Attention Bloggers - Free blogger event - bunkbed giveaway!!

Who doesn't love bunkbeds - I mean, seriously?  I know my boys would be gaga over a set of new bunkbeds...

And guess what?  Children Teaching Mama is putting together a fabulous giveaway of the Walker Edison Bunk Bed sponsored by Bunk Beds A to Z!!!!

 

Event Dates: June 20th to July 10th

Attention Bloggers:  This is a FREE blogger event, open to US and Canada Residents and they are now accepting sign-ups now!  You can head on over here at Children Teaching Mama to sign up and let them know Finding Me the journey sent you.

And for those of you who'd love to have these gorgeous bunk beds, this US/CAN giveaway goes live on June 20th so don't miss out on the opportunity to enter!

Minimize Monday - June 4th, 2012

It's Monday - and you know what that means. Yep, time to declutter.  I've taken to this idea since it's something I need to do all the time.  I tend to be a pack rat and this should help me to keep it in balance.   I went back into my office and started hunting.

First I took a big bin and tossed in all the loose stuff that I need to sort through, read or otherwise attend to.  It was spread all over.  As I was doing that, I put aside the things that caught my eye for leaving, as well as the stuff that belonged elsewhere.   I began to go through the hutch on my secretary desk so that I can eventually part with that piece of furniture.  I  even have a project for my night in a hotel on my work trip this week - I'll be sorting my clipping files and writing notes/notebooks so they are tidy and up to date and ready to go into a new box on my bookshelf.

And now for the minimizing - while putting stuff in the bin did visually reduce the clutter, some stuff actually did leave the house (or will in the morning)  I parted with a pair of boots (story to follow), an empty shoebox, 2 mats for picture framing, a cardboard paper towel tube, a magazine, 4 books, two seasons of Lost (the mystery is gone once you see the episodes and know the ending) and a few more papers not seen in the picture.  I'm happy with today's clean out - and the fact that I also parted with a whole Rubbermaid's worth of kid's clothes this weekend that I had listed on Craigslist. 

If I do this every week, I should be clutter free (well, for me) pretty quick!  I'm also reading like a fiend so I can let go of a bunch of books.  I've got about 40 in the 'to read' pile.

About those boots.   Today I put on my black boots, grabbed my coat and took my son to school.  Then I went to the local grocery and picked up a few things, then home.  I had my younger son take off his boots at the door, so I did the same.  Later, when I went to put my boots away I was horrified to see I'd been wearing two different boots -one shiny, one flat with totally different heels and different heights.  I sure must have been distracted not to notice I was lurching about!  Let's just say I was embarrassed and kind of glad I'd not noticed while at the store.  Since I rarely grab the older shiny ones, they got the short straw and are heading on out. 

Mommy's Time Out Part 2 - coffee shop travels

I did it!   I escaped.  I ran away. I went to... Starbucks!   With my trusty gift card in hand I got myself that chai tea latte and a thumbprint scone.  I sat down in a comfy chair with a little table beside it.  I pulled out that netbook, set down my stuff and ... well... I.. um... got stuck.   Here I was, writing implements at hand, a great place to sit, no kids, no chores and I had a blank mind.

I had no idea where to begin.  So I did what anyone else in my position would do.  I signed into twitter.  I poked around there for a while, I read my email and then when I was feeling it, I opened my word processor.  And still nothing came out.  So I got busy and set up files for my writing, cleaned up my documents, put things in order and went back and read some articles I'd book marked.

While it wasn't what I'd planned - it was definitely fun to do this.  I got some awesome people watching in - including the loud guy who sat near me and talked about all the hot women, cars and stuff he'd seen, had or wanted.  While I did my best not to listen to the conversation - it was pretty near impossible to avoid.  ( I should mention it took a LOT not to laugh out loud sometimes - and the term mid-life crisis came to mind quite a bit)

I did learn that I should go with a plan, should leave right away (I puttered around the house after my husband and the boys I left) and should maybe scout out another location to find a better spot to sit so I can avoid the loud voice distractions.  All in all it's been a good day, though.  I'm happy.  I took time away - sat on a chair away from the chaos and enjoyed my time out.  Seriously, I can't figure out why my kids don't like these.

Time Out! - For Mommy...

Time out... wow - those two words apparently strike horror into the hearts of some kids (mine included).  Funny how being made to go sit in a chair away from all the action can result in pleas and tears with enough fussing that you'd think the end of the world was near.  Me?  Frankly I'd love a time-out.  Just think about it - a chance to go sit in a chair AWAY from all the action.  Peace, quiet, maybe a book?  I'm not really seeing the downside of this, are you?

OK, granted I'm not 3 years old and desperately in need of calming down. I haven't hit anyone over the head with a light sabre, thrown a car at anyone's eye, "accidentally" taken some one's stuff or told anyone they smell like farts. (yet) But I do think that I could benefit from some serious downtime.  Quality downtime would work, since I know quantity isn't really in the cards for me.  It's not often I get to remove myself from the hustle and bustle of being a Mom who works full time outside of the house, commutes forever (seems like it anyway), and spends all the rest her time doing her best to be with her kids, husband, and pets while trying to keep the home in some kind of order.

At work I help people in conflict (I'm a mediator and informal conflict management advisor by day) and I think I kind of do the same at home being a referee between 3 & 5 year old boys.  I'm a Mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, caretaker of my home, etc. etc. etc.and a writer.   Notice that my passion is last - that's what sometimes happens when our lives get busy.  Our passions go by the wayside. 

So this weekend I'm taking a time out.  I'm grabbing my netbook and heading to the local Starbucks to spend a few hours sipping a chai tea latte (or 3) while dreaming, plotting, planning and, yes, writing.    I'm gonna think up some stuff for my blog and then, when I've got those ideas out of my head, get back into the novel I'd like to finish.  It might take a long time to get there, but I think with a few time outs here and there (and I'll be naughty to get them if I have to!) it'll happen.


p.s.   this post was written while said 3 & 5 year old yelled and screamed at each over a pair of fireman's pants they both wanted - swords were involved, ninja headbands were worn and a brief break was taken by me at the end to comfort the one who got smacked in the nose by his brother with the aforementioned sword.   Seriously... I need this time out.

Minimize Monday - claiming my space

I've been staring at my office wondering how on earth I can make everything fit into this small space.  I store all the kids clothes in the closet (clothes to grow into - Nanna is generous, there are 7 bins - and I'm not complaining since I never shop for kids clothes!)  art supplies, books, office supplies, wrapping paper, my wedding dress, boxes of projects, more boxes of projects.  more 'stuff'...  Did I mention it was a very small space?

When I put my boys into the same room, I took over the little bedroom.  Then I went to IKEA. It was kind of putting the cart before the horse, so to speak, as I bought furniture and had a vision but needed to thin out first.  Have you ever assemble a sofa bed futon thing that you have to pull out to assemble in a space that barely fits anything in it?  Yeah.. let's just say it's tricky and I should have taken care of some stuff first. 

My goal is to remove the secretary desk with hutch that I have.  I love it, but it doesn't fit.  In order to do this some stuff has gotta go and I need to streamline here.  I will still have to use the closet for storage, but the room itself I want to be a space for creativity.  A place to relax and read, to write, to scrapbook and to sew.   Right now none of that is happening.  Well, I'm blogging, but that's all the writing that's taken place here in the past few months.

After reading a post over at Bits and Bites with Tina, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and now I'm going to commit to decluttering one thing at a time (more is good, but one is a must) each Monday.   Today I took out the bin of summer clothes.  Put them all into my boys dressers and then packed up a lot of old clothes of theirs.  Winter clothes are ready to be packed away, the too small stuff/ no longer needed stuff will go in a bin in the shed for the October kid's stuff swap meet that we'll attend.  ( a great declutter incentive!) So today I'm packing up one winter hat (too small) one winter coat (will be too small next winter), a bunch of t-shirts (also too small), a pair of winter boots (will be too small) and just to add in something I have some papers I'm recycling because they are no longer needed.

A good first Minimize Monday, I think. If I think of it tomorrow, I'll take a picture to add here.  But I think you can get a visual with the above description.   Feels good to say goodbye to a few things and now I can pack up the 'to keep' winter stuff nicely in the closet without adding a bin because I'll use the same one the summer stuff was in.

What are you going to part with?

ps.. I just saw that Mommy Moment is also doing this!!  Go there, too, for more inspiration.

Till Tales - Have you been overcharged??

Let's face it - shopping can be an exhausting experience.  And if you add in a couple of kids who, by the time you hit the cash register, are tired and fighing, you are just too distracted to pay attention to everything going through the scanner.
But you should.  And here's why.

True Till Tale #1

I got a call from my Dad today.  You won't believe what happened at the grocery store today, he tells me.  So I bite and ask for details.  It seems he paid his bill for the stuff my parents usually buy, and it seemed a bit high to him. Before he left the store he stopped and went through his receipt.  Sure enough, he noticed that the chocolate covered raisins - of which he bought about 500g - rang up at over a kilogram.  So off he went to stand in line at customer service.  After they went back to a checkout to weigh it, they found he was right - it was over 900grams overcharged.  So they gave him back his money.  As he started to walk away, he took another look at his bill - and he was charged a rather large amount for lollipops (for my boys).  So he turned back and said that he thought he'd been overcharged on all the items that went through the scale. 

He was right.  Every single item was wrong.  He got back over $36.   When he suggested this might be happening still and maybe others had been overcharged, he got a vague reply that maybe it had happened. Seriously - that makes me steam.  Just think - a couple hundred people have been through that lineup - and if the average amount overcharged is $25 - that's $2500 of overcharging that could have occured.  Likely more.  Since everything was charging close to a kilogram over, that's a lot of error.

After speaking with friends and coworkers, I was surprised at how many people don't watch as items go through the scanner.  And how many of them had no idea that things regularly ring up wrong. 

True Till Tale #2

For a long time now I've been most retail stores biggest pain in the butt.  I know who participates in the Scanning Code of Practice  and I watch them like a hawk.  I was first introduced to this when I bought a moisturizer and it scanned at $2 over the shelf price.  The woman at the customer service desk refunded the difference then gave me back the rest of my money.  I was surprised and she explained to me that when something scans wrong you will get it free up to a maximum amount of $10 and only on the first of an item that scanned wrong.  

I was hooked!   Some stores do it automatically, but if they have this posted on their door or at the till, and something scans wrong, I recommend that you call them on the wrong price and then remind them of the scanning code of practice. (nicely of course!) At the Real Canadian Superstore one manager actually told me that they only do it when the customer asks for it.  They've been better lately but I was floored when I heard that.  So now I watch and pretty much every time I shop there I invoke the code for them.  It's amazing how much doesn't ring up right. And it's not just there, it happens everywhere.  This is especially true on items that are on sale or clearance so watch those really closely. 

So the moral of my Till Tales?  Learn about the Scanning Code of Practice or if you live elsewhere, investigate what might be there to protect you.  And watch that register.  LIKE. A. HAWK.  If you can't watch it all go through - don't leave the store until you've gone over the whole receipt. Once you leave it's pretty hard to show you only bought a pound of something instead of 3lbs. Or that you only bought one unit of an item and not 10.  I'm willing to bet that by doing this you could save yourself around $10 a week on overcharges. 

Go forth and spread the word!  As consumers we need to be vigilant. It's more than a matter of principle, it's a matter of money in our pocket.

Sweet Sleep

Getting Healthy - it's a goal I think most of us share, no matter what our level of fitness and knowledge is.  After all, the benefits are indisputable.  Who doesn't want to feel better, look better, live longer?   I'm struggling with it this year, though, and I think I might have hit upon why.  I'm tired.

Yes, I know, it's a parent's lot in life to be tired. But this goes beyond worn out from running around with the kids.  It comes more from deep seated need to get everything done - perfectly I might add - in an effort to keep up with what I think should be accomplished in a day. 

Have you ever looked at your 'to-do' list?  Is it longer than Al Capone's rap sheet?  Does it look more like Santa's list that goes on and on and on and... well, you get the picture.   It's never ending, too.  Laundry, for example, is one of those things that no sooner do you finish the last load than the baskets are filling up again.  Dishes are like that - and toys. 

You know what?  I think enough is enough on the overcommitment list.  I don't even have kids in sports so I can hardly imagine what some of you face on a daily basis.  Add to that a full work week crammed into four days and top it off with close to four hours commuting - each day.  Yep... I'm tired.  I stay up until close to midnight every night, wake up at 5am and often I'm interrupted by little feet coming to see me in the night.  It's not a wonder I can't get anything done.  It's not a wonder I sometimes find myself staring out into nothing.  My brain is tired, my body is tired, and it's hard to focus.

I've also read that lack of sleep is a contributing factor to being overweight.  I can see it.  You're tired, so you reach for the caffeine, the midday sugar fix (OK and the mid morning one and the mid evening one) and you make poor choices because you don't think clearly.  I also know that exercise is a great way to increase your energy.  But when you subsist on 5 hours or less of sleep a night, seriously - who wants to?

Perhaps it's time to turn off the light a little earlier.  Take the books out of the bedroom (and the tv if you have one - thankfully I kiboshed that when we moved to our house) and make the room conducive to nodding off.  There are so many benefits to getting sleep - your body has time to repair itself, your mind has time to quieten down, you begin to find a rhythm in your daily life,  your intimate moments with your partner (remember those?) make a come back, you eat less crap because you're not reaching for it to stay awake, your happier without the crankiness factor... Seriously, I could go on for hours. 

I am going to commit to heading to bed earlier.  Maybe not every night - but most.  I'm going to turn off the computer, put down the book, walk away from the chores I'm more staring at than doing, and let my head hit the pillow.  In fact, I think I might just take a page out of my kid's book and set up a routine that makes me prepare for sleep. Change into my jammies, brush my teeth, take a bath when I can (works for them, right?), have a quiet 5 or 10 minutes with a cup of tea and a journal and turn out the lights. 

I'll let you know how it goes.  AND I invite you to try it out.  Let's all head to bed at least 15 minutes earlier and work ourselves up to a good night's sleep.