Archive for June, 2009

OK – so we have been at these projects for a while now and you may be wondering if it’s really doing anything. Your life is still a mess, you still don’t have clean socks and it doesn’t matter if you do these stupid little projects because it’s hardly making a diffrence.

Bitter much?

So if you need a little encouragement today, let me share a letter that I received from Cathy who has been doing the Project. I love how she asked for help to get it done – we all need a partner in crime when it comes to bringing life into order.

Hi, Kathi,

I love getting your blog’s. I’m not that familiar with how to post, so I thought I’d just reply to this email.

My sister Mary came to visit last weekend, and I asked for her help in the bathroom, because it was a two-person job. I had soap, shampoo, tooth brushes, etc. from Costco in big packages, and no place to put them, so they’d been on my bathroom counter for two months.

We set up a bunch of laundry baskets, and she sat on the toilet seat (lid closed, of course) while I pulled from each cupboard. Items went into baskets as “Cathy’s cosmetics”, “Jim’s stuff”, “Medicines”, “Travel sizes of stuff we actually use”, or “Shared stuff” (like toothpaste and toilet paper). Everything else went into the last basket — “Throw out”.

In the process, I had discovered I had bought the same product more than once, because I had no idea I already had the first one.

When we were done, I had tossed travel sizes of items I never use, old cosmetics, samples I would never open, old toothbrushes, hair brushes, etc. and I had room for everything to go under the sink with space to spare. Now there’s a drawer for Cathy’s stuff, a drawer for Jim’s stuff, a center container for shared stuff, and separate shelves for medicines, first aid, and travel. And it’s easy for me to see how many I have of anything.

Having my sister help was important, because there was so much stuff, and not enough room for me to walk to each deposit site. (I don’t get up as easily from sitting on the floor reaching into the back of cupboards as I used to). She says she didn’t do much, but she was the extra extension to my reach to help distribute into each pile, and then hand back to me.

Regards,

- Cathy

Project for Today:

Clean 21 items out of your purse/wallet.

Here is an easy one for the you – something you can do while driving in the car with your husband, (as long as you are in the passenger seat,) waiting for you kids to get out of T-ball practice or while you are watching 24.

Things to take a look at:

1. Expired stuff: credit/debit cards, Driver’s Licenses, etc.
2. Old stuff (Roger just got rid of one of those plastic calendars that fit into your photo holders – FROM 1995 – and no, I am not kidding.)
3. Receipts that you don’t need
4. Wrappers
5. Gross make-up

Do it quickly and don’t look back. Just pitch it.

Today’s Project: Throw away 21 things from your fridge.

Note from Kathi: Hey girls – my server has been having issues, so I am sorry that you haven’t had your projects – but don’t worry – we are back on board!

I know technically I should be cleaning out my fridge once a week. But honestly, it takes one of the three following event to happen before I dig in:

1. There is an untraceable smell
   
2. The take out containers from the five of us make it impossible for me to find a place to put my pint on non-fat milk (you don’t get to judge until you have five adults living under one roof)
   
3. Anytime I go to Costco
   

So today – I toss!

Items I will be taking a long hard look at:

• All the ketchups, designer mustards, pineapple salsas etc. that have ended up in my condiment graveyard
  
• Any take out boxes (this may sever some relationships kid-wise, but I am willing to run the risk)
  
• The veggie bin: I get all motivated to eat healthy in the store and at the farmer’s market, but when it comes to acutally preparing those super-healthy-organic-and-locally-grown veggies… their chances of making into actually dishes? 50/50
  
• All milks will be given the sniff test
  

   

   

So, in clebration of getting rid of my culinary glut, I will also be giving away one of my previously loved books to a randomly chosen commenter:

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously is a very funny – if not raw (wow, pun totally not intended) read. I loved the book (after all, it was a PROJECT she was working on,) but she does cuss like a sailor who drank a little too much cooking sherry.

Since I don’t use those words, but also realize that a lot of otherwise great books use those words, I still offer it here, with appropriate warnings J

You thought you were safe. You thought we were going to stay in nice easy non-personal spaces for getting rid of stuff; like your underwear drawer. You were wrong.

So now it gets personal.

Let me ask you a question: How crammed is your inbox?

When it comes to this time-saving technology, for me it can be as overwhelming as a messy room.

I receive between 40-100 emails a day in my main mailbox. (I have a yahoo account for things I have signed up for and loops.) Those are e-mails that, for the most part, that I need to respond to. It can get a tad overwhelming. But this week I got it down to Zero! Whoo – hoo and neiner neiner.

And yes – I am working on my Christ-like attitude thank you very much…

If you are overwhelmed by your inbox, could you get rid of 21 e-mails today? Once you start, you can’t stop. It’s addicting.

Case in point: here is my screen today. Isn’t it pretty?!?

I got it that way yesterday, and then tweeted on Twitter that I had my inbox to zero. (And maybe I was a tad self-righteous…)

That is when my obnoxious (loving) friends started bombarding me with e-mails so it would no longer be empty.

If you need some step-by-step help in the inbox area, look at this great post from Michael Hyatt about staying on top of e-mail: Michael Hyatt’s Blog Especially helpful for those of us running a business or involved in some kind of ministry.

So start responding and deleting! Put a post in the comments so that we can celebrate your lighter box together.

Don’t we all have that one thing that is just oh-too-much.

For me, it is books (OK my daughter would argue it is also handbags, but I can only deal with one obsession at a time.)

I have no idea how much you have of your obsession, but I do know that I need to get rid of a lot of books. My plan is to get rid of 21 books this month. But not today.

Today I am going to start small – you know the old adage: One Book at a Time.

So as I get rid of some of my books, I thought maybe some of you would like to be blessed by them (really, I am not just passing on junk – these are great books that I have read – but I need to make room for all the other great books I want to read.)

So leave a note in the comment section and let me know what obsession you are going to be dealing with this month. If I randomly draw your name, you will get that book – postage on me.

Today’s Give-away Generation Next Marriage. You will love it!

Here are the results of the cosmetics clean out:

In return – I am getting a new eye shadow. (I mean look at that nasty eye shadow I was using. Ugh.)

OK – Two big bags of clothes down – 20 more days to go.

Did you get rid of some clothes yesterday? If so – I am so proud of you and know that others will be blessed because you are letting go.

If not – hoarder!

Today’s challenge is in the bathroom – do you have 21 things in your bathroom that you could get rid of today? That shampoo that makes your hair frizzy, the blue eye shadow that you kept from Junior High. In fact – here is a list from a cosmetician on when to get rid of those things that have been hanging around:

Lipstick-get rid if it changes smell or consistency
Eyeliner, Mascara, Eyeshadow-3-6 months (any longer and it breeds bacteria and could cause eye infections).
Blush-1 yr.
Foundation-1 yr.(sooner if it has a strange odor)
Pressed Powder- 6mos-1 yr

I love the idea that this cosmetician gave to make sure you always know how long to keep that Maybelline:

When you first buy a product, take a permanent marker and write the date on it. You will know at a glance when it is time to replace.

I don’t want to lose any of my faithful blog readers to death by eye pencil – so please – pitch the stuff.

It’s Day One of the Get Rid of It Challenge and I wonder what is in your closet.

Today’s challenge is this: Could you get rid of 20 things in your closet, drawers or wherever you store your clothes? (Treadmill, anyone? Anyone?)

It will be important for you to set up a place where you can put things that you are going to donate later in the challenge (spot in the garage, trunk of your car, closet in your spare room.) You need to get it out of your room and not pile it up on a spare chair in your room (where it will topple over, and then, instead of sorting it all again, you just throw it back in the laundry and deal with it “later”.)

Donate all that you can – but if something is gross or beyond repair (bras with safety pins – really?) recycle or throw it away.

This will be the easiest time to go through your closet – we all have 20 things that we could get rid of. Just realize, we will be going back to the closet and digging deeper next time.

Post your results here and let us cheer you on when you actually Get Rid of It!

I was thrilled to see that one of the top 5 reviewers on Amazon.com reviewed The Husband Project. I wanted to share her review (and not just because she LOVED the book…) because she offered some other great resources. Thanks Rebecca!

Because of the book The Husband Project, I often get reader questions based on some of the things I wrote in the book. Because many of you have found me through THP, I thought that some of these Q&A would be of interest to you as well.

Hi Kathi,
 
I just finished reading The Husband Project and I am ready to begin.  I want to order one of the Kevin Leman books you mentioned.  I was wondering if you could tell me the differences between Sheet Music and Sex Begins in the Kitchen to help me choose which one to start reading first.  Thanks!!
 
Amy from Colorado

Hey Amy –

I find the main difference is that Sex Begins in the Kitchen is more about having a whole marriage that is conductive to intimacy where as Sheet Music is more about actually… well sex?

If I chose an order, I would read his classic Sex Begins
in the Kitchen then Sheet Music. In my humble opinion. ?

I hope you enjoyed THP and that both you and your husband will enjoy the benefits!

Kathi

This is the blog posting where I am suppose to tell you I have had a spiritual revolution and discovered that I am so deep and now will grow my own food at home and never darken the door of a restaurant again.

Um, not quite.

OK, I did learn a few things:

• I have spent way too much time and money one eating out in the past
  
• I was in some really bad habits when it came to feeding my family.
  
• I drink way too much Diet Coke
  

And I learned some things in favor of restaurants:

• There is nothing like going out to lunch with a bunch of girlfriends.
  
• I’m sorry – making coffee at home does not compare to a Starbucks Misto.
  
• 5 people X 3 meals = a whole lot of dishes.
  

I am so glad that we did the challenge as a couple. We got really creative; picnics in the Rose Garden, packing lunches for days out, tons of new recipes and lots of cook outs.

The one slightly spiritual thing that I did learn (for those of you who are looking for the deep,) is that I was using eating out as a way to put some fun and energy into my day instead of turning to the relationships in my life. Eating out requires just deciding if it is a salmon or salad; relationships require energy.

So I am concentrating on relationships (and if they take place in a restaurant, it’s all good…)