I have mentioned before that my life is crazy. I don't mean crazy bad. I mean crazy busy, crazy fun, crazy funny too. There is never a dull moment and just when I think things are getting settled, more crazy comes a knockin'. Lately I have been tested. There are a couple of things I really want and like having in my life and I am in jeopardy of losing them. It has been a rough few months and through it all I have tried to keep my head up and push through. Yesterday before church I broke down and cried, feeling overwhelmed and ready to throw in the towel. I pulled myself together, left my husband and sick baby at home and my older daughter and I went to church. While there I got some strength and remembered the saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". So I'm picking myself up and moving forward. And it's hard. Sometimes when we feel beat up and pushed down, getting up is the last thing we want to do. What I really want is to crawl in bed, pull the covers up, and veg out. But as I told my sister last night, I have to get up and get out of the way or continue to get kicked.
So many of you are reaching out to me in the same way for help with organizing. You are busy men and women with your own crazy life and the disorganization is kicking you when you are down. I can help you get up and get out of the way. One of the things that I hear all the time is, "I should be able to do this on my own". That is like nails down a chalkboard to me. Your life is busy and you have tons to do. When exactly is your life going to stop moving forward in order for you to clear up your back log? Answer: it won't. You are going to do it on your own, you just need help clearing the back log. I come in while you keep up with your normal routine and get rid of the excess, create easy to use and maintain systems, and then it's all up to you.
Another thing people want to know is, "if I'm not working side by side with you then how can I learn to be organized"? Well, I'm like Mr Miogi (who knows how he spells it) from the Karate Kid. You know; wax on wax off. This is of course for those of you with normal disorganization and problems that relate. Now for those with Chronic disorganization or hoarding we offer a different approach. You will learn through the simple techniques, through the repeat questions, and other techniques I have created over the years that have worked so well for so many. I have clients that I worked with over 5 years ago tell me how much their life has changed so I know the process works.
But first, get up off the floor for Christ's sake and ask for help!
I did:)
LOVE YA!
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June 27, 2009
There's a hole in the wall dear Patty!
I had dinner with a client this week and as we were telling stories this one was told and I thought it was worth sharing.
Last summer Cassie, business manager, closet desinger, and Girlf Friday sold a closet to a client. Long story short Patty and I were in town and were called to help with the closet. The house was a rental. It was older and needed some work. I'll leave it at that, I wouldn't want to hurt anyones feelings. The inside of the closet was missing the inner layer of sheetrock. The rod that was in the closet was attached to the wall on one side and the back of sheetrock for the outer wall. Whoever built this closet just put up the studs and sheet rocked the wall in the bedroom but not in the inside of the closet.
We were not building on that wall so it would have been of no consequence to me except for the fact that she had an existing rod attched to that wall. As I pryed the rod from the wall there was no where for me to go except throught the wall into the bedroom. I tried to be as careful as I could but ultimately I went right through the wall and into her bedroom! I told Patty I had a small hole for her to repair. As she poked her head through the hole, crying because we were laughing so hard, she said, "you mean this one?"
Needless to say we learned how to sheetrock that day.
April 22, 2009
If he brought it in here then we will organize it!
Over the past ten years I have seen many things as an organizer and nothing really shocks me. Sometimes I forget as new organizers come to work with me that they may not be shock proof.
Several years ago I was moving a family into their new house. We had organized for them before and were excited to help them get settled in their new home.
I took my assistant, who was in college, and brought her with me to work in the husband's closet. The project went well and we were finishing right on time when the husband came in and said he had one more bag for us to unpack.
Not a big deal, we had the time. As my assistant began to empty the contents she realized that at the bottom of this bag was a stash of personal goodies. Personal, meaning, for the personal use of him with his wife. The assortment of toys and fun gadgets made my assistant as red in the face and the furry handcuffs in the pile.
She looked over to me and asked, "what do I do with this?". I turned around, looked at the pile, looked back at my assistant and said, "if he brought it in here we are going to oragnize it".
Organize it we did! Hey I'm not judging him. I had a job to do and we did it; right down to the labels in the drawer!
March 14, 2008: Kids say the darndest things
My oldest daughter is having a birthday soon and we have been discussing what she wants. She has decided not to have a party and opt for a shopping trip to Toys R Us instead. The other day when I was driving her to school we started talking about what she wants to get. She has decided she wants a new American Girl doll instead of a shopping trip. Actually she has decided she wants 2. Well for those of you who are familiar with American Girl you know they are about $100 a doll. There is no way she is getting 2. So I told her she could have one because they were $100 a piece and that $200 for dolls was more than we were able to spend. (This is my 40 year old trapped in a childs body) She thought for a moment and then replied, "well those new pillows on your bed cost over $100 each and you got three of those."
She is a very sweet and obeient child but I could see it was time for a reality check for her!
March 10, 2009: An oldy but goody
Since I have heard that this section of the blog is getting almost more attention than the organizing information I though I would put a funny that happened in the spring of 1997. It's an oldy but it's definately a good one. I was in college at LSU and it was finally getting warm probably around this time of year. I decided that instead of wearing my same old frumpy jeans to school I would put on a cute spring dress. I felt really good, it was spring, I was dressed up and I headed to class. I had to park about half a mile from class in stadium parking. No big deal I was happy, things were good, I enjoyed the walk. During class my friends noted that I was dressed up and some even commented that I looked really cute. After class I threw my backpack over my shoulder and headed back to the stadium parking. I was thinking I might get dressed up more often. As I walked I was amazed at how many people were looking at me and smiling. Wow, I thought, this is great. I finally got to the parking lot after the half mile hike and there were 2 guys that smiled and I smiled back and they started walking over to me. My gosh this whole dressing up thing was amazing! As they approached I had a huge smile and said hello. One of the guys then came close and said, "uh your dress is tucked under your book bag in the back". And that is the story of why I never wore a dress to school again.
February 26, 2009: She's got the confidence
My five year old recently lost her front tooth. This was a big deal. It was not her first baby tooth to go but the first of the front. She waits until the tooth is hanging on by a thread and no sooner. She would never let us pull it. It has to come out on its own. The day before it fell out in her luch she was getting ready for bed and admiring herself in the mirror when she got a worried look. She asked me "mom will I still be cute when I lose my front tooth?" "Of course" I told her "And if you don't we'll by you a fake tooth to put in." She laughed and said "mooom" in a way that I am sure I will here often when she is a teenager. The next day the tooth came out in her lunch and when I got home she couldn't wait for me to see. And as is her ritual she was again admiring herself in the mirror before bed and she said "mom there is no need for the fake tooth I am definately still cute." God I love her!
Feruary 3, 2009: Tech savvy at 5!
I recently upgarded my phone to an iphone. I had been using my blackberry and an itouch. So after I got my newe phone ther was a question with what to do with the ipod touch. While we were trying to decide my husband gave my very clever 5 year old the ipod and downloaded a movie on it for her to watch. She thought this was too cool of course! This was on a Friday night. Saturday morning I was busy cleaning and taking care of random things and there was my daughter carrying around the ipod as if it were gold. I assumed and you know what they say about that!!! I assumed she was rewatching the Tinker Bell movie. Until she came in to the kitchen and asked me if I wanted to play with her new ichihuahua. I stopped and looked at her in shock and still thinking maybe her dad downloaded this as well something! I asked her to show me where she got this. As she scrolled several pages back on the ipod my heart sank. I saw app after app after app. She showed me the app store button and said "don't worry mom they didn't ask for money just your password". As I chocked back the feeling of wanting to throw up I asked "how did you know my password"? "Oh she said they asked for my password and I put in my webkinz password and it worked". What an idiot I am!! Too many passwords to keep up with and I never would have dreamed this situation up. I pulled my itunes account and saw that she downloaded $40.90 of apps in less than 1 hr! I immediately changed my password and she has a few new chores to work off her debt!
December 22, 2008
2 days ago I took my kids and headed to the mall for a picture with Santa. My husband took them for a ride on the carousel while I got in line. Anyone who has ever stood in the line for Santa knows how fun it is for everyone. We were in line for 2 hours!! When I got in line I was last for a while and then someone came behind me. Not just anyone either. A husband wife and child. . . dressed as elves! This was not a young family either. Their child was at least 13. I really thought they were part of the Santa set-up until they got in line and stayed there. I don't know about you but I have a hard enough time getting my 5 year old to wear what I pick out. And my husband??!! Wouldn't wear an elf suit for anything! But hey who am I to judge? Maybe they have more holiday spirit than me!!!
September 7, 2008
On a recent trip down to New Orleans from Birmingham I was fortunate enough to have my nanny agree to come with me and bring my girls. I also had one of my employees with me and we all piled into the suburban for the 5 hour drive. About half way through the drive I saw a red bird fly in front of the truck as I was doing 70 on the interstate. I realized it wasn't going to make it across in time and there was nothing I could do. When the bird hit the truck I screamed. My five year old pipes up in the back and asks what's wrong, what happened. I replied everything was fine, nothings wrong. Just then I hear her whisper to the nanny; "she must have tooted and she's just embarrassed!" I guess she thought my scream was a plot to cover the noise. I looked at my employee and said "its better to have tooted than to have killed a bird!"
July 25, 2008
I know we all hear about the dangers of talking on the cell phone while we are pumping gas but this funny story is about the hidden dangers. Today I was on the phone with one of my employees discussing a new program she is rolling out and how it was going. I pulled into the gas station and began to pump gas into my truck. A police officer next to me said "you know you shouldn't be on the phone and pumping gas at the same time" and I replied that I was going inside to buy something while it pumped. His stunned look should have been a warning as he asked " so you are leaving your car pumping unattended to go inside? I was so preoccupied and not thinking. I said "yes it takes forever to pump" and walked in. The coversation got more serious on the phone. I bought a drink, walked outside, got in my car, started the engine, and began to drive off. At this point I heard screams and saw the cop, and 2 men running after my car. Obviously I stopped and got out of the truck to find that it was still pumping and hooked into the tank! Now the cop was very nice especially after his 2 warnings. All he said was this is why you should not be on the phone! I guess multi-tasking isn't always the best.
July 17, 2008
Last night I came home to find out that my 5 year old (who I affectionately refer to as Toot) was placed in time out by my nanny. Yes I have a nanny. I'm not rich, but I do have a nanny. Anyway, Toot was in time out for lying. Common at five. But what was she lying about?
Pushing her sister's head under water in the tub. Or in other words trying to drown her!
So after a long day its harder to have your A Game in place for dealing with this discipline. I asked Toot to tell me the truth and she of course swears she didn't do it. So I tell her she's punished. Later though I'm still troubled that even though she's punished she won't admit that she pushed her sister under water. I ask her again to tell me the truth, but before she can answer I tell her that she better tell the truth because I have the whole incidence on vidoe tape and will watch it later to see if she is telling the truth.
Because one good lye deserves another! Like I said earlier I was tired and not thinking clearly!
So my beautiful daughter pauses, looks at me , and says "let's watch it!"
July14, 2007
This story is actually a flashback to a funny story that happened several years ago to myself and my then business partner Amanda 2.
We were organizing a house for a client while they were at the beach. to the best of our knowledge we were the only ones in the house during this time. We were working late in the evenings since the client wasn't home and returning early in the morning and we never saw anyone else there. I started to notice that when we would arrive at the house things were different. Imparticular, the doors were all closed down the hall. Amanda and I decided we would open all of the doors right before we left at 1am and then in the morning if they were closed; well we didn't want them to be closed!
Sure enough the next morning all of the doors in the hall were closed. Neither Amanda nor I would go further than the foyer in this house. We were scared to death. We were forced at that point to call the owner and ask her if she had a ghost. What else were we to think? So I called. I didn't know what I was more afraid of, the ghost or what she would think of this phone call.
She answered and after I began to talk she began to laugh so hard she couldn't speak. Her brother in law had just called. He had been coming over before work at 5am each day and closing all of the doors to keep the cat out of the bedrooms and was frustrated that they were being reopened!
Needless to say I was relieved and hideously embarrased.
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FUNNY OF THE DAY
November 11, 2012
A tuck and a pull for grandma
The other day my nine year old daughter walked in my room as a commercial was on tv for neck lifts.
Marcelle: What in the heck is that?
Me: Well as we age, our skin falls and those women had theres surgically lifted.
Marcelle: Are you going to have that done?
Me: If I need to
Marcelle: Mom! how will my kids know you're the grandma if you don't have droopy skin!?
LOL! I love my kids:)
There's a hole in the wall dear Patty!
I had dinner with a client this week and as we were telling stories this one was told and I thought it was worth sharing.
Last summer Cassie, business manager, closet desinger, and Girlf Friday sold a closet to a client. Long story short Patty and I were in town and were called to help with the closet. The house was a rental. It was older and needed some work. I'll leave it at that, I wouldn't want to hurt anyones feelings. The inside of the closet was missing the inner layer of sheetrock. The rod that was in the closet was attached to the wall on one side and the back of sheetrock for the outer wall. Whoever built this closet just put up the studs and sheet rocked the wall in the bedroom but not in the inside of the closet.
We were not building on that wall so it would have been of no consequence to me except for the fact that she had an existing rod attched to that wall. As I pryed the rod from the wall there was no where for me to go except throught the wall into the bedroom. I tried to be as careful as I could but ultimately I went right through the wall and into her bedroom! I told Patty I had a small hole for her to repair. As she poked her head through the hole, crying because we were laughing so hard, she said, "you mean this one?"
Needless to say we learned how to sheetrock that day.
April 22, 2009
If he brought it in here then we will organize it!
Over the past ten years I have seen many things as an organizer and nothing really shocks me. Sometimes I forget as new organizers come to work with me that they may not be shock proof.
Several years ago I was moving a family into their new house. We had organized for them before and were excited to help them get settled in their new home.
I took my assistant, who was in college, and brought her with me to work in the husband's closet. The project went well and we were finishing right on time when the husband came in and said he had one more bag for us to unpack.
Not a big deal, we had the time. As my assistant began to empty the contents she realized that at the bottom of this bag was a stash of personal goodies. Personal, meaning, for the personal use of him with his wife. The assortment of toys and fun gadgets made my assistant as red in the face and the furry handcuffs in the pile.
She looked over to me and asked, "what do I do with this?". I turned around, looked at the pile, looked back at my assistant and said, "if he brought it in here we are going to oragnize it".
Organize it we did! Hey I'm not judging him. I had a job to do and we did it; right down to the labels in the drawer!
March 14, 2008: Kids say the darndest things
My oldest daughter is having a birthday soon and we have been discussing what she wants. She has decided not to have a party and opt for a shopping trip to Toys R Us instead. The other day when I was driving her to school we started talking about what she wants to get. She has decided she wants a new American Girl doll instead of a shopping trip. Actually she has decided she wants 2. Well for those of you who are familiar with American Girl you know they are about $100 a doll. There is no way she is getting 2. So I told her she could have one because they were $100 a piece and that $200 for dolls was more than we were able to spend. (This is my 40 year old trapped in a childs body) She thought for a moment and then replied, "well those new pillows on your bed cost over $100 each and you got three of those."
She is a very sweet and obeient child but I could see it was time for a reality check for her!
March 10, 2009: An oldy but goody
Since I have heard that this section of the blog is getting almost more attention than the organizing information I though I would put a funny that happened in the spring of 1997. It's an oldy but it's definately a good one. I was in college at LSU and it was finally getting warm probably around this time of year. I decided that instead of wearing my same old frumpy jeans to school I would put on a cute spring dress. I felt really good, it was spring, I was dressed up and I headed to class. I had to park about half a mile from class in stadium parking. No big deal I was happy, things were good, I enjoyed the walk. During class my friends noted that I was dressed up and some even commented that I looked really cute. After class I threw my backpack over my shoulder and headed back to the stadium parking. I was thinking I might get dressed up more often. As I walked I was amazed at how many people were looking at me and smiling. Wow, I thought, this is great. I finally got to the parking lot after the half mile hike and there were 2 guys that smiled and I smiled back and they started walking over to me. My gosh this whole dressing up thing was amazing! As they approached I had a huge smile and said hello. One of the guys then came close and said, "uh your dress is tucked under your book bag in the back". And that is the story of why I never wore a dress to school again.
February 26, 2009: She's got the confidence
My five year old recently lost her front tooth. This was a big deal. It was not her first baby tooth to go but the first of the front. She waits until the tooth is hanging on by a thread and no sooner. She would never let us pull it. It has to come out on its own. The day before it fell out in her luch she was getting ready for bed and admiring herself in the mirror when she got a worried look. She asked me "mom will I still be cute when I lose my front tooth?" "Of course" I told her "And if you don't we'll by you a fake tooth to put in." She laughed and said "mooom" in a way that I am sure I will here often when she is a teenager. The next day the tooth came out in her lunch and when I got home she couldn't wait for me to see. And as is her ritual she was again admiring herself in the mirror before bed and she said "mom there is no need for the fake tooth I am definately still cute." God I love her!
Feruary 3, 2009: Tech savvy at 5!
I recently upgarded my phone to an iphone. I had been using my blackberry and an itouch. So after I got my newe phone ther was a question with what to do with the ipod touch. While we were trying to decide my husband gave my very clever 5 year old the ipod and downloaded a movie on it for her to watch. She thought this was too cool of course! This was on a Friday night. Saturday morning I was busy cleaning and taking care of random things and there was my daughter carrying around the ipod as if it were gold. I assumed and you know what they say about that!!! I assumed she was rewatching the Tinker Bell movie. Until she came in to the kitchen and asked me if I wanted to play with her new ichihuahua. I stopped and looked at her in shock and still thinking maybe her dad downloaded this as well something! I asked her to show me where she got this. As she scrolled several pages back on the ipod my heart sank. I saw app after app after app. She showed me the app store button and said "don't worry mom they didn't ask for money just your password". As I chocked back the feeling of wanting to throw up I asked "how did you know my password"? "Oh she said they asked for my password and I put in my webkinz password and it worked". What an idiot I am!! Too many passwords to keep up with and I never would have dreamed this situation up. I pulled my itunes account and saw that she downloaded $40.90 of apps in less than 1 hr! I immediately changed my password and she has a few new chores to work off her debt!
December 22, 2008
2 days ago I took my kids and headed to the mall for a picture with Santa. My husband took them for a ride on the carousel while I got in line. Anyone who has ever stood in the line for Santa knows how fun it is for everyone. We were in line for 2 hours!! When I got in line I was last for a while and then someone came behind me. Not just anyone either. A husband wife and child. . . dressed as elves! This was not a young family either. Their child was at least 13. I really thought they were part of the Santa set-up until they got in line and stayed there. I don't know about you but I have a hard enough time getting my 5 year old to wear what I pick out. And my husband??!! Wouldn't wear an elf suit for anything! But hey who am I to judge? Maybe they have more holiday spirit than me!!!
September 7, 2008
On a recent trip down to New Orleans from Birmingham I was fortunate enough to have my nanny agree to come with me and bring my girls. I also had one of my employees with me and we all piled into the suburban for the 5 hour drive. About half way through the drive I saw a red bird fly in front of the truck as I was doing 70 on the interstate. I realized it wasn't going to make it across in time and there was nothing I could do. When the bird hit the truck I screamed. My five year old pipes up in the back and asks what's wrong, what happened. I replied everything was fine, nothings wrong. Just then I hear her whisper to the nanny; "she must have tooted and she's just embarrassed!" I guess she thought my scream was a plot to cover the noise. I looked at my employee and said "its better to have tooted than to have killed a bird!"
July 25, 2008
I know we all hear about the dangers of talking on the cell phone while we are pumping gas but this funny story is about the hidden dangers. Today I was on the phone with one of my employees discussing a new program she is rolling out and how it was going. I pulled into the gas station and began to pump gas into my truck. A police officer next to me said "you know you shouldn't be on the phone and pumping gas at the same time" and I replied that I was going inside to buy something while it pumped. His stunned look should have been a warning as he asked " so you are leaving your car pumping unattended to go inside? I was so preoccupied and not thinking. I said "yes it takes forever to pump" and walked in. The coversation got more serious on the phone. I bought a drink, walked outside, got in my car, started the engine, and began to drive off. At this point I heard screams and saw the cop, and 2 men running after my car. Obviously I stopped and got out of the truck to find that it was still pumping and hooked into the tank! Now the cop was very nice especially after his 2 warnings. All he said was this is why you should not be on the phone! I guess multi-tasking isn't always the best.
July 17, 2008
Last night I came home to find out that my 5 year old (who I affectionately refer to as Toot) was placed in time out by my nanny. Yes I have a nanny. I'm not rich, but I do have a nanny. Anyway, Toot was in time out for lying. Common at five. But what was she lying about?
Pushing her sister's head under water in the tub. Or in other words trying to drown her!
So after a long day its harder to have your A Game in place for dealing with this discipline. I asked Toot to tell me the truth and she of course swears she didn't do it. So I tell her she's punished. Later though I'm still troubled that even though she's punished she won't admit that she pushed her sister under water. I ask her again to tell me the truth, but before she can answer I tell her that she better tell the truth because I have the whole incidence on vidoe tape and will watch it later to see if she is telling the truth.
Because one good lye deserves another! Like I said earlier I was tired and not thinking clearly!
So my beautiful daughter pauses, looks at me , and says "let's watch it!"
July14, 2007
This story is actually a flashback to a funny story that happened several years ago to myself and my then business partner Amanda 2.
We were organizing a house for a client while they were at the beach. to the best of our knowledge we were the only ones in the house during this time. We were working late in the evenings since the client wasn't home and returning early in the morning and we never saw anyone else there. I started to notice that when we would arrive at the house things were different. Imparticular, the doors were all closed down the hall. Amanda and I decided we would open all of the doors right before we left at 1am and then in the morning if they were closed; well we didn't want them to be closed!
Sure enough the next morning all of the doors in the hall were closed. Neither Amanda nor I would go further than the foyer in this house. We were scared to death. We were forced at that point to call the owner and ask her if she had a ghost. What else were we to think? So I called. I didn't know what I was more afraid of, the ghost or what she would think of this phone call.
She answered and after I began to talk she began to laugh so hard she couldn't speak. Her brother in law had just called. He had been coming over before work at 5am each day and closing all of the doors to keep the cat out of the bedrooms and was frustrated that they were being reopened!
Needless to say I was relieved and hideously embarrased.
Top 10 things to throw out of your closet!
- Shoulder pads in a can! You know you had them!
- The dress you wore to your engagment party. If you have been married over 10 years.
- Any pair of shoes that have a hole where one was not designed to be
- Kitchen appliances. Oh yes we've seen it and if you're not using the toaster oven in the kitchen you sure aren't using it in the closet.
- Anything a size 2 if you're a size 12. When you lose the weight, celebrate and buy yourself something new!!!
- Trash (seriously, gum wrappers, etc.)
- Pictures of old boyfriends or girlfriends. Seriously, not a good idea. Seek professional help for this one.
- Letter from someone you are having an affair with. Yes we have seen them and again this is not a good idea to hold onto these.
- Any more than one team item. There is only room for one Roll Tide shirt in your closet and in your life!
- WIRE HANGERS! PLEASE!
About Me
- The Amandas: Clutter Prescription
- A passionate professional organizer specializing in residential organizing with a story to tell. A long time ago I was told the day to day happenings of my life and business were much like a Seinfeld episode. Now you can share in the humor and maybe learn how to get organized too.
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