Scripture Sunday

mani Monday- you dont know Jacque

An oldie but a goodie- Opi You don't know Jacques

One of my favorites!

Opi is a lot like Essie- really great colors but its not one that is known to be long lasting. At least not on me. I find it chips pretty easily.

wiw- casual cold day

Where:
Cold day staying in the office.


What: 
Light blue and white striped sleeveless top from Talbots.
Black wool V-neck from Banana Republic
Cropped jeans from Laurie Felt 
Tory Burch flats
Sweater cape from Talbots

flylady weekly home blessing hour- little and often

I feel like I've been somewhat fighting against the flylady system more than embracing it.  Embracing the little and often method and leaving the marathon cleaning session mentality - its been a job and the flylady is trying to rewire my thinking.

The flylady weekly home blessing hour system is one system I had been avoiding putting into place, although now that I've been doing it I don't know why I was so reluctant to start it. 

The system is designed to all work together, and since I knew I wasn't doing the entire system, and I'm feeling bad about that, I didn't think this sprucing up would work to make a difference. I guess the only way we'll know is to start doing it and we will see.

So, I am already spending time questioning the system instead of spending time just working the system. This is the exact reason I need the system. 

I also wrestled with exactly when to implement this weekly home blessing. I finally settled on Saturday morning which is what she advises anyway. 

The basic system is in  this video  (and here is another example).

The system is a 60 minute time frame to:

• strip the bed and start washing the sheets (I usually do this on Mondays)
• clean all mirrors 
• empty all trashcans
• vacuum all floors
• mop the bathroom and kitchen (I ended up doing the dining room, entry way and bedroom as well)
• dust (my least favorite thing to do)
• pick up books and magazines

Of course, I had trouble with following directions. I added a few things and wanted to add a few more and had to stop myself.  The whole point is to do these little things often, (little and often) not to turn it into a marathon all day cleaning and exhaust yourself and keep you from doing it again next week. 

I did end up adding to the list filling all the outside bird feeders. It seemed like the right time to do this each week. I also added mopping all the floors and not just the bathroom and kitchen. Because it goes pretty quick with a fabreeze swifter, and when else am I going to do it?

I wanted to add  doing laundry, clean the bathroom and clean the kitchen but I know theses things are included in other routines, one of which (the morning routine) I have not started yet.

But I have started this one and the little and often continues on....

Black Fridy- the damage

No horror stories for me on Black Friday, my shopping adventures were pretty tame. I even had time to run into Whole Foods for some fruit and Joanna Gaines magazine.

I started late Thursday night when I hit up Sephora on line. I am not foolish enough to go to the Mall on Black Friday where the actual store is, and I know from years past, by the time I got there all the things I want on the deep discount sale would be gone.  Some of the things I wanted were still gone by the time I  hit the checkout button, but I still found plenty to do some damage.

I didn't find the crowds to be bad at all. It was a pretty pleasant afternoon. I hit Ulta, Talbots, Banana Republic, the Gap, Loft, Whole Foods, Michaels, TJ Maxx and a consignment shop.

I ended up with seven Christmas presents, two for my best friends (Kim and Pam), two for my secretaries at work (Kim and Ashley),  one for my oldest grandchild (by marriage) and one for the husband.

For myself, I bought three sweaters- all on sale for 50% off- from Banana Republic. I got one top from Loft - also on sale for 50% off.  I also got three tops from the consignment store. Not really on sale, but always cheap. I also got a few makeup items myself from Ulta. My favorite lipstick was on sale, so I picked one up as well as a few other things.  

sephora play monthly box for November

It was a good month for the Sephora box. Its hard to pick what I am most excited about, because I was happy to see all the samples.

I was really excited to try the Light Blue perfume and I love it. Its sweet and fresh, but in a grown up way. 

I already use and love the Purity Made Simple cleanser from Philosophy, so this will be my travel size.

I was also excited to try the Laura Mercier Powder. I hear a lot of good things about it. 

When its really really cold out but you still have to go to Court and look cute

The high temp was 43 and it was a bitter wind blowing. Going to Court means finding a parking spot and walking 6 to 8 blocks (sometimes more). When braving the elements, simple seemed best.

A black wool turtleneck from Banana Republic seemed expensive at the time, but I've had it for a few years and when the cold weather hits, its been handy to pull out, stay warm, and look good all at one time. I wore it over a cuddleduds undershirt, which I wear almost all winter, it seems.  And a jacket from Target, the third of the three new things I bought from this new line, and I have been very impressed with everything.  Black pants from  Talbots.

A heavy coat  topped it all of off. 

Note to self. Wear gloves when it is 43 out.

2019 devotionals

Hanging out in the Portland airport book shop was very enjoyable and productive and introduced me to one of the  new  devotions I have picked for myself in 2019.

What if God Wrote your to-do list  has 52 short little chapters which I plan to read one chapter a week, the whole point of this devotion. This one looks pretty light. The first chapter is to make your bed daily, which is usually what I do anyway. 

Something not so light is the other devotion I have for 2019. Its also a weekly devotion, Living the Christian Year. Its not so light reading. Its based on the liturgical year. I'm not quite sure this is the right book for me (a non-catholic) but I’m going to give it a try. It’s also a 52 chapter cook and set up as one chapter a week. 

2019 I'm ready for you

2019 planner has been chosen. 

Getting a new yearly planner is the adult version of getting new school supplies. It was my favorite time of the year! Everything was so crisp and clean and new. That's how I feel now. I love a new planner. I plan to celebrate with some new pens (my favorite ones here).

This is the first year I am going with  a recollection planner from Michaels. I actually went to Michaels to get the happy planner, but liked this one better. Its a knock off of the very pricy and popular Erin Condren planner, but its  $17.99 (not $57),  so it is hard to beat.   An added benefit is I love it and think I will be very very happy with it.

Over the years, I've used a lot of different planners. Some expensive, and some not so much. I've used the happy planner (twice), the Christian planner, The Best is Yet to Come planner, Blue Sky planner from Target, and even created my own with blank notebooks, long before bulletin journals were a thing. This year, I used the She Plans planner. I liked them all to varying degrees, but have a few complaints about each one of them too.

I also picked up a set of the 2019 Powersheets, a goal setting workbook. I've been using these for the past 5 or 6 years. Sometimes, I don't buy the set, I just follow along with the prep on this blog.  I have tried other systems,  last year it was this one (which is free right now), but I always come back to the Powersheets.  They are really the best and are by far, my favorite. But I have to admit, I can do it without the book, but it is a lot easier to keep up with when you actually buy the book and have the exact tools. I'm excited I got it again this year. It was the right choice.

Now, I am picking out my devotional books I'll follow along with in 2019. More on this later.

Being blessed in the long run- Fly Lady Evening Routine- the 5p to 10p plan

She calls the evening routine, the most important part of the system. My pastor calls it the 5p to 10p plan. The flylady suggest you put this into place first. My pastor says its not going to just fall in place, you have to actually put it in place. I have not done this. Instead, my routine is struggling along. 

I do typically clean the kitchen before bed, but one day last week, as I was unpacking some boxes from my husband's last home, looking for a place to put things, and had dishes, glasses, and silverware everywhere, I just went to bed and left the kitchen a disaster.  I woke up to a mess. 

Remembering  that feeling of starting the day already behind is enough for me to finally turn my attention to get this system up and running.

My evening routine, it sounds like a lot, but in reality it gets done pretty quick:

Come home and feed everyone (Jack the cat included). 

Sometimes this happens at 5:30p, sometimes at 6:30p, and occasionally at 7:00 or later. My husband asked me recently, don't you want to sit down and rest first?  No, in fact, I do not. That is the last thing I want to do, because I wont get up and start anything else.  So I am learning how to best approach this. I need to start immediately.  I've also learned that after working all day, I usually do not want to cook much. I depend heavily on having leftovers or something in the crockpot, or something very fast and uncomplicated. Tonight we had hashbrowns, eggs and sausage. Last night we had chicken breast and baked potato, the night before we had cereal. Tomorrow, its soup in the crockpot.


If I have really been on the ball about it, on Sunday evening, I have cooked and planned  and shopped and only have to consult the planner for the week and wont have to fret much about it. Most of the time, its not that easy. Except for Jack the cat. He always get the same thing.

Fill the ice box with drinks from the garage. I like to keep the top shelf full of cold drinks ready to grab.

Put the husband's lunch box away (in freezer for tomorrow) and empty out the Tupperware containers from my purse into a sink of hot soapy water.

My husband will usually sit in the beakfast nook visiting then we eat together.    

The dishes go in the dishwasher and it gets turned on for the night. 

The kitchen gets a  good wipe down and all counters are clear. Sometimes I do this and sometimes he does this. We don't take turns, its mostly whoever feels like doing it at the end of the night.

Schedules in day planner are checked.  Where do I have to be in the morning? Is there a court appearance to dress up for? Do I need to leave earlier than usual? Will I be leaving from home to the office or to an appointment? Will it be rainy and cold? Do I need a jacket?His schedule is checked as well.

While dinner is cooking, lunch and dinner tomorrow are being planned. Something is taken out of the freezer or I sit down and make an online order from Walmart or Sams, or if I did my Sunday routine work, I just check the planner and the fridge. Left overs from dinner are packed for lunch the next day.

Same goes for clothes, when I figure out what I have to do, then I figure out what I have to wear to do it. Most of the time, I just leave it as an idea living overnight in my head.

On the rare occasion, I can actually plan ahead and get something laid out, just like a third grader. These are the days I always look the cutest. When I take the time the night before to find my outfit and just put it on in the morning, it is always a win. My goal is to always have this out and to have a designated place in a nice organized closet (when it gets built) to put my next day outfit, like Diane in Denmark (here)  and Dominique Sachse (here).

I am suppose to do my 15 minutes fly lady routine here, but, this is hit and miss......

Currently reading before bed 

A hot bath, my skin care routine (Mary Kay anti-aging), and reading and relaxing and in bed by 10p.

That's the 5 to 10 plan atleast. 

WiW- foggy morning edition

Wait a minute... am I still fogged in in Oregon? No. Its just my driveway.

When it is so foggy and grey and icky and  staying home is not an option.  Black and cream skirt from the new clothing line at Target, the second of three things I bought from the line, and a black cardi from Talbots with black wedges from Naturalizer.

I was comfy and cute and felt good all day. I also got three compliments on my outfit, and three secretaries were literally standing around talking about how cute I looked today!!

cooking light- Lasanga soup

Another perk about travelling, while you are waiting at the airport for two plus hours, you have a lot of cute little shops to visit. All those cute little shops have walls of  every magazine you have ever heard of for sale, and many magazines you have not heard of.   One of my choices for the flight home was the Thanksgiving edition of Cooking Light. 

It was definitely the  right choice.  There were so many recipes I dog-eared and planned to try.

This was the first. Lasagna soup in the crockpot. It was different, in a good way. It was tasty on a cold winter night, but honestly, a real lasagna would have probably been tastier. 

Will I make it again? probably. But will use less noodles

wiw- casual day at the office

Another job perk is casual days at the office. If I don't have any meetings or court appearances, I can wear jeans. There are still some rules, though. I still have to look business professional.

I paired my favorite Gap jeans with a blue and white pin stripped button down from Talbots, and a black Talbots cardi.

My office is cold and I wished I had worn something a little warmer. On days like this, I typically put on some warm socks and slippers when I get to work.

Yes, slippers at work. Many years ago I worked for a Judge and she always wore high heels into the office then immediately changed into her slippers while at work. I learned it from her. My slippers are black, and when I am wearing pants, they don't draw any attention to themselves. Usually, no one even notices, but I am warmer and more comfortable for a long day at the office. 

re-entry- flylady update

Returning from the 5 day weekend (and the impromptu road trip)  has been more than a little difficult.

The trip did not come at the right time. In fact, it came at a really bad time.  We've both been busy at work, and in the middle of selling his house, and combining it into this house and the list just goes on and on, and coming back to it all has been difficult. 

Is there ever really a perfect time? No, but this is a particularly chaotic time to add a little extra mess to the mix.

The kitchen has been overwhelmed with sudden unexpected large dinners needed with little advanced warning. The husband and the men in the family are moving stuff over which means they show up at dark, hungry, grumpy and looking to me for a solution. I'm pretty darn proud of myself for getting a full dinner cranked out three times so far (thanks to white beans in the freezer, chicken sausage from Sam's club and one night of breakfast for dinner.)


But the kitchen, already a daily challenge to stay on top of,  took a hard hit.  Not to mention the rest of the house. The guest room furniture is currently sitting in the entry way, and that is just the half of it.

I am pretty sure the flylady has no system for this particular situation. My system thus far has been go until you have to stop, take a hot salt bath and hide in bed.

But I am happy to report, I keep at it, and plug along and almost each day I get my 15 minutes of zone cleaning in, one load of laundry and at least part of the evening routine (which I am still working on... more on this later).

I've also been decluttering/cleaning/rearranging upstairs and I've been pretty ruthless. Old pillows  that have seen there better days- gone. Old sheet sets with bleach spots- gone. The dining room chandelier that I was never in love with and had to be taken down for the rebuilding- not going back up and gone.  Clothes that were expensive but don't fit quite right- gone. Fluffy pink bathrobe that is just too hot to wear- gone. If I stop and think about any of it, I can easily talk myself into keeping all of it. (Its still good! What if I need it?! it doesn't take up much space1 You cant have too many pillows!) But, the truth is, we just don't have the room, physically or mentally, for 2 households of stuff to live in one household.

And what is probably the real real truth is I am tired of living in upheaval and disorganization and I am willing to do radical things to get my house back to where it once was, calm and clean.  The flylady system is one of those things, ruthlessly tossing out some pillows is another. And I just joined an online organizational group called get your life totally organized. Doesn't that sound like exactly what I need.  I have also scheduled a pick up of items to donate to the Vietnam Veterans Association. All I have to do is drag it to the front porch and they will do the rest.  

Perhaps the combination of the fly lady and the Organizational group is what is going to propel me to see some real results and ease some of the re-entry. That and making some realistic to do lists.

mani monday from Oregon

Essie Gel in "Turn and Pose" was absolutely the right choice for the trip to Oregon. Perhaps the perfect fall color, for my coloring the purple family is the most flattering, its so shiny and it really stays on. My only complaint is with the dark polish, you have to be extra careful when applying as every little ding will show, and I am not the most careful at this.  Also, for a drug store brand, Essie gel is expensive ($11 to $14 a bottle). But I really love it. I love it so much that, when I found myself in CVS, I immediately went over and bought another color (still in the purple family).

My 5 day weekend in Oregon

I have to admit that one of the most enjoyable perks about my job is the business travel. I don't get to do it a lot, but at least once a year, I end up with a big trip. Last year it was Florida. This time its Portland.  I then turned a two day business trip into a five day weekend with the husband.

Even though it was not the time I would have chosen to take a getaway (busy chaotic time for us both), he agreed that you have to take advantage of these things when they fall into your lap.

I had been to Oregon twice before, and honestly, it is the nicest place I had ever visited. I could not have picked a better place to send myself  other than Portland.

I had never been to Portland this late in the year  and I was looking forward to some fall colors. I was not disappointed.  It was so chilly and  beautiful.

We then unexpectedly took a road trip to Spokane. Eastern Washington was not as scenic as one might think it would be. It was a dessert. 

But the company was good and we got to hang out at the hotel eating cookies in our PJs and breakfast by the fire while it was 35 degrees outside.

Of course we saw a great deal of fog. In fact, we were totally fogged in for two mornings. That was disappointing. I had planned to see some sights on the coast, and the fog made it impossible.  We hung around Portland some more instead.

But I am not complaining. Portland was gorgeous. Sunny and cold.

It was a good trip and I'm so glad we got to turn it into a long weekend.