3. Think about those things you take for granted - air to breathe, sunshine, rain, etc.

4. Ask yourself how your current circumstance rates on a scale ranging from "it doesn't matter at all" to "it is life threatening." This creates context to your perspective.

5. Ask yourself if the situation at hand is worth ruining your day, your hour or your moment.

6. Figure out what is bothering you and how you can express it appropriately.

7. Journal.

8. Change your habits. It's your choice if you handle anger inappropriately, for example. If your fuse is short, work on lengthening it by incorporating some of the above techniques and others.If you are overly sensitive, work on becoming more objective.

9. Laugh - it’s like a jog for your insides.

10. Pray - you are not in control of the universe or even your universe. Rely on the wisdom and love of the one who is.

How do you change your attitude? Subscribers click the title to comment on the original blog.

More on stress relievers:
5-Minute Stress Relievers - Spiritual Refocusing
Five Health Benefits of Laughter
5-Minute Stress Relievers - Taking a Mental Break

National Preparedness Month - Choosing Emergency Contacts

Peter Shankman first alerted me to this article by PhreeZone about what to consider when choosing an emergency contact. Both of these guys are skydivers, so the article is written in that context, but the points to consider are just as valid for any person. Something important to consider during National Preparedness Month:

"One of the things that all most every Dropzone or Boogie waiver has is a space to list an Emergency contact. Most jumpers just fill this information in with the first relative or friends name that pops into their head as they fill out the waiver, but jumpers should fill this section out after carefully selecting a contact. Jumpers should put as much thought into this decision as they do into what type of jumpsuit they are going to buy or what their next boogie is going to be.

There are criteria that make people better emergency contacts then others and jumpers should keep this in mind as they make their selection. Potential emergency contacts should meet the following criteria at a minimum:

1) Potential emergency contacts need to be aware of any medical issues or conflicts that you might have. If someone is allergic to something and forgets to put it on their waiver the emergency contact might just be the last line of defense there is to prevent the emergency responders from giving them a potentially dangerous drug or drug combinations.

2) Emergency contacts should have phone numbers to your immediate family members rapidly available so they may inform your loved ones about any potential incidents that might have happened. Poor choices for emergency contacts include people that have never met you or your family before you visit the DZ. At a minimum your emergency contact should have the phone number to contact the person that you would want to be notified of your injury or death first.

3) Another trait that makes a good emergency contact is choosing someone that is not at the airport the same time you are. In the case of something like a plane crash or canopy entanglement you might be involved in the incident with potential emergency contacts. By choosing someone that is not involved in skydiving or at the airport at all you maximize the availability of contacts that DZ personal might be able to reach in the case of an emergency on the dropzone.

4) Contacts should be someone that will be able to initially handle receiving potentially devastating news about you. Choosing someone that is known to be extremely emotional over the phone might be a poor choice as a contact if the Dropzone or medical teams need to ask questions of the emergency contact. Choose someone that will be able to calmly answer any potential questions after being informed that you are injured or worse.

5) Having multiple methods of contacting emergency contacts makes the task of reaching the emergency contact a lot easier for the dropzone personal. Emergency contacts should have at least one phone number and if possible multiple phones. List every phone number in the order that they should be called. Listing mobile numbers, home numbers and work numbers should all be done at a minimum to insure the maximum possibility of reaching someone in a true emergency.

Other things that should be used as criteria in potential emergency contacts include knowing who might be on vacation and out of reach at the time of certain boogies, knowing which contacts will be available to rapidly travel to deal with incidents if they happen, and in the case of international jumpers knowing the time difference and how that is going to affect the ability to contact your potential contact.

Using these criteria to choose an emergency contact will increase the probability that the dropzone personal will be able to reach and inform people of emergencies involving you, plus it will reduce the anxiety factor on the dropzone staff side in contacting people if they know they will not have to end up calling 10 people to reach someone that has needed answers about you."

Comments? Click below (or the title if you're a subscriber).

This is What I Call Using Wall Space!

Don't have a medicine cabinet in your bathroom? Here's an idea from Better Homes and Gardens:

"Steal space wherever you can. The partial wall separating the toilet makes a perfect target. This wall doubles as a medicine cabinet with adjustable glass shelves and a childproof lock. The ledge also serves double duty as a shelf for toiletries stored in small decorative containers."

You can use this idea anywhere where you have hollow walls and not enough storage!

If you've done this, send us a picture!

More on bathrroms:

Finding More Bathroom Storage without Expanding Your Bathroom

Get Organizing Month - Decluttering Your Bathroom Storage

Magnetic Paint - An Innovative Space Saver!

Getting Organized for School - Planning Interesting Lunches

Happy Monday! Hope you had a nice weekend. We went to a corn maze at a farm, a movie, church, and swimming.

Did you think we have totally exhausted the topic of getting organized for school? I have a couple more ideas, one being...

Planning Interesting Lunches

Making lunches was never my favorite thing in the world to do. But when I did some planning, it made it a lot more interesting for me and for my girls!

I made a list of different options, so I would only have to think once! My aim was to provide variety and nutrition, so lunch would not be boring and would be eaten. Here are some of the things I came up with:

- peanut butter and banana sandwiches (the bananas would usually stay nice until lunch)

- peanut butter (in a container) with an apple or banana

- fluffy nutter sandwich (yes - I even did this occasionally - peanut butter with marshmallow creme)

- a bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter

- yogurt

- string cheese and crackers

- sliced cheddar, monterrey jack, or colby and crackers

- deli meat sandwiches on bagels, english muffins or bread

- cream cheese and olive sandwiches

- boiled eggs

- pistacchio nuts

- trail mix

- fresh fruit

- fresh veggies

I tried to be creative and put unusual things in their lunches that they liked - mangoes, kiwis, etc. Making interesting lunches was a little work, but it told my girls I loved them. And I wrote notes on their napkins, even through high school! (They said they liked it and all their friends wished they had similar lunches. If they had been embarrassed, I would have stopped!)

These days, green experts are saying to use foil and reusable containers for food and drinks - another thing to consider.

What do you put in your lunch or your kids' lunches?

Happy 90th Birthday to Hostess Cupcakes

Did you know Hostess cupcakes are 90 years old? Here's a little cupcake trivia:

o Call it a cupcake caper. Mystery surrounds who "invented" the original Hostess CupCake in 1919, however, we know it was baking executive D.R. "Doc" Rice who, more than 30 years later in 1950, added the signature seven squiggles and vanilla-crème filling. While others have tried to capitalize on the popularity of this ubiquitous decoration, the squiggle – which features seven loops on every cupcake – is unmistakably Hostess.

o Hostess CupCakes are the best selling snack cakes in history. And it’s the Hostess CupCake – not the Hostess Twinkie® – that holds the spot as the best selling Hostess snack cake year after year.

o Americans eat more than 600 million Hostess CupCakes every year.

o One of America ’s BBQ capitals has a sweet spot for Hostess CupCakes. Residents of Memphis , Tennessee eat the most Hostess CupCakes per capita of any city across the country followed by:

o St. Louis

o Cincinnati

o Las Vegas

o Louisville

o While it's hard to improve on perfection, consumers have been able to sink their teeth into a few twists on the original over the years, including the popular Golden CupCakes, which debuted in 1999. Hostess also offers seasonal themed cup cakes including “Baseballs” in the spring - cup cakes with vanilla icing and red-swirl “stitching.”

o Captain CupCake, who was introduced in the 1970s, is one of several Hostess snack “mascots” along with everyone’s favorite cowboy, Twinkie the Kid.

o The original Hostess CupCake slogan was "You get a big delight in every bite!

For more information about Hostess products visit www.hostesscakes.com. Follow on twitter at http://twitter.com/Hostess_Snacks.

Multiply Your Time - Join Blog Frog

Join Blog Frog, and you'll multiply your marketing time. You'll increase exposure to your blog through mutual exposure opportunities with your blogging friends and followers.

When you get the "Visits from my friends" widget from Blog Frog, your friends' latest blog posts will appear on your sidebar when they stop by your blog. And vice versa. I just added it to my blog a few minutes ago!

Pick up the widget on my sidebar, encourage your friends to do so, and you'll help each other out! Each time you stop by my blog, your latest blog will show up on my blog. So ... visit often!